#can i link this here aha oh god

[buckysbaron]

Devil to Pay

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Helmut Zemo

Summary: Helmut Zemo is on a mission for revenge, which primarily involves capturing Bucky Barnes, recently free of HYDRA’s clutches… to be the world's most dangerous trained sex slave.

Rating: Explicit

Tags: Power Dynamics, Rape/Non-con, Bucky is Not having a good time, but Zemo definitely is, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Manhandling, Tranquilizers, Stockholm Syndrome, Gaslighting, Whump, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, PTSD, Emotional Manipulation, Blackmail, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Collars, Shock Collar, Humiliation, Wet & Messy, HYDRA Trash Party Adjacent, Gangbang, Bondage, Gags, EKO Scorpion Sokovian Military Squad, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Dehumanization

Word Count: 101k+

Link: Devil to Pay

[heartfullofleeches]

Incubus/Cupid Streamer Darling... Couldn't decide on one so you get both versions of this cutie

Incubus Darling - an idol of lust takes a different approach to their job by becoming a livestreamer and drawing their prey upon them as opposed to hastle of seeking foolish humans out themselves plus they don't have to actually touch any of them. They primarily focus on gaming and asmr - wearing as little clothing as guidelines will allow whenever they're on camera and post their various states of dress online to the hungry crowds.

They become a successful steamer with anything they could ever want thrown at them... which also includes things they don't. Stray messages pop up here and there of people confessing their love- not lust, to the demon. Wanting to take them out on romantic dates, wishing to grow old or even just hold hands with them. It confuses and shocks the devil to their core. They block these people, but they just make alt accounts and the cycle continues. The incubus' bewilderment is seen as the cutest thing to their audience so they dial back on the sexually charged flirting and compliment other assets they adore. Reader did not sign up for this, but it's all online so they should be fine. Until they find out they shouldn't click on every link that's sent to them

-

Yan Chat: I want you to [censored] my [censored] until I [censored]

Incubus Streamer: Yes... good...

Yan Chat: I want to us to have a spring wedding and grow old seeking no other comfort than being in each other's arm

Incubus Streamer: ... [dials the police]

-

Cupid Darling - A messenger of love that also takes a different approach to their job by becoming a livestreamer. Does gaming streams on week days and offers love advice on weekends. May not be as innocent as they seem to always forget to put on pants or wears tee shirts that are just a little too big/small - flashing the camera whenever they move to stand up.

They're the sweetest thing around, always encouraging their chat to go out and find true love when they've all found it right there in the form of their innocent angel. Gets so flustered and bashful from lustful comments their audience can't help up send in more and articles of themselves to help reader along. Poor cupid sits on their floor with boxes of used lingerie and photos around them and is very tempted to use their offerings, but feels so so dirty for giving in

-

Yan Chat: Cupid? I really need your help :( There's this cute person I've been interested in and I have no idea how to even speak to them

Cupid Reader: Well tell me a bit about them and maybe I can help!

Yan Chat: You might know them. They have the softest looking wings and the cutest little halo. Their voice is so cute too- I just want to hear them scream my name as I grab their waist and just-

Cupid Reader, Visibly sweating: God, pick me up - I'm scared

-

Both are heavily sponsored by adult toy sites/sent them from their audience, but the differences are funny to me

Cupid Streamer, holding a dildo: Oh my... This is almost as big as m.... y heart! Aha!

Incubus Streamer, holding a dildo: Meh- Mines bigger. Wanna see?~

[finniestoncrane]

2.5k Event Request - Cecil Stedman x GN!Reader word count: 900 a/n: am i unhinged? yeah. but i'm at peace with that. and i think i should be rewarded for my self-awareness by being pushed under a desk and asked to suck cecil stedman's fat cock u-u cw: hair pulling, blowjobs, praise kink, instructed oral sex, risky location, choking on dick 🔞minors dni🔞 • masterlist • kofi link • tag: finnie2.5k (to follow or to block)

Employee evaluations and boot licking were very much not your thing. You didn’t need the praise, a boost of incentive to work at a job you’d rather not have but rather required to have in order to exist. But there were things you were willing to do, even begging to do. And you were more than happy to degrade yourself for the opportunity to do them. It’s why you so often found yourself on your knees below Cecil Stedman’s desk, staring up at him with wide, thankful eyes, your mouth filled with his cock, average length but surprisingly thick.

From under his desk, strategically hidden and subtly indicating your status as lower than him, you stared up into Cecil’s steely blue eyes, a glimmer of affection behind them, far more than he offered to anyone else he looked at. His fingers laced through your hair, pads pressing onto your scalp as he pushed you, mouth open expectantly, towards the tip of his cock. Slowly, but still forcefully, he inserted himself past your lips, groaning as his head hit the back of your throat. Your chokes and splutters made his heartbeat quicken, abdomen tightening as his muscles tensed in arousal.

“Breathe through your nose… and put your tongue underneath- yep, yes… just like… Oh, that’s it… that is it! You’re a fast learner.”

Your drool was pooling against your bottom lip, eyes watering as he bucked the tip against your throat. In a move of genuine care, he tugged at the knot of your hair he held in his clamped fist and pulled you off his cock, watching your saliva spill from the corners of your mouth and drip down your chin.

He steadied himself on the edge of his chair, one hand firmly planted at the based of his cock, just enough uncovered by his hand for you to wrap your lips around the tip. As you began sucking again, running your tongue around his head, taking more of him in as he removed his hand, his trust that you could do this without straining yourself renewed. Despite what you might have believed, this was only pleasurable for him if you enjoyed yourself too. But not wanting to seem too soft, he offered another instruction.

“Don’t be afraid to use your teeth a little. You think I’m soft? I deal with these assholes on a daily basis, I can handle a bit of rough play.”

You tightened your jaw a little, letting his shaft graze along the bottom row of your teeth, his breath hissing through his clenched teeth as the slight tingle of pain coursed through him.

“You know, if everyone listened as well as you did, we wouldn’t have so many god damn problems around here.”

Cecil’s warm palm held your cheek, thumb caressing your skin in a display of affection, the likes of which only you ever saw from him truly. There were others he cared for, but you were the only one he seemed to feel anything deeper towards. It made you feel special. That he could have at his behest the most incredible superheroes on the planet, and you were the one he chose to spend his time with.

He tapped his thumb against your cheek, drawing your eyes up to his as he spoke.

“Hollow them, it shows your sucking as hard as you can, you know I like that ah… aha ha… wow, you are a very good listener…”

His thumb went back to skating back and forth over your now flushed and warm cheeks.

“… such a good employee, we’ll need to negotiate a bonus for you.”

You could feel your eyes, half-lidded and wet with tears, sparkling with excitement at his praise.

“You’re so good… you’re doing so good… gimme a second though…”

His slender fingers pulled at the knot of his tie, loosening it before he took it off completely, flicking it over your head and letting it rest at the back of your neck. He held the two ends between his clenched fists, tugging at them, using them to pull you towards him on your hands and knees, freeing you from your spot under his desk. Now you were exposed, risking anyone walking in, though you knew no one would. Cecil Stedman decided when people spoke to him, not the other way around. The same way as he decided when you would take a breath, or when you would switch techniques, or when you could stop. You were under his control, like everything else in the world. Another plate for him to spin.

As he leaned back in his chair, shifting his pants down further on his thighs and placing his hands on top of his head, you pressed forwards, easing yourself up and resting your palms on his knees. He was silent, taking the time to just appreciate your efforts as you bobbed your head up and down on his cock, hungrily, desperate to please him, wanting so bad to continue to do a good job for him. With one hand running over his head and through his long hair, he let the other hover over your shoulder, not wanting to push you any further, wanting to let you take control instead for these last few moments. He was close, and he wanted you to earn his load of your own accord.

You could coax it out of him, he was certain of that.

[ebonysplendor]

Infatuation 💰🏞️

TL;DR: What's worse than running away from one psychopath? Running away from six psychopaths. Even worse than that? They're rich psychopaths, with shmonies. Also, can we make a damn plan and stick to it please?!

Game Link: https://aspenglen.itch.io/infatuation

Notable Features: Self-Insert, Customizable (somewhat), Multiple Endings, Multiple LIs, Yandere LIs, 4+ hours of gameplay Spiciness: 2/5 -- It can get a little flirty and a little spicy here and there, but the main "spice" is when there's an unwanted advance from some of the LIs LI(s) Red Flags: 3.8/5 -- Kidnapping, drugging, nonconsensual sexual advances, tied up, branded, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, physical force

Wanna know more? Meh...I say not unless you're at least 16. There's not an age restriction, buuuuuuuuuut I don't feel like anyone's 12-year-old sibling should be playing this. That being said, I can't do much from behind a screen, so let's get into it!

Just a heads up, the game was long as shit, so this review is going to be long as shit;;

Oh hey. Didn't see ya there. Oh this? This is just my first post in about a month. Thought I'd just...sliiiiide on in here, get thangs swangin' again. Lol but no seriously. It has been a pretty crazy month, but I've finally got enough time and rest at the same time to finally make this review, and aha...

Respectfully...I understand that all good things must come to an end, but damn, I really miss that phase where I was running into all the really good visual novels...

That being said, I know what I said, but hear me out! The game isn't...awful...but I didn't really vibe with it. Like, I know why I didn't vibe with it, but I'd rather wait and get into all of that during the review portion. Hopefully, based on the summary I give you, the review and criticism I have will make sense.

Anyways, this game, interestingly enough, is actually a rendition -- am I using that word right? I believe I am...? -- of a story that was written on Wattpad, and don't act all brand new like you don't know what Wattpad is! You know damn well what Wattpad is because here you are playing and reading visual novels and reviews of visual novels about toxic ass men being a (forced) love interest. Don't try to play me. I'm getting distracted though!

So the name of the story on Wattpad, like the game, is Infatuation, and it's about...well actually, I'm gonna give you a summary of what it's about because this visual novel is based off of it! I was going to give the actual story a read after I finished the visual novel but, uh...

Almost a 24 hour read???? Yeah, no thanks, and you'll hopefully understand why I didn't have much motivation to give it a read after my review.

I'm pretty over yapping in the intro, though, so let's head into the actual game, yeah? As per the usual, I'm going to tell you as much about the game as possible without ruining the game itself. Without a better transition sentence, let's get into it!

So boom.

We're on our way to school, and we meet up with our -- quite frankly -- thirsty ass friends. They're pretty much raving about this new group of boys that had just transferred to our school, because, not only are they super rich, they are, apparently, extremely attractive.

We pretty much brush this off, though, because we're not looking for anything romantic. Honestly, we're barely looking for anything platonic; however, we agreed to be their wingman since we're essentially God-tier at picking up men that we don't want.

That being said, by some weird stroke of luck -- or misfortune, considering we know that this is all going to go very left as the story progresses -- we proceed to run into every single one of them. And I mean

every.

single.

frickin.

one.

of.

them.

Well, kinda? The blond one had a class with the blue-haired guy, us, and the bestie. The purple haired one -- even though it's more of a burgundy? -- was in the vicinity after we had pretty much asked the other boys about him because this was the one that the besties were simping over the most. But the rest? Pretty much had a one-on-one moment with all of them, even if one was extremely douchey.

Anyways, we're kind've going about our days and the besties are still thirstin', and, admittedly, we're getting closer to these guys -- too close. One of our other friends -- his name is Hiroko -- pretty much warns us about them because something just seems real sketchy to him about these guys. That being said, we just kind've brush him off, because it's, like, sir? Who are you to talk about someone being sketchy? Like, lmao mans is a full on delinquent with a whole ass gang and a criminal history with the police, and they can't stand his ass.

He's a good sport about it, though, because even though he's like "You're a full blown dumbass for that", he's like "True, true..." and just warns us to be careful around them. Now mind you, his concern is totally fair, because it's discovered later on that they pretty much fucked up this one kid's world -- you'll have to discover how during your own playthrough, though. I ain't tellin' you all that lmao.

Now, fast forwarding a lot here, shit lowkey starts hitting the fan because the bae comes back in town -- not official bae, but still bae -- and conveniently enough, he is the brother of our two besties

Everyone. This is Kenzen; the man that we're pretty sure is gonna be our husband and baby daddy one day, maybe not even in that order, but those things exactly.

Now, the reason why shit starts hitting the fan is because all of a sudden, the school boys are starting to realize that we already have our future husband picked out. Shit proceeds to get super tense once this knowledge it learned, and the boys are start to slowly but slowly lose their shit. Allow me to show you

Exhibit A: A most vicious side-eye competition

Exhibit B: The OG death grip and growl

and Exhibit C: The comply or choose death, but drunken

Oh, and let's just throw this one in for some added flair.

And definitely this one.

And why would we not add this one?

Yep, the fan was pretty much hit with shit so...yeah lmao. Go ahead and give it a go so you can see how we ended up with the most romantic gift of a necklace and a finger.

Lmao I wasn't joking about the finger by the way.

And now to air all of my grievances...

Lol nah, I'm joking, but also...there's a lot to unpack here.

First off, let's talk about the good!

So...our psychopathic LIs. Can we just acknowledge the diversity? Like, you had your pale guy, your dark guy, your tan guy, your fair skin guy, like...? I seriously appreciate that time was taken out to actually make all the LIs look different from each other and not some copy-paste, change the eye color and hair thing. I absolutely LOVED the diversity of the LIs.

Not to mention, the MC is diverse a well! Granted, like typical, we can't really SEE it except in the occasional CG, but it was just dope that there was even an option, ya know?

Also! The concept of the story was actually pretty solid! Some of the things that happened were interesting, and I definitely had a "...Well, damn ._." moment here and there.

Now for the...not so good.

This flowed like a stereotypical Wattpad story. That's obviously no fault of the dev, but, for me, the point of renditions is to take something and make it a little better or give it some extra flair without ruining what the OG creator intended -- that didn't really happen, and that was honestly what bugged me the most out of everything.

I didn't really care that there'd be strings and strings and strings of dialogue before the next choice finally came up nor did I care that, while it appeared to be choice heavy, it was actually just an illusion on choice where it didn't really matter how you responded to certain things; it just was. But yeah, the pacing was...well, let me expose myself a little (don't come after me. I'm a tiny and cozy blog lol)

If you make posts on tumblr, then you know what this is. For those that don't know and/or can't guess what it is, this shows the interaction that my blog gets or my "activity" more accurately. The reason why I brought this out was because...this was how the story's pacing was.

First, it'd be on a steady progression, and then it'd drone on and on and on into a plateau, but then -- out of no where -- shit will randomly escalate and just take off into this fit of drama...but then it'd quickly drop. There was no real flow, and when there was, it'd be super inconsistent. Not to mention, the wishy-washiness of the MC and the unpredictability of the LIs (which duh, right?), the pacing would just take off and then would come to a dead stop. It's like there was no balance between the narration, the drama, and the transitions to the next scene. Like, yeah, you've gotta story tell, obvi, but don't drone on for-- actually I can show you that as well.

Did you notice how long that clip was? Imagine how long it took to read...

That was just straight up narration, and there was multiple times where this happened. Nothing really happening, no choices to make, just straight up narration. Well, no, I lied a little. Things did happen, but once again, it'd come out of no where. It, quite literally, will go from having a normal conversation, and then the yandere side just comes out totally unprovoked. Like? It's honestly more for shock factor than for story, and it got to a point where I was honestly just tired of the game itself and was wanting it to end...but it ended up being 3 hours longer, and I'm not even joking about that. Once again, I can show you.

This was the point I started getting ill with the game but felt that I was towards the end and pushed on to finish it out

This was when I realized that I was clearly wrong about that being "almost the end" and took pretty much another 3 hours to get through.

And yes, for the most part, I played it in one sitting with the exception of when I got me a little snacky snack and went to pee. Oh? You're curious about what time I started playing?

Around 5 hours beforehand...

Notice that that all says 19 June 2024. I have never been so glad to see the ending screen...

It wasn't even because it was bad! It was just. so. extremely. long. And for, what felt like, no reason to be that long. Granted, I could've stopped and saved and came back, but it always felt like I was either getting to the end or to a good part, and it just never came -- not that there wasn't any good parts, but...never mind, I feel like I make it worse the more I try to explain...

Anyways, the game wasn't awful by any means, but it definitely could use some improvement. The whole thing had good potential, the pacing of it really just killed it for me, and had that been better executed? This would've been a great game, but it's honestly just...decent. It had multiple endings, but outside of each of the yandere LIs' ending? I didn't bother trying to get the others.

Even still, while I don't recommend the game, I think it's still worth giving it a casual playthrough! There's plenty of material to read, and there are some interesting parts! Like I said, it's just a pacing issue. Not to mention the MC was pissing me off with that wishy-washy bullshit. Like, bro, survival is at the top of the list. Why are you making a plan and doing the exact opposite of what you were gonna do? Like, what the fuck is you doin'?!

You'll understand it when you play it yourself so...give it a fair try? Here, I'll even put the link here! Heck, and give the dev some encouraging words and, even though I didn't see it, some monetary support! The game itself was honestly fine! It was just the storytelling needed some work, which lowkey isn't even their fault because it was based off of a Wattpad story (I'll link that again here, by the by).

Okay, this review is about to be the same length as the game. I'm going to go ahead and head out of here. Just to reiterate, the game is free! Giving it a casual playthrough never hurts! I mean, what've you got to lose except about 4 - 6 hours?

Okay, really, I'm out of here now! Remember! Drink water, don't be dumb, and hope to see you around~!

Infatuation

[sevi007]

Tales of the abyss, part 17

Gwah, I thought we will travel easy for a whole but anime cutscene means trouble yea? Epicness at least!

I will hurriedly put this under a read more because I think starting now there is CERTAINLY going to be spoilers!

Aha! Same face syndrom! Meaning there either IS a twin or, what I‘m more inclined to, clones!

If it is a clone, you messed up the haircolor *whisper*

So, I'm sticking with the clone theory for now, since I am certain hiding the fact that TWINS were kidnapped and only one came back is too complicated. Replacing someone is easier, yes.

But then, which one is the clone? Luke or Asch? So personally, I will go with Luke. He is the one with the memory loss (which in this case would mean he is a clone created "empty", read, no memories there - so rather than losing his memories, he never had any to begin with.) This would also add to the drama of Luke already having bad self-worth (his attitude is mostly posturing imo) and the truth will then hit it hard. While on the other hand, Asch's hatred against Luke would be explained, seeing as he was replaced by Luke.

Okay Jade suspected or knew this already

Ouch Luke’s face here. Poor kid.

Hey, hello? Are we like, not stopping for a bit so Luke can throw up and discuss what we just saw? I mean yea, saving Ion, but surely we have a few minutes? Is anybody giong to make sure he is alright, or going to discuss what just happened?

Ah, there it is. BUT. Note how Luke is not here to hear this. The party is leaving him in the dark AGAIN. Not to mention that Jade at least has a theory and is not saying anything about it.

Haaaah. This will not help in the long run. I feel like rather than acknowledge Luke's troubles (which, why he does not talk about, he still strongly projects outwards) the party is just always too focused on the next goal, and more like drags him after them. This will further stir up his ire, and make him mullish, and drive him towards Van.

Oh okay the link-thingy is getting more frequent.

So Asch is helping us now? Hm. Considering that Van and the God-Generals pointed out that Asch was acting against Van's orders, I assume Asch is not agreeable with whatever Van's goal is, and is working to stop Luke from blindly following everything Van says. He could then claim that not HE was acting against Van's orders, but rather Luke kept interferring.

I'm cutting the whole trip through the desert and the ruins, there's not much to say to that - oh, except I like that Mieu actually gets new abilities! It's kind of funny to imagine him breaking rocks tbh XD

Reaching the bottom of the ruins:

That looks like a door? *squint* I can't remember if anything in all this exposion said something about doors tbh.

The boss fight was pretty hard - took me three tries and figuring out which party works - so I was a bit depressed to hear this from Asch:

Rude man!

This was cool though. Does that mean they both had the same teacher? - My clone theory is going STRONG man.

??? Wait what's that reaction? Because she is the princess, or...?

(I tell you guys, everyone here has hidden agendas!)

Stop teasing me, game, I want to know if that means "twin" or "clone"! XD

You know... I like the characters, I really do.

But GOD do I wish they would TALK with each other. So Jade knows more than we do, Ion knows more than we do, Tear does - and now Guy too, and NOBODY is sharing stuff with ANYBODY.

If this goes all flying off the handle, I'm not blaming one person, no matter what everyone else says, I'm blaming everyone. You fucked this up in a group effort by being secretive as hell.

@magicmetslogic

@ahsokaisawesome

[silentium-symphony]

Book Buddies I (Link x Reader)

(a/n) hi! i'm nicole and thank you for checking out this story! i've been HORRENDOUSLY down bad for link and i started this blog just so i can gush about him asdjhfjk i literally love him sm

i haven't written anything creatively in awhile, so i'm rather rusty--sorry if there are any mistakes, and thank you for being patient with me!

as i was approaching an ungodly word count, i decided to split it into two parts. part 2 will be released shortly and will be linked here!

cw: afab!reader, researcher!reader, dusty libraries, link accidentally discovering your kink before even learning your name, started out as fluff then kinda devolved into... well, smth, some swearing oops

wc: 2.4k

♤♢ ~~ ♡♧

Ah, Link--Captain of the Royal Guard, personal bodyguard to the Princess, battle-hardened warrior with dozens of well-fought battles under his belt, giddy little schoolboy head over heels for--wait, what?

This man--who has stared Death down until it flee from him--was tripping over a head-scratching, "aha"-ing, entrancing little Sheikah researcher?

You bet your ass he was.

It started out innocently enough. He had gone to the library to scout out some new battle tactics for the next skirmish he and his soldiers would inevitably be dragged into, and he happened to round a corner just in time to see a flair of (H/C) hair.

Oh Hylia, you were breathtaking.

Maybe it was the way the torches warmly contoured your face's every feature, or maybe how the sun got caught in that beautiful, silky hair of yours that seemed to frame your face in the most angelic way. Or maybe it was the way your brows crinkled and your nose scrunched as you absorbed the contents of the aged scroll balancing delicately between your cautious fingers.

Regardless, you were squarely in his line of sight and he made no effort to move (seemingly unaware of the rest of the library's patrons, who were scooting past him and shooting impatient scowls at the dazed captain).

♤♢ ~~ ♡♧

Your temples pounded a dull ache that sent any semblance of coherent thought out of your head; you let out a deep sigh, feeling your face relax as you do.

Ugh, you gotta stop doing that... Seriously, you look like a pig when you scrunch your nose like that.

The last sentiment was spoken in a thousand scornful voices, all the way from your mother to your fellow researchers. You threw your head back and felt your eyelids droop close, your eyes grateful to be getting a break from their swimming lessons. Your chest heaved slowly, filling the corner of your lungs with the smell of aged books and sun-caught dust.

As you exhaled, your eyes fluttered open and happened to catch a pair of wide, cerulean eyes eyeing you from afar.

You almost snorted your exhale and immediately threw your nose back into the scroll.

Shit shit shit! Oh gods, why Hylia, why of all people did he have to see that stupid expression of yours?! It could have been literally anyone but him!

Cheeks aflame and mind accursing, you slowly look up from your scroll and see the same pair of cerulean staring back at you, softer this time and with a hint of something else... Amusement?

You sent an awkward smile his way and nodded your head in acknowledgment before thickly swallowing the painful lump in your throat. Heart thundering loudly in your ears, you hadn't noticed it perfectly syncing with a pair of hurried metal footsteps barring against stone.

The door to the library creaked open and a pair of glistening silver helmets peeped through.

You heard a flurry of panicked whispers sourcing from the doorway and you couldn't help but peek your eyes just above the yellowed edge of your scroll. A gasp, followed by a barely there "Captain."

Link's eyes shot to the pair and side-eyed their raggedly breathing forms. Drills and exercise regimens aimed at improving one's cardiovascular system are in order. He tilted his head, beckoning for them to wait outside before they divulged possibly very important information to a room full of people without proper clearance. The pair nodded, understanding their silent captain's commands, and slowly closed the loudly creaking door (in which everyone grimaced).

Link let out an imperceptible huff and turned his gaze to you one last time. You both caught each other's eyes, a feeling of enrapturement encasing the both of you--but as quickly as you caught it, it was lost with a swift turn of his heel and the click of the door (which didn't creak this time, much to the relief of everyone).

You felt the cheekiest of smiles play at your lips, and you almost smacked that stupid lil' grin off your face. Boy oh boy did that man have you whipped.

You looked down, your eyes locking with the same paragraph you have been trying to read for the past half hour; you groaned.

You were gonna be here for awhile.

♤♢ ~~ ♡♧

With a belly full of the most mid meal ever warm food the chef cooked up with leftover ingredients, Link found himself aimlessly wandering the halls of Hyrule Castle, absently absorbing the estate's splendor and many banners that riddled its thick stone walls.

Calloused fingers lightly grazed the rough interior, a chill slithering up his arm and down his back. His mind, in an effort to counteract the sudden coolness, immediately flashed to a thought that made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

You, of course.

All throughout the walk to the courtyard, during the emergency meeting called by the king himself, throughout dinner with his fellow brothers-in-arms, all he could think about was you.

He hadn't the slightest clue as to why you, specifically, had him absolutely smitten. There were plenty of good-looking researchers and soldiers who've pursued him at one time or another, but he never reciprocated their affections regardless of how flattered he was. Duties to the crown and whatnot occupied every crevice of his mind; he hadn't caught feelings for anyone since... Wait, had he ever caught feelings for anyone?

He clicked his tongue and shook these unproductive thoughts out of his head. In all his time serving Hyrule and her people, he had not once caught a glimpse of you. The palace was teeming with researchers and soldiers, so the chances of seeing you again were pretty low. Coupled with his irregular schedule and lengthy trips away from home, he could practically dash all hopes of fostering any sort of relationship with you.

Gods, if only he had caught your name! Maybe he can ask Zelda or Purah...?

He stopped before a door and stared at it for a long while, strangely unable to open it himself. The library. It felt like his arms were being weighed down by a chain with a heavy ball attached to it.

He glanced towards the window and felt the familiar panic of seeing the moon nearing its peak and him far away from slumber. Sighing, he rested a hand on the brass doorknob and sluggishly turned it.

Oh well. He's already here. Might as well do some light reading or review old battle strategies. Maybe that'll release him from his insomniac torment.

As he lightly pressed the door open, he poked his head through and scanned the room.

Only to be met with groggy, dark-rimmed (E/C) eyes.

His heart lurched in his throat and he almost sent you beaming across the room had his brain not make the last-second announcement that you were a civilian.

You, who was not a solider by any means, let out something between a yelp and a scream and fumbled backwards, unceremoniously landing on your rump and sending all your study things flying in all directions.

"Augh... Geez..."

A sharp pain bloomed from the point of contact and you hissed, rubbing the sore spot and cursing at your carefully organized notes scattered all over the ground.

A resounding clap of wood against stone preluded the Captain rushing through the doorway and immediately attending to you, resting a firm clasp on your shoulder and looking at you with a face that screamed a thousand apologies.

You let out a weak smile and an airy chortle, waving off his concerns.

"I-I'm fine... You gave me quite a scare, Captain! That woke me right up."

You did your best to whip out your most reassuring smile, all the while fighting the prickly feeling of new tears beading at your eyes; of course, this did not go unnoticed by the hyperaware soldier and his eyes widened in alarm, then panic, and finally resolve.

He smoothly laced his fingers with yours and in one smooth motion, gently hoisted you to your feet and into a chair with a thoroughly practiced move. Before you could even utter a 'thanks,' he was back on the floor, scrambling to get your papers and books in order.

During the chaos, a thin, deliciously scandalous-looking book slipped out of the Captain's hastily made bundle of paper and book.

It was your turn to start reeling. Ice coursed through your veins as your cheeks lightened to every shade of crimson under the sun.

Okay, act cool! Maybe he didn't see i--NO STOP WHY ARE YOU REACHING FOR IT

"U-Um--! Wait, that's--!"

Everything was in slow motion.

Link's hand felt the ground for whatever he dropped, picked up the book and absently inspected the scantily clad woman with a... Wait, is he choking her--?

"NOOO!!!"

You felt a void from where you initially felt a chair and saw Link's confused face rapidly approaching your own as you dove straight for the book and onto the Captain himself.

The force of a whole person launching themselves at him knocked the air right out of his lungs; his arms wrapped around your back and pressed you closer to him, bracing for impact.

THUD!

Thank Hylia, a majority of the blow concentrated mostly on his shoulder. He'd take a sore shoulder over a split skull any day. Peering down, he saw trusses of (H/C) messily splayed atop his chest and your smaller body oh so perfectly filling in the empty spaces of his much larger frame.

More base thoughts seeped into his mind and he mentally flogged himself for thinking such things. He cleared his throat, raw from disuse, and groaned out, "you okay?"

You flinched at the deep, husky rumble in his chest and pathetically pushed yourself up.

How could you ever recover from this.

"Y-Yeah... I'm so sorry Captain, I... slipped."

He stared at you steadily, skepticism thinly veiled behind his eyes.

"... Slipped?"

"Y-... Yes."

Oh how you wished that Hylia would just whisk you away to the Demon King himself.

He maintains eye contact with you, several emotions you couldn't pick up on swimming just underneath his seafoam hues. He nodded slowly and sat up even slower, with you still wrapped up in his arms not that you minded but for the sake of decorum.

"Ah... Captain..."

You were practically straddling him now and his arms still remained tight behind your back. A flash of realization shot through him and he immediately released you, scooting back and back and back until he was nowhere near your personal bubble.

"I," he cleared his throat hoarsely, "apologize. I did not mean to make you uncomfortable."

"Oh no, it's okay! It's my fault really, I shouldn't have lunged--er, slipped, like that..."

You dusted the light brown dust that stained your garbs and offered a helping hand to the downed man. He looked up at you gratefully and clasped his hand in yours; it took everything in you to not get pulled down in the process.

As Link rocked back to his feet, The Book--still tightly gripped in the man's hand--flashed in your peripheral and you damn near shat bricks. You did all that and you couldn't even get the fucking book.

As if suddenly made aware of its existence, Link looked down at what he'd been holding this whole time and gazed upon the cover in its full, sultry glory. The tips of his ears began to adopt a shade of red you didn't think was possible and you snatched the book out of his hand.

"T-That's for a friend! She, uh, has been looking for this book for a really long time and I-I was just grabbing it for her! Please do not think that this is for me!"

You bowed your head, hoping that he couldn't see the beads of sweat dotting your brow or hear how fast your heart was racing. Link was silent for a moment, no doubt trying to process everything that went down in the past five minutes, before letting out a low chuckle.

"Well... You can tell your friend that there is no need to be embarrassed. She can pass her time however she pleases."

You strained a laugh and looked up bashfully, more than done with this conversation and itching for a topic change.

"Oh! Right! So, um... What brings you to the library so late at night?"

A vacant visage filled your vision as the soldier looked about the room--has he forgotten why he was here?

"I was... looking for a book to do some light reading. Do you or... your friend have any recommendations?"

He cast a knowing smile your way and you fought the urge to swipe that smug grin off his pretty face. You inhaled sharply, maintaining your composure, and flashed him a bright smile.

"Of course! What genres are you interested in?"

He hummed thoughtfully and drummed a finger on his chin.

"I... am not sure. I have only read strategy books and training manuals and the like. Perhaps something easy for the mind, but engaging enough to be read any time of the day."

"Hm..." While your head was filtering through a lifetime's collection of good reads, your feet shifted from under you and you found yourself weaving through the different aisles. The Captain loosely trailed behind you.

"At first glance, you seem like an action type of guy who'd do nicely with a good war story... But I assume you have enough of that in your life?"

"Yes." He lightly winced.

"Actually Captain," you start, dragging your fingers across a myriad of different book spines, "there's a fair amount of literature centered around you and your exploits."

"What? Really?" It filled his chest with a funny, lighthearted feeling. "Well, I suppose that makes sense..."

It felt rather strange to have whole books dedicated to you and your past accomplishments, but he recognized that not everyone has the privilege of getting their exploits penned down for the enjoyment of future generations. He couldn't help but wonder... Have you read any of them?

"Ah! Here it is!" Your deft hand snapped a book from the shelf, the remaining books gently folding in on each other to account for the sudden absence of their neighbor. The deep purple cover seamlessly blended into the dark corners of the library with only the occasional glint of the book's gold accent outlining its shape.

"This is a classic detective novel called Louis and Sholmes. The novel takes its sweet time building to its climax, but once you get to the good parts it's a real page-turner!"

Huh... Climax...

Link cleared his throat and bowed gratefully to you.

"Thank you for your recommendation, um..."

"Oh!" You placed a hand on your chest and bowed deeply. "(F/N). My name is (F/N)."

[theminecraftbee]

did anything in particular make you decide to study grief through solving counting sheep? very much enjoyed chapter 16 but augh my heart

this one’s under a cut because I ramble a LOT here!

so: SORT OF! it’s a long story!

so scs was ALWAYS gonna be about identity. even from day one, when half my original thought was “doing this from three’s perspective would be funny”, there wasn’t a world where the story wasn’t largely about identity, because this is the kind of story you can’t tell at all without it being about that. like it was maybe day two or three of waffling about this au, at least a month before I would actually commit to writing it, that I went “oh three isn’t actually really grian” (albeit in a different way than I ended up exploring it here).

the part about grief came later.

originally, the theme of grief came about because I was trying to decide WHY martyn was about and stealing watchers. that’s when I remembered a common watcher!grian trope: it’s fairly common (at least on the watcher!grian I’ve read, which to be fair is limited) for grian to have assumed the evo crowd was dead and vis versa. and I was like. aha! martyn can be attacking the watchers in vengeance for grian being dead! then I’ll be able to REALLF play with the dramatic irony if already wanted to use, where no one but the audience knew three was grian, because there’s another angle to work at that on!

cue: oh no wait this is about grief again. (see: tumblr post that I’m pretty sure is still semi-viral.)

the thing is, oftentimes “the evo crew thought grian was dead” is played for grian angst, which makes sense in grian-focused angst fics (this is not shade). but I was like. but that’d fuck up the people involved, right. like having your fun mystery game ended by someone actually getting murdered would tear basically everyone there apart, and that’s not even considering that the evo gang isn’t the WORLD’S most communicative people already. so I went… what if I made the story about that? what if, alongside being about three and identity, it was about the evo crew, grief, and how trauma can fuck up your relationships in unique and messy ways?

plus, like. this is a winter soldier fic. a staple here is “the moment steve realizes the winter soldier is bucky”, and while in three’s arc that bit is almost all about it taking the final step to establish its own independent identity, in the other’s arcs, that’s when they have to come to terms with who three used to be. and like, even in a world where three is uncomplicatedly grian, that’s a pretty big grief to have to unpack all over again. but this is a world where three is not grian, where I realized I’d have to tag mcd despite the character who died sort of also being alive, etc. at least there, grief would have to be explored.

also, for the weight of “grian and am I him” to actually hit three, three has to have an idea of how heavy grian is. like, in the original version I had pearl with the line “oh my god why are you grian” as a joke, and three responding “who is grian”. (oh, the early darlings of this au I killed.) but that doesn’t actually hit the same way, thematically, right? because it works best if once the reveal happens, we all know how much of a shadow grian casts.

in that way it comes back to the theme of identity, because identity here is therefore kind of intrinsically linked to grief. that final hurdle three has to cross to figure itself out of “can I define who I am out from under this shadow” doesn’t work unless everyone is really grieving for that shadow, yeah?

and, well, I’m me. I can’t avoid writing grief that long, it’s a theme I tend to gravitate back towards all the time. it makes sense in a fic that ended up actually being somewhat personal thematically that I’d end up back there.

it’s just one of those things. I realized martyn was there to avenge grian and then realized the story all worked so much better if it was about grief.

anyway this was a REALLY LONG RAMBLE but I hope you liked it! a glimpse into my thoughts I guess.

[izhunny]

😏... Failed at flash fiction challenge by overshooting the mark; succeeded at a fun Frostiron heist ficlet!

Final word count: 1415.

fffprompt: TAKE MY HAND

(full fic below the cut or use the link to AO3 in the title)

Title: A Little Light Burgling

Relationship: Loki/Tony Stark

Rating: Teen and up

No Archive Warnings Apply

(See work at AO3 link above for adtl tags/notes or take your chances below)

SUMMARY: To help a friend, Tony needs to break into the impenetrable vault of The Protectors (of insanely magical objects, some of which definitely shouldn't be on Earth). Only she's in another galaxy and can't help with the mission she tasked him with. And the Avengers… won't.

Who does Tony know with experience of and no moral qualms about stealing magical shit from the good guys?

💙

A/N: Dialogue only. Tony speaks the first line.

💙

“This is your fault. Fix it.”

“Take my hand.”

“Pfft. No.”

“How do you propose I fix the situation?”

“Same way you got me into it!”

“Shh! As I explained, I cannot use magic inside the catacombs, except for this exact spot. Or it will trigger an alarm. I resent the implication I had anything to do with you falling into that open grave. You stepped into that all on your own.”

“Empty grave.”

“Empty?”

“Yep. Mostly.”

“Most-”

“Me. I’m in the otherwise empty grave. So, mostly empty. Now get me out.”

“Move over.”

“What!”

“This is what we’re here for. Move. I’ll not be held responsible for crushing you.”

“Fine. Ugh. What are you doing?”

“Searching.”

“How can you see anything? We should have grabbed a torch from the corridor.”

“My eyes are not my only tool.”

“Hey, hey, that’s my-”

“So it is. Apologies. Step aside so I–aha!”

“Is that a secret door?”

“Yes. Bit small. Would you like to go first?”

“You should probably know, I‘m not a fan of caves. Why did I agree to this again?”

“Because you don’t trust me with the artifact at the end of this secret passage, but you need assistance getting it and none of your merry band of do-gooders would help?”

“Right. Think there’s anything alive in there?”

“Everything down here is quite dead except for us and the guards. And possibly rodents.”

“Rats!”

“Shush. In my experience, most catacombs have them. Nothing to worry about unless we encounter water or if you have an open wound.”

“Uh.”

“Uh?”

“I fell on my elbow.”

“Turn.”

“How can you see?”

“With much better eyesight than you.”

“Hey! Cold hands.”

“Abraded but not bleeding. You’ll be fine. Let’s go.”

“Wait. Thanks for. Don’t leave me down here.”

“Breathe. Hold. Release. Again. Good. I vowed earlier to aid this nefarious endeavor. Again, my sworn word, I will not leave you behind here. A literally unbreakable oath. You used this to your advantage with my brother, did you not?”

“I did. Okay. Lead on, McDuff.”

“There’s light at the end. Hold onto my coat tail.”

“I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

“Honestly, neither can I. What made you ask me?”

“Sneaking around. Breaking and entering. Stealing shit from a secret vault in a secret lair. Seemed like your idea of a good time.”

“It does sound like me. How are you doing?”

“I think my eyes are adjusting. The scenery has… improved. How much further?”

“Scenery? All you could possibly see is my, oh. Very amusing. Get your head out from under my jacket and see for yourself.”

“Think it’s boobytrapped?”

“No. But those lockpicks you concealed about your person will be useful. We need to change places.”

“We don’t really have the room to–”

“Back up a little. I’ll lay down; you crawl over and impress me with your genius engineering prowess.”

“Just break the lock off.”

“Wasn’t your plan for this to appear as if no one had ever been here?”

“Shit! We have to crawl back through to get out. I. Oh god!”

“Breathe. I can teleport us out at any moment if you do not care about triggering an alarm.”

“Okay. I just. Yeah. Okay. Breathing. Not trapped?”

“Not trapped.”

“Cool. You want to move down a little more?”

“No. I’ll be right under you to brace you so you can work.”

“Right. Oh, sorry about the. Whoops, my jeans caught on one of your belts. Why do you have so many damn belts?”

“Stop struggling. Allow me. There. I suggest you rest your weight on me.”

“I’m good.”

“You’re not. Your arms will need to remain in a precarious position for several minutes, your sweat already drips on me, and I predict your thighs and back will give before that lock yields to you. Rest. Your. Weight. On me. I’ll brace you up.”

“It’s like that one yoga pose. This is actually better. Thanks.”

“Are you…?”

“Yeah. I am. Ignore that.”

“But you were panicking a moment ago.”

“Not everything on me immediately responds to requests from my brain. Almost. Almost. Damn it! I need the other rake in my back pocket. Can you?”

“Yes. Here.”

“Thanks. Why are you doing this?”

“Sounded like fun.”

“Called it.”

“My brother’s disapproval over a collaboration of unlawful mischief was—Shh! Voices. Magic.”

“Mmm…”

“...Oh.”

“Good or bad oh?”

“Just. Oh. They’ve gone. The magic is receding, too. Keep working, you shameless creature.”

“Locks already open. Your lips are soft.”

“Thank you.”

“Can I kiss you again?”

“Later. Let’s retrieve this object you seek and get out of here.”

“Good idea.”

“I’ll get the latch. Shield your eyes.”

“Fuck, it’s fucking bright.”

“Oh my. Look, look.”

“Yeah, that’s… wow. That’s a lot of stuff.”

“Are you entirely certain you wish to take only whatever we’re here for from this vault?”

“You promised. My artifact only.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t try to negotiate for more. Crawl inside already.”

“Sorry. Ouch!”

“Get off the floor.”

“How did you manage that from your back so gracefully?”

“Superior proprioception and strength. Well, what are we here for?”

“It’s a cube, like the cube that–”

“No wonder you didn’t tell me. Start on that side. I’ll start over there.”

“See it?”

“No. You?”

“Not yet.”

“You’re certain, only the cube?”

“Yes.”

“But this could be fun. Or this!”

“Put that back.”

“But, but shiny, dangerous magical objects. Displayed like wares in a shop!”

“I found it. But it’s in a locked case.”

“That lock should be no issue.”

“Yep. After I get this to my friend, I’m telling them about the security loophole you exploited.”

“If I could leave you here, I would.”

“I won’t tell them how I know about it.”

“Finding another avenue in might be challenging.”

“What the hell are. Are you, are you licking those things?”

“Just the really interesting ones. So I can find them later.”

“Does this mean you’ll be able to locate me whenever you want?”

“You’re the one who kissed me. And yes.”

“Okay, that’s—.”

“Don’t touch it! Let me wrap it with a bit of—”

“That’s my favorite t-shirt you just ripped a chunk out of. And that’s a handy use of a belt.”

“Undignified as it may seem, this can act as a light for our crawl back if you hold the belt between your teeth.”

“Can you get the lock back onto–”

“Yes! Get in, hurry! The magic sweep is starting on the other side of the vault.”

“Damn, it’s worse with light.”

“Move!”

“I’m moving!”

“How do you possibly manage inside your suit if you’re so claustrophobic?”

“Suit’s not a cave.”

“Well, in that case. You know that makes no reasonable sense whatsoever, don’t you?”

“Never said it was reasonable. That’s, uh, my ankle you got there.”

“Did you pull the entry closed when we came in?”

“I don’t remember. And I can’t tell with all the light.”

“Of all the. Put the cube between your knees. Lie down. I’ll crawl past and leave my jacket over you. Wrap the cube in it and follow.”

“Ow, hey, watch the. Um. That a dagger in your pants or are you just happy to be crawling over the back of me in a dark tunnel with ill-gotten loot?”

“The first. Maybe a little of the second. Quiet. The guards should be making their round again soon. After they pass, we’ll exit. Your hand is taking liberties I haven’t granted.”

“It’s keeping me distracted. And calm. It is pretty nice ass. Why do you guys wear so much leather anyway?”

“Why are you so interested in fashion?”

“I’m stylish. Sue me.”

“You’re also inappropriate.”

“I’m inappropriately interested in what’s underneath that fashion.”

“Ehehehe. They’re leaving. Let’s go.”

“I never thought I’d be happy standing in an empty grave.”

“My jacket?”

“After you get us to my lab. How’s it look?”

“Like it’s too big for you and has a cosmic cube in it. Fetching nonetheless. Would you like one of your own?”

“You offering?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not. You’d probably want something in red.”

“I’m partial to black when it comes to leather. You know you have about twenty knives in this thing?”

“Thirty-two. Come on. Take my hand.”

“Thanks.”

“This was fun.”

“Would you like to get to know each other a little better over takeout, not watch a movie, and fool around?”

“I thought you’d never ask. Stand here.”

“Can I kiss you while we’re teleporting?”

“Shut up and–”

“Mmmmm.”

[hananoami]

[05/05] Deepspace Trials Progression

I was too tired to do this write up for my main yesterday so it’s a day late, but to summarize the only person who had any sort of progress today was Zayne, albeit it was at a serious cost to a lot of my resources aha... All I have to say is thank God for the Hunting Season event for Core Hunt because those double drops in protocores helped me get the core energy resources I needed in order to progress... ☆ Xavier : 0/3 - currently stuck on stage 110 ☆ Zayne : 3/3 - cleared stages 108 to 110; going on stage 111 ☆ Rafayel : 0/3 - currently stuck on stage 110 ☆ Open Orbit : currently stuck on stage 120

𝚇𝙰𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚁

I'm still stuck on Directional Orbit: Light - Stage 110-- it's been roughly 2 weeks now? No changes were made to Team 01 since my last progress post. For Team 02, I got [Fluffy Trap] and [A Captured Moment] from level 60 to level 70. No changes in protocores for either team as well. Additional notes:

Team 01 clears without much trouble with Lightseeker companion using Luminescence Blade or Hunter Wand (just need to group them)

Team 02 has around a full HP bar left by end of timer still; same issue with open orbit 120 (as they have the same team set up).

𝚉𝙰𝚈𝙽𝙴

Directional Orbit: Ice - Stage 108

Oh boy, this this is my most hated stage ong fr fr. Since my last progress report I got [Drunken Intimacy] and [Medical Rescue] from level 60 to level 70. Didn't see any improvements trying to clear the first wave of wanderers so I decided to go the upgrade protocores route. I upgraded the following protocores: -- 1 Ruby gamma protocore from +9 to +12. -- 3 Ruby delta protocore from +9 to +12 -- 1 Pearl delta protocore from +9 to +12. -- 1 Sapphire beta core from +9 to +12. -- 2 Sapphire gamma protocores from +9 to +12. All I have to say is thank god there was a Hunting Season event going on to give double drops event for core hunt. I got lucky and found some decent protocores I ended up swapping to and was also able to replenish my core energy resources. Overall, I had three +9 and nine +12 SSR protocores equipped. Originally I was planning on respecting the protofield stellactrum, however, I opted yet again to go off colors and used my Foreseer build with the above team set up and stat attributes. It took me a bit longer to break down the protofield shields one at a time since I didn't have a perfect match so was a very close fight. I still struggled to focus target the frenzy wanderer while trying to defeat it before the energy dissipated. Out of all of the battle stages I loathe frenzy the most. Note the blacked out memory in my screenshot is [Business Trip] -- for some reason the emulators don't properly render that memory amongst a few others in game. It's been a known bug? within the community so IDK.

Directional Orbit: Ice - Stage 109

This stage had the same protofield as 108, so I just went off the colors with the same team I already had set up, opting to choose higher leveled memories instead of having a perfect match. Cleared, but it was still a close one... -_-

Directional Orbit: Ice - Stage 110

Huzzah! We've finally made it here! I plan on writing another post about Stage 110 with my clear video. Will update this post with a link soon. Update! My clear vod post can be seen here.

𝚁𝙰𝙵𝙰𝚈𝙴𝙻

Directional Orbit: Fire - Stage 110

Since my last post about Rafayel's Directional Orbit: Fire - Stage 110 I've upgraded [Hidden Shadow] from level 60 to level 70. I also upgraded one of the Violet gamma protocores from +9 to +12 on [Whispers]. More details will be mentioned below per team updates.

Team 01 - No changes have been made to this.

Team 02 - I swapped out 3-DMG to weakened protocores I was using for 2-CRIT rate and 1-CRIT DMG. The ones I've swapped out had to be upgraded from +0 to +9. I also slammed one Violet delta protocore to +12. Tried out using Sea God companion here cause we rolled a few HP and HP bonuses substats, but it didn't really give me the results I wanted so I swapped back to using his Phantasma Sands. I still have roughly the same amount of HP bar left when the timer runs out. I'm working on slowly upgrading those +9 protocores to +12 now.

𝙾𝙿𝙴𝙽 𝙾𝚁𝙱𝙸𝚃

Stage 120

Not consistently clearing with Team 01; looking into switching protocores. Started to use my stamina to farm Emerald protocores, focusing on delta/crit rates. I'm currently using DMG to weakened, but that's not working out for me.

Need to go back to see what is needed for team 02-- but I'm pretty sure it's the same problem as Rafayel's Directional Orbit: Fire - Stage 110.

[elvencantation]

damsel liveblog

tbh my forward arrow fingers are itchy so im gonna be skipping through a lot of this

okay that opening quote was just tacky. we get it. we've seen the previews. youve made the point with the movie title

dude youve brought like twelve people to kill a dragon?? how badly do you want to die?

ooooooo i do love some mushroom arthictecture!! gimme more pls

also love how the fire almost looks liquid in some spots. or maybe thats the melting armor

oh look she's cutting wood she's not a regular girl

they did pick the right task tho chopping wood is kinda hot (see that one canadian lady on instagram)

why does her maidservant already annoy me? its cute theyre holding hands tho

i like their furs. giving stark family vibes

queen of aurea?? seriously??? queen of gold with ships of gold? how on the nose??? or is that the point

srsly giving reverend mother vibes with the 'your holiness' and matchmaking. or maybe ive just got permanent dune brainrot that's closer to the surface after seeing pt2 twice in imax

oooooo cool hair!!

WAIT THATS HER LITTLE SISTER? oh okay the side by side shots make more sense now

more cool hair i wanna see closer!!! and cute sibling interaction

OMG THIS LOOKS SO COOL I WANNA GIF IT

screen recording aquired, will link when i gif

i'd be annoyed at the parent's reactions to aurea if i didnt think about just how much it weighed on them to not be able to provide for their people

i need to take a break and go walk mom's dog

back after that and yummy dinner and just hanging out in bed with puppy and re-reading star wars time travel fics

love how the mountains are immediately ominous behind the beautiful manicured gardens and the stately if a little smudgy castle

AHA THERES THE HAIR!! WHAT BEAUTIFUL BRAIDS IM OBSESSED

lovely balcony and once again, ominous mountains! so pretty so pretty

also yes i know this is pretty basic symbolism but having her in full sunlight and the other girl in shadow? *chefs kiss* i love it every time

girlie why you drawing a labyrinth? i thought she was journaling or something

GOD I LOVE ROBIN WRIGHT. I WANNA SEE HER EVIL

excited to see what the labyrinth will be. boy be calling it a maze smh

awww i do love a good horse ride!! and they match! too bad he's about to toss her into a chasm like a sack of sacrificial potatoes

oh no did they brainwash her poor dad?? also my god stepmom is on fire with the braids and outfits

the cracks are starting to show. but seriously, forgetting the name of the girl youre about to sacrifice?? thats just plain rude

ahhh here's the scene i saw like five times on instagram

oh god please dont make the corset weird please dont say anything weird about it P L E A S E for the love of marzi!

did they give her a bodice dagger?? or was that just the sheath? i love it

ahhhh i do enjoy some nature inspired jewelry!!

also the red cloak!!! lovely

pretty pretty pretty!!!

ahhh the creepy gold masks theyre so intricate!!!

and robin is now a reverend mother too

ooooo what a pretty shot and i want her jewelry wow

ahhhh i do enjoy how subtly uncomfortable the prince looks

aha there we go. now the fun can begin!

oooooo look at all those coins

also a very pretty shot!

oooooooo i need to gif this bit too

WAIT THE DRAGON TALKS?!?!!?

my god the voice is stunning

MAGMA DRAGONFIRE THIS IS GORGEOUS (pausing for more screen recording)

looks like the maw of a dragon!!!

wait im sorry why's the other girl burnt and dead if its only 'once a generation'???

avenging angel vibes pls continue

ok yeah so it was only a sheath. too much to ask for for them to give her an actual weapon

what the heck was in that pretty filigree egg thing?? also i want one. its so pretty. i mean i know it was some kind of scent. convenient that it burns like a lamp XD

wow this movie is just feeding me lots of pretty visuals tyty

good thing girlie's got lots of upper arm strength from chopping wood!

yeahhhh make a bioluminescent lamp!!! and double win, she got rid of the second sleeve. much better now

wow im gay

magically healing bioluminescent non-oceanic nudibranches??

thats my new indie band name btw

please tell me shes taking some magic slugs with her. youre gonna be climbing spikes pls bring some healing with you

such pretty stabby crystals!!

once again looking like a maw. though this time more like the maw of a sandworm ;)

"three were taken three must be given" ???? excuse me

ah. they were dumb enough to anger a mama dragon. they deserve to die

tell me her dad aint gonna get him and his men killed

also damn she made it all the way up just to have to come back down

oh we finally get to see the dragon!!! goddamn. she looks like a scaly gryfon i like it

dont you guys dare kill the dad off just as i was starting to like him. dont do it

yeah i guess they realized they had to redeem him so his death would have impact. rude

girl take chekhov's sword!

ohhhh this is so pretty i think i gotta screen record it too

this is some pompeii shit. oh i should watch that movie its got two hot people in it

even cooler!!!

theyre just killing everyone?? thats boring

the mulan hair thing woulve been cool if i didnt daily put up my hair in a very secure bun without any pins or hairties that only works when your hair is like mid back length at least XD

its a miracle you didnt hurt your leg with you fell elodie

oh noooooo oh god that was so awkward i cant

why is this so awkward?? whats happening

like you ever did what you were told?? whats happening? whats with the pacing, the dialogue the blocking?? w h a t

why did they have to show the queen with her crown melting off for so long??

oh they match! nice

ooooooo pretty pretty

overall kind of a fun movie. dont think i'd watch it again. still need to watch i am dragon

[starbudspresents]

Re.Gray 003 - Pentacle

[ Read on AO3 ]

[ RAW image gallery ]

♦ 89

Mana: Destroy me.

Allen: Run....

Mana: Destroy me.

Allen: Mana, run!!

Mana: Destroy me. Mana: Destroy me. Please.

♦ 90

3rd Night - Pentacle

♦ 91

Jan: Leo...?

Allen: Believe me, Jan, Allen: that boy is not human. sfx: dah [footstep] Allen: That is one of the Millennium Earl's weapons, wearing your friend's body. Allen: An Akuma.

♦ 92

Earl: Who's this? ♡

Allen: Good evening, Millennium Earl. Allen: I am your enemy.

Earl: An Exorcist!? Earl: What a pleasure to... Earl: ? Earl: ...meet you...?

♦ 93

sfx: vun [Allen's cross initializing] Allen: O cross, Allen: destroy the Akuma! Allen: Bring salvation sfx: zazazaza [this sfx is always linked to Allen's arm moving, either at his will or its own; I can only imagine it's a sort of zipper-y buzz created by the overlapping scales rubbing over each other] Allen: to this soul! sfx: zazazaza [arm in motion] sfx: ohh [wordless yelling as he closes in for the attack]

♦ 94

Allen: ! sfx: doku [lurching to abrupt halt] Allen: Jan—

Jan: H-How? Jan: How could Leo be an Akuma? Jan: He's friends with me, remember? Jan: He co-founded the Akuma patrol with me, Jan: so we could protect our town together....

♦ 95

Jan: There's no way he could be an Akuma! Jan: Where's your bloody proof—

sfx: kachi [ka-chk, Akuma cannon cocks] sfx: kiiii [high-pitched whistling noise, like steam escaping]

Jan: Leo....

sfx: DODODODODODO [blamblamblamblam]

♦ 96

Allen: Jan!

sfx: ZA [arm]

Jan: A—

sfx: don [the virus taking effect, pentacles blossoming all over Allen at once] Jan: !! Jan: Allen!!

sfx: doh [Allen hitting his knees]

♦ 97

Allen: Ngh....

Jan: Oh God, Allen's been hit! Jan: There's a toxic virus built into Akuma bullets that destroys anything it infects. Jan: If you get shot, it spreads throughout your body and breaks it down!!

sfx: bububu [pentacles kind of... bubbling as they chew on Allen's body]

Earl: Oho. ♡ How very brave of you, taking a bullet for him without a moment's hesitation. ♡ Earl, side: Oh my ♡ Earl: How does that feel, Jan? Earl: You are very irritating, you know. Earl: Entirely powerless, yet burning with righteous zeal, Earl: insisting that we are the villain, we're the villain, ♡ Earl: when here we are only making Akuma for the good of all. ♡ 1

♦ 98

Earl: What do you think? Grotesque, is it not? ♡ Earl: It is a crystallized mass of the sins accrued by a human heart. 2 Earl: You seem to believe that Akuma are simply weapons of our manufacture, Earl: but it is the human heart that brings them into the world. ♡ 3 Earl: This Akuma here Earl: was made by your friend Leo. ♡ 4

Jan: By Leo...?

Allen: It's Leo's deceased mother.

Earl: !

Allen: He accepted the Earl's help to summon his mother's soul back into this world, Allen: and made her into an Akuma. Allen: I can see it....

♦ 99

Allen: The face of his mother, suffering within the Akuma she's become.

Earl: See it? ♡ Earl: What are you talking about, little coffin-dodger? ♡ 5

Allen: My body is host to an anti-Akuma weapon. sfx: vu vu [cross waking up, pulsing] Allen: If you're referring to the viral contamination, I can purge that.

♦ 100

sfx: doha [bulge and flare of power]

Jan: !!

sfx:zuaaa [contamination getting visibly scoured from his body]

Jan: The infection is retreating!! Jan, side: ! Jan: A— Jan: Allen.... Jan: You... Your.... What is that?

Earl: !! ♡

♦ 101

Allen: A curse.... Allen: A long time ago, I too made an Akuma of someone I loved. Allen: This curse enables me to see the souls installed within Akuma.

Earl: Aha!!! ♡ Earl: We remember now.... Earl: We have met you before, once upon a time.... ♡ Earl: Allen Walker, Earl: the little guttersnipe who turned his father into an Akuma!! ♡

102

Earl: Shall we Earl: resurrect Mana Walker for you? ♡

103

Allen: We shared no blood, Allen: but I'd been cast out for this disfigured arm I was born with, Allen: and he took me in and raised me.

sfx: vuaha [eldritch light flaring around sorcerous body]

Mana: A... Mana: llen.... Mana: How could you Mana: make me an Akuma.... 6

♦ 104

sfx: DO [Mana slicing through Allen's eye] Mana: Allen!! Mana: How could you, Allen!?! Mana: I'll curse you! Mana: Curse you, Allen!!

♦ 105

sfx: bu bu BU [throb throb, cross waking up] sfx: BAN [transformed arm slamming into Mana's Akuma skeleton]

Mana: GYAAAA

♦ 106

Allen: I didn't understand what had happened.

sfx: fuh [Earl fades into mist]

sfx: zazazaza [arm doing its thing]

Allen: What...!? How...!?

sfx: zazazaza [arm being extremely creepy]

Allen: On its own.... sfx: hah [horrified gasp]

sfx: gigi... [strained mechanical juddering]

♦ 107

sfx: za za [arm continuing to drag the rest of Allen towards Mana]

Allen: Mana...!? Allen: Stop it, arm...!!

sfx: za za za [arm not stopping]

Allen: Run— Allen: Daddy, run!!

Mana: Allen... I.... Mana: I love you so much.... 7 Mana: Please destroy me.

♦ 108

sfx: BAN [arm obliterating Mana]

Allen: WAHHHHHHHHH

♦ 109

Cross: A soul installed within an Akuma has no agency. Cross: It's eternally bound, nothing more than the Earl's plaything. 8 Cross: There's no way to save them but to destroy them. Cross: Born with an anti-Akuma weapon already infesting you, huh.... Cross: You've been dealt a shitty hand. Cross: You're an apostle, just like me. God's got His hooks in you too. 9

♦ 110

Cross: How about becoming an Exorcist?

Allen: Ever since, I've been able to see the souls of Akuma. Allen: At first, I thought Mana really had cursed me... Allen: so I worked to become an Exorcist in order to atone. Allen: But now that I've encountered many Akuma, I've realized: Allen: They don't weep tears of hatred, but of profound love for those who called them back. Allen: "You couldn't be strong for me?" 10 Allen: So I decided to become an Exorcist not to atone, but to live on. Allen: This curse Allen: is my lodestar.... 11

♦ 111

sfx: vu [cross wakes up]

Allen: Akuma are unbearably tragic creatures. Allen: They should not have to exist. Allen: So I am going to destroy them.

sfx: piki [onomatopeia for "blood vessels about to burst"; the Earl is furious]

Earl: It seems Earl: we really ought to have killed you back then, Allen. ♡

♦ 112

MILLENNIUM EARL

This character is actually based on a person who really existed. I won't say who, but he was born in the 18th century. A world-class eccentric, he was said to have spoken every language, been an expert in every subject, been gifted in all the fine arts. He was also said to have possessed the gift of prophecy, and however many decades passed, he never looked a day over fifty, ageless and immortal. He called himself a "time-travelling alchemist". Perhaps he's still out there somewhere, even now. 12

♦♥♦

FOOTNOTES

This is a line we're going to want to remember. The original is みんなのために minna no tame ni, "for the sake of everyone". The Earl believes the Akuma serve a purpose that is beneficial not only to him, but to everyone, humanity seemingly included. Curious! [ ♠ ]

This word, 結晶 kesshou, is pivotal, potentially for the entire series. It can be translated two main ways: 1.) "crystal" and 2.) "crystallization". The difference may not seem major at first glance, but consider how you might read "Bob's crystal" vs. "crystallized Bob". Here, it's pretty easy to infer which is meant: an Akuma is a mass of crystallized "sin". The word is going to recur, though... with regards to Innocence. [ ♠ ]

The verb used here is not 造る "to build/create", but 生む "to give birth to". Akuma are born out of human grief and suffering. [ ♠ ]

Mismatched kanji and furigana are a favourite trick of Hoshino's, so you'll see a lot of these. This one's related to footnote #3: Kanji: 造った tsukutta "made by" Furigana: 生んだ unda "born of" Leo's grief gave rise to, birthed this particular Akuma. The combination of mechanical and biological terms is deliberate, because Akuma are always both. [ ♠ ]

English doesn't have a direct equivalent to 死にぞこない shinizokonai, which describes a person who should really have died but miraculously scraped through, literally "missed their chance at death". A "coffin-dodger" in English is slang for a very old person who should probably have kicked the bucket years ago but keeps stubbornly chugging along despite their body falling apart around them. I think it's close enough to be parsable, and also, re-readers may get a kick out of it as applied to Allen, who is decades older than he looks. [ ♠ ]

Interesting how both the Akuma we've seen made so far — Crea and Mana — knew the moment they awakened within the sorcerous bodies what had happened to them and what they were now. Considering that the existence of Akuma is, as established, top-secret in the living world... how? (My theory is that on dying, souls see "beyond the framework of the world" as the Noah and Bookmen do, and come back knowing a lot of things the Earl's will prevents them from telling anyone.) [ ♠ ]

Most manga fans know that Japanese has a number of terms for "love", so in case you're wondering, this one is 愛してる aishiteru, the one that corresponds most closely to our own concept of the word "love": flexible, applicable to all manner of love from familiar to romantic to comradely so long as it's profound. [ ♠ ]

Mismatch. Kanji: 兵器 heiki "weapon" Furigana: オモチャ omocha "toy, plaything" [ ♠ ]

Like 魅入られた miirareta in Night 001, what Cross uses here —　取り憑かれた toritsukareta — is an ambiguous past-tense passive term that can mean either "obsessed with" or "possessed by". Since Allen has no idea his arm has anything to do with God, however, "obsessed" wouldn't make any sense this time. Rather, it's clear Cross is saying that through the cross in his hand, Allen is possessed by God, in His thrall, as every Exorcist is. Just as every Akuma is possessed by the Earl, via the sorcerous devices within them. [ ♠ ]

A tricky little sentence that could more literally be translated as "Why didn't you strongly live for me?", which sounds odd in English. The "for me" is implied by part of the conjugation, くれ, which is used when the speaker is receiving or wishes to receive something, a thing or a service or a favour. It does come off a bit accusatory, but clearly comes from a place of love. "You really couldn't go on without me? :(" [ ♠ ]

道標 michishirube, "guide" or "signpost", something that shows one the direction in which one ought to walk. I chose to exercise a little bit of poetic licence here and make it "lodestar" because a) in many English-speaking cultures, it's common to say a deceased loved one is "watching over one from the heavens" and b) the curse is literally star-shaped, it's the star that guides his steps, I'm poetically obligated. [ ♠ ]

As long-time fans already know, she's almost certainly referring to the Comte de St. Germain, though I can't find a source for the "time-travelling" part outside of contemporary pop culture. [ ♠ ]

[thmgau]

CHAPTER 15 - A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO CELESTIALS [wattpad link]

---

“Watch closely, my dear friends. This is how you make the best popcorn known to humankind.”

Kalani opened up the microwave & put the popcorn package in there. She set the timer to around 2 minutes & pressed the start button.

“2 minutes seems kinda excessive, don’tcha think?” “Patience is key, Leslie. Just wait.”

The group was currently at Kalani’s apartment for a sleepover. They did sleepovers fairly often, & shifted around whose place they’d have the sleepover at every month or so. This time, it was at Kalani’s.

“What do we do in the meantime?” “Uh.. I dunno, actually.” “Hmm..”

An idea popped into Nora’s head.

“Oh! Kalani! That.. magic book thing is here, right?” “Yea?” “How about we read through that?” “Oh, that sounds fun.” “Yea. Plus, if we’re so-called ‘heroes’ anyway, we should maybe read the book telling us how to be heroes.” “Alright, lemme go get it.”

Kalani left the kitchen to go get the book. The microwave had about a minute & a half left on it.

“How much do you wanna bet he isn’t gonna come back before the popcorn’s done?” “At least $5.” “I’ll get a bowl.”

Cherry reached up into the cabinet & grabbed a big bowl for the popcorn.

“Have you all noticed an increase in posters everywhere with that puppet guy on them?” “Oh, yea. There’s been a TON of them everywhere. Wonder why that is.” “Les, weren’t you gonna find out what those red things above each poster were?” “Yeah! I showed it to Natalie today during class, & I guess she knows a bit about tech stuff, so she’s gonna do some research on it & tell me what’s up with it later.”

The microwave went off. The popcorn was done.

“Why Natalie?” Cherry asked, opening up the microwave & pulling the popcorn out. “What’s wrong with Natalie? She’s nice.” “Yea, when she’s not trying to steal shit & antagonize us.” “She’s helped us get out of some sticky situations. She’s not all that bad.”

Cherry opened up the popcorn & poured it all into a bowl. “Whatever. I still don’t like her.”

“I’m back!” Kalani grinned, entering the kitchen with the book. “Awesome! Let’s get to reading!”

The group got all huddled up in Kalani’s living room. The book was laid out in front of them, & the popcorn was sitting on the coffee table. Kalani flipped through the pages.

“Alright... we’ve already read about the weapons... let’s see.. Aha!”

Kalani had landed on a page titled CELESTIALS.

“This seems interesting enough to read about!” “Celestials? What the hell is a Celestial?” “‘A Celestial is a god-like being, each one representing a different element of life,’” Kalani read. “‘There are currently 9 Celestials who reside at the Castle of Celestials.’”

“Ooh! They have a castle!” “I’ve never been to a castle before. Unless bouncy castles count. Then I’ve been to dozens.”

“‘The 9 Celestials are as follows:’” Kalani continued reading from the book. “‘Fate, Time, Mr. Moon, Sun, Betty, Spring, Storm, Good, & Evil.’”

“Why does Mr. Moon get an honorific? Nobody else has a ‘Mr.’, a ‘Ms.”, or even a ‘Mx.’ What’s their deal?” “Maybe they’re the most important?” “I don’t think so. You remember that quote-unquote ‘dream’ we had?” “How could we forget?” “The dream mentioned that we were chosen ‘by Fate itself,’ & in the list it says there’s a Celestial named Fate.” “So Fate’s the most important one then?” “I guess so.”

“Wait,” Nora said, pointing toward a line in the book. “It says here that each Celestial represents a different element. What element is Betty supposed to represent?” “Who knows? It’s not like there’s a list of each element or anything, so all we can do is guess.” “& there are 2 Celestials named Good & Evil respectively! Why aren’t they maintaining ‘the balance between good & evil’ instead of us?!” “That’s fucked up.” “I’m gonna flip ahead to a different page.” “What, we’re not reading the book in order?” “What? No. That’s for losers.”

Kalani flipped ahead a couple of pages. She landed on a page titled CASTLE OF CELESTIALS. On the page, along with some writing, was an illustration of the so-called “Castle of Celestials,” which was light blue & white.

“Ok, that’s a sick looking castle.”

Clearing his throat, Kalani began reading. “‘The Castle of Celestials is where the Celestials live. Occasionally, we let guests hang around for a while if they need a place to stay-’” “We? These Celestial guys wrote this book?” “I guess so.” “Could you not interrupt me when I’m reading?” “Sorry, ‘Lani.” “Ahem.. as I was saying... ‘As you are (presumably) the prophesied heroes, you are free to come & go whenever you please. All you must do to visit is be in Hero Mode & just think about going to the Castle.’” “Why does everything have to be in Hero Mode?” “I dunno. But I’m too tired to go to this castle right now, so who cares?” “Yea, we’ll just.. keep that knowledge in our minds until we need it.”

Cherry yawned, stretching their arms. “Maybe we should call it a night. Read this thing tomorrow or something.” “Yea, sounds good. G’night everyone-”

Leslie’s phone buzzed all of a sudden. “Oh! That must be Natalie!” “Oh, great.” Cherry rolled her eyes. “Let’s see what she said!”

Leslie took out its phone & looked at the text it had just received. The smile on its face quickly faded into a frown.

“What is it?”

They showed the phone to the group, so they could all read what the text said. Attached was a picture of the red, metal thing, & what Natalie had to say about it wasn’t pleasant.Natalie: its a camera.

[sunnydaleherald]

The Sunnydale Herald Newsletter, Tuesday, December 13

ScruffyXander: Don't be scared, Will. Just listen. It's me, Xander. And I can prove it. Willow: Um ... okay. ScruffyXander: Let's see. Stuff only you and me know. Okay! On my seventh birthday ... I wanted a toy fire truck, and I didn't get it, and you were real nice about it, and then the house next door burnt down, and then real fire trucks came, and for years I thought you set the fire for me. And if you did, you can tell me. For a while last year, I thought I was lactose-intolerant, but it was just some bad pie. Oh! Every Christmas, we watch Charlie pown together, and I do the Snoopy dance. Willow: Xander ... stop dancing. ScruffyXander: Aha! You called me Xander! Willow: Xander, shut up! Why wouldn't I think you were Xander? ScruffyXander: Oh. Huh.

~~Buffy Season 5 Episode #81: "The Replacement"~~

The Sunnydale Herald is looking for at least one new editor! Contributing to the Herald is a great way to get your Buffy on! Find out more here. If you saw the phrase "HTML template" in our previous calls for editors and that was what made you decide that Herald duties aren't for you, you may be glad to hear that we've set up an alternative posting process! [Drabbles & Short Fiction]

Falling in Like (Xander, G, Devil May Cry xover) by madimpossibledreamer

Snow Globe (Buffy/Faith, M) by fxithsjackal

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The Long Haul Ch. 1-3/? (Willow, Buffy, M, SGA xover) by BlueZeroZeroOne

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Absolute Destiny Ch. 10 (Buffy/Faith, T) by Forgotten Conscience

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[Fandom Discussions]

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Moments by Location by fauxindigo

Taake reads old Buffy books: Les Fautes du pére / Sins of the father by Taake

The Great Character Swap by PuckRobin

If there is to be a Vampire that is to The Turok-Han what The Turok-Han is to the Modern Vampire by Brief-Cryptographer2

they melt my heart by moonwalker_96

If you could be a mythical character on BTVS, which mythical being would you choose? by george123890yang

Dead Things by _regulusblack_

S:4 E:20 sex w Angel by bellabissatt

Times when characters reference memories of Dawn that didn't actually happen? by ceoazula

[s01e22 - "To Shanshu in L.A."] Why exactly does the demon following Cordelia steal the art supplies by Zorak6

Anyone else baffled there hasn't been a reboot? by Funny-Education2496

Oh, how the tables turn by Opening_Knowledge868

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Anyone else underwhelmed by this lady? by Defvac2

Who do you find more attractive? by Kitchen_Panda_4290

The "magic as drugs" metaphor is too heavy-handed and also kind of random by TheMoondance

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[vierune]

#BG3FicFeb - Day 1: First Time

A Little Fun | Ao3 Link

During the tiefling's lackluster celebration, Astarion tempts Roisin into coming with him to the woods for some fun. And what fun it will be...

She wandered into the forest clearing, looking around for him. She shook with nerves; this was her first time with anyone in years. She nearly turned him down, worried she would be disappointing, but he was so sweet and charming, his voice was so utterly delicious, and she could not help but admit she truly enjoyed when he fed from her.

But the fear of disappointing lingered still. After all, she never chose to be fully nude during an encounter…

“There you are,” he said, appearing from behind a tree. “I've been waiting.”

He had taken off his shirt, and by the gods was he beautiful. She struggled to keep his gaze, blushing, eyes wandering.

“Waiting since the moment I sat eyes on you.”

He approached closer.

“Waiting… to have you.”

She swallowed. Me?  

“You don't have me yet,” she coyly said. She wasn't going to let him melt her just yet. She liked to appear confident, when she could.

“Don't I?” he said with a smirk, “You're here, after all. And I don't think you want to talk.”

He approached even closer, and her heart raced.

“I think… you want to be known. To be tasted.”

His words instantly conjured up the image of him between her thighs, and she trembled. 

“Well… what do you want?” she asked, again being coy.

“Aha, what do any of us want? Pleasure. Yours. Mine. Our collective ecstasy,” he replied. “Isn't that what you want? To lose yourself in me?”

Her hands fidgeted, and he laughed, taking them in his.

“Don't be nervous,” he said, bringing them up to his lips. “I will be ever so gentle.”

He began to kiss her fingers, and she nearly fainted from how perfect his lips felt against her.

“Oh, I-I'm sure you will be, I just… ahem, it's been a while.”

“Then what a privilege it is to be the one to break your lonely spell,” he said, “If you'll allow me?”

His eyes looked so sweet and captivating that she could not help but giggle like a girl, nodding. The moment he had his permission, he smiled, letting go of her hands and kissing her. She jumped from the feel of his lips, and her hands, having nowhere to go, landed against his chest, and she half-gasped for how perfect his body felt, the fingers curling away in fear.

“You can touch,” he laughed into her lips.

“Sorry–”

He put a thumb to her lips.

“Relax,” he whispered, “Don’t think too much.”

“I'm not some blushing virgin,” she replied, only half-sincere.

“Virgin, certainly not. But blushing?”

His kisses suddenly grew hungry, his tongue darting out against the skin of her neck - and then he withdrew just as quickly, and smiled.

“Well. You are now.”

She laughed, shaking her head.

“Tease.”

“Not at all - a tease doesn’t follow through with their promises. I, however, do,” he said, taking her face in his hands and kissing her once more.

She smiled into his lips, letting him do as he pleased. His hands wandered down her body as he got his hands at the buttons of her trousers. She subtly swayed as he got them loose, and laughed as she awkwardly stepped out of them on the ground. He kissed her more deeply and slid his hands to her backside, taking a greedy handful of it.

“Mm, I've longed to do that,” he said, “Your body is perfect , darling.”

“You’re one to talk,” she said, running her hands down his chest.

She worked at his own trousers, and he stepped away, quickly undressing the rest of the way, leaving himself quite bare. It was odd, as if he didn't want her to do it for him. But her thoughts were quickly diverted to more serious thoughts when he began to work at the buttons of her blouse.

“Erm, Astarion?”

“Yes?”

“I'm sorry if this seems a bit strange, but could I… keep my tunic on? The blouse can come off, but–”

“Darling, as long as I can get to all the right places, I don't care how much or how little you wear,” he said, with a wink.

She smiled, relieved.

“Well then. Shall we pick up where we left off?”

“Oh, please do.”

He unbuttoned her blouse, letting it fall to the ground. She looked him in the eyes, gaze unmoving as she slid off her underclothes herself, leaving her bottom half revealed to him. He bit his lip as a spark of interest gleamed in his eye. He took her by the hips, turned her around and pulled her close, reaching a hand down and softly, experimentally touching her. She gasped at the touch of his smooth, cool fingers, causing him to grin.

“So wet already,” he said, “it's as if your body was made for me.”

He stroked the outside, running a finger over her, stopping when he landed at the already swollen bud at the apex, causing her to whine.

“There we are,” he said, beginning to stroke her.

“Oh gods it's been so long,” she said, her arms suddenly folding up near her chest, her knees coming together as if shy, embarrassed.

He silenced her with a kiss, and she gripped him as if her life depended on it. He worked at her in earnest, rubbing circles with two fingers, and she moaned.

“Oh how sweet you sound…”

She gasped into his mouth; how was he so good at this? It was as if she were doing it herself, perfectly deft and in just the right places, at the perfect pace and just as firm as she liked.

“Mm, I cannot wait to be inside you,” he whispered into her neck. 

“Gods, Astarion - oh!” she hissed as she rocked against him.

The barest thought was given to the arousal pressing into her back as he rubbed her, his other hand coming up just beneath her breast.

“May I?” he asked, much to her relief and surprise. Most men - and even some women - just went straight for it without asking, and she usually would have to move the hand away. But he asked , so perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to try it this time…

“Yes,” she said, moaning when she felt her breast in his perfect grasp. The tunic was thin enough to allow for sensation, and what a lovely sensation it was.

She sighed, letting him ravage her oh so sweetly, perfectly, as if he had touched her many times before. He then took a finger and deftly stroked the peak of her breast, and then, cruelly, he stopped.

“I think you’re plenty ready for me now,” he purred.

She turned to him, and he kissed her once more. He pulled away, the look in his eyes spelling mischief - mischief that she was more than happy to get into. She eagerly leapt into his arms, and he carried her away, supporting her weight against the nearby tree. She anchored her fingers in his hair - and gods, how impossibly soft it was - and kissed him, his lips still so utterly perfect, moving against hers as a lover of a hundred years would. When she had pulled away, she glanced at his fangs, and her blood ran hot. 

She pointedly licked her lips, lolling her neck back as she gave him an inviting look. He grinned, and the sight was so utterly arousing that she playfully pushed him to the ground, landing on top of him. He was surprised, but he definitely enjoyed it. He took a hold of her, flipping her on her back and climbing on top. She watched with excitement as he licked his lips, watched them part, then took in a breath as he sunk his fangs into her neck. She moaned, frankly glad that she could finally express her arousal at the act. It stung in such a sweet way, then numbed into a delightfully calming feeling.

He pulled off with a moan, sealing the marks with his tongue and deftly licking away the blood from his lips. Without another word, he had entered her, and she threw her head back, almost moaning finally out loud. It had been so long…

“How well your body responds to mine,” he moaned, “You truly must be made for me.”

His hips snapped against her expertly, and again, it was as if he had been touching her for dozens of lifetimes. The pace was perfect; he wasn’t selfishly chasing his own pleasure, but letting her enjoy hers, and yet still clearly enjoying himself.

“Oh gods, yes,” she allowed herself to say, arching her back.

His lips went to her neck, lavishing it with tender kisses, and then he began to thrust in earnest, their hips meeting together. She sighed, giving herself over to him completely. 

After what felt like an eternity of pure, unfettered ecstasy, she thought she could go insane for how good it felt; she could never even pleasure herself this well, how the hells was he so good at this? She felt like a fiend, her pleasure the only thing she could think of as she reached down to stroke herself as he fucked her - and she never did that, always worried it would be insulting to the pride of her partner.

“You filthy devil. Can’t get enough? I’d better work harder then,” he said.

“S-sorry… it just feels so good, ” she sobbed, her face flushing with shame.

“Oh don’t be. You are so terribly arousing, my dear…”

He then grew largely silent - or perhaps she simply couldn’t hear him over her own cries. Her hand seemed to move of her own accord, fingers almost slipping for how wet she was and how frantically she stroked. He then suddenly thrust deeper, and she cried out, her hand faltering. 

“Astarion–!” 

She twitched as she met yet another orgasm, her body growing limp, arm falling away to her side. She gave a satisfied groan, smiling; she really could lose herself in him.

But when she looked up at him, he seemed… distant, his eyes aimed towards her, but not entirely at her. She thought perhaps he was merely concentrating, but–

“Oh fuck,” she hissed, his cock suddenly rubbing against her in a way that broke her train of thought.

But her mind continued to battle between the onslaught of pleasure and the nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right. Was she unappealing? Was he put off by her wearing her tunic? Or perhaps–

She moaned, once again unable to keep her thoughts coherent. What did it matter, anyways? If something was wrong he would say so. 

The rest of the night was as perfect as the start, Roisin so lost in her own pleasure that she was completely unaware that Astarion had finished until he had stopped.

She weakly lifted her head, and he smiled as he laid beside her.

“Good fucking gods , Astarion,” she said, with a breathless laugh.

“Good?” he said, smugly.

“Are you kidding? That was incredible.”

At that point she no longer cared about keeping up her confident, aloof mask. He did a damn good job, and he deserved to know.

He shrugged.

“I did say I was the best.”

He propped himself up beside her, leaning on his arm, and she looked at him with a smile - and then yawned loudly.

“Oh, I guess the wine is getting to me… mm, and I’m too tired to go back to camp right now…”

“Lie down then. Don’t worry. I’ll watch over you.”

He took her hand again, kissing it.

Before she knew it, the dawn had broke. She lifted up her head, pulling up on her elbows, and there was Astarion, bathing in the morning sun. She was struck by his beauty, even turned away from her. But then her eyes caught a glimpse of his back, and she could not help but gasp.

“Oh my! What happened to your back?”

His head lifted upwards.

“Ah. Hadn’t realized you were awake. It’s… a poem. Cazador carved it into my back. It was a very long night. He… he made a lot of revisions along the way.”

She stood up, slowly approaching, and she realized the markings were written in Infernal.

“A poem in Infernal?”

He turned around, brows furrowed in alarm.

“Infernal? I– I don’t know. I’ve never even seen him read Infernal. Huh.”

She looked up at him with pity in her eyes.

“I’m sorry. That must have been terrible for you.”

He softened.

“You’re sweet, but don't worry about it. I don’t want to think about it right now. Not after such a wonderful night.”

He reached for her, his fingers in her hair, plucking out stray leaves.

“You did enjoy it, then?” she asked.

“Well of course I did! Why do you ask?”

“Oh, it’s fine, but… I did notice a few times where you seemed a bit… I don’t know, distracted?”

“Ah, I was merely holding back. Delicious as you were, I didn’t want to go too far. Not yet, at least.”

She smiled, relieved, then reached up to kiss his cheek, causing him to laugh.

“My, what was that for?” 

“Just a little ‘thank you’. For being so… respectful, I suppose.”

“Ahaha, darling, absolutely nothing about what I did to you last night was respectful,” he teased.

She laughed, then drew closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“No, really, Astarion. I mean it. Most people want me because I'm fulfilling some kind of fetish for them. You know, they want their Drow dominatrix, or their perfect little Drow nymphet. But that’s not how you treated me. All I felt like with you was a woman. And it was nice. So, thank you.”

Something in his expression faltered, but he quickly recovered, smirking.

“Well that’s what you are, aren’t you? A woman. And a beautiful one, at that.” 

She lingered in his arms, the two of them saying nothing, and then he took her by the hand.

“Come on. Let’s get you dressed. The others will be awake soon.”

[silvermuffins]

Okay so. Here we go! God I am. So checking hyped. Oh man. I can barely make myself get started. Little bit nervous since the person whose liveblogs made me want to do the same follows me now (hi!) but eeeeeeeeeeee

Y'all gotta understand p3 made me who I am. It has been personality-defining in several ways for ten years. I have rarely felt quite as loved as the day the announcement leaked and like four different people independently came to me like Letty did you see

In the true spirit of Akihiko Sanada, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS

Okay let's dive in,,,,,

New theme song! I'm gonna miss the toast but i will give this a chance.

New visuals, stellar ones, really driving in that shit's fucked

Idk how that poll is gonna end so I'll start with just Some Thoughts at a time and then we'll see where we're going

Oh shit difficulty... Let's do normal to start. Fuck no I am not doing merciless. But I want some challenge.

Oh the opening movie is a little different....and they're letting me play already!

They are doing my boy right so far,,,, but yukari may take some getting used to. Also they pronounce iwatodai different and that will DEFINITEly take getting used to. Definitely some iykyk in there.

I am examining EVERYTHING. My guy walks fast tho goddamn. Can no longer run with hands in pockets. RIP hand/pockets.

If y'all could hear the noises I am making,,,,

THERE HE IS! THE BOY!

Shit do I have to enter the name in eastern order or is western fine? /Google/ Reddit says western! Minato Arisato walks again.

They did that contract-with-spooky-child scene pretty well despite it not still being an anime cutscene. I can accept it.

Oh she didn't point the gun at me this time. Which is less dramatic but DOES make more sense overall. I can accept it.

Once again the Noises I am making. Y'all. I am living. Checked in on that poll, so far one big post later on is winning so I'll keep at it for now!

How does this rewind thing work exactly...? Is it for like, if I fuck up a social link?

Menu looks like diving into water. All my water associations for Minato have been justified. Got he's so beautiful I'm gonna cry. "My reflection looks tired" yeah I bet it does you depresso espresso you.

Apparently there is or will be dlc of some sort! I will almost certainly obtain it.

Starting school! Wow they expanded that cutscene. Eeeeeeee. Yes I like this. It feels like home got a fresh coat of paint. It's gonna take me forever to get anything done. God. I'm. Okay give me a little while to just run around doing nonsense.

VOICED SOCIAL LINKS CONFIRMED it already was but I'm thrilled anyway

My boy is already curious about sewing. Don't worry, Minty, we will be spending so much time with a certain someone. Ooh, seems he has a decent sense of smell... Aha, there a certain someone is! So very French...

Okay, game, you win, I'll make progress. Hi, Toriumi, yes I have a tragic backstory.

Minato just `why are people keep talking to me`. Suck it up boy we're gonna meet EVERYBODY.

New VA for Junpei is great so far. I'm so glad. The previous one was a case of how truly unfortunate it is that garbage people can be good at things. But so far, the characters are sounding great!

Yukari you are not subtle. Here I am trying to cover for you and you just give Junpei the wrong idea.

"No one takes rumors seriously, anyway." Stares directly into the camera. Stares in P2 familiarity. Stares. I do not remember if this line was in the original but S T A R E S.

Getting junpei's two cents on everything and. God it makes me so happy every time a familiar song kicks in.

Doodedoo, 'splorin.

Mmkay back to the dorm. We can actually explore the kitchen? Fridge space? Can't use the kitchen yet? DO I GET TO MAKE COOKING MINTY A REALITY?

I don't have tons of commentary right now that isn't best expressed as a bunch of vague satisfied noises and squeals in a higher range than the human ear can detect. Or by wiggling furiously, which doesn't come across well in text. Know that I am wiggling furiously. Everyone looks so good. Everyone sounds so good. I'm so happy.

Okay so it's not fully fully voiced. But still! So happy.

I know it's just Like This but the game just railroading me slightly feels like AGH STOP TAKING AN HOUR TO DO ANYTHING well stop having do much to examine them (please don't stop)

Ikutsuki is here! And oh his voice,,,,,

Weeps in playing as IC as possible demanding skipping a question. Ah well. I know how I interpret my boy and that brings me joy.

Time for stuff to get creepy! Eeeeeeee. Guys I cannot wait for how they're going to show some of the freakier things. ...oh well. This cutscene with the guy going all gloopy and collapsing definitely loses a little something by being in-game rather than fully animated. Damn the way they showed it in the original was so much scarier. Ah well, can't win 'em all, I guess.

Aaaaaa is that Yukino being referenced on TV? Was she on Who's Who before? Yukino <3

It's tiiiiime for the first full moon. Come on, Reload, you can't drop the ball on this one...! Come on, wow me! Blow me away!

Oh hey justification that sleep is probably less effective during the dark hour to go along with the standard stamina drain. Neat! Love getting my head canons confirmed. That said, also enough room for other interpretations. You love to see it.

Really like this just collapsing on the bed thing. Shaking it up! Ftr it's like super creepy that they have a camera and what looks like fucking heart monitor on Minato. But I am here for the creepy. And there goes the attack and Akihiko getting hurt and Yukari sent to escape with me.

Ohhhh please let me swap weapons around. Don't lock me into just swords. I want hammer.

I know it's all panic and scary RN but that kind of just makes it hilarious that I can still examine everything. Poor Yukari just dealing with Minato not being freaked at all.

HNNNNNN THEY DID NOT FUMBLE. I didn't think they would because like, out of everything, they've gotta get the Awakening right! But still! Hoodamn!

BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY BABY

Oooh so the tutorial mara DID split off as scraps of the Magician! Huh so this is the battle interface...ngl I kinda miss the revolver menu, that was good shit. And now we go splat.

Igor: STOP BEING A BAG OF SOGGY POTATO CHIPS AND MAKE FRIENDS

One week later,

Backstory storytime with Yukari! I am a protagonist and thus a designated therapist. I am absolutely the person to pay your parental issues on. Never mind that Persona 2 firmly established the existence of actual therapists in this universe.

God. I'm gonna cry. My beautiful boy,,,,, I missed this so much. I'm a goddamn broken record. I said numerous times that I'm completely incapable of being normal about this. Fuck I'm tearing up.

Yes, Junpei. An upset stomach. That's definitely what kept me out of school for a week.

Mr. Ono just wants to talk about his special interest and he is so valid. Please tell me everything about samurai.

Real talk there had to be so many rumors and gossip about Minato. New transfer student - already a hot topic. Walks to school with Yukari on his first day, to stir the pot. After like three days he's suddenly absent for a week. Like, there's no way people didn't talk, right?

??? THAT's new. "Twilight Shard" on my bed making me feel like Legend of Zelda came to visit. Unless that's what we're calling plumes of dusk now.

I think they've given Ikutsuki even more puns. I join the team with very little convincing because supernatural danger isn't something to be leery of at all.

Nor are spooky little boys no one else can see who appear to me in the middle of the night bearing cryptic warnings of impending doom. I give him a good ol' doudemoii and go back to sleep.

Junpei joins the team! We support a guy willing to admit he was crying on the ground.

Trying to remember to report what's actually happening in the game, too. Don't wanna assume everybody is already familiar. I do wanna convince anyone who isn't to become familiar though. Anyway yes Junpei this is a thing we don't talk about. Except when we do, out in public.

Ooooh please don't fumble this bit! Tartar sauce! I am almost through the intro! ...wait I don't think THIS happened before? What's going on? Why are we delayed? ...oh. Oh that's, uh, bad. So for those who don't know, death and suicide are major topics of discussion in this game. You have been warned.

People jumping onto the tracks is not something I recall though... Maybe they're just driving in Apathy Syndrome as a major problem? Or I just plain forgot since, y'know, ten years. But I have reviewed since then... Junpei I would love to secret late night menu with you but we have an intro to get through.

Okay! Tartarus! ...they could have made that weirder. Less euclidean. But I can accept it. Wheeee dungeon crawling time! Oh fuck the menu is so stylish. I love it. Okay, time to kill things. Oooh, Tartarus looks good! Hate-love how it almost looks like it's breathing or something, real uncanny. Love the falling black feathers.

I wonder if they're keeping the condition system... I guess I'll find out! Oh, All Our Attacks are so nice.... We get finishing touches! Done and dusted! ....shuffle time doesn't do any shuffling anymore? Ohhh I guess Twilight Fragments are basically keys...

Doodedoo more tutorials. Someday I'll be free. I am getting kinda tired though...

Drags Junpei all over town to examine everything. Meanwhile the bgm sings "my life will turn out to be so cruel"...yeah because Junpei stops me from going to every restaurant. Hm, based on these police station offerings, I think I might be stuck with just swords, which is a little bit bullshit. Unless versatility is something I unlock later?

Come to think of it, Kurosawa probably has a heck of a story, if he knows shit's fucky but not what's going on... What are these personal connections of his? And how did the kirijo group get in touch with him?

....wait what's this about only the track and field team accepting new members? I know it makes the most sense, but I wanna swim! Are they going to force-track me?

Hm... I thiiiink I'm gonna just study in the library. I have no money to put toward anything else, and if things are the same academics is a bitch to max out.

It is now 3 am and my head hurts, so I'm gonna wrap it up here for tonight!

[despair-sauce]

Cartman at Kyle's: Mini Friday Night Funtime (Part 1)

It doesn't take long for Cartman to get done with his chores his mom asked him to do, so he pulls on his signature red jacket and looks in the mirror, fixing his hair and dusting himself off.

'hmmm nah, not tonight'

He decides to just go without his jacket, just to spice things up.

He walks downstairs and looks around to find his mom sitting on the couch. "Mom, I'll be at Kyle's for the weekend, call or text if you need me."

"Okay honey, I hope you have fun! If something happens, I'm always here!" Liane responds back to her son.

'Always here...right' Cartman sourly thinks to himself. 'If you were always here, I wouldn't be worrying about you all the damn time, mom.'

"I'm seriously mom, I know how you are with not wanting to depend on me, but I'll literally bust ass if I need to."

"I know honey, just go any have some fun, alright? I think you deserve it." She responds.

"Okay, okay, I'm going," Cartman says, dramatically turning around and opening the door. "Ich liebe dich, Mama," he says in a slow, but steady manor.

"Ich liebe dich mehr, Honig," Liane responds back, in a warm smile.

With that, Cartman sets off to Kyles, taking his time walking there, thinking about home.

Ever since the time in the rec room, things have gotten more lively back at home. Cartman and Liane have been getting on better terms, and Liane hasn't been going out and 'working,' much to Cartman's delight.

He thinks maybe it's because his 'voilent outbursts' and constant 'need to throw things when mad' have been improving because of Kyle and such...but he won't ever openly admit that.

It doesn't take more than five minutes until he shows up at Kyle's door. Knocking three times, he leans on the house, trying to look 'swag' for Kyle.

A few seconds later, he hears Kyle unlocking the door and opening it to see Cartman looking more or less like an idiot.

"Kyle~"

"I've never seen you look so stupid," Kyle deadpans, looking unimpressed. Looking a bit offended, taken back, Cartman responds. "Wh- Hey!"

Kyle laughs and turns around, keeping the door open for Cartman to come in. "I think I looked pretty damn awesome back there! Don't lie, you love my swagger Kyle!" He says, closing the front door, subconsciously locking it in the process.

Standing to look at Cartman, Kyle answers back. "Swagger? Is that what it was?" Kyle says teasingly, turning around to walk into the kitchen.

"Yeah! Trust me, when I'm not on my swagger, just assume something's wrong with me," Cartman says in a matter-of-fact tone. He follows Kyle into the kitchen and finds Kyle picking up some sort of ladle and stirring sauce in a pot.

"There's always something wrong with you Cartman. I think you mixed up 'swagger' with cockiness."

"Hey now, I'm here on my own free will, humor me and don't ruin my moment!" Cartman spews out, throwing a middle finger at Kyle behind his back.

Kyle laughs at bit at that and sets the ladle back down, lowering the heat. "Cartman, can you get a couple plates out and set them on the table?" "Yeah, sure," He responds, reaching out next to Kyle, opening a cabinet and getting plates out.

Kyle can't help but side eye Cartman, looking down and seeing the side of his shirt ride up.

Cartman is has gotten more muscle over the years. Sill soft, mostly everywhere, but Kyle can't deny that when he see Cartman's upper body, he absolutely melts.

For as much as Kyle rips on Cartman's weight, he can't say he really agrees with himself anymore. He loves the way Cartman looks, weight and all.

Setting them down on the table, Cartman asks, "Anything else?"

Kyle hums for a second. "No, everything else is already set, thank you."

"Yeah, yeah,' Cartman murmurs, sitting down at the kitchen table, opening his phone, looking at the message he just got.

"Who are you talking to?"

"Kenny, he wants to knows if he should bring any alcohol Sunday." Cartman says, still looking at his phone.

Kyle rolls his eyes, still preoccupied with making dinners responds, "I'm not going to babysit three practical adults"

"So that's a yes. No, that's a hell fuckin' yes," Cartman mutters as he types.

Kyle sighs and looks at Cartman with an almost accidental upset face.

"Live a little Kyle! We're only 17 once!" Cartman says, a little too excitedly.

"I swear, you three. It's like you guys enjoy destroying yourselves," Kyle says, shaking his head and sighing.

"We love every minute of it, too," Cartman says, turning his phone off and putting it back into his pocket.

"Smoking and drinking. What's next? Needles?" Kyle asks.

Ouch.

That hit a nerve.

It's bad enough that his mom shoots up almost all the time, now Kyle thinks he will too.

"Maybe, who fuckin' knows," Cartman says a little too aggressively.

Kyle caught on and looked at Cartman, who looks a little pissed off, he apologizes. "Sorry, shouldn't have said that."

"It's fine, Kyle," Cartman responds back. "No really, I didn't mean it like that."

"Kyle, let it go, I said it's fine." Cartman says, startling Kyle with the last word.

Kyle nervously looks back, and finishes making dinner, bringing the food to the table. "Dig in," Kyle says.

"Don't you like, pray to your Jew god or something before you eat?" Cartman asks.

"Usually no, but we do during Hanukkah," Kyle answers back.

Cartman's hums in response, and goes back to being silent again, making his plate of food.

Kyle mindlessly talks to Cartman, saying what's on his mind. "I like that you think before you talk. Mind you, you're still an asshole, but you at least think of what you say before you talk, that's something"

Cartman sort of freezes that that, face turning a light pink in the process. "I'm not an asshole anymore!"

"No, you still are, but I don't mind," Kyle tries to assure Cartman. "Well, I don't mind as much as I used to."

The light pink in his face turned a darker tint. "Good to know," He mutters.

It's silent for a good few minutes until Kyle starts talking again. "Tell me an event of November 3rd, 2003". Kyle asks.

Cartman looks over at Kyle, knowing what he's wanting. 'Is this a fucking challenge, Jew?' "We we're six and I beat you over the head with a yellow three prong mega block because you threw a green lincoln log at me because I said you can't build for crap."

"I can't ever stump you, can I?" Kyle asks, impressed. "Never, I'm just that good," He says, with a shit eating smirk.

"You and that photographic memory of yours," Kyle says, smiling and looking softly at Cartman. "You can do so well in life, you just need to apply yourself."

"Life is more enjoyable when you don't care about most things," Cartman responds. Kyle sighs and keeps looking at Cartman. "Life is more enjoyable when you care about important things."

"We have very different views on life then, Kyle," Cartman says. Afterward he sticks his fork back into his food and eats again.

Kyle closes his eyes for a good few seconds, opens them back up and starts eating again too.

When they finish eating, Kyle picks up their plates and utensils and brings them into the kitchen sink to clean.

When he's done, he didn't even notice Cartman left the kitchen table until just now.

"...Cartman?" Kyle asks loudly.

He steps into the living room and eyes the backdoor. He sees the back porch lights are on and he opens the backdoor and sees Cartman standing outside, smoking a cigarette.

"Cartman..." Kyle says with a hinge of both disappointment and irritation.

Cartman jumps at the sudden call of his name and looks back at Kyle. "Oh, hey."

"I'm sure you can imagine my surprise." Kyle says, crossing his arms and leaning on the outside wall of the house.

Taking another drag Cartman holds it in and breaths out. "Yeah yeah, so terrible, I know," he says sarcastically. He turns around to he can see Kyle. "Trust me, this shit takes like ass."

"Then why do you even smoke it?"

"Because if I don't I'll get a migraine."

"That's because you keep smoking retard," Kyle says, rolling his eyes and walking toward Cartman to stand next to him.

"Go back inside Kyle, it's freezing," Cartman states. In fact it's snowing actually.

"I have a jacket on, you don't," Kyle says.

"I can use my own personal body heat, I'll be fine," Cartman says, shrugging it off. He curses that his own body just betrayed him, shivering a little.

"You're not as big as you used to be, you know. Just hurry up, I don't want you to get frostbite." Kyle says walking back into the house.

Cartman blushes at that, he honestly didn't expect to hear that. And with that, he drops his cigarette onto the floor and crushes it with his shoe, swiftly walking back into the house.

"Honeyyyy I'm back!" Cartman says out loud. Kyle comes into the living room and leans on the living room frame and crosses his arms, smirking. "What makes you think I'm the girl?"

"Because Kyle, you have a girlish body than I do! It's like all your weight goes to your thighs and ass, and the rest of you is a twig! And because I'm sooo much taller than you!" Cartman teases.

"I do not have a girlish body!" Kyle exclaims.

"You are so cute when you're mad," Cartman teases again.

"Fuck off already," Kyle says turning towards the stairs to go up into his bedroom.

He stops though to see Cartman still standing where he was. "You coming?"

"Should I come?"

"I don't know, should you?"

"If I do, can we like, make out?"

Kyle stares at Cartman in shock. He didn't expect him to be so blunt about it. If he was blunt about it too, he'd say "God yes, hurry up!" But, that's not Kyle's style.

"Maybe." And he proceeds to walk up the stairs and into his room. A few seconds later he can hear Cartman running up the stairs, and he softly laughs at that.

Cartman closes the door and leans on the door a bit. He's eyeing Kyle, watching everything he's doing.

Kyle's just cleaning his room up a bit, not huge things, just small things he sees need to be picked up. "Am I really that interesting?" Kyle asks, trying to rile Cartman up a little bit.

Seeing Cartman flustered is absolutely adorable.

"You're the only damn thing here worth looking at." Cartman says. Kyle looks back at Cartman, blushing and with wide eyes.

Cartman's brain caught up with him. Now he's blushing too. "Wait that's not-"

Seeing Cartman stumble on his words makes Kyle laugh. "Don't worry about it, you're good."

Cartman grumbles a bit and crosses his arms in a soft demeanor. "You've been laughing a lot tonight, what's with that?" He asks.

"What? Can't I have fun with you sometimes?" Kyle asks, giving Cartman a smile.

"And all these damn compliments, it's annoying."

"Oh whatever! You're acting like I've never complimented you before!" Kyle exclaims.

"You do when you want something." He breathes. "No that's usually what you do," Kyle responds lightly.

Kyle finishes up and sits down at the end of his bed. He taps the side of him, gesturing he wants Cartman to sit down next to him.

Cartman's leans back up and walks to sit next to Kyle. Before Cartman knew it, Kyle sets a hand on Cartman's knee and squeezes a little. "Kyle you don't gotta-" "Shut up."

Kyle takes his hand and puts it up to Cartman's cheek to turn his head more towards him and lightly puts his lips on his.

Cartman puts his one of his hands on Kyle's hip and drags him closer, pulling one of Kyle's legs over his legs.

Kyle let's go and mutters. "Your lips are cold." "Well then, warm them up for me," Cartman breaths out.

Kyle smiles at that and kisses him again, this time, much deeper. Kyle uses his advantage of having a smaller body to lean more into Cartman, so he can be chest to chest with him.

Cartman makes a small moaning sound and that pleases Kyle a bit too much. Kyle takes his free hand and holds Cartman's hip.

He's happy Cartman didn't loose a lot of his weight. Would have been a real disappointment if there wasn't anything to hold onto.

It's been a good five minutes until Kyle let's go, but before that lightly bites Cartman's bottom lip, then let's go.

He moves off of Cartman and lays down on his bed, but makes room for Cartman. "That. Was amazing."

"It was, but you know what would make it more amazing?" Cartman asks.

Kyle knows what he means. "I'm just not ready for that yet. It's not you, trust me, it's just.--"

Cartman looks back at Kyle, who looks more nervous than anything. "Oh then yeah, don't worry about it Kyle." He proceeds to twist and turn until he's laying on his side, so he can look at Kyle.

"So you're not gonna rip on me for it?" Kyle asks, narrowing his eyes.

"Nah, I get it. Actually, I applaud you for waiting, for whatever reason." Cartman responds.

"That's... I'm- Thank you." Kyle manages to say, with a smile on his face.

"Whatever, just go to sleep, if you don't, I will tease you endlessly." Cartman says, with a smirk, of course.

"Fuck you, jackass," Kyle says closing his eyes, intentionally getting closer to Cartman, trying to cuddle with him.

Cartman got the memo thankfully and threw his arms around Kyle. "Fuck you too, jew."

"Awe man, almost one full night without a jew joke, damn." Kyle whispers.

"Would you rather me call you daywalker bitch instead?" Cartman whispers back.

"You fucking suck." Kyle teases laughing quietly. Cartman smiles at that and responds.

"Yeah, I know, but it's nice to know that you don't mind."

It doesn't take long for them to drift off to sleep.