#so i've been working on axe's date

[makeyoumine69]

Hii,

if it's not to much to ask could you maybe write period sex for a gn reader? Something sweet and comforting T-T

Thank you so much, and I hope you know your writing is amazing!

Shape of You

PAIRING: Patrick Bateman x gn!Reader

CW: Smut, hurt/comfort, fluff, period sex, masturbation (reader receiving), body worship, blood kink, sweet dirty talk, pet names, finger sucking, established relationship, needy Patrick.

SONG REC: Fame on Fire—Shape of You (Rock Cover)

WORDS: ~2.5k

LINKS: [Masterlist], [AO3], [Wattpad].

A/N: Hello nonnie! I hope you like this little piece of writing, I enjoyed every second of working on it!💞 For this fic, I used ax divider by @paintology-the-alien

Starting your period usually sucked, but starting your period at Bateman's apartment felt even worse because you didn't know how he would react if you told him there would be no sex tonight. Would he be angry or even sad? Probably all of that, but the worst part was that the two of you were supposed to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You had wanted to go there for a long time, but Patrick had never been able to find the time. And today, when he finally arranged this "weird date," as he called it, you started having your period and the cramps in your stomach made you curl up on his bed, helplessly clutching a pillow. You didn't even think about how long you'd been lying there, you didn't even have the energy to get up and take some painkillers, all you could think about was how mad and angry Bateman would be when he came home and saw you like this. It was pretty obvious that you wouldn't be able to go out today, not even a chance.

As the sun began to sink below the horizon, it became quite dark in the bedroom, the dim light lulling you into a sweet nap that you had been craving all day, considering that in your dream you could finally get some rest from the nagging pain that was making you quite tired.

A soft, almost gentle touch on the top of your head woke you up almost immediately. Blinking in confusion, you looked up to see your lover's beautiful face, and you couldn't really stop yourself from pressing your palm against his cheek. Patrick smiled and let out a sound that was somewhere between a short chuckle and a purr.

"Mmh..." you giggled, watching his plush lips curl at your touch, and tried to pinch his chin, but he caught your hand with ease. "Patty..."

"What's the matter, my sleeping beauty?" He brought your small palm closer, only to leave a light peck on it. "Are you ready for our...little trip into the world of art?"

Rolling your eyes at his feeble attempt to needle you, you sat on your knees, still holding a pillow with your free hand. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can make it to the museum today."

Bateman stopped for a moment. "What? Why not? Did something happen in my absence?"

"No," you replied curtly, the way he instantly panicked and worried melted your heart. "I just..." you looked down, desperately trying to find the right words to describe your condition. But in the end, it was best to call a spade a spade. "I've started my period, and I've got cramps so fucking severe that I can't even get out of bed."

"Too bad." Was all he said before he leaned down to kiss your forehead, then your cheek and your nose. It was only when he had finished showering your face with little pecks that he finally found your lips and gently pulled you closer, placing your hands on his broad shoulders. The kiss was slow at first, but then evolved into something more demanding as you responded, letting your tongues slide along each other in a lustful dance. "Did you take some pills? Painkillers?"

You shook your head, causing Patrick to tsk in frustration.

"I'll bring you... something then," with that he strolled across the bedroom to disappear around the corner to the bathroom. The man returned in a minute, holding a jar of pills and a bottle of Eveian water. "This is ibuprofen, it'll help."

"Thank you doctor," you chirped and took a pill while Patrick opened a bottle for you, holding it all the way while you drank. "I'm sorry for ruining our plans...I hope you're not mad at me."

Grinning in delight, Patrick brushed the stray curls from your face. "No, I'm not mad at all. Besides, it was you who wanted to go to the museum so badly, so I think of the two of us, you should be the one who's sad that we're not going there."

"Right..."

Slowly, Bateman unbuttoned his jacket and carefully placed it on the bed, where he found your small sketchbook, which he almost immediately picked up with undisguised interest.

"So this is what you were doing while I was at work?" He asked, flipping through the pages and admiring your little sketches. "Mmm...nice anatomy...that looks really nice. Not bad at all."

Slightly embarrassed, you let out an awkward chuckle and turned away, for some reason you didn't want to see him looking through your sketchbook. "Well, thanks for the compliment...I guess?" You wanted to say something else, but instead you could only stifle a groan of pain as another nagging cramp shot through you. "Oh...fuck...I hate it so much."

Seeing you writhing in pain, Bateman closed the sketchbook and put it back on the bed, you didn't even understand what he was about to do, but as he picked you up and carried you bridal style, you hugged his neck and dared to ask a question.

"Where are we going?" 

"To the bathroom," the man replied with radiant confidence, as if he had done it so many times before. But what exactly was he going to do? "A warm bath will help ease your pain, honey. Trust me."

Frowning, you couldn't help thinking that you probably weren't the first partner he'd had who suffered from a painful period, but when you finally entered the bathroom and he put you down on the floor, his hands already working on removing your top and shorts, you forgot about everything. Because the past should be in the past, right?

When Patrick finished undressing you, he quickly turned on the faucet of the bathtub and the water flowed down with a pleasant sound. 

"God, you're so pretty," Bateman murmured suddenly, planting a loving kiss on your shoulder, then bending forward to burrow his nose into your hair; you were glad you'd showered several times already today, because you felt nervous and uncomfortable being intimate with him when your period started. "I think I know more ways to help you with your pain."

There was something playful in his voice, something that made your knees weak and if he did not hold you, you would probably end up splattered on the floor.

"Get in the bath, kitten," he whispered in your ear, his lips teasing the lobe almost imperceptibly. "Want to try some new soaps I got?" Patrick asked, pulling up the sleeves of his blue cotton shirt.

You obeyed and took your place in the warm tub, it felt heavenly. "Would you allow me to use them? I can't believe it." 

"Today," the man sat on the edge of the tub and took a washcloth to soak it in water, then he grabbed the freshly purchased L'Occitane liquid soap. "I'll make an exception." The man poured a handful onto the washcloth and began scrubbing your back so gently you didn't even feel it. As his free hand slid down your chest, you gasped, feeling a building tension at your core. "Spread your legs." 

Oh, shit.

You barely held back a curse, but did as he said anyway, feeling completely at his mercy, and of course he liked it, you knew it as the moment you parted your legs his large palm slid between them, pressing a washcloth and gently rubbing your sensitive spot in a circular motion.

"Mmmh," you closed your eyes and leaned against the marble rim of the tub. "That..."

"Feels good?"

"Absolutely," you replied, letting him have better access to your most sensitive places, his fingers busy touching your throbbing flesh as the washcloth was already forgotten. Shaking, you opened your eyes when he grabbed your neck, not roughly, but quite possessively. "You have very interesting ways...to ease the pain?"

Bateman didn't say anything, just smiled and turned you to look up at him. "I want you to look right at me while I work on this little sweet spot of yours," he wrapped your throat a little tighter, making you gasp, but his mouth silenced any sounds you tried to make. "You like it when I take care of you, darling?"

You nodded as desperately as you could as Patrick slid one of his long fingers inside you, curling it just the way you always liked it. "Ahhh…Pat-Patrick…mhmm!"

"Just look at me," he cooed, brushing his lips against yours, ready to drink in your every little moan, adding another finger, causing your inner muscles to cling to his digits like a vine. "Just like that, my little plaything...just like that."

The eye contact, the sweet dirty talk, the way his fingers moved inside of you—it all drove you crazy, you were afraid of splashing the water out of the tub or on his expensive clothes, but as the man pressed your wet body closer to him, you knew you had both already lost your minds, together.

Catching his hand between your thighs, you made him stop for a second, Patrick curled his eyebrows in a silent question, but you used your mouth as the most eloquent answer, kissing him hard on the lips, spurring him to grab your neck even tighter as he was burning from the inside, as if the blood was boiling in his veins. God, he wanted you so fucking bad.

"Come here," you uttered after tugging at his lower lip. "Please..."

Breathing heavily, Bateman released your neck and stood up quickly to remove his tie, shirt, belt, pants... 

He did it so fast that you didn't even notice how he took a place behind you in the tub, it felt like he had been here from the beginning, his hard dick pressed against your ass, throbbing at the contact, but the man was focused on you, even when he noticed the tiny crimson pools of blood in the waster, he managed to fight his urge to fuck you here and now. After all, this was about you, not him. 

Wrapping his strong arms around you again, he explored your body so agonizingly slowly that you were about to scream with need, each touch calculated to set every nerve end in your system on fire. With your heavy lidded eyes you looked back at him, embraced his neck and without saying a word you quickly got up to mount him, making his thick cock draw between your legs, the friction causing his jaw to clench from the tension in his balls.

With a sly grin, you ran a finger along his parted lips, and before you knew it, Bateman had it in his mouth, sucking on it as if his life depended on it, while his hips idly bucked in a most shamelessly suggestive manner.

"Look at you," you whispered, pushing his finger deeper. "I didn't know blood could turn you on like this."

Patrick moaned as you rubbed your crotch against his, you were as close to falling apart as he was, though you tried to regain some control, not really realizing that you were in the lead now only because HE allowed you to be.

With a graceful move, you took his engorged cock to give it a few strokes before aligning it with your entrance to slowly take it in as you lowered your hips onto his.

"A-awww, fuck," you clawed at his shoulders from how full he made you feel, his hands already holding your waist in a tight ring as you bobbed up and then slowly down, savoring every inch of his girth that stretched you so deliciously. "I love you...I love you so f-fucking much."

Throwing his head back, Patrick barely kept himself from exploding inside you, the warmth and tightness of your inner channel making it so fucking hard for him to hold out any longer, but he did his best for you.

"Ohhh, shit, you're... you're so tight-mmmh," Bateman groaned, his hands digging into the skin of your hips as you picked up the pace, literally bouncing on his dick. "I'm...I'm gonna fill you so...fucking...deep!"

Moan after loud moan, water spilling onto the floor from your feverish movements, the obscene sounds of your bodies colliding against each other drowning out all other sounds as for a moment you thought your heart would pop out of your chest. It was beating so fast that you could hear your pulse drumming in your ears.

"Fuck....I'm cumming...Goshhh," you snuggled into his brawny frame, your hands squeezing his buff biceps as you clenched around him, milking his dick so he would follow suit, erupting inside of you, pumping you with the tight ropes of cum. "Patrick..."

You rested your head on his shoulder, he was still shaking from the aftershocks of his orgasm, his muscles slowly relaxing under your touch. Patrick couldn't even say a word, his eyes closed and his face, chest and neck flushed red. You couldn't even find the right words to describe how much you loved seeing him like that, vulnerable as he was coming down from his high. The way he was always blushing during sex was your special kink.

After a while, the two of you were lying on the bed, wearing designer robes and discussing how you would visit the museum the next weekend. All the while, you were finishing your latest sketch when you suddenly remembered a fresh sketch you finished today. As you flipped through the pages, you landed on Bateman's chest and brushed his wet bangs.

"You know, if you kept leafing through my sketchbook, you would find this," you showed him the sketch of the tall, muscular man with a skipping rope, in which Patrick recognized himself almost immediately, but he remained silent. "What do you think?"

Humming, the man looked at you, then at the sketch, then back at you. "So you're stalking me while I'm working out?"

"What?" You jokingly punched him in the chest. "I... I don't stalk..."

"Well, I don't mind," he cut you off, grabbing the sketchbook out of your hands. "But I think I look a lot better in real life," Bateman pointed at the sketch as if he were an art critic. "You see, my body is much more ripped, and my chest muscles are much more... toned."

You shook your head, on the verge of laughing. "Of course, you are such a work of art yourself. No one can capture you as perfectly as you really are."

For a moment you thought your words might offend him as his face turned serious, his lips tightened into a thin line, but then you both burst out laughing. Ultimately, you didn't need to praise him all the time, because he was perfect just the way he was, and you knew that better than anyone else in the world.

P.S. Thank you for reading until the end! I don’t have a taglist. You can follow my writing community to know when I update!💞

[magpie-murder]

it'd be wild if they gave asgard's citizens phones in marvel i bet they'd have the best drama

20 notes

👴🏻 is-odin-dead-yet

No.

#date: 2023/11/23 #when will he croak #i've been running this blog for centuries #frigga for allfather #kick the bucket already i'm getting bored of posting here

112 notes

⛈️ god-of-thunder

I come to Tumblr with a regretful update. As you may know, my family and our fiercest warriors have been traveling between realms in search of our stolen relics.

While attempting to recover one, my brother lost his life in battle while protecting us. He shielded me with his body. My brother died a hero.

einherjarl-deactivated20231120

May he reach Folkvangr. My deepest condolences. But I thought Baldur was impervious to all harm...?

⛈️ god-of-thunder

It was Loki. :( I'm devastated.

einherjarl-deactivated20231120

Oh.

🐍 magic-theatre

is that all you can muster? "oh." you thought i was dead, and that's it? that's all you have? what do you mean by that? let's talk. :)

⛈️ god-of-thunder

You're alive? Where are you?

⛈️ god-of-thunder

Wait, what happened to @einherjarl? He deactivated?

⛈️ god-of-thunder

Loki?

23,034 notes

🎨 bragis-apprentice

Just finished custom making this handle

#metalwork #artists on tumblr #double sided axe #my art

2 notes

⚔️ aesir-warrior-tournament

⚡️LIGHTNING ROUND⚡️

einherjarl-deactivated20231120

?

einherjarl-deactivated20231120

Lady Sif is not one of The Warriors Three. It says it in the name. There are three of them. Not four.

Correct this.

✨️ the-dashingest

I voted for Sif.

🪓 valiant-festivals

I voted for Sif.

🔺️ grim-warrior

I voted for Sif.

✨️ the-dashingest

Wait, Hogun? But you didn't tell us you had a phone?

🔺️ grim-warrior

I don't.

#lady sif propaganda #lightning round #poll reblog #only one more round after this! #i'm so glad lady sif doesn't have tumblr lol #i hope you guys dont mind that a mortal is running this blog btw #i really didnt expect any of you to see this 😬 #and srry for the reblog spam #also hogun lol

1,879 notes

🐍 magic-theatre

i see your thirst edits, you sick freaks.

#start tagging me in them #and/or sending them to me

689 notes

⛵️ modern-technologist Follow

umm i'm in ohio to visit my parents and there's like. um . a giant wolf running alongside my car? i'd call animal control but this thing is ginormous and i don't think that would do anything.

it doesnt have a leash or anything (obv its bigger than my car) but it's covered in chains. what do i do??

@identifying-d𝚘gs-in-posts ??

🐕 identifying-dogs-in-posts Follow

Fenrir Lokison?

#😨

197 notes

✨️ the-dashingest

I really don't think Loki is that bad. Sure, he's had a rocky history, but I don't think he's done anything worthy of scorn. Besides, hasn't he just died and come back or something like that, anyway? He has a blank slate, in my book.

#is it just me? #i hear people saying we should banish or kill him #i find that idea preposterous #he's just misunderstood

208 notes

einherjarl-deactivated20231120

I'm not going to @ them, but ugh... Someone I'm acquainted with just died in battle, and honestly? I'm so relieved. Is that terrible? Don't answer that, I know that it is. I'll probably delete this in a few hours.

🐍 magic-theatre

that's what you get for vagueing.

cowards don't go to valhalla.

10,560 notes

🔮 alchemist-aura Follow Sponsored with Blaze 🔥

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[ladykailitha]

Spooky season is here and I was just thinking about that tiktok (maybe) of the couple at the haunted house where the guy pushes the girl onto the feet of the ax wielding haunt and then the girl and haunt have a conversation that ends with the girl chasing the asshole with the ax and the haunt happily following her.

But make that Steddie. Steve as the girl. Set between seasons 3 and 4, but in a world where Steve going on a date with a man is surprise not a thing of revulsion (as in people would surprised that he was dating a guy having been a ladies man in high school, but no one would give him shit about it). Because it's my sand box, damn it. I make the rules here!

*

Steve wasn't sure what possessed him to go on this date with Jeremy. He didn't like haunted houses. He had seen too many real horrors in his life be frightened of fake ones. But Robin said he could pretend to be scared and cling to the guy's arm, maybe even get a kiss out of it.

What he wasn't expecting was for it to actually terrify him. He was clutching Jeremy's arm the whole way through, chanting in his head "don't hurt them, it's not real." Over and over again whenever the urge to push the actors away or in one extreme case when they were in the haunted hospital break the doctor's nose.

The actor looked too much like Dr Brennan, and while the patient on the gurney wasn't a girl or even had shaved hair, but Steve's protective instinct went into overdrive. It took every ounce of self-will Steve had to keep clutching Jeremy's arm.

They finally hit a room that didn't look so bad. It had a wood floor and four garish statues, one in each corner. Their fog machine was working in high gear but seemed to collect around one figure in particular.

It held an ax over its head, its mouth open in a silent scream. The robes that gathered around its sandled feet were perfectly rendered in stone. The sleeves of the robe revealed a couple of bat tattoos on the right forearm.

Steve was entranced, he let go of Jeremy's arm for the first time since they started and took a step toward it.

It was then the actor jumped off his pedestal and swung his ax down.

Jeremy did the inexplicable. Maybe even outright despicable thing. He pushed Steve forward into the waiting arms of ax murder. Steve stumbled landing on the actor's feet.

"Whoa!" the actor asked. "Are you okay?" He put the ax down and helped Steve get to his feet.

"Did he really just shove me at you to save his own ass?" Steve asked in shock.

The actor cocked his head to the side. "That's what it looked like to me. I hope that was a friend and not a date..."

Steve winced. "Sadly, the latter."

"Fuck, dude," the actor said. He spotted the ax. "You want to get revenge?" He picked up the ax and handed it to Steve.

Steve laughed. "Hell yeah!"

He ran after Jeremy, very plastic ax in hand, the actor cheering him on.

The next room was holding Jeremy so that he wouldn't be split from Steve and gotten lost. It was full of evil clowns. Something that apparently Jeremy was terrified of, judging by the screaming he had been doing.

The actors spotted Steve coming at their prey with an ax and Eddie cheering him from behind, they immediately clocked what had probably gone down. They let Jeremy pass them and two of the clowns broke off to chase him out of the haunted house, gaining cast members with each passing room (still enough remaining to scare other patrons but obviously gaining a crowd to hound this guy.)

He exited the haunted house screaming obscenities at Steve and the actors. The crowd laughing and pointing. He got into his car and drove off.

The smile slid off Steve's face. "Fuck. There goes my ride home."

The ax murder laughed as all the other actors went back inside. He pulled off his hood to reveal a mess of dark brown curls and grey face paint around his eyes on his lips. "I've gotcha, big boy."

"Eddie Munson, right?" Steve asked when he finally placed the face.

"Aww," Eddie cackled. "You do remember me."

Steve scoffed. "Kinda hard to forget."

Eddie's grin grew big. "Duly noted." He scratched the back of his head. "I am sorry about the shitty date though."

Steve shrugged. "It turned out more fun then I thought it would."

Eddie cocked his head again. "True. It's not every day you get chase away a bad date with plastic ax."

Steve handed it back to him. "Shouldn't you be getting back? Won't the other patrons find it odd when the room is empty of scares?"

Eddie smiled slyly. "Who says I left my post unattended?"

Steve's eyes went wide. "How many more of the statues are actors?"

Eddie leaned forward into his space. "I'll never tell," he said sing-song.

Steve laughed.

"Just let me inform my boss I'm taking you home and clean up this makeup, I'll get you home, Stevie," Eddie said.

"You don't have to do that," Steve mumbled. "I'm sure I could call someone."

Eddie shook his head. "Nah, I've got you."

"Thanks."

Ten minutes later Eddie was back on the pavement standing next to Steve. He was back in his usual shredded black jeans and leather jacket. But he wore a denim vest over top of it.

"I like the vest," Steve murmured. "I like pins and things."

"Patches," Eddie said.

Steve hummed his confusion.

"The other things are patches," Eddie explained.

Steve smiled. "That's cool."

Eddie pulled up to Steve's house without asking for directions.

"Should I ask how you knew that?" Steve asked as he got out of the van.

Eddie just waggled his eyebrows as he got out of the van too.

"You gonna walk me to the door, Eds?" Steve asked with a smirk.

"These woods behind your house are pretty fucking scary, dude," Eddie said with a huff of laughter.

Steve just shook his head and bit his tongue to avoid saying exactly how much.

They got to his door and Eddie pressed a kiss to Steve's lips.

It was sweet and warm. "What was that for?" Steve asked, breathlessly.

"Isn't that what you do at the end of a date?" Eddie asked with a teasing grin. "Walk them to door and give them a kiss good night?"

Steve laughed. "Yeah. Yeah it is. Good night, Eds."

"Good night, Stevie."

Eddie walked to his van. "If you want to go on a date that doesn't end you chasing your date with an ax, you know where to find me."

Steve grinned. "I might just take you up on that. Provided it's not another haunted house."

"Don't worry, baby," Eddie said with grin. "I'm loyal. Just a one haunted house kind of guy."

Steve shook his head and unlocked the door. Before he close it behind him he could hear Eddie celebrating, cheering and hollering.

Robin was never going to believe him when he told her how his date went.

But that's okay. She was right. It was fun.

*

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 @pyrohonk ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @itsall-taken @goodolefashionedloverboi @messrs-weasley @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @rozzieroos @wonderland-girl143-blog @justforthedead89 @emly03 @bookworm0690 @bookbinderbitch @littlewildflowerkitten @redfreckledwolf @scheodingers-muppet @mira-jadeamethyst @vecnuthy

[mooncello]

wipsday: more than a footnote moodboard + playlist (+ extras)

One year ago, I posted the first chapter of more than a footnote. I had hoped I'd have the final chapter ready by this date, but I'm still editing. It will be live very soon.

For today, rather than an excerpt and spoilers, please enjoy this moodboard for chapter 9.

I'm also sharing a special chapter 9 playlist. These have been the songs on repeat as I write the final chapter.

Finally, I thought it might be fun to share a couple author notes and behind the scenes stuff. Read on if that's your cuppa tea.

Nearly there. 🖤

I've shared this before, but more than a footnote was only ever meant to be a distraction from a couple other wips that were giving me trouble last year. 5 chapters max, 16-20k. (lol) I love when characters surprise me.

Also unanticipated: Keris and Gareth. They were originally only gonna have a brief mention. I'm glad both decided to hang out a bit.

I'm proud of several lines throughout the fic but I think my absolute favorite is this one:

Dev, who moves like a cat, and fights like a bear, and whose smile is as sharp as a scythe but always feels like sunshine, and whenever I see it, I don’t want to look at anything else.

Okay, one more. I wrote this for chapter 9, and I'm in love with it *but* it might end up getting axed. Please enjoy it here.

I think of the Crucible pairing Niall and I together, and how immediately enchanted I was by his orange hair and his teeth too big for his head. How we had practically nothing in common, until we did, and we kept choosing each other, in assignments, in mischief, in friendship, until he became the most important person in my life.

I still love the cravens.

Fashion plays such a big role in this fic. While my personal style is more like Dev, I adore Niall's clothes. He's such a casual, preppy nerd. I think my favorite outfit of his is the "Sorbonne student" one during the spring dance. Everything oversized. His cuffed trousers. Fluttering sleeves by his bony elbows. And he looks so good in green, with his copper hair.

Niall is the oldest of the trio. His birthday is September 27 (which is a cube number and makes his brain happy). Dev's birthday is December 5. (Mutable. Fire. Sag baby.)

I've shared Dev's playlist before. I'm working on Niall's study mix. I hc that Niall enjoys a lot of different music genres, and he almost exclusively studies to synth and electronic music. Anything with a repetitive beat that can run in the background of his big beautiful brain. One of his favorite bands is Air, a French duo from the 90s, and he's been searching for their Moon Safari vinyl for years. (Dev finds it in a tiny record shop in London, and gives it to Ni the Christmas after they graduate Watford.)

I have an entire backstory of Niall's mums, Bridget and Paloma. I won't get into it here but DM me or send an ask if you ever want to know more. Same goes for my other OC Clark.

Did I have a secret motive to write a fic that would make people fall in love with Dev Pitch? MAYBE.

While writing, when a scene wasn't working, I'd go walk the dog and listen to a character playlist or song that fit the scene, on repeat, and just let my brain play, picking up pieces, seeing if they fit, working thru literal sentences in my head like those word fridge magnets. Without fail, this method worked every time. So the real MVP of this story is my dog.

Finally: It's difficult for me to finish wips. Because I self-sabotage with doubt. I'll have an idea and soft outline, but then once I get a few chapters in, I doubt the direction, the choices I've made, to the point where I freeze up and can no longer trust myself, or any creative choices. While I did have one notable plot point in this fic I doubted by the time I got to it (the bonfire scene) and I needed my betas to hold my hand, this story unfolded in the way I originally imagined. Far longer and richer and deeper than anticipated. And certain scenes evolved and shifted. But the overall arc stayed. This might be the first time I’ve finished something in which I trusted my writing instincts. Even when it was hard. Even when I thought nobody is gonna like this or that. I stayed the course, and allowed the characters to take me on side quests. The process both structured and flexible.

Alright, I've gotta go catch a train. Thanks for hanging with me. 🖤

HAPPY PRIDE 🌈✌️

thanks for the tags today @monbons @whatevertheweather and @thewholelemon

tagging manually today so apologies if I miss someone!

@whatevertheweather @artsyunderstudy @cutestkilla @valeffelees @bookish-bogwitch

@drowninginships @rimeswithpurple @iamamythologicalcreature @leithillustration @alexalexinii

@fatalfangirl @larkral @orange-peony @hushed-chorus @run-for-chamo-miles

@brilla-brilla-estrellita @theimpossibledemon @fiend-for-culture @emeryhall @j-trow-95

@you-remind-me-of-the-babe @ileadacharmedlife @best--dress @confused-bi-queer @messofthejess

[danisbrainrot]

tell your boyfriend

natalie scatorccio x reader

warnings: cheating (sorry not sorry, travis), reader being a shitty person, angst

ever since I found out this song was actually about a woman, I don't know why, but I immediately thought of nat. I can't explain it LMFAO.

it had been weeks since the plane crashed, and the team was condemned to suffering in the wilderness. it was lucky lottie had found the cabin in the first place, but as you swung the axe high in the air, before bringing it down with a resounding crack, you started to wonder if life would've been better if you died in the crash.

you were starving, delirious and weak. there was no sign of a rescue team—who knows how long you'd have to spend out here. watching natalie and travis walking back, hand in hand, you felt yourself growl quietly to yourself. it wasn't fair that travis, who'd never talked to nat before the crash was dating her, but you—who'd loved her for years—were forced to watch from arms length. the sight wasn't made any better when you noticed the absence of meat.

everyone was teasing the two of them, causing you to storm off into the forest. you couldn't help but find everything unfair. falling for a girl who liked a boy—knowing if you were a boy, she'd love you.

kicking over a pile of leaves, you took out your anger on the forest. you hadn't even noticed natalie, until you almost pegged a rock at her (you'd meant to get the log). "oh my god, I'm sorry nat," you exclaimed, running towards her to see if she was okay.

she snorts, moving closer to you. "feeling hangry?" she teased, taking a seat on the log you were aiming at previously. you sarcastically laugh in response, taking a seat next to her.

"joke all you want, if you spent less time fucking travis and more time looking for animals, I wouldn't be destroying the forest," you snap, feeling your stomach begin growling. nat's eyebrow raised teasingly, eyes pointed at your tummy. it's timing was uncanny.

"we're not fucking," natalie replied, making your heart race in excitement. "I mean, I'd like to. . . but he can't get it up."

knowing this was your chance, you took advantage of this information. "maybe he's gay?" you reply, trying to sound as earnest as you can. you nudge her side, "no straight man could resist you," you wink at her teasingly, receiving a soft shove to your shoulder.

"I've always trusted your gaydar. . . but I don't think this is it," she mumbles in response, leaning forward and placing her chin in her hands.

there was a beat of silence, as you desperately try to come up with a plausible explanation to break them up. "you could always ask coach, I'm sure he'd know all about gays," you joke.

nat turned her head slightly to face you, "you're right. maybe I should—" your heart sank, realising that she was seriously thinking about it.

"have you thought that maybe he's interested in someone else? and you're just a distraction," you blurted out, wishing you could take it back immediately.

nat scoffed, standing up, "yeah, thanks. that makes me feel fucking fantastic," she snapped, stomping away.

"nat! I'm sorry!" you called out, but she ignored you.

«—(♥)—»

later that night, you found yourself in the storage room, with your stomach growling. you knew that mari was hiding some berries in here and you were so hungry that you no longer cared about stealing.

the sound of creaking behind you made you jump in fright, whipping around to let out some excuse when you realised it was just natalie. "oh, I thought you were mari," you mumble, turning back to continue your quest.

"looking for her secret stash?" she asked, you tried to work out if her tone was curious or teasing. "it's behind the box there."

when she pointed in the direction, you side eyed her, wondering how he knew where it was. glad that she'd shown you, you decided not to ask. you pulled out a large white bucket and hungrily opened the lid, only to be disappointed at the contents. "she's letting them ferment?"

you turn to face natalie, who shrugs, "it's not that bad. it's pretty strong though, just made purely out of berries, makes you get drunk quicker," she explains; you snort at her, shaking your head.

"you'd have a lot of experience with being drunk," you snipe.

"hilarious, you know you're so funny, you should think about joining snl," she replied sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest.

you sighed, putting your head in your hands. "I'm so hungry, nat. I can't keep living like this," you whisper, on the verge of tears.

natalie sits down next to you, placing a hand on your thigh. "it'll be okay, I promise. travis and I are heading to a new place tomorrow, we'll find deer there, I'm sure," she soothes. you lay your head on her shoulder, playing with her hand on your thigh.

"a new place to hunt? or a new place to fuck?" you snapped.

narrowing her eyes at you, she scoffed and got up, "you know, I liked that you weren't like the others, that you never slutshamed me. . . I guess you're just like the rest of them," she replied, leaving you alone.

you knew it was stupid to take your unrequited feelings out on her, especially because she didn't owe you romantic love. however, it killed you watching her fall in love with travis—and the hunger eating you away wasn't making you a nicer person either.

tentatively scooping some of the berry juice in your hand, sipping it, when you heard mari approaching. in a panic, you'd never put something away so quickly.

«—(♥)—»

natalie trudged through the forest with travis in defeat; the gun slung over her shoulder serving as a reminder of her duty as hunter—a duty she was failing. their eyes were still peeled for any deer, hopeful for any last minute catches. however, it seemed like all the animals in the forest knew about their plans.

groaning, nat put her head in her hands and sat on the log. "this is fucking stupid," she grumbles, ignoring travis as he took a seat next to her.

"maybe we should stay put here, just for a little while," he suggests, his thigh brushing against hers. nat rested her chin against her knees and offered him a weak smile.

neither of them noticed you, hiding in the bushes, having given up scavenging for berries. they'd been gone for three hours, leaving everyone else in the cabin to search for food—and for what? it seemed no one would be eating anything. . . meat or fruit. the disappointing view of just the two of them made your stomach growl, reminding you of how long you've gone without eating something substantial.

stepping on a twig accidentally, you winced as both their heads snap in your direction. "you're following us now? disappointed to see we aren't having sex?" natalie sniped, getting up and walking towards you.

showing off your basket, you know that she wouldn't believe you even if it's true. "just hunting for berries, figured they were further out than usual," you mumble, taking a step back the closer she got.

it wasn't until you were both face to face, your chest heaving and trying to look tough, that natalie smirked. "I get it, you're hungry, but you don't have to follow us," she teased.

you rolled your eyes, "travis, can you give us a moment?" you asked, your heart racing as you come to terms with what you're about to do.

travis scoffs, looking at nat for confirmation, who only gestured for him to return to the cabin. in shock, he sent her an odd look, before standing up, and walking away silently.

natalie turned to face you again, "what did you want to talk about?"

"i wanted to apologise. you're right, I shouldn't be slutshaming you because I'm hungry. . ." you pause, wondering whether or not you should continue. desperate to tell her about your feelings, you could feel your heartbeat raising impossibly fast. "it's actually so stupid—the real reason I was mad at you."

natalie raised her eyebrows teasingly, placing her hands on her waist and smirking at you. "let me guess, the real reason is that you like me?" you stare at her stunned, "please, you don't think I know? I'm not Jackie," she laughs. you feel a blush coming across your cheeks.

sliding her thumb through your jean loops, nat pulled you closer to her, until your chest was pressed against hers. "how'd you find out?" you whisper, looking up at her in awe.

"because I may or may not feel the same about you," she mumbles, her lips inches from yours.

"what about travis?" you ask; nat shrugs in response, finally pressing her lips against yours. initially, you freeze, not kissing her back, until she gripped your waist firmly, holding you in place, encouraging you to kiss her back passionately.

wrapping your hands around her neck, natalie pulls away for a second, "I should probably tell my boyfriend," she whispers. you raise your eyebrows in shock.

"tell him what? that I'm your girlfriend now?" you teased, eliciting laughter from the blonde. she nodded, before placing her fingers under your chin and pulling you in for another kiss.

[hummingjay]

THE GOOBS

I wanted to redraw and redesign them since their original debut wasn't my favorite.

AND NOW for the lore! I've tried and failed to keep it short. It's not much new info, slight changes.

Millipede, usually referred to simply as 'Millie', is a tough and sturdy yet very affectionate, soft spoken unit. Incendiary shells burnt half her face and she refused medical care until the other units were treated, resulting in the burns becoming permanent after the components melted into each other. The burns have also rendered her left eye mostly shut and fully blind. Though she looks wholly intimidating, she’s actually sweet as syrup. Millipede is dating a Eule named Rosa, who works ration supply. Millie's gentle personality makes her easy to get along with by most units and gestalts, especially Eules, and gets her very mistakenly taken for a pushover. Because she spends a lot of time with Rosa, and therefore other Eules, Millipede is an excellent cook. She’s also adept at applying makeup and doing hair, after she awkwardly asked other Eules for help so she could do Rosas hair and makeup as a surprise. She keeps her own hair in a long braid. She uses a bolt action rifle and a large axe in battle.

Cricket, called Kiki by close friends, is quiet, formal, and intensely eerie. Oddly, she answers to two names, both Cricket and Doe. She's excessively passive in her movements, generally staying still to the point of seeming like a statue, giving her an intensely creepy demeanor. Doe is known by some as 'the Ghoul'- Her passiveness coupled with a frankly terrifying ability to survive authentically lethal wounds have started superstitious rumors that she's undead. She’s allegedly once treated internal bleeding by tearing herself open and cauterizing the wounds via gunpowder from the inside, as well as reopening her collapsed windpipe by sticking her hand down her throat and pressing it open. Other reports state that she had her heart exposed by a grenade but closed her ribcage by dislocating her ribs and repositioning them. A heavy unit, she wears full armor with a face-shield and uses weapons supposedly non-man-portable. Between lugging heavy armor and weapons, Cricket possess intense strength and stamina, able to literally tear her enemies apart. Doe suffers from paranoia that borders on insanity, keeping her trapped in a loop of battling perpetual fear and hyper-awareness. Despite her terrifying presence, she’s extremely physically affectionate, especially with her girlfriend, an Ara unit named Jensen, and she likes being held. In battle, she wields a studded club and an HMG with added handles.

Ritterhelm, known as Ritz, is the rowdiest of the entire group and a bit of a drunkard. Humorous and good-natured, she's easy to hang around and can generally hold her liquor. Ritterhelm is also extremely protective of civilians, imperial or national, and will actively fight anyone who willingly puts them in harm's way. This may be because her lover, a Starling named Mai, died during an air raid on a Eusan Nation civilian medical outpost. She wears Mai's ruined garrison cap around her arm, and is armed with a submachine gun and broadsword.

Eichenholz, known shorthand as Eiche, is the oldest of the group, and older than almost any Kasuar, seen as the motherly figure of the squad. Though she's technically quite young, KSAR units are unstable enough that she's long degraded and remembers much of her admittedly miserable gestalt life. The natural inclination of Kasuar units to spirituality has only gotten stronger with time, and Eiche has carved numerous tattoo effigies of eyes onto her armor and body. Between degredation and intense combat fatigue, Eiche is depressed and has attempted to end her life twice. Eiche has been broken and rebuilt numerous times, and has her arms replaced with that of a deceased starling. Later on she lost still more limbs and had them haphazardly replaced with prosthetics made from scrap. Despite the initial awkwardness that came with artificial digitrade legs, Eiche is deceptively fast. After a long 4 years of fighting, Eiche's right eye is partially blind, and she has some but minimal trouble hearing in the left ear. Eiche uses a longsword and automatic shotgun loaded with slugs.

Edward Teach, answering to Eddie, Edward, or Teach, is sociable and cunning. She prefers to keep her face behind a ballistic mask, especially when overwhelmed. Edward enjoys hanging around protektor units such as Kolibris, Starlings, and Storches, and though she's oblivious, a good portion of them desire her carnally. Eddie enjoys reading in her free time and will often borrow books from storches, who happen to be overly eager to lend her one. Edward suffers from slight paranoia that simply makes her feel as if she's in danger. Eddie got her name after stealing a cutlass from an imperial noble's residence, plus having a tendency to loot jewelry such as earrings and necklaces. Along with a cutlass, she uses a double-barrel shotgun.

Stahllanze, called Stahl or Lanze, is charismatic, well-spoken, teasing, and brave. After imprinting on Schnäpper units, Stahl has an affinity for anti tank explosives, including stick grenades, RPG launchers, and a grenade pistol. She carries no melee weapon, stating 'any weapon is a cqc weapon if you're not a coward'. Stahl has a confusing crush on her fellow soldier, Edward Teach, plus a kolibri named Drachen; Edward unaware of Lanze's feelings and Drachen who is equally as confused.

[scrapyardboyfriends]

I'm glad Emmerdale are finally getting rid of some of these characters. Nate and Will and Wendy and such have been on my axe list for years and characters like Ella never worked anyway. But I do share others concern that they're axing mostly non Dingle characters other than Nate and the show desperately needs to expand beyond the Dingles if it wants to survive. I was even thinking about the teens and I feel like half of them are related to each other so the dating pool just gets smaller and smaller, which is an issue.

I feel like if they want to get rid of Dingles, Sam and Lydia would be where I would start honestly, and Belle. Of course I'd feel bad for the actors but from a story potential perspective, Belle has really been exhausted over the years and especially with this latest story. I'd honestly send her off with a nice job opportunity exit and let her go live a happier life off screen.

Sam and Lydia have just become extremely irrelevant. Other than maybe Lydia's friendship with Kim, which doesn't get the amount of focus it used to anyway, they really have nothing to do. Samson is in prison, Amelia and Esther are gone. Zak and Lisa are gone. They could easily follow Belle or go to Scotland or anywhere. Follow Amelia to be closer to Esther.

Then I'd probably just move Mandy and Paddy up to Wishing Well so Liam can have his damn house back.

I'd axe Bear because I've never understood his purpose. I'd also axe Ryan because honestly what's the point.

And then I'd let Charity and Chas and eventually Cain rest as characters for a bit. Let Chas and Charity just be behind the bar for their episode counts but not have massive stories. Let Cain just be support to Moira and work at the garage for a bit.

I'd pull Noah into Joe's orbit and let him embrace his Tate side a bit. I'd let Joe get a true foothold into Home Farm so he and Kim have to actually work together up there. I'd bring in Jean Tate to make them more of a proper family up there. Maybe let them remember that Caleb is half Tate as well.

I'd kill the HOP and put in a better more functional business up there. One that can actually visibly employ people.

Honestly, at this point I'd probably axe Dawn and Billy as well. I want to like them and I do like Billy but they just don't know what to do with them and with Will gone, they either need to make them functional village characters with jobs or they need to go. I'd move Gabby back into the Home Farm sphere with Jean and Joe and Noah.

As for other new characters, I'd still bring in a whole new family with teens and then actually use those teens to allow the current teens to start having real stories and not just troubled teen stories. But not all issue stories either. Let them just date and work part time jobs and have visible friendships and react to their parent's stories and stuff in addition to have bigger stories of their own. Let them be real characters with real personalities.

I was also thinking about bringing back/recasting a character like Scarlet King. She could be good to give Jimmy more family again but you know...not make her a psycho. She could come in with a family or not. But she could give characters like Vic and Amy and Matty someone new to interact with.

I'd also probably axe Charles and Claudette and as much as I do like Manpreet, she has nothing to do either. Bring in a new vicar with a family.

And none of these new families would be connected to anyone in the village, especially not the Dingles.

I'd also probably axe Suzy and just let Vanity get back together and free Mack. Let Mack move in with Aaron and John until John just fucking leaves.

I'd still do whatever I possibly could to convince Ryan to return obviously.

I'd also probably axe Kerry at this point.

I'd let Vic and Matty/Amy buy into the B&B because Nicola and Jimmy are stretched too thin. Let Vic expand the B&B restaurant and be a functional character that has a life and purpose and doesn't exist just to annoy people or be their plot friend.

One of the new families would definitely have an older mother or aunt come with them that could date Mary.

Mary and Kim's friendship would also get to flourish again, especially if I axe Lydia.

I'm also just desperate for them to return to having some village stories that bring in the comedy and positivity. Things that aren't so serious.

Anyway...call me ITV, I have ideas.

[sstormyskyess]

A New Dynamic

author's note: so. this is my first a/b/o fic and uhh i've managed to make it trans! basically in my a/b/o universe people can switch their secondary gender with hormone therapy, just like with trans people and HRT irl, and reader in this fic transitioned from omega to alpha [idk if i explained that perfectly but! please enjoy and also feedback would be nice since i'm new to writing a/b/o]

cw: a/b/o dynamics, smut, male alpha reader, omega gaz, masturbation [from both reader and gaz], general awkwardness because they're exes, knotting

word count: 3500+ [i think this is my longest one shot i've written. uhh may have gotten carried away woops]

Kyle "Gaz" Garrick / M!Reader

“Kyle!” You run up to him with a big grin on your face, pulling him into a hug which he graciously accepts. You bury your face into his shoulder and he does the same, his hands holding onto your shirt as though you might fade away if he lets go.

It’s been almost five years since you last saw your best friend from secondary school and your lover up until he left for enlistment. To say you missed him would be an understatement. You’ve kept in touch with one another through letters and the occasional call here and there, but obviously nothing could compare to being face to face again.

All the way home, your hand is on his thigh and you tell him all about what’s been happening in your life recently. A new promotion at work, shenanigans during a fun night out with friends—friends who Kyle would have to say hello to as well—and some new hobbies you’ve picked up. He shared his own stories, though some of the details had to be axed because of their classified status. You were particularly caught off-guard by him recounting the time he fell out of a helicopter and nearly broke his spine, but that was neither here nor there. At least in his eyes.

Once you pull into the driveway and help him carry all his bags inside, he takes notice of something… interesting.  “Are you seeing someone right now, mate?” He asks with a tilt of his head.

You look at him, confused for a good few moments. “...No? Why?” He stares back at you, almost as if he didn’t believe you. “Is something up?”

It just doesn’t add up in his head. If you weren’t in a relationship with someone, then why did your house smell so distinctly of alpha? When he thought about it further, he did think something was off at the train station as well. He must’ve been distracted by his joy seeing you after so long, but thinking back on it, you had an alpha’s scent all over you. He must realize that he was looking at you as if you’d grown a third arm so he quickly shakes his head to recover from his stupor.

“You okay, Kyle?” You raise an eyebrow, equally confused as he is. Why would he assume you’re dating someone? That’s certainly something you would’ve told him before letting him stay at your place. It would be fairly awkward to have two omegas under one roof with you, especially when one of them was in a relationship with you and the other wasn’t. There was a definite possibility of… jealousy sprouting up.

“I’m gonna take my bags upstairs, just uh—gimme a sec.” He says quickly, picking up his stuff and heading up to the guest room he’s staying in for the next month. You stare after him, still left a little confused. You figure you can bring it up later. Maybe he was tired from jet lag or something. You check the time, your eyes widening a bit when you realize you missed your hormone injection, going upstairs to your bathroom and getting all your things ready.

By the time the sun set and you both had finished dinner, Kyle is still trying to rationalize what could possibly be the explanation behind the alpha scent wafting around the room and teasing his olfactory glands. It was almost making his head hurt with how enticing it was.

To be honest, you’re not faring any better. His scent never triggered anything in you when you were an omega, but now he just smells so sweet. You hope you’re doing a decent job of hiding the shuffling you’re doing to try and relieve some of the tension growing in your boxers. It would most definitely throw things off to get all riled up for someone you broke up with years ago. It was amicable between the both of you, of course, but it’s been so long since either of you had contact with each other.

You dwell on it a bit more all while trying to keep your attention on whatever TV show it was that he put on. Every time he tried to get more comfortable, though, he either squished your legs closer together or brushed up every so slightly against the bulge in your pants. You start to wonder if he knows what he’s doing. He had to, right? He couldn’t be doing this by accident.

Swallowing past the lump in your throat, you struggle ignoring the way your cock twitches in your sweatpants when he mutters something about how your couch is too lumpy and needs to be replaced before readjusting his legs and hips. His motions press your legs together and a shiver goes up your spine when the cloth of your boxers rubs up against your erection. You groan quietly and clear your throat when Kyle shoots a look your way. “You alright, mate?” He asks all too innocently.

You reach over to the end table to grab your glass of water with shaky hands, taking a long sip from it. “I’m fine.” Your voice is strained when you speak and you quickly set the glass back down before pulling a blanket over your lap as nonchalantly as you can manage.

You stare forward with unfocused eyes before you finally stand up, the intoxicating scent of sandalwood and vanilla permeating around the living room too much to handle. “I’ll—I’ll be right back.” You eke out, going to the downstairs bathroom in a hurry. You don’t see the concern on his face before you’re shutting the door and releasing a deep breath you didn’t know you were holding.

The moment you have your back against the cool tile on the walls, you’re doing everything you can to stave off what you can feel building up against your will. This couldn’t be happening, not now. You couldn’t be going into rut the very day your best friend was finally seeing you again after all this time. You palm at the bulge in your sweatpants, groaning as quietly as you can and tilting your head back against the wall.

Cursing under your breath, you begrudgingly yet desperately yank your pants and underwear down and take hold of your hard cock. You try taking deep breaths to stop yourself from losing yourself to the pleasure. It was so amplified by the remnants of Kyle’s scent that had seeped into your shirt just from him sitting next to him. It’s so much more powerful than it was earlier in the day, so you know your rut is coming.

You’re in there for a few more minutes than would’ve been normal, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to care when your cum spills all over your fist. It covers your fingers and your softening cock and deflating knot when you give yourself a few more pumps to ride out your orgasm. But it wasn’t enough. You regretfully give in to the fact you would have to turn in early for the night.

After washing your hand off in the sink, you head back to the living room and look at Kyle, who was on his phone, scrolling mindlessly. “Uh, Kyle? I’m gonna head to bed, I’m super tired.”

He sits up and turns to you, tilting his head. “Are you okay? What’s up?” He stands up and starts walking over to you until you put your hands up defensively. “Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine, I think I might be sick. I don’t wanna get you sick too, so I’m just going to bed.” You stumble through your weak excuse, voice cracking a bit when you neared the end of your sentence. You stare at each other for a few more moments before you turn away and rush up the stairs, closing your door a little more forcefully than you would’ve liked.

A couple hours pass and you’ve nearly pushed yourself to the brink of fainting with how many times you’ve brought yourself to orgasm. You’re glad that you had enough foresight to put a towel down before falling down the rabbit hole; if you hadn’t you would have to change your sheets before you went to sleep with how much cum you’ve expended.

Your chest heaves and sweat drips down your forehead. You’ve long since gotten rid of your clothes, now laid bare in the center of your bed. One thing you found after you transitioned from omega to alpha was that your ruts were much more intense than a natural alpha’s was. Your doctor told you it was something about the remnants of your omega biology making your ruts closer to heats.

The knot at the base of your cock was aching with how thick it’s gotten. The amount of blood rushing down there was making you lightheaded, but you just couldn’t stop. Your body won’t let you stop, you need to keep going. You feel like you might collapse in on yourself if you stopped for even a second.

But the muscles in your arm are tiring by the minute and your hand is starting to give out on you. Even thrusting up into your fist isn’t working because your fingers are cramping up from how hard you were squeezing your dick. You swallow thickly, already getting dehydrated, but you’d rather die than make a fool of yourself trying to stumble to the kitchen to get water—plus, Kyle didn’t need to know you went into a rut because of him. So, through all the brain fog, you remind yourself to listen for Kyle in his room to get you an opportunity to get a much needed glass of water.

You’ve long since given up on trying to stay quiet, deciding to forgo suppressing your wanton moans and desperate whines. Every now and then, shame builds up in your gut because Kyle’s name passes your lips, pleading for him despite the knowledge you shouldn’t want him so bad. But you want him anyway, and it almost made you feel too guilty to keep going. Almost.

Little did you know, Kyle’s in the guest room separated by just one wall, and he can hear everything. Every groan and huff and grunt. Every call of his name. And he has his hand in his pants, stroking himself with the same guilt that you’re feeling. He twisted his hand around his cock languidly, his palm closing around the tip with every few strokes.

When he walked past your room on the way to his earlier that night, he got the strongest whiff of your musk that he’d ever gotten, even when the two of you were in a relationship so many years ago. It all finally clicked in his mind at that moment.

He’s heard about people replacing their designation a couple times before, but he never expected you to be one of those people. Through his entire time knowing you, you never expressed any interest in that kind of thing. But quite honestly, he doesn’t care. All he knows is that you were going through a rut and God, did he want to be there to help you.

After he recovers from a couple quick orgasms and cleans up the mess as best he could, he gets up and deliberates for a bit. He could offer you some assistance, but imagine the consequences. He would never be able to live it down if he asked to help you with your rut and you turned him away point blank. The embarrassment would be too much. He sighs and gets himself together to at the very least get you some water.

He knocks on your door with a glass of water in hand a couple minutes later and hears you stumble off your bed with a harsh thud. “J-Just a sec!” You call out to him, trying to pull on a pair of sweatpants as fast as possible after wiping your sticky hand off on the towel.

When you open your door, your skin is practically dripping with sweat and your limbs are shaking just a bit. “Sorry, just, uh—tripped. Y’caught me off guard,” is what you’re able to muster up, but not without a voice crack in the middle. “What did you need?”

He looks almost as embarrassed as you do, with his eyes darting everywhere but you. “Um… I just thought I’d bring you some water.” He offers the glass to you and you take it, knowing at that moment that he’s heard everything you’ve been doing. Your teeth dig into your bottom lip nervously and you clear your throat, trying to stave off that ever-present feeling of guilt that settled in your stomach from the moment you got into bed. “Thanks. I appreciate it.” You mumble, looking at the floor.

The silence is awkward while you stand there in front of each other. You desperately urge the floor to swallow you whole to avoid the question you know he’s going to ask you, but instead you settle for broaching the subject yourself.

“Can you help me with—”

“Do you want me to help—”

You end up cutting each other off and you internally curse whatever higher power put you in this situation. They had to be out to get you at this point.

You shift from one foot to the other uncomfortably. Through all of this tension, your throbbing boner still hadn’t gone away. In fact, it was actually getting worse with Kyle standing barely a foot away from you, forcing his tantalizing scent to fill your nostrils and sending wave after devastating wave of desire through your body and straight to your cock.

He sees your fingers clinging to the door frame where you were holding it to keep yourself upright, the veins in your hand springing to the surface with how tightly you were grasping it. He puts a hand on your still bare chest, making your hairs stand on end from the skin on skin contact. “Here, just—go lay down, okay? You can barely stand, c’mon…” He takes the water from your hand and carefully herds you over to the bed, letting you collapse on it.

He could smell the sex in here; it was overpowering, making his pupils dilate and his mouth water. You pant with little huffs of breath looking up at him with glassy eyes filled with unbridled lust. “Kyle—fuck, please let me fuck you, please,” you groan.

He snaps out of the trance he got locked into from watching you slip your sweats down to let your cock spring free and land, heavy and dripping, onto your stomach. You reach for the waistband of his shorts, tugging on them. He gets the hint and pulls his shirt and bottoms off before climbing onto the bed and sitting on his knees.

You shakily roll over and wrap your arms around him from behind. You lean over him, urging him on all fours. He gasps when he feels your swollen, rock hard cock slide against his slick, wet asshole. Memories of how well you fill him come flooding back as though it was yesterday, sending a shiver down his spine. He mumbles your name and glances back at you when he notices you’ve gone rigid behind him. “Are you okay—”

He yelps when you spear him on your cock all of a sudden, sinking all the way to the hilt. You let out a deep, long moan at the feeling of his hole stretching to make room for you. “Shit—Kyle…” You drag out his name, burying your face in the space between his shoulder blades. “You feel so good, so so good,” you babble on, halfway incoherent with his name on your lips over and over.

Kyle reaches back and rests his hand on your shoulder, trailing it up to pet along the back of your neck and eliciting a pleased grumble in the pits of your chest. You rock your hips back and forth ever so slightly, working him open to make room for your dick for a while. He moans at the way one of the ridges of your cock rubs against his prostate over and over.

When you felt he was ready for you, you start to thrust into him properly, pulling out almost to the tip and then right back in slowly. “Y’feel good, love,” he says, a small quake in his voice and a small smile on his face.

Your lips connect to his neck, nibbling and sucking on his skin roughly, wanting to leave bruises that would last for a good while. You needed to make him yours. He accepts every mark you leave along his neck and shoulders, his smile growing the longer your cock dragged along his walls. You luckily managed to keep teeth away from where you last left your mark on him, narrowly avoiding the sensitive patch of skin.

You start to groan quietly, body shaking from the way you’re tensing your muscles and holding back. He takes notice of your reluctance and looks back at you, concerned. “What’s wrong?” He asks and you whine, your fingers starting to dig into the meat of his stomach where your arms were wrapped around him. “D-Don’t want… to hurt you, Kyle,” you pant, voice breathy. “Not gonna be able to stop myself…”

“You’re not gonna hurt me, love. Don’t hold back, it’s okay,” he reassures you with a soft voice, his tone releasing the tension in your body.

His words renewed the overwhelming desperation clouding your mind. You clench your teeth and, with a deep, rumbling growl, you speed up your pace and your thrusts become rough, merciless. He tosses his head back in surprise and moans your name sharply. The power of your hips slamming into him ends up pushing him face down and ass up, his face getting buried in the sheets.

His moans get chopped up in time with each time you pump your cock into his hole, his whole body getting jostled forward from the force you’re exerting. Goosebumps rise on his skin as your groans reverberate through your chest into his back and your shaft twitches against his walls, all the sensations overwhelming him. To ground himself, he lifts one of his arms up from where it had been laying uselessly by his side and reaches behind him to grab your shoulder.

Kyle feels his orgasm sneak up on him, having gotten lost in the pleasure of being with you again, but in so many new ways. “Shit, love—fuck—I want your knot baby, please,” he cries, tossing his head back. He never imagined he would be asking you for such a thing; you’ve had sex with each other many, many times before, but never like this. This was something else entirely, and it felt so, so good.

You groan in response to his words. You’ve never heard him so desperate before, and it fills you with a deep sense of confidence. It’s not as though you haven’t slept with anyone since splitting with Kyle, but something about him begging for you sent you into a frenzy.

He yelps at the sudden change in pace. You unintentionally forced him down into a prone bone position, your full weight on top of him and your arms pulling him into every thrust. Your teeth latch onto the back of his neck and scruff him with a growl. You vaguely register that you’re trying to say something despite your mouth being occupied, but you can’t find it in yourself to stop, no matter how embarrassing it might be later.

He shivers at the feeling of your saliva dripping down his neck and seeping into the bedsheets, joining the pool of his own drool where his mouth was hanging open from pure ecstasy. Your cock was hitting the perfect angle in this position, flat on his stomach and his legs pinned between your knees. With you on top of him it was easier to feel your swelling knot catching on the rim of his wet asshole. He slowly joins you in your mindless babbling, begging and pleading for you to give him that sweet release.

“I-I missed you so much, love, oh God—please, want you to fill me up, please, please, please—!” He wails when he cums, his spend getting caught under his body and wetting the sheets along with a wave of slick gushing out of his hole past your dick. It was the most intense orgasm he’s had in ages, all because of you.

The clutch of his walls fluttering around you makes you finally let go of his neck and throw your head back with a sharp groan. “Fuck—fuck!” You hiss, squeezing him tighter in your arms and shoving your knot into his tight, wet heat. Your cum floods his hole, filling him up to the brim. He sobs at the warm feeling. It felt so different with your knot added to the mix, stretching him wide.

You relax on top of him, with a heavy sigh, taking hold of him and rolling you both on your sides to spoon him and hold him close. You nuzzle your face in his neck, already rocking your hips into him again needily. It was gonna be a long night, he thinks to himself while running his hands up and down your forearms where they lay against his stomach.

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

[ashlynniis-bracketeers]

Library of Ruina Urban Plague help?

This is my first and only Deck-Builder game I have touched, so my ability to understand them at a glance, even with the in-game tutorials, is... poor, to say the least. I am also not using mods. And trying to look up guides has been a fruitless endeavor. The guides I find always seem to be:

A - Significantly out-of-date.

B - Don't actually describe the fight(s) or what previous cards/builds work well against them, instead discussing the pages they drop.

C - Are basically just "git gud lol".

D - Are so fast and vague that I can't understand them no matter how much I re-watch.

E - Are entirely built around end-game, where you can build much more cohesive strategies revolving around the Abno Pages on each floor.

So, my understanding is... lacking. I have ranged pages, but don't know how to effectively use them with what I have around them. And grinding books from other fights I struggle with to fight the Urban Plague fights, just to get evaporated by the fights and have to re-grind the books (and re-grind the books used to get those books, and re-grind the books used to get the books to get the other books...), and grinding for specific, supposedly "cheesy" pages with a low drop rate for multiple days without getting them, without being able to find any cohesive strategy as to which of the Floors I currently have are best for which fights, means that Urban Plague is starting to just piss me off lmao.

So, I am asking the Ruina players of Tumblr wtf I can do to not want to commit war crimes, without just going "Urban Plague is easy/git gud/use this endgame strategy lol". My non-deckbuilder-playing-ass is clueless. What Floor strategies are good for where I am? What are good early-game builds? Cohesion pls???

I'm a Warframe player, but these grinds suck lmao.

I have completed the Carnival (by the skin of my teeth) and Full-Stop Office. I've been slamming my head against Gaze Office and Dawn Office, and I struggled with (and continue to) the other two and with previous close-by encounters like the Stray Dogs and Molar Office.

Problems I have are that I either keep losing all of my rolls/clashes and are not able to deal damage/defend and just get evaporated in two or so acts, or I keep running out of cards and getting stomped because of it.

I'll be putting my current Abno pages for each Floor under the cut

If anyone is able to/tries to help me, many thanks in advance!

For context as to what Abno pages I have unlocked for each floor:

General Works: Bloodbath (Blood, Scars, Pale Hands), Heart of Aspiration (Pulsation, Urging, Fervent Beats)

Art: Fragment of the Universe (EftB, Tentacles, Incomprehensible), Child of the Galaxy (Pebble, Teardrop, AToF)

Literature: Today's Shy Look (LotD, Social Distancing, Shyness), The Red Shoes (Glitter, Obsession, Axe)

Technological Sciences: Forsaken Murderer (Metallic Ringing, Chained Wrath, Violence), All-Around Helper (Recharge, Repetitive Pattern-Recognition)

History: Scorched Girl (Ashes, Footfalls, Matchlight), Happy Teddy Bear (NEotOD, Happy Memories, Display of Affection)

[richincolor]

Happy Black History Month!

This Black History Month I'd like to celebrate the genre that makes us jump at every unknown noise, brings us nightmares, and has us up late turning the page in anticipation of what will happen next - Black Thriller & Horror! There has been a lovely uptick in the publishing of Black Thrillers and Horror in the past few years where Black protagonists are solving complex mysteries, fighting against all forms of supernatural beings, and sometimes a combination of both. I've had so much fun reading all of these novels and am greatly looking forward to what 2024 has to bring. 

When creating a list of Black Thriller/Horror writers I must begin with the queen, Tiffany D. Jackson. Her first book "Monday's Not Coming" was a perfectly written thriller with a plot twist that hit with a gut punch that I'm still recovering from. Since then she's been on a streak with hit after hit after hit. Her latest, The Weight of Blood, is a book you cannot miss.

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson

When Springville residents—at least the ones still alive—are questioned about what happened on prom night, they all have the same explanation … Maddy did it. An outcast at her small-town Georgia high school, Madison Washington has always been a teasing target for bullies. And she's dealt with it because she has more pressing problems to manage. Until the morning a surprise rainstorm reveals her most closely kept Maddy is biracial. She has been passing for white her entire life at the behest of her fanatical white father, Thomas Washington. After a viral bullying video pulls back the curtain on Springville High's racist roots, student leaders come up with a plan to change their host the school's first integrated prom as a show of unity. The popular white class president convinces her Black superstar quarterback boyfriend to ask Maddy to be his date, leaving Maddy wondering if it's possible to have a normal life. But some of her classmates aren't done with her just yet. And what they don't know is that Maddy still has another secret … one that will cost them all their lives. 

2023 also gave us two amazing debut thrillers and I, for one, cannot wait to see what these two authors cook up next. 

Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington

You must work twice as hard to get half as much. Adina Walker has known this the entire time she’s been on scholarship at the prestigious Edgewater Academy—a school for the rich (and mostly white) upper class of New England. It’s why she works so hard to be perfect and above reproach, no matter what she must force beneath the surface. Even one slip can cost you everything. And it does. One fight, one moment of lost control, leaves Adina blacklisted from her top choice Ivy League college and any other. Her only chance to regain the future she’s sacrificed everything for is the Finish, a high-stakes contest sponsored by Edgewater’s founding family in which twelve young, ambitious women with exceptional promise are selected to compete in three mysterious events: the Ride, the Raid, and the Royale. The winner will be granted entry into the fold of the Remington family, whose wealth and power can open any door. But when she arrives at the Finish, Adina quickly gets the feeling that something isn’t quite right with both the Remingtons and her competition, and soon it becomes clear that this larger-than-life prize can only come at an even greater cost. Because the Finish’s stakes aren’t just make or break… they’re life and death. Adina knows the deck is stacked against her—it always has been—so maybe the only way to survive their vicious games is for her to change the rules.

I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea

Laure Mesny is a perfectionist with an axe to grind. Despite being constantly overlooked in the elite and cutthroat world of the Parisian ballet, she will do anything to prove that a Black girl can take center stage. To level the playing field, Laure ventures deep into the depths of the Catacombs and strikes a deal with a pulsating river of blood. The primordial power Laure gains promises influence and adoration, everything she’s dreamed of and worked toward. With retribution on her mind, she surpasses her bitter and privileged peers, leaving broken bodies behind her on her climb to stardom. But even as undeniable as she is, Laure is not the only monster around. And her vicious desires make her a perfect target for slaughter. As she descends into madness and the mystifying underworld beneath her, she is faced with the ultimate choice: continue to break herself for scraps of validation or succumb to the darkness that wants her exactly as she is—monstrous heart and all. That is, if the god-killer doesn’t catch her first. From debut author Jamison Shea comes I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me, a slow-burn horror that lifts a veil on the institutions that profit on exclusion and the toll of giving everything to a world that will never love you back.

And to round out this list, we also gotta point out the fellas who are also killing it with the Thriller/Horror genre. 

Promise Boys by Nick Brooks

The prestigious Urban Promise Prep school might look pristine on the outside, but deadly secrets lurk within. When the principal ends up murdered on school premises and the cops come sniffing around, a trio of students―J.B., Ramón, and Trey―emerge as the prime suspects. They had the means, they had the motive . . . and they may have had the murder weapon. But with all three maintaining their innocence, they must band together to track down the real killer before they are arrested. Or is the true culprit hiding among them?

The Getaway by Lamar Giles

Welcome to the funnest spot around . . . Jay is living his best life at Karloff Country, one of the world’s most famous resorts. He’s got his family, his crew, and an incredible after-school job at the property’s main theme park. Life isn’t so great for the rest of the world, but when people come here to vacation, it’s to get away from all that. As things outside get worse, trouble starts seeping into Karloff. First, Jay’s friend Connie and her family disappear in the middle of the night and no one will talk about it. Then the richest and most powerful families start arriving, only... they aren’t leaving. Unknown to the employees, the resort has been selling shares in an end-of-the-world oasis. The best of the best at the end of days. And in order to deliver the top-notch customer service the wealthy clientele paid for, the employees will be at their total beck and call. Whether they like it or not. Yet Karloff Country didn’t count on Jay and his crew--and just how far they’ll go to find out the truth and save themselves. But what’s more dangerous: the monster you know in your home or the unknown nightmare outside the walls?

The Forest Demands Its Due by Kosoko Jackson

Regent Academy has a long and storied history in Winslow, Vermont, as does the forest that surrounds it. The school is known for molding teens into leaders, but its history is far more nefarious. Seventeen-year-old Douglas Jones wants nothing to do with Regent's king-making; he’s just trying to survive. But then a student is murdered and, for some reason, by the next day no one remembers him having ever existed, except for Douglas and the groundskeeper's son, Everett Everley. In his determination to uncover the truth, Douglas awakens a horror hidden within the forest, unearthing secrets that have been buried for centuries. A vengeful creature wants blood as payment for a debt more than 300 years in the making—or it will swallow all of Winslow in darkness. And for the first time in his life, Douglas might have a chance to grasp the one thing he’s always felt was power. But if he’s not careful, he will find out that power has a tendency to corrupt absolutely everything.

If you are a fan of murder mysteries, supernatural thrillers, or just like to get scared, get thee to a bookstore (or library) and support your Black Thriller/Horror writer.

[canirove]

Rice, Rice, baby | Chapter 7

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Masterlist

“Olga, do I really have to go with you? I want to go home, I'm shattered.”

“It'll be just a minute. I'll check if I left my wallet in the kitchen and then we can go” she says. “And stop complaining, Liv. You are turning 25 tomorrow, not 80.”

“Feels like it” I sigh. Because today has been chaotic. 

There was a double training session and some meetings going on, which means that I've spent most part of my day making coffees for everyone, going up and down the stairs to deliver them to the offices, and taking meal orders since one of the waiters called in sick and Olga needed help. And as if that wasn't enough, since the game at the Emirates I've been sleeping like shit, constantly having nightmares where my dad finds out about me and Declan and kills him. Literally. In last night's dream he used an axe to do it. 

“I promise I'll be quick” Olga says, opening the cafeteria’s door.

“You better” I reply, following her. 

“Happy birthday!” everyone screams as I walk in.

“Bloody hell!” I yell, my heart on my throat. “What the fuck?”

“Language, Olivia” Madders says. “This is a birthday party!”

“A what?”

“Surprise!” Olga says while hugging me.

“You… you… what?”

“I know your dad said that you don't like celebrating your birthdays, but you only turn a quarter of a century once!”

“Wow, those are some big words for you, Maddison” I laugh.

“So funny, Liv” he replies, rolling his eyes. “Everyone is dying to wish you happy birthday, you know? Sonny made you a card, and I think a certain Spaniard even got you a present…”

“You all seriously need to stop with that.”

“I was talking about Bryan, Liv” Madders smirks. 

“You… Idiot” I say, hitting him in the arm.

“It's not my fault Spanish dudes love you!” he laughs. “Though you prefer them half Irish, don't you?”

“Shut up!”

“Half Irish? What did I miss here?” Olga asks.

“Nothing. James is talking shit as always.”

“Yes, I am” he laughs again. “Anyway, are you coming or not? I can't wait to try the cake. Alex told me it is your favourite, and knowing how obsessed you are with anything with chocolate, I'm sure it'll be amazing.”

“Wait, Alex is here too?” I ask.

“Yep.”

For the past few weeks he's been behaving super weird around me, basically ignoring me, and I still don't know why.

We've known each other our whole lives since my dad and his are best friends and  we live close by, and even though we've had our ups and downs (especially because of my dating life and him not liking any guy I did), he had never been like this. 

“C'mon, Liv. Let's go say hello to your guests” Olga says, linking her arm with mine and walking towards where everyone is. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Happy birthday, dear Olivia… Happy birthday to you!”

“Don't forget about making a wish!” my mum says.

“Done” I smile.

For my actual birthday I'm having a small gathering with my parents, Alex's and him, the usual every year. After partying way past midnight with everyone at work, it is what I needed. Something chill and at home where I can wear my pyjamas, have crazy hair, and where no one will give me a weird look. Though this year my mum forced me to actually look nice since it is a special number.

“I can't believe my baby is 25 already” she says while hugging me. Or while squeezing me against her. “Where has time gone?”

“She was a tiny loud baby not that long ago, and now look at her. My darling is a beautiful, intelligent and wonderful woman I'm very proud of” my dad says.

“Oh, stop it” I say, trying not to get emotional. 

“Should we start with the presents before everyone starts crying?” Alex's mum chuckles.

“I told you I didn't need anything, guys.” 

“This is just a little detail” she smiles.

After opening a few more presents, it's time for my dad to give me his.

“I'm a bit nervous about this” he laughs, giving me a small box. “Hope you like it, darling.”

“Thank you” I say, slowly opening it. Inside it there is a car key, one that obviously has a Tottenham keychain. And under it, there is a note. “Look out the window? What does it mean?”

“It means exactly that. Look out the window” my dad says, nodding towards the big one in our living room.

“Ok…” I say, walking towards it. And then, I see it. It can't be. “Dad, is that… Oh my God, is that a Mini?” 

“It is, darling. Your Mini.”

“What?”

“It's yours, Olivia” my mum says.

“But I… you… how?” I mumble, looking from the car to the key in my hand.

“You've always been obsessed with that car for some reason. So much, that when you got your driving licence, I bought you a small replica of it” my dad says.

“You did, yes” I chuckle. “I still have it in my room.”

“Do you remember what I told you when I gave it to you?” 

“That one day… Oh, dad!” I say, running towards him and hugging him.

“I told you that one day I would buy you the real one, not just a toy. And that day has come” he says, hugging me back. “It isn't new, we couldn't afford it. But it is better than that thing from the Pleistocene you were driving.”

“It is perfect. The Mini, I mean” I say, moving to look at him. “It seriously is. I love you so much, dad. You too, mum.”

“Oh, Olivia” she says, joining our hug. 

“Did you film all that?” I hear Alex's dad say.

“I did” he replies. 

“I probably look so stupid” I laugh.

“You look beautiful, Liv” Alex says. And that was… odd. But whatever. 

“Why don't you kids take the car for a spin?” my dad suggests.

“Now? What about the cake?”

“You and your cakes, Olivia” my mum replies, rolling her eyes. “It will be here when you come back. Just be careful, ok?”

“Ok” I smile. “Thank you. Again” I say, giving my parents another hug. “I love you.”

“And we love you too. Now go, darling” my dad says.

“And Alex, don't let her go too fast.”

“I won't, Mrs. Chapman” he chuckles.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Liv, what did your mum say?” 

“Shhh” I reply, speeding up a bit more. 

“If you crash your car on the first day…” Alex laughs.

“That won't happen. I'm gonna take care of him as if he was my son.”

“Is it a boy?”

“It is a boy” I smile. “The most beautiful one.”

“You'll have to give him a name, then.”

“Urgh, I suck at choosing boys names.”

“Is that why all your pets growing up were girls even if they actually weren't?”

“Yep.”

“Then you better not have a son in the future” he laughs again. 

“Yeah” I smile. “I've missed hearing you laugh. Are you ok?” I ask him, slowing down now that we are back in our neighborhood. 

“Uh?”

“You've been avoiding me, Alex.”

“No, I just… I've had a lot going on and to like… Organise my feelings and thoughts.”

“Oh, I see. But is everything ok?”

“Yeah, don't worry. Park over there, I want to give you my present.”

“Ok” I say, doing as he has asked me.

“So… ummm… Liv” Alex says, nervously playing with the small box in his hands. “There is something I have to tell you.”

“I'm all ears.” 

“I… You… We…”

“C'mon, Alex” I say, playfully hitting his arm. “It's me.”

“Yeah, I know. That's why saying this is so difficult. Because it's you.”

“I don't understand.” Why does he look so nervous? I think the last time I saw him like this was when he dared to ask out the hottest girl in our class and she… No. No, no, no, no. He isn't going to…

“I love you, Liv.”

He is. Oh, my God, he is doing it.

“And not like the way you love your dad or a friend. I love you like something else.”

“Alex, I…”

“When I told you that I was trying to like organise my feelings and thoughts, I was talking about you. About what I feel for you. Because I… because I've realized that I've always been in love with you, Liv. That if I've been a prick and disliked all the boys you've dated or been around, it's because I was jealous. Because I wanted to be them. Because I love you.”

“Alex, listen…”

“This is for you” he says, opening the little box and showing me what is inside. A ring. He got me a freaking ring, and one that doesn't look cheap. 

“I can't accept it.”

“It is just a birthday gift, Liv. Nothing else.”

“Nothing else?” I laugh. “You just told me that you love me and now are giving me a ring, Alex. This totally looks like some kind of proposal.”

“Well, if you think about it like that… Then yes. It is a proposal. Liv, do you want to be my girlfriend?”

This can't be real. This has to be another of my nightmares. They all start the same, with something really good happening, and then boom! The killing starts. 

“Alex… I… No.” 

Have you seen that episode of "The Simpsons" where Lisa is dating Ralph, she breaks up with him while being live on tv, and when they are watching it again Bart says something like, look, if you slow it down you can see the exact moment where you break his heart? Well, that is happening right in front of me. 

“I'm very sorry, Alex. But I don't love you. I just like you as a friend.”

Wow, Olivia. Wow. You just delivered the most cliché line ever. 

“I see…” he says, closing the small box and putting it back in his pocket.

“I'm sorry.”

“I heard you the first time, Liv.”

“Ok, umm… I should drive us back home.”

“Is there someone else?”

“What?”

“Are you seeing someone?”

“Maybe...” I say, biting my lower lip. 

“Is it the Spanish guy? The one everyone keeps talking about at work.”

“Who, Pedro?”

“Yeah, him.”

“He isn't anyone from work or related to it.” Which is a lie, but it is best if he doesn't know.

“Oh, ok.” And those are the last words he says to me for the rest of the day.

[atefingersdagger]

DISTRICT CULTURE!! Can be any district

I LOVE THIS TOPIC

District 2 is the one I have most headcannons on, so we'll start with them vs. going in numerical order!

District 2 culture is warrior-like, as we know, but it's also deeply rooted in loyalty. While some of that loyalty has been used for the Capitol, it truly goes back to District 2 at heart. I headcanon two symbolic gestures: a grabbing of each other's arms and a reciprocal squeeze that dates back to the Dark Days (and is supposed to be banned, but many use it in private). The other is something that ancient Romans used to do: put their thumbs into their closed fist.

It looks like sheathing a sword, i.e., showing mercy. There is even a Latin phrase for it, "pollice compresso favor iudicabatur," which means "goodwill decided by compressed thumb." (This is a recent one, so I sadly only have this one in a draft somewhere). This would be used as a sign of respect.

Eespecially given to district partners after killing them. District 2 tributes are expected to kill their district partners with utmost respect; not killing them in their sleep, only mercy killing of they are vulnerable. Otherwise, it's not considered a fair fight nor honorable. There's a Latin phrase for that, too. Something about a fight requires two people. They need to show loyalty to their district by not betraying their partner (one exception in my fics is a victor no one likes and is like genuinely scared of)

Another headcanon that I'm working on in a draft is that training centers and quarries have Latin phrases written on their doors/entrances. (Yes, I do have 30+ notebook pages on Latin phrases along with translations and another notebook with correlations for Cato + Clove.)

A main quarry is called "The Aggregate," which has its own song I wrote for it as a form of cheer and comradery for shared labor (found in my fic "Of the Fitest")

District 2 is also split up into two large towns named after rock-related words. Karst, the north where it snows and Clove is from, and Ashlar where Cato is from that's more south. The former specializes in Peacekeeper headquarters and main training. They also make weaponry more than other places. However, Ashlar is richer due to their construction work and ability to sell more goods.

Peacekeepers in the novels aren't allowed children, but I headcanon that is only the case for one's who have to travel to other districts. Low ranking ones are allowed marriage and children. Hence why Clove's father is a Peacekeeper in my main fic, and he's low ranking.

District 2 actually gets the best sex Ed as well. Their trainees have the option to have implants at the age of 17 (could be underground, but Snow knows and turns a blind eye) as these are the tributes most eager to volunteer so them being pregnant could throw off the Games for many reasons. Along with their need for Peacekeepers and their restrictions on families, they are given comprehensive sex Ed in order to avoid any "mishaps."

I think other districts have it rather awful with that (think deep red, southern american states and their sex education vs. blue states, high teen pregnancy rates, etc.). Katniss describes Cato as "cursing like a fiend" when falling from the tree. This leads me to believe that District 2 is a lot less chaste and more open in a culture of sexual education with less moral division on "appropriateness."

Something else that's been talked about a lot but is a headcanon I've had for a long time is that District 1 has many descendants of Mormons. Geographically, it makes sense and would explain why many of the tributes have blonde hair and somewhat less diverse range described in the novels (I think District 2 is the most diverse).

District 7 at one point was a contender for a Career district but didn't have the funding or government love to train their kids like how District 2 does. However, the tributes from there in earlier Games were often asked to ally with the assumption of axe welding. District 7 also does put a lot of importance on teaching children (even those too young to cut down trees) on using axes and saws for the Games.

District 3 has a specific region made for medical equipment (the boy from 3 in my fic is from there, names Caesi, which is short for an element used in x-ray machines). They used to manufacture medicine too before the Dark Days, but after the war, the Capitol ceased that as District 3 had been supplied medical aids to troops. That area is called Idhes, named after a technology philosopher but also an institute for economy. It's located where Chicago is today in my fic.

I have more, smaller ones, but this post is already long enough. However, if there's a different district(s) you'd like to know more about specifically, please ask! I absolutely love babbling about all this stuff. (Also crossing my fingers someone asks for headcanons on the muttations)

[imustbenuts]

ouggh could you please elaborate on your criticism of brave Alfonse ...I like hearing your thoughts (⁠人⁠ ⁠•͈⁠ᴗ⁠•͈⁠)

alright. so this is just a messy sloppy thought vomit essay again im so sorry in advance.

and i am salty overall about this.

in 2 words: traditional conservatism

in many many words:

ALFONSE. OPEN UP YOUR WAY CARVE YOUR OWN PATH WHAT ARE YOU DOINGGGGGG IF YOU ARE SAYING HE HAS POTENTIAL JUST. FUCKING. COMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU COWARDS! HAAAAAAAAAAAUGHHHHHHHHHHHHG learn from your dad's ruling policy yes but don't become your dad and carve for the affection you cannot have jfc

IN MORE WORDS

gustav is. objectively speaking, not a good father in the emotional growth department. I've mentioned and maintained by him looking like an Asian tiger parent from my pov. even if he does lay out proper foundations and maybe good hc adjacent policy for country ruling, his approach of parenting is questionable at best.

I get him operating under pressure and sickness with a limited time left to raise his son in a manner befitting of the throne but like. All sink and no swim? No proper explicit guidance? You can't just be "I want my child to meet expectations and dispense no love", that's just straight up neglect my guy. hes very much the 2 faced proud big important parent person.

realistic, but yuck.

i dont think they even have a father son moment probably ever. Henriette and Gustav have a more functional relationship bc they actually dated and had proper human interaction, but it's likely given cultural asian and high expectations context irl, his kids were treated more like objects and successors. Despite everything he might have felt and expressed behind the scenes. again, the affection is not expressed and conveyed directly enough to his kids, and alfonse being his successor means. alfonse has major daddy issues and anxiety about succeeding the throne.

So now, brave alfonse, having lost this dad and understandably craving for fatherly affection and going through it in the plot, is. you know. in the process of redefining himself. arguably is always, but now, its either he's the successor of, King Gustav the Great II or The Next King of Askr. his role as with many many other of his type are to be a signifier of a new era. thats the whole point of successors!

hes even all "ILL OPEN THE WAY". implying that something before wasnt working out and a new path must be blasted open for a better future. thats the whole theme.

But the effect of Alfonse donning his fathers armor in this case is not respect, it reeks of insecurity! again, does alfonse know his father as Gustav The Person to a reasonable degreee? if by that we mean a neglecful parent but a decent king, okay. but why is there a need to repeat this cycle by wearing from head to toe, from body language to skill 1:1 of his dad. howis this a good thing...

dude. what the hell is intsys doing. do i need to call their parents or what the hell is this conservative traditional filial pathetic nonsense. what the hell happened to all of the other fire emblems who are 5 steps more progressive than this

(granted i do find FE to be very conservative on the whole now that ive stewed in the pot of it all but thats a me thing. it could also be dependant on the writer but idk them well enough to know who does what)

and heres my ideal fucking scenario, right. not very hard. id argue just picking up gustav's mantle OR axe and then working it into a new outfit that is explicit alfonse's would be miles better and what i would want. a signifier that alfonse the character knows himself and wants to walk his own path while honoring the good parts of gustav and discarding the bad.

not this. reanimation method of almost wanting to wear his fathers' skin. as if he cant move on and stand on his feet. as if hes unsure. as if they dont want him to commit (at least not yet bc we gonna milk FEH for as much as we can). despite. all the things that have been happening.

instead of rolling with the punches the armor feels like him not doing that. it might have been an easy alt to decide on, but character wise, i dislike it a lot.

[slugdragoon]

Devlog #7 - Shephard and Lumberman enemies + new Necromancer animation, summons flee, and new status effects!

Alright, I'm really excited about this one, it's a big one!

The biggest part of my week was finishing three animations for enemy types in the game. These are the third, fourth, and fifth animations I've even done (first two being the Snake and Sheep summons), and I feel myself getting better each time.

the Necromancer - I've had an idle blocked out for this guy in solid colours for a while, he's been in my other devlogs, but finally buckled down and did the shading and colouring. I'm thinking to give him a Skeleton or Zombie summon, which may be my next animation, as I have a matching status effect for them nearly worked out.

the Shepherd - Next, and this is my most recent work - the Shepherd. This idea came from the Sheep summon, who I introduced as a summon which could put you to sleep. I needed status-inflicting summons, thus the Sheep. I thought a Shepherd with the ability to summon Sheep and a passive ability to keep your summons around longer (shepherding them around) that you can inherit onto any summoning class would be perfect. And I'm happy to say, both of those abilities are implemented, making the Shepherd my most complete enemy type to date!

the Lumberman - I did this animation before the Shepherd, and I may rework it later on, because musculature is f-ing hard man, but I had an idea for physical attacks to, in contrast to magic skills, be more used for a variety of tactical targeting scenarios, each with advantages and drawbacks that make sense for the implied weapon type. I thought up a Cleave (not implemented yet) ability that's meant to evoke a Guts-like (Berserk) warrior who cuts down many enemies at once, but applies a big penalty on the user when an armoured foe is caught up in it. It works for an axe, so I made an enemy whose "thing" is that they're an axe man, so started with a lumberjack. I started with a normal human skin tone, but my animation blocking was temporarily green, and I liked copper-y armour and weapons for him, so I tried making him look like oxidized copper as well. I though the idea for a metal man who chops down trees was pretty cool, and here we are!

New status effects - I also designed three new status effect icons for inflictions I have planed. I showed the Sleep and Poison ones last time, and a version of those effect is in the game (I added green to the Poison icon).

The new effects are Blindness, Charm, and Fear. Only Fear is partly implemented so far. The plan for Charm is probably typical. Have allies attack each other or heal the charmer. For Blindness, I like the idea of forcing a random target more than lowering accuracy (maybe a mix of a little lower accuracy, but also randomizing your target making it a risk to hit an enemy that could retaliate against you, I feel that could make some interesting encounters).

As for Fear, that is partly implemented. Fear causes your summoned minions to flee, and I'm toying with the idea of having it block or cancel some kinds of buffs (can't raise your Attack Power if your party member doesn't feel brave enough to attack, that sort of thing). I want to give the summoned minions a protective effect so that you need way do sift through them to land meaningful attacks.

Minions have to be able to flee, so I made it so that they can (complete with an animation). They also now flee at the end of battle, which the Shepherd's passive ability stops (it will eventually be a percentage chance to flee).

In addition, while character's with swords and arrows might go directly for the summoner, I added another new Smash ability (imagine warhammers, clubs, etc.) that hits both the enemy itself and causes some if it's minions to scatter, thinning the herd.

I have some other changes to assets and the code, but that was already a lot! This really felt like one where, at least a small number of more complete ideas fit together really well!

[kwaggysshardmindemporium]

Okay so all my fellow Arcane fans Riot uploaded a cinematic that seems to simultaneously be a preview for the next show and for League's next ranked season. (To be clear, this is not any kind of announcement for the next show's release date.) Even without any concrete news it's still pretty hype.

For some reason I've decided to do a breakdown of the characters in here for people with less familiarity with this nonsense than me below the break:

First and foremost I really like most of the redesigns. Most. Not gonna lie I hate what they did to Vlad but also Vlad sucks so who cares. Everything else, aces I love it.

Bit of a primer on Noxus as a setting: think ancient Rome if they had the aesthetics of the barbarians who *sacked* ancient Rome. They bill themselves as a true meritocracy where you get by on your own strength and wit or you fucking die. This has exactly all the problems you immediately just thought of with that philosophy. Riot keeps trying to make them a nuanced counterbalance to their in-setting rival nation Demacia, but can't seem to escape the pull of how bad guy coded everything about them was when the game first came out.

First character to appear is Mel. I'm not recapping Mel. If you're reading this, it's probably because you like Arcane and know who the fuck Mel is. She rules, moving on.

Couple of characters who appear in more detail further in. We'll get to them.

That dude with the huge fuckoff axe is Darius. Higher-up in the Noxian military. Boring as shit. This trailer is literally the coolest he's ever been in anything they've done with him and he's only kinda interesting here. He has a brother who is roughly eight gazillion times more fun to talk about but does not appear in this trailer. He's (Darius) basically the stereotypical square-jawed slab of meat hero, if such a guy was from a place run by shitbags incentivizing shitbaggery.

The dude he's fighting? That's Trundle. Not from Noxus, but the neighboring country of Freljord. He's king of the trolls, and also a servant/thrall/pawn of one of the ladies vying for power over that region. He's a brute and a villain and words cannot describe my seething contempt for the retcons that occurred to *make* him a brute and a villain but that's its own post.

That lady dancing in a mask then busting out some knives? That's Katarina. She's the daughter of a major Noxian noble who was assassinated, and she's on a vengeance quest to find his killer and return the favor. She has an on-again off-again thing with a character not in this trailer who acts as Darius's foil, a bodyguard/minion also not appearing named Talon, and a sister who's half snake. I literally do not know what the present lore reason for the sister being a snake is these days because I know it's been retconned and I haven't checked.

The spider lady she's fighting? That's Elise. I *think* she's a member of the Black Rose (mentioned in Arcane S2 but not fleshed out much) but don't quote me. Her whole thing is luring nobles who want a piece of that action off to their deaths when she does all sorts of evil sacrifices with them.

And lastly, we have Vladimir and LeBlanc. Vlad looks like a vampire but very explicitly isn't. He's a blood mage. Which is a totally different thing. Totally different. 100% not the same thing. He just looks talks dresses and acts like Count Dracula for fun and because it's kind of on vibe with the whole blood magic thing. (I'm making fun of them not making him a vampire in setting, but not exaggerating.) He works for LeBlanc.

And LeBlanc. She's a master manipulator and illusionist, head of the Black Rose. Honestly, she doesn't have a ton a of development beyond "she effectively rules Noxus from the shadows with an army of altar egos she can illusion herself into." So I cannot fucking wait to see what they do with her. Like, right before Arcane S2 dropped a buddy of mine asked me what I'd want them to do next and my number one answer WAS "a Game of Thrones-y drama in Noxus with LeBlanc as either a main protagonist or a main antagonist." This is exactly what I wanted. My personal hype is through the fucking roof.

[zephyrine-gale]

Hello!!! First off, love your art so much!!! And hope you had a great time at anime expo. I was wondering when your store is going to open again?

hi!! thank you both for the reminder!

I was gonna open earlier this month but I have another con coming up in a month (rather than 2 months, I misremembered :'D )

so I've been rushing designs that I was working on so they'd be there for that con + figuring out shipping for POs placed before AX and then completely forgor about shop opening......

but I'll give myself a hard deadline so shop actually does open ajfhjhj you can expect it to open on friday or during that weekend! (21-23rd)

I'll make another post with a more concrete date, it just takes me a while to make new graphics for shop and product updates!

(and little sneak peak at designs that I'm currently working on for upcoming con!)