#writing evolution

[prismaticpichu]

I’m feeling a little down; solution?? Here’s a self-indulgent collection of various wholesome fic lines from the past few years <33

I cast Floof upon ye! ✨

~~~

But Zack, holding the man who was supposed to be the strongest in the military, didn't care. Not at all. He simply took the other in, sheltering him, nestling deep into his neck.

"It's okay, bud…” Zack whispered. "You're safe now."

~

Face buried in the other's charcoal hair, heart pressed against the warmth of a hoodie, Sephiroth allowed himself to smile. He enveloped his best friend and held him close, letting his eyes fall shut as Zack tightened the embrace.

"I missed you..."

They said it in harmony.

~

“Merry Christmas, Seph..." Zack mumbled into his neck, his smile warm and bright as the firewood purring behind them. "Welcome to the Fair family.”

~

"G'night, Seph..." Zack was already drifting.

"Goodnight. And Zack?"

"Yeah?”

"I have a request."

"Go f'rit."

Sephiroth gazed overhead, his emerald eyes glimmering with warm resolve. "Never change."

I love you just the way you are

~

"Partners..." Sephiroth repeated to himself, tracing his finger over the word, feeling the light of Zack's broadening smile beam down on his shoulders.

"Partners," Zack agreed, his tone much more serious now. "You and me, bud. Forever.

~

Seph was broken right now... but he would heal. They both would. Maybe when the cracks were gauzed, they would leave the puppeteers and let the bodies of Nibelheim rest. He could bring Seph to Gongaga, home, where he would live under the care of parents and a brother who loved him dearly.

He would never leave his side again.

As the first winks of dawn smeared across the sky, Sephiroth’s breathing finally began to calm. The ice was thawing from his muscles, melting under the warmth of a furnace, the poison filtering inside of him and purifying into untainted blood.

Thump… Thump… Thump.

"Everything's okay, bud..." Zack repeated, and these were the words that sailed his friend to sleep. "Everything's okay..."

~

As far as Sephiroth was concerned, there was only one appropriate thing to say. It twisted his throat into sandpaper, struggling to mouth a trio of words that had never left his lips, had hardly ventured through his mind. Words he thought he might have known once, but had been taken away, their meaning warped and changed into something nearly nonexistent. Now, someone had championed them; Zack had earned it. His soul sang that it was true, and Sephiroth knew it, too.

"…Zack?"

"Yeah, bud?"

Cocooned in warmth and gratitude, Sephiroth closed his eyes, saying what should have been said without ever needing an occasion.

“I… I love you.”

~

"...Just, always remember that you're you. I think Angeal and Genesis forgot that. So..." Another melancholic smile budded on Zack's lips. "Even if it's just for me, just never forget, no matter what anyone ever says to you: you're still Seph. You'll always be. Winged or crazy-haired or crazy-eyed. I don't know if anyone ever told you that, so maybe I'll just have to be the first."

~

And Zack couldn't hold his any longer. “Seph….!” he squeaked, springing forward and practically gluing his arms around his best friend’s neck. “Seph!”

"Stop that!" Sephiroth tried to bark, but every thread of authority was cut along the way. He was completely powerless as Zack tightened his embrace, their laughter harmonizing into one, a velvet and bubbly song drowning out the rainfall.

"My buddy's laughing...!" Zack repeated, the words still so ethereal as they danced around him. “You’re really laughing!”

~

Sephiroth paused. "…No. I do not have a friend."

The emerald ponds rippled, and he looked over to Zack, still standing in the crowd, the woman nowhere to be seen, watching the boy's eyes widen into gaping blue sapphires . A small smirk budded on his lips.

"I have... a best friend."

He had a best friend. He had a best friend…

Murmurs erupted from the crowd, heads bobbing as people turned to face one another and even the scattered gasp laced between. It was clear that this was not the response they were expecting to receive.

"Who?" the reporter wanted to know, clearly just as stunned.

Sephiroth never unlocked his gaze with Zack’s. His smirk softened into a tender, calm, grateful smile.

“My lieutenant."

~

“...I love you so much…” Zack mumbled into his coat.

The velvety warmth from before sparked all again, a strong heartbeat turned into a swelling throb in the man's chest. There were no barriers in Sephiroth’s mind anymore, making him hesitant. Making him question. Just as they did before, the words left in all their heartfelt, effortless honesty as he held his treasured friend tighter, emerald eyes falling shut.

"I love you too, Zack.”

My hero.

~

For another long swathe of time, silence reigned over the duo. And Sephiroth was left to ponder his best friend’s kind words once again. He let them sink into him like soft layers of balm—let them sink deep into his body, let them knead the aches in his soul… and sank further into the embrace. There seemed to be only one appropriate thing to say. Only one thing was that right.

“Thank you…” Sephiroth whispered.

Zack’s lips budded with a small, teary smile, burrowing deep into the warrior’s neck. “My amazing friend…”

Flash!

Sephiroth tensed and bristled as the room came alight again. His heart jolted—leapt, flared—and Zack made sure it stayed in his chest as he held him tighter.

“It’s okay… I got you, bud. You’re okay.”

The warrior kept his eyes shut, cocooned in warmth and blessed blackness… And this time, his head was silent. Hojo’s voice didn’t echo in his ears; his silent screams of the past didn’t plague him. It all melted away as he melted further into his best friend’s arms.

Listening to the sound of the rain against the window, Sephiroth fell asleep.

~

The boy's face softened, relinquishing his hold on his arm…

To place a warm, ungloved hand on his chest instead.

"I know who you are..." Zack whispered now. "You've shown me. You're Sephiroth. You're kind, and loyal, and would never hurt a soul who didn't deserve it."

He nodded gently towards his hand, pressed firmly over his heart.

"This here, Seph... this is what matters. And you have a good one."

The words still eluded Sephiroth's tongue as Zack held his gaze steady in his own, unwilling to let him go. Gazing right into his eyes, into the inhuman feline slits that drifted in the jade waters like two black daggers... completely unafraid. Completely calm, completely honest. And without a single ghost of doubt.

"You'll always be you..." Zack continued. "And nothing on Gaia will ever change that. I tried telling that to Angeal, but… he didn't listen to me." Something wet twinkled in Zack's eyes, a misty glimmer of plea. Of hope.

"So don't ever forget that... okay?"

~

He opened his eyes again, slowly, the emerald waters tame and vulnerable. The feline pupils round and glistening. "You are... everything to me," he said quietly. "You made my life complete, when I thought it would be shattered forever. You filled it again--with meaning, with joy, with... purpose..." Sephiroth had to fight the smile from sneaking onto his lips, blinking it away. He kept his gaze steady as he continued to hold the blue eyes firmly in his own.

"I repeat myself: you are not Genesis's shadow. You are not Angeal's shadow. Genesis, Angeal... they never brought me coffee. They never shortened my name. They never snuck energy bars into my drawer so I would eat. They never left their doors unlocked for me. They never embraced me, even when they would see me again the next morning." Sephiroth blinked again, fighting again. Only somewhat successful.

"I loved them dearly, but they are not you, Zack. And I am very thankful that you are you.”

~

He felt Zack’s smile press into his shoulder.

“…Seph?”

“Hmm?”

“Thanks… by the way.”

Sephiroth hummed in response, another cozy spark and purr in his chest. “I’m honored to do this with you.”

"No," Zack continued to murmur. “I mean… for everything. For being here, for staying here, for always taking care of me…” He strained his eyes, inhaling deeply, letting his taut muscles relax again as he sank back into his embrace and clutched him tighter and found the words that finally rang right in his heart.

“…My hero.”

~

Zack was no longer resisting the tears—letting the weight of his burdens spill out into his shoulder, letting them flood, letting himself bleed out all the tainted blood that had been flowing inside of him over the past stretch of horrible, horrible months.

“I…” he sobbed, cracking. “I’m...”

“Shhh... it’s not your fault..”

“I… I…”

“…It’s not your fault...”

“I… I just…”

“I know…”

“…Why… why d… id this…?”

“I don’t know…”

“…I miss him…”

“Me too…”

“B… but you’re here…”

“…….I am.”

~

Swallowing, Sephiroth bit his lip, the guilty haze still clouding his mind. “Why did you fight for me?” he choked. “Why not fight against me? Why not try to kill me...?”

Zack’s eyes only softened at the question, taking a moment to compose a proper response. “Why...?” he eventually repeated. “Because you weren’t that creature, pal.”

“But you didn’t…” Sephiroth shook his head, then, realizing the weight of that question, amended with, “how...? How could you know it wasn’t me?”

Another beat drummed through the air as Zack processed the question, thinking long and hard of the response, keeping his forehead pressed against his friend’s and his arms wrapped wrap him until, gingerly, he lifted his bandaged arm, placed it against Seph’s chest, and just listened...

“I... I don’t really know...” Zack cracked another small, honest smile. “Gonna sound cheesy as Hell, but... I kinda just knew... kinda just sensed it, your pain... And then you turn around, at the top of that cord thing, look at me, and I just see all that Evil in your eyes... And I knew that wasn’t my bud...”

~

Eventually, Zack snuggled closer, resting his cheek against his chest, burying his face in the toasty material. “...I felt safer here, you know...” he murmured, his voice drenched in encroaching sleep. “And not just because of the blanket... in case you were wondering...”

A purr, a spark in the velvet fire, and Sephiroth just held him closer, pillowing his own cheek against his dear friend’s hair, strands of silver threading through the black quills.

“...I’m glad,” he murmured in return.

~

“Oh...” Sephiroth chuckled as their laughter began to die down, “I believe we almost forgot the most important affirmation.”

Zack’s smile gleamed brighter than moonshine. “...Yeah? What’s that?”

His own smile calm and content, Sephiroth scooted a few inches across the sofa, looping an arm around his treasured, kind friend as he added, with a swell of gratitude in his heart:

“That I am blessed enough to have the most wonderful friend by my side.”

~

"I'm... I'm never gonna leave you, pal..." Zack whispered, assured; a promise embedded in cement. "I'm... I'm never gonna stop cherishing our time together... Never. I'm never gonna forget how much you mean to me..."

And against the blackness, he felt the silken, feathery weight of Seph's hair falling over him, the comforting, understanding press of his dear friend's forehead against his.

"And I'll never let those memories spoil," Sephiroth murmured.

[dowderadorer]

writing evolution through my kiss scenes ?

erm yeah... 2020 vs 2024 kiss scenes

yes its bucky barnes x oc fanfiction. we all started somewhere.

[haveacupofjohanny]

From Whimsy to Darkness: How The Ordinary Bruja Evolved into a Haunting Exploration of Identity

✨ Stories evolve, just like we do. ✨ The Ordinary Bruja began as whimsical magic but became a haunting mix of psychological horror, coming-of-age, and self-doubt. Because sometimes, the scariest thing isn’t magic—it’s facing yourself. 🔮 Ready to step into Marisol’s world? #MagicalRealism

Stories have a way of taking on a life of their own. When I first wrote The Ordinary Bruja, it was a whimsical, magical realism short story—something light, something filled with wonder. It had a touch of enchantment, a girl discovering something extraordinary about herself, a narrative infused with the warmth of magic woven into the everyday. But as time passed, as I continued to grow as a…

[ancientroyalblood]

Finding My Writing Style: A Journey of Descriptive Exploration

Writing is an art that evolves with time and practice. When I started my writing journey a few years ago, I received valuable advice to stick to simple terms like “said,” “asked,” and “replied.” These basic elements provided a solid foundation for my storytelling. However, everything changed when a friend, who had been reading my books, suggested exploring a more descriptive style. This feedback…

[francishpowellwriter]

Guest Post for Bee Writes

Guest Post: Francis H Powell ~ The Fish King and the Two Wise Ghosts (bi-lingual Engl/Germ)

[elbiotipo]

Some notes on worldbuilding with carnivorous cultures:

Animals feed more people than you think. You don't kill a cow for just one steak, this is a modern misconception since we're removed from the actual animals we eat our meat from; a single cow has several kilos of meat. In fact, slaughtering a single cow often means a feast time for possibly dozens of people. Every part of an animal can be used, and you can see this in cultures that live by ranching and transhumance.

Here, you should look at the Mongols and the people of the Eurasian Steppe, the people of the North American Plains, the people of the Pampas (fun fact; Buenos Aires was called the "carnivore city"), European and Asian cultures that practice transhumance, and those of the Arctic circle.

There are many ways to cook meat, but arguably, the most nutritious way to consume meat is in stew, as it allows you to consume all the fats of the animal and add other ingredients. In fact, mutton soup and stew historically was one of the basic meals for the for people in the Eurasian Steppe, who are one of the people with the highest meat consumption in the world.

Of course, meat spoils away easily. Fortunately, from jerky to cured meats, there are ways to prevent this. In pre-industrial and proto-industrial societies, salted meat was the main way of consumption and exporting meat. This makes salt even a more prized good.

Often, certain parts of animals like eyes, the liver, the testicles, the entrails, are considered not only cultural delicacies but as essential for vitamins and nutrients unavailable in environments such as the poles. The Inuit diet is a very strong example.

Pastures and agriculture have often competing dynamics. The lands that are ideal for mass pasture, that is, temperature wet grasslands, are also often ideal for agriculture. So pastoralism has often been in the margins of agrarian societies. This dynamic could be seen in the Americas. After the introduction of cattle and horses, the Pampas hosted semi-nomadic herdsmen, natives and criollo gauchos. The introduction of wire eventually reduced this open territory, converting it into intense agriculture, and traditional ranching was displaced to more "marginal" land less suitable for agriculture. Similar processes have happened all over the world.

This also brings an interesting question to explore. Agriculture is able to feed more people by density. What about species that DON'T do agriculture, because they're completely carnivorous? The use of what human civilization considers prime agricultural land will be different. They will be able to support much higher population densities than pastoralism.

Pastoral human populations have developed lactase persistance to be able to feed on dairy products even in adulthood. This mutation has happened all over the world, presumably with different origins. In any mammalian species that domesticates other mammals such a thing would be very common if not ubiqutous, as it massively expands the diet. Milk provides hydration, and cheese, yogurth and other such products allows long lasting food sources.

What about hunting? Early humans were apex predators and we are still ones today. However, humans can eat plants, which somewhat reduces the hunting pressure on fauna (though not the pressure of agrarian expansion which can be even worse). An exclusively carnivorous species (for example some kind of cat people) would have to develop very rigid and very complex cultural behavior of managing hunting, or else they would go extinct from hunger before even managing domestication. These cultural views towards hunting have also arosen in people all over the world, so you can get a sense of them by researching it.

It is possible for pastoral nomadic people, without any agriculture, to have cities? Of course. All nomadic peoples had amazing cultures and in Eurasia, they famously built empires. But they traded and entered conflicts with agrarian societies, too. They weren't isolated. Most of nomadic societies were defined by trade with settled ones.

The origin of human civilization and agriculture is still debated. It would be probably completely different for a non-human carnivorous society. One possible spark would be ritual meeting points (such as the historical Gobleki Tepe) or trade markets growing into permanent cities. But in general, pastoralism, hunting and ranching favors low-density populations that would be quite different.

Fishing, on the other hand, is a reliable source of protein and promotes settled cities. One can imagine acquaculture would be developed very early by a civilization hungry for protein.

Other possibilities of course are the raising of insects and mushrooms, both very uncommonly explored in fiction besides passing mentions.

Of course, most carnivorous species have some limited consumption of plant matter and many herbivores are oportunistic predators. The main thing to ask here is what the daily meal is here. For most human agrarian cultures, it's actually grain (this is where the word meal comes from). What about species that cannot live with a grain-based diet? You will find that many things people take for granted in agrarian society would be completely different.

As I always say: the most important question you can ask is "where does the food comes from?"

I hope you found these comments interesting and useful! I would love to do a better post once I'm able to replace my PC (yes, I wrote this all in a phone and I almost went insane). If you like what I write and would love to see more worldbuilding tips, consider tipping my ko-fi and checking my other posts. More elaborate posts on this and other subjects are coming.

[eternlmoonshine]

the alchemy of us ❥ spencer reid

summary: spencer has always been careful with the things he loves. and when he touches you, it’s with the kind of reverence that makes you feel like something divine pairing: spencer reid x reader warnings: a lot of intimacy, and very obvious allusions to sex but not explicit wc: 1k a/n: the inspiration for this was my pinterest feed being very cruel and showing me this quote and a picture of mgg from horse girl masterlist.

Spencer touches you like he’s afraid you’ll disappear.

Like you’re something he prayed for, something he never really thought he could have.

You feel it in the way his hands hesitate before they land on your skin, in the way his fingers tremble slightly when they trail down the length of your arm. He worships in a quiet way, all soft exhales and lingering glances, memorizing the shape of you like you might slip through his fingers if he isn’t careful.

You are the impossible thing he gets to hold.

And underneath his hands, you become poetry.

It starts slowly, the way all sacred things do.

Spencer has always been careful with you. He doesn’t rush, doesn’t push, doesn’t take more than you’re willing to give. He learns you the way he learns everything else- with patience, with curiosity, with something dangerously close to devotion.

At first, it’s just touches.

A hand on your lower back when he guides you through a crowded room. Fingers brushing against yours when he hands you something. The warm press of his palm against your knee when you sit beside him.

But then, one night, something shifts.

His apartment is quiet, dimly lit by the soft glow of a lamp. You’re sitting close- closer than usual, close enough to feel the warmth radiating from his body. The air between you is thick with something unsaid, something that’s been building for weeks, maybe months.

And then, with the careful deliberation of a man who has thought about this too much, Spencer reaches out.

His fingers trace a slow, reverent line down your cheek.

“You’re beautiful,” he murmurs, almost like he didn’t mean to say it out loud.

Your breath catches. Not because of the words, but because of the way he says them- like the thought of your beauty physically aches inside him. Like it’s something too big for him to hold.

You don’t know who moves first. Maybe it’s him, maybe it’s you, maybe it doesn’t matter.

All that matters is the way his lips finally, finally meet yours.

It’s slow at first. Spencer kisses like he does everything else- with care, with precision, with an underlying intensity that threatens to consume. His hands settle on your waist, fingers tightening just slightly, like he’s trying to ground himself in the reality of you.

And then you tilt your head, deepen the kiss, and something in him unravels.

A soft sound escapes his throat- something caught between a sigh and a groan. His hands slide up your back, pulling you closer until there’s no space left between you. He kisses you like he’s starved for it, like this is something he’s imagined too many times and he needs to make sure it’s real.

Your fingers find his hair, tugging just slightly, and he makes a noise that sends heat straight to your core.

“God,” he breathes against your lips, “you-”

He doesn’t finish the sentence. Maybe he doesn’t know how. Maybe there aren’t words for what he wants to say.

Instead, he pulls back just enough to look at you. His pupils are blown, his lips are swollen, and his breath comes in uneven pants. He looks utterly wrecked, and all you’ve done is kiss him.

But when he looks at you, it’s with a kind of reverence that makes your stomach flip.

Like you’re something divine.

Like you’re everything he’s ever wanted.

When he touches you, he does it slowly.

Like he’s memorizing you. Like he’s trying to etch the feeling of your skin into his bones.

His fingers trail over your collarbone, ghosting down the curve of your shoulder, tracing the length of your arm with deliberate precision. Every touch feels intentional, every caress a silent worship.

He presses his lips to your jaw, to the spot just beneath your ear, to the hollow of your throat. You shiver beneath him, and he makes a sound of quiet satisfaction, like he’s cataloging every little reaction for future reference.

“Spencer,” you whisper, and he hums in response, dragging his lips across your skin.

His hands move lower, tracing the curve of your waist, settling at your hips. He pauses there, fingers flexing slightly, like he’s bracing himself.

You can feel the tension in his body- the quiet restraint, the careful control.

It’s almost too much.

“Don’t hold back,” you murmur, running your hands up his arms. “I want you.”

His breath catches. And then, like something in him finally snaps, he moves.

His mouth is on yours again, hotter, hungrier. His hands slide under your shirt, skimming over bare skin, and the warmth of his touch sends a shiver down your spine.

You gasp against his lips, arching into him, and he groans- actually groans- like the sound of your pleasure is something holy.

Like this is the alchemy that he does.

Turning reverence into heat. Turning worship into need.

Turning you into something untouchable, something sacred, something that only he gets to have.

And god, you want to let him have you.

When he finally moves inside you, it’s with the same slow, deliberate care.

He takes his time, watching you, gauging your every reaction. His hands grip your hips, steady but reverent, like he’s afraid of holding too tightly, like he’s still afraid of breaking you.

But you don’t want careful. Not now.

“Spencer,” you breathe, wrapping your legs around him, pulling him closer. “Please.”

He exhales sharply, something raw flashing across his face. “Are you sure?”

You reach up, brush your fingers over his cheek, and smile. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

And that’s all it takes.

The hesitation crumbles, the restraint finally shatters. He moves with purpose now, his rhythm deep and slow and devastating.

He touches you like you’re made of something precious.

He kisses you like you’re the only thing keeping him tethered to the earth.

And when you fall apart beneath him, he watches, eyes dark and reverent, like this is what he was made for.

Like you are the thing he asked God for.

And now that he has you, he will never stop worshipping.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

The Importance of Fear & Anxiety

Marks (1987) and Bracha (2004) outline 6 ways in which fear and anxiety can afford protection.

Freezing: This response aids the vigilant assessment of the situation, helps conceal one from the predator, and sometimes inhibits an aggressive attack if you are not sure whether you have been spotted or cannot readily determine the location of the predator. Freezing may be better than lashing out or fleeing.

Fleeing: This response distances you from specific threats. When you encounter a snake, for example, running away may be the easiest and safest way to avoid receiving a poisonous bite.

Fighting: Attacking, bashing, or hitting a threatening predator may neutralize the threat by destroying it or causing it to flee. This mode of protection entails an assessment of whether the predator can be successfully vanquished or repelled. A spider can be squashed more easily than can a hungry bear.

Submission or appeasement: This response typically works mainly when the threat is a member of one’s own species. Among chimpanzees, performing submissive greetings to the alpha male usually prevents a physical attack. The same might be true for humans.

Fright: This is a response in which the person “plays dead” by becoming immobile. The adaptive advantage of becoming immobile occurs in circumstances in which fleeing or fighting will not work—for example, if the predator is too fast or too strong. Predators are sensitive to motion by potential prey and sometimes lose interest in a prey animal that remains motionless for a while (Moskowitz, 2004). If the prey is “playing dead,” the predator may loosen its grip, possibly opening up an opportunity for escape.

Faint: Fainting is losing consciousness to signal to an attacker that one is not a threat. The hypothesized function of fainting in response to the sight of blood or a sharp weapon is that it helps warfare noncombatants, such as children, to “non-verbally communicate to. . . adversaries that one was not an immediate threat and could be safely ignored” (Bracha, 2004, p. 683). Thus, fainting might have increased the noncombatant’s chances of surviving violent conflicts that were likely to be common over human evolutionary history. If this hypothesis is correct, it follows that women and children would be more likely than men to faint at the sight of blood, and the evidence strongly supports this prediction (Bracha, 2004).

Fear - “the usually unpleasant feeling that arises as a normal response to realistic danger” (Marks, 1987, p. 5).

Fears are distinguished from phobias, which are fears wildly out of proportion to the realistic danger, are typically beyond voluntary control, and lead to the avoidance of the feared situation.

Source ⚜ More: References ⚜ Functional Defenses ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[iambrillyant]

“some people only loved the version of you that didn’t know your worth because they knew that by you stepping into your light it would expose their insecurities and you’d see them clearly for who they truly are.”

— billy chapata

[wistfulwatcher]

[garciasgirl]

Secret Sunshine | spencer reid x reader ｡𖦹°‧

genre: fluff!!

summary: spencer and reader were childhood best friends, until spencer had to leave. spencer left reader when he went to college and they haven’t spoken in over ten years. one might, at a some random local bar garcia dragged the BAU too, spencer finds someone he wasn’t expecting to ever see again. his sunshine.

content: sunshine!reader, use of y/n, awkward!spencer, but he starts to get more confident slowly? idk, lighthearted teasing, spencer left her, spencer and reader are childhood best friends, nervous!spencer, nervous!readet, bubbly!reader, lots of longing for each other, super fluffy and cute, spencer struggles with being affected by his job, baker!reader

notes: guys this is my first time writing like this please im so so sorry if it’s bad!! pls don’t be mean i will cry

word count: 2.8k

──── ୨୧ ──── ──── ୨୧ ────

spencer didn’t often entertain the teams schemes of bringing him out to a club or bar. however, their last case in particular got to him. the details still fresh and relentless in his mind. a case involving children. cases were hard enough, but when it involved children, that came with a different feeling. A stronger one.

Spencer hated how much his job affected him. Especially when he looked at his team members, they never seemed to have any issue. Sure, the pictures could be gruesome and disturbing, which the team were affected by. But Spencer, it wasn’t just the pictures. It was guilt that came along with it. maybe the only downside to an eidetic memory. He could never take his mind off of anything. The cases, the victims, the guilt. What if he could’ve done better? What if he figured things out faster? Would he have saved those victims? Was this his fault? It was eating at him too much, maybe that’s why he agreed to garcia’s team bonding event at a local bar.

“having fun, genius?” Morgan’s familiar teasing tone suddenly appeared. no, he was not. but Penelope was right there, and he wouldn’t hear the end of it if he said anything of the sort in front of her. he settled on “sure, a blast.” spencer wasn’t usually one for sarcasm, but an occasional snippy response happened here and there. “come on, spence..loosen up!! we all are in need of a break.” jj sat down next to him, her smile was warm and her voice kind. the teams teasing was playful and light, it always was. but spencer did not need any more stress, and this environment was starting to feel a lot more overwhelming than expected. too loud, music playing and people shouting over it, too bright, light for every corner yet it was so dark. and way too many people. he just needed a break, just a couple seconds.

“im going to get a drink.” spencer muttered, standing up and making his way to the bar. “uh, just, a sprite please.” he never liked alcohol, spencer liked control. and alcohol came with uncontrollable chaos. spencer lingered at the bar for a couple minutes, at first it was a bit calming. there weren’t many people surrounding him, and the music wasn’t as loud over here. that was until a swarm of people came over to the bar, shouting and practically pushing spencer out of the way. he sighed, a bit annoyed, and grabbed his drink. he returned to the table filled with his coworkers, and sat back down. jj said something to him, he doesn’t respond. he means to, but he just can’t.. his attention was somewhere else. on someone else.

her. those brown curls that bounced with every step. the dimples, you hadn’t changed much since he last saw you. which was, the summer when you both were thirteen. your tan skin glistened under the lights, and the smile stretched onto your face was so familiar, he almost felt pulled to you. he knew he couldn’t go over to you, what if you didn’t remember? but, he could just…look, right?

“Reid? Hello…pretty boy?” Morgan snapped his fingers in Spencer’s face. Spencer shook his head slightly “huh..?” He muttered, not turning his attention away from you. he took a quick glance at morgan, his attention springing back to you almost instantly. Derek laughed at him, “welcome back man, what were you..”

he trails off, following Spencer’s eyes. a low whistle followed by some deep laughter. “well, look at that, pretty boys’s got himself a crush.” Spencer shook himself slightly and cleared his throat. Taking a sip from his drink. “Shut up morgan, I uh..” emily shook her head at him “don’t even try Reid, he is never letting this go.” She was right; but Spencer couldn’t bring himself to care much in that moment. You were in the center of his brain, and you were hard to shake.

He thought this couldn’t get any worse, any more awkward. the moment he noticed you, he felt overwhelmed with nostalgia. Even though he was scared that you would notice him, and how you would respond. he still felt a longing for you. a longing for the person he had considered his home, and the person that he was forced to leave when college came around. the shock from seeing you and the embarrassment from his team, which he knew was coming, was all to much. just enough to make his hand twitch and sweat, which in result, the drink in his hand spilled. not all the way, but just enough to cover the part of the table in front of him. as he scrambled to clean it up, his ears turning pink from his teams teasing, he heard that voice.

you weren’t even talking to him yet, you had walked in the bar with some unfamiliar faces. friends of yours, he assumed. the feelings of embarrassment and nostalgia were pushed down. and the pain of guilt flooded through his system. spencer didn’t mean to leave you. you were, well, everything to him. but college was important to him, and even more important to his mom. he couldn’t say no. losing you was heartbreaking, but you encouraging him to go, that buried him deep into the ground. you were just so kind, so caring. even though Spencer was the only person you ever truly trusted, you told him to move across the country because you wanted him to chase his dreams. he still felt guilty, he still felt like an absolute idiot. maybe it was the creepy staring from both spencer. Or maybe it was the equally creepy staring from his team. but eventually you turned around, and you had noticed him. you had seen Spencer. The man you have been dying to see again since the moment he left. you walked over to him, not meaning to leave your friends behind, but doing it anyway.

“Spencer Reid? that cannot be you!” A warm voice flooded the area Spencer and his team were currently occupying. “y/n, uh..hi..!” He mumbled awkwardly, the teams glance stuck on Spencer, except for morgan, of course. Who was busy ogling over y/n. He did that with every pretty girl, but, y/n was different. Spencer didn’t understand the feelings arising, but he knew he didn’t want morgan looking at you like that for any longer.

laughter, soft and feminine broke out. “Spence, really? We’ve known each other for what? Over ten years? Don’t be so awkward!!” y/n spoke directly towards Spencer, not even acknowledging the rest of his team yet. Morgan nudged Spencer with his shoulder. “Pretty boy, ten years!! You’ve known this gorgeous lady for over ten years and you’re acting like a high school boy?”

“Shut up- morgan! I, I just didn’t expect to see her, okay?” Spencer responded, his voice unsure, which wasn’t common. “You didn’t expect to see me? Seriously spence, am I that forgettable?” You teased lightly. Not in a mean way, but in the childish way you had done all those years ago. “Wait, years? Oh you have some explaining to do!!” Garcias chirpy voice sounded out. The rest of the team, agreeing in hums and yeahs.

“right..” he cleared his throat, again. “Guys, this is y/n, she is, was, a good friend of mine.” despite the sting from his words, y/n smiled politely at everyone, “hi, it’s so nice to meet you all!” you were ushered to sit, by penelope, and you complied, taking the seat next to Spencer. you, feeling uneasy about all of the new faces, stared down at your feet. Spencer watched you, his eyes not ever leaving you. Not even for a second. His eyes were trained on you confidently, but spencer was nervous. His face was flushed, even though it was barely noticeable under the fluorescent bar lights. The team all watched the two of you with knowing eyes, their reactions pleasant to seeing their genius yet awkward Dr. Spencer Reid having such a connection. Morgan seemed the most amused, giving Spencer a playful slap on the back “my man!!” He joked before walking off with penelope.

Spencer had laughed at Derek slightly, but stopped when his eyes finally lingered over you again. he looked at you deeply, his eyes caressing over your features, he couldn’t believed how different you looked. but in a way, you looked the exact same. your hair was just as curly, your eyes bright with that same spark you held when you were young. even though you looked a little different, you still felt the same to spencer. like warmth, like home. spencer must’ve been staring for too long because you had noticed, giving him a small smile, biting her lip hesitatingly before saying.

“hi..sorry for, intruding.” you whispered, a soft, but apologetic smile on your face. for the first time during this entire conversation, spencer smiled. This was a good sign, you believed. At first, when you had sat down, you felt the nerves rush over you. It had been a long time, and even though Spencer was the one who had left. You felt worried that maybe, he wasn’t as fond that you returned as he made it seem. You wanted him to still care about you, and you were worried that the love he had for you may have faded over the years.

“hey, don’t be sorry. im glad to see you.” you had calmed down slightly at his words, spencer wasn’t one to lie unless completely necessary. So you trusted he was being truthful with his words. Even if he wasn’t, to hear them was so enticing, you just wanted him to talk on and on. About whatever, his voice and his words were all you wanted to hear anyway.

Spencer hadn’t realized how much he missed that, the simplicity of it. When life had been so cruel, you had been his escape, a source of light in a house full of shadows. ‘Sunshine,’ he used to call you, but now it felt more like a warning. Maybe, just maybe, you were the one thing that could make him feel like himself again.

And that voice, spencer swears he could hear that voice forever and never get bored. he would dream about you, often. your appearance was vivid, but as the years passed, the familiarity of your voice started to fade. when he finally heard it again, it was like heaven. you always spoke so beautifully. it was purely angelic. everything about you was an angelic. and was spencer glad that you were finally back in front of him, and not just in his dreams.

the smile on your face turned brighter, you took a sip out of your drink. “so..it’s been a while.” You comment, not sure how to start a conversation when the two of you haven’t talk for over 10 years. “sure has, sunshine.”

sunshine. that nickname, spencer used to call you that all the time. he said you were like his own personal piece of sunshine. quite poetic for a thirteen year old boy, but then again, it was spencer. warmth flooded into your cheeks, a soft look of joy and nostalgia filling her eyes.

spencer looked different, his hair was longer, and he looked a lot more mature. even though his outward appearance had changed, spencer was still spencer, and you liked that. when the rest of the team, who had been lingering, dispersed amongst the bar, spencer calmed down.

“what are you doing here anyway, not that im not happy you’re here, but..” you laughed softly and shook your head. “I just started working a new job here, speaking of jobs, you’re finally the fbi agent you dreamed of being!!” you said accidentally, putting a gentle hand on his arm. “im proud of you, spence.” his eyes softened, his other hand placed on top of yours. he gave it a quick squeeze. “thank you, sunshine.” the quick squeeze, the comfort that came with it was almost breaktaking. you hadn’t felt the calmness that spencer’s touch brought in years. feeling it, was almost overwhelming. even though spencer was the one who had initiated the sudden touch, he still felt the warmth flood through him. your hand, even just the simplest connection had almost knocked the wind out of him.

spencer wasn’t sure why he felt so comfortable. After all, you two haven’t seen each other in years. and, as cliche as it might sound, it feels like you two never parted ways. you were always his comfort, a home, in a way. between his absent father, schizophrenic mother, and the torment he suffered in school from his peers, you were always the person he went to. you were his little piece of sunshine. and now that he’s an fbi agent dealing with his own personal demons, maybe that sunshine is just what he needs?

Spencer shakes himself from this thoughts, turning to face you more. he hasn’t take his hand off of yours, and you haven’t made any move to retract your hand. so he keeps it there, resting gently on top of yours. it’s relaxing. Spencer realizes he hasn’t said much so he makes small talk. “new job, you said? what kind of job?” he asks, looking at you. his eyes flickering from your eyes to your lips. you smile, brightly. a sense of pride shining through. “a bakery!! you know I used to talk about owning one all time!!” spencer does know. you were an amazing baker, and the way you gushed and smiled over your job, almost made spencer feel giddy inside. he grins, a boyish and familiar sight.

“y/n, that’s amazing!! you truly are the best baker I’ve ever known.” you laugh, giving him a serious nod. “oh you bet I am!! so, back to you. big shot fbi agent, hm?” spencer dulls just slightly. but, of course, you notice. you’re about to spill out a string of apologies for even bringing it up but Spencer stops you before you even get the words out. “don’t apologize, it’s just hard. all the..victims, and cases. I used to think I was helping people. But now, it’s almost like im just losing myself more and more.”

your eyes get sad, a sympathetic look on your face. you know Spencer hates being pitied, but you couldn’t help it. “you are helping people. you always have spencer, that’s just the kind of you person you are! but trust me, we all get overwhelmed and we all get lost in things we don’t want to. im here, yeah?” you comfort him with your words, it was always something you were perfect at. you could always solve all of his problems, even for just a moment, with your words.

spencer looks deep in your eyes, for just a moment. “you haven’t changed at all, you know that, sunshine?” he mutters, his voice deep and gravely. you shiver at his tone. you couldn’t say the same for him. “you are completely different, did you know that?” he chuckles, his loose hold on your hand becoming just a bit firmer, his thumb rubbing lazily against the back of your hand. teenage spencer was your everything, but this new, more mature side of him? oh, you could get used to it.

you stir your drink with the straw, looking at him, lingering a bit too long. he was captivating, you felt drawn in by his presence. You weren’t sure if it was the slight buzz from the alcohol, or the adrenaline from seeing him, but you could not take your eyes off of him. obviously, Spencer had noticed. he laughed, the deep noise rumbling in your ears. “Careful there, sunshine. you keep looking at me like that..I might just start thinking im interesting.”

you laugh, Spencer always made you laugh. In every situation, every scenario. “Well we can’t have you grow an ego can we?” You nudge his chest playfully with your hand. Spencer is slightly stunned by the sudden and unexpected touch, but he raises an eyebrow and gives a slow nod.

“I don’t think I can help it..” you mutter.

“Help what?” He questions, looking down at you, his voice low.

“Staring at you.” You say, playing with you drink, a ghost of a smile playing on your lips.

“Good, I didn’t want you to stop anyway.” He plays along, getting bolder as the minutes pass.

you blushed at his words, spencer used to be a shy and awkward boy, and some of that old personality had shown through tonight. but right now, when it was just you and him. spencer was confident, and it was different. a good different. it made you never want to leave him again.

but It was staring to get late, and even though you both didn’t want to. You knew that this was going to have to end soon. But Spencer was determined, he wasn’t letting you go. Not again, not ever. He wouldn’t let it happen.

As the night began to wind down, you glanced at your phone, realizing how late it had gotten. You stood, your chair scraping softly against the floor. “I should probably head out,” you said, a hint of reluctance in your voice.

Spencer stood with you, his hands fidgeting in his pockets. He didn’t want the night to end, not yet.

As you reached for your bag, Spencer hesitated for a moment before stepping closer, his hand brushing lightly against yours. The contact made you pause, your eyes meeting his.

“Y/N…” His voice was quiet but firm, his usual nervousness softened by something deeper. “I don’t want to wait another ten years to see you again.”

The sincerity in his words made your chest tighten. You smiled, warmth flooding your features as you reached up and gently pushed a strand of his longer hair out of his face. “You won’t have to, Spence,” you said softly.

For a moment, it was just the two of you, the noise of the bar fading into the background. Spencer’s lips curled into a rare, boyish grin, the kind you hadn’t seen in years, as you slipped your hand into his.

It wasn’t a grand gesture, but it didn’t need to be. As the two of you walked toward the exit together, his hand still resting in yours, it felt like the first step toward something you’d both been waiting for, even if neither of you realized it until now.

And for Spencer, for the first time in years, the world felt just a little brighter.

[wandasboy]

For Her Attention

Pairing: Profiler!JJ x gn!reader

Word count: 2,200

Warnings: Top!JJ, bottom!reader, dom/sub dynamics, gn!reader, afab!reader, smut, daddy kink, degradation, strap-ons, fingering, spanking, possessive behavior | 18+ MINORS DNI

Summary: You made a mistake in testing your girlfriend, but she is all too happy to teach you a lesson.

A/N: This is my first time writing smut so I'm sorry if it sucks. Proofread by cthulhus-curse

JJ was sitting at her desk, frustrated with the amount of files spread about and paperwork piling up. She was at the Bureau late in the night, which wasn't uncommon for her. If anything, she liked to get all her work done before coming home as a means to relax without thinking about what lied ahead tomorrow.

Multiple texts had been sent to you throughout the day, but your responses stopped two hours ago. This was adding to her frustration considerably. She had clear rules about communication, especially if you were going out. As it was a Friday night, she knew you would likely be at a club or bar-hopping, something she was fine with as long as you kept your location on. However, the little dot signifying your presence still said you were at one of the clubs you frequent, the position unmoving. She felt herself grow hot at the thought of you in possible danger and her not being able to help.

After shooting a quick text off to Emily, JJ refreshed your social media feeds for what felt like the hundredth time, hoping you'd have posted something indicating where you were. Although she was worried, she was also angry, already thinking of your punishment for being so careless and not adhering to her rules.

~~~

You had already had a few drinks, going back and forth from your booth to the dance floor. Your friends had been begging you to do another shot with them, but you refused, saying you'd had enough. When the shots came around, you noticed there was one extra, to which one of your friends exclaimed it was 'meant to be.' You rolled your eyes, telling them you couldn't come home belligerent again – your girlfriend would be pissed. They shrugged you off, continuing to enjoy the loud music and flashing lights.

Although you had been enjoying yourself, upon speaking of your girlfriend, you immediately felt a twist in your stomach. After the first club you went to, you had decided to leave your phone in the car, as you didn't want to hold it, and had no pockets. A stupid idea on your part, as you knew the clear guidelines she had about you going out. She wanted updates on how you were, where you were, and who you were with. You had given her none of that, as your phone was currently sitting in your friends' car, four blocks away. Knowing you'd already be in for it upon getting home, you chose to stay. After all, she had been working late all week, coming home once you were already asleep, then leaving early in the morning before you woke. Sometimes acting out was the only way to get her attention, so you did just that. Walking back over to the booth where your group was, you took a breath, grabbing the last shot, proclaiming you were ready for the shot now.

As you danced, you felt the guilt slowly slip away, your head feeling light and buzzed from the alcohol. You laughed and bumped against both friends and strangers in the packed club. Feeling a breath on your neck, you heard your friend tell you, you had an admirer. Turning, you giggled, not believing him, until he nodded his head towards a woman leaning against the adjacent wall.

Upon catching her eye, your smile immediately faltered, heart dropping to your stomach. You saw her grin and raise her eyebrows before she started walking towards you. Her dark hair swaying as she walked. You curse yourself, holding your breath as she got to you. She reached out, brushing a stray hair away from your face.

"Someone's in lots of trouble." She said, looking down at you.

You opened your mouth, but no words formed.

She grabbed your wrist tightly. "Time to go."

You turned to your friend you drove with, who watched the whole interaction. "I'll get it to you tomorrow." You smiled at them, grateful for their understanding.

The brunette pulled you out of the club, as you struggled not to trip over your own feet. She opened her passenger door for you, shoving you in. The drive was quiet, doing nothing to ease the anxiety in your chest. Turning a corner, you frowned, seeing she was not heading to your home. As you pulled into Quantico, you finally understood.

She pulled you through the entrance, in the elevator, and to JJ's office, holding your arm the whole way. Without knocking, she opened the door to the office, making your girlfriend look up.

"Look who I found." The brunette pulled you into the room.

You bowed your head, avoiding eye contact.

"Thank you, Emily." She said, not taking her eyes off of you.

Emily leaned into you, whispering, "Good luck," before leaving, closing the door behind her.

You felt the blonde's intense stare, your legs shaking from standing perfectly still.

"Look at me." Her sudden shift in tone made you jump, her voice commanding and harsh.

You sheepishly looked up at her, "JJ, I—."

"I don't want to hear it. Come here. Now."

You quickly made your way around her desk, next to her, not wanting to anger her more.

"Look at you, all dressed up in that skimpy outfit. Were you hoping to get someone's attention? Went out to whore yourself out?"

"No! I—"

She grabbed you by your hair, throwing you down on her desk, your stomach pressed firmly against the cool wood. She stood, pulling your body back against her by your hair. Your breath hitched in your throat, feeling something hard press against your ass. You wondered if she had been packing all day, or put it on when she knew Emily had found you.

"Is there a reason you disobeyed me? Stopped responding to me, turned your location off? What were you hiding hmm?"

You groaned as she ground into you, your hips digging into the desk. You felt her hot breath on your neck as she whispered in your ear.

"Such a filthy brat, you wanted to be punished didn't you?"

You whined as she rolled her hips into you.

"Answer me," she growled.

"Yes, daddy. I wanted your attention. I'm sorry. Please." You mewled, bucking back into her, seeking any form of stimulation.

She took hold of your hip with her free hand, stilling you. "Ah ah, brats don't get what they want, do they?"

"No, daddy."

Removing her hand from your hair, she dropped you, your front now flush against her desk. She moved her hand under your skirt, ghosting along your inner thigh. Your core tightened around nothing as she moved the pads of her fingers against your clothed clit. She continued to move her fingers, feeling how drenched you were.

"So wet. Did someone at the club make you like this, hmm?"

"No daddy, just you!" You squeezed your thighs together.

She hummed at your response. Stepping back, she pulled your underwear down, which you automatically stepped out of. You heard her belt buckle, realizing she was undoing her pants. Waiting for the feel of silicone on you, you flinched when instead, you felt leather.

"You didn't think I was going to reward you for bad behavior did you? Bad pets don't get treats. You're going to take your punishment like a good little slut, right baby?"

You whined, the sensation of the leather brushing against your skin too much to handle. "Yes daddy, please."

JJ sat down in her chair, in direct eyesight with your perfect ass and dripping cunt. She slowly glided her belt over the soft skin of your thighs, touching your mound, then back up to your cheeks. "You're going to get twenty. Count each one or I will start over."

You found yourself missing the feel of the leather, as it's pulled away. The seconds appeared longer as she made you wait before whipping her belt against your backside. You yelped, starting the count.

"Tell me why you're being punished." Another hit.

You bucked your hips, "Two! I didn't follow the rules ." Another.

"And how did you break them?" She landed three slaps in quick concession, making you yell out, rapidly continuing counting so as not to miss any.

"I didn't tell you where I was going, I left my phone in the car— seven!" You tried to catch your breath as the strength behind her hits became harsher. "Eight, nine," your hands gripped her desk, squeezing your legs together, trying to relieve the throbbing.

"What else?"

"I stopped communicating, didn't tell you who I was with, I was bad, I'm sorry daddy, please." You cried out as you near twelve. The skin on your ass sore and angry, the sting of her belt ever present.

"You think you deserve your punishment?"

"Fifteen! Yes, daddy. I was bad, I'm so sorry, I'll never do it again, I promise."

"I hope so baby, you know how daddy doesn't like punishing you." She smiled, blatantly lying. She loved hearing you whimper and scream for her, seeing the red marks painted across your skin, proving her claim on you.

Tears fell down your cheeks, dripping down your chin as she delivered the last few blows.

She stood and scratched her fingers along your scalp after you scream, finally making it to twenty. "You did so good baby, took your punishment so well for daddy." JJ sighed, watching your body go limp, chest heaving and tear drops on the smooth wood of her desk. She rubbed her palms slowly over your ass, soothing the pain, then pressed a kiss to the back of your neck.

Feeling you relax into her, she sneaked her hand around your front, sliding her fingertips through your slick folds. "Aw, did someone enjoy getting spanked? Such a naughty toy."

You moaned, desperate for relief. "Please," you quietly pleaded.

"Shh, daddy's gonna make it all better baby."

JJ circled your clit with her thumb, before pinching, eliciting a sob from you. She continued her ministrations, easing two fingers into you. She slowly pumped her fingers, stretching you. With each thrust, you started to feel that tight coil build up, wanting to break loose. She groaned, your inner walls clenching around her fingers. "So tight for me."

She turned your head to the side, kissing along your jaw, delighting in how you squirmed beneath her. JJ kept a steady pressure on your clit as she fucked you, massaging the sensitive spot deep inside you. "Gonna get you all ready to take daddy's cock, okay sweetheart?" She sped up, scissoring her fingers inside you, reducing you to a breathless and whiny, pathetic mess just for her. She watched as your knees buckled, which enticed her to harshly bite into the unblemished skin between your neck and shoulder.

She licked the spot she bit, soothing the pain as she removed her fingers, causing you to whine and shift your hips, seeking more of her touch. JJ unbuttoned her pants, pulling out her dark blue strap. "You ready for me baby?"

You pushed your hips back into her, "Yes daddy, please! Need your cock in me."

She brushed her strap through your heat, painting her cock with your arousal. With one swift move, she plunged into you, bottoming out.

A scream echoed in her quiet office. You thanked god nobody else was in the bullpen or surrounding offices. Although you had taken her strap many times before, you were never quite prepared for the stretch and sheer size of her. She grunted as she set a brutal pace, gripping your hips hard enough to leave bruises. You loved when she left bruises and marks, it made you feel owned and wanted. You cried out with each thrust, as her hips slapped at the sensitive flesh of your ass.

"That's it baby, you take me so well, so good for daddy."

She reached around again to play with your swollen bud, never slowing her movements. You began to match her thrusts, relishing in the sensation of being stretched and used. She miraculously hit that spongy spot each time, building you up. Too focused on how your body felt on fire, you barely registered her lifting one of your legs up to pound into you harder. Lost in your fuzzy headspace, the only words tumbling out of your mouth were broken pleas and fragments of her name.

"Daddy, so close," you barely made out between gasps.

"Yeah? Baby needs to come? Go ahead, cum on daddy's cock. Let me see how pretty you are."

JJ's words were all it took for you to finally let go, coating her strap, the evidence of your climax dripping down your thighs and soaking the front of her pants. She eased you down from your high, before pulling out. She held you as your legs gave out beneath you.

Spinning you around in her arms, she planted kisses on your cheeks, forehead, and finally your lips. You felt yourself surrounded in her comforting floral haze, moaning into her kiss. When she finally pulled away from your lips, she moved to your neck, sucking a deep mark, sure to leave a bruise.

"Mine."

[weaverofink]

oh shit metal stole tails' speak & spell

[bethanythebogwitch]

Wet Beast Wednesday: cave fish

Prepare for a deep dive today. Not because I'm going to be more in-depth than usual, but because we're talking about caves. Which are deep. In the ground.... Yeah, you get it. Today is going to be a bit different from my normal WBW posts. Instead of going in depth on a particular species or group of related species I'm going to discuss common adaptations fish evolve to live permanently in caves and then go over a few species I find interesting. Let's get spelunking.

(Image: Typhleotris madagascariensis, a typical cave fish. It is a small fish with an entirely white body and smooth skin where the eyes would be on a normal fish. It is resting on rocky sediment. End ID)

Caves are not an easy place to live. There's no light, limited food, often low oxygen levels, and the threat of collapse or rockfall. Cave-swelling animals (collectively called troglofauna) need a number of special adaptations to survive and there is little room for error. Troglofauna that are strictly aquatic are called stygofauna. Troglofauna and stygofauna can be divided into three groups based on their life history. Troglophiles and stygophiles complete part of their life cycle in caves and part outside of them. A classic example of this is the many species of bat who seasonally inhabit caves to give birth and mate. Trogloxenes and stygoxenes are animals who will visit caves, but do not require time in caves to complete their life cycle. An example trogloxene would be a bear who takes shelter in a cave during winter. Finally, troglobites and stygobites live their entire lives in caves and never leave. The fish I discuss today are stygobites. Because troglobites and stygobites generally will die outside of their caves, they have very little opportunity to disperse. As such, many cave fish species are found only in a single cave or cave system and are entirely dependent on the health of their homes to survive.

(Image: two cave catfish sitting next to each other on a rock. They are white with elongated anal and rear dorsal fins, and no eyes. End ID)

Many cave-dwelling animals develop a set of common adaptations called troglomorphism. Cave water is often high in minerals but low in oxygen and food content. To survive, the fauna develop very slow metabolisms, allowing them to last a long time on limited resources while slowing down movement and other active systems and increasing age. These species are also typically smaller than their epigean (above-ground) relatives, further reducing their energy requirements. Slowed metabolism results in comparatively slow development. Cave species take much longer to mature and reproduce then related epigean species. Many species further decrease their energy consumption by moving as little as possible. Many species of cave fish are able to last long periods of time between meals without negative impacts to their health. They will binge eat whatever they can find and then subsist on fat stores while food is scarce. One test in captivity showed that a Phreatobius cisternarum (cave catfish) could go a while year between meals and stay healthy. Cave species are usually opportunistic generalists as they can't afford to pass up resources. Much of their food will originate outside of the cave, either directly or indirectly. Water flow into caves brings in algae, bacteria, plankton, and other food sources. Other more indirect methods of introducing include bat feces. While the fish may not eat the feces directly, other species may do so and potentially become prey to the cave fish. The feces also introduces nutrients from outside the cave that encourages the growth of other food sources like bacteria, fungi, and planktonic animals.

(Image: Amblyopsis hoosieri, the hoosier cave fish. It is a very simplistic fish with no eyes or scales. End ID)

Life in a cave comes with a different sensory requirement. The complete lack of light makes vision useless. You don't know dark until you've seen cave dark. Fun fact: caves are so dark that sighted people can start hallucinating in them because our brains aren't evolved to handle zero visual stimulus and will start making stuff up to fill that gap. As a result of the utter darkness, many species of cave fish are blind. They either evolve to completely lose their eyes or have the eyes considerably reduced in size and function. Eyes take up a lot of energy to maintain and in caves, there is a lot of selective pressure to get rid of organs that aren't useful there. Despite the blindness, many species retain some form of photosensitivity and will flee from light. Cave species also often lack skin pigmentation. Skin pigment has two primary uses. It protects the skin from ultraviolet light in sunlight, and provides skin coloration that can be used for camouflage, displays, warnings, and so on. In an environment where there is no ultraviolet light and everyone is blind, skin pigment serves no real purpose and is lost. As a result, most cave species are white or translucent. The lack of pigment may be a reason so many species remain photosensitive. Without pigment, they would be highly susceptible to sunburn or skin cancer from ultraviolet light. Caves also have a sound dampening effect that makes hearing less valuable. Reduced eyes and pigmentation is also seen in deep sea fish that live too deep for light to reach. Even those species still use visual curs more than cave fish due to the abundance of bioluminescence in the deep ocean.

(Image: Sinocyclocheilus longicornus, a recently discovered species. It is a fish with translucent skin, revealing the skeleton. It has a long shout with two pairs of barbels. Emerging from the upper back is a horn-like protrusion. End ID)

With vision off the table, cave fish rely on other senses. chemoreception through taste and smell are strongly selected for as traits that can direct cave animals toward food or away from threats. Another sensory system fish have is the lateral line. The Lateral line is an organ system found on each side of a fish where modified skin cells called hair cells detect motion in the water. The lateral line allows fish to sense movement in the water around them, informing them of water flow and the movement of food and threats. Cave fish typically have a well-developed lateral line system that compensates for the lack of vision. Many fish perform displays for various reasons, such as attracting mates. These displays are typically visual, but in cave fish, that isn't an option. Instead, their displays are more focused on moving the water in ways that can be detected by lateral lines. Some species of cave fish maintain additional sensory abilities from their epigean ancestors. An example of this are cave catfish, who retain the barbels and electroreception common to their kind.

(Image: six Phreatichthys andruzzii. They are long, eyeless, white fish. The blood-filled gills are visible through its translucent skin, seen as a large red patch on the head. End ID)

Before moving on to specific species, it should be noted that cave fish is not a taxonomic category. Cave fish come from many different lines of descent and independently evolved similar adaptations to cave conditions. These similar adaptations are seen in most cave fauna, not just fish, and are collectively called troglomorphism. There are about 300 species of cavefish known to science.

Ophisternon candidum, or the blind cave eel, lives in north Australian caves that are connected to the ocean. Because these caves intake salt water, the pools and streams within them can become very salty, resulting in the eels developing a tolerance to a high range of salinity. They are rare, having been spotted under 40 times since 1959, and thus little is known of their lifestyle. We do know they burrow into sediment and secrete mucus to keep those burrows stable. Males seem to build burrows to woo females. They have been bred in captivity for use un laboratories. At up to 40 cm long, they are huge for cave fish and used to hold the record for the largest species known until another species was found that's even bigger.

(Image: an eel with translucent, pink skin, no eyes, and ribs visible through the skin. It looks somewhat like an earthworm. End ID)

The actual largest known cave fish is Neolissochilus pnar, which gets up to 40 cm while being more massive than the eel. They are found in a single cave system 100 meters underground in India. The primary food source in the cave appears to be debris from the nearby forest that is washed into the cave during seasonal flooding. The fish may have been known to locals well before it was scientifically described, as there are stories of white cave fish going back over a century in the region.

(Image: a small fish with no eyes, white skin, and a long snout with barbels on it)

The Alabama cave fish (Speoplatyrhinus poulsoni) may be the rarest species of freshwater fish in the world. They live exclusively in key cave, Alabama, USA and no more than 10 have ever been seen at a time. The population is estimated to be under 100, below the generally accepted minimum viable population for a species of 200. Fittingly enough, this means a species only found in Alabama may be severely inbred. They are believed to be triggered to mate by seasonal flooding and may be mouth brooders. Climate change-caused changes to flooding and toxins leaking into the groundwater from sewers are currently threatening them with extinction.

(Image: a long, white, eyeless fish with an elongated snout. Its skeleton is visible through its skin. End ID)

Typhliasina pearsei, the Mexican blind brotula or dama blanca ciega (blind white lady), lives in the cenotes of the Yucatán peninsula. Cenotes are sinkholes filled with groundwater and the ones in the Yucatán are often connected by underground caves, rivers, and aquifers. The fish are apex predators who eat shrimp and mysids and are known to coexist with other cave fish in part of their range. As with other brotulas, they are a rare example of a bony fish that gives live birth. Because of how interconnected and numerous the cenotes are, this species has one of the largest distributions of all cave fish.

(Image: an eyeless white fish with a long tail and elongated rear dorsal and anal fins. It is next to an orange rock. End ID)

Cryptotora thamicola, the cave angel fish or waterfall climbing cave fish, is the adrenaline junkie of the cave fish world. Most cave fish live in slow-moving or still water, but this daredevil lives in rapids. But just living in rapids isn't extreme enough, these guys climb waterfalls. Their large fins with hooked fin rays let them cling onto the rocks while facing into the current. They then allow food to flow right into their mouths. Unlike other walking fish, the waterfall climbers have a well-developed pelvic girdle and walk in a style very similar to tetrapods, with front and back fins alternating strides. This has made them very interesting to evolutionary biologists studying the transition from fish to tetrapods.

(Image: a typical cave fish with very large pectoral and pelvic fins. End ID)

The Mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus) is an example of a handful of fish species that have a cave form and a non-cave form. Most Mexican tetras are perfectly ordinary tetras, but one population has adapted to cave living and has developed trogomorphic traits. The cave from lack pigment, has tastebuds on its head, lacks eyes, and can store more body fat. While you would expect such radical physiological differences to mean the two populations are different species, they aren't. The two populations are fully capable of producing fertile offspring and do so in the wild. If you've ever seen a cave fish in person, there's a good chance it was one of these as the cave form has entered the pet trade and they do very well in captivity, making them the most studied cave fish.

(Image: the non-cave and cave forms of the Mexican tetra seen next to each other for comparison. The non-cave form is a fairly typical silvery-green fish. The cave form is slightly more robust, white, and eyeless. End ID)

Because most cave fish are found only in a singe cave or cave system, they are fully dependent on the health of that cave. Caves tend to be very stable environments, which results in the inhabitants being pretty bad at adapting to change. Changes in water flow, introduction of new species, and pollutants can seriously harm or wipe out whole species. Many species of cave fish are rated as endangered or critically endangered based on their low populations and vulnerability to change.

[young--just-us]

I cannot be convinced thst the kids did not have to share beds while the mansion was being rebuilt

Scene I'm referencing under the cut bc the visual gag struck me

Season 3 episode 3 "Mainstream"

Also one of my fav episodes so far, I'll always love the conflict of the kids navigating their lives after being revealed

[woodswallow]

Paulchard kiss-evolution (2019 - 2024)

I think several users have already done something similar, but I just love talking about and analyzing Paulchard, so here are my two cents on their evolution of endearments or, in other words:

The kiss-evolution (2019 – 2024)

2019

Their stage kisses started in 2019, I think in Barcelona on the 1st of June – pride month. They repeated it a couple of times, but definitely not on every concert. The kiss in Moscow got quite a lot of attention, because it was seen as (and surely also meant to be) a protest against the oppression of LGBTQ-people in Russia.

So it started out as a political statement, with the personal relationship of Paul and Richard not being the focus of this action. And their kisses definitely looked like that.

Shy, timid, with pursed and tighly closed lips. Their faces and bodys being as far away from each other as possible (not everytime, but quite often), their body contact being very quick and short. There was eye contact and also some smiles but after the kiss either Paul or Richard retreated quickly, turning around, walking away. No lingering hands or glances.

Some of their kisses were also with open or just half closed eyes and overall just quick pecks like here (if not stated otherwise, GIFs by @mrsfitzgerald ):

The following is probably my favourite 2019 kiss, for several reasons:

they are standing closer together for a longer time, that kiss is so innocent somehow and so sweet – probably of that little hesitation from both of them – and also because of Schneider in the background <3 I LOOOVED that reaction!!

Kissing with open eyes:

There was the picture from the Moscow-kiss on the official Rammstein-Instagram page and that photo also got released on a t-shirt that is still sold in the Rammstein shop :)

2022

Finally the tour could continue after the two year long break because of the pandemic. I had the feeling the whole band was relieved and happy they were allowed to play again. I had become a die hard Rammstein and Paulchard fan in the meantime, so I was reaaally curious if they will keep the kissing – and they did!! To me, this was a surprise, as the whole „getting attention to get a political statement across“ was kind of worn off by then...but they kept it, this time more as a show-element. The kisses were staged - or at least it was clear, that they had these 2-3 minutes in the Ausländer outro, where they would be in the spotlight and could do whatever shenanigans they were up to... there wasn't a kiss at every concert, but almost.

They were getting much more comfortable with kissing, especially Richard! I often had the feeling that he was celebrating and tasting (ha!) the moment in the spotlight with Paul. Richard more than once played with the audience, sometimes Paul was teasing Richard and they were both having lots of fun – that was obvious! They weren't running away right after the kiss anymore or were immediately averting their gaze - Richard at least.

I had the feeling, that for Paul, Richards intense (eye) contact was sometimes still too much, he almost always backed away first or broke the eye contact. With Richard, this was never the case as far as I remember – Richard often gave his everything into the kiss, which brought us some of the most amazing slow-mos up to this day! <3 Like this one here:

There were a few kisses that were definitely NOT pecks anymore, look at this:

There were double kisses, they both weren't kissing with pressed and pursed lips anymore, but even (almost) open mouthed or were closing their lips just at the last second, like here:

They were also much more hands on (on necks and cheeks), and hugs, so many hugs...!

And then of course that absolute favourite kiss of mine, that last kiss in Mexico – that heart-wrenching and movie-like kiss which I have watched god-knows-how-often...but just look at it and tell me they are just good buddies...naah... (video by humberto_king_of_angmar on Instagram)

2023

Then there was the 2023 tour, which had an overall different vibe than the 2022 tour, and I think everyone knows why. It didn't start out with many cute interactions between Paul and Richard, let alone kisses. Then we had what should be the last ever „classic Ausländer-outro“ kiss during one of the concerts in Munich – both of them were kneeling and when they kissed, Till rushed forward and made fun of it. Together with my overall gloomy mood this was just too much :(

They started kissing again – but at different times and not for show. I had the feeling during this tour it was mostly Paul supporting Richard on stage through small caresses, hugs and kisses (which were often initialized by Paul). I remember that absolutely unexpected and overwhelming „Puppe -kiss“ in Bern (because I saw it with my own eyes, heh :) (Original video by rebeccaxmuller on instagram)

In 2023 the kisses were not for show, not for the audience – but only for them. There was no „teasing the audience“ anymore, no „scream louder and I might kiss him again!“. It was all about seeking and giving comfort. For example here (original video by heatliedave on Insta):

The tour went on and the atmosphere between the band members relaxed again. There were hugs and kisses behind the drums and in the dark, giving each other a peck when returning to their places – they were definitely not doing that for the audience, because only eagle eyed fans saw that... and there were other, more subtle caresses:

And of course there was that kiss in the rain during „Ohne dich“ where a kiss on the neck wasn't enough – for both of them:

2024

2024 was a continuation of 2023 – the scripted kisses during „Ausländer“ were history and also not attempted anymore, but we had a lot of „natural feeling“ kisses – this year it seemed to me that Richard was more often the initiator:

Neck kisses (come on, who doesn't do this to their colleagues? :D GIF by sechsherzen)

Casual hand kisses (original video by anwiel13)

Another proof, that kisses with tightly shut and pressed lips are past (original video by conny_tanzlehrerin)

their most romantic kiss (by far!) with a little „stargazing“ beforehand:

and we had this insane picture (and the one with the hearthands!):

-with the caption „Thank you, Italy, I am impressed, so hot but still so energetic and so much love“ on Richards official Instagram and I would bet my right arm that he was WELL aware of that double meaning!

The whole atmosphere was very relaxed, they had so much fun and their kisses and caresses seemed to be so naturally and spontaneously. The sexyness, which some of their kisses from 2022 had, was (mostly) gone, but replaced with a warm feeling of trust and authenticity. Which is maybe even better than sexyness :)

Thanks for scrolling and reading!