#even though I rarely play I still keep up with every card release and such

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #624

Top Ten Things I Want from the Switch 2

Peering behind the curtain a little bit this week, it does feel a bit strange to be discussing the Switch when it’s really the Xbox that’s dominating headlines. At the time of writing, we’re coming off a couple of weeks of frenzied speculation about Microsoft – all their games are going multiplatform! They’re leaving the hardware market entirely! – that ended with a fairly nondescript announcement video which doesn’t feel like it’s changing the status quo too much. There’s some interesting discussion to be had about Microsoft’s approach; and, given how happy Sony seem to be about the PC releases of some of their big exclusives, I guess you could argue that the age of massive first-party games being tied to one particular piece of hardware is well and truly over.

Well, apart from Nintendo.

Nintendo have operated in their own space at their own speed for about the last twenty years now. Long gone are the days when it felt like the company was locked into the bitter console war arms race; once Sony out-performed them in the nineties, they had great success doing their own thing. The DS, the Wii, and the Switch have been massive, and their games remain as good as ever. And now it’s more or less an open secret that they’re going to be releasing a successor to the Switch very soon; rumoured for ages, teased and hyped and – to some extent – leaked. Finally, if rumours are to be believed, it’ll be out in about twelve months; a disturbingly speedy-feeling seven whole years since the original Switch launched. It looks like, finally, we’re getting a proper Switch 2.

And so – because I’d already planned this in advance and because unpicking the minutiae of the Xbox announcement requires a bit more nuance and, well, time – I’m going to list ten things that I hope whatever the successor to the Switch does. As it’s Nintendo, I imagine there’ll be some wrinkles and quirks; they very rarely do “the same again but better”, even though I think that’s really all that most fans want nowadays. Nintendo are masters at coming up with stuff that we don’t know we want, however; who could have predicted the runaway success of the Wii when we first saw that nondescript image of its controller? Anyway, I’ve got no idea what new gameplay gimmicks or revolutionary play mechanics they’re going to pull out of their enormous green pipe. But I still have some thoughts about stuff that I do want to see. And that’s what this list is! Not very complicated this week.

Still be a Switch: I can’t imagine Nintendo moving away from the concept, but a console that remains a handheld which can be docked to allow to allow for connection to a TV feels like an essential component of, well, Nintendo itself. They’ve always had a handheld and a home console, since the NES and the Game Boy in the eighties; now they’ve married the two so successfully, I can’t see them separating. And nor should they.

Have better graphics: I mean, this is a given, right? The Steam Deck can run almost every PC game you throw at it with a form factor not much larger than the Switch; sure, it’s not exactly a current-gen console in terms of visual quality (and, being a PC, means performance can be variable), but it proves that Nintendo can deliver much greater visual fidelity in a next-gen Switch. I’d hope they’d be able to produce a 4K output when docked, even though I imagine stuff like ray-tracing is off the cards.

Have an SSD: I can’t remember what the “leaked” specs were saying about this, but one of the things that puts me off using the Switch is my impatience when it’s loading. Animal Crossing in particular is a game that just feels like it takes forever to boot up. With all the other consoles, and most modern PCs, all sporting lightning-quick SSDs, Nintendo really needs to adopt the technology.

Be fully backwards-compatible: we’re increasingly moving into an era where we want to keep our game library active; the idea of a generation ending and a new one beginning with no crossover is probably gone for good. So I think Nintendo has to allow us to play current-gen Switch games on their next console; this means our existing digital library crosses over, and also that we can plug in all our Switch game cards and jump back in. To be fair, Nintendo is usually pretty good in this area, and rumours are the new Switch will be no different.

…and make old games look better: tied into being backwards compatible, I’d like to see something approaching the upscaling (and even frame rate-boosting) that contemporary consoles manage. Xbox especially is great in this area – even having one purchase of a game giving you access to (potentially) an Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC version. Regardless, the possibility of playing years-old games such as Breath of the Wild or Mario Kart 8 in 4K and 60fps is very appealing.

Give us better profiles: one thing that I love about Xbox (and PlayStation, and Steam, for that matter) is the way they handle user accounts. Nintendo has sign-ins and profiles, but they’re rudimentary; it feels almost like it’s just a way of keeping tabs on whose save is active. I’d love it if we could get much better Nintendo accounts, especially as they’re going to be carried across two generations of the Switch. Can we have cloud saves, so we can carry our Zelda progress to the new machine? What about leaderboards or stat tracking? What if – hear me out – we had some kind of Nintendo version of achievements or trophies? Basically I want to feel like “this is my identity in the Nintendo ecosystem”, if that makes sense.

…with some added bells and whistles: it’s pretty great, to be fair, that you already get access to older games from previous generations through your annual Nintendo subscription. But I’d like this to go further. PlayStation and especially Xbox give you loads of benefits from your subscription; obviously the biggie here is Game Pass, which gives you “free” access to brand-new games. Perhaps a selection of relatively recent “classic” games could be incorporated into the “Expansion Pack” subscription? Or at the very least, bring GameCube-era games to the service. I’d also, personally, like it if they ventured into streaming; maybe we don’t need to install those old NES and SNES games to play them? Other perks – discounts at the store, for example – would be really nice too.

Make the touchscreen more useful: the Switch touchscreen is all well and good, but generally speaking it’s only useful to navigate the dashboard or type your credit card number into the store. Having some kind of system-level “touching the screen is equivalent to pressing A” would be useful, at the very least in menus (tapping the screen rather than navigating with the sticks). More games that really made use of the touchscreen would be good, especially in strategy games. But what would really be impressive is if they could replicate the “virtual controller” that Xbox have when streaming on mobile – with the sticks and buttons replicated on screen – even though I guess it’d be a rare occasion when you’d be playing without the Joy Cons attached.

Improve the Joy Cons: speaking of which – they’re a bit flaky, aren’t they? The whole technological concept of the Switch, with its removable controllers that contain a whole lot of gubbins, is still impressive; but if there’s a weak link, it’s definitely the Joy Cons. Tiny and prone to breaking (and with “stick drift” seemingly inevitable), they’re also fiddly to get on and off. Making them physically more robust, perhaps a bit larger if possible, and tweaking the removal/reattachment process would all be very nice decisions.

Don’t call it the “Switch 2”: yeah, that’s a really boring name. Only Sony can get away with that stuff without it seeming derivative or uninspired. Personally I’m in favour of “Super Switch”, but I’m a nineties kid. Ultra Switch? Switch Pro? You want it to feel like a proper generational leap; I always felt Wii U, and the console’s close physical similarity to its predecessor, made it feel more like an add-on than a replacement. It’d be cool if they could think of a name that echoed its predecessor without adding a suffix, although I’m stumped trying to think of an example. “Switcheroo”?

There ya go. Ten things I’d like to see. Other ideas bubbling under: USB disc drive to allow direct compatibility with GameCube, Wii, and Wii U games; bringing back the Wii Fit balance board; and having video apps such as iPlayer and Netflix.

Anyway, can’t wait to find out exactly what it is, what it’s called, and what it costs.

[rebelwhodoesntknow]

I think Sena's voice has really improved over the years but yeah she was really young and inexperienced in Stars, I like her singing but it was definitely a little rough

I always wondered why they didn't release dolls!!! It's not like they releaased figures (except ones that were way too delicate for their target audience + too expensive), they really missed the mark there. Literally I would pay so much to hold a tiny version of the sweet dreams star pr are you kidding me?? 😭💗

Ahhh I actually really like Raki... I understand people dislking her 100000% because she DID like. Personally design her own Jeweling rare which is supposed to be purely made from magic, not designed by anyone, she designed her own star wings which can only be gifted by the system, same with the wings for her zodiac coord like Ichigo gen. So it's not just that she took most of her inspo from existing coords, she just kind of broke all the rules somehow and nobody in-show was like THATS IMPOSSIBLE????

But Idk I like her! I love her design, her voice actor (also voiced Wakaba) is great, I honestly wish she got more songs. I think it just made sense for her to be there. Even if Parade was just meant to get excitement + money back up for Planet's release, there was some love put into it for people who grew up with the series, and everyone kind of takes care of Raki. She's an excited kid obsessed with the idea of Aikatsu in general and tbh I see myself when I was like 13 diving into all of it, she's like a representation for new and old fans that just love it and want to be a part of it. She wasn't supposed to be a super fleshed out character, just kind of a tour guide along the show

OR IM PROJEVTING TOO MUCH AFBKSNDDJF But fr I don't mind her! The first anniversary album actually has her cover one of Mizuki's songs because it was her voice actor's favorite, she was a huge fan of Aikatsu when she was little and she won a singing contest to voice Wakaba in Friends!!🥺💗 Even if it wasn't the biggest role, I'm really happy for her, I feel like even that says something about what Raki meant

I love that kids still write letters about shows, I also follow Super Sentai and every so often the staff mentions kids keep writing to them asking them to redeem the villains because they like the actors too much LOL

Hinaki & Yume's voice actors actually had a unit irl too for a little bit, Min☆na, they've disbanded now and the song's werent my vibe but good for them!!

DONT BUY THE AIKATSU GAMES ITS SO EXPENSIVE + THEYRE REGION LOCKED. You can play them on a PC on Citra though, and if you turn up the graphics quality it looks sol so much better than on a console- basically like you're playing the akari gen DCD!

If you're interested, I can send you the roms, it will take a couple days though I'll have to find my hard drive 💗

I have all of them! Only 2 are worth playing imo, most don't have many songs or coords but these are powerhouses

Aikatsu! My No. 1 Stage features every single Ichigo/Akari gen song up till the last like 15, stages and dances included, it's crazy. It had a good amount of coords for most brands, only a couple for dolly devil and mecha panic but there's a lot of fun mix and match stuff you can do! The dressup system is the same as the arcade game so you can swap PRs and everything.

The gameplay is really simple, short visual novel-style stories to unlock songs, play songs to unlock coord cards. The outfits you use do effect special appeals too!! I play it sometimes, but mostly I mess around with outfits in MV mode and just watch

The other game is Aikatsu Stars! My Special Appeal. This is the only stars game sadly, and it doesn't have a lot of songs, but there's a few cute new animations in the mvs (i.e. in tsu•ba•sa, you can't have just one character, so before the song starts your two backup dancers help you out of the throne, idk its just cute)

It does have 1,000 outfit pieces though...! A lot of the brandless coords were included this time. No berry parfait, but all the other brands before it are included (one PR per brand) and nobody from venus ark (😭) but it looks nice and again, it's fun to play with outfits!

The gameplay is the same as the other game. And in this one you get to make your own character with a few customization options for hair & eyes!

Honestly, I don't think playing to get all the coords is worth it, it really takes a long time and you're just repeating the same thing over and over to get it (and usually get duplicate pieces which don't do anything)

I have a save file for each game, with all songs & coords unlocked though! If you're interested in trying either of them I can send those too with the roms (And if you haven't used citra I don't mind explaining how to add the saves!)

THIS IS A WHOLE ASS ESSAY

ITS OKAY IM HAVING A GREAT TIME TALKING ABOUT THIS and I hope you are too fhfjf

Yeah I’ve seen the figures before and they’re always ridiculously expensive and I’m like ‘oh come on I’m broke and want to be an idol here’ plus they didn’t even have the coords which is like the best part??? Come on???

I think I like ( while knowing very little about Parade) seeing Raki more as a superfan/vehicle for idol display rather than a full fleshed character, although I really wish she didn’t just straight up break the aikatsu system. I saw her star wings outfit and was definitely confused by why the wings were on her in her whole performance. If anything, she should have gotten them when she made her true PR and actually debuted her brand. I do think her va’s origin is super cute though!

Unfortunately I have never used Citra before and am very new to emulators (I’ve used melonDS like three times maybe) so I would definitely need help with whatever rom stuff you’re mentioning lol, I am not good with that stuff at all. I’m not too bad at rhythm games, though, so I think it would be really fun to try the games out! Maybe that’ll be better than trying to teach myself Idol Activity from the stage videos on YouTube lol!

[gothgamergfs]

HELLO! Have you seen the new art? The new akorinko art?

IF YOURE REFERRING TO THEIR “BAND LIFE WITH…” ART YES AND I

[apompkwrites]

I love the streamer au of both xiao and albedo! I was wondering if I could request a scenario where they both try and save up primogems so they can pull us? What do you think their reaction would be if they pulled us? Thanks in advance!!

reader impact || character event wish

series masterlist characters: xiao, albedo genre: fluff summary: your character exclusive banners have been released! will our streamers have any luck pulling you? notes: hehe time to roll! sad boy hours bc childe’s probably not coming home for me :(( i wish everyone else good luck on who they want, though!

invitation to mundane life (xiao) -

he rarely uses social media.

he doesn't really involve himself in it too much and only uses it to alert his viewers of upcoming streams.

imagine his surprise when he's waiting for people to enter his genshin stream when they tell him that there's a new playable character: you.

just like when he first met you, he practically shuts down.

the character he had loved and admired for so long is now able to be in his party forever?!?!??!

he doesn't understand the gacha/pity system but he'll learn it just for you.

he'd definitely host a watch party the day you drop to watch your trailers.

"why is their trailer so sad???"

this boy cannot handle your backstory in the trailer.

he just wants to keep you safe :((

(even if you'd be the one protecting him)

now, he's normally not one to pay for things in games since he prefers to use his money for essentials.

for you, though, he will empty his entire bank account for you.

he buys the blessing of the welkin moon and is very prepared to buy genesis crystals.

he'll wish for you at the wangshu inn on the very balcony he first met you.

he'll play liyue music in the background of his stream just for you <333

he doesn't normally express his emotions, as i've said before, but here anyone could tell that he was desperate to have you on his team.

he chokes on his breath when he sees gold fly across his stream.

please both he and his chat are begging for it to be you.

he's skipping through all the weapons and cursing whoever is making him wait until the end of his roll to find out whether or not it's you.

(name): ★★★★★

and he's gone.

like he falls out of his chair when he sees it's you.

his chat is VERY torn between laughing at him and congratulating him.

his body hurts but it was worth it to see you on his screen <3

he doesn't understand the appeal of getting good weapons purposefully but you bet he's gonna whale for yours.

he doesn't care that it's good, even though that's a bonus. all he really cares about is that it's your weapon, no one elses.

also you look cute af with it don't @ him.

obviously you're going straight into his party. and every other party he owns.

and any bosses you're fighting? you're there.

his chat's yelling at him because your element isn't good against this boss.

you know what this man says?

"too bad. (name) supremacy."

you’re the reason he smiles so much, hun <33

secretum secretorum (albedo) -

please he stocked up on primogems ever since he reacted to your update.

he's so excited to see what your attacks are since he purposefully avoided seeing them.

he's got over thirty (30) wishes worth of primogems and his wallet is sitting on his desk.

he promises his chat he'll watch the character trailer and demo after he gets you because he wants everything to be a surprise.

he starts the stream by showing off all of the drawings he's made over the time waiting for you to be released <3

he gets a bunch of donations from people wishing him luck and telling him that the money is exclusively to wish for you.

we love his supportive audience.

he will stream the very day you are released. he's on it within the first few minutes of launch.

finally, it's time to wish.

of course, he'll do all his daily commissions to get all those extra primogems just in case ;)

"the time has come."

by the time he's ready to wish for you, he's up in dragonspine in your little workplace.

his chat is spamming good luck messages and emotes (all of which were you that he made during one of his streams).

he's actually really nervous.

he knows he'll get you because he'll spend all of his money just to do it, but there's still that underlying fear hidden in his body.

he just wants you in his party because he knows he won't be able to get you after the banner is done.

it takes a few pulls but about four (4) minutes in, he sees the familiar golden comet fly across his stream.

both him and his chat are freaking out.

"please come home please come home please come home please come home."

AND YOU CAME HOME.

AND NOW HE'S DYING.

PLEASE YOU'RE SO COOL AND ADORABLE AND AMAZING AND

his chat pushes for him to wish for your weapon.

only the best for the chief alchemist that stole his heart <3

luckily, he got it with his remaining wishes.

he exits the wish menu so fast and places you in the first slot of his party.

before he even starts to use you, he will use the camera feature and just zoom in.

"look at them. look at how amazing they are. look."

he can and will show you off every chance he gets.

immediately begins leveling you up and ascending you because of course he spent the past few weeks grinding for all of your materials.

he will his highest artifacts away from his other characters just to give them to you.

over the days your banner is active, you best bet he's continuing to wish for you so that he can get you to c6 (which he does because you deserve the best).

you are the very first character he gets to friendship lvl 10. no matter how long he's had the other characters, you are the first.

expect the next few art streams to be based on you once again.

he will draw every voiceline he unlocks.

his stream overlay is now based on you and the background is your friendship card.

his cute little chalk ruler has stolen his heart <3

[ink-on-the-brink]

How do you feel about ns*w prompts?

If you want, how about how medic, sniper and engie are acting during sexy times ? Or foreplay if you prefer !

I've been kinda thinking about doing stuff like that for a while so I decided why not now? It's not gonna be my first time writing it but it is my first time posting this stuff so fair warning.

NO CHILDREN BEYOND THIS POINT I SWEAR TO GOD DON'T YOU DARE-

Medic

Okay so like, I don't know if it's just me but like I kinda see Medic as a bit ace? Like he doesn't usually think about that type of stuff and it's very rare that he feels this sort of pull, but he won't reject doing it if you want to either.

You'd need to be very blunt with the man. It's not that he's dumb, he just doesn't pick up well on social cues in the first place so he doesn't want to assume anything.

He's never one to initiate. Like ever. You want some? You best come get it.

Kinks? Literally whatever the fuck you're into. Man does not give a fuck. He'll indulge in the most insane shit if you're up for it. He had no line that can't be crossed. He loves experimenting. (I mean that's what he does 98% of the time anyway)

Mega switch. He can be the absolute whiniest sub and the most controlling dom. It's almost scary how good he is at both.

Foreplay can be common or not happen at all. Again it depends entirely on what his partner wants and if you want him to spend an hour just touching you then that's exactly what he'll do.

He holds no shame if caught. Everyone knows better than to say shit to the person that's literally in charge of their bodily functions. No one dares to say a word if they catch the two of you.

He will often slip into German in the heat of the moment so whatever he saids is completely lost on you. (He's honestly just saying random shit but you don't need to know that)

His favorite position is downward dog. Something about hearing your muffled moans just kinda does it for him.

For him, it's more of a casual thing. Like a 'sure, why not'.

Overall whoever he's with gets to decide what smexy time will be like.

Sniper

This man has one hell of a sex drive. It's honestly surprising he hasn't exploded from the number of times he's found himself in a situation where he just really needed that release but couldn't get it that moment.

One small comment, purposeful or not, has him wanting you. There have been more than a few times he's heard the wrong meaning in your words, flustering and really pushing him.

He doesn't initiate it so much as you can see that he really really needs it. He'll deny himself no matter how worked up he gets and it's up to you to shove some reality in his face and give him what he wants.

Man is a full dom when he's in the mood though. I'm talking you won't even know what's happening before he has you against a wall, whispering the dirtiest things you've ever heard in your ear. Which is frankly surprising since he was usually so easily flustered. It's almost shocking how quickly he changes from flustered mess to confident and absolutely fucking H O T.

He doesn't venture into the world of kinks much. He likes it rough and messy, not complicated. He'd rather be the one to hold you down than have some rope do it for him. That doesn't mean he won't try if you ask though.

He draws a hard line with extreme stuff. He will never harm you and would never like to be harmed by you.

If he trusts you enough, and you play your cards right, he can become a melted mess. Sometimes he just really likes to give up all control to you and honestly, it just makes him hotter.

He's definitely the type to use semi-demeaning words but not in a way to put you down. Something like 'you're such a good lil' slut for me'

Voyeurism is something he's turned on about but deathly afraid to do. He's had many a fantasy of fucking where he might get caught but actually getting caught would probably embarrass him to unimaginable lengths. So to indulge in these fantasies he'll do so when you both go camping. No one's around yet the thrill is still there.

He most often likes to fuck you into a wall of some kind. He likes how the position makes it a bit harder to look at anything but him. Your expressions are what he practically lives for.

Foreplay is rare. He's often too worked up to think about it. He mostly likes to get straight to the good part. So when he gives you the reins he can often be even more of a mess if you prefer soft touches and a slower session.

How casual it is depends on how long he's been with you. For the first year they tend to be more rare and often very intense sessions. Once he's more comfortable with you though it can become extremely common and more casual with those intense sessions sprinkled in now and then.

Overall he's a bit hard to predict. You'll start off thinking he's going to be a nervous mess under your fingers before he turns around and fucks you until you can't stand anymore. Then after a while you get to take control and do the same to him.

It's a win/win

Engie

A decent sex drive. Usually he's very good at controlling his urges and keeping them in check but when he wants it damn does he want it bad.

He's a man of words. Nothing, and I mean nothing will get him going faster than a suggestive comment. Keep talking and you'll have him hooked in moments.

Despite what one might think, Engie is a dom. Look, you listen to him when his voice gets deep and tell me he doesn't use that tone to turn on whoever he's with. Man's knows every way to turn someone on without even touching them.

Is most likely the one to initiate. He likes to start it off with a little bit of light touching so it's very often that he turns what was supposed to be a cuddle session or a short kiss into something a lot more.

HUGE praise kink. He's going to compliment each part of your body in the sexiest way he can. Stuff like 'ya sound beautiful when you're beggin sweetheart' and 'ain't you just the most perfect thing ah've ever seen'. He is going to make even the most stone-cold mercenary flush with how good he is at talking dirty.

Foreplay is this man's forte. He's good with his hands and his tongue and you can be damn sure he's using both to his advantage. Kisses all around your body, whispered words that send shocks through your skin, soft touches that send shivers down your spine, he's good at it all.

To him it has to be intimate. He's not one for casual. If he's going to do anything with you it's going to be slow and romatic. He doesn't like anything quick, it just doesn't do it for him. He wants to hold your body, to feel every bit of skin revealed to him.

He doesn't want anyone disturbing his moment with you and it will annoy him to no end if someone does. He'll quickly cover you before throwing whatever's closest to him at whoever disturbed the session. Despite this, he has a huge thing for spontaneous sessions rather than planned ones. This means that you two have done it more than a few times in his workshop. Luckily at this point everyone's learned to just not come in if the doors are closed, no matter how important it is. He's not going to talk or help anyone until he's finished.

He has a different set of nicknames that are saved especially for smexy time. These include 'cute lil' thing, sugar, angle' and a few others. Upon hearing any of those nicknames you'll know exactly what he's planning to do.

He likes it when you ride him. He very much enjoys the hold he has on your hips as you bounce on top of him, not to mention your face contorted in pleasure that he gets a front-row seat to.

Overall he's a man of foreplay and long passionate sessions.

[imagination-of-a-thirsty-weeb]

Alluring || Hisoka x Reader

Prompt: Hisoka finds Y/N to be a very strong contender,,

Pairing: Hisoka x Reader

Word Count: 2.153k

Warning: blood!kink

Crossposted

"You see," Your unexpected visitor starts, hands stilling in their play with the deck of cards he held. "I came out to watch your match and your bloodlust," His tongue runs over his lips, a shaky moan leaving his lips. "Your bloodlust is alluring." The cards disappear from his hands, his eyes narrowing into playful slits. He watches you with a predatory gaze, almost as if he blinked or looked away you'd slip through his fingers. "I've rarely been able to meet someone who's bloodlust matches my own," His fingers pinch the bridge of his nose, a sharp inhale and exhale following the action. "It's too much, oh so much."

"Hisoka, I've just fought a very formidable opponent and needless to say, I'm a little worn out so if you could," You trail off, pointing to the door. You're standing before him in nothing but a towel, having just gotten out the shower. Your hair falls in curled lockets that frame your face, droplets of water falling down your cheeks, pooling at your chin to drop on the floor. The central air flowing through the room is enough to have you shaking with little protection from the towel. "Hisoka." You say his name with little interest, turning to make your way back to your room to finish out your nightly routine. You drop your towel before disappearing into your room, Hisoka's eyes following you with more interest than you had put into him.

"No one likes a tease," He hums, standing from the couch to follow you into the room. He finds you rubbing cream into your skin, your foot placed on the bed. "Hmm, such a sight," Hisoka's appearance doesn't startle you and you do little to cover yourself, even switching legs to apply more cream. Hisoka leans against the doorframe, eyes following your hands, watching as your fingertips dig into your tense muscles. "I could help with that," Hisoka says nonchalantly, stepping into the room, his foot closing the door behind him. Your ears perk up at his offer and you think of the things his hands were capable of, the knots he'd be able to get out with those talented digits of his.

"You know, I should be kicking you out of my room, you psychotic magician." You giggle, tossing the can of cream in his direction. His fingers wrap around the can, holding it up to level with his face so he could read the label on the can. "I mean sneaking into my room, watching me lather myself in cream," You tsk, wagging a finger at him. "I can taste it," You sneak your tongue over your lips, humming when you come to your final realization. "Your arousal, you know," You turn so your back is to him, and nod him over. "It's as thick as your bloodlust, the two are almost interchangeable." Hisoka makes a noise of approval, joining you beside your bed. "I felt you watching," You sigh when his hands meet your shoulders, "Out of all the eyes on me, I could feel your gaze on me, even more so than my opponent's."

"As I said, your bloodlust was alluring, almost overwhelming." Hisoka's fingers are agile as they move over your body, fingertips digging into what tense muscles he can feel. His efforts are rewarded with soft sighs, his fingers digging deeper to hear more of those sweet sounds leave your lips. "I couldn't help myself, growing more aroused the longer you fought. I saw the way you moved, I watched you very closely." His words drip from his mouth like honey, each word wrapped in his own arousal. He tosses the cream to another area in the room, wanting to keep the bed clear. His hands pull you into him and you can feel his arousal pressed hotly against your back. "I thought about being in that ring with you." He moans, hands forming a steady grip on your hips. "I thought about fighting you. Killing you." He says his own fantasies aloud, his talk so casual as if he were complimenting the decor of the room.

"Hisoka," You turn in his arms, pushing his hands back to his sides. "The both of us know if you wanted to kill me, you would've tried already." Your hands leave your sides to run over his shoulders, one hand on the back of his neck to bring his ear down to level with your lips. "It wouldn't be easy though." Your other hand snakes down his back, pulling him impossibly close. "Not when I know all your tricks," You run your tongue along the shell of his ear, pressing a hot kiss to the skin below his lobe. "Hisoka, I think I know you better than you know yourself." Your hands find his once more, pulling them back to your sides, engulfing yourself within his arms. Your e/c orbs stare into his golden ones, noting the way his eyes grew heavier the closer you stood to him.

"Is that so?" Hisoka lets out a small chuckle, amused by your tactics. "Better than I know myself?" His hands move down your sides, lips quivering into an amused grin when you shake under his touch. "I can't say I doubt that." Hisoka's hands grope your ass, pulling your cheeks apart to expose your slickened core to the cool air of the room. "We have had our fair share of meetings." Hisoka's hands push and pull at your ass, using his grip on his ass to pull you flush against him. "It's been a long while since our last meeting." Hisoka pulls away and takes a step backward. Before you can question him he's turning you around, pushing your upper-half flatly against the mattress of the bed. "And I've got to say," Hisoka's hands are pulling at your ass once more, pulling you apart for him. "I've been dying to have another taste."

"Hisoka," You go to warn him only for your sentence to be ended by the meeting of his warm tongue between your folds. "Fuck." Your fingers grip the white sheets below you, hips involuntarily pushing back against him, begging for more. Hisoka's grip is strong, the pads of his fingers bruising the skin he held, he uses this grip to pull you closer to his mouth. His tongue explores, running from your engorged clit to your clenching hole. "Hisoka!" You cry when his lips wrap around your clit, sucking the aching bud into his mouth. Hisoka's tongue is quick, aiding in the process as it flicks messily and mercilessly over your clit. "Fuck!" Hisoka hums as your resolve slowly melts away. Your knuckles turn white as you grip the sheets harder, fucking yourself back into his mouth. One of Hisoka's hands leaves your ass and two of his fingers slide into your entrance, pushing the two digits deep enough to satiate your hunger to be filled. "I'm close, Hisoka! Fuck, I'm so close." You cry, burying your face in the sheets as he brings you to your edge.

Hisoka wants to praise you, beg for your release so he can lick every drop you have to offer him but his mouth has no will to pull away and so instead he's pushing himself closer. "Yes, oh yes," You cry, hips fucking your against his fingers, against his mouth. Your knees buckle and if it were not for Hisoka's hold on your lower-half you would've collapsed at the side of the bed. "Hisoka, enough-enough," You try to pull away from him, still feeling his tongue moving up and down your slit. Your thighs shake as he continues to lick at your heat, his tongue restless as he finds himself lost in the taste you offer. Hisoka finally finds himself satisfied and pulls away with your juices coating the bottom half of his face.

"Delicious." He flips you over with one of his hands, and the look on his face has you shuddering against the cool sheets. His eyes are hooded, tongue licking his lips. "Here." His hand grips your chin and forces your mouth open, his other hand bringing his two fingers to push past your lips. You know what he wants and so you suck your juices from his fingers, watching him with wide eyes. "Yes," He moans, "Oh yes," He repeats your earlier phrasing and smiles when you release his fingers with a loud pop. "Such a dirty girl." Hisoka chuckles, eyes refusing to leave your trembling body, basking in your orgasm as much as you were. "I know I don't usually ask but I'm feeling generous tonight so...cards or blades?" He holds up a card and nods toward the knife on your nightstand. You can't help the wanton moan that slips past your lips when you realize what he's asking.

"Actually," You reach forward and pluck the card from his fingers, tossing it to the side. "I was thinking of claws." Hisoka makes a small noise as if questioning your proposition but the look in his eyes tells you all you need to know. Hisoka reaches forward and wraps his hand around your throat, nails digging into the soft flesh, breaking the skin. Your eyes shake at the pain, beads of crimson rolling down your neck and pooling in the dip of your collarbone. "Thank you," Your lips curl into a delirious smirk, begging for more. Hisoka can feel his cock twitching in his pants as he watches the beads of blood roll over his fingers. "Hisoka I need you, I need you to fuck me." Hisoka wastes no time in disregarding his clothing, his hand briefly leaving your throat to grab at your hips.

"You're such a good little plaything." Hisoka pushes into you with a quick snap of his hips. "So tight," He's big, his simple thrust nearly splitting you in half. "So eager and greedy." Hisoka watches the way you take him, the way you swallow every inch he has to offer and it's too much for him to handle. "I've never had a plaything so eager to be hurt." His claws dig into your hips, breaking the skin once more. He can't help himself as he's digging his nails further into the skin of your hips, the blood that pours out has his eyes rolling to the back of his head. His hips a blur as they begin a relentless onslaught of pushing into you. Your juices spill over his thick shaft, coating the heated skin as he continues to split you in two for him.

"How's it feel?" His eyes flicker to yours and much to his surprise you're a mess. The blood from your wounds seep into the white sheets, your juices seeping into the sheets. "Hisoka?" You cry, pulling him so he's flush against your bare chest. "How's it feel? How does my pussy feel wrapped around your cock?" Your words are spoken in a soft manner and he knows if you speak any louder it'll break you. Hisoka hums in response, hands leaving your hips to plant themselves beside your head. Your hands grab the sides of his face and your lips plant themselves firmly against his. You needed to taste him, feel him, every inch of him you could get your hands on. Hisoka's tongue slips past yours, circling yours when you meet his in a rush. Hisoka brings a hand between your legs, fingers expertly moving over your clit.

"Y/N," Hisoka whispers your name and it's the only thing you need to finish around him. Your walls are greedy as you tighten around him, juices hushing out against his thick member. "Hmm," He moans, pressing his forehead against yours. "You feel so good. So tight. So wet." Hisoka buries himself deep inside you until he's finishing inside you. His cum shoots out in thick ropes, filling your needy hole with every drop he had to offer. Hisoka's moans fill the room, creating a sweet melody with your heavy breathing. His voice is soft, beautiful as he pushes his hips flush against yours. "Hmm." He whimpers and pulls out, his seed gushing out around him as he leaves your empty. "Y/N," He rolls over to your side, eyes closing as he basks in his post-orgasmic state. "That was amazing indeed." He rolls to his side and slings an arm over your mid-section. "I'm afraid I won't be able to wait another two years until we meet again." You hum in response and turn over so you're face to face.

"Well, if you keep showing up unannounced like this, we won't have to wait another two years." Hisoka seems intrigued by your offer. "I mean, wouldn't want your plaything to slip into the wrong hands. Hisoka can only chuckle at this. "Yeah, yeah, I already know what you're going to say...don't bother."

"I'm sorry my darling, I'm afraid no one can please you as I can."

[sundaysundaes]

My Words, Your Thoughts (Teaser)

Lee Donghyuck/Haechan X Reader | Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Smut | Soulmate AU, Friends-to-Lovers AU

Part of the beautiful ‘Aubade’ collaboration hosted by @hyucksie​

Synopsis: As an introvert, you are familiar with the silence. Drowning yourself deep in your thoughts has been a habit you’ve become addicted to. Your life begins to change, however, ever since the day you turned twenty. Suddenly, there’s this song that’s stuck in your head, and no matter how much you yearn to hear your thoughts or be comforted by the silence, it keeps on playing. You only get to find the answer to your problem when a young, cute barista hands you a cup of coffee one day, with that song’s lyrics written on the side. And you realize that you’re not the only one who’s been hearing voices in your head.

Warnings: explicit sex, expletives, mentions of physical abuse and astraphobia (not for the main characters)

WC (Teaser): 4k

Release Date: June 27, 2021, 10 AM KST

It’s weird. It’s so weird.

It’s weird that you’ve been hearing this song replaying over and over again in your head when you’re sure you’ve never listened to it before. It’s also weird because sometimes the song sounds like the ones you often hear about on the radio—complete with instrumental accompaniment and everything—but most of the time, it just sounds like someone is humming to it. Sometimes quietly, but more often than not, vehemently like they’re having a concert in the shower, not caring if the neighbors might hear.

As someone who rarely listens to mainstream music, you don’t keep up with the trend these days but the tunes are catchy enough that you think, maybe, it’s one of those Justin Bieber’s songs people always talk about. You’re not fond of it, though, so even if you’ve heard it somewhere in a cafe or a mall, there’s very little chance you’ll be humming it in your head.

And yet, it keeps on playing.

It gets worse when it goes on for a whole day—a whole fucking day—that your brain feels like it’s seconds away from bursting into pieces. It doesn’t even sound like your voice. It seems like it belongs to a male, a bit light and a pitch higher than most. Though it sounds pleasant, the voice is unfamiliar to your ears and that’s what bothers you the most. 

Trying your best to escape, you plug in your AirPods to your earholes, choosing one of the most beloved tracks from your playlist—today, it’s Bloom by The Paper Kites—to help you relax as you lie down on your bed. But no matter how many times you turn up the volume—it’s practically turning you deaf, ironically—you can still hear that one goddamn song playing.

“Oh my God,” you groan, projecting a murderous glare at the ceiling of your room before you shriek all of your heart’s content to your pillow. “Make it stop!”

This has been going on ever since your twentieth birthday and it’s been three months since then—three months of suffering, to be exact. Fortunately for you, you haven’t been listening to the same song for those amount of time—God, you would’ve killed yourself if that was the case. The song changes without warning. It can change ten times within a day, or stay the same for ten days. You have never heard of these songs except for the popular ones, and even then, you only ever listened to snippets as they don’t suit your taste. 

So… It doesn’t make sense that you could recite the whole lyrics, does it? 

And yet, you can. 

Somehow, you already know every word, every tune, even every ad-lib in these songs and it both amazes and creeps you out. It’s as if somebody else is singing about it in their mind, and you, somehow, are mentally connected to them.

But that’s surely not the case, right?

With more days passing by, as your brain deteriorates little by little, you start to think that maybe that is the case.

Or maybe you’re just going crazy.

It’s nine in the morning and your eyes are bleary from how you involuntarily skipped sleep last night. With the loudest sigh and your half-charged MacBook sitting still in your backpack, you let your wobbly legs carry you to the nearest coffee shop. There’s a new Starbucks store opening just a couple of blocks away from your apartment and it’s perfect since you’re going to pass it every day on your way to college. 

You’re not excited though, not when you have Michael Jackson’s Man in The Mirror playing in your head for the, approximately, thirty-fifth time that day. And it’s only nine in the fucking morning.

When you enter the coffee shop, greeted by a cute Christmas tree and festive decorations spreading all over the place even when it’s still three weeks away from the holiday, you almost weep in joy when the song stops playing in your head. It does happen from time-to-time, sometimes it stops for a few hours before it starts again with the same song or an entirely different one. But in most cases, it only pauses for a few minutes which just doubles the torture whenever you’re trying to concentrate on your paperwork.

“Hi.” You display a timid smile at a female barista, slightly wincing when the song in your head starts blaring again, as expected. It’s still the same song this time—so that thirty-sixth by now, Jesus Christ—but instead of someone humming it, it’s the original version that plays. You’re having trouble focusing on her greeting when the sound of a synthesizer echoes through your ear, stridently so. “I would like a tall skinny latte with a double shot, please.”

“Would you like anything else to accompany your drink?”

Perhaps a gun to blow my head off? “No, thanks. That’d be all for me.”

“Is that for here or to go?”

You take a quick scan of your surroundings. You still have an hour before your first class starts and since the place isn’t that crowded, you figure you might as well just spend some time here. “For here.”

You tell her your name and slide down your card to complete the payment. “All right. We will call your name once your order is ready.”

“Fantastic. Thanks.” As the female barista takes an order from another customer, you drag yourself to an empty seat in the corner of the room, next to the glassy window where you can glance at passersby. You lay your head down on the table, cheek pressed against the wooden surface, lower lip jutting out in weariness. You’re drowsy and you want to think about the snow that’s probably gonna fall sometimes near Christmas’ Day and maybe the sight of a warm fireplace where you can cozy up with your imaginary boyfriend (also known as Jung Jaehyun—that one perfect boy who lives just across of your hallway), but no, unfortunately for you, you no longer have any space left in your brain since Michael Jackson is performing a damn concert and it doesn’t seem like he’s gonna stop anytime soon.

“I’m starting with the man in the mirror…” Great, now you’re singing it. “I’m asking him to change his ways…”

The music in your head abruptly stops again but before you can close your eyes to finally enjoy your silence, a familiar voice chimes in.

“It’s a great song, isn’t it?”

Shocked, you quickly lift your head to identify a male barista placing down a cup of your ordered latte on your table. You swear you recognize his voice but his face doesn’t ring a bell.

“Hi,” he greets, smiling a bit sheepishly. “I don’t usually bring orders directly to the table but I think I misheard your name so I couldn’t call you out from there.”

“That’s, umm, that’s okay…” You hide the bottom half of your face behind your scarf as you’re not used to talking to a stranger, especially one that looks overwhelmingly pretty. “What did you think my name was?”

“Umm…” He rubs the back of his nape awkwardly. “I don’t think you want to know. It was a bit… inappropriate.”

“R-right…” You glance at the cup. “It says ‘Michael.’”

He chuckles but with only a slight hint of amusement in it. “Yeah, sorry about that. I had to come up with something and it was the first thing that came to mind.”

“And it has…” Your eyes widen when you notice the words he’s written on the side of your cup. It’s not a greeting, it’s not a motivational sentence, it’s the fucking lyrics to Michael Jackson’s Man in The Mirror.

“Yeah, okay, so—” Noticing the appalled look on your face, he hurriedly tries to reason out. “I’ve had this song stuck in my head all day long—I just listened to it a minute ago while making your order—and the lyrics are just so inspirational so I decided to write that down. I hope that’s not too weird.” Then he laughs a little, a tad more genuinely this time. “But I heard you singing that song just now. What are the chances, right?”

You swallow hard. He’s been thinking about that song too? Listened to it a minute ago? What are the chances of this is happening? Is he the one whose voices I’ve been hearing in my head—

The male barista abruptly takes a step back, his tray nearly slipping out of his hold. He has a hand pressed against his ear, eyes blinking several times in disbelief. “Holy shit.”

“Excuse me?”

“You—” He splutters, Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “I can’t believe it’s real.”

“What?” The way he seems like he’s looking at a ghost sends goosebumps all over your skin. “What is it?”

“Think about something.” 

“Umm—” What is he talking about?

This time he gapes, his jaw dropping low. “Holy shit, I can really hear you. Think about something else—think about me.”

“Look, I don’t know you and you’re being weird.” The sudden change of conversation baffles you but when his words sink in, you can’t stop yourself from thinking about him as he orders. He’s cute, his entire features are cute—you’ve noticed that from the first second you laid your eyes on him, but what catches your eyes the most is his lips—the way they’re shaped so beautifully, like a cupid’s bow—

“You’re thinking about my lips? Seriously?” He asks, but might as well splash cold water to your face. “If you said something about my eyes, sure, I mean, they are attractive. One might even say that God Himself took the stars from the sky and put them in my eyes—but my lips? Huh, that’s new.”

You loudly gasp when you’re finally aware of the situation, hands flying to your face to cover your gaping mouth. “You can hear my thoughts!”

“And you can hear mine too!” He points out, and as startled as you are from the previous realization, you instantly frown upon his words. 

“I don’t think so,” you reply. “I can only hear—”

“Donghyuck-ah!” Another barista comes to interrupt from the other side of the room. “We didn’t pay you to flirt, come back here!”

“I wasn’t flirting!” He shouts back, tips of his ears reddening. When he turns to you again, he has a prominent scowl on his face which makes you squirm on your feet. “We need to talk about this. My break is in an hour, do you think you can wait?”

It sounds more like an order than a request. “B-but I have a class in an hour.”

“Skip it.”

It takes all the strength in your body to be brave enough to retort back with, “Why don’t you skip your work?”

“I’m already half-done with my work, I can’t bail out now.” He rolls his eyes. Suddenly, his courteousness just vanishes without a trace. “Look, I’ve been hearing your thoughts for months now and I have a lot to complain to you about.”

You grimace. “It’s not like I can control my thoughts—”

“I know, I’m not blaming you.” He picks up the tray, his gaze softening but only slightly. “I just want to complain. You’ve been driving me crazy these past few months.”

You glance away, pouting. Wow, he surely knows how to befriend a stranger.

“I can hear you, you know.” He sighs as if talking to you is exhausting, when it should be the other way around. “Look, I’m sure you’ve been going through the same thing. Don’t you want this to stop?”

You’re not wasting any second. “Yes, please.”

“Then wait for me. We’ll talk this through.” He pivots on his heels, his tray glued to his side. When you can finally breathe properly, exhausted from the social interaction as you sink back to your seat, the barista—Donghyuck—adds, “Oh, as you wait. Can you please stop thinking about my lips? Or just how cute I am in general? It’s sweet but I gotta concentrate so I won’t write another Michael on my next order.”

You slam your forehead down the table, face aflame. “I-I’ll try.”

“Thanks.”

***

“You just can’t stop thinking about my lips, can you?” Is the first thing Donghyuck states out as soon as he’s approached your table. He runs a hand through his brown hair, which looks out-worldly fluffy that you begin to wonder what kind of hair product he’s been using. “Or my hair.”

Mortified, you mumble out, “I’m sorry,” with half of your face covered by your hands. The more I try not to think about his lips, the more I do—shit, is he hearing this too—

“Yes,” Donghyuck says, but this time with an amused smile. “Man, I didn’t know my lips were that appealing to ladies. You’re gonna make me blush.”

Well, he’s making you blush for sure. “Would it be too much to ask for you to stop listening to my thoughts?”

“Believe me, woman, I’ve tried.” He groans, taking his apron off before he sits in front of you. He loosens up his collar, unbuttoning two buttons of his white shirt—which is two more than necessary to your liking—and you have to gaze away before another thought forms inside your head about a certain part of his body. 

“Sorry if I came on too strong before. I’m Lee Donghyuck,” he introduces formally, offering you his hand. You reply with your name but you’re reluctant to shake his hand since you’re sure you’re breaking into a cold sweat, and an overly sweaty palm doesn’t really scream attractive—

“It’s literally just a handshake,” he says, stifling down a laugh. “I’m not gonna start judging you about it. You’re cute, sweaty palms or not.”

You nearly choke. “If I can’t ask you to stop listening to my thoughts, can you please be quiet about them?”

“That’s also impossible since talking is an integral part of my charm.” He leans back to his chair. “I’m pretty good with my mouth.”

That was… a poor choice of words, you think, as you stare at his lips and can’t help but wonder what can that mouth do other than talking. You take a bite of the bagel you just ordered, desperately trying to avert your attention.

“It wasn’t a poor choice of words.” He winks. “I did mean that in every way possible.”

This time, you really are choking.

“Okay, so what’s happening to us?” Donghyuck questions, after you manage to shed a tear or two during your attempt in relieving your throat. “Why have I been hearing your thoughts? I don’t even know you.”

“Same here.” You’re still going through a hard time keeping eye contact with him, but with more seconds passing by—and him pronouncing every bit of your thoughts out in the open—the knots inside your chest begin to loosen. “Ever since I turned twenty, I’ve been hearing these songs playing in my head that I’d never even heard of.”

“Never heard of?” Donghyuck snorts. “What, you never listen to Billboard’s top forty?”

You weakly shrug. “I prefer indie music better. Or instrumentals.”

“I would say that you have a soul of an old lady but the way you’ve been thinking about my lips reminds me of my sister who’s going through puberty.”

“Okay, this isn’t fair.” You shake your head, ashamed and tired of being humiliated over something you can’t fix. “Why can you hear my thoughts but I can’t hear yours?”

“Believe me, you’re much better off this way.” His face contorts in pain which makes you feel somewhat sorry if he’s not constantly being an ass about it. Hearing your insult, he notes, “Also, I’d prefer to be called with terms of endearment in the future, if that’s okay with you. Something like Babe or Darling.” The way he raises his eyebrow is just strictly illegal. “And in return, I’ll call you Sweetheart.” But before you can say anything—or run toward a running bus to put an end to this endless humiliation—he questions, “Wait, when you hear the songs I’ve been thinking in my head, does it sound like the original version of the song, or like me singing it?”

Finally, a proper conversation. “If you’re listening to the actual music, I can hear the original song as if I’m hearing it through my headphones. But when you’re just thinking about it, well, I‘ve never heard you sing, but,” you decide to tease him back—which startles you from how blatant you’re being. “From how amateur and pitchy this voice sounded in my head, I think I’ve been hearing yours.”

“Cute.” He scrunches up his nose. “Okay, let’s try again. Can you hear what song running through my head now?”

You stiffen, sitting in silence. After a few seconds pass by with only you exchanging stern stares at each other, your eyes gleam with a spark of hope. “Wait, I can’t hear you. Does this mean it stops? Because we’ve met in person?”

“Sadly no, because I was just thinking about how silly you looked when you choked over your food earlier.” He chuckles to himself and sends you another wink when you degrade him in your head. “Okay, let’s try again.”

“For real this time?”

“For real this time, Sweetheart.” He closes his eyes, holding back a smile when he catches how you flinch a little at his pet name for you. This time, you really do hear him humming inside your mind. “Don’t tell me by words,” he immediately adds, “Just think about them.”

Heaving a sigh, you close your eyes too. I’ve heard this song somewhere.

“If you’ve never heard about this song, I will literally cry and apologize to the world on your behalf.”

Be quiet, please, I’m trying to concentrate.

“Worried that you’d be thinking about my lips again?”

You almost fall from your seat. Almost. Okay, you’re singing to… You knit your eyebrows together as you provide your best effort to remember the tunes. You’re singing to Super Mario Bros theme song?

“Correct.” He taps his fingers to the table, simpering. “This is actually pretty cool. We can be, like, partners in crime or something.”

You shudder. “Please don’t tell me you’re an actual criminal.”

“If looking this handsome is a crime then I am, yes. Guilty as charged.” He makes a kissy face when you think about throwing the rest of your bagel to his head. “You look like someone who writes fan-fiction about their idols having sappy first kisses in your spare time but you’re actually pretty wild in your head, aren’t you?” He loves seeing your reactions, you know that, so you give your all in trying to act nonchalant. “Now, let’s try again. Did you bring your headphones with you?”

You check your coat’s pocket. “I got my AirPods.”

“Perfect. Put them on and play something from your phone.” As someone who’s pretty carefree, he can get serious at times. “Play as loud as you can until you feel like you’re going deaf.”

“I’ve tried that many times.” You nearly wail at the memory. “But it’s hard to drown your voice since it comes from inside my head.”

“Yeah, I know that. I’ve been hearing your thoughts too, remember? Don’t you think I would at least try something like that?” You narrow your eyes menacingly at him but he simply waves you off. “Anyway, that’s not what I’m trying to do. Put them on and you’ll see.”

He’s ordering you around. He just met you and he’s ordering you around. Socializing with people in general already zaps your energy pretty quickly, so socializing with a brat—

“I’ll grow on you, don’t worry.” He smirks and you take a mental note to really learn how to control your thoughts this time.

You follow his lead, as requested, connecting your AirPods to your phone and play something relaxing—because God knows how desperately you need it—as loudly as you can bear. Okay, go try… whatever it is that you want to try.

He smiles and shifts slightly on his seat, facing the window. His eyes glimmer under the light when he parts his lips, mouthing some words—no, singing something that you can’t hear.

Wait. I can’t hear?

Donghyuck glances at you, a grin breaking further on his lips upon hearing your thought. He gestures to you to take your AirPods away and you nod. Vacation Manor’s You promptly fades as his voice enters, and it’s weird because you’ve heard him sing in your head so many times yet it doesn’t do justice to how beautiful he sounds in real life.

It’s almost angelic, the sound he makes, which is kind of ironic for a little devil that he is. His honeyed voice is soothing, almost like the patter of rain on your window at dawn, lulling you back to sleep. You’re no expert in music but to you, he sounds impeccable that you run out of words to describe how pleasant his voice is to your ears. It’s so distinct, soulful—

Donghyuck giggles. “Thanks.”

—and annoying. “Okay, so what happened?” You try to divert the topic. “I can’t hear you when you’re singing out loud, but I can hear it when you’re thinking about a song?”

“I guess so.” He furrows his eyebrows, deep within his thoughts. “I figured it out when I couldn’t hear your thoughts whenever you spoke out loud. I think we can work from this?”

“So instead of thinking about what I have to say, I should focus more on saying what I want to say?” You shake in horror. “I don’t think I can do that.”

“What, you don’t like talking?”

“I’m…” You swallow your breath. “I’m not really good at that.”

“You’re talking to me just fine now, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, because you make it so easy.”

“Aaw,” he purrs, a lopsided smile painting his face. “Thanks, Sweetheart.”

“No.” You hold up a hand. “I mean, since you can hear my thoughts, I have no other choice but to speak. Also, you seem like you’re the type who just says whatever that comes to mind without worrying too much about my feelings—”

“Hey, now you’re just making me sound rude—”

“You are rude,” You emphasize. “But it works well with me because then I don’t have to hold myself back and pretend to be somebody else.”

“Why do you have to pretend?” He frowns. “Because you’re afraid people are gonna hate you? Judge you on your words?”

“It’s…” You look away, nibbling on your bottom lip. “I just… I’m trying to be a good person so people will like me—”

“I like you,” he says casually as if he was talking about having a cute Pomeranian as a pet, and there you are, almost fainting in your seat. “I mean, in the last forty minutes I’ve known you, I think you’re great the way you are. You don’t have to be good, you just have to be you.” He shifts closer, crossing his arms on the table, and lays his chin on them, gazing up at you with a soft smile that doesn’t match well with his previous attitude. “Don’t you think it’s great if people accept you the way you are?”

You hurriedly take a sip of your coffee, pretending to swallow even if it’s already empty. “You’re… not so bad yourself.”

“What was that?”

“Okay, well I think I should go.” There’s no way you’re gonna repeat that. Donghyuck titters, taking a hold of your wrist when you’re about to stand up from your seat.

“We still have loads to talk about.” You observe the way his fingers linger around your arm, his sun-kissed skin feels silky smooth against your own. “Why don’t we have lunch together? My treat?”

“D-don’t you have work to do?”

“I’ll make an excuse.” 

A barista with the word Jeno written on his name tag walks by and slaps Donghyuck on the back of his head as if it’s something he’s done on a daily basis—probably is. “You’re not going anywhere, asswipe, get back to work.”

When the brunette boy turns to you, he winces. “Or maybe you can give me your number so we can meet up later?”

***

A/N: I’m both nervous and excited for this as this is my first collaboration. Thank you so much, Denise, for having me on this wonderful collab!

[nugnthopkns]

i’ll tell you i was wrong if you dance with me

word count: 3.3k

warnings: explicit fem!reader, slightly unhealthy relationship moment (lack of communication), mention of infidelity, cursing, alcohol consumption, a fair bit of angst

recommended listening: fred astaire | adam brock

a/n: communicate with your partners!!! also yeah this is the song from lady bird. it’s a banger

This seriously isn’t happening. 

You never fight with Travis. Communication comes easy between the two of you, but you also make it a priority to talk about your feelings. It keeps things from boiling over; both of you are known to unleash wicked tempers on occasion and have found being direct stops issues from occuring. Arguments still occasionally happen, but they’re typically over trivial things like what movie to watch or where you’re spending the holidays. Travis apparently forgot about the fact you talk to each other about things. 

He’d been upset when he came home from practice, but you were pretty sure he was fine after he woke up from his pre-game nap. Knowing he’s a superstitious person and has a lot of pressure on him to put up points, you had made the choice not to ask about what was bothering him. Throwing off his routine could have detrimental consequences. Tonight's game is tighter than it should have been, but the Flyers come out on top. Travis spends a bit more time in the penalty box than you would have liked, but everyone was getting chippy by the start of the third period. Claude tries to talk to him on the bench but he gets shut down. Whatever Travis was upset about before is still clearly bothering him, and it’s affecting his game. 

You’re following Travis home from the game, and can tell he’s uptight from the way he’s gripping the steering wheel. As you wind through downtown Philadelphia you try and prepare yourself for any bomb that could drop. Chances are that when you reach your apartment things will explode. Maybe it’s nothing; Travis is fine and just wants to be a responsible driver for once. You pull into the free spot beside his car and see him walking towards the elevator, suit jacket balled up and tucked under his arm. This won’t be good. Trying to buy yourself some time, you take the stairs. Seven flights later you arrive outside your door; he left it unlocked, which gives you a sliver of hope things will be fine. 

“Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?” you call into the darkness of the apartment. Your sneakers are left at the door and to retreat towards the bedroom, looking for a sign of life. You find one in the bathroom: the light is on. A gentle push on the door reveals your boyfriend is in the shower and ignoring you. 

“Trav?”

“Yeah,” he huffs, words muffled by him tossing his head back to rinse the shampoo of his hair. Apparently the shower isn’t as relaxing as he had hoped. 

You don’t bother to tread lightly, upset that he’s acting like a child. “You’re being an asshole. I get that you had a bad day, but you can’t take it out on me. I just want to help.”

Travis turns the water off suddenly. “Can’t help if you’re the problem,” he scoffs. 

His statement doesn’t make sense. You’ve done nothing out of the ordinary the past couple of days; nothing that would warrant the behaviour you’re receiving. “What do you mean?”

Shouldering passed you to exit the room, Travis doesn’t bother to respond. You’re beyond frustrated: partners in healthy relationships communicate, not show emotions like grade schoolers. “You’re not giving me the fucking silent treatment Travis. You gotta talk to me.” The bedroom is dark when you enter and you flick the overhead light on to see better.

“You really don’t know?”

“Of course I don’t know,” you seethe. “If I did know we wouldn’t be in this predicament because we’d be solving the issue.”

The glare you receive is sharp enough to cut stone. He pulls on a t-shirt, anger clear in the aggression he does it with. “Why did I have to find out from Carter that you’ve been getting coffee with your TA?”

You’re shocked. In no way is it what he thinks it is. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” you sigh, upset that Travis would take someone else’s words at face value and not talk to you about it. 

“I’m dead fucking serious Y/N. You preach communication, but it looks as though you’re the one who hasn’t been doing enough talking.”

The room around you starts to spin. You can’t comprehend what he’s insinuating. “Wait, you think I’m cheating on you?” you ask. There has been a gross miscommunication error somewhere; never in a million years would you think of having an affair.

“I didn’t say that.”

“Well what the fuck did you say?”

Travis tugs at the roots of his hair in frustration. He doesn’t answer immediately, pacing the length of the bed a few times. “I just–” he struggles to articulate his words. “I just said that you’re being a bit hypocritical, don’t you think? You’re standing here yelling at me because I didn’t voice my concerns, but you haven’t been talking to me about what’s going on in your life.” Travis’ tone is sharp, and it stings. 

It’s your turn to show how upset you are. Your hands curl into fists at your side, and you squeeze your nails into your palms before releasing them. “I do tell you what goes on in my life Travis,” your breathing ragged as you try to not lose your cool. “I ran into my TA at the coffee shop yesterday, and he paid for my drink because my card wouldn’t work. Didn’t think it was breaking news, sorry I don’t send you every single fucking life update that happens. What’s gotten into you?”

“You could have been cheating!” 

“But I wasn’t!” you scream, no longing caring about keeping up appearances. You can’t believe Travis would think that. It hurts. “And I never would! You know this”

He turns his back to you, like it pains him to look at you, but you don’t understand why. You're not the one suggesting infidelity. “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got to say?” he seethes. 

“That’s all there is to say! There’s nothing to explain, no secret to uncover. I’m not in the wrong here.”

“And you think I am?”

You look at Travis like he has three heads. “Are you serious? You’re the one who’s so fucking upset over a situation that could have happened to literally anyone.” Your tone suggests that you’re exhausted with the conversation, and Travis gets the hint. 

He slinks towards the door, still visibly angry. “I’ll take the couch tonight,” he grits out before tightly gripping the doorknob and shutting the door with more force than needed. 

The bed doesn’t look appealing, full of much happier memories, but fighting with Travis has knocked any and all energy out of you. You gingerly pull back the covers and slip underneath. Tears trickle down your cheek as you toss and turn, trying to fall into some sort of slumber. However, your mind has other ideas, replaying the blowout. You can’t begin to understand why Travis is so bothered by the instance, and more importantly why it caused him to disregard a fundamental part of your relationship. There’s little movement from beyond the door, but you can hear the faint noise of a Johnny Cash record playing from the speakers in the living room. After hours of staring at the ceiling your eyes close and a fitful sleep follows. 

You might have gotten nine hours of sleep, but you wake up feeling exhausted. Fighting with anyone drains you, but fighting with Travis is especially terrible because it rarely happens. There doesn’t seem to be any movement from the other side of the door; maybe he’s still asleep. You refrain from heading into the kitchen, unsure of what will happen if you see him. After nearly twenty minutes you can’t wait any longer to start your day and pad into the main living space. It’s empty: no sign that Travis has been there for many hours. Guess you don’t have to immediately deal with the fallout of last night. 

A post-it note is tacked onto the fridge handle and your heart skips a beat. In Travis’ chicken scratch it reads I’ll see you at the gala tonight. We’ve got media all day and I won’t be back in time for us to go together. There’s no mention of the fight, and you can’t judge from a two sentence note whether or not he’s still pissed off. 

“Fuck,” you groan. “The gala.” Tonight’s the annual Flyers Give Back gala, and you’re expected to be in attendance. It’s not even a charity event; the organization is offering a chance for business men to chat up the players in hopes they continue to donate. You find things like these unbearable and tedious, but Travis does his best to make them enjoyable. Not knowing what page you’re on with him is going to be terrible. There’s a pretty good chance he’ll ignore you if he’s still upset. 

As if someone is reading your mind, the better halves group chat starts to explode. Everyone is chattering excitedly about tonight, and under normal circumstances you’d be excited to see them in such a relaxed setting. It’s been a while you’ve all hung out, but you can’t find yourself to contribute to the conversation. You mute the notifications and do your best to move on with your day. The rest of the morning is spent working on your thesis; mind numbing work that almost makes you forget about everything that happened in the past twenty-four hours. Once you’ve hit an acceptable word count for the day you shutdown your computer and make lunch. 

The grilled cheese sandwich you eat while watching a John Mulaney comedy special fulfills your appetite but doesn’t curb your dread. You decide to call your sister, hoping she can be a welcome distraction. Dialling her number you sink further into the couch cushions, wrapping yourself tightly with a blanket so that only your head is poking out. “What’s up?” she asks, and you hear her shuffle in the background, presumably to move somewhere more private. It isn’t normal for you to call her unannounced. 

You hold it together for approximately two seconds. The tears start and they don’t stop. Every emotion you’ve felt since getting home last night comes to the surface, and before you know it you’re sobbing into the receiver. 

“Woah, slow down,” she says. “Y/N, take some deep breaths.” When your breathing returns to a somewhat regular level she continues speaking. “What happened?”

It takes you nearly twenty minutes to tell the whole story because you’re so distraught. No detail is spared, and you go back much farther than is probably needed. You recount what happened after yesterday’s practice, pretty much the entire game, and the fight that followed. “I just don’t know what brought this on,” you sniffle. “We don’t fight, we talk about things. I’m not sure if I’m more upset at what he insinuated or at the fact he broke a cardinal rule.”

Your sister sighs, and you hear her breath fan in slight annoyance. You’re worked up about something kinda stupid, you know, but you can’t let it slide. “It’s probably a bit of both. So, what are you going to do?”

“What can I do? I know that we need to talk about what happened, but a public event is not the best place to do that. I also can’t not show up or ask Trav to ditch in order to figure this out. We have to be there.”

“Sounds like you’ve got it figured out then.”

You really don’t. “What happens if he ignores me the entire night?”

She laughs and tells you to not to anything stupid, and to take your mind off of things tells you a story about your nephew eating dirt. It does the trick; you’re momentarily distracted and forget about Travis. You talk for a while longer before she has to go. “Miles is crying, will you be okay if I let you go?”

It’s your turn to laugh. “I’ll be fine,” you insist. A glance at the clock tells you it’s time to start getting ready. “I’ve gotta shower and start the process. Beauty is time consuming you know.”

Against your better judgement you open your text messages to see if there’s anything from Travis. His text thread is the same as it was yesterday and you’re disappointed. You had hoped that maybe he’d get bored between interviews and check in. With no new notifications you exit out of the application and pull up a playlist you hope will brighten your mood. The steam from the shower relaxes your tense muscles and warms you up. It’s comforting in the way a cocoon is; you practically have to drag yourself out of the bathtub. 

Your bedroom is cold and doesn’t offer the same respite as the bathroom. The music continues to float in from the hallway, and you allow yourself to get lost in it. It’s been a while since you danced around your room; it worked to cure sadness when you were a teenager. Hopefully the magic hasn’t worn off. You flail your arms, not caring how silly you look since no one is here to see you anyways, and scream along at the top of your lungs. After a few songs you feel better and return to the task at hand. The dress code is labelled as ‘black tie’ on the invitation, but that isn’t what you’re worried about. You own a million dresses for situations like this after being with Travis for so long. You don’t know what he packed to wear, and there’s a decent chance you’ll be pushed together for photos. Clashing colours will look terrible.

A quick glance through his side of the closest leaves you no clues, so you decide to be as literal as possible. Black is a flattering colour and works well with every colour combination. There’s a jumpsuit hanging in the back that catches your eye and you think it’s the perfect choice. After pulling it on you move back into the bathroom to do your hair and makeup. Everything is natural and relaxed; once again for the sake of potential photos. The clock strikes on the hour and you realize it’s time to leave. A pair of heels are slipped on and you order an Uber before locking the apartment and heading to the lobby. You had thought about driving yourself, but on the occasion that things don’t end well with Travis you’ll probably have more than a couple of drinks. 

The entire way to the venue your leg bounces up and down. It’s been years since you’ve been this nervous about being around the team. You’ve been with Travis for a few seasons now, and the organization has become a second family to you. No one is going to know about the fight and you worry they’re going to talk about your solo arrival. The outside of the convention centre is sharply decorated, and your driver lets out a low whistle at the extravagance of it all. “Thank you so much,” you gush, and exit the car. Thankfully no photographers are set up outside, and you dart inside without being seen. 

Once in the main event space, you scan for the bar. There’s no sign of Travis, which should make you more relaxed but doesn’t. What if there was an accident on the way to the venue? You have no idea where he was all or who he came with. Overthinking distracts you from your original goal, leaving you standing aimlessly in the middle of the room. 

“You look like you might need one of these,” Ryanne chuckles, handing you a champagne flute. You gladly accept and down it in two gulps. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah,” you sigh, eyes scanning to see if your boyfriend has made an appearance. 

She sees right through your facade of calm and wraps you in a tight hug. “What’s going on?”

For a second time today you explain what happened last night. There’s no judgement from Ryanne as there might have been from your sister because she understands. Dating a professional athlete isn’t easy; things like this happen much more frequently than you’d expect. Perhaps it’s all the time spent apart that makes the occasional lapse in communication so apparent. She listens quietly, full attention on you. To your credit you don’t cry this time, slightly more numb to the situation to due more time passing. It still hurts a tremendous amount. 

“He’ll come around,” Ryanne insists. “TK is a little moronic sometimes, but he’d never jeopardize his relationship with you. You’re quite literally the most important thing in his life.”

 “I know. I’m just upset because the whole thing could have been avoided.”

She offers you a sympathetic smile. “I know.” Ryanne links her arm through yours. “Let’s go find something to snack on.”

You spend most of the night with Ryanne, and occasionally Claude when he can get away from the hot-shot businessmen. Travis eventually came in, flanked by Nolan, but was immediately pulled into the politics of the night. The two of you occasionally sneak glances at each other and you tell he’s uncomfortable. You can only hope it isn’t because of your presence. It’s nearing eleven; the party has become a much more relaxed affair, and the DJ is playing sappy love songs in an attempt to get the media team some good photo ops. An intern asks the Giroux’s if they’ll dance for an instagram story and they both look hesitant. “Go on guys, I’ll be fine,” you reassure. It’s the subtle push they need to enjoy a quiet moment together. 

As if he can sense you’re lonely and feel out of place, Travis approaches you. It’s tentative, like he’s petrified you’ll turn him away, but he comes regardless. Drinks are in each of his hands and he extends one to you. When you don’t take it he sets it on the table behind you. “Hi,” he says sheepishly, fiddling with something in his pocket. 

“Hi Travis.” You’re determined not to let his presence crack your resolve; last night illuminated a big issue and it needed to be dealt with. It’s proving to be difficult because he bumps a shoulder against yours and all you can think of is kissing him senseless. 

The song changes to a Bruce Springsteen ballad, and you recognize it instantly. It played at the coffee shop on your first date with Travis all those years ago. One look at him tells you this isn’t an accident, that he had requested it specifically for the two of you. “Dance with me?”

You sigh deeply, looking him in the eyes. “Trav, this isn’t going to magically fix things.”

“I know, baby, I know,” he pleads. “I fucked up so bad last night because I was being an idiot. I wrote down everything I would do differently if I had a time machine, look.” A hand reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a piece of paper filled with his nearly illegible print. “Just one dance, and then we can go home and talk about it like I should have suggested in the first place. Let me know we’re still okay.”

If you hadn’t been in public you’re sure Travis would have been in tears. It’s not necessarily a good look to cry in front of hundreds of sponsors. He has a reputation as the goofy boy who takes no shit to uphold. “You have a lot of talking ahead of you,” you say, and let him drag you onto the dance floor. Swaying in his arms you realize things are going to be just fine. Travis loves you and you love him; there’s nothing the two of you can’t work through. 

☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

taglist: @jamiedrysdales​ @kiedhara​ @tortito​ if you want to be added shoot me an ask :)

[doyumacy]

𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐙𝐘 — 3

gif not mine

pairing: taeyong x doyoung x reader

warnings: 「dotae x reader, mentions of donghyuck and yuta, smut (unprotected sex, fingering, oral sex m. receiving) polyamorous relationship, swearing, angst, a slight of possessives  」

word count: 「 3,4K 」

ꜰᴏᴜʀ

“Someone sent you flowers,” Your assistant Donghyuck enters your office with a white rose flower bouquet in his hands.

You stop what you are doing and smile looking at them. Taeyong and his gifts. He even changed the flowers since he never sent white roses. Donghyuck places the bouquet on your desk and hands you the note card. You grab it.

𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔. 

𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 

𝑫.

You smile and bite your lip.

Doyoung.

You shake your head when you realise this might be wrong. Why would he send you flowers? He hates flowers and even more, sending them. You know things are getting out of control and as much as you don’t want things to change, you don’t mind the idea of just you and Doyoung.

But the image of Taeyong comes to your mind. What would he say if he knew you two were going back his back? If something Taeyong can’t stand is betrayal and much less of the people he loves.

You come back to reality when you hear Donghyuck sigh. “I wish I could find love.”

You huff. “Love ain’t everything in this world.”

“Easy for you to say it when you have two men just for you,” Donghyuck rolls his eyes.

“Okay, fair, but I mean, you already have love.”

“The love I receive from you and my family can give me orgasms,” Donghyuck cocked his eyebrows.

You laugh. “Try using Tinder?”

“I am desperate but not that desperate,” he places a hand on his chest, offended.

“Or you can wait for the party this weekend to mingle,” you beam. “But as your boss I’m telling you that's not the most professional thing to do.”

“We all know those parties are not for business or looking good; is to find a good ass to bang,” he shrugs.

“I’m gonna pretend to didn’t say that or I will uninvite you,” you warn.

“Is Johnny still married?” He asks.

“Pretty much so,” you smile, typing on your laptop keyboard.

He sighs, defeated. “I guess I can’t stop trying.”

“Aren’t you gonna text Taeyong to say ‘thank you’ for the flowers?”

You nod. “I’m just gonna finish something and I’ll call him.”

(...)

When you’re back home, you notice a sound in the kitchen and go there just to find Taeyong putting away the groceries. He has taken his suit jacket off and is hanging on the back of one of the kitchen benches. He turns and sees you. He smiles at you. “Hey you. When did you get here? I didn’t hear you.”

“I just got here,” you say and get closer to him, placing the bouquet on the kitchen counter.

“Who sent those?” He points at the bouquet.

You press your lips together. “It was a gift from the Chinese editor. He’s excited to come.”

Taeyong nods and closes the fridge door. He rolls up his shirt sleeves and leans against the counter, resting his hands on it. He tilts his head, looking at you. “Why do you lie to me?”

You blink. “W-what do you mean?”

He sighs and walks to you a few steps. “I know Doyoung fucked you days ago.”

You gulp and open your mouth, but nothing comes out of it. “H-how did you know?”

“I heard you two,” he shrugs and shakes his head. “I don’t mind at all. Doyoung and I have fucked plenty of times when you’re not around.”

You tilt your head in surprise. “What?”

“It doesn't feel good, does it?” Taeyong cocks an eyebrow.

You shake your head. He finally steps in front of you and grabs your chin with his thumb. “What really bothers me is that you lied to me.”

You look down your feet and gulp. “I’m sorry.”

Taeyong squeezes your chin a bit so you look at him. When your eyes meet his, one of the corners of his lips lifts. “Show me how sorry you are.”

Slowly, Taeyong leans into the space between you and him, lips puckering slightly and pressing themselves to yours. Mouths lulling against each other, the pliant skin of his lips aching upon you, making you want more, making you want to kiss every part of him.

Your chest, and cheeks, and heart burn, fingers curling around his jaw and pulling him into you. Mouths aching for more, noses nudging against cheeks, hands desperately reaching to grab for flesh. Taeyong moves backwards slightly. He stares at you before pushing you down slowly to the bed. He places himself on top of you, kissing you again. His body arching into you, chest plush against your breasts, his groin prodding you, the heat of his member obvious even through his pants. Your mouth parts with a groan, with Taeyong reaching up, clasping a hand around your throat. He latches down gently, fingers strong, curling the way they would when he places them inside you. Another moan rumbles out your mouth. Mark pulled back. You bite your lip.

He removes his hand from your throat, leaving you all too untouched and to make it worse, he takes a hold of your wrists and pin them atop your head. Leaving you helpless and unable to pull him closer. You watch from below as a grin parts from Taeyong's lips, still glowing with the remnants of your kiss.

"Taeyong, please."

"Please?" He partially asks, partially mocked.

"Please fuck me."

"Hey, hey,’ he releases your wrists. "Patience, baby. And you still have to show me how sorry you are."

Taeyong leans downward, pressing a single kiss upon your lips. The taste of him lingering against you but disappearing all too quickly, though the feeling reappeared upon your neck. Where Taeyong leaves small, chaste kisses, trailing lower as though he is mapping out every detail of your skin. The desire to reach up and grasp his shoulders burn in your stomach, and yet, the compulsion to follow his orders is stronger. Taeyong is rarely a dom, and today he is behaving like, and you don't mind at all.

You keep your hands upon the bed as Taeyong moves your shirt upward, rolling it as he did, supple skin of his fingers brushing against your torso. Small whimpers leave your mouth, eyes tightly shut, embarrassed at how easily his touches affected you.

But his touches stop when he stands up in front of you. You get on your knees still on the bed and help him to remove what is left of his suit, letting it drop on the floor. "So..." you start,  fingers undoing the button of his dress shirt. "Will this be enough to show you how sorry I am?" you ask and then suck his chest, making him groan sexily. You lick the spot and give it a kiss before admiring the red spot you created in contrast to his white skin.

"You tell me," Taeyong grabs your hair and pulls it a bit. "Oh God, (Y/N)," Taeyong calls when you bend down to give his stomach marks as well, licking the sensitive skin.

You remove his pants, putting down his boxers that it's a pool under him now. You fist his growing member. Taeyong closes his eyes shut when you kiss the side of his cock, biting his lip to prevent a series of groans to emerge.

You give the tip a lick, kissing it as it oozes precum. "Fuck." he hisses, looking down on you Damn, you look so hot kneeling in front of him like that. Your hand doesn't leave his cock the whole time then smiles before doing the deed.

Your mouth is really hot or maybe because his cock was really sensitive now but it feels so good that groans escape his lips. You suck his cock, playing with it inside her mouth and even fondling his balls. His hands reach for your hair again,  tugging it in a ponytail as he bobbs your head up and down on his cock. He groans and throws his head back.

"You're so fucking good, baby." he compliments as the holds on your hair got tighter. You swallow his cock, deepthroating him that makes him groan. "Oh God, (Y/N)." And that is it, his control going down the drain. He thrusts into your mouth with so much power. He keeps on groaning as he fuck your mouth and feel himself cumming in no time. His cum fills your throat and some dropped on your mouth, even licking the excess from his cock, swallowing it.

Taeyong gives you an adoring smile as he wipes some excess from your lips and you suck his finger that makes him look at you lustfully. "Such a good girl."

"My turn," he slightly pushes you into the bed again and with no effort, your pants are on the floor.

He begins to gently brush the pad of his middle finger against your folds, the pressure already making you squirm. Your panties are stuck to your skin, unable to realise how wet you are from just a kiss and sucking Taeyong off, but here's proof as the chiffon moulds to your sex, Taeyong’s finger delicately causing a delicious friction that wound your body up even more. You need something else. You need his skin on yours.

You shift uncomfortably when he slides against your clit and he freezes on the spot, basking in your reaction as a small whine falls from your lips. His fingers pulling at your panties as he places his hand inside, making room in the tight space.

He groans when he feels the softness of your flesh, drenched in your arousal and he presses his forehead against yours. The tight material strains against his hand and your thighs making you look down and you moan at the sight, the veins in his hand protruding against the skin as two of his fingers rub at your clit. Your head falls back against the bed while you concentrate on taking deep breaths to ease you away from your impending combustion it seemed.

You shift again when you feel his finger dip to your entrance, collecting your arousal and swirling it around. A small whine falls from your throat as he looks up at you, eyes dancing with mirth. Fuck, he is loving this.

“What, do you want more?” He asks, playing innocent, his breaths coming out in heavy bursts, telling you he is just as affected as you.

You nod and you feel him push one of his long fingers inside of you. Your walls spasm around the digit uncontrollably. The pleasure is imminent as he begins to curl his digit slowly against your sensitive walls and you moan again. Taeyong joins you, moaning loudly as he captures your mouth in another messy kiss, your tongues tangling together, his free hand gripping your hip as you thread your fingers entirely into his hair, anchoring him to you.

After a couple more snaps of his wrist you feel him bring another finger to your entrance and you hold your breath as he pushes inside, the stretch wonderfully pleasurable as you cry against his lips, to which he swallows each beautiful noise.

“Ah, Taeyong,” you moan. “Right there, please don’t stop.” You beg as his fingers brush against your g-spot and he pulls away from you, looking down at your bodies as he continues to finger you, taking sharp intakes of breath as he concentrates on pleasuring you good.

“I love it when you say my name,” he utters.

And you are saying it, the syllables falling from your lips like a mantra and as you close your eyes you feel him kiss just under your ear, his laboured breathing sending shivers up your spine as he begins to suck on your earlobe, nibbling on the soft flesh teasingly.

“You sound so beautiful,” he comments, his voice hush, a low growl. “You look so beautiful."

He pins you down using his crotch, pushing his thigh into yours and your belly flips in fresh pleasure, feeling how hard he is again.

You open your eyes and look between your bodies, your eyes rolling into the back of your head at the sight. You could tell Taeyong knows you are close. “That’s it, babe,” he husks. “Let go for me, I know you want to. I can feel you clenching around my fingers.”

You shut your eyes again, tight as they can go, letting Taeyong’s voice echo in your brain. It is so hot to hear these words coming from him, his usual calm and polite demeanour lightyears away from this, and you moan quietly, in between sighs of his name as he helps you see stars.

“Cum on my hand, baby… C’mon,” he urgs, his voice sugary sweet in the shell of your ear and that is all you need to hear before your orgasm tore through your body.

You are aware you are maybe being a little too loud, but you don't care. The sensation is strong and you gasp for breath as the pleasure ebbes slowly out of your body, aware that Taeyong is watching your every expression as you come around.

He gives you a moment so you can come back from high and he plants kisses on your chest.

Taeyong gives his cock a few jerks as he watches you turn around and sit on your knees, with a slight tilt forward and the arch in your back to accentuate your ass.

His hands lightly smack your cheeks and slowly enters your dripping hole. His hands grip your hips as he slides deeper into you, both being moaning messes at the delicious feeling.

When his length is fully buried inside of your tight walls, he wraps an arm around your waist and a hand on your tit. “After all the times you’ve been fucked, your pussy is still as tight as ever.”

Taeyong slams hard into you, showing no mercy and causing you to jolt up. “But you take me so well, darling. I’ve never seen someone as pretty as you.”

His compliments cause your heart to soar, despite the soreness you’re beginning to feel in your pussy. He’s relentless, bottoming out until his tip is practically in your guts. “Oh fuck, yeah... just like that. Shit."

Your knees give out as you fall face forward into the mattress, hands in fists from the incredible pleasure of every hit. Your ass now in his full view and every tingle of magic lights up in his veins.

Your throat is raw from screaming and moaning, Taeyong holds your hips steady to thrust into a new angle. Automatically, your body twitches as his tip hits your special spot and he’s well aware that you’re close to releasing.

Taeyong lifts your limp body upright, against his torso and an arm secured around your middle as before. His hand snakes to your clit, rubbing feathering circles over the neglected bud.

Nonetheless, his single action paired with his tip grazing harshly against the particular spot causes your legs to tremble. “Do you want me to stop?” His threat rings in your ears when you still left him without an answer.

You’re so close, you’re starting to see white. "Fuck fuck fuck. I'm so c-"

“I’ve got you. Let go of yourself, baby.” Taeyong slows his hips when your walls squeeze around him sporadically.

He whispers, cumming inside of you. He pulls out and gently tucks you into the covers.Breathless, you stare at him. "Taeyong..."

"Yeah?" He lays next you.

"That was so good," you run a hand through your hair. "So good."

He smirks. "I know."

(...)

You eye the roses placed within the glass vase situated in the center of the table. The Elie Saab gown that hugs your body has everyone's eyes on you.  

This gala is for the Magazine's Anniversary, people from different parts of the world are there and none of them can't stop congratulating you for the great work you are doing.

Taeyong and Doyoung are wearing matching red suit bows and they seem very pleased to be talking with Kim Lee, a beautiful fashion blogger. She is gorgeous and her dress is sexily revealing. You understand why your two boyfriends are too focused on her. Or her tits.

You feel a bit jealous but since they are too busy with Kim, you can also make yourself busy. You grab two glasses of champagne and walk to Yuta, the editor of the magazine in Japan.

Yuta is beautiful, you cannot deny it. His facial features are soft. Sharp cheekbones and his body is thinned out, but you can notice his defined muscles underneath his suit.

You place a hand on his shoulder to call his attention and he turns to you. He smiles. "Hey you. You disappeared."

"Sorry about that. I had to greet more people," you apologise. "Want a glass of champagne?"

"Of course," he says and you hand him a glass. He grabs it and has a sip. "The party is amazing. I love it."

You smirk. "Thank you so much. I'm happy you made it."

One of the corners of his lips lifts. "I would have never missed one of your parties, miss (Y/L/N)."

He's flirting. You know it. And you don't mind since Doyoung and Taeyong's eyes are still focused on Kim Lee, all smiley.

You give a gentle smile. "Just (Y/N), please."

He nods. "Okay, (Y/N)." Yuta winks at you. "By the way, you look incredible tonight. Respectfully, of course."

You beam. "Thank you, but please stop complimenting me. I'm blushing."

He chuckles. "There's no way I can't stop complimenting such a beautiful woman like you."

Across the room, Doyoung hears your laughter and he looks for you; you are standing in front of Yuta, who is watching you like his last meal. While laughing, you put a hand on his shoulder which makes Doyoung enraged. Something's snappening inside of him.

Why the hell are you flirting with another man? Taeyong seems to realize where Doyoung's gaze is focused and frowns. He then laughs. "I can't believe she's giving us a taste of your own medicine."

Doyoung runs a hand through his hair. "I hope she still has energy when we get home."

Taeyong cocks an eyebrow. "What are you planning?"

"You'll see," Doyoung looks at him.

(...)

You leave Yuta alone again so you can go to the restroom. As you're fixing your makeup in front of the mirror, someone enters and locks the door. You turn just to see a not very pleased Doyoung walking to you. You smile. "You're in the wrong restroom, sweetie."

He tilts his head to the side, watching you. "You know why I'm here, love."

You shake your head, playing dumb. "Is something wrong?"

Doyoung sighs, irritated. He walks close to you a few steps and when he's close enough to you, he grabs your chin lifting it up, so your eyes are at his level. "You're fucking mine, (Y/N). Do you get it? I hated seeing you flirting with that asshole."

You bite your lip, looking at him playfully. "I was just doing what you were doing, sweetie."

He groans and clenches your jaw a little, not so much as to hurt it. You whimper. Then Doyoung groans, releasing you. "Just wait until we get home."

"Why don't you show me here?" You put your arms around his neck. "I'm horny. Yuta got me horny." You tease.

Doyoung growls and by the next second, you are pinned to a wall with Doyoung's hands on your waist, his grip is strong. "Don't fucking push me or I'll fuck your soul out right here."

"Then do it," you lick your lips.

Doyoung keeps a hand firmly pressed on your waist. He pulls you flat against him and stares down at you

Your hands run up his chest, feeling each curve through his tuxedo. You wrap your arms around his waist and pull him down to let your lips meet.

Doyoung moves his lips against yours, roughly. He roughly sucks your bottom lip between his before pulling away. "You're lucky you're wearing that long dress."

You pout. "I can bend over."

He giggles and places kisses on your neck. "Save that energy for tonight because you're not getting any sleep. I promise," he whispers to your ear and you gulp because Doyoung always keeps his promises.

[soulmate-game]

Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month 2020

Day 2: Father Daughter Bonding

Marinette had known her father was Bruce Wayne since she was thirteen, and the man showed up on her balcony one day in full bat-attire exactly one month after Hawkmoth appeared. He had apparently spent the whole month sorting through all of his magical contacts and trying to figure out who the heroes were so he could offer help—only to realize that the apparent leader of the duo of heroes was his biological daughter that he never met or told about his existence.

Okay, so the majority of the month was actually spent on him trying to figure out how to deal with the daughter he had never met becoming a superhero, even a leader of a team, without his assistance or influence whatsoever. But. Regardless. It ended up with him taking a Zeta tube at midnight in Gotham, and ending up on Marinette’s balcony as she got ready for school.

That was when Marinette learned about Bruce Wayne being both Batman and her biological father. After, of course, a brief heart attack at seeing a stranger outside her trap door.

But besides that short visit, Bruce had largely respected Marinette’s order request to stay out of Paris. He understood, after all he held a similar policy for metas in Gotham. Didn’t mean he was happy about leaving Marinette to deal with her supervillain without any reliable backup, but he stayed out of the city nonetheless.

But, there was Marinette’s lack of training to see to. She was not completely untrained, she knew at least two types of martial arts pretty well and her gymnastics ability was second only to Dick himself. But for a superhero? No, she needed a lot of teaching still. So Bruce had arranged for her to spend some holidays and a weekend or two that she could get away with over at Gotham (via Zeta tubes or other portal of course) for him and the other Bats to personally instruct her. Now, three annoying years later without any solid evidence to land Gabriel in the brig (though they all knew by then that he was definitely Hawkmoth), Marinette decided to switch things up.

She landed on a gargoyle’s head, on one of her rare patrols with Batman. She wasn’t Ladybug there, instead deciding to go by the simple name Rouge Wing, as both a play on her native language and the fact that red bats are considered lucky in China. She didn’t wear her Miraculous on these patrols, instead using the rare opportunity to develop her natural skills. And prove once and for all to her stupid brother that, yes, she could keep up with him. And, no, it didn’t matter if she didn’t grow up in a temple learning how to kill, she can still hang him upside down by his ankles if he upsets her one more time—.

Right. The gargoyle.

Batman landed on the rooftop behind her, raising an eyebrow under his cowl. “Don’t you usually make fun of me for perching like that?” He asked, crossing his arms. Robin landed on that same rooftop a moment later, choosing just to sit on the lip of the building and swing one leg lazily over the edge. He and Marinette tended to get along at least half the time nowadays, which Bruce considered An Accomplishment. Marinette only hummed, blue eyes hidden behind her red domino mask as she gazed over the dark city.

“I’ve just been thinking—“

“Nothing new there,” Robin interrupted. “Should I be on the lookout before you run into a wall again?”

Marinette tossed one of her batarangs at him, which he only had to duck to dodge. Sticking her tongue out like a Mature Teenager, she continued. “You guys do things really differently here in Gotham. Which makes sense, of course, because Gotham is a lot different than Paris. But…”

“But?” Batman prodded, deciding to sit on the rooftop and lean one arm on the lip of it so he could lean towards his blood children.

“But it’s been three years. You hardly ever get out of Gotham besides JL meetings or missions, Dad. And, well, if you promise to keep a handle on your emotions—“

Robin snorted, before realizing where this discussion was going. His eyes widened behind his mask in disbelief. “No way.”

Marinette glared at him half heartedly for a moment before completely turning around on her gargoyle and facing Batman. “We don’t see each other enough. And it’s not easy for me to come to Gotham all the time. So maybe, just this once, you can come to Paris and patrol with me? Next week, maybe?”

Bruce couldn’t talk for a moment, just staring at his daughter with his mouth slightly agape. Marinette had been very specific: no non-miraculous heroes in Paris. Period. Not him, not Robin, nobody, because she wasn’t sure she and her partner would be able to win against an Akumatized hero with years of experience.

Robin tossed a birdarang at Batman, which he dodged on instinct. “Well, he’s still alive,” he remarked to his sister. Rouge Wing had scooted closer somewhere during Batman’s shock, looking minorly concerned.

“What brought this on?” Bruce finally asked, making his daughter sigh in relief at the proof of his consciousness.

“Well, multiple reasons. For one, I know now that I am capable of at least restraining you until I have the chance to break an akumatized item, so there aren’t too many worries there anymore. And I only see you once every month if I’m lucky—“

“And her birthday is next week,” Robin supplied easily, smirking at the glare his sister sent him at that.

“Traitor,” Marinette grumbled, puffing out her cheeks a little. Considering the two of them were only a month apart in age, with Damian being the older of the two, it wasn’t unusual for Bruce to forget about one or the other. Summer birthdays in general were hard for him to remember, what with all the spring birthdays that he strained to keep up with.

“Oh, oh,” Bruce sighed, rubbing a hand over his cowl-covered forehead. “That’s right. I’m sorry, of course I’m more than happy to visit Paris next week. Maybe we can even do more than one day?”

Marinette relaxed, nodding. “That would be nice. Just, not in your civilian persona. Bruce Wayne is too recognizable, even in Paris, but a visit from Batman would be shrugged off as just us getting help. But, in order for everything to work, it would probably have to be a day patrol.”

Batman flinched a bit. That’s right— his daughter was a day hero. He wasn’t looking forward to patrolling in full daylight, but he owed her this at least.

“I’ll be there.”

—*—*—*—*—*

When Batman arrived on Marinette’s balcony (actually expected, this time), it was to see the poor girl covered head to toe in ribbons and balloons that all had some variation of “sweet sixteen,” “happy birthday,” and “16!” On them. She hadn’t even been able to transform yet, her Kwami just munching on a cupcake and giggling at her expense. She even had a party hat on her head, but judging by the way she was trying to wrestle it off it hadn’t been put on her head willingly.

“Need help?” Bruce asked when he entered her room, peeling his cowl back and grinning a little at the awkward sight she made. Marinette groaned, looking at him with the most pitiful expression ever.

“Please! Maman and Papan always like celebrating my birthday, and they’ve gone over the top a few times, but I think they went a bit…” she pulled at one of her pigtails, releasing a waterfall of glitter. “Crazy this year.”

Bruce chuckled, walking over and helping to untangle the various ribbons, streamers, and other celebratory restraints that had trapped the petite Parisian. Then, once she was completely untangled and only stubborn confetti and glitter remained, Bruce hung a small box to one of her pigtails by one of it’s bow-loops. She let out a surprised laugh, rolling her eyes at him before pulling it off and looking at it properly.

On a little white card it said: “Happy 16th, Marinette!” In Bruce’s handwriting. It was a small, black box with silver ribbon tied around it in a bow. Marinette couldn’t help but snort at the color choice, sending her dad a knowing look that he dutifully ignored. Carefully removing the bow and unwrapping it, she opened the box to see two little silver, bat-shaped hair pins. Carefully taking them out, she could feel that they were real metal, and surprisingly sharp.

“You can wear them however you want in your hair, to hold your bangs back or in your pigtails,” Brice decided to explain. “They have trackers in them—no, don’t give me that look. They only activate if you tap SOS on one of them. If you hold down the back of the clip, you can extend small blades if you ever need to cut yourself out of a trap or defend yourself.”

“You gave me mini batarangs for my hair,” Marinette teased, but immediately clipped them to her pigtails. “I love them. Ready for patrol?”

“Whenever you are,” he agreed before pulling his cowl back down.

One transformation and some travel later, and they were at the Eiffel Tower to plan their route.

“Obviously, Paris is too big for me to patrol the whole place on my own alongside school and Akumas,” Ladybug explained. “Even with Chat Noir’s help, it’s too big. So, just like you guys back in Gotham, we have routes that we rotate out. But the police here actually do their job and can handle most criminals, so our patrols follow a different logic than in Gotham.”

Batman nodded, holding his chin as he considered that. “That makes sense. Instead of focusing so much on the more crime-heavy parts of the city, especially since Hawkmoth hasn’t akumatized any criminals yet, it makes more sense to focus on areas around schools, tourist sites and other hotspots for recreation, and the general residential area.”

Marinette nodded. After talking a bit more about how she and Chat normally patrolled, and why, they actually hit the rooftops. It only took thirty minutes before Marinette had to intervene, grabbing Batman’s shoulder before he could punch a purse snatcher. The criminal in question, clutching a sparkly holographic purse in utter terror, couldn’t even muster the courage to run in the face of the famous Dark Knight. Ladybug glared at the older hero for a second before turning to the thief and shrugging with a lopsided smile.

“Sorry, he’s still not used to Parisian crime stopping. I’m reigning him in though, no worries,” she assured him. Just as the thief began to back away though, her yo-yo sprung out and wrapped him up head to toe, allowing Ladybug to grab the purse with a smile. “Thank you, I’ll take that. Remember Batman, minimal force. This isn’t Crime Alley.”

Batman grumbled. “It was just gonna be one punch,” as he zip tied the guy and dragged him to the corner for the police to pick up. Ladybug returned the purse.

“See? A daytime patrol isn’t that bad,” Ladybug remarked as she ran over the rooftops with Batman, deciding that sticking closer to her dad was more important than going as fast as possible. Batman grunted, but Ladybug saw his minuscule grin.

“I still prefer the night.”

“Only because you don’t stick out like a sore thumb at night,” she teased. And then the Akuma Alarm went off.

—*—*—*—*—*

Marinette panted as she lay sprawled over her bed, catching her breath. Bruce was slumped in her computer chair, cowl off and head curving over the top of the headrest. After a moment, Marinette spoke up;

“You look peaceful.”

“When I’m winded?” He cracked an eye open to shoot her a tired but still deadpan look. She snorted.

“No. With your eyes closed. And cheer up, it was only Gigantitan. Not anywhere near the worst we could have gotten.”

“I think you’re forgetting that I don’t have magic helping me out. Fighting giant children is not something I do often.”

“Oh please, you’ve fought way worse.”

“... that is true.”

“Dad?”

“Mmhmm?”

“Thanks.”

“Of course. Want to go back to Gotham with me and get ice cream before you have to be back for dinner?”

“Read my mind.”

—*—*—*—*—*

hi! Let me clarify something real quick guys. These one shots are for Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month. Meaning, there are 30 prompts, one for each day of september. These one shots will NOT be connected unless previously stated! This one, as you could probably tell, has NOTHING to do with the story for Day 1. I’m just exploring a bunch of possibilities and letting my imagination run wild for these. Nonetheless, I will definitely tag you if you want. Thanks!

@momothefemur @ladybug-182 @starlightshield @trippingovermyfeet @greatcatblaze

[jinxedpanda4life]

DamiRae Hospital AU?

  No I am not writing one, if I could write well I would though! So here are some HCs for a hospital AU.    If someone decides to write this then I’ll be your first reader. Also I am sort of basing things off of Grey’s Anatomy just a bit and my limited knowledge of the medical field.

- Starts of as 1st year residents, specialties may vary

- The “Titans” are residents and 1st years that show great promise, this doesn’t really play a role its just what people call them behind their backs

- Dr. Kori Anders is a OBGYN (women parts and birth) resident, a year or two away from finishing

- Dr. Richard “Dick” Grayson is is a surgery resident, trained by the hospital owner Bruce Wayne (who is a world renowned surgeon, has awards, etc), specifically general surgery

- Dr. Garfield Logan is pediatrician (kid doctor) res, bonds well with kids, but is considering going back to school to become a vet instead

- Dr. Jaime Reyes is an oncology (cancer doctor), having had cancer as a teen and is now forever trying to rid the world of it, works mostly with kids and teens

- Dr. Jonathan Kent is a physical therapist that works with pain management. Up beat guy and is always trying to brighten his patient’s lives.

- Dr. Damian Wayne is a surgical intern, blood thirsty little thing, hoping to become a neurosurgeon (brain, spine) (or cardiothoracic (heart, lungs) both are competitive)

- Dr. Raven Roth is an anesthesiologist (the drug person that knocks you out) and is starting her surgical internship (she wanted to do more than just help people get high essentially or whatever) has no current preference for any specific surgical field

- Add in characters:

-- Dr. Jason Todd, trauma surgeon (fits too well)

-- Dr. Timothy Drake diagnostician (medical detective basically) 

-- Dr. Donna Troy gynecologist

-- Terra Markov is a nurse (i don’t like Terra but nurses are the actual best)

- Story stuff:

- Damian and Raven meet as they are put under the guidance of the same resident

-Damian has an automatic dislike for Raven because she knows everyone already and is equally, if not much more, knowledgable about surgery, the OR, the ER, protocol, etc  He also thinks she is cold because she rarely shows emotion (pot kettle Damian)

- Raven can always be found in the medical archives researching old cases and studying new ones, Damian stumbles upon her when looking for an old cardiomegaly case (enlarged heart).

- Raven gets along with all of the past ‘Robins’ making her a go to intern

- Garfield can be seen whenever he is not needed trying to flirt with Nurse Markov and often goes to Raven to sulk 

- Damian and Raven are always early to pre-rounds and are typically the first ones there (usually early in the morning, getting there before 500)

- Jon bumps into Damian more often than not and they start becoming friends (Damian is reluctant at first and is still you know Damian about everything), Damian even recommends patients to him 

- Though Damian doesn’t want to really ‘hang out’ with anyone he reluctantly hangs out with the Titans, because of Jon and Dick

            - When in a large group when at a bar, club or whatever Damian tends to stay close to Raven because 1) they actually have things to talk about 2) she isn’t loud

- Raven & Damian are both assigned to a case that is frankly befuddling and have to start spending long nights and early mornings together to figure it out

- Over that period of time they learn things about each other:

-- Raven learns: 

Damian has a dog (Titus) and cat (Alfred) 

He is single (Kori told her) and lives in an apartment close to the hospital

He has lived in various countries

He is trained in multiple martial arts 

He prefers his tea with brown sugar and a slice of lemon 

His eyes are a true emerald color with a ring of gold and flecks scattered within 

He may hide it well but when Raven compliments him he becomes flustered

He speaks to himself in Arabic when he curses, trying to remember something, doesn’t want anyone to know what he is saying

He isn’t always an asshole

When he actually smiles a true and genuine smile, she has heart palpitations

-- Damian learns:

Raven has two tattoos (neither are a bird), a gang tat (she is saving up to get it removed), and a mantra in Azarathian; Azarath Metrion Zinthos

She immigrated from Azarath when she was around 8

Her notes are in Azarathian

She actually feels a lot of emotion and knows how to control them

If she is not reading about a current or past case she is reading any book or file she can get her hands on, he has caught her reading in multiple different languages; Azarathian, English, French, Russian, Arabic, Dutch, Mandarin, (could be more or less)

She lives alone and has a cat, Nevermore, and thanks to Dick he already knew she was single

She likes all tea, no matter how prepared, but prefers the sweetener to be honey

Her hair is black but shines purple, especially under the ER lights

Her eyes are a purple that at first glance look blue, like Elizabeth Taylor, he realizes though her eyes are galaxies on their own 

When she smiles the world actually stops moving, her eyes shine like stars and he never wants the world to start moving again

She always wears a necklace with a gold and ruby ring at all times (it was her mother’s wedding ring)

- When Damian starts having le feelings for Raven he considers actually seeking medical advice as this has never happened to him before

- Raven tries her best to contain her feelings when at work, going so far as one day a month staying home just to scream, cry and feel her feelings

- It does not help that new feelings towards Damian start popping up, especially since he starts bringing her tea and hanging out with her at work

- During the middle of their 2nd year of residency someone holds Raven hostage in the hospital to fix someone that person loves (this person had connections to Trigon and knew who Raven was)

- That was not a fun time for either Damian or Raven; Damian was outside the hospital pacing trying to figure something out with the other Titans trying to calm themselves and him down

- Shots are fired and when all is said and done, Raven gets shot in the abdomen and the hand (she was in ICU for a hot sec)

- Damian seemed to be there every time Raven woke up, he was always checking on her during rounds even though he wasn’t on her case

- Raven did have to have surgery on her hand and in her abdomen (idk where i’m not getting that specific), she hated being, in her words, coddled 

- Even though Raven was right handed (the one that got shot) she learned how to do everything, writing, eating, going to the bathroom, etc. (many of the other residents are impressed since she keeps working on it after her other hand heals)

- Raven’s room also becomes a space for other residents to destress and just vent about their day. She listens and gives advice, all without looking up from whatever she was doing. 

- During this time Raven becomes hooked on Pretty Pretty Pegasus

- Raven’s room is also full of cards, flowers, etc all from fellow staff and some from patients. When she leaves (she spends a couple weeks in thanks to multiple surgeries, recovery, and other minor injuries) all of the gifts litter her apartment, the cards end up in a box by her desk, she presses the flowers, and stuffed animals are donated to children’s shelter (she keeps some that she has grown attached to)

- During this time Damian is more of an ass than usual (people notice and tease him)

- Damian at some points keeps working without breaks/sleep for hours on end. Dick pulls him aside after noticing, scolds and forces him to sleep in one of the on call rooms. (He really wanted him to go home, but Damian wasn’t leaving)

- Once Raven was discharged Damian and Garfield help her back home (clothes + gifts + Raven w/a healing hand/other injuries = need help) the other Titans would have helped but were needed at the hospital

- Garfield leaves after dropping off Raven and Damian (and her stuff) as he is called in on a Peds case (could be fake, may not be) and Raven & Damian spend the rest of the time basically watching terrible movies. (with Nevermore sitting on both of them)

- That is the night Damian realizes that not only does he like Raven, but he like likes her. He starts devising plans on how to get her to date him. 

- All his plans basically are thrown out the window because of one reason or another (he kept overthinking it)(poor guy)

- It is not until their 3rd year of residency that Raven realizes her feelings towards Damian (Have I made it clear she likes him? I can’t remember...)

- She realizes her feelings when she has to crash at his place for a night (because he lives ridiculously close to the hospital, like how expensive is that??) and he tries to make sure that she is as comfortable as possible 

- She never realized how much he cared for her? Like she was always helping him out and there for him but she never realized he reciprocated that care? *Shocker*

- Raven becomes kind of a mess because of all her emotions that she is trying to bottle up. (all the corks are disintegrating and the jar is overflowing)

- Raven is during her Ortho rotation (bone surgeon people, they are cool, ik from experience) that she actually gets a good release for her emotions (setting peoples bones and drilling and hammering in pins is actually therapeutic) 

- Raven thinks that may be the specialty she chooses

- Damian saw her as a mess and could not fathom why she was said mess, he figured it was about a romantic interest after someone made an offhand comment about her love life and she became a blubbering mess (very un-Raven like)

- After all of well *motions with hands* that Raven asks why Damian doesn’t have a s/o or someone

- He says there is only person that he has been meaning to ask out (looks pointedly at Raven)

- All Raven says is “Go for it.”

And that is where my HCs end. Now if anyone who happens upon this post decides to write a Medical AU with any of these please tag me, tell me, message me. 

You do not have to give me credit, I just want to read it. 

This took me a couple of days to write up, so if it is disjointed I apologize. 

If anything needs to be corrected for any reason let me know!

 I hope this fuels some imaginations!

-I may post more HC AU things if they come to mind, we will have to see.

[beneathstarryskies]

Could I request a fluff alphabet for young and older Johnny Lawrence?

Thank you so much for the request! I’m sorry it took me so damn long! ❤️

Answers for older/current Johnny are in italics!

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

    Johnny is pretty affectionate, but there are two sides to him. On one hand, he tends to seem more possessive in public. Always has an arm around your shoulders or waist, and makes it a point to kiss you in front of people so they know who you belong to. It takes him some time to show you the more tender side of himself, and it is truly reserved just for you. He likes to pepper soft kisses on your face, and whispers about how beautiful he thinks you are. He tends to shy away a bit from receiving the same amount of affection though, thinking it makes him look weak.

    Having faced a great deal of rejection and heartache, he is really slow with showing affection. It takes him a while to even admit he has feelings for you, and then from there even longer for him to act on it. However, the possessive nature of his youth has faded into a need to just be loved. He’s more open now to letting himself just sink into your touch. He loves it when you play with his hair and kiss his nose. In return he’ll shower you with compliments, and kisses you every chance he gets. He proudly holds your hand everywhere you go.

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

Most of Johnny’s friends at this point are connected to Cobra Kai, so chances are if you weren’t in Cobra Kai there probably isn’t much of a friendship. However, he might just “accidentally” become best friends with you after being forced to work on an assignment together. He’d expect you to do all the work, but after realizing you won’t stand for that he begrudgingly works with you on it. An unexpected friendship blossoms.

    At this point his friends are his family. So he is fiercely protective and loyal. However, he’s not much for emotional support because he just doesn’t know how. He’s been taught to more or less repress it, so that tends to be his offered solution. His attitude can sometimes be a bit flippant.

    Probably met at the bar, maybe you were a bartender or something. Most likely he’d deny you were his best friend because of the whole “I don’t need anyone” attitude. However, if you needed him he’d drop everything to be there and he knows you’d do the same for him. He’s still not great at emotional support, but he does try at least. Or rather he tries to keep you distracted from whatever emotional thing is bothering you, because that’s truly the only way he knows how to deal with emotions.

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

He loves to cuddle, but good luck getting him to admit it. You usually have to initiate it, but you will have to deal with him pretending he’s only doing it to make you happy. His favorite thing is when you fall asleep with your head on his chest, and he can just play with your hair while listening to your steady breathing. It’s in these moments that he truly experiences peace. That is until you wake up and he has to pretend he didn’t like it.

He loves to cuddle, and he’s really not afraid to admit it anymore. He just wants to hold you and be held by you. Closeness is what he’s been craving his whole life, and he’s just really tired of pretending it’s not. He’s tried getting through life on his own, and he hated it. He just wants to come home and curl up with you after a long day. He wants to snuggle against you while you twirl his locks between your fingers.

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

It’s definitely in the cards to settle down one day, but he’s not particularly in a hurry about it. He’d assumed he would end up settling down with Ali, but since that didn’t go the way he planned he’s a bit unsure of where he’ll end up. There’s a whole big world out there, and he thinks it’s his for the taking, so why worry? He’s a bit useless when it comes to cooking and cleaning. Honestly, he doesn’t even try. Pretty much a typical teenager in that regard.

He’d be open to settling down, although more it feels out of reach to him at this point. It’s certainly something he is a bit afraid of, having already failed at the task. Johnny would have to feel completely secure and confident in a relationship before he’d consider marriage. He’s still somewhat useless at cooking and cleaning, but he is willing to give it more of an honest effort.

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

He might be a little bit cold about it, since at this point he’s fully immersed in the “no mercy” teachings of Kreese. Once he’s decided it’s over, he just tells you as such. He doesn’t really provide any explanations, and if he cares at all he doesn’t show it.

    He’s terrible at break ups. Especially since for him to be in a relationship at all takes a bit of time, and he’s found it’s not easy for him to just carelessly break hearts anymore. That being said, he will be an accidental asshole in the process. It’d take a lot of effort for him to build up the confidence, and then he just goes for it like ripping off a bandaid.

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

    After Ali, he becomes pretty commitment phobic. He tries to form meaningful relationships, but always pushes people away when they get too close. He’s just not sure if he can ever open himself up again.  If he wants to get married at all, it would take a long time. Most likely, he has no real interest in it.

Pretty much the same, although as he’s gotten older he’s opened up more to the idea of getting married. He likes the idea of having a partner to get through this life with. Someone to always have his back, and for him to support as well. While he doesn’t feel marriage is necessarily a required commitment, he’d be more open to it if you wanted to get married.

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

Gentle is not a word you could use to describe Johnny Lawrence at any age. Emotionally he is about as gentle as a hammer to the head. He just doesn’t understand at all. Occasionally he may muster up some gentleness, but it’s very rare since he associates it with weakness. 

Physically, he’s generally not gentle. He likes to pick you up and spin you around. Sometimes even enjoying to play fight a bit. However, sometimes he can surprise you with little spells of gentleness. Especially if something has happened to make him worry about losing you.

The above is the answer for Johnny of all ages, except he no longer thinks of having gentle emotions as as weakness. 

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Johnny loves hugs and will hug you all the time if he can. He’s very handsy with it, often cupping your butt while he hugs you-if you’re okay with that kind of thing of course- and will often sneak a kiss on your cheek.

He still loves hugging and he still tends to get a bit cheeky with it. One difference is that he takes more time to savor the moment; feeling your heartbeat and really breathing you in. Usually he holds you for as long as you’ll let him, insisting on a kiss before he’ll release you.

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

He doesn’t. It’s not something he’s super comfortable with, but he will express it in other ways. Usually by reminding you to be safe when you leave him and wanting you to call him when you get home so he knows you made it safely. He’ll also do little thoughtful things like bring you coffee or remind you to eat if he thinks you’re not taking care of yourself. There’s a nurturing side to Johnny he often hides, but he’ll open up a bit to show you how much he cares.

Like his younger self Johnny tends to take to being somewhat nurturing in order to express his feelings for you. Once he gets a cell phone, he even takes to texting you throughout the day to tell you he’s thinking about you. He tries to make sure you know he loves you and you’re on his mind. He will eventually say the words. It just takes him a very long time to come around to it.

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

Oh boy, is he ever jealous. Seeing someone else flirt with you drives him crazy, and he has gotten into many fights over it. He’ll jump right in between you, ready to fight before you’ve even had a chance to handle the situation yourself. If you express disliking this behavior, he will attempt to hold back. It’s still written all over his face, and sometimes it can lead him to making accusations.

There’s still some jealousy, but he’s less likely to jump in unless someone is being particularly pushy after you’ve expressed disinterest. One thing he no longer does is accuse you of flirting/cheating. He wouldn’t be with you if he didn’t trust you, and he wants you to know that.

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

He’s surprisingly tender with his kisses. Early on in your relationship, it’s the one tell of how insecure he feels deep down. Often times not deepening the kiss until you’ve given some indication you want him to. He likes giving kisses on your cheeks and neck. He really likes when you kiss his forehead, although he’s a little sheepish with admitting this. He also likes it when you kiss his neck and shoulders.

He’s tender and takes his time teasing out reactions from you. Overall he’s more confident in his abilities, which just came naturally with age and experience. He still is prone to giving cheek and neck kisses, and really enjoys that. However, he’s also learned that he likes the way you react when he kisses you behind the ear. His own favorite places to get kissed haven’t changed.

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

Terrible, and no interest in getting better.

Slightly better and more willing to learn. He’s still pretty useless with any kid under the age of about 10. And really the only way he knows to relate is through karate.

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

He’s usually up somewhat early to go train or work out. So if you don’t want to do those things, he’s usually not around much in the mornings. However, he will come in all sweaty and give you a kiss before raising his arm up with a smirk and teasing you about smelling how sweaty he is. Usually resulting in you rolling your eyes and saying, “I smelled you as soon as you walked in the room.”

Mornings now are more laid back. Usually there’s about an hour of cuddling and complaining about having to get up before you finally drag him out of bed. Then one of you cooks breakfast while the other makes coffee and pours cups for you both. You eat breakfast together and talk about what you’re each planning for the day before getting started. Johnny is always running a bit behind schedule. It never stops him from kissing you a dozen times before leaving the apartment.

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

The average night contains lots of making out, brief intermission of a random activity, then probably more making out. Occasionally you guys go out to parties with friends. Johnny likes spending quality time with you. So more often than not you end up doing something just the two of you. He likes to take you out riding, usually ending up at the beach.

At least once a week you guys go out to have drinks, but usually he prefers low-key nights in. There’s still usually lots of making out and cuddling, but usually it’s on the couch while a movie plays in the background. You might have a drink to unwind, and talk a bit about your days.

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

The thing about Johnny at both ages though is that he actually wears his heart on his sleeve way more than he realizes. If you asked him he’d probably say he’s the strong silent type. He takes a long time to purposely reveal his feelings. However, considering how much his feelings show through his actions and demeanor, you’re definitely already aware of his insecurity. You just pretend you haven’t already caught on, because you don’t want him to retreat again. Him actually opening up is much better than having to infer it, and he’ll begin to work through why he feels the way he does deep down.

The answer is the same for adult Johnny.

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

There is no patience in Johnny at all. He is very hotheaded and quick to anger. It’s probably the biggest issue in your relationship. Truthfully it’s his biggest issue in general.

He is still pretty quick to anger but much better at controlling it-especially with you. He gets hotheaded and acts stupid, but it takes a bit longer for him to get to that point. It is still a big problem he’s having to work on. Johnny is slowly starting to realize he can’t punch or kick his way through every problem.

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

Johnny remembers the really important stuff, but doesn’t remember the little details at all. If it doesn’t involve partying, fooling around, or karate he kind of tends to ignore it.

He has definitely done a lot of growing in this area. Johnny still remembers the really important stuff, and has gotten better at holding onto the little details. He won’t remember everything you ever talk about, but he doesn’t file it away just because it doesn’t involve his main interests anymore.

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

Probably the first moment he saw you, and realized he wanted to win you over. He just loves remembering the way the electricity between the two of you was so strong.

The moment he realized he was in love with you and it didn’t scare him. He felt so open and safe in your relationship. It was the first time in ages he didn’t feel the need to keep his walls up high. It might be the warmest feeling he’s ever had.

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

He is super protective. He will fight anyone who messes with you, and will always put himself between you and potential physical danger. Other types of potential protection (like emotionally) he’s not great at. He doesn’t particularly feel like you need to protect him. Once you try to jump in and defend him when Sid is bullying him, which of course results in further chastising from Sid. Johnny gets kind of upset with you over it.

Johnny still has no problem jumping in to protect you physically. Except he has gotten a bit better at the emotional side of it. He is protective of you when it comes to people who may hurt you emotionally. If he gets a bad vibe from someone he will usually try to persuade you to steer clear of them, but this can be a bit misconstrued as jealousy or him trying to be controlling. He also now feels warm and fuzzy inside when you take up for him instead of getting mad. He now understands it’s a sign of your love for him and not an attempt to emasculate him.

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

Sometimes he gets so distracted by karate and stuff that he can be sort of a bad boyfriend. So he puts the most effort in dates and gifts to make amends for not always being the best at remembering things like anniversaries.

Johnny puts a lot more effort into being around for the everyday tasks. He can’t afford to take you on many dates, so when he can take you out he puts a lot of effort into it. Same with gifts. Usually he saves up for a long time to buy you something really nice for anniversaries/birthdays/holidays because he just refuses to buy you something he thinks is crappy. Also, he struggles with the fact that you’d love anything he gives you because it’s from him. He still thinks he’s gotta give everything he’s got just to get some sort of love and acceptance in return.

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

Let’s see fighting, partying and generally just being extremely arrogant. Taking too much care of his car and his looks, but not much else. In most ways he’s just a normal teenager in this respect.

Still fighting, but now he just generally drinks too much without the partying-which in a way is worse. He doesn’t always take care of himself. He puts blame on himself over everything that goes wrong.

A/N: I think I went a little too deep for this one?

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

He is secretly very concerned despite his overly confident demeanor. He puts a lot of effort into seeming effortless. For him it is maddeningly effortless, so really he puts in too much effort.

He doesn’t really care at all anymore. Occasionally he gives himself a once over in the mirror. He’s more comfortable with himself overall, and realizes he’s a pretty handsome guy without having to try so hard.

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

Absolutely, but it’s not always a good thing. In general, He can tend to lean a little too hard on his significant other. It was a bit of an issue with Ali as well. It’s not something he does on purpose, and if you mentioned it to him he’d be embarrassed. He just doesn’t feel as comfortable with that many other people. Even with his pals, he’s still putting on a bit of an act. With you he’s totally comfortable, and it makes him a bit too dependent on you.

To an extent, but he handles it better overall. He doesn’t want to be too overbearing, so he will give you a bit more space than when he was younger. Not to mention he’s not completely dependent on you for comfort. He’s gotten to a point where his attitude is more, “This is who I am. Take it or leave it.” And you’ve proven more times than he can count that you won’t leave (just maybe give him a metaphorical kick in the ass when he needs it).

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

 He was still a virgin when he graduated high school, and he lied about it to keep up his cool appearance. The truth is, Ali didn’t want to have sex when they were together, and he wasn’t going to pressure her.

Johnny absolutely tears up a bit at heart tugging films in general. However, he avoids watching anything dealing with father and son relationships. It’s a reminder of not only what he missed out on, but what he was unable to give Robby.

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

In general he doesn’t like things he considers nerdy or uncool. That’s about as far as it goes. He’s not super deep about things he doesn’t like. You’re either cool or you’re not. He doesn’t like it when his partner is too picky or finicky. 


This is the same for both eras.

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

He generally just tends to sleep on his stomach without a shirt. He’s warm natured so he pretty much always ends up kicking the blankets off.

There’s no real habit to be had. He just kind of falls into bed, and whatever happens then just happens.

[commander-diomika]

(Click to Read From the Beginning) Part 6 - Pairing: Zolf Smith/Oscar Wilde Word Count: 4700 Additional Tags: Slow Burn, 18-Month Time Gap (Rusty Quill Gaming), Opposites Attract, Trans Male Character, Forced Outing, Pining, Additional Warnings In Author's Note

Summary: New intel from Curie brings new rules about the quarantine process. This puts Zolf and Wilde in an awkward position. A/N - The forced outing depicted in this chapter isn’t through any malicious intent, but rather circumstances outside character control. There are no transphobic sentiments portrayed in this series, internalised or direct, but some of Wilde’s caution around disclosing indicates that this is a world where transphobia exists. These things could make for an uncomfortable experience for some readers.

The few times that Zolf went out on missions alone, usually on fruitless attempts to scout the Shoin Institute, it had been Barnes that welcomed him back and locked him in. Zolf didn’t mind isolation stretches, but he didn’t love that Wilde kept himself absent for the entire duration. He understood why, but there was something unsettling about coming home, and yet having to wait for what he felt like was the proper homecoming of being reunited with Wilde. But he coped with it just fine.

When the invitation from Curie came for a meeting, and specified that only one person was welcome, Zolf fought hard for it to be him.

“You’ve never even met Curie.” Wilde pointed out, voice level despite the heat in Zolf’s tone. “It makes far more sense for me to go, and someone needs to stay here.”

“At least take Barnes with you,” Zolf countered, knowing he was being ridiculous but unable to help it. He’d known that this time was coming but that didn’t make it come any easier. “He don’t have to come with you to meet her, but he can keep you safe.”

Wilde’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t need a bodyguard.”

Zolf crossed his arms, stymied. It wasn’t that he was overprotective. But he couldn’t squash the memory of Wilde’s face, slippery with blood beneath frantic fingers, or the haunted look in Wilde’s eyes when he emerged from isolation.

“I won’t even be gone long, Zolf. Curie is going to meet me in Hiroshima.”

Zolf opened his mouth to argue further, and was stopped by Wilde closing his eyes, looking genuinely tired for a moment. Normally Wilde relished a bit of verbal sparring and the two of them fought as easily as they breathed. But something about the way he sighed gave Zolf pause.

When Wilde next spoke, his voice was soft, a rare pleading in his tone. “I know, Zolf. I know you don’t like it. I don’t like it, but I have been looking at these same four walls for months. I am sick of not being a productive member of this team.”

“WHAT!” Zolf exploded. “You are the most productive member! Me n’ Barnes n’ Carter would be nothin’ without-”

“You know what I mean!” Wilde said, frustrated. Zolf hardly ever saw him like this. Anger was an emotion that Wilde kept locked away, just like his fear. “I’m sick of people treating me like I’m some sort of china doll, just because I can’t cast anymore!”

Zolf spluttered. “You’re not- we don’- nobody said-”

Wilde raised his hand. “I appreciate your concern, Zolf, I really do. But I’m going on this mission. And I am asking you-” Wilde drew a deep breath in through his nose “-to trust me.”

Well. That had been played like a trump card. Zolf felt something in him release, the angry churn of his stomach dissipating. If there was any truth left in the world at this point, it was that Zolf trusted Wilde.

He nodded.

---

As was protocol, on the evening he returned, Zolf, Barnes and Carter made themselves scarce until Wilde was safely in the anti-magic chamber, not detouring to any other rooms of the inn. They had arrangements for how to handle if a returning party member didn’t head straight for what they’d all started calling “the box,” but thankfully it was yet to come up. Zolf headed in after, with the keys to the cell, fresh clothes, and a bowl of prawn gyoza in hand.

“How’s Hiroshima?” Zolf asked, locking up and passing through the food.

Wilde didn’t respond, just levelled Zolf with a flat glare.

Zolf shrugged. “You can talk to me, an’ if at the end of the week you’re compromised, I’ll just assume that anythin’ you said was false intel, yeah? Until then,” Zolf pulled up the chair that sat outside and cell and settled it. “There’s no harm in it going this way,” he swept his hand from Wilde’s direction toward himself. “I just won’t tell you anything you don’t already know.” He, quite simply, was not going to take no for an answer. He wasn’t leaving Wilde alone with his thoughts for a week.

Wilde managed to look disapproving for a moment more, then a little smirk slipped through the veneer. “I find it difficult to believe you know anything I don’t, Smith.”

“Oh, sod off.”

“I can’t help it if I just happen to be the brains of the operation.” Wilde gave a small, defeated chuckle, and sat on the cot. He started undoing the anti-magic cuffs and massaging his ankles. Sometimes when there was no one using the box, Wilde would come sleep down here just for a chance to take them off for a little while.

“Hiroshima is well enough, but Curie says Cairo is a mess. The sandstorms have been giving it absolute hell. Anyone who doesn’t still need to be there isn’t, though it’s still seeing a lot of refugee traffic.” He picked up the food Zolf had passed through.

“From Europe?”

Wilde nodded between popping gyoza into his mouth. “These are very good, you know.”

Zolf waved a hand. “Hiromi’s been giving me lessons. She’s much nicer about it than her husband.”

Wilde updated Zolf on Curie’s operation. When he mentioned that she had been gifted the old Tahan estate, Zolf’s gut squeezed. It had been… almost over a year since he’d seen Hamid, and months since they’d last heard from him and the others. It was almost impossible to think that they were still alive, but without bodies or news, there was no way forward. Both men were left lingering in ambivalence, hope laid thick and heavy over a grief that couldn’t surface.

Wilde finished his food and frowned. He spoke more hesitantly than before. “There is one more thing I should tell you. We need to update some of the protocols.”

“Yeh? Howso?”

“The blue vein rumours? About the infected? Confirmed. More importantly, Curie says in every instance of a double agent, the blue veins have appeared on the body first, not the face or hands.” Wilde was overexplaining in a way that was unlike him. “In addition to the quarantine, being on the lookout for behavioural changes, Curie also recommended we do,” Wilde hesitated, again in a most un-Wilde-like fashion, “…visual inspections of those in quarantine. Thorough ones.” He fluttered nervous hands up and down his torso to illustrate.

As Zolf slowly turned over the implications, Wilde turned to rummage through his bag and withdraw papers. He gestured for Zolf to come take them through the slot.

“Reports, signed and sealed, detailing it all.”

Zolf took them, still absorbing what Wilde had said. He didn’t look through the bars. If he had, he would have seen something cautious and watchful in Wilde’s eyes.

The silence stretched on too long between them.

“Anyway, if you don’t mind, I am going to get some sleep. The boat from here to the mainland isn’t exactly a luxury cruiser, and I am exhausted.” Wilde flumped down onto the cot to punctuate the point.

“I… yeh. I’ll go have a look through these reports.” As Zolf walked away from the box, he paused in the door. “I’m glad you’re back,” he said. I’m glad you’re safe, he didn’t add.

“Of course you are,” Wilde replied without missing a beat. “This place must be dreadfully dull without me to liven it up for you.”

Zolf rolled his eyes and headed upstairs.

Having read through Curie’s reports, the next day Zolf went back to Wilde’s cell with his heart in his mouth.

Naked inspections. It’s just one thing after another in this brave new fucking world, isn’t it, he thought, agitated.

The whole situation was ridiculous. What was he so worried about? After everything they’d been through there was a certain trust, an ease between them now. What was a bit of nudity in the face of all that?

He was only feeling nervy about it because he was sure that Wilde was going to be a dick about it, in his usual style. Getting under Zolf’s skin hadn’t stopped being a hobby of Wilde’s, and this whole situation set the stage for his insufferable needling.

Wilde stood quickly as Zolf entered. He’d changed out of the clothes he’d travelled to Hiroshima in, and was now wearing long dark pants and his favourite yukata, the one with green and pink floral pattern.

“I read through all the reports,” Zolf began.

“We might as well get this over with,” Wilde said at the same time, and then laughed a little manically.

Zolf took his seat, waited for Wilde to quiet, then continued. “Curie also recommended we start askin’ people to tell us stories of things that only the other would know. Code words aren’t enough because it’s more about how you do the retellin’ than it is about the information.” Wilde’s face relaxed at the notion of delaying what came next.

“I’ll get you to tell me about… tell me how you remember our first meetin’, then.” Zolf said. Since all the other people who were there are either dead or presumed dead, he didn’t want to add.

Wilde launched into an explanation of flaming notepads, blood noses, slipping into his storyteller shoes with relief. It was nice to listen to him perform, even if thinking about Hamid and Sasha was depressing.

“And,” Wilde wound up, “I just happened to linger by the door and overhear you mention something about my bum, of all things. Now, if you’ll do me the favour of telling what that was, and we can all move forward assured of each other’s memory, though probably not their integrity.”

Oh, curses. He hadn’t thought Wilde had still been around for those comments. He crossed his arms and frowned loudly.

“Come now Zolf, you’ve already said it, you can’t take it back now.” Exactly as Zolf had suspected, Wilde seemed to be delighting in causing Zolf discomfort once again, whilst he slipped back into his old, familiar smarm. Wilde wrapped his hands around the bars of the cell and bounced slightly on his toes.

“I said,” Zolf pinched the bridge of his nose. “I said it was very nice.” And he stood by it, but Wilde didn’t need to know that.

Wilde laughed, free and throaty, running his hand through his hair in a way that Zolf knew, if he had access to his magic, would be accompanied by a bawdy shimmer of sparkles. For a moment, things felt bright.

The energy snapped back. Wilde wasn’t performing for a party, he wasn’t needling Zolf for a laugh, he was locked up in a cell waiting to find out if he had an infection that would turn him into something unrecognizable and dangerous… Wilde dropped his hands from the adamantine, and the two of them fell silent.

“I can go get Barnes, if you’d prefer,” Zolf said with a useless gesture. Wilde was already shaking his head.

“What’s a bit of nudity between… friends.” Wilde asked, with a quizzical tilt of his head. His eyes were asking does friends really cover it anymore? Zolf didn’t have an answer.

Zolf didn’t know how to get this whole awkward scenario started, so he just waited, his mouth dry. There was something so grim in Wilde’s face, and Zolf didn’t understand. His obvious discomfort with the notion of watching Wilde undress should’ve delighted the man. It should have been ammunition.

As Wilde started on the ties of his yukata, for the briefest of moments, Zolf’s discomfort was replaced by a blistering anger at the absurdity of it all. All those moments he had wanted to be closer to Wilde, to touch his bare skin or to hold him… but he hadn’t asked for this. Between the two of them hung a nascent possibility. A possibility that Zolf was only just starting to acknowledge, and that deserved a chance to blossom.

That instead it should be forced to happen like this, through cell bars, was perversely unfair. To him. To Wilde. To the pair of them and all the ways that this could have been different.

Wilde paused, as if seeing the flash of anger in Zolf’s eyes. He spoke quietly, almost to himself. “Thinking about… hmph. The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” With that non sequitur, he disrobed, turning his body to drape the cloth over the cot.

As he turned back, Zolf was struck by a sudden realisation; he’d never seen Wilde with his shirt off. Never swum together, never seen him coming back from bathing with a towel around his waist. Even in the heat, Wilde always wore his shirt buttoned, his yukata firmly tied. Zolf swore he could see Wilde’s chest in his mind’s eye. It just made sense. Wilde had certainly seen Zolf’s chest; they’d been living in each other’s pockets for almost a year now and Zolf didn’t think much of it.

But no, because if he’d seen Wilde without the shirt, he would know that Wilde had a smattering of dark chest hair. And more scars on his torso than seemed right. The wounds from Douglas had torn two messy gashes near the ribs, and those scars were present as expected. But there were two more - slightly crescent shaped, uniform and well-healed - swooping across his chest just beneath flat nipples.

Surgical scars.

The air was knocked out of Zolf’s lungs. His body had grasped answers before his mind did. His thoughts felt sluggish, crawling, gasping to catch up, and when they did it was with the lurching realisation of just how unfair it was that they had been brought here, to this cell, to this grotesque scenario, against their will.

Wilde undid the drawstring of his pants and stepped out of them. Dark hair ran in a soft line from his navel down, fanning out to the triangle that dipped between his legs. His face was carefully blank, as he lifted his hands, palms up, in a sardonic “ta-dah” gesture.

Zolf was frozen inside his mind, as Wilde turned slowly on the spot.

He did have a fantastic arse, the perfect balance of muscular and plush, and once again Zolf was furious that any hint of eros in this had been utterly perverted.

Wilde turned back to face Zolf and raised his eyebrows in a silent question. Zolf nodded again, his mouth dry. Wilde dressed, not rushed but efficient.

They sat in silence for a time.

“You never told me,” was all Zolf could think of to say.

“Fantastically witty and incisive commentary from one Zolf Smith, yet again,” Wilde said, voice like acrid smoke. Nothing made Wilde bite like losing the upper hand.

“I’m- I’m sorry. I jus’, I’ll go-” Zolf tried to walk and turn at the same time and knocked into the stool, clanging it down to the floor. He righted it with hands that shook and headed for the stairs.

“Zolf!” Wilde called after him. “You don’t have to leave.”

Well. That was as close to begging as Wilde ever got.

Zolf returned to his stool, and re-joined the silence. Wilde sat on the cot, watching the close wall of the cell with a face that Zolf recognised; it was one of Wilde’s favourite expressions, deliberately mild, open, waiting. It gave away nothing and invited everything. For Wilde, it was safety.

Other people, people who didn’t know Wilde as well, might take that as an invitation to speak. Zolf wasn’t other people. He thought about all the times he’d stumbled through something awkward, with good intentions but clumsy words. He had no idea how to proceed, other than it was probably wise to wait, and let Wilde find words first.

“Don’t feel bad about me not telling you.” Wilde said eventually. “It usually doesn’t come up, unless I’m sleeping with someone. Even then you’d be impressed at what can be achieved with creative use of props, dim lighting and a bit of magic.” He trailed his hand wistfully through the air, an impotent somatic component.

Zolf continued to wait, to leave the man space. Zolf wasn’t the one who’d been stripped, forced into a deeply personal disclosure without plan or intent.

“It’s not that I’m ashamed, you see. It's more… it feels like handing over a weapon, and I try to avoid that if I can. And well, I’m usually not in someone’s acquaintance long enough to feel bad about keeping it a secret.” There was an apology tucked between the words, and Zolf nodded even though Wilde wasn’t watching

He paused to run his thumb over the facial scarring, once, twice. “Bosie knew.”

Wilde let the silence stretch on long enough that Zolf felt like he had to speak or he would never stop thinking about skidding through Wilde’s blood on a cold stone floor. “You… you used to use your magic for it, righ’?”

Wilde barked out a harsh laugh. “Oh yes, for practically all of it! It was the reason I got so good at glamours! Back in Cairo I… I suspected that an anti-magic chamber or cuffs might halt the hexing, but I couldn’t, you see? I’d been doing it for so long. Everyone knew me as a man.” He shrugged, saying obviously with his shoulders. “I couldn’t go back.”

Zolf examined Wilde’s face. He was still carefully keeping his gaze on the cell wall. He still had that mild expression on his face, as though they discussed what to have for lunch, not one of the lowest points of his life. But he didn’t seem upset, so Zolf pressed on. “What happened?”

“Oh I…” he huffed a small laugh. “I got lucky. Turns out Grizzop already knew. I don’t think I reacted quite right when he punched me in the crotch.” Now something like genuine fondness crept into Wilde’s voice. “He suspected what might happen if I had to stop casting; he helped smooth things over. I was in no position to be fending for myself at that juncture, I had let the curse go on too long.” Wilde looked at his hands. “I will always be grateful to him.”

Wilde sounded like a man who knew, without a doubt, that the object of his gratitude was dead.

“Once it became clear the cuffs were going to become a permanent accessory, he set things up with the Cult of Aphrodite for me to have surgery and for them to supply the right potions. They have all the gear and know-how, of course. Not everyone in my position is a caster.”

Something else clicked in place for Zolf as he pondered the technicalities of non-magical surgery.

“Wait a minute. You were still recovering from that when we joined back up, weren’t you?”

Wilde’s brow crinkled as he considered timelines. “That’s right. Scarring needs to heal with almost no magical intervention, otherwise it’s back to square one. So it was… quite painful, to be quite honest. And compared to magical healing, the process drags on and on.”

Wilde smoothed a hand over his robe-clad chest. “I like it better this way now. No more binding my chest just in case, though I try to be careful about who sees the scars.” His voice was light, that faux-levelness starting to fade and he just, talked. Wilde was relieved, Zolf realised with a start. He wanted to tell Zolf about these things.

“It’s nice to just … be myself. Even at the end of day when I’m tired and can’t cast anymore.” And he finally looked at Zolf and smiled. Not a smirk or grin, just a completely open smile that welcomed Zolf into his joy instead of belittling or declaring victory with it. Even with the scar, sitting in a dim cell, he looked radiant.

As Zolf went to smile back, he felt his face wobble. This - Wilde smiling, confiding, being easy and honest with him - it was a better outcome than he could have hoped for. He felt the sudden bloom of Wilde’s smile in his chest, the warmth of the man’s trust.

But this was merely day one of seven, and it was still terrifyingly possible that the man who sat across from him was not Wilde at all. So Zolf’s smile twisted as it appeared on his face, and he didn’t reply, allowing them to lapse back into silence.

Day 2

“Wouldn’ it be- well not easier but less, I dunno- to just wait and do one inspection on the last day?” Zolf asked. He’d brought down breakfast and the paper, and they’d sat quietly as they ate; Wilde had finished eating and was starting on the motions of undressing.

“Zolf. My dear.” Wilde cocked his head in that patronising way that he did when he thought Zolf had said something legitimately dumb. “If I am reading your intentions correctly, your plan for the week is to eschew all your other jobs to waste away at my door-” Zolf opened his mouth to argue and Wilde simply raised his voice and pressed on “-not that I am complaining, but if you truly are going to while away the days with me, and then on the final day, you find out I have been infected the whole time and have to kill me, how, pray tell, is that going to make you feel?”

Zolf snapped his mouth shut.

“Wouldn’t you rather know as soon as it comes up?” Wilde pointed out, frustratingly reasonable.

Zolf simply wanted to throw the cell doors open because there didn’t seem any possibility that the man behind the bars was anything other than 100% pure, vexatious Oscar Wilde, but he stilled his twitching hand. Wilde’s question was to remain unanswered as Zolf simply gestured go on then and Wilde, with a grim, self-satisfied nod, started to strip.

Day 3

“No, don’tcha see, if Jennifer had gone to Antony in the garden, her mother would have known from the get-go-”

“But I simply don’t see how Alianne knowing would have improved things for Jennifer-”

“She was supportive, she could’ve helped smooth things over when Antony’s sister started her meddlin’, and they could have wrapped the whole thing up before supper!”

“Yes, but where is the fun in that, Zolf?”

Day 4

As Wilde dispassionately disrobed for a fourth time, Zolf realised there was now a familiarity to Wilde’s naked body, and that was jarring.

He wasn’t lanky, not really, but Zolf couldn’t help but think of most humans that way. The truth was he was solid enough in build, surprisingly muscular for a man who mostly rode a desk. His legs and arse especially were firm with it. He does a lot of walking about the village, I s’pose.

Zolf watched Wilde turn on the spot and he longed to trace the shape of Wilde’s shoulders, cup his ass, rub my damn nose in that soft lookin’ chest hair and…

Zolf ground his teeth against the wrongness of it all.

He thought of slipping his hands between Wilde’s legs, and though the shape of the fantasy had changed, the intensity had not.

It had been a long time since Zolf had felt a physical or sexual attraction like this, and the fact that it was at the most inconvenient time, and the most unlikely person, was enough to make him think he’d made a mistake breaking ties with Poseidon. Maybe if he hadn’t eschewed divine favour, he would have been protected from whatever trickster god had decided to throw this at him.

He kept his hands in his pockets so that Wilde wouldn’t see him clench his fists.

Maybe I should offer to strip too. At least that would put us on an equally horrible footing, Zolf mused.

Wilde dressed and turned back to look at Zolf with careful, watchful eyes. Wilde was in the business of reading even the most inscrutable enemies like a book, and at this point he had a thorough translation guide for Zolf. He knew it bothered the dwarf. The fact that Wilde hadn’t made a bunch of lewd comments was probably his idea of a kindness, but the absence of Wilde’s typical peacocking it somehow made it worse.

When he looked at him like that, it made Zolf feel like he was the one in the cell.

Zolf cleared his throat. “Got a new crossword book if you like?”

Day 5

“Pawn to E4.”

A chess board sat on a small table just outside the cell. Zolf moved the white pawn for Wilde then took his own move.

“Knight to G3.” Wilde said in a bored tone. He’d voted for bridge, but Zolf had talked him out of it. Too difficult to wrangle cards between the cell’s bars and mesh, he’d pointed out. Which was true, but what was also true was that Wilde was surprisingly bad at chess (it was much easier to cheat in cards).

Whilst Zolf did feel sympathy for Wilde, things weren’t so bad that Zolf wasn’t going to relish the opportunity to beat him at something for a change.

Day 6

Each day Wilde got closer to being comfortable with the inspections. Closer but not there. Half a lifetime of needing to be guarded about who saw your body created some strong foundational habits. That foundation wasn’t going to be eroded in seven days, regardless of how much you trusted the person who saw you.

But still, it could have been worse. Zolf shuddered to think what would have happened if this situation had been thrust on them a year ago. Their friendship, tenuous as it was, might not have been able to survive.

Dressing again, Wilde stretched the kinks out of neck. “I cannot wait to get out of here and have a proper bath and a nice long walk.”

“Nearly there.” Zolf said absently. He’d stopped needing to worry every second moment that Wilde was infected. Even though they’d been dealing with it all with distractions, with laughter, with pretending like it wasn’t happening, Zolf felt the sudden urge to be honest.

“I’m sorry that… that it happened like this. That you didn’t get a choice in tellin’ me about...” Your past? Your journey? Your truth? “…Everythin’.”

Wilde made a face of surprise, but instead of deflecting the offer of an honest conversation, he accepted. “Me too. I intended to, but as I said. I’m rarely… close enough with someone that I feel they deserve it. I wish-” Wilde paused, considering his next words, and what other weapons he might be handing over, deeply. “I wish that the circumstances had been different.”

Zolf could just ask what he meant. He could. It was practically an invitation for him to press, to force Wilde to clarify exactly under what circumstance he’d envisioned sharing secrets about his body with Zolf… but he didn’t.

Inside Zolf, uneasy guilt gnawed at him. The circumstances they had were only these ones. Wilde was vulnerable, caged, and thoroughly without a choice; but Zolf knew there were moments he’d chosen to ignore those elements. He knew, deep in his guilty core, he had been inspecting far more than he had the right. It didn’t feel honourable to press Wilde any further after that.

“Yeah.” Zolf stood. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Wilde. Last day ‘n all.”

Day 7

“It would have been too much to hope that the bloody sun would come out for this, wouldn’t it,” Wilde grumbled.

Freshly released, he was pondering umbrella selection in the entry hall.

“I’m guessing you don’t want me to come with,” Zolf ventured. Wilde had come out of his quarantine cheerful enough, but there was something understandably off about him; something distant and a little contemplative. Zolf had been half-expecting, or even hoping for, one of Wilde’s warm shoulder-touches. But he had kept his hands firmly to himself.

Wilde looked up, mouth twisted wryly. “I think I’ll be fine.” He hesitated, as he always did before saying something sincere. “I do appreciate what you’ve done for me this week, Zolf, but I could use a little space.”

Zolf nodded. He’d expected as much.

Inside him, the guilt twisted a little, the word violator rising in his mind. No. Neither of them had chosen anything about this situation. If anything, their connection felt even stronger for having been through the wringer, yet again. Whatever liberties Zolf accused himself of taking, it wasn’t enough to dent that.

We’re alright. Zolf thought.

We’ll be alright. I think we both could use a little time, is all.

Wilde selected the green umbrella, gave Zolf a tentative smile, and headed out into the rain.

[lizzy-frizzle]

I’m going to start this by saying, I have bias. Everyone does. I do not intend for this to come off as “the thing you like is bad”, but moreso “the corporation that controls the thing you like is manipulative”.

My background; I am a 26 year old trans mom, I have a history with addiction, particularly gambling, and spend most of my time playing video games. I have gone to college for about 3 years for my psychology degree, and while I do not have my degree, I have been studying psychology for roughly 12 years. This is to say, my views will reflect this background. Just because I present this information like I do, does not inherently mean I’m right, though it also doesn’t mean I’m wrong. Try to view things with a critical mind, and know that most topics have nuance.

Ok, so lootboxes, booster packs, gacha games, all of these are gambling. This is not really an argument. You are putting money into a service of sorts, and receiving a randomized result. Be that a fancy new gun, that same boring legendary you have 5 of, or that final hero you’ve been trying to collect. You don’t know the outcome before you give your money. As defined by the merriam-webster dictionary: “Gambling; the practice of risking money or other stakes in a game or bet”

You are risking your money in not getting an item you want. There are ways this is handled acceptably, and ways this is handled poorly. Gambling is also illegal to people under 21 in a lot of places, but places online aren’t quick to tell you why. I don’t have any sources because every source requires a paywall to get any information, but pulling from my own personal experience and what I learned in college, it’s because children are very impressionable. I say “I like pokemon” and suddenly my 2-year old can’t go anywhere without her pikachu. I remember distinctly playing poker with my mom and her friends when I was 12. When you normalize gambling, what it does is lower the risk aversion of gambling. You are less likely to see a threat in playing that card game, because when you are that young you have no concept of money. You don’t know what a dollar is, so why not throw it away so you can have fun. This is...I hesitate to call it fine, but it’s mostly harmless. The issue is with children and their lack of knowledge of money. When I grew up and got a job, it’s a lot harder to tell my brain, “hey, don’t spend that money, you won’t get it back and you won’t get what you want.” Because my brain just acknowledges the potential for what I want. I want to buy the booster pack so I can have the potential to get that masterpiece misty rainforest. I want to buy that diamond pack so I have the chance to get the cute hero. I want to buy that lootbox so I can get the battle rifle that does a cool effect. These are harmless concepts, but very dangerous.

Make no mistake, companies know how psychology works, and will use it to their advantage. MatPat from game theory states that companies have even go so far as to have systems in place that change the odds as you’re losing, and monitor your skill level to put you up against harder opponents, to see the better weapons and go, “Oh I want that!” and entice you to buy more lootboxes. As it turns out I found an article covering what he was talking about, Activision had actually acquired a patent to arrange matchmaking to do just that [x], and the article says it’s not in place, but my trust in companies is not high enough to actually believe them.(honestly, matpat made a 2-part video series about lootboxes, and I’d recommend watching them)

So, companies are trying to manipulate you to buy more gambling products. There’s proof of it. It’s also more blatantly obvious in games like Magic the Gathering, where they release fancier versions of cards at rarer probabilities. To better explain it, from a collector’s standpoint, you want the fancy card cause it has value, it has value because it’s rare, rarer than the other versions, so if you’re on the lower end of the income ladder you buy a pack, or two. After all, you could get lucky and get it. On the higher end of the income ladder, you buy the card outright and hoard it. Maybe sell it off later if you notice the price goes down. From a player perspective, you see a card is being used by tournament players, you want to win more games, so you want those cards, which encourages you to buy products and try to get those cards. That’s predatory behavior. It’s predatory from the company’s perspective because that poor person might not be able to afford the card outright, but $5-$10 isn’t much, plus they always entice you with that Chance. They also further this desire for the cards by making it limited runs, such as the secret lair packs, if there’s a low amount purchased and it’s made to order, or worse, if they limit the order capabilities themselves, that drives up the value, and provides further incentive to buy the cards and packs. This not only creates an impossible barrier between the poor and the rich, but also heavily encourages people buy their gambling pack than people would have in other conditions.

For the record, I love magic the gathering, I’m not saying the game itself is bad, this is just a VERY predatory marketing tactic.

Let’s switch gears. Gacha games. I play AFKArena, because like I said, I have a gambling addiction and cannot stop myself. In AFKArena, you collect heroes, and battle with them in various ways. If you collect more of similar heroes you can rank them up. If I’m to believe what I’ve heard, it sounds like this is pretty common for gacha games. So what makes it bad. In AFKArena you use diamonds to summon heroes, now, you can acquire diamonds by beating specific story chapters, logging in every day, random limited time events, or paying for them with real money. AFKArena hero drops don’t seem that bad compared to the free diamond amount they dish out, which has resulted in me not spending all that much money on it, all things considered ($20 over 2 years). I believe that for a mobile game like this, that’s fair. I get way more enjoyment out of the game than I do most $60 games, so it balances out. However, this isn’t the case for every gacha game, and my trust in companies, as previously stated, is very low. The issue lies in them making the rates for good heroes so low that you HAVE to spend money on the game to really get over a roadblock of sorts. I do think that there is this issue in my game and I just didn’t notice it, someone with a lower tolerance or patience might absolutely have the incentive to drop hundreds of dollars on the game over a month. There are people of all different flavours, and it’s important to keep that in mind when discussing these topics, just because a marketing technique doesn’t work on you, does not mean it doesn’t work on anyone. After all, they have those $100 packs for a reason, you might not be that reason but someone is. That’s predatory.

I feel like I’ve gotten off track, let’s get back on the rails. Where was...gambling...predatory…ah, kids. So my biggest issue, is that Magic the Gathering is marketed towards 13 year olds. Not directly, but the packs say 13+. AFKArena and any mobile game for that matter, can be downloaded by anyone with a phone for free, with minimal mention that there’s microtransactions. AAA title games like Destiny 2, Overwatch, Fortnite, etc. are probably the worst offenders. A kid spent $16,000 of his parents money on fortnite in-game purchases, and that’s not the only time this has happened [x] [x] . More often than not, what happens is, the kid wants to play a video game, like halo on xbox, or destiny, or something, they ask their mom for their credit card, and the system saves it. I mentioned before that kids do not have a concept of money or its value, so giving kids unlimited access to the credit card is going to result in this kind of thing happening. I’m not blaming the parents for not being hypervigilant, sometimes you are really busy, or disabled, or whatever the reason, and you don’t notice the system just saved your card. I’m not blaming the kids cause their brains are literally underdeveloped. I blame the corporations, because they make the process as easy as possible to prey on kids and people with gambling addictions. (as a personal anecdote, I found that if I want a magic card in MtG:O, I’m way less likely to try and buy it if I have to get up and get my card, I’d recommend not saving your card if you suffer from gambling/addiction problems)

So after all of this evidence, how can anyone still view these things as anything but predatory? The answer is simple. You’re told they aren’t. Businesses spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on really good marketing, and public relations. I tried to google why gambling is illegal for people under 21, and got nothing, I got a couple forums asking the question, and a couple religious sites saying it’ll make them degenerates. I try looking up sources to prove the psychology behind these concepts, but they are locked behind paywall after paywall after paywall. Businesses and capitalism has made it so incredibly hard to discover the truth and get information you need, and it’s on purpose. They want you to trust that that booster pack is a good idea. They want you to spend money on lootboxes (look at all the youtubers that shill out for raid shadow legends, or other gambling games to their super young fanbase [x]). They want you to lower your guard and go, “well, it’s a video game, how can it be predatory?” “it’s a card game with cute creatures on it, surely it’s not that bad”

But it is. So why did I make this post? I dunno, my brain really latched onto the topic, I see so many people enjoying gacha games, but I’m worried that it’s going to ruin lives...I just want everyone to be informed and critical of what is going on.

[rexsjaigeyes]

Phone Sex - Narcos Headcanons

NSFW, 18+

Words: 1.7k

Warnings: um, phone sex…

A/N: Pacho’s a condescending asshole but you love it. And oops I made Martínez really submissive here..

Javi:

Javi makes it a habit to call you during his lunch break. He likes checking up on you and asking what you’re up to while he’s stuck at The Embassy. You’ve learned his schedule well enough that sometimes, you mess around with him a little.

Knowing that he’s on break and that it’s less likely for someone to bother him, you learn to time it so that you’re in the middle of masturbating the moment he calls you. You know how much it flusters him when you pick up the phone sounding all breathless or moaning his name.

When you catch him off guard like that, he’s unable to resist joining you. He checks to see if the coast is clear before shoving his hand down his pants and gently palming himself to the sound of your moans.

After you do this a couple times, he gets really bold and expects you to be doing something naughty practically every time that he calls you.

Almost every call starts with a smug, “So what are you up to, princess?” Or he’ll cut right to the chase and ask what you’re wearing (and he expects you to say that you’re not wearing anything or that you’re wearing some fancy lingerie).

Soon it becomes somewhat of a ritual. You call him at work whenever you’re feeling lonely or whenever you’re desperate to hear his voice. Sometimes, Javi doesn’t have the time or privacy to touch himself, but he loves being able to listen to you and help you reach your orgasm. He loves the fact that his voice turns you on that much, and he can’t get enough of how desperate you sound when you’re getting off to his words.

If there are too many people walking around, he puts his feet up on his desk, smokes a cigarette, and acts completely nonchalant while he listens to you. When he sees the opportunity, he rasps softly, “Are you close, baby? Cum for me.”

He loves the risk of it all and the fact that if he doesn’t play his cards right, someone could realize what he’s up to. But all of it turns him on so much, and he just prays that he can go home soon to take care of the growing bulge in his pants.

Phone sex becomes such a common occurence with Javi that he actually gets worried when you don’t call him. If you miss one of your daily calls, he immediately thinks the worst has happened.

Bonus:

There have been several instances where Steve doesn’t leave during lunchtime, and Javi has to pounce on the phone when it rings, knowing you’ll be on the other end. Steve always wonders why Javi glares him down and grabs the phone so quickly. The truth is that Javi doesn’t want Steve to catch a snippet of your moans because most of the time you’re already going at it before Javi has the chance to say hello.

Steve:

When you were dating each other in Miami, Steve used to love resorting to phone sex whenever you were apart. He was actually the first one to suggest it, much to your surprise.

Whenever he would have tiring days at work, he’d relax in bed and call you. At first, his intentions were innocent; he just wanted to ask about your day and say good night to you. But one night, he missed your touch and craved your body so much that he had to do something about it. It was too late to show up at your place, so he asked if you’d be comfortable getting off with him over the phone (and of course he asked very politely, with that classic Southern charm).

Steve’s boldness always surprised you, but you weren’t going to pass down the chance to hear his low groans and get off to the thought of him touching himself.

After that, he used to jump at the chance to call you with naughtier intentions whenever he was horny. He had no problems calling you while he was at work because things weren’t too busy at the beginning of his career in Miami.

As much as Steve loves making the first move, he adores when you call him and specifically ask for him to talk dirty to you. It boosts his ego and it reminds him that you love his low drawl when he tells you all the things he wishes he could do to your body.

When the two of you moved to Colombia, phone sex became less of a common occurence because Steve just didn’t have as much time to kill at work.

The only time it ever happens is if he’s planning to stay at The Embassy after hours. During those long and exhausting nights, he pours a drink and rubs at his tired eyes before caving and calling you to see if you’re still up.

It’s harder for you to sleep when he’s not beside you anyway, so you’re always available to pick up the phone during those nights. On those occasions, Steve mostly just misses the sound of your voice. He focuses on your pleasure, mostly because he feels guilty for not getting to see you that often. So it’s all soft and intimate while he tells you exactly how he wants you to touch yourself and praises you through the phone.

If he’s really desperate and there’s no one else in the office to catch him, he touches himself too, enjoying the sounds you make. It doesn’t take him very long to finish because of how tired he is, but he always makes sure that you get to cum too before he wishes you a good night and hangs up.

Pacho:

Pacho is very playful and likes making you work for his attention, so it always makes him smirk when you call him with the intention of getting off.

The first few minutes of the call are spent begging him to actually talk dirty to you because he likes teasing you. He jokes about how needy you are or asks if you really missed him that much. His condescending tone when he teases you about that just makes you even hornier, and he is fully aware of that.

If you even try to touch yourself before he allows it, he will instantly know and you will pay for it when he sees you in person. When he’s satisfied with how you beg for him to help you feel good, then he’ll finally give you what you want.

Pacho is the master of dirty talk; he could make you cum in a matter of seconds with just his words. For this reason, phone sex with him usually leads to multiple orgasms on your part. He’s never satisfied with making you cum only once.

You don’t know this of course, but he’s also extremely talented in keeping his composure if someone else can see him while you’re talking dirty to him. It doesn’t matter what you say to him or what noises you make; he will just smirk and act completely innocent. Anyone who’s watching him wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a business call or a call from you.

Sometimes you accidentally call him at inconvenient times, but all he has to do is find a little privacy for a few minutes, say a couple of sentences, and you’re a goner.

Carrillo:

Carrillo is a busy man, and he doesn’t really like fooling around when he’s supposed to be working. His job is important to him and you know better than to mess with him while he’s working.

When he’s not working, he’d much rather spend his time with you in person, so phone sex isn’t a common occurence in your relationship. Carrillo is a man of action, so he enjoys being able to actually fuck you instead of making half-assed efforts through the phone.

That isn’t to say that he will never have phone sex with you, but it takes a little finessing on your part. You have to catch him in a good mood and at the right time, when you know he’s not too busy. If you can do that, then he’ll gladly talk dirty to you and help you out.

When this happens, he likes commanding you to do certain things over the phone. You don’t make a single movement without his permission, and you certainly don’t get to cum until he allows it.

It’s rare that he would ever call you in need of a release. Instead, he comes home from work and expects you to be ready for him after such a long or annoying day.

He’s always going to choose pounding you into your mattress over only listening to your voice over the phone, but that’s not something you’d complain about.

Martínez:

Despite his commanding presence at work, Martínez is really shy when you try to make any bold moves involving your sex life. You love the dynamic the two of you have though; you lead him through things that he’s less familiar with and he learns to enjoy riskier things.

That being said, you were the one to initiate phone sex with him. When it happened, he was extremely flustered and had no clue what to do. It was a little awkward, but you helped him through it.

You’re normally the one doing most of the dirty talking. You rile him up until he’s practically shaking, and he checks his office door to make sure it’s locked before he starts touching himself.

Even if he doesn’t do most of the talking, you still get off on the sounds he makes when he touches himself to your voice. His soft whimpers and groans are like music to your ears. You love how vocal he can get, but the sound of him trying to hold it back so that no one outside the office can hear– that’s what really gets to you.

When he’s close, that’s when he’s really talkative. He’ll ask you if you’re going to cum with him, and he’ll chant your name softly.

He always sounds so submissive and needy when you call him to have some fun, and it turns you on so much to reduce the Colonel to a begging mess.

--------------

Narcos hc tag list: @sirianisrock​ @fleurfatale89 @ionlyjoinedforboydholbrook​

Lmk if you wanna be added to my narcos headcanon tag list!

[smutty-skyrim]

Hadvar || NSFW Alphabet

A = Aftercare

Hadvar tries to be caring after sex, but is more often than not found laying in a blissed out haze. He's perfectly content laying sprawled out on the bed indefinitely afterwards, indulging in lazy pillow talk.

If it was a particularly rough session he'll take time to gently caress your body, subtly checking for any injuries as he mutters about how good you did.

B = Body Part

Hadvar likes his arms. He was a scrawny boy growing up and worked hard for his muscles. Having them admired will make him smile without fail, with pride swelling inside him. He'll find excuses to show off his strength for you.

He is fond of your breasts. He hasn't been able to get them out of his mind since he caught a glimpse of you changing while you two were at an Imperial camp one evening. He loves playing with them - rolling your nipple beneath a calloused thumb and taking them in his mouth.

C = Cum

Hadvar isn't the sort to paint you with cum of his own accord. You're going to have to specifically ask for it. His favorite place to cum is in your mouth, but there's something to be said about watching it drip from your pussy while you bask in your afterglow.

D = Dirty Secret

You were the first thing Hadvar got off to after the Helgen attack, and were a recurring fantasy every few nights since then (often more). He was convinced he'd never see your face again, until that fateful day your paths crossed on the battlefield.

He came to the thought of you with him again that night.

E = Experience

Hadvar has been with a few women. Three, to be precise. Two of them were long term girlfriends and the third was a woman he met on the road with the Legion. They spent a few nights together until he left town. He doesn't have the most experience but he has enough to be confident in what he is doing. He's quick to learn and adapt to your body.

F = Favorite Position

Hadvar has a preference for your legs on his shoulders. He likes being able to stare down at your breasts and watch them as he pounds into you. He enjoys seeing each little expression on your face, and the way your lips curl into a smile as you pant his name.

G = Goofy?

Hadvar is serious in the moment. Sometimes a little too serious, but even when this leads to moments of awkwardness they can comfortably end in a laugh. Once he's more comfortable with you his sense of humor may shine through more at times, but it's still rare.

H = Hair

Hadvar keeps his hair trimmed and neat, when he can. As he's often on the road with the Legion, he doesn't have much time to worry about things like that.

I = Intimacy

Despite the brutish nature of his career and the way he often carries himself, he's gentle and patient in bed. He takes time to figure out what his partner likes. Hadvar isn't one to rush the act. He'll treat you as if you're the only thing that matters, with tender kisses and gentle hands.

J = Jack Off

Hadvar has to resort to masturbation often in the Legion. This is one of the reasons he keeps a pair of your underwear tucked safely in his bag. He'll bury his nose in them as he bucks into his hand, desperately wishing he was buried inside of you.

K = Kink

Breastplay - Hadvar loves your tits and enjoys playing with them, no matter the size. Though he isn't usually eager to cum on your body, your tits tend to be the exception to that rule. He'll be particularly thrilled if he can fuck them.

Public Sex - It's something he discovered in the Legion. You two often have to sneak off to find time together in highly patrolled woods, or keep as quiet as you can in your tents.

L = Location

He's not particularly picky. He'd be inclined to say his favorite is a nice warm bed, as they are a rarity for him, but it would be a lie. His favorite place to fuck you is probably busy forts the two of you fought to clear out together. He'll pull you into dark hallways and unused closets and have his way with you.

M = Motivation

Hadvar enjoys watching you in the more quiet, natural moments. Sometimes you'll be making dinner by the crackling fire, and others you'll be curled up with your nose in a book. In these little moments when your guard is down and you look so vulnerable and human you are absolutely beautiful.

He's also a big fan of your body in general. He loves visuals - whether this is you teasing him while you bathe together, or giving him a strip tease.

N = NO

Hadvar has a limit when it comes to rough sex. He'll fuck you hard no issue. He loves the feeling of your hips slamming together. He'll pull your hair within reason and choke you lightly if you beg for it, but he's never going to hit you. He doesn't really enjoy using that kind of brute force in the bedroom. You might get him comfortable spanking you, though.

O = Oral

Hadvar isn't the most skilled at oral, but he makes up for it with enthusiasm. He loves burying his face in your pussy, moaning softly against your lips and massaging your thighs with wandering hands. It might be one of his favorite things to do with you.

He enjoys getting blowjobs, but rarely goes out of his way to request them. They're something he appreciates if his partner decides to give him one.

P = Pace

Unless it's a public quickie, Hadvar tends to begin slow. How it escalates depends on your preference. He enjoys savoring the moment, but if you'd rather get straight into the action he's more than happy to oblige.

Q = Quickie

It should be obvious, but quickies and Hadvar go hand in hand. With his enjoyment of public sex they tend to pop up a lot.

R = Risk

The biggest risk Hadvar takes is public sex. He's hesitant to try most risky kinks because the last thing he wants to do is genuinely harm his partner. He also worries that he's not going to know what he's doing and lacks a bit of confidence when it comes to going outside of his comfort zone.

S = Stamina

The buildup may go on for a while, but Hadvar doesn't last the longest in bed. He's often eager and sensitive by the time he starts fucking you and is desperate for release. He needs some time to recover between rounds, but he'll happily go again (and again).

T = Toy

Hadvar wouldn't go out of his way to use a toy on you (there aren't many available in Skyrim), but if you wanted him to he'd happily give it a shot.

Modern!Hadvar would enjoy slipping a vibrator down your panties and teasing you with it throughout the day.

U - Unfair

Hadvar isn't much of a tease. Even when he's dragging things out, it's always clear where they'll end up. Sometimes he'll wait for you to beg but more often his own will cracks before yours would and he can't hold himself back.

V = Volume

Hadvar is excellent at being quiet. His penchant for taking you in risky places makes this a necessity. You're used to hearing uneven pants and hitching breath, and the sound of his cock thrusting into you. But when you're alone you'll often hear soft groans, and your name leaving his lips in a whisper.

W = Wild Card

Hadvar praises you often, whether it's because of your eagerness for his cock or how well you take it. If you go down on him without him asking (which he rarely will), you'll find his fingers tangling in your hair as he groans, "That's a good girl."

X = X-Ray

Hadvar's body is well muscled, with a light layer of hair across his chest and arms, trailing down his stomach. His dick is about 6 ½" long and rather girthy.

Y = Yearning

Hadvar's sex drive is average. He enjoys sex, and enjoys it often, but he can easily go some time without it, not even masturbating daily. Sometimes he prefers to put it off for a couple days in order to build up the tension and craving.

Z = ZZZ

If you let him lay in his bliss too long, he's likely to doze off. It's important to try and initiate a round two before he gets too lost in his head, and soft snores begin to fill the room.