#(as per my current theory)

[or-echo]

Every revelation to do with the Invaders in the new Ultimate Universe is a punch in the gut.

(any Invaders not pictured similarly do not exist.)

I may not be hot on the heels of Ultimates #10, but there's a new issue tomorrow and the prevailing theory is that Jim is the mole. i don't know what I would do about another gut punch. I guess that's the point of the universe, but for once PLEASE be nice... please.

I should also probably explain my 'Grand Skull is actually Jack Monroe' theory sometime. It may sound delusional at first but i am very very confident in it. Sorry Jack Monroe fans.

[basil-the-bulbasaur]

If it seems like I'm not paying attention it's because I'm not. I did not choose to spend multiple hours a day thinking about the deadly fish in NieR Automata it just happened

[autisticangus]

equivalent exchange for podcast enjoyers is such that when one podcast has a Good Season/Series a different podcast is like. really extremely mediocre at best.

[veifei]

while i am talking/thinking about piercing the window paper series tho. third fic is on the brain but def not on the page because it requires substantial Plotting and well,, i am a vibes and feeling writer first and foremost cries. i think plotting requires a certain amount of logic and bigger picture thinking -- like how does this scene set into motion the causal chain/sequence of events , how does that forward momentum push us towards resolution or conclusion, in a way that makes sense. but my brain is just like...so what if i had an image or a moment or a mood. a vignette maybe. do you want another vignette? and i go no please what about a cohesive plot?? and my brain goes have another image. anyway point is i would Like for ptwp pt3 to be the Reunion fic, but i feel like i should at least make some effort to explain how xia fei got to reunite with vein. but more importantly im wondering how the established framework can be mapped onto this fic - or maybe subverted/inverted. maybe i'll finally write full on vein pov at last and have this fic be the big vein crash out fic (cos sharpened teeth was the xf crash out fic. this time always was like....minor minor crash out also). but like all i've got currently is vfei reunion and vibes and THATS IT. will this fic ever get written uhhhhh

[sleepy-little-stars]

andy speaks: a very self-indulgent fic 😞 as a humanities girlie, I just rlly want my silly nerdy stem bf ☹️ hot nerdy stem bf pls pls pls come my way 🙏 zayne will have his version of this too!! bcuz muehehe why have one stem bf when u can have two. TWO?! 😻 n poseidon raf is in the drafts 🙂‍↕️

stem bf!caleb who’s such a nerd trapped in a hot guy’s body, it drives you insane. he could be standing in front of you looking all hot with that pilot uniform of his but the moment he opens his mouth? you just wanna jump him there and then. 

“how much do you love me?” caleb hums in response to your question. he has his arms around you, swaying the both of you ever so slightly from side to side. 

“honestly? like about 9.8 meters per second squared. in other words, gravity is pulling me towards you.” he grins before leaning in to kiss your cheek. 

“could’ve just said you love me to the moon and back.”

“flowery words are your thing, sweets. not mine.”

stem!bf caleb who invites you for a date night at his dorm.

you show up with snacks and a list of movies you want to watch with him, such as barbie because you are going to sit him down and explain how barbie is one of the best movies of the century and the message it conveys to women and little girls around the world— wait.. why is he surrounded with legos?

“what’s with the legos?” 

“it’s not just legos, pip. it’s the 7,500 pieces millenium falcon. come on, help me with it.” he pulled you down beside him on the carpet, your legs deposited on top of his lap and an arm enclosing you to his chest.

“so, you invited me here to make me do labor.” you grumbled seemingly annoyed yet the hand reaching out for the building manual says otherwise. caleb merely chuckles at your faux demise, pecking your temple. “don’t worry. we can watch barbie as we build. and.. we’ll do a powerpoint night tomorrow. deal?”

“deal.” and so you spent the entire night wrestling with tiny building blocks to help complete his beloved spaceship. 

stem bf!caleb who keeps every paper plane you give him. when unfolded, the paper is filled with your words of love dedicated to him. 

stem!bf caleb who is your very own human calculator. you always bring him with you during grocery runs so you can easily keep track of the total as you shop. 

“caleb, add this.”

“bread is $2.49.. your current total is now $11.27.”

“thanks, babe. now, let’s go get chips.”

stem!bf caleb who watches all your favorite films or shows in his free times. he remembers all the times you mentioned them in passing. 

“since when did you watch girl, interrupted?” 

“last night. you were talking about it the other day and i didn’t really know how to respond so i watched it. now, tell me all about lisa again. her character was really something— ah!” he got cut off by you throwing your arms around him and peppering his face with kisses.

stem bf! caleb who yaps about science theories during cuddle time. your head is on his chest, his arms tight around you.

“time slows down when the gravity increases. that’s what you call gravitational time dilation. like, imagine you’re on top of a very high mountain. time would pass faster for you than for someone at sea level because the gravity is weaker the farther you are from the center— babe?” caleb looks down, lips quirked upon seeing you dozed off. he pinches your nose, earning a sleepy whine from you. “stop.” 

“you promised to listen to me talk. are you breaking promises now, pip?” caleb leans closer to bite at your cheek, grinning widely when you push his face away. “i’ll let you yap later. nap comes first.”

“is that a promise?” 

“yes.”

“okay. i love you.”

“.. love you too.” 

“good night.”

“hm.”

“you know, einstein’s theory of relativity—” 

“sleep, caleb.” 

[whisperedmeg]

LIBRARY RULES ⋆˚꩜｡ spencer reid x fem!reader

summary: you went to the library to escape the solitude of your apartment. but the last thing you were expecting was to spend the afternoon flirting over Foucault with a sweater vest-clad FBI agent who talks philosophy like it’s a love language.

genre: fluff | w/c: 1.2k

tags/warnings: none really! some light academic jargon and mentions of philosophical theory but you don’t need background on them for the story to make sense

a/n: went to the library and got inspired to write a quick little fluffy fic over the weekend 🤓 I chose the philosophy angle because I recently rewatched s4e8 ‘masterpiece’ where spencer mentions working on a philosophy BA. I dove into my old university notes while writing this, but my brain is a bit fuzzy on this stuff so pls excuse any inaccuracies lol. also specifically had season 2 glasses reid in mind (yet again). if glasses reid has no fans, I’m dead.

You only came to the library because your apartment is too loud. Or too quiet. One of those paradoxes you could never quite define — either way, you can’t focus, and you need to. So you packed up your laptop and headed for the only place where you could guarantee the atmosphere would match your mood: hushed, academic, and ever-so-slightly tense.

You love libraries. Especially the older buildings — all worn paper, polished floors, and endless mazes of shelves. There’s something sacred about it. But what you didn’t expect was for someone else to reach for the same book at the same time as you.

“Sorry—”

“I’m sorry—”

You freeze. So does he.

Your eyes meet.

He’s tall. Messy-haired. Wearing a sweater vest over a button-down and a pair of browline glasses that make him look like he walked straight out of a graduate seminar. His hand is still suspended halfway toward the spine of the book you’d both reached for — Foucault’s Discipline and Punish, of all things — and his mouth was already parting to apologize again when he seemed to realize you’re both staring at each other.

“You go ahead,” he says quickly, dropping his hand.

“No, really, you can take it,” you say. “Are you also writing an unhinged think piece on carceral theory and state surveillance?”

His mouth quirks at the corner. “Not currently. But now I’m intrigued.”

You tilt your head, feeling a little emboldened. “Do you think Foucault actually believed total surveillance was inevitable?”

He blinks, surprised. “I think he meant it more literally than people like to admit.”

“So, panopticism as a warning?”

“Or a prophecy. Depends on how generous you’re feeling.”

You laugh. “Are you always this philosophical in the library?”

He looks faintly bashful, like maybe he isn’t used to playful interrogation. “It’s, uh, kind of my default setting.”

You laugh again and glance at the book still between you. “So, are we sharing this, or arm-wrestling for it?”

“Actually,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck, “I was just hoping to reread the section on disciplinary power, but it’s not urgent. I can find something else if you—”

“We could share,” you offer, surprising yourself. “There’s a reading table over there. Neutral ground.”

He looks at you for a moment, something curious in his expression. Then he nods. “Alright. Neutral ground.”

You walk side by side to a tucked-away wooden table nestled between shelves, sit down next to each other, and open the book.

The silence is companionable at first. You each pull out notebooks. You reach for your fountain pen. He’d brought a mechanical pencil — you find that endearing.

He turns the book toward you and taps a paragraph. “This part always gets overlooked.”

You read it silently. Nod. Scribble something down.

Then pass it back.

He makes a soft noise of agreement and flips a few pages, skimming with an intensity and speed that makes you wonder how many times he’d read it before and just how many words per minute he could possibly absorb.

You lean over slightly. “That part, where Foucault describes power as diffused rather than centralized. That’s where the whole thing turns, don’t you think?”

He glances at you across the book’s spine. “Yes. That’s where it stops being about prisons.”

You smile. “And starts being about everything.”

He passes the book back and nods towards your padfolio. “You take good notes.”

“Thanks,” you say, warmth blooming behind your ribs.

For the next twenty minutes, you trade the book like it’s a conversation — passing it back and forth with soft commentary and under-the-breath questions. You don’t speak constantly, but there’s no awkwardness. Just the quiet rhythm of two people paying attention to the same thing at the same time.

You aren’t sure when your knee started brushing his under the table. Or when your hands began to linger slightly too long during each pass. You tell yourself it’s incidental. The table’s small, and the book is large. But still, you notice.

When your fingers brush his again — knuckles, this time — you hear his breath catch and look up to catch his eyes.

You could look away. Instead, you opt for a conversational angle.

“So what’s your background? You don’t seem like the political theory type.”

He tilts his head. “No?”

“You read too fast. And your notes are in shorthand.” You lean in, smiling. “You’re either a court reporter, an academic, or some sort of federal agent.”

His eyes sparkle with something between amusement and alarm. “I’d argue there are more possibilities than that.”

“You’d probably argue anything,” you say, grinning. “Which is why I’m betting on academic.”

He ducks his head. “I’ve spent a lot of time in academia, but nope. I’m with the FBI.”

You struggle to hide your shock, then study him a little closer. “You? No way.”

“Dr. Spencer Reid,” he says, offering a wave instead of a handshake. “Profiler with the Behavioral Analysis Unit.”

“Wait. I’ve heard of you.”

Spencer blinks. “You have?”

You smile. “It’s hard not to, if you work anywhere near federal law enforcement. You’re the one with, like, a million PhDs and a tendency to quote Enlightenment theorists in case briefings, right?”

His ears flush pink. “My reputation precedes me, I guess. But, uh, just three PhDs. Not a million.”

You laugh softly at his awkwardness and introduce yourself in return. “I work in federal program management. Mostly DOJ-funded prison reform initiatives. Sometimes I write about the surveillance state.”

His brow lifts. “Then you probably know more about this than I do.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” you chuckle.

He ducks his head. “Well, I’ve never done it professionally. I just read a lot.”

You study him for another moment — soft-spoken, serious, a tad awkward, earnest to a fault — and feel something warm pool in your chest.

“I like your brain,” you say casually.

That makes him choke on air.

You grin. “Too forward?”

“No, I just… don’t hear that often.”

You tilt your head, feigning surprise. “That seems criminal.”

He looks at you like he’s mentally thumbing through an index card catalog for the appropriate response. When he doesn’t find one, he does what you imagine he always does: he reaches for something safer. Facts.

“Foucault argued the panopticon wasn’t just architectural,” he says suddenly, voice steadier than his posture. “It was a metaphor for disciplinary power throughout society. He thought it turned surveillance into a subtle form of control.”

You gasp. “Oh no. Now you’re flirting with post-structuralist theory?”

He flushes. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. That’s my love language.”

For a moment, the air between you shimmers — not quite silent, not quite static. You watch his fingers tap against the pages. He watches your smile soften.

You stand, closing your notebook. “I gotta head out. But would you want to do this again? Same time next week?”

His gaze lifts. “Same book?”

“Same table,” you say, shaking your head as you sling your bag over your shoulder. “Different philosopher. I want to see what you have to say about Nietzsche. I bet you have many opinions on eternal recurrence.”

Spencer huffs a quiet laugh, eyes still on you. “You have no idea.”

As you turn, notebook tucked under your arm, the air in the library seems to shift. The hush of pages and footsteps resumes around you, but it sounds different now. Warmer, maybe. Or maybe it’s just you.

At the end of the row, you glance back.

Spencer’s still watching, lopsided grin on his face. He pushes his glasses up his nose and looks away like a little kid caught peeping at his gifts on Christmas Eve.

You turn the corner smiling.

Library rules: always return what you borrow. But this time, maybe — just maybe — you’re hoping to keep what you’d found.

ᝰ.ᐟ

masterlist

PSA: likes do very little for promoting posts on tumblr! if you'd like to support a fic, please reblog!

[suh-lee]

' explore ' - frontman

𐔌♯ pairing — dom top hwang inho/youngil/player 001 x sub bottom amab!reader

𐔌♯ warnings — smut mdni, CONSENTUAL, inho is mxm virgin, previous and current mentions of manipulation, age gap implied, masculine pronouns and titles for reader, this is not alpha omega but reader is lowk in heat, safe word and kinks are discussed mid-story, inho is referred to as youngil since that is what reader knows him as at this point in the story

𐔌♯ word count — 2,016

𐔌♯ authors note — i need him so bad omg. NOT PROOFREAD !! pls send me squid game recs in my ask box 🫤🫤😖😖

"ya, yn." you heard someone call from behind you, causing you to turn around. you were met with young-il, one of the people whom you had gotten close with during your time locked in this facility.

"hyung!" you exclaimed happily as you saw him alive after the excruciating game of mingle each player had just participated in. he walked in with a serious expression on his face.. you stared at him, trying to get a glimpse into what he was thinking.

now that you think about it, the round where he had to separate from your group, he walked out of a room alone.. that wouldn't have been allowed..? and how did he guess that the final round would be two players per room, no matter if it was slightly logical.

you pushed aside these doubtful feelings toward your hyung and just decided to talk to him after lights out once he watches over our group of players.

"hyung.." you said in a whispered tone as you crawled out from your bunk bed and sat next to him on the stairs.

"yn-ah.. why are you awake? you need rest for the games tomorrow, and your bones are still developing to their full potential. sleep will help with that." young-il said to you quietly, looking at you with a concerned look but having no real emotion behind his eyes, which you took note of.

you darted your eyes away from him for a moment, trying to find how to phrase your words. "could i talk to you..? in private.." you said, tilting your head toward the door that could lead to the bathroom.

young-il quietly nodded and peaked around the large room, filled with countless bunk-beds. he stood up after a moment, walking to the door thay lead to the hallway and knocked on the door.

a guard peaked his head through the window, about to object, but he had seen who was at the door. the guard frantically nodded and opened the door quickly, allowing you and young-il to walk to the bathroom alone.

he held the door open for you, allowing you to walk through and closing it after he entered behind you. he turned a lock on the door and turned toward you, "what did you want?"

"can i ask you a few things?" you spoke softly, receiving a small nod from young-il.

"one.. why do the guards practically ignore you when you do something wrong...? and why didn't i see you in the first game.. or the short time before that..?" you asked, looking at him directly in the eye, attempting to confront him.

he let out a soft smirk at your questions, eyeing you up and down, "you ask too many questions.." he mumbled as he took a step closer toward you, "why all of a sudden are you so cautious??"

"i was there during the first game.. i just tried to blend in the background, using the other players to hide my body.." he said in a confident tone, slowly replanting the seed of trust back into you. "and.. i wouldn't say the guards ignore me.. i just haven't done really anything that they would have to kill, or acknowledge, me for. that's why they turn a blind eye toward me.. i imagine if i did do anything wrong, i would have the same fate as the others.. but, we don't want to test that theory out.. now do we?"

you looked at him as he spoke, he truly had your undivided attention. as he started to explain himself, you were able to understand his reasoning.. but oh my god, something about his confidence mixed with the stereotypically attractive face he had. it drove you insane.

"y..yeah.. that makes sense... sorry if it seemed as if i was doubting you. it's just- you can never be sure here... anybody could be a person in power and we wouldn't know."

"i understand, yn." he said, his usual warm smile on his face, "do you still have your doubts against me?"

"they've been... decreased.. i have no reason to fully trust you, but i also have no reason to believe your lying at the moment. i do hope you're being truthful, though."

"..that's a very smart mindset you have..." he said with a nod, before continuing "especially for an environment like this one. we never know a person's true motives, just as they don't know ours."

you nodded at him, but you weren't really listening. glancing at him up and down, your eyes clearly betrayed you. he started to go on about how trust was a very fragile thing, but you could only comprehend a few words.

he laughed as he noticed the daze you seemed to be in, "are you listening?"

"oh.. sorry!" you spoke quickly.

he listened to your apology with a small smile, looking at you from top to bottom, slowly analyzing everything about your body. his stare coming back up to your face after a long minute of silence.

"you know.. you're kinda cute.." he said after a moment, leaving you stunned as he finished, "and i get an urge that you feel an attraction, of the sort, to me... now, please tell me if i'm wrong."

you stared at him blankly. he read you like a book. you tried to find a way to brush it off, but there was nothing that you could think of. "..i guess you're right." you said in a shy tone.

he looked at you with a small smirk, "well.. im not experienced on homosexual intimacy much.. but i could always. i sense the feeling that you want me in this very moment.. would that be wrong?" he said, leaving you to frantically shake you head, he was right, and you wanted him to know it. he was getting you desperate.

"hmm... well, as far as i know.. we'll be alone in here for a while, most of the other players are probably sleeping at the moment..." he said, diverting his gaze away from you for a moment before looking back at your widened eyes. "shall we start..?"

"uhm.. yes.." you said, looking at him, waiting for him to continue doing something, whether that be an action or more speech.

"what are you into.. and what are you not into.." he said, waiting for you to respond.

you mentioned a list of things, but the few you listed first all seemed to be pain related, and that intrigued youngil. "do you have a safeword..?"

you nodded and said your safeword, receiving a nod from him. "is there anything else men talk about before they have intercourse?" he asked, receiving a small chuckle from you.

"not really... it's basically the same as any intercourse.. just one less hole to find." you joked before asking, "then, are you ready."

"of course.." he said before untying the drawstring on the bottoms of the tracksuit, letting them be loose around the waist. you did the same thing, except everything went off.

the cold breeze went through the air, hitting your unclothed body and giving you shivers.

young-il looked at your nude body for a moment, taking in the sight of your figure, before doing the same.

you looked at his nude body after he managed to get everything off, trying to resist the pleased smile you had been wanting to place on your face. you slowly kneeled down on the mint green tiles, the temperature no longer being an issue. as you stared at his dick, you could almost watch it slowly rise. he was clearly enjoying this as much as you were. you placed your hands on his balls and placed your mouth on the tip, slowly teasing it by moving your mouth down once, and immediately removing your lips.

he glanced down at you, making eye contact. he clearly was not pleased with your teasing. his intimidating glare made you get back to work, bopping your head up and down his cock and having your tongue wiggle down it strategically.

young-il had let a small groan escape from his lips before quickly letting more follow. this reaction had you more than pleased, making your speed increase and letting your hands start to tease his balls.

"can i?" he asked through pants. you nodded, your mouth still on his dick as he let his semen release. the warm licked spilled onto your tongue and coated the back of your throat. you left it in there for a minute before swallowing it. looking back up at him with pleading eyes.

"you're too cute." he mumbled, leaning down to place his hand on your shoulder, slowly rubbing back and forth. "and so eager.." young-il continued, crouching down to be face to face with you.

young-il grabbed your face in a possibly rough way, his hand on your chin as he held your face close to his. he smirked for a moment before moving his face in, placing his lips on yours. the kiss quickly became heated, the two tongues fighting for dominance as you ran your hands all around his body. the kiss went on for a long while, his arms wrapping around your waist and leaning your body into his.

opening his eyes, young-il took a look at your desperate demeanor. he smiled in the kiss and slowly pulled away, gaining a small whine from you. youngil observed your body once more before carefully lowering you onto the tiles of the bathroom floor. your dick was desperately hard and seeking for any sort of friction, so when he finally rubbed a hand on your dick, you let out a breathy moan. the volume of that moan echoed throughout the bathroom, and it wouldn't be shocking if it reached the hallways too.. but that was honestly the least of your worries. he grabbed your dick and stroked up and down on it. he was damn good at a handjob. it didn't take long for you to go over the edge, long streams of white liquid emerging from your cock and landing into his hand and all over the floor.

young-il smiled at you, helping you turn around on the floor, your torso and face laying on the tiles. he stood up and washed his hands thoroughly before leaning back down and placing his hands on your ass, carefully massaging it before taking a finger and sliding it into your butt, moving it inward and outward at a slow pace, slowly starting to stretch you out. it didn't hurt.. if anything, you could barely feel it.. until he slid the second finger in. he curled one finger and kept the other straight, allowing him to reach more unexplored places in you. this didn't go on for a long while, both of you quickly losing patience.

young-il slid his fingers out of you and quickly aligned his dick with your asshole, rubbing it against a few times before slowly sliding into you. you groaned loudly as you tried to adjust to his size. he smirked as your back went into more of an arch shape. he placed both of his hands on your sides, using it to hold you stable and keep you from slamming into the hard tiles of the floor. the speed of him slowly started to increase as he got closer to his high.

"do you want it in or out..?" he said with a groan.

"..out.." even if you couldn't see it, he nodded and slammed into you a few more times before pulling out and letting his semen coat your back. as he finished, you quickly turned yourself around and wrapped your hand around your cock, stroking yourself to finish your high. the pants that escaped your lips filled the room before a loud moan followed, your semen falling on the floor once more.

you looked at young-il with a defeated smile, the exhaust of your body hitting you. he looked back at you, landing a small kiss on your lips. this was going to be a memory you both will remember for a while.

[roseykat]

KINKTOBER DAY 14

TITLE: Some things are better left unknown

PAIRINGS: Bang Chan x Felix x reader

WARNING: minors DNI with this post or my blog. I create NSFW SKZ related content and I know I won't be able to regulate every single interaction with those posts so please do not engage with my work or page whatsoever.

SUMMARY: a threesome with Chanlix where you’re yet to discover a very sobering truth about the pair of them.

TAGS: explicit language, threesome, oral sex (f!reader receiving), porn with plot, use of the name 'baby girl' and 'angel', swearing, multiple orgasms, unprotected sex but protected anal sex, double penetration, big dick!Chan agenda, praise, slight body worship if you squint, kissing/making out.

A/N: Aussie line fucks hard, bye. (If there are mistakes, I will fix them. Currently running on v low sleep)

KINKTOBER23 - MASTERLIST

TAGLIST: @mal-lunar-28 @luneskies @queenmea604 @kibs-and-bits @kbitties @aaasia111 @fairy-lixie @dreamingaboutjisung

-

Milk, nori, rice, raw tuna, coffee, yoghurt, bread, and eggs. 

This was all Chan sent you to the supermarket for. All of which could have been easily picked up from the convenience store down the road. Maybe minus the raw tuna which has to be high grade since Chan wanted to make an attempt at onigiri for the first time. However, you would’ve saved an entire trip to the busy supermarket.

Not to mention, grocery shopping sucks in general. At least that is when you’re on your own. In your apartment that you share with your good friends Chan and Felix, two people are responsible for the shopping per week which rotates each time. 

If you’re with Felix, sometimes you both tend to muck around. Not to mention forgetting almost a quarter of things on the shopping list which ends in a stern lecture from Chan. On that matter, if you’re with Chan, it’s an in-and-out task at the store in less than ten minutes. 

Efficient and practically timeless.

Even though it’s no trivial matter, you manage to get through the pointless shopping before heading home to the apartment. These could’ve been picked up at the convenience store, you think to yourself again. A sigh leaves your lips as you unlock the door, bumping it open further with your hip as you slide your shoes off. 

“I’m back. Remind me to buy an umbrella next time-”

Your body freezes on the spot. The bag of items falls from your possession, collapsing onto the floor. Something inside it broke but it’s nowhere near enough a distraction for what is in front of your eyes. 

Maybe you need your vision checked because if your eyes weren’t deceiving you, then you wouldn’t have just seen Chan and a topless Felix who are both making out. The two of them sat on the edge of the bed, still lip-locked until they caught onto your presence.  

For the few seconds you stood there, rooted to the ground, felt the absolute longest.

Neither of them was as internally panicked as you when they noticed you standing there. Nor did they have hundreds of questions zapping around their brains in the span of a few seconds. It was like your entire vocabulary had turned to dust and were blown away because there were no words to describe what the hell was happening. 

Maybe it was a dream. 

“T-That was quick,” Chan stammers with an awkward chuckle, breaking away from Felix, almost pretending like nothing just happened. 

Felix looked like a complete mess. Dark brown hair mangled - clearly from Chan either running his fingers through it or tugging it - the air gets stuck in your throat with those two theories in mind, painting very interesting visuals and an odd sensation in your stomach. 

Chan looked equally dishevelled. There’s a dark red splotch peeking above his collarbone that you had no trouble guessing how it got there. On top of that, his pants were already half undone, and his lips were bitten red and wet, and they both looked so…so…

“What…the fuck…” you manage to speak once your mind has cleared the only one per cent of its capacity to grasp the circumstances.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Felix quickly says as he stands up from Chan’s lap and walks over to you.

It was useless for him to try to take advantage of your shell-shocked state because once your surprise had completely thawed out, your words started coming back to you. 

“Oh my god, what am I even doing?” You ask, clamping your hands over your eyes, ready to head right back out of the apartment. “I’m heading out.”

“Wait!” Chan calls out, arm outstretched towards your direction. “You don’t…you don’t have to go. If you want, you can maybe join us. If…if you like.”

Join them? Blindsided by those words, there was no trouble for the difficulty you had in trying to figure out if you heard right or just imagined what Chan said. Why would he ask you that question? But more importantly, why were they hooking up in the first place? It was evident that there had been something going on between Felix and Chan - unless this was just a new one-time thing. 

However, even if it wasn’t, you had been left out of the secret. Nonetheless, you quickly came to your senses. Whether they hook up or not is none of your business. 

“J-Join you?” You stammer. 

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Chan emphasises. “It’d be rude to not let you in on the fun.” 

You definitely weren’t hearing things, and this wasn’t a dream. 

At first, you can’t understand why you’re even considering their request, but there is one piece of information that sprung to mind and that’s your sex life. It hasn’t been entirely sex-filled as you’d like it to be, not to mention your slight lack of experience with threesomes wasn’t vast - but it also wasn’t limited either, especially after that encounter you once had with two of their friends Changbin and Hyunjin on a separate occasion. Although, they didn’t need to know that at all. 

That being said, this takes the cake. You can’t even comprehend what Chan or Felix are like in bed but, the opportunity seemed too ridiculously hot to pass up. 

“You...you want me to-“

“Like Channie said, if you want,” Lix assures you, interrupting your babbling. 

You aren’t somewhat surprised that Felix would ever want a threesome. He’s had sexual partners here and there in the past, multiple ones at a time. However, Chan never struck you as the type to have sex with more than one person. Even after a year of living with him and getting to know him, he’s still pretty private and exclusive. 

With the matter at hand and the more you think about the prospect in front of you, you aren’t opposed to the idea. So with your brain taking full control of your body, you hesitantly step over the discarded groceries lying on the ground. This is happening. Felix picks up on the right cue and extends his hand out to you as you take it gently. 

He guides you over to the edge of the bed where Chan is still sitting, but as you’re led over, he rises to his feet. There were a few seconds where you’re a little bit bewildered by what’s going on, but when you look into Chan’s dark eyes and as he takes your free hand, you become more centred.

Before you know it, he leans down to kiss you and kisses you good. You’ve never felt anything like it and as Felix releases your hand and sneaks behind your body, your mind starts turning into jelly. He gently swipes your hair to the other side of your shoulder while his other hand freely roams around your waist, underneath your shirt to feel the heat of your skin. His mouth places chaste kisses from your shoulder up to your neck. 

It feels so heavenly to be sandwiched between them; Felix kissing, biting softly over your skin while Chan continues to explore your mouth. It was impossible to think that just a few minutes ago, you were at the grocery store and now a complete world shift just seems to be occurring within that time frame. 

Chan breaks away from you for a second, kissing you tenderly one last time before sitting back down on the bed and moving up to the headboard. God this is really happening. You’re too deep in it now to not follow him like a lost, yet obedient puppy. You can see that he’s hard and want to touch him so badly but-

“Sit between me and face towards Felix,” he instructs before you can even reach for him. 

Your cheeks burn. While you have no idea what’s entirely in store, your body is getting excited and very obviously, so is Felix. He crawls over to you once you’re snug in between Chan’s legs before he tugs your shirt up from the hem and tosses it aside. Then, he finds your lips and kisses you until you have to silently beg and chase him for it.

Squirming in place, you feel hot and subjugated by Chan sitting behind you - snaking and trailing his hands around your now half-bare body, and Felix in front of him, who’s now gone on to give his supposed man some attention too.

He’s up on his knees with his body so close to you that you can feel the heat from him. Chan tilts his head up from resting on your shoulder and lets Felix take what he wants. The slick wet sounds of them both kissing along with the tiny moans you can feel in your ear, makes you shiver all over. You’re only still comprehending this all, that this is still actually happening. 

“So needy,” Chan says as he breaks away from him, inches away from his face when Felix hears and feels you unbuckling his belt. He straightens back up and consumes how flustered you are, observing the way you blink up at him pleadingly, displaying how badly you want it now. 

Felix smirks, gently grabbing your face with one hand and lowering down just enough to kiss you senseless again. But he cannot stray away from his other plans so frees himself from your lips to help slide your pants off down and discards them to the side. 

Immediately, you can see where this is going. 

“Aw, look how bad you want it,” Felix comments, swiping his thumb over the damp spot of your underwear with enough pressure for you to muffle a whine by biting down on your lip. You do want it bad and already seem to be losing a fight to the pleasure Felix is barely giving you. 

“Don’t tease her too much,” Chan cautions. 

Felix doesn’t seem to hear the warning for him as he helps you shimmy your underwear down. From there, Chan takes over. He hooks both of his legs over yours and separates them to not just expose you for Felix but to hold you down for what’s about to unfold. 

Heat accelerates through your cheeks as you feel embarrassed. At this point, your brain hasn’t caught up with the fact that you never show this much skin, let alone any skin in front of either of them. But that was going to be an afterthought for you when Felix distracts your mind by gently prying your legs open from your bent knees.

Pathetic whimpers slip past your lips as Felix lies down on his stomach, his face inches away from your pussy while he pets and glides his two fingers in between your folds. 

Your head shoots back onto Chan’s shoulder, very narrowly missing his face, “f-fuck…oh my god.”

Without warning, you feel the tip of Felix’s tongue lap a few times over your clit. If it weren’t for Chan acting as a human restraint to hold you down, there would’ve been a solid chance of you lurching forward. His arms are still wrapped around your abdomen, preventing you from moving forward so that you can take what Felix is giving you. 

It’s cruel, but Chan thinks it’s necessary for you to feel everything. Which you do when your hands grip each of Chan’s thighs, nearly squashing him backwards between you and the wall. 

“How does it feel?” he asks you. 

“F-Felix, mmm-” you breathe out his name, unable to answer properly and feel some vibrations from Chan’s chest to suggest that he was chuckling. Mainly at the fact that you weren’t able to directly answer his question. 

But it’s not long until the room quickly fills with your whimpers and moans mingled with the beautiful wet sounds as Felix keeps eating out your pussy. Tingly sensations spread like wildfire throughout every cell in your body from his mouth. It’s gradually becoming impracticable to keep up with his tongue. Not that you’ve ever imagined it before, but he does give good oral, good enough to put your breathing pace out of whack when he sucks on your clit. 

He’s not afraid of enjoying himself either. You can hear and feel his moans reverberate throughout your lower half. It even adds to the sensation of bliss that’s forming a knot in the pit of your stomach. So even though you don’t know, this is as good for Felix as it is for you. To him, it’s like going to heaven. 

What you also didn’t seem to know was when Chan unclasped your bra from behind your back and placed it to the side. His hands went from just holding you to now groping and playing with your tits as your body continued to melt into Felix’s mouth. 

“You’re loud aren’t you?” Chan whispers in your ear, rolling both of your nipples in between his thumbs and fingers to make you mewl and squirm. The different methods of pleasure send interesting messages to your brain that only make that crest of ecstasy build higher. 

You can only mewl until coherent words appear in his brain and out through his mouth, “s-sorry.”

Felix’s head game is so ridiculously mind-blowing that it makes you forget what language you speak.

Chan chuckles, purring into your ear, “don’t be sorry. You just can’t help it can you?” 

His hand circles up to your jaw, tilting it towards his face. He confirms in his mind how much of a mess you are. Cheeks stained pink with a fucked up expression that reads ‘I need more’, to which Chan reaches down and kisses you, sloppy and lazy. 

The velvety feel of your mouth when you open up more is slick with warmth. It’s starting to become more obvious how close you are when you start moaning repeatedly into Chan’s mouth. 

“I’m going to fuck you after this,” he breaks away, just inches from his lips again. 

You never would’ve guessed that Chan was even capable of forming such a dirty sentence. Then again, you never would’ve guessed that you would ever be in the position that you’re in now - having a threesome with your two housemates. 

“I’m…you’re gonna make me cum,” you sob, turning your head towards Chan on his shoulder, almost as if you were trying to escape the expansion of euphoria. He couldn’t help but kiss your forehead, waiting for you to brace for that wave. 

“Yeah?” Chan rouses. “Want to cum for us baby girl?”

You nod, too helpless to form an answer when you’re on the cusp of a forceful orgasm. He underestimated the strength he needed to hold you down, especially when you’re about to cum. So just when he needed to add more force, your body stiffens. Your legs so desperately crave to clamp around Felix’s head to help triage the pleasure, but it’s no use when Chan has you completely locked in. 

Your eyelids flutter, head pressing back further into Chan’s shoulder, “yes! I’m cumming!” 

With ragged, heavy breathing, the all-consuming pleasure takes you by the throat as the pleasure surges without control. Even though you’re being held down, it doesn’t stop your body from quivering. It lasts for what feels like an entire minute – one of the best orgasms you think you’ve ever experienced. 

Felix’s tongue slows down to a snail's pace, licking a few final stripes before kissing his way up your body, from your clit, abdomen, and then up to the base of your throat. His chin glistens as he adorns a smug smile. 

“Fuck…” you sigh out defeatedly, the aftermath of experiencing a volume of pleasure was starting to take its toll. “Oh my god.”

Chan kisses the side of your head, “sound so beautiful when you cum. Lix, switch with me so I can fuck her, yeah?”

“Wait-“ you pause, trying to reorient yourself as you hold onto Chan’s forearm for support. “I wanna ride you.” 

Felix looks down at you, “you sure angel? Channie isn’t exactly small.” 

From that statement alone, it was obvious to you that Felix was speaking from experience, a strong indication that they had in fact mucked around at least once in the past if not multiple times. But it didn’t matter if Chan or Felix for that matter was packing twelve inches, you needed to have something inside you to tame that need of feeling full. 

“I want to ride you-“ you nod to Chan – “but I want you to fuck me at the same time-“ you indicate towards Felix.

Neither of them expected you to be into that. Then again, they didn’t necessarily expect you to join them in bed either so anything was a surprise to them at this point. Chan and Felix can’t deny how insanely hot it is to hear you not only ask for them to do something but specifically ask you to do that. 

“Are you sure baby?” Chan has to ask you for assurance. 

“I can…I can take both of you.”  

Still stunned at your answer, Felix ushers to Chan, “you heard her.” 

He cannot lie and say that he’s not excited, because he is – they both are. So while Felix goes into the bedside table for a condom and lube, you move yourself off of Chan, turn around and start unbuckling his belt and helping him take his jeans off, almost like you’re in a rush. The imprint of his hard dick is enough to make your mouth water, and as Felix said, Chan definitely isn’t small. 

“Easy, I’m not going anywhere,” he chuckles, reorienting himself on the bed so that his head is on the pillow.  

Felix returns with the items he needs to help prep you, taking it as a sign to straddle over Chan’s legs and slowly tug his black boxers down. His cock springs onto his abdomen, the dark pink tip reaching just under his belly button. He had to be at least eight inches. Maybe just under, just.

“Ready angel?” Felix asks, kneeling behind you as you straddle Chan. The position would allow you to not only ride Chan but to take Felix from behind too, a dream so delicious that you can’t help but wonder how it was still all possible. 

“Yes,” you mutter. 

“Okay then,” he replies. 

Chan then holds the base of his cock steady for you, watching you slowly take those eight inches. The tip of his dick gently slots into your pussy, taking your time with sinking down. The warm heat engulfs his length, already sending shockwaves throughout his lower half. 

“That’s it, baby,” Chan says encouragingly, his fingertips delicately massaging over the skin of your things. “Good girl.”

You bite down on your bottom lip at the extraordinary stretch. In the meantime, Felix squirts a dollop of the lube onto his fingers to warm it up a bit before applying it to your hole.

He thumbs over it, sending shivers up your spine. It’s vital to him to make sure that you’re prepped well for him to fuck your ass. So he starts small by slowly inserting the tip of his finger, before gradually using slow yet long strokes, enough to make your head loll back. 

Felix has to express in awe when he sees the result of your efforts to fully envelope Chan’s length, “look at that. You took all of him, angel.” 

You know very well that you have because you can feel him in places that other men in your past haven’t reached. The stretch still sings a bit but it could easily be confused with the gorgeous satisfaction of Chan filling you right out. 

“So…big,” you strain out, scratching your nails down Chan’s abdomen, almost like a cat, just not as painful. 

Meanwhile, as Felix has slowly been stretching your hole out with his fingers, he uses his teeth and his free hand to peel the foil back of the condom packet. He had already freed himself from his jeans when he went to reach for the lube beside the bed so was hard and ready to roll the condom down his cock.   

“M’ready Lix,” you say to him, unable to see the smile you brought to his face from how eager you are. 

“I know baby, just one second,” he replies before aligning his cock with your hole. 

Very carefully and slowly, he starts pushing his tip in. Your eyes flutter shut, steadying your breathing in the process in preparation to take all of him as well. Chan rubs up and down your arm, distracting you from the temporary sting. With the lube doing its job, Felix can continue to push in at a leisurely pace right until he has the majority of his cock wrapped up by you. 

“Doing so well Y/N,” Chan says reassuringly. “Just stay like this for a bit until you’re ready to move yeah?” 

You nod, allowing your body and muscles to relax and ease into the pleasure that’s starting to fade out the burn. It’s difficult to comprehend a fuller feeling than this; to have two cocks stuffed in you to the hilt, and after a few moments of getting used to it, you slowly start to move. 

“Mmm, yes fuck,” you sigh with satisfaction, using your hands on Chan’s abdomen to steady your body as you being to move your hips. “You both…feel so fucking good inside me.”

Your words were difficult for Felix to not listen to who was trying to ward off from thrusting for a little bit until you were comfortable with him starting to fuck you. It wasn’t until your movements became a bit quicker that he began to catch up to your pace. Very quickly did the room turn into a space brimming with moans, wet sounds, and the sound of skin slapping. It was plenty to add to the intense sensation you were hurtling towards.  

Chan’s eyes are fixated on watching your pussy swallow his cock with every long stroke you take on him, “oh my god.”

With his tank top still on, Chan lifts it by the hem and holds onto it with his teeth. It wasn’t just to make sure that your hands weren’t going to be slipping on him as you use his abdomen to support yourself when you rock down, but it was also to restrict a whole bunch of moans that were about to rip through his chest. But even that couldn’t put a lid on the groans and growls rumbling from him. 

“Taking us both so well angel,” Felix says exasperatedly in your ear. 

His deep yet velvety voice has you leaning back slightly so that half of your back is pressed against his chest. With the help of you turning your head towards his face, Felix’s mouth crashes onto yours, almost tasting the remnants of yourself from before. He kisses you passionately, moaning into your mouth like he’s going to die if he doesn’t. 

“Fucking perfect,” he growls, diverging from your mouth to dive into your neck to suck a few hickies in and groping your tits from behind. “Can’t get enough of you dammit.” 

You sob out as he pinches your nipples, but also when Chan reaches down to your pussy, finds your clit and begins to rub in perfect motions, “god – fuck, I can’t…s’too much!” 

Their cocks hit spots so phenomenally that each time they stroke over them, your holes involuntarily clench around them. Not to mention the total stimulation they were feeding you. 

Felix’s hips haven’t faltered since they started pumping forward into your ass. The upward curvature of his cock seemed to be scratching the part of your brain that is responsible for making your eyes roll back. Chan’s dick on the other hand had you shaking. The length and girth were sickeningly satisfying. 

“Not gonna last,” you whine, still keeping up the same pace when you rock down on Chan and feel Felix continue to thrust in and out. “So close…” 

The hem of Chan’s shirt is long gone from his mouth, already given up on trying to suppress whatever was going to come out, “gonna cum for us again, huh? Such a good girl, taking us both at the same time.” 

Chan couldn’t lie either, but he was close a long time ago, probably the second you decided that you wanted to ride him. Felix happened to be on the same page. He couldn’t get over this entire situation, finding it so fucking hot that even just a dream of it would be a blessing. 

Words start to slip away from your brain once more. Aside from your orgasm swimming towards an astronomical high, you try to cling to that amazing feeling before it eventually disappears. But all good things come to an end. Your nails dig into Chan’s thighs while Felix has one arm barred just under your chest as the other hand doesn’t let up on your nipple. It throws your pace off balance and staggers your breathing when you start reaching that very pinnacle of euphoria. 

“Yes! Fuck, I’m cumming!” You scream out. 

Your thighs clamp around the frame of Chan’s lower half, shaking and shivering in place as the pleasure reaches its apex. Felix didn’t let up on his pace, fucking you all through your orgasm as Chan replaces your motions by fucking upwards and into you. Both of your holes spasm and contract around their dicks, enough to actually make them cum by the time you’ve reached the height of your orgasm. 

“I’m gonna cum, holy fuck, s’too good,” Felix’s head rests on your back, watching his cock disappear in and out of you before he starts to bust inside of the condom. His fingernails brutally dig into your hips when he cums. 

Your moans easily fill up the room once more now that you have no choice but to succumb to the euphoria when your orgasm hits its hardest. Chan’s head tips back further into the pillow, eyes screwed tight shut as he’s hit with a tsunami of pleasure. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” he exclaims loudly, his chest heaving up and down as he spills inside of you. He’s lucky that he did because as the pleasure reached a point where it was too much for you to bear, you slowly lean forward towards Chan, their cocks sliding out of you in the process. 

On each exhale your body shudders, like the surges of aftershocks while the pleasure slowly plateaus. From this angle, Felix can still see you contracting, watching Chan’s cum leak from your pussy. If he wasn’t so fucked out, he would’ve had the energy to eat you out again. 

In saying that, he is the first to recover and come to his senses a bit faster than either you or Chan. He takes the condom off, ties it, and discards it in the rubbish bin in the corner of the room before putting his boxers back on. Meanwhile, you’re still panting trying to catch your breath, resting on top of Chan’s body, you feel his hand run soothingly up and down your spine. 

“Such a good girl for us,” he says caringly. “Felt so good.”

Felix sits beside you both at the top of the bed. He cards a gentle hand through your hair, observing your distant expression, “you there baby?” 

You blink up at him and nod, your brain still trying to process that sort of orgasm. 

“When you’re ready, we’ll get you cleaned up yeah?” He smiles softly down at you. 

As the minutes ticked by, Felix lent you a helping hand to stand up when you were ready. Even though you were wobbly on your feet, he still guided you to the bathroom and ran a nice hot shower. Both Felix and Chan joined you in a bid to make sure you knew that they were there, dousing you with as much praise as an individual could get – and they meant every word. 

When you were ready to hop out, Chan fetched you one of his warm jerseys and placed it straight over your body before telling you to hop in his bed while he went to gather up the towels and clothes from the bathroom. Just as he was picking up the last items, Felix caught him right as he was about to walk out. 

“She okay?” Chan asks him. 

Felix nods reassuringly, “out like a light.”

“Alright then,” he sighs contently. “She’ll probably be asleep for the rest of the day.”

“Mm,” he hums, staring at a space just to the side of Chan who picks up on the subtle behaviour. 

“Is there something wrong?” Chan asks as a slight concern balloons in his chest. 

“When are you going to tell her?” Felix asks. 

Chan stares at him, trying to figure out what he means, “tell her what?” 

He rolls his eyes and chuckles, “that you like her, idiot. That we like her.” 

That had been a distant thought for Chan for some time. The possibility of that ever working out between the three of you seemed like a long shot. You only all slept together. There was no depth to it other than that even though deep down, Chan would’ve liked it to be for the sole purpose that he likes you. But it’s not just him.

It’s also the one standing at the doorframe, staring right back at Chan; Felix. 

[bucketbueckers]

I'D RATHER PRETEND

CHAPTER NINE

tags: @angryflowerwitch @avvwritesstufff @melpthatsme @rebecca-woso @bueckersg1rl @l0verl4ne @clouded-whispers @dolliest-thena @katemartinlvr @numberonepartyanth3m @glamourdaya @pbbucks @unadulteratedcyclepaper @paiges-1vur thelightknight21 wc: 9.9k notes: with the 1st pick in the 2025 wnba draft, the dallas wings select... the IRP masterlist, lee university! cringe i know but it's the last chapter, let me be happy. i wrote the first half of this chap before the providence game, felt like a witch once the starting lineup dropped, currently manifesting the rest of this chapter ages just as well (my ball knowledge is limited, if the game doesn't make sense just let me be delusional, i dont give a gaf). smut warning, who's surprised. fluffier than chapter 6 methinks. tried to fulfill the nice/gentle P agenda, may have fumbled the bag bc this somehow felt more filfthy? kinda short too idk lmk 😩 not proofread, i'll probably come back later to edit. sorry for yapping (no im not) but i hope you all enjoyed reading irp as much as i enjoyed writing it, thank you for sending in such sweet comments and engaging in the inbox, they were genuinely so motivating and i loved interacting w y'all 🫶 as always i hope we're rocking w this final chapter 🙂‍↕️

‘The Return of Tess Kennedy’

A little over two years ago, college basketball sensation Tess Kennedy tore her ACL in the Final Four matchup between the University of Iowa Hawkeyes and the South Carolina Gamecocks. Kennedy, who’d amassed fifteen points close to the end of the third quarter, was a pivotal element to South Carolina’s game – Iowa struggled to lock her down. Kennedy stepped off wrong and collapsed on court. Many knew what had happened long before the news broke. Her recovery was far from easy, but Kennedy did the impossible and recovered just in time for the SEC championship and the March Madness tournament, where she led South Carolina to a redemption win over Iowa with a dominating 30 points. Following the win, Kennedy shared a photo of herself holding the championship trophy, one eye closed in a wink and her lips curled into a smug snarl, and captioned it, “took a year off to cut you bitches some slack, tell a friend to tell a friend tess kennedy’s back.”

Many athletes often need a long period of adjustment after returning from a serious injury. Kennedy, however, played as though that statistic did not apply to her. Kennedy played as though she had something to prove. A loud majority of fans speculated that Kennedy fought so fiercely because her girlfriend, Paige Bueckers, and the UConn Huskies had been eliminated by Iowa in the Final Four match only two days prior to the championship. A smaller few claimed Kennedy holds a grudge against Iowa for her injury – although Kennedy disputed this theory in a presser, linked here.

The simplest truth of the matter is that Kennedy did not play any sort of way for anyone but herself and her team. She proved to herself that she could come back even better from an injury that she thought would uproot her life. She played for her team, who uplifted her during recovery and gave her the tools and the support to show up and show out when the world was watching. Kennedy played the way she did because that’s just what Tess Kennedy does.

During South Carolina’s 2024 Senior Night, Kennedy announced that she would stay at South Carolina for another year of college basketball. She cited her injury as the source of her decision. She explained that there is still more recovery for her to do and that she did not feel comfortable declaring for the draft with only five games post-injury under her belt, especially since she was under a minute restriction during those games. We believe that decision is the best she could have made for herself.

Throughout the 2024-2025 regular season, Kennedy has averaged 26.2 points per game, 4.3 steals per game, 3.7 blocks per game, and 3.2 assists per game. Since her injury, she’s turned into both an offensive and defensive dual threat, leading the South Carolina offense with help from Raven Johnson, MiLaysia Fulwiley, and Te-Hina Paopao. Coach Dawn Staley describes Kennedy as “unguardable” from the perimeter and “unstoppable” from the midrange. Coach Staley also notes that Kennedy’s midrange improvements have pleasantly surprised her as Kennedy was usually a reliable three-point specialist. Coach Staley would not elaborate on where Kennedy’s sudden game adjustments have come from, but one basketball analyst noted that Kennedy’s midrange proficiency looks stunningly like girlfriend Paige Bueckers’s. This is not surprising in the slightest as Kennedy and Bueckers spent the offseason together on a joint “world-tour” that evidently included lots and lots of time in the gym.

The SEC tournament has come and gone with, you guessed it, South Carolina as the winner, having defeated Tennessee and LSU back to back. South Carolina dominated the first five rounds of the NCAA tournament. In the Final Four, they defeated UCLA in a convincing 78-71 victory. For the championship match, they’re against UConn, who is fresh off of a hard-fought Final Four victory against Notre Dame.

This is precisely the clash of the titans that basketball fans have been looking forward to since June of 2023. UConn vs. South Carolina. Bueckers vs. Kennedy. This is a rematch for the 2022 championship game wherein UConn fell short, but many are questioning South Carolina’s ability to go back to back, especially since UConn has seen tremendous growth over the past season. With a healthy Azzi Fudd and a healthy Aubrey Griffin, sharpshooters Ashlynn Shade and Allie Ziebell, energetic KK Arnold and Morgan Cheli, imposing Jana El-Alfy, transfer portal weapon Kaitlyn Chen, do-it-all field general Paige Bueckers, and Sarah Strong – no title, Sarah Strong is that girl – UConn is a fan favorite to win. With the final tipoff only an hour away, we are at the edge of our seats in anticipation. Let us know in the comments below – who are you rooting for?

-Penelope Lancaster, Bleacher Report

APRIL 6, 2025

If there’s one thing that Tess knows is true about Paige Bueckers after over a year of dating, it’s that Paige always keeps her promise.

You and me, same time next year?

Tess watches her warm up only a half court away. She’s stunning, donning a UConn sweatshirt and matching sweatpants, her hair up in her gameday braids that Tess has full intention of ruining later after her girlfriend is crowned an NCAA champion. That thought alone shouldn’t excite her as much as it does, but she can’t help herself. Paige and her team have worked incredibly hard to be here – Tess has gotten to witness that first hand. She also can’t help feeling a little smug because she was right. Kaitlyn Chen, transfer portal weapon. Freshmen Morgan Cheli and Allie Ziebell – they both needed a few games to get comfortable, but once they were hot, they were hot. And finally, Sarah fucking Strong, Paige’s freshman menace that honestly needs to declare right now because college basketball will not be safe with her on the court.

Tess has no intention of rolling over and letting them win – Paige would honestly break up with her, which would ruin the entirety of Tess’s five year plan: get drafted. Win some shit. Dunk on Paige Bueckers. Marry Paige Bueckers. Free agency. Simple and easy. But Tess also knows that UConn will be playing with something to lose, a chip to win, and that they were easily the most challenging match-up they’d faced all year with the exception of the final SEC teams. UConn defeated them at home, even after Tess dropped 20 hard fought points – they honestly just had no answer for Sarah Strong, which is becoming a recurring theme as of late.

“Oh my God, not this shit again,” Raven complains. Tess turns just in time to catch the ball that Raven had definitely aimed at her ass.

“Stop throwing balls at me!” Tess exclaims, chucking the ball back.

“Stop staring at your girlfriend!” Raven retorts. “Like, for real. It’s making me sick. Do you want me throwing up before a natty match?” Tess pauses, tapping her chin dramatically like she has to truly think about it. “I wish you’d declared last year. That way I wouldn’t have had to deal with all of this ‘when will my wife come back from war’ bullshit.”

Tess rolls her eyes. “Where’s Chloe at? I suddenly have an opening in my bridal party.”

“Wait, no!” Raven says quickly, her entire expression shifting. “You can’t kick me out of the wedding. I didn’t even know I was in it!”

“You weren’t,” Tess states bluntly, which makes Raven huff again. “Kam’s my maid of honor, obviously. Then Aliyah’s coming, Bree, Destanni, Zia. Do you think I can get A’ja there?”

Raven looks her up and down, unimpressed. “No,” she says flatly. “You’ll be marrying a Husky.”

Tess lights up. “Oh my God, I can get Stewie there. That’d be cool, too.”

“How about you pump the brakes and lock the fuck in so your girlfriend doesn’t embarass us?” Raven suggests. “Like, did that ever cross your mind?”

She shrugs sheepishly. “I’m locked in,” she says. “Go do your weird pregame rituals, sacrifice a chicken or something.”

Raven rolls her eyes, stalking away with her ball. Tess watches her try to sweet talk an assistant coach into rebounding for her and she can’t help but smile. She’ll miss Raven when she’s in the league – sure, they’ll keep in contact, but it’s different when you’re no longer a few doors down from everyone. She’ll miss all of her girls. Not Ashlyn, though. The charges may have been dropped but assault and battery and kidnapping? Is nobody the least bit concerned? Tess digresses, though. She’s gonna miss her team, especially annoying ass Raven Johnson who likes throwing shit at people.

Before she returns to her own warmups, Tess looks across the court once more. Paige is already staring at her. They share a soft, private smile – and then Paige is grabbing Sarah by the sleeve of her shirt, causing her shot to sail out of bounds as Paige points at her with a proud smile that clearly says look at my freshman! Sarah looks unbelievably confused at first, but levels Paige with a nasty side eye once she realizes that she’s been dragged in as a ploy to tease Tess. She shrugs out of Paige’s grasp to continue shooting which makes Tess laugh and Paige huff dramatically.

The both of them resume their warmups and before they know it, tip off has come around. Paige, Sarah, Azzi, Jana, and Kaitlyn are starting for UConn, whereas Raven, Chloe, Tess, Sania, and Te-Hina are starting for South Carolina. Both teams set up around Chloe and Jana to receive the opening tip, and once the referee throws the ball into the air, Jana knocks it over to the Huskies. Sarah kicks it out to Paige, who begins directing traffic as she brings the ball up court. Tess, tasked with guarding Azzi, sticks on her like glue, trying to not let her get her hands on the ball. Raven’s defense is suffocating, but Sarah gets open and Paige passes it swiftly to her. As Chloe and Sania fold in on her to prevent the shot, Sarah passes to Jana, who gets the easy layup under the bucket. Sania inbounds to Raven. She’s delayed in bringing the ball up due to Kaitlyn’s defensive pressure, and, much to Tess’s surprise, Paige is guarding her and Azzi is on Te-Hina.

Raven dribbles, directing the other four on the court while trying to keep the ball far away from Kaitlyn, but the congestion becomes too much and she passes it to Te-Hina. Azzi’s defense is relentless, too, and eventually, Te-Hina passes to Sania, who passes to Tess on the wing, and she knows she can’t get crafty. She and Paige spent the entire summer in the gym together. Paige knows her moves as well as she knows her own, which is why she keeps pressing her further and further away from the three point line and Jana angles herself to clog her lane to the bucket. The clock is winding down, so she makes the decision to squeeze past Paige, driving to the bucket, but at the last moment, she passes it behind her back to where she knows Sania is waiting. She shoots and it swishes in.

The first quarter is incredibly close. Every time South Carolina gets a defensive stop, UConn responds with one of their own. A two-point jumper is countered by a layup, Azzi and Tess go three for three. Tess steals the ball on one possession, although Chloe gives it right back as she tries to get smart on a pass. By the first media timeout, Tess has five points, two assists, and a steal, although UConn leads them 14-12. Both teams take the time to sub out and let some of the starters rest. Bree, Ashlyn, MiLaysia, and Joyce come in for Tess, Chloe, Te-Hina, and Sania respectively while KK, Aubrey, Ashlynn, and Ice enter for Kaitlyn, Sarah, Azzi, and Jana.

Once play resumes, Tess almost immediately understands the game plan. Raven guards Paige on UConn’s offensive possessions, but when South Carolina has the ball, Paige guards MiLaysia, a high scoring guard just like Tess. Depending on who is on the floor, KK or Kaitlyn defend Raven or whoever is running point for South Carolina at the time. Raven’s defense is suffocating, but most of all, exhausting – tasking someone else with guarding Raven gives Paige more opportunities to score rather than tire herself out, but her own defensive assignments are focused on shutting down South Carolina’s point producing guards. Tess was held to five points with Paige on her, shooting only two out of her five attempted shots. She wasn’t completely useless, though – she held Azzi to six points, congesting two of the four shots she took.

She sits for the rest of the first quarter. The score is up to 25-20 in UConn’s favor and all of the starters are back on the court for the second quarter. It’s hard fought, too. There’s not a lot of foul calls going either way tonight, but the lead is so slim that Tess doesn’t want to overstep on defense and give away points. At 31-24 in favor of UConn, Paige is subbed out for KK, which means Tess finally gets a bit of a breather on defense. KK is unrelenting, but Paige had played a little closer, a much tighter game as she knew Tess so well as a player. She couldn’t even be mad about that, although she did take advantage of two back-to-back threes, pushing the score to 34-30. UConn still has a slight lead, but Paige gets subbed back in. Tess knows she has to play smarter now and take better shots.

Halfway through the second quarter, Raven gets subbed out for a breather, too, and UConn immediately puts the pressure on Maddy, not used to the intensity that the UConn starters were playing with. Kaitlyn forces a turnover, sailing it high to Paige, who lays it in the basket with ease and winks at Tess as she passes her to get back on defense. In response, Tess calls for the ball and Maddy passes it to her. She doesn’t call for a screen or any sort of help as she steps back, shooting for three directly over Paige’s head. They watch it both fall in seamlessly, much to the crowd’s amusement, and Tess sticks up her fingers in an ‘L’ shape as she backpedals for defense. Paige shakes her head, amused, but at 41-38, the both of them know they need to lock back in.

The two teams trade a few more shots and stops before the end of the quarter, entering half with 47-41, UConn leading. Paige also hit a nasty buzzer beater to welcome in halftime, which sent the UConn bench and the crowd into a frenzy, but Tess doesn’t think that’s something important to note. Paige doesn’t need the ego boost and it wasn’t that cool, anyways. If Tess wanted to, she could have had a better buzzer beater.

In the locker room, Coach Staley emphasizes the need for defensive stops while the team catches their breath. Ball movement and being selective with shooting was also important – as a team, they were shooting 39% and taking far too many contested shots when there were wide open players on the wing. Tess honestly couldn’t be doing much more – she’d racked up 16 points. Joyce and Te-Hina were doing their thing too, but UConn was overwhelming. Their points were far more widespread with Aubrey, Sarah, Azzi, and Paige leading the pack. Ashlynn had two crucial three point shots, KK was critical on defense as she was forcing turnovers and fastbreak points, and Tess has never seen anyone hustle for rebounds like Morgan does. UConn was playing a cohesive game and they were struggling to respond in full.

The second half goes similar to the first, although UConn starts to make a concerted effort to break away. They’re playing with a renewed vigor and while Azzi, Paige, and Ashlynn were crucial in the first half, they start scoring a lot more points in the paint. Sarah, Jana, and Aubrey are particularly explosive and Ice holds her own when she subs in halfway through the third to give Jana a break. Defensively, they’re all restless – they’d played so conservatively in the first half while South Carolina tried to wear them out that their energy is overwhelming and is exhausting South Carolina. By the end of the third, UConn had extended the lead to 67-56. Tess is up to 26 points now, but it’s not doing enough to clear the deficit.

All of the starters are back on the floor at the beginning of the fourth for one last push, and for a while, it works. South Carolina holds out UConn and they go on a 9-0 scoring run, evening the score to 67-65 with three minutes left. Paige hits a long three, increasing the lead to five points, Azzi forces Te-Hina to turn the ball over and she sprints for the basket, although she passes behind her to Sarah for the finish, and Tess is a little too strong on her three point jumper and it bounces off the rim directly into Kaitlyn’s hands. She scores, pushing the score to 74-65. One minute, thirty seconds left.

The last bit of the game is frantic. Tess and South Carolina try to get the lead back, but UConn is unrelenting, pushing against them on every possession. Jana scores. Sania scores. Kaitlyn shoots, but Raven blocks it. Chloe scores on the fastbreak, and with twenty seconds left, the game is up to 78-69 with UConn steady in the lead. There’s no coming back from this gap and UConn has the ball. Tess thinks Paige just plans on dribbling it out, but as the clock winds down, five…four…three…two… she shoots from the perimeter, the shot clock expiring, and the last three, the nail on the head, swishes in cleanly as the crowd erupts. UConn had just won the 2025 national championship, and all Tess feels is overwhelming relief.

Confetti pours down, covering every inch of the court as all of the Huskies swarm and pile on one another. Paige’s smile is bright, beaming, and Tess swears she can see the tears streaming from afar. Then, they lock eyes, Paige in the middle of a bunch of jostling, and she has the decency to look a little sad for her, but honestly, Tess doesn’t care. She grins at her girlfriend, making a heart with her hands. The relief is palpable on Paige’s expression but Tess knows she needs the time to celebrate with her teammates, so she turns away, patting her own teammates on the back and murmuring her own congratulations.

Sania and Joyce were explosive in the paint. A vast majority of their points had come from them and Tess, but it just wasn’t enough to beat the deficit. Tess would find the stat sheet later, but she racked up 31 points – 61 in two back to back championship games wasn’t too shabby, and honestly, the 31 points feels more like an accomplishment than the win. She’s a competitor, she lives to win and loathes losing, but tonight doesn’t feel like a loss at all, despite what the box score will say. Looking back at everything she’s accomplished, she’s satisfied where she is. She’s grown as a player, as a person. She went from almost being the cause of her end in her junior year to dragging herself out of the deep end, committing to rehab, and winning the natty on the redemption match. This year, she molded herself into a better basketball player, cementing herself in the Gamecock record books – and while she doesn’t have a natty win this year, she’s not mad about it. It’s difficult to describe but at a certain point, the win just doesn’t matter anymore. It’s the journey, growing with your team, and everything you did leading up to it.

Last year, she said she has everything she’s ever wanted, and that much is still true. She has her rings, she has an excellent collegiate career, she has records that will be damn near impossible to beat until the next Tess Kennedy is recruited to South Carolina. She has the best friends in the world, the best girlfriend in the world, her knee is healed, she’s healed, and in less than two weeks, she’ll be drafted to play professionally wherever the wind takes her. The past two years have been the best and the worst time of her life but never will she ever wish that anything occurred differently. It’s all led her to this – her wins, her losses, to Paige. It’s more than she could have ever wished for.

She showers, zones out during the presser until the questions are directed at her, which she answers robotically, uncaring. When she’s out, she locates Paige in the tunnel, who scoops her up with such unadulterated glee and excitement that Tess giggles like a fucking schoolgirl. Paige is fresh, clean, and fuck it, she’s hers, and sue her if she sounds like a broken record, but she just loves her. “Congrats, baby,” Tess says into her neck, feeling Paige squeeze her around the middle before she lowers her to the ground.

“Thank you,” Paige murmurs as she presses a soft, unhurried kiss to Tess’s lips. “Promise you didn’t sell on purpose?”

Tess scoffs, shoving her away with a hand to her chest as Paige laughs, a sound that’s infectious and far too annoyingly charming. “Paige Madison. I dropped 31 on your ass and you think I sold?”

“Locked you down,” Paige says.

“Maybe romantically but not in basketball,” Tess corrects. Paige’s face brightens and Tess can’t help but lean in to kiss her again. “Congrats though, for real.” Paige’s eyes blink open, tilting her head down slightly to gaze at Tess, her expression full of lingering excitement, love, and unequivocal happiness. “You worked so hard for this. I’m proud of you, you know? 28 points, too? Who you showin’ out for?”

Paige laughs at Tess’s impression of her. “For you, always.” Tess can’t help but soften, grinning in that stupid way Paige always elicits. “We’re goin’ out,” she says. “The team, I mean. Some bar Aubrey found. You wanna come with us? You don’t gotta do nothing you don’t wanna and they’re all keepin’ it lowkey, nothin’ crazy–”

“Paige,” Tess interrupts, watching an adorable flush appear on Paige’s cheeks. “Don’t worry about me. Celebrate with your team, okay?”

“I’m always gonna worry about you,” Paige says, a little indignant. “You’re my girl. S’my job. But I want you there if you wanna be there.”

“You’re amazing, and I love you.”

Paige sighs. “Where’s the ‘but?’”

Tess rolls her eyes. “But you need to spend time with your team. Alone, without your unbelievably sexy girlfriend distracting you. You’re gonna miss them once you’re drafted. I need to chill tonight, so I’m gonna play UNO with my girls and stack +4s on Chloe to get her back for missing a layup that would have made our score look a little less pathetic.” Tess kisses the pout off of Paige’s lips. “I could convince Bree to room with Raven tonight?” she suggests intentionally.

“Okay!” Paige agrees quickly, her voice cracking, squeezing Tess’s hips once more, causing her to laugh lightly. Paige presses her lips to Tess’s forehead, the shorter of the two feeling the curve of her smirk. “I’ll see you later. Don’t fall asleep. I love you.”

Tess huffs, which makes Paige grin. She loves being on Tess’s nerves more than anything else. “I love you, too. Have fun and don’t drink anything KK gives you.”

Paige only shakes her head, their noses brushing slightly. “Not drinking. Wanna remember tonight.” Heat rises to Tess’s cheeks as she’s suddenly aware of what the night holds for them, but Paige just smiles at her, releasing her hips and squeezing her hand one last time before she disappears inside the media room for the presser. Tess exhales, shaking her head like an etch-a-sketch to fix her train of thought before she gathers herself and makes her way out to the team bus.

She slides into the seat next to Bree, placing her bag on the floor. “You’re rooming with Raven tonight,” Tess says to her.

Bree stares at her long and hard before her expression hardens. “You’re a fucking freak,” she gripes. “But you’re buying me breakfast tomorrow morning.” In lieu of a response, Tess pulls her wallet out of her pocket and hands over a $20 bill. Bree wrinkles her nose, her face going through the five stages of grief. Tess can’t even bring herself to feel ashamed as Bree takes the money. “God,” she whispers. “Freaks.”

Tess only smiles.

After a couple hours of music and various games, Tess says her final goodbyes to her teammates before she heads back to her room at the end of the hall. Paige had texted her only moments before that she was on her way back to the hotel, which she took as her cue to go. Her teammates gave her knowing looks, but Tess couldn’t find it in herself to be any sort of embarrassed.

Bree had cleared out most of her stuff before they all gathered in Raven’s room for games, but Tess just makes the conscious effort to clean up a little. She knew Paige wouldn’t care. Whether or not Bree’s bed was made would be the last thing on Paige’s mind if Tess had anything to say about it. Despite that, she just wanted it to look nicer for her. Paige had just won a championship, damn it, and she deserves something a little more fitting of that.

Tess isn’t nervous, but she’s almost giddy with anticipation and excitement. The last time she and Paige saw each other was when they played each other in February. They were unable to synchronize their schedules for spring break, so Tess is reasonably going through girlfriend withdrawals. She just wants to be close to Paige – nothing inherently sexual about it, but she misses their intimacy now that they’re always hundreds of miles apart. It will be the same situation when they get drafted – Tess watched the lottery despite everyone’s recommendations not to, but they’ll have a little bit more money and freedom to make the distance work once they’re in the league. But the league is the last thing she wants to worry about right now.

She checks herself one last time in the mirror, satisfied, but she pulls off her South Carolina hoodie, shivering a little at the chill in the room, and rummages through her suitcase until she finds the white jersey tucked underneath the rest of her clothes. A large 5 is emblazoned on the front and the back, the Big East logo on the collar, just a size too big for her – she’d stolen it directly from Paige’s bag when they played each other in February and they hung out after the game, but she supposes her lie was just convincing enough because Paige genuinely thought she left it in the locker room. She pulls the hoodie over her head, not bothering to tuck it into her sleep shorts, and gives herself one last look before smiling.

A knock at the door draws her attention. Finding her resolve, she walks over and opens it, coming face to face with Paige, whose cheeks are slightly flushed from the Tampa heat. “Hey – oh.” Paige stops in her tracks immediately, her eyes wide as she takes in Tess’s attire. Her jaw hangs open slightly as she leans against the door.

Tess laughs, reaching for Paige’s hands and pulling her inside. Paige lets herself be dragged, but she remembers where they are and closes the door, setting the lock without looking away from Tess. “You like?” Tess asks, tugging on the hem of the jersey to showcase Paige’s number. She smiles at Paige, a little smug but also a little breathless. Paige isn’t sure where to look – her face, her jersey, her legs, long and lithe and bare with the exception of a pair of shorts that would otherwise be indecent. “Figured I’d try something new.”

“Do I like?” Paige repeats, sounding a little incredulous. Her voice is rough and Tess shivers, feeling the heat pool low in her belly as Paige rests her hands on her hips, her fingertips brushing the swell of her ass. She pulls Tess into her until there’s barely an inch of space in between them – Tess can feel Paige breathing against her, her breath minty and fresh, her cologne so prominent and heady in the air that Tess’s head spins. “Like doesn’t even begin to cover it,” she murmurs, her lips dragging across the line of Tess’s jaw. Tess tilts her head back, giving Paige more access as she sighs softly. Paige’s fingers bunch in the fabric of her jersey as she noses her way down her neck, pressing wet kisses to her skin. A groan builds low in the back of her throat as she pulls away, her eyes blown wide and slightly out of breath. “D’you have any idea what this does to me?”

Tess chuckles, letting Paige lead her towards the bed, trusting her to not let her fall over. “I think I’m starting to understand,” she says. Paige smiles at her, softening the heat of the moment. Tess can’t help the grin that covers her face as she pulls Paige on top of her, sliding her zip up UConn jacket off of her shoulders. Paige situates herself in the gap created by Tess’s outstretched legs, leaning down to finally press their lips together. Their kiss is tender, lingering, and slow; Paige is deliberate in the way her hand slips under Tess’s jersey, her fingers brushing against her skin, and Tess sighs against her. They part and the expression on Paige’s face is so soft, blissed out like she has everything she’s ever wanted right in front of her. That thought alone fills Tess with an overwhelming amount of love and appreciation that she can’t help her starstruck smile. “You played really well today,” she whispers, working her fingers against Paige’s hair tie as she loosens her braids.

Paige hums, her eyes closing when Tess’s fingers drag across her scalp. “Says you,” she retorts, her head dropping to Tess’s shoulder. Her lips find her neck again, nipping gently and soothing the bite with a pass of her tongue. “31 fuckin’ points?” Paige emphasizes her words with an emphatic groan, her hands pushing up Tess’s jersey and her fingertips just barely breaching under her bra strap. “You tryna go to Dallas?”

Tess laughs, tangling her fingers through Paige’s hair as the blonde hides her smile against her neck. “Nah. That’s all you. I’m very happy going number two.”

Paige scoffs. “Yeah, ‘cause you get Cam and Rickea.”

Tess smiles knowingly, rolling her eyes. “Your hand is literally under my shirt and you wanna talk about other people right now?” Paige glances down, her brows raising and her eyes lingering on just how far the jersey is bunched up, miles upon miles of Tess’s tanned skin on display.

“Take this shit off,” she says, hands reaching for the hem of the jersey. Tess raises her arms compliantly and Paige pulls it over her head, throwing it to the side before leaning down and connecting their lips again. Tess relaxes immediately, circling her arms around Paige’s neck, drawing her in closer and closer until the space between them is negligible. Paige’s hands are warm against her bare skin. One leaves her chest to cup her jaw, her lips slowing, controlling the pace. Every motion is purposeful, deep and lingering, until Paige pulls back just enough that her nose brushes against Tess’s. “Wanna take my time with you.”

“You won,” Tess reminds her, fighting through the burn on her cheeks as Paige presses open-mouthed kisses to her neck, her jaw. “Tonight’s for you.”

“Yeah,” Paige agrees, her mind clearly elsewhere as she pulls her shirt over her head. Tess’s mouth dries instantly, her gaze unashamed as she takes in Paige’s toned figure, the definition of her abs despite the softness of her stomach. She’s equal parts sinew and grace, beautiful beyond any human measurement – Tess would never be able to put Paige’s beauty into words. She transcends language and meaning and Tess is so irrevocably in love that it should scare her; her feelings are overwhelming in the best way possible and Paige doesn’t even know the extent of it.

“Paige,” Tess tries again, her hands reaching up to push Paige’s hair out of her face.

She shakes her head, her hand returning to Tess’s jaw as she kisses her again, taking the very breath from her lungs and relishing in the sigh that she pulls from her throat. Her hand slips lower, her thumb brushing the apple of her throat while her index finger rests on her pulse point, feeling the spike in her heart rate. “Wanna take care of you,” Paige murmurs, the plea evident in her expression when she pulls away. “Want this to last, wanna feel you. Please?” She dips lower, her lips pressing against her skin, and Tess doesn’t have any choice but to let Paige have her way. She nods, her hands finding purchase on Paige’s shoulder blades as Paige descends further, her lips leaving marks over her clavicles.

Paige undresses the both of them with a deliberate slowness. Her hands roam like she’s trying to commit every inch of Tess’s body to memory, her eyes wide in wonder. Paige stares at her like it’s the first time all over again and it makes Tess shiver, feeling warmth all over. They spent the entire offseason together, late nights in hotel rooms much like this one as they travelled. They’re far from the first time, but the fact that Paige still handles her with the utmost care, respect, and devotion only makes her needier.

When they’re both bare, the first press of Paige’s skin against her own is electrifying. She draws Paige in again, connecting their lips, relishing in the soft, unhurried push and pull as Paige’s hands roam. They’re firm around her hips, her thumbs brushing the area where her thighs meet her pelvis. Then they’re trailing up, brushing against her navel, gripping her love handles and the parts of her stomach where she’s more skin than muscle. Further up, Paige’s hands splay out across the lower end of her ribcage. The amount of skin that her hands cover makes Tess ache, but Paige keeps wandering, her hands cupping her breasts, thumbs tweaking her nipples. Tess sighs at the contact and Paige immediately takes advantage of the way her jaw drops, deepening their kiss as Tess holds on to her shoulders for stability.

She can feel the flex of Paige’s muscle, see the way her shoulder blades jut out slightly – it shouldn’t excite her, but it does. She’s firm, solid, soft, and human, a paradox and a myriad of different feelings. Tess can’t help but be attracted to every single thing she does and every single thing she is. God took his time creating Paige, that much Tess was sure of; the fact that Paige is hers, for better, for worse, forever, makes her feel like she needs to be far more thankful than she already is.

Paige pulls back. Tess nearly whines at the loss of contact until she takes in the blown out and messy look on Paige’s face. Her lips are swollen, spit-slick, covered in the lingering smear of Tess’s lip gloss. “Okay?” she asks, her voice rough. The check-in is just a reminder of how much Paige loves her. It never fails to make her heart beat out of her chest.

Tess nods, her hands coming up to smooth out the baby hairs at the back of Paige’s neck, damp with sweat. “Keep going,” she requests, closing her eyes when she feels Paige kiss her cheek, her jaw, the spot under her ear that makes her shiver.

“Wanna try something with you,” she murmurs, squeezing her around the hips, and Tess blinks her eyes open to stare at her. A new, shy sort of flush creeps up her neck and Tess gives her a reassuring kiss.

“Anything,” she says, her voice soft, albeit a little breathless. “You know I trust you.”

Paige glances up, searching her eyes for any hint of falsehood. When she finds none, she leans in, kissing Tess one last time before pulling back. “Tell me to stop and I will,” she says. Tess nods again, waiting with a bated breath as Paige pulls back completely, much to her chagrin, but her hands find her knees, spreading her legs wider, slotting her own legs under and over Tess’s thighs like puzzle pieces, and – Oh. They haven’t even made full contact but her entire body burns. Paige is just as red, her chest rising and falling with uneven breaths. “Okay?” she asks again, her words sounding a little choked.

Tess nods rapidly, not trusting herself to speak, but her words spill out anyway. “Please,” she says, looping her arms around her neck again. Paige nods, too, her breath a little shaky, but she connects their lips, swallowing the greedy sound that Tess makes when their cores finally align. Her fingers dig into Paige’s shoulders, eliciting a groan from the blonde as she rolls her hips experimentally. Paige is warm against her, slick against her skin, and the brush of her clit against her own nearly makes her soul leave her body.

Her head tilts back, overcome with euphoria and pleasure, and Paige takes advantage immediately. Her lips are on her neck before she has the chance to react, sucking dark, purple marks on her skin, soothing the sting with her tongue. Tess pushes her hips into Paige’s, causing her rhythm to falter and a whine to fall from her lips. Tess really likes that sound, when Paige succumbs to the feelings and lets her hear it. “Fuck,” Paige whimpers. “That’s it.”

That sends a wave of heat directly to Tess’s core. She ruts up again, relishing in Paige’s exhaled moan, the way her elbows shake as she tries to hold herself up. Each and every roll of her hips adds to the tightening band in her stomach, threatening to snap as her pleasure builds – but it feels like she’s reached a plateau. She pushes against her a little faster, trying to chase the high, which forces more of those sounds to tumble from Paige’s mouth. The feel of her skin against hers, sticky with sweat, is intoxicating in the best way possible; the roll of her hips sets her nerves on fire; and when she glances down, her eyes honing in on where their bodies connect, Tess grips her shoulders a little tighter as she cries out, her nails leaving marks in their wake. “Paige,” she gasps, feeling Paige’s nose brush against her collarbone, licking the salt off of her skin. “Talk, please.”

“Yeah?” she asks, her voice a little broken and high-pitched as she holds out, trying to make Tess reach her peak first. The sound of her so wrecked, so destroyed makes Tess tremble beneath her. “Wanted you to – fuck, wanted you to come with me earlier,” she babbles. Tess barely registers that she means the bar. “Wanted to show you off. Tell everyone you’re mine. Wanted to kiss you in front of everyone, take you back here – fuck, Tess, right there – take you back here and show you how much I want you.”

“Keep going, please,” she begs. Tears of pleasure bead at her waterline. The brush of their cunts and the whine in Paige’s voice makes her dizzy with desire.

Paige sighs, the sound getting trapped in her throat as her lips find her ear, her ruts becoming a little more desperate. And when Tess’s hips jump up again, seeking out that pleasure, Paige’s breath catches. She leans her head against Tess’s shoulder, her body tense with the effort of trying to stay composed. “God, there you go,” she murmurs, her breath fanning against the shell of her ear. “Take it, baby, whatever you need – gonna give it to you, I promise.”

Tess whimpers, her grip tightening as she rolls her hips against Paige’s, her pleasure building and nearing the peak as she confesses, “Paige, I’m gonna–”

“That’s it,” Paige whimpers, meeting Tess’s hips with more purpose, more intensity, guiding her closer and closer. When Paige keens into her ear, her voice cracking, “Fuck, I love you – so perfect for me,” Tess falls apart completely, clutching onto Paige as her orgasm washes over her. Paige is right behind her; Tess can feel her release, her body shuddering against her own. They rock together as they ease through the aftershocks, drawing back when the sensitivity becomes too much.

Carefully, Paige extracts herself from Tess, the both of them exhaling when they disconnect. Paige rolls onto the bed next to her, her head finding home on Tess’s chest as she slings an arm across her stomach. Neither of them say anything for a while, sitting in a satisfied silence as they try to catch their breaths. It’s Tess who finally breaks the quiet when she says, “I think you ruined me.”

That makes Paige laugh, still breathless. She cocks her head, meeting Tess’s eyes. Gingerly, she wipes away the tears on her cheeks, smooths out the hair at the crown of her head. “Good,” she murmurs, leaning up to press a sweet kiss to Tess’s lips, a stark contrast from the moment prior. “Gotta trap you so you stay with me forever.”

Tess snorts, brushing her nails against Paige’s jaw and cheek gently. “Trust me, you don’t have to worry about that.” Paige hums, her fingertips tracing patterns against her ribcage as their breathing finally evens out. A few moments pass. “Are you sleeping?” Tess asks, a little shy.

“Yes,” Paige deadpans, but she turns her head again, smiling up at Tess. Her expression is soft, relaxed, blissed out. “What’s up?”

Tess can’t help the smile that breaks out across her face. “I love you,” she says simply.

Paige’s entire demeanor brightens. She tightens her grip around Tess’s middle, drawing in closer and pressing her lips to her chest, directly over her heart. “I love you, too.”

Tess tangles her fingers in Paige’s hair, smoothing out the flyaway strands near her temple. Paige smiles against her, her face tranquil, happy. In a little over a week from now, they’ll be in Brooklyn together for the 2025 draft. They’ll be selected to play in the professional league, which is everything they’ve dreamed of and more, although their dreams have expanded to include each other. Tess has everything she’s ever wanted in life – an outstanding college career, a promising future, Paige, and she can’t wait for the rest of their lives together.

APRIL 14, 2025

Tess can’t believe this is her life right now.

She, her parents, and Bree and Raven are sitting at a table in the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the selected venue for the 2025 WNBA Draft. The energy in the atmosphere is electric – there’s muted chatter, excited hopefuls trying not to freak out about which team will be selecting them. Tess is a mixture of anticipation and nerves. She’s been the predicted number two draft pick for months now, only second to Paige, which she can’t even be upset by. She has a pretty good idea of where she’s going, but she can’t help being worried about dropping in the rankings – the 2025 draft class is full of young talent. She wouldn’t mind Chicago. Playing with Kam again would be amazing, and Washington isn’t bad, either. She is really interested in the Liberty, mostly because they made such a good impression on her during rehab and that’s not something she would ever forget. Unfortunately, the Liberty decided to do the worst possible thing ever and win a championship, which means they’re nowhere close to getting Tess unless they want to trade up and Tess highly doubts they’d be willing to part with their entire roster just for her.

Tess can’t keep her eyes off of Paige. It’s slowly becoming a recurring theme as of late, much to the chagrin of everyone around her, but she can’t help it. She sits only a table away, surrounded by Bob, Amy, Drew, Lauren, and Ryan. The happiness is evident on her face, her hair done up in a ponytail with two loose strands framing her face, and her make-up natural. The real nail on the coffin is the tailored suit she’s wearing. It’s a dark purple in color, nearly black; several buttons on the blazer are undone to reveal the sharp lines of her clavicle and the dark shades of her undershirt. A chain glimmers around her neck, rings adorning her fingers, including the rose thumb ring Tess had gifted her for their first Christmas, before they knew they loved each other. Tess is honestly too much of an overachiever – she picked the finest person in the world to be her girlfriend and now the repercussions of that are coming back to bite her in the ass.

Her stylist – well, Paige’s stylist, Brittany Hampton is the goat – did her big one, too. Brittany has her decked out in a rich, dark, glossy, blue satin dress. Much like Paige’s suit, the shade is dark enough that it almost appears black, but the blue hue sticks out, complementing her complexion perfectly. Her heels match (and most importantly, they’re tall enough that she and Paige are finally eye level). Her jewelry is minimalist, donning her signature bracelet and their charms, along with a gorgeous necklace Paige had bought her for their second Christmas together – the first as an official couple. The both of them look good, probably too good, and Tess is preparing herself to cut someone if they stare at Paige for too long.

Her family and friends try to make small talk to distract her from the looming draft, but her heart isn’t in the conversation. Her mind runs a mile a minute; she’s thinking about all of the iterations of the mock draft – honestly, she should have listened to Paige when she told her not to watch the draft lottery or get too invested in the draft talk, anyhow. She’s thinking about Paige, how she looks so gorgeous at her table; she’s thinking about how Paige’s dreams are coming true right before her and that chokes her up a little bit. Paige was a little kid once, just like her, dribbling a ball that was nearly as big as she was – now she’s here, the predicted number one pick and it just feels like everything’s coming into fruition. They’ve both worked incredibly hard for this, all of the trials and tribulations and injuries and miscommunication – they’re here, together, and Tess couldn’t dream of anything better than that.

Finally, the beginning of the draft rolls around as the WNBA commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, steps up to the podium for opening remarks. Tess motions to wipe her sweaty hands on her dress, but Bree’s gripping her wrists and pushing a small handcloth into her waiting palms. Bree knows her so well and Tess gives her a silent nod of thanks, a small smile. She doesn’t think she’s quite made her peace with the fact she’s leaving her girls behind after today. Training camps and final roster deliberations and the preseason all await, but Bree’s rubbing her shoulder and murmuring, “Soak it in, babe, we’re so proud of you,” and she thinks that maybe she’s on the right track.

Cathy leaves the podium to await the official first pick. Tess glances at Paige again, who is clearly dissociated as she tries to not look at the cameras that are obviously pointing at her. Then, she glances over, her eyes finding Tess’s. Her entire demeanor shifts and a bright smile spreads across her face. It’s scrunchy, somehow both soft and mischievous, but Tess knows her well enough by now to understand that smile is reserved for her only. KK called it her “Tess smile” which was a little ridiculous, but when Tess returns her grin, the love clear as day in her expression, she knows that KK’s observation had a little merit.

Cathy returns with the pick in hand. The entire room falls silent, waiting with a bated breath as the older woman leans into the microphone. “With the first pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, the Dallas Wings select…Paige Bueckers, University of Connecticut.”

The room breaks into applause immediately as the tears spring to Tess’s eyes, overcome with emotion and appreciation for her girlfriend. Paige stands, embracing her parents, her siblings, and then she’s stepping towards Tess’s table, her expression so grateful and a little awestruck. Tess reminds herself that they’re in front of thousands of people, in front of prominent WNBA players and coaches as she molds herself into Paige’s arms, keeping it classy as Paige squeezes her tightly around her waist. “God, I’m so proud of you,” Tess murmurs, feeling Paige’s shoulders shake a little bit with her emotions. “I love you. Go get your jersey.”

Paige huffs out a laugh, releasing Tess as she wipes at her waterline. “I love you. See you soon,” she says, winking at her, which makes Tess chuckle, taking a seat and watching Paige make her way to the stage. Tess pulls out her phone, taking photo after photo as Paige poses with the commissioner and the Wings jersey.

Holly Rowe talks her through a couple of interview questions, her responses making the crowd aww or applaud, and soon enough, she’s returning to her table, embracing her family once more and smiling gently at Tess. Cathy returns to the podium after allowing the allotted time for the next selection.

“With the second pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, the Los Angeles Sparks select…Tess Kennedy, University of South Carolina.”

Tess doesn’t register it at first until her family and friends are cheering, their applause loud, and Tess finally snaps back into reality as she stands with an elated, shocked laugh. She pulls Raven and Bree into her arms, her teammates whispering their congratulations before her parents pull her into bone-crushing embraces. And finally, she makes her way to Paige’s table – she was polite for Paige’s pick, but this is different now; it’s hers and after what she’s been through, she can’t find it in herself to care much for what’s proper. She throws herself into Paige’s arms, squeezing tight enough that anyone else would have complained, but Paige holds onto her with the same intensity as she murmurs, “So proud of you, baby. You and me, huh?”

Tess laughs, the sound tearful. “You and me,” she affirms, releasing her girlfriend, and she makes her way up to the podium where Cathy holds out the yellow and purple jersey to her. She takes it, her fingers trembling a little.

When she makes it down, the reporter waiting for her isn’t Holly Rowe. She’s blonde, radiant, and shorter than Tess, but Tess gets the strangest feeling like she knows her. She glances down at the lanyard around her neck, the media pass reading P. LANCASTER. Tess grins. “Tess, you were just selected number two overall for the 2025 WNBA Draft. Can you tell me what was going through your mind leading up to the pick?”

“Um, ‘don’t throw up,’” she answers honestly. Her candor makes the crowd laugh. She chuckles, feeling some of the pressure ease off of her as she gives a proper answer, the usual ‘I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was a kid,’ and ‘I’m so grateful to be here and this is an honor that I don’t take lightly.’

The reporter talks her through a few more questions, such as how excited she is to be working with the Sparks. Between Cameron and Rickea, Tess feels like she’s in good hands, and knowing that Lynne Roberts, the new head coach, is a huge fan of three-point shooting, she feels like there’s a lot she can bring to the team. The reporter asks a fluff question about getting used to the Los Angeles heat, to which Tess jokingly responds with, “Well, I hear Dallas is hotter.” That makes a small smile appear on the reporter’s face.

“Speaking of Dallas,” she segues, which makes a knowing smile spread across Tess’s face. “Your girlfriend, Paige Bueckers, was just drafted there. The two of you met twice in national championships in college – can we expect some exciting match-ups between the two of you in the W?”

“Of course,” Tess says coyly. “We’re 1-1 on championship wins right now. I’m looking to add a couple more of those to my resume, and if that means beating my girlfriend? Even better.”

Penelope Lancaster thanks her for her time as the crowd applauds once more. Tess makes her way back to her table, smiling smugly at Paige, who rolls her eyes, but the love in her expression is hard to hide. The rest of the draft passes in a blur, as does the afterparty they’re both invited to afterwards. It’s well past midnight when they leave the club, their hair a mess from dancing and Paige’s blazer settled over Tess’s shoulders to stave off the late night chill. Paige already has an Uber called to take them back to Tess’s parents’ house and she pulls Tess into her side as they wait outside.

There’s something so magical about the night, about the energy in the atmosphere. The bass from the music reverberates and Paige sings along to whatever rap song is playing from inside, her body warm against Tess’s, and she finds that she suddenly can’t take it anymore. The overwhelming emotion in her chest, ready to burst at the seams, the sheer happiness and hope and gratitude that seeps from every pore in her body. She wraps both of her arms around Paige’s waist, resting her head over her chest, listening to the steady beat of her heart. Paige quiets down, a little confused, but she melts into their embrace until there’s no air left between them.

Tess doesn’t know how to put it into words – she doesn’t think she ever will. She’s so in love, even after a year together officially. There was a point in her life where she didn’t think she’d be here. She didn’t think she would be able to heal, that she would be able to play basketball again, that she would be drafted to pursue her dream professionally. She never thought romance was in the cards for her, that she would ever find someone like Paige – that she would find Paige herself; she never thought she would be in love or that someone would be in love with her, too. It’s surreal, encompassing, and call her cheesy or down bad or whatever, but she can’t wait to live life with Paige.

“You okay?” Paige asks softly, her fingers trailing up and down Tess’s back soothingly.

“I’m perfect,” Tess responds, smiling against Paige’s skin. “I just love you.”

Paige’s hand leaves her back, but it’s not long before she’s cupping Tess’s cheek and drawing her closer to her until their lips touch. It’s soft, unhurried, a promise. It’s just as electric as the first time, as warm, as perfect. Paige breaks away long enough to whisper “I love you, too,” and then she’s sweeping back in, kissing Tess with the vow of forever. When she first met Paige, almost two years ago, she’d told her that home was a feeling. Right here, wrapped up in Paige’s arms, kissing her under the streetlight as they get ready to walk into what is the beginning of their life together, Tess knows in her heart that she’s finally made it home.

‘Happily Ever Draft-er’

In April of 2025, the Dallas Wings and the Los Angeles Sparks drafted Paige Bueckers and Tess Kennedy first and second overall. Every basketball fan knew that Bueckers and Kennedy were sure bets for the top two picks. If there was one thing that the WNBA season could promise us, it was the match-ups between Bueckers and Kennedy – they certainly came around more often than they did when Bueckers and Kennedy were in college. They sold out arenas with many fans vying to see their clash, and they did not disappoint. Each game was intense, hard fought until the very last second.

In their rookie year, Bueckers and Kennedy helped lead their teams to the playoffs, although they both fell short – the Wings lost 2-0 to the Aces, while the Sparks lost 2-1 to the Liberty. In their second year, the Wings forged ahead to the semi-finals where they lost 3-2 to the Fever whereas the Sparks were defeated by the Sun 2-0 in the first round. Their third year was the complete opposite – the Wings lost to the Valkyries 2-1 in the first round, although the Sparks lost 3-1 to the Lynx in the semi-finals.

Their fourth year, the last of their rookie contracts, was long anticipated. In the first round of the playoffs, the Wings defeated the Storm in a clean 2-0 sweep. Similarly, the Sparks sent the Dream packing 2-0. Then, in the semi-finals, the Wings plowed through the Lynx 3-2 while the Sparks dominated the Fever 3-1. The finals match that everyone had been waiting for – the Wings versus the Sparks was underway. This would be the first year that the WNBA implemented a 7 game series.

The WNBA finals were back and forth. The Sparks took home the first win, the Wings took home the second and the third, although the Sparks bounced back with the fourth and the fifth. The Wings beat the Sparks on their sixth game in an overtime thriller, tying the series 3-3 and forcing a game seven. Bueckers and Kennedy were electric on the court, averaging 30 points in the postseason, but ultimately, the Sparks won the WNBA championship.

When approached for a comment, Kennedy stated, “Well, Paige won Rookie of the Year, so I think it’s fitting that I get a ring first.” Bueckers, who was standing next to her, rolled her eyes, but she seemed smug, as though she had another trick up her sleeve. Kennedy continued, “We’re free agents, so who knows who’s winning the chip after this.”

Bueckers did, in fact, have another trick up her sleeve as it was announced early in the offseason that she and Kennedy had gotten engaged in Italy, close to Kennedy’s hometown. Bueckers shared their engagement photos on her Instagram, captioning it, “Her favorite ring of them all 💍”. Shortly after, Bueckers and Kennedy shared their free agency picks – they’d both landed with the Golden State Valkyries alongside 2026 Rookie of the Year Azzi Fudd.

We’re eagerly awaiting the tipoff for the 2029 WNBA season. Bueckers and Kennedy have been rivals for nine years, falling in love despite it all. Finally, for the first time ever, we get to witness the union of the titans rather than their clash. We get to witness a team where Bueckers and Kennedy combine their strengths, and all we have to say is good luck to the rest of the league. The Golden State Valkyries will be a name that we will be hearing for a very long time, especially now that Paige Bueckers and Tess Kennedy have settled down in the Bay and have made San Francisco their home.

-Penelope Lancaster, Bleacher Report

[luxthestrange]

G.I Incorrect Quotes#90 THERE'S TWO-

They were roommates + Baby Archon au...They multiply-

You and Kaveh were strolling around Port Ormos

Y/n: I just think that in a parallel universe, blorgons are- hold on-

Baby!Kunikuzushi*Was left in a basket in the sea, crying his tiny heart out as he wiggled trying to get outta the blanket*

Y/n*Grabs the basket* a baby...I wasn't expecting this

Kaveh:...Guess we'll have to support it

Y/n: I guess I could do another kind of job, maybe at beans & more and more, I'll probably have to work double shifts, but-

Kaveh: Oh, I see, While you're off, climbing the ladder at Beans & More, I'll just stay home and raise him and Nahida alone!!! That's fine. I'll just give up on my dreams!?!

Y/n: Here we go...

Kaveh*Tears up and sniffles with a pouty face* What? He needs to learn a strong man can cry!?!

Baby!Kuni*Blinks seeing a big man crying*...

-Back at Home-

Alhaitham*Currently with Nahida on his lap reading her a book of string theory, smiling seeing her slapping his hand if he tries to turn the page before she is done*

The door is kicked open and you coming in holding...a baby up in the sky with Kaveh throwing petals around you

Y/n: GUESS WHO BECAME A BIG SIIIIISTER!?~...like we pratice lil one~

Baby!Kuni*Sucking on his thumb, but then he raises his arms up with a smug war cry*GAAAAAAAH!

Nahida*Gasps happily seeing at that*!!!

Alhaitham:..PLEASE DO NOT TELL ME YOU TWO KIDNAPPED A KID AGAIN-

Part 3 of:

[lady-lilly-gray]

Will every contract Sebastian makes end with him devouring a soul?

And who is Modri Vladis, if Sebastian doesn't recognise him?

My prime theory right now that is that he possesses the cinematic records of someone Sebastian knew/was contracted to* which is why Sebastian doesn't recognise his name/body, but he clearly has memories tied to this demon.

*R!Ciel is evidence that a cinematic record can be kept from someone who's soul has been devoured

But how does he recognise Sebastian in a form he created exclusively for his current contract? Undertaker probably told him [Modri] that he [Seb] is the same demon he was contracted to. (How UT would know this, I don't know but shhhhh)

On the topic of devouring every soul, and Modri's wrist-slitting stunt, Sebastian protects Ciel's life because it's one of the three rules of their specific contract; which means that it's possible for a contractor to die. Reasonably speaking, a demon could probably thus swoop in and claim their soul before a reaper comes to collect it.

But what if the contractor commits Suicide?

Since Suicides become Reapers, their deaths are probably handled differently—does this mean that it automatically usurp's a demon's ability to consume their soul. Or does it at least add a challenge for the demon? After all, Sebastian's avoidance of O!Ciel's question (he can't lie) implies there is at least one former contractor whose soul Sebastian didn't devour or doesn't know the whereabouts of—and Sebastian knows this!

addendum: if Modri did kill himself, I think he somehow avoided getting turned into a reaper; like, perhaps UT rescued him before the Dispatch could collect him? or maybe he was the one to "collect" him. And if he DID get turned into a reaper (per this theory) he could now be a demon, which could explain him saying that Sebastian "dragged him to hell.'

Anyways, that's not the point of this post lol k thx bye

[1moreff-creator]

Theory: Mai Akasaki’s Sixteen Killers

The theory that everyone in DRDT’s killing game is responsible for the death of Mai Akasaki. 

If you’ve been around the DRDT theorizing sphere, you might have caught sight of a very particular thought floating around; that one way or another, everyone in the killing game is responsible for Mai’s death. It comes up every now and then, so I figured I'd throw in my own take on the matter. Let’s pull a Poirot, and solve this Murder on not-quite-an Orient Express!

CW: Murder, suicide, poison, mentions of religion

The Prologue: Mai is Dead? Who is Mai?!

Alright but maybe I should explain who the hell I'm talking about for the uninformed :v

Mai Akasaki is a more or less secret character, who’s only had nine seconds of screen time in the main series (Teruko’s dream in 1-6), but is most likely Unnamed Classmate from the Bonus Episodes. A full introduction and several important theories I believe about her can be found in my Mai post. Although some parts of that post are outdated, it gives what I consider to be a good overview of everything we know about her. 

But in case you don’t feel like reading 15k words of rambling about this cryptid of a character, here’s quick summary:

-Probably part of Hope’s Peak East Class 27, classmate to most if not all the cast. After all, she’s Unnamed Classmate from the BEs. 

-Really nice girl everyone adored like a god.

-Xander and her fucked around (presumably staging some kind of rebellion against Hope’s Peak).

-She found out (per Veronika’s Mai quote, “A for who didn’t foresee the consequences”). 

-Presumed dead. 

To elaborate on that last point, given it’s part of this post’s thesis, I’ll quickly show the evidence. 

Most explicit. Mai’s numeral XI (and if you don’t know what a numeral means in the context of LGI, or what a "Mai quote" is, I urge you to read my secrets masterpost. This isn't an entry level theory lol :v) shows up alongside “God is dead,” alongside with an arrow pointing at Mai’s portrait when the word “God” shows up on screen. Not only that, this is the only grey numeral in the entire MV.

Then, just one line afterwards, the Kubler-Ross model of the five stages of grief shows up, a model often associated with death.

Even more evidence: the flowers in her tattoo are probably Mai flowers, a discovery by the-fox-in-the-socks. These flowers are associated with the legend of a girl named Mai who, among other things, died. Read their post for full clarification. 

So… yeah. Mai’s dead. But, can we really claim the cast is to blame?

The Basis: Someone’s Fault

There is currently one person in the cast who is heavily suspected to be in some way responsible for Mai’s death, two more who I brought up in my Mai post as likely candidates as well, and even more which have looser connections to her death. 

Teruko - Via Second Anniversary Art.

This gif shows Mai’s gloves disappearing from the top of a frame otherwise containing only Teruko, and in the middle flashes a code that (by rearranging the “rows” of the columns in numerical order) translates to “It’s all your fault.” So, Teruko at least is probably implicated, presumably through her luck if nothing else.

Xander? - Via Sixth Bullet

The LGI MV tells us there are six bullets to find, with the hint that we can’t actually find all of them. Indeed, only five bullets can be found. However, that could lead someone to speculate that the sixth bullet is loaded in the gun. Said weapon is labeled “(not a) prop gun”, connecting it to Xander, and aimed, while not directly at the Mai portrait, still too close for comfort. The idea here is that Xander might be considered responsible for her death because it was his idea to rebel against Hope’s Peak, and that may be what got her killed. If that makes no sense to you, again, please read the Mai post, I've already written too much about this girl to repeat myself too much T_T

Whit? - Via Tetraphobia

When Whit’s numeral XV appears on screen, we also get the instruction “subtract 4, due to tetraphobia.” XV - 4 = XI, which is Mai’s numeral, again “God is dead.” This could connect Whit to her death, with the idea being that he’s Whit so if there’s a way to look suspicious he’ll take it. That is to say, I actually don’t know how Whit could be connected to Mai’s death :p The only way to salvage Whit’s innocence in regards to Mai is to assume the tetraphobia thing is meant to connect him to footnote 11 instead of numeral XI, but footnote 11 is the Diana one, and while there’s ways to make that work, theorizing about Diana is genuinely harder than theorizing on Mai. So, for the purposes of the post, we’re gonna ignore that connection to Diana, and say that this could connect Whit to Mai. 

Ace??? - Via Highlighted Text

This is the most recent allegation to come up, and it’s based on an observation regarding Eden’s dialogue in 2-16.

Eden [2-16]: I never said that I forgave him. It's just that... The Ace I met for the first time wasn't a murderer.

The bolded text is peculiar. While it could just be for emphasis, it’s also possible it’s bolded to bring attention to it because it’s an assumption which is wrong. As in, Ace was a killer since the start of the killing game. If that’s not about Taylor (which it very well could be considering Ace’s dialogue, let's not ignore that), it could be about Mai. 

Veronika??? - Via Mai Quote

Veronika's Mai quote: A girl who didn't foresee the consequences.

Hers is the one that references consequences, after all!

Yep, that's the full connection.

David???? - Via Mai Quote Order

His Mai quote is the only one after Veronika’s in the Mai order given by the source code of Mai’s page, an order which has not been entirely forgotten. This could maybe make him suspicious if you squint harder than anyone’s ever squinted before. Does this one even make sense to anyone who is not me? Who knows.

Min????? - Via Footnote 6

Footnote 6, “[Prayer]”, flashes on screen at the same time Min’s numeral X is there.

Since Mai is a “God” in the MV, the prayer goes to the God, the scene is referencing Min’s murder kinda through the trial… Yeah this is uber weak. It’s kinda similar to saying Eden’s suspicious because her Mai quote makes no sense; just because it’s weird doesn’t mean it can be cleanly connected to the Agenda.

Yeah that’s kinda it. But, if only a few characters are being even tangentially connected to Mai’s death, how is it possible that everyone is catching an allegation? Well…

The Thread: Rule 14 & “Murder on Orient Express”

“Rule 14: All murderers must be held accountable for their crimes."

The strange wording in this rule has been a topic of speculation for a while. You could take it to mean that blackeneds who lose trials get executed, but then it wouldn’t be “all murderers,” it would just be “the murderers who get found.” Thus, the theory that there could have been multiple murderers in the cast even before the killing game properly started was born.

This is especially notable given a recent reveal: MonoTV's purpose.

MonoTV (DefaultTV) [2-16]: But there is no reason for me to punish Ace a second time. That would fail to serve my purpose. Ace: What? Charles: Your purpose? DefaultTV: Naturally. To run this killing game until the death of every participant.

There is no rule that states anything along the lines of "everyone has to be dead by the end," not directly. That is, of course, unless Rule 14 applies to everyone. If all murderers must be held accountable for their crimes, and everyone in the cast is (by some loose definition of the word) a murderer, then it follows that MonoTV would be designed to "punish" (read: kill) each and every one of them.

And this isn’t the only allusion to the possibility. The next topic to cover would be “A Murder on Orient Express.” Uh, spoilers for the book, but it’s a murder mystery where the big twist is that every suspect, every passenger in the train, had a part in the death of the victim. 

How is this connected to DRDT? Well, for starters, it’s one of the books referenced in LGI, with three appearances; one is just a reference to the David reveal, but the other two are more notable, one being attached to Teruko’s numeral XIII and the other directly preceding the “democratic-ly” shot, which directly references the killing game. A connection to the protagonist, the “main antagonist” and the killing game itself could be noteworthy…

If this wasn’t LGI. Teruko’s numeral is also attached to text from “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas,” the David scene has references to “Dogra Magra” and “No Longer Human,” and if it’s just about number of appearances, Hamlet has a whopping eight showings. If showing up in LGI was all these stories needed to be considered plot relevant, we’d need to figure out a connection to, like, a million other books, a scientific paper and several Wikipedia articles.

No, the more relevant references to Murder on Orient Express actually come from the main series itself. For starters, Teruko references Agatha Christie in 1-1. 

Teruko [1-1]: Strychnine... I think that many mystery novels mention that sort of poison. A****a C******e uses it as the murder weapon in one of her books.

However, Agatha Christie has written more than one book. In fact, the book Teruko references is "The Mysterious Affair at Styles," which I researched but couldn't find any way to connect it to DRDT (unless the concept of double jeopardy somehow becomes important). No, we need something else to refer us to Murder on Orient Express.

Which gets us to the biggest connection between DRDT and the book itself. And because dev hates me, specifically, it’s of course, in Thrown to the Wolves. 

Like, really, why is this execution in particular the most theory relevant execution in the history of fangans? I take psychic damage every time I revisit 1-12 please save this poor Min fan-

The final question Min receives is “Who wrote the murder mystery novel Murder in the Calais Coach?”. And “Murder in the Calais Coach” is the US’ localization of “Murder on Orient Express.” Notably, this is the only time in the main series (as far as I remember) that a proper noun referring to a real thing isn’t censored with asterisks; TEDtalks, Agatha Christie, and Amazon have all been censored this way. 

Xander [to David, Prologue-2]: You're just as incredible in real life as you are in your T*****k videos!

MonoTV [2-14]: But ever since I ordered 100 tons of concrete blocks from Am***n, I have been blacklisted from all online order companies.

This gives us an explicit connection, at least. Sure, it’s not guaranteed to be important just because it showed up in Thrown to the Wolves (I doubt the Riemann Hypothesis or that one enzyme system are important to DRDT), but combined with the other Agatha Christie reference and the lack of asterisks, it really seems like this could truly be significant.

So we've drawn the link between the book and DRDT. Combining it with what we talked about earlier about Rule 14 and MonoTV's purpose, it really seems like there's a solid argument to say that the whole cast might be responsible for the death of one particular person. And if that's the case, because of what we talked about even earlier, it's very possible that refers to Mai's death specifically.

Further evidence is MonoTV's Mai quote, "It's all your fault." The fact that the mascot of the killing game is saying that on Mai's page already suggests a connection between Mai's death and the origins of the killing game, so combined with the fact the purpose of this game is killing all its participants, it can potentially be taken as further evidence for the "Mai on the Orient Express" theory.

Now, to be clear, even with all of this, the evidence is... extremely loose. Understandably so; Mai and the killing game's origins are series wide mysteries which likely won't even get close to being solved until much later, so any theory which connects them is going to lack any amount of truly significant evidence. However, I feel there's enough there to at least consider it for the time being, and to keep the possibility in mind going forward. That's kinda the thesis of the post basically, "keep this in mind in case it comes up again" :v

As an add on though:

Alternative Theory: Unique Victims

Also known as: Holy shit is that a motherfucking Milgram reference?!!??!?

The idea here is that instead of everyone being responsible for Mai's death in some abstract manner, they all each killed at least one person before the killing game, but they each have different victims. "Killed" by a very loose metric, mind you, where being partially responsible for someone's suicide counts as murder in the eyes of the killing game organizers for some reason. This would be consistent with the previously mentioned Rule 14 interpretation, though the connection to Murder on Orient Express is notably weaker, as you need to generalize "everyone is responsible for the death of one particular person" to "everyone is responsible for someone's death." The advantage it has over the other theory is that we have a better idea of what each person's murder could be:

-Levi killed four people, that one's easy.

-Arturo blames himself for Felicity's death, at least.

-Min poisoned her competition. Potentially non-lethally, but potentially lethally as well.

-Teruko still probably holds some responsibility in Mai's death, or at least believes she does.

-Ace has been implied to blame himself for Taylor's death.

-Charles and Whit have Elliot and Elizabeth respectively. We don't know the full context of those two's deaths, so Charles and Whit could be responsible technically somehow.

-Veronika's done something worse than her motive secret implied, which could be murder. There's no evidence for it, but you know, it's possible.

-We know less than zero about Diana, to the point it's not impossible to make a theory that David caused her death.

-Xander has survivor's guilt... It's really not the same thing but y'know. You can kinda twist it into self-blame for death.

-Maybe Eden tried to kill Xander when she gouged out his eye? (Again sorry if you don't know what I'm talking about, should've read my secrets masterpost :p). If the cast calls Nico a murderer for attempted murder, then this could work. Technically.

-Hu attempted suicide. This is the biggest stretch in history, but there's some way to call Hu her own murderer with the same idea as before, that attempted murder still makes you a murderer. You know, ignoring that attempting suicide is completely different from murder. I'm trying, okay?

-Maybe Arei ruining her sisters' lives can be considered murder? Absolutely not, but again, I'm trying.

-If J, Rose and/or Nico killed someone before the killing game, it's never been implied. So, yeah. We're cooked on that front.

There's admittedly more set up for it than I'd realized before writing all that, but it's still not particularly perfect. I'll point to Arei as a particularly big problem for this theory, because there's almost no way for us to easily learn that she's killed someone now that she's dead, assuming her secret isn't somehow considered murder. Not to mention that Rose would probably have her murder as her secret if she remembers doing it. That, alongside with the Mai theory's closer connection to Murder on Orient Express, is why this post is mostly focused on said Mai theory; I find that to be the stronger possibility.

But of course, that's just my opinion. These theories are highly speculative and very likely to be wrong, but I wanted to get them out there somewhere. Hope you enjoyed them, and thanks for reading! If you made it this far, then you deserve a copy of Murder on Orient Express to read... or something like that. See ya'!

[fiamat12]

PSA: We're all still on this ship together!

Even though some of us are on different decks! LOL

#1 - Imo, I think my post earlier about N's sm activity was misunderstood. ✌️ I get that this subject is a hot button because we love Lukola and can feel like bad shippers if we have conflicting feelings about the choices they make. But I wouldn't still be here after more than a year if I didn't still believe in Lukola and their love. In fact, not long ago I was accused of being Lukola PR and a cult leader lol and that came from a place of being strong in my Lukola shipping convictions. And I still am.

But I'm also a realist... so if you come on here to idealize Lukola, you may not always like my pov. They're real people to me w/ real lives and real feelings and real successes and real failures just like everybody else. I mostly agree w/ the post linked below ⭐️ - and if you disagree that's totally fine. We're all still shippers!

#2 - Now for what my post today was really about: a shift in N's social media behavior that may be related to the NDA obligations. I asked the following question at the end of the post: "... when S4 filming was ramping up, and she pulled back on it all, Easter eggs included... Coincidence or no?!?". So, to expand on that:

• It’s important to understand what the norm or baseline is for N, because in doing that you can understand or notice a change in behavior. Behavior changes tell a story.

• Fact is: N used to post alot during filming for previous seasons of BTON. This season, S4, she has not. The other cast members historically post less frequently than N or not at all re: BTON, and they have continued in the same way for S4.

• N posted Polin right up until Sept. of last year then it just stopped...

As @jmuz09 stated: "I was dismissive of it being part of the obligations but I completely flipped on that whilst looking at the tone of her posts in June - Aug 2024 [see original post]. I really think she pissed off A to the point where it became part of the obligations. A could have also pointed out that she does not have to post that much because other cast members don’t so it’s not expected"

• I'm uncertain of it being part of the obligations, but I do think N could've been restricted or even self monitored due to NDA re-negotiations in the Fall, meaning she decided to draw back (along w/ the Easter eggs) to "get this done".

#3 - Under this theory we're not bagging N for not posting BTON/ Polin at all. In fact, I think this shows her alot of grace because we're assuming the best about her. Per usual, we likely won't know the motivation until many months later (if ever) and we accept the reasons behind it either way. We accept Nic for who she is and regardless of the current circumstances, this Lukola ship is strong! 🙏🚢💪

✌️ Original post from today ⏬️

⭐️Post w/ which I agree ⏬️

🤔 And one last time: you are free to believe what you want... ⏬️

... I'm not here to convince anyone of anything. This is my blog and my opinion. If I block someone, it's because I think they're trolling (and if you saw my Asks and the comments from fake accounts, you'd understand). I don't block for disagreeing w/ me. I may delete your comment if you're asserting your own theory in a comment 🤔 but please don't take that personally. That's what your own blog is for and I love to read those brave enough to put it all out there!

[muzansfangs]

Bloodstain.

Starring: Aizen Sosuke x f!reader; Urahara Kisuke x f!reader; Urahara Kisuke x original female character (Ran, the mod-soul taking over the reader body, when she is not in the world of the livings); Nnoitra Gilga; mention to Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Shuhei Hisagi and Ulquiorra;

Format: multi-chapters story;

Warnings for this chapter: nsfw, oral sex (Kisuke!receiving), cum swallowing, language, jealousy, slightly manipulative behavior, possessive tendencies, struggling with feelings, denial, inappropriate use of the reader body, death threat, abusive behavior and harassment (from Nnoitora), hair pulling, sexual tension;

Plot: Your cohabitation with Sosuke begins. Upon entering your flat, you two are welcomed by your companion’s worst enemy and the coquettish mod-soul supposed to be your substitute during your absence. What you were not expecting, though, was for the two of them to be involved into an intimate intercourse right over your couch and for your new housemate to make you question yourself once again.

N.B: Here we go! Our dear reader is back in the World of the livings, finally… I won’t even apologize for Urahara being a pervert as per usual, lol. The soul we have ‘adopted’ is called ‘Ran’, which should mean ‘Orchid’ in Japanese. Well, her behavior is questionable, I know, but it will be hopefully fun!

MASTERLIST | PREVIOUS CHAPTER | TO THE NEXT CHAPTER

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𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫.

The moment you stepped back into the World of the livings, you almost felt disoriented. The mastodontic skyscrapers, the cars rushing down the streets and the noise pollution almost gave you a migraine. When you had to spend weeks into the Soul Society, going back to the chaotic city life came along with some struggles. Once the portal closed behind your back, you sighed in defeat. This was literally the beginning of your personal living Hell. Your life was most likely going to be messed up by the man currently standing right next to you.

That man, right. Aizen Sosuke, the bastard who had indirectly deprived you of your social life and freedom. The same man who had deliberately pushed Shuhei to his limits and caused him to stare at you as if you were a madwoman, a traitress. He was always going to be a puppet master, playing with the feelings and life of whomever had been that unfortunate to stand on his path.

After that small argument with Shuhei, you had refused to talk to Sosuke. Saying your goodbyes to your friends, you had entered the Seinkaimon with a plan mapped out in your head: as soon as you were finally back into the World of the livings, you were going straight to Urahara, asking him for the gigai he had prepared for your new housemate. Now, though, staring at the shop sign of Kisuke’s emporium, you realized he was not there. Where was that man, when you needed him the most? Maybe he had gone to check on the rowdy mod-soul taking over your body during your absence: Ran. If that was the case, you had no other choice than going to your flat.

Without uttering a word, you turned around and began to walk in the direction of your apartment, only for Sosuke to finally remind you of his intrusive presence in your life “For how long are you going to pretend I’m not here? That’s rude and immature, don’t you think?” he asked you, his tone of voice flat.

“Immature?— you sarcastically repeated — You are one to talk, considering you purposefully ignored my request of waiting for me to come back and acted like a petulant child. Yeah, Sosuke, thanks for having disrupted any chance I had to reconnect with Shuhei” you resentfully apostrophised him, glad no one could see you two bickering like this.

Sosuke scoffed “Was it really my fault?”.

You glanced at him briefly, arching an eyebrow inquisitively, before focusing back on the street. Your silence spoke volumes and Sosuke knew you wanted to hear his theory.

“I might have become the center of his attention and provoked him, that’s true. However, why did he leave? He could have stayed, talked to you. Isn’t that what couples do? What I am asking you is: are you sure he cares about you?” he seraphically asked you, chest puffed as he watched your certainties waver. There he was, slithering in your head and controlling your emotions.

Were you really that surprised he was back at showing off his asset of mind manipulation? Obviously, not in the slightest. But the worst part of it was that he kind of had a point, even though you were aloof from admitting it out loud, in his presence, you had been hurt by Shuhei’s departure and seemingly total lack of interest in leading on a mature conversation with you. Watching you take Sosuke’s side had clearly broken his heart, but you had given him a valid reason for you to do it. You did not particularly abided the questionable decisions of the Central 46, then again you did not want any problems with them. You were simply doing your job, keeping the special threat at bay and defending Shuhei from him. The position you had been put in was not of your likings. Then why did he leave?

“Shuhei and I are not a couple. — you curtly said, eventually — Hence, keep your unrequired opinions and that slimy tongue of yours far away from me” you consolidated, before pointing to a modern building in front of you. Home. You were finally home, despite your new murderous companion.

Letting your gaze travel up to the third floor, you saw the window of your living room opened. It would have been easier and better sneaking in from there, especially since you had no keys with you.

“That’s my apartment. We can enter from the window” you stated, watching Sosuke already scrutinizing the area around the building. It was located in a optimal position, to be fair. Not too far from the main shopping streets and close to the public park, if you wanted to relax and take some hours off from the hectic city life.

“What’s wrong now? Does his lordship dislike his new residence?” you queried, but you soon realised Sosuke was actually focused on something else.

His brows furrowed, he darted his eyes from the window to you “Do you live with someone else in that apartment? I can sense an atypical reitasu reverberating through the walls”.

“Uhm… Well, you could say I do, but it’s just Ran. She’s a mod-soul. Is that a problem?” you casually asked him, but you omitted some details about her personality. That girl was surely a curious specimen. She was literally a female version of Kon and thus she had caused you quite the embarrassing problems back then.

Sosuke ignored your explanation and flash-stepped up to the window in a blink of an eye. You sighed, having no other choice than following him right away, but the spectacle waiting for you upon entering your flat was surely a sight you would have never expected to behold. Your jaw dropped, no sound coming out of your throat, as you watched in disgust and horror Ran, in your body, knelt between Kisuke’s spread legs. This was a nightmare.

For a split second, you thought Sosuke was using Kyoka Suigetsu on you, but when your eyes flicked towards him to question him, you were genuinely surprised to finally see a rather irked expression plastered over his face. You had been figuring to see his usual cold-indefference etched on his face, but you were terribly wrong.

The assiduos bob of Ran’s head came to an end, when her senses alerted her of your presence. You watched her widen her eyes, hastily pulling away from Kisuke’s length with an obscene ‘pop’, as she wiped her chin, glistening in saliva, with the back of her hand. Kisuke, however, turned his head leisurely towards Sosuke and you. Shamelessly, he let out a soft chuckle, waving the fan in his hand to greet you two. His lambent grey eyes bored into yours, as he stood up and fixed his pants.

“Ah, welcome back, Y/N-chan!” Kisuke beamed, approaching you two.

Sosuke shot him an earnest glare, refusing to even greet him back. His eyes, you noticed, had now settled upon Ran who had timidly stood back up and was trying her best to clean her face up. Her sense of shame was kicking in, finally. You honestly had no idea how to react. What probably gave you the ick was the fact that Ran had given him head while inhabiting your body. Well, this was just absurd.

You cleared your throat, finally locking eyes with Kisuke “What the fuck was that?” you questioned him.

“A blowjob” Sosuke monotonously uttered from beside you, making you roll your eyes.

Kisuke chuckled, hiding his shit-eating grin behind his fan “Oh, such language, Aizen-san! But, well, we have been contacted by Kyoraku a few hours ago. You could say we were killing the time, whilst waiting for you two to come!” he casually replied, glancing behind his back to check on the coquettish mod-soul currently watching the scene in interest.

Hopping down from the windowsill, you dropped your bag onto the floor and folded your arms against your chest. That mod-soul had crossed the line, there was no way in Hell you were allowing her to take over your body ever again. Confined in the plushie you had chosen for her forever, this was going to be her fate from now on. Judging by the way she was keeping her distance, she probably knew what was coming.

“Pardon me? Listen, I don’t really care about what you do and with you, just… — you paused, eyes downcast as you struggled to keep your composure and find the right words to express your consternation — She’s in my body, Kisuke. Do I really need to tell you why I am upset?” you stated, before glancing back up at him. You wanted to believe he felt, at least, a little guilty about it but, even with that fan hiding the lower part of his visage, you were pretty sure he was grinning in amusement.

Sosuke suddenly snatching away Kisuke’s fan from his hand caught you by surprise, his eyes darkening as he proceeded in talking “Your presence is evidently unsolicited. Give me the gigai you have projected and leave” he flatly said, jaw clenched as he did not even bother sparing you a look. His reiatsu was ominously blanketing the entire flat, coaxing you to inhale sharply and lean your back against the windowsill to find back your balance. Was he defending you?

You knew Sosuke could not really stand the sight of the shop-keeper, but there was not just unadultered annoyance for the past events in his voice. It sounded like there was something personal involved in that, in the way he shoved Kisuke’s fan back against the other man’s chest and glared down at him.

Maybe you were just seeing too much into it. Or maybe Sosuke was struggling to keep his emotions on check, as he always did. Either way, you were in no mood to talk to Kisuke any longer and your housemate’s outburst was strangely appreciated and supported by the offended part of you that shot a blank stare at the former Captain of the Gotei 13.

“I will probably regret saying it later on, but I have to agree with Sosuke. Let’s get this over with, Kisuke” you gingerly agreed with the brunette, before Ran jogged up to Kisuke and wrapped her arms around him, almost protectively, clinging onto the man for dear life.

And only then you caught a glimpse of Sosuke’s face, sternly witnessing to the scene unfolding before your eyes with a rather displeased expression on his face. Was it Ran the problem? Was he upset because Kisuke had accepted the mod-soul’s avances, while she was inhabiting your body? Oh, you could say so, the same glint of possessiviness you had spotted in his eyes yesterday night and early in the morning was back in his splendid irides. This felt awkwardly familiar. You remembered now some other occasions in which he had displayed latent intolerance at your interactions with other men. There was only one of the Espada he trusted around you and it was Ulquiorra. Grimmjow was not allowed to be around you, not after he had caught him tracking down your scent through the corridors of Las Noches, not after you had showed him empathy after he had lost his arm.

He could not let you alone for a second back then. Looking back at it, you were glad he always had your back. More than once, you asked yourself what would have happened to you, if he had not been there to stop Nnoitora from cornering you in a isolated area of the castle.

It was late at night in Las Noches. Looking for your sword, when most of the inhabitants of the palace were asleep, was easier than venturing through the corridors and rooms in the daylight. Deep down, you knew where your zanpakuto was. Still, you were too frightened by the idea of sneaking into that room, into ‘his’ room. Aizen Sosuke would have never trusted anyone to keep your blade but himself. If you wanted your blade back, you had to walk right his den. Walking into his private quarters, though, would have only meant giving him the occasion to get closer to you, to break down the fragile, crumbly wall you had tried to build between you two. You would have never admitted it out loud, not even to yourself, but there was something about him that made you feel free, completely capable of making mistakes and be yourself and not like you felt around the others, as if you were a microscopic ant under a magnifying glass for people to point out your flaws.

You liked him, oh you did, and this was a huge problem, the main reason why you were currently in denial.

You were so lost into the depths of your mind that you barely registered a slender figure approaching you with a Mephistophelian grin promising nothing but troubles and sufferings.

“Ah, what’s Aizen’s pet doing out of her cage?” Nnoitora asked you, tilting his head to the side as his eye scrutinized your body in a way that made your skin crawl. It was not the first time he did that, but the last time he had tried something Sosuke was there to stop him. His presence alone was enough to prevent any of the Hollows to display hostility and inappropriate gestures to you. How pathetic were you for wishing your captor was there to save you?

“I was just going back to my room” you flatly replied, twirling around hastily and making your way back to your bedroom.

It was pretty obvious you were not going to be safe there, not as you felt Nnoitra’s hand latch onto the column of your throat and pulling you back against him. Your eyes grew round, whilst you wriggled in his grasp, your hands attempting to create a barrier from his hand and your neck to let you breathe properly. Maybe, for the first time ever, you felt real fear. Was it not funny how you never felt such a baleful feeling around Sosuke, the worst man living in Hueco Mundo?

“Nnoitra, let me go” you hissed, scrunching your nose up in disgust when his free hand skimmed down the bare skin of your stomach, exposed for the design of your uniform.

The Espada at your back scoffed, his pointy nose gliding down your cheek, his tongue licking a stripe of your skin “Why would I do that? Hasn’t Lord Aizen taught you to be a good pet?” he mocked you, his grip on your neck tightening significantly.

Your vision became dotted, your breath cut short, as your strength began to leave your body. A victim of Nnoitora’s abuses was definitely a pitiful way to go down, or at least it would have been so, for a baritone voice piercing your ears saved your life. There, he was there to save you.

“Haven’t I taught you to keep your distance from her?” Aizen asked calmly, whilst the Espada dropped you instantly onto the floor.

You landed onto the ground on your hands and knees, panting, eyes watering in panic as you bit your tongue not to thank him. You oughted him your life, but being in debt with the very man you were supposed to kill was a stain on your moral code. Your pride was crumbling and you felt so embarrassed that you did not even realise that the Espada had left you alone with Sosuke in the desert corridor.

You did not realise it, until his hand cupped your cheek and you found him knelt in front of you, inspecting your body in search for possible injuries.

“Are you hurt?” he asked you, his thumb grazing your cheekbone, sending shivers down your spine.

Back in your room, you had to flee from there and lock yourself in your stupid room.

“No” you shortly whispered, staring deeply into his caramel brown eyes.

“What were you doing out of your room alone?”.

“I could not sleep”.

“Liar”.

You sighed, grasping his wrist to lower his hand from your face, your eyes averting from him to stare at the void at his back “It’s not your business, I just want to go back to my quarters now ”.

Sosuke did not seem to protest, not as he helped you back on your feet and silently led you to your room. His presence was not suffocating, not at all, but the words leaving his mouth before he wished you a good rest would have haunted you for days.

“I would not be pleased, if something happened to you”.

To pull you back from your small tour in the memories you had made in Las Noches was the mod-soul’s voice, ringing out in the living room as she protested to your request of making Kisuke leave.

“He’s not leaving! What is it, you go to the Soul Society and come back as a holier-than-thou bitch? It’s only fair I have my fun too!” Ran chirped out, narrowing her eyes as Kisuke tried to get free from her overly affectionate embrace.

If only she knew what you had been up to in the Soul Society, she would have definitely not said such a thing. With your eye twitching, you walked up to her and tangled your fingers in her hair, yanking her back towards you. Solving one problem at the time starting from her was the best decision ever and you were currently running out of patience.

Ran winced, hands flying up to try and set herself free from your grip, but you were faster than her “Listen up, you randy minx, if you like Kisuke that much I’ll gladly kick you out of my house as well. Bye and have fun with him!” you snarled, elbowing her on the stomach to let the small green pill pop out of your body. More than them leaving your house, you justed needed some peace.

Ran gagged, as the pill popped out of her mouth, the trajectory leading to Sosuke that quickly grasped it and stared in disdain at the small sphere in his hand. For a second, you got distracted, fearing he was going to destroy it and you let your now lifeless body onto the floor carelessly. It was true that you had gotten mad at Ran, but you did not wish for her to be eradicated from this world. Deep down, you cared about her, enough to gulp down forcefully and extending your hand towards him.

“Nice catch… Hand me Ran back, please” you stated politely.

Sosuke huffed “All it would take to get rid of this insignificant prick would be a mere snap of my fingers. — he reasoned, flicking his gaze up to look at you — Are you sure you want her back?” he inquired, making you regret having hit her all of a sudden and out of irritation.

“Hey, Ran isn’t a prick! She’s my creation and a being!” Kisuke interjected, stomping his foot as he took a step towards Sosuke, his tone actually serious after a long while.

“Is that what you do for a living now? — Sosuke sarcastically asked him, his gaze now transfixed on the shop-keeper — Creating girls for you to exploit?” he provoked him, but you were quick to stop Kisuke from sprinting towards him. Your arms were tightly wrapped around the man who had trained you, now your boss at the shop, a great friend, and your eyes were practically pleading him not to let things escalate.

Kisuke scoffed, grey eyes locking with yours “I will kill him for real this time” he asserted, only for you to shake your head and bring him back on Earth.

“You perfectly know it is impossible to do it”.

Sosuke watched you two almost disinterested in your conversation, rolling the pill between his fingers whilst exploring your flat. He had, in fact, noticed the gigai in the corridor. Albeit he was not a fan of this whole plan of him living in the World of the livings, he could at least enjoy some fresh air in a real body. Ignoring you two, he did not waste any precious time in possessing the gigai.

Catching a glimpse of what he was doing, you gawked and blinked a couple of times in curiosity “What… Oh, you found it” you noted, hearing Kisuke huff and fold his arms against his chest.

“It’s a regular gigai. You will experience all human needs: eating, sleeping, biological functions and impulses… — Kisuke explained, ambling towards the couch to grasp the tiger plushie you usually let Ran inhabiting — Hopefully, it will contain most of your reiatsu. As you can see, you have no cuffs, just the eye-patch. Wear it outside this flat, or I will literally come to stress the hell out of you” he admonished the brunette, before roughly snatching the pill from Sosuke’s hand and walking casually towards the front door. The way Kisuke had said ‘hopefully’ did not go unnoticed to you. Probably, the gigai was not ultimated. Shivers ran down your spine at the thought of Sosuke being a practical nuclear bomb.

Sosuke quirked his eyebrow up, running his fingers through his hair, getting comfortable in his new arrangement “Leave” he merely stated, making you roll your eyes, as you accompanied Kisuke to the exit.

Peace, the incoming peace was the only thing prompting you to collaborate. You were going to have a long talk with Sosuke, once alone, but nothing you could not deal with. After all, he could be reasonable, if he wanted. Well, not with everyone but with you he did. That weird way of getting along never ceased to amaze you.

Opening the door, you waved your hand at Kisuke “See you at work tomorrow, I guess” you said, only for Kisuke to shake his head and motion at the man at your back, leaning against the wall with an unreadable face. He always shut everyone out of his head. It was frustrating. You wanted to know what was going on inside his head, for once.

“Take a week to settle down with mister ‘I-am-a-god-kiss-my-ass’. You must be tired” Kisuke’s fatherly tone surprised you, but you gave up. No, you would have not passed off a chance to take some time for yourself and establish some rules for your new housemate.

“Thanks” you smiled weakly, watching Kisuke wink at you and leave your flat with his usual calm demeanor.

You did not wait for him to disappear from your sight: you walked back home, closing the door behind you and walking to the kitchen in a desperate need of a glass of water. Your back was facing the entrance, as you reached your hand up to the cupboard to grasp a glass.

You never got to reach it, though, not as you felt Sosuke’s fingers tangle in your hair and straining your neck back to face him. It was not a brutal grip, it was firm yet gentle. His breath was warm against your earlobe. Caged between the counter and his body, you did not move an inch, only curling your hands around the edge of the forniture. This could not go on. Was he going to jump on you at any given occasion?

“Sosuke—” you warned him, voice too soft for your own likings, but he hushed you.

“Go back into your body”.

“What—”.

“I don’t like to repeat myself” Sosuke demanded, before delicately nudging you towards the living room, his grip on your hair now gone completely. You had no idea of what he wanted, or why, but you just followed his instructions, slowly entering back into your real body, that was lying onto the floor at his feet. It was just for your sake, not to hear him bitching around any longer. This was what you told yourself.

Staring up at him from this position, you blinked up at Sosuke. You tried to understand what he wanted, the reason behind such a request, and you sat up, but the way he eagerly knelt next to you to grasp your jaw left you startled.

“What’s your deal now? We have tons of shit to do, we cannot waste our time like that” you protested, only for Sosuke to lean his face closer to yours and causing your breath to hitch in your throat. You expected a kiss, foolishly, a kiss that never came, but you ended up being asked a question that left you speechless.

His thumb played with your bottom lip, the pad running over it as he spoke “I need you to tell me if you taste his cum in your mouth”.

You stared at him with wide eyes, your mouth hanging open “Sosuke, what the fuck—”.

He cut you off, once again, getting on your nerves as he clamped your mouth shut forcefully “Focus on what you taste on your tongue” he insisted, making your blood boil in your veins. You did not even want to think about what Kisuke and Ran had been up to and now here he was, asking you to concentrate to detect the slightest taste of Kisuke’s release in your mouth.

You scoffed, fist clenching, while you tried to punch him straight on the nose. His large hand engulfing it, though, made you halt and you bristled in annoyance. He did not even have the rights to ask you about such a thing, let alone possibly feeling pissed about it.

“You are sick, you know that?” you bitterly fired back, only to suddenly realise you actually felt a sour taste in the back of your throat. Your brows furrowed, nose scrunching up as you inhaled sharply through your nose. Well, how ironic it was Kisuke had really come down Ran’s throat, while in your body? Awesome!

You stood up abruptly, Sosuke’s jaw clenching, obviously putting the pieces together “Wash your teeth. I don’t want to smell that stench in your mouth” he coldly asserted, only for you to turn around again and jab your finger at him.

“Hey, that’s my life, my body, my choices. I already made it painly clear that I did not appreciate what’s happened. I don’t need you to boss me around, or defend me” you blurted out, heart thrumming against your ribcage so violently you thought you were going to pass out. Genuinely frustrated, full of rage, mostly irritation for your own feelings, for the things you wished had never happened and the ones you actually would have loved to become true, you cussed under your back.

You hated how he acted like your boyfriend at times, how a friend would, and how possessive he had grown to be through the time you spent together. Your standards had been molded on him, on what he had let you see that one time you really met him before you were even dragged to the Soul Society and for the good man he had let you believe he was.

“You only ever blame everything on me, do you? Is that because it’s easier to hate me than hating your own feelings?” he dispassionately replied, not moving an inch from where he was standing.

If a blade had went clean through your heart, it would have hurt less than his words. Why did he always have to be right? Why did he read you so easily, bringing out all of your fears and thoughts you pushed in the back of your mind?

Your mouth felt like chalk. Standing a few feet away from him, you bit the insides of your cheeks not to lash out and show more vulnerability to the very man who had made mind control his job.

“I won’t stand here and listen to you give me a sermon about feelings, when you can’t even cope with yours” you mumbled, staggering towards the bathroom before tears could spill out from your eyes.

“I heard you liked reading. That’s my private collection. You can come here whenever you want” Sosuke said, standing right beside you in the middle of a large library. Glass bookcases were outlined all around you two, ladders pushed against each of them, crystal chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling above your heads.

You would have never imagined Las Noches hid such a magnificent room within its walls. You were genuinely in awe, your eyes wandering in every angle of the room to explore it. Who had told him you enjoyed reading? Probably, just like he had done with your brother, he had studied each and every move of yours.

“Do you come here often?” you asked him, hand gliding over the smooth surface of a desk, not a grain of dust coated your fingers. He probably sent his servants to clean up the place regularly. A man of power and control who loved stability would have never let his posessions decay.

“Quite often, yes” he replied promptly, keeping a comfortable distance between you two, albeit his eyes never left your frame. He had learned everything about you. Your body language, your reactions to certain provocations, your likings even.

You sighed, turning around to face him “Why would I come here, risking to bump into you then?” quirking your eyebrow up expectantly. After all, you would have rather avoided meeting him more than it was stri ctly necessary. While reading a novel could provide you a form of escapism, his presence would have not helped you relax.

Sosuke faintly smiled, a rare one, before looking straight at an undefined point ahead of him “Because humans make sacrifices for love. I believe you would be persistent enough to keep on reading, if I supposedly ruined your moment of peace with my presence”.

Smart man. He always knew exactly what to do and say.

You straightened your back, resting the small of your back against the edge of the desk “And what do you know about love? You are the last person I expect to talk about human passions. If you can’t feel it, you can’t describe it”.

“Pretty arrogant assertion, Y/N. Why would you say my knowledge of feelings doesn’t come from experience?” he asked you in return, hands behind his back as if he was having just a common conversation.

“Because you can’t feel love. You never did, you never will and surely you don’t feel it now. — you confidently replied, eyes locked with his whilst he listened to you in interest — Your data are the product of the empiric observations of people you met, or novels you have read” you bitterly punctuated.

Maybe you wished to be correct. You really did, but Sosuke never told you if you were right, nor if you were wrong. He simply smiled again, closing his eyes for a few seconds before leaving you there, alone in one of his favorite places, a place he never allowed people to explore.

In the end, you were brilliant, but not observant.

To bring you back to reality was the doorbell ringing. Who could it be now? Considering Kisuke had left and your father did not even knoq you were back yet, you found yourself sprinting out of the bathroom in a rush. You could not risk Sosuke messing up your life by interacting with whomever was requiring your presence. By the time you reached the front door, though, you felt your stomach churn. Sosuke had already opened the door and was apparently striking up a cordial conversation with your obnoxious neighbour who loved gossip. Of course she had to barge in today.

“Mrs. Watanabe, it’s good to see you” you stated, approaching Sosuke, who made space for you to stand next to him on the threshold. Now, the real question was: what the Hell did Sosuke tell her?

“There she is. — the woman piped out, displaying a fake smile that made you want to headbutt her — As I was saying to this handsome man, I did not mean to interrupt anything, but I wanted to ask you if you could be a dear and watch over my daughter tomorrow. I have important matters to take care of and I won’t be home until late in the evening” the woman said, eyeing you suspiciously.

The urge to escape into the Soul Society was quite strong as you suppressed a big ‘go fuck yourself’ threatening to leave your mouth. Instead, you smiled at her and nodded your head “Yes, of course. I’ll be glad to help a fellow woman” you stated, flinching as she bursted out laughing in her typical enervating high-pitched tone that you loathed oh so much.

“Oh, thanks, dear! You know, with the amount of boys I’ve seen come and go from your flat the past few weeks, I thought you were way too busy and tired to watch over Aoi!” the hag chortled, your eye twitching as you scoffed.

Ran. What the Hell had that mod-soul done?

It was time for Sosuke to step in, however, as he cleared his throat “I beg your pardon, ma’am, but my girlfriend and I are quite busy now. I have recently decided to move in her flat and we have to unbox my stuff” Sosuke smoothly interjected, watching the way the woman in front of you gaped at the unexpected news.

My girlfriend and I. My girlfriend and I.

It took you way too long to react and let his words sink in, his arm was already enveloping your waist, pulling you against his chest. He had really screwed up this time. You wanted to protest, you really did, but, when you opened your mouth and no words came out of it, all you could do was watching in horror the way he waved his hand at the woman and the door closed with a click. Panic. You were absolutely going to explode right on that spot as you shoved him off of you roughly, hand gripping the collar of his white shirt to make him lean down at your level.

“I had fucking told you not to interfer with my life. What the Hell did you just do?” you hissed through gritted teeth, whilst he smiled down at you in his own special way. In the way that had made you blush, the first time you met.

Sosuke hummed “She implied you were a whore. I saved your reputation” he defended himself, before grasping your wrist delicately and nudging you towards the wall.

Your back flattened against it, his hands pinning yours above your head as he let his nose brush against yours “Unless you would like to feed her fantasy and let her spread the news you are, indeed, a cheap whore. In that case, I can fuck you hard enough to make your throat burn for the screams you will let out” he whispered, before stepping back all of a sudden and leaving you slump down onto the floor with your cheeks on fire and your breath labored.

Shunsui Kyoraku was going to be responsible for your death, for Sosuke was gradually poisoning you.

AUTHOR NOTE.

Hello there! Thanks to everyone who is invested in this story! Your support is greatly appreciated, really. Getting down to business, what do you think of Urahara and Ran? I know she was technically in our body, but it was necessary in order to get a certain reaction from our beloved special threat, oops! I will probably give Ran a proper body, beside the plushie form ✨ Also, seeing the reader dealing with a kid will give Sosuke ideas. Trust me.

Until next,

x o x o

TAGS: @pseudowho @seireiteihellbutterfly @onyxino @areyouflying @bakugosgirl01 @noirfan12 @velaenaa

[offtorivendell]

Is this proof that the mating bonds of the High Fae were corrupted along with Prythian's Cauldron? What might this mean for Azriel and Elain Archeron?

This post was written for @azrielappreciationweek Day 5: No Need For Poetry

Disclaimer: this is a theory that, while based on the text, makes no claim of being canon. My thanks as always go out to @wingedblooms, @elrieldreamer, @ladynightcourt3, @psychologynerd and anyone else who tolerates my nattering. And don't worry, this isn't nearly as long as my last post. 😂

Spoilers: the entire Maasverse to date is discussed.

High Fae and their mating bonds

@wingedblooms recently made a great observation: that the witches from Erilea had once taken up the Fae habit of "selecting" their mates. This especially caught my eye as I have previously theorised that all Singers could be witches or sorcerers of a sort. I think @psychologynerd also mentioned the same passage when she discussed the possibility of Azriel being a witch prince, which I absolutely hope is true.

The crone read her question in her eyes. “Our men dwell at our homes, where they are safe. This camp is an outpost while we conduct our business.” The Crochans had always given birth to more males than the Ironteeth, and had adopted the Fae habit of selecting mates—if not a true mating bond, then in spirit. She’d always thought it outlandish and strange. Unnecessary. - KOA, chapter 15

It even pairs nicely with the following quote, which @silverlinedeyes included in her discussion about true mates possibly being a bond type all of its own.

“After your mother never returned, your father was asked to couple with another young witch. He was the sole carrier of the Crochan bloodline, you see, and should your mother and you not have survived the birthing, it would end with him. He didn’t know what had happened to either of you. If you were alive, or dead. Didn’t even know where to look. So he agreed to do his duty, agreed to help his dying people.” Her great-grandmother smiled sadly. “All who met Tristan loved him.” Tristan. That had been his name. Had her grandmother even known it before she’d killed him? “A young witch was chosen for him especially. But he did not love her—not with your mother as his true mate, the song of his soul. Tristan made it work nonetheless. Rhiannon was the result of that.” - KOA, chapter 15

Those on their own were very interesting finds, but when we combine them with the now-canon fact that, per Silene's message, Prythian's Cauldron has indeed been corrupted, it shines the following passage from ACOMAF in an entirely new light.

The Cauldron was of our world, our heritage. But upon arriving here, the Daglan captured it and used their powers to warp it. To turn it from what it had been into something deadlier. No longer just a tool of creation, but of destruction. And the horrors it produced … those, too, my parents would turn to their advantage. - HOFAS, chapter 19

I held out my own glass for Mor to fill. “He does need unusual amounts of coddling.” Azriel choked on his wine, and I met his gaze—warm for once. Soft, even. I felt Rhys tense beside me and quickly looked away from the spymaster. A glance at the guilt in Rhys’s eyes told me he was sorry. And fighting it. So strange, the High Fae with their mating and primal instincts. So at odds with their ancient traditions and learning. - ACOMAF, chapter 56

So at odds with their ancient traditions and learning.

Feyre suggested the primal instincts of the high fae mating bonds - at least as they currently exist - were "at odds" with their ancient traditions and learning.

Does this not sound like we should be questioning everything, especially in light of the information we learnt in HOFAS, which confirmed what some of us had previously wondered about the Cauldron having been tampered* with? It makes me wonder what, exactly, made these two facets of the current high fae become so at odds with each other.

* Kudos to @fawnandshadows for that brainwave years ago!

Why can Azriel smell the bond between Elain and Lucien before it has been consummated? That shouldn't be possible, especially as - like Cassian - he simply "suspected" that Feyre and Rhys were mates in early ACOMAF. Unless there's something we don't yet know, Amren was the only one who knew without being told.

Further, why does proximity to the "bondmates" become too much for even such a hardened soldier to bear? This doesn't seem normal.

Why does the Cauldron's magic appear to be associated with oiliness?

It has to be the Cauldron's corruption, right?

What if Azriel has been right all along... what if the Cauldron was wrong?

So... Azriel and Elain Archeron?

We know that Azriel's shadows can hide him from binding magic, such as the contract Thesan created to keep the peace in the High Lords' meeting.

Azriel squeezed, Eris thrashing beneath him. No physical brawling—there had been a rule against that, but Azriel, with whatever power those shadows gave him … “Enough, Azriel,” Rhys ordered. Perhaps those shadows that now slid and eddied around the shadowsinger hid him from the wrath of the binding magic. The others made no move to interfere, as if wondering the same. - ACOWAR, chapter 45

@mrspettyferr has previously wondered if this part of the shadows' power could have been why a true bond didn't snap between Azriel and Elain while at Hybern, either when she was in/freshly out of the Cauldron (or with Mor previously, if it turns out they share some sort of bond); do his shadows hide him from the binding magic/contract of a mating bond? Especially as SJM has used the term "shackled." It is an incredibly interesting thought, as I had only ever considered this ability in terms of defensive magic, and is part of the reason why I first took note of the passage below. Of course, we still need to answer why a mating bond would generate with Lucien in the absence of Azriel's soul; was there some sort of external interference, such as the Cauldron itself, or is it simply part of the function of at least one of the hypothesised bonds to snap into place if the nearby match is "good enough" for strong children?

@wingedblooms and I have previously discussed the potential for an evolution of the current mating bond (here and here), and many theories exist about how the bond may be dissolved. Will it be Nesta or Elain who use the power of the Cauldron to unMake it; will it be Truth-Teller severing the Elucien bond, per sleepyliv and @riddlecrux; or did Lucien and his spell-cleaving heritage unintentionally pull their bond thread loose and begin its unravelling back in ACOWAR, as once suggested by @nikethestatue.

Assuming that whatever exists between Elain and Lucien can be unMade, of course, I wonder if Azriel's shadows/magic could contribute in some way towards him "selecting" his own mate in the future, after reading the following exchange.

“No one’s got any rope?” Bryce asked pathetically. She was met with incredulous silence. Bryce nodded to Azriel. “Those shadows of yours could take form—they caused that cave-in. Can’t you, like, make a bridge or something? Or your blue light … you seemed to think it could have restrained the Wyrm. Make a rope with that.” His brows rose. “Neither of those things is remotely possible. The shadows are made of magic, just very condensed. These”—he motioned to the blue stones in his armor—“concentrate my power and allow me to craft it into things that resemble weapons. But they’re still only magic—power.” - HOFAS, chapter 16

Cassian gawked at Azriel, and I wondered how often Azriel had lent out that blade— Never, Rhys said from where he finished buckling on his own weapons against the side of the wagon. I have never once seen Azriel let another person touch that knife. Elain looked up at Azriel, their eyes meeting, his hand still lingering on the hilt of the blade. I saw the painting in my mind: the lovely fawn, blooming spring vibrant behind her. Standing before Death, shadows and terrors lurking over his shoulder. Light and dark, the space between their bodies a blend of the two. The only bridge of connection … that knife. - ACOWAR, chapter 69

Why did we learn that Azriel's shadows cannot make any sort of "bridge" or "rope" (aka a cord of woven threads, which is very reminiscent of a mating bond) to reach across the gap? It seems pretty symbolic to me, and marries nicely with Truth-Teller being described as "bridging the gap" between Elain and Azriel in ACOWAR's pre-war meadow scene. Will Azriel's shadows or siphons be able to help nullify the Elucien bond somehow? What about creation?

Purification?

I know @wingedblooms and @ladynightcourt3, at least, join me in my suspicions that - similar to Yrene in KOA - Elain's magic/light could purify a Valg (or similar) infestation from Azriel's shadows, which we now know are really condensed magic. If this is possible, could Az's shadows - once purified by Elain, of course (assuming Valg or similar corruption to the Cauldron, with Elain as the "executioner") - help to bridge the gap between his and Elain's souls with his magic, to meet hers half way? Thereby having Azriel and Elain "select" each other as true mates, just like the witches in Erilea once did?

Why did SJM say that Truth-Teller was bridging the gap between the two? Was it because it had been charged with sunlight and/or Elain's own light enough to begin negating a possible Valg infection in Azriel's magic, or that it will be charged enough to do so at some point in the future? Or will Gwydion or Truth-Teller's magics help to cleanse the hypothetically corrupted Cauldron bond that currently exists between Elain and Lucien? There are so many possibilities going forward.

Whatever ends up happening, this all seems very symbolic. Especially once you add in all of the "purity language" (not my term) that SJM used between Elain and Azriel. Imagine the pay off if it was always suggesting that Azriel sensed Elain's light could cleanse his magic and free him from Valg (or other) corruption?

That would be amazing foreshadowing. Sorry.

[in-kaeya-we-thrust]

M!ik Mafia AU Chapter 16 Thoughts

There are a lot of things, events rather, to talk about in this chapter, but this specific panel intrigued me the most.

Who could be the person who paid Dali (sensei) to give that information to Alice?

WHY would that person want Alice to side with Babel?

Of course, that person is a woman, as seen in the panel.

Let's all go back to Chapter 12 where Iruma visited Raim (sensei) on a Cabaret to ask her about human trafficking. As Asmodeus walked out, Raim-san followed him.

When I first saw this, I just thought that maybe they met on a certain mission in the past. Or Alice has visited the cabaret before while being on undercover.

But have you ever thought that MAYBE they know each other because of Asmodeus Amuryllis? In the original manga, even in the anime, it was revealed that Raim-sensei is one of Amu-chan's best students. Since this is a canon parallel world (Osamu Nishi said that if demons didn't exist, this would be Iruma's life), it's highly possible that they also have this teacher-student relationship.

Now, jumping onto the next chapter, Chapter 13 showed us a flashback of Alice's childhood and how Amu-chan was also a member of the national police.

Unfortunately, due to certain circumstances, rumors said that Amu-chan collided with a criminal organization and died during the incident but no body was found.

Don't you think this sounds a bit familiar? Doesn't this parallel Asmodeus' current situation?

As soon as Asmodeus hesitated to fulfill his mission (kill Iruma), the National Police immediately acted, sending assassins to Asmodeus' apartment. In other words, they want him dead. For what? For not shooting Iruma straight in the heart? Isn't that a bit unreasonable to kill someone?

Following this, as per chapter 16, Dali-san said that the National Police was planning to burn the whole auction down.

He KNEW that Alice would come. It is stated in the chapter that the amount of gunpowder was enough to burn EVERYONE in the building, that includes Asmodeus.

What if the same tragedy happened to his mother, Asmodeus Amuryllis?

What if the rumors about Amu-chan colliding with criminals were made by the national police themselves? What if they were never criminals in the first place?

Considering that her body has not yet been found, what if all this time, she's alive, hidden by a certain organization?

Maybe Babel's? Maybe Delkira's? (considering that she's a thirteen crown)

With that, it would come down to my main theory of this chapter.

What if Amu-chan wanted Asmodeus out of the National Police and bring him into Babel instead? It's possible that she's the one who paid Dali-san for the safety of her son.

That's just a theory, though.

I would like to hear your thoughts about this chapter too!!