#god the mental image of this is just playing over and over in my brain

[makoodles]

I love Dom!Ronal with my entire (pussy) heart

I just imagine Ronal making Tonowari sit and watch while she plays you like a damn fiddle.

She goads him too, “Do you see how wet she is?” “Look at how her cunt draws my fingers deeper.”

Meanwhile, you’re slack-jawed and boneless as Ronal thrust her fingers deeper and rubs circles on your clit.

And poor Tonowari can’t help but stroke himself while he watches his pretty girls play with each other.

one might think that tonowari would feel a little left out watching the two of you get so damn distracted with each other, but you'd be wrong

he loves having his front row seat to his two pretty girls playing. there's nothing that gets him harder than watching the two of you rutting against each other, listening to your soft little gasps as you're strung tighter and tighter.

tonowari will be fisting his cock the whole time, grunting softly as he runs the pad of his thick thumb over the sensitive head, but he will not allow himself to cum. that privilege is saved for when ronal finally decides to beckon him over to join in - why come in his hand when he has two beautiful mates right there waiting for him?

[artdcnaldson]

art donaldson. make me cry on your cock. please. need it to be so hard and rough my little body can hardly take it. need him to ruin me and use me. horny brain. need to be a babysitter dilf!art hires to look after lily. need him to pick me because he thinks i'm pretty, need him to feel disgusting with himself for looking at such a young thing like that. but hire me anyway. need him to lie and insist the AC doesn't work, just so i'll keep wearing short skirts he can look right up under.... many thoughts.....😵‍💫

-🐞

BABYSITTER AU ALWAYS HITS SO CRAZYYYY

He feels so fucking gross like… his wife hired you— you’re working for them because you need a job while you’re in college, and he’s leering at you like a fucking perv.

You’re swimming in the pool with Lily when he gets home and you just giggle and wrap yourself in a towel and say you lost track of time, sorry! And god, just the mental image of you in a wet swimsuit is jerkoff material for the next fucking month.

You’re everywhere— he feels like he’s going crazy. You leave a spoon that you ate ice cream with on the counter and he’s slipping it between his lips, sucking on it like he can taste your spit there, even though all he can taste is metal. Blankets thrown carelessly across the couch smell like you— your perfume and deodorant. On one particularly desperate night, he cums with his face buried into the fabric, practically huffing your scent.

He’s gross, he hates that you’ve made him this way. He’s had plenty of other young, pretty babysitters hired before, but none of them do this to him. None of them fuck with his head this severely.

It all comes to a head when he gets home late one night after a charity function for underprivileged tennis players. Tashi’s away with Patrick, coaching him through the qualifiers for Roland Garros, which leaves him alone. Lily’s asleep when he peeks into her room— tucked in perfectly snug, surrounded by three of her favorite plushies.

But you… he can’t find you anywhere. It’s not until he steps into his bedroom that he hears it— the shutter of a phone camera, a girlish giggle. He steps into the bathroom and sees your shadow dancing across the marble floor, then sees a dress dropped into a heap in the doorway.

When he steps into the closet, you shriek in surprise, holding a hand to your chest. “Fuck— Mr. Donaldson, this isn’t—“ you stop talking, eyes wide, breathing in short, nervous pants.

You’re wearing Tashi’s lingerie. Tashi’s jewelry. The dress heaped on the floor is the one his wife wore to speak at the Stanford Commencement a few months prior. It’s cute— you’re playing dress up as his wife— but it sets an uncomfortable heat blooming in his stomach.

“Turn around,” he says, letting his eyes roam over your figure. You look pretty in lingerie that nice, that expensive. It’s got to be worth more than your fucking car payment.

“Mr. Donaldson—“ you stammer, shy now that you’ve been caught. He nods and you obey, biting down on your pouty bottom lip as you turn slowly for him.

“Take it off.” You quickly slip off the jewelry— the diamond earrings, the necklace, the rings, the Rolex. You drop it onto the vanity table and stare down at the floor. “All of it.”

He watches the bob of your throat as you swallow hard. Your gaze flicks over him quickly, lingering at the evident bulge in his fancy trousers. You obey, standing a little straighter, putting yourself on display for him as you unclasp the bra, let it fall to the floor.

Your nipples are already pebbled with arousal, and you slowly drag your hands over them, playing with them while Art watches. Art swallows hard as your hands trail down to toy with the waistband of the panties before you slip them down your legs.

“Hand them to me.” You’re trembling as you reach down and grab them, taking nervous steps forward before you place them into his open palm. He swallows hard, feeling the way your arousal has already soaked through the fabric.

Your feet are fidgeting where you stand— toes curling and uncurling into the plush carpet in the closet. “Does trying on Tashi’s clothes make you wet?”

“No, sir,” you answer quickly.

“Then what?”

You blink shyly, sweetly up at him. “Pretending I’m your wife does.” Jesus fucking Christ. “Imagining in her, that you’re going to come home from a busy night and stuff me full of cum. You know this set still had the tags on it? If I were her I’d wear things like this every n—”

He grabs your jaw hard, silencing you with a squeeze. “Stop fucking talking. I’m trying to— I’m trying to be decent.”

Decent. It’s laughable. You’re stripped naked before him on his orders. He’s holding panties you drenched with your arousal in his other hand, and all he can think is how bad he wants to taste them— taste you.

“Don’t.” You say, blinking up at him. “Don’t be decent.”

He releases your jaw, and you’re on your knees in an instant. Your hands work his belt, and he doesn’t move to stop you. He lets you pull it from the loops, undo the button and zip of his pants and push them down his thighs.

“I’ll stop,” you say as you pepper a soft kiss to his thigh. “Tell me to.”

He swallows, then groans as you palm his dick through the briefs he wears, tracing the length of him in your hand. He doesn’t want you to fucking stop.

And why would he want you to stop when you swallow him down so perfectly? Exactly how he knew you would. You’re blinking up at him with your lips wrapped around his cock, moaning at the taste of him.

He thought you’d be sweet and innocent, but you’re taking him deeper, spit spills from the sides of your mouth as you take him into your throat. Don’t even fucking gag at all, just breathe through your nose and lave your tongue along the underside of his dick, tracing along the vein there.

You moan around him when he grabs a fistful of your hair, holds you in place while he fucks into the wet heat of your mouth. You just take it, even as his full balls slap against your chin with every thrust, as his cockhead knocks against the back of your throat.

He can’t take that anymore. He bends you over Tashi’s vanity, makes you watch yourself in the mirror as he splits you open on his cock. You mewl, eyes rolling back. “Fuck, Mr. Donaldson— you’re so big, feel so good—“ you cry out, a dopey, pleased smile on your face.

He hooks two fingers in your mouth to shut you up as he pounds into your cunt, forcing little squeaks and muffled cries from your mouth. God, your pussy is so perfect— soaking wet, tight as a fucking virgin even though he knows you’re not one— not by a fucking long shot.

He should’ve known. Pretty college girl begging for a job, taunting him with your pretty body, flirting with him any chance you got. He should’ve smelled the daddy issues on you and turned you away. Tashi should have.

But she didn’t, and you were both reaping the benefits now.

[therhythmafterthesummer]

In the Labyrinth (M) ~Changbin

Pairing: Minotaur!Changbin x AFAB.Reader Themes: Mythical AU | Angst | Smut | Fluff Word Count: ~14k | AO3 Synopsis: The Labyrinth was an enigma for most people. Its existence was known, but what exactly happened within it was a complete mystery. When you entered the Labyrinth, you weren’t really sure what you’d have to come face to face with… Not even in a million years would you have guessed just exactly what you’d find in here. Warnings: descriptors of the reader such as: having long hair · mentions of murder · mentions of assault · depictions of anxiety · violence (in many different forms) · Changbin is 300cm tall (feels like that warrants a warning) · graphic depictions of outercourse (smut warnings under the cut). - feel free to let me know if i missed any.

Author’s Note: shout out to the anon that sent this ask back in august and ingrained the mental image of minotaur!changbin in my brain. more notes at the end.

Due to all the abovementioned warnings, this story is intended for an adult audience only. Minors please do not interact.

Smut Warnings: size kink · literal monster cock (he’s a giant… and a half-bull, half-man one at that…) · nipple play · mutual masturbation · non-penetrative sex.

Disclaimer: the story presented in this work does not represent Stray Kids in any way; anything described in this story and all actions performed by the characters are purely fictional, this was created just for good fun.

The sound of your footsteps bounced off of the walls. The corridors were more than spacious, well over twenty metres wide, with the ceiling probably twice as high, but even if it wasn’t crowded in here, it still made you a bit claustrophobic.

You supposed that the few holes in the ceiling did help ease that feeling a little bit. Emphasis on a little bit.

Even if you weren’t particularly thrilled about being down here, you still walked, because there was simply nothing else to do.

You could’ve sat down and awaited your death exactly where you had landed when they threw you in here, but you were never one to remain still for too long. 

So, after having a good crying session, and after hours had passed since you’d been given your death sentence, you had finally stood up and started to walk.

You knew what this place was, although you’d never really seen it. You hadn’t even known it was here in this exact area. 

The Labyrinth.

It was said that the place was humongous, practically never-ending, built by a king in ancient times as an offering to the Gods. Presumably, it’d ended up buried in the earth as time passed, and it stretched over kilometres and kilometres of land, but no one had really seen it and lived to tell the tale. At least, no one you knew of.

Law enforcement clearly knew the place, but you weren’t really sure if you could call them people. After all, they had never taken you seriously when you’d sought out their help. In a way, you felt like it was their fault you’d ended up here in the first place…

Although you’d heard of this place, you never really imagined it’d look like this inside. The brick walls were looking a bit worn down, but still structurally sound. They were lined with torches lit with eternal fire, just like the tales said. The floor would alternate between dirt, gravel, actual flooring, and mud. 

As you walked, you saw some ponds, some that even had fish inside. You figured that could be a potential way out, but you weren’t sure how deep you’d have to swim or if that’d be viable at all, so you scrapped the thought altogether. 

Sometimes, you’d see trees. Especially in those areas where there were holes on the ceiling. 

Some of those holes were partially blocked by metal rods, like law enforcement realised they were there and did the minimum required to keep a person or an animal from falling inside. Others were fully open, they varied in sizes, but they were honestly too high up for a person to reach them.

The trees, the mismatched flooring, and the occasional patch of grass weren’t that odd, though. They fit in well, and their presence made sense. What did feel out of place were the drawings on the walls. 

They weren’t on every wall, but there were so many of them it was hard not to notice they were there. Some looked like they’d been there for a long time, the colours were a bit washed out and some of the pigment had probably been absorbed by the brick overtime. Others looked like they could’ve been made a few weeks ago.

Birds, trees, deer, the sun, the moon… They were mostly nature themed, and, in any other context, you might’ve been inspired by the artistry. Even if they intrigued you, it was hard to appreciate them when you felt so hopeless, when you felt so… empty.

As soon as you had stopped crying earlier, you had accepted your fate–how long had it been since then? How long have you been walking for? Hours? How many? It was hard to tell down here… 

You realised just how much time had passed once you noticed another hole in the ceiling. You might’ve missed a few before, since it was clearly now well into the night and there was no light to highlight their presence. 

The faint stars you could see out of that hole made a knot form in your throat and tears well in your eyes. 

This was unfair.

You shouldn’t be the one in here. 

If anything, it should’ve been him.

If anyone had paid attention to you, it would’ve been him.

But instead, here you were.

You found a patch of grass under that hole you saw, so you just laid down and curled in on yourself and called it a night.

As the tears started to fall again, you reminded yourself that you had accepted your fate.

There was no going back now.

It was hard to tell how long you’d been inside the Labyrinth for. 

The first couple of days, you kept count diligently, but at some point you realised it was absolutely pointless. Why would you even want to know that information, if you weren’t going to be able to leave?

You were on your own here. 

You’d seen items that clearly belonged to someone at some point scattered around the many corridors of the Labyrinth, but you hadn’t seen a single soul. Only the fish you’d caught from the occasional pond you found that helped keep your stomach full, or the odd magpie that would come from one of the ceiling’s holes and jump around for a bit before taking off and leaving you alone once again.

You were on your own here… That was, as long as the stories weren’t true.

At first, you thought that the death sentence meant you’d be locked here to starve to death, but that logic started to crumble when you saw just how many sources of sustenance were available. Fresh water, fruit, fish, birds–if one was skilled enough to be able to hunt one of those, or at least have the will to…

You wondered if law enforcement knew this place was like this… Whether they knew or not, you figured it probably didn’t matter. The longer you spent here, the more it made sense to you that the stories were true.

It was said that a beast lived inside the Labyrinth. 

A beast that would make the strongest, bravest man cower in fear.

Some people said it had multiple sets of arms, or that it was as big as the royal library building, bigger than any temple anyone had seen. Others said it was such a deformed being that just the sight of it would kill you, and if that didn’t, it would make sure to do so by eating its victims piece by piece.

You knew these were nothing but stories to garner attention, for people to cause unnecessary chaos just because they could. If these people had actually seen this alleged beast, you supposed they wouldn’t even be alive to share their experience with the world.

You had never believed such a thing existed, but as nights and days went by, there was a small–and very scared–part of you that believed it might be true. Maybe this beast was very real, and was roaming the corridors of the Labyrinth.

Even if you’d been lucky to have found a few ponds that were large enough for you to bathe in, you still had pretty much only what you’d been wearing since you were thrown in here. You had used those ponds to wash your peplos a few times, but, unfortunately, it wasn’t even in good shape to begin with, and rinsing it in water seemed to hardly help its condition.

Your feet ached, your sandals were certainly not meant to be used to walk these distances, and the feeling of your dirty garments, combined with the lack of human contact, were steadily driving you crazy with every day that passed. Maybe this was the punishment. To be driven to insanity by what would usually be a minor inconvenience, by the amount of nothing that was happening around you.

The fact that you kept seeing his face in your dreams didn’t help it one bit.

Sometimes, you’d see it even when you were awake. You just needed to close your eyes, and you immediately got flashes of red and the feeling of pure hatred and anger… 

You always felt like washing your hands after, like jumping into any pond or puddle you could find. And whenever you could, you did.

Unfortunately, no amount of hand-washing and bathing would make the feeling go away.

You figured you’d have to learn to live with it.

As you furiously scrubbed your palms for the millionth time that day, you started to hear something.

Your movements stopped, but your hands remained submerged in the pond. It was usually quiet inside the Labyrinth, save for the few birds that’d sometimes fly and sing above you, or the occasional splashing fish inside the numerous bodies of water. 

But, right now, you could definitely hear something… Not only that, but you could feel something.

You could barely notice while you still had your hands under the water, but the rippling on the surface of it couldn’t have been made by you. Not when the little pebbles on the ground were shaking, too.

Thump…

Thump…

Thump…

Thump…

The sound seemed to be coming from the corridor on your right. It was growing closer, but your body wouldn’t move. You couldn’t move. You were just kneeling there, looking at the flickering torches lining the walls, with your hands still inside the pond, completely paralysed.

It wasn’t until you saw the shadow of something popping from around the corner that you actually came to your senses.

You had to run.

And you had to run now.

You stood up from the ground faster than you could even blink. Taking the lower part of your peplos with tight, wet fists, you just started to run as fast as you could. 

You could practically feel your heart in your throat as anxiety started to kick in. You had convinced yourself that this beast didn’t exist, you had thought that since you hadn’t seen it in your time here, it must’ve not existed at all.

But the deep bellow that resonated within the corridor was proof enough that you had been severely mistaken.

It was so loud that the sound seemed to penetrate into your skin and rattle your bones from deep within. A ringing broke free in your ears, accompanying your agitated heartbeat.

Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… 

The whole ground shook with each heavy step the beast took, so much so, you tripped and fell into a path of rough gravel, ripping your clothing and scraping your knees in the process.

You couldn’t stop, though. There was no pain, no moment to think twice, you just stood up and kept running. You ran and ran and ran, turning the many corners of the Labyrinth as you went… 

There was a little voice in the back of your mind telling you it was useless, but you didn’t want to hear it. You refused to hear it.

At least, until you turned and found yourself in a dead end. 

Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… 

Whatever it was, it drew closer and closer, shaking the ceiling and the walls as it tried to catch up with you.

Maybe you could still escape it somehow. Maybe, you’d be able to run past it and lose it in the many corridors of the Labyrinth.

When you turned around, you realised just how foolish that thought had been.

The air escaped your lungs when your back hit the wall. Your feet weren’t touching the ground, and you could feel pressure on your sides from where you were being held against the wall.

Your vision was blurry from the lack of oxygen, you could barely make out the shape in front of you. Horns, fur, and… and a face.

You’d accepted your fate…

Or so you had thought.

“Please…” Your voice was barely above a whisper, not only due to how breathless you were after running for so long and after being pushed so forcibly against the wall, but also because the knot in your throat was just too big. “Don’t–Don’t hurt me”.

The first tear fell down your cheek, and many more followed soon after. You couldn’t see properly. Whatever was in front of you, was big enough to shield all light from hitting whichever parts you could’ve potentially seen.

The creature huffed, and you closed your eyes tightly as its face moved closer to yours.

Its breath was warm against your face. You almost flinched, expecting the smell of rotten flesh to envelop you, but, instead, all you could smell was laurel.

You could feel yourself tremble in its hold as sobs kept escaping your throat. The creature sniffed you, first your face, then your neck. It got so close in its exploration that you could feel the tip of a textured, moist nose against your skin. You braced yourself for what was to come. You were sure it was getting ready to eat you whole, hopefully in one single chomp, so you wouldn’t have to suffer too much…

The thing pulled away from your neck, and just when you thought it was going to go for it, you were moving. 

It was so unexpected you barely registered it.

One second you were pressed against the bricks, and the next your stomach was pressing against firm muscle, and your arms were dangling over the creature’s back. Almost like it… like it had thrown you over its shoulder. And, after a few seconds of shock, you realised it had.

The beast had a strong hold on your back as it started to walk, presumably taking you somewhere.

You tried to blink the remaining tears away, at least enough so you could properly see something, anything.

You caught sight of the ground. You were definitely moving, and, for a moment, you thought you were imagining things. 

You could see smooth skin, you could feel it against your arms and hands whenever they hit it as they moved with each of the creature’s steps. Its back was very human-like… However, that smooth skin transitioned into dark fur towards the lower part of its body.

The tail of the creature swishing from side to side was the last thing you saw before you lost grasp of your surroundings.

Warmth.

You felt warm, but it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling. It was more like… a cosy feeling.

There was soft fabric under your hands, you could feel it dragging against your skin as your consciousness woke up.

Laurel… The smell of it filled your senses with that first intake of breath. 

Laurel… like the beast’s breath.

Your eyes snapped open. They immediately landed on the patch of night sky that could be seen from the hole in the ceiling, right on top of you. You blinked slowly, taking in the sight of the twinkling stars above you. 

Faint chewing sounds brought you back into the room, they made you remember what had happened before you lost consciousness. With quick movements, you sat up, and your breath hitched in your throat when your eyes locked onto the beast sitting a few metres in front of you.

Its eyes bore into yours as it chewed leisurely, on what you assumed to be a deer leg based on the shape of it. It didn’t make any movements, nor did it make any sounds–other than the occasional grunt when the meat was too stuck to the bone.

You were, quite honestly, speechless.

You had heard of the beast, but none of the descriptions truly matched what you were seeing right now.

A big, big creature. Inhumanly tall. Its torso was that of a man. Well defined, smooth, tanned skin, strong–very strong…–pecs, nipples adorned with silver jewellery, even stronger looking arms, and, although bigger than you had ever seen them, very human-looking hands. 

That torso transitioned into bovine-like lower limbs–covered in thick, dark fur, strong thighs and calves, ending in hooves. But, most impactful, was its head. Human-looking as well, save for the pair of horns that protruded from its skull and a cattle-like nose. The horns were decorated with thick silver rings that glistened with the very few torches lit around the room.

Its face, though… Chubby cheeks, pouty lips, and a strong, but bull-looking nose, pierced with a thick silver hoop. Objectively, the face of a handsome man, all things considered…

You had truly never, ever seen anything like it.

The way it was looking at you felt purposeful, like it wasn’t doing it just for the sake of it, but more like it was aware of your presence in a conscious, coherent way. It wasn’t just the way an animal would look at another animal, more like a human would look at another human.

You swallowed, suddenly hyper aware of your body. Everything hurt. Your feet, your knees, your arms… you were sore all over. When you finally broke eye contact with the creature–man…?–in front of you, and looked at yourself instead, you were perplexed at the sight of your bandaged knees.

Your eyes snapped back up to meet the beast’s, who was eating the last few pieces of meat off the bone in his hand, but still looking at you. 

“Did you…” Your voice broke due to your sore throat. You cleared it before you tried to speak again. “Did you do this?”

You gestured to the bandages, and it nodded to your question.

The beast understood you. It understood you and was able to answer the question.

“…Why?”

It seemed to be thoughtful for a moment, suckling on the bone to leave it completely clean before it threw it on a pile of bones in a corner of the room. Ultimately it simply shrugged, rendering you speechless once again.

The beast stood up from the ground, and walked towards another corner of the room, where a pond was. It knelt on the edge of it, and dipped its hands into the water. After scooping some water into its palms, it brought them close to his face and drank from them. 

Was it… washing its hands? And its mouth?

You realised it was, in fact, washing its mouth when it–he…?–finally stood up and walked over to some trees, where he plucked some leaves to eat them–or, more accurately, to chew on them.

“What… What are you?” You couldn’t help the question from leaving your mouth. What you were seeing right now was so absurd you just needed to ask.

He shrugged once again, chewing leisurely as it finally started walking closer to you. 

You honestly didn’t even try to move away, you were too in awe of his entire existence for your body to properly send you into fight or flight response. 

He was so… big. Even when he finally crouched in front of the pile of fabric you’d been laying on, he just looked huge.

“Changbin”, he said all of a sudden.

Your jaw went slack for a moment. He could speak.

“Ch–Changbin?”

He nodded. “That’s what… my father calls me”.

Changbin spoke slowly, like he wasn’t used to speaking at all. You supposed it made sense, considering the stories surrounding the beast inside the Labyrinth.

But… father, he said? “You… you have a father?”

He nodded again, but didn’t say anything else. Changbin just looked at you, in complete silence.

You’d admit it was a bit… awkward.

“Do you… Is this what you do with the people that are thrown into the Labyrinth?”

Changbin shook his head, which further puzzled you.

“I usually kill them. Sometimes I eat them if there’s nothing else to eat… Other times, just use them as food for the plants and birds that live here”, he said simply, like it was nothing. You supposed to him it was nothing.

“Why haven’t you killed me?” You had to ask, because you just couldn’t comprehend how you could still be alive.

His eyes jumped from one of yours to the other repeatedly for a bit. Until he eventually shrugged. “Don’t want to”.

You didn’t really feel like asking ‘Why?’ again, so you just cleared your throat, and decided to introduce yourself instead.

Changbin remained quiet for a few moments, until he repeated your name a few times out loud, like he was trying to get used to the sound. 

After about ten minutes of prying, Changbin explained to you that this was his den. It was at the very centre of the Labyrinth. He knew this whole place like the back of his hand, every twist and turn, every pond and every tree, he knew where absolutely everything was. Apparently, he’d lived here a long, long time.

You wanted to inquire more, but before you could, his ears perked up, and he looked towards the one and only exit of this area.

“Someone’s entered the Labyrinth”, he mumbled, almost to himself. He stood up from the floor, and wiped his hands on his fur before he started walking. When he reached the entrance, he turned back to look at you. “Stay here. Will be back in a couple of days”.

You didn’t really think you had any other choice.

Coexisting with Changbin was… weird.

It wasn’t uncomfortable by any means, but it was certainly weird. 

He clearly didn’t understand human behaviour much. As in, he’d do things people typically didn’t do.

He’d stare at you a lot–very intensely, if you might add–he spoke in short sentences, or was too forward with what he said. For the most part, though, you didn’t mind. Considering the type of men you were used to, Changbin was far from bad.

Was he a huge half-man, half-bull creature that ate humans sometimes?

Yes.

But even then, he was heaps better than other men you’d met.

He had offered his nest for you to sleep on. He’d shared with you any fish he caught, and even brought you fruit sometimes. For the most part, you didn’t leave his den, and he simply let you stay.

Being honest, part of the reason why you didn’t leave was because you weren’t sure if you were allowed to. After all, he’d brought you in here himself. 

Whenever someone entered the Labyrinth, he’d always ask you to stay while he left to look for them. Upon his return, he’d also share whichever goods he’d retrieved.

“You want this?” Changbin offered you a lump of fabric. It almost looked like a napkin in his hands, but when you took it and had a good look at it, you realised it was a chiton. And a fairly new one at that.

Your peplos was way too worn by now. You weren’t really sure how long you’d been inside the Labyrinth at this point, but you also figured it really didn’t matter. You’d washed your clothes plenty of times during your time here, but the rips and tears were just too many already, so you accepted the fresh garment.

“Thank you”, you looked up at him, trying not to focus too much on the swell of his chest, or the trail of fur that started from his navel and continued downwards, turning into his bovine legs.

Changbin was, truly, a sight to behold. Roughly three metres of hunk… The longer you spent around him, the longer you just… wanted to look at him. 

You supposed you weren’t any different than him in that regard. At least, he didn’t seem bothered by it when you stared at him.

Changbin nodded, and made his way to his makeshift, newer nest. You felt a bit bad that you’d taken his much bigger sleeping space, but when you tried to get him to use it again, he simply told you ‘It’s your nest now’, so you just… kept using it to lay and sleep on.

“Washed it on my way here”, Changbin said once he was sitting on his nest, looking at you. Only then did you realise he’d not only brought the chiton with him, but also a bowl full of what looked like wildberries, and a guest.

The guest sat on the very top of his head, it was a bird. A fairly small one, but one that was clearly injured, if the way it weakly fluttered its wings was anything to go by.

You nodded, and repeated a soft ‘Thank you’. You honestly tried not to think too much about the person this piece of clothing belonged to just a few days ago. There was no point in that… It was yours now. 

When you brought your hand to the fabric belt around your waist, you untied the knot that kept your peplos in place. The garment loosened, but before you could remove it, you looked back at Changbin.

He was just… staring at you. Like he always did.

You swallowed, trying to ignore the heat you felt spreading on your cheeks. “Could you, uhm…”

His ears perked up, listening intently to what you had to say. 

“Could you maybe look away?” 

Changbin blinked slowly, and his tail started swishing calmly behind him. “Why?”

“Because, y’know… I’m going to undress”, you replied simply, bringing the chiton closer to your chest. The heat on your face seemed to intensify.

“And?” 

You were slightly taken aback by that. But as you looked at him, you couldn’t see anything other than genuine curiosity in his eyes. “I’ll undress… That means I’ll be naked in front of you”.

“Okay”.

Now you started blinking slowly. Okay he said. Just… Okay. How… odd. “Changbin, I don’t want you to, uh… see”.

His eyebrows furrowed at that. “Why?”

“Because it’s not appropriate”.

“How come?” He placed the bowl on the ground and leaned back on his hands, spreading his legs in front of him. “I’m naked right now”.

Ah… You supposed he was naked.

You tried really hard not to move your eyes away from his face, especially considering the position he was in… You didn’t want your eyes to just wander to improper territories. After all, there seemed to be a lot to look at…

As you pushed aside the chaotic thoughts inside your head, his comment made you realise that maybe it wasn’t inappropriate to be naked. At least not here, not with Changbin.

You weren’t on the surface anymore. You weren’t bound to human customs anymore, not since the moment you’d been sentenced, and the more you thought of that, the more you started to understand. 

This was your safe place now. There was no judgement here, or, at least, you hadn’t felt any at all.

So you swallowed, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. With your eyes fixed on Changbin’s, you tried your best to ignore the warmth that took over your face as you undid your peplos. 

The garment fell to the floor, and only then did his eyes wander. He looked at you, with his head tilted to the side. You could’ve sworn you saw his eyes twinkle under the light of the few flickering torches on the wall. ‘Don’t like to keep too many in here… Too bright’, Changbin had told you a few days ago, when you’d asked why there weren’t as many torches in his den as in the corridor walls, and his answer had just made sense to you.

You could almost feel his eyes tracing every curve of your body, and you tried to not focus on how that made you feel. Instead, you just threw the chiton on and quickly fastened it with the belt around your waist.

Changbin’s eyes were back on yours as you finished fixing your clothes, before you started to plait your hair.

“Are you cold?” He asked all of a sudden, just as you finished tying your hair.

Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Not… not particularly?” 

“Why’d you wear that, then?”

“Wear what? This?” You gestured to the garment you’d just put on, and Changbin simply nodded to your question. You blinked blankly at him for a few moments before you answered him. “I don’t… I shouldn’t be showing my body like that, y’know? It’s inappropriate. At least, on the surface it is. So we just… wear clothes”.

“That’s why humans wear clothes?” He sounded genuinely incredulous, and based on the way his eyes widened, you figured he was. “Thought y’all were just cold all the time”.

You couldn’t help but snort at that. You laughed. You laughed like you hadn’t laughed in weeks, almost madly even. 

This was all just so, so absurd. You’d been sentenced to death, and somehow, you’d ended up here, with a creature like Changbin. A sentient creature that thought humans wore clothes just because ‘they were cold all the time’.

“Why shouldn’t you show your body?” Changbin looked beyond confused, and somehow it made you laugh harder. “It’s… well, there. It’s you. Why hide it?”

Your laugh died down, and you wiped the few stray tears that had fallen from your eyes. There was a small smile tugging at his lips, he didn’t seem fazed by your fit of laughter other than looking mildly confused now, so you just composed yourself and answered him as honestly as you could. “It’s… a private thing…”

“Private?” Changbin asked, tilting his head cutely to the side. “So no one has seen you naked?”

You went quiet at that, and started fidgeting with the end of your belt. “Some people have… Y’know, my mum… My–my husband…”

The title left a bitter taste on your tongue, but you tried to ignore it. You didn’t like thinking about him. Whenever you did, you always tried to squash the mental image to the deepest recesses of your mind. It was just… a bit too much still.

“You’re married?” Changbin asked, curiously, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees.

“Not anymore”, you looked away from him, trying to ignore his peering eyes. You really didn’t feel like elaborating further, so you tried to divert the conversation by talking about literally anything else. The weather, the flowers that had started to bloom in his garden, the bird on top of his head…

Changbin didn’t really pry further, he just followed your chaotic rambling as best as he could, until he eventually started crushing the berries in his bowl and telling you about the bird.

Apparently, he’d found it yesterday when he was on his way back here, and had been trying to nurse it back into health since. While he told you the story, he kept crushing the wildberries in his bowl, and he’d occasionally bring his free hand up to the little critter. It simply pecked his fingertip a few times before it resumed grooming his hair. 

After a while, he stood up from his makeshift nest. With his bowl of crushed berries in hand, and the injured bird nestled on the crown of his head among his messy hair, Changbin made his way to a nearby wall. You just watched him curiously from where you were laying on his original nest.

Changbin dipped two of his fingers in the mixture of crushed berries, and then he just… drew a line on the wall.

Then another…

And another… 

He was silent for the most part, but low noises would occasionally resonate from his chest when the little bird on his head chirped. It was almost like they were having a conversation.

And you figured they were. Mostly because every couple of lines he made, he’d huff, and the bird would chirp in response. Changbin simply nodded–carefully, as to not let the bird fall with the movement–and kept on drawing.

You weren’t sure how long you spent there, just looking at him doing his thing, but it was genuinely fascinating. The way his tail would sway every once in a while, the way the muscles on his back flexed and relaxed as he moved all sorts of ways as he painted on the walls…

Eventually, his lines took the very distinct shape of a bird, one that mirrored the one on his head almost perfectly.

“Changbin?” You asked after a while. He hummed to let you know he was listening, so you continued. “Did you make all the other drawings throughout the Labyrinth?”

It seemed like a silly question to ask, because, who else would’ve done it, if not the beast doing one just now in front of you?

Changbin added the finishing touches to his drawing, then he turned to look at you. He offered the remnants of crushed berries in his bowl to the bird, just as he brought the two fingers he’d been using to his mouth so he could lick them clean.

You tried not to focus too much on the action by fixing your eyes on his. 

He pulled his digits out of his mouth with a slight sucking sound, and nodded. “I did”.

“Mmm… They’re pretty”, you said simply.

Because, to you, they were.

You found them odd when you first saw them, since they didn’t seem to fit the aura surrounding this place, but they were certainly pretty. And knowing they’d been made by him, just seemed to make them even prettier.

Changbin finally put the bowl down on one of the many tall–but flat–rocks scattered throughout the room, and, for a moment, you could’ve sworn his cheeks had reddened. “Thanks…”

You just offered him a smile, even if he wasn’t looking at you. 

A cold wind filtered through the hole in the ceiling, it had your teeth chattering and your whole body shivering. You tried to cover yourself further, but the way Changbin had built his nest made it so you really couldn’t pull fabric from it without messing it up, and there was no spare cloth close by that you could use as a blanket.

It made sense, you supposed. He didn’t seem like he needed anything to keep himself warm, and you also hadn’t needed it before during your stay here, so you hadn’t even tried to ask for one.

You heard faint shuffling, followed by quiet thump, thump, thumps, until you felt warmth close to you.

“Tiny human”, Changbin mumbled, pulling your attention fully towards him.

You hummed to let him know you were listening, but you didn’t open your eyes, nor did you feel like wasting energy saying actual words. You needed to use every bit of it you could to try to keep yourself warm.

“You’re whimpering. Why?”

Had you been whimpering?

You hadn’t even realised you were. Maybe you’d fallen asleep without noticing… 

You took a deep breath, trying to steady your trembling form, but it only brought a rush of cold air inside your body. “M’cold…”

There was silence for a moment. With half lidded eyes, you could’ve sworn you were seeing your breath coming out of your mouth in little white clouds. It didn’t make you feel any better. If anything, it agitated you a bit more, but you couldn’t even express it fully.

Changbin was quiet for a long while, but you could still feel him close. You appreciated it. It felt like moral support, at least. 

Eventually, you heard–and felt–him shuffle closer to the nest. “Can I… Can I keep you warm?”

You immediately nodded. You didn’t care what he did, or how he did it. You just needed to be warm, and if he could give you that you’d honestly take it.

There was more shuffling, and then there was a minute dip in the nest. You yelped when you felt Changbin’s arm wrap around your waist and pull you into him from behind.

His hold was strong, firm, but also… gentle. He kept you close, with his chin resting on the top of your head and a hand pressed firmly against your stomach. He was so close, and so, so warm, you immediately felt yourself relaxing, moulding into his body, almost like… like you’d always been meant to.

Slowly, his warmth seeped into you, until you were no longer shivering. Tentatively, you placed a hand on top of the one he kept on your stomach. You could’ve sworn you felt him jump a bit behind you, but as soon as you started tracing his knuckles with your fingertips, he seemed to relax once again.

You weren’t really sure what compelled you to do it, you had just… felt like doing it. You spent a while just like that, feeling each knuckle of his fingers, feeling the prominent veins on the back of his hand. They were so big… especially compared to your own.

You’d never felt like a particularly small person, but next to him, you certainly looked tiny, you felt tiny. But only physically. Being honest, you’d never felt as equal to someone as you felt with Changbin.

“I think you’re pretty, too”, he mumbled all of a sudden, and for a moment, you felt your heart stop, only to resume its beating at record-breaking speeds. “Like my drawings, I mean…”

You turned in his hold, and immediately buried your face in his neck. Not only seeking the heat of his skin, but also trying to hide the flustered reaction on your face. He just held you closer, further enveloping you in his warmth. 

“Thank you…” You mumbled against the skin of his neck, and he simply offered you a tiny sound of content in response.

In the safety of Changbin’s arms, blanketed in his body heat, you finally fell asleep. 

You didn’t mind staying at Changbin’s den, but you were starting to get a bit… bored. 

Mostly if he was gone. When he was there, you could at least strike conversation, or play some sort of game. Knucklebones was a favourite of yours, for example.

When he wasn’t here, all you did was try to keep yourself entertained with whatever items Changbin had lying around, or by tending to the garden inside the den.

At some point, you’d managed to use some of the numerous pieces of fabric he’d collected to make yourself a proper blanket. Although, to be fair, you hardly ever needed it.

It was a given at this point that he’d snuggle up next to you to keep you warm. Since that very first night, you’d only had to use your blanket when someone had entered the Labyrinth and he wasn’t here.

You’d admit, sleeping with Changbin was… nice. Especially since temperatures seemed to be decreasing by the day.

He was all plush and warm and his heartbeat just helped you relax. Ever since you got married–since you were forced to get married…–you had never enjoyed sharing your sleeping space, but, with Changbin, it was different. You just… felt safe. As odd as that might sound.

“It’s not fair! You got it so much easier to pick those up!” Changbin huffed, clicking his tongue when you, once again, beat him at your game of knucklebones.

“Find bigger pieces, then!” You chuckled, jiggling the small set of bones in your hand. “I’m sure there are plenty of huge rocks you can get in here”.

He just clicked his tongue again, finishing in a cute pout as he crossed his arms over his chest. All that did was bring your attention to the swell of his pecs and the size of his arms, which immediately made you swallow. 

Dear Gods, was he big… 

You scrambled to fix your eyes on his face. These were thoughts you didn’t feel like entertaining… what would be the point of it if you did? What would you even do with someone like Changbin? It felt a bit too… complicated. But, there was a little voice in the deepest areas of your conscience begging you to entertain the thought… telling you that it’d surely be worth it.

You decided to ignore it.

“Hey, Changbin”, you tried to get his attention back on you, disregarding the plethora of sinful scenarios that were playing in the back of your mind. 

Changbin’s ears flickered before he was fixing his eyes on you again, so you took it as a sign to speak. “You think I could… go out for a walk?”

He uncrossed his arms so he could lean back on his hands, once again, making you absolutely struggle to keep your eyes on his face and not on whatever was going on between his legs. “You want to?”

You just nodded in response, nervously tapping on the floor one of the bones you held in your hand.

“Then you can”, he replied simply.

“I can?” You didn’t mean to sound incredulous, but you supposed his nonchalance did take you by surprise.

“‘Course. If you want to, you can”.

“You don’t mind?”

Changbin blinked slowly at you for a moment, before his eyebrows furrowed. “Why would I mind?”

“Dunno… I thought you… thought you might”.

“Why did you think that?”

Huh, good question… Why would you think that?

You supposed there was a part of you that had just kind of… assumed he’d mind. But you realised then that he’d never really said anything about it.

He’d only ever asked you to stay when someone else came into the Labyrinth, and you supposed it made sense he would if he cared for your safety. Which you were pretty sure he did, considering all he’d done for you so far… So you just offered him a smile and a slight shake of your head. 

“Ah, it’s nothing…” You stood up from the floor and wiped your hands on your chiton. “‘Suppose I’ll be back in a bit…”

Changbin just hummed to acknowledge you, but didn’t say anything else, so you made your way to the entrance of the room.

When you finally reached it, you stopped. As you looked at the corridor outside of the circle-shaped area that made Changbin’s den, you couldn’t help but feel your stomach sink. No matter where you looked, left or right, the way was seemingly endless. Every direction looked almost the same–save for the few paintings on the walls and the different textures on the floor.

If you left for a walk, would you be able to find your way back? You honestly weren’t too sure, and, truly… you wanted to come back. You were sure there was no better place to be inside the Labyrinth other than here, with Changbin.

So you turned around, finding the beast himself looking at you. 

His tail swayed calmly behind him, his ears occasionally flickered, but, for the most part, he looked serene, sitting there on the floor where he’d been just before you stood up yourself.

“Would you… uhm…” You pinched a piece of your chiton between your fingers, and started fidgeting with it, looking in his overall direction but not really looking at him. “Would you like to come with me?”

You finally looked at his face. There was a small smile on his lips, and it honestly made your heart flutter. “Y’know I’ll find you if you get lost, right?”

No.

No, you didn’t know that.

You didn’t know he’d go out of his way to find you if you disappeared. You knew that he cared about what happened to you to some degree, but enough to look for you if you got lost? Even if it could potentially take days?

If you thought about it, maybe that, too, made sense. Maybe he enjoyed your presence just as much as you did his.

Licking your lips, you let go of that bit of fabric you’d been rolling between your fingers. “Would you come with me anyway?”

With a huff, Changbin stood up from the ground. He wiped his hands on his thighs, just before he walked to stand next to you. That was a good enough answer for you.

So, you finally stepped out into the corridor, and Changbin followed soon after.

The farther you tried to look, the more anxiety seemed to pool in your stomach. If the Labyrinth had made you claustrophobic when you first stepped in it, right now, leaving Changbin’s den, you felt haunted with agoraphobia. 

The corridors were endless, the ceiling felt like it was way too high–unlikely, since it was pretty much the same height as it was inside the den…–and the fact that you couldn’t see the first turn in either direction you looked had your head spinning. So you turned back to Changbin.

“Is there any place you like? If there is, I’d like you to show me”.

Changbin just nodded, and started walking. You followed him from closely behind, nervously looking over your shoulder sometimes, but, for the most part, you tried to focus on the drawings on the walls, or the flashes of nature around you.

It was quiet, save for the flicker of the eternal fire and the thumps produced with each step Changbin took. They weren’t as loud as they’d been the first time you heard him, probably because he was walking very, very slowly.

Even if he was walking slowly, though, you were starting to get out of breath from trying to keep up with the steps his long legs could take. One of Chanbin’s steps could’ve very well been ten of yours…

You weren’t sure how many turns you took, you simply followed him wherever he would go, asking for a few pauses sometimes when you felt like you needed to catch your breath.

There were parts of the Labyrinth that were dimmer than others. As Changbin explained to you, it was either because someone had taken a torch off its support on the wall and never returned it, or he himself had moved the torches somewhere else.

When you asked him why he’d moved them, he just said he’d get bored, and just found some entertainment in moving things around. Fair enough, you guessed…

Both of you finally came to a full stop in front of a tree. A big, very old-looking one. There was a patch of grass all around it, and it was almost tall enough to reach the ceiling. The hole above it surely provided enough light and water for the tree to thrive even down here. 

“This is a place I like. Birds come in here sometimes. They keep me company”, Changbin plopped down at the base of the tree and leaned on it. While he looked at you, he patted the grass in front of him, right between his legs.

Your body reacted before your mind could, and, almost instinctively, you found yourself sitting on the grass and snuggled against his chest. He just wrapped his arms around your frame and kept you close, like he often did. 

Soon enough, birds started coming in from the hole high above your heads, and you simply closed your eyes and started to hum a melody to accompany their chirping. You could certainly understand why he’d like being in a place like this, it was peaceful.

“You…” Changbin mumbled after a while, while he softly traced shapes on your arm with his thumb. “You used to pray, didn’t you?”

Your eyebrows furrowed, just before you pulled yourself away from his embrace to look him in the eyes. There was a bird perched on one of his horns already, picking at his hair, but he seemed unbothered by it.

“How’d you… How do you know that?” No one knew you prayed. In fact, you hadn’t prayed in a long, long time. It used to bring you comfort, maybe even hope, but that, too, had been crushed by the heavy weight of reality many moons ago.

Changbin looked up at the hole in the ceiling, which was covered by iron rods. His gaze was fixed on it for a while, and he remained quiet for a bit.

“I think I used to hear you pray”, his eyes were on yours again, and you suddenly felt your cheeks heating up at the attention. “You used to sing, too. Hum, like you did just now… The birds back then used to tell me you brought them food”.

The site you prayed at was incredibly far from where you’d been dropped into the Labyrinth. You knew this place was huge, but you honestly hadn’t realised just how much until this very moment.

“You stopped coming, though”, Changbin looked at you in a way that made you feel almost like he knew… “Was it because of him?”

Please! Don’t hurt me!

The memory was fresh, it wasn’t one you could just forget. Your husband… he wasn’t fond of the Gods, especially not the ones you prayed to. After all, you were praying in hopes they’d just… do something.

When law enforcement didn’t pay attention to you, you had turned to your faith for help.

But they, too, had failed you.

When your husband found out you’d been going to that specific place in the forest to pray, that you had your own humble shrine in there, he made absolutely sure you never returned. The place was now riddled with memories of nothing but pain, sorrow…

You felt a knot swell in your throat, out of fury more than anything else. You refused to let tears fall, though. The damage was done already, and even if you felt infuriated by how unjust everything that happened back then had been, the nightmare was over, and you had no one to thank but yourself for it.

Looking at Changbin, you nodded, just to let him know that it had been, in fact, because of him that you’d stopped going to pray to the forest currently above your heads.

“Even back then… I felt like it was unfair”, Changbin’s eyes jumped all over your face, while his thumb kept caressing the skin of your arm.

“It was”, you replied simply, looking up at him from where you were sitting between his legs. “But it’s no longer a problem. It’s stopped now”.

The bird that had been picking at Changbin’s hair finally flew away when he nodded. You looked him in the eyes for a while longer, until you finally leaned into him once again, and rested your head on his chest, right over his heart.

Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump… Thump…

The gentle rhythm vibrated against your ear, and, right then and there, you knew that it had all truly stopped. You were safe. It was, definitely, no longer a problem. In a way, you’d made sure of that…

You both stayed under that tree for a long time that afternoon, until you asked Changbin to show you anywhere else he liked before you made it back to the den.

Without saying a word, he effortlessly picked you up from the ground, and took you in his arms, making you all flustered when he offered you a ‘Tiny legs. Makes you slow…’ which you supposed you couldn’t argue with. To him, your legs were surely tiny, especially when compared to his own.

When you were back at Changbin’s den, you were tired, so you quickly washed up before you had dinner. Seared fish–courtesy of the eternal fire from one of the torches–with an assortment of fruits that somehow worked together, finished off with the corresponding pile of laurel leaves Changbin liked to chew on often–a habit which you yourself had picked up overtime.

It wasn’t long until you found yourself in Changbin’s nest, surrounded by soft fabric and his warmth. Cuddling had become one of your favourite winding down activities, and you certainly liked to do it for as long as you could. There was something about the closeness to someone else that felt… fulfilling. And you’d never truly felt this close to someone in your life.

Oftentimes, while cuddling, you also found yourself having the most profound conversations with Changbin. Either you or him–or both–would start bearing their hearts out for the other, and it was… nice.

Regardless of what you spoke about, it was nice.

“You…” Changbin mumbled, burying his fingers in your hair to gently caress your scalp. “Why’d they drop you here?”

You took a deep breath, mindlessly playing with the thick fur in the middle of his chest. “I took someone’s life…”

Changbin hummed, nuzzling your forehead with his nose. It was moist against your skin, but you didn’t mind.

“My husband…” You started, stilling the movement of your fingers in his fur to instead lay your hand on his chest. “I was just… I tried to get help. Every time he hurt me, I tried to get help. So, so many times… but no one listened. One night, he was trying to force himself on me and I just… took one of those hideous stone busts he kept around the house and I… hit him in the head”.

The memory wasn’t pleasant. You still remembered the first moment of shock, when you stared at his limp body on the floor. You remembered the blood, how it started to pool and stain that equally hideous rug he’d purchased for way too much money. You remembered the mess left behind when you tried to move your husband’s body out of the house so you could hide it in the forest…

But you were caught.

You were caught and no matter how much you explained what had happened, no one believed you.

“So I was sentenced to die”, you looked away from his chest to look him in the eyes. They seemed to be sparkling under the moonlight shining on you both. His eyes… They were gentle, and had the prettiest shade of brown you’d ever seen. “I should be dead by now. They were expecting you to kill me”.

Changbin’s eyes flickered between yours. They danced around your face for a moment, until they settled on your mouth. “I couldn’t. Don’t want to, either”.

“I know”, you mumbled simply. Bringing a hand to his face, you started tracing his features, his eyebrows, his nose, his cheeks… Changbin just closed his eyes as soon as your fingertips were on his skin, and his ears flickered happily as you did. “You’re way more than the beast people make you out to be”.

“You think so?” He asked it in a way that made it seem like he genuinely cared about what you had to say, like your opinion was valuable to him.

You hummed in confirmation, nodding slowly, because you truly meant it. Changbin was a bit of a brute, he was very capable of harming you, but he was also capable of being so incredibly gentle. Like he’d been with the injured bird he’d brought to his den many months ago. Like he’d been with you when he tended to your wounds when he brought you in here, or when you were shivering from the cold…

“Changbin…” You broke the silence after a while, placing your hand on his cheek and stroking the skin with your thumb. “Do you know what a kiss is?”

Changbin opened his eyes then, offering you an almost shy nod of his head.

“Have you kissed anyone before?” You placed your free hand on his chest, right over his heart. It was beating so incredibly fast… It was almost like you could feel every thump penetrate into your palm and rattle your insides.

Changbin shook his head, fixing his eyes on your mouth once again.

You licked your lips, almost absentmindedly. He was so close, and so warm, and you just… wanted him. “Would you like to?”

Changbin nodded again, so you just went for it.

Slowly, you leaned in, brushing your lips softly against his for a moment before you connected them fully. It was almost shy, just a tender peck on his lips, but it was a kiss nonetheless.

You pulled back a bit to look him in the eyes. Sparkly… Even more so than before. In an instant, his hand was at your waist, pulling you closer against his body as he leaned in to kiss you again.

It was slow, gentle, and it made your heart flutter. His lips slotted so perfectly with yours, you couldn’t even believe you’d ever kissed anyone else. So many kisses wasted, when you could’ve been giving them to him instead…

Tentatively, your tongue made contact with his bottom lip. He seemed to get the hint, since he parted his lips to let you in. With your arms around his neck, you kissed him deeply. He kissed you deeply.

At this very moment, there was nothing else in the world that wasn’t you and Changbin. The only thing that mattered was him and you in his nest, slowly getting your mouths acquainted with one another.

You didn’t know how long you spent right there, but you also didn’t care. By the time the moon had moved around in the sky and left you in partial darkness in Changbin’s den, you could already feel him poking your stomach.

The feeling of him, hard against your belly, set your insides alight.

You’d known for a long time, you’d been trying to ignore it, but you couldn’t do that any longer… You really wanted Changbin. Carnally. Like you’d want any other person.

His hands… His big, warm hands roamed your back, your rear, your thighs… It was like he wanted to make sure no part of your body was left untouched–at least the ones he currently had access to over your clothes. The kiss was turning sloppier and sloppier by the second, and, in no time, low bellows were resonating from Changbin’s chest.

It was just when you carded your fingers through his hair that he stiffened, fixing his hands on your waist and gripping you tightly to stop the grind of your hips you hadn’t even realised you’d started doing. 

When had he laid on his back? When had you straddled his waist? You were so lost in your kiss you hadn’t even noticed…

He pulled back fully, offering you an apologetic look while he brought his thumb to your bottom lip and swiped it over the swollen skin.

“Someone’s entered the Labyrinth…” Changbin mumbled, so quietly you wouldn’t have heard him if you hadn’t been so close.

You pouted sadly, but nodded in understanding. With one final peck on his lips, you finally rolled off of him and onto the plush nest, where you curled into yourself as you watched him get up.

Changbin bent down to kiss your forehead. He brushed his textured nose tenderly against yours for a moment, just before he threw your makeshift blanket over your body.

“I’ll be back in a few days. Hm?”

You simply nodded again, feeling your eyes growing heavier as sleep started to cling to your muscles. 

After one final smile, Changbin finally turned around and made his way out of his den. 

You couldn’t help but sneak a glance at him before he left, and, Gods… You really, really wanted him…

As you let your hand find its way between your legs, and even in your sleepy state, you couldn’t help but fully come face to face with the realisation that you wanted him, more than you’d ever wanted anyone else before.

With the tingles of pleasure you were coaxing from your centre that spread to all of your limbs, your mind wandered, trying to figure out just how you could… take him.

You had to find a way. You were determined to find a way.

You didn’t know how you’d do it, but you were certain you would.

Eventually, you would.

Changbin was taking longer than usual to come back from his last outing, and it was starting to worry you.

The first couple of days went by as usual. You washed any garments of clothing you’d collected over time, you tended to any of Changbin’s friends–meaning, the birds that would come from the surface–whenever they dropped by, or you simply spent it brainstorming all the possible ways in which you could pleasure such a monstrous cock.

Not only that, but how you could get pleasure from that monstrous cock. Because you were set on making the most of it. Gone were the days in which you shied away from your desires. You were a living being with needs, and if you couldn’t fulfil those needs with a literal giant half-bull, half-man creature, you were sure you wouldn’t have been able to do it with anyone else.

Besides, though, you didn’t want anyone else. 

And it wasn’t the fact that you were living in the Labyrinth and couldn’t even meet other human beings. What you felt for Changbin was something you’d never felt before. You genuinely cared about him… You cared a lot.

Which was why, by the fifth day he hadn’t returned to the den, you had bitten all ten of your nails almost to the flesh.

Where was he?

You were convinced it was pretty much impossible for him to get lost inside the Labyrinth, but what if he had?

Or worse…

What if whoever had been dropped in here hurt him?

What if he was hurt and you couldn’t help him?

Oh, Gods… 

What if he was dead?

Your chest felt heavy, you could barely breathe… What would you do without Changbin? You could definitely survive with all the resources you had here, but the question was… did you want to?

What was the point of staying alive inside the Labyrinth without him?

You wanted to cry just thinking about it. 

Tears were pricking your eyes, and it felt like your throat was closing up. 

At least, until…

Thump…

Thump…

Thump…

Thump…

You pretty much jumped from where you’d been sitting on the floor, sprinted out of the den and into the corridor. At this point, you could recognise Changbin’s heavy steps like your own heartbeat.

Looking left and right, you were unsure where exactly he was coming from, since the echo seemed to be coming from every direction. After a few moments of panic, you finally saw him to your left, so you ran.

You barely heard him saying your name when you were close, you were too focused on getting to him. When you buried your face in his stomach, he immediately started to caress your hair.

“Shh, hey…” He mumbled, dropping whatever he had in his free hand so he could press his palm on your back. “Don’t cry”.

You were sobbing, and you hadn’t even realised it until he had pointed it out.

When you pulled away, you could barely see him through your blurry vision. With one of his knuckles, he gently wiped the tears running down your cheeks.

It was only then that you noticed them, the cuts and gashes that littered his whole torso. The sight had adrenaline rushing into your body immediately.

“Oh, my dear Gods! What happened to you?!”

“Kid was resilient”, was all he said when he pulled himself away from your hold. He bent down–with seemingly great effort–and took the bag that he’d dropped on the ground. “C’mon, need to… to lay down. Will tell you everything after…”

You took the bag from him immediately, and wrapped your free hand around one of his fingers to gently tug him forward–as if that would do anything…

It took several minutes for both of you to reach the den once again. As soon as you were inside, Changbin pretty much collapsed on the ground, and started instructing you to bring him all sorts of herbs from his garden along with some fresh water.

You got to work, following Changbin’s directions to clean him up, apply the freshly chewed mix of leaves on the open wounds, and dress them with whichever extra pieces of fabric you could find laying around. As you did this, he told you about the young man that had entered the Labyrinth. 

Apparently, he was skilled enough to not only hurt Changbin, but also to essentially defeat him.

“All these years, no one has ever come this close to killing me…”

The concept of Changbin being killed made your heart ache, but you pushed the feeling away as you tried to focus on the task at hand, as well as to continue listening to him. 

The young man had spared him. He’d told Changbin that he’d come into the Labyrinth out of his own free will because he was looking for something. 

“Told him I’d help him find it if he let me live”, Changbin said once you’d finished dressing his wounds and he’d finally laid down on your nest.

“And? Did you?” You asked as you gathered two heavy jugs of fresh water to bring them to him. After all, two jugs were pretty much two glasses of water for him…

Changbin drank both jugs one after the other, each one in one gulp, offering a quiet ‘Thank you’ before he answered your question. “Yeah. Pointed him in the right direction, told him how to find the way to the spot he was looking for…”

You laid down next to him, and snuggled yourself as close as you could. Changbin pulled you even closer, and only then did he seem to fully relax, practically melting into your nest.

“He wanted me to go with him… But I was too hurt”, he mumbled against your hair, sounding just so incredibly tired. “Also… I had to come home. Needed to be here with you…”

You felt tears well in your eyes again. Holding him tight–being careful to not apply too much pressure on his wounds–you craned your neck, just so you could press a lingering kiss on his cheek.

Changbin exhaled a shaky breath with the motion, and, after pressing a few more pecks on his skin, you finally laid your head on his chest.

“Welcome home…” The words came out of your mouth as barely a whisper, mostly because you didn’t trust your voice right now. You were already feeling your whole body trembling as the tears started to fall again.

Changbin held you tight, pressing a final kiss on the crown of your head.

“Missed you, tiny human…” was the last thing to come out of his mouth before he passed out.

Caring for an injured giant was easier than you had expected it to be. Although, you’d admit that helping him wash up was a bit hard.

Not because you had to provide any sort of support when he got into a pond or anything like that, but mostly because Changbin insisted that he needed you in there with him.

He got extra whiny about it, but you didn’t let him coax you into it. Not because you didn’t want to, but because, if you did get naked with him in the water, you knew you’d get distracted and his wounds could suffer the consequences.

After a few days, he seemed to have regained most of his strength, and the cuts scattered over his body were healing nicely. Even then, he kept insisting he needed you to help him.

“If you want to see me naked, just say so”, you couldn’t hold that back any longer. The words just flew past your lips, and you knew they’d had the desired effect as soon as you saw the pink tint on his cheeks.

“I don’t–I mean, I do, but it’s not–” He was tumbling over his words, and it was absolutely adorable. 

You stood up from where you’d been sitting cross-legged by the edge of the pond, and started toying with the belt of your chiton. He went quiet immediately, and his eyes zeroed in on the way you played with the fabric between your fingertips.

“Do you want to see me naked, Changbin?”

He blinked slowly for a moment, and his ears flickered cutely. “Maybe…”

“Maybe?” You untied the knot, and the garment immediately loosened.

You saw him swallow. His gaze remained fixed on your belt, like he was trying to somehow make it disappear completely. 

“Changbin?” You called him again, and his eyes snapped back up to meet yours, giving you his undivided attention. “Do you want to?”

Changbin stared at you for a moment before he nodded. That tiny movement, coupled with the light blush on his cheeks made you feel… empowered. Which was something you had never really felt before in this context.

You’d heard other people tell you about it, you’d read about it in the romance novels you used to read, but you had never truly experienced it. That feeling, coupled with how pliant a literal giant like Changbin got when you so much hinted at being naked, filled you with confidence.

So you removed your clothes, and slowly, you went into the pond.

Changbin was sitting on the ground, which made it so you were almost at eye level with him. You could practically feel his eyes all over your body, leaving an almost searing sensation on your skin. 

When you finally stood in front of him, his hands found your waist. Changbin pulled you closer, so your bodies could be flush to each other. With your arms around his neck, you leaned in for a kiss.

He held you tightly, but gently. You knew he was well aware of his strength, and you knew he liked to be careful so as to not hurt you, which you certainly appreciated.

When you pulled back from the kiss, Changbin brushed your nose against yours, making you giggle. As usual, it was moist, but you didn’t mind.

“You’re pretty”, he whispered the words against your shoulder, where he was pressing lingering kisses on your skin–being extra careful not to poke you with his horns.

“And you’re very handsome”, you replied simply, because it was the truth. Months ago, you hadn’t even known someone like him could exist, and here you were now, absolutely smitten by what most would consider an oddity.

“You think so?” He mumbled absentmindedly, dragging his hands all over your back. His large hands…

“Mm… I do think so”.

He pulled away so he could look at you. A smile had spread across his face, making his eyes turn into little crescents. It always made your heart flutter whenever he smiled, and it was certainly a contagious gesture.

Changbin kissed your cheek once, twice, thrice more, before he was speaking again. 

“Y’know… I haven’t… I’ve never…” He sighed, frowning before he shook his head and started all over again. “Want to make you feel good, but I don’t know how”.

Your eyes widened a bit. Not because you didn’t know that he wouldn’t know how to make you feel good, but because he seemed to genuinely care about it.

“I can show you”, you caressed his shoulders briefly before you cupped his cheeks. “Then you can show me how to make you feel good, hm?”

Changbin nodded, rather enthusiastically, and it made you smile.

“There are… many places you can touch to make me feel good”, you dragged your hands down his arms, until you reached his hands and pulled them away from your back. “For example, here…”

You brought his hands to your chest, and he reflexively squeezed the flesh. “That feels nice, but… touch here”.

Taking a hold of one of his fingers, you guided it to your nipple. The rough pad of his fingertip dragging over the sensitive skin immediately had a shiver running up and down your spine. 

He seemed to catch on very quickly, because the moment you let go of his hands, he immediately started to stimulate your chest. Between his motions and the cool water around you, your nipples stiffened further, and the first whimper came out of your mouth.

Changbin looked at you for a moment, like he was unsure if he had done something wrong, so you immediately reassured him.

“That’s good… Feels good”.

“Feels good?” He asked, adding a bit more pressure.

You nodded in confirmation, and then took a hold of his wrists. “Pinch them harder between your fingers”.

“Don’t wanna hurt you, though”, he sounded genuinely worried about it, which would’ve made you heart melt in other circumstances, but in these circumstances, you needed him to give you all he had–or, at least, all you could stand.

“Do it gradually, I’ll let you know ‘til when. Trust me?”

Changbin nodded, and immediately obliged. As soon as he reached the pressure that was just perfect, you let him know–in quite possibly the most desperate tone you’d ever mustered.

Your lips were on his thereafter. He tugged and pulled and stimulated your nipples in ways that had you moaning into his mouth, that seemed to be coaxing inhuman noises from deep within him.

Your centre was throbbing, desperate for some attention, so you pulled away from the kiss. You were met with Changbin’s blown pupils and flushed cheeks, a sight so incredibly delectable you started to seriously entertain the impossible. Would he fit…?

“Here, too”, you took a hold of one of his hands and brought it between your thighs, giving him enough space to manoeuvre. “You feel that bump?”

When the pad of his finger made contact with your clit you almost jolted in place, but you tried to stay focused as best as you could. 

“Rub in circles. Gently”.

He complied, following the same motions as before, increasing the speed and pressure until you told him exactly how you liked it to be. 

It all became a blur of moans and pants and bellows… All you could feel was the pleasure coursing through your body and Changbin’s warmth all around you. His teeth, his tongue, his lips, his fingers… He was working you up diligently, bringing you closer to the edge.

“So good…” You whimpered against his lips, just before your tongues were intertwined again.

Changbin nodded, almost mindlessly. 

When you’d finally reached your climax, you did so with his name on your tongue. Repeating it over and over again like it was the only word you knew in this world.

You’d found pleasure on your own many, many times, but it’d never felt like this. You weren’t sure if it was the weight of your feelings for him, or if it’d been the thrill of having this experience with Changbin for the first time, but the way that orgasm seemed to be consuming every single one of your senses was absolutely mind-blowing.

He didn’t stop working you up until you asked him to. As soon as he did, you wrapped your arms around his neck and leaned your weight on him for support. Changbin held you tightly, lovingly caressing your back and pressing kisses on your shoulder as you caught your breath.

“Prettiest sounds I’ve ever heard…” He mumbled against your skin, and it made you laugh.

You felt light, like tonnes had just been lifted off of your shoulders. When you pulled away, you cupped his cheeks, and started peppering kisses all over his face, which made him giggle. So adorably you felt your heart swell in your chest.

“Now…” With one final kiss on his lips, you placed your hands on his chest, squishing the soft muscle. “You show me”.

A smirk made its way onto his lips, and after taking one of your hands, he moved it away from his chest to let it sink further underwater, until it met the warm, smooth skin of his length. He left your other hand on his chest, but instead of just letting it rest there, he guided your fingers to one of his nipples so you could gently rub your fingertip against it and play with the jewellery.

“I’ll show you”, he emphasised his words by using his hand to coax your hold around his cock to tighten. Your fingers didn’t even meet as you held him, and the thought, along with the feel, made you feel dizzy with arousal. “Will show you anything. Everything…”

‘You think this could… fit you?’ Changbin had shyly asked you a couple of weeks ago, when he offered you one of the silver hoops he usually wore on one of his horns. Where he got the idea to do that was beyond you, but it honestly didn’t matter, it made you giddy all the same.

It did fit–as an armlet, at least. It was purely material and maybe even a bit vain, but having this item on you at all times simply made you feel tingly. It made your heart swell in your chest and it had butterflies fluttering in your belly.

It felt significant, in a way. Kind of like… like your own version of a wedding band.

In the past, you had never been excited about being a bride, or about being someone’s wife. But you realised things could change. 

Changbin had certainly changed you. You would’ve never imagined that your death sentence would be the thing to actually help you feel alive, and yet, that was exactly what had happened to you. 

Did you sometimes have bouts of fury and rage because of how unfair everything that you’d gone through had been?

Yes.

Did you want all those officials to die a very painful death for judging you the way they did?

Also yes.

But at least, here, you found your place. You found love.

Because you loved Changbin. Horns and tail and hooves and all. Even with his annoyingly big cock that you knew you’d never be able to fit inside you without tearing you in half, even then, you loved him. Truly. 

It took only a visit from that young man he had encountered months ago for you to fully realise it.

He’d appeared out of nowhere, on a random day. Changbin had put himself between you and the young man, but the boy wasn’t a real threat, he’d come just to ask for help to find something else within the Labyrinth.

It was over supper that he’d talked to you, right there in front of Changbin. 

‘Don’t you want to go back to the surface? I know a way out…’

You could still remember how Changbin’s tail started to thrash anxiously behind him, but he didn’t say anything. He’d just fixed his eyes on the floor, slowly chewing his food. He didn’t interrupt or even attempt to divert the conversation. Back then, at least to you, it felt like he was getting ready to accept whichever decision you took.

‘Why would I go back? This is my home. There’s nothing up there for me’.

And when you’d said it, you truly meant it.

This was your home… but it wasn’t the Labyrinth.

It was all Changbin.

You’d wandered the Labyrinth together for a few days after that, helping that young man look for the mysterious artefact he needed. It’d been an adventure for sure…

When you were back in your cosy den after that little adventure, Changbin had given you the thick hoop, your armlet. You’d gotten so used to wearing it, you sometimes forgot you had it on.

At least, until you caught a glimpse of it in your peripheral vision, like you did just now. Somehow, the reminder of its existence further fed the fire that was burning bright in the pit of your stomach. 

The feel of Changbin’s hands on your hips, gripping you tightly–as tight as he knew your body could handle–made you moan. The feel of him, hard and warm against your folds had your mind all fogged up and hazy, especially when he was under you like this, guiding the movement of your hips to increase the pressure of your centre grinding against his bare length, trapping it between your core and his abdomen.

“Mmm… fuck…” He whined under his breath, staring at the place your bodies connected, at the way your slick cunt dragged against his cock.

You nodded in agreement, rather eagerly, because you couldn’t bring yourself to say anything. Not when the way you were essentially humping him felt this incredibly good.

With your hands on his chest, both for support and so you could play with his nipples in just the way he loved so much, you chased that sweet, sweet relief that’d been steadily growing closer to you since you sat on him however long ago. The pressure on your clit was just absolutely perfect like this, especially when he was pushing you down and assisting your own movement.

“Changbin, darling, I’m… fuck, want to…” You could barely speak, but you knew he understood you perfectly, because he had you moving faster, he pushed you down harder, making your eyes roll to the back of your head.

Before you knew it, you were trembling with your release. The only thing keeping you from collapsing was Changbin’s tight hold, but you still tried your best to keep moving, to keep providing him with as much pleasure as you could.

With a broken plea of your name, the first of many shots of thick cum spouted from the tip of his cock. The results of his orgasm’s were, of course, proportional to his size. He always seemed to produce bucket-loads of cum whenever he came, drenching his whole torso, and you in the process.

Changbin looked so, so pretty like this. Flushed, whining, bellowing, desperately rutting into you to make the most out of his release. You didn’t care that you were close to the point of oversensitivity, you just wanted to continue seeing him like this for as long as it lasted.

When the final spurt of cum landed on his abdomen, the tight grip he had on your hips loosened. The lack of his support made it so that you simply collapsed on top of him, gasping for air. 

Oh, how fulfilling it was to hear his increased heartbeat against your ear, to feel his warm cum sticking to you…

You both laid there for a moment, just enjoying the feel of one another and catching your breaths. 

Changbin had to act a bit quickly after coming, though. Otherwise his cock would retreat into its sheath covered in his drying cum, which could not only become a gross mess, but also cause him real, painful problems the next time he got hard.

So as soon as he regained his strength, he was moving, carrying you in his arms and getting you both inside the nearest pond to get cleaned up. 

You always helped him, of course. Just like he helped you.

Getting to bathe each other felt intimate, like a bonding experience, so you enjoyed it. 

You barely spoke to each other during these moments. You just took the time to further enjoy the other’s body in a more profound way. 

It wasn’t until you were out of that pond, dry, in a fresh set of clothes, and huddled together in your cosy nest that he was finally speaking again.

“I really like it when we do it like that…” He mumbled against your hair, softly dragging his fingertips on your back.

You chuckled softly, pressing a soft peck on his collarbone. “Is it better than when you fuck my thighs?”

Changbin inhaled sharply, placing his free hand on your bum. “It’s different. It’s easier to come together this way”. 

You hummed, smiling in amusement at the comment. 

There was silence for a while, but you knew he was awake. If he hadn’t been, the soft caresses on your back would’ve stopped already.

The armlet shone in your peripheral vision, and you were reminded once again that this was your home. That you belonged here.

“Changbin?”

He hummed to let you know he was listening, not stopping the movement of his hands.

“Why didn’t you kill me when you found me wandering the Labyrinth?”

Changbin was quiet for a while, until he nuzzled your hair before he placed a kiss on the top of your head. 

“I recognised your voice”, he replied simply. “You fed my friends. You didn’t have to, but you did it anyway. They always appreciated it, and I couldn’t help but appreciate it, too”.

You pulled yourself away from his hold a bit, enough to look him in the eyes. “Can you imagine if I’d never spoken in the forest? Or if I never fed the birds? You would’ve eaten me”.

He frowned. “Don’t wanna think about that. Besides, you did do it. Why think about the past like that?”

You smiled at him, just before you pressed a quick peck on his lips.

As you buried your face further in the crook of his neck, and started to feel the pull of sleep on your body, you figured Changbin was right.

There was no point in thinking about the past. No point in dwelling on the what-ifs. The only thing that mattered was the present, and the future you hoped to have with him here, in your home.

Author’s Note x2: i came into this expecting this story to be nothing but filth and a horny mess, not... whatever this ended up being. it definitely didn’t go the way i thought it was going to go when i had originally read that ask, but, y’know… the little lizard in my brain just does whatever it wants. i’m happy with it, and, if you made it this far, i hope you enjoyed it, too.  especial thanks to @notastraykid and @channieskies for reading this before anyone else and for giving me their valuable opinions and suggestions.

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General Masterlist

[gayelderstourney]

OLD MAN YAOI BRACKET ROUND 1

Propaganda:

Bob Zanotto/Helmut Fullbear:

THEY LITERALLY MADE MR CRY THE FIRST TIME I PLAYED THE GAME. THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH AND THEY FINALLY GET TO BE HAPPY TOGETHER. YOU DONT UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH THEY MEAN TO ME.

they are married in canon and are epic and amazing. they had sad canon events where bob thought helmut was dead for like 30 years or something but helmut WASN'T dead his brain was still alive and they are reunited in the game first by way of stealing an evil dictator's body and then later on they put helmut's brain in a ball as a temporary fix while they go out to find his body which has been frozen in ice. the game forces you to walk through bob's memory of saying his vows at their wedding ceremony and it's seriously some of the most romantic and heartwarming shit i've ever heard, especially "just when i thought i was turning to seed, you made me bloom again" like my god. i love them

they're gay and old as hell!!!! there's a level dedicated to their wedding!!!

Helmut is voiced by Jack Black and is currently a brain in a ball, and Bob knows him so well that the mental image of him in his drunken mind says things Bob KNOWS the real Helmut would never say. Also Helmut is temporarily in the body of a guy voiced by Elijah Wood-

Craig Cuttlefish/DJ Octavio:

well you see they used to be friends but were on opposite sides of the great turf war. cuttlefish gets a 14 year old to go stop octavios army. also they argue in splatoon 3 which is just part of the 100+ year divorce arc BUT AT THE FINAL BOSS IN THE JAPANESE VERSION THEY SHARE THE ICONIC LINE THAT CUES THE CALAMARI INKANTATION AND IN THE ENGLISH CUTTLEFISH TELLS OCTAVIO TO "HIT IT" AND START THE MUSIC AND MUSIC IS SO IMPORTANT TO THE SPLATOON UNIVERSE YAAAAA ik its grasping but its lovers to enemies

Literally I have seen so many people call this old man yaoi.

Old men divorce!!!

They're old men who made their divorce the problem of every young person in their lives <3. 100 years ago during the Great Turf War between inklings and octarians, Craig and Octavio were the chosen ambassadors of their respective species. They got along well, but unfortunately found themselves on opposite sides of the war. During one of the battles Craig shot Octavio in the heart. The inlkings won the war and the octarians were forced underground. For years afterward both men grew bitter towards each other, and eventually Octavio attacked the new Squidbeak Splatoon (a group of secret agents recruited by Craig). Octavio lost both times and got imprisoned in a giant snow globe (and Craig calls him cute). In the latest game Octavio got over his hatred for Inklings (Craig's species) and used his flying mech to help defeat the BBEG of the game. After the final fight, Craig said something to the effect of 'that old rascal turned out to be not so bad!'.

Alright ok hear me out! These two old men have fought in wars for their races against each other and have the craziest pathetic old man homoerotic tension ever. They like, went from at least respecting each other before the war and then they were forced to fight each other and then when Cuttlefish's side won, Octavio went underground like a pathetic lil wet cat and later on he kidnapped Cuttlefish because of game related reasons and both of them still have way too much homoerotic tension!!! And then Octavio gets owned and then in the second game Octavio decides that "Hey actually, lets kidnap Cuttlefish's granddaughter" and the old man isnt even there cause hes busy being a pathetic old man in the under-underground!!! And in the third game they go fron rival/enemies to reluctantly working together to save the world from actual extinction bc some durry bitch wants to cover it in fuzzy ooze and like, both of them have so much old man ship potential and just- theyre still pining for each other even after over a 100 years man,,,,

I personally headcanon Cap'n Cuttlefish as homophobic, but I see the ship a lot and think it's funny.

They’re both at least like 125 probably a bit older, they are so divorced, like peak lovers to enemies back to lovers, Cap’n Cuttlefish calls Octavio cute in Splatoon one immediately after you rescue him from Octavio kidnapping him? So dysfunctional, so gay, so old

They fought in the Great Turf War which was said to be over 100 years ago, Capn Cuttlefish was, well, a captain I believe (he had some sort of rank even if he wasn't a captain, like he led a battle that's singled out in the sunken scrolls of the first game). they act so divorced in the singleplayer mode like they cannot stop insulting each other specifically but octavio always comes back and like kidnaps or insults captain cuttlefish it's so. and when the great zapfish gets stolen in splatoon 3 captain cuttlefish is like "it's the octarians again i know it" like divorced behavior. also it wasn't this time and octavio gets super weird about it. maybe you should stop using children as props in your drama though.

my favorite war crime divorcees <3

They basically are friends to enemies to lovers. Both of them fought in a war that hurt DJ Octavio so bad he can’t become an inkling.

friends -> enemies -> lovers. what more is there to say

they are soooo divorced

they were so gay their breakup ended a war

Craig Cuttlefish got sucked dry by a bear

they got divorced but then they got remarried . they fuckinf hate eachother but they also make out sloppy style and i do not know how that works because neither of them have mouths in their swim form which they are both permanently stuck in. love wins but also loses at the same time with these fucking losers

they are sooo divorced omg. istg they were dating when they were younger and then war n shit happened and now theyre bitter exes who probably still make out sometimes. Makes it so much funnier that theyre old ass men (both over 100!) and Cuttlefish has grandkids

They were on opposite sides of a war and still fell in love

[fanfic-writer-and-rambler]

Dude, Disney Movies Can't be Avoided!

Batfamily/Teen Titans Fanfic

Words: About 1000

Warnings: Eh, just me writing kissing, but no farther than that.

Summary: Dick Grayson and Koriand'r reconnect after she's been traveling for three months, Beast Boy is shocked Dick hasn't even seen a Disney movie, Raven doesn't want to be involved but she goes along anyway and Cyborg... Is along for the ride.

Dick Grayson's apartment - Afternoon

Kori: I missed you.

Kori kisses Dick passionately.

Dick, catching his breath: I missed you too. I swear when you're close to being back with me I... Can't focus.

Kori’s eyes glimmer with warmth.

Kori: Even when everything felt chaotic, thoughts of you kept me going and thinking about doing this.

She softly pressed her lips against his lips and pulled away, leaning in closer, their foreheads touching, breath mingling in the space between them.

Kori: We can do whatever you want, but for tonight-

Dick: We're on the same page.

Kori's smile softens, and she pulls him into another kiss, deeper this time, as if she could bridge the gap of their time apart. When they finally break apart, she grips his shirt.

Kori: We won't be... Interrupted? I have a lot of energy to work off.

Dick: I told them we'd be spending the day together. Every minute, every hour.

Kori: Exactly.

Kori takes off Dick's shirt and he rips off her dress without a second thought.

Kori: God I love you.

Dick: I love you too.

He carries Kori to his room, shutting the door behind him.

Raven, Beast Boy and Cyborg stand in front of Grayson's front door to his apartment.

...

Dick Grayson's apartment - 10 pm

Raven: You sure he wants to be bothered with us?

Beast Boy: Doesn't matter, he is watching Disney movies with us. He will not be deprived of Frozen!

Cyborg: Imma keep arguing Tangled is better.

Beast Boy: Shut it.

Raven rolls her eyes.

Raven: I have an inkling we should not be here. Kori said she'd be back soon and the first person she sees is always him.

Cyborg: I heard she'd be back tomorrow. I think we're fine.

Raven (crossing her arms): I have a bad feeling about this.

Beast Boy (interrupting his girlfriend): The man told me he's never watched Disney movies, we got a free night and we brought snacks.

Cyborg: He's got a point, especially about the snacks.

Raven: Hm, all right. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Raven pulls out the spare key Dick let her hold on to, not BB or Cyborg especially after they snuck in and stole one of his suits.

The unlocked and the trio saw most of the place was dark minus his room.

Multi-colored lights peeked through the closed bedroom door. They headed to the door, but once Raven heard music playing, specific music, she turned on her heels.

Raven: Nuh-uh. Nope. No. Nada.

She made her way to her friends living room couch, waiting for the inevitable show her friends would witness.

Beast Boy and Cyborg shrug and open the unfortunately unlocked door.

Cyborg, Dick and Kori: AAAAAAH!

Beast Boy: Kori you're back early.

Kori: I said today was when I returned!

Beast Boy (unaware of the awkward walk in): My brain switched the date. Hey Dick-

Dick: GET OUT!

Dick tosses pillows at the two. Cyborg and Beast Boy run off. Cyborg covers his eyes in horror.

Cyborg: Damn, you'd think I'd be used to seeing that. Why were they oiled up?

Raven, turning on the television: Probably was that and sweat.

Dick: Rachel!

Raven (Rachel): I'm not wrong.

Cyborg: Oh Lord, the mental image is stuck in my head! Get out! Get out!

Cyborg knocks his fist against his forehead disgusted.

Dick (in his room with Kori): Why are you idiots here?!

Raven, over her shoulder: They wanted you to watch Disney movies because you've never watched them.

Kori (shocked): Not even Beauty and the Beast?

Dick: I had a stressful childhood! Fine we can watch the stupid movies!

Beast Boy: Cool man, can y'all get dressed?

Dick groans and slams his bedroom door shut.

Raven raising her voice: You should get a lock for that door.

Dick: And pay a fee to my landlord, no! Maybe fucking knock!

Raven ponders this for a second and then shrugs with a nod.

Cyborg: I- I- Need some air.

Beast Boy: Dude it's natural, odd to see but we all do it.

Cyborg: Man I'm not a voyeur. I don't want to see it. You nasty.

Cyborg steps outside.

Beast Boy: I'm not that either, there's just no shame in-

Raven: Garfield?

Beast Boy: Yeah?

Raven: Shut up.

Garfield nods, pretending to zip his mouth.

Raven: Well, we're here. I'll get the popcorn made.

...

A few minutes later the group sat in Grayson's living room watching Frozen first. The room was filled with awkward tension that could be cut with a knife.

Kori wipes her finger across her boyfriend's neck.

Kori: You got a little oil on your neck still.

Beast Boy chuckles while munching on popcorn.

Dick, sighs: I texted all of you that we'd be busy today.

Cyborg, averting eye contact with the couple: Could you not say the word busy?

Dick: My point is, why didn't you wait?

Beast Boy, eating popcorn: Dude, Disney!

Dick: Dude, wait a day!

Kori: Maybe two days.

Raven, sitting criss cross on the floor, grabs the remote and paused the movie.

Raven: You guys were having sex, they walked in, I'm not being horrified by that again, it's over with. Your love for each other is intense but healthy. Can we watch the rest of the movie without talking about the fact Richie doesn't put a lock on his bedroom door?

Dick glares at Raven: My house, my rules! I don't want a lock!

Kori (comfortingly): Relax. Rachel is right, it happened and has happened a couple times. It's not like they saw anything.

Dick: You guys didn't, did you?

Beast Boy: The covers were on your member so no.

Cyborg: That is true.

Dick pinches the bridge of his nose.

Dick: Just unpause the movie.

Raven: Thank you.

Raven presses play. Kori rests her head on her partner's shoulder making him smile. The rest of the movie was enjoyable as well. Although Grayson kept the door to his room closed while they watched more Disney movies.

[rip-quizilla]

Heartbreaker (Eddie Does Drag for Charity)

@corrodedcoffinfest Day 10: Pride

Tags: supportive band mates, gay Jeff, drag queen Eddie Munson, brief Rockie reference

WC: 994

Divider was created by @strangergraphics

“When does he go on?” Grant asked Gareth, leaning over Jeff from where they stood around a table in the crowded club. The music was loud enough that Grant had to practically yell for Gareth to hear him. 

“He told me he’d be going third!” Gareth yelled back to him, eyes alight with anticipation. Admittedly, Gareth had never in his life thought he’d ever be excited to be in a gay bar, but stranger things had certainly happened. 

Weirdly enough, Jeff seemed to be the least comfortable one at the table. His smile seemed a bit more forced than usual as his eyes darted around the room.

“Jeff, you good buddy?” Gareth asked, “I would’ve thought you’d feel right at home here.”

“Being gay doesn’t mean I suddenly want to hang out at dance clubs, you know.” A cringe took up residence on Jeff’s face as he took note of a nearly naked man in shiny boyshorts swiveling his hips to some upbeat song that played through the speakers. “No judgment to the people who enjoy this stuff, but it’s just not my scene.” Pink and purple spotlights illuminated the stage then, signaling that the show was about to begin. 

“God, it was nuts back there. Pun intended.” Robin sighed when she joined the boys at their table. “Do you guys know what tucking is? I didn’t. I do now. Could have gone my whole life without that mental image but now it’s burned into my brain.” 

Grant’s confusion was evident on his face, to which Gareth subtly shook his head in a silent  Later, buddy. Don’t get her started. 

“Any issues though?” Gareth asked, “ With Eddie, I mean.” Robin was about to answer before a tall, beautiful drag queen took the stage and introduced themself as the host for tonight’s charity drag show.

Robin waited about twenty seconds into the host’s introduction before discreetly whispering her answer to Gareth. “Vickie said Eddie’s look is some of her best work, if that answers your question. She’s been working with Eddie every day for at least a week; apparently he’s taking this really seriously!” 

“On behalf of the Indy Pride committee, I want to sincerely thank all of you for coming out tonight!” The host continued, “100% of tips collected tonight will be donated to local charities benefitting LGBTQ+ youth, so let’s give all our performers a round of applause!”

Grant, Gareth and Jeff may all have originally shown up tonight to bear witness to what may very well be their frontman’s most blackmailable performance to date, but at this moment they couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride for Eddie as they cheered. He took his preparations for tonight seriously because he believed in why he was doing it. He had built his friends a refuge from those that judged them, bullied them, called them freaks- Eddie Munson had always been in the business of giving outsiders a place to call their own; same show, different stage.

The host went on to introduce the first queen- a dentist who, for tonight only, had dubbed himself ‘Ruta Canal’. After the dentist was a high school theater teacher whom the host introduced as ‘Apple Bottoms’. Judging by the sheer amount of ear-splitting screams, it was safe to assume that a large group of his students had shown in support of their teacher. 

“Now folks,” the host began, “Our next queen is no stranger to the stage. For tonight only, the leading man of local metal band Corroded Coffin is… M&M!”

Gareth tilted his head toward Robin as he applauded. “Why M&M?”

Robin gave him a withering smile. “He said it stood for Munson Magic.” Gareth replied with a snort as the applause faded away to reveal a familiar progression of drums and guitar. When Eddie emerged, the boys could hardly believe their eyes.

In his unflinching commitment to the song he’d chosen to lip sync to (it hadn’t taken long for the boys to recognize it as Heartbreaker by Pat Benatar), Eddie had donned a skin-tight unitard that practically painted his every curve with purple zebra print, bright red heels and a red belt to match. He hadn’t needed a wig, since his hair was already long and luscious enough to be the envy of any popstar. Now that his locks framed a face painted with lipstick, eyeshadow, and penciled thin eyebrows that had been drawn atop his glued-down natural brows, Eddie’s haircut suddenly looked more feminine than it usually did. 

Eddie, ever the showman, left everything on the stage from beginning to end for the entire performance. His facial expressions were larger than life, bringing his infectious energy into every word Pat sang through the speakers. The audience ate up every second of it, tossing bill after bill onto the stage for Eddie to collect- each one was teasingly stashed into the fake breasts he wore under his unitard. By the time he was only halfway through his performance, his entire neckline was fringed in green.

He was only onstage for the beginning and the end of the song, spending the rest of the performance strutting amidst tables where patrons stood. Eddie saved his bandmates’ table for last, making sure to embarrass them the most- grinding up on Gareth one second and hiking a leg up on Grant the next. He didn’t subject poor Jeff to the same treatment, but he certainly couldn’t help himself from blowing him a kiss before returning to the stage just in time for Vickie to emerge from backstage with- to everyone’s surprise- his electric guitar. Eddie finished the final few bars of the song on his warlock, shredding through the notes live as the entire bar went absolutely wild. As the song drew to a close, he slid to his knees at the front and center of the stage, face contorted with focus and exhilaration until the final note rang out into the crowd’s thunderous applause.

[chadfallout76podcast]

"Deah Shroud!: A Nick Valentine Mystery" EXPLAINED and AMA

It never occurred to me to do this last year, but a lot of people have asked me questions about our Fallout 4 play in the last year in the Discord, so I wanted to open an AMA but also explain "Death Shroud!" and some of the broader themes involved in it.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Part 1: Pre-production

Before I get into the story, I wanted to explain how this production even came about. Over the years after working together on some official community projects with Wes Johnson through Bethesda, we became good friends. I took a couple of his acting classes and he talked about the Fallout For Hope charity initiative I started and asked for help in organizing the gaming community for his Alzheimer's Association fundraiser. The idea was to host a month-long digital event of discussion panels, game shows, improv and a play with as many different voices of video games, film and TV as we could round up. In our second year of his VoiceAPalooza fundraiser, I wanted to do an original old time radio show and see if could bring back as many of the cast that we could from Fallout 4. It was Wes who first suggested an adventure with his Silver Shroud character (that he voiced in Fallout 4's radio plays) teaming up with Nick Valentine (voiced by the amazing Stephen Russell). Valentine is, for me, one of the best written, unique companions in Fallout lore.

So, I reached out to Stephen Russell who had joined us before for charity work and he was all in on bringing Nick Valentine back to life! After that things moved fast with Bethesda's Pete Hines and Emil Pagliarulo joining us to have some fun for a good cause. We tried to get EVERY companion from Fallout 4 that we could, but schedule wrangling is tough, and some people are just impossible to track down or find. Matt Mercer would've loved to have joined us as Macready, but unfortunately scheduling didn't work, so the best we could manage would be a holotape (the only reason our snarky gun running merc had to take the big sleep in the story).

After having everyone plugged in to reprise characters, it was time to put fingers to keys and find the story...

Part 2: The Deep Lore

The origin of this story started with a thought: how would the NPC's and characters we love perceive modification of their universe by us? We, as players aren't the true creators of this universe or these characters (Bethesda is). If anything, we the players are the equivalent of "lesser gods", reshaping it in new ways, unexpected and subjective ways, and sometimes even chaotic ways (I'm looking at you avalanche of adult mods with realistic jiggle physics and Thomas the Tank Engine Vertibird).

It started with a mental image of the small ways in which we start out modding games, or even the first mods we (using the "Engine of Creation) actually create. I had a mental image of Magnolia doing her thing, singing away sultry in a crowded and smoky third rail when she looks one way, back the next and sees new curtains. A subtle thing, something a little startling, but in a universe where recreational drug use is met with a YEEE YEEEE WHEEEE...a change you simply dismiss as being overtired or a little too juiced.

I'm a sucker for old time radio. I grew up listening to classic radio horrors like The Whistler, Suspense, and Lights Out on vinyl records and cassette tapes when I'd spend summers with my grandmother on a little island off the coast of Canada. Getting the tone, feeling and sound to stage an old-time radio show was the easiest part of this whole process...it's baked into my brain lol. The key of course is finding the right narrative voice.

Enter: Bill Lobley. If you play Fallout 76, he is the announcer for the "Tales from the West Virginia Hills" holotapes, but before that he's a prolific voice actor, maybe best known for his role as the truly vile Jeremiah Fink in Bioshock: Infinite. He has a FANTASTIC transatlantic voice for old time radio and was perfect as narrator in the script.

Part 3: What Is Going On?!?!

I had the base idea, the voices to pull it off, but what was the meaning and message of the whole thing? I always start there. From a meta experience level, the story is about dealing with subjective reality that’s being torn apart. After Fallout 4 launched in vanilla, we the players changed that world and reshaped it with mods. The small changes in perceived reality are meant for the omniscient player (us) and are not meant to be perceived by the characters themselves...and yet, what if they were? And if they were...WHY?! The answer was right in front of me: there's a difference between something born into a world and something MADE into a world.

You take someone like Magnolia or Nick, both synths, that obviously weren’t naturally born from two people. They were conceived as an idea...a human idea sure, but still they were made, not born. Without even needing to say in the script, the Trickster from the Grognak comic books who shouldn't exist yet does IS also an idea. Some MADE into a world but not born...a different world sure, but still the creation of it. Nick, Magnolia, any synth as ideas themselves would sense that the world was wrong and being changed in a way no one else would because of fundamentally who they are and what they represent.

Everything that unfolds is because Nora as a keystone event in the Commonwealth, a focal point of the causal nexus making her a unique entity in that world. A causal nexus is the link between a cause and its resulting effects and ignore the science mumbo jumbo, because here's an example of how that works:

The Sole Survivor, Nora, listened to Kent's message, chose to answer him and put on the outfit of the Silver Shroud. As a unique figure she shifted perceived reality of everyone in the Commonwealth by becoming the Silver Shroud, acting like him and making people believe that a fictional character exists.

Unfettered belief and faith in an idea = manifested reality.

Rejected belief and faith in the idea = dispels that reality.

This HAS happened before in Fallout lore in the instance of people with horrifying backstories and personal tragedies choosing to become someone else such as the Mechanist (Fallout 3 and Fallout 4) or even the Ant-Agonizer (Fallout 3). This time however it was a unique figure who did this, a figure fated and meant to reshape the Commonwealth for good, bad or ugly.

This opened a door, the door through which another figure could influence and enter a new universe provided it take the form of something already in it...a reality side-step into the form of the Mechanist. Concurrently, the moment that happened, reality counterbalanced by making the Silver Shroud who was already believed to be real BECOME real as the ying to the Mechanist/Trickster's yang.

Now at home in reality, the Trickster found himself very much alive and unbound by story but had very little power to do much at all. He needed something more, an idea and faith that already existed in the Commonwealth with the infinite universe of ideas made, but not born like himself. His goal wasn't power, it was to sow chaos, reshaping reality into a realm for any and every idea despite the consequences to reality itself.

So what did he need? The belief in the Old Gods and a focus point of belief in the idea: a staff. The universe is as adaptive as it is remarkable and where the Mechanist had its opposite: the Silver Shroud, the Trickster needed its twin: enter Sheogorath...because what better staff to tear apart and reshape reality than the Staff of Sheogorath. There is a quest added in the new Skyrim Anniversary Edition in which you can build it for yourself with a few items: Branch of the Tree of Shades, Ciirta's Eye, Fork of Horripilation. In this universe it would have to fashioned with things FROM this universe.

Two eyes were needed:

The eye of a True Believer: Kent Connolly

The eye of a True Seer: Mama Murphy

Affixed to the top of a staff of the purest heartwood from a Twice Born Tree. Living wood from Harold, born a man who eventually mutated into a living tree.

Lastly, it had to be soaked in the tears of ages end: barrels of radiated blessed waters courtesy of the Cult of Atom.

The Trickster had no magic of his own in this universe in which to act, but thankfully courtesy of some powerful allies, he was able to make contact with shadowy cults and worshippers of the old gods who gave him the name of someone truly of faith in the old magic to make all of this work: Jebediah Blackhall, who in this spin of the universe did unfortunately get his hands on the cursed book: the Krivbeknah.

Finding allies was all too easy, as the events post main quest left the Commonwealth changed. To many, the Sole Survivor and his/her companions would be hailed as heroes. To others, they would be villains, particularly in light of what Nora CHOSE to do to the Railroad to end the synth threat for good. That's a lot of blood on the hands of heroes...

As the Mechanist/Trickster, Blackall and the Lombardos began using the staff, its changes and shifts in reality rippled backwards through time, as changing one specific thing would change its entire existence. You change some curtains and the manufacturer of those curtains only every made one pattern...the world object becomes changed universally. Tapping into the Engine of Creation to make these changes, leaves anyone MADE not born aware of them as they don't fit into the design as it shifts around them. Nick, Danse, Magnolia would all feel and see it, be thrown off for a bit before settling into the changed reality state.

At the climax when everything starts falling apart and you get everyone from GlaDOS and the Joker strolling on in, the only way to end it all is to separate the Trickster from the Staff and restore the saved intended state of reality. The Silver Shroud finds himself powerless against the Trickster...only someone from this universe would be able to intercede, hard wired into the Engine of Creation itself as an existing element connected throughout its framework and history. After sending the Trickster off packing to the moon (thanks GlaDOS), but its a little too late for reality. It collapses around them, finding themselves elsewhere...the point between the mind, creation and the outcome of reality.

After the Shroud fades away, Nick has the power and choice to roll the universe, his universe back along the tapestry of choices that led him here. They all were haunted by the choices they made the first time around, something Nora couldn't live with...that ultimately led her relationship with Danse to fall apart. So Nick decides to go back further, as far back as he can go and he finds himself back in his office with Ellie waking him up.

There are consequences to what he's done, that he's not yet aware of, ones that will become clear in our next episode. The synths remember, as he remembers...Danse, Magnolia and everyone else remembers the fall of the Institute. They all find themselves at their starting point, moving towards their intended fated position to encounter the Sole Survivor. For Nick? He's starting down the path that will led him to be held prisoner and meet the Sole Survivor for the first time.

As he'll soon discover however, things don't play out the same way this time. Moreover, while he was rolling back reality to an early saved state, he made a huge mistake and completely forgot about something and someone so incredibly important...

You'll have to wait to see what that is...

[classpectpokerap]

How do you feel about the portrayal of plurality in Homestuck? Because it’s not good.

Cherubs are “supposed” to predominate over their other personality. With Calliope being portrayed as naive for trying to co exist.

Horuss is mocked for being a system. But I’d say it was a king fun of people who pretend to be mentally Ill on social media for clicks.

Then their are the sprites

okay so

i guess we're doing this

HOMESTUCK AND PLURALITY: A PRIMER

BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST THERES SO MUCH

SO SO SO MUCH

okay. so

homestuck is one of the best pieces of media of all time for plurality and i fuckin mean it. no shot do not pass go i have NEVER seen anything that is more built from the ground up to Support plural reads. like, to the point where it feels impossible to read homestuck without it.

as a work dealing with two huge primary themes of a) finding yourself/identity/growing up, and b) ideas coming to life, plurality is pretty much the Perfect intersection between the two of them. like.

take rose for example.

rose is plural and it's great.

when the doomed timeline evaporates, future dream rose does not actually "cease to exist." she ceases to exist as her own person -- her memories, experiences, personality, thoughts (or, as shorthand, her selfstuff) all flows back into rose prime. and that experience is just something rose has to roll with. one becomes two -- that other rose is still in her mind.

jade's plural and it's great.

when her dream self awakens as jadesprite, jade has a horrific argument with her. if you're plural i'm sure you understand. fighting with an age-regressed version of you, stuck in a traumatic past, who WONT FUCKING LISTEN -- we've all . been there.

she has involuntary barks, she can't stop seeing images of fire, she wants to go back to nonexistence but she doesnt want to die and it's torture,

and then in cascade, jade fuses with her.

dream jade is still in there. that part of her she has to grapple with is still real. her dog who she loves is in there, too -- but, yknow. woof

then grimbark gets forcefully introjected into her. i've seen a few fics play with the idea that the grimbark personality is still residually there (read ygtpoasu), but it's not a huge thing that's explored in the text. more backgrounded. but still! her crisis of identity is in there.

wanna know what's NOT backgrounded

tavros's plurality is like, a pretty big factor in his character!!!! it's one of the bigger points vriska uses to bully him with (because she's projecting because she's projecting because she's projecting, because she's also plural and kins mindfang), it's like. a big thing that he has to cope with and figure out.

kanaya suggested tavros treat his self-confidence as his own brain guy, like, completely sincerely. she genuinely thought it would help, and it sorta did!!!!!

and like

it is FAR from the only positive example of plurality in the comic.

like. look at sollux and aradia defending "alternate reality copies" of characters -- which can be pretty easily extrapolated to them talking about fictives

like. !!!!

i dunno, man. i think that homestuck is a DEEPLY plural story. you should read mtm and kgtac for more exploration of these themes. read detective pony too while you're at it. like.

i havent even TOUCHED on horuss or dirk or karkat here because there is just so much. there's so much! like ultselves. oh my god i completely neglected to talk about ultselves or cherubs or --

augh

but anyway here's The Screenshots from mtm

homestuck is, like, the single most fictive compatible fictional work i've ever read.

"oh im being sent to another universe as a brain ghost? that happened to my buddy dirk"

"oh im one of many incarnations of myself, and perhaps not even the most 'canon compliant' one? haha dream bubbles moment"

"ive been isekai'd into another world? lol sburb"

it. yeah. god. i could literally talk about this all day. but instead im gonna direct you to my ao3.

check out no metaphors and then scroll through the "multiplicity/plurality" tag on my page

and if youve got more specific stuff, send in another ask!

[mariaxxxxx]

Chapter 6 - Love at Night.

Summary: To save your nation You are given as a bride to a sea god.

Warnings: 18+ ONLY/ Minors DNI, Angust, Hurt comfort, Sex, Apologies, Crying, Creampie, Passionate sex, virgin!reader, size difference, smut, soft!dom!, HEA, somnophille, slight degradation, duvious consent, pregnancy, arranged marriage, inexperienced reader, abortion commented, unprotected sex (don't do that wrap this thing), kidnapping, aftercare, curse words.

A/N: English is not my mother tongue. I apologize for any errors.

A/N: I hope they haven't abandoned me. I was a little confused on how to continue this story, but after a lot of thinking I finally came to a good conclusion. I will try to post once a week.

Work count: 1.286

Serie materialist

🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

You woke up when you tried to move in the reeds and found yourself immobilized by your husband's body entwined with yours. As you moved carefully, not wanting to wake him, you turned to him just to look at his beautiful sleeping face. The images of what you did made the discomfort between his legs pulse and his face take on a red hue. After the first time, her husband possessed her three more times; it was painful and pleasurable in equal measure. He used his tongue, his fingers, and his penis to take away that feeling of pure ecstasy from you. The gods had blessed him with a tireless, vigorous and virile companion.

Checking to make sure he wasn't awake, you then allowed yourself to wander your eyes to his naked body. That man had kissed every corner of her body, murmuring against her hot skin how much he longed to devour her, in every way. You sigh at the memory of your husband's tongue between his legs. Suddenly, a sudden insecurity takes over his brain. Your husband appeared to be older than you and as king he must have had the company of other women who knew how to satisfy him in bed.

He's been with other women, You thought as you traced his collarbone with your fingertips. He was with women who knew how to please him. I want to please him.

You ran your fingers down his chest through the soft skin, an old scar running across his left shoulder that extended to his armpit line and You wondered how he had taken it. His stomach had hard muscles, a thin line of black hair that formed a path around his cock. You, with boldness and courage, traced the thin skin over his hips, biting your lip as you mentally freaked out, bringing your hand to his member. K'uk'ulkan was already half hard and You wondered if he liked having your hand on him.

Tentatively You ran your hand down his length, seeing how his erection seemed to grow at the touch. You were surprised at how smooth the skin was in that area, like silk on rock. When You carefully circled him, stroking him lightly, K'uk'ulkan moaned and You lifted your head only to find him looking directly at You with eyes dark with desire and his lower lip trapped between his teeth.

"Sorry." You said, moving away to the other side of the reeds. K'uk'ulkan grabbed his wrist, stilling his movements with a smile on his face.

“You shouldn’t apologize for touching something that is rightfully yours.” He says his voice firm. “Touch me whenever you want my wife. You will never receive a complaint from me.”

When he noticed the touch of good humor and the firmness in his voice, a wave of tranquility bathed his body. Gathering all the boldness you possessed, you said:

“I’ll play it whenever I want.” You approached him. “What kind of queen would I be if I didn’t claim what’s rightfully mine.”

In a quick movement he grabs you by the waist and turns your body, putting you on top. In an attempt to accommodate yourself better, you placed your hands on his chest and sat better on his hips. In that position she could feel his erection better in her ass. You blushed when you noticed him staring at your breasts and, instinctively, you covered them with your arms.

"No". He said softly "Don't hide something so beautiful."

You drop your arms, still embarrassed. Pushing himself into a sitting position, her husband brushed away the hair that fell over her shoulders and kissed her bare skin.

“I don’t want you to be uncomfortable or embarrassed when you’re with me.” He said with his lips on the bare skin of her shoulder.

“I just want to please you.” You said, in a whisper.

“What a good wife I have. I will teach you how to please me, my love.” He looked at you, smiled mischievously and threw his back onto the cushions and crossed his arms over his head, exposing his wide, well-defined torso. “Move your hips. Slowly. Find your own rhythm.”

Understanding what he meant, you rolled over on his erection, watching him as he began to breathe more difficultly. You took a moment to watch K'uk'ulkan's reaction. In a desperate action, her husband threw her onto the reeds, ending up on top. He kept his face hidden in her neck, kissing the area ardently, eliciting loud moans, he then moved the kisses down towards her lap, sucking her nipple like a hungry baby.

“My husband...” You murmured between moans and sighs.

He let go of your hard, wet nipple to look directly at You.

"Yes." He said raising his head encouraging you to continue.

Ignoring all the embarrassment and modesty that tried to stop You from continuing, You said:

“Could you do that again? With the mouth. Down there."

The smile on her husband's face was predatory as he descended on her body. He played with her clit with his tongue providing pleasure. You tried desperately not to scream; You grabbed the furs around you, your husband's hair, anything to keep yourself grounded. With a deft swipe of his lips K'uk'ulkan sucked your swollen and sensitive clit You climaxed; You felt the pleasure numb your legs, and the moment you felt your release nothing else mattered, You screamed loud and shrill with the overwhelming orgasm.

K'uk'ulkan pulled away from her sensitive pussy with a soft, breathless laugh, his lips glistening with his release.

“You will never leave this bed, wife.”

“As long as You stay with me.” You said panting, tilting your hips up as he got on his knees on the reeds positioning his cock at your wet entrance. He settled between her legs and slowly pushed his member inside.

You bit your lip as you felt the burn caused by the previous night, your husband was relentless in his thrusts. Soon the pain dissipated, her body quickly getting used to his rhythm. He moved fast and hard, fucking her pussy mercilessly, moving both their bodies in a dance filled with lust and burning desire. The speed of your hips becomes powerful, much stronger as you increase the pressure. Her husband showed no mercy, clearly riding his own release. With one last powerful thrust he reached the peak spilling his seed, once again, into her pussy. You felt the heavy pulse against your pussy squeezing the cock pulling out every drop of semen. He whispers something breathlessly, as he feels the grip on him tightening. K'uk'ulkan chokes on a moan and goes rigid, his cock twitching.

After a few sighs everything goes quiet and the grip on your hips loosens. Sue's husband hid his face in her neck as he breathed heavily. You thought it was funny how now You tired him. He took out his softening cock still trying to regulate his breathing. K'uk'ulkan kissed her on the lips before collapsing onto the other side of the reeds.

“Wow…” Her husband exclaims. You wait for him to pull you into his arms and cuddle you, but he just falls to the side.

“K’uk’ulkan?” You call out to him. He doesn't respond, lying on the purple pillow with his easy expression of peace. A soft snore echoes.

You smiled at your husband's lack of energy. Now, You exhausted him and that made her extremely proud of herself. You let him rest, as they were still on their honeymoon. He'd probably sleep for a few hours anyway. You snuggle into his side, stroking his beard and listening to his peaceful breathing. In that moment, You allowed yourself to appreciate the peace.

[hauntedwizardmoment]

SO delighted by the jacezara go clubbing together movie that is now playing on loop in my brain. absolutely incredible. first of all feel like zara is the MOST acquainted a person could possibly be with whatever elmville's club scene is because of course she's awake primarily at night so like she's bffs with the owner of each and every location. second of all, jace mesh moment is so delightful to me personally. third of all, porter losing the idgaf war harder than anyone has ever lost it is the best fucking mental image possible. he comes downstairs unaware, having somehow been so focused on aspects of The Plan in recent days that he missed the memo that this event was happening tonight. so he sees jace in his full clubbing outfit (and zara in HER full clubbing outfit) and does in fact promptly walk into a doorframe. frankly, he doesn't even register the pain from walking into the doorframe; he's still trying to process why his brain is shorting out on all circuits, while also committing WHOLEHEARTEDLY to not letting either of them know that this is what's happening. (they obviously know immediately, or at least zara knows. his plan is not working at all.)

GODDDDD YEAH

also combining this with @t4tozier's incredible tags on the original post:

i think what ends up happening is like. jace is SO drunk. he wore the outfit he did because it's the one that never fails to get people to buy him shots. and he's thrown back every single drink bought for him by every random horny guy in elmville because trying to create a new god is HARD and he deserves to cut loose tonight. he's danced with sooooo many people, maybe lit up a little bit or done some dragon spice. it's been a long... not even long week it's been a long few years, he's earned this. zara's left multiple lipstick kisses on his neck. thats not related to anything i just needed to say that. they end up somewhere totally unintended bc they have a mishap.

theyre trying to get back to jace's townhome, they end up in porter's apartment. theyre not standing upright with any dignity either, theyre on top of each other. and jace is so out of it that he doesnt realize what's happened until zara is like "hey cliffbreaker, you better put a leash on your boyfriend" and porter (completely sober, definitely not extremely jealous and half-hard at seeing jace look fucked-out and ruined at zara's hand) is like "the hell's that supposed to mean" and zara's like regaling him w some anecdotes from earlier that night and she probably doesnt mean to make him sound like a total slut who'll go home with any half-wit who buys him a cocktail but hey, if the shoe fits!

and to emphasize this she maybe. bites jace's neck. lets her fangs sink in. takes a sip of his blood. says he tastes like lemon vodka. and if jace whines a little bit and goes bright red because wow zara's teeth feel good against his throat. well thats between him and god.

somehow this ends with jace getting spitroasted until he cant remember his name and showing up to work on monday having to cast alter self to hide all the hickeys and bite marks all over him in between class periods.

[crownmemes]

House Sentences, Vol. 7

(Sentences from House (2004-2012). Adjust phrasing where needed)

"Physically, you're fine. Mentally, you're weird."

"You're losing it. That's what happens when you have kids. Ceaseless crying and nagging leads to irrational fears."

"Why do you even care if I have a baby? It's not like I'm ever gonna ask you to babysit!"

"I know this is awkward, but we need to talk."

"There's a reason that we've evolved a feeling of awkwardness. It tells us not to talk about things."

"The benefit of being boss is that I don't have to argue."

"Any relationship that doesn't end in a breakup ends in death. Everything falls apart in the end."

"Are you saying you want to date me?"

"Trust me, everybody will be happier if we aren't dating."

"You need to know everything because you're afraid of being wrong."

"Can you honestly tell me you've never done anything hypocritical?"

"Why do you try so hard to get my attention?"

"I think we're supposed to kiss now..."

"It's a bad idea to get into a power play with somebody who holds the power."

"Just tell her how you feel! If you won't, then I will!"

"You really passed your psych rotation?"

"I think you're confusing nice and evil again."

"Why do people get married?"

"You really don't have to keep buying me things."

"You act like you don't care about anyone, but here you are saving lives."

"I don't think you're looking for somebody to prove you right. I think you're looking for somebody to prove you wrong - to give you hope."

"Everything that happened to you can be rationally explained."

"I have issues with authority. You?"

"Why do you care if I'm happy?"

"You're afraid of change. The one thing you have is your intellect. You think if that's compromised, you have nothing."

"I don't mean to be abrasive, especially since you're such a pleasure to imagine naked."

"Your voice is no longer attractive to me with that note of disapproval."

"Has it ever occurred to you that when I don't share something, it might not be meant as a challenge? It might just mean that I'd like there to be one molecule of my life that goes unexamined by you?"

"Cat brains are always in alpha mode. The few scientific tests that have seemed to confirm psychic phenomena, that's where it takes place."

"I get it. You're a little nuts, aren't you?"

"God's mistakes are well documented."

"I'm proposing that you should propose to me."

"Being drunk doesn't change who you are - it just reveals it."

"Every time I go to one of your parties, I end up embarrassing myself in some new and unexpected way."

"Are you going to ignore me all day again?"

"Apologies aren’t supposed to make you feel better. They’re supposed to make the other person feel better."

"You want to kiss me, don't you?"

"Why is it always reasonable in your world to take an emotional problem and sidestep it by turning it into a mechanical problem?"

"You have the luxury of not caring about your image, but I do not!"

"I can smile through gritted teeth and play nice, but there are serious risks of violence involved in that choice."

"Are you ready to play nice?"

"I know you're scheming."

"Are you ignoring me, or are you just letting my charm wash over you?"

[wilchur]

Daydreaming bg3 scenarios is my full time job at this point and I've had this phenomenal idea on my walk the other day. It's not really a headcanon since it has little basis in canon and directly contradicts some game events and plays with the lore like it's play-doh so more of a AU/fanfic idea, but...

It always struck me as inaccurate for Durge to be referred to as a "Bhaalspawn" since they're literally a PART of Bhaal made into a separate person in an act of (very confusing) divine creation and it really downplays just how powerful and dangerous they are. Especially since I fully subscribe to the idea that Durge is NOT a mortal, but that's simply not in the game due to just how OP it would be to play an unkillable Dame Aylin-esque character and the definition of a Bhaalspawn is "mortal offspring of the dead god Bhaal". So what the hell are they?

The Slayer. Or at least they're a direct vessel for it, more like.

No, really. Hear me out. Have you noticed how Gortash refers to Orin as "The Slayer" in that bit of dialogue when she puts a dagger to Ketheric throat? Except she's not? Not yet at least because the dialogue does not change depending on if you're still the one who has Bhaal's favour or not and she doesn't get it until you piss of Dad enough for him to go "fine have it your way, ungrateful brat". Plus I don't think The Slayer has been used as a shorthand for "Chosen of Bhaal" anywhere else sooo... Does he assume it's a feature of the position since he knew Durge had command over the form before their disappearance?

That's what birthed the first worm in my brain leading to this unhinged infestation, but it's not all -- there's THE URGE itself.

The game fucks it up SO bad on the whole front because it's reluctant to take choice away from the player, which is maybe understandable, but absolutely WRECKS the narrative that it's something to be afraid of. There's what? Alfira and the squirrel? Those are the only unavoidable consequences of having these supposedly violent and divine compulsions baked into every cell of your damn body. Saving your partner from a gruesome death by your hand needs a dice roll of 15, for fuck's sake! It was harder to convince a bunch of goblins to not turn me into an arrow pin cushion. Durge themself has been scared shitless of it their entire life and you're telling me the thing mostly boils down to dialogue choices? That just won't do for me, sorry. In the game The Urge's source is also never really explained beyond "of course you have unstoppable violent compulsions, you're 100% Bhaal's flesh and blood" which is fucking BORING and doesn't make sense to me because as far as I know Bhaal loves murder because that's his domain as a god, he was not a compulsive killer as a mortal so why would it be something that's passed down? No, The Urge is a fucking Slayer thing!

"It also had the ability to incite attraction in others, and remove any negative feelings they felt, or compel an urge to slay in any intentionally malevolent being, whenever it chose."

To be fair this is from a 2e sourcebook, but COME ON. Didn't it strike anyone else as weird that young Durge is mentioned to have slain an entire PALADIN ORDER before making their way to the temple if you're playing as an oathbreaker? Like, HOW? Slayer form bay-be, that's how.

(Can you tell by now I'm not normal about the idea? Yeah.)

All living creatures learn the best from their own mistakes and I think that letting The Slayer take over would be Bhaal's version of letting your incessant kid touch the clothes iron because they just refuse to leave it alone. Bad parenting, but it's Bhaal we're talking about lmao. "Oh you don't want to kill? No biggie, fuck around and see what happens then. I'll wait." is way fucking scarier to me than him just forcing Durge's hand with the butler basically being like "Heads up, master. Your father is pretty mad and your Urge is hungry so you might commit a murder tonight!" right beforehand.

Just the mental image of Durge thinking "I've done it! I've saved Isobel!" and then having the starved Slayer rip itself out of them like it does out of Orin when Bhaal forces her to transform... You see my vision right? RIGHT? And then the beast gets slain because what else is there to do and since Durge is immortal they just come back to themself instead of becoming goo (which is a game mechanic already since their sis is not so lucky, rip). The drama and angst potential is INFINITE. The sheer raw power of THAT being the "Bhaalspawn" reveal because if Isobel is alive that means Jaheira must be there like "what the FUCK are you exactly??" and no one can pretend that Durge is just Bhaalspawn+ like they do in the game. Do they kill anyone? People are bound to be at least heavily injured, especially since they've JUST fought Ketheric's bossfight and are not rested and at full potential.

GOD, I am rotating this thing in my head so fast the friction is bound to make my brain melt.

[bonesandthebees]

ooooh i love the idea of king elaric and the seer like having each other in a world of politics and being able to find a friend in someone and trust them and make the most of a childhood that is stripped from you by a title hanging over your head (sorry i get carried away with my own analysis of things) and i think that will definitely be a cool thing to see especially as it falls apart once the weight of elaric’s title falls on him!!! i also love the mental image of him looking like snow!

on the note of mental images do you have any other descriptions of the characters and how you want them to look and like their vibes like those littles details that make them unique like scares and clothing styles and things of the sort yk all the silly stuff :D

- 🪿

god yeah the two of them manage to find something resembling a friendship with each other but it's always overshadowed by their respective titles and roles. the closest they can get to childhood but never quite what it actually should be

oh yeah I definitely have images for most of them in my head. some of them I got from references either from actors or just random models I saw on pinterest, most though just kind of exist in my head

Ana, whose full name is Anara, kind of looks like the actress who plays Edwina in s2 of Bridgerton (Charithra Chandran) though not exactly. I think her skin tone is a bit darker, and obviously the actress is 27 and Ana is like 19-20 in my head so she's a bit younger looking too. but she's a good reference! I'm still deciding on if I want to keep the whole tattoo bit of death worship so I don't know if she has tattoos yet or not. Style wise when she's not dressing in more practical all black clothing for missions, she wears kind of athleisure type outfits. oversized sweatshirts and bike shorts, crop tops and leggings, etc. though if she's actually going out like to a bar or something she dresses in what's trendy, which is usually colorful techwear kind of clothes

when I was trying to figure out what the Seer looked like I just went on pinterest and scrolled through model pics until I found a girl who felt fairly close. again, not exact, but I picture the Seer as a redhead with lots of freckles and more angular, sharp features. her hair is also very long and is done up in very intricate braids with her Seer gowns and veils and all that. however, this isn't really her choice. the Seer hates her hair being long and doesn't really know how to braid it herself, so she usually either leaves it loose or pulls it back into a half-assed ponytail once she's with the Ghosts. she also hates all the gowns and everything, so when she has control of her wardrobe she adopts a more loose-fitting, androgynous sort of style with big sweaters/sweatshirts/hoodies and wide-legged cargo pants/jeans or just straight up sweatpants

the only other one I have kind of a reference for is Kestrel. But for some reason my brain is stuck on picturing Kestrel as kind of like the real life version of Lee from The Walking Dead video game. though unlike Lee who has short hair, I think he'd have dreads he probably pulls back into low ponytails a lot of the time. that's really not a great reference point and my mental image of him is still shifting a bit but like, it kind of vaguely works

while I know what the other Ghosts all look like, I don't really have references for any of them and this post is already long enough so that's what I'll say for now lol

[finedinereception]

Why is Sirius on your brain SO much?

Explain in Mario terms

make my brain go -flag pole noise-

haha okay but actually here we go. this is disorganized and more me vomiting my thoughts out and making you look at him but yknow.

the black hole server: the most soul sucking and messed up place to live since america

thanks for the insightful commentary, buddy

so sirius lives the life of the average True Gamer, in a dark hole full of anime figurines and merchandise or whatever. he likes adding to that collection and then fucking around with it because bloodsport really never died to him. who cares what ign had to say.

unfortunately, like all gamers, his home is not hospitable to most life.

weaker em beings apparently “enervate and die” within the server. thats delightfully fucked up, and honestly, a vast empty, dark, cold space that sucks the life out of pretty much everything around it and is only truly habitable to one lifeform is an insanely cool idea that i always love.

uh…. roche limit????

obviously, with such an unfriendly gamer den, sirius himself does not get a lot of company.

we’ll come back to this next section.

but basically the black hole server is a really cool idea and location that really serves to emphasize what an outside-context issue sirius is. he feels very “other” in this world, in part thanks to where hes made his home.

with friends like these, who needs mega man?

sirius has some… interesting ideas about what is good and reasonable for people. or what constitutes a healthy platonic relationship. actually just relationships in general.

i think its interesting he jumped straight to this with mega man, when he also harbored apollo flame, who was pretty damn open about his intentions to eventually usurp and subjugate sirius

WHICH SIRIUS WAS AWARE OF BTW

apollo flame! oh, you, always on about taking over the universe!

this is weird to say, with what we know about sirius in general and his personality (which we’ll be getting to soon) but… theres this pervasive sense that he views the Rs as a mix between pawns and, like, his perverse version of “friends”

the use of “our” here is interesting, along with the implication that sirius shares more information with them than he actually needs to

and the fact that sirius has the tendency to start talking to himself in the middle of a conversation…

and the fact that he enforces a friendly relationship between those who dont get along…

theres just a weird sense of sirius “playing” with dynamics, and while its certainly useful to him, its easy to imagine a hint of curiousity in there. the exploration of one of the only things that cant be taken by force.

of course you have blue skin and pronouns

look at him. look at him. hes based on a squid. hes got that squid drip. i think sirius would be into deep sea life. im choosing to view this as an in-character choice. he likes squid now, okay?

also. he canonically sparkles. LOOK AT HIM. LOOK AT THIS SPARKLING SQUID TWINK. GOD. HE MAKES ME INSANE.

i also dont know where else to mention this, but hey what was up with mu metal. is he tied to mu. what was that about lmao. bro got pica.

he has 97 mental illnesses and is banned from most public spaces

he is so fucking stupid😭

the main, and final, thing i want to bring up is his extreme case of blue and orange morality. because being rude is worse than destroying a planet to him.

from here on out ill be using direct quotes since i actually have access to these and writing and ive hit image limit. what can i say theres so much i want you to look at.

Sirius: ... I don't need that rude EM being for my collection. 

and

Sirius: I was hoping to enjoy watching everyone on the planet panic for a bit... But I suppose destroying it outright would be fun too. 

back to back is an interesting display of standards. but id go further and argue that… sirius doesnt really act with malice.

MegaMan: Peoples lives... Planets... They aren't toys for you to play with. Have you even considered the pain you are putting all those people down there though? Sirius: Everything here will cease to exist. A black hole has no need for such things as emotions. You should... be happy. You will live forever within the darkness. You will be mine. MegaMan: I wouldn't call that living! I'd rather not exist! Sirius: ...I see. Do you think that you might change your mind? Stopping you without causing you any injury would be a bit of a nuisance to me. It will be hard for us to play together with you injured.

and you could argue that this is an attempt at persuasion… except that sirius doesnt really need that. hes pretty confident in his ability to win a fight, so id argue this is genuinely just how he thinks. his fascination with destroying things is processed not with malicious intent but the same perverse curiosity that drives a child to pour water on an ant hill.

mean spirited? yeah, but its all in good fun to him.

hes the living version of all those jokes about a person who never talks to other people or goes outside or anything. hes had his own little bubble to develop the most deranged moral compass and interal narrative of all time.

tl;dr - ITS HARD TO NOT THINK ABOUT HIM A LOT

[ace-din-djarin]

Let it Go, eh?

Another Ted Lasso oneshot for you all! This one is a convo between Jamie and Roy. Warning for canon-typical salty language. Enjoy!

Read on AO3

He doesn’t know why he brings it up. He and Roy are out for coffee, the way they do now sometimes, which is still fucking mental if he thinks too hard about it. Roy’s draining the last of his black coffee – god forbid he give up the theme, even in his fucking food – and something in Jamie just kind of – forces its way through.

“D’you remember,” he blurts, and Roy stops, lowers his cup, watches Jamie expectantly over the lid. Jamie swallows. His words stick in his throat, and he has to swallow again to get the feeling to go away. He hates this; every instinct screams at him to shut up, stop being so fucking weak, in the voice in his head that sounds like his dad, the one he’s been trying and trying to ignore.

“D’you remember,” he tries again, and Roy’s still watching him, eyebrows furrowed, that intense fucking gaze that’s always made Jamie feel like Roy’s x-raying his bones or some shit. “D’you remember, back when Cartrick were still here and we were shit –” Roy snorts at that, but it’s true, innit, they were fucking terrible – “When Cartrick were here, and we were shit, and we played that away match at Liverpool?”

Roy grunts. Jamie’s gonna assume it means yes. “Yeah, and I fucked up, I – tripped, I dunno, tripped over thin fucking air, yeah? And I lost the ball and lost us the match.”

Roy frowns and nods, and his eyebrows haven’t moved an inch, angry caterpillars settling in and making their fucking cock-coons. Jamie shakes his head, a rough jerk, trying to clear that image from his brain.

“Anyway. You – after the match, we were all in the dressing room all sad and shit. And you came up to me and – and said –”

“Let it go, lad,” Roy mutters, under his breath, like he’s repeating the words straight from Jamie’s brain. Jamie nods.

“Yeah. That’s it, just ‘let it go.’ But Roy –” Jamie’s words stick in his throat yet again and he huffs, half annoyed and half filled with this – this echo of astonishment that still sometimes catches him by surprise. “Fuck, Roy, you hated me.” Roy doesn’t even try to disagree, and that makes Jamie grin. “See, y’did, not even denying it. You hated me, and you still said that. Still tried to make it better.”

Roy shrugs, something self conscious in the scrunch of his shoulders. “Just being a captain, weren’t I?”

“Yeah, but like, you’ve seen my dad.”

Roy looks like he just bit into a lemon. “Unfortunately.”

“Right. And how many times d’you think he's ever told me to let something like that go?” And he’s supposed to love him, Jamie doesn’t say. That thought is a little too close to painful at the moment. “All I’m saying is, it meant a lot. Even if you still hated me after.”

Roy’s silent for what feels like ages but is probably less than a minute. Jamie’s hands are shaking just slightly, enough that his own almost-empty cup rattles against the table when he goes to pick it up. Stupid, his fucking brain says, fucking idiot, made it all weird, why’d you go and –

“Thanks, Jamie,” Roy says, breaking through Jamie’s spiral. His voice has gone all soft, and there’s a smile playing at the edge of his mouth, like he’s trying not to let it escape and it’s happening anyway. “Y’know, Phoebe was going through a ‘Frozen’ phase back then.”

It takes Jamie a few beats to connect the dots. “Fuck off,” he groans, and chucks his coffee cup at Roy, who catches it easily. He’s definitely grinning now. “I get all sentimental and shit, and now you’re saying your fucking motivational bullshit was from a fucking Disney movie?”

Roy shrugs, unrepentant. “It’s a good fucking movie, to be fair. And I still meant it.”

It is a good movie. Ted brought it out for movie night once and the room had, predictably, been full of crying grown men by the end.

“Yeah, well,” Jamie mutters, slumping down in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest. He’s not mad, not really, but he still feels like Roy’s taking the piss a bit, and something in his chest stings at that. Roy seems to know it, because he stands up and prods at Jamie’s shoulder until he gets to his feet as well.

“Come on, gotta get back to it,” he says, and his voice is soft again, still with that hint of a smile. “Just let it go, eh?”

Jamie snorts despite himself, and that little twinge eases. “Yeah, yeah. After you, Grandad,” he says, and grins when Roy punches him lightly in the shoulder as he passes by.

[javelinbk]

You posted it a while ago now but here I am again for the fic writer ask game, if you wanna: 11, 19, 22, 30, 31, 38 :)

Ooh, I like an ask game on a Sunday, and a surprise one is even more fun!

I think this was the list, in which case…

11. Three tropes that are fine but overrated.

I can’t really think of any in particular (although there’s some that just never appeal to me), but I do go through phases where I get bored of certain ones. Mostly I just don’t like if tropes are too overdone or heavy-handed - like I love oblivious idiots, but they still need to have some basic mental capacity - or even if everyone else can see they’re an idiot, it needs to make sense from their side. If they act like they barely have two brain cells to rub together, then it just takes me out of the story (although I’m aware I’ve pushed the boundaries of this many times!)

19. Share a snippet from a wip without giving any context for it.

You might have already seen this in the kink meme server, but I’m nothing if not lazy…

Paul doesn’t say anything, but pivots back to face John. He assumes John will deal with him if his previous encounter was anything to go by, and he’s right; John’s face set in a grim line as he glares up at the man behind Paul.

“Barking up the wrong tree there, mate.”

“Alright, grandad, keep your knickers on,” Mr Muscles says as he walks past them, although he stops and bends down when he reaches John’s shoulder. “Don’t bring a show pony if you don’t want people playing with it.” He throws Paul a parting wink and then heads into the crowd.

“We’re the same age!” John calls after him.

“Show pony?” Paul says indignantly. “These places are very demeaning, you know.”

John grins around his beer bottle. “I know — great, isn’t it?”

22. What is it about watching the same two idiots falling in love over and over again?

Oh god, I don’t know, but I do! Why does anyone love reading/watching romantic things? That is part of the reason I love early days fics and AUs with these two though - I love the getting to know each other and falling in love stages

30. Describe a fic that almost happened, but then it didn't.

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ve written a few bits of an Anthology fic. I’ve written almost the whole first chapter, I have the ending image, but I just couldn’t think of enough of a story to fill in the middle part. But maybe one day!

31. What was the most difficult fic for you to write (but in the end you made it)?

Probably Stop all the clocks - mostly because it was one that I really wanted to read rather than write. Also I knew exactly what feel I wanted it to have - the slow, quiet sadness of grief and then the tender and hopeful recovery - but I wasn’t confident I could capture it. But it ended up being one of my favourite fics (and my most popular, stats-wise)

38. "This never happened" fix-it fics or "this happened but" fix-it fics?

Ooh, interesting. I do love AUs for taking away all the complications of real life, but in terms of fix-it’s I much prefer ones that take place after the breakup etc. I just find it hard to imagine 69-71 going any other way (hence the broken hearts with Brother Dearest/Father and Son). Plus I just love writing about them as ex-boyfriends!

Thank you, that was fun!