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#unlike the prompt with was originally from
rotg-halloween · 2 days
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ONE MONTH UNTIL THE ROTG HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE BEGINS!!!
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Artwork credits: 1] Concept art by Perry Maple, from the book THE ART OF RISE OF THE GUARDIANS; 2] "Guardians Dress Up!" by @purblzart; 3] Fabric swatch from @sylphidine's stash of holiday decorations, found at Ames Department Store in 1994.
RISE OF THE GUARDIANS HALLOWEEN 2024: Event Guidelines
13 days, 13 prompts.
Visual, aural, textile, and literary works are allowed - fanart, fanfiction, gifs, edits/manips, cosplay, fanmixes, crafts, or ask-and-answer.  
Unlike other fandom events, reblogs of previously created material are welcome IF THEY FIT THE PROMPT, but creation of original material is preferred.
Inspiration can be drawn from the GUARDIANS OF CHILDHOOD bookverse, the RISE OF THE GUARDIANS movieverse, and any and all associated AUs.
OCs are welcome and encouraged to interact with RotG/GoC characters.
Crossovers are welcome, but please make sure that the focus POV is a character from RotG/GoC.
Works in progress are welcome and encouraged, as long as they fit the prompt. No reason not to celebrate Halloween all year ‘round! No need to worry about having to have something complete before posting.
Don’t feel like you ***must*** post a piece Every… Single… DAY, and/or fill every single prompt.  Burnout is not fun.  But do try to post at least ONE piece during the 13 days of the challenge.
Be sure to tag your works with @rotg-halloween, and list #rotghalloween in one of your first 5 tags.
Please tag works accordingly, and be sure to use any warnings for sensitive and potentially triggering subjects.  
HAVE FUN, and support your fellow creators.
RISE OF THE GUARDIANS HALLOWEEN 2024: Prompts
19 October 2024 / Day One: Creak
20 October 2024 / Day Two: Darkness
21 October 2024/ Day Three: Cabin
22 October 2024 / Day Four: Castle
23 October 2024 / Day Five: Apparition
24 October 2024 / Day Six:  Dystopia
25 October 2024 / Day Seven: Howl
26 October 2024 / Day Eight: Talisman
27 October 2024/ Day Nine: Changeling
28 October 2024 / Day Ten: Slasher
29 October 2024 / Day Eleven: Transmogrify
30 October 2024 / Day Twelve: Orbit
31 October 2024 / Day Thirteen: Slither
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yueliie · 3 days
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⊹ ׁ݂ ꒰꒰🍬 ˸ 𝐅𝐋𝐔𝐅𝐅𝐓𝐎𝐁𝐄𝐑⋅꒷
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CARAMEL. it's that time of the year once again...a month long annual of fluffy sweetness enough to have your teeth rotted! are you ready to dive in the land of sweet dreams?
CONTENT. all entries will be written as sfw only, the themes are varieties of different holidays such as halloween, christmas, valentine's day, tanabata (star festival) and etc. this event is open for all walk of life!
NOTE. welcome to my first flufftober event, where it was originally wbk-centric but I've decided to add some candies of other fandoms! the prompts are all prepared by me but special thanks to my little mousy, @zylophie for helping me on deciding for the remaining cast members. any of the prompts below may change, very unlikely but just a heads up. if you would like to be tagged in any and all fics please let a comment or send me a dm/ask! all works will be tagged with ⊹ ׁ݂ ꒰꒰🍬— flufftober.
LINKS. general masterlist ,,
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“a single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities...don't you agree, oh dear visitor?“
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OCT 1ST, YOUR VALENTINE.
featuring kn8 + valentine's day, slightly yandere!narumi gen x fem!reader
— synopsis. “both you and your chocolate should belong to me only”
OCT 2ND, LITTLE SANTA CLAUS.
featuring kn8 + silly moments & costume ideas for halloween, ashiro mina x gn!reader
— synopsis. “...why a santa's helper outfit?”
OCT 3RD, MINE.
featuring wbk + first time making a bento box & established relationship, kaji ren x gn!reader
— synopsis. “...make these only for me from now on”
OCT 4TH, INDIRECT CONFESSION.
featuring wbk + tanabata, kiryu mitsuki x gn!reader
— synopsis. “the moon is beautiful, isn't it?”
OCT 5TH, CAN I KISS YOU?.
featuring kn8 + mutual pining & friends to lovers, ichikawa reno x fem!reader
— synopsis. “before you go...can I kiss you?”
OCT 6TH, HOLD MY HAND.
featuring wbk, togame jo x gn!reader
— synopsis. “I'll hold your hand until you fall asleep...”
OCT 7TH, MONSTER.
featuring wbk + valentine's day & established relationship, yandere!takiishi chika x fem!reader
— synopsis. “call me a monster, but I'm a monster who only wants your heart”
OCT 8TH, KISS YOUR TEARS AWAY.
featuring wbk, suo hayato x gn!reader
— synopsis. “don't show your crying face to anyone else but me”
OCT 9TH, PROOF OF LOVE.
featuring wbk, endo yamato x gn!reader
— synopsis. “why are you acting so embarrassed about?”
OCT 10TH, I DON'T WANNA EAT THAT MEDICINE!.
featuring wbk, kiryu mitsuki x fem!reader
— synopsis. “don't move around so much when you're sick!”
OCT 11TH, WOULD A HUG MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER?.
featuring wbk, togame jo x fem!reader
— synopsis. “do you want a hug?”
OCT 12TH, HOLDING HANDS.
featuring wbk + newly established relationship & first time, kusumi yuto x gn!reader
— synopsis. “can we hold hands?”
OCT 13TH, YOUR HEARTBEAT.
featuring wbk + childhood sweethearts & slightly hurt/comfort to fluff, umemiya hajime x fem!reader
— synopsis. “hearing your heartbeat, it's a melody I will never forget”
OCT 14TH, A PLACE TO CALLED HOME.
featuring kny, tomioka giyu x fem!reader
— synopsis. “with you, I find a sense of belonging, it's as if I'm always home”
OCT 15TH, STAY.
featuring wbk, endo yamato x gn!reader
— synopsis. “I don't know when to let you go”
OCT 16TH, TIME WITH YOU.
featuring wbk + established relationship & inexperienced bf, sakura haruka x fem!reader
— synopsis. “I don't care what we do, I just want to be with you”
OCT 17TH, FAR AWAY FROM YOU.
featuring genshin impact, furina x gn!reader
— synopsis. “I hate being so far away from you ”
OCT 18TH, GIFT.
featuring honkai star rail, feixiao x gn!reader
— synopsis. “I only accept gifts from the person I like”
OCT 19TH, THANK YOU.
featuring wbk + tanabata, hiragi toma x gn!reader
— synopsis. “thank you for loving me and... for being you”
OCT 20TH, CAN'T STOP THINKING OF YOU.
featuring genshin impact, kaeya x gn!reader
— synopsis. “I can't stop thinking about you”
OCT 21ST, SNACKS?.
featuring honkai star rail, aventurine x fem!reader
— synopsis. “It's your favourite snack, right?”
OCT 22ND, SILENT DESIRE.
featuring genshin impact, lyney x fem! reader
— synopsis. “I want to be with you forever”
OCT 23RD, DO YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW?.
featuring wbk + valentine's day, hiragi toma x fem!reader
— synopsis. “you really want to know how I feel?”
OCT 24TH, SWEETER THAN CHOCOLATE.
featuring honkai star rail, robin x gn!reader
— synopsis. “you're way sweeter than any chocolate”
OCT 25TH, GOOD MORNING KISS?.
featuring honkai star rail, blade x fem!reader
— synopsis. “...good morning kiss?”
OCT 26TH, KISS THE CHEF.
featuring wbk, first time cooking & bento for him and its kind failed miserably, suo hayato x gn!reader
— synopsis. “I love everything you make though”
OCT 27TH, GUIDE ME.
featuring wbk, sakura haruka x gn!reader
— synopsis. “I lose my way, your hand guide me back to the right path”
OCT 28TH, MAKE ME FORGET.
featuring kny, aftermath of muzan's downfall & marriage life with self-healing, shinazugawa sanemi x fem!reader
— synopsis. “holding your hand...you made me forget all my worries”
OCT 29TH, THE FIRST ONE.
featuring wbk + valentine's day & coworkers to lovers?, suzuri shuhei x gn!reader
— synopsis. “I want your gift to be the first one I get”
OCT 30TH, ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU.
featuring wbk + halloween, hoshina soshiro x fem!reader
— synopsis. “how long are you going to stare when I'm right in front of you?”
OCT 31ST, WARMTH.
featuring wbk + christmas & established relationship—engagement?, umemiya hajime x fem!reader
— synopsis. “keep me warm tonight”
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© yueliie 2024. do not steal, copy, repost, edit, translate or use my works.
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erathene · 2 days
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Instinct (Part 2)
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Summary: Elrond is restless, and cannot shake the unease that plagues his mind. Suddenly, his gift of foresight shows him a vision of his adopted son Estel in trouble. It will take all of his fatherly instincts to patiently wait for news of Estel's wellbeing, having sent Elladan and Elrohir straight into the face of danger.
Word count: 2.2k
Pairing: Elrond & Estel, Elrond & Elladan and Elrohir.
Warnings: Generous amounts of canon-typical violence, including graphic descriptions of blood, injury, and loss of consciousness. Angst including self-doubt and anxiety. Mention of death.
AO3 Link: Instinct
Author's note: Here it is! Part 2 of the fic I created for @elrondweek with the prompts "Family and Love". Originally this was going to be 2 parts, but it looks like there will be a Part 3! 😅 I feel like I'm turning up the dial on the whump and angst in this part, so please heed the warnings. Enjoy!
......................
"Tracks."
Elladan paused to look at the section of ground where Elrohir was pointing, crouching low to get a better view of the imprints left in the dried mud. The tracks were not fresh, but neither were they old, and the size and shape provided little doubt as to who had made them.
"Definitely orcs," noted Elladan quietly with a frown, his distaste for the foul creatures evident in his tone. He swept a few fallen leaves away from the area with his hand to further examine the tracks, only to see an additional shape that was unlike the rest. "And human." He glanced up to exchange a knowing look with Elrohir.
Estel.
The brothers did not have to converse any further to confirm they were on the right path. Ever since their father had reluctantly revealed his vision, the twins had been determined to locate their brother and bring him home. Both Elladan and Elrohir hated seeing their father worry incessantly for his youngest son. They were even more determined to cut down and destroy the orcs; the foul creatures would soon know it had been a grave mistake to launch an assault against the house of Elrond.
It was a mistake they would never forgive. Not after what had happened to their beloved mother. They would track these beasts down and cut them limb from limb.
And they were close.
---
Ragged gasping was the first thing Aragorn heard as he began to come round from his unconscious state. His lungs drew in hungry breaths as if searching for oxygen in the air around him. His eyelids were too heavy to lift, and a high pitched ringing blasted in his ears. Valar, everything hurt. He slowly became aware that he was sitting on the cold earth, albeit slumped sideways against the trunk of a large tree; the surface of the bark touching his cheek was coarse and rough, and the scent of sap passed through his nostrils with each gasp he took.
Breathing was far more difficult than he remembered.
No sooner had this thought wandered through his mind, his senses encountered a further onslaught of pain. White hot burning radiated through his entire body, causing him to groan weakly. Dizziness made his head spin and he kept his eyes firmly shut, for if he opened them he would surely see the world gyrating. The ranger's mind flickered between the experienced healer in himself, inwardly trying to examine every inch of his being for the source of the agony, and the injured patient who wanted nothing more than to surrender to the pain and slip into oblivion. His next breath caused him to descend into a coughing fit, and he desperately clutched his side in an attempt to lessen the torment.
As he began to regain control and steady his breathing, Aragorn idly wondered how it was he found himself here and in this state. He had been travelling alone, that much he remembered. He had departed through the gates of Rivendell over a fortnight ago, but at present he was unable to recall the purpose of leaving his father's halls. Flashes of his journey came through now; picking his way through the wilds, the first signs of winter beginning to show. Crossing small streams edged with ice, brushing past foliage crisp with frost. His breath rising like smoke in the frigid morning air. Staying off the road. The landscape around him empty and peaceful.
Until the orcs had appeared.
The village under attack. The citizens defenceless. The filthy orc with its filthy hands around his neck, choking him, air unable to reach his lungs...
Remembering these events was enough to drive his eyes open with panic. His hand automatically went to his closest weapon: a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He willed the ringing in his ears to abate as he listened for any unusual sounds. True to his instincts, unnatural crashes through forest undergrowth could be heard, and they were far too close for comfort.
"That filthy whelp is around here somewhere, find him!" the harsh command was barked out by one of the orc leaders, it's voice carrying through the trees. Aragorn's panic rose. He had to move, and move fast.
It took all his strength to rise to his feet. His hand shook as he gripped the tree, willing the black spots that clouded his vision to recede. The sound of orcs on the move was growing louder by the second. He had only taken a few paces forwards when pain flared to the right of his navel, causing him to inhale sharply and reach for his side. His palm came away warm and wet with his own blood; he made a mental note to check the wound properly when he was clear of danger. For now, applying pressure and getting himself to safety was the best he could do.
Aragorn half walked, half ran falteringly through the trees, trying his best to stick behind shrubs and undergrowth to avoid being seen. He was thankful for his ranger's cloak which blended him into the landscape, his hood obscuring his human features, but at present it was his only defence. He was in no position to outrun these beasts, and without knowing how many remained he was hesitant to draw his sword and fight. He could hide, but his scent would not be hidden for long and they would surely track him down with ease. His threw a quick glance over his shoulder, noting how the assailants were edging closer on his location. The orcs were tightening the noose.
Not far away to his right, the land dipped away down a steep embankment to a river. He hesitated for a moment before switching direction, having concluded that it was his only option. In his haste, his feet slipped out from beneath him on the muddy riverbank, causing him to land less than gracefully into the shallows of the perishing water. His pain flared angrily with the fall, and he silently prayed to the Valar that the orcs had not overheard neither the splash nor his cry of suffering. The sounds of the orcs nearby thundered louder than ever. His heart raced in his chest and his lungs heaved as he looked up and down the river, searching for options.
In that moment, Aragorn caught sight of a large log wedged in rocks on the opposite bank. Foliage still decorated the branches, and it was big enough to serve as a hiding place, but he knew the orcs would still be able to follow his scent. Now desperate to evade the enemy, he mustered some of his waning strength to scoop handfuls of wet mud and dirt from the water's edge, running it through his hair and over his face. As he smeared the muck across his neck and shoulders, the biting sting of another open wound made itself known and he remembered the arrow he had ripped from his flesh. He winced. Covering an open wound with mud would probably do him no favours later, but the alternative of being caught would be infinitely worse. He piled more mud on his limbs and down his side where the larger wound was still weeping fresh blood. The smell of the filth was enough to set his stomach on edge, yet this gave him the reassurance that his true scent would be masked.
With some difficulty, he pushed himself to his feet, and clutching the wound at his side he waded across the sweeping current towards the trapped log. The water, which came up to his waist in places, was biting cold and left goosebumps on his skin. Once he reached the rocks, he wasted no time concealing himself within the twisted boughs, sinking into the water up to his neck and using the leaf-lined branches as his disguise. The chill of the water took his breath away, and he had to clench his jaw shut to stop his teeth chattering.
He had concealed himself just in time. From his hiding place, Aragorn watched as an orc appeared from the tree line at the top of the embankment. The monster looked around carefully, sniffing the air for any trace of the human and stepping down to the water's edge. The ranger silently cursed himself for not obscuring the footprints he had left behind in the mud.
A second orc appeared on the ridge, calling down to the first in black speech and sending further chills across the hidden man's skin. Aragorn did not need to understand the creature's foul utterances to know they were still looking for him. His heart pounded in his chest like a war drum. Both orcs were now looking at the mud beneath their feet and exchanging grunts. They might be slow-minded, but not completely stupid, and they would soon work out that Aragorn had entered the water.
A third, larger orc then appeared on the scene, his weapon and armour marking him out as a leader. He saw his two subordinates apparently loitering by the water and cursed them. "Get back to hunting, scum! If that human's flesh isn't roasting on my campfire tonight, it will be yours instead!"
Aragorn exhaled in relief as the orcs dissipated back into the trees. With the immediate danger gone, his adrenaline was quickly replaced by physical suffering once more. His head ached and he felt weary; he did not need to be an expert healer to know that blood loss from the untreated lacerations was the likely cause. Not yet ready to abandon his safe space, he rose from the water and dangled his arms and chest over a sturdy bough, letting his limbs float in the swift current. A shiver of cold coursed through his body. He would leave the water in a minute, he just needed a quick rest, and this feeling of weightlessness was a welcome reprieve. His head came down to settle against the bark of the log. Just a moment to rest. His mind felt foggy, coherent thoughts evaporating. Just a minute. His eyelids closed. Rest.
---
Elrond paced his study. Backwards and forwards, backwards and forwards. No matter how many times he traversed the soft rugs or glanced across at the open window, his entire being remained restless.
Just over a week had passed since he had seen Estel in a vision of foresight. Since then, Elrond had barely eaten, had taken no rest, and had done little else other than roam the various rooms and hallways of Imladris. As the days crept by, he could no longer pretend that his worries and woes were not devouring him from the inside. Renowned for being as kind as summer, Elrond's temperament had changed, becoming as chilled and cold as a midwinter's night. He had always treated all of his household staff with respect, regardless of length of service or rank. Yet now he had become irritable, snapping at those who brought him meals when he had no desire to eat, or brought him steaming cups of tea instead of news of his sons.
The sons he had willingly sent into the mouth of danger.
In the immediate aftermath of the vision, Elladan and Elrohir had insisted their father to tell them what he had seen. Elrond had granted their request, albeit reluctantly; the scenes he had gleaned through foresight were not ones he wished to relive again, nor implant into the minds of his family. However, both Elladan and Elrohir were well aware of their father's gift and how it occasionally appeared without his will or consent.
They were also well aware of how the visions appeared clearest when the subject was near death.
"Estel will be alright, father," Elladan had reassured his father as the brothers readied for their departure in the stables. Elrohir nodded in Elrond's direction as he tossed the saddle over his horse and began to tightly secure the fastenings.
Elrond's brow creased as he brought his hand to the bridge of his nose. "Arathorn suffered greatly at the hands of orcs; I worry the same fate has befallen Estel," he said quietly.
Elladan looked over his shoulder to see several of the household staff approaching, their arms laden with weapons. The twin's blades had been sharpened at the forge, and their quivers restocked by the arrowsmiths. He took his own equipment and quickly loaded it to his steed.
Elrohir crossed the stable to collect his sword, and place his hand on his father's shoulder. "We will find him, Ada. No matter what it takes."
Elrond shook his head in the face of his eldest son. "I should have done more. I should have kept him here where he was safe, away from--"
"What does your instinct tell you?"
The lord of Imladris was temporarily taken aback by his son's question. He placed a trembling hand on his chest, touching his collarbone, as he searched his thoughts. Somewhere, deep down, he knew his youngest son was not lost. Not yet. Regardless of the horrors his foresight had shown him, his instinct as a father told him they had not won out. Estel was alive, he could feel it. 
Elrond blinked as the recollection of his final conversation with his eldest sons slid away, returning his study to the forefront of his sight. The sentiment he felt down in the stables of his son's wellbeing clung to him like a shadow as he continued to pace the room. Yet it was not enough to fully dissipate his concerns; he would not be content until Estel walked through the gates of Imladris, until he could hold him in his arms once more.
He said a silent prayer to the Valar that his instinct was right.
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pixelatedraindrops · 3 months
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Ya know with the pneumonia post makes me wonder how sick Yuma would get if he had pneumonia. Especially since it would be a much different situation from him having the flu given the NDA can't go to the doctor and get medicine easily.
I admit I’m honestly not a huge expert with pneumonia, but I know he’d be UTTERLY MISERABLE. And I’d love to see it 👀
Maybe in this art I made, he has pneumonia… 🤔 (edited it a bit)
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The NDA would surely panic over this.
Their poor little trainee being so sick and in so much pain...
and as the outsides of kanai ward...what could they possibly do?
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skzdarlings · 9 days
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the rescue ; skz; aotm!hyunjin x reader
original ask: requested by @tattywood: ❛ i'm simply enjoying the view. it's not every day i get to fuck someone so pretty. ❜ would 100000% fit Hyunjin 🩶 + requested by anonymous: ❛ you're mine, and i take care of what belongs to me. ❜ with hyunjin? thank you
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pairing: hwang hyunjin/reader content info: artist of the month!hyunjin was inspo here. gangster stuff, reader has been kidnapped and is in a see through nightdress, most violence off page though, bad guy hyunjin who is actually a good guy, arranged marriage, multiple smut scenes, not great communication but gets better lol. smut includes fingering, blow jobs, pussy eating, piv, spanking, light choking, husband/wife kink. word count: 6300 words.
masterlist. part of the valentine’s day stories series. credit to prompts. requests are closed.
enjoy! <3
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“I’ve already explained,” you say, equal parts frustrated and exhausted.  “My husband isn’t coming for me.” 
The gangster cronies still don’t seem to understand.  You are tied to a chair in their basement (because they are preposterously corny goons, tying you up like a comically silly damsel in a ridiculous film) while they berate you for your husband’s tardiness.    
You have tried explaining, over and over, that Hyunjin is not coming, but they won’t accept that answer.  The fools try in vain to reach him again, but his line leads straight to a dial tone. 
He went radio silent after the initial video contact, when your captors demanded a price for your healthy return. 
Hyunjin was quiet on the call.  Your husband is a quiet man in general, though he knows how to use his charms and work a room, and he has certainly perfected the art of severe intimidation.  When your marriage was arranged, one mob family to the other, you mistakenly assumed you were marrying a monster. 
Hyunjin is very reserved when not conducting business.  He doesn’t engage in any of the more debauched sides of the business, unlike the men in your family.  Evenings at home are silent and still, the penthouse view of the glittering cityscape the only real bustle. 
Maybe that shouldn’t have surprised you.  When he took over his family’s business, Hyunjin altered a lot of their practices, cutting the crueler sectors, opting for illicit crimes of more practical varieties. 
The country is in a political chokehold, government affairs conducted none too differently from the criminal underworld.  The cops are all dirty, the politicians corrupt, the wealthy depraved.  Hyunjin has taken it upon himself to alleviate the pressure suffered by the regular people, the civilians who truly pay the price of a broken system.
In a world with no good guys, sometimes only villains can be heroes.    
You think of his face now, how he certainly looked the part of a villain on the video call.  Hyunjin has a very austere demeanour, exacerbated by his severe appearance: sharp marble features and dark, vicious eyes often further darkened with heavy lining, sleek black hair, scattered scars and tattoos, and the sort of regard that judges at a glance.  He is young, but he has the air of a man who has already traversed the universe and found it wanting.       
You think of his face now, the silent perusal he gave your bound body on that video call.  You are dressed in your favourite nightgown, your underthings partially visible through the light material, but it was not willingly donned.   At the time of your kidnapping, you were attired appropriately for the wealthy wife of a famous gangster.  You were returning from a family visit when your captors intercepted you in transit from the airport. 
Either to intimidate or threaten or just because they could, they made you remove all your jewelry and fine clothes.  They rifled through your luggage and demanded you change into the nightgown. 
Hyunjin recognized the nightdress, realized you must have been stripped, and likely inferred the very worst. 
“Address,” was the only word Hyunjin said.   He ended the call seconds later.    
“Oh, he’ll come,” your captor says.  He points at you with a hand that feels more threatening than a knife.  It makes your terrified heart leap into your throat.  “Or else.” 
“He won’t, though!” you exclaim.  “You’re wasting your time!”
They are not listening.  They leave the basement, slamming the door behind them.
You huff and settle back in your bonds. 
It is only a matter of time before they realize you are telling the truth.  Hyunjin will not waste the money or resources to rescue you.  He has always been respectful of the marriage arrangement, but your husband is not sentimental.  There is a professional distance between you.  His decision will be based in the logic of all his strategies: nothing personal, just a matter of business. 
You sometimes see a different side of him, something buried under that quiet intensity.  He collects fine art and spends hours poring over his favourite pieces, listening to music, losing himself to artistic fantasies.  He always comes back, but you know there are other worlds in his mind. 
Every attempt to bridge the gap has been gently rebuffed, but there have been moments when your husband seems curious about you.  You often catch him staring.  He gets a wistful look that softens his face, even with that shield of make-up.  His eyes are gentle when you talk about your passions.  You never let his quietude deter your friendly penchant for chatter.   He seems more than content to listen.  He remembers everything too. 
You know he finds you attractive, if nothing else.  He has caved on that front several times over, though not right away.  He didn’t touch you on the wedding night, nor the honeymoon.  He left your beach holiday early to return to business, leaving you in a villa with security and his credit card.  It was the first time you realized the material world was no replacement for true companionship.  You missed his dark eyes.
Your family also had expectations.  There would be consequences if the marriage fell through.  You would be blamed, not him.  Worried he would renege on the nuptials, you did everything to try and seduce him. 
He politely rejected you at every turn. 
Just when you were resigned, he arrived home after a job.  It was almost three in the morning when he entered the penthouse.  You have separate bedrooms but they share a connecting bathroom.  You could hear him cursing above the running water. 
You only meant to peek.  The sliding door on your side was partially ajar so you tip-toed over. 
Hyunjin was standing in front of the mirror, shirtless, pressing a rag to his wounded shoulder.  There was a mess of blood streaked down his back, making you gasp at the terrible mosaic of pain, his body littered with violent scars. 
That gasp contained multitudes, for the horror, for his beauty.  His dark eyes were as severely lined as ever, expression intense as he breathed hard through the pain.  Smooth black hair fell across his face when he tipped his head. 
He froze at the sound of your gasp.  His turn was very slow, eyes peeking through the curtain of his short hair.  They captured yours.   
You held your breath. 
Eventually, he straightened, flicking his hair out of his face.  He looked in the mirror and sighed.    
“You can come in,” he said.   “This is your home too.” 
You slid the door open, just enough to squeeze through.  Your attention was utterly transfixed on his bleeding shoulder.  You could see the wound was a thin stripe.  It was not deep so stitches were not necessary, but it was slightly out of his reach as it sloped towards his back.
“Oh, Hyunjin,” you said, thoughtlessly taking the rag right out of his hands.    
In spite of the violence that raised you, or maybe because of it, you can’t stand to see suffering.   You and Hyunjin have had that in common from the start.  You were quick to help him clean the wound, wordlessly wiping all the blood then applying cream across the clotted cut. 
He flinched when the stinging cream made contact.  You went to apologize but your words evaporated when your eyes met through the mirror.  You were surprised to find him already looking at you, that expressive gaze as thoughtful as ever. 
“How did this happen?” you couldn’t help but ask, eyes rivetted to his reflection.   “You – you have people to protect you.”  You managed to rip your gaze away, looking at your task, feeling hot in the face. 
“I do,” he said.  “But I’d never ask someone to do something I’m not willing to do myself.” 
This did not surprise you to hear.   It is obvious that Hyunjin cares very deeply about the wellbeing of other people.  It is a fact known to few.  It aggravates you at times, but his reputation does not seem to bother him.  He would rather people think him a monster while he secretly does good rather than be praised in public while cruel in private. 
You have never known another man like him.  Looking at that scar that night, the realization truly struck you. 
Your fingers began to tremble where they brushed his bare skin, your eyes widening as you looked at the scar and many others.  If something happened to him, what would become of you?  Certainly, as his widow, you would be financially sound, but what did that matter?  This world would lose something irreplaceable if it lost Hwang Hyunjin.  This penthouse could be brimming with silver and gold and it would be empty, worthless. 
Tears in your eyes, you succumbed to desire, kissing him very gently on his hurt shoulder. 
“Hyunjin,” you said, your eyes closed, lips grazing his skin as you spoke.  “Please make sure you always come home, okay?” 
He did not answer at first.  When you lifted your eyes and looked in the mirror, those dark eyes were so enflamed that you were surprised nothing caught fire. 
“Hyunjin?” you said softly.   
“You mean that,” he said, not quite a question, more like a realization. 
“Of course,” you replied. You looked at his scarred back again, let your fingertips brush down the length of his spine.  It made him stand a little straighter.  “Have you ever known me to lie?” you asked. 
He finally turned around, looking at you with an long-engrained wariness, but also a hunger.  He was a starving man presented with a banquet, but one who did not easily trust when sitting at someone else’s table. 
“You’re a smart woman,” he said.  “I know that.  And I know that you’re – good.” 
Good was an exhale, like the word was too heavy for his tongue.  You realized that his wariness was less suspicion for you than hesitation regarding himself.  He was only starving because he though himself undeserving of the meal he wanted. 
“You’ve seen – and done – many bad things tonight, haven’t you?” you asked. 
Having the full force of his gaze was overwhelmingly heady.  You remember how it made your heart race like you were being chased, your breath catching over and over until you were almost panting. 
Arousal struck quickly, a sensation like you never experienced before.  You thought you understood attraction, but not until that moment when he released a breath, so close to your face, and you became truly aware of his proximity.   Of him, of all that he was, all that he did.  His character, his hidden depths.
Your husband. 
It made your racing heart thunder something fierce, your blood pumping hotly, throbbing places you did not know were so sensitive. 
You desperately wondered what was on his mind.  The gears in his head were spinning and whirring, delaying his response.  Was he feeling the same tension?  Were his thoughts the same realization?
 My wife.  
“Yes,” he finally said. 
“Is there something I can do to help?” you asked.
His tattooed hand cupped your head, tilting it just so.  It made your lips part with a gasp, eyelids heavy with anticipation for a kiss. 
He took his time looking at you, like he was scrubbing all those bad memories away, replacing them with the flustered look on his aroused wife’s face. 
“Yes,” he said again, and kissed you for the first time. 
You were so glad he rebuffed your previous half-hearted advances, clumsy seductions made out of obligation rather than desire.  It was so different to that kiss.  You would not have known how to even ask for a kiss like that.  You never knew what you were missing. 
Your quiet husband and his multitudes.  All that simmering intensity, hot just below the surface of his icy demeanour, burned right through his skin.  His kiss was ravishing, entirely possessive, like he wished to take your whole essence into him and hold it forever. 
He walked you backwards.  With a snap of his wrist, he slid the door open the rest of the way, so sharp that it tried to bounce back.  He continued onward, kissing you until you were dizzy with it.   
He picked you up just to put you on the bed himself.  Your kiss separated only then as you landed with a bounce and a breath. 
He loomed over the edge of the bed, this man who was both stranger and husband, hero and villain.   He looked at you like he already loved you.  He looked at you and saw the reciprocation.  You had fallen for him without realizing you had ever even stumbled. 
He ran his hands through his hair, the sleek black locks fluttering back into place.  His eyes were still rivetted to your face, to your body.  You were wearing the nightdress you are wearing now.  It is why it became your favourite. 
He looked down at you, the material translucent enough to see the details of your body.   It broke through that last layer of ice.  He surrendered with a choked breath. 
He unclasped a holster on his thigh, dropped a knife that was hidden in a pocket.   Once unarmed, his hands went to his belt.  You watched those nimble, efficient fingers, swallowing hard.   You were aching to an embarrassing degree, undoubtedly obvious in your desires.  No one ever warned you it would feel like this, just being looked at, never mind touched.
Then his belt was on the floor and he touchedyou for real.   His calloused hands moved up your thighs, pushing the nightdress up and out of his way.  He climbed on top of you, swift as a feline, mouth descending onto yours with that same desperate hunger as before. 
Recollection makes you crave another kiss.   You think you will always be starving for more. 
“Hyunjin,” you whispered, hands on his face, his shoulders, down to his chest. 
He took your hands and laced your fingers with his, pinning those hands to the bed.   He kissed you again, long and slow.  It was all more sensual than desperate.
His voice, however, was desperate when he begged, “Let me make you feel good, please.”  He kissed down your face, your jaw, your throat.  “Please, my wife.”  He kissed further down still, through your nightdress, tracing the curve of your breast with his tongue, wetting the material and awakening every nerve beneath it.   “My wife,” he repeated. 
“My husband.”  The words left your lips in a dizzy, delirious whisper.   
It was all the confirmation he needed.  Those deft and skilled hands, so quick to assemble weapons and pull triggers, applied themselves with a startling gentleness.  He took you apart and put you together with the same efficient ease.   
He hooked his fingers in the only material between him and his desire, tugged it out of his way.  His fingers went to you, slipping through all that wetness.  Those intense eyes rolled back even though it was just his fingers inside you, then he closed his eyes like it was too much, and it seemed he had to temper himself, murmuring nonsense as he let his fingers sink into you. 
He kissed you again, drinking down every sigh and gasp and moan while he fucked you with his long fingers.  It was like he could taste your pleasure, like he was trying to get drunk on it, every noise you made filling his mouth.  He gave them back and brought you over a peak, first with his hands, then with his mouth.  He laid between your legs and put your thighs around his head, losing himself entirely in you. 
He did not remove a single article of your clothing nor his pants, not that first time.  He simply held the material to the side as he unzipped and finally got inside you.  It made your whole body keen, coming to life like it never had before.  You forgot all your sensibilities and let every wanton sound and action loose.
He responded in kind.  His kiss tasted like your pleasure, his heart pounding as fast as yours where your chests pressed together.  You were careful near his injured shoulder, fingertips dodging scars.  Your soft touch made him whimper, this powerful man entirely undone by a few caresses. 
His skin was hot and he worked up a sweat, but his stamina seemed endless.  He always wanted more. 
You fell asleep tucked in his arms, content to believe the walls had crumbled.   However, they revealed themselves in the morning light, as concrete as ever.  He slipped away and left a note to excuse his absence as he was called away to business.   You thought about phoning or messaging him, but those lines were not always secure, not for such intimate conversations. 
When he returned a few days later, he hid behind those concrete walls, but too much had changed.  There was now an awareness of your proximity and your distance.  The lack of intimacy was not called into question before, the absence of something being a nothing.  But now that nothing was something, or had been something for a moment, and it made you both very aware of how it was now missing – and anticipating always when it might again appear.
He tried very hard to keep away, to stay cordial at best, his habitual quietude even heavier than before.  But while his silence was significant, so was his glance.  Every time you turned around, he was already looking at you, a longing in his eyes and a thought on his lips that he never dared to speak aloud. 
You granted him some distance for a time.  When it became abundantly obvious he was holding himself in check, you realized that your own vulnerability was required to bridge the gap. 
One night you crossed through the bathroom, slid open the door on his side.  You found him at his desk, dressed down in a white dress shirt and pants.  His blazer was discarded on the floor, his face still made up. 
He stood quickly when you entered, though he didn’t say anything. 
It was strange to imagine this man would need any reassurance, but you felt that was the case.   His fingers fidgeted at his sides, his roving eyes studious.
You said nothing.  You approached him, laid your hands on his chest, and gently guided him back into his chair.  He sat slowly, his eyes on your face the entire time, even when he had to tip his head back to peer up at you. 
You ran your fingers through his hair.  When you entered the room, his face was tightly screwed in an expression of aggravation, but all those harsh lines softened as you traced a thumb down the sharp slope of his cheek. 
There were some wipes on his desk.  You took one and began to carefully remove that shield of dark make-up.  His hand lifted but not to stop you, simply to rest his palm on your waist.  He began to really touch you, feeling the shape of your body through your robe as you helped him come back to himself. 
“Hello,” you finally said, looking at his bare face.  Still impossibly beautiful.
“Hello,” he replied. 
His fingertips dipped towards the hem of the robe.  Before he could distract you with your own pleasure, you sunk to your knees in front of him.  This startled him, his hand frozen in the air as you fit yourself between his open knees. 
He caught your hand, his reflexes fast, before it could reach his fly.   You could see he was already affected, a heavy bulge in the black material making your mouth water and core tighten. 
He squeezed your hand and you looked up at his face.   He tipped his head, blinked rapidly, an expression of mild confusion.
You took your hand back and unknotted your robe.  The silk fell from your shoulders and down, sliding like water right off your body.  You were completedly naked underneath. 
It clarified everything, his confusion gone, replaced with surprise.
“You—” he began.  It was interrupted when you put your head in his lap, resting on his thigh.  You led his hand to the back of your neck and kissed him through his pants.  It made his fingers clasp tighter around you.  
“Please,” you said. 
He would never deny you anything.  Not the smallest gift nor grandest gesture.  When you started a new charity to further your combined philanthropic efforts, he spared no expense in aiding the endeavour.  You shared passions, and now you shared this.
He was stiff at the start, but gradually let himself go lax in his seat.  His hand kept a steady grip on the back of your neck, not guiding but holding, like he thought you might disappear otherwise.  He murmured your name, letting his head fall back as you worked him in your mouth. 
You intended to make him finish like that, seeking nothing for yourself at that precise moment.  He had other ideas, needing more of your shared pleasure to take him over that brink. 
He lifted your face, adjusted his pants, and was on his feet in a matter of seconds.  That hand on your neck dragged you up, up, up until your naked body was pressed against his clothed one.  He clung to you needily, claiming your mouth in a wanting kiss. 
His hands moved over you, every new inch of skin making him moan as he walked you towards the bed.  The kiss only broke when you both sat down, his lips against yours as he breathed, almost smiling, “My pretty wife.”
“Hyunjin,” you said, shaking your head, feeling suddenly shy just because of a simple compliment. 
He did not allow you to curl into yourself with any shame.  When you tried, he seized you, pulling you onto his lap so you straddled it.   His eyes moved up and down your body, hands following, from your thighs to hips to waist and up. 
 “What are you doing?” you said, laughing helplessly when he kissed somewhere ticklish on your throat.  The sound made him smile, even softer than before, though it turned a little wicked as his mouth went lower. 
“I’m simply enjoying the view,” he said, then wrapped his lips around the stiff peak of your breast, ran his tongue up and over.  He licked and kissed back up to your mouth.   “It’s not everyday I get to fuck someone so pretty.” 
As he said this, he opened his pants again, eyes on yours as he grabbed your thighs and moved you so he could thrust up into you.  His hips moved with a slow roll, letting you adjust to him.  It had been a little while, and this angle was different.
And Hyunjin is not small.  Your husband is built in perfect proportion, his body a long, hard, slender build – everything inside you at that moment was no exception.   This angle made you whimper, clinging to him like  he was a life preserver in a storm.  The roll of his hips kept coming like waves and you were sure you would drown otherwise. 
Your arms were around his neck, his graceful but strong hands digging into the meat of your thighs as he fucked you.  He felt impossibly deep, every upward stroke feeling like it was bursting past something, pushing everything inside your body up to your throat. 
You swallowed again and again, the taste of him still on your lips, the feel of him inside every inch of you.  You clenched and tightened involuntarily, just pure animal reaction, and it made him moan and find all those sweet spots to make it happen again.    
“Help,” was your somewhat nonsensical request, blurted in the midst of some moaning babbling.
Fortunately, he was and is a smart man.  He understood.  He clasped you tight to his body and fell back on the bed, thrusting up into you with sharper, more focussed determination, faster until you were weeping on his chest, delirious with pleasure.  His shirt was unbuttoned and you accidentally ripped a few buttons right off, trying to press your face to bare skin. 
“Yes, yes, yes,” you said as you tumbled over a height you never reached before.  You never knew you could come just from that, stimulated somewhere so deep inside you, but it made you come undone in his arms. 
He watched you unravel and it made him follow, clinging to you as he just barely pulled out before coming between your dripping thighs.  It was all so messy and wet, your legs trembling, but it felt so good that it hardly mattered. 
He caught his breath, then looked at your face just lose that breath again.  He moaned and dragged you in for another kiss.
Then you were on your back, the night far from over. 
That second night is the one that truly opened the door to more.  Though your husband can be reticent in other regards, he is not quiet when he is inside you.  You have come together again and again, a conversation with your bodies as you look for pleasure in a dangerous world.   You always find it, tucked in the protective circle of his arms, wrapped around every inch of him. 
You have been out of his arms for too long.  Your visit to your family grew tedious before long.  Your home is with Hyunjin now and you were eager to return. 
Now it seems you may never see it again.  You may never see him again. 
No.
Just like the night when you took control for yourself, you must take control now.  You realize if anything is to happen, then you must take the reins of your own rescue.  You would not want Hyunjin to compromise himself or his important business.  You know if something bad happened to you, it would weigh on his conscious, even if it was the better business decision.  You must eliminate the need for choice. 
It turns out, comical rope bindings are truly best suited for silly movies.  When the men come to check on you again, you have slipped free of your bindings.  There was an array of weapons in the room, so carelessly disposed because the assailants never assumed you would get free – or, if you did get free, that you would not know how to use them. 
It is true, you do not like violence. 
That does not mean you do not understand it. 
You leave the two men unconscious in their basement.  Unfortunately, you cannot find your suitcase and you do not want to hang around, so you venture outside in your nightgown.  You are debating your next move when a car pulls into the driveway. 
You back away quickly, raising the gun you stole as more men get out of the vehicle.  You only stay your hand because you recognize one of them, though it takes a second to place him as one of Hyunjin’s lieutenants. 
Then Hyunjin emerges.   You have seen your husband before and after a confrontation, but never during it.  If you thought he was an intimidating figure in the aftermath, he is all danger and darkness as he storms up the driveway now.   There is such an energy radiating from him, it makes you stumble and forget yourself entirely. 
Then he stumbles, recognizing you.  You are both startled, staring at each other with the gun raised between you. 
He looks nowhere but your eyes. 
“Hyunjin?” you finally say. 
“I—”  He looks at you, the gun, the nightdress.  He shakes his head.  Some of that bravado returns when he says, “I’m here to save you.”
“Ah,” you say.  You slowly lower the gun, at a loss how to reply.  You were so resigned to the idea this was all still business.  The reality of your husband risking himself to rescue you from unknown hostiles is making your heart pound.  
In the end, all you can think to say is, “Sorry.  You’re late.” 
That wicked smile crosses his face, his tongue pushing at the corner of his mouth.  He is suddenly nothing but amused, looking at you, then at the house.
“I can see that,” he says. 
He whistles sharply and gestures to the house with a gloved hand.  His lieutenants run past you and charge the door, no doubt heading inside to finish the job you started.        
You turn to watch them go.  In your distraction, Hyunjin grabs your arm.  He is fast, effectively disarming you.  He catches the gun with a twirl before tossing it aside.
It is not the gun he wants; it’s you.
Still holding your wrist, he tugs you into him.  You throw your arms around him.  The hug is surprisingly chaste, his face in your neck as he squeezes you like it is the only thing keeping him alive and standing.
“Are you hurt?” he asks. 
When in his arms, it seems impossible to consider you could ever feel any pain. 
You shake your head, daring to kiss his cheek.  He turns his face to yours, your lips close enough to brush in a swipe. 
“I’m all right now,” you say.  “Sorry I beat you to the punch.  I – I wasn’t sure if—”
His brow crinkles.  That gloved hand goes from your wrist to your chin, seizing it between thumb and forefinger.  He tips your head so he can look at your face.  He always regards you like he does one of his masterpieces, like he can never get his fill, like there is always something new to find.  He is enchanted every time. 
“You’re mine,” he says.  “And I take care of what belongs to me.” 
You gasp when those fingers go from your chin to your throat, just enough to pull you in that last breath of a space.  He kisses you there in the sunlight, utterly shameless. 
“Do not ever doubt that,” he says.  His eyes are soft with his affection, but his voice is hard, skirting the edge of a threat he would issue an adversary.  It makes you tingle from head to toe.  “Do I need to remind you?” 
You never actually answer.  You are not sure if your answer would have made a difference, as Hyunjin is determined to show you the very second you are home. 
You reach the penthouse. There is no time to shower or decompress once you cross the threshhold.  He sweeps you off your feet, your arms around his shoulders and your legs around his waist.  You are wearing his blazer over your nightdress to preserve your modesty – not that it will last long.
He carries you to the bedroom where so many slow and subtle exchanges took place.  Now, he is not slow or subtle.  He is a force of nature.   He tells you that he held no greater fear than losing you and he tried to keep his distance, but he regretted it the moment he saw you on that video call. 
“You’re my wife,” he says, peeling his blazer off your body.  “I’m your husband.  There is nothing I should be holding back.” 
“Yes,” you say, running your fingers through that smooth black hair.  You shiver as he bunches the fabric of your nightdress, the material spilling over his fingers.   “Don’t hold back,” you say, mouth open against his, stealing his every breath.   “Do whatever you want.” 
He tells you exactly what he wants, using his words for a change, finally letting those walls come down.  He whispers every filthy thought into your ear, between kisses, between bites.   You shiver at every suggestion. 
And so, moments later, he is sitting on your bed.  He arranges you to lay across his lap, facedown in the pillows while he runs his hands down your spine and over the curve of your ass. 
“You’re my wife,” he says.  The first tap of his open palm is through the thin material of your nightdress.  It is truly just a warning tap, just enough to make you bounce.  “Don’t ever doubt me again,” he says, swinging that strong hand a little harder.  
This time a yelp escapes your lips.  You wriggle until he pins you down, a hand on the back of your neck and the other lifting your dress.   He already stripped your underthings, his open palm smoothing down all that bare skin.  
You tingle with anticipation, braced yet still unprepared for the sharp smack he next delivers.  You feel it tingle all the way up to your head, as well as the next one, and the next.   You squirm under his firm grip, groaning his name as your thighs get tense and press together. 
“Don’t say my name,” he says, and smacks you again.  “Who am I?”
“M-my husband,” you say, practically mewling like a kitten when he next brings his hand down.  “My husband,” you say again. 
“And you are—”
“Your wife,” you say, though it comes out almost like a sob, a desperate gasp as he slips his fingers between your thighs and finds a new way to torture you.   With your backside hot and stinging, the pleasure of his hand in that sensitive place feels amplified by a tenfold. 
“Husband,” you say, hips bucking.  His free hand goes from the back of your neck to your lower spine, holding you in his lap as he slowly finger-fucks you.
“Yes?” he says.
You do not even remember what you were going to say, or beg, or plead.  You are overcome with sensation, tingling all over, intensifying the press of his fingers as he curls his fingers into that soft, soft place.  Then you are really squirming, helplessly, instinctively, whining into the pillows. 
“I make you feel good,” he says.  “I take care of you.  You, who are so good, and so smart, but so—”
You cry out when he angles his hand just a little differently.  Your vision swims with stars as he speeds up. 
“So soft,” he says, his own voice going soft, just a whisper as he makes you come all over his hand in a throbbing, aching, desperate wet mess.  “Just for me,” he says in that whisper.  “Just for your husband.” 
“Mmmf,” is all the response you have left in you. 
Your thighs are trembling and your pussy throbbing with aftershocks when he picks you up.  He stands and turns, laying you on your side in the bed.  You are grateful, as your backside still stings, though you suspect he is not done yet.
He strips out of his clothes, tearing through his shirt, leaving the pants in a heap.  He forgets to remove his necklace.  All that silver is cold against your hot skin as he lays down behind you.   You do not have time to linger on it, as he gathers up the hem of your dress and adjusts himself behind you. 
He has taken you many times, in many ways, many positions.   When you are on your hands and knees, he is overtaken by a primal urge, your hips as leverage in his hands as he pounds into you like it is a chase.   When you are on your back, he sinks into you slowly and deeply, rocking his hips into yours like he intends to fuck you forever.  When you are in his lap, he rolls his hips in steady, needy waves, captivated by the sight of you in his arms. 
He lays behind you now and wraps his arms around you, coaxes your thighs apart.  Your nightdress is bunched every which way, leaving nothing to the imagination, and you feel especially exposed and vulnerable in this position somehow.  Perhaps it is the fact he is the one holding you open, keeping you in position so he can take you.
You let yourself fall into it, fall into him.  You let him tell you, with words and actions, exactly how he feels. 
Before it ends, you change position.  He lays back and you straddle his hips while stripping off your dress entirely.  He keeps rolling up into you, only stopping when you plant your hands on his chest to slow him down.  Then he practically sinks in the mattress, murmuring your name.  His make-up is smudged, his calloused hands rough on your body.  Whatever pains you experienced have been overtaken by his hands, by the smarting on your backside, still tender as you bring your body down onto his again and again.  He has completely claimed you for himself and you take the same in turn. 
“Hyunjin,” you say.  “My husband, oh—”
He kisses your hand, long and hard, like he needs his mouth on some part of you desperately.  Your fingers are curled into his pretty mouth when he comes, his hands on your hips and his cock buried inside you. 
“Oh,” is your final sound before you slump on top of him, skin to skin. 
He rolls you onto your side, though he keeps you wrapped around him, his arms around you in turn.  His hair is already a sweaty mess and you rub your thumb through some of his shadowy make-up, but those familiar dark eyes are gazing at you with so much warmth.   There is no more ice, no more cold concrete. 
“I should let you rescue me more often,” you say with a laugh. 
He doesn’t laugh back, but he does smile softly.  It should be incongruous with his severe appearance, but it somehow comes together, layers of him exposed all at once as he strokes your cheek.
He looks at you like his favourite work of art. 
“You were the one who rescued you,” he says.   “Just like you rescued me.” 
You cannot find the words to reply, so you kiss him.  It speaks volumes, and he replies, kissing back. 
You lose yourself to the sweetness, to the heat, to the passion, to all those things more, knowing there are many more to come with this man as your husband. 
992 notes · View notes
ponderingmoonlight · 7 days
Text
Wicked Games
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Pairing: Sukuna x fem!reader
Word Count: 3k
Synopsis: From the second Ryomen Sukuna appears on the surface on earth again, you are bound to each other. Until the Shibuya accident. Until Sukuna gets confronted with the fear of losing you first-hand.
Warnings: angst to fluff y'all, enemies to lovers in a kind of rushed way, this made me think about doing a series with like 5 chapters and a slow burn enemies to lovers with Sukuna x curse!reader - how do you feel about that? <3
Inspired by this prompt:
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You remember it as if it was yesterday. The night was cold and eerily quiet when you sprinted through the dark streets, your body buzzing with the vibrations of cursed energy.
The reports had come in just an hour ago: a powerful curse had manifested, and it wasn’t just any ordinary curse. The whispers and especially Gojo spoke of something ancient, something nearly forgotten. Something that had slumbered within the shadows of legends until now.
“Guess what, (y/n)? Megumi found something that might interest you”, Gojo jeered at you through the phone when you already felt it.
Ryomen Sukuna.
You had heard his name your entire life - a dark deity, a figure so terrible that entire villages had been wiped out by his bare hands centuries ago.
Since you were a child, you've been obsessed with him, the so-called "King of Curses." Not because you were drawn to the death and chaos he brought, but because of the mystery he posed. The idea that something so cruel, so powerful, could exist outside the boundaries of human comprehension. As a sorcerer, you committed yourself to understanding curses, to studying their origins, motivations, powers. And there was no greater paradox than Sukuna himself.
But now, he wasn't only a paradox anymore. Now he had returned. They had found one of his fingers. Apparently, someone had consumed it.
“I’m in the middle of souvenir shopping and guessed you wouldn’t mind stepping in and helping little Megumi out.”
"Normally I'd scold you but today...thank you, idiot."
Yuji Itadori, the boy who had swallowed Sukuna’s cursed finger, who brought Sukuna back into the world after centuries of slumber, stood right in your sight along with Megumi Fushiguro. But you couldn’t let yourself worry about the boys; your focus was on the curse now staring straight back at you.
Your fingers tightened on the hilt of your sword, the cursed energy crackling around you like lightning in the dark night. You had prepared your entire life for this moment. The countless hours of sickening training, the sleepless nights spent poring over ancient texts and scrolls, and the battles fought against nameless curses. All of it had led you here, to your first confrontation with the King of Curses.
As you reached the completely destroyed school building where the cursed energy was originating from, you could already feel it. The overwhelming, tyrannical weight of Sukuna’s presence. It was unlike anything you’ve ever felt before, so thick it felt as though it was suffocating you.
You pressed on, despite the nausea building in your chest. There was no time to second-guess yourself. You moved swiftly through the corridors of the building, your footsteps echoing in the empty halls. The cursed energy grew heavier with every step, your breathing becoming uneven when the spiteful aura grew stronger. And then, at the far end of the hallway on top of a roof, you saw him.
At first glance, it was a boy, a teenager no older than Megumi. His body was rigid, standing in the middle of that roof, shoulders squared as though fighting an internal battle. But the look on his face, the wicked smile stretched across his lips, told you otherwise. The way his dark eyes gleamed with wicked amusement confirmed what you had feared.
This wasn’t Itadori anymore.
This was Sukuna.
“Interesting...” Sukuna’s voice rumbled from the boy’s throat as his gaze locked onto yours.
His smile widened, predatory and cruel.
“What do we have here? Another little sorcerer, so eager to die?”
You held your ground, your body tense but steady. This was no ordinary curse you were facing. Every instinct screamed at you to flee, but you couldn’t, you wouldn’t, allow fear to take control. Your entire life had been building up to this.
“You’re not getting out of here,” you said, your voice firm.
“Not while I’m here.”
Sukuna chuckled, the sound low and dangerous. His eyes narrowed, taking you in.
“Brave words, but foolish. Do you really think you can handle me, girl?”
You didn’t respond with words, Instead, you shoved Megumi behind you and let your cursed energy flare to life around you, the air crackling with power. You moved swiftly, launching yourself at him, your blade drawn and poised for the strike.
But Sukuna was fast — faster than you had anticipated. With barely a flicker of movement, he dodged your attack, his grin never faltering. He countered with a swift punch, sending you flying across the air and crashing into the opposite wall. Pain exploded in your chest, and you gasped for breath.
“Is that all?”, Sukuna taunted, his voice filled with mockery as he stalked toward you.
“I expected more from someone who’s been chasing me.”
You coughed, blood trickling from the corner of your mouth, but you forced yourself to your feet. Your body ached from the impact, but the adrenaline was stronger. You had trained for this. You wouldn’t go down so easily.
As Sukuna advanced, you focused your cursed energy into a powerful barrier, your eyes blazing with determination. You wouldn’t let him win. Not today.
“Let the boy go,” you demanded, your voice sharper now.
“I’m your opponent now.”
Sukuna’s eyes gleamed at the challenge.
“Bold. But you should know better than to give me orders.”
The battle was swift and brutal. Sukuna’s strikes were relentless, his movements impossibly fast and deadly. You could barely keep up, each of his blows a near-fatal attack. But through it all, you fought with everything you had, refusing to back down.
You’ve studied Sukuna your entire life. You knew his techniques, his fighting style, the cruel unpredictability of his power. But even with all that knowledge, facing him in person was something entirely different. His cursed energy was overwhelming, suffocating, a malevolent force that pressed against your very soul.
And yet, you stood your ground.
As the fight wore on, something shifted in the way Sukuna looked at you. What had started as amusement, as mockery, slowly turned into something else. Curiosity. Interest. Even a hint of admiration.
“You’re not like the others,” he jeered at one point, dodging one of your attacks effortlessly.
His eyes flickered with something dangerous, something… intrigued.
“You’re still standing. Most would have died by now.”
You spat blood onto the ground, your body screaming in agony but your will unbroken.
“I’m not most people.”
Sukuna chuckled, the sound dark and throaty.
“No. You’re not.”
That was how it began. The first encounter — your first dance with death and the King of Curses. It didn’t end with your victory or his defeat. No, you knew better than to believe you could win against him in a single battle. But it wasn’t a defeat, either.
It was the beginning of something bigger.
After your first encounter with Sukuna, something within you shifted. Yuji Itadori regained control, but you knew it was only temporary. Sukuna wasn’t gone. He was still there, lurking beneath the surface, waiting for his next opportunity to take control. And when he did, you were there.
Every. Single. Time.
Every time Sukuna resurfaced, you fought him. It became a twisted routine, an endless game of cat and mouse where neither of you could claim absolute victory. You learned his techniques, his fighting style, and the nuances of his cursed energy. You pushed yourself harder, training longer, grew stronger. And with every battle, Sukuna’s interest in you grew as well.
He began to speak to you during the fights, taunting you, teasing you, but always with that glimmer of intrigue in his eyes. He never seemed eager to kill you, not really. In fact, there were moments, brief, fleeting moments, where he seemed to hold back, almost as if he was enjoying the challenge you presented.
“Why do you keep coming back?” you asked him one day, your voice strained after yet another brutal fight.
“Why haven’t you killed me yet?”
Sukuna’s grin was feral, his eyes glittering dangerously as he wiped the blood from his lips.
“Because you’re amusing,” he replied, his voice low and menacing.
“And because I’m not done with you yet.”
You hated the way his words sent a shiver down your spine, the way his gaze seemed to pierce straight through you. But more than anything, you hated how much you wanted to beat him, to prove yourself against the King of Curses.
As the months passed, you found yourself drawn deeper into Sukuna’s world. You fought him, studied him, and slowly but surely somehow began to understand him. He wasn’t just a mindless monster, not like the other curses you’ve faced. There was something more to Sukuna, something ancient and calculating, a mind sharper than any blade.
And Sukuna, in turn, began to learn more about you. He observed your fighting style, your strategies, your strengths and weaknesses. He pushed you, challenged you, forced you to grow stronger with every battle. There was a strange, unspoken connection between you: a mutual recognition of each other’s strength, a respect born from the countless times you’d clashed.
But there was something else, too. Something neither of you wanted to acknowledge. Something that simmered beneath the surface of every encounter.
You hated him. You despised everything he stood for, the chaos and destruction he brought into the world. But there was a part of you that couldn’t deny the pull you felt toward him — the way his presence ignited something fierce and primal within you.
And Sukuna? Sukuna had grown attached to the thrill of facing you. You were unlike anyone he’d ever fought. Strong. Determined. Unyielding. It was no longer about crushing you under his heel. It was about keeping you close, about testing your limits and pushing you to your breaking point.
But neither of you were willing to admit what was truly happening between you.
You smile weakly to yourself, blood spilling from the corners of your mouth. Not even now.
The Shibuya Incident is chaos. The city is overrun with curses and the streets are filled with blood and screams. You dispatched alongside other sorcerers to contain the situation, but things quickly spiraled out of control. The curses were too many, too strong, and the collateral damage was catastrophic.
Your focus was on protecting your students, the young sorcerers under your care who had been thrust into this nightmare far too early in their training. You were always their protector, their guide, and you would do anything to keep them safe. But the battle was relentless, and the curses were closing in fast.
In the midst of the chaos, Sukuna reappeared, his presence like a dark shadow over the battlefield. He took control of Yuji once again, his cursed energy crackling through the air with terrifying force. You felt it the moment he arrived, your senses attuned to the overwhelming hatred that accompanied his presence.
You barely had time to react before you were caught in the crossfire. A powerful curse lashed out at you and you moved to shield your students from the blow. But the attack was too fast, too strong. It tore through your defenses, the cursed energy slicing through your body like a hot knife through butter.
Pain exploded in your chest when you collapsed to the ground, blood pooling beneath you. Your vision blurred, your breath coming in ragged gasps. You had suffered injuries before, but this… this was different.
This was fatal.
The world around you fades almost instantly, the edges of your vision go dark. You can feel your life slipping away, your body growing cold.
Out of all people, why does it have to be him you long for the most? Why do your eyes start watering by the thought that you'll might never see him again, that you were never able to feel his lips pressed against yours? Are you really so naive, so dumb? Fuck, you really fell for the King of Curses, the root of all evil.
But then… you hear his voice.
“Get. Up.”
Sukuna’s voice cuts through the haze of pain and exhaustion like a lightning strike. You blink, trying to focus, trying to understand what is happening. Is he really there? Are you hallucinating?
“Get up,” he repeats, his voice sharp and commanding.
But then you feel it. His hand pressed against the gaping wound in your abdomen. No, he's really there. It's really him.
“You’ve suffered bigger wounds. And if you don’t get up, I’ll destroy everything that’s left of this world.”
You force yourself to breathe, your chest burning with the effort. But your body isn’t responding anymore. The pain is too much. You simply can’t move. The only reaction you're able to build up is a weak smile.
Is this really how it ends? With another empy threat?
Sukuna growls, crouching down beside you. He can't let you die here. Not like this, not after this short time. There's still so much more he needs to show you, so much more he needs to say.
Before he realizes what he's even doing, his hands are on you, cursed energy flowing into your body, patching up the worst of the damage. It isn’t healing, not really - more like forcing your body to hold together for just a little longer. Just enough to keep you.
“Please…”
Sukuna’s voice is strained, his eyes narrowed in concentration.
“Please get up. Don’t die on me.”
You blink, your heart stuttering in your chest as his words sink in. He’s asking you. Pleading with you...Not to die?
“Please don’t die on me.”
With his cursed energy coursing through you, you really feel your strength returning, your wounds slowly mending under his influence. The pain fades away, replaced by a strange warmth that spreads through your body. You gasp for breath, your chest rising and falling as life surges back into you.
Did…Ryomen Sukuna save your ass? Your heart pounds so roughly against your ribcage that you feel like fainting all over again. This can’t be possible, right? You have to be dreaming. After all, Ryomen Sukuna is your greatest enemy, responsible for at least half of the mess here.
“I’m not… done yet,” you rasp, your voice weak but steady.
Sukuna’s lips curl into a smirk, his eyes gleaming with something dangerous paired with a hint of relief.
“That’s more like it.”
He helps you to your feet, his hand lingering on your arm for just a moment longer than necessary. You can feel the weight of his gaze on you, the unspoken bond between you stronger than ever.
"What, were you worried about me, dumbass?"
Faster than you're able to react, he grabs your arm again and pulls you in. When his lips press themselves against yours, you forget how to exist for a second. Out of instinct, you open your mouth, allow him to enter, close your eyes when your whole body starts to burn up all over again.
Oh, you imagined this more than once. How do his firm arms feel against your touch? Are his lips softer than his cruel words? Is Sukuna a good kisser?
A desperate moan escapes your lips before you can stop yourself, your arms now roaming all over his muscular frame.
This...this is so wrong. You shouldn't do this, shouldn't even dream about something like this. But as sudden as he appeared, he's gone again, leaving you with nothing but your swollen lips as a proof for what just happened.
Are you actually going insane?
Bonus:
After Shibuya, things changed between you and Sukuna.
The battles continued, of course. The fights, the challenges, the taunts, the unnecessary deaths and killing  - none of that stopped and you still hate him with every fiber of your being for all those horrible things he did. But there is something else now, something that neither of you can ignore. The second Sukuna saw you lying there in a pool of your own blood on the edge of death, he started to realize it.
You aren’t a simple enemy for him anymore. You are his obsession.
Sukuna’s possessiveness over you grew, but so did the strange, unspoken understanding between you. You weren’t just another sorcerer to him anymore. You were his: his opponent, his challenge, his equal. And though neither of you would ever admit it out loud, there was a twisted sort of affection in that.
And you?
You’ve found something unexpected in the King of Curses. Not love, not really, but something close. Something raw and powerful, a connection without any logic and reason.
You didn’t know where it would lead. But you knew one thing for sure:
As long as Sukuna was in this world, you would be right there with him.
And that was enough.
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664 notes · View notes
sttoru · 11 months
Text
♯ 𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐊.
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⟣ sypnosis. kento has been extremely busy lately, going on business trips and so forth. he decides to surprise you by coming back earlier than expected. that’s how you end up finding your lover on top of you, showering you in his affection at 3 in the morning.
⟣ tags. nanami kento x female reader. fluff, bit of angst, suggestive towards the end. reader gets called 'sweetheart, angel, dear' wc: 1.8k
⟣ note. okayokay finally an adition to my event heheh ive almost forgotten about it but then i saw this prompt & was like . ok nanami , i must write this rnnn no delaying anymore so here i am :3 its also very bad. i hate it sm LOL i hope u at least like it t_t
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kento often asks himself why he had returned to the world he despised — the jujutsu society; his old high school. the sprawling curses everywhere are the main cause of his current misery.
he had been sent out on missions left and right, not catching a break in hopes of reducing any more civilian causalities than necessary. kento had even thought that maybe his previous 9-5 job wasn’t as bad as he had considered it.
overtime was every day for the sorcerer now. that wasn’t the worst thing - no - the fact that he was pratically living a long distant relationship with his beloved irritated him most.
a thought he had in his high school days reoccured in a moment of distress: ‘why not leave all those missions to gojo?’
you were still pretty understanding of his situation. kento appreciated that, though the guilt still ate away at him whenever he tried to sleep. an empty bed welcomed him each time he re-entered his hotel room — you saw the exact same scenery when returning home to your shared apartment.
both of you were adults; both knowing that life was unfair. the two of you being unable to see each other from time to time was a part of your life. kento and you still maintained a healthy relationship. that was all that really mattered in the end.
11:49PM. . . tonight wasn’t unlike any other night; you were preparing yourself to go to bed—changing into your pyjamas after showering, snuggling to a pillow under the covers and texting your lover one last message.
‘good luck on your mission as always! stay safe, i love you.’
you stare at your phone screen for a minute longer than intended. even if you tried to be mature about it — you longed for kento’s warmth and undivided attention. you want him with you, his strong arms holding you to his chest as you rest, his deep voice sending shivers down your spine in the best way possible.
you sigh defeatedly and put your phone down on your nightstand. just two days until you could see your partner again. you can hold onto that hope to keep you calm.
despite you trying to stay positive, you tossed and turned in your bed as you thought about kento’s safety. there was always a chance of him not coming home to you — always the possibility of that bed to be empty for the rest of your life.
all you could do was pray for his safety in your head whilst your eyes eventually closed from fatigue, your mind drifting off to a deep slumber.
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03:14AM. . . kento opens the door he had wished to have opened way earlier. the door that lead to the place where his heart lays; the person who claimed his heart and soul for eternity. you.
he didn’t think he’d actually do it. kento had originally planned to finish his last job as soon as possible and then get home afterwards, but there seemed to be a change in routine.
the special grade sorcerer simply assigned the mission to ino — the person whom he could trust most to finish the job in one piece. as much as kento dislikes to put his juniors in possible risky situations, there are also situations where it’s fine to depend on them. besides, the mission could easily be done by a grade one sorcerer.
kento sighs. the familiar scent of your home was one he could recognise from miles away. one that could calm his nerves instantly. it was that same distinctive scent you carry; thus why your lover sometimes calls you his home.
‘i can’t wait to be home’ ‘i want to be home’ ‘i’m going home’ — all these sentences, which kento has uttered before in earlier conversations, weren’t referring to a place. rather to a person he held dear.
“oh, my sweetheart.” the blonde man whispers under his breath as his eyes catch the shape of your figure under the blankets. he quietly enters the master bedroom and closes the door behind him, not making a sound as to not interrupt your well-deserved sleep.
kento slowly undoes his dotted tie, along with the upper buttons of his blouse. he probably needs to go take a good shower before he could settle down with you — but that’d risk waking you up.
you look extremely angelic in his eyes. especially with your left cheek squished by the soft pillow your head rests on. you never once fail to convince him that you are indeed the woman of his dreams; the woman kento ever had and will have eyes for. it’s like you get more attractive to him as the days go on.
“mh,” your sudden and soft groan makes him realise just how disturbing his behaviour could be interpreted as. kento’s body was hovering over your sleeping one and he was just. . . staring at you with a soft smile. a smile which he didn’t even notice had permanently found its place on his weary face.
kento sits down on the edge of the mattress, callused hand gently tucking you in properly, putting the blanket over your shoulders to make sure you didn’t get cold. he can’t rest if you’re not comfortable— even if he himself was exhausted to the point his eyes were starting to feel heavy.
yet that exhaustion doesn’t last long. it never does when kento’s able to see you again after a tiring week of countless missions and other jobs. your presence alone grants him the energy to stay awake and take care of you. and himself. you’re the reason he keeps it going.
“i love you so much, my beautiful girl — my angel.”
kento sure was a romantic. even when you’re unaware and asleep.
he couldn’t help it; the feeling stirring inside of him. the feeling of adoration and love for you. you are simply resting, yet kento felt an urge to kiss you all over, show you the unending love he has for you. but. . that’d probably be disturbing your peace. you are sleeping after all. he
not that that would stop kento.
your eyes flutter open due to a sudden presence hovering over you. your entire face and neck area was feeling ticklish, like someone was placing tens of kisses all over the skin.
strands of blonde hair is the first thing showing up in your blurry vision. kento’s face follows afterwards as his head tilts back up, the warmth against your jawline disappearing along with it —
“ah, i’m sorry.” a low and almost guilty chuckle tumbles out of his sore throat. the visible confusion on your face makes him let out another, “shh, shh, it’s just me, sweetheart.”
your arms flew around kento’s torso the second the realisation dawns upon you. your heart went from a slow pace to one that caused your entire body to warm up immediately; the adorable reaction and increase in heart rate not going unnoticed by your lover.
you wordlessly hug him — almost still in shock by the sudden appearance. kento doesn’t fight off your tight embrace, instead, welcomes it with open arms. the delicate kisses on your skin continue, each being placed with precision whilst one of his hands keeps your head tilted a little — rough fingers being a contrast of the gentle grip they had on your jaw.
“i missed you lots,” kento murmurs, eyes closed as he basks in the warmth of your body, his lips refusing to let go of your neck, “i couldn’t wait anymore. i couldn’t be separated from you any longer or i’d lose it.”
his gruff voice sounded even deeper than it usually would. maybe due to the overuse of it during his missions. the lone thought makes you pout — the thought of kento working super hard just to provide for you both.
“i missed you more, love.” you mumble, bottom lip trembling a little as kento’s hug triggers a whole lot of emotions in you. his hugs were special, his muscular arms giving you a sense of comfort you couldn’t find anywhere. no one could hug you like he did, “you did well. you did so well.”
those were all the words kento needed. his lips come to halt right above your collarbone, his breath a bit heavy from how much he's holding himself back from doing more. one hand moves from your cheek to your waist, fingers toying with the fabric of your shirt.
“thank you, dear.” kento says. his words carrying a load of unending affection. your simple words of appreciation and encouragement makes him shiver in delight. this is what he longed for; this is what he did it all for.
it was clear. the answer to his question - of why he had returned to the jujutsu world, to become a teacher at his former high school - it was all for you. to be able to be with you, see you and hold you like this. to have someone like you appreciate all of his efforts.
“may i?” kento asks through a quiet whisper as he gently removes the blanket covering your figure, his eyes darting down towards your cleavage. he's asking for permission to cross that barrier — to cover you in the love you deserve.
you just stare at the blonde man above you for a second. you watch as he climbs onto the bed with you; the bed which was once empty and dull, now suddenly becoming your favourite place to be at. your fingertips graze against kento's sharp cheekbones. a habit you always did when you were appreciating his looks.
“go right ahead.” you answer with a confirming nod.
both of you were touch starved and had been deprived from each other's embrace for way too long. now was the perfect time to make up for all the time lost.
kento wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip past him. he smiles at you, a gentle and handsome smile, whilst a few of his blonde locks fall over his left eye — his hands already prying away the blanket covering your shape. it was time to show you just how much he has longed for you.
“hold on to me, sweetheart. i’m not stopping until you realise just how much i’ve missed all of you.”
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2K notes · View notes
easy-there-leftovers · 3 months
Text
Magnum Opus (Ch. 1)
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When an MIT prodigy on their gap year is contacted by the FBI regarding her potential involvement in a series of murders in Washington D.C., she must now cooperate to uncover how her paintings are mysteriously appearing at the crime scenes.
(Written with Season 1-4 Spencer in mind, but the timeline could be anywhere pre-season 12. No mentions of past cases)
Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Artist! reader|cw: Canon-typical violence|word count: 2k words
Also on Ao3!!
Series Masterlist
While Aaron Hotchner remained vigilant as he drove the black SUV, the constant flipping of Spencer’s case files seemed to be louder than the car’s air conditioning. 
He had directed Morgan and JJ to touch base at the MPDC, and had Rossi and Prentiss survey the crime scene of Jonathan Edwards; the identity of the previously unknown man in the vacant apartment.
This left him with Reid in the passenger seat to conduct an investigation on their only lead so far. 
From the update Garicia had given them, Y/n L/n was a prodigy a year younger than their very own. Having graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology a year ago, she moved to Capitol Park Plaza and Twins Apartments in Washington D.C., and is currently unemployed. Occasionally selling her paintings out of her unit under an anagram of her name.
 But something bothered him.
And it seems like Reid has picked up on it too.
“Do you think Dr. L/n is the unsub?” The unit chief asks.
Spencer hums before answering.
“While we can’t rule it out just yet, the possibility of her being the unsub is totally unlikely. The thing that’s throwing me off is that everything is too convenient. I mean, why would the unsub use something so publicly personal to them as part of their signature? It’s as if she’s overtly incriminating herself.”
Spencer checks back onto the pictures of the victims, then lifts his head up to look at Hotch to continue.
“Based on the way the victims are modeled, an immense amount of care was put into them. All for the purpose of making them look like the subjects in their paintings. Actually, the fixation on changing the bodies’ posture and keeping them clean is typically done out of remorse. But the added elements, like the placement of the paintings, creates an image of an unsub more on the narcissistic side. By creating two 'artworks,' they're prompting the viewer to decide which version of it they prefer. Mocking the original artist in the process.”
“So the paintings were done before the murder?”
“I have no reason to believe otherwise.”
His unit chief sighs and pulls over to the curb. “Well, we’re about to test that belief.” Spencer hurries to take off his seatbelt as Hotch closes the car door with a thud. 
—------
Hotchner nods at Reid as they find themselves in front of the written address Garcia gave them. He lifts his hand to knock firmly on your door, and waits for a response.
A thud from the other side causes both of them to assess each other before Hotch tells Spencer to stay behind him. Gun in hand until something, or someone, comes running at them.
But instead a muffled, “sorry” is heard right after, which causes him to lower his gun.
The door finally opens a crack to reveal a very tired twenty-something woman, some dark pigment or makeup smudged on their lower eye lines as they rubbed at it. She immediately fixed her posture however at the sight of the unexpected visitors. Eyes wide with concern.
“Dr. L/n, I’m Aaron Hotchner with Dr. Spencer Reid of the FBI.” He highlights his statement by showing his badge. “We’d like to ask you some questions.” 
“Oh, um,” The woman blinks rapidly and shakes their head before immediately saying, “Of course,” with a nod and opening the door wide to let them in.
A quirk that does not go unnoticed by Spencer, who observes how different she looks to her more formal ID photos.
—-----
You let the FBI agents into your apartment, but are now suddenly aware of the state of disarray you left it in last night. Not to mention the state you were in. 
You had just woken up and your brain wasn’t quite all there yet. If you had known you’d have guests over, you would have at least put some of your books and papers back onto their shelves rather than on your floor.
“My, uh—” You start, “Apologies! For the room and the um,”
You inhale deeply and gesture to yourself as you try to find the words before settling on an exasperated, “me.”
“No worries, miss. We don’t really call in advance.” You nod at the older man’s explanation vacantly before coming up with a response.
“Would you like anything to drink ?” You move to your fridge to get water to wake you up, and decide that it would be rude not to offer. The two decline, with the younger more busy observing your living room bookcase than the older one that sat on your couch. 
You notice that something must have interested him as he lingers on certain shelves. That section in particular had prints of dissertations you had been meaning to read, or have already read, in clear folders.
You wonder if he found his work there or something before returning with water for yourself. 
“So what can I help you with?”
“Dr. L/n, are you aware of the current string of murders that have been happening as of this year?” 
You blink rapidly again. The question catches you off guard, but you shake your head. 
“I know it’s a bad habit, and that I should, but I don’t really listen to the news.” Feeling your eyebrows quirk, you rub your hands together slowly. Making direct eye contact with Hotch, before looking at the younger man as he takes out a few papers from the folder he was holding.
“Are you familiar with these paintings then?”
 Now that piques your interest.
Dr. Spencer Reid, who sees a flicker of recognition in your eyes when it meets his own, presents various pictures of your artworks in what seems to be dimly lit areas. They’re a little dirty, but otherwise you would recognize them as your own.
 The thought instantly made something in your stomach turn.
“I–” You start, but shake your head subtly again. Unsure of what to say and how to say it next as you stare at the images. “am.” You turn your head to look back up at Spencer who nods thoughtfully.
“Recently, your paintings have been showing up at crime scenes in the D.C. area. Specifically, victims of an organized unsub that seems to be targeting people who accurately resemble the subjects in your work.” If your eyes weren’t wide enough, that bit of information had certainly opened them wider than ever before as you stared up at him.
“That, combined with the concentrated traces of 5-durastalene found in the pigments of the paint used, have led us to suspect your involvement in these murders, Dr. L/n.” You heavily feel the blink of your eyelids and rest your fingers on them to keep them closed before looking back at the two of them.
“I’m sorry,” you smile incredulously. “So you’re telling me that not only has Lunacite been identified on the paintings you’ve found, but that people who look like the personas in my private works actually exist and have since been–” You pinch the bridge of your nose. “Murdered?”
“Well that shouldn’t come as a surprise, they were your muses, weren’t they? You were commissioned?” Hotch is the one who asks and you shake your head with wide eyes.
“I didn’t even know these people existed. They were just– faces I came up with mentally with the visual library I’ve amassed over the years. I don’t really make it a habit to paint from reference. Like I said, they were private.”
“And the chemical?” You thought for a moment before your lips thinned into a line.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Agent Hotchner, but I haven’t touched anything regarding that compound in over a year. I’ve only ever worked on it in my lab on university grounds, and I don’t make a habit of bringing work home.” You scratch the hairs near the base of your hairline.
“More importantly, hundreds of students and lecturers have access to my work, my research, and my lab space. Not to mention the people who might have heard my work through academic conferences.”
You move away from your position near the living room coffee table Spencer placed the pictures on, but picked up one before you did and shook your head.
“Besides, these paintings? No one should know about them, let alone have them. I didn't sell these.” That made Spencer’s brows furrow as he looked at the other photos still on the table.
“Do you have proof?” You stay silent, but then motion for them to follow you to the door of your room.
“Well, for one, I’m sure you’d understand that most people don’t make copies of their artwork traditionally, right? Expenditure of time, work materials, effort, human error, and many other variables. It just isn’t practical nor convenient.” You ramble and look back at them to continue.
“I also don’t make the majority of my art known online. Only a good 30% makes its way to my portfolio, and the others are never to be seen by anyone else.”
“They're studies. They’re made with cheap paints, they’re subjectively not appropriate for commercial use and-–I just wouldn’t be comfortable charging anyone for them.” 
They follow you across the room, and make themselves apparent behind you.
You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding.
“So if my ‘commissioned paintings’ are currently on D.C. crime scenes, and possibly in MPDC evidence,” You open the door to reveal your studio to the two agents. 
Various paint tubes, books, and brushes littered the floor, table, and boxes. A lone easel was situated near your apartment window, with an unfinished painting on it. And various canvasses, not displayed, but instead kept on tall shelves. Only the differently colored edges indicated that they were ever used.
What surprised them both however, were the same paintings in the pictures staring back at them.
 Some on the walls, some on the floor, but what was most important was that they were in this room, they were clean, and there were more of them.
You turn to look back at them with shaky eyes. “So why are they still here?”
—----
Hotch and Reid stood outside of your apartment door as you cleaned yourself up. Hotch made the call to bring you to the precinct for further investigation and for your own safety, but allowed you to freshen up before leaving with them. Not that he told you about the safety part.
You were hard to read, given your erratic reactions. It unnerved him, but he supposes it comes with the territory of being gifted. You also offered to bring in your paintings and a few other materials for forensics to test, to which while he was suspicious of, was not ungrateful for.
He made a quick call to Garcia to check attendants of any academic conferences you’ve spoken at and if anyone had been more interested than the others. When he was finished, he looked to Reid who was crossing his arms and staring at the carpeted hallway before looking back at him.
“She’s uncomfortable.” He stated plainly.
“Reid, most people would be if they just found out their hobby had been getting people killed.” Hotch said as he kept looking at his phone for anything new from the others.
“There’s certainly that, but I meant her title. ‘Doctor.’” He said in quotes, and Hotch raises his eyebrow at that but allows him to continue anyway with a curt nod.
“I mean, every time we’ve addressed her with her title, she blinks faster. Did you know it’s a common attribute that’s directly related to an increase in heart rate, which is why they’re usually correlated with lying? Initially, you would think that she faked her experience to get those credentials, but given her educational background, she must have not been given an opportunity to be referred to as such for a long time. Also, the gap year she took could’ve only exacerbated any insecurities she might have about her intellectual achievements. Plus, the lack of organization in her own home, while not wildly uncommon amongst people her age, could suggest the sincerity of her belief about compartmentalizing her work and her private life.”
“And what does that tell you?”
As Spencer was supposed to answer, a thud much like the one they heard before they entered earlier was heard again, followed by a similarly muffled, ‘sorry.’
He turns to look back at Hotch again with a small, victorious smile.
“That she doesn’t fit the profile.”
——-
taglist: @littlewolfieposts
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susanyung · 1 year
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Sword of the Royal Heir - Swordtember 2023 Day 13 prompt
The Royal Heir , poised and noble as she looks, the heir is trained in her swordsmanship from birth. She is required to helm this remarkable weapon with strength. Unlike a regular sword, the blade's material was crafted with a supernatural material that is only possessed within the bloodline. It's never seen elsewhere and the origins are unknown.
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thatfrenchacademic · 1 year
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"The biggest issue is students using it, me spotting it and having no recourse whatsoever to do anything about it." can you elaborate a bit further
Hello !
So to explain a bit more: we [aka your lecturers, teachers, teaching assistants, etc...] know that some students will use ChatGPT.
And there is a discussion to be had about how to work with this, how to design assessment which allow students to leverage something which may simply become a fixture of writing in a workplace environment, but that is not the discussion we are having here. Because that is not what we are worried about.
The defensible, problematic situation is: a student straight up entering the essay prompt on ChatGPT, and using the grand skills of Ctrl+C / Ctrl+V, submits it as their own paper.
And our main worry, I think, was for a long time that we would not be able to catch it. That students would, actually, be able to fool us and that we would actually think this was a student who understood the course, who put in the work, and who deserve to be rewarded for their grade. That was the main fear.
But here is the thing.
And listen up, students :
Essays written by ChatGPT :
Suck
Are spotted from a mile away from the person reading it
For real. They suck.
I cannot stress enough how easy they are to spot. You are NOT fooling anyone. I do not need the platform's AI-detecting tool to know when an essay was written by Chat GPT. It is so, very painfully obvious when that's the case.
But the problem then becomes : ok, I have spotted a student who cheated.
What am I even supposed to do with it.
It is one thing to KNOW that an essay was AI-generated, it is another to defend it to a plagiarism committee. First of all, does it actually count as plagiarism ? Second, how do prove, with certainty, that the student did not write it ? How to I convince the plagiarism committee that this is worth looking into ? I am in the role of a police officer, who needs to convince the DA that this is a winnable case, that prosecuting will not be a waste of their time. But I don't have a Similarity Percentage to rely on. I don't have an original source to say "look, this is the exact same wording!" like in a classic plagiarism case.
Best case scenario, I can make my case for thee student to actually be called to the plagiarism committee, where we probe into how, exactly, they wrote their essay, until they fold. Unlikely, morally questionable, and in all likelihood, ineffective on students already so confident in their bullshit that they have the audacity to submit a fully AI-generated work for their finals.
Now, students, gather up, especially if you have considered using Chat GPT this way. Because right now, you might think it means you can get away with it.
But let me tell you something. First, that essay is getting the shittiest grade we can give you. Because you know what is more difficult than a lecturer proving that a student used AI to generate their essay ? A student proving that they deserve a better grade. Once we give you a grade, burden of evidence is on you to prove that you have not been graded properly. And we can come up with 15 reasons why an essay is a shit essay. We put on kids' gloves, when we lecture and give feedback. We give the simplified version of most theories, we give the basics of how to structure an essay, the bar we set is spectacularly low, because students come in good faith, they are learning, they will not be held at the same standard as academics. But if you try to argue that you need a higher grade, when you had the audacity to not write a single word of your work, the kids gloves are going to come off real quick, and your lecturer will be able to very convincingly explain why, actually, giving you a passing grade was a mercy in the first place.
Second. Academics, especially angry academics, are a gossip machine.
You may get a passing grade, and there may be no official note of it in your file whatsoever. But I can guarantee you that your lecturer will chat with their colleagues. That every single one of your essay that year, and the years to come, will be looked at with so much scrutiny I hope your referencing for every single work reaches perfection. Every single paragraph will be looked at with the knowledge that you are likely to have had it AI-generated. Lecturers will tell their TA to look at for That One Student when they grade you .You will not be getting any flexibility from us, no extension without full documentation to support it, no letter of recommendation from any member of the faculty, no word in your favor if you are bordering a grade bracket. If we are feeling especially petty, we might even forget to answer your emails or answer any question you have with such warmth and kindness you really still never feel like asking a question again in our class. And I know that, because that's already happening. I have the name of three undergrads that we know, for a fact, did not write their own essay. Two are not even in my modules at all.
Now. That's pretty mean. But if you have the absolute audacity and lack of ethics required to submit an essay for which you have not written a single word, and thought it would actually work, when your lecturer spent probably more that 80 hours working in this module this term, gave you the opportunity to meet for office hours, to ask any question in person or in email, to have extensions, accommodations, additional time ? When you decided that putting exactly zero second of your time, considered that you were above that - and above other students- and yet we were not able to officially sanction you for it, we had to give you a passing grade, the same passing grade as students who actually made an effort?
Yeah, sorry, you are not getting any sympathy from your lecturers anymore.
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lnfours · 3 months
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🍊prompt=  “you’ve been talking about this for months so i figured that maybe if i got it for you, you’d shut up.” “i love you.” 
love this idea 🥹 🫶🏼anon
Reader has been taking about a jelly cat she’s wanted for months & Lando gets her it :(
STOP BECAUSE HE SO WOULD TOO
also warning u nc i used the overused lando norrizz joke :.)
11.8k friends to lovers sleepover
you were sat on the couch when the front door closed, craning your neck as you smiled at the curly haired boy who had returned with an armful of bags.
"hey," you said, your attention shifting as you went back to your phone, "how was shopping with max?"
he wore a confident smile, making his way into the living room, "good. got you something,"
you raised your eyebrows as he took a seat on the other end of the couch, digging through his bags, "you did?"
"yeah, i think you'll like it."
you hummed as you tossed your phone down next to you, watching him fish something out from his bag before he spoke again, "close your eyes."
you sighed but did so anyway, feeling his hands grab yours to hold them out to him, his touch sending fire through your body before his skin was replaced with a soft, plush material. you furrowed your eyebrows, but didn't question it before he instructed you to open your eyes.
you did, a small little orange plush with a smiley face sitting in your hands. the one you had been looking for everywhere, the one you had shown him happily on your phone one day and said it 'reminded you of him'.
you smiled, squealing happily as you shot up from your spot and wrapped your arms around his neck, "where'd you find it? thank you, thank you, thank you!"
he laughed softly, "found it one of the book shops downtown. you've been talking about it for months now, so i figured that if i got it for you, you'd shut up."
you happily hugged it to your chest, "seriously, thank you. i love you!"
he smiled, the way those three words sounded coming from you, directed at him, going straight to his heart. the feeling unlike anything else that he'd felt before, and he made a silent vow to do whatever it took for you to say it again.
"what're you going to name it?" he asked, knowing you had picked out names for all your plushies. he had almost every single one memorized by now, swearing he'd have them all down one day.
you hummed, "dunno, what do you think?"
he hummed too before his face turned into a teasing smile, "you did say it reminded you of me."
you laughed, rolling your eyes playfully, "i associate anything to do with orange with you, don't get too ahead of yourself."
"you mean it's not because of it's adorable smile and tiny little dimple right here?" he joked and you laughed softly, face heating up as he was catching onto you.
"y'know what, fine," you said, "his name'll be lando norrizz,"
he put a hand up to his heart in fake hurt as he dramatically gasped, "so funny and totally original!"
his sarcasm made you smile, "it is kind of funny, though. and true."
"i have rizz!" he said, watching as you got up from your spot on the couch, making your way down the hall towards your bedroom.
"whatever helps you sleep at night!"
he shook his head, you were going to be the death of him.
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mickules · 1 year
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I missed you too
The Parent Trap
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I ended up watching the original 1961 Parent Trap and LORD but there's a lot going on in that film. But ignoring the more . . . distressingly unhealthy 60s attitude toward marriage dynamics. . . The actual twin swap is such a good angle (and the effects genuinely hold up really well) I just wanted to capture the stress of trying to assimilate into a life so unlike your own, and that gut punch moment when they get to meet their missing parent for the first time.
And from there I just couldn't help imagine a future parent reconciliation, with a couple of siblings added into the mix . . .
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Unlike in the film where they were right to have gotten divorced (and shoulda stayed super divorced)- Takaaki and Kiyoko's seperation was very much a symptom of Toranosuke's scandal and demanded by Kiyoko's father. So when they meet once again as a result of the Twin's shenanigans, the two of them could easily develop a genuine connection, now they're older, more experienced, and freed from the pressure of expectation. And I'm not immune to making every red eyed Dangan character an Ishimaru sibling
(Truth be told, this has been on my mind ever since @puckishpal 's just marvellous fic Changed, and I really wanted to get this out in time for @mini-mecha-cowboy 's Kiyotaka week prompts AU and Lookalike, but uuuh- I managed to miss that by just a few ;; )
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impyssadobsessions · 7 months
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DPXDC Prompt: Who is Danny Fenton?
Warning: This one will be dark as it contains character deaths and violence.
Danyal replaced Danny Fenton a long time ago. As in the original died and Danyal needed a place to hide.
He could have killed him or maybe there was an accident. But he's been masquerading as Danny Fenton for a long time.
But imagine Danyal Al Ghul did kill a kid to take his place. Or at least might have put him out of his misery of something tragic that happened.. as if he wasn't stalking homes to try and pretend to be someone's else's child after leaving the league.
Wasn't "his" fault the kid was stupid enough to cross paths and get hurt.
Though guilt does follow him as he pretends and easily slides into the kids life. Reason he "starts" to drift from Jazz, she's the only one that eyeing him too closely and he doesn't like it. Blame it on her being a nag.
Its why he survived the portal incident. He was already contaminated.
All this to avoid having to fight his brother and being kicked around by his grandfather.
Only to have karma bite him in the ass. Not only he failed to come back fully- unlike the pit rage that made you forget yourself- this form seems to make every regret and terrible action dig its claws deeper in every painful way.
Even worse if you play the whole phantom is a ghost combined with Danny.. so phantom is danny fenton.
Now he's lost anything he could have pride in. Thanks to his accident, he's had harder time controlling his body.. especially with his powers. Clumsy. Uneven. He knew he was out of sorts from not practicing but he doubt he be this bad.
His life forever now half of either existence. He couldn't pretend anymore. Once his new parents find out- they would try to kill him.
Back to square fucking one.
And this time. He doubt even his brother or mother would lend a pity hand. Not like he would want it.
AMG just now thought maybe he would go to Gotham after he killed Vlad and was caught by the Fentons.
He warned Vlad and told him he was getting onto his last nerve. Even told him that Jack wasn't his dad and Maddie wasn't his mom, hell he wasn't even Danny Fenton. But if he had to tell him who he was he was going to regret it.
Vlad went even harder losing interest in Danny- only for Danny to make a sword with his powers and show Vlad WHO he was.
He was trying to be like his father- batman. He is the grandson of the demon king- and former member of league of assassins.
Vlad begging when he realizes Danny been holding back and actual death is on the horizon. "I'm Danyal Al Ghul. And I'm tired of you."
Danny did do it to save everyone permanently but after brutally killing Vlad- is when first his friends show up to warn him about his parents just to see what he done.
Danny laughing awkwardly like.. you-you saw that.. didn't you? heh- Then Fentons barge in. Jack is emotional wreck.
Actually getting a few good hits in, before Danny decided to play dead again and let Jack think he destroyed him.
Flying back to gather his stuff to leave permanently. He couldn't take the guilt of looking at Jack's face. Danny Fenton is dead anyways.
Only to be confronted by Jazz later who shakily asks if Danny is her brother.
Danny being honest, "no."
"For how long?" Jazz saying she knows it had to be before the accident.
"…we we're 8."
Jazz asking trying not to sob did he kill him.
"Mercifully." Then explains he was going to die anyways-
"You don't know that-"
"Actually I DO. I know what it takes to KILL someone, what could allow someone to live. That's something I DO know. And if he had managed to live he would be a vegetable." Explaining how the injury to his spinal cord was not recoverable. just imagine its so bittersweet, because Jazz does love her brother still. But Danny has been a lie this whole time.. or at least being Fenton was. Most of the laughs have become real, jokes, the friendship.
But Danny knows he can't fix this.. so he leaves.
Jazz torn whether to beg him to stay or to go.. and just ends up choking up watching him leave.
thus Danny not sure where to go decides its bout time he at least sees his father.
whether he let him see him or not is undecided.
Jack will either be blame for the murder of Vlad, or Phantom will be exposed.
Either way. Danny knew he royally fucked up.. again.
Ooo what if Danny does join the bats but insist he just wants to be a normal teen. Has a fully researched and planned backstory… mostly leaving out things because its "hard" to talk about. How he lived from foster home to foster home pretending to be different children until he just escape.
Until Jazz , Sam , and Tuck come to find him. Having audio where Danny stated he was the son of batman. Danyal Al ghul. So they figured if they find batman. They might find Danny.
Sam and Tucker want answers.. also mixed about Danny.. but dammit they been through so much.. HOW COULD HE keep that from them? They're not going to let him runaway from this. Tucker also adds unless he threatens to kill us.
Jazz had resolved her feelings. Analyzing everything since Danny was 8. When the switch happened. What was him acting and when the real Danyal appeared.
And had decided she didn't care. Danny was her BROTHER. And honestly is the only thing she has left right now. And she wants him back. Wants to help him heal, wants to help him.
Sam and Tuck want their answers then decide what to do from there. They don't WANT everything they knew to be a lie.
And now Batman is aware of more of his son- Damian knowing more of what his twin been up too.
Its a race to get answers out of Danny before he figures it out and disappears for good.
Can see Damian being the best to help Danny through this. Especially since Jon and Dick helped him not feel so bad about the league.
Danny though pointing out- "Difference, the league didn't make me kill a kid, nor a pathetic billionaire."
"You're right. It would have made you kill me."
Danny just breaks.
Thus finally able to admit all his guilt and how terrible he feels about himself. How he TRIED to be like Father but.. he failed so hard. He failed. He failed EVERYTHING. Just a loser. A failure. A waste. Only to be reminded that if he was one- he wouldn't have so many people wanting to know him. He's scared to face his friends' and sister. He knows its gonna hurt. And it does. But even though he isn't forgiven there is hope things can move on from it. Sam and Tucker will have some serious trust issues and take a while to decipher what part is Danny and what isn't. Meanwhile, yes Jazz feels betrayed. She understands and mostly just want to get to know HER brother more.. Danny more. Hope this opens up the wall she wanted to break down this whole time. And as long as Danny shows her who he is, and tries to work on himself. She doesn't care who he was or how he got there. Also he has to show her what he done with her little brother's body and give it a proper burial. Which Danny happily will- giving it a proper burial.. not showing jazz. He's still afraid she'll immediately hate him once she does. Also can see Bruce being so conflicted but Damian, Dick, and Jason all standing up for Danny. Especially Jason once hearing why Danny killed Vlad was to PROTECT his family and town. He gave him fair warning.. So imagine Bruce and Danny having hard time getting along after everything is revealed. But more so just Bruce unable to comprehend the conflicted emotions. Danny tried to emulate him.. but failed. But he tried to do good.. yet he still killed. So its more so awkward than anything. Bruce still wants to give his son the best. Then I can see Danny helping out- though he keeps phantom a secret from the public. He's always invisible or barely seen.
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dreamwatch · 2 months
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Ramblin' Gamblin' Man
Written for @corrodedcoffinfest
Day #20 - Prompt: Under The Covers | Word Count: 979 | Rating: M | CW: period typical homophobia (alluded to) | POV: Steve | Pairing: Steddie | Tags: secret relationship, sharp suits, Steve Harrington is stupid for Eddie Munson, Fluff but make it lustful
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Steve’s at the Grammys. Holy Shit.
It’s not the first time Eddie’s been here, but it’s the first time he’s brought Steve. He walked the red carpet alone last time, the rest of the band ahead of him with their wives and girlfriends, Eddie playing up the bachelor angle. Steve watched from their home. 
Tonight they’re ’best friends if anyone asks’, which Eddie thinks is unlikely because there are some big names here and like, who the fuck are they in the scheme of things?
They’re not nominated for anything; Eddie said they’d been asked to play a cover of Ramblin’ Gamblin Man and both Wayne and Steve’s dad are big Bob Seger fans so the band said yes. See, its little things like that that make him want to climb inside Eddie and never come out. Any other act is thinking about the prestige, Eddie’s thinking about whether his family would like it.
He loves this man so fucking much.
The band are sitting about ten rows back; he’s got a clear view of Sheryl Crow from his seat, and he’s pretty sure that’s the back of Whitney Houston’s head over to his left.
His new phone is buzzing in his pocket. Robin is obsessed with sending him messages. Tonight so far:
‘Is Stevie Nicks there?’
‘If she is please tell me she’s hot.’
‘Shit I think I just saw you!’
‘Is that Sheryl Crow in front of you?’
He deletes them to make space for new messages, hopefully something about how their friends are at the goddamn Grammys and not whether Shania Twain has a nice ass. (She does, he looked.)
Eddie taps his arm. “Okay, we have to go get changed.”
“Huh? Why?”
They’re wearing their ‘Corroded Coffin smart attire’, essentially their usual clothes minus the rips. They’re not exactly scruffy, per se, but… Steve’s in a suit here, you know? (The suit is borrowed, but it’s all about the effort.)
Eddie grins at him. “You didn’t think I was performing at the Grammys in this, did you?” He pulls at the long sleeve tee he’s wearing under his new leather jacket. 
“I mean, yeah, I kind of did.”
Eddie tsks. “For shame, Steve.” He leans in, achingly close, his breath tickling Steve’s neck. “Wish me luck.”
Just for a second Steve thinks about kissing him. Fuck everyone else, fuck the fans, the industry, he just wants to kiss his man publicly. But he doesn’t. Instead he shifts so his lips are practically touching the shell of Eddie’s ear.
“Good luck,” he whispers. 
Eddie shivers. Steve laughs.
The boys all leave, and now it’s Steve and The Wives.
Thirty minutes later the sound of a trashy high-hat fills the auditorium, lights flashing in time to the thu-thu thump bass drum pattern. Despite Jeff being their lead vocalist it’s Eddie, with his raspier, bluesier voice, that’s taking the lead tonight, and doesn’t that just make Steve’s heart fucking cry out with pride? And you know, Eddie, his Eddie, singing at a nationally televised event should be the thing he’s concentrating on, and it is! It is. But when the lights go up the first thing he actually notices is—
“Holy shit, they’re wearing suits!” 
Bonnie says it before anyone else gets a chance. He imagines the four of them are a picture right now, side by side, eyes on stalks because their men are all on stage at the Grammy’s wearing blacks suits, crisp white shirts and… fucking sunglasses. 
Look, he’s seen Eddie in a suit. It was a nice suit, but he looked about as comfortable as a priest in a lingerie store. This is not that.
These are sharp tailored suits, fitted to perfection. Eddie has too many buttons undone on the shirt, some of his chest exposed, that old Fender guitar pick necklace replaced with a solid silver copy (the original with Wayne). The stage lights hit his mirrored Ray Bans, the chain, the rings. But Steve can’t take his eyes off that fucking suit.
He’s going to devour him.
Eddie’s not a frontman, says he loves being able to just do his thing and let Jeff take care of the crowd. But he has a feeling things might change after tonight. 
The audience are on their feet, and Steve grabs the girls so they can head down to the backstage area. They have passes but even then he has to pull the ‘pregnant ladies coming through’ card to get them back to the green room. And when they get in there--
They’re still dressed in those fucking suits.
Eddie spins toward him. “Hey! What did you—“
Steve doesn’t give him a chance to finish the sentence, he has his hands on Eddie’s face and he’s dragging him in for a long, deep kiss, Eddie’s eyes wide and cross eyed.
When he finally comes up for air he realises Jeff, Gareth and Matt are all getting much the same treatment from their wives.
“You’re never taking this off, understand?” Steve says breathlessly. “Never.”
“What… the suit?”
“Duh, the suit, yes the suit. You’re never taking it off. I don’t care what you’re doing, mowing the lawn, taking the trash out, washing the car, don’t care. This,” he says gently pulling at a very expensive lapel, “is never leaving your body.” He goes in for another kiss. “God the things I’m going to do to you tonight.”
“In the suit?”
“Fuck yes, in the suit! Told you, you’re never taking this off.”
Eddie’s grin is slow and mischievous. “This is really doing it for you, huh?”
“You have no idea.”
It’s doing it for everyone. There are three respectable married ladies here, mothers no less, acting like groupies at an Aerosmith gig. 
Steve squeezes his hips. “Let’s go.”
“Sunglasses: on or off?”
Steve wants to sink his teeth into him right here.
“On. Definitely on.”
The song:
The inspiration:
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reachartwork · 2 months
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the process
a lot of people like to ask me about my process and how ai can be "creative" because they're under the impression that it's just kind of a big slot machine. you pull a lever and art uncontrollably comes out. well, let me show you my process
this is going to be a long thread tagged with #long post, blacklist that if you want to skip it.
so how it starts like most art is that i have an idea. in this case, earlier i made a post about witch-knights "surfing" on swords, so i'm going to try and make that - a witch-knight flying through the air atop one of her swords.
it starts with this picture.
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i think this picture is dogshit so i discard basically all of it to try and find something closer to my original intent. there's a couple of uninteresting regenerations so it's clear i have to go back to the drawing board and teach the machine what it is i'm trying to do
let's start with a witch-knight on a broom. it's definitely not great but it gives us a better pose that i can work with.
i start by erasing the broom and replacing it with a skateboard - the machine understands skating better for what i need it to do.
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there's a ton of small, subtle errors in this image and it overall looks like dogshit but the most important part right now is blocking and the overall pose structure - i need her "surfing" a large, lengthwise object, in the sky. i start by erasing pieces of the skateboard
now we have a sword, which is good. but the sword itself looks... bad. i'll spare you the abortive attempts at selective regeneration of the sword and just show you what happened when i rolled it back a couple of times from this pose and let it regen entirely.
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again, tons of small little shitty errors, but this is something i can work with. i do another regen for a less shitty sword. her boob armor gets replaced with, like, generic scale mail.
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this image has a great sword and decent pose but like... everything else is kind of futzy and i dont like it. instead of trying to pick and choose i just throw it back into the oven for a second. much better! but now she's going to cut herself on the sword, oh no!
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again, i'll save you the agonizing thirty minutes of trying to get it to understand where the foot should go. unlike before i didn't really have a choice except to muscle through. there! now she's surfing safely :)
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so it's done, right? well, i mean, i could post this. and it would probably do okay. but *i'm* not satisfied with it. there's stiffness. dozens of minor errors. the eyes look weird when you zoom in. let's start by fixing her hat, and then maybe her hands?
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but she's missing fingers on her left hand so let's go ahead and fix that too. and i don't really like the tip of her sword and the ocean looks really flat and boring. so, VERY CAREFULLY, i have to etch out the parts of the sword and her body i have to keep, and also write an entirely new prompt to tell it "i want an ocean w/ rolling waves please :)"
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this is better but not great. i try again - serendipitously, it makes this really cool variant with a shadow over the water, but i know working with that will take more wrangling so i'm considering it an evolutionary dead end and discarding it for now.
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i proceed to spend 30 minutes trying to make the ocean look better but it's really not working imo. i'm gonna go back to the shadow version and see how that works
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i'll spare you the other 8 minutes - i'm satisfied with the following picture. the sword isn't *perfectly* straight, her eyes aren't perfectly textured, the scale mail is... weird, in texture, but anything else would be greasing the wheel and i think beyond the machine's ability to do fine detail.
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i've also attached the starting picture for comparison - it has better, "higher quality" clouds and ocean but i personally cared more about the pose and the sword surfing - the background is mostly tangential. could i get back ocean and clouds of that quality with another two hours of painstakingly cutting and re-generating bits of the background without destroying any of my existing work on the pose? probably. but i don't want to.
total time spent on this piece from start to finish was one hour and twenty one minutes. and now you know!
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bones4thecats · 9 months
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Being Married and Your Lives Together
Type of Writing: Poll Result Characters: Fellow Honest, Baul Zigvolt, and Kifaji Name: Being Married and Your Lives Together Original Poll Link: Here
A/N: This is my first times writing for all of these characters, so they may end up being a bit out of character, just warning y'all! Anyways, I do hope you guys enjoy this. I'm just gonna write each part of the poll as it goes, since it's pointless waiting daily on the next part. Now, enjoy my bubbles🫧
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🦊 Fellow Honest and you grew up together with Gidel by your side, working together to provide a decent life for the younger beastman, despite the hardships
🦊 Gidel adores you to the point where you were basically another sibling to him, which led to Fellow beginning to see you as a co-raiser of the cat-man
🦊 You and Fellow eventually began to work at Playful Land together, with the assistance of your younger brother
🦊 When your relationship started, you guys just began working at the theme park with one another, only using the relationship as something to put the walls of the visitors down to nothing
🦊 But, Fellow began to notice how when the visitors walked away with you guiding them around to show them the place so they were more at ease, he would glare at one of them if they tried something inappropriate
🦊 While you guys to eventually marry, not making it into any paperwork, obviously, you cannot allow your occupations to be let out, he still is protective over you, since fox-beastman have one partner for their lives
🦊 Your occupation working at Playful Land is very shady and if caught, can put you all in serious danger, which prompts Fellow to guard you and Gidel with his life, no matter the cost
🦊 Despite popular beliefs, Fellow does not want children unless he had a stable life with you and Gidel, he doesn't want his offspring to go through the same amount of pain he, Gidel, and you went through
🦊 If you and him had one unexpectedly, he would put everything into you, his brother, and his children, since you all were the most important things in his life, he could wait, you could not
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🐊 Baul never saw any point for a relationship, but, when he met you at a young age, he saw more potential with you than he did anyone else
🐊 He has a fiery personality, but, unlike many, you adored that part of him. And, due to his more aggressive tendencies, he is a very protective and possessive husband, pushing you behind him during any threat
🐊 During the war, he kept you away from it all, and sending you as many letters as he could in between battles
🐊 Once the war calmed down, he found out you were pregnant and was having a daughter, the only child you would ever have during your long lives together
🐊 He raised your daughter with such high-honors that it was a hint overwhelming for the young fae, but, what did you expect from an ex-military member?
🐊 You are by far the more approachable grandparent of the Zigvolt family, you were the one that Sebek would come for to get advice, and you would always tell him to embrace what his father gave him, his humanity
🐊 While Baul and you have some rough-patches that you cannot seem to fully sand down, he always tried his best to keep his composure, and he had tried his most when your daughter brought her future husband and father to her children home to meet you both
🐊 He was horrified of Baul Zigvolt, who told him to only call him Mr. Zigvolt, while he was far more at ease with you, as you just said he could call you 'Mom'
🐊 It's basically the 'Cool and Intimidating x An Absolute Sweetheart' dynamic, and it's hilarious for your family and friends to watch
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🕊️ You worked with Kifaji as a chamberlain for the Kingscholar family growing up, and he would just watch as you would help Farena take a small break from his homework to mess around
🕊️ Kifaji also would love watching you just try getting Leona to do something other than nap around growing up, it was quite amusing
🕊️ He and you were childhood friends, and eventual lovers who married and began to work alongside one another. Your husband then began to work for the Kingscholar family, with you joining him later on
🕊️ This guy gives me the vibe of a good father for some reason
🕊️ Due to this, he and you had two children, two boys to be specific, and oh boy does he adore his dearest boys to the end of the world
🕊️ He taught them everything they needed to know, and because of your ages, you had the first son around a year or so before Farena was born and then your second son when the oldest Kingscholar was a couple years old
🕊️ Kifaji tries to take some days off of work to be with you and his sons as they grew up, but as they aged and began their own lives, he tried spending as much time as he could with his grandchildren
🕊️ Leona loves to taunt you by being asleep in the most random places, prompting your husband to show, allowing the lion-beastman to get you flustered more
🕊️ Age comes with wisdom? Then he must have been 70 when he was really 28, and you would vouch for that, like I mentioned, this guy taught his children and the Kingscholar's children, what do you expect?
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