#Had to compress the image so it would fit

[sweetdreams1994]

Chapter Three: New Feelings

Summary

As a hardworking trainee, you’ve spent years pushing yourself to debut. When the final evaluation comes, you’re chosen as the sole candidate—but what you don’t realize is that your fate was already sealed. BTS, the seven men you idolized, manipulated everything to make sure you were theirs.

At first, their attention feels like a blessing to aid you as a trainee. Then, it becomes suffocating. Their possessiveness turns them against each other, each one willing to destroy the others just to have you alone.

⚠️ Content Warnings: ⚠️

Intense competition & high pressure, Verbal & emotional manipulation, Psychological stress & anxiety, Mild violence & aggression, Favoritism & corruption, Strong language, smut, y/n is 18+

The ride to the house was quiet, but not in an uncomfortable way. The air buzzed with an unspoken tension, a mix of anticipation and curiosity. You sat in the backseat, staring out the tinted windows as the city lights blurred past. Every so often, you could feel Jungkook glancing at you through the rearview mirror, his gaze lingering just a little too long before flicking back to the road.

When the car finally pulled up to the grand house that would be your home for the next week, your breath hitched. It was massive, sleek, and modern, yet it exuded a warmth that made it feel more like a home rather than just another HYBE facility.

Namjoon led you inside, gesturing for you to follow as he walked through the halls. "Your room is ready," he said, his voice smooth and confident. "We made sure it suited you."

That statement made an uneasy feeling settle in your stomach. How could they have possibly known what would suit you? But as soon as Namjoon pushed open the door to your room, your breath caught in your throat.

The room was perfect. Almost eerily so.

The walls were a soft pink pastel, the kind of color you would have picked yourself. The bed was adorned with plush pillows and delicate lace-trimmed sheets. The closet doors were slightly ajar, revealing racks of clothes in your exact size and style. Dresses, skirts, blouses—hyper-feminine, delicate, and elegant. Even the vanity was stocked with your preferred makeup brands, perfumes you had never mentioned to anyone as they were expensive, but adored, and skincare products tailored specifically to your routine.

It was as if they had plucked the image straight from your mind.

You swallowed thickly, stepping further inside, fingers grazing over the expensive fabric of your bedding. "How did you—"

"We made sure you had everything you needed," Namjoon cut in smoothly, watching your every reaction. "You should rest. Tomorrow will be intense."

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The next morning, you were awoken by a soft knock on the door. Before you could even respond, the door creaked open, and Jungkook peeked inside, a mischievous grin on his face.

"Rise and shine, princess. Time to work out."

Still groggy, you sat up, giving him a view of your collar bones that had his heart racing. 

“Already?”

Jungkook chuckled, eyes turning into crescents as his bunny-like smile made an appearance. "No time to waste. We need to build up your stamina and physique." His eyes flickered over you briefly, his gaze unreadable. "Get dressed and meet me in the gym."

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Forty minutes later, you stepped into the private training room, wearing a baby blue fitted workout set that clung to your body in ways that made you slightly self-conscious in the presence of such objectively attractive men. Jungkook was already there, stretching his arms behind his head, his toned muscles flexing under the fabric of his black compression shirt.

He watched as you approached, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips at the sight of your nervous expression. Perfect he thought to himself. 

"We’ll start with stretching. Don’t want you pulling anything right."

You nodded, following his lead as he guided you through each movement. With every stretch, he would adjust your posture, his hands firm but perhaps lingering just a second too long. His touch was hot against your skin, and you had to force yourself to focus.

Once stretching was done, Jungkook clapped his hands together. "Alright, let's warm up. Give me a few sprints on the treadmill and then we'll move to some strength training."

You obeyed, feeling his eyes on you as you jumped. He watched every movement, noting the way your muscles tensed and flexed, how your body moved. There was something almost predatory in the way he observed you, like he was analyzing every part of you, taking in every detail for himself. Although you assumed it was just learned from years of people doing the same with him. 

"Good," he murmured. "Now we’ll move on to some squats. Come here."

You set yourself up at the squat rack, adjusting your stance while looking in the mirror infront of you. Your ears heated up at the sight, Jungkook standing behind you brooding frame towering over yours as he looked over your form.  Slowly he placed his hands on your hips as he looked into your eyes through the mirror. "Lower your stance a bit," he instructed, his breath hot against your ear. "Like this."

Heat crawled up your spine, but you nodded, following his guidance. Every movement felt magnified under his gaze, every breath sharp and shallow. The weight of his hands, the way he corrected your form—it was all too much.

After going through a series of weighted squats, planks, and core exercises, Jungkook smirked, wiping the sweat from his forehead, chest heaving. "Time for some boxing. It’s a good full body workout."

Your breath was already ragged, but you nodded, stepping onto the mat. Jungkook handed you a pair of gloves, seemingly also bought specifically for you, before putting on his own.

"We’ll go easy, " he promised, though you didn’t miss the glint in his eyes that said otherwise.

At first, the sparring was light. He let you get in a few weak jabs, laughing when your punches barely made an impact. But soon, he started pushing you—blocking, dodging, forcing you to move faster.

"Come on, Y/N," he taunted, smirking as he dodged another hit. "You can do better than that."

Gritting your teeth, you swung again. This time, he caught your wrist, using your own momentum against you as he twisted, bringing you down to the mat face down. Before you could react, you found yourself pinned beneath him, his body straddling yours.

Your breath hitched.

Jungkook was close. Too close. His weight pinned you down, his breath fanning against the back of your neck. His eyes darkened as they flickered down to your hands clasped in his behind your back, then back up to your wide eyes.

A slow smirk curled at his lips. "You should be more careful," he murmured, his voice low and teasing. "Wouldn’t want to get hurt."

Your entire body burned. You tried to push him off, but his grip tightened just slightly, his fingers pressing into your wrists.

For a moment, neither of you moved. The tension between you was suffocating, electric.

Then, finally, Jungkook let out a chuckle, releasing you and standing up. He offered you a hand, still grinning as he pulled you to your feet.

"Not bad for your first time," he mused. "Tomorrow, we’ll go even harder."

You swallowed, your heart still racing as you avoided his gaze. "Yeah... sure."

Jungkook simply smirked, not sensing the unease and shyness in your voice, grabbing his water bottle before leading you out of the gym. As you followed him back to the car, you couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the beginning.

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The ride back to the house was quiet, but not uncomfortable. You stared out the window, still processing the morning’s events. The sun had risen higher, casting a golden glow over the streets as Jungkook drove, one hand gripping the wheel tightly. Every so often, you felt his gaze flicker toward you, but you didn’t dare meet it. Not after everything that had just happened in the gym.

When you arrived back at the house, you barely had time to catch your breath before Jin found you.

"Come help me in the kitchen," he said with a smile. "The chef has the day off, and I could use an assistant."

Still flushed from the workout, you followed him, grateful for the change of pace. Cooking with Jin was unexpectedly calming. He was patient, guiding you through simple tasks, occasionally teasing you when you fumbled.

“Ah ah no no thinner than that darling.” Jin exclaimed as he came up behind you, wrapping his body around yours to grab your hands and guide you cutting the zucchini.

“It won’t cook evenly with the other elements if they aren’t the same thickness.”

You blushed for two reasons. One, embarrassment from your inexperience in cooking. Two, because Jin, a kind hearted, talented, and handsome man, was smiling, guiding you so closely. 

A deep blush painted your face. Your face and hands heated up as well, something Jin noticed as a smirk crossed his face and he tightened his hands on yours.

There was nothing and no one his charm couldn't get him.

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"You’re not bad at this you know," he admitted as you plated the food. "You should help me more often."

You giggled. "I wouldn’t mind. This is actually kind of fun."

Jin stared at you for a moment, something softening in his gaze. It was different from the others—it wasn’t possessive, wasn’t overwhelming. It was just… warm.

"You’re easy to be around, you know that?" he said with a quiet voice, mesmerizing eyes meeting yours.

You felt your heart skip a beat. "I… Thanks, I guess."

Jin chuckled, reaching over to brush a stray strand of hair from your face. "No need to be shy. I like talking to you."

Before you could respond, the moment shattered when Jungkook walked in.

His eyes landed on you immediately, then drifted to Jin. His jaw clenched.

"What’s for lunch?" Jungkook asked, his voice clipped.

Jin, oblivious to the sudden shift in energy, continued plating the food. "Spicy pork. Y/N helped. She’s a natural."

Jungkook’s eyes flickered back to you. "Oh?"

Something about his tone made your stomach tighten. He wasn’t teasing anymore. He was staring at you like you had betrayed him.

You swallowed hard. The warmth from moments ago had disappeared, replaced by an intensity that left you breathless.

Jin, sensing the tension but choosing to ignore it, continued with a lighthearted smile. "She did well. Maybe I should keep her as my permanent assistant."

Jungkook scoffed, stepping closer, his presence suddenly overwhelming. "That’s funny. Because I thought she was training. Not playing house."

You flinched at the sharpness in his tone. Jin frowned, setting down the plate. "Relax, Jungkook. She just helped with lunch. No need to get possessive."

Jungkook’s gaze never left yours. "I’m not possessive. Just… surprised. She didn’t seem so comfortable earlier."

His words were loaded, and you knew exactly what he meant. He was referring to the gym—the way you had struggled beneath him, the way you had reacted when he had you pinned. Your face heated.

Jin sighed, placing a hand on your back, rubbing gentle circles in an attempt to ease the tension. "Ignore him, Y/N. He’s just grumpy because he didn’t get to win against you."

Jungkook’s jaw tightened. "You think I was trying to win?"

Jin smirked. "I think you wanted to prove something."

Jungkook’s nostrils flared, but he said nothing. Instead, he grabbed a plate and turned away sharply, stalking toward the dining table. The air in the room was thick, suffocating, as if you were caught between something dangerous.

Jin leaned down, whispering so only you could hear. "Be careful with him. He doesn’t like sharing."

You weren’t sure what to say to that, so you simply nodded. Really, you weren’t even sure what he mean’t by that. But even as you sat down to eat, feeling Jin’s comforting presence beside you, you could feel Jungkook’s eyes boring into you from across the table.

And something told you this wasn’t the last time you’d find yourself caught in his storm.

[slushnubwrites]

Room Secrets

Tw: Smut/Sexual content

(Hii this is my first tumblr post/writing I hope whoever reads this enjoys. I thought this man was toooo fine, and needed more stories, if there are any spelling mistakes I am sorry english is not my first language. I also appreciate feedback just please don't be mean!!)

Kwon Jae-Sun, ever since my team Miyagi do & I got to the Sekai Taikai he was a prick. He was Cobra Kai's captain so of course he'd be an ass. Any chance to try and start a fight he'd take it, any chance for a snarky remark he'd take it, he was an asshole, and to piss me off more he'd make flirtatious comments, and send me winks here and there, but I never took him seriously. I hated him, hated his team, hated how he fought, hated how he always had a stupid smirk on his face, hated his attractive accent, hated how his hair was cute, spiky, and perfectly framed his face. I hated his face, his really good looking face that was hard to look away from. I hated him, but it was hard to deny, and say that he wasn't hot cuz God was he hot.

After all teams had been announced they told us to gather at the aquarium for something like a "field trip" so we'd all get to know each other and make "friends". Did they think that would actually work when all we want is to rip each other's heads off? It was so boring, but eventually everyone could depart. I'm walking around, and hear a couple of cheers and laughs, as i'm about to walk in, the crowd dies down, and people start walking out. I decided to wait for my team to walk out since everyone was leaving, and lucky me to see Kwon walk out and walk up to me.

"Hey princess if you need place to sleep feel free to come knock on my door now that I have your friend's room" he said it with a dumb grin on his face. "What are you talking about?" you asked annoyed and confused written all over your face. "Ask your loser teammates who can't kick" he starts walking away but right before that, he leans into your ear, you feel his breath on your cheek sending a shiver down your body as he whispers "and i'm not joking about the room sweetheart" you could hear the dumb smirk in his voice. "In your dreams" you say with a snarl, "every night" he whispers again, with that he walks off with a wink and smug look on his face. You start to picture some questionable images with what Kwon said, but you know you shouldn't, and quickly stop yourself, you bite your cheek and start looking for your friends.

You walk up to your defeated looking team in a small huddle. Robby looking the most disappointed and Miguel having an "I told you so" face. "Hello?? what happened, and why is Kwon walking out with your room keys??" You glare at each of them searching for an answer. Demetri speaks up "Robby here gambled our room over a stupid kicking competition". "I'm sorry okay!" Robby exclaimed defeatedly. "Okay well whatever happened get over it no distractions, you can stay in the girls room, just don't be idiots next time, c'mon" I tried to be positive but hated that now i'd have to share a room with four extra people.

It was time to sleep now after the guys brought in their things, found a way to fit themselves on the floor, and had an argument that made me want to kick their heads off. I lay awake in bed, I couldn't sleep, thoughts and nerves racing through my mind. There was something else though, I was trying my hardest to ignore it, my hardest to shake it out of my mind. That spiky hair, those bold black eyes, him in that compression shirt that hugged his figure. "Stop it" I thought to my self, it wasn't right to think about him like that, he was on the rival team, he was in Cobra Kai.

I get up and walk to the restroom, my eyes sting a bit from the brightness, I put cold water on my face trying to ignore every thought. I know I won't be able to sleep, and suddenly I remember something from earlier. "If you need a place to sleep feel free to come knock on my door". "No I can't do that" I thought to myself. Plus he was joking, then you remembered his words "and i'm not joking about the room sweetheart". No there's no way, he couldn't actually be serious...right? I mean we hated each other.

I hated myself for what I was doing, I knew this was wrong, I wanted to punch myself for this, but I couldn't get myself to stop or turn around, or even think right about what the hell I was doing. Maybe I should just go back to my room, but I was too close and tired to go back now. I'm standing in front of his door, or what I hoped was his since he won both. I prayed that I wouldn't embarrass myself more if his teammate was in this one.

I lightly knocked on the door, after a few seconds I convinced myself that maybe he or whoever was behind the door was asleep. Plus my fear was telling me that I should just go back, as I'm about to turn I hear the door knob move. I almost shit myself as the door opens, and there I see him, black sweats, red shirt, wet hair, God looking hot as ever. Water was dripping from his neck into his shirt sticking to his chest, and the water dripping down his veiny buff arms were not helping my imagination either, he honestly looked lick-able.

"I'm so stupid why am I here"?? I mentally yelled at myself. "Hey princess my bad I was getting out of shower when you knocked". "It's okay I was about to go back, I figured you were asleep since it's late" I say with a light smile. He returns a really faint smile saying " No, I practiced with Kreese for a few extra hours that's why". "Oh okay, well I should go, you must be tired, and I'm sorry if I bothered I just-". He cuts me off and with a smirk says "I wasn't joking when I said you could come to the room you know?, so don't worry. I am not tired, I train hard everyday, harder than your team could ever imagine". I scoff and roll my eyes, God he is always a cocky asshole, "okay well if you weren't joking I do need a place to sleep, I can't seem to shake any thoughts and nerves away". "Why princess you can't stop thinking of me"?, I scoff "Yeah you wish, now can I come in before somebody sees us".

"Yes ma'am" he says with a light chuckle opening the door wide enough for me to walk in, God I hated him, but I can't deny that made me feel something. I'm walking in and surprisingly it was really neat, I feel his eyes burn holes into my back as I keep walking. He closes the door and I hear it lock, I start feeling nervous, it gets quiet, but not awkward. I walk to the bed on the right, I get on the side to the nightstand, and set my phone down. I turn to ask him a question, not realizing how close he was, our bodies basically pressing together. My breath hitches, we make eye contact and I instantly look away trying to remember what I was going to ask "Um s-so-" he leans in and I feel his breath on my face as he towers over me. "What's wrong are you nervous"? he smirks and whispers as if we're not the only ones in the room.

I try to keep my composure but it's so difficult when he's only a few inches away from my face. "N-no" God why'd I have to stutter, I mentally palm my face. I look up at him and he knows I'm nervous, I want to wipe that smirk off his dumb hot face, he starts talking "Okay well we should go to sleep" he starts to turn. I know I shouldn't, I know it's dumb, and we're rivals, but I couldn't help myself. We were here, alone, no one had to know so why not. I hated him, but I couldn't deny how attractive he was, and the things he made me feel.

Before he makes a full turn I grab the edge of his sweatpants and lightly pull him back, "wait". He looks at me with a blend of curiosity, and confusion on his face. "Is something wrong"? he asks. I slowly let go of his sweats "Um no I was just thinking that um, I don't know uh" I was trying to get the confidence to say it but it was too hard to think with him staring at me waiting for my answer. "Whatever you need to say, say it" he says with a hint of concern. "Why'd you invite me to come here? I mean we've both been nothing but rude and snarky to each other. We basically hate each other" I say it with concern, and speed trying to get it all out without getting nervous.

He chuckles, and gets even closer to me, he grabs my chin making me look up at him, "I do not hate you, not one bit, yeah I like to mess with you, because it is cute to see you get all mad at me". I open my mouth to say something but he cuts me off "I invite you here because we can be alone, no senseis, no teams to bother us. Of course if you want to sleep then we will, and if you want something else we can do that too" that last sentence was laced with something else like he wanted me to pick the something else. I wanted it yes, but I was too afraid to say it, and yes we're alone, but part of me felt like I was betraying my team.

I ignored my thoughts, and quickly worked up a bit of courage "I want the something else" I whispered with not as much confidence as him, "okay, and what would that be"? he said it like a question, but I knew he knew. "Our senseis and teams would kill us you know"? I reminded him, but honestly I wasn't sure if I cared anymore. He moves his hand from my chin and cups my cheek "You think I care what they do? I've wanted you since I saw you walk in to the Sekai Taikai, I needed you since then". Hearing him say that made me snap, in that moment all my fear, and all thoughts about karate disappeared. "Kwon kiss me" I grip the collar of his shirt, and he grabs my hips with his other hands. Our lips clash, the kissing is slow at first, gentle, his lips are soft and I don't want to ever stop . Slowly we start to speed up, breathing is getting harder but neither of us wants to stop first. We pull apart for a second, our foreheads against each other's, we start to catch our breaths he looks at me and whispers "are you sure you want to do this?" "I'm sure".

With that we press our lips back together, he picks me up my legs wrap around his torso, I grab the back of his hair and tug a bit. He moans and slips his tongue in my mouth, he's holding both my legs with his arms and moves us to his bed. I'm now straddling him still playing with his hair, he moves his hands to the end of my shirt and slowly pulls it off of me. I move a bit back admiring him as he pulls off his red shirt. His biceps flexing as he pulls his shirt fully off of his head. I can feel him hard underneath his sweats, and I start to grind on him, I hear him groan as he starts unclipping my bra and helps me take it off. He flips us over and cups my cheek, he looks at me with a sweet, and hungry look in his eyes "you're so beautiful" he whispers to me and gives me a peck on the lips, he starts to kiss on my neck sending shivers down my body.

I had no idea what to say, he looked so good, and I wanted him to destroy me "thank you" he then stops and says "if you ever want to stop say it okay?" "okay I will". He starts to lick and kiss down my stomach, while making eye contact with me. I look away getting nervous. "Look at me, if you don't look I stop" his accent, the way he was looking at me God I could feel myself getting wetter. He licked right above where my underwear starts, Kwon grabs my legs opening them wider, and licks my pussy through my underwear. He chuckles "You're so wet I can taste it through your underwear", he comes back up and starts kissing me aggressively, I taste myself on his tongue. I feel him grind on me through my underwear, I want to feel more of him so I start tugging on his sweats signaling him to take them off. He starts kicking them off, and I return to running and tugging my fingers in his hair, I pull him closer, I feel his dick through his boxers, and it's lightly grinding on my throbbing clit through my underwear. "Fuck" is all I'm able to muster taking a quick second to breathe before he pushes his lips back onto mine. One of his hands plays with my nipple pinching and rolling it in a fast motion, while the other starts to pull my underwear down, I pick my hips up so he's able to fully slip them off.

We pull away to catch our breath, "P-please Kwon" I'm basically begging him he knew what I wanted, but he wasn't going to give it to me so soon. He's still rolling my hard nipple getting me wetter, I'm probably leaking on his bed, he starts sucking on my right boob and licking my nipple while looking into my eyes. All of a sudden I feel Kwon open my legs and he starts going down again, but not before he sucked on my left nipple, and rubbed on the other, it felt so good I picked my hips up grinding on him, "You are so cute, so needy". He pushed my hips down and started to kiss around my pussy sucking on my thighs, and then sucking on my pussy lips. "Mmm" I start to whine, "Kwon I need more please", "You'll get what you want princess be patient" I can feel him smirk into my pussy.

I'm about to whine again when I suddenly feel his tongue inside me. I gasp "oh my god Kwon", he starts to move his tongue in and out, "d-deeper please" I whine, and he does just that, I start to grind on his face while he's tongue fucking me. He starts hitting my g-spot and I can feel my legs start to tremble. Kwon pulls out his tongue and moves up to my clit he slowly starts to lick, and suck on it. I hear and feel him moan into my pussy, it sends a vibration through my body, he goes back to sucking on my clit, slowly teasing me when he knew what I wanted. "Look at me and tell me what you want", he then gets his two fingers and starts circling my pussy hole, I can feel his fingers playing with my wetness. "I-I want m-more, I want you to make me cum". His eyes turn dark and he smiles with a look of confidence, "Yes ma'am" he starts to slowly stick his two fingers in my hole, stretching me, it felt so good, I could feel my legs starting to shake again.

With his other hand he grips my thigh and widens it more "look at this pussy taking my fingers so well" he chuckles and starts to go faster curling his fingers, he then moves down bringing his tongue to my clit circling it. I feel him start to slowly suck on my clit while his fingers continue to abuse my hole, he's making eye contact with me as he continues to suck. I start to grind on his face, he starts to suck faster, my legs, are now on top of his shoulders, my legs start shaking, and a knot starts forming in my stomach. I can feel him smirk while he sucks, and I can't help but squeeze his head with my thighs. That doesn't make him stop as he starts to finger me harder, he's groaning into my pussy, the knot in my stomach only growing stronger.

I open my legs again, Kwon pulls his face away from my clit, switching his gaze between my eyes and my pussy. I'm grinding on his fingers as he starts going even faster, my pussy clenches on his fingers, and he knows that I'm close. My back starts arching, I can't control my body anymore, I'm shaking, I can barely form a sentence let alone a word. "K-kwon I'm so c-close oh my god" I feel so out of breath, and my voice is shaky I can't control myself. Kwon gets his other hand and grips my neck, the knot in my stomach almost snaps. "I know you are close, c'mon princess don't be shy". He curls his fingers adding a third, and going even faster, I moan so loud I pray these walls are sound proof. "HOLY SHIT" my whole body starts shaking and Kwon is still gripping my neck forcing me to keep my eyes on his, he shows no signs of stopping.

I feel the knot in my stomach snap, it all feels so good, I start seeing stars, my legs are shaking, I try my hardest to calm down, but it's all so much and Kwon is still going. "I'm not stopping till you let it all out" he pulls me in and starts kissing me. I try to kiss back but he's winning and I can barely move my lips, the kiss is sloppy and heated. He hasn't stopped his fingers, and I keep moaning, I feel another release as he lets go of my neck and starts rubbing circles on my clit. I feel myself finishing again but this time it's messier as I'm squirting and all my juices are landing all over his stomach, all on his arm. Part of me was embarrassed and wanted to stop but it felt too good, and I could tell Kwon was really enjoying this. I feel the shaking start to slow down, my breathing slowly going back to normal. Kwon starts to pull his fingers out, and gives me a light kiss, he then gives me a small smile and asks "are you okay?". I slowly catch my breath and return a smile "I've never been better", he gets up and goes to the bathroom getting a towel so we could both get cleaned up.

When he returns we start to clean, and I put my pjs back on with his help, as I'm about to walk to the other bed he stops me by picking me up. He carries me to the other bed even tho it was only like 3 feet away. I simply laugh as he sets me down, and hands me a bottle of water, "It is a good thing I beat your friends and got the extra room so we could have this bed to sleep in". I laugh and roll my eyes "I guess it was", we both start to get cozy and settle under the covers, I use his arm as my pillow. Before going to sleep and turning the lights off we talk for a bit, both our voices start to get low, and we could feel the sleepiness taking over. "If our teams ever find out we're dead" I told him followed by a yawn. "I know, but I do not care" said with a hint of seriousness and playful tone. Before deciding it's time to sleep you look at him and say "goodnight Kwon, and good luck tomorrow cuz I'm kicking your ass, you better not go easy on me" you give him a light smile as you start to settle and close your eyes.

As you feel yourself fading into your sleep you hear Kwon give a light chuckle and reply "Goodnight princess, you too" he gives you a small kiss on the forehead, and with that turns the light off.

[djarrex]

it was life day eve

Captain Rex x reader

read on ao3 (more warnings here too) | masterlist

It was Life Day Eve when Rex got back to you late at night - you were fast asleep, but Rex couldn't hold back his need that had been fueled by the surprise you'd left for him to discover upon his arrival.

18+ only. about 1.4k words. smut. consensual somno. rex has got it bad. more on ao3. I'm back after too, too long with filth of my beloved, please enjoy :')

Rex readjusted the strap of the duffle bag, heavy with the entirety of his kit packed in there, so it could sit more comfortably on his shoulder as his fingers input your keycode with automaticity. The door slid open and the smell of the seasonal air freshener you favored greeted him almost instantly, along with the soft, warm glow of the lights hanging around the space. Stepping fully inside, Rex looked around and silently marveled at the decorations you’d strung up in his absence. You wanted it to be a surprise for him – and a surprise it surely was. Festive floral arrangements and seasonal colors were bathed in the lights that twinkled in blown glass orbs all around, and Rex couldn’t help but shake his head with a grin at the image of you standing on furniture of questionable integrity to get everything set to where it all hung now. 

Life Day was a favorite of yours. You always spoke of how beautifully intriguing the Wookiee holiday was, how it celebrated joy and harmony amongst family and friends. It was something you looked forward to every year, and when you’d told Rex that you traditionally decorated for it, he’d been eager on a high that came from your endearing childlike wonder and excitement to see what you had in store.

Seeing all of this, the effort you’d put into it, made him all the more thrilled for the traditional meal you would prepare tomorrow evening.

Since you hadn’t yet greeted him, you must have been asleep – of course you were. It was late, and Rex had explained to you earlier, when he’d first gotten back in the system, that he’d be getting in at an odd hour. 

But you still kept all the lights on for him.

When he cautiously stepped beyond the threshold into your room, he smiled. A domestic warmth filled his chest at the sight of you wrapped up in your thickest blankets, fetally curled up on your side as you almost always were. 

Rex gently set down the duffle bag against the wall. He started to pull off his boots, then set the pair down just beside the rest of his kit. His undershirt and pants were removed next, leaving him in his compression briefs. Normally, Rex would have hopped in your shower to freshen up before changing into a pair of casual lounge clothes you kept for him in the closet, but this time, knowing he’d be getting in so late, Rex had showered at the barracks instead, and came over in a clean undersuit. 

He didn’t want to have to prolong getting into bed with you after catching a glimpse, and at this moment, as Rex started to stealthily situate himself under the blankets, he thanked the universe that he had ended up showering beforehand. 

You shuffled a bit at his presence, but that was about it. Rex tried not to wake you as he scooched closer, curling on his side and gently wrapping his arms around you, fitting against you like a puzzle piece. He could feel that you were not wearing much clothing; just a thin, low cut top, your ‘sleep’ panties, and a pair of fuzzy socks. He knew your bedtime attire well. You’d once told him that you weren’t trying to be sexy, just comfortable, but Rex thought that was what made you even more attractive to him. 

He rested his chin on your back and listened to the melodic sound of your leveled breaths. Rex wanted to be selfish here – he wanted to lavish you with kisses and touches and to show you how much he missed you. It started as a gentle tap of his lips against the back of your neck, but once the feel of your skin met his lips, Rex couldn't help himself. He kissed all along where he could reach: your neck, between your shoulders, your cheek. He couldn’t help himself – not when his kisses became a little sloppier, or when his hand started to caress your arm then thigh. 

“Rex,” you practically moaned his name right out of your slumber, your voice soft and content. 

He missed you, your voice, your body. His briefs were noticeably tighter. He wanted more.

“I didn’t want to wake you, love” he cooed in your ear, lustfully apologetic. “But I want you.” 

Rex took your earlobe between his teeth, teasing it with his tongue. You moaned aloud, a quiet, alluring sound, arching yourself further into his body. He couldn't help but grind himself against your rear, just to relieve some of the swell of need.

When he released your lobe, he didn’t inch away. It was impossible to stop now, not when he’d been waiting for far too long, not when he bore witness to your thoughtful decorating. He’d discovered a while ago that domesticity fueled his desire, and when it came to you, Rex was always smitten.

He took a ragged breath, feeling the heat of your body pressing into him. He needed it, needed you.

“Can I have you, baby? Please. I’ll– I’ll do everything.” 

Another shaky breath was exhaled in your ear when you weakly reached around to pull your panties just far enough down, grazing his cock straining in his briefs with the gesture. Rex bit his lip. Closed his eyes. 

“Let me have you.”

You audibly sighed, a dreamy, sweet sound. “Please.” 

Your voice, still airy with sleep, put Rex into a frenzy. With your go-ahead, he wasted no time with releasing himself from the constricting material, and threw his leg over yours. He let his own, low noises fall freely as he used the wetness between your legs to slick himself up.

“So wet for me,” he commented. There was a note of surprise there. The revelation made him throb. “Need you so bad.”

Entering you slowly, Rex kissed along the back of your neck. Gasped against your skin when he filled you, his groin flush with your skin. You remained still, though he could already feel the desire perspiring as dew on your skin. He could stay inside you for hours, fall asleep like this, awaken like this. The grip you had on his cock was undoing, and when your cunt started to clench with an involuntary need, he started to move.

Rex was gentle. Tender. He rocked himself into you softly, not wanting to disturb you any more than he already had. You were awake, yes, but you were comfortable, still in the position that he’d awoken you in. 

As he moved his hips, rolling them at a crawl, his fingers slid up and under your top. Grazed your breast, the hardened nipple. You moaned at that. Clenched around him.

“Fuck, mesh’la.” Rex sighed, and dragged the flat of his teeth against the curve of your shoulder. “You feel so good.”

He soon felt your own hand join his. Fingers threaded through his own. 

Rex kept a steady pace, rutting against the soft skin of your ass. He felt the heat in his abdomen, the squeeze of his balls. He’d come soon, but wanted to feel you reach climax with him.

As if reading his mind, even in your somnolent state, you guided his hand from your chest. Dragged it down your torso and Rex knew what would get you there. Two, roughly padded fingers circled your clit, and the effect the added stimulation had on you was practically instant. Your breaths hitched, the pitch higher. Whines fell from your lips, and Rex could barely move anymore with how hard your cunt clenched around him. His thighs tensed.

He came with you, his arm holding you tight against his torso to press himself all the way. Your tired body shivered as he filled you, hot and wet, his release mixing with your creamy fluid.

Tacky with sweat, Rex eventually peeled himself from your skin. Slipped wetly out of you. A hidden little mess was left in his wake. 

A man of his word, he took care of everything. Retrieved something to clean you off with so you wouldn’t have to move a pretty little muscle. He then went to turn off all the lights until the entirety of your place fell into darkness. Made sure to duck under a particularly low hanging string of lights on his way back.

Rex rejoined you in bed, his body curved snugly around you. You hardly stirred. 

“The decorations are beautiful,” he murmured into the soft space between your shoulder blades. Pressed a kiss there. Completely, irrevocably enamored by you. “You’re incredible.”

You only hummed in response, and he was sure that you’d fully fallen back asleep moments after that.

[lsunstreakerl]

the one person that said moto max in the waist cut-out compression shirt fit made me blackout and i had this when i woke up. I also cannot stop thinking abt moto max smskskkddk piercings....tattoos... (ignore how the drawings tattoos r all in the wrong places i didn't pay attention 😭)...the whole vibe omds

HELLLLLOOOOOO SAILOR

the miffy with a gun has me absolutely dead on the floor LMFAO and as far as the tattoos he's such a patchwork guy, he needs no excuse to get a new one. ("Oh look it's not raining, let's celebrate by getting a tattoo!" "Max it wasn't even supposed to rain—")

he's sooooooo laid back. absolutely unhinged and insane on track, and a complete party animal off track, but he just doesn't really let things get to him. mostly because he lives by a "live fast, die fast" mentality that has him assuming he's probably not making it to retirement age (he stresses out the people that care about him so bad)

if you need him, he's probably at a party. and his phone is probably dead. he can be hard to track down.

he's almost patronizing of the f1 drivers? like he feels bad that their image is so tied up in media and obligations all the time, and he just... could not imagine having to care about shit like that. and internally he's like "eh, I could've done that if I wanted to" so he doesn't have as much respect as he would otherwise, which makes him incredibly easy to dislike at first. he's lucky his personality is enticing enough to make up for it.

[airandyeah]

You dreamt what-now? You had a dream that your boyfriend/husband was.... A cheerleader? Including: Toji, Sukuna, Nanami, and Gojo. (Some of these are slightly suggestive)

Toji: "So, you're telling me you dreamt I was... A cheerleader?", your husband looked at you like you had fully lost your mind. "Mhmm". You hummed in response as you watched his face. His green eyes stared back at you. You both were standing, but your hulking husband was staring down at you, his body fit in grey sweats and and skin-tight dark blue compression shirt- His gym outfit. He looked down at his own body, then back at you like you were insane. He snorts, "I was in an outfit and everything?", he asks you again and you nod. "The wholeee shabang.". ... "Did the skirt make my ass look nice?" He asks and you slap his chest. "...". "seriosuly, did it?". You couldn't even look at the man. Sukuna: "A cheer-what now?", Your boyfriend, the hulking machine of a man, stared down at you, his eyes squinted in confusion. "A cheerleader.", you respond, pulling out your 'magical rectangle' as your boyfriend called it to show him a picture. He stared at it, his bottom set of eyes opening to take in the picture before he begins wheezing. You stare at him in silence as he continues to laugh and laugh, grabbing his stomach and all. It took around 5 minutes for him to calm down, his crimson eyes meeting yours before airily replying "I would like to see you try and fit my ass in that outfit". Nanami: "Is that so darling?", he asks, eyes staring up through his reading glasses as he shuts his book. "Yup, you were the captain, you even lifted me up to throw me and make me a flyer!", your voice was chipper describing it. He sets his book on the nightstand before taking off his glasses with a sigh. "So you enjoyed this dream?", "mhm". You both stared at eachother for a few seconds. "Would you like me to toss you in the air and catch you my love?", you giggled and nodded. "I would also love to see you in a skirt, I would love the view", you giggle and his honey eyes roll before he lets out an exasperated sigh. Gojo:

"You haven't seen the pictures have you?", he asks after you told him about your dream. You look at him oddly before he huffs and begins digging through your shared closet. You watch him as he does so, the image of him in a cheerleading uniform dancing in the back of your mind before he returns with an old photo album he kept from highschool- Mainly pictures of him and Geto. You had to throw a hand over your mouth to keep in your laugh as he reveals a picture of himself and Geto Suguru in matching cheerleading outfits. You have to wriggle your way away from your husband as he tries to hit you with a pillow for your giggles.

[meruz]

i hope this hasn't been asked before. what size do you make your canvas? and do you crop it to fit other socials (like Instagram for example)? i hear that 300 dpi is standard. i never know if it's good to make my canvas big or not.

hi i think this ask is like at least 4 months old but i was scanning my sketchbooks from last year and i abruptly remembered i had gotten this ask because i had made a little chart in my sketchbook trying to figure out how to answer it

anyways theres pros and cons. and the size of your canvas is really going to depend on personal needs + preference. how good ur computer is, how complicated ur art style, how comfortable drawing feels, how much disk space you have to spare, what youre gonna end up using the art for in the end...300dpi is standard for PRINTING specifically, if you only plan to ever post things online then 72dpi works great and will save you space (fun fact a lot of professional animation files i deal with are 72dpi. and those eventually go on your tv screen). but personally i make everything i draw 300dpi because i am always printing stuff for cons, zines, etc and its nice to have the option even if i dont end up printing.

when I was a teen I used to draw on a rly shitty laptop and i made everything 800x800px 300dpi because big canvases would cause a lot of lag and also the resolution on this laptop was pretty small so 800px was a lot of the screen already. now i have a slightly better laptop with a bigger resolution and i sketch on giant 10000px-40000px canvases with the hard round brush and no shape dynamics or transfer whatsoever to minimize lag. when it comes to making a final illustration when i know ill be using a bunch of layer effects/blending modes/colors/mixing brushes etc etc ill generally crop the canvas down to the 6000px range. most illustrations i try to make sure are comfortably printable on tabloid size paper so thats pretty much anything hovering around or above 3000x5000px w 300dpi (so 11x17in). HOPE THIS HELPS?

EDIT: OH ALSO re: socials. i always ALWAYS size down my art to post on the internet. i think its crazy when other artists dont. because why would i ever let the internet have my hi-res file for free. also in general i think it looks better if you do the resizing yourself because if you don't then many social media sites will compress your file for you! a lot of people will post a hi-res file to twitter and then go "Wow twitter killed the quality of this img!!!" UH YEAH because they have an automatic image compressor. because they need to save space too lol and they dont want your image to take 248263895 years to load. same with instagram and to a lesser extent tumblr. when i post anything on social media i resize it down to 1200px-1600px on the longest side... its a little arbitrary but im kind of basing it on the smallest resolution of widely available screens. mostly because i think it looks stupid when u open up an image file fullsize and u have to scroll to see the whole thing... also iirc instagram only takes images up to 1080px before it resizes them? granted if you upload something smaller than that itll also resize it up which will look worse so I think bumping the numbers just over 1080px is pretty safe.

I should really be bringing the dpi down to 72 too when i post online but often im too lazy to do that. but it will technically help ur image load faster and stuff. and make it less likely for people to yoink it off the web and print it themselves.

[thelilypit]

Lily Orchard doesn't understand File Explorer

(or she does, but she's hoping that you don't)

Content warning for discussions of abuse and incest. Also, this post is long as balls.

Okay, I wasn't going to make a post about this. I agree with Crim right now: there's no point interacting with Lily or her posts. She's shown herself to be completely full of garbage, and isn't convincing anyone outside of her inner circle with her recent posts.

Still, there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding as to why her recent explanations don't hold up to scrutiny, so I'm making this post to help people understand exactly why her evidence is bunk. If you're reading this, please don't bother Lily about it further. At this point, any further antagonism towards Lily only serves to convince her remaining fanbase that she's a helpless victim, and not the dangerous manipulator she truly is. With that out of the way, here's the sitch:

BACKGROUND: On September 5th, 2024, Lily Orchard briefly showed the contents of her Downloads folder during an editing stream. Keen observers noted a handful of peculiar filenames, including a .rar file with the exact name of a RWBY incest-themed fancomic, and a .zip folder with the name "aslutphone-0.22-pc.zip", which corresponds to a mobile phone-themed visual novel that is also incest-themed.

The presence of fantasy adult material on Lily's computer is in of itself no concern - private kinks are private kinks, after all. However, some commentators noted similarities between the scenarios highlighted in "A Slut Phone" and statements made by Courtney Peet, Lily's sister, in regards to alleged abuse she experienced as a child at the hands of Lily.

Almost immediately, anonymous asks were sent to Lily Orchard querying her about the contents of her folder. Rather than provide a relevant answer, she pretended those asks were related to a different game:

It's reasonable to say that Lily didn't have an explanation handy at the time, at least, not one that would fit with her current public image. Still, the anon asks were piling up behind the scenes, and people on Lily's patreon discord were beginning to ask questions as well. On September 8th, three days after the initial discovery, Lily posted her explanation for one of the two files highlighted:

According to Lily, "Sisters - Ruby&Yang.rar" is a full archive of the RWBY series, and she intended to mention Ruby and Yang in her "Sibling relationships" video, back in June. The fact that it shared its filename uniquely with an incest porn comic was totally a coincidence, and anyone who accused her of owning said porn comic was just a pervert themselves.

(what Lily, who frequently complains about disk space issues, was still doing with an alleged rip of RWBY that she had no intention of watching, I have no idea. But I digress) And finally on September 12th, after a week of anticipation, Lily had finally come up with her explanation for "A Slut Phone":

It was all a trick to make her critics look stupid! She had downloaded a different game for an upcoming video, and had renamed the filename to, in her words, the "worst possible game I could find", just to catch out the trolls!

This is, to put it mildly, a little difficult to believe. Still, it's the explanation Lily provided, and the following day Lily provided evidence that proves the contents of that folder pertains to sexadvicesuccubus.exe, and that said contents had not been recently edited:

This is where some of Lily's critics start to falter, accusing Lily of fabricating the contents of the above folder or changing around the other files. Personally, I'm willing to accept that the folder displayed *does in fact* contain the game data for "Sex Advice Succubus." However, there's still some glaring issues. For one, Lily is showing us a Windows File Folder here (with compressed data inside)

Meanwhile, the file spotted on September 5th was a .zip

Another (minor) issue is that the filename for "A Slut Phone" looks different on its itch.io download page, compared to the name of the actual file (as demonstrated above). If Lily had simply copied the filename based on the itch.io page, her "decoy" folder would have been named differently As for the issues with the file's modification date... more on that after the break. And now, a brief intermission. The Lily Pit presents:

HOW TO GET AWAY WITH YOUR WEIRD PORN GAMES GETTING SPOTTED IN YOUR DOWNLOADS FOLDER

So, you're a reasonably successful youtube creator and occasional streamer, and one day someone spots a suspiciously named .zip file in your cluttered downloads folder:

Worry not! Just follow these simple steps to exonerate yourself of any signs of pervertedness!

First, you're going to download a scapegoat game - don't worry about this game's raunchy title, it's far more tame than whatever wild stuff you're surely into:

Now, go to your computer's date and time settings, and set it back far enough to avoid culpability:

(In this case, we've adjusted it to the exact time of the original .zip's modification, but if nobody saw that part then you don't even have to worry!) While your PC's time is adjusted, extract the contents of the new game's .zip, and compress it while you're there:

Rename the folder to match the filename of the .zip, and there you go!

And if you're thinking "That's an awful lot of effort to go to to hide the fact that you've got weird porn on your computer",

You would be absolutely right.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled Lily Crit

... Shoot, where was I? Oh yeah, falsifying the "date modified" part of a file or folder is trivial. The evidence Lily provided proves nothing, and arguably, it makes her look even more suspicious than she was before.

Still, I do have to acknowledge that there is no definitive proof of those files' contents being what we suspected. Lily's explanations, however outlandish they are, could well be the honest truth...

... but let's be real, they're not.

Stop lying, Lily.

[eatsleepcrap]

I saw a post earlier looking at the blacked out/spoilers parts of the Director's reference sheet for the overkill au, and I've also had a go trying seeing what I can make of them.

(Speculative spoilers for overkill au down below).

First off:

So first of all, I totally agree with @valictini's post earlier on that the bottom bit DEFINITELY says 'powered by ??????? dead siffrins' - the letters line up perfectly and pretty much no other letters can fit there.

I had a tricky time with the top part - other people have already picked up the 'ISAT' and 'a bad wish part'. I mucked around with comparing different letter heights and widths, and I'm pretty confident of what CAN be in the gaps, even if it doesn't give a definitive answer to what we're missing. First up, most of the letters are the same width overall, and the same as spaces. This means it could be one big word after ISAT, or two words. It could also finish with 'i', but I think that's probably unlikely. The first bit up can only fit 'b', 'd', or 'k' - I lean towards 'b', because 'big' seems a more likely word here. The letter 'i' is the only letter that sticks up to that height at all. The letter 'g' could maybe be an 'a' as well, but at the compression sizes in the rest of the image, the a is one pixel wider at the top.

For the middle section... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. It's 11 characters (letters or spaces) between the 'i' and the 's', which could be soooo many things.

My random thoughts? Something to do with bigfrin? 'instead makes (a bad wish)' fits in the middle there? That last 'i' could be a colon instead? Moving on...

Here's the bit I'm pretty confident I've decoded:

The top line is almost certainly 'body made of wishcraft:'. It makes logical sense, it fits perfectly, and I can't see it being anything else. It doesn't tell us much new though, tbh.

The second part? I am 90% sure the first two words are 'if killed', using the same logic of how different letters stick out. The stuff in the middle I'm less sure of - (anything marked with '?' could be any of the letters [cemnorsuvwxz] or a space by the way). There's a really weird string of what looks like three 'f's in a row, which could be a typo, or I'm missing a letter shape here. Pretty confident the last word is 'die', which is... ominous. Could be 'dim'?

My more speculative go is even more ominous.

I think 'Siffrin' (if we can ignore the triple 'f') is a fair bet, as it fits in well. But uhhh... bit of a concerning sequence of words there.

(Those 'l's could also be 't's by the way, forgot to add a note to the image).

There's a few non-absurd ideas for '??ll' - null, well, cell - even more if I'm missing something where I've put 'Sifffrins'. I've put my own personal guess below...

(Caveats/anti-hype):

- Those weird triple 'f's, man.

- Haven't seen any commas used anywhere else in the reference sheet?

- I don't know if that would be something that would get written on a reference sheet, haha.

[pixelsgarage]

What is your creation process? :3c

hey, thanks for the inquiry! i've been meaning to make a post like this for some time now. NOTE: this will only cover how i make my blinkies. if you want me to go in depth about how i make stamps, please send another ask! i just think they're kind of self explanatory in comparison >_>

MY BLINKIE MAKING PROCESS

for this demonstration, i will make this graphic of Acht Mizuta from Splatoon 3. it's free to use btw:

i make my graphics in Krita, which is great for editing pixel art, but does not have an option to disable font antialiasing. this leads me to generate my pixel text through external online services, but i usually generate it on blinkies.cafe and get an editable template to go along with it. my go-to is the simple purple template, since it has a simple palette and the text has its own color so i can put it in a separate layer easier.

i import it as a single frame that i will animate later. usually what i do first is cut+paste the inner content of the blinkie into a separate layer:

then i remove the background with a fill erase on the third mode, and move it around as i see fit. i put it in a separate layer before this so it's easier to color and add things like outlines.

let's import graphics! usually i find a transparent png and overlay it onto the background, but in this case i'm using a full background, so it needs to be prepared:

(source: splatoon 3 side order locker reward banner)

i import the image into a new file with the same resolution as the blinkie. i edit it to have a wider resolution so it fits better:

i use a lasso tool to put acht in a separate layer (so they stick out of the frame)

i import the two layers into the original file with the text. though i feel the images could use a little color grading...

at this point i begin to mess around with the layout a little, trying to match the original "sanitized" theme i had in mind. i also do color grading on the render of acht and change out the background. now we're getting somewhere! i also color the text at this point to be a nice gradient green.

let's color the outer part of the blinkie! i thought i would make the border a transparent black, with the lights being neon green and a dark magenta respectively.

i also want to make the text have a nice little border around it, so i put a stroke filter on the text layer with the following settings. these usually change depending on graphic but the thickness is always 1px (any more and it gets antialiasing)

that's it for designing the blinkie, now it's time to animate it! i do this internally in krita, since it has an animation feature:

i make a new frame for the animation and change the colors and positions around. i also set up my clip settings - ending at frame 1 (2 frames - frame 0 and frame 1) at 6fps.

that's pretty much it! the gif is ready to export, just make sure you export it in the right format and don't accidentally compress it or make it too big.

the gif is ready!! wahoo!! i hope this was somewhat enlightening, i'm not the best at explaining stuff but i tried to go in depth as much as i could

[ihatetaxes99]

Alrighty, fun theory time: What if Neito Monoma was actually brain-damaged?

I swear, this isn't a joke post, this is a genuine headcanon/theory I like to consider that possibly explains the... Sharp shift in his behaviour. Of course, it obviously isn't actually canon, I don't think anyone would believe that for a second, but it's an idea I like to ruminate upon. That said, time to elaborate:

It's no secret that when the character of Neito Monoma was introduced during the Sports Festival story arc of the Boku No Hero manga, he was rather different from his later portrayals.

Unless I'm forgetting something, this was the first proper panel introducing Monoma in the series:

As you can see, there were some... Changes later on down the line:

Anyone can tell that something happened here. Anyone who has a basic knowledge of the manga is aware that this second image is not an outlier. Monoma has been consistently portrayed as arrogant, over-the-top and borderline mentally unwell. There's clearly something wrong with this boy, this isn't just a kid being energetic.

Monoma in his initial appearance was clearly a bit underhanded, yes. He was a schemer, a trickster, almost like the heroes' version of Mr. Compress (I had to fit a reference to my G in there somehow) in how he relies on subterfuge and deception over raw strength; None of this translates to the psychopathic brat he became as early as the Training Camp arc. The question is, what happened to cause this? I mean, yeah, there are a few pretty good guesses as to why his personality was retconned out-of-universe (I've always taken an interest in the theory that his insanity was turned up to make Kendo's behaviour towards him seem more justified, somehow, and have her come off as less unlikeable, though there is also the popular theory that Bakugo's popularity had a hand in things as well, which I won't get into here), but that's boring. I am an Autist, and what I want is an in-universe explanation to use as my personal headcanon.

And so, we come to this delightful little panel:

Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) refers to a form of brain injury brought about by physical trauma or other damage caused sometime after birth, as opposed to genetic brain damage. As listed by the Scottish Acquired Brain Injury Network, symptoms of ABI can include:

Reduced motivation.

Reduced ability to initiate activity.

Reduced motivation.

Reduced empathy.

Emotional Lability

Reduced impulse control (i.e. reduced ability to control expression of emotions and behaviour).

Agitation.

Aggressive behaviour.

Impaired judgement.

Socially inappropriate behaviour.

Sexually disinhibited behaviour.

Reduced insight/awareness of the consequences of brain injury and its impact.

Obviously, not all of these symptoms are relevant to Monoma's case, but some - such as emotional lability, reduced impulse control, agitation, aggressive behaviour, impaired judgement and socially inappropriate behaviour - sound very familiar.

In short, it's proven that physical trauma to the head can very much influence and alter a person's personality, resulting in instability. And as we can see from the image, Bakugo very nearly blew Monoma's head off during the climax of the chariot battle. The way that his head snaps back is clearly indicative of receiving some sort of sharp blow.

And that is where the basis of my theory is formed. Neito Monoma starts out his UA career as a somewhat ambitious and devious, but intelligent and well put-together kid. Then, during the Sports Festival, he receives a severe blow to the head from Bakugo. Given the nature of UA's training regiment, it's even possible that he would sustain more injuries off-panel between the end of the Festival and his next appearance at the Training Camp, possibly even developing the situation into Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. And that's not even considering all of the times Kendo has been seen striking him hard enough to knock him out cold. We're also well aware of how lax UA is in regards to their medical care, with a kiss from Recovery Girl and a few days' rest typically being seen as the best way to deal with incidents. In this environment, Monoma's head trauma would go on to manifest itself in more and more personality defects, transforming him over time as his intellectual capabilities were diminished and his aggressive and socially unaware behaviour grew more and more pronounced. It puts a tragic spin on what is essentially a mishandled joke character, holding the lens to UA's negligent behaviour that the manga barely touched in any real depth.

Of course, as I said, obviously none of this is the case. Monoma was rewritten to be a joke after the Sports Festival and that is the long and short of it. There isn't really anything deeper going on there, not intentionally at least. But I like to dream. And I've really grown rather fond of this little headcanon.

[peachymilkandcream]

For The Glory Of Humanity|Part 15|Erwin x Reader

WARNINGS: noncon, dubcon, forced/arranged marriage, misogyny, domestic violence, yandere themes/behaviours, violence, Erwin being a (g)rape apologist, power imbalance, age difference, verbal/emotional abuse, murder, sexual coercion, blackmail, attempted suicide, etc.

================================================

The reality of her situation had started to hit hard. Since her little trip away from Erwin's grasp his mood continued to sour. Now suspicion plagued his mind about leaving her for even a moment. He brought her to work with him, stifling her with his presence until she couldn't take it anymore. Her only break from his oppressive behavior was her social group, but even there she was surrounded by women who had all gossiped until they were blue in the face about her escape attempt.

She had a feeling Evelyn was the ringmaster in that circus, isolating her but also adding a touch of escape by offering friendship. Erwin had more or less threatened her to make it right with Mrs. Ackerman, something along the lines of how his life and career depended on it. And much to her sore pride she had done so, begging apology and not caring that the other party did not.

From then on Evelyn did treat her like somewhat of a friend. Better than the other women but still short and cutting down. She knew who ruled this part of society, and the ego that came with it was astronomical.

Even Mother had learned of the news. Horrified that all she had worked so hard for would go down the drain by her useless daughter unhappy with being unspoiled. The shrieking that had come over the line of the shiny new telephone she didn't know how her mother afforded was high-pitched and grainy. Berating her for such a stupid thing she had done and what would have happened if Erwin no longer took interest in her. How she almost cost the family. What a stupid and selfish brat she was.

Finally when her voice gave out the call ended, leaving the utterly alone Mrs. Smith in the quiet of her home. Erwin was still downstairs, avoiding her at all hours but night out of outrage that she had almost cost him everything, that she was comparing him to the worst of men. She knew if she told Erwin of the call he would take the side of her mother. No one was on her side anymore, no one truly cared for her well-being anymore.

What did she have to live for? A horrid husband, horrid friends with their horrid husbands, a horrid mother, a horrid existence. Only fit to give birth, bed, and eventually die. No rights, no future. Eren Jeager had promised a future where all Eldians would have equal rights with others in the world that had once sought to destroy them. Where were hers? What rights did she have that allowed men like Erwin Smith to possess a woman and do as they pleased with her?

She went to the bathroom, a headache coming on. They had been more frequent of late, a doctor attributing it to stress and the anxiety of trying to be a good bride and the adjustment to married life. The pills he prescribed meant to be taken as needed but with a proper dosage to refrain from an overdose.

As she stared at the little pills she wondered what would happen if she downed the whole bottle right now. Would anyone care? Would Erwin feel sorry for the way he had treated her? Would she finally be free?

While asking these questions it seemed like almost on their own far too many pills slipped into her mouth and slowly down her throat.

================================================

Thankfully Erwin had been coming up the stairs for bed anyway. When he found her unconscious and not breathing on the floor he started immediate chest compressions, sending a servant for a doctor. With his battlefield knowledge he knew enough of how to keep her alive long enough for the doctor to come and treat her properly.

He shuddered to think of what would have happened if he wasn't there. His image, gone in an instant. How could the people trust him if he drove his own wife to suicide? The pills found on the ground next to her indicated what had caused this sudden life threatening accident. He was at his wit's end, unable to figure out how to keep his wife happy enough she wouldn't escape or kill herself. It was an impossible puzzle he couldn't figure out.

When she awoke, he saved the lecture for now. That would come at a later time when she was stronger. Perhaps she was getting bullied, he would suggest that Levi tame his wife a little more, a suicide could damage him too. All that he would figure out later, for now, he was just thankful she was alive.

"Erwin I-" She started, embarrassed by all of this.

"Save it. You don't have to explain yourself right now, in time yes, but not right now. Right now focus on yourself and recovering. Whatever it is that's wrong with you in the head I'll fix it."

"Erwin please, it's not that simple-"

"Enough. I will fix it. I have to."

[idiotdriftinginspace]

Mars 2 electric boogalo ᕦ( ᐕ )ᕡ

hey @lets-try-some-writing i've made more stuff, since:

1-i can't control myself or the amount of ideas that just come to my mind XD; and

2- I'm having SO MUCH FUN AND JOY making these and seeing other people also enjoy these :)

So Mars despite his near non existent magnetic field and atmosphere also have aurora borealis, smaler but still aurora...and I just couldn't help myself :D

A little eplenation since Mars doesn't have canon design, I just winged it and tired to mash Ares and a planetary titan, hence why the shoulder pads and skirt flaps both have the surface texture just like Earth, but at the same time are stylized after whatever greek armor Ares have

The big circles on his left arm - that's Olympus Mons: It is Mars's tallest volcano, its tallest planetary mountain, and is approximately the tallest mountain currently discovered in the Solar System. So what's a better use for it than to use it alongside classical ✨transformers mass shifting✨, and turn it into hidden/compressed shield - also borrowed from Ares, but i also think it fits his personality to have one

And now i think my absolute favorite detail: The Markings

I couldn't get your drawing of Convoy with these markings out of my head, and the fact that Mars is old and definitely had an amazing relation with his citizens before departure, so I just thought that it would be really cool and cute if the markings were a gift from his previous citizens. Either during their stay, simply as a "thank you" or "we love you", or as a parting gift, so he could always remeber them the "we're always with you, we'll never forget you" :')

And i had to throw the biolights? the energon lines running on the body (or as I like to call them: "TRON lights". I just love the concept of cybertronians to have such thing, and this is why (among many other things) I love TFP Soundwave and Shockwave and the whole IDW/MTMTE designs :D

Overall I had SO MUCH FUN drawing these AAAAHHHHH and again I'm so happy you like it as much as i enjoy making them

Bonus, because I CAN NOT BE STOPPED (⊙ヮ⚆)

Yeah he holds them in a baby carier, as for the (way to small for a titan and a buch of rovers barely the size of a car) size difference, ehm: ✨the magic of transformers mass shifting✨...and it being a cute image

close up on the babies:

(shhh I know that as of writing this post Marie Curie and Ingenuity are not canon, but neither is Marss design and I want one big happy family ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ )

Part 1: Earth

[exeggcute]

well it's been almost six months which I think is long enough to break my posting embargo, so, uh: guess what! I got liposuction lol. specifically hip/thigh lipo to quell some pretty wicked dysphoria that stemmed from having such a feminine silhouette… and I have to say I'm really, really pleased with the results.

tbh my initial plan was to keep things under wraps for good which is why I haven't said anything about it yet (and even as I'm typing this up I keep debating whether to post it or trash it)—partly because I was/am worried people might Act Weird about it and partly because I get a little embarrassed talking about bodygendershit in general. but here we are. one reason I do feel compelled to finally share, other than being super happy about how everything went, is that I haven't encountered a lot of discussions about body sculpting as a possible avenue of gender-affirming care (although, to be fair, maybe I just haven't been looking in the right places) and I figured at least one person out there would be interested to learn about what I did and where I've ended up so far.

anyway. pics/details under the cut—nothing even remotely risqué (or yucky), I just know that body image stuff is fraught + not everyone is eager to hear surgery talk.

to be precise: I got tumescent liposuction of the inner and outer thigh, plus this ultrasound thing to help the skin shrink. a different surgeon who I consulted (but ultimately did not go with for a number of reasons) said that even if I got the results I wanted from lipo, which he claimed was unlikely, the affected skin would look loose/baggy/weird forever... and that surgeon was wrong on both counts lol. my elasticity was great bitch!!!!

they didn't take out that much fat overall, only eight pounds or so, but it's way more about the Where than the How Much. my actual surgeon (who kicks ass btw) said lipo isn't that great for weight loss per se, and what it's really good for is sculpting targeted areas—so basically exactly what I did. six months post-op I actually weigh about the same as what I did pre-op, but the distribution has held steady; more weight goes to my stomach now and less, proportionally, goes to my hips since there are fewer fat cells in that area now. so my silhouette retains its new shape!

the overall change is admittedly on the subtle side, since I'm pretty short and have wide hip bones (and you can't change your literal skeleton) but it's still gone a looooooong way. the main thing I requested from my surgeon was "I want to fit in men's pants" and boy did he deliver.

also a good place to note that if you're in the las vegas area looking for a plastic and/or cosmetic surgeon—this guy is board-certified in both btw—then I absolutely have the guy for you. feel free to DM me for details. lipo is clearly his specialty (and it shows!) but he also does a lot of breast revisions/mastopexy (i.e., fixing implants that other surgeons did a bad job putting in), regular implants, and face work (particularly facial feminization surgery). one thing that sold me on this guy was an enthusiastic yelp review from a local stripper who said he hid the incisions for her breast lift in her armpits so none of her clients would notice that she'd had work done... a true master of his craft

okay you've scrolled enough so I'll give you what you're here for lol. I don't have many pre-op pics because I was obviously unhappy with how I looked and was not taking full-body selfies on a regular basis, but here's a few I took ~2 weeks beforehand:

these super thin men's joggers were my go-to dysphoria pants, to the point where I bought five pairs in different colors, but now they're so baggy on me that they have the opposite effect and make it look like I have wider hips than I do. so I retired them from my wardrobe...

...except not immediately because I had to wear compression garments 24/7 for the first three months post-op and these joggers were just loose enough to comfortably wear a medical girdle underneath them at all times, 110° degree temperatures be damned. (not that I was going out much for the first month since I was soooooooooooo fucking bruised and sore lol.) here's a few post-op pics in the same style pants:

(first pic is less than 24 hours post-op, about to go to my follow-up appointment, looking greasy as fuck because I wasn't allowed to shower yet; second pic two days post-op and also post-shower, thankfully; third pic is about a month post-op.)

so, like, CLEAR improvement already. I will not be posting pictures of my black-and-blue-and-swollen-all-over legs but considering how puffy I was from getting internally pummeled with a cannula it's wild that I still saw improvement literally as soon as I came home.

recovery was obviously not a blast in the moment but I got off easy, all things considered. I was supposed to get drains put in and was Not looking forward to that at all lol. the first thing I asked when I woke up after surgery was "how many drains?" because they weren't sure if I'd end up needing two or four, but it turned out the answer was zero. no drains!!!

I did have to lie with my feet elevated for the first two weeks straight, and had major bruising that receded over the first month (you could barely see my regular skin underneath all the mottled spots), but little to no nerve pain, no weird complications, and I was more or less back to normal after six weeks. also noelle took very very good care of me and was brave about injecting me with blood thinners so I wouldn't get clots and die :)

when I went into it I was fully expecting to get huge vertical scars up and down the sides of my legs (and had made peace with it!) but instead I wound up with four tiny incisions like this, each less than two inches long:

what's totally crazy is that the scars are basically Gone now. like even when I'm trying to find them I struggle to locate the ones in the front. I joked to noelle that if someone did an autopsy on me they might not figure out that I'd had cosmetic surgery, especially since the skin on my thighs is back to its normal color and texture. (in this scenario I like to imagine that it's dana scully giving me the autopsy and I'm in an x-files plot where instead of regular lipo I got alien lipo and mulder figures it out purely by accident.)

with lipo it can take up to a year to see the full results but I already feel so much fucking better in my body that seeing old pre-op pics throws me for a loop. and I can absolutely wear men's pants now—pants for short and stocky men, to be fair, but actual regular men's pants and not exclusively Pants For Men With Huge Butts And Legs. which is the only style I could even hope to fit in before. and even then it was a stretch.

big pic dump of shitty mirror selfies taken over the last few months:

:)

(also I really debated sharing this one but I already included it in the yelp review I left my surgeon so fuck it: here's a tasteful before-and-after in my undies where you can see my bare legs for easier comparison. left pic is one week pre-op, right pic is about five months post-op. including it as a link instead of embedding it in the post in case your boss happens to be reading over your shoulder at this very moment. also this is the one and only time you will ever see me stripped down on tumblr dot com so don't get used to it lol.)

[vikenticomeshome]

Cyberchase Meal Toys (2/?)

So, I've had some good luck on eBay recently.

Yep, I now have 3 out of 4 of them, with a small asterisk next to Matt, as I am missing an accessory.

Per the promotional photo from the Carl's Jr website and some images of sealed Matts from Worthpoint, he had a little activity mat to roll around on. I don't have one. I would love to get one to scan at high-resolution and share.

I am also missing item #4, the two-sided puzzle, which can be seen in some Worthpoint images.

However, rather than focusing on what I don't have, let me take some shots of the three boys that I have.

Full-resolution images, safe from any tumble compression, are over here on the Internet Archive.

Here are some shots of "Digit Measuring Tape".

Here's some shots of "Movin' Matt".

Of course, we can tell that this is not the real Matt, as his sneakers don't have the white part on them.

Now, how about "Delete with a Twist"?

All of his images are stock images that they re-used in plenty of place, placed on different back-grounds. I have to say, I don't really get the twisting gimmick. You would think that swapping around the heads would be interesting, but the don't really line-up of fit well due to the characters being scaled up differently from each other.

That kind-of works...

This one doesn't really work for me.

Now, that's a spoiler for a certain episode.

Almost forgot about Digit's surprise tool.

And now, let's have quite possibly the first video of Matt movin'. Super Merry over here is providing a surface, but Matt's little wheels are hard plastic. Without rubber tires, he doesn't move very well.

And there we are. I'll keep a look-out for the double-sided puzzle and the activity sheet that came with Matt.

I have half a mind to find a place with a good 3D scanner and have these guys scanned so that people can make 3D models or even 3D print them. These guys are rare, and I want more people to be able to enjoy them.

[twentyeightif]

The Invisibles: Issue 1 Page 18 (art by Steve Yeowell) ©Grant Morrison

"On October 9 1993, which would have been John Lennon’s 53rd birthday had the Arch-Beatle not been shot dead by Mark Chapman in 1980, I performed a ritual intended to incarnate Lennon as a god." - Grant Morrison

"I wanted to make a dedication at the beginning of what was a whole new life for me in many ways. I wanted to summon a spirit of pure psychedelic inspiration into a Lennon-shaped environment. I sought not to manifest the real man; the troubled, cruel and violent Lennon with his flaws and contradictions but instead evoke Lennon the twisted mystic, the pop star intellectual, the elemental Air of the four Beatles as stripped back to their cartoon archetypes.

To get in the mood, I wore a Paisley shirt, skinny jeans and Chelsea boots. I sat at the centre of a circle made of Beatles albums and had Tomorrow Never Knows playing on a loop. My new 12-string white Rickenbacker stood in for a wand. As sacrament, I took a microdose of LSD, not enough for a full-blown trip but sufficient to soften consensus reality.

People sometimes misunderstand when I talk about what happened that night – I was not possessed by the ‘spirit’ of Lennon. This was not a mediumistic example of ‘channelling’ the alleged dead. This was magic. Intention Willed into Form.

I altered the temple environment using sounds, smells and images as powerful triggers, to push out of my consciousness all associations that did not relate to Lennon.

This overload of environmental cues was organized or compressed by Will into a singular, visible compound idea of Lennon-ness, so that everywhere I looked reminded me of John Lennon, everything I heard was Lennon, until all other qualities the space around me may have once possessed were edited out and replaced by the Lennonsphere!

[...]

This total possession of the ritual space by a coherent manifestation what I was looking for and it expressed itself visually and audibly as a 4-foot tall head that fit inside my temple space but felt much bigger, made of thousands of intricate multi-coloured and chiming shards of what resembled musical notation as rotated through a higher direction – intense flashing colours, digital high fidelity, shimmering musical glissades and drones.

I bathed in an electric fluorescent creative kaleidoscope – searing yellows and electric pinks, UV blues – receiving a download of powerful effervescent excitement and creativity. It felt most like the imagined Lennon of Revolver and Sgt. Pepper. A psychedelic god on acid.

[...]

As a more minor side effect of the ritual, I found myself with this song I’d strummed into life, composed almost automatically, complete with lyrics and music. It always sounded to me, at best, like a throwaway B-side from 1965 as imagined by the Rutles but that’s why I’ve always liked it. It’s a very authentic scribble of the moment…

It is emphatically NOT a communication from beyond the grave."

- Grant Morrison, "John Lennon Like You"

[gaysindistress]

Beginning to End

disclaimer: credits to original creator/poster of image/gif. found on google/Pinterest.

pairings: minthara x f!reader

Summary: Swearing to protect the Successor of the house that overtook her own is simply the beginning of their end to Minthara. “A means to an end” she keeps reminding herself, “from beginning to end, a necessary evil.”

Reading @moonselune By the Silk Ties that Bind Us gave me so much inspiration to write for Minthara but also for this specific story. I thought I would finish it and I haven’t yet but I am in my posting all WIPS era sooooo

Warnings: drow society, gore (vague description), violence

Word count: 2.1k

Notes: there’s a flashback and I put it in italics. Idk if I like that but there also needed to be a break to show it was a flashback. Let me know what you guys think

Bg3 masterlist

There is a melancholy that has made its home in my heart. 

A desolation has filled the caverns of forgotten childish love and fond memories of lives past in my chest. I can’t remember when this oily feeling of timeless sadness and weak morals came to me. It’s almost as if it has always been there but has chosen to make its presence known when it sees fit. Perhaps it is the folly of Drow; to carry the weight of Lolth’s tainted love and forever seek refuge from it but to never succeed. Maybe it is the curse of nobility; to be in search of a power so grand that it rivals our Spider Queen but to fail when faced with the reality that there is nothing beyond Her. Maybe it is simply the lasting effects of childhood hope that have yet to die by the hand of adulthood. Then again it could be a foul mix of everything that sickens my heart and poisons my body.

Freezing stone presses into the skin of my forehead as I lean against my window frame. The cold stone and this sickness brews an interesting storm within my stomach. A younger me would be demanding bloodshed and the hearts of those who threaten me but I don’t have the liberties that I once had. Now I must take heed of my mother’s constant reminder to hold my tongue whilst I sharpen my blade and devise a plan. 

How ironic those words seem now. 

The ceremonial cape she’d specially designed for me does little to prevent the cold from setting into my skin. Made of the purest spider silk and thousands of small Lolth’s candle shards, it acts like a suit of armor more than anything. It’s a vibrant and intimidating display of our House’s strength, our fortitude that granted us the win over the former House Baenre. Beneath the cape is the usual attire of our house; a high necked dress made of dyed black spider silk and embroidered with thread made from compressed mushrooms. Its long sleeves hug my arms before falling into a bell shape from my elbow to my wrist. Slits on either side of my hips reveal fitted trousers of the same fabric and black mushroom leather boots. 

Aside from my own sighing and quiet murmuring, silence has occupied the room that has acted as my prison since my birth. My personal guard has remained wordless and stands statuesque at my door while only occasionally looking in my direction with disdain. Her looks of disgust were returned tenfold, prompting a battle of the side eye between us. I fear that if my mother were to see the obvious hatred written across my guard’s face, I’d expect her head to be staked outside my door as an example of what happens when one crosses the Matron or her Successor. However this isn’t a fate that I imagine my guard will ever face; as a former high ranking House member herself, she is far more calculated with her emotions than most and reserves her small displays for when we are alone. 

A curt knock at the door causes me to jolt and bump my head against the glass. The thud isn’t loud but with how painfully silent it had been, I know my guard heard it. She lets out a snort of amusement before opening the door a crack and speaking in whispers to whoever is waiting on the other side. A dull throb begins to form at my temple and I try to rub it out with my fingertips but with no success. All I manage to accomplish is to smear makeup on my hand and bring more attention to the sensitive area. 

Murmured conversations fill the room with nothing discernible floating towards me. 

“What did they want?” I ask her when she closes the door and retakes her place in front of it. I glance over to her when she doesn’t respond to find her red eyes staring at me, filled with annoyance and her oath sworn anger. I dare to ask the question again and receive a nose crinkle and loud sigh in turn. 

“If you’re going to ignore me, you might as well sit down and be completely inadequate at your job,” I snap at her. It doesn’t seem to even bother her but it makes me feel better to have made a dig at her. Rather than be upset by it, she does just that and sits in an all too casual position in my reading chair by the fireplace. She makes a show of getting comfortable by letting her head rest on the back of the chair, her hands folded on her stomach, and her legs outstretched before her. I imagine she’s even closed her eyes to really prove how ‘inadequate’ she can be. 

Shaking my head at her little display, I get up from my perch and make my way to my wardrobe, ridding myself of my ceremonial attire as I go. The cape is the first to fall with a surprisingly heavy thud as it knocks against the wardrobe’s doors. 

From the corner of my eye, I see Minthara lift her head to see what I’m doing but it promptly falls back again. Weaponless due to my mother’s own wishes for this evening, I must not lose a threat to Minthara or apparently anyone else in this city. I begin to take off my boots but one gives a particularly difficult time and I fall toward, barely catching myself in the wardrobe’s frame. The wood snags on the palm of hand and rips at the skin. Blood wells up and quickly begins to seep into the wood under it. 

“iblith,” I curse, my nose flaring as I try to remain calm. Like swarming toadstools, the closer I try to approach the task, my mind becomes more hostile and grows fat with toxic rage. When it inevitably bursts, my body becomes flooded with the noxious energy of indignation and craves retribution from those that caused it in the first place. 

“iblith,” falls from my mouth again when I pull my hand away and see several wood fragments embedded in the flesh. It’s a mess of bleeding fat, torn skin, and splinters. If i were to tend to it now, it would be clean and healed within a matter of minutes but something about the sight compels me not to.

This evening was meant to be the celebration of my debut as my mother’s successor. A bit trivial considering that wasn’t a secret to begin with but now that House Vandree sits atop House Baenre and she its matron, the celebration was to be what solidified her position. However much like most things in this gods forsaken city, there is always a thread of deceit and betrayal woven in its people’s actions. As I’d been announced and was being brought to my mother, an arrow pierced just above my mother’s head on her chair. With a roar of anger, she leapt up from her seat and ripped the arrow out. She passed it off to her personal guard before glowering down at the crowd. 

The world seems to be in servitude to my mother, Thana Vandree. She’s a creature that knows no limits or bounds with her power; everything bends to her will without hesitation. She’s able to wield any weapon with the ease of a skilled warrior, learn any spell with minimal effort, and disarm any being with a single look. Our goddess favors her and grants her whatever she desires, only adding to the idea that she is untouchable and dangerous. 

From my place beside her, I could see the magic ripple from her like heat waves and I could feel it wrapped around everyone in the room. I watched as she stalked everyone from her place and scanned the crowd for the offender. 

“Such an act of violence will not be tolerated in House Vandree. I demand whoever thought it smart to do such a foolish thing to step forward.” 

The room froze and no one dared to breathe but her. 

Her personal guard let out a sneer when someone attempted to escape. My mother simply raised one brow as her guard and others overtook the poor soul. She began to lecture the room about how violence towards herself or any of her house members would be met with severe consequences. Her sermon fell silent when her guard dragged a rather frail looking young drow male to her feet. 

She smiled wickedly at her guard, “I think a demonstration of such consequences are in order, don’t you?”

The frightened male began to sob profusely but it did nothing to quail the fires within my mother. 

“Please! Please don’t kill me, i…I’ll tell you…” he sobbed and sobbed while all those around us erupted into a burst of cheers and shouts. My mother’s slim hands hung at her sides as she slowly circled him and his tears grew tenfold. Two guards readied their blades for her but she held up a finger and gestured for them to back away. She drew a small dagger from her guard’s belt much to his dismay and tossed it to the crying male. 

“Please Netan-tallar, please I beg you!”

“Stand,” she said with a bone chilling timber to her already low voice. He did as he was told, scrambling to grab the dagger and get to his feet before she changed her mind. More voices erupted around the two as they circled each other and she smirked as she sniffed the air. We could all smell it; the fear and despair that leaked from the poor male. 

“Your daughter told me to do it.”

My mother’s eyes flickered to me. 

“My daughter? My successor asked you to do what?” She asked while holding eye contact with me. 

He rambled on and on about how I had been the one to order him to kill my mother. Most of his words were lost between the crying and sniffing but it was still clear that he was implying that I wanted her dead.

“Is this true, my child?” Her voice slithered through my ears and rooted itself into my mind like a wriggling tadpole. My answer fell from tightly pressed lips as I promptly told her no and that I had never seen this male before. She only gave me an affirming nod. I’m still not sure what made her believe me but it shocked me nonetheless that she accepted my answer so quickly and without question. 

Her attention turned back to the male as her  guard pushed him towards her and he attempted to strike. A flash of black and white hair blocked my view of what happened yet I still knew. 

We all knew that her justice would be simultaneously ugly and beautiful. 

Everyone was silent at first and waited with bated breath as a thud sounded through the now quiet room. I looked down to see the male’s head rolling towards me and looked back up to see my mother already staring at me, a smirk on her pale lips. We shared a brief look of understanding before she spoke, “my Successor is loyal to me and our house until the end. This is not an act orchestrated by her but someone else who dares to frame her. This pathetic male is still the mouthpiece of a greater plot and thus his death will not satisfy me. Let it be known that I will not hesitate to slaughter every last person who is found to know about this plot.“ she beckoned me to stand beside her, “let it be known that my successor will be our champion in sniffing out this plot and bringing its creators to their knees.”

At the moment it seemed like a well placed sentiment but now I’m realizing that it was a set up. My mother had asked me to be weaponless, something that no drow never does. The arrow was shot at a perfect moment and landed inches above her head. The male spilled enough information to cast suspicion while still being vague. It was all a ruse.

“Penore-rin?”

There’s a warm wet feeling against my chest where my hand is cradled and its coppery stench fills my nose. My eyes burn and fill with tears as I blink back to reality. through the tears, I make out Minthara’s crouched form before me.

She says my title again, “Penore-rin?”

Pulling my hand away, I glance at it and then at her. An uneasy feeling of fatigue has begun to creep up on me. Every muscle in my body is contorted yet relaxed while my blood grows too thick to pass through my veins. My head feels like it’s full of spiders; every thought skittering away and spinning webs of confusion. I try to speak but the words get stuck behind a lump of terror and realization. 

“Y/n.” She says sternly, dropping the formality of my title altogether. My eyes flutter closed as my hand drops to my lap. I hear her mumble something under her breath before she takes ahold of my hand and a gentle healing glow fills the space between us. The pain in my hand has vanished but something vile is still coursing through my veins. The relief allows me to whisper out one last thing before I fall victim to this villain inside of me. 

“Thana's going to kill me.”