#you’re expected to look at the text rather than the characters

[oathofkaslana]

i cant talk for any other hyv game but i do think it’s interesting how hi3 and genshin’s story flaws/ideals are bc of the very specific medium they’re in.

[endursent]

- My Partner Turned Into A Cat And I Don't Know How To Fix It

【 content; established relationship , fluff , humour , angst if you squint(?) , gn!reader 】

【 characters; aventurine , blade , dr. ratio , jiaoqiu , jing yuan , moze , sunday 】

【 premise; " Your partner has been struck with a curse of some sort which has turned him into a cat, you have no idea how to fix it nor how long it might take. Yet you also cannot help but be rather amused by the situation despite the uncertainty…" 】

【 note; might make more parts, who knows. also two one-shots/fics between gss chapters? in this writing economy? 】

【 word count; 3.303 | read on ao3 | hsr reader ver | gi ver | gi reader ver 】

Aventurine;

You thought he’d be more agitated than this—usually Aventurine doesn’t stay still for long periods of time, always out and about, as if resting for too long or standing still raises the hairs on his neck as something rapidly approaches from behind him, unseen to anyone else.

  And yet now… he sleeps curled on the sofa in his apartment, you continue to scratch your head over the situation and how to fix it—you tried to ask Dr. Ratio, who you’ve only met once by chance with Aventurine, but he seemed knowledgeable, and you’ve seen some of his theses cited in arguments online…

  But all he replied with to your very concerned and urgent text message from Aventurine’s phone was; “lol”

  So you’re officially on your own, it’s bad enough that Ratio has rejected your plea for help and now knows about this, if it gets out to Aventurine’s coworkers…

  You sigh and plop yourself down on the sofa next to his curled form, yellow-orange fur swaying at your movements as he doesn’t even look up. For a moment, you’re a bit concerned… hopefully he’s still breathing.

  Reaching a hand out, one finger pointed straighter than others, Aventurine suddenly looks up—and closes his jaw around your finger. It’s a gentle hold, not exactly a bite despite the way it looks and the prick of his teeth. You blink at him, he slow blinks at you. “You’re so sleepy,” you note. Aventurine just licks your finger, letting go of it—though it was barely a hold.

  After having gotten what seemed to be a long-awaited proper rest over the span of two days, Aventurine seems to spring to life, not in the way he’s zooming all over the oversized apartment or knocking things over, he just seems very excited to see you when you come home from work—your partner might have turned into a cat for real, but your superior will NOT believe you—he sits on your thighs whether you’re on the couch, by the dinner table, kneeling to fix something under a shelf, anything. 

  He’s usually quite independent, so this somewhat clingy behaviour is surprising, but you don’t entirely mind, his fur is very soft.

  Aventurine didn’t even make a single sound when you bathed him after accidentally spilling some bolognese sauce on his back—he was wandering around your feet and nearly tripped you when you turned around. 

  Perhaps this temporary (hopefully) form has made him more confident in seeking the closeness to you he craves, the need for connection that he’s too reluctant to engage in most times despite being together for so long. 

Blade;

You squint your eyes open in the darkness of the night, why is it so hard to breathe suddenly? It woke you up, as if there was something hot and heavy on your chest.

  And there is, when your eyes adjust to the darkness, you see large flame-coloured eyes staring at you. Blade’s pitch black fur blends into the darkness of the night, but his eyes do not—if you didn’t know better you’d think there were two eyes floating in front of your face, but the body attached to them is very much standing on your chest.

  “... what?” you mumble sleepily, why is he staring at you like that? He doesn’t do this normally… you think. Maybe… does he?

  No response—you’re not sure what to expect, it’s not like he can talk in this form. 

  He does this every night, to a point you’ve started laying on your side so he at least has to stand on the bed. One night, you even reach out and grab him, pulling him into your arms so he’s unable to stand and stare like that. You come out with scratched arms, but it was worth the somewhat peaceful sleep when he finally settles. 

  It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, he’s always been in the corner of your eyes, sometimes waiting for you to finish what you’re doing, sometimes just standing there—not necessarily even looking at you or engaging with you in any way. He just likes to stand in the same room. 

  Except now he’s perched on shelves, under sofas or chairs, looming behind a corner so you almost step on him.

  Over time, he becomes a bit restless, but other than hiding away in warm, dark spots… but as you settle into bed, he’s always ready and hops onto your stomach as soon as your back hits the mattress. 

  The other Stellaron Hunters’ reactions range from curious concern to finding it hilarious. Firefly mentioned they have two cat members now, Blade wasn’t very happy about it… the day after she offhandedly mentioned that she could barely sleep and felt like someone was watching her the entire time. You decided not to mention his habit. 

  Blade doesn’t quite follow you at your heel the entire time… but he does always seem to be in the same general area, as he always has. It’s a bit of a relief, you thought you might get lonely without his constant presence. 

  He sometimes doesn’t run off when you pet him. Sometimes. 

Dr. Ratio;

Ratio is appalled by this development, he hates it. He doesn’t have opposable thumbs, he can’t communicate properly, and you won’t stop pinching his ears. You’re lucky he doesn’t bite you. 

  He, in his infinite wisdom, developed a way for him to communicate with you. He may be a cat now, but his work doesn’t have space to halt for even a day! And so it’s up to you to continue it under his guidance, because he will not be seen like this by his assistants. 

  His way is quite funny, for complex explanations or lengthy dialogue, he will slap his paws on a holo-keyboard to type it out, but otherwise he presses buttons laid out on one of his workbenches for general commands. “Write”, “Open drawer”, “Fetch tool” (he then vaguely gestures which one), and even “Eat” and “Nap”.

  You asked him if he wanted to add a voice-over to the buttons so you wouldn’t just have to listen to a buzzer made to catch your attention, but he just stared at you blankly.

  You pinch and rub his ears, despite protests.

  To ensure subtlety, he demands you carry him in your bag in and out of the lab and past the reception… and you can’t in good faith deny that it’s adorable to see his head poke out of your bag and squint around to make sure the coast is clear once you’re outside. 

  Ratio had never imagined to hear as absurd of a suggestion as when you asked him if you should ask any of his Intelligentsia Guild colleagues about this, surely they can put their brains together and come up with a solution? 

  Absolutely not, he says, by knocking an empty coffee paper cup over. 

  You caught him staring longingly at his own bathtub and asked if he wanted to take a dip, you can wash him. The idea sounded good… until he stuck his purple paw into the soapy water and felt the spine-shattering feeling of his fur sticking together and immediately wriggled so aggressively out of your grip—startling you of course—that you both went tumbling into the water.

  He sat on his bed, towel under his body and over his back with a traumatised expression on his face for about forty eight minutes straight. Not even an offering of some nice cheese from the fridge brought him out of it. 

Jiaoqiu;

Different from the rest of the cast, Jiaoqiu has found himself in the form of an extremely furry fox, matched exactly to the colour of his hair. He’s so soft that you can’t help but run your fingers through it, messing up the direction of the coat and requiring Jiaoqiu to stand up and shake himself a few times to right it out. It comes to a point he will nip at your fingers if your hand comes too close.

  One afternoon, you’re wondering where he went off to—he has a chronic tendency to wander off, even in regular foxian form—you go into the pantry to see his tail swaying excitedly, half of his body disappearing into a woven bag of peanuts. Startled for a moment that he might not be able to digest that—you’ve never had to take care of an actual fox before—you hurry towards him and pull him out, holding Jiaoqiu up.

  He screams in such a disturbingly human way you almost drop him. Whether the scream was of surprise or protest is hard to tell.

  You stand in front of him, sat on the divan in your home and try to look stern… but the smile and closed eyes he makes even in this form is so eerily similar to how he normally would with his usual expression that it almost freaks you out. You shouldn’t be surprised, he’s basically just a furry version of himself… but it’s too close! 

  And he got away with it too, damn him. 

  Despite the pale pink fur, the tip of his tail and ears, his legs and paws are all dark, and you can’t help but hold them, stroke through the fur through the change of colour and Jiaoqiu—though normally not liking his tail or ears to be touched, in this form he seems to accept it… he can’t lie to you with turning his snout up, you see his tail sway when your hand comes close, despite how he would nip at them before—you’ve cracked the code, smooth the fur back down after ruffling it, and it’s acceptable.

  Don’t think for a second that you’re safe to indulge in any unhealthy habits or dumb decisions even though his “warning smile” is absent, he will bite your pants and pull so hard they might rip. You were about to be roped into some nonsense by Feixiao, seeing the perfect opportunity to borrow you for some “racing”, when Jiaoqiu comes running at breakneck speed, bites your pants, and effectively drags you away.

  Feixiao just watches with a grin. Good luck next time.

  He sulks a bit about not being able to do his job for such an extended period of time, he has a good sense of responsibility and doesn't like to sway from his sworn duties too much.

  Also, he can tell by the smell alone that the food you make for yourself in the absence of his skilled work is severely lacking in critical ingredients, and is also plated wrong. But that’s more of a subjective nitpick—maybe he’s just getting restless.

  He decides to hide one of your shoes and watch in amusement as you search high and low through the house the next morning. Sitting on the carpet with a foxy smile. 

Jing Yuan;

Jing Yuan is delighted. He plops himself down on you no matter what you’re doing, if there is no surface to curl up, he will lie down by your feet, or anywhere he can be touching you with at least a part of his body. 

  Raking your hand through his thick fur, you pull your hand back and it’s covered in white hairs, he sheds more than Mimi.

  You vehemently vetoed his decision to rename Mimi to Wave-Treading Snow Lion when it began growing and showing signs of not being a grimalkin like he suspected it was.

  Speaking of Mimi, you walk into the Seat of Divine Foresight and see the two of them splayed out by the massive windows, artificial sunlight bathing them in warmth as Mimi lies on the floor belly up… and Jing Yuan lies on Mimi’s belly, his own facing up towards the sun. You don’t dare disturb them—mostly because you worry that Mimi will roll over and crush poor Jing Yuan under it. 

  So you set the documents on his desk slowly and sneak back out, the Cloud Knights always present in the room stand still and try not to do more than whisper between themselves.

  If you thought Jing Yuan was sleepy before, you were in for a surprise. As soon as his hands turned to paws, he was lounging around as lazily as he could get away with, which was infinite in this form—perhaps this was the taste of retirement he needed, and it might convince him to go through with it… you hope. For his sake. 

  Unfortunately, your partner is cursed with a perpetual disturbance of his naps, and a problem comes up in regards to an illegal trade of magically-charged artefacts—one of which having the potential to explode if handled wrong, which could hurt innocents during the exchange. He circles the Seat of Divine Foresight like he would normally in thought… except instead of his boots touching the ground in a rhythmic thump, it’s small paws padding on the floor.

  It’s cute—but then again, he’s always cute.

  Thankfully the problem is resolved due to the Cloud Knights having previously acquired knowledge of suspicious movements over the last weeks and are able to intercept the exchange.

  As a reward for his hard work, you make a big bowl of juicy fruits for him to dive into—though Mimi’s snout got in before him, and stole about half of it… you snooze you lose, dozing general. 

  Of course, he didn’t let you off that easy, cuddles were demanded with headbutts and loud meows of protest if you turned to do anything else, so you were stuck with two cats hogging your attention for the rest of the night, good thing you have two hands to scratch behind both of their ears at the same time.

Moze;

You thought for a moment he didn’t actually retain his senses, and had ran off somewhere, you dragged Feixiao with you to search the entirety of the Xianzhou Yaoqing… only to return home several hours later, exhausted and disappointed, to see Moze sitting on the kitchen counter with a fish in his mouth, tail swaying contently as he ate it off the bones.

  He would just randomly wander off and return at odd times, once you saw some blood on his paw and worried he had hurt himself, but no matter how you looked or poked and prodded, there was no wound. It must have been the capture of another fish or another… because, surely, Feixiao doesn’t have him doing work like this?

  You suppose it’s quite a good cover… no one would suspect a cat…?

  After locking him in your room for the workday to ensure he doesn’t go off somewhere, as you had asked an elder of the Alchemy Commission to come over and have a look at him, you came back with the old man to find the room empty.

  Given cat form, Moze has become the perfect escape artist—not that there’s much anyone can do to hold him down in his normal form. 

  Try as you might, it becomes somewhat of a game of you trying to keep him in one single place, and him disappearing like a leaf on the wind, only to show up later with a treat… usually for himself, but once he brought you a pouch of sesame balls. You hope he paid for it somehow, but you don’t hold your breath either.

  He sleeps exclusively by your feet, circles a few times and wriggles into a comfortable position against either leg that’s closer. You tried to get him to sleep closer to your torso or on your inviting arm, but he always stood up and returned to the spot by your legs after a few minutes. 

  One time, you were stroking his tail absentmindedly and accidentally pinched it only slightly—yet he still jumped into the air like you had just stepped on it with a loud yeowl, making you yourself jump as he suddenly sped off across the room and almost slammed himself into the door leading to the study.

  You decided not to play with his tail after that, he even left scratches on the floor with his hurried scuttling across the room. 

  You spotted Jiaoqiu trying to feed him some of the ‘concoction’ he was making, which Moze sniffed curiously at—but you’re fairly certain there are not many things in that broth that will settle well—or at all—in his kitty stomach, and thus you swoop in and feign extreme interest in Jiaoqiu’s dish. Of course, the foxian sees through you easily and smiles widely. “Ah, why don’t you try it then?”

  You got yourself into this position, and so, you resign yourself to burnt taste buds for the next few hours. It’s delicious as always, but your poor mouth… Moze rubs his furry head against your legs in comfort. 

Sunday;

He couldn’t believe it. Sunday stared at himself in the reflecting mirror of the Astral Express’ windows for about ten whole minutes after being brought back to it in the state he was in. His ears flatten to his head and he glares at anyone that tries to approach, he doesn’t want to interact with anyone like this!

  He flees to his room and stays under the bed for several hours before you manage to lure him out with some delicious smelling grilled fish. Sunday reluctantly pokes his head out to grab it—which is when you grab him. 

  He flails and meows, struggling and squirming as you pick him up and stand… only to coo at him and rub his cheeks with your thumbs, musing how cute he is.

  Cute?! This is a horror scenario! 

  Despite his displeased meowing and nibbling on your fingers when you try to pet him, Sunday eventually gives up when he learns that you just find his struggling adorable. Suddenly your staring when he gets annoyed with small things start to make sense. Like when he hit his head on the ridge of a table after bending under it to fetch a pen he dropped, and the brief surge of frustration and annoyance he felt—only for you to swoop in to rub his head and see if it hurt. 

  He sulks the entire time, he doesn’t like it one bit. 

  March asks him if she can put him in outfits like she does with Pom-Pom, and he strategically avoids her for several days. Not a chance. 

  Thankfully, despite you ‘tormenting’ him on the first day, Sunday does seek comfort in you… you’re warm, and somehow you know exactly where to scratch behind his ears and under his chin where he can’t quite reach well enough. 

  You almost pull him in and rub your face into his furry torso when Sunday kneads at your shirt when you lay down to sleep, but decide that watching him is much cuter. You get such cuteness aggression when he does the smallest things. He purrs when you massage his paws or draw your fingers all the way down his back—and get a fistful of hair while you’re at it—and eventually he starts to do it at the smallest gestures… Pom-Pom once brought up concerns to Himeko that they thought that the train might have a problem, some kind of motor malfunction.

  Turns out Sunday was napping in the warm engine room and purring so loudly that when Pom-Pom leaned close to his hiding spot, they thought it was the engine. 

  He doesn’t let anyone pet him properly except you, not because he doesn’t trust the rest of the Express members—trust is a strong word in any case—but because when he closes his eyes in comfort, he wants to open them again and see you stroking through his fur. Nothing personal, though March does take it a bit personally.

[pnutbutter-n-j-elyy]

HELLOOO first off love your writing and how you write the characters!

I don't know if you requests are open or not, if they aren't then just ignore this

Can you please do a reaction of whoever you want in stray kids being used to dating gold diggers they usually pay for everything and when they don't their s/o would get mad

So when they cancel your date to a very fancy restaurant because they were sick they expected you to be mad but instead you came to his house made him soup and took care of them the whole time :))))

Plus points if they're touch starved and love having you physically babying them and play with their hair

Midas Touch | Seungmin

Seungmin x gn!reader

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Seungmin wasn’t sure what to expect when he sent the text.

He stared at his phone, the screen glowing with your contact, hesitation gnawing at him. Cancelling plans was never easy, but it was particularly hard when he thought about your excitement for tonight’s dinner. He could still remember the way your eyes lit up when he mentioned the reservation at that fancy restaurant downtown- a place he was far too familiar with, thanks to his past relationships.

Those relationships had been…transactional, to say the least. Each time, Seungmin found himself with people who seemed more interested in what he could give them than who he truly was. The constant gift-giving, the endless high-end dates- it was what they expected. And when he couldn’t provide it, when life happened and plans were cancelled, it always led to the same disappointed reaction.

The expectations weighed on him, but with you? He wasn’t sure what to expect. Would you be upset like the others?

With a sigh, he hit send:

I’m sorry, I have to cancel dinner tonight. I’m not feeling well.

He pressed his phone to his chest, his free hand tapping on his knee lightly while waiting for the inevitable “Oh, really? Can’t you just power through?” or the disappointed silence that followed whenever he wasn’t able to meet those expectations.

But your response came much quicker than anticipated.

Oh no, poor thing! I’m coming over, sit tight <3 !!

His brow furrowed as he re-read your message. You were coming over? No protest, no irritation at the lost reservation? He blinked at his phone, almost unable to believe it. The kind of reaction he was so used to- the irritation, the sigh of inconvenience -it didn’t come like he expected.

An hour later, there was a soft knock on his door, and when he opened it, there you were, holding a bag that smelled like fresh soup. Your face was laced with concern, your nose red from the harsh cold as your eyes scanning him over like you were already assessing his health.

"Y/N, you didn’t have to come all the way here," Seungmin murmured, already feeling a little guilty for dragging you into this. His voice was hoarse, and he cleared his throat.

But you just gave him a soft smile and stepped inside. "Of course I did. You’re sick, Seungmin. Who else is going to take care of you otherwise?"

That simple question left him speechless.

He wasn’t used to someone wanting to take care of him- he was used to being the one who was expected to provide, to look after others. He watched as you took off your coat, making yourself comfortable in his space without a second thought, moving toward his kitchen like it was second nature to you.

For the next few hours, he watched in disbelief as you fussed over him. You made sure he drank water, helped him eat the soup you'd brought, and even tidied up his apartment a little, though it wasn’t necessary since he was a clean man. And each time you checked on him, each time you brushed your hand over his forehead to feel for a fever, or when you gently ruffled his hair, something inside him sparked- or rather melted.

It was strange, this feeling of being cared for. He realized how touch-starved he truly was, how much he craved this kind of closeness without even knowing it.

How much he actually loved it when it came from you- as he hated it from others.

Every time your fingers skimmed his hair, he felt a warmth that had nothing to do with his fever. When you tucked him in on the couch, playfully patting his arm and settling beside him, he leaned into your touch without even thinking about it.

And that’s when the weight of it all hit him- the difference between you and everyone else who had been in his life before.

He’d always thought his value was in what he could give, how much he could provide. But with you, it wasn’t about that. It never had been.

Seungmin’s thoughts drifted to the legend of King Midas- the man whose touch turned everything into gold. For Midas, his gift had become a curse; no matter what he touched, it lost its warmth, its life. He realized he had been living like that -surrounded by gold, by riches and luxury, but none of it held meaning.

But you…you weren’t like that.

You weren’t interested in the gold, in the material things he could give. You were interested in him. Your touch wasn’t a curse; it was warmth, real and alive. It brought him back to life in a way that no extravagant date ever could.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Seungmin’s voice came out quieter than he intended, a mix of vulnerability and genuine curiosity. "I thought you’d be mad that I cancelled. Especially since it was a nice restaraunt...expensive..." He trailed off, his puppy eyes trailing up to your face to gauge your reaction.

Were you...truly not upset about this at all?

You turned to look at him, eyebrows furrowing like you couldn’t believe he’d even ask that. "Mad? Why would I be mad? You’re sick, Seungmin. Of course I’m gonna be here. Besides, this is cheaper anyway! A nice little stay-in date. The second cheapest soup in the store is the best soup." You stated matter of factly. "Paired with some kimbap and drink of your choice-" You held up your finger in an "okay" sign and winked. "This is even better than if we ate out!" You saaid clapping once as you reached for food.

He blinked at you, a little taken aback by the sincerity in your voice.

"You...mean that?"

"Mhm, why wouldn't I?" You asked, stuffing the closest thing into your mouth, not looking at Seungmin, rather focused on your convenience store goodies.

"It’s just…I’m not used to this."

"What do you mean?" you gently tugged the blanket over him, sliding yourself under the corner as well, your fingers brushing his arm as you adjusted it.

"I’m used to…" He hesitated, feeling a little exposed. "People getting upset when I can’t…provide. Fancy dates, expensive gifts. That kind of thing."

You smiled, soft and a little sad, as if the idea of anyone expecting that from him was ridiculous. "I’m not here for any of that. I mean, yeah, those things are nice, but I’m here for you, Seungmin. I like you for you. Not for what you can give me."

He swallowed hard, the words sinking deep into him. He had heard it before, in half-hearted reassurances from past partners, but this -this felt real.

You meant it.

And it hit him harder than he expected. His heart hammered in his chest.

Is this what real love felt like...you guys hadn't exchanged that word yet...but...

In this moment he felt the urge to.

"I guess I just don’t know what that feels like," he admitted, his voice softer now, his gaze dropping to the blanket covering him, as he fought that temptation.

You reached out, running your fingers through his hair, gently massaging his scalp. "Well, now you do. You’re stuck with me, even when you’re sick."

He let out a soft laugh, the kind that shook his chest and made him wince slightly from his sore throat. "I think I’m okay with that."

And just like that, Seungmin felt something crack open inside him -a part of himself that had been so tightly guarded, so afraid of being hurt. But with you, he felt safe. Safe enough to lean into your touch, to lay in your lap to let himself be cared for without fear of what you might want in return.

I think I'm in love.

No...I am in love.

As you continued to softly play with his hair, Seungmin’s eyes fluttered closed.

He realized that this was what he had been missing -this golden touch that wasn’t about wealth or status. It was about love, about care, about someone being there for him even when things weren’t perfect or glamorous.

He had spent so long being afraid of turning everything around him into something superficial, something gilded and lifeless. But with you, it wasn’t about gold or riches.

It was about your golden touch -the one that brought him comfort, warmth, and something more valuable than anything money could buy.

When Seungmin finally drifted off into a fevered sleep, the corners of his lips were curled into the softest of smiles. For the first time in a long time, he felt truly cared for.

He truly felt loved.

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@abovenyx @wolfs-archive @oddracha

@iyeeeverydee @parisanmorovati @seungmincenteric

@panbish-1209 @fxiry-vtt @sseawavee

@shuporanporang @amarecerasus @softkisshyunjin

@whoa-jo @meanergreener @rikibun

@ayyonoona @shinywombatcrusade @y4yayael

@skzstan12345 @mariteez @allys-reads

@jazziwritesthings @skzstannie @yongbokkiesworld

@kkkeopi @neverendingstay @moony-9

@minsungsthirdwheel @everlastingspring143 @joyofbebbanburg

@leezanetheofficial @tr-mha-fan @bubbly-moon

@night-storm7 @missmajdastark @axel-skz

[heevanly]

.ᐟ TEASER: LATE NIGHT TALKS : LEE HEESEUNG (이희승)

𝐬yn. : being the host of a college late night radio talk show was a passion project since freshman year of college, but now as a senior, y/n hadn't expected the fame it brought to herself on campus... but maybe it was the recent string of murders that caused more tuning in than ever seen before.

𝐰arnings. / 𝐭ags. : (18+!). series, not sure how many parts yet. gore. horror. college au. humor. mildly suggestive. no smut. slight smau...potentially? character death. enha members as side characters. lsf members as side characters. more to be added.

𝐩airing. : ghostface!co-radio host!heeseung x radio host!fem!reader

© @heevanly 2024 | do NOT copy, plagiarize, reupload, or steal my works.

RELEASE DATE : MAY 19TH, 2024

TEASER WC : roughly 1.2k

FULL FIC IS OUT READ HERE!

❝welcome welcome welcome toooo SCU 101.85, you’re currently tuning in to the 10 o’clock pm talk show. i’m your host y/n and i’m here with my co-host..” you turn away from the microphone and glance at your co-host, lee heeseung.

“heeseung.” he speaks up into his microphone, shuffling a few papers around.

“and it’s currently a friday night, it’s 67 degrees out with a small breeze too so make sure you wear that jacket!” you chirp.

heeseung snorts and you pass him a look which he returns with a shrug, “you just sound chipper.. s’all.”

“ah.. well our ratings have been going up again.. it’s better than we’ve been seeing these past four months.. so.”

the past four months have been rather difficult for you and heeseung and the radio show. when you started this project sophomore year, it had just been you and your roommate kim chaewon, your ratings were steady in the beginning but had started declining after two months, which made your at the time co-host and roommate, quit. you don’t blame her, you nearly stopped too, which was before heeseung hit you up asking if you still needed another co-host.

accepting his help was the best thing you had done, his roommates jake and jay were all about the technical jargon behind running a radio show, which the reasoning was apparently the three had thoughts about starting a podcast but couldn’t get the timing right to actually get it started, so here they were willing to help you out.

production took off and the four of you found yourselves seeing steady viewers and got to even open a talk line, which was a segment that both you and heeseung took seriously, finding fun in chatting with anonymous students with various complaints they had of others, professors, relationships, or whatever else going on in their lives.

then, out of nowhere four months ago, the viewers started thinning out, causing your small team of four’s good feelings to falter. having been used to success it was shocking to be randomly met with a hard wall and seemingly, no way of getting out.

heeseung and your’s efforts were all in vain as you tried advertising the radio talk show, you had chaewon talk to her friends about spreading the show, heeseung talked to about it to his other friends and also had them spread the word. jake would mention it at his part time job, and jay even mentioned it at a small on-campus event, which he texted that he was never doing again out of sheer embarrassment.

heeseung hums, “well.. i could imagine people have been feeling a bit safer because of us, due to…” he trails off.

right, there's been a few recent deaths that have plagued not only your campus, but the town. you claim they’re very obviously murders while heeseung’s been claiming it’s been various unfortunate accidents. so far the death toll has hit only four, two on campus, one at a campus nearby, and one on the outskirts of town.

“the murders.” you finish his sentence off, gravelly.

heeseung rolls his eyes, but remembers that the listeners can’t actually see that, “you’re so obsessed with these being murders,” he teases.

“well.. it’s quite obvious, no?” you ask.

“ehh, i wouldn’t really say so, besides the two on campus cause they were ruled as a murder-suicide. besides that was two months ago and the one at KTU was concluded to be an unfortunate accident, shit what did they say about how she died again?” heeseung racks his brain, trying to remember how the girl from KTU died two weeks ago.

you scatter your papers around, “wasn’t it something about a lab issue..? their school got to close down because of it, that’s.. uh.. kind of all i remember about that.”

“oh you’re going to hell, haven’t you been following this whole thing since the murder-suicide on campus..?” heeseung laughs loudly and you slump in your chair, embarrassment flooding your system.

you sit back up and clear your throat, “in my defense..”

heeseung accusing points at you, “you! don’t have one.”

“pause, yes i do! rude…. my defense is that the fourth one’s been throwing me off with this whole thing, that i focused a little less on the third girl.” you huff out.

the fourth death was the weirdest in the whole thing so far, it happened a few days ago and it’s been the only one where the person involved wasn’t in the same age range and died supposedly.. well.. naturalistically. it had been a middle aged man, who was on his way home from work. apparently the report and the news claimed his tire gotten flat and when he had gotten out to check on it, he had been mauled by a pack of wolves wandering through.

the police and how they concluded it just didn’t make sense to you, you stayed up for two days trying to determine it all. first, wolves hadn’t been sighted in that area for several months so a random pack coming through didn’t make sense. second, the blood inside the car, how did it even manage to get in there if the man was supposedly outside? the third rea-

heeseung snaps his fingers to try and get your attention back to the talk show, “hey, y/n, quit thinking about it, you’re just gonna make yourself paranoid.. or worse.. obsess over this.”

“my bad, i just need to stay up on all this, our viewers need the information, they deserve the best after all.”

“and the best of the best is from two college seniors..?” heeseung raises an eyebrow.

“absolutely!” you respond, “we’re the only ones giving multiple sides to these events and ways to stay safe.”

“i’m sure the news have been doin all that too though.”

“pff, news schmooze,” you wave your hand at heeseung, “college students don’t care about tuning into the morning news before classes or turning the evening news on, we’re a source of entertainment AND murder mystery, and that’s what eats up.” 

“you’re greedy, y/n, soo greedy.” heeseung shoots a grin your way, a way to let you know he doesn’t mean it.

trying to stop a grin from making its way on your face, you roll your eyes, “oh suck my dick lee heeseung.” 

“gladlyyy..” he wiggles his eyebrows and chuckles into his microphone.

“you’re a freak..” you gather your papers back up and glance up at the clock, 10:26 pm, time to open up the first talk line segment of the night.

you give a small nod towards heeseung and he nods back and clears his throat, “well well well SCU you are listening on 101.85 and it’s rolling up to 10:30 pm, we got a two minute sponsor for y’all and when we come back live, our callers will be up discussin’ random whatever with us. give us a call at +82 70-5208-6001 and see if you’re lucky enough. again that is +82 70-5208-6001. see you all very soon."

both you and heeseung give a thumbs up to the room in front of you and jay switches your sets off, rolling the sponsor. a few seconds pass and before you’re able to turn to heeseung to just casually chat, the switchboard for the phone calls light up, more so than you’ve ever seen before.

[omgwhatchloe]

REASONS WHY HAVING SOME RDR2 CHARACTERS AS YOUR PASSENGER IN YOUR CAR SUCKS:

Charles: Only talks to points out every single animal he sees. Other than that, it’s just silence unless you start the conversation or you’re Arthur. Oh but trust me, he wants the AUX. He’s just not gunna ask.

John: Either demands the AUX cord or just connects it anyway, then proceeds to be musically inconsiderate with what he plays. You despise this song with every ounce of your being? Too bad. This song reminds you of your lowest point? Suck it up buttercup. This was playing in the car when you crashed and killed the person in the passenger seat? Womp womp.

Dutch: Seems to think it’s his car. In fact, he feels completely free to change the music, turns up the heat as much as he pleases, winds the windows up and down, moves his seat constantly etc etc.

Reverend Swanson and Mary-Beth: Car sick. So very car sick. Your two options when driving them anywhere is the sound of heavy breathing with the sounds of the highway being blasted in through the open window, or bags rustling with the sound of puking and groaning. Trust me, they’d rather have walked as well.

Javier: Awful navigator. It’s fine when you know where you’re going, but absolutely awful when you need navigation. Half the time, you look over and he’s gone off the navigation app and is playing subway surfers and texting. The other half of the time, he’s misreading the directions then yelling at YOU. Not to mention it’s completely unsurprising to wonder why you’ve been driving for so long then find he’s clicked on the entire wrong destination without a second thought.

Sean: Acts like he’s never eaten before in his life as soon as he gets into the car. Sees a Wendy’s? He’s suddenly starving. Burger King? He hasn’t eaten in three days. KFC? He’ll pay you back, he swears! In fact, the man has absolutely no problem being late for anything if you stop for food. You could be on the way to Davey’s funeral, already running late and suddenly pull into the Krispy Kreme carpark and you would not hear a single protest from him.

Micah: Yaps a whole lot of waffle about how he’s all this n all that to the point you don’t even know what he’s saying anymore and neither does he. Also enjoys flipping random people off and yelling shit out of the window. Expect to be chased by an angry driver for at least 12 miles.

Bill: Eats and then just throws his trash on the floor without a single second thought. If you ask him to pick it up, he will, but not without angrily grumbling and snatching it up. Is in a bad mood for about 2 minutes before he realises he wants to yap so does.

Karen, Uncle, Abigail and Sean: Distracts the driver. Whether it’s with yapping or loud videos or drinking or messing with the music volume, they somehow keep it up from the start of the drive right to the end.

Hosea: Puts his feet up and puts his seat back like he’s in bed. Just won’t sit normally. Will give you a ‘look’ when you ask him to put them down.

Lenny: Makes things awkward, because the first thing he does is comment on the dirtiness of your car then looks extremely shocked and uncomfortable at himself for saying that for about 7 seconds before pulling out his phone and facetiming Sean for the whole drive and giving you the same looks Hosea does when you try to speak to him. When not on the phone, he tends to respond with shrugs and “Okay then,” while folding him arms and staring out of the window. Seems to be in an awful mood until he’s out of the car. He hates car rides if it’s not with his favourite people.

Molly: Acts like you can’t drive. Struggling to see what’s right in front of you? Molly’s got your back! Seriously, she will yell at you to stop at the red light you had already seen 7 seconds ago and started to slow for. Old woman crossing (while you’re already stopped)? She will yell at you not to go so loud you debate kicking her out and making her get her own car, since she knows so much.

Tilly and Strauss: Tries to get you to speed. It’s like they’ve never heard of laws before, and will insist you ‘go faster’ even though your way is blocked by other cars. It’s painfully obvious they both can’t drive and have never had to pay for gas money.

Miss Grimshaw: Absolutely disgusted by your car and wants to make that very clear. It wouldn’t be surprising if halfway through, she started to clean it herself.

Jack: Really really really wants to press that horn. You’d find it cute at first, but so goddamn annoying when your car starts honking in the middle of a busy crossing. It’s like a constant slap-fight except you’re pushing his hands away every-time they come for the horn.

Arthur: Constantly asking to pull over. He’ll casually say “stop here” as if you’re a taxi, not to mention you’re in the middle of nowhere on the highway and you really don’t understand what a stranger mission means. Commonly, you have to explain things like how you’re already an hour late and you literally do not have the room to drive that family of five that’s broken down anywhere, nor can you stop at an empty warehouse and potentially get arrested for trespassing because he wants to explore.

Kieran: Terrified when you go slightly over the speed limit. He acts like he’s in an F1 race with no seatbelt being hung out of the window.

[lucky-clover-gazette]

captive prince short stories highlights & annotations

pet

(takes place during book 1: captive prince)

indented text is from the book. some quotes have commentary, some do not. some comments are serious, and some are definitely not. most of them will only make sense to people who have read the series. and, like, there are spoilers. so please read the books first if you're interested!

also: part of the reason i'm doing such a close reading is to study cs pacat's style, especially in terms of how she does romance and erotica. there are "craft notes" that might seem weird, like i'm being redundant or restating something rather than analyzing, but those are more things that i want to remember/take away from the writing!

i'm going to tag these longer posts with "sam reads capri" in case anyone wants to read them all at once.

this is a google doc i wrote with overall content warnings for the captive prince series. it's not perfect, but i do think it's important to include.

Ancel was a virgin the first twelve times he had sex. The thirteenth time, it lacked all plausibility.

‘You could buy out my contract.’ ‘How much?’ He made up a figure. There was no Lord Arten. Ancel landed his first contract that day: three months of his time, signed over to the merchant’s son.

‘I’ve never done it in public before,’ said Ancel. ‘You’d be my first.’

ancel leveraging subcategories of his virginity. smart

‘You’re not going to take him away from me, you slut,’ said the boy sweetly, murmuring the words too quietly for anyone else to hear. ‘Too late,’ said Ancel.

vere sucks. but i think ancel is playing the system more effectively than like anyone else there

Was this how men felt fucking him? No wonder they paid a fortune for it.

Fucking Lord Rouart, fucking every lord here. Being watched by everyone while he did it was like a blinding white light.

veretian society fucks ancel, ancel fucks veretian society harder

The room exploded in approval, cheers, calls of his name. He could hear shouts of suggestions, ribald calls to Lord Rouart in the thick excitement of the crowd.

there have to be at least a few people in vere who are not into this, but just kind of playing along to keep their—wait isn’t that the other guy in this short story

He was going to meet his new owner, and his new owner was going to fuck him.

ancel does not understand how cs pacat writes sex and power dynamics. nobody ever gets what they think they’re going to get

‘So, you saw me in the ring, and decided that you just had to have me,’ said Ancel. Berenger looked up. ‘No. I hate the ring.’ The words were matter-of-fact. ‘Parsins, hand me my jacket.’

i think i am going to really like berenger.

‘How old are you?’ As if Ancel hadn’t spoken. ‘Sixteen.’ Berenger gave him a flat look. ‘Twenty,’ said Ancel, the truth coming out with a flash of annoyance that he had to work hard to keep out of his voice.

He tried to recover. ‘And you?’ said Ancel, in his most velvet voice. ‘Now that you have me, what are you going to do with me?’ ‘I’m riding to Ladehors.’ Berenger was walking right past him, he was—was he leaving?

most normal guy in vere

Ancel had seen with his own eyes that Berenger owned six identical copies of the same brown jacket.

oh i love this character

He was dressed in a loose shirt of simple white linen and plain trousers, his red hair tied back in a casual tail with a single leather tie. He looked up when he heard footsteps, and then stood quickly, closing the book. An unaffected young man, rising startled to greet his friend. ‘My lord,’ said Ancel. ‘I’m sorry, I—you took me by surprise.’

this is so funny. ancel pretending to be what he thinks berenger wants him to be, which is just like another normal guy

'Oh this?’ A hand to his mussily tied back hair. ‘I wasn’t expecting you back so early. I can change into something more—’ ‘No. You look handsome.’ Berenger stopped and shook his head. ‘That is, when we’re not at functions, you should feel free to wear whatever you like.’ ‘Thank you, my lord,’ said Ancel. It was Berenger who took a step forward. ‘You’re reading Isagoras?’ Berenger was looking at the discarded book with its scrollwork pages. He looked up at Ancel in surprise. ‘What do you think of him?’

i like how ancel is doing a reversal of the makeover trope. he was hot and glamorous before, and now he’s trying to make himself look like a boring nerd

Ancel couldn’t read, but he had planned all this from the moment Parsins had pointed the book out to him.

LMAOOOOOO

Ancel ate the plain food with the good manners of a merchant’s son, and none of the teasing flirtation that marked his own profession.

what are you talking about, there’s never been a mention of homoerotic bread eating in this series before

It happened in the library one night several weeks later, as Berenger was talking about politics. Ancel nodded and half listened while Berenger said—blah blah the Prince, blah blah the alliance with Akielos—

‘In the end, aren’t we all looking for someone to be loyal to?’ said Ancel, softly.

ancel really just went down the checklist of things he was told berenger likes (loyalty in friendship in this case)

also, a note from post-reading the entire story sam: YES YOU ARE, ANCEL.

‘Is that what you want?’ said Berenger. ‘It’s what I never thought I’d find,’ said Ancel, ‘until I met you,’ and it was happening, finally, it was finally happening, the two of them drawing closer in the firelight, Ancel’s arms sliding around Berenger’s neck, leaning in to— ‘Ancel—no.’

‘You may have made assumptions,’ Berenger spoke first, not looking at him, ‘after I bid for you in the ring, but I—’ For a moment, Ancel didn’t understand. And then suddenly the rejections and the refusals made sense. ‘It doesn’t have to be like it was in the ring,’ Ancel said in rush, relieved to have discovered the root of the problem. He hastened to reassure Berenger. ‘I don’t have to be the one who does that.’

ancel i don’t think this is a top/bottom thing, i think berenger isn’t drinking whatever horny flouride they have in the water in vere and is just disinterested in the pet stuff

He waited for Berenger to get it. Berenger didn’t seem to get it.

because that’s not what berenger meant!! this dynamic is very fun. extremely self-assured and aspirational guy who only knows how to leverage sex and schmooze, vs chill-ass guy who is not really trying to get anything out of anyone and therefore not thinking or trying too hard

‘You can fuck me,’ Ancel explained. Berenger’s eyes went wide. Was that the wrong thing to say? ‘I’ve always done it that way before. It’s what I’m good at.’ That was the wrong thing to say, too. ‘I mean, I want you.’ That was better. He should have said that first. ‘I want you.’ He moved a step closer, made it personal. ‘The way you want me.’ ‘Ancel, you don’t have to—’ ‘I want you to fuck me.’ ‘That isn’t what I want.’ ‘Then what do you want?’ Ancel said, in pure frustration.

world’s first reverse beard has been invented

‘In six weeks,’ began Berenger, ‘I’m attending court. As a single man, I need a pet to attend dinners and functions with me. For propriety’s sake. That is all. I don’t expect intimacy in private. In fact I prefer in private that you—that you and I—’ ‘Court?’ Like a flower inclining towards sunlight, Ancel’s whole attention swung to the thought. He barely heard the rest. ‘You’re taking me to court?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘The royal court. At Arles.’ ‘Yes.’

such a fun premise for this story. ancel has a reason to stay (social climbing), berenger has a reason to need ancel (appearing to follow customs). surely they can help each other accomplish their goals while keeping this impersonal and professional, with no eventual mutual understanding or friendship or romance.

‘Well, I’m going to need a lot more jewels,’ Ancel said, his annoyance returning with a snap. ‘I know you like boring young men in cotton shirts, but I can’t wander around the palace looking like this.’ Berenger was staring at him again, like Ancel was a stranger he was meeting for the first time. Ancel lifted his chin. ‘What? I intend to make the most of our time at court. I am incredibly good at my chosen profession. Not that you’d know that.’ ‘It’s possible I didn’t realise how good until now.’ Berenger was still gazing at him with that new look in his eyes. After a long moment, ‘Do you even like horses?’ ‘I can’t read,’ said Ancel. ‘I see,’ said Berenger.

okay yeah i LOVE this. mask off for ancel, meanwhile berenger hadn’t even bothered to pretend in the first place. i mean he’s pretending in front of the court, but not ancel. it’s just nice that they’re on the same team, unlike SOME PEOPLE i’ve read about during this rough period of time in vere

The next morning, Ancel threw away the plain white shirt and the simple leather hair tie, and came down to breakfast in the clothes that he liked: exquisite silks and velvets that felt good against his skin, wearing his hair pampered and long and out. Berenger didn’t say, ‘I see,’ but the implication was there in the heavy weight of his regard as he looked at Ancel across the table. Ancel lifted his chin, ignoring all the uninspired foods that Berenger liked and biting into a fruit tart.

this story has done a great job of making me like ancel and berenger in a short amount of time. strong moments of characterization (the fruit tart, the jackets, etc), more simple and less subtle than damen and laurent, but still very fun to notice and appreciate

‘The horse I chose for you has arrived,’ said Berenger. ‘She’s a strawberry roan named Ruby. I wonder if you’ll like her.’

berenger and ancel’s first official date is a chappell roan concert. red hair and horses.

For his part, Ancel stopped trying to seduce Berenger, and started enjoying himself.

Perhaps Berenger preferred women.

i don’t think this is where the story goes, but i would actually kinda like if they were just friends, and that was in fact the case. or even better, ancel assumes berenger is straight and that’s why he’s not interested, but berenger is eventually like “no i like men, i’m just not attracted to you” or "i don't like my partners being 10 years younger than i am"

Every commoner in the province had a story about Lord Berenger: Berenger had remembered the name of their child; Berenger had stayed with them through the birth of their prize colt; Berenger had helped them with the purchase of equipment when they had none, saving the harvest.

berenger could not have been involved in the main series. i think he’d break the reader’s brain compared to laurent because he’s just like. a normal and decent person despite the horrors, and not trying to hide it beneath a million layers of complicated bullshit

‘No. I meant that the court has changed,’ said Berenger, shaking his head, ‘since the King died. The Regent’s influence—’

hate that guy

‘What?’ said Ancel. ‘Luxury suits you,’ remarked Berenger.

god i wish this could stay platonic. THAT would be the true subversion!

note from post-reading the entire story sam: with the full image we eventually get of ancel, i actually think it's even better that berenger admits that he desires him. it would feel kind of like a cop-out for the answer to ancel's unspoken question of "would anyone like me for who i am, if my attractiveness was not a factor?" to be "yeah this guy does, but he never would have been into you in the first place." it's even more effective, and even more a subversion of what ancel thinks of himself, for berenger to find ALL of him attractive—his ambition and talent and intelligence, in addition to his looks and performance—and not want to reduce ancel to the sex object that he (ancel) thinks he has to be.

Who was the new pet? How had he come to serve Berenger?

i’m getting the impression that the previous king of vere had not required people like berenger to have pets, but the regent does. which is why berenger hired ancel

Berenger then knelt for the Prince, who was standing to the left of the throne, a severe young man in harsh clothing.

GOD i hope i get to see a little bit of laurent being a withdrawn dryly comedic sitcom side character before damen arrives and it sends him into joker mode

Lady Egere had a horse program Berenger was interested in, so Ancel made her feel like the most important person in the world.

berenger not beating the normal person allegations. like yeah, that is what people do at dinner parties. they talk to other people about shared interests. good job, berenger.

And when everyone was talking about the Prince, and the conversation swerved uncomfortably towards the new Akielon alliance, Ancel stepped in and told the whole table a risqué story he’d heard about Akielon bed practices, diverting attention.

laurent sighs and makes a mental note to be slightly less hostile to ancel for that accidental favor

Even Berenger laughed when he got to the punchline.

‘I love them,’ said Ancel. ‘I’d sleep with you right now. I might even enjoy it for once.’ He stopped. ‘High praise,’ said Berenger, dryly. ‘Of course, with you, I’d—’ ‘Oh, of course,’ said Berenger.

oh NICE moment. ancel admitting that he doesn’t actually like any of this shit he’s doing. and berenger implying that he’s always understood that.

Another day, another brown jacket.

i love the brown jacket as a means of characterization and comedy

‘In blue or red, you could look quite handsome.’ It was something Ancel had noticed on the third morning, in the early light from the window. Berenger had a strong profile, good bone structure, and warm eyes. His waist, where Ancel was lacing, was trim, his body fit from riding. ‘Let me pick your jacket.’ Berenger sounded amused. ‘You don’t like my jacket?’

you don’t like his jacket????

He didn’t let Ancel pick his jacket.

good to know he has his hard limits

They had a good system in which Ancel filched the delicious confectionaries and special sweets and left Berenger all the plain stuff he preferred.

i love this for them!!!

‘I can’t believe you’ve never visited the coupling gardens. Do you feel no desires at all? Come on.’ ‘Ancel, I don’t think that—’ ‘Look, it’s those flowers from that boring poem that you like,’ Ancel announced proudly. He stood in front of the spray of white flowers. Berenger had stopped. The flowers were night blooming, filling the air with a delicate scent.

ancel please don’t talk about poetry in the mindfuck blowjob garden

‘You’re right,’ said Berenger. ‘They’re very beautiful. And rare. In the poem, the lover is given only a single flower.’ ‘What a terrible gift. I’d much rather have jewellery,’ said Ancel, wrinkling his nose. ‘Or clothes. Even the horse was better.’ Berenger’s mouth quirked, his eyes shifting from the flowers, amused and warm. ‘Yes, you’re a little more expensive.’

THEY SHOULD STAY FRIENDSSSS please!!! i want to see their odd couple not a couple adventures as neither of them actually falls in love bc they’re married to the grind (literally for ancel, figuratively for berenger). then again, we know that ancel doesn’t actually like being a pet, so i can see how this ends up a romance that works. but STILL

'I like feeling—’ Like part of it. Like the master of it. Like he had power over the men, like if they wanted him they had to pay a fortune for it. Like he was more valuable than the wine goblet Berenger held, or the silver pitcher a servant had poured from. Like he mattered.

ancel understands exactly how this stronger man/weaker man thing works, in that the weakest man is the one who forces others to the bottom so he can be on top. but berenger doesn’t do that, except for appearances. and he’s very clear that he knows it’s all bullshit too.

‘Perhaps I ought to think of it more like that.’ ‘How do you think of it?’ ‘I think,’ said Berenger, ‘that the only person in this place who shows me their real face is you.’

berenger: i’d probably be happier if i just allowed myself to enjoy the luxury and debauchery ancel: wait so what do you think instead berenger: that this is all fake and stupid as hell, and you’re the only one with the awareness to understand that and use it

‘I can make everyone look at me.’ There was the familiar frown, like an old friend. ‘Ancel, I told you I don’t want—’

“like an old friend” because he IS your friend, because he appreciates you for who you are, not for the ways you can perform

Gasps as they burst into flame, and Ancel tossed the stick high, a spinning wheel of dangerous light.

how did he like. learn how to do this. this isn’t something you can just do on a whim. although i guess it does suit ancel to play with fire

That was part of the thrill, sensuality and danger. He had everyone’s attention now. He tossed and twirled, and it was easy, all of it coming back to him, his childhood days before his profession had changed, before the escalating series of favours, until the moment he had finally agreed to it. You have to pay me extra. It’s my first time.

very effective way to give backstory: he was a performer, and then someone propositioned him for sex, and then he realized the possibilities of going into that kind of work full-time. it put the power in his hands, and people did in fact pay him more when he asked.

‘You’re full of talents, aren’t you,’ said a boy’s voice, and Ancel turned. The boy was very lovely and very young, with huge blue eyes and a tumble of brown curls.

my heart hurts

‘Since you like to play with fire,’ said Nicaise.

extremely bittersweet to have nicaise say one of my own thoughts

‘I’ve heard that Berenger likes women, and that he disappears sometimes from court, so that he can—’ Ancel flushed. He left the main hall and made straight for Berenger, who was sitting in an adjoining antechamber, on one of the long reclining couches, amid a handful of acquaintances, talking in small relaxed groups. ‘Kiss me,’ said Ancel as he settled, one knee on the couch on either side of Berenger’s thighs, his hands linked behind Berenger’s neck. ‘What?’ said Berenger. ‘On the mouth,’ said Ancel.

yeah they invented reverse bearding

Berenger was beginning to frown. Ancel thought, with a burst of irritation, I know you don’t want to, but can’t you just pretend? How hard was it? Ancel pretended all the time. Berenger had a reputation to maintain. But if Ancel said that, Berenger would probably reply with something idiotic like his own reputation didn’t matter to him.

ancel is so perceptive, compared to damen it’s like. jarring

It didn’t feel impersonal. He was instead extremely conscious that it was Berenger that he was kissing.

uh oh

His lips were tingling from kissing Berenger, and that didn’t seem to make sense.

UH OH

‘Like you mean it,’ said Ancel, and kissed him again.

UH OH!!!!

‘My lord,’ he said, and he sounded turned on, which was how he was supposed to sound. ‘Berenger.’

love ancel being in denial about having feelings

Ancel closed his eyes. He could imagine exactly what Berenger liked, lovemaking in the dark with a young man in a plain shirt. If they ever—Ancel would have to feign at least a degree of innocence, physically experienced but emotionally unprepared, looking up at Berenger and saying it’s never been like this before. He imagined that: imagined Berenger kissing him in private. A strange shaky feeling grew in him. Berenger would kiss with the same seriousness as he was now, he probably fucked like that too, strong and steady. Berenger’s voice in his ear, roughened. ‘You’re so good at faking it.’ ‘I know,’ Ancel said. ‘I know I’m good.’

ancel is down BAD for this brown jacket man, holy shit

‘How long do we have to stay here?’ Berenger said. ‘What?’ said Ancel. ‘How long do you normally take?’ said Berenger.

wait. so ancel in the garden scene. was half trying to make berenger jealous and half trying to convince himself that he’s better off doing what anyone else but berenger would ask him to do. and failing to convince himself entirely. LOVE that alternate perspective, so cool!!

It took a moment before he understood the words, and their meaning. But the way Berenger was standing off from him, like a man who has had his evening interrupted for a charade in which he has little interest, made everything clear. Ancel pushed down the feelings in his chest, closing his eyes briefly.

ouch

‘All right,’ said Berenger, and stood there, awkwardly. Ancel heard himself say, ‘Unless, do you want—’ Me. Do you want me.

i love how free will continues to be a theme in this series, even when we’re not discussing damen and laurent. specifically regarding desire and attachment, romantic and sexual. ancel doesn’t actually want to be the person he pretends he is, lowering himself beneath his masters and helping them get off on the power they have over him; he wants to be understood and wanted for his whole self. and berenger is like the only person he’s ever met who has wished to see him as something other than a sex object or performance piece, the only person who doesn’t wish to intimately possess or control him. berenger seems to want to experience love on even footing, which in vere is highly unusual. no wonder ancel is desperate for his interest, when his interest is actually REAL.

He thought, he could make Berenger like it.

free will theme again! he made berenger like it, it wouldn’t be real. and ancel wouldn’t like it either.

‘I think we both know this isn’t working,’ Berenger said in a low voice. ‘This,’ said Ancel. Berenger wasn’t looking at him. ‘I’ll pay out your time in full. We can separate after you perform for the Patran delegation. You can tell people your contract simply came to the end of its time.’ ‘You’re ending our contract,’ said Ancel.

BRUTAL. and the thing is, berenger is being kind and selfless here. ancel has told him with words and actions that he only cares about upward social mobility, and has made it seem like berenger is holding him back. berenger is putting himself at a huge disadvantage in the regent’s court by letting ancel find another employer, but probably feels like this is the best way he can genuinely honor ancel’s stated wishes. sad little miscommunication moment, although i don’t think it’s fully that trope because ancel only subconsciously realized how he feels like five minutes ago

‘Everyone will want you after your performance. You won’t have trouble finding men to bid for you—’ ‘I know,’ said Ancel. ‘I’m the best pet at this court.’

ancel does his fire dance to “my kink is karma” by chappell roan as he desperately tries to repress his feelings

He didn’t know why, but the next day when Ancel saw Berenger talking in a low voice to Lord Droet’s pet, it made him angry, and he stalked out of the stuffy, overlit rooms, into the cool shade of the gardens.

oh, captive prince chapter 5 dubcon (and that’s generous) scene that damen took way less seriously than myself or even laurent because he (damen) grew up with sex slaves so this is kinda normal to him. oh, captive prince chapter 5 dubcon scene that, despite its problematic nature, was and still is extremely compelling to me, by which i mean unfairly hot

It was the Ambassador to Vask, her face familiar to him from a dozen evening entertainments. Ancel knew her sculptured style of dress well, the Vaskian elements she incorporated into her clothing. She had the straight-backed posture and poise of a woman used to power.

VANNES HIIIII VANNES

Vannes spoke. ‘You and Berenger are utterly mismatched. And you’re clearly ambitious. I hope you won’t hurt him too badly when you move on.’

she sees the version of ancel that he knows is wrong for himself, but he’s leaning into it because berenger’s kinda-rejection hurt so bad

Everyone would think what Vannes thought, that Berenger couldn’t hold Ancel and Ancel was moving on to someone better.

i like how this is so high stakes to ancel, for good reason, but we know that there are way higher stakes batshit insane things happening with damen and laurent right now. but ancel doesn’t care about damen and laurent. he cares about himself and berenger. just a really cool way of showing another pov for the same story!

Ancel thought of the impossible. For pets, it was epitomised by one man. The Prince. The Prince, who had never taken a pet. The Prince, who had never taken anyone, or been taken, so they said. They said he was frigid, that he had ice in his veins, that pets failed to interest him. But there was one person who had the Prince’s complete attention.

YHRWYOEGRUYWEGRUYWERHBFSDF

By the time Berenger and the others arrived, Ancel knew exactly what he was going to do.

i LOVE having this context, wow! it doesn’t really change the nature of the original scene, but adds dimension in a super satisfying way. i also really like how this works with the general vibe of book 1—it feels so isolated and depraved to read, you’re wondering “holy shit is everyone here besides damen just a terrible person?” and that’s the point, but with this addition from another perspective it’s like, hey, berenger was there the whole time. normal nice decent guy, caught up in the same shit as everyone else. who had only been trying to be kind to ancel and give him what he wanted, and most certainly did not want him to do what he does here. it reminds me of loyse, and the way she’s incorporated into the main series—so much of damen and laurent’s experiences early on are defined by struggling alone, but they’re both less alone than they thought, both in terms of sympathetic company and people dealing with the same problems they have. this is seen both in the way they are with each other, especially with the slow burn of 'Laurent is Not As Bad As Damen Thought He Was With More Context,' and the way people like loyse are slowly revealed by the narrative. it's just neat. if i ever re-read captive prince, i’ll be like, “oh it’s berenger!!!” and the scene will, in some small way, feel less isolated.

Physically imposing, and dripping with disdainful pride, he looked as though he could break any handlers in half.

love this description of damen as having “disdainful pride,” because so much of his internal narrative is considering himself a victim, which he is. but also, he is very disdainful towards this society, and prideful about his own. damen himself admits that he had prejudices and misjudgments towards vere and blind spots regarding his own society at the end of king’s rising, and it’s cool to see ancel get that impression immediately.

The younger blond slave pressed his forehead submissively to the floor, a pose that seemed designed to make you want to step on his head. Ancel found himself unaccountably irritated by the passivity.

obviously both systems are bad, but if you read my main series annotations you know i’m very much in agreement with ancel here

Berenger was frowning.

normal! reaction!

He looked scornful and unimpressed when his eyes passed briefly over Ancel, Berenger and Vannes. His only movement was to shift slightly, a rearrangement of muscle.

i looooove seeing damen from the outside, wow

Arriving in the bower, the Prince of Vere was instantly commanding, with nothing soft or yielding in him. A young man with golden hair, cold blue eyes and an arresting profile, he had a pet’s looks and a Prince’s bearing, laced up tighter than Berenger, in dark, severe clothing. He looked capable of mastering the slave through force of will, as though the slave’s discomfort was his pleasure.

good to see, in this case, that laurent is very much perceived exactly how he is trying to be perceived. we know that this is for his own safety, and it isn’t harming ancel at all. unlike in captive prince book 1, where damen is being directly harmed by laurent and his rancid vibes, albeit for stronger reasons (he knows who damen is) than either damen or the reader understand.

‘Ancel, no. He could hurt you.’ Ancel ignored Berenger, and spoke to the shoulders and back of the Prince.

this is so cool. when i read the original scene, it seemed like berenger said this out of like, petty distate for akelions and maybe jealousy. but now we know it’s because berenger thinks that this is all fucked up, and doesn’t want ancel to get hurt by his own ambition

‘Would you like that?’ Berenger frowned. ‘No. I wouldn’t.’

“would you like that [i get hurt]?” oh ancel :( and you know that he thinks berenger would, or at least wouldn’t care either way. because ancel is just 20 and emotionally undeveloped and seems not to have been truly cared for in his life

again, i assumed originally in this scene that unnamed berenger said “no i wouldn’t” because of jealousy. but that isn’t true! berenger already told ancel that he can leave! he just actually cares about ancel!

The Prince turned, and Ancel found himself the sole subject of the Prince’s attention.

i like that we know he isn’t, because the only living people capable of completely hijacking and consuming laurent’s large capacity for thought are the regent and damen

‘I think your master would prefer you intact,’ said the Prince.

in captive prince, it adds, “said laurent, dryly.” but it’s not dry to ancel, he doesn't want to acknowledge the fact that laurent is deeply unamused

‘You could tie the slave up.’ He saw the moment the Prince took in the idea. There was something more in the Prince’s eyes, something private, though it was only there for a moment, before the Prince’s expression hardened.

well yeah, but he’s not thinking about you, ancel.

Ancel looked Berenger right in the eyes. ‘Tell me how you want me to fuck him.’ ‘I don’t want you to fuck him,’ said Berenger. ‘I do,’ said Ancel. ‘I want to do it with you watching.’

new dialogue, things damen didn’t hear! i think i kinda explored what’s going on here in previous annotations

You mean with the Prince watching, Berenger didn’t say.

this is strange. at first it seems like uncharacteristic pov head jumping, but then it’s like no, this is what ancel THINKS berenger isn’t saying. ancel cannot imagine that berenger’s reluctance here could be for any other reason than, like, petty jealousy of the prince. when in reality berenger just cares about ancel and doesn’t want him to get caught up with insane terrible people

Instead, Berenger frowned in that way that he had, turned to the handlers, and gave some instructions about safety.

so they DO have safe words in vere. although maybe berenger just invented them, that sounds like something he would do

Drawn by the rarity of the spectacle, a few other courtiers had drifted over, and then a few more, a small audience gathering.

love the mention of rarity, since damen assumes that this is totally normal

Ancel didn’t need Berenger. He was going to do it with the Prince’s slave, in front of everyone. No other pet had ever won the Prince’s attention.

ancel i know you were just dumped for the first time but this is not the slay you think it is

The slave’s eyes lifted to meet Ancel’s for a moment, radiating fury, before he turned the full force of it on the Prince, who just stared back at him coldly.

don’t worry about it. they’re fine

He wasn’t a court pet, or a brothel client. He was an Akielon, named for the Akielon prince-killer.

oh my god. imagine ancel’s reaction when he learns that he had unknowingly given the future king of akielos a bj

Ancel could see, as he put his hands on those thighs, that the slave disliked him. That was irritating. Did he think Ancel was salivating to suck his cock? Pets had to do things they didn’t like all the time.

obsessed with the way ancel is projecting berenger onto this. a really neat subversion of the way he intentionally and performatively projected that other guy in order to win his favor. also fun because in the scene from damen’s perspective, ancel is very literally a projection of laurent. neither ancel nor damen are imagining this with the person actually doing it with them. is this what the “mutually unrequited sex” ao3 tag is for

It had been a long time since Ancel had given head, thanks to Berenger’s prudery. It was disconcerting, uncomfortable at first, like he didn’t want to be this close, or put his mouth on it. He pushed past the feeling. He was good at this. He knew what to do and how to do it. The uncomfortable feeling grew. The slave was too stupid to realise he was supposed to be performing.

the way it’s almost a good thing that ancel is uncomfortable right now, because it means that he’s in some small way breaking out of the fucked-up mentality he’s grown up with

love damen and ancel as foils, in terms of pride. ancel takes pride in his willingness to get his hands dirty and perform submission for social clout, damen takes pride in his unwillingness to get his hands dirty (compromise his morals) and give his submission to those who don’t deserve it. but while damen's pride is held up by honor and integrity, ancel's is held up by his own degradation.

How had he ever achieved a court position, with skills this poor? Wasn’t he trying at all?

if you really think about it, damen was a nepo hire

Ancel felt the slave jerk, his cock hardening as the Prince settled himself on the bower seat alongside them.

well, damen, i guess someone noticed how you feel about laurent

i don’t even think laurent fully notices how down bad damen is for him at this point. i think laurent just believes damen is a depraved pervert ruled by his base urges who uses sex slaves and finds him hot just like everyone else and also KILLED HIS BROTHER

‘Like this?’ The wait was deliberate, to make the Prince say it. ‘Like that.’

5d three-way dirty talk happening here. it’s not four ways because berenger definitely has clocked out by now

‘Take it all the way down,’ said the Prince, and Ancel took it deep into his throat.

i like how laurent’s dialogue is slightly different between the two scenes, and damen doesn’t register some of it, and ancel doesn’t register some of it. cool way of writing the different perspectives and showing the things that are distracting both of them, causing them to think about things other than laurent’s words. ancel is mostly thinking about how he can do this in a way that gets him noticed and hired, while damen is mostly thinking about how absurdly turned on he is by laurent being insane

Ancel half expected the Prince’s hand on his head, pushing him down the last inch, but when he glanced up, neither of the men were paying him any attention, their eyes locked on one another.

sorry ancel, they gaze a lot. it’s kind of their thing

He came up without coughing or needing a breath, a cultivated skill that was often admired.

not by damen or laurent, at the moment

It didn’t matter that the Prince didn’t seem pay him any attention, or that he was only a conduit. The slave wasn’t even looking at him. It was what he wanted.

ancel when he lies

The two of them were locked together, Ancel utterly forgotten as he rose unsteadily to his feet.

god that sucks ancel but it’s also so fucking funny (as i said in the capri chapter 5 notes, i am not taking the dubcon as seriously as i could because the book doesn’t take it seriously in this scene. damen’s rage isn’t at the lack of consent, because this is actually pretty normal to him, and not seen as demeaning in his society for a slave to do. i think more than anything else he’s mad at himself for being into this, which means that he’s mad at laurent and ancel for making him confront the fact that he’s into this)

Courtiers crowded around with accolades, comments, and congratulations. ‘You really are the perfect pet,’ and ‘I’ve never seen anyone take it like that,’ and, ‘I’d pay a fortune for you.’

but it doesn’t matter, because they’re not berenger

Berenger had a hand on his shoulder and was staring into his face. Ancel lifted his chin. ‘Did he hurt you?’ The words were short.

😭 😭 😭 😭

‘I liked it,’ said Ancel. ‘I like sucking cock. I’m a pet.’

ancel when he continues to lie

Torveld, Prince of Patras

oh i hate that guy

It was the blond slave from the bower. The insipid, spineless creature who made you want to pinch his skin, or shake him to wake up. Like a useless doe in a forest. Expecting someone else to help him. With looks like that, the blond slave could have owned this court if he’d put any work into it. Instead he was trembling and helpless and waiting for a rescue that was never going to come. It was irritating.

yeah. if not for my distance from both of these worlds, and the fact that i can afford to be more empathetic and thoughtful than ancel, this is about where i’d land too re: akelion slaves. (if you read my previous annotations of the series, i probably don’t have to tell you that.) i just like how strongly and disdainfully this is written, while still within itself being flawed. like he’s right, but it’s a sad kind of right. it’s pointing out the problem but disinterested in a solution. but it isn’t ancel’s job to have a solution, it’s the narrative’s job. and we see that happen, in a very careful slow burn from damen’s pov, during the main series.

i can’t believe people think that this series is slavery apologism. 99% of the time, this series is DETERMINED to hold itself painfully and uncomfortably responsible for the problematic content it contains. and that 1% is different for every person who reads it, based on their personal tastes and values. and that’s good, because even our favorite fiction should be something we engage with critically, rather than passively accept.

‘A whole night with the Regent?’ Ancel twirled the stick. ‘Aren’t you jealous?’ ‘I’m not jealous,’ said Nicaise. ‘You’re old.’

‘Then the Regent will call you to attend him. Everyone will see you sitting with him. That’s what you want, isn’t it? The bids for your contract will go up.’

i’m going to try to remember why this is happening. i know it’s some elaborate and probably petty bullshit. i think it’s something like 1) laurent got his ethics called into question by the guy who killed his brother and then 2) decided to do what damen asked and help the akelion slaves because he knew it was the right thing even though he hated damen so bad, therefore 3) laurent needed to create circumstances that would cause torveld to “save” them from the regent without his (laurent's) direct intervention so 4) laurent antagonized nicaise into making a bet that his (laurent’s) plan to get torveld to take the slaves wouldn’t work and then loudly talked about that plan in front of nicaise, prompting 5) nicaise to arrange a sadistic performance of slaves for the regent so the sadistic regent would want to keep the slaves, therefore winning nicaise the bet against laurent 6) which laurent knew would literally backfire because the fire would frighten the slaves and then prompt to torveld take them out of sympathy and pity. yeah i think that's it

It made Ancel angry. This mewling creature who had been brought to court and lavished with every opportunity that Ancel had worked for, was doing nothing to advance his own career, even now. But in the next moment Prince Torveld was calling the slave over, and—rather than booting him out of the hall—was fussing over him, talking to him, stroking his tousled blond head. Ancel gaped. Prince Torveld was taking the slave into his household? For what? For being too weak to survive at court? The unfairness was terrible. If Ancel had wanly lain down and waited for a rescuer, he would have died in the street.

i really like this short story. i like ancel’s character, and what the story is trying to say. it fits very nicely with the overall series themes about weakness/strength, submission/domination, and free will. also intimacy and trust, although that’s almost by omission.

‘Tell me about your master,’ the Regent said. ‘Lord Berenger.’ ‘He’s boring,’ said Ancel. ‘Serious. Loyal.’ ‘Loyal to my nephew,’ said the Regent. He spoke pleasantly, tweaking Ancel’s hair as he did so. The sharp tug hurt.

WOAH THIS IS COOL. we hardly got to see any of the regent’s private contributions to the complicated vere court nonsense in captive prince (there was that scene where he talked to damen alone, but that might have been it?)

‘Loyal to the throne.’ Ancel’s heart had started beating faster.

i like how the regent equates his nephew with the throne. so different from how he talks to laurent in front of the council. clearly, out of earshot of anyone who actually matters politically, the regent is threatened by his nephew.

‘I’ve heard he’s met with my nephew, several times. What was discussed?’ ‘I couldn’t say. I wasn’t there for the meetings.’ He kept his tone light. ‘So there were meetings.’

berenger you’re so real for that

His mouth felt dry suddenly, and it was hard to swallow. He thought of Berenger in the hall somewhere behind him, wondered if Berenger was looking at him, thought he probably wasn’t. ‘No. I mean that I don’t know—I don’t know what meetings he’s taken.’

ancel can tell that berenger is in danger, and even though he thinks berenger wants nothing to do with him, he tries to protect him

‘Oh dear.’ The tone was disappointed. ‘I thought you were clever.’ The Regent shifted, forcing Ancel to reposition, awkwardly. He was motioning for one of the servants to approach, looking past Ancel as though he was done with him. ‘I am.’ Ancel’s heart was pounding. ‘You just haven’t asked the right question.’ ‘And what’s that,’ said the Regent. ‘If I’m loyal,’ said Ancel.

and here’s the temptation of ancel finally getting what he’s always said he wanted, he just has to throw berenger under the bus. he tries to avoid this by making berenger irrelevant and putting the attention on himself, but we know that the regent does not give a shit about ancel, politically or sexually.

Ancel watched him turn away, watched him enter the darkened part of the rooms that held his bed, beginning to unlace his own jacket. ‘I didn’t tell him anything.’ The words were a blurt, delivered to the back of Berenger’s shoulders. Berenger’s movement came to a halt.

i really like ancel.

‘About you and the Prince. That you’ve been meeting secretly each night. That you’re taking his side, that you’ve offered him funding and passage through Varenne, I didn’t tell him any of that, I thought that you—’

oh shit it’s that deep!!! fuck yeah berenger! wait does that mean that berenger had been loyal to laurent and thinking he was an admirable person for months/years only to see laurent in full sadistic kinky joker mode with a person who he doesn't know is laurent's brother's killer? do you think he was like "oh great, he's actually a freak too. fuck my life"

Berenger turned. Berenger was across the room, his hands on Ancel’s arms, gripping him tightly, his eyes boring into Ancel’s. ‘Stop it. You’re spoiling my clothes. I didn’t tell him. I told you. I didn’t tell him anything.’

oh, ancel immediately thinks he’s going to be punished and stripped of the nice things he’s been given. that’s so fucking sad :(

‘How do you know about any of that?’ ‘Just because I like nice things, and don’t read the boring books you like, doesn’t mean I’m stup—’ ‘This isn’t a game, Ancel.’

most! normal! man! in! this! series!

‘I’m trying to secure my future! I need to go somewhere. After you—after you end my contract.'

true, and explains some of the desperation ancel typically chooses not to acknowledge because of his pride

‘So that’s it. You want gifts?’ Berenger said, in a flat, deadly voice, ‘Are you trying to blackmail me for money?’ Ancel felt his mouth turn to sand. ‘No.’

ancel doesn’t want gifts! he wants a friend!!! i love this story, especially in this shitty world!!!!

‘I don’t want—I told you, I didn’t tell him anything. I wouldn’t. I was your pet, I thought we—I don’t want your money like that—’

going to be HUGE when ancel learns how healthy friendships and relationships work. people just do nice things for each other, and are loyal to each other, because they care and it’s what they want to do

‘You must hate me.’ ‘Hate you?’ said Berenger. ‘Why would I hate you? You’ve always been honest with me. You never tried to hide what you were.’ ‘A whore,’ said Ancel.

oh fuck.

really, really good choice of a word there. it’s easy to get caught up in the insane gimmicks of the veretian court, the slight dark humor to it, the way pets act like they’re playing the game willingly because this is a way for them to be treated well and showered with praise. but deep down, this system exists so they can be perceived as whores, belonging and submissive to people whose power rests on their degradation. and deep down, that’s how they feel about themselves.

goddamn, it is cool to see the worldbuilding expanded upon from this perspective.

‘So what if I am? I’m not ashamed of it. I’m good at it. I can make men want me.’ His voice felt raw. ‘It just doesn’t work on you.’

FREE WILL, POWER, AND TRUST THEMES DING DING DING

Berenger would be just one more owner, one more man from his past, one more name on a list. There was a hard pressure in his chest that he had to ignore. He would turn and walk away from it, he would move on to the next man, and the next. ‘It works on me,’ said Berenger.

okay, i like it being romantic, i think. because just like damen and laurent, their friendship and romance are deeply connected. and i’m glad that these two characters can find each other and be REAL in the midst of the fake nonsense

The words, in Berenger’s honest voice, at first didn’t make sense.

ancel can’t accept praise if he knows the person giving it is being honest, understands who he truly is, and expects nothing in return. girl same

‘You’ve never—’ ‘You never wanted me to.’ ‘Is that what you think?’ said Ancel. ‘Yes,’ said Berenger, steadily.

berenger clocked that ancel didn’t really want to be any of this long before ancel did, and has always respected that. i’m glad that he exists in this world.

‘If the Regent prevails, I won’t have money or lands. You should be with someone who can give you the luxuries you deserve, not someone who’ll embroil you in—’ ‘That’s why?’ said Ancel. ‘That’s why you decided to break my contract?’ He made sense of that much. And he clung to it. He wanted to ask, Does that mean you’re not giving me up because you don’t want me? He didn’t know how to ask that. He was usually so good at asking for what he wanted.

this is so fucking good. oh my god, this short story has been like a masterclass of creating a contained and intimate plot that develops a character individually and in relation to another character, while using the world around them to synthesize relevant and gratifying thematic development. it just comes together so perfectly, and simultaneously feels laser-focused and extremely wide in scope. SO good.

‘Can you honestly tell me that you’d want to stay with me if it meant risking your position?’ Berenger said. ‘If I had no money?’ ‘I’ve never fucked anyone without it being for money.’ The words came out differently than he’d intended. The painfully straightforward way that Berenger had asked him that question meant that Ancel had given an honest answer.

they’re matching each other’s freak, if "freak" means “honest person moving towards a healthier state of mind.” meanwhile, damen and laurent—

It was Berenger who spoke. ‘When I saw you in the ring, I thought you were incredible. You were fearless, powerful. You took on every lord in the room, and beat them. I couldn’t take my eyes off you.’

oh i go crazy for “i want to possess you because i am compelled by your unique and attractive qualities and i want to keep you by my side, not because i want to degrade and reduce you until you’re beneath me.” which is probably why i really like the captive prince series by cs pacat, but not like 80% of fiction with similar kink-related premises

‘I don’t care what might happen.’ He was moving forward, because Berenger wanted him.

oh.

those two sentences didn’t quite get me to tear up, but uhhhh they came pretty close

‘If he fails,’ said Ancel. He was stepping into Berenger’s space. He put his hand on the laces of Berenger’s jacket, and Berenger didn’t move away. ‘But if he wins?’

:’) the metatextual conversation this story has been having with the reader the entire time, tied in perfectly with the events at the forefront. really, really well done.

final notes:

not going to lie, i think i liked this short story more than 40-60% of king’s rising. damn.

honestly, i kind of hope ancel and berenger don’t end up together immediately. berenger is still 10 years older than ancel, and is like the first person in ancel’s life to show him respect. what rings truest to me is the idea of them being close friends and allies especially during the turbulent wartimes, and hooking up a few times and enjoying it, but a much more confident ancel eventually considering other partners and at least making more friends. either ancel doesn’t end up romantically with berenger because there’s someone even better suited for him romantically and sexually, or he decides that he truly does want berenger because even though there are other people who would love him for who he is, none of them are berenger. either way, they’re close friends the entire time and it’s very sweet. i like them a lot.

[justatypicalwizard]

Until The End Of The Night | Ch 1

-midnight-

✦ College!au, characters in early twenties, support!reader, slight angst to happy ending

✦ Synopsis: after over three years abroad you come back to continue your education. Despite gaining new friends and living a great life in Europe nothing feels better than home. You are quickly sucked in the everyday drama and everything would be just as you left it if not for Bakugo. Three years ago you two shared a moment, a short and meaningful moment that no one knows or should know about. That is until the situation gets out of control.

✦ Warnings: smut

✦ Word count: 4k

✦ Chapter: Few days until you take of to Europe, UA graduation bonfire party and a conversation with Bakugo you thought you'll never have. The two of you mean nothing to each other, don't you?

Masterlist

“One more round, one more! You’re not bailing out Eiji!” Mina’s clamorous voice echoed out as she pushed shots into her friend’s hands.

The graduation party turned out just as you expected, or maybe even helped out to plan. Midoriya clumsily bumped into Ochako every now and then, genuinely thinking he’s not that obvious, as they both balanced, sitting on a log and recollecting mutual memories as if they were sticking photos into an imagined album. The tipsiness made them a bit more nostalgic. Mina, Sero, Denki and Kirishima, despite losing Bakugo somewhere, were chugging beers and spilling shots, the alcohol soaking into the green grass underneath their feet. Laughs, bickering and Denki’s loud singing disturbed the night’s soothing peace. Shouto and Tokoyami discussed the written exams while Jiro and Yaoyorozu desperately tried to change the subject, even the top class girl was in too good of a mood (due to some fireballs) to give a damn about school.

School, well it was nice while it lasted. Even though you were having a heck of a time at the bonfire UA graduation party, the squeezing feeling in the pitch of your stomach never left. It first grabbed at your intestines when the teachers handed you the graduation certificate. Or maybe even earlier, when you applied for college abroad, chewing on the end of your pencil as you tried to come up with a motivational letter. Or was it later, when you sang the school anthem, neatly lined up with your colleagues from the support class, while looking at the back of Mina’s pink head?

Never mind when it started, what pained you was not regret or sorrow but simply fear of starting a new chapter of your life. It was nice to dream about college in Europe when you were safely tucked away under the covers of your comfy bed, texting Mina and Denki your options. Now, when you were about to face reality head-on in a matter of days your knees trembled a bit. Luckily you felt not only fear but also excitement. What will Europe be like? Will you gain new friends? Are the city centres really as picturesque as they describe them? Will the classes be hard? Will you manage all the household chores by yourself? Can you really cook as good as you think or will you poison yourself?

Questions, questions, questions. They itched under your skin like a nasty rash and spread the second you dwelled on it too much. Now is not the time to make your head bubble up with concerns, it should rather be spinning due to an excessive amount of alcohol in your system.

You took a deep breath and shook your head, taking a step to the side in the meantime, the tipsiness reminding you of its existence.

“Why the fuck are you talking to yourself?” A head of blonde speaking with an irritated voice caught your attention. This guy.

Bakugo was a friend of Kirishima’s and Kirishima was a friend of Mina’s (and Denki’s) so you knew each other. You often saw the blonde in the common room spitting curses at ‘Dunce face’s’ stupid ass, you had him in the periphery of your vision at parties, always a bit to the side of the room, you told him a bunch of unimportant stuff and listened to a solid dose of the same nothing from him, never close enough to hold a meaningful conversation, never far enough to ignore each other completely.

He was mean, got angry quickly, and always had something to complain about. He was also one of the top students, that you found a challenge for yourself rubbing your achievements in his face while he wiped yours with his scholarships. He was also ambitious, hard-working and disciplined. Success poured out of every pore of his body, distilling at the nape of his neck like sweat during his murderous work-outs. He really had it all, every ingredient necessary to create the perfect hero - strength for missions, talent for catching villains, endurance to pain, looks for the fans and a personality worth looking up to (not taking into consideration his mean ass but you were sure his future PR team would take care of it).

But Bakugo was just a colleague of yours, nothing much.

“Because I’m drunk.” You stood in front of the blonde, resting hands on your hips. “Aren’t you?” A cheeky grin sprung up on your face.

“I know how to hold my liquor. I’d rather not look like a pathetic, fun deprived idiot stumbling from left to right, on her journey to fetch some water.” For a newcomer's ears it sounded like venom reforged into words. You on the other hand knew to look for answers not in his bitching around but rather on his face. Even in the omnipresent darkness you were able to catch the smirk plastered on his lips. You could guess that freaky little smile was accompanied by a crooked brow, Bakugo assessing his superiority while also having fun with it.

“You forgot to add I’m talking to myself.” An accusatory finger shot his way and you giggled a bit, taking another step to the side to keep your balance.

“My bad.” The giggle died out in your throat and silence fell upon the two of you.

You were ready for some more bickering but Bakugo decided to cut this conversation short. What were you supposed to talk about now? Would he just prefer to be left alone? Sure, you should just go and grab that water and go back to your idiots by the bonfire, sing some Mr. Worldwide songs and get Denki even more drunk, up to the point where he’ll confess love to anyone and anything. Maybe you could get him to ask Mineta out just to laugh at him in the morning. Or maybe you could stick your nose in something that’s absolutely no business of yours - getting Kirishima and Mina to finally go out. Graduation bonfire would be a great moment to confess, so romantic.

“So what, you’re going abroad for college?” The discourtesy of your actions hit you straight in the face. You already ended this conversation in your head while Bakugo was still standing in front of you. Your lazy seeing focused back on the blonde. Dionizos must be laughing at you right now, reminding you from up in the heavens that you are, in fact, drunk.

“Yeah, sorry.” You rubbed your eyes a few times before looking back at him. “Yes, I got in. The application process was tiring. The schedules in Europe and here are totally different so I had to balance between getting all the shit finalised while assuring the universities abroad that I will get my certificate any day now. But it all paid off and now I’m moving out and that’s with a scholarship from the start!” You giggled once more, the thought of your ground-shaking success made your insides bubble up with joy. Well, maybe it shook only your ground but it was enough to feel self-satisfied.

Somehow you were walking, not standing. When you focused on that you realised that your journey for water hit a detour. Both of your figures disappeared further and further into the darkness of the nearby forest. It was nice and cool, a bit chilly even, with the wetness in the air that stuck to your bare shoulders giving you the chills.

“I’m also getting a scholarship.” Bakugo’s voice was out of place, calm and way more quiet than usual. Somehow on the way he stopped with this superiority shit and you felt like you were trodding the same ground as him.

“That’s nothing new.” He gave you a dissatisfied look that you barely caught in the moonlight. “But I’m not saying you shouldn’t be proud, or I shouldn’t be proud. We all should be proud of you.” You added the last part quickly, getting too caught up in your blabbering.

“So you’re proud of me?” The blonde started to snicker but you cut him short.

“What I mean is, you’re a great student and person, a hard-worker and any other epithet you can think of, but it doesn’t mean anyone should take your success for granted. It’s all your hard work, no matter how many times you do it.” You spoke from experience. When you’re always at the top people tend to think you’re glued to the peak of the mountain while in fact you climb it, all the way up, every single time. No one is born successful.

“Yeah, as if you knew.” That snickering of his will echo in your head for months if he doesn’t stop drilling it into your brain like this.

“Oh come on, cut me some slack. I’m also good, great even!” You threw your hands into the air, gesticulating dramatically. “Just because I don’t sweat my ass in training and prance around with a fancy quirk doesn’t mean I’m worthless.” You sassed at him, or at least in your head it was sass. You go girl, slay. “Besides, you didn’t complain when I improved your gear after spending nights on your samples.”

You and Bakugo were paired up one time during an assignment. Giving your biological specialisation you were able to analyse the samples of his sweat and spice up the storage of extracted explosives in his gear. He on the other hand was supposed to be as unproblematic as he could, and use your findings to the best of his ability. The blonde sure did exceed in at least one of these tasks.

“Cuz they were good.” This boy, why does he play hot n’ cold with you?

“I don’t understand.” You groaned, slapping hands on your cheeks. “Are you praising or criticising me?”

“Both.” He was looking straight ahead so his face was a mystery for you.

“Both! Both. Both.” You parrot him in a squeaky voice. Then you stop in your tracks and laugh quietly.

“What?” He seemed irritated by your sudden halt.

“Nothing, I just never thought a peasant like me could get a compliment from the great Bakugo.” You bowed dramatically and snickered sarcastically.

“Stop shitting around and start walking.” He turned and proceeded straight.

“Where are we even going?” Now that you thought about it you didn’t know where you were. All the trees around looked the same, the grass was covered in dew kissing your exposed ankles and the chatter of the bonfire died out some time ago.

“Doesn’t matter.” Bakugo threw disinterested.

“Objection judge! It does.” You grumbled. “I still need to get Denki a whole lot more drunk. I wanted to make him ask out…”

“Stop talking about fucking Dunce face.” Now it was Bakugo’s turn to groan.

“Denki, Denki, Denki.” You chanted gawking at him with wide-spread eyes.

“Seriously stop.”

“Why?” A cheshire grin entered your face. How come Denki was annoying someone while not even present.

“It’s ruining the mood.”

“Oh so we’re having a moment here?” You gasped theatrically.

“No we’re not. The thought of him is ruining my mood.”

“Are you sure?” You crooked a brow, turning around and walking backwards.

“Stop that idiot, you’re gonna fall and crash your stupid ass.” Bakugo’s face was vague in the dark, the sensation fueled up by your slightly murky vision.

“I know what I’ve heard. The great Bakugo is having a moment with old little me! And poor Denki is ruining it.” You pouted.

“Be delusional all you want.”

“I’m gonna have to tell Mina. Friends don’t keep stuff like that from each other. Wonder what she’ll say?” You hummed as if you were studying some very important samples.

“No you won’t. Or else I’ll smash your stupid ass.”

“Catch me if you can then.”

You turned around and ran for your life. The drunkenness, shaky breathing and uneven path that promised to betray your wobbly knees any moment now didn’t stop you from laughing madly while leaping through the twists and turns of the dark forest. Your fun was short lived as the blonde heroe-to-be was obviously quicker. He crashed into you as if you were a thief running after robbing a jeweller. It took you a few turns to brake but nothing hurt you in the end. After all, you were tackled by the one and only.

“Sorry, sorry.” You laughed apologetically, eyes closed as tears prickled them. You were dizzy after the stumble. “Don’t mind my drunk babbling, I was just joking.” Realisation hit you and maybe you took the act a bit too far, now that you think about it.

Looking up you saw him on all fours, over you. He kept silent, just staring down at you as if you had something on your face.

“What?” You propped yourself up on your elbows but was quickly shoved back down. “The fuck dude?”

His face was more comprehensible now. Moonlight shone down from between the rustling treetops, bouncing from one of his cheeks, the other dark, hiding half of his face. Red tinted the area of his nose, spreading over the whole of his face. Close up he also looked a bit drunk.

“Can you just stay silent?” His voice was not like him once more, low and inches from being a mere whisper.

So you did, looking up at him. Your brain fought a hard battle between trying to understand what was going on and at the same time giving up on clarity, just going with the flow of the strange situation.

Before you could choose a side and undertake appropriate actions Bakugo pressed his lips into yours. Sometimes you thought about how he would be, how he would act? The same you thought that Kirishima was a snack but also a golden retriever so he would most likely be gentle. The same you thought Shouto was good looking but most likely a virgin. The same you thought Denki was the last thing on mother earth you would fuck. In all the scenarios you made up in your head, never have you thought Bakugo would be subtle, or did it feel more like hesitation?

His lips were more like grazing yours than kissing them and quickly moved away as if he burned himself.

“What are you doing?” You asked, realising your voice was laced with irritation. What were you irritated about?

“Dunno, I’m drunk.” He answered, red eyes still caught up in your lower lip.

“Oh so now it’s an explanation.”

“Shut up.” He kissed you once more, firmly pressing his face into yours and pushing your slightly raised head into the moisty ground.

“I’m cold.” You mumbled between sloppy kisses, shivering from how hard the chilly ground pressed into your back. No, it was your back pressing hard into the ground.

Bakugo stood up on his knees and shimmied out of his jacket, grabbing at the front of your strapless shirt to guide you up. After you were laid back down, this time with his warm jacket shielding you from the cold, your brain turned on sluggishly and started to mull over the situation.

Bakugo didn’t explain why he was pressing his chest to yours while moving his lips faster and faster on yours, guiding himself down to your jaw and back up seconds afterwards, as if he didn’t want to lose time. You didn’t explain to yourself why you allowed him to, combing his fair hair with your fingers.

Between the kisses and gasps you managed to ask him one thing. “How far do you wanna take it?”

“Till the end. You okay with that?” His dialled pupils locked on your face and you finally realised he was looking straight at you, straight through you. It was only the two of you, wrapped up in each other's limbs like a tight knot, pressing onto one another as if battling who could do it harder. Were you really about to have sex with him? Did you feel excited about it? Yes, yes you did, you wanted it so bad right now. Why did he want to do it with you? No clue but it’s not important.

“Mhm.” You murmured, placing one of your palms on his cheek and guiding him back down to meet you halfway. “Show me.” You asked quietly, tugging at his shirt. Without objection he pulled it over his head and it was gone, letting you grab his bare shoulders and thread his muscles. You didn’t remain indebted for long, pulling your tight-fitting shirt up, letting your breasts spill out of their constrictions.

Two soft mounds quickly caught Bakugo’s attention but they were only a passageway for his palm to trace down. You nodded your head and pushed up your hips to make it easier for him to pull down your pants and leave them dangling over one of your tights. He straightened up once more and pulled out a condom from his pocket before undoing his own belt.

“You bastard!” Your finger pointed at the condom but Bakugo ignored it, finding his way between your tights.

It wasn’t your first time but it still took a while to get used to feeling him inside. Fortunately he was acting surprisingly nice, staying still with his face buried in the crook of your neck. After a short while when you felt ready you scratched his bare back delicately and murmured an ‘I’m ready’ into his ear.

Suddenly, the world turned around, your dizzy head not catching up with it. The cool breeze hit your back once more as the welcoming warmth of Bakugo’s coat was gone. You were sitting on him, watching his hard breathing, chest rising and falling in a steady but fast rhythm, one that matched your heartbeat.

“What…”

“It’s my first time, can you…” The words were cut short in his throat and he looked to the side, embarrassment grasping him faster than he could formulate his ask.

“It’s your first time?” It sounded a bit louder than you wanted it to.

“I don’t wanna fucking tell you this twice.” His anger rose quickly.

“No, no, that’s not what I mean!” You quickly assured him. “Don’t be embarrassed, it’s just… why do you want to have your first time with me?”

“Why do you have to fucking ask.” His gaze melted with the floor close to his head.

You realised that you were somehow destroying the mood, trying to get that answer out of him.

“You know what, never mind, you don’t have to tell me. I just wanted to, I don’t know, I just want it to be special now.” You whispered the last part and before he got to tell you how you ‘shouldn’t make a big deal out of it’ you were already moving your hips, pressing your chest into his and finding his kiss swollen lips once again. Between making out he remained silent, except for the occasional quiet gasps and hisses. His eyes were closed and hands palmed your ass as if he was holding it for dear life.

“Do you wanna try yourself?” You murmured into his ear and he nodded.

Turning around you were once again hugged by his coat but this time you felt it was unnecessary. Your body was hot, flushed against his burning one. Putting your hand on his lower sides you started to guide him, in and out, rotating his hips slightly to make him hit all the sweet spots and press tightly to the whole of your welcoming tights in the process. He caught it after a while and your help was no longer needed so you let yourself enjoy the moment.

“Not gonna last long like this so you better tell me how to make you cum too or I’ll feel like shit for the rest of the night.” His harsh voice disturbed your trance.

“Don’t worry, ‘m gonna take care of it. Just feel the moment, you look the hottest when you’re enjoying yourself.” You murmured, licking your fingers and guiding them down to help yourself.

After countless hastening gasps of yours you finally came with a soft whine and nails digging into Bakugo’s biceps. He came short after, falling over and crushing you under his weight. There was a short silence before you both started to gather yourself.

You sat wrapped up in his coat, ass slightly wet from the moisty grass. Fuck womens’ shorts, can’t they be slightly longer? Bakugo looked ahead, giving you a view of his pretty profile, with the upturned nose and lips lacking his usual frown. You felt a lot more sober now, the adrenaline evaporating from your veins. You sat in a hole in the dense tree line that gave you a view of the lake down in the valley. You didn’t even realise that you ran up a hill earlier. It was quiet, save for the night critters.

“So are you going to tell me why I got your v-card?” You eyed his still form. “I mean, you already had a condom on you so you either decided it was the big night and you're gonna lose it with whoever or, excuse me jumping to conclusions, you were hunting for me.” Your expertise was always precise when you were not stupid drunk.

“The latter.” Was his only response.

“Well then, did you like it?” You had a hard time comprehending what was going on. On one hand it was nice, sitting in the quiet with him after banging such a hot guy, on the other hand you tried to puzzle out what was his case but it turned out harder than you thought.

“Yes.”

“Great.” You looked to the side, up to the sky and down on your feet, trying to distract yourself from the awkward feeling creeping up your back.

“So you’re going away.” It was more of a statement than a question from him.

You mumbled out something in the lines of ‘yeah’, nodding your head and trying to figure out the sudden change of topic.

“Good for you, you deserve it.” 

It was silent mostly and you were really lost. This was all so messy.

“Are you going to keep in contact with Mina?”

“Yes, of course. I think I’ll also keep in contact with the one whose name I shouldn’t pronounce.” Somehow you made him laugh dryly.

“So maybe I’ll pop up in the back sometimes.” He seemed to be speaking more to the grass under his feet than to you with the way he refused to face you.

“What’s up with you?”

“Listen.” He finally turned toward you. A quizzical look covered his features. “I told you I was gonna take it till the end and I’m gonna.” He was speaking another language and it was getting on your worn out nerves. Bakugo was never so elusive but now suddenly he decided to play a maze with you. “Do you want to be my girlfriend till the end of the night? Later you forget about me.”

It took a lot for you to hold your composure. What kind of kindergarten scenario was this? Why should you forget him?

“Just till the end of the night.” His voice was firm but his eyes spoke louder. They were dialled and pleading, locked straight into yours as if you were to disappear if he blinked. “Then you’ll be gone and it won’t matter anymore.”

“Do you have a…” You wanted to ask, you wanted to know. Why did the Bakugo Katsuki act so strange all of a sudden? Why did he play weird romantic scenarios and act as if you were dying and not simply moving to another country. Did he have a crush on you, could you really let such a thought live in your head?

“Don’t ask me that, just answer the question.”

And in the end it was not important because he was right. You will move away for a few years, you will meet new friends, new lovers. You will find a new life and let the old one away. You will grow and hurt and achieve and lose. You can’t be anchored to the past. You saw the answer in his intense eyes and it pained you to realise that you could guess what he would have said if you pushed him. You saw the opportunities fly by and escape into the night. If he only told you earlier you could have a thing, you could change some things… but do you want to change some things? Did he do you good or bad with his decision to keep to himself? It didn’t matter because that time is gone and now is now. Now you have to give him an answer as he is still observing.

“Okay, yes.” You said, blinking a few times trying to wake up from a dream, but it wasn’t a dream. It was his arm snaking around your waist as he pressed you firmly to his side and stole another kiss from your lips.

Bakugo was not your first nor last boyfriend but he was the one that you remembered the most, even if he was yours just for a few hours.

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[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Blind Offer 2

Warnings: this fic will include dark content such as noncon, manipulation, and possible untagged elements. My warnings are not exhaustive, enter at your own risk.

This is a dark!fic and explicit. 18+ only. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: After a leak causes you to evacuate your apartment, your landlord offers a vacant unit that’s too good to be true. (short!plus!reader)

Character: Steve Rogers, additional characters to come

Note:  This is one of my Corrupt-A-Wish requests but I won’t reveal which one right away because it’ll be part of the plot!

As per usual, I humbly request your thoughts! Reblogs are always appreciated and welcomed, not only do I see them easier but it lets other people see my work. I will do my best to answer all I can. I’m trying to get better at keeping up so thanks everyone for staying with me &lt;3

Your feedback will help in this and future works (and WiPs, I haven’t forgotten those!)

Love you like I love turning intended one shots into series. Take care. 💖

You come out of work exhausted. The back to school crowd is still in full effect and infringing on your stocking time. Rather than pop your earbud in and lose yourself in barcodes and inventory counts, you more often found yourself searching out a salesman or running to the back to grab a device yourself.

You yawn into the crook of your elbow, feet carrying you out of routine rather than any coherent thought. There’s a flash of headlights as you pass a car idling along the pick up area and you slow down as you squint at the tinted windshield. The interior bulb flicks on and Steve leans forward, giving you a look through the glass as if you should be expecting him.

You slow down and approach the driver’s side as he rolls down the window. You lean in and give a sheepish smile, “uh, I…”

“Didn’t text?” He finishes your sentence, “I figured you were busy.”

“Oh, well, you didn’t–”

“Have to come get you. Yeah, I figured you’d say that again. Really, it’s kind of selfish on my part. Thinking of you waiting in the dark alone, it’s kind of my fault you even have to so I can at least give you a lift.”

“That’s… nice of you but tomorrow, I can catch a bus.”

“If you insist,” he shrugs, “I won’t twist your arm with my kindness.”

You laugh softly, unsure of his humour. It’s more akin to passive aggression. As if even thinking of passing up his offer is an insult. Wouldn’t it be worse to use him for free rides? You’re already getting to stay in a property well above your lease value.

“You gonna get in?” He prompts.

“Yeah, sure, sorry, I–”

“Hey, thanks for the help on that Lenovo,” Remo calls as he walks out the front doors, shooting you a three finger wave, “not bad for a warehouse jockey.”

“No problem. Have a good night,” you wave back.

You skirt around the hood of the car and grab the door handle. It snaps back and you wait until the locks clack back loudly. You get in and gently shut the door. You unreel the seat belt as Steve adjusts his rearview.

“You got a lot of friends at work?” He asks as he shifts gear, resting his toe lightly on the gas.

“Eh, I guess,” you lean your arm on the door, “busy day. Did a lot of running around.”

“Huh, yeah, maybe I should stop in tomorrow. Need some stuff for a few units. Got a security cam I need to replace and– you got appliances, don’t you?” He rambles over the steering wheel.

“Yeah, uh, I think. Mostly to order,” you rest your cheek against your knuckles and watch how you pass in and out of the yellow cones cast by streetlights. “I guess you’re still looking for a new washer then?”

“Well, they don’t make the same model anymore. Space is pretty compact which means I need something with the same dimensions. I’m shopping around,” He taps his fingers on the wheel, “I’ll figure it out.” 

You nod and give a hum. No use worrying too much about it. You only rent the place, it’s really not your problem to think about the washer. He did say it already had issues before you.

“So, how do you like the place?” He asks abruptly.

“Huh, oh, yeah, it’s very nice. Big,” you answer nervously.

“Yeah, that one’ll go for a lot. A few showings but no bites yet. Probably won’t get anything until I can get you back to your place, heh,” he says the last part casually as if it isn’t directly aimed at you.

“Mmm, um, then I hope you find a washer soon,” you pull your arm away from the door and sit back in the seat. “I hate to be in the way.”

“In the way? I’m the landlord, I knew what I was getting into,” he assures you lightly, though it does little to assuage your doubts. “Oh, and since you didn’t really get a chance, I got a few groceries and left them at the place. Just to get you by.”

“You– Oh, gosh, how much do I owe you?”

“Consider us even. You’ve been pretty cooperative with all this back and forth, I’m the one who owes you.”

“Well, I don’t mind paying for my food–”

“Really, sweetheart, do you always react so adversely to kindness?”

“What? I’m not– no.”

“I’m being nice. I can tell you, there’s not a lot of landlords out there like me. I actually enjoy helping my tenants…” he turns onto a dark street and you shiver. You’ve never been down this way but you don’t live on this side of town. “I always said, whatever you need, just ask.”

“Sure, um, thanks,” you murmur.

He turns back onto a lit avenue as a glint of light flickers over him and draws your eyes. You catch him peeking at you, his blue eye reflecting the flash before he can look back at the road ahead. You shiver and cross your arms. It didn’t seem like he was looking at your face.

“Fresh sheets on the bed too. Hope you don’t mind, I did a once over when you were gone. Just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Quick vacuum and all that.”

“It’s your place,” you say, “I’ll be sure to leave it how I found it.”

He inhales, deep enough for you to hear, “I know. You’re not a troublemaker, are you?”

You swallow and furrow your brow at the dashboard. Again, it’s not just his words but his vague tone. You don’t understand the question.

“Good girl like you always pays her rent on time,” he praises, “I can tell you, that’s not always the case.”

You let out a breath, “oh, aha, yeah, well, scheduled payments… technology, right?”

“Mhmm,” he sucks his teeth and lets his arm rest on the console between the seats, ”it’s so easy to be lazy these days.”

🖤

Steve walks you up to the front door. Just in case you can’t get the code right, he claims. You get it on the first try and thank him. Again. He lingers, as if reluctant to leave you, as if he’s expecting to come inside with you. Almost as if you should invite him in.

You say good night and lock the door behind you. You take your time untying your black sneakers and hang your hoodie on the coat rack. When you dare to peek out the window, he’s only just striding down the path back to his car.

It’s slightly creepy but then you feel guilty, thinking maybe you were being rude not asking him in for a tea or something. You don’t know. This whole situation is awkward as hell.

You wander into the kitchen, your stomach growling from the measly microwave dinner you ate on your break. Steve’s ‘small shop’ is much more generous than you expect. Overdoing it seems to be a trait of his.

You read the side of the organic milk in the curved bottle. You know that it costs three times as much as your usual carton of skim. And the greek yogurt, definitely expensive. All brand names, none of the generic discount bin goodies you thrive on.

You let the fridge close as you take out the boxed butternut squash soup. Fancy, you think as you peruse the label. Gourmet, so it claims. You put some in a small pot and heat it up on the gas burner. As you do, you thumb through your phone, pacing around between stirring the thick orange puree.

You eat rich soup with a brioche bun from the market bag. You’re thankful now Steve didn’t ask for compensation, you’re not sure you could foot that bill. And to think, after him praising your timely payments, you would default on a grocery receipt.

You shut off the lights downstairs and flip on the sconce above the staircase and follow it up to the second floor. You come down the hall with a yawn, the bedroom door open and waiting for you. Your duffel is on the dresser where you left it.

You sift around for a loose tee shirt to sleep in and pull out your toiletry bag. You go into the bathroom and change before unzipping the pouch. You take out your cleanser and wash your face over the sink. You pause as you drop the bottle through the open mouth of the blush coloured bag, a fuchsia shape poking out from under your mouthwash.

You reach in and retrieve your bullet vibrator. What the hell? You definitely don’t remember packing that in your hasty evacuation. Besides, why would you put it in there? You shake your head and drop it back to the bottom. 

You pat your face dry and take out your tweezers, cleaning up your brows and a few vagrant hairs along your chin. You put them away then ply on your night cream, making a face at yourself as you brush your teeth. You flip the switch off and use the light on your phone to find your way to bed. 

You lay awake for almost an hour. You’ve never been good at sleeping in strange places. The house feels so empty it’s eerie. Your ears are pricked for any noise but there isn’t much. The walls are so thick, you don’t even hear the rustling of the tree that casts a shadow through the window or the chirp of crickets. Despite its luxury, the house is desolate.

Your eyelids start to itch and you feel your muscles ease. You start to drift down, a slow swirling descent that tingles in your sockets. That shell starts to encase you, little by little, paralysing you as it drags you down.

BANG!

It isn’t loud but sudden. The dull noise jars you up, chasing away the advance of your fatigue. You look around, heart beating wildly, searching for the source. It sounded close but you can’t be sure. It could’ve been all in your mind as you tiptoed the threshold of your unconscious.

You bounce to the edge of the bed and stand, wobbling through the dark until you find the switch by the door. The light shines out around you as you stop in the doorway, glancing trepidatiously towards the stairs. You near the top and turn on the next light, a cautious progress through the spacious house.

You go down each step, one at a time, and when you get to the bottom, you illuminate the entryway too, the front room, and finally the kitchen. There’s nothing there. You didn’t really expect to find anything. The noise felt much closer to the bedroom.

You return to the second floor, shutting off the lights along the way, and you peer down the hallway. You didn’t check up here. You pad along the soft runner rug and peek into the bathroom before you approach the closed door of the study.

You touch the handle and a zing of fear courses through you. You should just go back to bed. You don’t need to know.

You turn it and inch inside, snaking your other hand in to flick on the lights. The same. Nothing there. You shut the door and proceed to the second bedroom, the door is slightly ajar so you kick it open with your foot and let the light in the hallway pour in. Empty.

You’re imagining things. It’s being in this strange house. Whenever you stayed the night at your grandmother’s it was the same thing. If you weren’t awake, waiting for the creaks of the house to prove something sinister, you were trapped in shallow night terrors that felt too real.

You return to the bedroom. You don’t turn off the light right away. You grab your charger and plug in your phone, opening up the white noise app you never used. You scroll through the choices with their dreamy names; serenity, fantasy, rejuvenation…

Your thumb hovers over the start button as you hear something else. Muffled and hollow. You frown, you can’t tell if it’s real or your mind playing tricks. There’s such a surreal distant effect to the scream that you can’t be sure it’s not some stray cat yowling in the street. The silence that ensues feeds your doubt. You’re looking for peculiarities, that’s all.

You press play on the soothing wishing noises and set your phone on the night table. You get up to shut off the lights and quickly nestle into bed, pulling a pillow over your head to block out the room. You just need to make it through the first night.

🖤

The next day, you leave earlier than usual. The change in your bus route and prospect of a narrow transfer from one bus to the next, has you anxious. Before you leave, you double check that you have your bus pass and some spare change just in case. You hook your bag around your shoulder, the security system announcing your exit; ‘front door open’.

You pull the door shut and hit the lock icon on the pad. You test the handle to make sure it’s closed and for a moment, you’re disoriented as you hear the door unlock but it doesn’t budge. You frown and look up as a shadow emerges from the unit next to yours. It wasn’t your door.

A man with long brown hair poking out from under a ball cap turns to punch in his code before locking it. The pad flashes red confirming the door is secured. He scowls at the handle as he drops his arm straight, his hand balling to a fist as he mutters.

“Morning,” you greet, the typical squeaky greeting you give to your neighbours.

He winces and turns as he looks up at you. You must’ve surprised him. You give an apologetic wave and tight-lipped smile. His blue eyes shock you, bold but bright in his chiseled face. He tilts his head slightly before he spins without response and stalks away. You watch his broad shoulders as he marches across the street without looking.

Not the friendliest of neighbours but the first one you’ve encountered. It’s a little less offputting knowing you’re not the only one around. You let out a long breath and make your way down the paved pathway to the sidewalk. You peek back at the unit next door. The curtains are drawn and the place looks dark even at the peak of day.

You shrug it off. You should only be there for a couple more days. That’s it. That’s all you have to get through.

[lilies-n-slander]

Hazbin Hotel would be so much more interesting if charlie’s naïveté and surface-level kindness were treated as the actual flaws they are and didn’t work. Heads up, this kinda just turned into a text wall of charlie neg and ranting so don’t read if you don’t want to see that.

How she currently is, she just doesn’t make that much sense in the setting. I’ve seen ppl say that charlie is a fresh take and contrasts the edginess, but I just don’t see how she is possible. You’re telling me she’s been in hell for 200 yrs but still has this childish and naive personality, is still disgusted by the sinners being cannibalistic, violent, and even just horny, and is so detached from those she calls “her people”? She was born in hell, shouldn’t that make her more used to the sinners’ depravity and not less? She doesn’t seem to have a good grasp on what the sinners want or how they behave. It would make more sense if the show leaned into the toxic positivity white savior nepo baby angle (or rather, actually portrayed it as a *bad* thing) and rather than naïveté, her ignorance was out of self-centeredness and/or lack of true empathy for the other sinners. She would be more interesting as a character too imo.

She looks down on the other sinners (and honestly so does the show?? When she’s showing lucifer around and introduces him to her friends, they’re framed as unappealing as a joke… these are the characters the audience is also supposed to care about.. and many of the bg chars, such as the cannibal town residents, are portrayed as simple-minded brutes), there’s a lot of condescending “….ooookay” type of lines and she constantly has to think of nice ways to frame the clearly negative things she thinks about others. So why does she want to save them so much? The more reasonable explanation is a sense of white savior-ness than actually caring about them.

She’s eager to excuse whatever sir pentious did (which I’m assuming she doesn’t know?) and let him in, despite how he makes the other residents (including her own gf!) uncomfortable. And yes I say excuse, because she never inquires about his past sins or discussed him repenting. It seems to start with sorry, but also end with sorry too. This could’ve been made interesting if she simultaneously looked down on but also excused all sorts of heinous acts. Like val is the most openly manipulative and scummy character, he licks her arm, and yet she’s still apologetic about ruining things (Side note, if she’s genuinely apologetic, then she’s actually an idiot because why is she talking to the boom-mic employee *while they’re filming???*).

She doesn’t know what she’s doing and has no concrete plan but gets incredulous at ppl who don’t blindly trust her. Angel has to leave in ep 4 and she gets SO frustrated over it, like you seriously expect everyone to drop all of their other commitments for you? She has her webster definition notecards for the meeting with heaven and has to improvise and rely on angel being good at the club but she gets mad that lucifer isn’t 100% behind her plan?

Also, trust falls? Really? Then she goes “why isn’t this working? We’ve tried everything!” But on that note, the actual episode portrayal is kinda exactly what I’m going for. Not only do the trust falls not work, charlie says, “I love all of you so much,” pulls her puppy eyes, and only vaggie catches her. It’s surface level and shallow, and does not win anyone else over.

In contrast, vaggie’s attempt at building trust, throwing everyone into a battle, *actually works* (despite vaggie only being in hell for 3 years and being heaven-born, she already knows how things work better than charlie!) and yet charlie talks about it as though it already failed. She says “we work best as a team,” with the underlying message being “I can’t trust you to do things on your own.”

If she was waiting so long to reconnect with lucifer, then why hasn’t she called him in years?? Altho I’m currently rotating lucifer in my brain so I might be a bit biased

“If angels can do whatever and stay in the sky” they can’t?? Your dad is RIGHT there. I. What

She has a power dynamic with every other character except lucifer since she has her demon powers, not to mention she’s giving them a place to stay. When vaggie says she appreciates that charlie doesn’t use her powers, charlie doesn’t say “it wouldn’t be right,” she says it would be too *mean.* But if someone pushes her buttons, who’s to say they wouldn’t slip out (see her flip on a dime after val hits angel. Obv it’s justified in this case, but it shows that she’s willing to use her powers on sinners)? Again, it would be interesting if the show actually leaned into this angle. Imagine if she put on a nice front, never swore, seemed genuinely touching and understanding, but the second someone annoys her she annihilates them and becomes threatening and violent. Then she turns around and is nice again. Too much like alastor? idk

Also, many characters refer to her by calling her lucifer’s daughter, so clearly ppl know that if they cross her they’ll face his wrath by proxy (this also fits in thematically with what lute tells her in the first episode, that she’s exempt from the exterminations bc nepotism privilege). So realistically, everyone else would be a bunch of sucking-up yes-men bc they’re afraid of her. Which they kind of are when push comes to shove?

At first, she doesn’t help at all during the war and lets everyone else fight for her. Doesn’t want to get her hands dirty ig, even though all of this was caused by her in the first place. She only starts fighting at vaggie’s urging.

Like husk points out, every meeting charlie has with the angels makes things worse for all the sinners. Despite lucifer’s warnings that the meeting with heaven won’t work, and against vaggie saying to calm down, charlie basically picks a fight with heaven at the risk of *everyone else EXCEPT HER.*

What were charlie and lilith doing to stop the exterminations before lilith took her 7 year leave? Hell, what was charlie doing during those 7 years? Why does she have 0 connections outside of vaggie, who she only met 3 yrs ago? Why does she have to introduce herself to rosie, rather than her already knowing her name?

Also in ep 7 she says to alastor “I can’t believe how you can do exactly what you told me you would do!” (standing by and watching everyone fail at redemption) almost like she wasn’t paying attention to him at all.

“Why would vaggie hide that she was an exterminator” -> Rosie asks “how did that make you feel?” “It made me mad and doubt if she loves me” like I get it, it was a betrayal, but IS she stupid

Ready For This is charlie manipulating a town of ppl to join the army. Her pitch includes “on the way to the hotel the scenery is nice and you can make friends :3” and “have you ever wanted to die for a cause? Notably I myself am spared from being killed but uh that’s your problem.” Alastor pipes in that you can eat the angels and that’s what actually moves the crowd, because he understands them.

Her perspective on violence and where she chooses to draw the line is really confusing. Why does she care about sinners being violent to each other if they’ll just respawn? She stops alastor from beating up sir pentious at an arbitrary point, but is fine with him eating and presumably killing the gangsters who come after mimzy. (Edit: forgot to point out yet another example, that she was fine with vaggie tossing sir pentious and angel off the balcony but stops her from tossing niffty as well for no reason.) Why is she so apologetic to the angels actively killing sinners but was distraught over vaggie having partaken? Why was she opposed to the CANNIBALS being eager to eat the angels and saying “idk, they seem kinda murder-y” WHAT. What? I’m struggling to even begin to describe how ignorant that is during a WAR. What did she think was going to happen, that she wouldn’t have to fight anyone herself? Why did she stop her dad from killing Adam but doesn’t react strongly to Niffty finishing the job? If it mattered so much to her, the lack of reaction seems strange to me.

Isn’t it just so poetic that her weapon in the war is a shield that she uses exclusively on herself, which she hardly even needs due to her contractual immunity?

Why doesn’t she think to use her powers to build and maintain the hotel? That doesn’t require any violence or domineering. Yet when lucifer comes over it’s run-down and falling apart. Or ask lucifer to help her build it? She was concerned that asking for the meeting with heaven was such a big ask—why not start with this small thing? Father-daughter bonding.

Why does the show end w lucifer + the sinners congratulating her, and in particular, rebuilding the hotel? Hell doesn’t know that sir pentious got redeemed, so from their pov charlie’s idea didn’t work at all.

Can you tell that I’m writing this while I’m rewatching the show?

Aaand that’s that. Her char has always come off to me as somewhat condescending/fake, but I keep finding more and more things to dislike about the way she’s been written. Unfortunate. Honestly tho I might enjoy watching her more if I read her through this lens. You could probably write a similar post for most/all other chars in the show, limited only by the amount of screentime they get lmao

[justsomerandomfanfic]

Thank you so much for the response and I'm so glad you're doing well! With that said, I'd love to send in a romantic matchup request for Hobbit & LOTR, if that's alright.

I'm tall 5"9, she/her, 20. I'd like to be paired up with a male character. Personality-wise I am described as ambitious, resourceful, adaptable and very stubborn. I'm a lone wolf to the core and independent for it, I don't feel much comfort in asking help of others or relying on someone. Although I can yap a lot when I'm really close to someone and we're talking about something interesting or about something I'm passionate about. I'm not the best when it comes to emotions or physical displays of affection.

I love reading books and I love to learn in general - new hobbies, skills, about history..etc. Specifically, my favourite books are Game of Thrones series(and Tolkien books ofc). Favourite animal is a dragon. My other hobbies are art and writing and a bit of calligraphy and I have a hobby of collecting pretty rocks. My aesthetic would be a mix of dark academia+medieval themes, medieval royalty type of thing. For looks- I already said I'm quite tall, besides that I have brown eyes, glasses and really long brown hair with white streaks (grays- *couGh*) that I love to braid now and then, I'm pretty athletic and have some curves. I also have a lot of beauty marks everywhere.

That's it, I tried to keep it short so I hope it's alright :'D thank you sm for your time 💕

-🔶🐉

HI! I'm sorry this is a tad late! Thank you for your request! <3333

I hope you enjoy your matchups!

Romantic Matchups; The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings

~~~ Romantic;

~~~

The Hobbit;

Thranduil -

You meet Thranduil during a formal event at his halls in Mirkwood. Perhaps you’re there as an emissary, or he takes an interest in your scholarly pursuits and invites you to his court.

Either way, that was where you officially met.

Your keen interest in history and your medieval royal aesthetic catch his eye.

He might initially seem cold and aloof, his gaze assessing. However, your passion for learning and dragons manages to spark genuine interest.

Perhaps one day he'll tell you about his scars.

A conversation about ancient lore or your rock collection would slowly soften his demeanor.

Thranduil respects independence and strength, qualities he sees in you. He admires how you carry yourself, blending elegance and strength.

He doesn’t push you to rely on him but creates opportunities to share knowledge and experiences, such as inviting you to study the Elven archives or learn about the treasures in his halls.

Your stubbornness and his regal pride occasionally lead to playful clashes of wit, but he secretly enjoys your ability to stand your ground.

Sometimes there are fights, but they are quickly resolved.

The friendship grows through late-night discussions in the grand halls, where you both talk about ancient tales, compare aesthetics, and admire each other’s intellect.

Thranduil is cautious with his emotions but finds himself charmed.

He notices the way you light up when speaking about topics you’re passionate about, and though he doesn’t show it openly, his heart warms when you talk animatedly about a book your read or show him your latest pretty rock find.

His subtle gestures - like gifting you rare stones or books on lore he thinks you’d appreciate - are how he begins to express his affection.

Thranduil is a king, so romance with him is grand but restrained. Expect quiet, meaningful moments rather than overt public displays of affection.

He’d braid a strand of your long hair, intertwining it with silver and jewels as a sign of his affection, especially when you mention how much you love braiding.

You can braid his hair too :)

He tells you how your beauty marks are like stars.

One of Thranduil’s love languages is quality time. He’d invite you to stroll through the starlit woods of Mirkwood, discussing ancient lore and admiring the natural beauty surrounding you.

Spend hours reading ancient texts in the royal library. He’d sit across from you, his piercing gaze occasionally wandering to admire your focus.

He’d teach you calligraphy using Elven techniques, his hands guiding yours if needed.

Don't even get me started on the clothing he would get made for you.

He’d personally train you in swordsmanship or archery, wanting you to feel capable and secure in dangerous times.

You are there when Thranduil is feeling down, lending an ear, and making sure he is alright.

If you need time alone, his is willing to leave the room, but before, he makes sure you have everything you need.

Staying up late to watch the stars together.

~~~

The Lord Of The Rings;

Haldir -

You meet Haldir while wandering in Lothlórien, drawn to its beauty and mystery.

Perhaps you were studying Elven culture or merely passing through.

As the watchful Marchwarden, he is the first to spot you, his sharp gaze cautious. However, he notices your graceful demeanor and admires your respectful curiosity about the land.

Your shared appreciation for history and knowledge sparks a tentative connection. He finds your dragon fascination peculiar but endearing and might tease you about it gently.

Haldir appreciates your independence and shares your love of deep, meaningful conversations.

You bond over late-night walks through Lórien’s golden woods, where you exchange tales and philosophies.

He values your adaptability and ability to hold your own in a conversation. You’d earn his respect through your wit and determination.

Though reserved, Haldir begins to open up as he recognizes your loyalty and willingness to be there for him without smothering his space.

He needs space too sometimes.

Haldir is hesitant to express romantic interest, but he notices small things about you - the way your hair shines in the moonlight, the conviction in your voice when speaking passionately, and the delicate care you put into braiding your hair.

His affection is shown through actions rather than words: guarding your favorite spots, teaching you about the flora and fauna of Lórien, and leaving small tokens like pressed flowers for you to find around your room.

Haldir’s romance is understated but deeply meaningful.

He’d show you how to handle an Elven bow, his hands lightly brushing yours, though he’d hide his flustered expression behind his calm demeanor.

Share quiet evenings reading together. He’d help translate Elven texts for you and take pride in your eagerness to learn.

Haldir teaches you elvish, falling deeper in love with you as you try and pronounce a word or two perfectly.

Playfully argue about tactics and strategies, whether in combat or games. He enjoys the intellectual challenge and seeing your fiery stubbornness.

Carve a small wooden dragon for you, his attempt at combining his skill with your passion.

You share your artistic talents by drawing landscapes of Lórien or even sketching him while he’s unaware.

You encourage him to relax and enjoy life’s simple pleasures, like admiring the beauty of a sunrise or sitting quietly in nature.

Be his confidante, providing a safe space for him to express vulnerabilities he’d never show to others.

Braiding each other's hair, the courting has begun.

[otakusheep15]

Flufftober Day 5 - Market

Content includes: Deuce x reader, implied relationship (could be read as platonic), reader is referred to as Prefect, Deuce's mother (probably a bit OOC)

Today is the first day of a week-long break. From what you were told, the break is because of some Twisted Wonderland holiday, but you couldn’t sort out too many of the details. All you knew was that you would be alone on campus, hanging out in Ramshackle with Grim and the ghosts. 

Or, at least that’s what you assumed until last night. 

It was pretty late when you got a text from Deuce. He usually tries to go to bed early, but since it was the night before a break, it was understandable that he’d be up. He had texted you asking if you wanted to join him for break in his hometown. 

At first you declined, not wanting to intrude on his family so last minute, but he assured you that it was fine. He had already confirmed with his mom before he asked you, and she approved your visit. 

So now you’re up bright and early, packing your bags. You originally only wanted to bring one to save space, plus it would only be a week, but Grim insisted he needed his own bag entirely dedicated to his tuna, so now you had two. 

As soon as you’re done packing, you hear a knock at your door. Deuce is here right on time, as expected. You were fine just meeting up at the mirror, but Deuce insisted that you should walk together, and you just couldn’t deny him. 

You hurry downstairs with your bags and Grim, waving goodbye to the ghosts as you pass them. When you reach the door, Deuce is standing there, looking much too chipper for this early in the morning. He’s holding his own bag, and he smiles when he sees you. 

“Good morning Prefect. Ready to go?” You nod, walking outside and closing the door behind you. Grim makes a comment about how cold it is, but both of you ignore him, knowing he was bound to complain eventually. 

“Did you need help carrying your bags? I can hold them if they’re too heavy.” Sweet Deuce, ever the helper character. You politely decline, perfectly fine with carrying your own bags. Grim’s tuna bag is kind of heavy since the tins are made of steel, but they aren’t that bad. 

Thanks to some nice small talk, the walk to the Mirror Hall feels much shorter than it actually is. There’s already a line of students waiting to return home, but because it’s so early, there aren’t as many students right now. You’re lucky you got here early because you’ve seen how busy it can get once more people are awake. 

It doesn’t take too long for the three of you to reach the mirror, and soon enough you’re teleported to Deuce’s hometown. You doubt you’ll ever get used to teleportation via mirror, and you take a second to recover from your dizziness. Deuce and Grim seem fine, and you’re sure there’s some correlation between teleportation and magic that you’re much too tired to look into. 

Now that you’re officially here, your first order of business is to head over to Deuce’s house to see his mother, as well as drop off your bags. His mother was excited to see you, according to Deuce, and you were excited to see her too. 

The second you’re in the door, his mother rushes to greet you, scooping up Deuce in a hug. He hugs back, obviously happy to see her after so long. You smile, finding the whole interaction rather adorable. When his mother lets go of him, she turns to you, holding her arms out for a hug as well. You take her up on the offer, stepping into her arms and wrapping your own around her as well. It’s much calmer than her hug with Deuce, which is to be expected. 

She lets you go after a moment, making sure to give a greeting to Grim as well. She points you in the direction of the guest room you’ll be staying in, which is the opposite from where Deuce’s room is. You split up for a moment to put down your bags before meeting up again in the living room. 

When you return, Deuce is already sitting on the couch, talking to his mother. He stands up when you walk in, walking over to greet you. 

“Hey, Prefect, I just had a really good idea. Mom wants to make a special dinner tonight to celebrate us coming home, so I was thinking we could go to the farmer’s market in town to get ingredients for her. How does that sound?”

You nod along with his plans, agreeing to his idea easily. It’d be a fun way to explore more of the town, plus you get to spend time with Deuce. 

Grim decides that he’s too tired to go out, even though it’s still morning. No one puts up a fight, and Deuce’s mother offers to watch him while you two go out. 

The air feels nice against your skin now that it’s warmed up a bit. It’s still cool, but not as cold as it was earlier. Deuce, once again, leads the way, knowing his way around town like it’s nothing. 

You wind up at the farmer’s market in no time at all, and you’re amazed at all of the stalls you see. For such a small town, you figured there would only be a couple of stalls, but you’re certainly happy to see such a variety. Deuce pulls you into the crowd, and the two of you begin looking through all of the stalls you see. Most of the stalls are food related, with everything from fresh produce to homemade sweets. 

His mother gave him an allowance to spend so that you wouldn’t have to spend your own money, and the two of you do your best to budget. You find everything his mother requested, which includes lots of veggies, fresh eggs (per Deuce’s request), and other various ingredients. 

While you’re looking around, you spot a small stall towards the end of the row. It isn’t getting much attention, but it intrigues you. You tug on Deuce’s sleeve as he browses some fruit and let him know you’re wondering off. He naturally offers to go with you, but you tell him it’s fine, so he stays and continues browsing. 

You walk over to the stall you were looking at, and the person running it greets you with a smile. As you look through their products, you notice they mostly sell handmade jewelry. Their products are all very nice, and you can tell a lot of thought was put into all of them. 

One thing immediately catches your eye. It’s a set of bracelets, one with a blue gem and one with a black gem. They remind you of you and Deuce, and you can’t help but smile at them. The jewelry maker notices your staring, and they begin telling you about the pair. Apparently, when the two gems are lined up, they form a heart. 

You pick them up and line them up as instructed, and they do, indeed, form a heart. It’s absolutely adorable, and you know you have to get them for you and Deuce. They’re a bit on the pricey side, but you think it’s okay since they’re handmade. Once you’ve made your purchase, you wander back over to Deuce, who has finished buying what he needs for dinner. 

“So, what did you buy?” He tries to sneak a peek, but you’re quick to hide your bag behind your back, ensuring him that you’ll show him later. It’s obvious he wants to know now, but he’s too polite to complain. 

You make your way back to the house, and Deuce was adamant on carrying all of the bags. When you get inside, he places all of the down on the kitchen counter and makes quick work of putting everything away. Dinner won’t be until later, after all. 

The rest of the day goes by without much hassle. It’s mostly spent lounging around as his mother begins dinner preparations. The two of you along with Grim think of fun things to do throughout the week, and by the time you have a sufficient schedule planned out, dinner is ready. 

You eat, and it’s one of the best meals you’ve had in a while. Deuce’s mother is a very good cook, and you make sure to let her know. She thanks you, and dinner moves on smoothly from there. 

Once you’re done, you and Deuce head to his room to hang out for a bit longer. You have a long day tomorrow, so you both agreed to go to bed early. While you’re here, you decided it was the perfect time to give Deuce his gift. 

You run to your room for a second to grab the bag before meeting Deuce back in his room. You plop down next to him on his bed, showing him the bag in your hands. He takes it from you and opens it, finding the two bracelets. He looks between you and the bracelets, seemingly trying to figure out what to say.

“Matching bracelets? For us to match?” You nod, taking the bracelets to show him how they match up into a heart. He smiles at that, taking the blue one while you put on the black one. 

“Thank you, Prefect. I promise I’ll never take it off.” You laugh at that, telling him that he probably shouldn’t leave it on to sleep or shower. He laughs along with you, and soon a comfortable silence settles over the room. 

You lean into him, giving him a side hug. It takes him a second to register the contact, but he leans into you as well. The two of you sit like that for a while, just enjoying the company, before a yawn escapes you. You take that as your cue to go to bed, reluctantly standing up. 

The two of you say your goodbyes, and you head off to your guest room. Grim is already fast asleep on his part of the bed, and you crawl in slowly so as not to wake him. You stare at your bracelet for a moment, smiling. You’re happy you bought these, even if your wallet isn’t. You take it off, placing it gently on the nightstand next to your phone. The shine of the gem is the last thing you see before you drift off, and it’s the first thing you see when you wake up.

[kyupidos]

CONGRATS ON 100! i've been a reader of yours since the beginning, and you've greatly improved; your writing is awesome,, you deserve the milestone! for your halloween event, id like to request the dialogue prompt: "ah, you've made the mistake in thinking that just because this is a couples costume that you get any kind of say in it. you don't, actually." with ace trappola,, i think it'd be really cute! thanks so much, congrats again!

10/19/23’s delivery 🏹✉️ twisted wonderland

prompt 3 🕸★ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧₊ 🕸★ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧₊ 🕸★ଘ(੭ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ✩‧₊ ;; summary. ‘ah, you’ve made the mistake in thinking that just because this is a couples costume that you get any kind of say in it. you don’t, actually.’

100 follower milestone event homepage <- ! | event m.list

characters. heartslabyul : ace trappola ;; romantic . 🕸️ tags. reader is gender neutral ( you/your ), reader may or may not be yuu ( up to the reader ), romantic fluff

📞 _a/n. tysm for the congrats!! i’m glad you think i’ve improved, and i’ve noticed it too since i cringe at my earlier posts LMAO thanks for sticking around so long !! ( so sorry for getting this out so late, and so short too, but it’s been a busy couple days </3 )

a. trappola

— when you introduced him to the idea of matching costumes, it was safe to say that ace was feeling rather giddy. wearing couple costumes while traversing night raven for tricks and treats, the idea got him excited. of course he wouldn’t admit it, but even simple things like wearing matching fits always seemed to get his heart pumping faster than usual. for him, it was always in the little things, he supposed. you told him that you were going to go look for ideas on magicam, and for the few moments you stopped texting him, he spent internally giggling giddily to himself.

— some days, maybe two or three, had officially passed when you came up to him with whatever you apparently had in mind. you pulled up to his dorm, laying out on his bed the costume of choice. he stared, blinking once and then twice in perplexity of the costumes laid out, one of which being that of a cherry, and the other being a pie slice, presumably. “huuuh? what’s this?” ace questioned, with as much genuinity as possible as to not be rude, taking hold of the fabric of the cherry costume with his pointer and thumb finger, “this’s what we’re wearing?”

— in response to your casual nod, ace couldn’t help but tilt his head puzzledly. “of course, ‘cause you’re the cherry to my pie.” you spoke pridefully, peace sign in the air, and ace couldn’t help but snort. “eh, that so? then i guess i don’t mind it that much,” he accepted his fate easily, already used to your persistence even with the little things like this. maybe, he concluded, that’s why he enjoyed them so much, holding up the cherry costume completely with his fists now, looking at you as you held your own costume, holding it up to your chest as if to see if it fit, though you knew it did, in the meanwhile. “but i kinda figured we’d have a whole talk and a half about it.”

— you tutted smartly, wagging your pointer finger pointedly. “ah, you’ve made the mistake in thinking that just because this is a couples costume that you get any kind of say in it,” you lectured, a comedic sweat drop falling down the side of ace’s face as you easily continued, “you don’t, actually.” he just laughed in his amusement, ruffling his hair as he took a good look at his costume again. he guessed he did like it, after all—it wasn’t exactly what he expected it, but it was good enough for him. “alright then,” ace smiled for no reason in particular other than his mind wandering towards his daydreams of the both of you wearing your outfit together, “pie to my cherry, let’s wear it.”

[existslikepristin]

Little later than expected because I feel like shiiit. And, I know. "What's new?" But at the moment I mean physically. Regardless, here's ya dang story:

Tags: NSFW, S.M.U.T., genie, poor game design

(Story Index)

Figure the app out

“Well,” you say with a sigh, “I can’t read any ancient languages, so can you just help me out here?”

“Oh duh. Sorry about that, master. Old habits die hard, even if said habits are a few millennia old. We’re currently speaking… ah, yes! English! Easy peezy squeezy my buttcheeks. There you go.”

You look at your phone again. The mass of text bubbles all over the screen are now written in English. It’s still… a lot of nonsense.

“Just point me to the important parts?”

“Of course! Let’s just make you a little more comfortable.”

By the time she finishes the sentence, you’re in your room, sitting on the edge of your bed with Joy pressing her chest into your back. She reaches over your shoulders and speaks softly into your ear as she taps your phone.

“So here we have your Harem Hub, which is where you’ll be spending a decent amount of time swapping back and forth between screens. Where you’ll be spending most of your time…”

Joy touches an image of a tower with gold coins spilling out of it.

“… is here, in your Inventory—it’s called that because you own the people in your harem like they’re inanimate possessions—, where you can organize, sort, search, and summon the members of your harem as desired. As you can see, it’s currently empty, so let’s go back to the Harem Hub.”

While Joy pokes around with one hand, the other is softly rubbing your shoulder. It’s quite relaxing. Come to think of it, you are a little tired.

“Right in the center of the Harem Hub is the Summoning Portal, which summons anime girls to your Inventory, not into the real world, which is a different kind of summoning. Let’s give it a try now and see who you get!”

Before you can do anything yourself, Joy taps the portal and the app begins a series of over the top animations of overlapping summoning circles and colorful overlays. About fifteen seconds later, a naked anime girl with a pitch black hime haircut, nearly black eyes, and rather small breasts flashes on screen. She looks like pretty much every other anime character being drawn these days.

Joy gasps very dramatically, “Oh my gosh, master! You got Anecha on your first try! But she… she’s a Super Rare! You only had a zero point three percent chance of that happening! She’s from the mythical land of Sorgania, and she’s a hybrid of all three class archetypes, able to spec into any skill tree you want! She’s one of—if not the—most versatile girls you can get!”

“That’s cool,” you mutter, “Can we summon her and get fucking?”

“Oh master, you’re so funny. You can’t summon a character naked.”

“But, the whole point is to have sex with her…”

“Well yeah, but when you’re not having sex with her, she’s going to be questing! We’ll get to that in a minute. First, check it out. She was just the rarest of your summons for this pull,” Joy wraps her legs around you, fully bear hugging you from behind while she yammers on, “You also got Heyri, Emi, Bonnie, and Magz. That will make for a pretty balanced party, though you can expect Anecha to handle basically everything on her own until you get to World 4, at least. Obviously though, we need to go back to tow—I mean the Harem Hub to purchase some basic equipment. No, not that shop. That’s the cash shop where you can get more summoning shards. Right here, at the Blacksmith. You’ll want to equip Anecha first to make the first few quests as easy as possible, and you’ve got all these coins ready to go, so… Oh, fantastic! Tim has lava katanas in stock, so we absolutely have to take advantage of that in the next two minutes. We better make sure some of your other girls can benefit from those stats though, so if we check the party status screen you can see their preferred stats are highlighted in gold. It looks like Emi prefers Gumption, so a lava katana is—”

Joy’s words fade into the ether and your eyes drift shut. She’s so warm, holding you like this…

“… and that’s why you always save up your electrum ingots. You don’t want to be willy-nilly turning those into…”

“… obviously, but don’t forget that any skill cooldown can be refreshed by…”

“… back from the arena! We should go congratulate her for defeating the sand kraken, because that will bump up the congratulatory meter. Sometimes you want to hold back though, since doing it too often will give diminishing returns…”

You’re woken up by the sound of squawking birds outside and sunlight blasting your eyes through the window. You’re on your back, legs hanging off the bed. Looking to the side, you see Joy, still naked and hunched over, tapping your phone. “I know it’s labeled as a PVP mode, but since the magic is actually built into you and not the app, that’s not actually a thing. The other players’ names and teams are just randomly generated but slightly optimized versions of your own builds so that you get an idea for what’s actually possible when you spend your gems properly.”

With a yawn, you sit up, make note of your own nudity, and flinch back as you nearly headbutt a new stranger standing at the foot of your bed. “What the fu—who are you?!”

It’s a woman, wearing a skimpy purple bikini with silver trim and blue ribbons hanging off of it. Her hair and fairly large eyes are dark, midnight black. Despite the fact that she’s holding what definitely appears to be a katana made out of lava, she looks a little bit nervous. “S-sorry, master. She,” she points at Joy, who is paying you no mind, ”um, she told me to stand here and wait after summoning me…”

You look her up and down. She’s… taller than you thought she’d be, and her face is a little rounder than it had looked in the image. That picture didn’t do her pouty lower lip or her flared out hip any amount of justice. “Anecha?”

“Sorry, master. It’s pronounced ‘AH-neck-ah,’ but… No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t correct you. Sorry.”

Options:

Um, it’s the morning now. You need to go to work already. You’re probably late.

Responsibilities can wait because they’re for losers. Get a blowjob from Anecha.

Take that sword from her and mess around (safely). It’s so awesome!

Joy called Anecha "the most versatile." Fuck her while you jerk off her futa cock all over Joy’s face.

[thesparklingwriter]

taking fate into one's own hands

03—resignation

Word count: 1.4k

please note, there are two polls this chapter! one is the usual poll and the other is hidden in the text somewhere.

navi | taglist | masterlist

You look at Morax carefully. “A marriage built on lies…” The words fall from your mouth before you can stop them, and you glance at him, gauging his reaction. He returns your gaze with leashed curiosity, and you sigh, busying yourself with your dress. “I suppose I shall forgive you. Just this once.”

“How gracious,” he smiles. “Thank you.”

You shrug and turn to face the window. You watch as the bright green meadows slowly get overtaken by glistening rocks, and the carriage suddenly begins to jostle you more and more. It settles once you’re fully into Liyuean territory, and the ride suddenly becomes much smoother. There's truly no going back now, but you realise that there’s nothing that truly holds you back to your home. Your closest friend is with you and as you grew older, your parents seemed to hold you at a distance. If there are ties to be cut, years of indifference have already weakened them.

“So, what am I to call you?” You ask finally, once the reminders of your old home have finally dissipated and you begin to resign yourself to your new future.

“What would you like to call me?” Morax sits back in his seat, a slightly amused glint twinkling in his eyes betraying his stoic face.

“What am I expected to call you?” You amend, maintaining your level stare.

“Once again, I struggle to truly believe that this is the path you intend to take. I would much rather you were honest and true to yourself than acting in a manner that you believe would please me most.”

You blink, taken aback by his deduction of your character. “That is not my intention.”

“Then why do you ask such questions?”

“I simply do not wish to offend.” You reply coldly, focusing your glance out of the window. “If you regard that as submission, that is your prerogative. I daren’t tell you what to think.”

In your peripheral vision, you catch Morax’s eyes narrow slightly, but you do not address it or draw attention to it. You asked the question, but you already had made a decision. You would avoid any situation that required you to address him by name, which would be all, if not most.

The journey is mainly silent from that point on. You find it hard to reconcile your emotions with reason—you have no reason to hate the man who has saved your kingdom and your family from ruin, and you have no reason to purposefully smite him. But even yet, you still feel that he is undeserving of the gratitude he must expect from you. If he truly wanted to help your kingdom out of the kindness of his heart, he didn't need to uproot you to do it.

After a while, the driver announces that you are nearing the castle, and you do your utmost to not show that you’re nervous. It’s bad enough that he’s taking you from your family—the last thing you want is for him to see it’s affecting you.

“I presume you would like some time to familiarise yourself with the castle and its surroundings and I shall leave you to do that.” Morax says to you as the carriage slows to a stop. He watches as you climb out of the carriage and courteously bow to the driver and the maid who escorts you and Alanna to your chambers. Your posture is better than hundreds of Liyueans he's had the pleasure of meeting.

“Am I to assume that things didn’t go well?”

Morax sighs as he exits the carriage, regarding the prince carefully.

“It didn’t go horrendously.” He says.

"I think if you were to show her around, rather than a maid, it might make her less critical of you.”

“Thank you, Xiao, but I’ll have to decline. There were some absurdities on the journey here that I plan to assess.”

“Surely you aren’t prioritising work over the woman you are to marry,” Xiao says quietly. It was rare that he ever questioned the king. He had been very young when Morax had taken him under his wing, and even despite the absurdity of their whole arrangement, Xiao had begun to view him as a brother.

“I have no intention of marrying her as it stands. My concern is keeping her away from those affiliated with the abyss, or else her kingdom loses their future queen, and we lose our most valuable trade partner.”

“I have never understood you,” Xiao says, as they walk toward Morax’s office. "Why claim to, then?" There’s no response, so Xiao assumes that Morax didn't hear him, or he simply doesn’t care.

~

Your room is pretty—nicer than the one you had at home. Perhaps if you sat quietly and did what you were told you’d find yourself in enough favour with the king to help them out. Or maybe they didn’t even deserve that. You’re not sure whether you should help the parents who sold you to the highest bidder.

The dark wooden frames of the expansive bed and the furniture contrast nicely with the red and golden fabric and decorations, and the seat of your desk is so soft that the minute you sit on it, you’re convinced you could sleep on it.

“Is there a room ready for you, Alanna?” You ask.

Alanna sweeps her pale golden hair out of her face. She’s been uncharacteristically quiet and you wonder whether it’s due to the fact she’d never left your home kingdom before.

“No, not yet.” She says quietly. “But that’s alright. Do not worry about me.” You stare at her in disbelief but do not protest yet. It’s too early in the day to convince her otherwise.

You begin to regret not bringing any clothing with you. At the time, it had seemed logical, at least so Alanna could carry more, but now you find yourself without comfortable clothes to sleep in and shoes that don't announce your presence to the whole palace.

“Your Highness, I do hope you won’t take this as a betrayal, but your parents asked me to take this letter for you.” Alanna hands you a simple envelope. There’s no seal—of course, your parents needed to save the seals for more extravagant occasions—and the paper is yellow and weathered. “I understand that your emotions towards them are complex, but—”

“Thank you,” you say quietly. You don't want to bother Alanna with how you feel about the letter or whether you intend to read it or not. “I appreciate it. Thank you for all you’ve done for me.”

“There’s no need to thank me,” Alanna smiles. “Just doing my duty.”

You sit down at your desk, looking through the endless sheets of paper and stationery in the drawers beside it. Perhaps now is a good time to take up calligraphy to pass the time.

If you were at home, you could have gone for a walk in the gardens, or maybe gone to speak to some of the kitchen staff and help them with some of the food prep. If you hadn't donated your books to the children in the city who needed them more than you did, you could have read them.

But the years of struggle had meant that you’d slowly forgotten how to have hobbies. And now, with no freedom to explore anything new yet, you’re at a serious loss as to what to do. Alanna has begun to busy herself with evaluating the bathroom, and you scribble halfheartedly at a sheet of thick writing paper.

A knock at the door drags you out of your dazed contemplation. There’s a considerable ink blot on the paper you were practising on, and Alanna has found herself face down on your bed, snoring softly.

You hear another knock, and you swipe invisible dirt off your dress before opening the door.

“Good evening,” You say, surprised to see none other than the king at your door. You had expected him to send someone to collect you if he had the intention to speak to you.

“Good evening, yn. I trust your afternoon has been pleasant?” Morax seems slightly more relaxed than when you left him earlier, his long hair is released from its braid, and his attire is somewhat less extravagant. It’s not simple enough to let you forget that he is the king of one of the wealthiest nations in Teyvat, but enough to let you know that he’s probably had enough of being king for the day.

“You could say that,” You reply.

“I must apologise for abandoning you today. There were a few work matters that required my attention. If you’re interested, I would be more than happy to show you around the palace tomorrow, but for now, would you accompany me to dinner?”

how will you proceed?

the link above goes to the poll deciding what the reader will do next. please vote on it! if the link isn't live yet, please go to my blog-the poll will be there.

author's note: hello....its me...i was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet ... okay I'm done with the adele, hello everybody how are you, i hope you're all well, sorry for dying but blame tumblr :(( i actually hate change so much and that's all tumblr has been doing recently lol

taglist: @ainescribe @tartigglez

[theseawillbringdarkness]

I rarely write reviews for things, because honestly, I’m just a regular person with no experience or knowledge on the details of game development, and I get anxious that I may misunderstand something due to being unaware of how certain mechanics work or subtle aspects of storywriting, but I decided to give «Cryptid Crush» a more detailed overview than just a little post full of me gushing over this project that I made originally (spoiler alert: this review actually is just one giant post of me gushing over all the things I love about the game, because I just wanted to note down everything that caught my attention). I’m putting it under the «read more», so folks that didn’t play it can avoid spoilers. And also because I got a bit into oversharing\infodumping mode (aka, a LOT of text), and there is a lot of images too. Buckle up for a ride and let’s-a go!

All screenshots are from the game “Cryptid Crush” by Drowsy Drake Studios.

This is a big read. Seriously. 3378 words. Don’t ask me how it happened, I was in the zone.

Spoilers!!

I say “review”, but it’s just my personal opinion, not entirely written in a serious manner, because I by no means intend it as some serious and professional writing.

TL;DR: play «Cryptid Crush», support it’s creators ( @cryptidcrushvn, @squidinu​ ) and check their website!

I actually stumbled over this game by accident, because one evening I was in especially sour mood and decided to lose myself in one of dating simulators or visual novels, so I was browsing Itchio to see if anything catches my eye. «Cryptid Crush» instantly did just that, because I’m absolutely in love with monstrous characters and I loved what I saw on the game’s main page. Normally, due to whatever weird neurodivergent way my brain works, I can hardly make myself play new games\watch new shows\movies\cartoons, because that requires certain mental preparation from me (aka «the stars must allign in a specific way, or else I’ll stare at the game icon forever, unmoved like a statue»). No idea why it works like this! I have whole lists of things I want to play\watch, but I always have to catch myself in a mental state that is perfectly accepting of getting invested in a new story, even if I know there is 90% chance I will like it. And let me tell you, I’m very glad that I gave «Cryptid Crush» a go. Actually, this is now my comfort story, and there is a lot I want to praise the creators of this game for.

Mechanics

Click to progress the story, which means I can drink tea\coffee AND enjoy a good story. That’s already a win in my books, especially if you’re looking to settle down for a cozy, relaxing evening. Ability to simply scroll back in case you accidentally skipped a dialogue line or want to read it again can really come in handy. Actually, while I’m at it, I have to say BIG THANKS for such detailed menu when it comes to picking where exactly you want to start after you played both chapters. Rather than having to play from the beginning, you can pick a scene to start from, which is especially great for when you want to replay certain moments or conversations in the game.

TTRPG mechanics: at first, I was a bit intimidated, because I always have troubles absorbing technical information about how certain things work (which often looks like an overwhelming cluster of information for my brain), and while I make sure to read through everything, it takes some poking around or even winging from me to get a hold of how something in the game works. However, here it wasn’t so bad at all. I love how «throw a dice to determine success or failure of selected action» here is both used in battle mode AND at a few points in the story, to see if you can get additional information from the characters or get away with a small lie.

When it comes to fights, I enjoyed them more than I expected - said TTRPG mechanic wasn’t so hard to understand after all, and little comments and dialogue lines made the process even more lively and enjoyable. I greatly appreciate the way tutorial was smoothly integrated into gameplay and for a chance to pick difficulty when it comes to fights. I’m a simple person, I play on «easy» majority of the time, so it worked perfectly for me.

Character customization: while the look of the main character, Robyn, is pretty much «set», there are still details you can change, like picking a different color for the coat, hair length, etc. And you can choose whatever first and second name you want (so, like usual, I just used the name of my main OC). Also appreciate the ability to pick pronouns, because I didn’t think too long before picking «they\them». Am I having some sort of self-discovery? I don’t know, but I always appreciate having that option for some reason.

Artwork

The visual part is stunning! The art style is so beautiful and cozy! I love the thicker lines on the outline (no pun intended) of characters, the soft colors, the creativity of monstrous designs. Love how big hands some of characters have (like August in werewolf mode, Oz, Jamie, Mike, etc.)!! My absolutely favorite part, as usual, is facial expressions, of course. Backgrounds also have each their own atmosphere (like cozy one at Robyn’s place, or creepy haunted one at the Elkhorn radio station. Actually, this bit has tons of details - a nice example of «environmental storytelling») and vary in level of detail, allowing some scenes to have more focus on the characters. This pencil-painting style looks great, by the way!

Story

The story in «Cryptid Crush» is very intriguing and allows you an easy integration in it’s world, being a good mix between supernatural and something familiar to all of us. Like dealing with mysterious curse, living in a town full of various cryptids and all the shenanigans that come with it, while at the same time being a relatively regular person, who is just trying to navigate the chaos of their life and worrying about groceries. There is a main story of searching for answers about said curse, but plenty of other storylines that entwine with it, enriching the story and making it feel so full of life. The world here truly feels alive, and there is one part that I love so much.

Despite characters facing hardships and things being rather scary at times (like Robyn’s trip to the void, their first nightmare and what Mike had to face while dealing with Mr.Walker), the story is so. Very. Wholesome. It’s in everything, in the way characters communicate between each other, and especially in their relationships. I’m a big fan of the «found family trope», it always moves me, and I truly believe that sometimes a family can be just a bunch of dysfunctional adults that love each other and try to get along, and seeing those little details or these heartfelt talks that characters share (like the talk between August and Atlas, for example) - they warm my heart so much. My own life may be a mess at the moment, but somehow, this story gives me reassurance that it will work out. Things can be tough sometimes, but they don’t stay tough.

On that note, I absolutely have to mention the amazing writing. Different people obviously gravitate towards different writing styles, but this one is great in so many ways. The descriptions are dosaged perfectly - they’re not dry or, on the contrary, stretch so much that it significantly slows down the story. They’re perfect in giving you enough information to imagine the scene and atmosphere well, without turning into cluster of words (I enjoy big descriptions, but sometimes they may be more fitting for an actual book, rather than a story with a certain flow). And when you’re given lore at the library, it’s also written very interestingly (and the illustrations are so great!!), giving you a better outlook on the world of cryptids. I love the way that size and type of the font (or little details, like «shaking» letters) is used to better convey emotions. All characters feel so alive, they each have their own very different personalities and little quirks. I also absolutely have to applaud the sense of humor that comes into writing and makes it such an easy and comfortable read! I don’t have enough words to describe properly how much I love the writing, okay.

Characters

Usually, I always have a few favorite characters when it comes to stories (I’m personally very fond of Oz, for instance), while I’m rather neutral towards the others, sometimes warming up to them as the story progresses and I get to know them better. «Cryptid Crush» is an exception, though, because I actually love all characters that were introduced to us so far?? So allow me to spam a little with silly little commentaries for each of them. Also, I may mention it about dozens of times, so let me say it here: all voice actors are doing spectacular job! I’m legit in awe of the talent and range, and it’s clear they’re doing their best and having fun in the process too.

«Mothman»

Not gonna lie, I keep asking him for «dad advice» just for fun (I can’t believe his sound effect is straight up «hi Hungry, I’m dad»). The answers are simultaneously the worst and the best.

«Robyn»

I’m fairly certain they’re a mom friend at heart, being a voice of reason on different occassions. Probably unsuspecting that they’re in need of the «found family», but also I hope that it certainly awaits them. Absolutely love it how they’re just trying to ignore all the weird things that are happening in their life currently. I mean, sure, there is a ghostly cat and also now another ghost that haunts your phone. Doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry about breakfast.

«Taro»

She is a little goblin of a cat, and I love her. I mean, I’m aware she is a cat, but at the same time she is so... CAT. If you know what I mean. Waking you up by putting a paw on your face (or through your face in this case), demanding food and attention. Love her, and the voice is absolutely perfect for this type of personality! And her monstrous form looks awesome!

«Atlas»

The quote that comes to mind right away is «I only had them for an hour and a half, but if something happened to them, I’d kill everyone in the room and then myself». Many bits of his personality feel so relatable, especially the urge to infodump\overshare (like what I’m doing right now, whoops). Side note, but in Chapter 1 «Leviathan Waltz», during the phone talk before bed, I always got the picture of Atlas chilling in the attic, identical to the one at the intro of the chapter. An alternative, creepier version was unexpected, but that was a really cool surprise! In any case, I love Atlas dearly, and his enthusiasm towards things is very contagious. I’d absolutely watch a trilogy marathon with him (if there are subtitles, or I’m gonna miss 40-50% of information).

«Jamie»

I didn’t know what to expect at first, but with all the «Let the crimes commence» and casual trashing of the haunted radio station, I did not expect how gentle they are (not with Mike, for obvious reasons, but you know). I adore the manner in which they wrote the message to Robyn the next day after the trip to Elkhorn radio station, almost sounding like what one would write in a full on letter, as well as their overall manner of speech and also being a voice of reason, taking care of their friends. Also, they have a skull-face, which automatically makes me love their design. And bright blue details go so well with the rest of their palette! Also also, I was really thrilled to see a character that goes by «they\them» (okay, yeah, maybe I am going through some self-discovery here).

«Mike Madhouse»

I have to note right off the bat: Mike’s voice actor really be WILDIN’. The absolute charisma that drips off every voiced dialogue line, the unrestrained enthusiasm and madness?? Absolutely amazing. I’m not the person to genuinely laugh that easily, but sound effects for Robyn’s haunted phone crack me up every time. As much as various facial expressions Mike makes (I swear, you guys cranked it up to 200% and I’m loving the result). I’m looking forward to seeing him getting some character growth, and I was happy when he didn’t turn out to simply be defeated and leave the scene for good. He is a complex character, not easily showing his true emotions, which only makes these moments hit even harder (like the sad face he makes at the mention of Atlas, when they’re about to leave for Edith’s shop). «MeAt GrInDeR!!!» moment is definitely one of my favorite ones. (Also, different variations of sprites during the fight, like Atlas Madhouse and demonic looking Madhouse, look epic!)

«August»

He is friend-shaped. That’s it, I don’t have anything more to say, I bet he gives the best hugs. Well, of course not, I do have more things to say. For instance, how adorable he is when he gets flustered after being called, well, adorable. Actually, I only recently noticed the blushing sprite that flashes for a second when he turns around to jump through the window right afterwards. I mean, he wanted to get out of the clinic anyway, but that was a smooth escape. Also, I adore the «I was already a wreck» pun when Robyn apologies for hitting him with a car (I actually love puns, and sometimes I make it other people’s problem, pfft). The enraged snarling August makes upon realizing Atlas forgot to turn off the oven was both terrifying and hillarious in the context. (Lowkey, love all of his sprites and the fact that he has these different «stages» of his werewolf form too.)

«Oz»

I said this already, but when seeing Oz in Chapter 0, I thought he will only make a fleeting appearance and that’s it, which made me a bit sad, because he instantly caught my eye. So I was absolutely delighted to see so much more of him in the next chapter! I love how chill he seems to be, looking intimidating, but at the same time giving impression of a gentle giant who wouldn’t hurt someone without a good reason. It might be a bit challenging with a character who doesn’t speak majority of the time, but it also allows a lot of creativity with the way he communicates and expresses his feelings, and it makes it entertaining to see his facial expressions change at various comments the other characters make. The very rare «pleased» expression he makes honestly warms my heart. But also he gives a strong feeling of a «this bad boy can store so much PAIN inside-», which makes me want to give him a hug and a kiss on the forehead. I’m looking forward to see more of him in the future, his appearance in the dream sequence alone was very surprising (especially having him actually speak here). Also I loved the moment when he and August were in the middle of an argument, and Gus waited politely and patiently while Oz was writing down what he had to say. ALSO have to note that I absolutely love his color palette, which makes yellow eyes stand out even more on top of various shades of grey, black and white.

«Thursday»

Beloved goblin: Bird Edition! Thursday’s pleased expression is one of my favorite sprites. I’m losing it at the contrast between their «crow mode» and very sudden «deep-voiced man, enunciating perfectly clear what they got to say», the first time it took me by surprise.

«Edith»

I was wondering if she is a normal human, right until that one «it’s the charm that protects you-» sprite that made me go «grandma, why are your teeth so big-». At the same time, I felt for Edith in this moment, because I felt exactly the same on multiple occassions, whenever I had to explain something obvious to a customer. Looking forward to seeing more of her, but it’s obvious she is very caring.

«Hazel»

She is sassy, and she clearly had enough of whatever shit she has to put up with. But she still loves her brother, even if she seems annoyed.

«June»

Literally the most adorable ball of energy! I wish I had at least half of her energy.

«Goatma’am»

Her coat! Horns! And overall colors!! She is so pretty, and so nice and helpful! I love the way she is voiced, and I really enjoy listening to this specific kind of speech\voice for some reason. «Parsnip» bit made me snort, though.

«Robbie»

It’s actually very refreshing to see a Cryptid who is just as bewildered at many things about Longhope as any «regular» person likely would be. Lowkey, I loved that wobbling sprite of his when he was telling Robyn what people call cryptids where he is from. He seems to be up to some shenanigans, as well as being determined to find the «goddess sleeping at the river», so I’m hoping he will eventually succeed in his quest.

«Tessie»

She is a mysterious lady (and so beautiful too!), and I’m curious to learn more about her!

«Mr. Walker»

Despite looking rather simple, he’s got an eye-catching design (which I liked even more, because I love shadow-like monsters), and the fight had a lot of creativity put into it! It was a nice twist with Mr.Walker looking like a bigger threat and with smaller HP than the Lantern, seeming like the most reasonable target to take down first, only to swiftly come back into fight after being defeated. And the «Lantern cuts the lights» move was also nice. All in all, Mr.Walker makes easily a very disturbing and terrifying enemy, making the encounter at the graveyard so intense.

Music

Last, but not the least, is music (and it’s nice that you can see the name of the current soundtrack playing in the menu in the lower part of the screen). First of all, the soundtrack in «Cryptid Crush» is straight up enchanting. It always fits the mood perfectly, and I certainly got a few favorites. I kept «Dirt Nap Dreams» on while working a little while ago, and it was soothing and nice for concentration. The track itself is rather chill and a bit somber. «Thaumaturgy Thursdays» makes a perfect soundtrack for Edith, Oz and Thursday trio, having a bit of this «something wicked» energy to it. «Midway to Nowhere» appears to be rather chill, but has this very unsettling mood that is so great for certain scenes and places. And, of course, one of my most favorite ones - «Urgently Jammin’», both remixed version and the original! I swear I listened to this for days. But I also love «Supernatural Foe» for a nice beat and «Old Gods» for how dramatic it is and how it makes you really feel how high stakes are during fight with Mr.Walker.

Second of all, I just have to mention how well sound design is used in the game and how many details go into it. My favorite examples: 1) when Atlas tells Robyn he wants to show them something, and then suddenly «Urgently Jammin» breaks off instead of «Loosen Up Longhope», when he makes a big reveal of still being possessed; 2) «casual» soundtrack breaking off into intense and terrifying «The UNWELCOME Visitor» with Oz seemingly about to get Taro on Edith’s orders, only for everything to abruptly go silent as she goes «I’m joking» and slip back into «Thaumaturgy Thursdays» as the mood changes from threatening back to casual; 3) when Hazel and Oz are having an argument, «Elkhorn Radio Intro» plays out (which is associated at this point with the fight sequence beginning), only for things to suddenly cut back to normal when Robyn and Atlas enter the scene.

All in all, I just want to say that the attention to detail is insane here (another example I didn’t mention above is when Robyn is searching for Mike, and before you see the actual sprites of August and Oz fighting in the background, you see their icons and damage). It’s obvious how much hard work and love is being poured into this project, and I just want to say big «THANK YOU» to Drowsy Drake Studios for creating such amazing story with so many lovable characters. You’re doing amazing work, and we all appreciate it!

Again, I strongly advice to also check out their website for more information:

https://cryptidcrush.com/

P.S. Apologies if I forgot or misunderstood something, it was a bit hard to properly gather my thoughts, but I did my best! If you actually managed to read all of it, you’re a champ.

[thetarttfuldickhead]

I felt *so* bad for Jamie in that locker room scene. Like, it’s established that he’s the one with the most Total Football knowledge, because he trained under the guy who learned from the inventor, and everyone was yelling at *him* for not scoring goals.

It didn’t occur to anyone to say “Hey Jamie, you learned from Pep, any ideas for us?”. And he thought he would get in trouble if he spoke up 🥺

(I’ve been thinking about this all week and it still makes no sense)

Hello there!

Totally see where you’re coming from here: it’s certainly hard not to feel for Jamie when he’s doing his best to sort out the clusterfuck on the pitch only to get scolded for it.

For what it’s worth, though, I don’t think there’s any malice or slight intended from the other players. While the message about Jamie being the natural heir to total football might have been clearly communicated to us television audiences, I’m not so sure it was equally unequivocal to our boys in the locker room. Who knows what Coach Beard, bless his cunning and weird little heart, intends or doesn’t intend, but the bit about Jamie-coached-by-Pep was immediately overshadows by Jamie-the-beautiful-dum-dum, so I’m inclined to cut my himbos some slack for failing to consider that our boy of the godkissed right foot might have some privilieged knowledge. Besides, between Beard’s presentation and the game there are several days of Roy Kent’s School of Senseless String Sadism, so is there any wonder they’re a little fuzzy on most everything?

Also, I can’t help but think that it’s kind of a good thing that they other players feel comfortable standing up to Jamie when they feel that it’s warranted? In a way, their whole problem here is that they to some extent treat him like Zava’s successor – ie expect him to do all the work – but there’s also an important difference: for all their expectations, they still see him as part of the team and one of them, rather than some semi-deified soccer* superstar. That’s hugely important, I feel, for a team who once tended to bow down the the careless tyranny of Jamie Tartt in his prick era – and hugely important for Jamie too, who has worked so hard to go from one man show to teamplayer.

But yes: while Colin and Bumber was offering reasonable opinions in a reasonable way, given their understanding of the situation, Isaac was out of line. That’s in keeping with what we’ve seen of his character so far, though: he is given to outbursts. I’d like to think that after the match (and after Ted’s given one no. 9 his due in the post-game speech), Isaac offers some small apology. Nothing elaborate, just a clap on the shoulder and sorry I yelled at you, bruv, great playing out there and that’s that. Tempers run high on adrenaline, and I think Jamie gets that. Professional footballer and all.

I have argued that Jamie is concerned about the team turning on him if they perceive him as slipping back into bad habits and I stand by that – but I don’t really think it’s a crippling fear of Jamie’s. It’s a concern; he check the waters; he is brave; it works out and his confidence in his bond with the team and their faith in him is strenghtened. Admittedly, given Amsterdam and The Strings that Bind Us, I am getting slightly concerned that Jamie is so busy making sure he holds himself accountable that he forgets to others should hold themselves accountable to him too. We’ll have to wait and see how that develops before making any final calls on his state of mind in this scene, I think. (Ah, the dangers of metaing a text that’s still unfolding!)

Does any of this make sense to you at all? I fully get that this might not be the answer that you’re looking for; it’s intended to offer an alternative and slightly happier reading of the scene, but I fully respect that it might utterly fail to convince you. Sorry abou that, in that case, and thank you for the ask, anyhow: I had fun thinking about this!

Oh, and glorious username, btw. Fully support that.

*Obviously football is the proper and correct term but never let it be said I won’t engage in American terminology for the sake of alliteration.