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mrssunshlne · 2 months ago

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take my hand (joel miller x f!reader) chapter five

18+, MDNI series masterlist: here | please check this for complete series warnings and tags | 🎵series playlist pairing: joel miller x f!reader chapter summary: your new friendship with joel gives you conflicting feelings as you attend the jackson annual winter party wc: 4.8k rating: this story is 18+ (minors, do not interact), there will be eventual smut in later chapters chapter warnings and tags: cursing and tlou lore accurate outbreak content below, fluff, ellie bonding time, brief mention of reader’s family before the outbreak (no real major details), reader has no description besides she has hair, jackson!joel, age difference: reader is in her 30s and joel is in his 50s, sloooow burn, enemies to friends to lovers type-beat but we’re in the friends stage now :), (tattoo moment was inspired by a tiktok i saw but can't find anymore :/) ao3 | follow @writtenbynic and turn on notifications for chapters! dividers made by: @saradika-graphics , check them out!

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V. NORTHERN ATTITUDE

If I get too close And I'm not how you hoped Forgive my northern attitude Oh, I was raised out in the cold If the sun don't rise 'Til the summertime Forgive my northern attitude Oh, I was raised on little light

You always wondered what it would be like to be someone Joel considered a friend—someone he trusted.

Seeing how stoic and quiet he always was had you wondering at times what he was like with his loved ones. What was he like with Tommy growing up, and how was it different now? What was he like with Ellie?

The way he guarded himself for the year you’ve known him had you unable to imagine how it would feel to be in his life.

You never thought it’d be so... annoying.

Not that you were complaining, really—just that he was always… there? For the past couple weeks since your conversation with him at the cabin, it’s as if you can’t escape him. Besides your regular patrol shifts continuing as they had before, you found him around town more often. The mess hall for dinner, on his porch every morning and evening where he’d catch you and say hello, or just in random areas around town. Had he always been like this and you didn’t know it? Always having an eye on you, and you were just now catching it?

You first noticed it a few days ago when you had gone to the bar for a late night drink, needing the liquor to warm your body and calm your anxieties. While there, you made polite small talk with a few people who sat at the bar with you. They were people you occasionally would see around town and offer small bits of greeting, but none that you felt you knew that well—none you thought had paid any mind to you. Because of that, you were surprised when one of them spoke up about something they noticed about you.

“So, where’s your usual shadow?”

You looked up from your drink, confused as the group began to chuckle. “Joel,” another one chimed in to clarify.

“I don’t… I don’t know what you mean,” you responded.

“Oh, come on, sweetheart. There’s only three people I’ve seen Joel speak to for more than a sentence and that’s Tommy, Ellie, and you. Even before the two of you started being chatty recently, he’s just always around wherever you are—always pays close attention to you.”

You had sat there confused, and with nothing to your defense, you just looked back to your drink before downing it. You grew uncomfortable as you felt the warmth in your stomach grow—not only warm from drinking, but also because of a feeling you could not quite place.

Since that night, you started watching Joel more and found that he was around a lot. But it wasn’t weird, right? You just had settled things between each other, so of course he would be more public with his friendship with you. Plus, Ellie was with you a lot, which would mean he was around a lot. You know… for Ellie.

Ellie, who apparently blabbed about your lack of maintenance on your home considering that for the past week, Joel has been to your house every single day.

You were walking home from the stables last Sunday when you found him standing on your front porch staring at your swing bench.

He didn’t greet you when you walked up to him—simply turned to look at the bench and said, “Your swing is loose,” with no further explanation.

You looked at the creaky thing before shrugging. “Uh, yeah, I guess it is. I don’t mind though.”

He looked at you with a frown and a dissatisfied hum. “Hm. I can fix it. Ellie told me you and her sit out here a lot together and she noticed it was loose. Might as well get it straightened out if you’re usin’ it so often.”

You couldn’t recall being out here that much with Ellie, but maybe she had sat here waiting for you to come home a lot and noticed it. You hadn’t argued with him about it and instead let him get it done that same day.

Then the next day, you saw a bunch of planks of wood in your front yard. Coming out of your backyard was Joel, who was carrying the wooden planks to the back.

“Ellie said you were lookin’ to build an area to start a garden when spring comes, but were strugglin’ with findin’ the time.”

You tried to assure him you could get it done yourself one day, but he had just waved you off. “I can handle it. Just… next time ask for help, okay?”

Then, your mailbox was crooked. Your porch light flickered a bit too often at night. Your walkway was unevenly shoveled—whatever the fuck that means. It felt like something new every time. Things you didn’t even pick up on yourself, let alone think Ellie had noticed enough to let him know, because it was always, “Ellie told me.”

Other than that, the three of you had gotten closer as a result of Ellie inviting you with them to meals at the mess hall, or different town events such as movie nights. The next one being the Jackson annual winter party that was happening tonight, which had Ellie bouncing up and down for days beforehand. Her excitement was shared with a friend of hers you’d started hearing more about—Cat, the one she had made lemon cakes for. The one who apparently had a special, secret talent that Ellie was nervous to tell Joel about.

“Can you just like, be there when I tell him?”

“Ellie, is that thing even safe?” You ask incredulously.

How the fuck does someone get a tattoo here?

“It is! I swear! It’s totally safe and fine and it’s all healed up,” she says.

“Healed? What—How long have you had this?”

She looks at the ink on her arm, twisting her skin to show you the whole design. “Uhhh like… about three months now?”

Your eyes widen. “Three?! How the hell did you hide this from him for so long?”

“Well, the weather was already getting cold and stuff, and I don’t like showing my chemical burn that much anyways so… not that hard honestly.”

You sigh and pinch the bridge of your nose. “I mean yeah it’s… cool. Done well, honestly—I mean damn, I’m surprised she was able to be that clean with it.” You shake your head, remembering her question. “Wait, what do you need me for?”

That’s where she starts looking more nervous. “Well, the party’s tonight right? So, Joel’s in a good-ish mood, and then he’s also drinking a glass of whiskey beforehand to make the night more bearable, and he is nicer around you so… I was hoping you could just kinda be there when I show him this? And then we can all go straight to the party together and I’ll go off with Cat and you two can…I don’t know, sit and sulk or something.”

You give her a deadpan look while she gives you a smile showing she knows what your answer is. “Okay, and what makes you so confident he won’t be mad just because I’m there?”

“I don’t know dude he just… is that way with you, I guess,” she says with a shrug before grabbing both of your wrists to lightly shake you. “Please, please, please, please, please, ple—”

“Yeah, yeah. Okay, I get it. I’ll do it,” you say, waving her off. “Just let me finish baking the stuff for tonight and then I’ll come by, okay?”

Jumping on you in a sudden hug, she says, “Thank you a million times, oh my god,” before pulling away and running off to her house. Already halfway across the street, she shouts over her shoulder, “I’ll see you later! Wear something revealing to really get him in a good mood.”

“Ellie!” You screech, but she was already too far for you to scold her.

Having gotten ready for the evening a few hours later, you were putting the finishing touches on the cake you had made for the winter party. Maria said it wasn’t required, but that all the people in town were welcome to bring any sort of drinks, food, or games they had and wanted to share. Miraculously finding the ingredients for your favorite cake the previous day, you were hard at work all day getting it done when there was a knock at your door. Checking the time and realizing that the party started in five minutes, you walk over to open the door to find Joel and Ellie.

You watch as Ellie instantly walks in as if this was her house, throwing a half-hearted hello over her shoulder as she heads straight into the kitchen where you heard your fridge opening up. “You just have the best orange juice in town,” she had said to you a million times before.

You look back to the man who is standing outside your door in an almost shy manner. You take a second to look over him, admiring his attire for the night—his usual brown combat boots, dark wash jeans, a green plaid flannel buttoned up, with his brown winter coat on. His hair seems slightly damp as if he had just showered and brushed his soft curls back.

He looks… good.

You see Joel look you up and down, just like you did to him. “Hi,” he softly says. “You look nice.”

“Thanks… So do you,” you quietly reply, suddenly feeling awkward and warm.

At this moment, you realize that despite all the time you had spent together recently, and even though he’s done all this work on your outside property, he’s never actually been inside your house before. You speak up, feeling bad. “Oh, I’m so sorry! Please, come in.”

He gives you a small smile before crossing the doorway and waiting in your front entryway. Closing the door, you turn and look at him to say, “I just need to box up the cake I made for tonight in the kitchen real quick before we head out.”

He nods and you see him take a look around your living room for a moment as you walk into the kitchen where you find Ellie at her usual seat on your kitchen island drinking juice. “What are you bringing for tonight?” She asks as you go to box your cake.

“I made carrot cake, it’s my favorite,” you reply. Her eyes widen for a moment, opening her mouth to respond before you hear Joel walk in. He leans against the kitchen doorway, watching the two of you with a soft look on his face. “You ladies ready to head out?”

You nod before Ellie slips off the counter to stand next to you. She looks you up and down before whispering, “Not revealing enough.” Still facing Joel, you not so subtly nudge her arm in a teasing manner, hearing her soft reply of ouch.

Clearing her throat before speaking in a dramatic manner, she says, “First I, uh, wanted to show you something Joel. We wanted to show you something.”

You snap your head to look at her, mouthing, “We?!” But she just brushes you off.

You see Joel look humorously confused between the pair of you. “Um, alright? What’s up?”

You see Ellie roll up the sleeve of her right arm, revealing the skin that is currently covered in ink–an outline of a moth and some leaves that go from her wrist to her elbow. Holding out her arm silently, you watch as Joel frowns before stepping forward and gently taking her arm to look over the tattoo.

“What is that?” He asks with an eerily calm tone.

“It’s a moth,” Ellie says immediately.

“Yeah, but, what is it?”

“I told you… a moth.”

“I know. But it’s like, what? Pen?”

“No, it’s a moth.”

Oh my god.

“... But it’s with a pen?”

“No, it’s a tattoo.”

“Like with a marker?”

“Oh my god,” you say out loud this time. “It’s a tattoo, Joel,” you tell him with an overdramatic smile. “Ellie got her burn covered with a really pretty design her friend did. A permanent pretty design—isn’t it nice?”

You and Ellie both hold your breath as Joel still holds her arm, looking over her tattoo. He finally pulls away with the same frown. “It’s permanent?” He asks.

Ellie nods nervously. He looks down at her arm, then back up at her with some shared knowing glance between the two. “It’s pretty.”

She releases the air she was holding in with a show of relief. You and Ellie both notice his frown deepen a bit, mouth opening as if he’s getting ready to add something else about the tattoo. Not giving him the chance, Ellie perks up and grabs the plate with your large cake on it. “Look, Joel! She made your favorite—carrot cake!”

Carrot cake is his favorite, too?

Seeming to have fallen for the distraction, Joel surprisingly looks at the cake and then to you. “You made carrot cake?”

Suddenly shy, you respond, “Yeah… it’s actually my favorite, too. I found the ingredients yesterday and wanted to make it. I didn’t know you liked it actually, but I'm glad someone else will appreciate it tonight.”

He keeps his eyes on you for what feels like a long while—long enough for you to feel slightly intimidated by the indistinguishable look in them.

Ellie breaks the silence at that moment. “Well, we better start heading over. I don’t wanna miss out on all the fun.” At that, she places the cake back onto the counter before making her way to the door. You break eye contact with Joel to grab the cake and start heading over to the door with him following close behind.

Before leaving, you take a moment to blow out the candles you have on your coffee table to light your living room. You briefly notice Joel watch you as you do so, before frowning and looking up at the living area lights that are off. Not thinking much of it, you follow Ellie outside as Joel gestures for the two of you to walk ahead of him.

Reaching Ellie’s side, she dips her head close to yours to whisper, “At least you had the carrot cake to make up for the lack of revealing clothing.”

“Shut. Up.”

The bright lights and loud noise made your anxiety flare up a bit, but the whiskey you had been sipping on throughout the night made it tad more bearable. Maria and Tommy had planned the evening beautifully—twinkling Christmas lights adorned the ceiling in meticulously placed lines around the room.

The large mess hall was sectioned off with tables that were decorated with different board games, groups of people sitting around them while laughing and enjoying drinks and food. An open space in the front of the building welcomed people to dance together to the music that was playing from the vinyls and speakers Tommy’s men had set up towards the bar—the bar where you had spent hovering near through the latter part of the night as things became more and more chaotic. You recognize it was a nice chaos, but your sociability was dwindling. Having spent the first hour and a half speaking with different people and mingling, the volume of both people and their voices were becoming too much.

Leaning your back against the bar counter, you hold your glass and trace the rim of it with your finger absentmindedly. You watch as the people in town enjoy themselves in a freeing way that years ago you wouldn’t think was ever possible again. Watching Ellie running around with Cat and some other friends, your eyes fall on Maria and Tommy sitting at one table with their friends—Tommy bouncing Benjamin on his knee with a big smile while looking lovingly at Maria. It was the parental and warm side of them you didn’t get to see often due to having seen them both in serious situations more often than not.

You hear footsteps nearing closer to you before settling at your side. Looking to your right, you see Joel has stationed himself beside you and is mimicking your stance as you both hold your drinks and face the crowd.

“Thought I’d find ya hangin’ out with the others.”

You snort. “I did that for enough time already. Now I’m just figuring out when the best time to leave without seeming disrespectful is.”

At that, Joel smiles. “Been thinkin’ that myself. Usually I use Ellie as my escape out of these things, but tonight she seems to be havin’ too much fun with Cat to wanna ditch this and head home to watch a movie.”

Scanning the crowd for where you remember Ellie being, you see her laughing with Cat and others while they play with the dart board on one of the walls. “It definitely seems like she found a group that makes her happy. Kinda sucks I’m not considered her best friend anymore though,” you joke.

You look back to Joel to notice his face has settled into a look that feels more serious. “You don’t think that… You don’t think she’s afraid to tell me stuff, is she?”

Taken aback, you have no response besides the obvious confusion on your face. Looking at you, he says, “I just mean, I know she told ya about the tattoo before she told me. I get she trusts you, and don’t get me wrong I’m more than happy ‘bout that… I just, I don’t know. Guess I’m worried she wouldn’t feel comfortable talkin’ to me about more… personal things.”

Your heart hurts hearing and seeing Joel doubt himself like this. “No… no, not at all. I don’t think she’s scared to talk to you about things. The tattoo was just something silly that she thought you may disapprove of–like how parents scold their kids for getting into trouble. But no, no part of me thinks she would be afraid to talk to you about something big.” Thinking for a moment, you add, “Why would you think that?”

You watch as he eyes Ellie and Cat for a moment before he shrugs. “Just a thought. No big deal.” Shaking his head, he says, “You wanna take a walk with me outside? Gets us both away from the crowd for a bit.”

You immediately nod, probably too enthusiastically to be casual, but he just laughs as if he knew you wanted to get out of there just as quickly as he did. Looking back to Ellie one more time, he seems satisfied that she is okay and decides he can step out for a moment.

Stepping outside into the cold winter night, you listen to the sound of your footsteps crunching in the show as the two of you walk around the square slowly. Both of you are silent as you admire the outside decorations that have been set up for the season. The small square holds an area in the center of the road that has been filled with a large Christmas tree—its colorful lights shining through the darkness of the night. You hear slight laughter and conversation from a few people that have taken the time to step outside the same as you two had. You walk up closer to the tree, taking a look at the random miscellaneous ornaments and other trinkets that line the branches.

“They really outdid themselves this year with the decorations—it's beautiful,” you say, admiring the twinkling lights.

“Yeah… it really is,” Joel says, and when you look over to him, he’s already looking at you. The look in his eyes makes the air get sucked out of your lungs for a moment before he clears his throat, shaking his head before turning to face the tree again.

“You ever celebrated Christmas?” Joel asks.

You take a second before responding, “A long time ago, yeah. Back before the outbreak, I remember the bright colorful lights that would be on every block. My hometown always went all out with those giant blow up decorations in their front yard.” You laugh and hear Joel huff lightly beside you. “My family and I would always make it a tradition to set up the tree the day right after Thanksgiving.” The memory makes you feel bittersweet as you try to recall as much from that time as you can.

The two of you sit in comfortable silence for a moment as the both of you just look at the tree.

“Christmas was always Sarah’s favorite holiday,” Joel says.

You take a second to look over at him standing beside you. He almost burns a hole into the tree with how intensely he looks forward, the look on his face filling you with pain.

“I’d have to wake up real early for work—Tommy and I would be at the contractin’ office by 6 a.m.. Sarah always hated it—said she can’t exist as a human before 10 a.m.,” he says with a sad laugh. “I’d tease her ‘bout it because she’d have to be at school earlier than that, so I suppose she was sleepwalkin’ for those first few hours.”

“Yet, every Christmas mornin’, right at 4 a.m., I’d feel her jump on me while nudgin’ her elbow into my side. I’d open my eyes to see her starin’ over me like a damn sleep paralysis demon—sayin’ in a real serious voice, ‘Get up, dad. Santa came.’”

You giggle at that before you say, “Hey, I can’t blame her—time and sleep don’t exist on Christmas.”

Joel breaks into a laugh, looking to the ground before at you. “Yeah. Guess you’re right ‘bout that one.”

The two of you look at each other for a long moment before you hear a shriek. On instinct, you grab Joel’s arm with one hand and reach to your hip with the other—reaching for the gun that doesn’t sit there.

Because you’re in Jackson. Inside the fence. Where you’re safe.

Joel worriedly looks at you for a moment before up at the sight of the noise. You had spent the past few seconds frantically looking around, until you saw three teenagers off to the side throwing snowballs at each other.

Realizing the cause for your reaction, you feel Joel take your hand that grabbed his arm before squeezing it at your side. Turning your body to face him gently, he reassures you. “Hey, we’re alright. Just kids havin’ fun in the snow. You’re okay, darlin’. We’re okay.”

Darlin’.

You look over at him to see his cautious expression as if he’s dealing with a wounded animal. Suddenly feeling embarrassed, you try to look at the snowy ground. “I’m sorry… I feel stupid, I shouldn’t have—”

“Hey,” Joel cuts you off by gently grabbing your chin with his hand and turning you to look at him. “None of that. You don’t need to apologize to me for somethin’ like that, alright? Ever.”

You meet his eyes and let yourself focus on his breathing to calm you down. You hadn’t realized that with his other hand, he brought one of yours to his chest so you could feel and match your breathing with his.

Giving him a nod, he seems to assess your demeanor before he looks to the mess hall. “Hey, how ‘bout I walk ya home,” he suggests.

“But, I don’t want Ellie—”

He shakes his head. “Don’t worry about her. She’s havin’ fun with her friends. Do you want to leave?”

You shyly give a nod before Joel immediately says, “Then we’re leavin’. M’gonna go ask Tommy to keep an eye on her while I walk ya home, and then I’ll come back here to wait for her to be ready. You wanna go in and say goodbye to her real quick while I tell Tommy?”

Not leaving you any room to argue, you nod, still feeling guilty, but follow him back inside the building as he holds your hand that he held to his chest.

Stepping inside, he looks to you before he lets go of your hand to walk over to Tommy. You quickly find Ellie in the crowd, and go up to her to say goodbye and tell her what’s going on. Thankfully, she doesn’t question it, and in that moment you remember something you wanted to ask her earlier that day.

“By the way, I never said thanks for letting Joel know about all that stuff that was wrong.”

She scrunches her nose and looks at you confused. “What do you mean? What stuff?”

“I mean like, my porch swing being loose, or not having the tools to build my garden for the spring. Ya know, just the stuff he’s been helping me fix. He told me you let him know about them, and honestly I was surprised you pay that much attention,” you laugh.

But the same look of confusion stays planted on her face, even becoming more confused. “Uhhh, I didn’t tell him that stuff. He’d always just be watching your place whenever we walked by saying he noticed shit. He’d ask if I knew if you were getting things fixed but I didn’t think to ask you.”

You stand there for a moment as the words you heard people tell you in the bar the other day come back to you.

“He’s just always around wherever you are—always pays close attention to you.”

You don’t get a chance to react or respond because Joel walks up beside you, placing a hand on your shoulder. “Okay kiddo, I’ll be back soon alright?”

Ellie rolls her eyes playfully. “Yeah, yeah—take your time old man, don’t worry.”

He grunts before turning your body towards the door as you take the queue to start heading out.

The walk to your house is silent besides a few remarks from Joel. The silence is mostly because you’re still trying to recover from your panic earlier, but it’s also because of what Ellie had told you.

Your thoughts are interrupted by Joel saying, “Oh, I never told ya, I tried your cake.”

The topic takes your mind off your thoughts for a moment, finally turning to look up at him. “Did you like it?”

“Loved,” he says with a big smile while looking over at you. “You’re gonna have to make it for me a lot more often—hope ya know that. Haven’t had anythin’ that good since a time in my life where I had no grey hairs.”

You blush at his compliment, feeling oddly giddy inside.

Before you realize it, the two of you have reached your house by now and you let him walk you up to your door. Going to open it, you’re stopped by him speaking up as he looks through your living room window with a frown, seeming to remember something.

“By the way, when I was in here earlier I noticed all your lights are workin’ in your place besides your livin’ room.”

You freeze for a moment, what Ellie said coming back to you—what the other people in town had said to you.

“What?”

He points to your front window. “You got candles lightin’ your livin’ room. I would see in the windows at night that all the lights in your house would be on and workin’, but that front window would have a duller light comin’ through. Then bein’ here earlier, I realized that you got candles lit in there to make up for the lights bein’ out.”

You don’t have a response for him as you stand there trying to process what he said. Not waiting for a reply from you, Joel says, “I’ll come by tomorrow after patrol to fix that light, alright?”

You stare at him, dumbfounded and probably gawking at him embarrassingly before you slowly nod.

If he notices, he doesn’t make it known and just nods back in agreement. “Alright, I’ll let ya get in and get some rest. You sure you’re okay?” He checks.

Your throat feels so dry—your mind fuzzy. You push past the feeling and muster up the energy to mutter, “Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay… Thanks for walking me home, Joel.”

Taking a second to make sure you’re being honest, he seems pleased with your answer and gestures to you to go in. “You let me know if ya need anythin’, alright darlin’?”

Darlin’.

There’s that word again, with his stupid southern drawl.

You nod to him, quickly opening your door and going to close it until you see his head tilt. “Seriously,” he says. “Anythin’ at all. M’right here for ya.”

Nodding once more, you say your goodbyes to him and watch him walk down your walkway, turning to look at you a few times before you close your door. Shutting it, you turn and press your back to the door, leaning your head back against it.

They were right. He pays attention to you.

reblogs and comments are appreciated! i hope you all enjoy <3

a/n: hi guys! tysm for all the love recently, i'm really happy you guys like my story so much :') little reminder that i made an update blog, so follow @writtenbynic and turn on notifications for updates! I’m still doing my tag list for now, but they’ve been kinda wonky recently so I apologize if it doesn’t work! <3 edit: I’ve gotten some people saying it keeps glitching and tagging repeatedly and then going away so I am so sorry I do not know how to fix this :((

🏷️: @dendulinka6 @suzysface @koshkaj-blog @orcasoul @emmasveinyahhdih @thatoneperson38747 @lcvespedro @orodaeh @ithinkimokeei @emnull0 @warriorkarol @heartpatch @luvwanda @pascal-mynightlyobsession @lieutenantsluvr

#joel miller #joel miller angst #joel miller fluff #joel miller x reader #joel miller fic #tmh series

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magicalink · 1 year ago

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The "Experiment"

Albedo is quite obsessed with pussy. In a scientific way of course! And you're the only female close friend he has. So he asks you to let him run an experiment to exhaustively explore it. You accept. And you come to realize that he's interested in it in other ways too...

Taglist: @dainsleif-when-playable @chaotichearts-19 @huachengscrustybandages @scaraskzzs @mizokowashere @xxventiswindblumexx @twistedw0nd3rland

Cw: Albedo x f!reader smut. Use of the words 'sexual harassment' once but it's just part of a conversation, to clarify that this is not Albedo's intention. Pls this is just a very unrealistic fictional situation between two adult friends who are horny with each other but pretend not to be because one of them is not even human and both are socially awkward. Please if a doctor starts touching you like this try to run away and go to a safe place and report it as soon as you can!

A/N: Sorry for the delay, I hope that if you were waiting for this story this post finds you well and you enjoy it.

“Okay Y/N, I’m about to start,” the blond man said, his voice as silky and calming as always.

You gulped, looking up at him. You were lying half-sitting, not to mention half-naked, on his examination table. Your back rested on a soft pillow and your panties on a chair next to the table. Albedo had made you open and flex your legs, exposing your whole vulva for him to explore. He was hovering over you, ready to start his tests.

He noticed you were uncomfortable.

“Are you nervous, Y/N?” He asked with his ever-sweet voice, using that soothing doctor-like tone that he used to try and make you feel more at ease with him.

You shook your head, trying to look convincing.

“I'm just cold…” you replied, at least saying something true. Without your panties, your soft parts were feeling chilly. Even if his lab was well covered from the merciless environment of Dragonspine, it wasn't precisely warm either.

“Oh, don't worry, I won’t be using the cold metal medical tools,” he said casually. And you looked visibly confused.

“What are you using then?” you didn’t even finish your sentence when you saw him tightening up his gloves. But not the latex medical gloves!

Albedo looked at your horrified expression and spoke before you could complain, aiming a warm smile at you.

“Again, don’t worry Y/N, these aren’t my everyday gloves, but a prototype of gloves specially designed for this kind of procedure.” he explained "They are completely clean, so you don't have to worry about any kind of infections."

“Okay,” you visibly relaxed on his hard, cold table. With that beautiful smile, with those beautiful eyes, you were unable to distrust him. You loved his eyes so much, they were eclipsing, calming. You got lost in them within seconds just like you always did.

It almost felt unreal how you two were completely alone in the medical section of the lab. Behind closed doors. Just the two of you. You wished you could have an intimate conversation, learn more about him.

But then you remembered you were laying in front of him showing him your pussy and suddenly you couldn’t look at his face anymore, so you averted your gaze.

You felt as if your cheeks were burning.

“You can start anytime,” you said, pretending to be calm.

He smiled again.

“Wonderful.”

And you gulped again, your heart beating so damn fast. Geez. His voice, his looks, everything about him was so mesmerizing. You felt like you were getting drunk on his presence.

You made your best effort to not make the situation more awkward. To pretend this was a professional doctor-patient situation. To pretend you were not crazily attracted to him and to not make him feel uncomfortable. You didn’t want him to think that you were a pervert!

You tried to imagine you were somewhere else to avoid feeling aroused.

But it was hard.

You were so focused your heart skipped a beat and you made a little jump when you felt his warm fingers touching your pussy.

Again your cheeks felt like exploding.

“Relax...” he said, caressing one of your legs with his other hand, trying to get you to be less stiff.

But he did you worse, since his silky touch on your skin sent a pleasurable shiver up your spine. You bit your lip in frustration. It was impossible to contain the wetness that appeared down there.

Albedo looked at your juicy vulva and gently pressed a finger in between the inner labia, preparing to slide it in.

You swallowed heavily and tried to breathe deeply, but it was useless since automatically your knees got pressed together and your pussy became wet and warm.

He tensed his lips when your knees wouldn’t let him see.

“Do you think you can open your legs wide for me?” he asked kindly.

Surprisingly, you were able to refrain from moaning something along the lines of “I could always have my legs open for you, Albedo.” with a stupid face and a sultry tone, and instead muttered a low “Sure” and complied slowly.

You hoped with all your heart that your expression didn't look lewd. You just never thought he would say such words to you.

“Relax Y/N, otherwise it will hurt”, he said with a kind smile and tone.

You nodded. But you begged it to hurt. You begged it didn’t feel good. You begged that no moans escaped your mouth so you contracted all of your body on purpose.

And it seemed like he was trying to torture you. To expose your true feelings.

He caressed the opening of your vulva vertically from up to down repeatedly with his thumb, while his other fingers were delicately massaging your outer labia. His other hand kept one of your legs in place to prevent them from closing. This made you go crazy. You were so horny!

What the heck were those gloves made of?! They felt amazing! Warm, soft, textured!

You could feel how the area was getting more and more humid, and that seemed to please Albedo.

“See? That's better, the natural lubrication that comes from your body will help so that it doesn’t hurt,” he explained and continued giving you a pleasurable massage, caressing and touching, sinking his fingers a millimeter in just to pull them out again, playing shamelessly with your pussy until it was a dripping mess.

You arched your back in response to the pleasure and covered your ashamed gaze with the inner side of your elbow.

“I'm sorry.” you lamented. How sinful, putting up such a show for just a simple examination. It was impossible that he didn’t realize what was going on.

But he was immutable.

“Don't get embarrassed Y/N, it’s a completely normal reflex. When something gets in contact with the vulva, a woman's vagina starts releasing its lubricants to prepare for the insertion of something,” he explained in a relaxed and professional tone, showcasing all he had recently learned.

You cursed in your mind.

“Sure, but it doesn’t get this soaked unless she is extremely horny!” you thought. But you just nodded, your eyes still covered. You couldn’t believe you were so desperate for him.

You just let him continue, now it was inevitable to keep your legs open for him, what was hard was containing the sounds of pleasure.

After caressing your whole vulva with his open palm one last time, he slightly separated your labia and approached the fingers of his dominant hand.

“Ready?”

You nodded with your still-covered face, trying not to cry and start apologizing for being such a pervert.

“Okay, I'm getting in.”

And with those very inciting words, he slid his index finger in between your folds, slowly entering your pussy. You gritted your teeth together when you felt him getting in, it was just too good.

He looked satisfied when your pussy accepted his finger, gradually wrapping around it.

“Just like that, veery well…” he dragged his words with a calming, deep, silky voice that made your legs spread wider and your pussy drip wetter. Then he started making a circular motion with his finger inside of you, making you rejoice in pleasure. It was so hard to pretend you didn’t like it so bad.

“Is it okay if I slide it fully in?” he asked.

You exhaled heavily through your nose, trying not to cry. “Why? Why do you have to pick such provocative words, Albedo?” you thought. It almost felt like he was doing it on purpose…

“Does it hurt?” he asked, a bit worried. It was still a bit hard for him to read your expressions. Were you putting up a good act after all?

“No, no, it’s ok. It’s just weird,” you said, again, at least saying something true.

“Ok, do you think you can take another one?”

You were taking anything from him at this point. You just nodded.

“Ok, here I go…”

Was it just your impression or was he dragging his words very sexily?!

After repeatedly getting a finger in and out of your pussy until it was stretched and relaxed enough, he inserted both his index and middle finger in, sliding them in slowly until they were both completely in.

Damn. His fingers were so long and slender. But the glove made them so thick. And your arousal made your pussy really tight around them, making you feel completely filled by them. He was stretching you with expert movements, causing too much pleasure to let it go to waste. You had to bite your tongue to avoid sticking it out.

“I’m sorry, Albedo,” you thought, surrendering to the satisfaction of his hot agile hands. “It’s impossible not to enjoy this.”

You sat back and relaxed, allowing your blush to break free and go up your body, painting it a soft pink.

You finally let out a sigh, tired of battling. The only part you kept hard was your face, furrowed in a wince to cover your sinful delight.

“Does it hurt, Y/N?” was he really fooled by your expression? Such a smart man?

“Yes…” you struggled to pronounce. How shameful, lying to Mr. Albedo like that. To such a proper man…

“How about this?” …or was he??

You witnessed in disbelief how he used his thumb to gently rub on your clit while he kept scratching your g-zone with his index and middle finger.

“Ah…” a soft moan finally escaped your lips. You locked eyes with him, accusingly. He gave you an apologetic smile.

That made you snap. All of this time feeling ashamed and blaming yourself for feeling so aroused! But now it was clear to you that none of the things he did were innocent.

Both of your masks fell off. Such hypocrites. None of you were being professional. Both of you were lying, and in a very cowardly way, to avoid making the final move to admit their feelings to one another. But to taste the waters in this way? The epitome of unprofessional! The whole medical thing was just a façade! Shameless. Completely shameless. You didn’t expect something like this from him.

All of this "experiment" request was probably just an elaborate plan for him to see if you would bang him.

You were mad. But you had been thirsty for him for such a long time…and you never thought he would reciprocate. You were happy. No, you were more than happy, you were ecstatic. You wanted to jump to him from the table like a tiger to devour him.

But he was so shameless! He didn’t deserve it. Teasing you in such a way while pretending to feel nothing! Unacceptable.

You wanted him to go further, to expose himself, to reach a point in which there was no doubt that those were his intentions from the beginning. He deserved it. He had been such a bad boy. So if he really wanted you, he would have to earn it.

"Mr. Albedo, why are you touching my clitoris?" You asked with feigned innocence, hoping to make him feel guilty. "Is it part of the experiment?"

You watched in delight as his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat under his star-shaped birthmark as he gulped down nervously. But he managed to keep the rest of his calm façade.

"Yes, Y/N, don't worry. It's needed to make sure the experiment goes well." He said, projecting that aura of being completely sure of himself that he always had. But your very sensitive pussy could feel his previously relaxed fingers tense up inside of you. Shameless. If this dude wanted to bang you, he’d have to beg for it.

"Ok, I see." You smiled politely, doing your best acting ever, as you sat back and made yourself comfortable on the examination table.

"Yes, let's continue…" he said with his deep and silky voice, sure he was back in control of the situation. He had no idea how wrong he was.

"By the way, Mr. Albedo," you said with an ample smirk. He looked down at you with a curious smile. Your whole demeanor had changed. You looked completely at home on his examination table, arms crossed behind your now laid back head, legs spread open around his arm whose digits were lost inside your warm depths "You never told me what this whole experiment was about." You said nonchalantly.

It was true. He had never told you the details. He had just pleaded you to help him and had earnestly told you that you were the only woman in the world he could ask such a favor from. And of course, that tactic worked, you had accepted with very little reluctance. Because you wanted to help him, of course, but also because of how big of a declaration of trust and intimacy that request was.

Even if he had pretended it was something professional. Even in those fake circumstances, you felt proud. To be the only woman close enough to Master Albedo, an artificial human who was often aloof to most people, seemingly uninterested in forming relationships with others. Your heart had raced at the thought that despite having Sucrose by his side for such a long time, the recent bond he had formed with you had made you the only suitable candidate for such a delicate matter. Because it meant that even if he didn’t reciprocate your lust and desire, he still felt quite close to you and trusted you.

And now here you were, unmasking Master Albedo’s true sneaky intentions. A wide, toothy smirk was splayed across your now confident face, satisfied that you caught him red-handed. Oh Archons, this man was reckless. He was simply unhinged. He loved to play with the limits of human relationships, tasting the waters as if it was an experiment, throwing savage jokes at people with the most subtle words and straight innocent faces. Despite not being human, he knew exactly how to treat them, how to play them. And that made you want to fuck him even more. He was so hot, so funny, so fucking alluring. And seeing his eternal confidence falter for the first time in your life was hilarious. You wanted to see the seemingly know-it-all, I-dont-have-human-desires chalkboy drool with a fucked-out face after being done with him.

“Ahem, well, Y/N, this experiment…” Albedo gulped, hesitating for a single moment before reading your expression, realizing how hungrily and shamelessly you ogled the golden, star-shaped mark on his throat, how wide and satisfied your grin was, how bright your eyes glinted with lust for him. And his smile came back to him, stretching his lips in a grin that reflected relief and also sweetness.

“The experiment was a success,” he said, looking down at you with a fond expression. You couldn’t help but giggle at his antics.

“Oh really? Why so? What were you testing, Master Albedo~?” You kept on punishing him with your teasing. You weren't letting it slide, he didn’t deserve it. If he really wanted you, he would have to admit his sin, and his feelings for you.

You watched, delighted, how his Adam’s apple bobbed yet again under his golden star with a lewd sound. You could swear his pants had already tightened. He had told you numerous times you had no need to address him so formally. Yet you were always “Mr. Albedo this, Mr. Albedo that”, and despite him desperately wanting you to address him informally for some confirmation of closeness, that did things to him.

And now you called him “Master Albedo” to punish him? Archons, that did make him feel things previously unknown to him. He had never felt anything like that before, much less for such a silly nickname. Sucrose called him like that all the time, and he had never felt anything weird about it. Yet here you were, making him feel things. Crazy things. He already knew you were special to him because you made him feel things he had never felt for a human, or for anyone, before. And this only fueled his wild desire for you further.

And now it was clear.

“The purpose of the experiment was to confirm or deny if you bore any kind of sentiment towards me,” he said with a kind smile, looking down at you with his ever-calm and soothing eyes. “And given the results, I think I can confidently say that you share the feelings of fondness and desire I bear towards you.” He finished in a conciliatory way, begging for forgiveness with that sheepish smiley face.

“You know that in the human sphere, this could be considered deception, abuse of power and sexual harassment, don’t you?” You asked with an expressionless face, taking a disinterested look at your nails. Albedo’s already light skin suddenly went completely pale, his cyan eyes opening wide as saucers in a terrified glare.

“Wait, r-really?” you heard him stutter for the first time in your life. The hand he had inside your pussy felt like it had turned to stone and he used the other one to grab a big notebook from the bookshelf, one full of papers and loose notes, that he skimmed frantically, trying to decipher where he went wrong.

“Yeah. I hope it’s not necessary for me to write a report to the Knights of Favo…” you continued with your cold act. But Albedo couldn’t care less.

“Did I hurt you?” He asked, his ice-blue eyes filled with worry. He kept his fingers inside of you, scared that, as he had studied, pulling them out suddenly would hurt you. “Did I offend you?”

You dropped the act and gave him a satisfied smirk because he passed the test, he had the reaction you had hoped for.

“I’m gonna forgive you just this time, because you’re not a human and you didn’t know what you were doing,” You said with a smug grin, observing him up and down, checking him out, still lying back with your arms comfortably crossed behind your head.

You could see Albedo quietly sigh in relief. He, who didn’t need to breathe. His body visibly relaxed and his skin recovered its natural color. He was about to make some snarky comment to try and get the upper hand again when you shushed him:

“But from now on I expect you to get your research on humanity right, chalkboy,” You said teasingly with a toothy grin.

And you heard him gulp. That golden star in his throat bobbed deliciously again, making you want to just jump at him and bite it already. But you were making him beg. And you felt triumphant upon seeing his reaction.

Chalkboy. His lips curled in a smirk. He felt giddy inside. You swore you could see his gray trousers getting tighter again. He took a step closer to you, who still laid arms crossed and legs open in his examination table, smiling wide at him.

Chalkboy. Did you really just call him chalkboy?

A year of battling for you to stop calling him Mister and now you were finally engaging in playful banter with him, and even called him a nickname? A mocking nickname on top of that??

To him that was the pinnacle of human interaction. He had been experiencing human-like sexual phenomena due to you for a while, but now you just gave him the stiffest boner of his life. He had been experiencing desires lately, but just now you made him straight up wanna fuck like he was made of flesh and blood and had the same animal nature that built your cells. He wanted to mix his cells with yours, in the filthiest way possible.

Chalkboy. He loved it. His experiment was a success, now he knew that no matter how you called him, whether it was with honorifics or informally, it made him feel good in different ways. But if you called him chalkboy…

“My dear Y/N, I promise you that from now on I’ll be much more careful in my research with human relationships,” he smiled sweetly and flirtatiously, hovering over you on the examination table, his free hand caressing your cheek “I want to kindly ask you: if you do indeed reciprocate my fascination towards you, do you want to be my partner in this journey to study the complexity of human relationships? I promise this time there will be no more secrets between you and me, and I want you to be the one to guide me,” he asked with a sweet gaze, his eyes hypnotizing you more than ever. You had never seen them filled with such fondness, with such affection, and most importantly, you had never seen them glazed with…lust.

That apology, that display of affection, and that confession of desire were enough to your hungry heart, so you smiled back at him, your heart racing excitedly. You giggled and held onto his hand that was on your cheek with both your hands in an equally affectionate way.

“My dear Albedo, I’d be delighted,” you said with a sweet smile that turned naughty when you pulled him closer. “I’m no expert though, I still have so much to learn too, and I’d love to do it with you.”

Both of you giggled when reading a second meaning in your words. You felt your pussy throb when you saw Albedo’s face contort in a teasing, seductive expression, and then you remembered his fingers lost in your depths.

“You don’t know how happy I am, Y/N…” he whispered, slowly starting to move his fingers again inside your folds that instantly reacted to his caresses. They started to renew the lubrication around his fingers, and a little mewl of pleasure escaped your lips. Albedo placed a finger from his other hand on them, as if studying your mouth and your reaction, lust and curiosity battling inside of him to take control. Before he could lean down to kiss you, you interrupted.

“What’s up with these gloves, Albedo?” you protested, tugging at the glove on his hand that was on your face. They were in the way, you wanted to be with him skin to skin “Did you make them with the sole purpose of sticking them in my privates or what?” You chuckled.

“Yes,” he smiled. The excitement he felt each time you called his name without honorifics was still hard to contain for him “I built them to ensure maximum pleasure.” He said, recovering a bit of composure.

You looked at him skeptically. You had asked that as a joke, you weren't expecting something like that. You were impressed. Human men would invite you to dinner (at most) if they wanted to fuck. But this chalk boy went all the way to build a sex toy, something you didn’t know if it even existed in Teyvat to begin with, for you. You let that sink in, observing him with your mouth agape.

Hm, first Venti and now him. This thing of fucking supernatural beings was going to become a custom, you could feel it in your blood…or rather, in your clit…

And it was the most exciting thing that you had ever felt in your unnaturally long life. After centuries of numbness and dullness, this was the kind of thrill that made you feel truly alive for the first time ever, something that you only experienced since you woke up in Teyvat less than a year ago. So you held onto those feelings and sensations for dear life.

“It does feel pleasurable,” you smiled up at him. The gloves made his slender fingers double the thick, absorbed the heat of your body to make them extra warm, and even had the texture of round tacks over its surface, letting him scratch every single pleasure point inside your folds with ease.

“I’m glad they work as intended. I really wanna put them to the test right now…” he said and you knew he meant business. The way he started fingering you stole your breath away and now you were moaning as your legs threatened to close again from the sensitivity.

“W-were you investigating how to finger a woman too??” You giggled teasingly in between moans, his deft fingers working wonders at turning your pussy into a drenched mess.

“Of course. I wanted to ensure that I would be able to take you to the point of orgasm,” Albedo nodded, his words still too methodical for your amusement.

“And where did you study that? Did you ask Kaeya for tips?” you stifled your giggle with your hand.

Albedo laughed as well, enjoying this moment of intimacy and bonding with you.

“Of course not. I’ve just been studying the anatomy of the vulva and the vagina, and taking into account the numerous…” you interrupted him.

“Come here,” you said softly, your eyes softening as well. You motioned him to pull his fingers out and to lean further down, pulling him close on top of you. You looked him in the eye, you looked at his lips, at his star birthmark, then at his eyes again.

You both locked eyes, lids slowly dropping and pupils gradually dilating. Albedo liked this. The beginning of intimacy. Studying it was fascinating. Experiencing it was enrapturing.

“No more books for a little while, ok?” You whispered, running your fingers through his gorgeous blond hair that you had always dreamed of touching. It felt like silk. Golden strands of silk sliding between your fingers “Just for a while. Just two people who like each other and want to be close…” you proposed, blushing profusely at the implication of your words “C-can we?”

“Y/N, I…” his golden eyebrows rose over his icy eyes, mouth agape as a little breath escaped his delicate lips again, even if he didn’t need it. He hesitated. Many thoughts coursed through his mind, his expression looking somewhat guilty.

“Please,” you implored with your eyes pulling his hand away from the quill and the notes “You can write down your notes after we finish, ok?”

“But what if I forget…?” Albedo sighed with a longing expression.

“Nothing worth remembering will happen if you don’t come close and focus on me. On us,” You said blushing, looking at his lips to avoid his gaze, embarrassed “This experiment is very different from the ones you normally do. Trust me, ok? I’m no expert, I’m new to this too but the only thing I’m sure about is that you just gotta relax and flow with the moment…I learned that the hard way,” you whispered, getting your fingers lost in his golden hair.

“Y/N…” He mumbled, looking down at you as his lids slowly covered his blue irises.

You tensed. How to convince this chalkboy? You started to babble with a pleading tone:

“Please. It’s different. Because even if you’re still the scientist who wants to analyze the data, this time you’re part of the phenomena you want to study. And this is not an exact science, if you don’t focus and let loose that phenomenon is not going to happ…” Finally, his lips clashed against yours, ending your insistent speech. Finally, you convinced him.

“Y/N…” he mumbled again, his intense eyes piercing yours with a longing gaze “I wanna make something unforgettable happen now. Not just something worth studying, something worth remembering. For both of us.” He admitted. You saw him blush for the first time, unsure if he had done the right thing by kissing you like that.

“That was a great first step…” you smiled sweetly, calming his nerves, and pulling him closer.

It felt weird when he held you while his hands were still covered in those textured gloves, but the kiss you exchanged was so good nothing else mattered at that moment. His lips felt so nice. Solid, cold, rough, but in a nice way. You pulled him even closer until he was straddling you on the examination table, making it creak.

You made out while you caressed his hair and scalp, he smelled and tasted so good. Like vanilla, sweet flowers, and…somehow, icy. His body felt so unnaturally cold to the touch that you felt the need to give him a bear hug to warm him up.

Meanwhile, Albedo felt in heaven. So in heaven, he let go of the quill and notes. More than anything, he was a curious soul and loved having new experiences. And this was his first kiss ever. So he also allowed himself to explore something new without monitoring it meticulously for the first time ever. It was like a whole new world of exciting things had been opened in front of his eyes, along with a new challenge: learning everything about it without endless analysis and report sheets. Just two people, exploring their bodies and letting themselves burn in the tension and the feelings that had been building up for months.

“Umf…” Albedo kept discovering things about himself, and he loved that. First, he discovered he was an avid kisser. He kissed you exploring every nook and crevice of your mouth, enjoying the new world of smells, flavors, and textures that was your body. He kissed you with no limitation because unlike you he didn’t need to make pauses to breathe.

“Sorry,” he chuckled with a sweet smile, releasing you as you started to gasp for air. “I think I’m finally getting carried away…” a smug smirk played on his pale, delicate lips.

“Great…” you smiled back, truly glad, as you normalized your breath before placing your hands on his shoulders.

He was so lost in the kisses that it took him a bit to realize that you were tugging at his clothes. Right, this experiment had more steps. He wanted to experience more!

“Want me to disrobe…?” He asked with a kind yet teasing expression.

“Please…” you nodded, blushing when you realized just how needy you sounded, getting bright red when he chuckled in response. All that horniness you had been trying to suppress for so long finally had the chance to escape.

Between giggles, Albedo balanced himself on his knees while you tried to help him undress. You were of very little help in undoing the intricate belts and buttons of his eccentric attire (which you wondered if never got uncomfortable for him to wear), but he appreciated your intention nonetheless.

You felt a little flame rise in your lower belly when he discarded his giant coat and you saw him in a plain blue shirt, undone buttons exposing that star on his neck that you wanted to devour so much. You took your hands to the shirt and this time you were quick to undo all of its buttons, revealing his lean and slightly toned midriff.

Fuck he was hot. His alabaster-like skin had a subtle ethereal glow, just like his hair. He looked like some kind of angel. One with a very horny look on his face. Your heart raced, you had never seen him like that. You had seen his eyes with a teasing expression countless times before, but never lit up with desire. You couldn’t believe you were the one he desired. You didn’t understand how or why, but there was no point in questioning it right now, you just had to take this opportunity, he wanted you as much as you wanted him. Maybe even more…

You caressed his shoulders when you pulled his shirt down, leaving it hanging from his elbows because you thought he looked even sexier that way. His skin was smooth, soft, and his flesh was firm.

You pulled him down on top of you and you entangled in a passionate kiss again, your hands pawing at each other’s hair and backs.

You had to make little pauses to breathe, making his desire grow uncontrollably for more and more. He liked experiencing for once a feeling so strong that he had to make an effort and restrain himself so he could give you time to get your much-needed oxygen.

In one of your pauses, you finally acted on your primal desires and placed a hand on the back of his neck to press him down onto you and bit his star-shaped birthmark. He let out a joyous moan he didn’t know he was capable of producing as you licked and nibbled at his golden star, his Adam's apple protruding under his delicious neck. Damn, just damn, you turned him on in a way he had never felt before. He didn’t need oxygen. He needed you.

“Ah…” you moaned too when you felt him hump your bare pussy, arousing you further. You looked down and saw his slacks bulging needily. You blushed when you realized you had stained his fly with your juices.

Albedo had no option but to let go of you even if for a brief moment to release himself from those pesky pants that were getting in the way of that desperately needed connection with you. He looked down at himself for a moment to admire, amazed, the way his pants formed a tent like never before. This, too, was a new experience for him. He had been having these physical reactions for a while, when his desire got awakened by you. But he had never been this stiff, this throbbing. This desperate. Like he was finally part of the animal kingdom. He liked it. He enjoyed it.

He quickly undid his metallic belt with a swift movement, making a lewd sound that made you arch your back, and just the sight of your pussy bucking up and pleading for him made him open his eyes hungrily and he throbbed again. He needed you right now, so he didn't even bother to take off his pants. He just unbuttoned them and pulled them down enough to take his aching cock out.

He looked at it for a brief second, still taking in the sensation of seeing and feeling himself like that for the first time. He had never been so erect, so worked up. His cock was so sensitive that every pump of his artificial blood felt nice each time it made it throb, swaying slightly as it poked out of his underwear.

You were mesmerized, almost drooling as you saw such a delicious sight. That cock was so perfect, so immaculately white under its golden frame, pale pink hues etched delicately onto the pulsing veins on its upper side and onto the desperate tip. He was bigger than you expected. Not too big in length, but in girth. He was so thick it made your pussy throb in anticipation.

It was such a piece of eye candy that you made a futile attempt to get up from your laid position to try and grab him to, put him in your mouth. But Albedo didn’t even realize, and he didn’t give you time to do it. He was so enraptured by this animal awakening that he pushed you back down onto the table without even thinking. His hand was wrapped around the base of this organ that captured your attention so much, holding it firmly just to push it directly into your needy core.

And that’s exactly what he did. He didn’t waste time. He used his hand to guide it like he knew what he was doing and you felt its pale tip rub against your clit before it slid effortlessly into your drenched depths.

“Ah…~” a needy moan escaped your lips as you finally got the desires you had been suppressing for months fulfilled in an abrupt thrust that stretched you out just the way you liked.

As he released the base of his cock, he gave you an analyzing look to check if your whimpers meant that he was hurting you or making you feel good. And the dilated look on your pupils, drunk on pleasure over your flushed cheeks, was enough to make a wildfire ignite in his chest, ready to fuel that movement he had been studying tirelessly but which motivation he had never comprehended before this very moment.

His hands and knees rested at both sides of your body on the examination table as he loomed over you, his spine curved to position his face oh so close to yours. Out of your daze, you opened your eyes only to find his, burning despite their icy color like never before. You felt a rush of emotion, a blush that crept from your stomach up to your cheeks. You wrapped your legs around his narrow hips and your arms around his neck, caressing the hair on the back of his head, pulling him closer, making him yelp. But he quickly adjusted, a sweet giggle erupting from his defined lips. You exchanged amused and complicit smiles at this newfound connection. Neither of you could believe this was finally happening. It was like an impossible dream. And as if afraid that it could end at any moment, you wasted no time.

One of his hands propped him up, the other one found its place on your temple to hold it firmly and rub circles on your skin with his thumb. You tilted your hips, pulling him close into you with both your limbs and your hungry insides. He moaned again, feeling you suck him deeper and deeper. Deep until he hit the very bottom. And just When he thought there wouldn’t be anything else capable of turning him into an animal, he hit your cervix with his tip. And that’s when he lost himself.

“Archons…” he trembled as he knew this was the first time he was letting loose for real and losing control. He pulled all the way out just to thrust back in in a sharp motion that made you moan, only fueling his lust further. And then the studied, previously foreign motion felt natural, like a need he didn’t know he had. Back and forth, in and out, until the edge of the examination table rattled against the wall relentlessly.

As his thumb rubbed shakily onto your cheek, you pulled him impossibly closer, your bare legs wrapping tighter around his slim waist. It felt so damn good. The gloves had been amazing, but Albedo didn’t fall behind. His cock was so goddamn thick it filled you up in a way that made you wetter and wetter, slick dripping down your entrance and making a mess each time he pushed in and out. It rubbed so well every crevice, scratching those spots that tingled so tasty…

It was perfect, amazing, wild. Forehead against forehead, your sweat tainting his cold skin, the lab was filled with sounds so lewd they took your lust up a notch. The creaking of the examination table, suffering under both your weights, its slamming against the wall until the paint was dented, and the squelch…the squelch your drenched pussy made each time his cock pushed back inside was maddening.

His cock was cold like the rest of his body, further stimulating you until you lost all shame and started moaning as you observed his handsome face. Your heat warmed his body, and your sweat made his soft skin shimmer. Crazed out of pleasure, you bit his star again, a strangled moan erupting from his throat as your hands got lost in his blond hair, messing up his usually neat braid.

“Bedo…” you moaned, and that was his sweet demise.

It was too much. This wild experience, this sweet pleasure, and the fulfilling intimacy of you calling him a nickname in that lust-filled voice.

“Haah…” he couldn’t keep it in. The control slipped out of his hands for real for the first time in his life and it felt amazing. The orgasm hit him like a fucking truck, making him see white and making his always crowded mind go completely blank.

“Y-Y/N…” he moaned desperately, his already deep voice sounding breathier and huskier than ever before. Realizing what was happening, you held him even tighter as he rode his high for as long as he could.

As thick ropes of not exactly cold but unnaturally lacking in warmth cum spurted deep into your body, Albedo felt his mind heavy and hazy. He let out a guttural groan that made you horny as fuck, and kept pumping his semen inside of you, yet another new side of himself awakening this fateful afternoon. He felt as if he was an animal too, as if he was possessed by some kind of organic need to reproduce.

If he could, he would be sweating more than you, his brow furrowed in effort, pumping in desperately until his cock wasn’t hard enough to do it anymore. With another groan, this time of frustration, he collapsed on top of you.

“Ngh…” he sighed, and the examination table creaked and hit the wall one last time as his movements finally died down, his whole weight rested on you.

“There, there…” you said softly, still blushing a bit, but recovering your thinking and speaking capabilities now that he wasn’t pleasing you. You rubbed his back gently with your hand, hugging him.

Albedo took some moments to savor this delightful moment: the triumph of finally achieving the physical and emotional intimacy he had wanted with you for so long, the success in transcending the theory of this ritual he had studied tirelessly to finally experiencing it for himself, the post-orgasmic bliss, the memories he would never forget…

“I’m sorry…” he whispered after a while, his voice still husky and sexy to your lustful ears.

“S-sorry?” you raised your brows in perplexity “Why are you sorry for? I already told you that I forgive you…” you mumbled.

“Not for that,” he chuckled, finally recovering to slowly lift himself back up onto his hands to straddle you again “For releasing before you…” he said with that irresistible breathy voice, finally managing to steady himself onto the table. You found his relaxed expression and disheveled appearance beyond hot.

“Ah, don’t worry, that happens,” you said, blushing, despite the fact that that very rarely happened to you with Venti.

You saw him pull out of you with a very careful motion, your still needy pussy throbbing in frustration. You wondered what the hell was going through his mind as he placed his hand on it and separated your labia a bit to observe his semen pour down onto the table. You had never seen that look in his eyes before. You had never seen him bite his lip either. That made you blush even more.

“No, Y/N, you don’t worry. I’m not letting you go unfulfilled,” he replied with an enigmatic tone, engrossed in observing the white substance gushing out of your body.

A million questions ran through his mind. Regarding the full extent of his nature and existence. Regarding the possibility of his seed yielding any kind of fertility. His ever-curious nature came back to him recharged, now fueled by this previously unknown desire to breed.

“Oh…really?” was all you managed to mumble, looking up at him with red cheeks and again wondering what the hell was going on in that freaky mind of his. Up to this very day, you had always thought of Mr. Albedo as a very proper man. But now you were starting to realize that he was a weirdo.

“Most certainly,” he smiled with satisfaction as he tightened both textured gloves and pushed two fingers back into your needy core.

“Hyah!” you moaned, gripping the sides of the examination table. It didn’t matter if he was a weirdo, he was a weirdo who made you feel good.

“Does my invention have your approval, Y/N?” he asked, looking down at you with icy blue eyes full of hopefulness.

As he explored all of the pleasure points he had carefully studied in the few books that he had managed to find, all you could do was nod in between moans and give him a weak thumbs up.

You inhaled to tell him something, but he interrupted you again:

“I’m so glad. I wanted to ensure maximum pleasure. Please let me show you the full extent of the potential of this device!” he smiled, clearly excited to show off his creation and gain your validation. And then came your sweet demise.

Because with the push of a button, the textured gloves started to vibrate. To fucking vibrate.

Ah, Archon-forsaken Albedo…he could be as much of a freak as he wanted! This was too much, too much…did this even exist in Teyvat? Had he just built a gadget that he could patent and get rich?

You didn’t know. All you knew was that now you were the one throwing your head back and moaning in pleasure, louder than ever before. So loud that you were lucky you were alone at the lab today.

“Is it good?” Albedo smiled down at you, his artificial heart beating excitedly in his chest.

Your moans were ragged, not pleasant or erotic to the ears at all. They sounded more like an agonizing animal. But they showed just how much of a good time you were having. And that made Albedo giggle in pure satisfaction.

He kept fingering you, and pressed the vibrating part against the head of your clit until your hips snapped and you let out a loud and labored moan. And then the disaster.

The vibrations that were applied to the head of your clit traveled through your nerves until they reached your brain, turning it into pudding. Your mind went blank, and your body reacted in a way previously unknown to you.

“Mesmerizing…” Albedo mumbled in utter fascination as you came undone, panting and moaning, and let out a generous squirt of warm whitish liquid that stained everything, tainting the air with yet another pungent aroma.

“Al…bedo…” you moaned weakly, trying to apologize as your brain was trying to recover its solid state.

“Don’t worry, it’s perfect,” He said softly, with a calm smile. With lidded eyes glinting with wishes untold, he observed the mess splattered all over his clothes and the examination table. His usual self wanted to collect all kinds of samples and his newfound animalistic side wanted to lick it clean.

“P-perfect?” You asked weakly, slowly closing your shaky legs to lay on your side and try to normalize your breath after that mind-blowing orgasm.

“Yes, Y/N, it was perfect. You are perfect.” He smiled, looking at you as if he was in a trance and scooting closer “You are so special. So very special…” he added with his silky voice, cupping your chin with a gentle hand to make you look at him.

You looked into his eyes. They were icy blue and pretty as ever. But there was something different in them you hadn’t seen before. At that moment, you had no idea what it was about.

Albedo was a very good host for the end of the evening. He helped you clean yourself and didn’t complain about the mess you had made in his lab. He cooked for you and you had a pleasant conversation over dinner, huddled up and protected from the cruel cold of the outside. You felt your friendship with him grow. When it was late and dark and obviously time to go, he told you to stay the night and to leave in the morning when it was less dangerous. “Crossing Dragonspine during the night is unwise and imprudent!” He had said.

And he was so hospitable so as to let you into his private room to sleep in his bed. So that was what you did. You slept by his side, snuggled into warm blankets that made the snowstorm outside seem like a distant dream.

Contrary to your expectations, there was no sex that night. You slept peacefully while Albedo was in the lab, and when he seemed to finish his experiments and came back to the room to sit on the bed, next to you, he continued to take notes on uncountable papers.

From time to time, he turned his head to see you and check if you were asleep and to squeeze your hand affectionately or pat your back in a soothing manner.

But you didn’t have any more sex. That night.

The next morning you left in peace, and you didn’t have sex with him again until months later, when you returned from Liyue.

In the letters you exchanged, the growing friendship and trust was clear and so were the intentions of repeating the experience. But both of you were ignorant of something very important about the other. Albedo was too subtle with his hints and you didn’t pick them up.

So the first time you returned to Mondstadt after your endeavors in Liyue, he took the chance and invited you for dinner.

That night, he told you about his desire to procreate with you, and you, flabbergasted, literally said ‘no, thank you’. He was surprised, and asked you why you had sex with him months ago if the idea of reproducing was so unpleasant to you. And you, shocked, had to admit that you just assumed he was sterile. Because he was...right?

Albedo had cleared his throat uncomfortably and had told you that he was not sure about this, that he desperately wanted to know if there was a possibility that he could have his own children. It was obvious to you that it was a sensitive topic for him. So it was hard to find the words and the tone to reject his proposal and keep your friendship intact.

How did you make it? How did you tell him that you had no intentions of having children, that your priority was to find your brother, that he shouldn’t feel down, that he would he a wonderful father even if he wasn’t a biological one, that now you were always taking a contraceptive herb given to you by some wise ladies in Liyue and that you two could have sex as long as you took that herb just in case he ended up being fertile?

Well, that’s a topic for another story.

This one ends here. But you never knew if Albedo was simply sterile or if that intense day at the lab you didn’t get pregnant because of pure luck.

Oof! I can't believe I finally posted this weird thing. I'm not sure I like how this one turned out, it has many incongruences because it was started in...2021!!! Can you believe that?? 💀💀 I'm literally not the same person I was when I fisrt started this drabble. I had to fix and rewrite the beginning because this was one of my first attempts at writing in english, I had no idea about english punctuation during dialogues and many other important things. I had to add quotation marks and commas to every single old dialogue 💀 Also upon re reading it I realized just how creepy the situation was originally so I rewrote it a bit to try and fix it? I dunno if I fixed it. Guess I witnessed things irl that made me open my eyes about certain things so I cut out parts that grossed me out and re wrote them. I know I wouldn't write something like that nowadays, it's impressive to see the changes on my writing and my thinking over time, specially over such a short period of time like 2021-2024, I usually focus on the changes from the things I used to write when I was in highschool. It would have been interesting if I had completed this fic back then and compare it to a new fic, but I didn't so I got this weird Frankenstein hybrid instead.

Not only you can see the messy seams in this piece because of the changes on my views but you can also notice the incongruence in Y/N's behavior 💀 This story happens before Y/N travels to Liyue from the first time, so she was still a shy and inexperienced woman, she just had her first love, first kiss, first everything with Venti and that is clear in the beginning, where I left the dialogues and inner thoughts I wrote back in 2021, while towards the middle and the sex scene she suddenly jumps to being the Y/N of the current version, who has seen lots of stuff in Teyvat and had tons of things to show to Albedo. Oops...💀 I tried to fix it so that she wouldn't be as forward as she would be now, but I really wanted to finish this fic and I found it really boring to write shy, inexperienced, insecure, passive Y/N, so in the name of having fun at writing I ended up with a thing in between. But honestly that part where she manipulates him and plays him like a fiddle is 100% post Fontaine Y/N and completely out of cronology. Tried to tone her down during sex to reflect her little experience, dunno if succeeded.

I don't entirely dislike this piece because I think it illustrates well the relationship I envisioned for Y/N and Albedo and I think their cringe and socially inept dialogues are on point to that. Albedo struggles with being overly formal without trying because that's just the way he talks, and shy, people pleasing Y/N used to mimic that, even if Albedo desperately wants her to drop the formalities with him and doesn't know how to ask for it properly. Yeah towards the sex scene that falters and current Y/N shows but oh well. Guess this is what happens when you leave a fic unfinished for 3 whole years. I wanted to take this off my drafts desperately. I want to finish those old projects I wanted out so I can make space for the new ideas I have! Lately I've been really in the mood for starting a new fic. And hopefully finish it within a year before I completely lose touch with the feelings and views that inspired it.

I started writing erotica ten years ago when I was 14 💀 And at first everything was so wholesome until I got unsupervised internet access and porn ruined my mind. I started this blog to slowly reconnect and reconcile with sex and sexuality and upon re reading the first fics I posted (*cough cough* the Scara ones specially*) I think that's working. And what happened over the years with this fic is a perfect example of that. Can't wait to see if I improved when I start a brand new one.

This fic was supposed to be finished and posted in March 💀 And we are ENDING JUNE 💀💀💀 My sincere apologies if anyone thought I was dead or dropped the fandom, the truth is that I still write a lot whenever I can, but because of university I have no time for organizing, editing and posting. At the beginning of the year, when I said I would post a fic per month, I was totally underestimating how hard sophomore year can be 💀 It was also super hard for me to finish fics about characters who are not Scara/Kuni/Wanderer 😳 I'll have some free time in a few weeks, so hopefully I'll gather the strength to polish and post all the raw content that's sitting dormant in my drafts.

I missed Tumblr and my blog so much 🥺 I wish I had more time for this. I have tons 9f unread notifications and no time to read them all. I don't even have time to read fanfics nor the books I bought for pleasure, because I need to finish reading for university 🥺

I dunno what or when (hopefully as soon as possible) next post or posts will be, so expect the unexpected 😅 Or make your requests, I'm working on two at the moment (that person who asked for Ei catching step-siblings Kuni and Y/N, if you happen to be reading this, I'm halfway through it, I swear!)

Anyway, I just hope all the people who voted for this fanfic like it if even a bit, despite it being a bit of a Frankenstein. It has some parts that I like a lot. See you next time!

#genshin impact #genshin x reader #genshin smut #genshin x you #genshin fanfic #fanfic #albedo #albedo x reader #albedo smut #albedo x you

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am-i-the-asshole-official · 1 year ago

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😴😴😴 (to find later) AITA for putting sleeping pills in my boyfriend's drinks without him knowing?

I know this sounds absolutely awful, but please bear with me.

Basically, me (27 m) and my boyfriend (26 m) have been living together for around five years, meaning we usually also sleep together. Or at least we try, since my BF suffers from terrible insomnia and reoccurring nightmares so bad sometimes he wakes up into a full on anxiety attack. He does go to therapy and has prescribed sleeping pills, but he hates taking them because he's always afraid that when he does fall asleep he's just going to have nightmares, (which also just makes him avoid sleeping in general even not including his insomnia).

Usually I try to help him by staying up with him, watching his favorite show while cozied up on the couch under a bunch of blankets and with a hot coco, or we do something else that he likes and helps him relax. I really don't mind, I love him and I love spending time with him. However, it used to be that he would fall asleep at around 3-4 AM, but as time went on he started staying up longer and longer, until at a certain point I literally had to start leaving for work in the morning while he still hadn't gotten any sleep.

This was an issue for two reasons: 1. Obviously, without me there he felt even less comfortable and had an even harder time falling asleep, sometimes staying up for even 48 hours (or maybe more, I'm not sure) just to wait for me to come back home so I could help him unwind again. 2. He actually started lying to me about sleeping while I wasn't home, so that I would go to sleep normally and let him stay awake because "he wasn't tired" even though I could clearly tell he was.

That's when I started getting seriously concerned and questioning him about how much he actually sleeps, especially since I could see it was affecting him more and more both mentally and physically. He was avoidant about the topic but I pleaded with him to talk to his therapist about it, to try and find anything else to help him. Apparently his therapist just told him to keep using his sleeping pills to help with the insomnia, and if they're not working she'll look into prescribing him stronger ones. Yet despite that he still insists on not taking them and just going to bed normally even though it's clearly not working.

To clarify: as far as I'm aware, he has no negative side-effects from these sleeping pills, he's never complained about feeling any pain or feeling worse after taking them or anything like that. Literally he only doesn't want to take them because he's just that afraid of going to sleep.

That's why whenever we stay up nowadays, I always add a small dose to his cup of coco, which thankfully has a strong enough taste to cover the pills (I've tried a small bit myself and couldn't tell a difference). Since I started doing that, he's been regularly falling asleep before 2AM and even though the nightmares still sometimes wake him up or make him feel a bit tired in the morning, overall he's been doing much better.

Still, I do feel bad about putting stuff in his drinks without his knowledge even if it's for his own good. I really wonder if I should stop, but I'm really scared that if I do, he'll start spiralling again. I want to help him and be there for him but I've already tried talking about it and it never worked. So, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

#aita #am i the asshole

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skzdust · 1 year ago

Text

You're Better

Part 2

This is smut. MINORS DNI.

Request from @velvetmoonlght! I'm sorry it took so long, hope it was worth the wait!!

Summary: Felix and you have had a slightly strange relationship since fucking in the library last week. You're getting together for a "study session" tonight at Felix's apartment, but what happens when his roommate Bang Chan gets home...

Pairing: Academic rival!Felix x afab (she/her) reader

Includes: rivalry, penetrative sex, rivals with feelings, enemies to lovers, unprotected sex (please use condoms and pee after sex!), oral sex (m receiving), begging, hair pulling, "good girl", surprise but consensual voyeurism, fingering

Word count: 1.5k

Taglist (Comment on a post/send an ask if you'd like to be added): @weirdowithaphone, @caught-in-the-afterglow, @palindrome969, @skzstan12345

Reblogs, likes, comments all appreciated!! Thank you for reading!!

Part 1 | Part 3

Masterlist

-----

When you’d gone over to Felix’s apartment, you’d planned for it to be a study session, you really had.

But you weren’t complaining now that his fingers were inside you. You moaned, leaning your head back. “Fuck, Felix.”

“You want more, baby?” He curled his fingers up, hitting a spot inside you that made you see stars.

“Yes, please, want your cock inside me.”

Felix made a strangled groan. “God, I’m so screwed.”

“What?” You opened your eyes, looking up at him.

“You.” He said simply, moving faster.

You swallowed another moan, keeping eye contact with him. “What does that mean?”

“I still hate you.”

“I thought you wanted to go on a date with me?”

He thrust his fingers into you, and you inhaled sharply. Pleasure washed over your body like a wave, and you whined as his other hand tangled in your hair.

“I did. I do. That’s the issue.” He all but growled. “I want to be better than you at everything, and I wanna fuck you sore, but I also wanna take you out to dinner.” He says it with disdain, his grip tightening in your hair.

“So?”

“I’m not used to it. I don’t like it.”

“Have you considered maybe you just have a little crush on me?” You grinned.

He rolled his eyes and pulled his fingers out of you. “Want me to stop?”

“No, no!”

He teased around your entrance. “Then we’re done talking about feelings.”

“Okay, we’re done talking about feelings.” You whimpered. “Will you fuck me now?”

He laughed, low and dangerous, unwinding his fingers from your hair and letting you go. “Yeah, baby.”

Felix and you have had a strange relationship since first fucking in the library a week ago. You’d come to his apartment one evening a couple of days later, needy, and he’d happily fucked you again. And now here you were, on his couch, a throw pillow propping your hips up as he unbuckled his belt.

The date he’d mentioned—as well as further discussion on what exactly this meant—hadn’t happened. You’d had a brief talk in the library about sexual boundaries, clarifying and elaborating upon what you’d agreed to in the heat of the moment, and you mentioned your IUD. Your conversation just now was about as deep as you’d gotten emotionally, though.

But you didn’t even care about that as his belt fully came off and he pulled out his cock. Actually, the ache between your legs became the only thing you really cared about.

He looked at you, gently stroking himself. “Open your mouth.”

“What?” You said, but followed his instruction.

“Good girl.” He pushed the fingers that had just been inside you into your mouth. “Wanna clean off my fingers for me before we start?”

You moaned around his fingers, tasting yourself. He pressed down on your tongue, and you opened your mouth wider. “Good.” He muttered before taking them out, leaving your lips parted and your eyes big. “God, you look like you were made to take cock in that pretty mouth.”

“Then take my mouth.” You whispered.

He lifted an eyebrow. “I thought you wanted me to fuck you?”

“If you want me to suck you off first, and then fuck me…” You bit your lip, wondering if he’d go for it.

“God, baby, you’re gonna be the death of me.” He whispered, then motioned to the floor with a nod of his head. “On your knees, ‘kay?”

You couldn’t get there fast enough, kneeling by the couch.

Felix’s fingers ran through your hair, and you closed your eyes, the sensation intimate.

“Can you open your mouth for me, gorgeous? Can’t wait to feel your throat around me.” He gently tugged back on your hair so you were looking up at him.

Jesus. He was pretty from every angle, but looking up at him from between his legs was a new one. You opened your mouth.

Felix maintained eye contact with you as he eased himself into your mouth, letting out a low moan. “Shit, you feel good.”

Felix began to gently fuck your mouth. His fingers twisted in your hair, and the not quite pain only turned you on more. You whined, high and pathetic.

“Want me inside your pussy, baby?” He crooned. “Want me deep inside you? Want me to cum inside?”

“Yes,” You moaned around him, your eyes unfocusing as you focused on breathing between his strokes. “Yes, I do.”

“Good girl. Good, good girl. Fuck, so good for me.”

He kept going, and you swam in a haze of strong sensations and “good girl”s and the aching need burning in your veins until you could tell from the sounds he made and the way he twitched that he was close, and he—

The lock to the apartment door clicked and opened.

You both froze, looking up.

Felix’s roommate, Bang Chan, stood in the doorway, eyes wide. “Um…”

“Chan!” Felix nearly jumped away from you, fingers shaking as he did up his fly. “I—er—sorry to do things in the living room—”

“No need to apologize.” Chan’s eyes dropped to you, and he smiled. “Nice to meet you, y/n.”

“You know my name?” You turned to Felix, wiping the spit off your chin. “Have you been talking about me?”

He rolled his eyes. “Only to complain.”

“Complain about how you drive him crazy!” Chan locked the door behind him. “Felix is really into you, and—”

“Shut up!” Felix death stared at Chan.

You laughed. “So you do have a little crush on me!”

He turned his glare on you. “Chan is messing with you.”

“Sure.”

It was quiet for a moment.

“Well, I mean, don’t stop on my account.” Chan waved his hand and started to walk to his room, you guessed.

“Y/n…” Felix looked at you.

“Yeah?”

“We talked a little about voyeurism when we were in the library, if you remember that.”

“I do.” You nodded, smiling. You could tell where this was going, and you were excited.

“Do you want to ask Chan if he wants to watch?” He all but purred.

“Chan?” You said loudly, in response.

He turned around. “Hm?”

“Do you wanna watch?”

He blinked. “What?”

“Do you wanna watch Felix fuck me on your couch?”

Chan looks to Felix. “You’d be okay with me watching?”

“More than okay.” Felix’s hands suddenly moved back to your hair. He knew it was your weak point, and you moaned as he tugged on it. “C’mon, come watch me fuck my girl.”

If you weren’t kneeling, you might’ve fallen over.

My girl.

Felix’s girl.

It turned you on more than you could effectively express.

Chan sat down in one of the living room chairs, unzipping his pants. “Don’t mind me.”

Felix smirked. “Let’s put on a show for Chan, baby.”

You nodded, opening your mouth again.

“You’ve earned my cock at this point, on your back.”

You eagerly climbed onto the couch, pushing the pillow back under your hips and spreading your legs. Felix lined himself up with your entrance, then looked over at Chan. “Watch her face. She just falls apart on my cock. You’ll see.”

Your body was on fire with desire, and Felix’s words only stoked the flames. When he pushed inside you, your mouth fell open, the taste of his cock still on your tongue, and you let out a moan that might’ve been Felix’s name.

“Fuck.” Chan said, his voice heavy. “She is falling apart. It’s really fucking hot.”

“Isn’t it?”

Something about the way they talked about you, as if you weren’t there, was turning you on even more. Your hips bucked up, seeking friction.

Felix held them down. “Oh, baby, let me take my time.” He seated himself entirely inside you, and then… nothing. He didn’t fuck you, just occasionally twitched inside you.

You whined. “Fuck me, please.”

Chan’s voice was a low rumble. “She’s so fucking needy.”

“I know.” Felix gave you one thrust, and you sighed in pleasure.

“Felix, more, please.”

“Begging.” Chan noted. “Bet you love that shit, Lix.”

“You’re right, I do.” Felix thrust into you twice. “When she tells me she’s close, and begs me to keep going, begs me to cum, that’s the best part.” He stilled again. “But I wanna drag this out, since you’re here. Drive her a little insane.”

“Felix, please, please don’t drag it out, let me cum.”

He laughed and looked at you, eyes smoldering. “I’m gonna fuck you how I please, alright, baby? Tell me yellow or red if you need to, and we’ll go from there, but if you don’t, I’m gonna keep teasing you.” He fucked into you again, looked back at Chan. “I’m gonna let her cum, but I wanna make her work for it, first.”

“Yes, Felix.” You whined.

“Don’t make her wait too long.” Chan said. “I wanna see what that pretty face looks like when it’s too drunk on your cock to think.”

You involuntarily tightened around Felix at that, and he groaned. “I think she’s pretty cock drunk already, but don’t worry, Chan. We’re just getting started."

#stray kids #stray kids fic #felix #bang chan #skz x reader #stray kids x reader #lee felix #lee felix x reader #felix x reader #smut #skz smut #stray kids smut #felix smut #x reader #x reader smut #skzdust writes

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erwinsvow · 1 year ago

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ive been rereading ur bitchy reader stuffs n pleek do more of the pope cameo.. HER SAYING DICK APPT WHEN RAFE COMPLAINED ABT HER HAVING POPES NUMBER MADE ME GIGGLE OUT LOUD pretty please give us more of them 🤲

i imagine her being pissed off at rafe so she keeps giving him the cold shoulder and when he asks something she’d just go “maybe i should’ve gone to heywards instead he wont treat me like this 🙄” BUT ITS SO FUNNY KNOWING SHE DOESNT LIKE POGUES !!!!

LMFAOOO THIS IS KILLING ME!! one thing about my readers, their secret pogue crush is always gonna be pope <3

one thing you had in common with rafe—despite the glaring differences that were so hard to ignore—was that you both didn't care much for pogues.

that was putting it lightly, rafe despised them and you just didn't like them. but some were more tolerable than others—for example, the maybank boy who seemed to you the equivalent of a toddler with sticky hands versus pope heyward, who used to tutor in math. you don't know why or how they're friends, just that you like pope enough to be friendly, or rather polite, and you definitely don't like maybank enough to even think about him.

rafe didn't like any of them, and you didn't really care. you weren't in the habit of defending pogues, and certainly not when you were constantly trying to remind sarah to stay away from them, even though she never listened.

but seeing how angry rafe seemed to get at the mere mention was enough to give you some ideas. when you had jokingly—although now you remember you hadn't really ever clarified—said that you had pope's number because of dick appointments, rafe had gotten so angry it had resulted in the best sex of your life.

you were curious to know what else you could get out of it. unfortunately, your curiosity didn't last for very long. rafe pissed you off just as much as you pissed him off, and though these thoughts were often in one ear and out the other for you.

like today. you had been waiting for twenty whole minutes at the club for rafe, who had insisted he would be on time even though you knew he would probably run late since he was coming from barry's—all the way across town.

all he had to do was admit it, and you would have come later, but instead he had told you to show up at noon and that he wasn't going to be late.

normally you would show up at half past and just tell him to fuck off, but if he really was on time you would never hear the end of it. so you showed up on time and waited... and waited.

rafe finally shows up about forty minutes later, and you stare at him with your signature look—eyes rolling back, an i-told-you-so expression with arms crossed. you could make it more withering if you wanted, but right now you just wanted to hear rafe admit he was wrong.

"shut the fuck up," he says, taking a seat the table. your half drunken diet coke has left a ring of condensation, and you move the cup towards you, wondering how you'd become the kind of girl that waits forty minutes for a guy to show up.

"first of all, i didn't even say anything. second of all, you shut the fuck up. i'm the one who was forty-fucking-minutes late."

"it took longer-"

"longer than you thought? yeah, i said that. yesteday."

"well m'here now, so just order."

you huff, scanning the menu and not sure exactly what retort to use. instead you settle for shutting up entirely, not speaking to rafe the entire time. the waitress comes and goes, the food comes and goes, and you look up when rafe speaks but don't say anything back.

rafe thinks you'll give it up once lunch is over, but you grew up in a household where an hour of silent treatment is child's play. so the car ride to tannyhill, throughout the movie you put on and when you walk away to make popcorn, you haven't said a word.

while the movie credits roll, you look down at your phone, waiting for your apology and deciding when to leave if you don't get it.

"are you seriously gonna ignore me the entire day?"

you stare at rafe, not answering. this is your withering look.

"fine, princess. your choice," rafe shrugs. "finally got you to shut up for once."

you take a moment for his words to really hit you. like any other girl in the world, that comment from your boyfriend hurts a little. it even stings. you don't like the words in the air and you can even tell it left a bitter taste in rafe's mouth. he looks like he's just realizing he overstepped a little. then, for the first time since you saw rafe that day, you speak.

"you know, it's a good thing i didn't delete heyward's number from my phone. times like this i realize how handy it can be."

"what the fuck is th-"

"i mean, really, rafe. even these pogues you hate so much would treat me better than you do. i should go call him up now-"

"okay, princess i get it-"

"bet he'd probably fuck me better than-"

"okay, enough. jesus, i get it. m'sorry, okay? can you knock it off now?"

"i'm not knocking anything off. and you can go fuck yourself if you can't apologize for a little thing like being late-"

"i'm sorry, okay? now can you stop talking about pope fuckin' heyward?" you huff, finally a little pleased he apologized.

"thank you. was that so hard?"

"oh shut up-"

"you shut up. and don't be late again. or i'll show you fuckin' heyward-"

"enough!"

#rafe cameron #rafe cameron x reader #bitchy reader

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maidragoste · 2 years ago

Text

The One He Really Wanted

Daemon Targaryen x Velaryon!Reader

The scene I left out of chapter 5 of "The Sea Dragon, the clubfoot and the green queen". Laena deserves a better husband 😔

Sorry, I was supposed to upload this yesterday but I came back tired from university

Comments, reblogs, likes are always greatly appreciated 🥰💖💖

My inbox is open so I'm always willing to read your headcanons, opinions and answer your questions 💖

Disclaimer: English is not my first language so I apologize for any mistakes.

It was strange to see Daemon so calm. You never thought you would see him holding your son so carefully or see the softness in his eyes. You never saw him interested in Jacaerys or any of his nephews so you thought he would be just as indifferent to your children. Well, Alyn didn't seem to be of Daemon's interest but Aethan was another story. Whenever Daemon came to see you, he preferred to hold him in his arms instead of Alyn. You have the feeling that it has to do with your youngest child having different colored eyes. One purple, like you, and one blue, like Larys. You knew that Daemon's mother also had different colored eyes but unlike your son, her other eye was green instead of blue.

“Does he remind you of her?” you asked, drawing the prince's attention and making him take his eyes off the baby to look at you. “Your mother,” you clarified just in case before he decided to play dumb.

“I've long forgotten what her face looks like,” Daemon confessed and you didn't even think about it when you took his hand and squeezed it. You felt sorry for him. Your mother was one of the most important people in your life, you wouldn't know what you would do without her. You couldn't imagine growing up without her.” When Viserys saw Aethan he said that he reminded him of our mother. I thought that maybe if I looked closely at it at some point I would remember her. I know, it's something stupid” a bitter laugh escaped his lips.

“I don't think it's something stupid,” you said firmly as you caressed his hand with your thumb. "You shouldn't feel ashamed for thinking about your mother. But you can stay calm. I won't tell anyone that the great Daemon Targaryen has feelings" you said in the last part with fake exasperation making the prince smile. It didn't take you long to mirror his smile. You liked this Daemon better, not the idiot who had spent months being a damn bother with his comments about Jacaerys' true paternity. If Larys were with you he would tell you not to be stupid, that the prince would probably return to his old attitude when Rhaenyra's other bastard was born.

Aethan complained seeing that he was no longer the center of attention making you laugh.

“He's demanding like you,” Daemon said, reluctantly letting go of your hand only to rock the baby again, quickly calming his whining.

“You're good to him, you know?” The softness in your eyes didn't have to mean anything to Daemon but everything about you matters to him. Again he wondered what things would be like now if he had shown up to your wedding with Harwin Strong, if he had let you know that it was an option, that he wanted you. Maybe it would be your child and his that he held in his arms, maybe Aethan would have a green eye like his mother. “You and Laena should give Aethan and Alyn cousins to play with.” At the mention of your sister brought Daemon back to reality.

“Maybe in a long time from now” you couldn't help but be disappointed when you saw her non-existent excitement at the idea of starting a family with your sister, you knew that Laena longed to have her own family. You and Laenor had noticed how loving she was with your children and how she would stare longingly every time Daemon picked up one of the twins.

“Aethan would be angry if we took the focus off of him,” the prince excused himself as he saw the disappointment in your eyes. “He can barely share my attention with you, imagine with another baby.”

Before you could tell him that he was talking shit the doors opened revealing your mother. You watched in confusion as she narrowed her eyes in the prince's direction. What did Daemon do to upset your mother? Had he fought with your sister?

��What did you do?” you whispered.

“Your mother is only bothered by my simple existence” he replied although he knew why Rhaenys was looking at him like that. His cousin always knew that the one he really wanted was you. Laena could pretend to have never seen him look at you but Rhaenys didn't so she was always aware of his interactions with you.

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honeyhotteoks · 2 years ago

Text

this night together - chapter eleven (j.yh + s.mg)

chapter eleven: a new love song

chapter summary: time, and a well worded letter, heals all wounds. finally, it's time to let go.

warnings: nothing really, social drinking, etc.

notes: reminder that if you're reading this on or around 12.3.23 when it's posted, i'm uploading three chapters at once! if you haven't read chapter ten, go do that before you skip ahead!!

pairings: alpha!yunho x alpha!mingi x omega!reader

genre: smut, a/b/o/omegaverse, angst, fluff, romance, polyamory

word count: 5.2k

previous chapter | next chapter | AO3

The party is bright, bursting with light and color and art. You can feel Hongjoong’s presence everywhere from the moment you step through the doors and you almost feel underdressed. You selected your outfit for him, something a little bolder than you’d normally do, but something that truly suits the occasion and the honored guest. You adjust the top of your black trousers and glance down to ensure the cream white blouse that is parted open is still firmly secured with the hidden tape you painstakingly applied. You hope your lipstick is staying put.

The listening party for New World’s new mini album is in full swing, but the night is about more than just that. Their tour has ended, everyone back on Korean soil, and it will be the first time anyone will hear the album from start to finish and the first time you’ll be face to face with them again.

Three months of nothing, no contact except the letter. The letter you’ve read about a hundred times.

You texted Wooyoung, San, and Seonghwa of course, and they mentioned Yunho and Mingi occasionally, but always in the broader context of what they were doing on tour. You saw them in pictures, travel shots on Instagram or Snapchat stories of their nights out, but otherwise nothing. For three months you let it marinate, and your feelings haven’t changed in the slightest. All you have to do now is find them in this crowd and clear the air.

It’s no surprise you’re as late as you are, your stomach was in knots getting ready and leaving your apartment had you practically coming apart at the seams. The idea of talking to them is simple, but you’ve rehearsed what you want to say over and over and you can’t imagine how they’ll respond. You take a glass of sparkling wine from one of the caterers and realize there are far more people here than you thought there would be. When you pictured a listening party you expected an intimate crowd, but the gallery space KQ rented is full of faces, some you know and some you don’t. You’re pretty sure you’ve missed the album playthrough at this point, you just hope no one’s noticed your absence.

“You look so good!” A voice from behind you makes you turn, and you smile when you see Dahan in her sparkly wrap dress.

“So do you,” You give her a quick, friendly hug.

“This is your first one, right?” She asks, looking past you to find a drink tray.

“Listening party?” You clarify, “Yeah,”

“This is definitely the nicest one so far,” She all but whispers to you, “New World is pulling in that tour money now,”

“Ah,” You nod.

“Usually it’s at a nice restaurant or something, not quite so many people,” She explains, snagging a drink, “not that I’m complaining, dressing up is fun,”

“Do you see Hongjoong at all?” You crane your neck and look through some of the bodies, but you can’t really see anyone else you know closely.

“Mm,” She joins you, “no, but Yujin and some of the others are over there,”

You follow her gaze, “Perfect,”

She starts weaving through and you follow, keeping close to her and protecting your drink as you side step around and behind people.

When you make it to the little circle of BB Trippin dancers, you slot right in alongside Dahan and give everyone a smile, “Hey,”

Everyone greets you warmly, but you wonder absently where your little pocket of close friends are hiding. Yujin draws your attention though when she says, “Jaemin’s here,”

“He is?” Your eyes widen. You barely ever see him, but it does make sense that he would attend an opportunity to bump elbows with people in the industry.

“Mhm,” She nods, “I saw him talking to Yunho earlier.”

Butterflies curl in your stomach, “Yunho’s here?”

“Mhm,” She takes a sip of her drink, “somewhere,”

“You look really nice,” Minseok interrupts, stepping a little closer so you can hear him better, “I like the whole, you know,” he gestures up and down to indicate he means your outfit and you nod.

“Thanks,” You nod, “you clean up nice too,”

“Oh yeah?” He shrugs, “Thanks,”

You start to turn back to Yujin who looks like she has something more to say, but Minseok keeps going, “Have you met Hongjoong?”

“Oh,” You start.

“He’s a nice guy,” He continues, “you’d like his vibe, or at least, I think you would,”

“Actually,”

“I’m not sure if you know this or not, but it’s his voice that’s on a lot of the initial guide tracks we get,”

You do know that, but you nod and take a long sip of your drink, ice slipping down and connecting with your lip as you tip it back a little further.

“He’s a bit eccentric,” Minseok continues.

“Who’s a bit eccentric?” Seonghwa cuts in, stepping into the circle and cutting smoothly between you and Minseok, another drink for you ready in his hands.

Minseok’s lips close.

“Hi, Hwa,” You smile, “that for me?”

“Of course,” He trades your nearly empty glass for the full one and leans in to press a fast kiss on your cheek, “you look beautiful,”

“Stop,” You resist the urge to actually nudge him in front of too many people and give off the wrong idea about how close the two of you are, but you give him the best withering look you can.

He ignores you though, “Who’s eccentric?”

“Oh,” You do your best to keep the smile off your lips, “Minseok was just telling me about Hongjoong,”

“Mm,” Seonghwa glances to the side at him, “is he?”

“Artistic might be the right word,” Minseok corrects himself.

“Well, that’s true,” You nod.

“Oh,” Minseok blinks, “so you know him?”

“Well, yes, I,” You start to say but Seonghwa cuts you off.

“Speak of the devil,” He nods and when you turn you catch sight of Hongjoong heading right for you both. He’s dressed in the most decadent dark blue velvet suit you’ve ever seen, and the combination of that and his freshly dyed blue hair makes him look like more of an idol, not a producer.

“My ears were burning,” Hongjoong says wryly, and then his eyes flick over you, “I love this,”

“I thought you might,” You grin, moving forwards to greet him with a hug, “congratulations, Hongjoong, this is all beautiful,”

“Thank you so much for coming,” He gives you a squeeze, “we keep missing each other for dinner,”

“I know, I’ve been so busy lately,” You tell him, “but let’s plan something soon,”

He nods and smiles and then turns his attention to the group, “Thank you all so much for coming,” he says.

Minseok looks a little put out next to Seonghwa, and you hope you didn’t embarrass him, but he and everyone else greets Hongjoong and they loop through the congratulations on the finished album. Once pleasantries are done, he focuses his attention back on you, “I have someone I want you to meet,” he says.

“Oh?”

“Mhm,” His hand settles on your back as he turns to the group, “can I steal these two for a bit?” He nods his head towards you and Seonghwa.

He doesn’t really wait for permission, he’s just being polite, and he steers you out of the circle and starts walking you back through the crowd closer to the stage area.

“When did you get in?” Hongjoong asks Seonghwa as you walk.

“This morning,” He says, “we were supposed to land last night but our flight was so delayed leaving LA,”

“Thank you for coming anyways,” Hongjoong smiles, “I’m sure you’re exhausted,”

“It’s fine,” He shrugs it off, “we’ll get back on timezone soon, I’m sure,”

“Flight was okay otherwise?” You ask, but Seonghwa catches your eye and gives you a knowing smile.

“Mhm,” He nods, “We’re all home safe and sound, I’m sure everyone else is here somewhere,”

“Good,” Your throat feels tight, the idea that around one of these corners you’ll find Yunho and Mingi, “that’s good,”

After three months without any contact, you’re going to have to physically restrain yourself from blurting out how you feel the second you see them. The last time they saw you was awkward at best, and considering the way you left things after the fight, the quickest way to confuse them would be to tell them you want them back with no apology, no preamble. But either way the words still form on your tongue in your imagination, and you’re mid internal monologue when Hongjoong stops walking and brings you back to reality.

“y/n,” He says, gesturing to the couple across from you, “Seonghwa, I’d like you to meet Choi Jongho and his fiance Kim Eunji,”

“Oh!” You can’t help the surprised sound that leaves you, “You’re the vocalist Hongjoong has told me so much about!”

Choi Jongho smiles politely, eyes flicking to Hongjoong, but then he nods, “That’s me,”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” You dip your head in quick acknowledgement.

“So, you’re y/n?” Eunji says before Jongho can finish out the polite greetings and confusion runs through you.

She’s looking at you with warmth and kindness, and it’s not often that omegas meeting each other for the first time are quite so positive and open. You’re used to a little hesitation, especially when alphas are around, everyone becoming a little territorial in mixed company, but Eunji seems unphased.

“I am,” You nod as your brain starts to catch up.

“Hongjoong mentioned you,” She explains at your confused expression, “I was hoping I’d get a chance to say hello,”

“He did?”

“Sorry, let me explain,” She smiles, “my little sister is debuting with your company soon,”

“Oh!” Your brows shoot up and you run through the girls you’ve worked with to realize the common surname, “you’re Jiwoo’s sister?”

“Yes!” She nods excitedly, “We’re very proud of her,”

“That’s so nice,” You smile, relaxed now that you understand her abrupt familiarity, “she’s a very good dancer,”

Eunji beams.

“She’ll be debuting as main dancer,” Seonghwa nods, “for good reason,”

Jongho smiles, his hand sweeping a warm line up and down his wife’s back, “Jiwoo says you and the others have been very kind during their preparations,”

“Well,” You nod, “they’re working very hard, and I’m sure debut must be scary enough, there’s no need to add extra pressure,”

“It is,” Jongho hums knowingly, and you recall Hongjoong mentioning he was from another idol group that had disbanded. You wonder idly in the back of your mind how difficult it really was for him judging by the brief expression on his face.

“Exactly,” Hongjoong offers, “I thought you’d all like to meet considering the mutual acquaintance,”

“Absolutely,” You say, “it’s been lovely,”

Eunji is about to say something more, but Seonghwa’s hand brushes your upper arm and he leans into your ear, “At the bar,”

“What?” You glance up at him and he nods past Jongho and Eunji. Your eyes follow his.

The air leaves your lungs, but you feel Seonghwa’s thumb brush a comforting line over your skin, “Go,”

“Hwa,”

“If you’ll excuse us,” Seonghwa interrupts you and gives a dazzling smile to your party, “her partners just arrived and it’s been a few months with the tour,”

You’ll have to have a word with him about his word choice later, you notice the way Hongjoong’s eyes widen, but Jongho and Eunji just nod with understanding. The bond between alphas and their omega isn’t something to be taken lightly, and they take a step back to clear your path.

You recover just enough to leave with normal pleasantries, “Thank you, sorry to run,”

“No, no, of course,” Jongho nods, “it was nice to meet you.”

“If I ever drop by the studio to see Jiwoo,” Eunji adds, “I’ll make sure to say hello,”

“That would be nice, I look forward to it,” Your body is all but screaming at you to move now.

“Well,” Seonghwa pushes you forwards, “I’m sure we’ll see each other later on in the evening,”

Hongjoong says something more but you don’t quite hear it, and suddenly you’re being propelled forwards. Seonghwa dips his head towards you ear, “Good luck, be braver than I would be,”

And then you’re alone, surrounded by bodies but alone nevertheless.

You’re not exactly prepared for how you’re going to feel when you see them again. It’s been months, and the first thought that strikes you is how much they’ve changed in such a short time. Mingi looks broader somehow, but his face looks a little thinner and more angular, like he’s lost weight from all the performances and training and travel. Yunho’s hair is a little longer, the back a shaggier against his neck, but intentionally so, and the cut of his jacket makes his shoulders look wider. You want to barrel into their chests and tug them as close to you as you can, but instead you take a steadying breath and just give yourself a second to drink them in.

You can’t stop yourself from smiling at the way they stand side by side as they wait for their drinks at the bar, and butterflies ripple through you, but despite everything you felt while they were gone there’s no fear. You just missed them, really and truly missed them.

You’re moving before you consciously think it through and you watch their eyes widen when they see you coming, but it only spurns you on faster until you’re all but crashing into their sides at the bar.

“Hey,” You’re just so happy to see them you can’t get the grin off your face, “you’re back,”

“We’re back,” Mingi nods, and you can see the hesitation in his face.

“I’m,” A million words run through your mind, but you settle on the truth, “so happy to see you,”

“You are?” Yunho’s brows go high.

“Yeah,” You step a little closer, letting the words you’ve been holding finally roll off your tongue, “this isn’t the place to talk, but yes, I’m happy to see you, I missed you both.”

Mingi exhales heavily and his lips quirk up.

Lowering your voice a little more, you hold Mingi’s gaze, “I got your letter,”

Yunho’s head twists to the side, confusion all over his face as he looks to Mingi for clarity.

“We should talk,” You want to reach out so badly, but you hold it back for now, “but I wanted you both to know I’m sorry too, and I’m really glad you’re home now,”

“Me too,” Mingi nods.

“Good,” You sigh, “that’s good,”

“Are we okay?” Mingi glances between both of you.

“Yes,” You nod, “I still think we should talk, we left things badly before, but I thought a lot about everything and I don’t want things to be uncomfortable anymore.”

In the background you hear the speakers cut off the ambient music, and someone taps on a microphone to check that it’s connected. You glance towards the stage and see someone preparing to introduce Hongjoong.

“Should we go somewhere?” Yunho asks, “Now?”

The man on stage clears his throat into the microphone.

You shake your head, “Not tonight, I want to be here for Hongjoong,”

“Of course,” He backtracks.

You reach for him this time, resting your hand on his forearm, “But maybe later this week when you’re settled we can just clear the air. I have some things I want to tell you,”

He swallows tightly, and you can feel that he’s a little nervous but he nods, “Sure,”

“I just,” You step back and look between them both, “I didn’t want you to stress about coming back to the studio,”

The relief is palpable between all three of you as Hongjoong takes the stage, and Mingi says, “For a second I was worried you weren’t going to be here,”

“No, I was just running so late,” You admit.

“You’ve been okay?” He asks.

“I am,” You nod, “you both are?”

“Good,” Mingi says.

“Tired,” Yunho shrugs, and you suppose you can see a little of that in his eyes.

“Seonghwa said your flights were delayed,”

“Something like ten hours,” He sighs.

“Are you sure you’re okay to come back tomorrow already?” You press them, “You’ll be jet lagged,”

“We’ll be fine,” Yunho smiles a little at your concern, “don’t worry,”

There’s a pause, a bubbling lull between you, but you can’t keep yourself from saying it, “I really am so glad to see you,”

“Me too,” Yunho says.

Mingi nods, but then his eyes flick up and he gestures behind you, “Someone’s looking for you,”

You check over your shoulder and see Wooyoung lingering nearby and when he catches your eyes he points to his glass and then to you, checking to see if you need another and giving you a smooth out if you need one. You shake your head and turn back to Yunho and Mingi, “I should go,”

“Okay,” Mingi says.

You think suddenly if you walk away without making a plan you’ll think of nothing else all night until you can’t sleep, “Saturday,” you blurt out, “are you free?”

“Yeah,” Yunho says and Mingi nods.

“Let’s get dinner,” You say it before you can panic and take it back, “you can tell me about tour and I can… I have things I want to tell you,”

“Just say when and where,” Mingi says, “we’re there.”

“Okay,” You sigh, “good, perfect,”

You can practically feel Wooyoung hovering at your back and you take a deep breath as you step away, but part of you wishes you could just take Yunho up on his offer to get out of here.

“y/n,” Yunho smiles a little, stopping you in your tracks, “you look happy,”

“I am happy,” You tell him honestly.

“That’s good,” He breathes.

“Saturday,” You nod, “I’ll catch you both up on Saturday,”

You see a flicker of something in Mingi’s expression, but then he smiles, “Wouldn’t miss it,”

You turn before you lose your nerve and run straight into Wooyoung carrying two full glasses of champagne.

“Everything okay?” He asks, pushing a glass into your hands, some of the bubbling liquid spilling over the sides and over your fingers.

“Good,” You assure him, tugging him away from the bar and towards the back wall where you can talk to him unobserved.

“I wasn’t sure if you needed rescuing,”

“I didn’t,” You tell him, “I was doing fine,”

“Shit,” He grimaces, “did I fuck up your moment?”

“No, no,” You shake your head, “we’re meeting on Saturday, I’m going to talk to them then,”

Something’s a little hurried in his face though, his eyes glancing past you again and again, and you can feel that he’s not exactly present.

“Woo,” You start but he locks his eyes with yours and cuts you off.

“I think I just met the love of my life,” He stammers, “I might fucking faint,”

“What?” You hush him, pressing him back into the wall behind you, “Are you serious?”

“I’m not going to faint for real,” He swats your hands away, “but I don’t know, y/n, I can’t breathe. My fucking chest is tight,”

“Holy shit,” You manage.

“I know,” He nods, “I know,”

“You’re not close to your heat are you?” You probe him, wondering if you need to make a break for San and Seonghwa.

“No,” He shakes his head, laying a cool hand on his flushed cheeks, “it’s nothing like that,”

You nod relieved, “Well, then what happened?”

“Okay,” He takes a long steadying breath, “you see that guy on stage? The one to the left of Hongjoong?”

“Choi Jongho?” Your voice spikes up and he shushes you frantically.

“No, oh my god,” He waves his hand to get your volume down, “he’s engaged, y/n, no, the other one,”

You look to the left of Jongho and take in the third man on stage. He’s the one who introduced Hongjoong, his voice low and velvety soft. He has long blonde hair that brushes his collar bones, the top half gathered into a messy but chic bun. You can tell from here he’s handsome, devastatingly so, with a cool expression and his lips parted just enough to make you wonder how he kisses.

“Oh,” You nod, “got it,”

“Exactly,” He runs a panicked hand through his own hair.

“He’s an alpha?” You surmise, “Did you catch his scent or,”

Wooyoung’s shaking his head frantically before he can finish his words, “He’s a beta,”

You can’t control the surprise in your expression, Wooyoung’s only ever really gone for alphas. It makes sense, most omegas do, considering the hindbrain of it all, but Wooyoung’s looking about as wrecked as you’ve ever seen someone.

On stage, Hongjoong gestures towards the two men on his left and you switch your focus from Wooyoung’s whining panic to the man addressing the crowd, “I have one more announcement to make tonight,” he says, “something that would not have been possible to announce without Choi Jongho. I don’t think I need to tell you what a talent he is and how lucky we are at KQ to have brought him on. We have a preview of something we’d like to share, once again, something I felt very creatively supported in by Kang Yeosang,”

“That’s him,” Wooyoung hisses next to your ear and you refocus, “Kang Yeosang,”

“Shh!” You hush him, but by the time you can hear Hongjoong again, he’s moved on to announcing that he’s going to preview Jongho’s new single, and you roll your eyes to refocus on Wooyoung, “So who’s this guy?”

“Creative director,” He explains quickly, “album art, concepts, the works.”

“Damn,” You manage.

“He’s so fucking smart, y/n, you have no idea,” He breathes.

“So you actually talked to him?”

“Talked to him?” He laughs, “I had his cock down my throat like thirty minutes ago,”

“Jesus Christ, Wooyoung, that’s too much information,” You smack his arm.

He rolls his eyes and continues, “We bumped into each other in the hall, like physically bumped into each other. I spilled my drink all down his nice white shirt,”

The shirt Yeosang is wearing is still crisp white, so you assume there’s more to this story before he even keeps going.

“I felt like an idiot,” He admits, “pulled him into the bathroom and told him I could fix it right up with a little club soda,”

“Okay,”

“He barely said anything at first,” Wooyoung continues, “I was just rinsing his shirt out while he stood there half naked looking like Michalangelo or something,”

“I don’t think Michaelangelo was very cut,” You smirk.

“The statute,” He swats you, “you know the one, don’t fuck with me,”

“Okay, fine, go on,”

“Anyway,” He sighs, “I was just talking, keeping the conversation going, fucking babbling while I washed out his shirt and then before I knew it he had me pressed up against the mirror with his tongue down my throat,”

“Wow,”

“One thing led to another,” He blushes again, “and then we just talked while I finished drying his button down,”

“Wow, again,” You breathe.

“I know,” He breathes, “I’ve never felt like this,”

“Okay,” You squeeze his hand, “but, Woo, this is a good thing,”

“I know, but I’m kind of fucking terrified,” He admits, “is this how you felt?”

“Pretty much,”

“It’s awful,” He admits.

“Tell me about it,”

The crowd around you starts clapping, the speeches are over, and the men on stage start to head down the side steps to rejoin the crowd as the single begins to play. Everyone in the room is listening attentively to the music except you and Wooyoung.

“What are you going to do?” You ask him, your voice low.

“Go home with him,” Wooyoung checks his watch and then presses his untouched glass of champagne into your hands, “I’ve got to go,”

“Whoa,” You shake your head, “are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I’m a big boy,” He rolls his eyes again.

“Text me his number, and his address,” You insist, “and check in with me tomorrow. If you don’t, I’m calling Seonghwa and San.”

“Oh my god, please don’t do that.” He grimaces, texting you Yeosang’s contact information anyways.

“Don’t make me,” You tell him.

“Fine,”

“Have fun, please be safe,” You’d take his hand, but yours are full of champagne. You hope the genuineness of your expression gets your point across to him.

“I will,” he promises, “and I’ll call you. We’ll talk all about Saturday too, I just,”

“I get it,” You nod, “honestly, I do,”

“Thank you,” His eyes soften, “and please, don’t tell San and Seonghwa. Not yet,”

“I won’t,” You assure him, “just go, be happy,”

“You too, okay?” He smiles, “Whatever it is, you do it. You deserve it after all this,”

Your stomach warms at that, and you know he’s right, you just want to do this the right way for once. Over Wooyoung’s shoulder you see the blonde man in question smoothly cutting his way through the crowd, and you nod towards him, “Get out of here, I’ll talk to you tomorrow,”

He’s gone without another word, just a rushed smile as he weaves his way towards Yeosang, a bright and beaming grin now on his face. He’s a goner, you can see it clear as day. A brief flickering question passes through your mind of how this might affect his dynamic with Seonghwa and San, but given the way your best friend is lit up from the inside it doesn’t even matter. If you deserve to be happy like that, so does he, however it happens.

With Wooyoung gone, you take a moment to survey the room, but you can’t find your group anymore. You see people from KQ you recognize, but your normal BB Trippin group is nowhere in sight and Yunho and Mingi are no longer towering over everyone at the end of the bar. You listen to the rest of the new single, something soulful and rooted in R&B just like Hongjoong had described to you all those months ago.

As you listen to the crooning love song, your mind loops through the encounter with Yunho and Mingi, of every microexpression and you get lost in your plans for Saturday yet again. How you’ll tell them you’re sorry, how you’re ready to move on and to be honest with one another. How much you still want them, that you might love them.

You don’t know how long you’re standing there by the back wall, thoughts tumbling over what-ifs when you’re brought back to reality.

“Tough night?” A voice makes you jump, a little more champagne dipping out of your glasses as you turn to the side.

“Hey, Minseok,” You laugh a little, “you scared me,”

“Sorry,” He smiles, begging off, “I just meant the two drinks, and you know, hiding in the corner,”

“Oh,” You shake your head, “no, Wooyoung ran off and stuck me with his glass. Do you want?” You offer it to him.

“Sure,” He nods, smoothly taking the glass from your hands.

You take a quick sip from yours and clear your throat softly, “So, enjoying the party?”

He nods, “It’s nice, but honestly I was just about to get out of here and call it a night,”

“Me too,” You nod. You’d try to say goodbye to Hongjoong, but he’s been tied up all evening mingling, and without any of your friends in sight it seems as good a time as any to slip out.

“Let me walk you out,” He offers, plucking the champagne from your fingertips and placing both glasses on one of the nearby side service tables.

You probably would have finished it, and a flicker of annoyance passes through you, but you let it pass and nod, “Sure,”

You’re not far from the door, and he organizes grabbing both of your checked jackets as he makes small talk, “Are you taking the train or,”

“I’ll probably order a car,” You usually do when it’s late like this and you’ve had a few drinks despite the extra cost.

“Me too,” He nods, passing your jacket over.

You shrug it on and search for something to say, but Minseok isn’t as forthcoming and chatty as some of the other dancers, “Do you live closeby?”

“More towards Itaewon,” He zips his jacket and gestures towards the exit doors that will lead you out onto the street.

“Mm,” You nod, pushing through the doors.

“You know, we could,” Minseok starts to say, but the minute you step aside you finally see some familiar faces.

“There you are!” You smile, and your familiar group of dancers turns at your voice.

Minseok says something else, but you don’t quite catch it and you spin to apologize quickly over your shoulder before rejoining your friends.

“I thought you left,” San ushers you over to their group.

“Good timing,” Seonghwa adds, “my car’s not far, you want a ride?”

“Sure,” You nod, you’ll never turn down a less expensive rideshare.

Yunho and Mingi are talking with Jaemin at the edge of the group, but you catch Mingi’s glancing eye and give him a smile. It’s impossible to just smooth over your last real conversation with them, but you’re trying to signal in every little way that you want to move past it, that his letter meant something. You’ll lay out the rest for them as soon as you get them alone.

He smiles back, quickly catching that you’re about to leave and you can see that he wants to step away from the conversation he’s having about some missteps from the tour.

“Have you seen Wooyoung?” San asks, bringing your attention back.

“For a second,” You nod, but look away from quickly as you try to tell a vague white lie, “I think he already split,”

He hums, but then Seonghwa gently taps your back, “Car,”

“Oh, perfect,” You step with him and turn to the group, “goodnight everyone, see you in the morning!”

Dahan and San both give quick, small waves.

“Goodnight,” Mingi says, his conversation stuttering to a pause so he can address you, “see you,”

“See you tomorrow,” Yunho adds, nodding.

Your stomach feels like it might flutter right out of your body.

“I’ll have him drop you first,” Seonghwa says as he helps you into the car, jogging to the opposite side to get in himself.

As the car pulls away you feel lighter than you have in months, and seeing them again makes everything feel so much more sure. They’re real, they’re back, and they want to see you too. Everything else falls to the side, for once the path forwards is crystal clear.

#this chapter was honestly fun and i hope you like the introduction of other ateez members!!!!#honeyhotteoks fics #ateez fics #this night together fic #yunho x reader #mingi x reader #yungi x reader #yunho fic #yunho ff #mingi fic #mingi ff #ateez fic #ateez series #ateez ff #ateez #yunho #mingi

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starrycassi · 10 months ago

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Today in Jean and Neil's bestfrienderism. With a side of Andrew being Andrew. And domestic Andreil.

Jean is having a panic attack.

Well, not quite. It's not a full blown attack, yet. But it is close. Very, very close. He is thirty. He is alive. He is Jean Moreau and he has endured so, so much. He is, somewhat, free. As free as the cattle are in a pasture. As free as the shrimp are to the breeding pond.

He has a wonderful husband. He is reconnecting with Kevin. He visits Cat and Laila whenever their schedules allow them the time to do so. He has a dog — well, he technically has three. Charbon is his, and his alone. She is a wonderful Black Labrador that Dobson appointed him. The other two, Caramelo and Dulce, (both named by Catalina, of course) are his and his husband's.

Charbon is moving as soon as he's clawing at his neck. She knows what to do. She knows what to do.

"-breathe. In, and out. Com'on, Jean. It ain't hard. In, and out. You're, like, an athlete. In, and out. You don't even smoke. In, and out. Drew? Water, yes. In, and out."

That's, unfortunately, not the voice of a cybernetically enhanced service dog. It's a different type of animal. Neil Josten.

He manages to make his brain claw around, trying to find where his hand is (in his neck, of course) and puts it up, flipping the bipedal cockroach off.

Jean doesn't have a panic attack. Thanks, Charbon.

He's still on the edge. He plays with the dog's ears, floppy and bendy. She seems content to let him do so. They're all on the floor. The two cats are in Neil's lap. Andrew is in the kitchen.

"Breathing okay? Didn't break a rib, did you?"

Jean flips Neil off again.

"I take that as a no. But we did do a RCP training course, you know? Aaron was being a little bitch about me being 'death-prone' or whatever. So you wouldn't even have died. Not on our watch"

"Pretty sure RCP is not the standard solution to panic attacks, junkie" Andrew says, sounding bored, while he walks into the room, tray in his hands. "Panic attacks, also, don't really kill people that often. He would've fainted, at worst"

"Should be standard. Gets the heart right again, does it not?"

Andrew drops the tray to the floor. Only, he doesn't drop it. The jug full of ice and water is intact, as is the glass right next to them. Jean serves himself a glass, drowning it as quickly as possible. It stings. It helps, with the whole "I hate my throat" thing. Harm reduction, Dobson called it.

"You're such a fucking idiot" Andrew says, before reaching down to tug Neil's hair. Neil looks up, their eyes lock, and Jean feels so disgusted that he almost forgets why he's on the floor, to start with. Can they be any less PDA-inclined?

Then again, Jeremy and him are worse. So.

There's silence. And, then, "Jean. We could find a way"

Jean is confused. Andrew, clearly, is not. Jeremy and him love each other, but even theh can admit that there's no other couple with such a level of telepathy as the Josten-Minyard one. It's quite off-putting.

" 'We' sounds like a lot of people" Andrew complains, his tone one of slight annoyance. Regardless, he drops down next to Neil. One of the cats migrates to his lap. He absentmindedly scratches its head, just like he did Neil.

"I'm not following"

They both look at him like he's an imbecile. In return, he glares.

"To get you out of the contract" Neil clarifies. Except, that doesn't clarify anything. Jean Moreau, even as a free man, belongs to the Moriyamas. Not the Nest, or Riko, anymore. It's as much freedom as anyone like him can wish for. Jean Moreau has, is and will endure.

Yes, he hyperventilates whenever the topic of children comes up. Because Jeremy wants kids. A big, happy, loving family. Jean, unfortunately, wants the same.

He doesn't want kids as much as he fears his debt. Their future. His work. Their worth.

Andrew made the offhand comment of Aaron's twins coming to visit next week. About how it seems that the whole group of "Neil's friends" are eager to overpopulate the world with mini nuisances and how he pitied the teachers that had to ever work with such offspring. How it feels like they're the only ones sane enough to avoid such a burden. He didn't mean anything by it. That didn't stop Jean from spiraling. Intent and reaction are, often, not the same thing.

"I stress that you should just get the Care Bear to replace you. He likes Exy. He likes you. Surely we can guilt him into agreeing"

"Non," he answers immediately. They've had this conversation. Jeremy has offered. Jean has refused. It is enough, that one of them is tainted by the Moriyamas. Jeremy's life is not and has never been perfect, but Jean refuses to add a whole ass mafia deal to that.

Andrew shrugs, unapologetically. Jean is not offended. Andrew is a no-nonsense kind of man. A "straight to the point" kind of man. He, probably, thinks that his suggestions are helping, somehow.

"There has to be another way." Neil muses, looking at the ceiling. "We already negotiated with Ichirou, once. Maybe time's made him softer? He's got kids, now. Fatherhood softens people up. Or so I hear."

"Your father tried to kill you. At least thirty times. Almost succeeded half of those, too" Jean reminds him, trying to stay out of the whole family conversation. Neil has never been one for careful sentences. He doesn't mean anything by it. Then, again, intent and reaction.

"It's his personality. He brings out the worst in people" Andrew adds, interlocking his pinky with Neil's pinky, before leaning in and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. Gross.

"Rude. Also, Ichirou is way more level headed than Nathan. We could try, at least."

"Absolutely no, you neuron-lacking flea."

"Over my dead body, Josten."

"Again, rude. You two never let me have any fun. Kevin is influencing you too much, I swear."

Jean doesn't feel like thinking about Kevin, so he takes out one of the bobby pins in his hair and throws it at Neil's face. Andrew snorts. Charbon looks at the interaction with curiosity. So does Neil.

There is silence, again. For a while. And, then, "Neil will play Exy until he can't, anyways" Andrew points out.

Jean is confused. Neil, clearly, is not. He looks at Andrew with such an open expression of vulnerability and worry, that Jean has to look away.

"Drew, you know that-"

"I said 'life', didn't I? Same team. Same house."

"Five years ago."

"Haven't changed my mind."

"Still. I know you hate it."

"As much as I hate you. I've put up with you this long. I will handle it."

"Are you two always this fucking cryptic? Jesus Christ"

They share a look. Andrew nods. Neil hesitates. Andrew pokes him in the ribs.

"Andrew is willing to make a deal. We- we talked about it, some years ago, when Kevin had that skating accident. It's, uh, a backup plan. Asking Ichirou to pass the contract down."

"For a price." Andrew adds. As if that isn't the most unhinged, crazy and stupid thing Jean has ever heard them say. And God knows that that's a very high list.

"You're joking with me."

"Do I look like a fucking clown, Moreau?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I will not pass down my burden to you. Plus, it is, surprisingly, a decent plan. There is no other goalie out there who is making more money than you. Ichirou would be stupid if he didn't agree. Which means that you have to keep that option open. Neil is constantly looking for new ways of getting himself killed. I will not tolerate having you, either of you, on the chopping block for me. Not if I can help it"

He is angry. Do they think so selfish? So entitled? So uncaring? He feels nauseous. Charbon puts her paws on his chest, licking his face. He shouldn't feel offended, but he does. They don't mean anything by it. Intent, reaction.

"I'm already involved with our dear asian Shobhuza. Pretty sure he doesn't like me, already."

"Non. Absolutely no. Don't even- no. No. Are you listening to me? Never."

They glare at each other. Years ago, Jean would fold, Andrew's gaze reminding him too much of handcuffs and needles. He doesn't.

"Dramatic" Neil mutters in singsong. They glare at him, now. He has the audacity to giggle.

"We'll figure something out." he says, so sure of himself. How can someone so short be so full of confidence, Jean will never know.

"Even if we don't," Andrew adds, with something close to warmth in his tone, "surely the two of you can survive without passing on those dreadful genes of yours for a few more years"

"We were thinking of fostering" he murmurs, softly. So softly that he's unsure if they heard him or not. Andrew freezes, midway through petting his cat. Neil's eyes widen. Charbon gives a friendly bark.

Andrew and Neil look at each other. Do they ever do anything else?

"We'll find a way," Andrew says. Promises. Begs. Asks. Neil nods, gaze heavy with duty. They hold hands. Neil squeezes. Andrew squeezes back.

Jean feels like he might have another panic attack. How can they be so reckless? For him, out of all people?

Then, again, he would do the same. Sacrifices and promises.

Is there any other way to live?

#aftg #andreil #all for the game #andrew aftg #neil josten #andrew minyard #neil aftg #jean moreau #guys they're my babies #andreil fluff #my kids #love them so much

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wolf-feathers12 · 8 months ago

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Big e and parenting/how to raise a kid in the Palaeolithic times. And the horrors of writing down word vomit.

TW: CHILD ABUSE,

From what I understand about warhammer there's this general consensus that big E KNEW how to be a better parent but just chose not to be one.

And it got me thinking.

What was parenting like back in the Palaeolithic times? (The emperor of mankind was apparently born in the 8th Millennium B.C. and again from my limited understanding this is sorta still apart of the Palaeolithic times? If anyone can clarify this I'd appreciate it!)

Now I'm no historian but I think it would be safe to assume that infant death would be very high. Meaning that you would try to have as many kids as possible because you don't know if they will all survive and kids weren't seen as their own person more of as workers or helpers

Maybe even tools???

Again that's a huge thing that ive simplified and I think it's also fair to say that there were many many communities where family relationships were far more nuanced but it does make me wonder.

If you grew up in a society where you could die from getting a simple cut and child abuse wasn't a thing (I'm picturing something like a Spartan society where being beaten to an inch of Ur life is seen as a building character moment) it was want made you a MAN.

Plus I don't really think neolithic fathers would be very understanding or supportive parents (having a relationship wasn't a goal surviving was kinda thing?)

Basically what I'm picturing is big e having one of those "I'm never going to treat my kids like this >:C" moments but by treating kids he's referring to the fact that he won't break their legs because they talked back kinda thing?

Big E strikes me as the kinda parent (in a modern au maybe?) to when called out on their neglect of their kids will be genuinely quite confused

"I never beat you guys? And you always had food ect??? I know abuse and I never abused you so stop complaining. :O"

Also if you were immortal and had lived since the Neanderthals (personal headcanon is that E is part Neanderthal or something hehehehe) the way you relate to people and have relationships with them would probably be a bit fucked? Add to that the fact that he's stuck in a BIGGER picture type mindset (AUTISM???) and you have a recipe for disaster.

That's not to say that big E is entirely blameless or should be wobberfied (you can if you want to lol) but I think there's a lot more at play then just "big E is an evil father"

If your still reading this then Ur a pretty cool person fr. Also my understanding of warhammer lore is limited so if there's something in cannon that directly contradicts this then pls let me know yo! >_<

thanks and have a great day! :D

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pushovermediacritic · 2 months ago

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The Land Before Time Liveblog 8

The Land Before Time VIII: The Big Freeze

Last Time: A couple of Scientologists came to the Great Valley and tried to recruit Littlefoot. Petrie's war criminal uncle also returned from exile, and the Scientologists sold him on alternative medicine: healing magic stones from deep space. Naturally, the Great Valley adults unanimously exiled him again. The Scientologists went back to their home planet.

This Time: I've heard people like this one, but I remember it being pretty mediocre when I watched it as a kid, so I'm curious to see how that shakes out.

The Universal logo is still not Pangaea.

Well, last two movies had Grandpa and Petrie replace the narrator, what will this one do?

Narrator: "The planet Earth. A world of constant change and unpredictable weather. Our home. Millions of years ago, it was home... to the dinosaurs!"

Good to have you back, narrator. Still pointlessly introducing the concept of dinosaurs in movie 8 of this franchise about dinosaurs. I promise you, guy, no kid is watching Land Before Time 8 as their first exposure to Land Before Time, much less their first exposure to dinosaurs as a whole!

The narrator goes on to explain that dinosaurs were just as diverse as people. You know how some humans are 3 feet tall and some humans are 80 feet tall? Yeah, just like that.

Narrator: "Some could even whistle."

Ooh, look at this fancy 2001 movie, flexing how dinosaur knowledge has advanced by having a corythosaurus use its crest noisemaker appropriately.

Anyway, in the Great Valley, it's nighttime and Ducky can't sleep. Last time this happened, it was because The Gang got in a fight with Petrie and he stormed out. This time, it's just Spike snoring.

The movies have been real inconsistent on how many biological siblings Ducky has. She said she had 12 two movies ago, but this scene only depicts 3, and most scenes in other movies only show 4 or 5.

Ducky complains about how much space Spike takes up, and that he apparently snores every single night, keeping her up. Considering we've seen her sleeping happily cuddling Spike in... I think every single movie so far, that seems really disingenuous of the writers to suddenly make this a problem. I'd be more forgiving if this was established to be a recent thing, but it's not.

The next morning, Ducky is yawning, struggling to stay awake in class. Wait, class? Yeah, the kids are getting a history lesson from a new character, a pachyrhinosaurus named Mr. Thicknose.

Mr. Thicknose (droning): "Long, long ago, further back than anyone can remember, great creatures first crawled up from the murky ooze onto the dry land, and thus began the age of the dino-"

Littlefoot: "Excuse me, Mr. Thicknose!"

Mr. Thicknose: "I beg your pardon?"

Littlefoot: "Well, if it's too far back for anyone to remember, then how do you know it even happened?"

You know, I'm getting a weird sense of Deja Vu. Almost like we've done this before. Almost like every single movie, including this one, has started with origin exposition, and both of the previous movies used an in-universe character teaching that origin myth! The only difference between this one and what Grandpa said is that he said the dinosaurs came from the Great Circle! Littlefoot even asked the same question! Why not just start this movie here, have this speech be the intro of the film?!

Also, it's weird to introduce a new character just to be a teacher in a "school" metaphor. Especially since he's just teaching The Gang and none of the other kids in the Great Valley (there should be a lot of other kids, what about the bullies from 3, or Petrie's siblings? And even in this movie, we see Ducky's siblings).

Anyway, Mr. Thicknose insists that it has to be true, otherwise they wouldn't be here (circular logic, great job teaching). Littlefoot clarifies his question was specifically about the "murky ooze" part. Petrie wonders if the Flyers came from the hills (I guess now that Petrie's view of Pterano has shattered, he's discarded the whole "long ago, the only beings were Flyers" idea?), and Littlefoot follows up that maybe Ducky came from the Big Water (good guess, Littlefoot, as we saw at the start of 3, that's where everyone came from).

As attention is turned to them, Ducky and Spike are both fast asleep. Cera cracks a joke about them, and Spike rolls over, waking Ducky up. Mr. Thicknose scolds Ducky for sleeping, and when she complains about being singled out, he scolds her again for being too loud and tells her to be quiet like Spike. Spike chuckles. Mr. Thicknose, annoyed by Littlefoot's earlier interruption, switches the topic to food gathering, and starts droning on about how the various species get food. Littlefoot chimes in that he knows how Longnecks do it, but Mr. Thicknose retorts that he hasn't gotten there yet.

Then Ducky interrupts again, complaining about Spike eating her Tree Star lunch that her mom packed for her for school today. They're really driving this school metaphor into the ground, huh? Mr. Thicknose separates the siblings and goes back to talking about food gathering, specifically how Spiketails do it by hitting trees with their... heads.

Their heads, not their tails? I guess you wouldn't want to blunt the thagomizer, but still. They're not built for headbutting. This Spiketail belongs to a group of wandering Spiketails who pass through the Great Valley looking for food. This is yet another plot point I'm getting sick of, the "wandering dinosaurs just passing through the Great Valley". We saw this with the migrating Longneck herd in 4, Doc in 6, and the Far-Walkers in 7. And now we've got a wandering herd of Spiketails in 8. This gets Spike thinking, but when he turns back to Ducky, she blows a raspberry at him.

Mr. Thicknose goes back to talking about Hollowhorns using sound to knock leaves down, and his droning is so boring that even Cera and Petrie join Ducky and Spike in falling asleep. Littlefoot wanders around to a log and blows into it, making a loud tuba sound that wakes up The Gang and freaks out Mr. Thicknose, making him run into a tree, knocking down some leaves and a large fruit. Littlefoot was testing out the Hollowhorn method, and it worked! Mr. Thicknose is not amused, and he ends class for the day.

Afterward, Littlefoot is wondering why Mr. Thicknose even teaches if he doesn't enjoy it. Cera informs Littlefoot that he ruined the lesson, and Littlefoot starts moping until she tosses the fruit to him, and The Gang start playing with it like a ball. But Ducky's not playing, she's sitting on a root and kicking the water.

Cera asks her what's up, and Ducky comments that she feels funny bad, like her tummy is hot, like the bubbling waters inside a smoking mountain. Cera informs her that she's mad.

...seriously? We're just going to pretend that Ducky's never been MAD before?! To the point that it's such an unfamiliar feeling that Cera has to TEACH her what it is?! I guess we're just ignoring how mad she was at Ozzy and Strut in 2 for stealing her sibling's egg? Or how she jumped on Chomper's dad's face, also in 2, and kicked his nose for threatening Spike? Or how she was mad at Hyp in 3 when he brushed off her and Petrie saving his life? Or how she was briefly mad at Spike in 5 for not being sad like everyone else? Ducky doesn't get mad often, but it has happened before.

And, like, Cera shouldn't have to teach Ducky anything! Despite what Littlefoot claimed at the start of 5, we saw Ducky hatch first in 1, she's the oldest, not Cera. Ducky's the "big sister" of the group, directly responsible for Spike but she also tries to keep the peace in general. This scene is treating her like a baby still discovering feelings. Thanks, I hate it.

Ducky's not sure why she's mad, until Spike burps from eating the large fruit, making Ducky realize she's mad at Spike. Cera takes her away to teach her all about being mad, as an expert on it.

Later, Spike runs into another Spiketail kid and his mom. This is Tippy, he declares Spike a friend, and his mom greets Spike warmly and tells Spike to bring his parents over so they can talk.

Meanwhile with Ducky, Cera is showing her how to make an angry face. Cera begins the first song of the movie simply titled... (sigh) "The Mad Song".

youtube

Last movie, I praised the digital animation for not being stiff and retaining some squash-and-stretch, but this is RIDICULOUS.

They're WAAAAAY over-animated here. Like, this is cartoony on the level of Animaniacs, a far cry from Don Bluth's style that started this franchise. And I can't tell if Cera's just horribly off-model like 80% of the song or if her updated character design is supposed to have small circular eyes and huge round cheeks, but either way, I don't like it. A few times, she looks right, with tall oval eyes and smaller cheeks, but those moments are rare. She genuinely looks ugly here.

And, like, that kinda fits the song, she's trying to show anger and look scary, but there are countless examples of angry characters in animation who still look appealing, not like their face is made of squashed rubber.

The song itself is just okay. Despite how insulting this whole plot-thread is to my intelligence, I think Cera's attitude is pretty fun in the song, and I especially like Cers's dad's cameo at the end. The lyrics are mediocre, Cera repeats herself once on scrunching up your face, but the rest isn't repetitive, just kinda basic. The message flip-flops between being positive and negative. Letting yourself feel anger is good, but it's not good to hold onto it past the point where it's needed.

If I were just judging the song alone, it'd get a 5/10, but the insulting plot-thread and the silly animation moves it down to a 3/10.

Meanwhile, Littlefoot cheerfully walks home and then sees Mr. Thicknose complaining about him to his grandpa.

Mr. Thicknose: "He seems quite bright but, regrettably I find that he has a very negative attitude. He doesn't seem to realize that I am the oldest and wisest in the Great Valley. He needs to learn some respect!"

You ungrateful son of a- Littlefoot was the only one actually excited to learn and interested in hearing what you had to say, you arrogant jerk! Everyone else was bored to the point of falling asleep, but Littlefoot was actually engaged with the material and asking questions and he's the problem child?! "Negative attitude" my foot, he's the only one who had a positive attitude! Man, fuck teachers who act like this!

Also, WHO EVEN ARE YOU?! Mr. Thicknose is a new character, we haven't seen him before in previous movies, but suddenly he's the "oldest and wisest" person in the Great Valley! Previous movies tended to default to Grandpa as the old and wise leader.

That night, Grandpa finds Littlefoot sitting at the edge of a pond, sad.

Littlefoot's worried Grandpa is mad at him because of what Mr. Thicknose said, but Grandpa brushes off the teacher's words as just getting off on the wrong foot. Littlefoot's still confused what he did wrong, and Grandpa reminds him that Mr. Thicknose volunteered to be a teacher and doesn't have any family of his own. All he's got is his dignity. Grandpa impresses upon Littlefoot the importance of never robbing someone of their dignity, and then finishes by agreeing to keep the whole incident a secret from Grandma.

Littlefoot goes to bed, but is briefly woken up by a few snowflakes falling on him before going back to sleep. The next day, he tells the class about it, and Mr. Thicknose just laughs at him.

Mr. Thicknose: "Now, Littlefoot, really. Such a thing is not unheard of, but never in the Great Valley! Only in distant places that Far-Walkers come here to get away from!"

Littlefoot: "But I saw it! I... okay. Sorry."

Mr. Thicknose: "Very well. Now, to return to our previous discussion...

Littlefoot (to Petrie): "You believe me, don't you?"

Petrie: "Oh sure, me believe you. But then me believe anything!"

HAH! Okay, that was a good joke from Petrie.

Still, though, this feels like a direct re-tread of the plot point from the last movie where Littlefoot woke up to see an asteroid fly across the night sky, then went back to sleep and the next day, nobody believed him.

Also, Grandpa had me feeling a little sympathetic for Mr. Thicknose with the whole "no family" thing, but him outright laughing in Littlefoot's face took that all away immediately.

Later, after class, Spike is feeling melancholic, sitting on the shore while the rest of his family play in the water. Spike occasionally glances over at the other Spiketails. His mom notes that Spike is feeling left out, but Ducky dismisses it rudely. Tippy and his mom walk over and Tippy's mom asks where Spike's family is.

Ducky's mom Spike's mom: "Hello, I'm his mother."

Tippy's mom: "Really?! How nnnice..."

Spike's mom: "Well, you see, Spike lost his parents and-"

Tippy's mom: "Spiiike! Is that his name?"

Tippy: "Spike, Spike, Spike!"

Spike's mom: "Yes. Anyway, there were no other Spiketails in the Great Valley-"

Tippy's mom: "Until now."

Spike's mom: "Well, yes."

Tippy's mom: "And so you took him in?"

Spike's mom: "That's right."

Tippy's mom: "Oh, I think that's wonderful!"

Spike's mom: "Of course, it hasn't always been easy!"

The two are interrupted by Ducky acting out, pretending to get pushed into the water by Spike and then yelling for help.

Spike's mom (scolding): "Oh Ducky, just swim, dear!"

Ducky (pouting): "Hmph!"

Tippy's mom: "It just occurred to me, do you think Spike would enjoy visiting my herd?"

Tippy: "Yeah, yeah, visit!"

Spike's mom: "Why, I don't-"

Tippy's mom: "Well, no, I mean just for the day! He could... well, he could see how his own kind live."

Spike's mom (shocked): "Oh, wuh-uh- would you like that, Spike?"

Spike (nodding): "Mm-hmm."

Tippy celebrates and his mom promises to have Spike back before nightfall. Spike looks back at his mom and she gives a solemn nod to reassure him it's okay, and he cheers up.

Tippy: "This is fun!"

Tippy's mom (to Spike): "And if you enjoy your day today, perhaps you could even stay longer!"

Spike looks back again at his mom and Ducky as they watch him walk away. Ducky's not in the mood to swim right now.

This scene was great. The writing was VERY layered and nuanced. It's more subtle here but I think the racism theme is back, though it's more focused on the clashing of cultural differences. Like, there's a lot of subtle passive-aggressiveness being thrown around in this conversation. Tippy's mom seemed to take mild offense at Spike's name, and she interrupted Spike's mom no less than 3 times. You could cut the tension with a knife, which Ducky felt when she tried to derail it, only to get shut down. And then obviously Tippy's mom saying she only intends one day and then privately telling Spike it could go longer makes that a massive lie to Spike's mom.

Unfortunately, there is a snag here, and this is something I mentioned in an earlier review. It's a plot point in this movie that Spike is the only Spiketail living in the Great Valley, except we saw a bunch of adult Spiketails in 2. Bad continuity.

Spike and Tippy have fun playing tag around the other Spiketails, who also approve of how much Spike eats. Ducky and her mom watch, then leave. The Spiketails go to a pool to drink water, and the rest of The Gang watch from the opposite shore as Spike and Tippy splash each other. At dusk, Spike's mom talks to Tippy's mom as Ducky pouts. Spike's mom sadly nods and Spike and Tippy both join Tippy's mom for the night, as Ducky sheds a single tear. At night, the Spiketails all snore and Spike and Tippy toss and turn in their sleep without waking. Ducky is with her siblings, but she can't sleep because she misses Spike. She walks over to their regular spot and curls up. It then snows.

I just want to clarify, that entire scene, the entire paragraph above this one, has absolutely no dialogue in it. None. There wasn't even a backing song like a montage, it was a solid 2.5 minutes of genuinely sad story progression told entirely through character animation. That was artistic and really nice.

The next morning, Ducky and her family are shocked at the snow, and Ducky wonders if Spike is seeing this. With the Spiketails, Spike wakes up and licks some snow, likes the taste, then takes a big bite of it.

Brain-freeze!

Littlefoot wakes up and gloats about being right before frolicking in the snow. Grandma and Grandpa are much more concerned, and they decide to ask Mr. Thicknose.

Hey, that's one cold time down already! Just four more and Pterano can return!

Everyone in the Great Valley has decided to ask Mr. Thicknose.

Mr. Thicknose has no answers. The adults complain about how slippery this stuff is, and Littlefoot joins his friends watching.

Littlefoot: "See, white sparkles from the sky, just like I told you!"

Cera's dad: "What did you say, Littlefoot?"

Aw yeah, here we go, Cera's dad about to racist all over another mob scene! This is a tradition by this point, he always delivers!

Littlefoot sheepishly mentions that he saw this the other night and told his friends and Mr. Thicknose.

Cera's dad (to Mr. Thicknose): "You knew this stuff was falling?"

Mr. Thicknose: "Heh, the boy said something but it seemed so unlikely-"

Cera's dad: "We're really disappointed in you, we thought you knew everything!"

Mr. Thicknose: "So did I..."

Well. That was underwhelming. Mr. Thicknose leaves, dejected, and then the Spiketails come in. Okay, maybe Cera's dad is gonna be racist here!

Cera's dad: "You folks are wanderers. You must've seen this stuff before."

Male Spiketail: "Oh-ho, yes! When the frozen sky stars fall, well, that's when we leave."

Tippy's mom: "But that's just us. You know, we pretty much eat all the time, and green stuff is a bit harder to find under all this!"

Male Spiketail: "Oh yeah."

Tippy's mom: "I think here in the Great Valley, they will turn to water very soon."

Well, nevermind then. Cera's dad actually managed to stay civil for once. It's a bizarre change of pace. I'm guessing with the main conflict being focused on Ducky and Spike in this movie, they didn't need Cera's dad to manufacture conflict.

Speaking of those two, Spike walks up to Ducky and nudges her, but she's still mad at him. She makes a snowball and throws it at him, accidentally starting the very first snowball fight in history!

Which, uh, gets pretty out-of-hand, really fast.

Petrie likes the idea and throws a snowball... straight up, landing on his head! He then throws another one at Cera, but she ducks and it hits her dad in the face! While Petrie apologizes, Littlefoot tugs on a branch to dump a bunch of snow on Cera! Cera chases Littlefoot and they slide down a snowy hill, then they get pelted by snowballs from Petrie and Ducky! Littlefoot launches some snow at Cera, who takes cover behind Littlefoot's grandpa's leg. Grandpa then betrays his own grandson and dumps a pile of snow on him from a tree branch!! Ducky lays fire with a stock of snowballs made by Spike and Tippy, but then a barrage of snowballs from above buries Ducky, courtesy of Petrie's mom!! Ducky returns fire, knocking Petrie out of the tree! Petrie makes a quick snow angel before flying off.

But the ultimate blow comes from an unexpected place. Cera's dad rolls a giant snowball up a hill, then pushes it down.

Cera's dad: "Hey, Longneck, here it comes!"

The giant snowball rolls down the hill, up Grandpa's tail, off his back, then straight into his face!!!

Everyone has a great time with the snowball fight for the rest of the day. Everyone except Mr. Thicknose, who walks away sad. Later, Petrie's mom calls it a day, and everyone says goodnight to everyone else.

Ducky: "This was a good day! Yup, yup, yup! C'mon Spike, let us go home!"

Spike (looking at Tippy and his mom): *sigh*

Spike's mom: "If you'd like to stay another night, it's okay."

Tippy: "Yay, yay!"

Tippy's mom: "Well, come on, boys! Let's go home!"

Ducky looks up at her mom with the saddest expression ever, then they go home, too.

It snows again that night. It snows so much that it becomes a blizzard, freezing the trees and destroying the green food! Grandpa reaches up to grab a Tree Star for Littlefoot, but it blows off and lands in front of Mr. Thicknose. He's just about to eat it, when Cera's dad stops him. He whines about being hungry, but Cera's dad blames him for the lack of food, then stomps on the Tree Star.

Littlefoot's grandpa: "Come now, you can't blame Mr. Thicknose for the weather!"

Cera's dad: "Well... maybe not. But if he's so smart, why didn't he know that the white ground sparkles brought such cold with them that it killed all the food?! Why didn't he warn us to store away some Tree Stars until weather?!"

Damn, there it is! That makes sense, Cera's dad didn't get really mad until there was a food shortage on the line! Mr. Thicknose keeps stammering, and Grandpa points out this is unprecedented.

Cera's dad: "Well everybody says he's been everywhere and he knows everything! If you ask me, he doesn't know much at all! And I don't think he should be allowed to confuse the young ones with his crackpot ideas!"

Ooh, are we now getting into anti-teacher sentiments? That would be an interesting theme. Though I can't say I feel too sorry for Mr. Thicknose, he has been pretty pitiful these last few scenes.

Grandpa says he's being unfair, and Cera's dad excuses it with his hunger.

Male Spiketail: "That's why we've decided to leave."

Cera's dad: "Now, don't get me wrong, just because I was yelling at HIM-"

Grandpa: "Nobody said you have to go."

Male Spiketail: "I know, but there's hardly enough food in the Valley for those who live here all the time."

Tippy's mom: "We Spiketails eat more than our fair share as it is. Besides, we're used to moving around."

Grandpa wishes them luck, and Littlefoot sighs and looks at the destroyed Tree Star. Interesting that Cera's dad isn't scapegoating the outsiders this time around. Instead, he's scapegoating the teacher!

Petrie wakes up Ducky and tells her about the Spiketails leaving, and she hugs him in joy! The others are watching them leave, and Ducky runs to Spike. She reassures him that they'll come back someday. Tippy runs to Spike and nuzzles him. Spike and Tippy's moms start talking.

Spike's mom: "I'm sorry this happened. Not all of us want you to go."

Tippy's mom: "We'll be all right, we're wanderers!"

More passive-aggression here, with Ducky's mom implying that some people actually do want the Spiketails to go. Now, who would those be, hmm? We haven't seen anyone who openly wants them to go (except Ducky). Even Cera's dad said they didn't have to leave, so who is she talking about?

Spike is sad they're leaving, and Tippy's mom makes a shocking proposal:

Tippy's mom: "I- I don't know quite how to ask this but, would he...?"

Spike's mom: "What? Why no, I'm sure he wouldn't, I-, I mean. We're his family... hah... I'll ask him. Do you want to go with them, Spike?"

Spike: "Huh?"

Spike's mom: "We'll understand if you do. Ducky and I just want what's best for you."

Spike: *he looks at Tippy, eyes wide* "Urahrugh... awwww..." *he looks at Ducky pleadingly, then he looks down*

Ducky: "If it is so hard to figure out, I will do it for you! Go, go, go!"

Ducky shoos him away, and Spike walks over to Tippy, who excitedly licks his face.

Ducky's mom: "Goodbye, Spike. We'll miss you."

Tippy's mom promises they'll be back soon. Spike looks sad, but then Tippy cheers him up and they start playing. The rest of The Gang run up to watch Spike leave, and Ducky's mom walks away, tearing up.

Ducky: "I do not understand why Spike would leave his own family. I mean, than what is a family, anyway?"

This leads into song 2, Family.

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Sorry about the audio quality, for some reason the official upload of this song on the official channel has some weird distortion over it that isn't present in the regular movie.

That aside, damn. That was fantastic. After how I felt about The Mad Song, I was not expecting this movie to make a comeback, but that was genuinely beautiful. The singing was really nice, I really love how Ducky and her mom share the primary spotlight as his adoptive family, but also how The Gang get their own smaller segments because they're as close as family to Spike, too.

I like how Cera starts off angry, but she softens while singing about him. And how Petrie's section seems callous and jokey but then he gets one of the more impactful solo lines. There's nuance here, some are disappointed and angry at Spike's decision, but others are more forgiving, and they ultimately land on having love for Spike regardless of his choices. The lyrics aren't complex, but they're heartfelt, every one.

I haven't really mentioned it before, but I have an adopted younger brother who is a different race from me. In that aspect, this song and this whole subplot in general is hitting me pretty hard.

After the song, Ducky's taking it pretty hard, and her mom tries to reassure her that he needs more food, and he'll be back soon, and it's good for him to spend time with other Spiketails, and they seem nice, but eventually Ducky snaps at her. Ducky apologizes, then makes up an excuse that The Gang were going to see Mr. Thicknose one last time, before sneaking off when her mom's back is turned.

Meanwhile, the rest of The Gang are absentmindedly building a snow figure and talking about Spike, only to realize they accidentally made a snow Spike.

Ducky's mom walks up and asks them about Mr. Thicknose, glad that Ducky's doing something to get her mind off of Spike. She leaves, and The Gang wonder where Ducky actually went, though Littlefoot has an idea, looking at the snow Spike. Sure enough, Ducky is following the Spiketail's tracks out of the Great Valley and calling out for Spike.

With the Spiketails, they're crossing over a slippery snow-covered hill, but Spike and Tippy slip and collide with the other adults, causing a huge pile-up. The kids had fun. The adults did not.

The Gang are following Ducky, and Littlefoot excuses not telling her mom with the justification that his hunch might be wrong (oh please, like you kids don't have a history of sneaking off at every possible opportunity and never telling anyone). They accidentally walk over the snow-covered back of Mr. Thicknose, who is annoyed at first, but then dismissive. Cera urges Littlefoot to keep going if they want to find Ducky without the grown-ups finding out. Petrie spots Ducky's tracks and they're just about to head out when Mr. Thicknose calls out to them.

Mr. Thicknose: "Am I correct in understanding that you are going into the Mysterious Beyond without your parents' permission?!"

Cera: "No!"

Petrie: "Yes!"

Littlefoot: "Maybe!... okay yes, but we've got to! Ducky's out there somewhere!"

Mr. Thicknose: "I absolutely cannot allow it!"

Littlefoot: "But-"

Mr. Thicknose: "If your families found out that I let you leave the Valley unsupervised, I could never show my face around here again! Therefore, I'm coming with you."

Cera: "You are?! Greeeaaat..."

I hope this outing has many examples of the kids being WAY more competent than Mr. Thicknose is at adventuring. Because they go into the Mysterious Beyond all the time.

Immediately, the movie rewards my expectations. The very next scene is Mr. Thicknose lagging WAY behind the kids. While they wait, Cera questions how useful he'll be, but Littlefoot retorts that his experience may be helpful. They reach the Spiketail tracks and Petrie flies up high to scout. He sees nothing, flies even higher, and gets frost build-up on his wings, eventually reaching the point where he can't fly and he falls down to Earth, screaming!

The wind from the fall knocks the frost off, and Petrie manages to glide into a snowbank on the side of a mountain. Unfortunately, Petrie's screaming and impact causes that snowbank to fall, creating a massive avalanche. Everyone runs from the avalanche and just get mildly buried by it, right near the edge of a cliff. Unfortunately, that avalanche has sealed off the pathway into the Great Valley, trapping them in the Mysterious Beyond.

With Ducky, she's hopping between the Spiketail footprints, talking to herself about how she'll forgive Spike and he'll come home, but then considers if Spike will forgive her. She comes across some unusually large and pointy footprints, then gets attacked from behind by a Sharptooth!

Specifically, an Albertosaurus. I keep forgetting to mention, but the various new Sharpteeth are specific dinosaurs. The ridged one from 5 was a Giganotosaurus, and the orange one from 6 was an Allosaurus.

Mr. Thicknose is musing about how beautiful the mountains here are, so old and majestic, he's never seen anything like them. Littlefoot catches that and asks whether this is the first time he's been in the Mysterious Beyond. He waffles on answering that question before Ducky runs past them, screaming, and followed by the Sharptooth! The other kids follow Ducky in running up a mountain, but Mr. Thicknose freezes in fear and doesn't run until the Sharptooth is almost upon him!

Littlefoot has an idea with all the snow on that mountain. Petrie throws snowballs to enrage and distract the Sharptooth, while the kids roll up a humongous snowball and roll it down the hill. Mr Thicknose dashes out of the way and the snowball slams into the Sharptooth!

The snowball pushes it back, slamming it into another mountain and knocking it out. Ducky reunites with the gang, hugging Petrie.

Ducky: "I am so happy to see you! Yup, yup, yup! Except you!" *she points at Cera*

Cera: "Huh?!"

Ducky: "This is all your fault! You told me to be angry at Spike and now look what has happened!"

Cera: "Me? But, I just told you to express your feelings!"

Ducky: *sigh* "I know. And my feelings were mad. I am sorry. I do not want to be mad at you, either. I do not like being mad. No, no, no."

Eh, Cera did tell Ducky to hold onto her anger until they grovel, so that's not quite true. Also, I continue to be annoyed at this movie's assertion that anger is a new feeling for Ducky.

Ducky's thankful Mr. Thicknose is here as a guide, though!

Mr. Thicknose waffles around a lot before finally admitting this is his first time ever being in the Mysterious Beyond. So wait, everyone else came to the Great Valley from the Mysterious Beyond, does that mean Mr. Thicknose was actually born in the Great Valley?

Littlefoot: "How could things get any worse?"

The Sharptooth's tail twitches!

Next scene, they're walking through a blizzard.

Cera: "You HAD to ask, didn't you?!"

Funny bit of misdirection, there.

It's also a blizzard in the Great Valley, and Ducky's mom is worried about her, asking around. Littlefoot's grandparents are hunkered down, also worried, hoping the kids haven't wandered far. Ducky calls out Spike's name from on top of a ridge, and Spike hears her from the bottom, but he brushes it off and keeps going. The guardians all call their kid's names in the freezing wind.

After the blizzard, The Gang keeps trudging along, cold and hungry and thirsty. They spot some water up ahead, but it's a frozen river. Petre identifies it as the same stuff that built up on his wings, and all the kids look expectantly at Mr. Thicknose. He cautiously takes a step on the ice and immediately slides away on it!

The kids follow him and start slipping and sliding around themselves. They collide with Mr. Thicknose and the ice underneath starts cracking, until it breaks and they fall into some alarmingly red water!

But it's fine, actually, the red water is from a hot spring, and it's nice and warm. The kids relax and even find some bits of green food growing on the shore. Littlefoot asks Mr. Thicknose why he fibs so much about having been everywhere and seen everything, and Mr. Thicknose starts song 4 of the movie: The Lesson.

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You know, I was wondering why they hired Robert Guillaume to play Mr. Thicknose. Also, same audio issue as with Family, sorry about that. I tried emailing the guy in charge of the official Youtube channel about the audio issues, but it didn't get delivered.

The Lesson is... great. It has to do a lot of work for it (I like how it's almost 4 minutes long, it has some real meat on its bones), but it turned me around on Mr. Thicknose as a character. It's a nice bluesy track. It gives us a flashback, and he was indeed born in the Great Valley. I especially like the aging animation. And it recontextualizes him being mean to Littlefoot as him being cowardly and fearful he'd be discovered. Petrie's egg imagery pun is fun. Ducky mentioning Spike and Littlefoot referencing Family are both good call-backs to ground the song in the greater story.

The message does step on the toes a little bit of Kids Like Us and Good Inside, being about seeing other people as more than they appear to be on the surface, but I think The Lesson is different enough and the execution is better than both of those, having more depth and nuance. It's not that everyone wants to do the right thing, it's that everyone wants to be important and stand out from the crowd and do something meaningful, and sometimes that desire can push them to do bad things. That rings more true to me. And The Lesson is more broad in the idea, approaching it from more angles and more directions.

And the final lesson is that everyone has their own place in society, and all of those places are important. And also that no matter how old you are, you can still learn new things and change past bad behaviors. Which is something a lot of people could use nowadays.

I also think it's funny when Mr. Thicknose mentions that everyone fibs, and the kids all look nervously at each other like they don't all lie ALL THE TIME, CONSTANTLY!

After The Lesson, the kids wish everyone else was here to eat and relax in the warmth. Unfortunately, with the pass blocked off by snow, they can't get into the Great Valley and everyone else can't get out. Mr. Thicknose points out a tall pointy mountain in the distance, which he recognizes from the stories he's heard. The Great Valley is on the other side!

Mr. Thicknose: "Not that it does us any good."

The Gang: "Mm-huh!"

Mr. Thicknose: "Wait. You're not thinking that-"

The Gang: "Uh-huh!"

Mr. Thicknose: "But we can't! I mean, our type of creature doesn't- We can't climb something like THAT!!! Can we?"

I love how they all verbally strong-arm him into it. Bullying the teach'.

With the Spiketails, they're suffering through a snowstorm, cold, exhausted, lost, and starving. But Tippy's mom notices Spike standing on a rock and sniffing the air. He smells food (Spike can always find food or water, he's got a talent for it).

The animators got so excited about Spike finding food that they fucked up and moved the ground layer Spike is supposed to be standing on, giving Spike the ability to hover!

Amazing.

The Spiketails decide to follow Spike's nose.

The Gang are climbing the steep mountain. Mr. Thicknose tells them to leave him behind, he's not nearly as fit as the kids are.

Mr. Thicknose: "I'm slowing you down! And frankly... I don't think I can go another step." *he looks backward and his eyes widen* "Of course I could be wrong!"

Mr. Thicknose BOOKS it up the mountain! The kids look back and realize that the Sharptooth from earlier is chasing them! The kids run, too, and Mr. Thicknose realizes he should be protecting them, not "running like a ninny".

He headbutts that tree stump out of the ground and it slides down toward the Sharptooth!

It, uh. Doesn't really hit the Sharptooth. It's honestly kinda weird. The Sharptooth dodges it, raising a leg to block, but then the log hits the Sharptooth's foot, flipping the Sharptooth onto the log, which then slides down the hill with the Sharptooth immobile on his back on the log, until they both fall off a cliff.

This poor Albertosaurus. First the giant snowball, now the toboggan of doom. He keeps getting defeated by wacky Looney Tunes shenanigans. The franchise doesn't even do proper fights anymore.

In that chase, they made it to the top of the mountain. They cross a bridge to the pass.

Cera: "So what? It's all blocked-up, thanks to Petrie!"

Petrie (annoyed): "No go there!"

But she's right, the pass is still blocked by snow. Petrie doesn't want to try flying into it again, but Littlefoot has an idea, calling back to what Mr. Thicknose said earlier about how Hollowhorns make Tree Stars fall.

In the Valley, the adults are still looking for their kids, when they start hearing a mysterious screaming in the distance that sounds like them.

It has no effect.

Mr. Thicknose: "We're not loud enough!"

Ducky: *gasp* "But you are!" *she points at Cera*

Cera: "Huh?"

Ducky: "Cera, get mad at the white ground sparkles!

Cera: "... HUH?!"

Ducky: "Get really mad! Really, really mad!"

Cera: "Oh, yeah! Okay, haaaaaaah- URRRAAAAAAAUUUUAAAUUUUUAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!!"

Imagine the Tarzan yell, but more "angry" than "triumphant", and by a girl's voice. That's the monster of a scream Cera lets out here. This scream alone is more powerful than all the other screams before combined were, enough to destabilize and collapse the snow wall.

Reunited, the adults are shocked at what the kids did (why? this is common behavior for them), but Littlefoot justifies it that Mr. Thicknose was supervising them. Cera's dad is rude and sarcastic, but Littlefoot yells back at him, insisting that Thicknose was helpful. Cera's dad actually seems to respect Littlefoot standing up to him, but still wants an explanation. Cera responds that she can explain while they eat, which perks everyone's ears up.

Later, everyone is at the hot spring, relaxing and feeling better than they have in a long time. Cera's dad confesses they all did good, even Mr. Thicknose. Mr. Thicknose apologizes to Littlefoot's grandpa for what he said earlier, and says they should be proud. But someone isn't happy. Everyone is here, but one. Ducky misses Spike, so much. But then she looks over and sees Spike leading the Spiketails out of the mist to the hot spring. Spike eats some leaves and then licks Ducky happily.

Male Spiketail: "Is- is there enough to share?"

Cera's dad: "Now you-" (Littlefoot's grandpa twists his neck down to glare at him super hard) "-uuuhhh..."

Littlefoot's grandpa (to the Spiketails): "Of course. You're welcome."

Ducky's mom comments on how happy she is to see the kids playing together again.

Tippy slides on the ice and bumps into Spike, making him slide on the ice to a further spot, which breaks under his weight! That spot is deeper and he can't swim! He breaks the ice to surface for a short time!

Spike: "Ugh, gack, mama!"

Spike's mom dives into the ice. After a long, tense pause, she surfaces with Spike in her mouth!

Looking like a model in a shampoo commercial! Ducky brags about how cool her mom is.

Ducky: "Mama, you did it, you saved him!"

Spike's mom: "'Course I did, he's my boy!"

Tippy's mom: "Hmm. It's obvious who Spike's real family is."

Tippy's mom expresses that she'll always be grateful, and he's always welcome to visit. Tippy and Ducky both hug Spike.

The narrator assures us that they will rest and relax here until the Great Circle melts the White Sparkles and makes the plants grow again, at which point they'll return to the Great Valley and all get a good night's sleep, even Ducky.

I have some mixed feelings on this film. It has some high highs and low lows. Not as bad as 6 or as good as 7, but close. The first quarter is frustrating, but the second quarter (starting with the moms talking and ending with Family) is fantastic. The third quarter drags a bit, mostly just using snow-themed adventure tropes without much creativity, but the final quarter (starting with The Lesson) is good, though kinda underwhelming.

It has one bad song, one great song, and one song that might be my favorite in the entire franchise.

It also had one of the lamest Sharptooth encounters yet. Both scenes were just "chase The Gang up a hill, get hit by a thing and knocked back down". And the Sharptooth himself didn't have any character whatsoever. They rarely do, but I'll keep bringing it up as a flaw since Chomper and his parents have made it VERY clear that Sharpteeth are people too. They can be villains, but they shouldn't be monsters.

And the "climax" with Spike and his mom was SUPER contrived. It was a nice moment in isolation, especially Spike calling out for his mama, but it could have been way more interesting and dramatic. Considering how much story build-up there was, it feels like it should be bigger than Spike's talking scene in 4, but it's way less impactful.

The snowball fight is the best action scene in this movie. Cera's scream is the best "climax" each of the various storylines get, and it's the climax of the worst storyline!

The racism theme is also barely there. The pressures on Spike's mom and for Spike to be with "his own kind" is the most we get. Cera's dad doesn't even scapegoat the Spiketails!

Even with all the other problems, continuity is the biggest flaw this film has. It is FILLED with continuity snags. Ducky has trouble sleeping due to Spike, when that's never been a problem before when we see them sleeping together. Mr. Thicknose has apparently been in the Great Valley since before Movie 1 and everyone knows and respects him, except he wasn't in the previous films. Ducky needs to be taught what anger feels like, even though she's been mad in previous movies. And Spike has never met another Spiketail and is enamored by their lifestyle, except we've seen other Spiketails before in previous movies.

The one bit of continuity this movie gets right is the season. We haven't seen snow before, so it tracks that they literally don't recognize it. Also, it was autumn in 6 and we saw Far-Walkers in 7 escaping winter, so the seasonal continuity is pretty good.

As an aside, I like the Spiketails being used basically as positive fat representation, but I'm not sure it tracks prehistorically that stegosaurus ate significantly more than other dinosaurs of comparable or larger size.

Pros: The Lesson is a great song with a great message, and Family is maybe my favorite song in this whole franchise. The dialogue writing is really good, especially in the scenes with the moms. The snowball fight is really fun. Cera's scream is awesome. Tippy's mom and Mr. Thicknose are both pretty good new characters.

Cons: The entire plot is predicated on a bunch of continuity errors. The Mad Song is bad. The Sharptooth is super lame. Tippy is a little annoying, but not as bad as Dana and Dinah. The ending is underwhelming.

Score: Judging this film is hard. At its best, it's a 9/10. At its worst, it's a 3/10. I guess that means I should split the difference and give it a 6/10. But that's a VERY conflicted 6/10!

The Land Before Time: 8/10 (hypothetical uncut version: 9/10)

The Great Valley Adventure: 8/10

The Time of the Great Giving: 7/10

Journey Through The Mists: 7/10

The Mysterious Island: 9/10

The Secret of Saurus Rock: 2/10

The Stone of Cold Fire: 10/10

The Big Freeze: 6/10

#the land before time #PMC watches TLBT #the land before time viii: the big freeze #land before time

20 notes · View notes