#both of them are still very rough and need more developing

[tawghasa]

I endorse all of this.

I had to change careers in my early 30s (grant-gunded research scientist + four years of no grants in my speciality = redundancy with no hiring opportunities). Here are a few things I learned from that journey:

Consider doing the same job for a different employer. I spent 5 years working for a lab that, in retrospect, had a really terrible workplace culture. I got a position in another lab in the same institute, and the experience was a LOT better.

(It was still rough at times, due to the bullshit I had internalised clashing with similar bullshit my lab supervisor had internalised. But I cried in the bathrooms WAY less.)

There can be a LOT of jobs that are tangentially related to your current job, that no one in your current job is really aware of. Or if they are aware, they overestimate the barriers to getting there.

(E.g., I moved from medical research into intellectual property. I assumed that you would need some kind of legal background for that... But nope!)

On a related note, be sceptical of any career advice you get from people at your hell-job. If they haven't gotten out themselves, they are sharing conjecture, not facts.

Most people have bad resumes and weak cover letters/responses to selection criteria. I highly recommend checking out Askamanager.org, in particular this masterpost of advice for resumes and cover letters. Alison also has a guide for preparing for job interviews that I've used with success (it's free when you sign-up to her mailing list. I think I've gotten maybe two e-mails in the six years since I signed up to get the free pdf).

Being older can be a benefit in the workplace. Some recent hires at my job are in their 50s, and were REALLY surprised they made the cut... But they both have so much experience under their belts, they're very familiar with the norms of a 9-to-5 job, etc. (They're also less likely to look for another job before they retire than younger hires.)

Also, you just know more stuff. You have more experience in having a job, talking to people, doing things. You have more years under your belt of troubleshooting, finding easier workflows, cleaning up messes.

E.g., I hated my time in retail but I know a LOT about how to talk to people: how to give someone bad news without them yelling at me, how to tell them they stuffed up without them yelling at me, how to tell them I stuffed up without them yelling at me...

I have an excellent phone manner and a "customer-centric commitment to issue resolution" which has been a huge asset in both of my post-retail careers - but neither of those jobs had any kind of intentional training/mentoring in those areas! Those are skills I developed in THE shittiest supermarket in South Australia while developing bone damage in my feet because I was standing for 10 hours a day.

A few other bits of advice:

It's hard to be productive outside of work when you work a terrible job that is corroding your soul. It's hard to write a good resume/apply to further education/whatever when you hate your job and you're exhausted and everything is pointless. Don't beat yourself up if it takes longer than you'd like to get anything done.

Make things easier for yourself by asking for/accepting help. Use the Ask A Manager resources, ask friends and family (ideally ones who have jobs they like) to help you with your job search and your application materials.

(Are we mutuals? Do you want some help with a resume? Send me a DM. I can also hop on a Discord call and chat with you about interview prep and technique.)

Try to start prepping now, BEFORE the dream opportunity crosses your path. It's easier to have an up-to-date master resume that you can tailor to the role, than to scramble to pull one together the night applications close.

Reddit can actually be really helpful. There are subreddits for a lot of careers/industries, with posts every few months asking how to either break in or get out. They can also be a good place to ask what the day-to-day is like in a career you're thinking of switching to, which can help you identify any skills you already have that would be an asset/consider whether you'd enjoy the reality of the job. Keep in mind that it's all subjective, and no two people's experiences will be the same.

If you've read this far, try to find time to update your resume this weekend. Even if you like your current job. (That's usually the best time to look at other jobs - you're not desperate, so you're in a strong position to negotiate any offers.) Because if you've read this far through a thread about changing jobs/careers, you're probably interested on some level in doing the thing.

I’m thinking of doing a complete career switch- or at the very least, making an attempt to start it- and the idea is frightening for so many reasons- money, feeling like I’m behind, insecurity, family- but then i think of just sticking to the path I’m on and it sends me into a crying fit so. I think I’m going to have to be brave

Be brave! I changed industries at age 41 and it was so good for both my career and mental health.

It sounds silly to have to outright say, but if the thought of going to your current job makes you cry every day, it is time to LEAVE. You are not the first person I have had to give this advice to this week. The longer you stay in a dead-end job, the more your skills will rust and the inertia will drag you down.

It feels frightening, but you can get through the imposter syndrome by becoming a thorough note taker (assuming you are white collar, but a lot of this also applies to blue):

Capture every conversation you have

Immediately distill meetings and emails into to-do lists

Review your to-dos daily

Most importantly: write down your accomplishments, no matter how small, at the end of every week

Notes by hand helped me so much, and my little treat to keep going was to begin a fresh mini-notebook every 2 weeks, which I could decorate with ink stamps and washing tape. I used a different color gel pen every day, too. My notebooks were fun and super helpful with keeping me organized.

You will catch up soon enough. It sucks to be an older person in a junior role, but you will be more mature and hopefully adept at handling work drama. I hit senior at age 47 after doing my time, and now I'm pretty indistinguishable from the folks who beat me here.

People aren't meant to do the same thing for all their lives, if it means sacrificing other opportunities. It's ok to say goodbye to a career or hobby or whatever else, to make room for something new. Don't feel guilty sampling from life. Specialization is for insects.

[myshollow]

making a damn character list cause i forget how many characters this show has goddamn (not counting one off villains/characters). while I'm trying to avoid sacking too many characters, I've listed a few that will likely go bye bye lol. as much as I want to try to work with every character, I need to lower the amount, cause there's TOO MANY I DON'T NEED THIS MUCH!!! (tweaking out rn) ALSO I'm making David a side character so down below is also some synthos lore!

Main characters: Mordecai Rigby Benson Skips Pops Muscle Man HFG Side characters: Margaret Eileen Starla CJ Mona Celia Pam Stef Thomas Mordecai’s Dad Mordecai’s Mom Rigby’s Mom Rigby’s Dad Don Gene Betty Dunwoody Benjamin Dunwoody Beatrix Dunwoody Techmo Gary Death Klorgbane The guardians David Mr. Maellard Candy Maellard Anti-Pops Muscle Man’s Mom (takes the role of the dad. His mom truly is dead like that one meme NOOO) Low-Five Ghost Grand-Five Ghost Characters I’ll probably sack: Poppy/Codey (gene’s wife and son) (probably make these two only a visual gag like the photo actually ik i made the small lore post but eh not really feeling them..though they are good for gene development hmmmmmm idk) Quips (+wife and child) (i actually love quips but his existence is.. unnecessary lol, especially for the reimagined Skips lore) Muscle Man’s Dad Muscle Man’s brother Characters i’m considering sacking: Death’s wife Baby Thomas (these two are rough cause they’re good for Stef lore but idk what else i’d do with them) BENSON’S STUPID FUCKING DEAD stick hockey bro (don’t really want benson to have a dead person from his past, skips and pops already got that handled. But it is good for accentuating why Benson wants nothing to do with stick hockey hmmm) SYNTHOS STUFF: Actually rewatched the ep (and good thing I did i somehow forgot half the shit in it), and yeah there’s a few things I’ll do differently. 1. Have the plotline of Gary being the rightful king not be solved within one episode for the sake of having more room to expand the lore across multiple episodes. (also this plot would happen a few seasons earlier) 2. Gary and David are kinda half and half about how wrong each of them is. Gary, while wishing for freedom, is very reckless and careless, causing..multiple deaths of citizens under his rule. David is the opposite; wanting to be as safe as possible…also causing multiple deaths under his rule via execution. Gary intentionally abandoned his post as king, wishing for a more exciting life, and thus David taking his place in the present. Though Gary is “the better” of the brothers cause by the time he returns to synthos, he’s gotten some character development and more sympathy to “lesser beings.” 3. Gary’s development makes him realize that SOMEONE needs to step up and be a better ruler for synthos. While he still doesn’t want to be that person, he decides to do what’s right and stand up to David, which is hard for multiple reasons, one of which is that he still has an attachment to him (and vice versa for David) due to growing up together. 4. Other characters do get involved in this plotline. The most notable example being Celia (see her design similarities to synthos? lol). Celia is sort of the equilibrium between the brothers; being fun, but not a reckless jerk about it (also her anxiety keeps her in check from demonstrating the ..major flaws the two brothers do). AND she’s musically inclined, demonstrating a style that’s a mix of Gary’s and David’s. After David’s..defeat, Gary still doesn’t want to take up the throne, suggesting that Celia do it. But SHE DOES NOT want to rule a whole kingdom, that like goes against her whole character arc, and suggests that the two brothers rule together, kinda solving both their issues. (though they still have A LOT to sort out lol) After this main plot, there would be a few smaller ones that also take place at Synthos, mostly for the sake of giving Gary/David more development/more synthos worldbuilding. (was thinking of having David still die but the arc wouldn’t wrap up properly at all LOL i keep accidentally sparing villains. I like to think of them as sort of foreshadowing pops/anti-pops)

though this is first draft lore so this'll either stay the same or get changes depending on what I think.

[a-master-procrastinator]

New characters! (bc I don't have self-control)

(really wish zabraks could have more grayish skin color in game. and more hairstyles)

While I was writing an answer to a question involving Kerstes I tried to figure out her future, including if she'd have a partner or not. And answer quickly became 'yes', I just needed to decide who it would be. I had different ideas, but in the end settled down for just making a new character.

Born in nobility, Kaali never quite liked it - she always felt like her whole life has been chosen and planned for her (even when her parents tried to encourage her to do something she had shown interest in), and so at the age of 18 she left to live on her own.

She tried different paths, and after some time ended up trying bounty hunting, and found that she's pretty decent at it. Listening to a lot of gossip while growing up taught her how to find useful information among rumors, and self-defense training, paired with lessons she took from the guards when the parents didn't know, meant Kaali can hold her own in a fight.

At some point, the young mercenary tried to claim a bounty on Kerstes' head. Not out of malice, she simply wanted the money (and maybe a little adventure), and this bounty offered more credits than others. She, of course, failed, and the only reason she wasn't killed is that Kerstes wanted to know who put the bounty on her head. Kaali didn't know, but stuck around to help find the client in exchange for her life.

During the search, they got along pretty well, bonded over some stuff (for example, both growing up as nobility and wanting more freedom), and overall enjoyed each other's company (to Kerstes' surprise). By the time they found and dealt with the client, Kaali liked working with Kerstes and wouldn't mind doing that again, so she gave the Sith a way to contact her if needed.

And Kerstes did contact her shortly after surviving an assassination attempt. She hired Kaali to track Draahg (not to kill, she wouldn't stand a chance), and the mercenary agreed. She tracked him to Belsavis, where he set up a trap, and tried to warn Kerstes about it, but was caught and knocked out. Aftter he was dealt with, Kaali decided to travel with Kerstes to see her revenge through.

(I'm still deciding exactly how their relationship develops from there, so it's very rough, but I wanted to share)

And the second character is Anstinur, a Sith Lord who decides to help the Alliance and provide them the information on multiple Imperial operations, specifically those that Darth Nox is involved in.

This part will include some spoilers for 6.0 and any story after that, so be warned.

Since I'm now 100% sure that Jett's Alliance isn't going to side with either Republic or Sith Empire after Iokath and instead deals with other neutral factions, certain in-game events are not going the same way (for example, the Alliance isn't involved at all in preparations or the attack on the Meridian Complex in Onslaught). However, it seems that whatever is going to happen with Malgus' plan, it involves both the faction that captured him (in this legacy, it's the Sith Empire) and the Alliance, since they are the ones dealing with Heta (and she's now included in that plan), so I wanted to have a way for the Alliance to get the intel from the Sith.

As I said, in this verse the Sith Empire manages to capture Malgus, and now they are trying to understand his plan and stop it. Specifically, Auletta, as a member of the Dark Council, is heavily involved in this, and since Sith Empire and Alliance aren't working together, all intel about this is out of Alliance's reach. They didn't even think that Malgus was that big of a threat until their meeting with the Voss leaders.

Enter Anstinur, a Sith Lord who is respected for his contribution to the war effort in the second and third Great Galactic wars. Being on the front lines and witnessing imperial victories and losses firsthand, he understands the need for change, and he's been approving Acina's reforms. He also understands that Darth Nox is not embracing those changes sincerely, and her ambition and hunger for power are dangerous for the Empire. Anstinur suspects that she will claim all the glory from stopping Malgus and use it to challenge the authority of Empress Acina, so he reaches out to the Alliance, hoping that with his help they will be able to stop Malgus first. He's extremely careful with what information he shares (bc Auletta could track that), but in the end his intel gives the Alliance an edge.

(of course I need to see how the story goes in the game, so for now I'm waiting for future story updates, but I'm thinking about alternatives)

But there is more to his despise of Auletta than just disagreeing with her ways, it's more personal. See, at some point she pretty much ruined Emperor's Wrath's life, who just happens to be Anstinur's sister. His family put a lot of effort and risked a lot to make sure that Iressa would become a Sith despite her upbringing. They were very proud when she was named Emperor's Wrath, and to see all her successes stripped away because of Darth Nox was devastating. And Astinur wasn't going to let it go just like this.

[restlessmaknae]

love 119 // anton

You and Anton are an unlikely combo. He's a professional swimmer, and you write for the school magazine. One interview with him leads to a series of consequences including asking him to prepare you for the school's swimming competition, and ultimately, falling in love with him.

➳ Characters: swimmer!Anton x school magazine writer!female reader/you

➳ Genre: high school au, boarding school au, rich kids au, comedy, fluff

➳ Words: 7.2k

➳ Warning: mentions of food, reader feels insecure about being 'average' at school, they are both down bad but oblivious until the very end

➳ A/N: This story is part of my KOZ International High series, but can totally be read on its own as it's Anton's own story.

Attending KOZ International High was like watching those movies where they send a misbehaved child to a boarding school in a different country, only for her to experience many culture shocks alongside many unfortunate events that come with living on her own for the very first time. Except that you weren’t a misbehaved child, just a girl whose parents had the money to send her abroad, and a good enough student to actually make it.

Freshman year was living hell for you. You were away from your home, your friends, and even your cute little dog. There was no one else in your whole year who came from your country, so you couldn’t befriend them on your very first day when you heard their name, unlike Heidi and Frida who both came from Germany. You had a national swimming champion, a Youtuber, an app developer, a worldwide known pianist and even a chess champion at your school alongside many students who had won different competitions in many different subjects.

Going from being the top of your class back in your home country to being an average student here - because average here still meant you performed constantly above 85% in all subjects - was rough. Being away from the familiar, your safe spaces and cosy spots and from all the people you knew at the ripe age of 15 was also rough. You felt like you had existential crises for the first few months every single day, and you didn’t know what happened or what day it was, but you just calmed down after a while.

Afterwards, you decided to take advantage of being at this school, and just enjoy the perks it had. You went to the on-site gym, you joined conversations in the communal kitchen of the student hall, you befriended one of your classmates - Dew from Thailand who was an impossibly tall yet shy guy - and you applied for the school magazine at the end of freshman year, and successfully got in.

So from sophomore year, you were a part of the school magazine team that published articles online about students, their achievements, school events but also local news, programmes and initiatives. You didn’t have to stick to just one section, but Minju and Yunah liked writing about local news, so it was kind of like their topic now. At first, you only wrote about school events, but then, you had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Anton Lee from the other class who was in the national swimming team.

However, since he was not from your class, you didn’t really know him or what he looked like, but you didn’t want to be a stalker and message him on social media (though for that to happen, you needed his ID first, and no Anton Lee on Instagram looked like it could be a 16-year-old swimming champion). So you tried your luck in the sports centre which had two giant swimming pools, and as far as you were informed (by Andrew who was on good terms with the guys from the other class), Anton usually practiced here after classes, even on weekends.

What you didn’t expect was to see five different guys and two more girls taking advantage of the swimming pool when you walked into the place in your flip-flops (no outside shoes were allowed). How the hell were you supposed to find Anton? You thought that it would be just him on this fine weekend, but alas, maybe you were the only one who didn’t like swimming that much.

You stood there, totally out of place, until one of the boys emerged from the water, and you decided to walk up to him. Or more like waddle up to him like a penguin, trying not to slip and fall into the water, especially when you saw how defined his abs were. Even though you had swimming classes in freshman year, so you saw boys in their swimwear, you definitely didn’t prepare yourself for this…

“Hi!” You gave him a little wave with your hand, gaining his attention. “Sorry to bother you, but have you happened to see Anton today?” You tried with a friendly smile, but the boy just stood there in front of you, not saying a word. It was difficult to decipher how he was feeling because he was wearing dark-coloured swim goggles, so you couldn’t see his eyes even if he was rolling them at you or not. “Anton Lee?” You tried again in case he didn’t know whom you meant.

You started to feel very weird at this point, but then, the boy got rid of his cap and his goggles, revealing a soft set of eyes and a somewhat confused expression.

“I’m Anton,” he broke it down to you in a soft voice, and you gasped a bit. Oh… so that explained the defined abs part. Right, a national swimming champion could have that.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know what you look like,” you explained with a bit of an awkward giggle. Anton’s lips curled into a polite smile, but you could feel that it was a bit forced. Oh right, you should say why you were there!

“I’m Y/N, I write for the school magazine, and we want to interview you for next month’s installment. Would you be up for it?”

The boy looked back at you as if he had never been asked to give an interview even though you were sure that he had given dozens of interviews. At least, that’s what you could imagine with him being on the national team.

“Uhmm… sure,” he half-said, half-asked at this point, and you weren’t sure whether it was out of politeness or not, but you were thankful that he didn’t send you away.

“Cool,” you nodded excitedly, giving him a wide smile. He just looked back at you, and you realised that he had no phone on him, so you couldn’t ask him to exchange contacts. Ah, you should have thought it through before marching up here and asking him if he wanted to do an interview. “I’ll contact you with the details. I’ll come by your classroom… or something like that.

“Okay,” he nodded, water dripping down from his hair.

Since there was no coach around, he must have been practising alone, and you applauded his dedication. You had never stuck with any sport for a long enough time to call it anything serious, and now, you just went to the gym and joined the cardio classes that the school organised, but sometimes even those seemed like a waste of time. You couldn’t imagine how anyone would go through years doing the same sport, building up their performance, but here was a living proof in front of you whose chest you tried so hard to not glance at. Not just because you would be embarrassed but because you had a feeling that he would be, too.

“Okay. I won’t keep you up any longer. Thanks for your time! See you around, I guess,” you blurted out in one-go, and turned around to walk away from him. You were halfway towards the door when you almost slipped, but managed to recover without falling headfirst and making an even bigger fool out of yourself.

Gosh, what a way to make a first impression!

To be very honest, sophomore year went by in a blink of an eye now that the world (or at least the campus) opened up for you a little bit more than before.

You wrote articles for the school magazine, hang out with Dew on campus or off-campus (asking for your parents’ permission, of course, as it was mandatory for underage students when leaving school grounds), kept your friends from home up-to-date with everything that was going on in your life, focused on your studies but also tried out a few activities to see what you actually enjoyed. You even took part in an English Literature competition as well, but didn’t make it to the finals, so there’s that. Your interview with Anton became the article with the most views during the whole school year, so you got a cute little pin by the other members of the school magazine.

When junior year rolled by, the school was in a frenzy because it was about to organise a national swimming competition for the first time in the school’s history. Most students had to take part in the organisation one way or another like printing out timetables, decorating the sports centre, welcoming guests and competitors alike and directing them in the right direction of the campus, or distributing the competition’s merchandise at stalls. The swim meets would be held over the weekend, but due to the preparations, the Friday before was a short school day with classes only until 1pm. Thankfully, since the school magazine was to cover the whole event, you didn’t need to take on more work, you just needed to be there, take pictures and interview people.

You, specifically, had been assigned to interview Anton yet again, but after last time, you had his KKT ID, so you could ask him about the details. You asked him a few questions the day before the competition, and when you inquired if his parents would come to see him, you were a bit surprised to find out that they still lived in New Jersey. Not that you knew his whole bio, but for your first interview, you had gotten to know that his parents were both Korean, but moved to the States before he was born. You assumed that they came back to Korea with him, but it seemed that it wasn’t the case, and for some reason, you found it quite disheartening.

So much that when you were sitting in the spectator area, waiting for the boy and his opponents to walk into the arena for the final heat (because Anton, of course, made it to the finals), you turned to Sullyoon who came to take pictures with you for the school magazine, and asked her:

“Is it okay if I take a video of Anton while you take pictures?”

The girl looked a bit perplexed for a moment, probably not knowing why you suddenly changed your mind. However, she wasn’t one who was too interested in others’ business, so she nodded a few seconds later.

“Sure. It’s fine with me.”

“Thanks,” you beamed, smiling to yourself as you turned back just in time to see the boy walk up to his lane accompanied by his coach. He got rid of his jacket by his chair, exchanged a few words with his couch, and started warming up.

It wasn’t the first time you had seen him swim that day, but somehow, because it was the finals, you felt more nervous. You were aware that he was really good, but still… He seemed calm though, but coming to think of it, he usually seemed calm albeit a bit too shy for someone who was considered famous and popular at school. Sure, the members of the school’s first and only band - consisting of Taesan, Yechan, Gyuvin and Jungwon - were probably the most popular boys in your year, but before they rose to the school-level stardom, Anton was probably the most popular one in your year.

Not that you cared too much about popularity, and he didn’t seem to do so either, he was too busy practising. Though he did practise at school too, he had his coach-led sessions outside of the school, so after classes, he was often seen leaving school grounds, only coming back later at night. You sometimes caught sight of him in the corridor at the student hall, but you didn’t interact a lot, just a few hellos here and a few good nights there. Since he wasn’t in your class, sometimes you wondered if he was as shy around his classmates as he was around you, or maybe it was just because you were a girl.

“Y/N, aren’t you recording?” Sullyoon’s voice brought you back to reality, and you hastily murmured a ‘thanks’ before averting your eyes to the swimming pool where the boy already stood on his block, getting into position.

You unlocked your phone, and turned it horizontally to get the whole view of the pool. Then, you pushed the red button a few seconds before the starting signal was given, and off they went. It was an individual freestyle heat, and it didn’t even take a minute to finish, but it felt so long because you were watching him so intensively, your eyes following him in his lane. He wasn’t in the lead at first, but when he turned around, he quickly diminished the distance between him and the top two swimmers.

“That’s it,” you mumbled under your breath. It was silly, you knew, he couldn’t hear you after all, but it didn’t mean that you didn’t cheer for him loudly when he came in first place.

The arena erupted in loud cheers and applause as everyone was happy to see one of the students win in his category. However, since the girls’ final was still left, you couldn’t move from your place to ask him about his experience. For the school magazine, of course, nothing else.

After the competition came to an end, there was a 30-minute break before the start of the winning ceremony which would be held in the event hall a few minutes away from the sports centre. So you took that time to seek out Anton after checking with him through Kakaotalk that he was free and willing to answer a few of your questions.

The boy’s hair was still half wet when you met him on a bench halfway between the canteen and the student halls. The hustle bustle of the event didn’t reach this side of the campus, but it was still close enough, so he wouldn’t miss the ceremony.

“Hey!” You beamed when you saw him sitting there by himself, his eyes fixated on his phone. He changed into sweatpants and a loose tee, but he still wore his flip-flops. You couldn’t tell whether it was because he forgot to change or because he liked it that way.

“Hi!” Anton greeted you back as he looked up, his lips curling into a half-smile. You could tell that he was tired, but you only had a few questions, so you wouldn’t keep him up too long.

“Congratulations! You did really well. I was truly impressed how you went from third to first place in a matter of seconds,” you shared excitedly, but he just let out a shy little giggle.

“Well… thanks,” he mentioned as he scratched the back of his neck. You just smiled at each other awkwardly until you pulled out your notebook and started asking the questions from him, recording everything on your phone. It was a mere three minutes, so it didn’t take long, but before you would let him go his way, you sent him the video of the finals.

“I’ve taken it, so your parents could see it,” you justified when he just looked back at you with wide, curious eyes. He looked at you as if he couldn’t decipher why you would do such a thing for him even though you thought it wasn’t a big deal. He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and when he opened it again, his voice was even softer than usual.

“Thanks. That’s… that’s very kind of you,” he admitted, his words uncertain but genuine.

“Anytime,” you shot him a friendly smile before getting to your feet and bidding goodbye. You had to go back to fetch Sullyoon either way.

Your interview with Anton - compiling questions for him before and after his win at the competition - became the article with the most views again, something that you didn’t fail to share with him when it was announced. You couldn’t say that you were friends as per se, but you did ask how his practice went when you bumped into him at the student hall later at night, and he did ask you about how you had been when you met each other by accident in the school corridor. You knew he already had a lot on his plate, so you didn’t seek out his company more than it was necessary, but you still sent stuff his way when something reminded you of him.

However, that did change when senior year rolled by. With the third week of the new term starting came the announcement of the random draw for the annual sports day. KOZ International High’s sports day was your school’s version of ISAC, and even though you were all coming from influential families and all the students had probably enough money to attend the Olympics games in the VIP section, no one complained about the event. In fact, it was all the school magazine and school radio could talk about for weeks, and everyone tried to put effort into practising for their own games to not lose face.

Each year, all the classes participated in four different categories - mixed 4x100 m relay, archery, swimming and dance -, going up against one another within each year. The only category that allowed students to sign up for was dance as only groups could participate, and they needed to be formed in time to seem somewhat professional. Each year, this was the competition everyone was looking forward to the most since usually professional dancers signed up - like Baekseung, Minwoo and Haruto who always won the dance category in your year. For all the other categories, there was a random draw during homeroom where your teacher announced who would be participating in which category. 

This year, Anton didn’t get selected for swimming unlike last year, but you did. You had been selected for relay twice and archery last year, so this was new. Though you knew how to swim and you actually had swimming lessons in freshman year, your competitive side didn’t let you practise just like everybody else now that you were on speaking terms with Anton. So you asked the boy if he could help you prepare for the competition.

“What do you need help with? Technique, breathwork, nutrition or…?” The boy looked at you expectantly when you asked him about helping you out, and you suddenly realised that you had been so wrong that this would be easy, that your request would be obvious.

“Weeeelll, maybe a bit of everything?” You chuckled nervously. “I really want to win this, so whatever can get me there,” you added with a shrug, and Anton seemed slightly amused but also… endeared? Was that the right word for the look he gave you?

Either way, the boy agreed. You thought that he would just watch you swim once to see where you were and what you needed to work on, but he kept asking you when you would practise, so he could come by. He couldn’t always make it because of his own schedule, but he did show up frequently, giving you tips about your posture, technique, timing and little things that you would have not considered paying attention to before (like your post-workout meal).

He was firm in the way he explained certain things, but he was gentle when it came to show you what he meant, especially when he needed to touch you to correct the angle of your arms or the way you turned your head. You could see that swimming was truly his passion, and he was enthusiastic about helping you out, so he probably didn’t think too much into such tutoring, but there were moments when your faces were so close or his skin touched your skin a bit longer than absolutely necessary, and you felt nervous and giddy and warm all at once. He probably did so too because he stuttered or looked away or asked for a break at times like this.

It was usually late at night when you practised in the pool, so there weren’t other students around, and you tried not to be too self-conscious about this whole thing. However, when Andrew came by to practise for his own competition, and you could feel his eyes on you two for a few minutes in the beginning, you felt a bit nervous.

However, when you asked Anton about it after practice that day, sitting on the edge of the pool, your feet grazing the edge of the water, he said that he wasn’t bothered by it.

“Can I ask you something though?” He inquired, looking at you with those curious brown eyes, and you nodded, prompting him to go on.

“Please, don’t take this the wrong way… but why do you want to win the competition so bad?”

“Fair question, really,” you chuckled, airy and light, but sucked in a deep breath before jumping into your explanation. It’s not like it was something to be ashamed of, but you still felt a bit silly for feeling this way. Either way, he deserved to know the truth in exchange for his help.

“I just… I don’t really feel like I’m good at anything here. You know, back in my home country, I was the top student in my class, and at the whole school, too. Here, I’m pretty much average, and as much as I want to say that it doesn’t bother me, it does. There’s always someone who’s better at me in literally everything, so I get joy out of winning anything. Even if it’s our sports day.”

You weren’t sure how someone like Anton who was known for being on the national team would understand what you were feeling, but he seemed to know just the right thing to say.

“You’re good at writing for the school magazine and interviewing people,” he pointed out, his words oozing sincerity. When he looked at you like that and sounded like that, you really did feel good about yourself, but you weren’t sure if he was just trying to make you feel better or he really thought so.

“That’s nice of you to say, but the others are also really good. Minju even won a literary competition.”

To that, he couldn’t say anything. It was a fact. Ever since you had been admitted to KOZ International High, you hadn’t won a single competition. Not that it should have mattered, your parents were happy as it is, but still… going from being known for being smart and an overachiever to being average… it hurt a bit.

“To me, you are the kindest girl I’ve ever met,” the boy confessed gently, quietly, like a secret shared just between you two. “In that sense, you are the first one on my list.”

His words felt warmer than the towel around your body, and you were sure that if you had not just come out of the water a few minutes ago, a blush would surely be creeping onto your face, mirroring your emotions in an obvious way.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he nodded confidently, but you could see that he was also a bit shy with the way he bit down on his lower lip. A habit that you had picked up on before, but up until now, it didn’t make your heart race.

“But you’ve met so many people, right? I mean, you are an athlete.”

“While it’s true that I’m usually surrounded by a lot of people, I don’t actually know them or take notice of them. For instance, when I’m swimming, I focus on the water, the pool and my body. Nothing else,” he shared willingly, his eyes watching the waves his feet made on the surface of the water. “In a way, a lot of people watch me, but they don’t see me. If that makes sense,” he added a bit belatedly, his voice soft as ever.

You’ve never really thought about his swimming career that way. You’ve thought that he met a lot of people and made a lot of friends and connections, but what he was saying made perfect sense. It also made you feel a bit disheartened because after everything he must have been lonely. His parents didn’t come to see him compete, there was always a buzz around him even if he didn’t want it, and he focused on swimming, nothing else.

This thought made you feel even more thankful because he carved time out of his busy days to help you out, and now he even called you the kindest girl he had ever met.

“They don’t see the real you, I get it,” you hummed, slightly shivering at the way his eyes found yours. “I’m glad that I can see the real you though,” you blurted out without thinking ahead, without thinking at all. It was like you were under a spell; locked down, locked in, unable to move.

In that moment, with the melody of Anton’s coy little giggle accompanying you in the swimming arena, you realised what this feeling meant.

You were in love.

You were both nervous and excited for the sports day.

Swimming was at the end of the day because you had the relay runs first, followed by archery and dancing. You went out to watch the competitions, but since they hired a professional photographer for the event, the school magazine members didn’t need to take pictures. Instead, you enjoyed the event, rooted for Dew in the relay run (and with his impossibly long legs, his team won) and Sullyoon and Minju in dancing. You even checked out archery where Anton came in second place after Carlos.

Then, there was a lunch break and the juries for dancing decided on the ranking before announcing the winners as part of the first winner’s ceremony of the day. The involved students and those who were curious then moved to the arena where each year had its swimming competition for the boys and girls alike. Since you went in class order, the seniors were last, and by the time it was your time to get ready, you had been all nerves.

You didn’t expect Anton to be waiting for you in the corridor between the changing rooms and the pools because he had already sent you a good luck message on Kakaotalk (and you had congratulated him on his second place in archery). However, you couldn’t deny that the sight of the boy was enough to put your mind at ease. For a little while, at least.

“Hi!” Anton greeted you with a friendly smile as you halted in front of him, your sports bag thrown over your shoulder. “I just wanted to come by and see how you were doing.”

“Oh, I’m fine. I’m just…” You let out an awkward little chuckle, suddenly all too aware that your voice was anything but stable. “Okay, I’m gonna be honest. I’m very, very nervous,” you added, biting down on your lower lip. It wasn’t even something that would be marked or kept in your school records, and yet, your heart was pounding so loudly, you were slowly going crazy.

“It’s all okay. I get nervous before competitions, too,” the boy admitted, somewhat of a fond smile playing along his lips while he was looking down at you. You looked back at him, suddenly finding it hard to breathe - not just because of his words, but because of his close proximity. Before, you were rarely aware how close he was, but these last few weeks, that’s all you could think about.

Gosh, you were so gone…

“You do?”

“Yeah, it’s totally normal. Plus, studies say that adrenaline can actually improve performance,” he explained as an attempt to ease your nerves, and you found yourself smiling for the first time in a while.

“No matter what happens, thanks a lot for helping me out. I owe you a whole lot,” you admitted, and playfully nudged his shoulder. You could see that the boy was a bit taken aback by that, but a few seconds later, his features softened even more than already, and his voice was even quieter than usual.

“You don’t owe me anything,” Anton disagreed gently. His eyes were twinkling with care, the lines of his lips deepening his dimples, a sight that made your heart race. Not out of nervousness, but out of this newly bloomed warm and comforting yet thrilling feeling.

You just stood there in the corridor, looking at each other in silence, getting lost in each other’s eyes. This moment was so precious, you wanted to tuck it into your pocket and never let it go. Yet, life moved on around you even if you were still, and the door to the pools opened, the quiet corridor suddenly filled with laughter and chatter.

Suddenly self-conscious, you mumbled something akin to:

“I should probably go. To get changed and to warm up.”

“Yeah, sure,” the boy nodded, but before you could go your way, he reached out to gently pat your head. Only once and only briefly, but you felt electrified from head to toe either way. “Good luck, Y/N! I’m rooting for you!”

And off he went, his cheeks tinted pink, and as you watched him leave, your hands automatically reached for the top of your head where his hand had previously been. You were woken from your stupor only when Dew showed up and started asking what was that between you and Anton. Though you had told Dew how you had been practising with Anton’s guidance, you had never touched upon how you felt around the swimmer.

“I really don’t know,” you blurted out in all honesty, and Dew looked back at you, all confused. “Do boys act like that with just anyone?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then, why do you think he did that?” You asked, hoping that the Thai boy could help you. He was a boy after all, he should know better. On the other hand, Dew merely shrugged his shoulders.

“My guess would be that he likes you, but don’t ask me about stuff like that. I’ve never had any luck with girls,” he justified before you could ask him (rightfully so) whether boys patted a girl’s head that they liked. You thought that maybe having a guy friend would help with your feelings, but it seemed like it couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Either way, Dew wished you good luck before he left, but all you thought about was Anton and the way he patted your head. Even when you entered the arena later on, you tried to search for him in the spectator area, but to no avail. There were just too many people, and now it made perfect sense why he said that he was surrounded by a lot of people, but he didn’t take note of them or concentrate on them.

So you did the same, and as you stepped onto your block, you took in a deep breath. You mentally played back all the advice the boy had given you, and told yourself that you would do great. Positive affirmations and all that.

After the starting signal, your body moved on auto-pilot. You were so caught up in the moment that you didn’t think, just swam and swam, and gave it your all. You now understood what people meant by your surroundings becoming a blur when something happened so fast because it was over before you knew it.

As you emerged from the water at the end of your lane, you took in a few deep inhales before your eyes found the announcement board. You scanned the screen, but your brain couldn’t comprehend the result, not until Daniela in the lane to your right came up to you to congratulate you.

“Congrats, Y/N!”

“Thanks,” you mumbled, still in a daze because… You looked back at the screen, and oh my gosh, you came in first! You did it! You were the winner in your year!

No one was faster than you to get out of the pool and dry yourself, get changed before heading out with your hair still half-wet, searching for a familiar pair of chocolate-brown eyes. You almost gave up when you spotted him just where he had been before he had wished you good luck.

To be honest, you were in a state of heightened excitement that couldn’t be contained, so you weren’t really in your right mind when you ran up to him and just outright hugged him. He was taller than you, so you momentarily pressed your head against his chest in the embrace, and thought it felt odd and new and everything in between, it also felt so right.

You almost let go of the boy when you noticed how still he was, but then, he had his arms around you (uncertain, gentle yet still there), and whispered, so only you could hear:

“You did really well, Y/N!”

And though it was brief and a bit awkward, it was equally heart-fluttering, and even if you tried to deny that you hugged him because you liked him and not because you were thankful for his help, you were lying.

You were oh so gone.

You still couldn’t get over everything that happened on the sports day, but now that you weren’t practising together and you didn’t need to interview him, you didn’t need to face him over the next few days. It helped a bit because your heart was jumping up and down in joy whenever you thought about his words, his head pat and that hug, and you felt like you could burst with all the different kinds of feelings that he brought out in you.

On the other hand, you promised him right after that impromptu hug that you would like to treat him to something as a token of appreciation for his help, and he didn’t protest. So you settled on the following Saturday, but it seemed like time slowed down because every day dragged on, and it was still not Saturday.

Dew even pointed out that though he was no love expert, you really acted like a girl in love (based on the movies and shows he was watching), and you couldn’t deny it anymore. There were even students who came up to you, asking if you were dating Anton because they had seen you two hugging after the competition. You shooed them away, saying that you were just thankful for him because he had helped you prepare for the competition.

You didn’t want to admit it to strangers, of course, but you also didn’t want them to make up rumours about your relationship. Or well, possible relationship. You didn’t ask Anton if he was approached by the same students, and you didn’t want to admit something that maybe only you felt, putting him in a tough spot.

However, you couldn’t deny that you felt like this encounter would be different… like a date or something. It would be the first time you leave school grounds with Anton, and you knew that he only went out for his practices and the necessities he needed. Though you hang out with Dew off-campus, it was different, he really was just a friend, and you were both clear about that.

Therefore, you spent an ungodly amount of time deciding on an outfit because you didn’t have to wear your school uniform or sportswear this time. You also needed to ask your parents to give you permission to go out because you were underage. It was a fairly smooth process with a whole online system set up where your homeroom teacher got a notification when your parents approved your leave, and you could show the approval on your phone to the guards at the gate.

Due to your indecisiveness, you arrived by the gate exactly at the discussed time, and Anton was already there, leaning against a railing. He wore a dark brown coat, currently unbuttoned, that emphasised his long legs and wide shoulders, with a white shirt and dark jeans. His hands were in his pocket, and he was slightly bobbing his head to the music coming from his headphones. He looked like a campus crush in those shows you liked to indulge yourself in, and the thought didn’t exactly help your crazily racing heart.

You were a few steps away when he opened his eyes and noticed you coming up at him. His lips immediately curled into a shy smile, and he took his headphones off to tuck them into his bag. You reciprocated his smile when you halted beside him, and asked him how he was doing while exiting the school and heading towards the bus stop. He said there was a really good restaurant that he liked going to after practices, so you decided on going there.

When he asked about your week, you felt heat rush to your cheeks because well… it seemed like all you had been doing was playing back the events of the sports day and daydreaming about meeting him today.

“Just the usual, really,” you shrugged instead, covering up your lie with a wider smile as you got on the bus.

You automatically sat down in a loveseat, and though his close proximity shouldn’t have surprised you at this point, you still felt your cheeks burn when he sat down beside you. It was different this time though. No matter how many close moments you had shared before, you had never sat beside each other on the bus, and you had never gone off- campus together, so it was new, it was different, and it was very, very exciting.

“What were you listening to, by the way?” You inquired to break the silence, referring to him waiting for you with his headphones on.

“I have this playlist with songs that I like, so I just put it on shuffle.”

“Can I have a listen?” You asked giddily because you really loved music, and you always enjoyed checking out new songs and new artists. However, Anton seemed a bit surprised by your request, and you immediately added that he didn’t have to if he didn’t feel like it.

“No, no, it’s totally okay. I’ve just never had a girl ask me to let her listen to my playlist,” he let you know, coy as ever, before reaching into his bag. You totally expected him to reach out his headphones for you to take it, but instead, the boy leaned closer to you to put it on you, tucking your hair behind your ear with one hand while holding the headphones in the other.

You found yourself blinking at him rapidly, your heart beating in your throat, and it felt like it was so loud, he could hear exactly how big of an impact his closeness and gentle touch had on you. On the other hand, he didn’t seem affected by it, instead, he boosted a boyish smile when his eyes caught yours, as if he could see right through you.

You could barely register the first song playing because you were still under his spell, but at least you didn’t have to talk for the next few minutes. Anton played a few of the songs on his playlist before it was your stop, and you gave the headphones back to him, sharing your opinion on his song choices while heading towards your destination.

The restaurant he picked was run by a lovely elderly woman who prided herself on the fact that Anton had been coming by ever since he had been a student at KOZ, and how much he had grown over these years. She seemed very fond of the boy and kept sharing stories about him until she was gently reminded by him that you were here to eat.

“Come on! You’ve never brought a girl here, so I have to take advantage of it,” she called him out on it, and Anton’s face immediately flushed, his eyes fixated on the table instead of anything else in the room.

“He helped me prepare for the sports day at school, and I won first place, so I’m treating him to a meal,” you shared with the old lady who directed a knowing smile in the boy’s direction before her eyes settled on yours again.

“Oh, so you’re that girl! He’s been talking so much about you lately.”

“Ah ahjumma,” he groaned slightly, acting like a sulky little kid with his lips curled downwards and his puppy eyes showing. She held up her hands in defeat before taking your orders and getting started on making the food.

Not gonna lie, you felt really good by the fact that you were the only girl Anton brought here and that he had been talking about you lately. Sometimes, you felt like he was just generally shy around others, and while it was true, you were now more hopeful than ever that his actions towards you meant that he felt the same way about you.

So though the meal was amazing and you had a very nice conversation while having lunch, you couldn’t shake this thrilling feeling off, and those so-called butterflies in your stomach didn’t want to chill. Instead, they made you believe it was now or never, this was your chance to make sure while walking in the nearby park, and so you blurted out:

“Anton, can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” he replied calmly, casually, but your next question made him avoid your eyes.

“Would you have said yes to today if it hadn’t been my thank you treat for your help, we just came just because?”

A few seconds of silence settled over the two of you, and the thought crossed your mind that maybe this would not go as you had imagined it. You would be rejected right here and right now, in the middle of this gorgeous park, on this fine Saturday in October, and you would never be able to recover from it.

Instead, the boy halted his steps, and eventually turned towards you, and you automatically did the same.

“Yeah,” he answered in his trademark soft voice, but before you could open your mouth to ask THE question, he beat you to it. “I like you, Y/N.”

Nothing could prepare you for how it would feel to hear those words roll off his tongue - not even this whole week of daydreaming behind you. As the afternoon sunlight shone on him, his eyes seemed to twinkle, and the sight was just too beautiful - he was too beautiful -, you felt like melting under the Sun.

“I like you, too, Anton,” you squealed before you threw your arms around him, and pressed your head against his chest. This time, the boy didn’t hesitate to hug you back, and it was just so heart-shatteringly tender and comforting and soft, your racing heart finally rested.

For it was now not searching for the answer to your question.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this story of mine! Let me know what you think! 😊

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Header taken from the 'Odyssey' trailer video

Hope you have a lovely day/night! Take care! ❤️

[nipuni]

Alright, time to share my opinions about Veilguard!! I have both criticism and praise so bear with me as I jump from one extreme to the other 😆 spoilers ahead of course!

The game has a very rough start with the dialogue being formulaic and rushed and the characters overexposing. It feels like a heavy handed attempt at summarizing all of previous games' lore for newcomers or in case you forgot but it's so overdone it feels coddling and trivializes a lot of previous events. Luckily this gets better once all of the introductions are out of the way, though the excessive hints and clarifications continue until the end sadly.

The locations are absolutely incredible and very diverse!! This is a highlight of the game for me. There is so much detail and care in every map and there are so many of them. My pc is struggling to reach medium settings and yet everything looks stunning. The verticality of the maps is so imposing and the graphics have a very dreamy quality that I love. I also enjoy the maze-like structure to the maps, it's more linear but makes everything look a bit more intentional. The color and light direction was amazing, all the visual development really!! it has to be one of the prettiest games I've ever played.

When I started I have to admit it did not feel like I was in Thedas and it all felt a bit theme-parky, if that makes sense. A lot of previously important and established world elements that made Thedas what it is were overlooked or made irrelevant. But the more I played the more it started to feel a bit more similar to Inquisition, for better or worse depending on what you feel about Inquisition. But!! this also feels like a selectively sanitized version of Thedas compared to previous games. In it's attempt to stay safe and uncontroversial in some aspects it loses a lot of substance and it changes the tone. The surface level politics, ignoring previously established major societal issues and a tell-don't-show approach makes the world seem more simple and shallow with no grey areas to explore. ( the humor also falls flat and out of place often too, and WHY is everyone always smirking, enough!! godlike beings are destroying the planet please this is not the time for Marvel banter aaaa )

The pacing at the start is a bit of a mess. It is so fast it felt like jumping from one world shattering discovery to the next with no time to process. The characters also seem to underreact to important information and major developments. It felt like the game was rushing me through all this to get to the part of the story it wanted to tell me while I was still wrapped in my shock blanket trying to catch my breath lmao. I really like all the key story points they touched upon, I just wish they dwelled more on them to give them more narrative weight. ( though blaming every bad thing to ever happen on the Elves was certainly..a choice )

I think the writing could have used more subtlety in the first half and more boldness in the second 😆 but I loved the thematic parallels between Rook and Solas and how every quest informs the main storyline. I do wish Rook was given more impossible choices and put in more difficult situations that forced them to lie or betray their own to better drive the point home though ( listen I just love a Trolley problem!! we need more of those, I'm the Trolley problem's number one fan!! ) I feel like they missed the chance to put Rook in Solas' role and be as vilified and hated for it as Solas was despite their best intentions which would make Rook's regrets stronger and in turn make their escape from the fade all the more impressive and give them a better understanding of Solas to either use against him or earn his respect. The line 'they called me the Dread Wolf, what will they call you when this is over' from the trailers was so good I was waiting for this!! But everyone just loves Rook no matter what!!

But I feel like I stated too many negative aspects in a row so moving on to some things I enjoyed!

The characters were very lovable to me. The romances weren't as long or impactful as I would have liked but I enjoyed all the companion quests. Emmrich is a delight and his quest is so wild and fun. I loved learning about Nevarra and I was awestruck by the Grand Necropolis. The mourn watch was so interesting, it showed a whole new side of Thedas' lore I knew nothing about! and I loved Manfred! Davrin is so charming, he became a favorite. I loved his quest too and learning more bits and pieces about the Dalish was great, I wish we got more. Seeing the Wardens through his quest also made me enjoy them a lot. Assan was very cute too and I'm glad he was treated as an animal and not turned into a goofy Disney sidekick too much lmao 😭 Lucanis is hilarious. The fantasy Spain/Italy was a bit silly and off at times but he is very sweet! and I love the Spite possession, that was so fun I'm glad they kept him that way! Bellara is adorable, her first backstory quest made me cry and I just love a nerd! I wish the second part of her story was written better however, and she sort of devolves into 'it's hard, I wish it was easy but it's hard' dialogues too often sadly. Anaris and the Forgotten Ones' portrayal was underwhelming and anticlimactic which was disappointing. Harding is also very cute and her Titan plotline was the most interesting to me, I bawled my eyes out in her quest!! I love the dwarven lore of this universe I'm so happy we got more of it!! ( she also fucking died in my playthrough?! I was devastated what the hell 😭 'whatever it takes' WEUEUGHHHG I'M SO SORRY) Neve was a slow burn for me because of my choices in game slowing that relationship down ( saving Treviso I mean, perdón amor 🙏 ) but I love detective novels and she is such a badass I ended up loving her. Taash was unexpected, I didn't think they would be so young. The coming of age story was sweet, though I found myself cringing a lot too at the handling of it I have to admit ( and the Lords of Fortune in general, and the Antaam...and que Qun..listen- kajshfgf ) but I also enjoyed learning more about the first expedition and the Qunari in general despite the messy writing and choices. I also loved Antoine and Evka! and Strife! And I haven't even read any of the novels they are in 😆 also Mila!!!! and her dad oh my god and Felassan haunting the narrative!! speaking of haunting, I would have loved for Cole to be in the lighthouse too I think it would have worked well 🤔 especially with the whole 'reading Solas' secret diary' thing the game had going on lmao

Everyone seems to get along except for a bit of friction that is quickly resolved at the start, which is hmm missed potential? I would have preferred more tension personally. I enjoy the drama! gives me more to work with and gives you a better grasp on everyone's personality by contrasting values. I think they wanted to speed run a found family trope for the new hero to establish some emotional stakes early on but it ended up making everyone seem like a group therapy session instead. The group meetings also have everyone either state the obvious or repeat the same opinion or conclusion to each other, I would have loved these meetings to have more bickering, have people get mad and storm out and also get to listen to different takes on a situation. Make Rook struggle more to take the reins and keep the team functional, learning how to be a leader.

Speaking of Rook! ( who in my case has a northern British accent that I loved so much 🥺) They seem to have a very established personality. I was expecting more of a blank slate but I'm lucky that the personality they went for kind of matches what I would normally choose in a first playthrough. Though the lack of range in the choices is irritating and takes away some replayability and role playing potential. Rook is very supportive and selfless, I wasn't expecting this tbh! But it all made my Rook turn into the team's weird supportive necromancer mom so it worked out in the end I guess lmao. I can't wait to draw her!!

I was so overwhelmed by the amount of information we got about Solas and his past!! I was expecting answers but not these many and not for them to be such an integral part of the plot!! The game feels like it's about him more than anything else. His arc is the best written out of all. He is mentioned in every conversation, he's the main advisor and the narrative foil, you get to talk to him often, you work for him and with him and go into his memories it all feels so surreal to me lmao I love him so I'm delighted ngl! but also making the other Evanuris so cartoonishly evil makes Solas into such an obvious choice of an ally, god of trickery or not, that it sort of takes the decision out of your hands and makes some dialogue options and companions' opinions seem almost nonsensical. I have no idea how this game would feel to someone who absolutely hates Solas' guts honestly. I suppose I will find out soon enough 😆

About Solas' story, I loved it! I somehow also feel that I knew it already, all the speculation and theories that Solavellan fans were crafting for years were so accurate that it was all very validating. Even the wildest ones! Solas as the Maker, the elves spirit origin, Mythal giving him a body, the war with the Titans, the origin of the Blight, Solas being on your side as advisor, I can go on, we knew!! Also I have to mention this I'm sorry but they made him look so hot!! unbelievable. And the bloodied teary eyed pathetic look in the end ouurghhh I'm cheering and clapping!!

The romance conclusion was so lovely 😭 the Loki and Sigyn ending we deserved to such a mythological epic!! and open ended enough for all of us to cook!! and we got to see him fight and transform into the Dread Wolf!! and whimper and cry!! and bleed and love!! that's all I ever wanted, incredible we were really spoiled what the hell I still can't believe it 😭 GDL acting was brilliant as usual! the visuals were also incredible and exactly what I had in mind when I imagined where the story may go, the eclipse, the giant wolf, the glowing eyes, the Elvhenan ruins, the statues, even the hair lmao it all aligned exactly to what I've been painting all these years but better I was thrilled 😭

Solas backstory with Mythal also offers players that didn't romance him a chance to see him act out of love and show a side they wouldn't be able to reach otherwise and I think it was smart! also very tragic and sheds more light into all of his choices and words and his relationship with Lavellan too and the parallels and reversals and uughh thoroughly enjoying the emotional distress 👌

Pleasing both the Solas lovers and haters at the same time was always going to be hard with him being such a polarizing character by design and the world states being so different but I think they did a good job! at least from my side of things.

I think my favorite part besides the Solas related stuff was the Blight. I loved how horrific and gross and threatening it was! I've always loved the concept of the Blights and I'm glad it was such a huge part of the story in this game. I also loved Treviso!! has to be the most beautiful city in Thedas ahhh and the Necropolis!! the gardens!! Vorgoth!!! Kal-Sharok!!! I can't believe we got to see it!! and a Titan!!! the giant floating face of Ghilan'nain in the clouds??? and the huge archdemons and dragons!! oh and that warden dragon trap in the shape of a griffon?? and the giant blight tendrils!! the siege at Weisshaupt was outstanding!! and the floating panopticon castle situation in Minrathous uughh there is so much I loved.

OH I also enjoyed the Varric arc even though I saw it coming since the trailer it was still played well and it was touching 🥺

The ending felt a bit jarring to me in tone though, a bit too cheerful considering...the horrors. Over half the continent destroyed and most of the problems Thedas had before the game are still there. Veil in place and all 😆

But I had fun!! I'm nitpicking really, the conclusion to Solas' story feels very satisfying to me which was my main worry so I'm happy. It is a good game!! with a sort of soft reboot feel to it and aimed at a younger audience which is probably what they were going for? You can sort of feel the struggle the team went through during production in the way the target audience seems unclear sadly. I also can't help feeling like this is an ending, so much was revealed and resolved!! but maybe I feel that way because that is what I felt after Shadowbringers / Endwalker in FFXIV once my favorite part of the story was wrapped? They can always pivot to a new continent and expand on the world and cultures we know almost nothing about, but that is always harder to sell so I have no clue where they will go from here 😵‍💫

Anyway I'm still processing a lot of stuff that I will probably talk (and draw) about later, this is already long enough!! for now I'll look up how to get the artbook because the art direction of this game is fantastic!! I would love to hear your thoughts too really, I'm curious about the experiences of players who made different choices and with different tastes to mine!!

[crepesuzette2023]

For Paul’s Birthday: Some of my favorite Pauls in fic

I shouldn’t be overthinking this list, but it’s mine, and it’s done in the spirit of McCartney, so I guess it’s inevitable. So: this is a handful of stories that stayed with me because of a Paul-specific image or vibe. Totally subjective. I kept it to one story per writer (brutally difficult in places!), I wanted a reasonable spread over Paul eras and writing styles & I slightly favored “less well known” stories…to honor the Beatles’ love of B-sides?!

Finally, I avoided deep angst/sadness for now. They say it’s his birthday, and such. (I love angsty and sad stories, and I did go back and forth on this one, but...)

There are so many sparkling Paul’s stories. To no one’s surprise. Maybe there will be other lists? There could be a million.

What a mind, what a man, this is still that body: Paul McCartney.

———

Birney (bookofapril): 1967. Paul loves himself.

The Storytellers (whiteisthewarmestcolor): Very early days. Paul and John discuss how they’re going to share their story with the world once they’re famous.

Thinking of Linking (@beatlessideblog): INYD-verse extra. A confident but also very nervous Paul is determined to impress John at the Woolton Fete. I love stories about baby Elvis Paul engineering “the meeting,” and this is one of the very best!

My Open Arms Ache (Try to Fall For Me) (@thegirlwiththeaxe). Young Paul is touch-starved, and John is there for him. Some of the loveliest descriptions of them sleeping together.

Fur (@ohjohnnysblog). Also early days. The first time John sees Paul’s leg fur. Sweet cuddling ensues!

Monkberry Moon Delight (goodbody). Slightly later early days. After playing a late show, John is nursing at Paul’s breast. They discover that this is what they both need. I love the dreamy nighttime mood of the story, and how surprisingly well it fits them. Just Us.

Lifting Latches/Writing Postcards (thinkpink20). A classic for a reason! John and Paul realize their feelings for each other. It starts with John stealing Paul’s shirt…

Macabre (@dovetailjoints). I always summarize this as “Lennon & McCartney go too far.” Mesmerizing serial killer moment that, once more, just fits them perfectly.

Sock hop, soda pop (@scurator). John is developing a taste for Stu. Paul shows him what he’s missing. This one has several unforgettable lines/ images; for me it’s this one: “Paul rolls his hips in a way he thinks is probably illegal in the Deep South, and bites his lip when John makes a sound like a gasp.” 

The Bass Lesson (@aquarianshift). Hamburg. Paul teaches Stu how to play the bass, or tries to. To his horror, they are attracted to each other. Resentful, hot sex is the result.

How You Were Diverted (candle_beck). At the height of fame, it’s like it’s always been: Paul is taking care of John’s volatile emotions. The sex is part of it. George POV on a different, rough version of Lennon/McCartney.

Plant A Seed (@eveepe). It’s short, it’s sweet, it’s my desert island smut. And so much more. John fucks Paul in his slutty sailor boy outfit in Miami. Incredibly slow and intimate, and of course it ends in music.

still mates (@pauls1967moustache). Peter Asher and Paul. The descriptions of Paul/Jane and Paul/John are so good, and yet, they’re background: the focus is on Peter Asher and his confusing feelings for the hot mess that is 1968 Paul. I can’t word it well, but to me, this is a story about manliness, and *men*; about heroism in a sense. I loved the glow of hope in the end.   

Silly Girl (@bluewater9). Paul through the years, through the eyes of Martha. The ending…!

Be Careful of the Thorns (@skylikeaflame): NYC, the 70’s. John and Paul pay a visit to David Bowie and Mick Jagger. Seeing Paul through John’s eyes is such a treat!

Lucky You (@crumblingcookies): NYC’s, the 70’s. Paul answers an ad in a gay paper. Someone is looking for a Paul McCartney lookalike…guess who that is. And did Paul ever let him down?

oh darling, pardon me (can you help me remember) (inherownwrite). Mid 80’s: John and Paul are together. Paul is nervous about the release of their new album, and John calms him down by combing his legs.

but still they lead me back (@revollver): Paul looks back on the night John asked him “do you like me?” The summary quotes from Giovanni’s Room, and that is the vibe.

Someone Else Can Worry About Me…(@idontwanttospoiltheparty): Paul taking care of others, and being taken care of by others, through the years. I love the symmetrical structure of the story, and how real Paul & his relationships feel throughout. It’s lovely to see him open up, and for his courage to be rewarded with love and comfort. kissing the blarney (@zilabee): Paul as good luck charm.

AU’s:

bright are the stars, dark is the sky (Chapters 8 and 9 of the incredible “Smutlets” collection) (@unchaineddaisychain): Liverpool, 1960’s. John is developing a crush on his bandmate's father (a.k.a. middle-aged Paul). What can I say, it feels right, and the sex, spiced by guilt and how wrong it feels, is to die for.

eclipsed by the moon (@dailyhowl): John and Paul are elite students working to develop technology to ensure humanity’s survival on a moon base. Paul is his lovely, stubborn, overachieving Self in this story, and I love the route by which he and John get their happy ending.

vide noir (@backbenttulips): John disappears after taking a mysterious new drug. Paul follows him down the rabbit hole.

I’ll Pretend That I’m Kissing the Lips I Am Missing (yaggerdangs_jumpsuit). Praise Smaul in all eternity!!! (Unofficial John Lennon quote)

Double Fantasy (@javelinbk): This Paul (a.k.a. the best customer of John’s flower shop) is incredibly charming, and his and John's growing friendship and love are the loveliest thing to see. I think of this AU every time I see a Venus Fly Trap. Read and find out why. (This is part of a series that also contains Paul’s POV of these events.)

A Definitive Next Time (@toovirgins): Famous actor John Lennon (How I Won the War) visits Liverpool to meet the fan who wrote him that flirty letter—a certain Paul McCartney, who plays in a very good band. I love Paul’s confidence and experience in this story. He knows exactly what (and who!) he wants.

[jordiemeow]

MISC BOT DUMP ⋆ ˚｡⋆౨ৎ˚

15/04/25

featuring characters from: challengers, west side story, panic, house of the dragon & marvel

prefacing this with a big fat thank u for 700 followers <3 not proofread in the slightest and very badly tagged but that's okay!! got drafts for fics for a lot of these so. Hmm eventually

still have other reqs to get through but saving those for after anniversary :) rafe lovers u r not forgotten.

gender neutral unless specified otherwise. have fun

enjoy ! <3

CHALLENGERS

SERVE(ING PAPERS)

patrick zweig x user

Your marriage was doomed from the start. Everyone pretended otherwise, and it took you a decade to come to that conclusion, but hey. Frontal lobe development, and all that. The point is you're sick and tired of the fighting and infidelity on both sides. Time to get a divorce.

ANOTHER ONE?

art donaldson x user (m4f)

Art's happy with his life, don't get him wrong. He loves likes his career, adores his wife, and Lily is the absolute light of his life. But it's because he loves your little family so much that he's been thinking about expanding it... how about another one?

WEST SIDE STORY

PLEASE DON'T GO

riff lorton x user

Fancy fuckin' school you managed to get yourself accepted into. All was well and dandy before you dropped the news that it meant you'd have to move away and leave him behind. So instead of telling you he'll miss you, he takes the childish route. What happened to loyalty, huh?

NOT ON MY WATCH

riff lorton x user (m4f)

Pretty girl like you is too good to be seen hanging around with the likes of him. You have a future ahead of you—you don't need to be wasting time with some boy you took pity on as a kid for having a crackhead momma. Cutting you out of his life is a necessity, he tells himself... until he spots some member of the Sharks hitting on you a few months later. Absolutely-fucking-not.

LONG TIME NO SEE

balkan jackson x user

It's been a hell of a long time since you've seen him. Keeping a roof over your head is tough, and Balkan is in too deep with the Jets to worry about maintaining friendships. But when he gets into a fight on the wrong side of town, you're the person he turns to. Maybe he just misses you.

PANIC

DADDY'S LIL ANGEL

dodge mason x user (m4f)

Dodge willingly attending church? Unheard of! But when he realises how pretty the preacher's daughter is, he finds himself attending worship. (Not for God, of course. For you.) He's on his best behaviour around you, he swears, but it's getting increasingly hard not to test how hellbent you are on saving yourself for marriage.

A SHOULDER TO CRY ON

dodge mason x user

If you asked his sister, she'd tell you Dodge has the emotional intelligence of a rock. Definitely not the most ideal person to find you crying in the kitchen after a rough shift at Dot's, but you mean a lot to him. Maybe he can lend you a shoulder to cry on... just don't stain his shirt, please.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

HEAVY IS THE HEAD

rhaenyra targaryen x user (wlw)

Lucerys is dead, Daemon has disappeared with Caraxes, and Rhaenyra's council is driving her up the wall with their arguing. But amidst all that chaos, she's able to find solace in the company of her lady's maid: you.

THE NEW QUEEN

alicent hightower x user

When Alicent told you that she had some news to share, you did not expect this. Perhaps that some knight asked for her favour, or that she had a new prayer book to share... not that she was marrying your father. Seven Hells, what has she gotten herself into?

FRIEND OR FOE?

jacaerys velaryon x user (m4f)

In theory, Jacaerys should be avoiding you at all costs. Your father is a supporter of the Hightowers, openly expressing his favour for Aegon on the throne. And yet despite it all, he finds himself seeking out your company more often than not—you aren't like the rest of them, he's sure of it.

MARVEL

PETALS AND PENITENCE

peter parker (tasm) x user

Surprise! Your best friend is Spider-man! And you are not happy about the fact he's kept this very life-altering secret from you, his closest companion. When you decide to ignore him after his accidental reveal, he realises he has to take matters into his own hands—a grand gesture, maybe. It's a pity the flowers got so wrecked in his bag, though.

LAST ONES STANDING

natasha romanoff x user

In the aftermath of the Blip, everything changed. But, five years after the initial disappearance of half the world's population, things are returning to some form of normalcy. Or, at the very least, you're still as infuriatingly optimistic as Natasha remembers.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN

steve rogers x user

When you enlisted as a medic during the Second World War, Steve was proud of you. He couldn't serve his country, but you could. That was, of course, until Dr. Abraham Erskine took a chance on a poor kid from Brooklyn. Now you're both changing lives for the better, and he's never been more happy to see an old friend.

[clockwayswrites]

City Pigeons Bleed Green - Part 13

Cass looked up as Jason came out of Danny’s room. He looked better.

After Danny had been stabilized, Cass had taken Jason away from the safe house and to Jason’s place with the gym in the basement. She knew what it was like to have that need to act— to hurt to ruin to end— burning under her skin. She gave Jason the fight that he needed, letting him punch and kick until they were both covered in bruises and he was shaking apart in her arms.

Today he looked better.

“N is going to stay with Danny,” Jason said with a little nod backwards.

Dick, Jason, Tim, and herself had all been taking turns staying with their new brother. He was sleeping a lot right then; he was waking with nightmares a lot too. Waking up with one of them touching him seemed to help him calm the quickest so they took turns staying close.

“Red?” Cass asked with a little tilt of her head.

Jason glanced at the clock on the oven as he opened the fridge. He wasn’t really hungry, but eating out of habit. “He’ll be over here in two hours, I he doesn’t get distracted.”

“Be nice. Red cares. He’ll be here,” she said.

Jason seemed to settle on something and popped the top off before throwing it in the microwave. “Yeah… yeah. Danny’s pretty much wormed his way into all of our hearts, hasn’t he?”

“Yes. Will for rest too.”

Jason snorted. “As if he already hasn’t with B. They didn’t need to meet for that. You know how the old man is, a real bleeding heart of stone.”

Cass rolled her eyes and ordered again, “Be nice.”

Jason frowned at her but she just smiled serenely back until he rolled his eyes. It was a win enough for her.

The heated food was set on a trivet between them and Jason stuck two forks in it.

“I’m thinking we get O in here in a few days,” he said around his own large bite of lasagna. “Danny is healing better this time, but we don’t know what sort of set back this will cause mentally and all. Having another set of hands would be good.”

“O will like him.”

“Course she will,” Jason said with almost a scoff.

“No O and Red,” Cass added thoughtfully after she had chewed her own bite. This was definitely Jason lasagna and not Alfred lasagna.

“Yeah… I don’t think I’m going to trust those three in a room together for a long time,” Jason said with a dawning sort of horror. “Danny took apart the remote here and now it has buttons for services I didn’t even know existed. I swear it will change shows on its own too if no one is paying attention to it. It’s useful, I guess, but a little creepy.”

“Ghost brother,” Cass said with a little shrug.

Jason’s eyes narrowed before he let out an exhausted sounding sigh. “I hate that you might be right. Our controller could be haunted now.”

“Alas poor Yorick?”

“Wrong character,” Jason said, pointing with his fork, “but that is a play with a ghost in it so good job.”

Cass smiled happily at the praise. “Once Red is here, you and me errands?”

“You just want to buy Danny another present,” Jason said, jabbing his fork in her direction.

“Yes,” she said with zero shame.

Jason rolled his eyes. “Fine, but we have to do groceries too.”

-

Babs had been warned that Danny was still very skittish, but he hadn’t actually expected him to freeze like a scared rabbit when she came into the apartment. She stopped rolling forward and moved her hands to where he could see them both clearly.

“Hi Danny,” she said with her kindest librarian voice that she had. “I’m Oracle. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Danny shook his head, the motion ran through him like a shudder and whatever had frozen him shook off him like water off a dog. His smile was still shaky though, so Babs didn’t think that whatever the reaction had been was completely done.

“Hi, Oracle.” His voice was soft, rough, a little broken.

She’d heard from a number of the bats about the latest development and the trauma that went with it, but it as still something to see someone that looked like a young Bruce covered in bandages and looking more than worse for the wear.

“Are you alright if I come in? If you aren’t, that’s alright. I’ll just talk with Nightwing in the hall for a little.”

“No, you can come in,” Danny said, sitting up a little straighter. His eyes flicked over her again. “It’s just… your hair reminded me of someone is all. No one… no one bad.”

Babs offered him a smile and came the rest of the way into the apartment. “If that changes, just let me know.”

“It’s fine, really,” Danny said, though the words were still a little bit of a whisper.

“Well then,” Dick said, interrupting the end of the oddly tense moment, “Babs, do you want any hot chocolate?”

“Thank you, but without the mountain of whip cream I know you liked to put on it,” she said, giving Dick a playful glare.

He shrugged unrepentantly. “Danny?”

“Yes please,” he said. He was fussing with the blanket he had been sitting under, folding it up just so.

Babs moved towards the kitchen to give him a little bit of space and the illusion of some privacy.

‘What was that about?’ Babs asked Dick silently through raised eye brows, a slightly twisted frown, and a subtle nod towards the living room.

‘Not a damn clue,’ is what Dick’s shrug said back.

It almost made Babs sigh.

Danny was still a complete mystery to her. While they were being good and had avoided taking blood or fingerprints from Danny, Barbara had at least been trying to find Danny’s path through the city. She’d been saying for days now that the boy was like a ghost.

She just didn’t expect that to be as literal as it was.

The nickname had lost any of its fun.

“Danny, whipped cream for you?” Dick asked.

Danny’s eyes darted from Dick to Babs.

“Oh, feel free to have it like N,” Babs said with a smile. “I just don’t have the sweet tooth that he does.”

“She never has, it’s tragic,” Dick said with a sigh as he started to warm a pot of milk. “So, whipped cream.”

“Um, yes,” Danny said.

“I will take sprinkles though,” Babs said. “Do you have the little—”

“Bats?” Dick scoffed. “Of course I have the little bats. You can’t have proper hot chocolate without the little bat sprinkles.”

“Of course not,” words serious but unable to help the little smile that she sported.

“You all really like the theme, don’t you?” Danny asked, though he was smiling too now.

“The boy in the hoddie with the Bat logo on it does not get to talk,” Dick said and tossed a large marshmallow at Danny with pin point accuracy.

Danny caught it effortlessly and started to pull it apart with a little shrug. “Hood got if for me as a present.”

“Of course he did,” Tim said as he finally emerged from wherever he had been tucked away. He handed the tablet he was carrying over to Danny before he sat down in the neighboring armchair. “He’s just trying to claim you first, as if him and I didn’t find you together.”

“Hot chocolate, Red?” Dick asked while Danny was busy looking bewildered at that.

“Sure, but add some coffee to it?” Tim asked.

“No,” Dick replied far too cheerfully. “But seriously Dandelion, a Bat logo from a Bat means something.”

Danny’s face scrunched up at that and he looked down at himself. “I don’t think… he was trying to claim me?”

Babs snorted. “Oh, trust us, he was absolutely claiming you. He probably felt that he had to do something material to even start to compete with B.B., as if he wasn’t cooking for you all the time.”

Danny stared back at her with wide blue eyes. The open surprise and desperate want was odd to see on someone that looked so much like Bruce. Damian certainly never let himself appear that way.

“And Red is already souping up your tablet, I’m assuming— though if you really want an improvement let me see it,” she continued, talking over Tim’s little snort, “and N is making you the special hot chocolate. Even Signal is thinking what he can get you and Spoiler is whining that she hasn’t met you yet.”

“She is getting so annoying,” Tim whined while Danny stuffed the shredded marshmallow in his mouth, likely to get out of saying anything. He looked more than a little teary eyed. Tim gave him the out by continuing, “We’ll have her over one morning when she’ll be tired and easily distracted by waffles. You’re not up for the full Spoiler experience yet.”

“Trust Red on that,” Dick interjected as he stirred the coco, “he dated her.”

“I don’t know what either of us were thinking,” Tim said with a sigh. “We are both way too high maintenance in different ways for it to have worked.”

“You were still waiting for you bi awakening, baby bird, you were missing out on half the options,” Dick said. He dropped one of the oversized marshmallows in each of the four mugs before pouring the scalding hot chocolate over it.

Babs left him to his sorcery and wheeled over to the couch before working her way onto it. Danny helpfully moved the blanket out of the way and then offered it back after. She draped it carefully over her legs.

“So what did Red do to your tablet?”

“I actually didn’t do anything,” Tim said, and then had to pause. “Well, not after I gave it to Danny at least. I was just making sure everything was still good. Danny’s been tinkering with it.”

Danny gave a little shrug and picked at the edge of his hoodie.

“Do you like engineering then? Or inventing?” Babs asked, trying to encourage Danny to open up a little.

“Yeah, my— I—, I mean…” Danny stumbled over his words. He lost some of his color with each false start until he was worryingly grey. He swallowed thickly. “Yeah, I used to at least.”

“Danny, hot chocolate,” Dick said with impeccable timing as always.

Danny whispered a thanks and took the almost overflowing mug. He could basically hide behind the mound of whipped cream and he definitely tried to. Babs took the offered mug with a much more modest dollop but an absurd amount of bat sprinkles. Her lips twitched up in a smile as she took a sip.

Tim’s portion was somewhere in between Bab’s and Danny and of course Dick’s was practically laughable. It’s a wonder he didn’t make an absolute mess of himself drinking it as they argued over a movie to watch. It was clever of the Bats, really, they had started to narrow down how long Danny had been a test subject by what movies he had seen or not.

It was somewhere between seventeen and twenty-three months.

Nearly two years.

They were all lucky that Danny had made it out at all. They all knew the statistics of something like that.

Hot chocolate turned into dinner turned into Danny cuddling Dick on the couch and eventually resting against Bab’s legs. A good sign about her acceptance, according to the birds.

“Oracle?”

Babs had thought that Danny was asleep. She reached out to run the tips of her fingers through his hair. The lights from the movie that was still playing glinted off her pink nails. “Yes, Danny?”

“If I asked… would you be able to find someone for me?”

She tilted her head. “The person that I remind you of?”

“Yes. Just… just so that I know she’s okay.”

“Is she in danger?”

“No, she’s not like me. She’s…” Danny cut himself off, swallowing back the words.

“But you’d still like to know.”

“Yes.”

Babs hummed. It was technically an abuse of her powers, but they were something she abused all the time. “Yes, if you ask me to, I can find out if she’s okay.”

“Okay. I’ll… maybe I’ll ask. Thank you.”

“Of course, Danny.”

---

AN: I struggled with this chapter at first, but it was because I was jumping right to Barbara meeting Danny and not giving the others some more time to deal with the change in Danny. They still haven't really dealt with it, right now they're focused on healing and getting more help through Babs being around.

All our poor Bat's. So attached already and so traumatized.

But not as traumatized as Danny...

Stay delightful, darlings!

[bixels]

Taking the current topic as an excuse to ask you to tell me all the reasons you love Rarijack. Your art for the ship is so sweet and intimate I'd love to hear any in depth thoughts you have.

Breathes in.

I think what makes their dynamic really strong is that they have opposing personalities but aligned values. It's deeper than just "opposites attract." Rarity's fancy, prissy, and femme while Applejack's modest, rough, and "masculine." But both value hard work (to the point of being workaholics), their families (both have guardianship over their little sisters), running successful businesses, and eventually each other. Their relationship can be boiled down to, "Despite our differences/disagreements, I still like you because we value the same things."

We see their relationship develop so much. In the first season, they can't stop bickering about surface-level differences. By season four, they still bicker, but will mend their relationship because they can't help but do nice things for each other. In Trade Ya, they start off arguing over personality differences (Applejack likes old junk and Rarity likes useless crap). Then they pivot and start arguing that they value their relationship more than the other. In the end, they mend things by sacrificing their needs and buying each other a gift. Even if they don't understand it, they know it'd make the other happy. And that's all that really matters. It's a genuinely sweet moment that shows how arguing can be healthy and necessary for relationships to strengthen.

We even see them dropping their hang-ups about each others' personalities. In Made in Manehattan, when Rarity runs off in dramatics about someone's fashion, AJ doesn't roll her eyes or scoff, she smiles. Oftentimes, their conflicts are very common domestic conflicts romantic couples face. Applejack's Day Off is about a woman's inability to balance work and life and find time to properly spend with her partner, causing her partner to feel neglected.

By season seven, they're actively participating in each others' interests. Any problems or conflicts that arise are dealt with, and they come out the other end stronger and closer. In Honest Apple, AJ pretty much spells out why their relationship works so well: even though she doesn't understand fashion, she can recognize and appreciate how much work it takes and wants to respect that. When she realizes her mistake in the episode, AJ goes above and beyond to fix things and apologize to Rarity. They care about each other so much.

The two go out of their way, sacrificing their personal desires and beliefs and doing things they normally wouldn't, to make the other happy. That's just love.

There's Simple Ways, where AJ gets stuck in an unwanted love triangle between Rarity and her hipster crush. And her frustration and anger can be so easily interpreted as AJ finding herself in a terrible position; the girl she loves wants another man, and that man wants her.

I dunno. I've always had a preference for opposites attract ships, but Rarijack's stuck with me like a brain worm because they have the perfect chemistry. The way they show they care, or do things for each other, I've always read it as the truest representation of romance in the show.

[seriallover]

Sexual behavior and the things you are into are seen through your Moon, Venus and Mars Yoni animal.

E.g. 1. Goat🐐 Sheep🐑: bitting, leaving marks, multiple ejaculation, rough and sensual.

2. Snake 🐍 : restriction, asphyxiation, bondage, like to doing slow, for a long time, VERY sensual, eye contact can definitely be a big turn-on.

3. Mongoose : aggressive (not in the BDSM way, more in a dominant/protective manner) and very patient. Prefer the “classical roles”, traditional type.

4. Bull 🐂 Cow 🐄: can have a praise kink or a breeding one, attracted to big chest/boobs.

5. Horse 🐎 : prefer to be the ones who initiate and like to do it fast, without much planning or organization. They are wild, have great endurance, and can last very long. Strong knees, they may enjoy immobilizing their partner with their legs. They prefer being on top and love riding.

6. Rat 🐀 : the horniest😭for PP the rat is female and she tends to be more dominant in relationship, for Magha the rat is a male who has a breeding kink. Rats usually don’t have self control over their sexual desires and can even die from having sex (the actual animal, not the human 😆or..?They are most likely to be into orgies and threesomes, and are also very fertile.

7. Lion 🦁 : lions are selective with their partners. They are passionate and sensual, needing to put on a show every time they have sex. They are aggressive, loud, and rough, preferring to be the dominant partner. Proud and craving praise, they enjoy messy, all-over-the-place intercourse Love to be teased and thrive on working for their partner's attention, embodying the hunting type.

8. Dog 🐕 : are usually submissive, love to bite, and can be somewhat aggressive (especially Ardra). They are loud and prefer 'angry/make-up sex.

9. Tiger 🐅 : all about showing off and hunting; the "prey-predator" dynamic is what turns them on. Also, the female Tiger in reality eats more than she needs, and it still isn't enough for her, so people with this yoni can become nymphomaniac.

10. Monkey 🐒 : they crave a lot of sexual attention, enjoying being the dominant one and sometimes showing exhibitionist tendencies. They prefer quickies and feel comfortable having sex only in the 'right places'—meaning nice, comfortable, and hygienic rooms or beds—for Sharavana (sex talk).

11. Buffalo 🐃 : shower/bathtub sex, into polygamy, rough, sadistic sex. For Hasta, they focus on using their hands and tongue more, turned on by dirty/sex talk, foot fetish.

12. Elephant 🐘 : they tend to prefer slow, leisurely intercourse, enjoying the process and displaying protective tendencies. As they mature, they become more open and less frivolous, often developing an interest in tantric sex.

13. Cat 🐈‍⬛ : turned on by eye contact, docile, prefer longer foreplay, don’t like to rush, and everything needs to be handled with care and softness. Like the snake, they enjoy hugging the other person tightly, almost crushing them. And like all the predator yonis, they usually enjoy performing oral on their partner.

14. Deer 🦌 : prefer to be 'hunted,' usually they aren’t the ones who initiate sexual intercourse. Sensual and mostly focused on procreating, they enjoy sex more when they are in a relationship.

This is based on what I’ve read, my experiences, and the people I’ve asked. If you’ve had different experiences or feel differently, feel free to share. Like all my observations, it may not apply to everyone. As you can see, each animal has both male and female versions, so the kinks may vary depending on the gender of the animal.

Works both ways, whether giving or receiving

[luvingjeanie]

Hallloooooo can you please write about yaba or banda with a s/o (genderneutural) that is very clingy like they would be at their side 24/7 always hand holding or sitting on their lap oh and can they possibly already know eachother before the borderland they were in separate places when they transported to the borderlands so their s/o is terrified to leave them alone again (the angst potential for banda lol) thank you!

this one was lowkey hard to write icl😭

♡ yaba

♡ you were an intern in his office, a good few years younger than he was, but god he couldn’t help himself.

♡ you were sweet, obedient, still learning to navigate the big working world, and he saw you all the time, when you were bring him the printed documents he sent you off to get, fetching his americanos, and when you knocked on his office door, updating him on a change in the day’s schedule.

♡ and against his will, he found himself being a little more lenient with you, letting you stay on your break a little longer, pretending to not notice that you had returned five minutes late, being more forgiving when you fucked up printing copies, and people in the office definitely noticed.

♡ he’s typically stoic, analytical, a workaholic honestly, but he couldn’t help but be so worried about you when everything happened.

♡ he saw you again in the jack of hearts game, raising his brows when he saw you, still dressed in your work clothes, shrinking into a cold wall as you fiddled with the cold, uncomfortable collar around your neck.

♡ casually, he walked up to you, hands in pockets like always, soon taking one out and placing a hand on your shoulder, calling your name, admittedly more sternly than he intended, like you had made a mistake when drafting an important email back in work.

♡ but poor little you, scared and alone, were happy to see him nonetheless.

♡ as for the clinginess, he never reciprocates much despite enjoying the attention, and he absolutely won’t tell you off for it

♡ the most he’ll do is keep a hand on your waist or the small of your back

♡ perhaps standing a little too close as he whispers strategies in your ear before the next round, touching your neck and lingering longer than needs be as he checks for your suit

♡ in future games, or during your days off, he even finds himself patting his lap, inviting you to sit.

♡ you make him unusually warm even though he absolutely will not show it.

♡ when you sit on his lap, a large hand comes to rest on your thigh or knee, rubbing slightly whilst he focuses on the task at hand, whatever it may be

♡ honestly the only time i imagine him initiating genuine affection is when you’re both in danger, pulling you by your waist close to him, practically dragging you out of harms way, or hugging you when your scared, one of his big, rough hands pushing your head to his chest, keeping you close.

♡ all in all, very stoic, still very calculated, he won’t be outwardly warm and cutesy, but he’s ready to protect and comfort you which is big for him.

♡ banda

♡ i can’t imagine a situation in which you would know banda in a pre-borderlands world, honestly you were probably just his prison psychiatrist, someone he was forced to be with.

♡ he was indifferent towards seeing you, you were professional, curt, and plain usually, and feelings of affection don’t develop easily for him obviously. to him, you were a person he was forced to see, nothing more

♡ but seeing you now, meek, trying to hide your fear, and doing a terrible job at it, made him raise a brow, and a smirk tugged at his lip slightly. it was odd, but he couldn’t say he wasn’t at least a little amused.

♡ you weren’t affectionate immediately, despite wanting to jump to the closest person for comfort, as you knew everything.

♡ being his psychiatrist, you knew his darkest transgressions and misdeeds, his plain expression and blunt delivery of those thoughts serving as a testament to his sociopathic tendencies.

♡ but, one day you couldn’t help it

♡ god you were so scared, you clutched his arm, holding it close to your chest before you could register you were doing so.

♡ he didn’t love it

♡ but he absolutely did relish in the feeling of having someone he previously had to submit to in a way cower before him so easily

♡ i honestly don’t think he’d be down for lap sitting

♡ he only initiates affection or accepts it when you’re frightened simply because he enjoys seeing you in such a state

♡ he doesn’t love you, he doesn’t respect you, he looks down on you

♡ a once so put together person suddenly needing him.

[meo-eiru]

How could Elias have met his darling? I kinda feel like they were long childhood friends, like in elementary perhaps even? A cute scenario that I keep thinking about...

Elias somehow got hurt on the playground, perhaps some boy in school was jealous of him and his looks? Perhaps they made fun of him for looking pretty, mocking him to put makeup on and play with the girls? (I feel like he'd be adored more by girls than boys, simply because he looks quite feminine in not a bad way)

So he is sobbing in the bathroom, standing in front of the mirror and somehow tries to fix his face. (Perhaps poor boy got some mud onto his face?)

And his darling didn't really interact with him before, so she just walks past the bathroom but caught onto the loud and dramatic sniffles and sobs. Perhaps she got curious and went to check up on him (despite it being the boys bathroom, another headcanon I have for his darling that she might be more of a troublemaker back then or a tomboy, so she didn't care if she simply went into the boys bathroom, she would've probably enjoyed the thrill of getting caught by a teacher and getting scolded)

So she literally just walks straight in without a second thought, Elias literally jumping in surprise from overall someone walking in on him crying. (We know our boy is a pretty cryer and he knows it too) But also jumping because it's a girl in the boys bathroom, him literally squealing for a while and his darling just being like: • — •

So after his dramatic ass calmed down, his darling fusses over him, simply because that's likely her nature-?? Like she immediately tends to him, reassures him, etc ! Simply giving him princess treatment and giving him her tissues, wiping off any dust and mud off of him with the most gentle care, despite her rough appearance. (I like the idea of polar opposites, a darling that looks more like a boy and a boy that looks more like a pretty girl)

So when Elias tells her about what happened on the playground, I feel like there are two options what is going to happen. (Perhaps even both could work out ngl..)

Like his darling beating the crap out of those bullies, a girl chasing the boys and the boys being scared of her. (I feel like she might be a very talented weirdo.. like she'd be a gifted kid that probably got burnt out very soon, I also see that Elias had the chances of being gifted too, but being trapped inside a box by his parents, so he never got to develop any of that)

Then perhaps his darling told him that he didn't need any friends, because he has her now and she'll be his friend! So then they had a lot of play dates and played together as kids, even if he was boring, she always tried to make him feel included💖💖

When other kids interrupted their playtime, I just feel like his darling would growl at any kid that she got bad vibes off of. Like she'd have such protective instincts for Elias, she just KNEW who was bad for him.

Bodyguard darling 💌

Awww this is so adorable!!! Elias is such a princess and the darling is his bodyguard😭💕

So first off, I'm so sorry but this was all I could imagine when you mentioned Elias crying in front of a mirror

Other than that I love itttt! Imagine them growing up and Elias still expecting that same dynamic from darling. Darling spending her entire school life protecting Elias like that and eventually getting a bit tired of it but not being able to stop because Elias won't let her and anytime she tries hanging out with someone else he starts crying and causing a scene.

[cherrychilli]

18+ Eddie Munson x f! reader, established relationship, PIV sex, unprotected sex, semi- public sex, mirror sex Summary: Feeling needy at a party Eddie's taken you to in order to deal to the attendees, you steal him away and give him a different kind of show by making out with a woman to excite him. The woman? yourself. WC:1.8K

A/N: Was I drunk when I came up with this? yup. Was I drunk when I sat down and wrote it? yupx2. Am I drunk right now? honey, what do you think? anyway, enjoy!

"Show me"

He stares you down in that way that makes the guest bathroom feel much smaller than it actually was, like there might not even be enough air for the both of you to occupy it at the same time with the way he keeps stealing your breath.

You could still hear the music echo as it continued to blare outside, the beer you'd downed to give yourself the courage to whisper into Eddie's ear in the first place now sloshing around inside your belly, adding to the intensity of having his eyes roving all over you.

It all began an hour into Todd Henley's party, fed up of all the drunken bodies swaying around as they bumped right into you without apology before they passed by on unsteady legs.

But what irked you the most was that half the crowd had been spending more time with your boyfriend than you were able to all night, all of them handing him crumpled dollars in exchange for little baggies and whatever else he could fit in his pockets to keep the partygoers' spirits high.

You couldn't take it for very much longer though. Unable to help yourself, you sprang into action just before Todd himself could attempt to approach Eddie, cutting in front of the birthday boy, entirely uncaring of the scowl that twisted Todd's lips because Eddie was all you could think about. And you let the latter know as much.

"I need you" you'd whined as you'd wrapped yourself around Eddie's arm when you pull him towards a lonelier corner of the room, all sweet and clingy and then a little more quietly; "watching you made me so wet".

As you'd expected, he's quick to grin at you when he takes your hand. Gently he led you through the crowd, even turning down a few potential customers like Todd who'd tried to approach Eddie with cash in hand, a quick but firm "not now" grunted at them over the music.

It made your hopes rise, growing giddy, thinking he'd take you back to his van to fool around, away from the rest of the party only to end up pouting when he'd pulls you into a vacant guest bathroom instead.

"Go on. Show me", he'd repeated again, still soft and patient with you, standing tall over you as you grow so pliant under his stare, giving in easily as you reach under your dress to pull your panties down to your mid thighs.

He observes closely as you part your legs as much as your underwear will allow, showing off the collection of slick sitting warm and wet on the thin red cotton.

Eddie whistles low as he sees it. "Looks serious", he mused, pressing his index finger into the middle of your panties. He pulls his damp finger back, rubbing it against his thumb and pulling them apart to watch a clear web of your essence develop between them.

Hoping you've pleased him enough you try again.

"Can we, Teddie? Please?", you make sure to dial up the sweetness, all saccharine and cute as your plead.

But the thing is Eddie sometimes liked to have fun with you at times likes these, anything to work up his girl in good jest as another toothy grin develop on his face. "Sorry. Still got some dealing to do, angel face", he explains, looking the opposite of apologetic about it until he sees your face crumble and fall.

"Hey hey, I'm only teasing", he's quick to drop the suave, unwavering persona he treats his customers with for his usual rough around the edges kind of natural warmth, kissing your wobbling bottom lip hard for good measure. "You know I'd never turn you down", he makes sure to add, taking your hand and pressing it over his clothed erection to show you that he's telling the truth, feeling relieved when your lips spread into a smile.

"Tell you what. Since we're already in here why don't we just make use of it?", he offers with a cheesy grin and raising his brows in a way that comes off more cartoonish than it does suggestive but it makes you happy nonetheless. He chuckles at the way your whole face lights up at the suggestion because honestly, you couldn't wait any longer, reaching behind Eddie to lock the door shut.

~

You warmed up to getting led in here by Eddie even more when you noticed how the room smelled pleasantly of white jasmine thanks to a little sachet of air freshener hung up on the door handle. The living room where most of the party had congregated including yourself for that one hour was all booze and smoke and sweaty bodies barely guised by cheep perfume and cologne, and for that reason you were glad to be away from it all and not sifting through the thick crowd of people to get to the van.

But mostly, you liked getting handsy in Todd's guest bathroom because unlike Eddie's van, this had a mirror.

When you bend over the sink, you do so quickly and willingly, making Eddie huff out a small laugh through his nose. Carefully he gathers as much of your hair as he can in one hand, pulling on it to encourage you to keep your eyes on each other's reflections in front of you.

It's a filthy sight when you're made to look at yourself. Your tits are spilling out over the top of your dress, made so by when Eddie carefully pulled at it enough to free them, pinching, pulling and nipping at them before he settled you in this new position facing away from him.

With your panties drawn down a few inches above your knees, you could feel Eddie pull your dress up over your ass, eagerly pressing his turgid cock between your thighs once he's pried it out his boxers, the fat tip and length of his cock gliding between your folds and against your puffy clit perfectly.

Watching closely in the mirror, you memorize the little knit between his brows as he does it, a thrill coursing through you as his cheeks then blend from a light pink to a deep mauve while he humps between your thighs.

"Y' ready for me?" he huffs, his lips parted as he looks to your reflection for an answer.

"I'm ready. Please, Teddie. Been waiting all night", you whine back to him over your shoulder, catching the way the corner of his mouth picks up into a smirk.

He's inside you not long after that, stretching you with his thickness which even after all this time, still makes you hiss through the initial sting. But you've never complained about it, always inclined to moan with a wave of pleasure especially now when his hips connect with your ass, bouncing against him while he has both of his hands set firmly just below your waist to keep you steady.

It's not gentle the way Eddie pummels into you but it is a steady and easy climb towards your release. It's because he knows exactly what it takes to make you cum, just minutes of him thrusting into that spot inside you that only he can reach until your belly's winding tight and your toes start to curl inside your shoes.

"Eds, I'm close", you squeak, more a warning than anything else when he pulls at your hair again. Your knees are quick to wobble when he makes you watch yourself getting ruined by him, noticing the runny mascara down your cheeks and your pretty lipstick smudged near the corner of your mouth, bare tits bouncing with every thrust.

"God, you look so good. Go on baby, give yourself a kiss", he tells you through ragged grunts, his free hand landing a few spanks on your ass for good measure.

You do as you're told, leaning closer to your reflection, your lower stomach pressing against the sink in a way that in this position, makes it feel so much more intense with his cock still inside you.

Lips just centimeters away from the glass, the idea of making out with yourself didn't strike you as all that arousing at first, only going along with it because it was something Eddie had wanted and that was reason enough for you to oblige.

You begin by pressing your lips against the cold mirror, chaste at first until you see the desperation swirling behind your hooded eyes. You looked so utterly fucked out, lips parted and your tongue lolling out with a thin rivulet of drool dripping down to your chin. You liked it more than you could understand, especially with Eddie right behind you and in view too.

Finding yourself getting worked up the longer you keep at it, the fire burning inside you only burns bigger and brighter as you see Eddie's reflection while he keeps pumping into you, his bangs stuck to his forehead with a light sweat, his lips pink and full from his teeth biting down on it and the look he gives you when you eyes connect through the mirror.

"Y'like it don't you, doll?", he asks the obvious question just to see you squirm under him, his lips pulled back into a pleased smile as you muster up the strength to nod.

Your breath fogs up the mirror as you continue to pant through Eddie's thrusts, giving him a show as traces of your red lipstick are left behind from your kisses, growing more aroused at the sight of yourself taking Eddie's cock like this.

It's sloppy and oh so perfectly dirty. Eddie watches in amazement as you tongue at your own reflection, your swollen lips leaving traces of spit all over the mirror, uncaring if Todd or his family find the muddled mess of lipstick on their mirror by tomorrow.

"That's it. You see how pretty you look like this? can't help it can you? Good girl. Use your tongue a bit more for me, yeah? fucking perfect..."

It's different being fucked like this, half of you unsure of which reflection you ought to keep your eyes fixed on as you near your climax, deciding to switch from one to the other the closer you get.

Sighing and whimpering underneath Eddie, you mean to warn him just before you tipped over the edge but with your mouth so busy as you press one last kiss against the glass, Eddie can tell that you're cumming when you squeeze your walls around his cock sporadically, crying his name out with your cheek pressed against the once clean glass.

The sight of you all spent and the feeling of you clamping down on him triggers his own orgasm, creamy white spurts filling you up between your legs while he bites down on your shoulder, grunting so deeply by your ear as he thrusts through the final wave that overcomes him.

"You did so well, baby", he groans into your clammy skin during your mutual comedown, teeth grazing the place where he'd bitten down on you as you look up to smile at him lazily through the mirror. He admires you fondly through the mirror, one hand rubbing your back.

"Also", he pats his jacket pocket while he's still inside you. "Remind me to give Todd one on the house", he finishes and the both of you share a laugh, looking over the mess on the counter top and mirror as a result of your time together.

Yeah. Todd's definitely entitled to a freebie. That's for sure.

[wolfwarrior142]

As someone who relates to Rayla on a ton of personal/internal stuff and has actually seen some improvement in my own massive self confidence issues as a result of seeing her try to work through hers (both in this season and previously) and work on trusting people better, I hate that people are saying that bullshit. Oh no, characters who appear strong because of unhealthy coping mechanisms they've learned now learning how to develop more healthy ones. While also becoming close with those around them as a result. Oh no. The humanity. It's so awful to see. Especially in a show that's technically a kids show. And can maybe help kids. The humanity.

I'm glad I haven't actually seen anyone say that personally, cuz thats a very toxic mindset for people to have and I'd get so...annoyed with it. I'd block em immediately for sure cuz no one needs that bullshit.

people watching rayla learning how to trust / let other people help her, which a lack of was her entire fucking problem in arc 1: is this a bad character arc

[jeanbie]

BLUE FALCON ★ masterlist.

pairing: jake x reader

warnings: sexual content, human!fem!reader, rough sex, infidelity | wc: 3k

note: i'm actually developing this plot of a mole in Bridgehead for a much bigger fic, so stay excited for that, as it's rapidly evolving behind the scenes. this is just a version i thought of, but the later fic won't include this scene. anyway, i missed my blue boyfriend jake!

⏤ There's a mole in Bridgehead City - a mole who has helped wipe out scores of Sky People transmissions, fleets and transport lines. And Jake likes rewarding the mole's loyalty with a good time.

Neither you nor Jake remember how any of this happened, how you ended up in this situation together.

Since the return of the Sky People, you had become so invaluable to the Na’vi Insurgency that the way you ended up here became insignificant — all that mattered was what you did for Pandora, and who you were betraying in order to help fight for that cause.

The new human settlement remained a comfortable distance away from where the resistance was stationed, and yet still all too close for Jake’s comfort. It was an uncomfortable fact that both war parties were in acknowledgement of, but Jake had to guess that it made the Sky People more afraid than the Na’vi. 

It wouldn’t matter how many buildings the Sky People erected, how many roads they paved; Pandora would always be the home of the Na’vi, and their instincts were so attuned to the forests and waters surrounding the ring of painfully ugly architecture that it was no wonder the humans felt the need to turn their city into a fortress, armed with gunships and garrisons. 

Bridgehead City strove to function in a straightforward fashion, and sometimes, Jake had to admit he was impressed by their resilience, their total ignorance of how this world worked and what was waiting for them in forest fringes. He was surprised that a fray of scientists were even brave enough to conduct manned missions to nearby forests to collect samples, studying while their colleagues destroyed the trees, killed the indigenous.

Having been part of a tight-knit scientist collective himself once, Jake knows not everyone there is a cold-hearted killer, and from what he's heard, not everyone there wants to stain their hands with Pandora’s blood.

But, the Na’vi and their allies aren’t the greatest thing threatening the city. It’s not just by chance that the resistance are hitting goldmines by striking RDA train lines and ships and disrupting resource transportation — Bridgehead City has a mole, and that mole is single-handedly making all the difference between winning and losing the war.

As Jake snaps his hips back upwards, sinking himself further up your cunt, he lifts his eyes to stare with extreme scrutiny at the looming eyesore of a city on the horizon. Every flicker of light, every shadow of movement, catches his eye, but he knows from weeks of no issue that where he’s currently bending you over a rock is out of sight from the patrolling guards atop the city walls. 

The underground tunnel is manned by several other trusted allies stationed in the city, people you have sworn to Jake he can trust. The Avatar Program did not cease in its studies and activity when Grace died on Pandora; it simply found itself under new ownership and continued its religious study of Pandora and its people, with a bunch of scientists who care more about peace than a paycheque. 

So far, nobody has given you over, nobody has breached the trust Jake has very nobly put in them — and the guards whose allegiance is aligned with the Na’vi resistance have turned down their weapons and are securing the narrow tunnel that connects the forest to the RDA labs. 

You’ll be fine out here, being fucked by the city’s greatest threat and enemy, and when you’re giving Jake such valuable information, then you can be certain that Jake won’t just kill you where you stand.

There was a time when you thought he might. Back before you even ended up being a hole for Jake to squeeze into, you had offered the olive branch of trust when you’d spotted Jake in the trees assessing the alleged mole who had contacted Norm. You could have called out to the nearby soldiers, could have lit the fuse for a skirmish, but you didn’t. Instead, you remained quiet, staring at him half-fearfully and half-curiously, until he was satisfied with what he saw and disappeared back into the forest like a ghost.

Now, you’re more lax. There is no argument against you being the resistance’s greatest weapon, their greatest strength and weakness, just the same as there’s no argument against you being ideal for their leader. Whenever you seek him out, he gets everything he wants: information, assurance, and a hole to fuck and fill.

“When?” Jake grunts, his eyes shifting back to the sight of your back arched up with pleasure. The rock is rather high, surprisingly flat but still unbelievably uncomfortable, and yet you sound as though you’re being bent over the most comfortable surface in the world.

You don’t hear him ask the question, but you whimper a noise of confusion when Jake pistons back in a bit too roughly, his chest grumbling with a low purr of disappointment. “When?”

What were you talking about? You fumble out a breathless moan and think — oh yes. The upcoming shipment of mined resources expecting to pass by a potential guerrilla attack line.

“Three days time,” you tell him, wincing when he pushes even deeper into you as a reward for your honesty, your walls clenched unbearably tight around him. He grunts again, pleased. “I heard them say something about midday, but I—fuck! Um, I…it could change.”

“You’re sure?” Jake asks. The resistance has spent weeks living around doubts and chances, but most of your reports have been on the nose when it comes to accuracy, and it’s a point that Jake has fallen reliant on. 

You hear his question and momentarily panic. The last time you were wrong, you paid for it heavily, and were amazed that you could still stand and walk shamefully back down the tunnel that spans for miles back towards the city. You can understand Jake’s seriousness when it comes to your information — his loyalty and determination can’t be faulted, his intensity inspiring, but the last thing you want is to steer him wrong and get people killed. 

It’s not just the lives of the Na’vi on the line. If the RDA were to catch wind of your betrayal, you could safely assume it wouldn’t be a simple dismissal back to Earth. You’d be lucky to be court-martialled — but you can only imagine they would have the most sinister and deserving punishment waiting for you, so horrific that you’d have wished you’d never opened your mouth.

You feel Jake’s hands curve around your waist as if securing you in place, pushing himself all the way inside of you until the wind is knocked from your lungs. At this point, you’ve had Jake inside of you too many times to count, but accommodating him never gets any more comfortable — not that he cares. 

Jake’s feelings for you stop and start with ally, and it just so happens you’re an ally he can use, an ally he can manipulate, an ally he can sink his cock into now that there’s barely any time for him and Neytiri to be alone around their work and their kids.

“I’m sure,” you reply, your voice strained to a point where Jake almost doesn’t know what you’ve just said to him. “They sent me away before I could get a closer look, but it’s a maglev carrying weapon shipments and steel from one of their mines—” Jake’s dick spears up against a soft wall of pudge that makes you groan loudly, and his hand readjusts on your waist, “Gotta be around seven carriages.”

Jake hums thoughtfully, wincing as your cunt clenches around him like a fist. He takes a deep breath and pushes you down gently, mindful of the fact that compared to him you could break with the slightest force. 

“Good,” he mutters, glancing back up at the horizon. Nothing has changed; no lights have ignited, no horns sounding, no eyes looking at him making a mess of one of their own. “Y’know anything about aircraft that day?”

You shake your head between your arms, gaze tucked low as a knot tightens in your stomach. It’s always so embarrassing how many times Jake can make you cum in one visit. By the time he’s pushed out his first orgasm, you’re reaching your third or fourth. 

“Nothin’?” Jake questions. “All you do all day is listen to them talk, and you don’t know anything about what ships they’re flying?”

“Um, maybe Samson ships, or Kestrels, same as always,” you hurry out, desperate to be useful, especially when his hands tighten around you almost threateningly. “Don’t know how many. Three. Four, I dunno—”

Jake grunts again and snaps his hips aggressively into you, your ass slapping against his lower stomach at such a speed that he’s amazed you’re still producing any noises. You always seem to take him expertly, always up for trying your best to keep Jake pleased — he has to admire the level of passion and determination you put into whatever you do. 

He squeezes your waist one more time before relaxing his hands, smoothing one up the length of your back and putting the other down near the curve of your ass. Jake can feel your thighs trembling against him, the hot warmth of your cunt closing tighter around his dick like a goddamn vice, and after one final longing look at Bridgehead, Jake sighs and pats your leg.

“Alright,” he relents, his voice slightly kinder and quieter. Mercifully, Jake moves slower, although staying deep in your stomach as if he intends to watch his dick slip up your throat and out your mouth, and another deep rumble erupts from his chest. “Alright.”

“Mmf, I—” A sudden squeal slips from your mouth when you feel Jake’s cock twitch inside of you, a burst of warmth pooling inside your tummy. Jake groans, stumbles forward almost, and brings his hands back to the bottom of your spine to steady himself as strings of his cum spill inside of you. 

Your chest falls flat against the rock, breasts squished like an airbag as Jake steadies his trembling lower half, his dick still buried inside of you until every last drop of cum is out of his system and coating your inner walls. He breathes heavily through his nose for a moment, his fingers shaking very slightly against your body until he quickly pulls himself out of you as if the thought of being up your snatch for a second longer fills him with disgust.

Once he’s out, you slump with an ungracious grunt against the smooth rock, feeling Jake’s cum drooling down your leg like a running tap; it’s warm and sticky, and very bothersome to clean up when he has very little desire to help you do so.

Jake finally drags his hand up from your lower spine and lets out a tired sigh. It is hard work being the leader of the Na’vi insurgence on top of being a father, a husband and the Olo’eyktan of the Omatikaya clan. 

In hindsight, Jake knows that he could very easily send Norm out here to collect whatever information you’ve gathered for the resistance, and he knows that there’s really no necessary need to bend you over any surface and fuck you stupid. But somehow it helps to get it out, to fuck out all of his anger and frustration and stress into something — someone — so willing to be of use to something greater.

Neytiri has told him more than once that the timing is not right, that their time together when they find it should be shared with their family now that any day could be their last. Jake knows that Neytiri will seek him out if she feels the need to fuck, but he also understands her lack of need for it. Neytiri just doesn’t have time anymore.

But your very sudden appearance has become most opportune for Jake when he’s feeling stressed out, and in return for his misguided decisions, he can take back kernels of information about the enemy to help them win the war.

“You could start bringing a towel every time you come here,” you say playfully, your voice still in a low octave, as if you’re afraid of someone hearing you out here. Jake has already patrolled this area several times before coming out to find you — the only things listening or looking are the birds in the trees or the bugs on the leaves. 

You pat at the drying streaks of cum between your legs with a mild cringe. “I hate going back in there covered in this. It’s humiliating enough just coming out here.”

Jake finds himself smiling at that, his hands already fastening the tewng back around his waist. “Be brave,” he tells you, gaze cast downwards to his hands as you turn to look back at him.

The true gravity of your circumstances never sinks in until you meet with Jake in passing, along with the surfacing feelings of fear, guilt and shame. You’ve never once aligned yourself with the bloodthirsty agenda of the RDA, not even when the fleet of exiled humans returned to Earth with horror stories to share. The Avatar Program still sought out peaceful relations with the Pandora Indigenous, and no matter what vile plan the RDA had in store, those following in the admirable footsteps of the humans remaining on Pandora knew where they stood and who they stood for. 

Your volatile position as Charles Stringer’s assistant gave you the opportunity to continue the legacy of the Avatar Program, and could not have come at a more perfect time. It had been sheer luck that you’d found a connection to some of the excommunicated scientists apart of the Na’vi insurgency, and divine right timing that led you to consort with its leader, and each day came with no guarantee for your safety. But the risk was important regardless of how you manoeuvred around it. 

What would be worse? Being caught out as a traitor to the human race by joining forces with the enemy, or being caught out as a traitorous whore letting the infamous Jake Sully fuck you like a toy as a so-called reward for your treachery?

Jake checks over his vest and straightens it out, his eyes finally flickering to find yours in the dull light of the forest. The trees don’t burst or pulse with bioluminescence anymore, no thanks to the artificial floods of light from the city and the painful smog of polluted air and toxins disturbing the will of nature, but Jake can just about see you from his height, peering up at him as you reach for a flimsy leaf to wipe the trickling substance from your legs.

“Are you safe?” Jake asks randomly, dropping to his haunches once he’s confirmed that his armour is on safely. You cringe at the stickiness of your fingers and reluctantly wipe your hands on your jacket, shimmying into your cargos not long afterwards.

“For now,” you tell him. “Nobody knows about anything.”

“You sure?” The last thing Jake wants is the RDA becoming ten times more ruthless after cracking down on the flaw in their regime. He needs you, more than he expected, because without you and your knowledge of every planned schedule the RDA put on their calendars, Jake wouldn’t know where to begin searching for openings.

You fasten the button on the front of your cargos and look back at him. Now that he’s down low, you’re almost eye-to-eye, which is a position that weirds you out, despite the fact that Jake had just been twelve inches deep in your pussy minutes ago. Looking at him so directly makes you feel small, makes you feel vulnerable.

“Positive,” you assure him. “Stringer thinks my one purpose in life is to carry his papers and bring him coffee. Everybody else thinks I’m harmless because I’m an assistant and I wear tight skirts to work, and everyone who I trust is doing their best to fall under the radar.” You sigh with your hands on your hips, bottom lip tugged under your teeth in thought, “It’s surprisingly easy to fool everyone.”

“Stay sharp,” Jake advises, his gaze unwavering as he stares you down. The weight of his gaze is so heavy that you feel forced to look back, finding that he is being as sincere as he can possibly be. “And keep up the good work.”

You bow your head in gratitude. Your last report on a swarm of Samson ships flying through the flux vortex near the base camp for the resistance had been of perfect accuracy — Jake could have given you the moon and stars for the value of that ambush alone.

A low hum of noise makes you flinch and turn back towards the city skyline, meanwhile, Jake chews a frown, grabs his large gun and stands up straight. A dark shadow looms over you, but you’re too busy staring back at Bridgehead, feeling your usual knot of dread tighten. 

“Get outta here, Blue Falcon,” jeers Jake, the sound of his gun clicking making you whip to face him with a long expression. He gestures towards the tunnel entrance with a nod of his head, waiting pointedly for you to finish your frightened observation of him and turn on your heel back to where you belong. 

When your back is turned, Jake is already heading out, stalking carefully and quickly through the ferns and fauna to where his direhorse is patiently waiting for him.

You find, with reluctance, that there are bigger things to worry about than the strong smell of cum over your legs and the sticky feeling between your folds, as you walk towards the heavy metal doors to the tunnel and jump up to glimpse through the barely transparent rectangle of glass looking into the long darkness. 

You’re lucky you’re alive, lucky to be useful. But now that Jake’s gone in the night and the threat of the upcoming maglev ambush weighs on your mind, all you can do is pray that your information was accurate.

[arkham-prince]

ꜱɴᴏᴡ ᴅᴀʏ

ꜱᴜʙ-ᴘʟᴀʏʟɪꜱᴛ: ᴊᴀꜱᴏɴ ᴛᴏᴅᴅ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ

 ʟɪꜱᴛᴇɴɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ: ꜱɴᴏᴡ ᴅᴀʏ 

00:00 ●────────── 33:23 

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               ılıılıılıılıılıılı

ᴠᴏʟᴜᴍᴇ : ▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮▮  

♬ ᴛʀᴀᴄᴋ ʟᴇɴɢ���ʜ: 2,003 words

♬ ᴛʀᴀᴄᴋ ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ: Gotham’s winters are brutal and unforgiving, and you haven’t been spared from them in the slightest. Fortunately, your favorite vigilante and sweetheart of a boyfriend is right there when you get home, ready to save you from the cold.

♬ ᴛʀᴀᴄᴋ ɴᴏᴛᴇꜱ: sfw, gnc!reader, established relationship, soft fluff, cuddling and kissing, Jason being absolutely whipped and soft for reader, reader doesn’t handle the cold or winter well, reader is generally ambiguous apart from being shorter than Jason. Very mild innuendos in two places, but nothing explicit.

Winters were already bad enough, you’d decided. The ice covering the roads, the constant cloudiness, the early nights, it all conspired to make an absolutely depressing atmosphere. Sure, it looked lovely when staring at the falling snow through a window, but being an adult meant that you couldn’t stay inside all day. You had to commute to work and to the store and wherever else you were needed because unfortunately, even if the world seemed downright miserable, life carried on.

 Then there was the added layer of Gotham being… well, Gotham.

 Ah, Gotham and its peculiarities, love it or hate it. Most of its residents — yourself included — would say both. It was a unique place, and growing up in Gotham gave you a certain fondness for it, but it had its particular way of making things just that much more difficult.

 Needless to say, combining the already horrendous season of winter and Gotham’s habit of laughing in the face of your suffering lead to a recipe for disaster.

 Everything seemed to be going wrong for you today. The sidewalks weren’t iced, at least not enough, leading to a good number of near heart attacks every time you almost lost your footing. The snow was still coming down hard during your commute to work, meaning you had to use an umbrella to keep your items safe, except the howling winds seemed determined to win a game of tug of war that you never asked for as it wrestled with you for your umbrella the whole way through.

 All of that meant that you were exhausted enough by the time you even arrived at your workplace, and after a long and tiring day, you made that same arduous walk back to the subway station only to find that the trains were being delayed. Great.

 By the time you made it back to your apartment later than you’d wanted to, you were a hundred and twenty percent done with life. You were tired, aching, more than a little grouchy, and to top it all off your face and hands felt like they were on fire. Apparently, your body could never seem to get the memo that gloves were meant to keep your hands warm, because despite wearing them you still felt as though you’d developed a case of frostbite.

 However, you weren’t given the chance to open the door yourself before it was being opened for you, and you were looking up into a pair of soft, sea green eyes that made everything in life seem worth it again.

 “Oh, sweetheart,” Jason murmured, speaking in that low voice that had the tension draining out of your shoulders without you having realized it was even there. “Rough day?” 

 “Yeah,” you breathed, and Jason didn’t force you to elaborate on it yet. He didn’t ask pointless questions, didn’t make you dwell on it any longer than you had to. Instead, he guided you inside, shutting the door behind you. 

 Rather than pulling you into the typical greeting of a hug, Jason took one of your hands in his own, carefully pulling off your glove. Then, he enveloped your hand between both of his, rubbing ever so gently without it being too much. 

 His hands were cooler than usual, you realized. Still warm — warm enough to have you sighing out in bliss as your chilled hands regained some amount of life — but not nearly as much as they usually did. Jason tended to run quite warm (your personal heater, you’d call him, prompting a soft snort and that smile that made your heart flip) so this was a surprise. Something about your shock must’ve shown in your face, because Jason’s expression suddenly seemed a bit shy, ducking his head down so his bangs partially obscured his expression. 

 “Your hands swell when they warm up too fast,” he said, softly. He always spoke softly with you. “I ran my hands under cold water, a bit before you arrived.” 

 You stared at him, and oh, you had to hold yourself back from kissing him silly right that second.

 Because it was true; multiple times, you’d rushed to warm up your freezing hands as fast as possible, only for them to burn and ache and swell until you ran them under cold water, and even then the sting would last for a little while.

 Jason had noticed. Of course he’d noticed. That was just who he was, soft and sweet and so very attentive, and—

 “You’re the best,” you said, not even trying to disguise your awe. “Seriously, Jay. You’re amazing.”

 Jason’s freckled cheeks flushed, and that blush really did look so lovely on him. So did that shy, tentative smile that crept across his lips, and the way he looked back up at you through his lashes and the soft white strands of hair falling over his face, as if you were a miracle.

 “Anything for you, love,” he muttered, kissing the back of your hand before moving to warm the other one in a similar fashion. 

 By the time Jason was done with his little ritual, your hands felt so much warmer, and your heart felt so, so much lighter. The stress you’d been carrying throughout the day seemed practically nonexistent now, to the point where you could’ve been convinced that it was all just an awful dream, and the day had actually started when Jason had pulled you through the apartment door into your own little slice of heaven.

 Jason, however, wasn’t nearly close to done. Not in the slightest.

 Because then he knelt down before you, smirking up at you when your breath hitched, and planted a soft kiss on your knee before undoing the laces of your snow boots. One, then the other, sliding each one off of your feet. 

 “You’re spoiling me,” you accused, your voice soft and a little breathless. It was hard not to have your breath taken away when he was like this, his strong hands handling you so very gently, his eyes alight with something far stronger than the word ‘love’ could ever hope to describe. Jason, for his part, just chuckled warmly.

 “You don’t deserve anything less,” he replied. Then he laughed a bit and added: “Besides, someone has to stop you from passing out in bed fully clothed.” You could only laugh and swat lightly at the side of his head in reply.

 “Look in the mirror, that’s you after patrol every night,” you teased right back, and he chuckled.

 Jason finished helping you out of your boots, your puffy winter jacket, and the thinner hoodie you’d worn underneath. Then, he swept you up into his arms, prompting you to let out a startled laugh as your arms wound around his neck.

 “Jason!” You chided, though your grin was evidence enough that you were more than happy to get the royal treatment. Jason grinned right back.

 “You’re going to take a shower, then you’re going to eat something, and then you’re not getting out of bed for the rest of the night,” he stated, plain and simple. You hummed softly, heat rising to your cheeks because of how goddamn thoughtful he was.

 “So kind,” you mused, your head coming to rest on his shoulder. “How ever can I repay you for this wonderful treatment?” you then asked, a note of faux drama in your tone, and the rumble of laughter it brought out of Jason was warmer than any amount of sunlight you could’ve asked for. But you meant it; you wanted to be able to take care of him, too.

 “Just let me do this for you,” he said softly. “Really, that’s all I need.”

 Once again, you hummed in reply. Jason was like that, sometimes, giving and giving and expecting nothing back. It broke your heart a little bit, but at the same time, that just meant that you had to redouble your efforts. Spoiling your boyfriend was a privilege, after all.

 “I’m going to cuddle you and give you all the kisses you could ask for,” you decided. By now, Jason had arrived at the bathroom door, and had set you down. That flush was back on his cheeks again by the time you looked up at him, but he was still grinning, warm and adoring.

 “That works as a payment,” he said, as if it had been up for debate. “Now, if you want me to have dinner ready by the time you’re done—” 

 “Jay,” you said, stopping him. You reached up, cradling his face in your warm palms, watching as something in his expression broke apart tenderly before he leaned into the touch like a puppy craving affection. There was an ache in your chest, fierce and adoring, and you pulled him down to press your lips to his. It was brief and soft and sweet, and when you pulled apart from him you whispered: “I love you. So much.”

 “I love you too,” Jason whispered back, seeming a bit dazed. His hands were wrapped ever so gently around your wrists, as if expecting you to disappear any moment but imploring you to stay. Then he seemed to remember himself after blinking a few times, kissing your forehead. “Go,” he urged, “I’ll have dinner ready in a bit.”

 The rest of the evening seemed to pass by in a peaceful haze. You took a warm shower, got dressed in a set of soft pajamas, ate dinner with Jason (and showered his cooking with compliments, of course), and soon found yourself being dragged to the bedroom. It didn’t take long for Jason to settle against you, head resting against your chest, arms wrapped around your waist to hold you close. Your hands found their way into his hair, carding through his curls, and he sighed contentedly.

 “You’re like an oversized puppy,” you mused, only for Jason to huff. He shimmied up a little so he could nip at the underside of your jaw in retaliation, prompting a choked-off noise from you. You swore you could feel his grin against your skin.

  “I can bite, if that’s what you want,” he practically purred, and you pushed his face away from your neck while turning your own head away to hide your blush. Based on the way Jason laughed, it didn’t work.

 “Oh— hush,” you spluttered, prompting Jason to laugh again. Then, you added: “Hold that thought until tomorrow. I might take you up on it.”

 “Sure, baby,” Jason responded, easily settling against you once more. He made sure to kiss the spot he’d grazed with his teeth earlier, a lighthearted apology that wasn’t actually needed, but very much appreciated. “I’ll be here all night.”

 And that was the kicker of it, really. Sometimes, you felt as though you didn’t do enough for Jason in return for everything he did for you. He cared for you in a million different ways, anchoring you and cheering you up and caring for you when the exhaustion of a cold, dreary day settled deep into your bones. How could you possibly care for a man who seemed so strong, so capable, so willing to give?

 It was exactly like this — holding him, letting him hold you, rubbing soft circles into his temples with your thumbs and watching the way he allowed himself to relax. You were his sanctuary, a reminder that he never had to spend another night alone, freezing in the cold with no one to comfort him. No more nights in a run down apartment that couldn’t shelter him from even a light breeze, no more winter days on the streets, no more cold, lonely months searching for a home. He’d found one already, and it was in your arms, warm and safe.

 “I’ll be here too,” you whispered, kissing his forehead. “Always, Jay.”

 Jason let out a soft, drowsy noise, pressing his face further into your chest. In response, you could only smile.

 Winters weren’t so bad after all, as long as you had your boyfriend with you. 

♬ ᴀʀᴛɪꜱᴛ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛᴀʀʏ

First post on the new blog, yay! Jason Todd my soft and sweet beloved… this was very much inspired by my first year of university, moving from a place with no snow to a place where it snowed for half the year was certainly an adjustment, and I sure wish I had someone like Jason to keep me warm :( I hope that you like my very first fic, there’s a lot more to come!

 ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʜᴇᴀʀ ᴍᴏʀᴇ? ꜰᴜʟʟ ᴛʀᴀᴄᴋʟɪꜱᴛ (ᴍᴀꜱᴛᴇʀʟɪꜱᴛ) ᴄᴀɴ ʙᴇ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ ʜᴇʀᴇ ♡

 ʀᴇqᴜᴇꜱᴛꜱ ᴀʀᴇ ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛʟʏ ᴄʟᴏꜱᴇᴅ

 © ᴀʀᴋʜᴀᴍ-ᴘʀɪɴᴄᴇ | ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴜꜱᴇ ᴍʏ ᴡᴏʀᴋ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀɴʏ ᴘᴜʀᴘᴏꜱᴇꜱ ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴍʏ ᴄᴏɴꜱᴇɴᴛ