#how it didn't define his whole life after all...

[heartmatic]

i hope that doenst freak anyone out to characterize andre tho 🫶 i appreciate eveyrone who just likes him and tries to see him i am open to every view of him i heart it so much

[qqueenofhades]

I think its genuinely fascinating how Biden has somehow become the bad vibes sin eater for the party. I'm seeing people who were doing the whole "voting doesn't matter both old men are the same" pivot hard into voting as harm reduction. The anti voting rhetoric has COMPLETELY lost The Youths on tiktok. People suddenly remember the good things the Biden administration has done but don't associate Harris with any of the things they didn't like. In my swing state volunteers are signing up in droves. People feel ENERGIZED, the vibe shift pre and post Biden dropping from the race has just been insane

Y'know, that is a... good way of putting it. It's also why I'm quite sure that Biden has probably been planning it for a while. I don't think he was intending to step down, and didn't want to be forced out at the drop of a hat, but after he realized that the circus was never going to stop until he did, he did the honorable fall-on-his-own-sword thing and definitely, DEFINITELY spent some time choreographing this behind the scenes. Because while the roll-out has been very smooth, it could just as easily (as many of us were expecting) have been a total disaster, and that doesn't happen without SOME planning. It's also entirely possible that the campaign staff flipped from Biden to Harris are superhuman, to come up with a massive online roll-out, new branding, new signs (they had plenty of 'em in Wisconsin yesterday), new everything, but I'm guessing it's a combination of both. Biden has spent his entire political career being underestimated, and after we literally made a meme out of Dark Brandon juking the Republicans out of their shoes, we should definitely give credit where credit is due in how masterfully he pulled it off.

Because we have had eight years defined by the central question of Whether The President Is a God King Who Should Serve For Life (the MAGAts obviously think yes), the sheer idea of a president willingly giving up his power BEFORE he had to is also novel and admirable. It's sad that this is the case, but so be it. The Republicans also got a heaping helping of Be Careful What You Wish For that was undoubtedly brilliant; they've been yelling for years that Biden is old and frail and can't serve and should step down. Biden went "lol okay" and gave it to them, and now they're fucked.

Aside from that, on the most basic level, it's far, far easier to see the actual difference in the parties with Harris as the nominee, just because it shows that one party is willing to make progress and reflect the new demographic reality and social mores of America, and the other one is not. Now to be clear, Biden deserves an incredible amount of credit for coming out of retirement (he was ALREADY 77 years old when he became president and had had decades of a long and respected career in public service behind him) to fight, beat Trump, and deliver an incredibly successful presidency. He held the line against authoritarianism at home and abroad, he rescued the trashed American economy and managed a world-leading recovery from Covid, he stood up for democracy, he spent four years filling the benches with liberal judges to reverse even some of the Trump/McConnell hack job, he finally passed comprehensive infrastructure investment and the Green New Deal under the name of the Inflation Reduction Act -- and so on. Many of these priorities had been languishing for decades or were completely trashed under Trump, and he could not have done so much in just 4 years without all that age, skill, and experience. Hence why all the Ageism!!! was (aside from being a Republican/media smear job) dumb. He's able to do the job because he has had decades to study. Turns out that makes you actually pretty damn good at it.

Yes, Biden could not do as much as he wanted or originally planned, had to deal with MAGA Republicans and Joe Manchin/Kyrsten Sinema sabotaging him the whole time (lololol Manchin, possible possessor of the World's Biggest Ego and with Trump around that's saying something, popping out of obscurity to self-righteously announce he would not be willing to be Kamala's VP. YEAH ASSHOLE. LITERALLY NOBODY ASKED YOU. NOBODY WHATSOEVER. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS AT LEAST WE WILL SOON NO LONGER HAVE MANCHIN IN THE SENATE). And yes, Biden made some serious mistakes of his own, because he IS from an older generation and a different style of doing politics/different beliefs that no longer resonate with the younger segments of the electorate. But this old white Catholic guy at the age of almost 80 still managed to be the most progressive president ever, coming in at a moment of incredible domestic and international crisis and getting us safely to the other side, and all cynicism, criticizing, and caveating aside, he deserves an incredible amount of credit for that. I mean that absolutely, and I am very grateful.

As I said, willingly relinquishing that power takes guts, and when Biden saw the writing on the wall that he had to sacrifice himself, he took his time, he didn't jump too early, and he didn't jump too late. On the most basic level, it becomes a hell of a lot easier to make the "both parties are not the same" argument when one is running a (comparatively) young brown woman and the other is still running their loathed felonious old demented orange traitor. Most Americans are not plugged into policy minutiae and details. They look at Biden-Trump, they see two old white guys. When you take one of those old white guys away (who goes in a self-sacrificially heroic manner and in sharp contrast with the coup-happy fascist) and put Kamala Harris in there instead, it generates an obvious jolt. People can see for themselves that there is a real difference that doesn't rely on closely reading news and tracking complex policy, because as noted, most Americans simply don't. The brown first-generation American daughter of brown immigrants is a quantifiably different story from "old white guy career politician," which for better or worse is how Biden was seen, especially the old part. We needed that establishment expertise to beat Trump in 2020; I still think Biden is the only one who could have done it, and as noted, we owe him a great debt for doing so.

However.... 2024 is not 2020, and it is not 2016. There has been this HUGE and unbelievable swing to Kamala because she represents the antithesis of what the last eight years of Trump-induced anger, fear, panic, chaos, and hatred has stirred up. That's why people are so ready to rally around her, just as they were (I daresay) around Obama in 2008, after the exhaustion, chaos, war, and mounting economic misery of Bush. Trump has been out of office for the last four years, but his shadow over the American political landscape has been omnipresent. Now people know that we finally have a real chance at getting rid of him forever, and just as Biden was uniquely positioned to capitalize on that in 2020, so Harris is now. Which is why, however tough it will be, she has a real shot at winning. I can guarantee the Republicans know that, and are shit scared. Because the Black Lady Army of Democracy has indeed arrived in force to Get This Shit Done and I don't know about you, but I found that incalculably comforting:

Yikes! All lined up for Kamala pic.twitter.com/Dt4OCDp7WX

— Alex Cole (@acnewsitics) July 24, 2024

This, at the most basic level, is what scares fascists the most, it's exactly what we need now, and what Harris is uniquely positioned to mobilize, along with her gangbusters appeal to young voters:

This is the energy we need. This is what Biden saw and planned for and which he launched us into, and where all that experience and age paid off. This is why people, even people otherwise disengaged, disillusioned, or checked out of the tedious and mind-numbering drudgery and depression of American politics, are responding to it. Because it's easy to understand, it offers hope, and it tells a very simple story that is nonetheless long overdue:

Thanks so much, Joe. Go absolutely waste that orange fucker, Kamala. We got your back.

[deirdreei]

Bakugo Headcannons

|дﾟ)ﾉ Most of these headcannons are not mine and I do not take credit for all of them. But I just remembered reading them from many different platforms, so credit to the people who did think of most of these!

IF he has a crush on you ೃ⁀➷

● At first, he definitely would recognize that his perception of you had changed. He wouldn't label it as a crush though, he'd assume whatever he was feeling towards you was a distraction from becoming no.1, and try to forget you'd been crossing his mind lately.

● Was genuinely confused as to why you stood out in the first place even though you fit in with the rest of the class.

● If ignoring whatever it was he felt about you didn't work, he'd then try to push you away. When you two talk he'll brush you off and act more irritated. It would bother him if his attempts at dissolving his sudden thoughts of you weren't working. After talking with Kirishima, he would refuse to accept that he had a crush on you.

● He would start picking you as a training partner to try and find out why he likes you.

● He would be hyper aware of what he says around you and what he does. He doesn't want give away that he likes you on accident. He would rather die.

● I think he would be slightly annoyed if another person was hitting on you. He likes you because you're strong, and he not only views the other person as a distraction for your potential, but as a threat to him.

It's not like he was gonna make a move anytime soon, but he's been realizing you've been occupying his mind most of the time and being with somebody else just annoyed him, and he hated it.

● Bakugo would definitely wish things could go back to the way they were. He didn't know how to define nor deal with his emotions in this type of way, making his life a lot harder.

● He would want to know more about you, so he knows he doesn't have a 'crush' on a weird extra. but would refuse to call himself a stalker after he found most of your social media's (by himself) because he's not a obsessed extra. But he was curious about you nothing special.

● If you two ever did become friends, he would defend you. He can't have some lame extra disrespecting one of HIS friends. What does that say about him? He wouldn't make it a big deal in front of people, but he'd scare anybody who was rude to you into apologizing on their knees.

● He is not gonna treat you any better or any worse. He won't purposefully go out of his way to be mean or rude to you, like if he has to hand you something, he's not gonna throw it at your head. He'll hand it to you but still mumble about how annoying u are and that u better not get used to it.

● He's not gonna try and beat you to a pulp in training because he has some sort of feelings for you. He'll be a total show off, and when he's training with you he'd give you the same type of fight he would give his other classmates.

● And he will not immediately soften up to you or cry in front of you. Bakugo has too much pride, and he cares about his reputation. IF you two are close enough, he might have a rare vulnerable moment with you. "But he's cried in front of izuku!' You are NOT izuku. Izuku is a whole nother story.

● He won't hate you even more unless you give him a reason too, and if that's the case then he'll probably lose whatever tiny feelings he might have for you.

● Yes, he'll act more irritated by you, but he's not gonna have any actual hate towards you just because HE started feelings things for you. It'd be silly if he blamed you for his emotions, that's weak extra crap.

● He'll be annoyed and aggravated that he cant figure out and control his emotions, his anger isnt because of you, it's because he doesn't understand nor like the emotions he's suddenly aware of that he has for you.

● He won't hate it when you talk. The sound of your voice won't make him wanna take a swan dive. But he will act like he doesn't care one bit about what you're saying, but he will secretly take in whatever you're saying.

● Bakugo will not get offended or jealous at how strong you are. if anything, he'll find it attractive, that's why he likes you in the first place. if you were weak, you wouldn't even cross his mind the way you have been.

● During training, he won't change and cooperate just because of you. He'll try to outshine others like usual and be super annoying unless he literally has to work together to win. He's not changing his style because of you.

● He is going to give you an equal fight, maybe even give it all he's got on you. if he didn't see any potential in you, he wouldn't have liked you in the first place

● He knows you (and many others) found his personality annoying, and personally he never really cared about others opinions. but now that he likes you, whenever he sees you roll your eyes at one of his tantrums. he'll only feel even more angrier and embarrassed. But since he's stubborn he'll only double down on his behavior.

● If you ever decided to ask him out, he'd reject you because you beat HIM to it, and he's just that petty. but IF he asked you out and you rejected him, he'd insist until you said yes. And if you didn't he'd never talk to you again out of embarrassment.

● He will want you to find him attractive. He doesn't want you to be disgusted by him because he's aware that sometimes he acts like a rabid animal. He won't always try to be nonchalant

● He's a very honest person. He won't lie to you or anybodies face. even if he accepts that he likes you, he will want you to become better, he wouldn't wanna keep you in the dark about something.

●He be switching up sometimes. If he ever forced himself to try and have a conversation with you and it goes well, the next moment he's yelling at you for something stupid. Because why the hell is he trying so hard to conversate with you? But he can't help it, he'll subconsciously plan what he's gonna say to you and hates when it doesn't go his way. Denki got in his way? Boom! No more Kaminari.

● It's already cannon that he is SO nosy. God forbid you do something embarrassing thinking your ever alone.

● When you say something he thinks is funny, he forces himself not to laugh so he seems nonchalant? he doesn't know why he does this (he thinks his laugh is horrendous)

● Gets super mad if he's going out of his way to impress you and someone's else distracts you. 1. why is he trying to impress you and 2. His attempts were for nothing because when he turned around you were talking to denki, and that made him feel silly.

● If you playfully tell him to shut up, he might take it literally if he can't tell. He wants you to like him, because why should he be the only one 'suffering' because of his emotions. He's secretly worried about what you think of him.

● If you didn't listen to his every command during training or a mission he would be annoyed, but excited because your giving him a challenge, a reason to prove how good he is. But if you did listen to him when he bossed you around he would probably end up also listening to you during those moments as well.

● if he EVER gives you advice and you didn't take it. don't ever expect it again.

● His encouragement would sound super backhanded and come across as more of an insult. if you were feeling nervous and he said something like " Quit being like these lame extras and go do something badass, or else I'll make you regret it!" but he's not insulting you.

● Is not a sweet talker. You'd think he's your biggest hater but really he just likes you. Which is why he's always finding ways to get your attention, usually indirectly like being a show off.

● He finally stopped ignoring you and accepted his crush on you. And you'd both get into arguments pretty often about the STUPIDEST things.

●.When he feels butterflies around you, he'd immediately walk away. He HATES the butterflies and always grumbles about them, complaining about lunch rush being a terrible chef or whoever was cooking his meal that day.

● He accepted that you've been worthy enough for him to have feelings for you. and he'd hype himself up, cause what reason would there be to not like the future no.1 hero? but on the inside he's scared you probably don't like him, because most of your interactions are him brushing you off and backhanded comments, or petty arguments.

● Will try to stand out more around you for some reason to impress you. he knows he's the best, but he wants to make sure you know it.

● If he ever studders around you, he'd start yelling at you to shut up, and then go blow Denki up.

● He'd try so hard to be non-chalant around you, but fails 2 minutes later after throwing a yelling fit. He stopped trying when he realized you didn't seem to mind his yelling.

● Will try to do nice things for you but make it seem like he's begrudgingly doing you a favor, and that your just slowing him down.

● Would call you a lot more mean nicknames instead of just extra. not teddy bear, but a nickname he made up relating to your features. Like Kirishima is shitty hair for example.

● He is not changing his sleeping schedule just so he can stay up with the class and play Mario cart with you

● He'd threaten the life of anybody who caught onto his feelings for you, but there wasn't much he could do when even Mr. Aizawa noticed (was he that obvious?)

● Would lie awake thinking of things to get you out his mind, like insulting you for some mistakes you made. It didn't work because he knew you learned from them and got better unlike a weak extra.

● If you couldn't defend yourself he wouldn't do it for you. but if you didn't CARE to defend yourself but he know you could, he'd go threaten the life of whom was disrespectful or simply pissed all over your name or something.

● Once he learned your favorite food, he made it often but denied any accusations towards him when you said it was your favorite. Even once said it was his favorite and you copied him.

● wouldn't make any sort of move on you

● wouldn't want anything sexual with you during his time at U.A. he probably wouldn't even wanna date you until he graduated. His focus is entirely based on becoming better, training, and becoming no.1

● He started being distracted by his feelings for you, so if he messed up even a little bit. Automatically your fault

● He if you ever slacked off he would start to slowly lose feelings if your behavior wasn't changing.

● A compulsive liar, he makes up shit to be funny and then denies it when you say "really?" but he doesn't lie about anything that's actually true.

IF you were dating ೃ⁀➷

● I highly doubt he would even consider relationships until he graduated from U.A. even if he did during highschool, I'm sure the relationship would end faster then it started.

● he'd be very hesitant in opening himself up to the fact you both weren't platonic anymore

● he would need a minute to get uses to the dynamic switch.

● he also wouldn't hide your relationship, he isn't afraid of other peoples opinions or judgment. he wouldn't have gotten with you if he was ashamed of you or wanted you to be asecret. If you were dating it would mean you were important to him.

● He also would be less bothered about you knowing things he kept secret from everyone else.

● His boundaries would be non negotiable, he expects you to follow his boundaries just as he would yours.

● He'd be very protective over you. Dating you means he's come to terms that your strength matches up to him or falls closely behind his. If someone ever mistreated you (not including training etc) then he wouldn't hesitate to fix it.

● would never say "I love you" or anything that cheesy if you said it to him. But he would acknowledge it by nodding or a look of appreciation. Though he would likely say it if there was an emergency or you truly just needed to hear it from him.

● He would ask for your opinions more then anyone else's. and would reluctantly accept any corrections you had if he could understand why you'd said it.

● He'd be okay with you being in his personal space, most comfortable with it further into the relationship

● He's not gonna half ass it if he ever does start dating you. Because that would mean he's a slack off and he was wasting his time, so yes he would put effort into it... in his own way.

● arguments would be very one sided with him, if you had an issue with anything he was doing he'd yell at you or dismiss you without realizing it mightve been a genuine issue for you but he would try to fix whatever it was as long as it was too grand and went against his standards

● Is a man of his actions. He needs to apologize? he'd rather do it with his actions, he knows by now he isn't great with words at all and would probably mess things up further.

● He wouldn't be controlling in a unhealthy sense, but he would keep tabs on what your doing most of the time. he'd likely have your schedule memorized.

● Rarely, he'd let you stay near him as he's working on his pro hero gear. He's picky on who gets to see, and he likes to keep certain aspects of his designs hidden for his own advantage, but your an exception.

● he is amazing at noticing tiny details and changes in your atmosphere. He'd be able to tell if something was up.

● He would have to trust you of course to even consider dating you. Sometimes he'd get annoyed at how easily confident he was in your words, how well he listened to you and barely questioning things.

● He can be very level headed when it matters. Instead of act on impulse with you, he'd be careful when he's expressing his emotions or yours that he doesn't deal well with.

● he won't lower his standards for you. He'd expect you to uphold yourself without relying on solely him, if you couldn't do that he'd end the relationship that quick.

● He wouldn't discard your personal interests, even if he believed some were dumb, he'd listen to you talk about them. Although sometimes he'd tune you out if it was something he couldn't for the life of him understand.

● Would be honest if you did something gross or disgusting.

● You would not be the most important thing in his life, though he would hold you at a higher level of importance compared to other things.

● His focus would never move away from being the best, but he'd make sure you were also involved in his life as he aspired to become no.1 If he was busy, he'd allow you to watch or train with him.

● most likely wouldn't initiate any intimacy like forms of touching until he got a little older or of yall had been dating for a long while.

● No, he's not gonna call you baby or teddy bear. He will not catch himself being cringe. he'll most likely still call you idiot or dumbass like everyone else, but sometimes he means it in a caring way.

● He won't change his personality for you, he won't randomly try to he different with his humor to make you laugh. he'll say his usual backhanded comments that are unintentionally funny. Whenever he does say something funny, he'll make sure to not laugh to seem cool.

● He won't try to be quieter either, he'll be just as loud it's part of who he is. he tried being quieter and almost had a stroke.

● But he isn't an asshole, if he knows you have a headache or your genuinely having a bad day he'll tone it down a bit.

● It's practically cannon that he's obserbative, so if you dint tell him he'll probably find out. And most of the time he can tell when your feeling anxious or if your angry at him.

● Bakugo won't believe you should settle for how he is and not try to be better around you. he wont have a "she's lucky I even noticed her" type mentality. you won't catch him lacking, but one day he might look at himself and be like "why the hell am I doing this?"

● He won't be horrible to you, like he's not gonna forget to buy you gifts on holidays or important dates like your birthday. He'll get you a gift that's well thought out and one you'll like, once again he's very obserbative and took time to learn what you liked.

● He also won't disrespect you by making fun of your trauma or things that he knows make you extremely uncomfortable. He's not a monster. He won't outloudly say you can speak to him about it. He assumes you know he's available. He also won't gush all over you when you do, but he'll let you know he's listening. But if you're not that close yet, don't bombard him with personal crap.

[couldeatthatgirlforlunch]

OMG I have an idea

What if a villain hit reader with a love potion and the Yandere JL has to deal with reader being obsessed with one of them until it wears off🙏🙏😭(I LITERALLY LOVE YOUR YAN JL WORKDGHBJB)

A Day in Life: Love Pollen

Synopsis: A day in your life where you get hit with love pollen, get kidnapped, and are rescued by the Justice League.

Pairing: Yandere!Justice League X Assistant!Gn!Reader

Tw: 18+; PDA; Dry humping; Kinda public sex bc they're in a deserted island’s beach, so it's basically out in the open but no one’s around; Dubcon/noncon bc, you know, love-and-kinda-sex pollen; Also maybe drugging bc of that; Writer is the Justice League's weakness; Hal Jordan is a little shit; Needles; English is not my 1st language.

Word count: 2,1k

Requested? Yes.

Extra notes: I imagine the League’s marketing will have a hard time after this little stunt, I mean, there's no way no one caught that on camera

General masterlist | A Day in Life - Series masterlist

The Legion of Doom had a plan. They invaded a political event in Metropolis, with the presence of the Justice League as the president’s security team, the League being the target. First, Poison Ivy release pollen throughout the whole city, as a distraction, making people hallucinate that they were in love with one another. Crazy in love. It would be okay, if her experiment didn't cause chaos. All over the streets, some people were having sex out in the open, some were fighting and killing because of jealousy and cheating, some were committing robberies to give their “loved ones”. It was pure chaos and only the quick reflexes, powers and gadgets from the League spared the team from getting hit.

Half the team went to deal with the distraction, saving and restraining people, giving them the antidote, etc. The other half, took care of the villains. After a few hours, the Legion of Doom was taken down and the city’s security and health workers took over the job, the chaos being a lot easier to contain since they were spreading the antidote through the air, it would take at least an hour to spread it throughout the whole city, and then the ones who somehow weren't able to breath it, but mostly, just the mess left behind was the real issue.

You were standing with the rest of the crew on the event, watching the League and the politicians discoursing for the press and TV. When the mayhem started, for the first few seconds, you got startled and froze. Looking between the League, the scared crowd, and the villains invading the place. Suddenly, you breathed some thick smoke and your eyes shot to the heroes, silently urging them to do something, when your eyes locked on Green Lantern’s, the pollen’s effect kicked in. You got dizzy, something snapped, and then everything changed.

Wait, when did Green Lantern's jaw got so sharp? And his muscles so defined? Oh, and he was so big and tall. Did he do something to his hair? Wow, his ring is glowing now and he's flying. He's so cool and powerful. A true hero. Shit, he's coming in my direction. Hehe, he's using a construct to lift me and my coworkers to a safer place as if it was nothing. Imagine flying with him every day. How does he look without the mask? Ugh, must be perfect, if his jaw and lips were anything to go by. I can't even see the color of his eyes! And- and please stop looking me in the eyes and touching my shoulders and asking me if I'm okay, of course I am, I'm with you. No. Nooo. Come back here! Let the others deal with the bad guys, I'm right hereee! Nooooo!

You were depressed and deflated the whole time your soulmate was away. A journalist team from outside the city arrived at some point and you were able to watch the fight — Normally, Lois Lane would do the transmission, but she's too busy making out with her cameraman, she was in the crowd too. —. You started crying watching your lover fighting with Sinestro. When he won, and everything was fine, was when you finally calmed down and just started anxiously waiting while ignoring your colleagues strange antics, one of them even hitting on you. Didn't she know you and Green Lantern were in love?

When the League was back, the paramedics were starting to give the crew the antidote, you were next in line, however, as soon as you saw the heroes, you broke into a sprint.

— Green! — You yelled, catching everyone off guard. Even more so when you jumped and hooked your legs around the brunette’s waist, your arms around his neck, and kissed him passionately.

Hal was so shocked that it took him two seconds to reciprocate the kiss, ignoring completely the gasps from his friends. You moaned against his lips, mumbling a jumbled mess of “I love you”, “I missed you”, “was so worried”, “so glad you're back”.

Someone groaned.

— Batman, just give them that damn antidote before I lose it. — Batman grunted and Hal struggled but managed to separate your faces for a moment. You tried to push your face towards his again, but he grabbed your jaw. You kept forcing your face against his hand and whining. It was really cute, and your willingness and the previous sensation of your lips ignited something in his belly, yet, he looked to the side just in time to see Batman preparing the needle, the rest of the League sulking on the side and glaring at him.

His mind worked rapidly, ignoring the texture of your soft lips pampering kisses against the skin of his hand. When he felt the tip of your tongue, he made a decision.

A bad one.

— Yeah. I don't think so. — Green Lantern conjured several chain constructs, chaining the League's arms and ankles to the ground. It wouldn't hold off the ones like Superman and Wonder Woman who were strong enough to break it, and Martian Manhunter who could just invade his mind or use his intangibility, Flash was also pretty capable of taking him on, but Hal was smart and sagacious. Still holding you, he made a rocket construct around you both and took off.

Really, a terrible idea.

Superman and Wonder Woman, in a cry of rage, broke the chains. Diana unsheathed her sword, her feet not even touching the ground anymore, flying, ready to go after the traitor. Martian passed through the construct, while Superman went to break Batman and Aquaman free, Flash vibrated fast to rearrange his particles and also escaped.

— We need a plan. — Batman’s voice stopped the amazon warrior from going in a hunt for blood. He was already stressing over what the marketing team could do to fix this.

— A plan? We can defeat the enemy and retreat my darling if we go now! — Wonder Woman barked.

— Green Lantern is impulsive. If we go now we can destroy the whole state and hurt (Y/N) in the process. He won't give them up easily.

— Batman's right. — Superman agreeds. — Flash, follow them and see where they’re going. — The speedster nodded and took off.

Barry shook his head, cursing his idiot best friend the whole way.

Between the whole team, Hal was clearly the only one who would be okay with you falsely loving them. The rest wanted something more genuine for you. Some of them would settle for you not loving them as much as they loved you, some wanted you to feel exactly the same amount of what they felt. Hal still loved you just like them, but he always had that certain level of insecurity that craved to be better than anyone, to impress, making everything a competition, and the sensation of being the only one to have you could certainly cloud his judgment and accept your love, even if fake. He just thought he could compensate by treating you the right way, and not just using that opportunity to do whatever he wanted with you, just because he could and you wouldn't complain. He could make this about you both, and not just about him.

Either way, every one of them (thought) they deserved their fair chance at winning you over.

— Manhunter, can you still read his mind and tell what he is thinking? — Manhunter nodded and his eyes started glowing, there was a second of silence before he spoke.

— It's getting weaker as he gets more distant. It's purely impulsive thinking. Green Lantern isn't considering the consequences and means no harm against Earth or us. — Batman nodds.

— That's a shame. I mean harm. — Wonder Woman mutters, Batman glared and Superman side-eyed her. Batman turned his communication on.

— Flash, tell us when they stop moving.

— If he touches them, I will personally kill him. — Aquaman darkly states. Superman took a step in his direction, facing him head on.

— No, you won't. — The two stared at one another intently, until Batman broke the silence.

— Focus. We don't have time for this. — The dark knight stated.

— We need to be collected and work as a team to act smoothly on our plan. — Martian reminds them. Wonder Woman steps down again and sheats her sword. They all form a circle and start planning.

The sky was never this blue and the sand never this warm and soft. Even with the warmth of the sun being so intense, you were laying on a palm tree's shadow, and the air was flowing just fine. What was actually making you sweat was the dry humping you and your soulmate were doing.

You don't remember ever getting so aroused in your whole life, and can't remember ever desiring someone so much. You could kill someone if they dared to try and steal him away from you.

Hal felt you carding your fingers through his hair and pull slightly, giving him shiver, and he squeezed the flesh of your hips. You moaned against his lips at a particularly stronger wave of pleasure. The clothes were a curse, stopping you from feeling the real him, so you desperately started clawing at his clothes. Green Lantern breathily chuckled.

— Relax, hot stuff, we have time… — He whispers with a smirk. The man held your hands and laid them on the ground, above your head. You just moaned, more needy, and pushed your hips against his, eliciting a hiss from his red and swollen lips.

His hands started unbottoning your shirt and freeing the fabric out of your pants. You kept your hands were they were and watched, eyes wide open, when he descended kisses from the middle of your chest, going south, only pausing at your waistband.

As much as you wanted to feel his mouth more, seeing him so covered and not being able to properly touch him was making you restless, so you sat up, surprising him, and started pulling up the fabric at the back of his neck. Hal chuckled and shook his head, humoring your needs. He helped you take it off, then pushed your own shirt down your arms, until it was off.

You paused, admiring his adonis body. Your heart raced and eyes watered, never having seen something so perfect your whole life. Even his scars were beautiful. His chest hair and happy trail looked really soft and somehow he looked even more muscled, strong and beautiful. You wonder why you rejected him before.

Hal Jordan basked in your amazed gaze, loving to show off, especially while doing nothing. He frowned weakly, and gave a reassuring grin when you pouted, slumped and frowned.

— What's this, sweetheart? I thought you were enjoying this. — To lift your mood, he started running his hands up and down your sides.

— I wanted to see your face… — Hal remained silent for a few seconds. They would tell you their identities eventually, and that fact kept being brought up on reunions. They all knew at some point, you would have to know, to really start a relationship, yet, Batman, and his paranoia, kept them all from telling you. Sometimes, it felt like a sabotage, but mostly, it made sense, since the guy had a bunch of kids, who could be in danger if the information somehow got leaked, still, you couldn't trust to let them in, if they didn't let you in. That was the only reason you didn't trust them, of course.

Also, a face was not a name. Hal wasn't famous, so how bad could it be? Especially if it would turn you on so much, and when you looked so damn cute. His own lust was also influencing his critical thinking, which was already second place to his impulsiveness.

Hal bit his lower lip and brought his face closer to yours, a few centimeters away from having your noses touching.

— Okay… Take it off… — You let out a happy squeal and reached up with both hands. Your heart pounded with anticipation, making you go slower to savor the intimacy even more. Hal closed his eyes when he felt the gentle tug, against his wishes to watch your eagerness and your lip biting in anticipation. His heart was also pounding.

You saw his right eye closed and his thick eyebrow, when suddenly, a loud noise rang out, scaring the shit out of you and prompting Hal to fix the mask again, get up and assess for danger.

He finally fell to his senses and realized something.

He just took the worst decisions ever.

Everything happened too fast. Flash was on your side, holding a needle to your arm, and Green Lantern was being thrown around by a red and blue blur. Only the feminine rageful scream gave you the hint to who it was.

You got up, ready to die for your soulmate, when the antidote kicked in.

You threw up.

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@wandalfnation @vadersassistant

[narcjsistx]

— 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐏𝐈𝐃 𝐆𝐔𝐘𝐒!

✶ characters: sakura haruka, suo hayato, hajime umemiya

✶ 𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ; take a look, trust me!

— SAKURA HARUKA

✶ we all know about his tendency to blush when it comes to something particularly tender or kind, perhaps even embarrassing. it's a habit that many members of the bofurin know by now, especially suo or nirei. but when is he with you? blushing is not so annoying anymore. haruka knows how to communicate, but often gets embarrassed doing so, especially when he has to express something to his girlfriend. talking then becomes difficult, but blushing is the solution to make you understand that he is enjoying the moment but simply does not know how to express it without seeming desperate (he is, you know it too, but it's better to make him believe that he's a strong and unbeatable boy) when he's with you he doesn't worry about having to justify his blushing, so forget about the usual justifying reactions he has with his bofurin friends! maybe it could happen sometimes with you too, but it's only because he loves you

✶ sakura's idea of love has always been quite twisted: he's never had anyone who genuinely cared about him, only people who found his behavior and especially his appearance strange. when he first met you and you complimented his eyes, he had no problem not hiding his annoyance from you. even the people in his past did the same, making him believe he was appreciated just to make the stab more painful when they turned their backs on him. but only with time, seeing your genuineness, he understood that maybe falling in love wouldn't be so painful, not this time. admitting he loved you wasn't complicated, the hard part was accepting and believing that there was finally someone who didn't disgust him. when he realize that you were interested in him too? he can call that moment the most intimate of his life

✶ the words "sakura haruka" and "relationship" have never gone together, he started having this thought as a child and as a teenager the situation certainly hasn't changed, maybe even worsened. when he met you he didn't even understand how the two words suddenly went good together, with you loving him and refusing to let go of his hand even to simply eat. sakura has never had a girlfriend and never really understood how it works with one, but with you he learned everything so quickly that already after the first month together you wondered how a boy like that had never had anyone before you. being a boyfriend, possibly the best in the world, has become so easy if it was about making you happy. even though he's a relatively closed person, he's understood that he can be calm, lovely and without barriers with you, even if breaking them is still difficult. seeing you're okay with letting him have his time only makes him fall in love even more

— SUO HAYATO

✶ although not everyone can say it, he particularly loves everything that concerns fabrics and matching clothes. even before becoming a couple you already knew how much he loved everything related to the chinese world, starting from tea and ending with the way of dressing, defined by him as particularly interesting. when you became an official cup one of the first "couple experiences" was to let you try on some of his clothes of chinese origin, choosing the ones that you considered the most beautiful or the most comfortable. spending the whole afternoon with his implied compliments is defined by both as probably the best moment you have had in the first weeks of the relationship

✶ i read somewhere that he doesn't particularly like using his phone in front of others, perhaps out of politeness or for some other unexplained reason. as friends you knew about this habit of his, but unexpectedly with you he never had problems opening his private chats, his photos gallery, even some of the few social media he has. when one afternoon you happened to be closer to his phone, he simply asked you to reply to a message that nirei had sent him asking to set a date for a training session. it surprised you a lot, but when he noticed your expression he simply explained that since you are his girlfriend he has nothing to hide or be worried about, so why forbid you from touching it?. from that moment you swore that your entire trust in the male gender was based on your boyfriend. to your boyfriend's misfortune, or maybe fortune, from that day you started taking his phone just to fill his gallery with stupid photos. he loves all of them, so is a win

✶ since you've been with him, you have no problem admitting that you think you're the safest girl in the city. hayato is so strong that sometimes you wonder if he really has a monster in his eye, because you can't explain how he can turn the tables in his favor in fights so easily. he doesn't particularly like that you've seen him fight, but it happened once when you accidentally met while you were shopping and he was on patrol with sakura. it was a pretty quick fight, but you were so surprised to see him so calm even though surrounded by so many people, some of them very cruel. he fought with sakura with his usual precision, but he can't hide the fact that he threw his punches a little harder at the boy who only tried to go towards you. a few days later you talked about this and he simply justified his actions by saying that they were natural, and that knowing you were there made him a little worried for the simple fact that he knows how bastards the guys from other gangs can be. he added that he did not doubt the fact that he knew he would not even allow you to pull out a hair

— HAJIME UMEMIYA

✶ this sweet guy has absolutely no problem showing you affection in public. what is there to hide from the world, the fact that he loves you so much? no no, the world needs to know how perfect he thinks you are. since the first day as an official couple it has been normal to have his hand intertwined with yours, his arm around your shoulders, even just his pinky on your body. no one in town asked anything about you, let's say you made your love visible even when you were just friends, so no one was surprised to see umemiya kissing you in front of the shops in town. even when he introduced you to the other bofurin as his official girlfriend, no one really reacted: hiragi's sigh was enough and he simply babbled something about how it took you so long to give each other a stupid kiss

✶ even though he's a very strong guy, even on a sentimental level, talking about his past, his family and the bofurin before becoming president was not easy. these are subjects that he considers deeply intimate, topics that only people so close to him that he could die for them know. when one evening he simply asked you if you wanted to talk about something important to him, you didn't expect to find yourself an hour later shaken by sobs, deeply sorry for everything he had gone through. you know how strong your boyfriend is, but thinking about him as a child hurt you, especially knowing now everything that was going through his mind in those moments. even though you spent the rest of the evening hugging each other and completely silent, umemiya vowed to make you his wife one day. he thought this while thinking about how much his mother would like you

✶ in bofurin many see their president as a bit of a role model, someone they know loves and protects them, a bit like a father. umemiya loves to talk about the guys in school, how he likes to see them all so united and jokingly bragging that it's thanks to him that they are like this. when he talks about it he really does sound like a father explaining his children's successes, and you sound like a married couple with children when you also comment on the things he tells you. when everyone started to understand the true bond that tied you to umemiya, in the way his gaze softened when you spoke to him, some automatically thought of taking you as a point of reference too. if umemiya trusted you, evidently you were also a kind and caring person like him. if before the boys of the bofurin had only a father, now suddenly they also had a mother: worrying about the little ones has suddenly become normal for you too, even scolding them when they did wrong actions. no one ever thought that you behaved in a wrong way, even though you were not someone with an official role in the school you protected it as if it were your home, protecting the other boys as if they were your children, even though they probably had three times your strength. if it was important to your boyfriend, it automatically was important to you too

[astrasng]

touchstarved txt ౨ৎ

→ summary: every human being needs someones touch.

→ warning: mainly fluff, little cursing.

→ a/n: this is the first post of my valentines week special. so, happy valentines week to everyone ♡ make sure to treat yourself to something delicious and stay hydrated! ♡

here's the masterlist to the event ^^

enjoy!♡

──── ⋆˚࿔ soobin

soobin who doesn't remember the last time someone touched him like this. not because they had to, (because of fitting or anything relatable to his work) but because they wanted to out of love. the feeling of someone's love with a simple touch almost makes him cry out, melting into your touch the first time you hold him. his whole body going slack against yours as he lets himself relax in your arms. he furrows his eyebrows slightly when he feels you swiping your fingers through his hair, only saying a small please continue as he snuggles into your neck more feeling your warm soft touch. "no one ever held me like this before"

──── ⋆˚࿔ yeonjun

when he started his idol career, he didn't think he'd find true love. always focusing on his dreams, on his members and family. love wasn't the first thing on his mind, but when you came into the picture everything changed. he craved for your attention of every hour of the day,texting you constantly to know you are doing fine and happy. somewhere in his mind and heart, it calmed him to know you are safe. when his schedule let him, he spent every time of his with you, always having an arm around you or his hands caressing yours in his palm. yeonjun usually carefully chooses the people he lets in his personal space, and you are one of them. it was rare to see him act so boldly or affectionate in public, but whenever you feel his hands swiping the hair out of your face of fixing something on your dress always makes you blush uncontrollably. you often think he just put an arm around me and my knees are already giving out i'm so pathetic but in all truthness this is your boyfriend's little game. "i just wanted to see you crave my touch as bad as i do with yours."

──── ⋆˚࿔ beomgyu

he spends almost every free time of his hovering around you. not stalker like, but rather like a curious friend. because he is your friend, and it nearly kills him. he wants you to notice him, to give him a fucking chance, and when you do he basically disappears for days. showing up with a smile days after,saying that he was preparing for your first date and when you see what he has been doing you feel guilt building up on you for not dating him sooner. beomgyu craves your love and touch like its a drug, finding every excuse to touch you. either pulling out a chair for you and touch the base of your back slightly to secure you sit down safely, or teasingly pulling on your hair whenever he has the chance. if he's really down bad for you, he even pulls your hand into his lap and examines your lifeline. "this definately says I'll be in your life for forever"

──── ⋆˚࿔ taehyun

taehyun mostly looks forward to nights.he knows you are home waiting for him, already done with work and busying yourself until he's done at the company. his heart beats the closer he gets to his apartment, because he already knows what is going to go down. he practically feels your hug already, your arms wrapped around him to pull him further into your shared home. he loves cuddling with you on the couch or on your bed, his face smushed against your chest to slowly lulling him into a deep sleep. his heart gives up mid-day when he suddenly remembers how you feel in his arms, wanting nothing more but to go home sooner and be with you. it's like his body psysically craves for you, melting into you the minute his body hits the bed yet again after a long day. there are nights when you have to wait for him so long that you eventually fall asleep, but taehyun always wraps his arms around you to feel like he's home again. "I'm home baby" he then murmurs like you can hear him in your sleep.

──── ⋆˚࿔ hueningkai

kai,someone who always puts his focus on his work suddenly gets annoyed when his balance is wavered. to the point he can't even go to practice without thinking of you, your face suddenly appearing in his mind in the middle of rehearsals. touchstarved kai, who thinks he can get you out of his mind if he works out enough, but this isn't the case. because the minute he sees you again he has to have your hands on him, missing your touch and the way you melt into his body when hugging him. he's just so madly in love. "i needed to remember how your hug feels like" says in a whisper as you basically feel him crush your bones.

important!: this is pure fiction, the act in this story is by my imagination and not based off true events. please do not copy the work.

[hexgirl13]

hold me now

wc: 1,188

summary: after witnessing punk lose, you make sure that he knows he's not alone

warnings(?): cussing, established relationship, punk is honestly raging in this but who can blame him? age gap (punk is 46, reader is in her late 20s), use of y/n, sorta suggesting ending??

a/n: omg i was so livid when i saw that he lost bro i can't explain it "he should've won!!" i scream as they drag me back to the padded room

for the past forty minutes you had practically been on the edge of your seat. watching as cm punk, your boyfriend, fought for his life in a triple threat against roman reigns and seth rollins. you wanted him to win. he needed to win this. in his over two decade career, he was finally main eventing wrestlemania. when he came home to you and told you the news, you were over the moon for him. wrestling’s hottest couple had huge matches during one of the biggest wrestling events of the year. in the previous match, you defended and regained your women’s world championship against charlotte flair. and you practically rushed to punk’s changing room to watch his match.

his promo video nearly brought tears to your eyes. as a huge wrestling fan growing up, and a fan of punk himself, you were filled with nostalgia hearing ‘this fire burns’ fill the backstage area and watch some of his biggest moments. only for in living colour to perform ‘cult of personality’... this was truly what wrestlemania was about. how could they not let him win?

as you saw paul heyman grab a metal chair and slide it over to punk, you leaned forward to focus. you began to bite at the skin of your nails, freshly manicured nails be damned. however, when you saw paul hit punk with a low blow, it felt like the whole world had collapsed around you. punk laid there, completely broken, watching as roman picked up the chair and got ready to hit seth, only for paul to do the same thing to roman.

after that it all felt like a blur watching it. seth pinning roman, punk’s arm attempting to stop the pin, but barely coming up in time. one, two, three… match over.

seth rollins had won because of paul heyman’s help. punk sat in the middle of the ring, feeling and looking completely defeated. you couldn't keep watching this, so you grabbed the remote and turned the tv off, slamming it down. you stood up from your chair, and began pacing, still picking at your nails. you knew you shouldn’t have trusted heyman. the second you saw him, you had this feeling in your gut that he wasn’t to be trusted. it seemed like tonight proved that.

you stopped your pacing when you heard the changing room door slam open, nearly causing a dent in the wall. punk was pissed. who wouldn’t be? but i’m talking smoke coming out of his ears, face red kind of pissed. when he was angry like this, you knew better than to try and intervene. he slammed the door shut behind him, and almost immediately began throwing all the shit he could get his hands on. kicking over the chair you were previously sitting on, yanking his luggage off the counter, spilling all of his stuff onto the floor. throughout all this, though, not a single thing touched you.

he was breathing heavily, hair undone from the nice slick back it was previously in. his back was turned to you, giving you a full display of his tattooed and defined body. slowly, you walked up to him. one hand outward like you were approaching some rabid animal. your nails glided across the span of his shoulders, gently scratching them along the way. “hey, baby. you okay?” you whispered.

it was a stupid question. of course he wasn’t okay. you just didn't know how he would react to anything else. his body turned towards you, and you could see just how tired he looked. the second his big, brown eyes met yours, he broke down. gone was the cm punk that the world knew, or the one who was just previously raging, it was the one that only you got to see. he practically collapsed into, wrapping his arms around your waist and dropping his head into your neck.

you could feel warm tears dripping down your neck, wettening your shirt, but you didn't say a single thing. you just let him cry it all out. one of your hands scratched up and down his back, while the other played with his hair. “shh, it’s okay, honey. i’m so sorry. i’m so so sorry,” you repeated over and over in his ear with a soft voice. eventually, his quiet cries had subsided, and all that was left was his sniffles. his hands gripped the back of your shirt like it was his lifeline. “i can’t believe he fucking did that shit. i… i trusted him, y/n. i thought he was my friend,” he said, words muffled by your shirt.

you nodded at his words. “i know, baby. that isn’t fair to you. you deserved that win fair and fucking square. but, hey,” you pulled his face up and made him look at you, “i’m so proud of you, baby. you still main evented wrestlemania. you know how many people make it that far? barely anybody. you made it that far. and i’m so glad that you are one of those people. win or lose, i’ll always be proud of you, honey.”

his puppy dog-like eyes bore into yours as you spoke. your words hit him directly in his heart. he could feel himself just overflowing with love and admiration for you, ten times more than before. you were always his biggest cheerleader. always in his corner and with support no matter what. he couldn’t bring himself to say anything, all he could do was lovingly stare down at you. noticing his silence, you tilted your head to the side. “punk? you oka-?” you weren’t able to finish your sentence, before he slammed his lips against yours. a sound of surprise was muffled by his mouth, until you relaxed into the kiss. your arms wrapped around his broad shoulders, pulling him even closer. his hands tangled into your hair, gently tugging on it. he wanted you close. needed you close. he needed to know that you were here and real. after a few more seconds, you pulled away first, but not too far. his forehead pressed up against yours as you breathed heavily, trying to gain your composer from that bruising kiss. “what was that for?” you whispered.

he shook his head, focusing his gaze on your swollen, kissed lips. “nothing, i just… i love you so fucking much, baby. you know that?”

you giggled, ducking your head to hide your blush. “yeah, i know a little something about that.”

he quirks his eyebrow, tilting his head. “only a little?” you nod in response. he clicks his tongue, a smirk gracing his rugged, yet handsome face. “nah, that ain’t enough, baby. i gotta show you that it’s much more than a little.” gone was his previous anger towards him losing his match, all that was left was admiration and love for his girl.

using his strength, he grabs the back of your thighs, lifting you up to wrap them around his waist. you let out a squeal of shock. “punk, what are you doing?”

“i’m showing my little champion how much i love and appreciate her.”

[katiascraft]

"If nothing else gets you through. Then darling, i'll cry with you" | LN4

parings: Lando Norris x reader.

Summary: after the chaotic Brazilian GP, you know Lando is verygood at lying that he is alright and nothing can move him. But with you he can't pretend.

Now playing: "Cry with you" by Jeremy Zucker.

Word count: +1,2k.

Warnings: I think none. A few cursed words I guess and mentions of anxiety. Not a native English speaker so there could be (so many) errors. Not proofread.

Author's note: so today was the shittiest day at the office y’all! I still feel like shit but I needed to write something about this. Why is Lando so hated??? You need to check yourselves!! Don’t forget to like or reblog! And follow me so we can be friends :3 (and drink mate together!)

MASTERLIST

The Brazil GP it’s been the toughest so far. The Championship of drivers was also kind of defined. Of course Max was gonna win. He wasn't a three time world champion by luck. He is really one of the best drivers this sport has ever seen in history along with Senna, Prost, Lewis and Schumacher. But all of that indicated that your boyfriend was not gonna win the championship this year and that shuttered your heart.

You knew how hard Lando worked on that. All of the media attacked him. Social media twisting his words in a really cruel way. It was all too much noise and you perfectly knew how hard it was for him. How much anxiety he was handling and all of the pressure he was putting on himself. The pressure and illusion of the team to be back at the top after so many years decided it was gonna be Lando the one who did that. And that was a correct choice, lando was more than capable of winning the championship. But at some point it all happened so fast the pressure was descomunal.

You knew your boyfriend. You know how hard he’s worked all year. How much this all meant to him. You didn’t have holidays this year because he really wanted to fight. Train. And attack. Or at least that’s what he wanted to do.

You knew he was really good at pretending and playing it cool so people won’t ever know how much hurt his carrying. He could play the super hero indestructible for all the camaras. You won’t see him shattered right then and there. But you knew him too damn well to know he was broken. He hoped to be the winner. He dreamed about it his whole life. And this magical year was finally the one who gave him the chance to almost be it. This race was the hardest. It was luck and skills to the limit. A lot of crashes. The rain was irritating at one point. You almost didn't want to keep watching. When Lando got off track and went down to P6, you knew. He didn’t reply to any message through the radio. You cried, of course you did. You were on this as much as he was in it. You cried out of frustration. This year was a rollercoaster for you. You also dreamed of the day Lando won. You wanted that to happen even more than he wanted to. He deserved it. For how hard he works. How hard he is on himself when something out of his hands happens. Or when he made a mistake. How hard was all of that on his mental health. How obsessed he could get. And how that could send him into a spiral. You knew this was the best year at the same time it was the worst one.

When you watched him walk into the garage where you were. Your heart broke. Not because he was angry or even sad. He was playing it cool like it was not a big deal at all. So you knew how much pain he was handling.

Your eyes met after he talked to his engineers and mechanics. You were so sad this weekend. So good yet forgettable.

“Hey” he said walking to you and you just couldn’t help but dropped a few tears hugging him so tightly. You were squeezing him at some point. He let you do it. And rested his head on your neck. He fought the tears in his eyes so hard in that moment.

“I’m so proud of you. You are so strong Lando. So talented” you said now looking at him trying to repair something with your thoughts on him but knowing it won’t change anything. But you just wanted him to know he was all of that and the greatest person alive you knew. He kissed you gently.

“I love you y/n. Thank you for always supporting me” he said and gave you a kiss on the cheek giving you another hug. You didn’t say anything but hugged him tightly. After a few seconds another person joined and by the giggles he left out, you both knew it was Oscar. You two giggled a little. It was a family hug.

After that intimate little moment, the media had to be done so you had to say goodbye for a while.

(…)

After dinner with the papaya family you decided it was night in. Lando showered again because he said he had a headache. You haven’t talked about how he feels yet. You didn’t want to be invasive and more because this was a very sensitive topic to discuss. You knew he would eventually crack and talk to you. Like he always did.

You put on your pajamas and waited for him by just looking out the window at the city of São Paulo. After a few minutes la do was out. You turned to look at him. He was by his luggage wearing only a towel looking for a boxer and T-shirt. You could see his whole back. He took off the towel and put the clothes on. You looked to the bed and climbed in it waiting for him. You analyzed him one more time while he got cozy on the bed with you.

“Stop looking at me like that. I’m okay babe” he said, like reading your mind. You gave him a half smile.

“You sure? We can talk about it baby” you said softly and got closer to him so you could stroke his hair sweetly. He looked at you and nodded. But then his eyes were full of tears so he denied. Your heart sinks. “Come here my love” you said, bringing me to your chest and hugging him in a way for him to find comfort somehow. He hugged you and hid his face in your neck so you couldn’t see him. “It’s okay baby. I know it was q fucking shitty day at the office. I know how much you wanted it. And you deserve it still, baby. But life is sometimes a bitch you know? I mean the alpines got the podium” you said trying to make him feel better. He was still crying and all you could read was he tigherter his grip. “Sometimes life is a bitch to the people that don't deserve it. Amazing people who are good and so no harm but somehow get the harder life mode now and then. This makes you stronger, Lando. I know next years gonna be. You will do it. Because you can and because you want to. And that more than enough because talent you already have babe” he moved a little under your hug. You heard him giggle a little. That makes you smile a little too.

You stoked his curls gently and kissed his forehead.

“I love you and admire you so fucking much. You deserve the world and I know you will eventually get it” you told him now looking into his eyes holding his face between your hands. His face was wet and his eyes teary. Seeing him like this broke your heart in so Many pieces. But you knew he was gonna be okay. He was gonna be world champion one day.

“I don’t know what I did to deserve you. I love you” he said with a shaky voice and you gave him a little kiss.

“You just did you landinho” you said sweetly making him smile and you gave him another million kisses.

——————————————————————————————-

Hope you liked it 💌 if you have any ideas my inbox is open so send your requests!

[formylovetodaryldixon]

"Daryl Dixon: NSFW alphabet."

Summary: Daryl Dixon's version of the NSFW alphabet with you meeting each other since the beginning.

@kitt-iiworld: Hii.. since you made the sfw alphabet (I loved it) could you make the nsfw version now?

A/N: Hi, love! Thanks for your request, I really really hope you like this. I even thought THIS would be a good idea for a story, though I don't know if I could properly describe how the sex between you and Daryl turned into something more. This story is not that explicit, but still I leave a warning. I'm sorry if I can't express myself well; my English isn't great, but I'm trying to improve. Thanks!

A = Aftercare (What he does after sex)

During his sex life before you, Daryl Dixon didn’t give a damn about what happened afterward: he only care about the very end for him. That is why meeting you in that new world was confusing for him because all Daryl was looking for in the beginning was some kind of release (you didn’t mind, you were looking for the same thing). But for Daryl, your honest concern for him outside the tent, for example, made him start to realize that sex did come with some kind of show that he cared about how your body acclimated to the cold after feeling hot as hell, not just getting dressed again, but waiting for you to come down from your own high, so he started to stay with you long after the end. (Which was just as confusing for you, too.) And as Daryl fell in love with you at the same time that he was getting the idea that the strangers around him were important to him, he became a real lover, caring, attentive to what you needed afterwards to the point of being able to take care of you to share everything with you if there was a surface where he could sleep next to you without worrying about danger.

B = Body part (His favorite body part of himself and also his partner's)

Daryl had never wasted his time on something as banal as his looks, but everything about him was wild and almost pornographic. Daryl was hot, always wearing his sleeveless shirt that showed off his well-defined arms after working with them his whole life, under his angel-wing vest (that made him look like a damn rock star), but one compliment from you that made him shy (and at the same time made him feel confident that you didn't see anyone else like that) was the praise for his arms, which stood out without even flexing them. Daryl was inexperienced in the matter of relationships, but even he could detect the change in your breathing when his hand rested on your waist for some reason, especially to pull you closer, so he loved to hold you in them.

When he understood that love and pleasure did go hand in hand, for Daryl your body became sacred so he loved everything about it, because it was the only place where he could get everything at the same time: so it was a duty for him to make sure that you got all the pleasure from him that you could have and that he could give you, because his own climax was seeing that you had reached it with him.

C = Cum (Basically that)

Condoms are a must, of course, because Daryl doesn't want to start making babies, at least until he knows the place where he can make a home and a family with you is actually safe, a place where you two can settle down and not worry about danger. But since the Alexandria infirmary isn't always stocked with them, and birth control is scarce, if not nonexistent, the "safest" thing to do without missing out on that particular kind of fun is to pull it out before finish.

Which brings us to the next point.

D = Dirty secret (A dirty secret of his)

As time went on and as his relationship with you progressed, Daryl discovered that there was something arousing about spilling himself over you, seeing a part of himself dripping down your thigh if you two did it on the bathroom counter for example: it was like knowing that only he had access to those parts of your body that were always going to be off-limits to anyone else.

E = Experience (How experienced is he?)

Before you, Daryl only cared about himself, finding his climax and releasing his own lust or even his own frustration. The bars in his city were idyllic for that, so his experience was one-night stands, or even a few hours, rather, because for him it was a waste of time taking the women home or go to theirs. Meeting you at the end of the world for Daryl, at first, was just finding someone to do it with, but as life forced you to live together, doing it with the same person made his experience grow, because it made Daryl more observant to the point of perfectly remember those places inside you that made you press yourself against him more or moan louder, until the idea of him pleasing you was what made him finish too.

F = Favorite position

The Daryl of the beginning of the apocalypse cared about positions because he related it to dominating and not being dominated, so it was always one where he was in control of the situation (although he disliked positions where the woman was degraded because he liked to be in control but not hurt anyone in any way) but as Daryl got older and sex went from being that to making love, any position where he could see your face and the changes in it as you got higher was something he preferred.

G = Goofy (Is he serious or funny in the moment?) (Russian roulette)

“Shut it.” He warns you, keeping his warm mouth close to your entrance. “Fuck, why ya always taste so damn good? Makes me wanna live in between yer legs all the fuckin’ time.”

He wasn’t normally a very talkative person, but when Daryl was on the right mood he loved saying things that he knew would turn you on, leading you to the edge of being out of breath.

(Don't know if this makes sense, sorry) More than a teaser or a joker, Daryl is a bit more talkative even before you two do it because that's when words matter as much as actions (if you know what I mean) because his words are the conduit to have you where he wants you: squeezing your legs closed when they become images in your head, anticipating the moment that's going to come, whether it's happening right there or a little while. And when it happens, he has to tell you how you make him feel too. So Daryl is somehow always serious just because he means every word.

H = Hair (All kind of hair)

The first time before you two did it and the moment his beard (which Daryl had never bothered to shave completely) brushed your face, you giggled saying "it tickles me," but the giggle it provoked in you was enough for him to notice that something like that didn't bother you at all, which made him continue doing it on future occasions on purpose just to hear a sound he thought he'd never hear again in his life during the apocalypse, plus your laughter felt full of colors in a gray world.

As for his hair, the idea was to let it grow because cutting it often was a waste of time for Daryl, and although even Carol offered to do it, he kept rejecting the offer. But there was a silent compliment every time you pretended to downplay how good he looked until Daryl heard it out loud from you: you look like a rock star, and everyone wants to fuck the rock star.

And ya do? It was practically the only joke Daryl ever made, but that question was completely honest too because at that point in his life, he only cared about you.

As for you-know-where *wink*, he likes to keep it short enough to see the times you're the one who decides to go down on him, to get the full view of your lips against him that has him grunting in seconds.

I = Intimacy (How the moment starts?)

Sex evolved from that to lovemaking, but it was always passionate and intense, no matter if it had to be fast of slow. But when it started, you'd usually joke around with, "I'm in the mood, do you want to do it?" Or the moment would flow depending on whether one of you had been out on a supply run without the other, so your bodies would move automatically, seeking each other's warmth after being away from each other, especially since you were already used to being together most of the time. For Daryl, it would start with the brush of his hand over a particular part of your body without anyone noticing if you were with someone, and if you were alone and somewhere comfortable, he usually knew how to read the mood in the room before pressing his lips against yours.

J = Jack off (Masturbation)

He's not a big fan of doing it because being with you quells his own desires, but when the group for a supply run doesn't lump the two of you together, Daryl considers it, especially since his body misses yours terribly and when his mind starts projecting you in the most sinful ways he can think of.

K = Kink (Like, something he likes to hear or feel) (When you finally came back)

“Ya can read it.” He gets closer to you, pushing you softly for you to lay on your back, climbing on you, his nose brushing your skin as he starts kissing your neck, his hand caressing your side. “I'll entertain myself with somethin’ else.”

You love the sudden hot feeling, the tickling between your legs in anticipation, the need to have him close again.

“That’s not fair, you asshole.” You chuckle, trying your best to read the letter.

Daryl loves the aggression, chuckling too against your skin as he pulls himself lower, just to meet your most sensitive and still covered area. His hands look for the bottom and the zipper of your jeans, pushing them out of you with your underwear lock in his fingers. You try very hard to concentrate on reading, trying to understand the messy words on the paper, but when Daryl buries his face into you without a warning, just to devour you completely, earning a moan form your closed lips, it is impossible to do so.

Two things: (pet names aside or when you tell him to keep going or not stop) the first is the way that only you can call him names (playing) just because it breaks the perpetuated idea that Daryl is dangerous in a bad way, like he would hurt people for no reason. He is dangerous to strangers who exude danger, who seem capable of hurting his family for mere fun or sadism, so his posture or his gaze alone is a warning that they should stay away from his people, but Daryl is not that way with you, ever, so hearing you call him those names (in a jokingly way) is fun for him because despite everything, he only seeks to be a companion with you.

“That feels good?” He asks, and you nod, drowned in the sensation too much to form a word. “Lemme hear ya, peach. I really need ya right now.”

He chokes with his own words, looking at you with eyes full of lust, between the strands of hair that fall over his forehead, but when you think that can’t get any hotter, Daryl brings two of his fingers to his mouth, sucking on them before pressing them against your clit, rubbing the area, hard and fast, causing you to cry his name.

The second thing: devouring you first before sinking into you while feeling what he does to your body with his lips and fingers.

L = Location (Places to do it)

When you two first met, the only place to do it was in his tent because it was further away from the rest, or if it was the place (if it was safe) where you two were looking for something useful for the camp, especially since you were the only person Daryl accepted as a partner, and because the rest of them feared him. Same at the farm. And when you and the group arrived at the prison, it was safer to do it in the cells, in something comfortable like a bed because you didn't find one often in that world anymore. In Alexandria, Daryl started to enjoy sex on the kitchen counter if he couldn't find your warm body next to him in bed, especially since your body was more sensitive in the early mornings, plus the sounds you made drove him crazy.

M = Motivation (What turns him on?)

SO many things about you, but mostly you: it was almost ridiculous and even embarrassing for Daryl at first, the way he used to check you out because he was almost always more isolated from the rest of the people, so it was easy to capture the curve of your ass, or your legs when you started wearing shorts because it was so hot. Daryl didn't even have to imagine you naked to get turned on, and once you two started doing t, it was easy for him to finish after fantasizing about you. And on the occasions when you wore a dress on the farm to mitigate the heat, maybe borrowed from Maggie, or some skirt, it was enough for Daryl to get so turned on by imagining himself lifting it up and sliding your underwear off for him to plunge into you.

No = No (The turn offs)

Daryl is dangerous in that world, aggressive when he needs to be to protect his family because unfortunately the situations called for it, but after a lifetime of pain, the mere idea of ​​bringing that kind of aggression anywhere remotely near you is a resounding no to him. However, time together has given him the confidence to touch you and been playful and to know exactly how far to go, because Daryl knows your limits and his own, but since that idea has never excited either of you, he prefers "intensity," not pain. Never.

O = Oral (Giving or receiving)

Again, the idea of ​​eating you out first is his duty, savoring the moment if there's time for the whole game until he brings you to the end, perhaps at the end of the day where you two can be alone and at peace, or doing it faster if there isn't, but every chance he gets, Daryl does it. It's arousing and even ego-boosting to hear you, to feel you in his mouth, and the way your body reacts to his touch: your hand in his hair to hold him there or even to urge him to go deeper, or the way you resist squeezing your legs closed when he's in between while his own hands are on your hips or thighs to pull you closer to him, even though he physically can't anymore.

At the same time, Daryl LOVES the idea of ​​you going down on him, from start to finish. If he’s leaning against a wall, he’s driven crazy by the way you unbuckle his belt and his pants, sliding them down to his knees if there’s no time to remove them completely, with the sight of your lips pressing against his dick, going up and down all his length, your own hand wrapping around it while the other gripped his thigh. His reaction to pleasure is almost the same as yours, placing his hand on your head to guide you so you can take him all the way (without forcing), but the feel of your hot mouth on him has him grunting in seconds.

P = Pace (Is he fast? Or slow?)

It depends on your mood and what's happening around you two. It's always intense, but in different ways. Sometimes Daryl just wants to feel you pressed against him without any clothing while you both slowly enjoy the pleasure of the moment, feeling the swaying of your body and his without any rush, kissing and touching because there is time, although the feeling of the end always makes him increase the intensity with which he started. It basically depends on the moment and how life goes by.

Q = Quickie

With random girls in bars or other places, it was fine for Daryl because there were no feelings tying them to him, perhaps because the idea of ​​just pulling down his pants and doing it was all for him, but as he fell in love with you, the idea of ​​doing it in a hurry became something he no longer enjoyed, not when he started wanting to take his time feeling your body and your warmth. Daryl started enjoying the foreplay and what came after (even if you didn't have all the time in the world) to the point where he needed at least a moment to come down from that high with you by his side, and he didn't want to abruptly feel the cold your body left on his when you were the one who pulled away first, until one day, it was Daryl who questioned why you had to leave so quickly, and saying that out loud opened the door for him to consider that there were starting to be feelings involved. In conclusion, it wasn't the few minutes to do it, but rather the feeling that your body was just a means to obtain something for him alone.

R = Risk (Something risky?)

No. Absolutely nothing life-threatening. Daryl wants you alive, so anything that would put that at risk, even to experience new things, (even if I can't imagine what) is a no-no. You were pretty laid-back too, so you both enjoyed the ordinary. Perhaps the riskiest thing you both did was doing it knowing someone could find you (not necessarily something you purposely sought out, it just happened).

S = Stamina (How long can he last?)

Daryl can do it a couple of times, but he prefers to do it once, but using the time well, building the tension appropriately, tiring your body and his so that after chatting for a while, you can both sleep peacefully if it's the end of the day. You often joke that you're not getting any younger and that doing it once a day, but doing it properly was all you needed, and he agreed with that. Oddly, that chaotic life gave him a sense of peace when he was with you, so Daryl enjoyed the time with you, alone, without any clothing on. Doing so was intense, but somehow, it calmed the madness of his world too.

❧ T = Toys (Does he like toys?)

Nope. Maybe the Daryl of the beginning would feel like his masculinity was being offended, but you weren't interested in anything else either, so the idea never came up.

U = Unfair (Does he like to tease you?) (Didn’t get how this is different from the G, but oh well hehe)

In the lead-up to it, Daryl is amused by the way your body reacts to those little touches of his to let you know what’s coming next, just because time together has given him the confidence to tease you like that. Like his hand resting on your lower back because it’s a sensitive spot for you when you know what he’s asking for, and the way you arch slightly makes him feel good. During it, Daryl has learned how to change the pace of his thrusts just to make the moment last a little longer, so he would tease you like that, especially when it has you whining and begging him to move faster. But in the end, he always gives you all the pleasure he can give.

V = Volume (The sounds he makes or how loud he can get)

The sounds you make are something that have Daryl grunting against your mouth like an animal, especially if you're about to cum too. He's quiet in his daily life, talkative enough when you're alone together, but the sounds you make against him, against his shoulder or neck, are something that turns him on to the point where he has to crush his mouth against yours to stifle those little sounds he starts to make too. He's not that loud, but in the beginning, you two were always around someone so you were always careful about that. Before you, Daryl used to talk to women just to feed his own ego, sarcastically asking if it felt good because he knew what he was doing, but with you, it was a need to let you know that you made him feel good, that he needed only you.

W = Wild card (A random headcanon) (Same as the P, I guess?)

As the feelings grew and Daryl got older, trusting you (because he didn't trust anyone, much less intimately) made him enjoy having you on top of him, moving with him inside you however you wanted, (thinking about his pleasure too) with his hands on your hips or thighs to help you move even better.

X = X-ray (You know what I mean)

Without going into too much detail, it's big enough to fill you completely. Not too small, not too monstrously large to hurt you.

Y = Yearning (His sex drive?)

Daryl didn't think compulsively about sex, but when he was in a bar and there was always someone looking for the same thing, he did it. When you two met at camp in Atlanta and he started noticing you and even fantasizing about you, it was something that hadn't happened to him before, especially because he didn't usually like doing it with the same person over and over again. But as the act continued to repeat itself, Daryl began to feel the need to do it again with you, until he understood that he needed it not just for the action, but for the desire to be close to you, and feel you that way while you two enjoyed the pleasure. Physically, it was everything about you that attracted him, but it was also the way you, and only you, could roll your eyes at him, respond to his sarcasm with more sarcasm, the way you didn't feel intimidated by him when others were scared to be around him. That fierceness in you drove him crazy to the point of wanting you, not every minute of the day, but enough to be the one who looked for you first.

Z = Zzz (How quickly he falls asleep)

Daryl never slept much or well in the past, so when you two started spending time together afterward, he started sleeping better with you next to him, and it made him seriously wonder what the heck was going on with him. But at the same time, Daryl was discovering for the first time in his life what it was like to talk about nothing in particular with you before sleeping together, sharing stories until he was longing for it. During the day, he started thinking about what story he would tell you, especially something to make you laugh after he told you about the time he got lost in the woods as a kid (because after how worried you were about that), you laughed at the way Daryl ended by saying that everything had turned out okay, except for the fact that his butt was burning from having to wipe it with poison ivy. After the first time you slept together after doing so, Daryl would often fall asleep after you, just to make sure that until he couldn't resist sleep anymore, you were safe.

By the time you two were on the prison and in Alexandria, Daryl did the same thing, talking with you until you would fall asleep first, with him following you a little bit after.

[enhani-ki]

idk if you're open to it but i feel like you'd give a good representation of writing ni-ki anyway! can you make a story of him falling in love with a male reader? like its just hits him out of the blue and baam ... he likes *a* guy .. crazy stuff!

love all your works to the fullest!! 💕

double take - male!reader x ni-ki

warnings: a little suggestive, cursing, etc.

the sun was just starting to set. it casted long shadows over your small town as you made your way towards the gathering at ni-ki's house.

his dad had invited your family over, just like old times. the whole neighborhood was going wild because after all, it wasn't every day that nishimura riki, the kid who used to play hide and seek with you, racing you to the vending machine, and played video games with you until your thumbs ached, just came back after years of living in Korea.

you had heard bits and pieces about his life through your parents, but you never really reached out.

what would you even say? "bro, remember when we used to dance together?" you doubted he had time for nostalgia, not when he had debuted as an idol, traveling the world, and living the dream he always wanted.

still, his dad's invitation left you no choice. and part of you was a little bit… curious.

he was taller, way waaay taller. you knew you had grown too, but next to him? you weren't sure if it was enough to count.

his once soft cute features had sharpened. he's got more defined jawline now and his nose got even more pointy, and despite everything, he still looked easygoing, laughing shyly as family friends and neighbors showered him with compliments.

does he even recognize you?

his eyes met yours and you looked away, not really sure why.

"hey, y/n!" he called out with his now deep voice, lifting his hand to dap you up just like old times.

ni-ki clasped your hand and pulled you into a firm hug. and he's so strong now too.

"hey," laughed awkwardly. "i guess you're ni-ki now?"

"you know i'm just riki." he smiled, scratching the back of his neck again.

you felt a little relieved, maybe he hadn't changed too much.

the two of you stepped aside and started catching up. a little strange at first but the conversation picked up quickly as you both tried to bring up old memories and filling all the years you had missed.

and at some point, he sighed resting his head on your shoulder without warning.

"i'm so tired from the flight," he murmured.

your body tensed.

you felt relieved again knowing he's still comfortable with you but you also felt nervous

because he probably didn't notice… but you like guys now.

i mean, you always did.

and to ni-ki's defense, he was just always like this too, he became comfortable with physical touch especially with guys after years of being surrounded by his group members.

the next day, you were walking through the neighborhood talking about some dumb story from middle school when, out of nowhere, his arm draped over your shoulders.

ni-ki was smiling, listening to you while looking ahead. "man, i miss this place," he said, completely oblivious to how stiff you had just gone.

"y-yeah," you replied, forcing yourself to act normal.

and it made sense that he wouldn't think twice about casually leaning on you or wrapping his arms around your shoulders,

or pulling you close during a game.

"let's see how good you are." ni-ki said, dribbling the ball between his legs, smirking smugly before passing you the ball, like he know he's about to win.

he was on you again, guarding so close. his body pressed against yours, chest to back, arms spreading wide as he tried to block your movements that you could feel the heat radiating off of him, the way his breath came fast and uneven... just like yours.

and your heart was already racing from running around, now it feels like it's going to burst out for a completely different reason.

it's okay, focus. just play.

you tried to step back but ni-ki was right there and he was just so fucking big. his hands kept trying to swipe at the ball.

you moved fast because you were too distracted, and-

foul.

you had practically shoved into him, and he stumbled slightly, blinking at you in surprise.

"whew," ni-ki said and laughed, still panting. "you play dirty like that?"

"sh-shut up," you muttered, reaching for the ball again to distract yourself.

and then in a desperate attempt to shake off whatever this was, you threw it at the hoop with way too much force that the ball smacked against backboard so hard it ricocheted off and bounced into the grass.

"…bro."

"i'm sorry! you're just... too close."

he walked towards you and patted your head. "my bad, sorry."

later, you had just stepped out of the shower. the steam were still clinging to your skin as you ran a towel through your damp hair. the only thing covering you was the towel wrapped loosely around your waist, while water droplets sliding down your chest.

you weren't expecting company.

which is why you froze the moment you saw ni-ki in on your bed, strumming nonsense on your guitar.

both of you just stared at each other with wide eyes. the silence was probably thick enough to choke on.

and ni-ki? he should've been used to this, right? because after all he lives with six guys, sharing dorms, and seeing shirtless bodies all the time.

this shouldn't feel different.

his eyes flicked down just a quick second before he turning his head to the side.

you gripped your towel tighter, "what the hell are you doing in my room?"

"i-" he swallowed, still refusing to look at you. "i was waiting for you."

"In my bed?"

ni-ki groaned, rolling onto his stomach, wishing he could just disappear into the mattress. "we were supposed to go spy on the date, remember?"

his sister's going on a date tonight and he convinced you to go with him because he needs "something" he could find so he can use it against her later.

such a little brother.

but yeah, you did agree to that.

you sighed, running a hand through your damp hair. "you could've knocked."

"i thought you were done..."

your fingers curled around the edge of your towel with your heart still beating a little too fast.

and ni-ki, while still half-buried in your bed, exhaled a breath and peeked at you from the corner of his eye then quickly, he shut his eyes and groaned into your pillow.

"put some clothes on."

"yea- yeah," you muttered, already turning away. "good idea."

"…you're killing me here."

it was late, way past midnight, and he was lying on your bedroom floor, staring at the ceiling.

you were on your bed, already half-asleep, but still mumbling about how he could've just gone home instead of insisting on staying over.

he said it was easier this way, he said he didn't feel like walking.

but he just doesn't want to leave.

you rolled onto your side, your arm dangled off the bed, and your hand peeked over the edge, right in front of his eyes.

he swallowed before reaching out. he let his fingertips ghost over the back of your hand, touching and tracing the lines of your skin.

then your hand twitched.

and ni-ki can't help but intertwine his fingers with yours.

you stirred awake, mumbling groggily. "that's not a ghost, right?"

ni-ki let out a breathy chuckle. "it's me, dumbass."

your heart ached at his touch, biting your lip as you curled your fingers tighter around his.

"...come up here."

next day, you stood next to him. ni-ki didn't know but he was staring, reaally staring because he was.

your head barely reached his shoulder as you walk together, he also had to slow his steps just so you wouldn't fall behind. and when you stretched to reach something high, it was instinct for him to reach over and grab it for you.

it made him smile.

he didn't even realize he was smiling until you turned to him, brow raised.

"what?" you asked, giving him a weird look.

"no- nothing."

and you weren't convinced. "no, seriously, why are you looking at me like that?"

he shrugged, tilting his head slightly. "just… you're kinda small, huh?"

you blinked at him. "no, i'm not?"

ni-ki chuckled before leaning close to your face, "yeah, i bet you are."

he said it like he was challenging you or something.

your jaw dropped, stopping in your tracks as he continued walking. "what the hell?"

you glared at his back before quickly catching up, grabbing his arm and pulling it over your shoulders, forcing him closer.

ni-ki stiffened for a second. his heart were stuttering, but he gave in easily too, pressing a quick kiss to your head, before resting his head on top of yours.

"don't react."

a/n: thank you so much for showing love! it keeps me going. also this is my first time writing ni-ki and male!reader pairing, so glad this was requested! ><

i actually wanted to make them strangers instead of already knowing each other but i just watched where ni-ki was singing the song double take by dhruv during live and i just got so inspired by it lol!

masterlist: マスターリストm.list

[henley-reeves]

"The Runaway Bride" is such an iconic episode, really. It was just Donna in her wedding dress appearing in the TARDIS while the Doctor was in the middle of a heartbreak, and she immediately changed his life, and hers in the process, from the second she started yelling at him to TAKE HER TO THE CHURCH.

This woman came up with a whole variety of pet names for the Doctor in a span of a few hours, some of which (SPACEMAN) would become legendary and character defining and would be remembered fondly by the Doctor.

This episode is full of iconic scenes, like Donna getting kidnapped by a robot Santa and the Doctor trying to save her by encouraging her to jump out of a moving car on a motorway, and while Donna is refusing to jump arguing that she is in her wedding dress, the Doctor's best response is to compliment her look like "girl, you look perfect for a jump out of a moving car on a motorway."

And the next scene on a rooftop solidifies the silly tone of this relationship by the Doctor putting a biodamper ring on Donna's finger cracking a wedding joke, which Donna immediately joins in on.

This scene right there was the start of their friendship and that bond that would last for the rest of their lives. It all started with a robot Santa, a wedding ring and a silly joke which hilariously continued into the next scene with the Doctor and Donna standing under the "Just Married" banner. Comedy gold.

A very underrated moment of the Doctor continuing the affectionate insults tradition between them by calling Donna a 4H pencil, trying to explain to her how she got transported into the TARDIS.

There were these small moments throughout the episode that showed exactly how this friendship of a lifetime started. Like the Doctor taking Donna to see the creation of Earth right after the moment her fiance betrays her and admits he hates and wants to kill her. The Doctor sees all that and tries to distract her by showing her something so extraordinary and beautiful that no other human saw before her. And it works. This woman who has been so unimpressed with him calling him SPACEMAN (derogatory), was now cracking jokes and laughing with the Doctor and very much enjoying his company.

The Doctor and Donna who spent the good portion of the episode trying to get rid of each other, were now ride-or-die besties.

The Spaceman and Earthgirl are now imprinted on each other so much that this little Christmas adventure will become a life changing event and a start of a relationship so meaningful and deep that it will end up changing the Doctor's and Donna's lives fundamentally and save this world and a multitude of others.

The Doctor started the episode with "I don't want you here anyway" and ended it trying to make Donna laugh and making it snow when he heard she didn't like Christmas, and openly telling her he would be lucky to see her again and inviting Donna to come with him.

And Donna who starts the episode yelling at the Doctor and being so unimpressed with him, ends up understanding him on such a deep level and leaving him with the words that he would carry for regenerations to come. And failure to remember these words would lead to the death of this incarnation.

Donna is asking the Doctor to find someone, and she doesn't yet realise that he already found that someone he needs, a platonic soulmate, a friend, a partner, and that someone is her.

"The Runaway Bride" was a start of a many years (for Donna) and many centuries (for the Doctor) road from that rooftop to the garden where they will sit together with a bright shared future ahead. Best mates having the best of times for the rest of their lives. TOGETHER.

[newrochellechallenger2019]

line cook art anon here to say the word!pretty please write a whole blurb

'thank you line cook anon' we all say in unison !! now you may have seen the previous blurb but this is an extra special blurb just for you !!

ash hits the fresh tarmac and fizzles out, a black boot stamping on the spark. 'did he make you go on top too?' drawls a voice, casually, as if discussing the weather.

your brow furrows as you look up from scratching at your nail polish to the only other server outside on their break right now. at your non-answer, she shrugs, 'art. when you slept with him.'

you freeze in surprise, accidentally slicing a strip of nail polish off your thumb and you grimace. 'i didn't sleep with him.' you mutter.

she scoffs, her cigarette smoke clouding the air. 'sure you didn't darling, i see the way you look at him.' you flush red in response. 'you're new right?' and you nod and she steps closer towards you, 'then i'll let you in on a little secret.' you finally look at her, holding her gaze, searching for any malice or teasing but there's just sincerity, closer to concern and it makes your stomach churn. 'the free fries, the lifts home, riding him' she emphasises the last part, raising her well defined eyebrow at you. '...we've all done it. it's what art does.' she flicks her cigarette into the trashcan by the back door and heading back inside.

it's what art does. those four words are ringing through your head throughout the rest of your shift, even when you're getting in art's car for the second time. you're not sure why, it's like you move on autopilot when you see him leaning against his car, his signature smirk on his face as he eyes up like his next meal. art presses a soft kiss to the top of your head before you get in, the smell of cigarettes and musk floating round the car. the drive to his place is silent again, as you battle with whether or not to force him to turn the car around or whether to accept that the best sex of your life means being one of many servers on his roster.

but as art comes round to open the car door, and you catch sight of the scruff of his chin, the way he looks at you like you've hung the stars, how his brawny arm snaked round your waist in a gesture that now feels familiar to you, the words of the older server dissipate from your head and all you can focus on is how good his chapped lips feel against yours.

the minute the door is locked behind him, he's closing you in, tilting your chin up to face him, 'i missed you so much doll' he murmurs, and before you can protest it's been less than 24hrs, he's pressing a quick kiss to your lips and you immediately relax. then another kiss and another and another and another, in between stripping each other of shirts and trousers till you're lying flat on your back on his bed, left in your bra and panties.

art's sucking dark marks on your stomach as his face makes it way down to your cunt, his hands gripping your knees to keep your legs open. 'you wear this for me, huh?' he teases, nosing at the lace on your panties, a sly look on his face but it fades when he notices your expression. 'baby?' his hold on you relaxes slightly and he lifts his face from between your thighs. you chew your lip anxiously, 'do you sleep with the other servers?' you say quietly, voice wobbling slightly.

art blinks at you for a moment, perplexed. 'i did.' he shrugs, 'why?'. you frown, an odd feeling of hurt washing over you, it felt different to hear it from him. swallowing thickly, 'i thought...' his thumb rubs soothing circles on your knee, giving you the confidence to continue, '...i thought i was special.' the words seem to suck all the air out of his bare apartment and you both lie on his bed, frozen and stunned into silence.

after what feels like hours, art starts to slowly press his lips to your thigh, 'baby...' slowly moving higher and higher, 'baby...you are special.' you huff, unconvinced and he chuckles. 'i swear! you're the only girl for me.' he bites at your thigh gently and you gasp, 'art!'. with his imploring gaze, you nearly crumble, 'are you really gonna be mad at me because i've slept with people before you?' and your face twists in thought as you mull it over, art thinks it's the cutest thing he's ever seen. 'i suppose not...' you relent and he grins, fingers hooking into your lacy underwear and pulling it down your legs, 'thank you doll.'

he presses his face to your pussy, inhaling you. his tongue teases your clit and you whimper, before he starts to suck on the sensitive bud and you stifle a growl. he continues to lavish your clit before his tongue starts to lick at your entrance and a shiver runs up your spine as you nod feverishly. art's tongue penetrates your hole, lapping at your gummy walls and you moan, your eyes nearly rolling back into your head. his tongue in your cunt felt so much better than his cock splitting you open before, more intimate, more real, more special.

his face is buried in between your legs, slurping like a starving animal and your moans are getting increasingly louder. gripping his curls, you push his head deeper into your folds and he relishes in it, art's nose brushing your clit and making your stomach flip. 'right there...' you pant, as the tip of his tongue hit the spot inside you that made you see stars. his gravelly laugh in response made your folds vibrate as he plunged his tongue deeper, hitting that spot over and over again. 'art- art-ngh- gonna-' and starts to tonguefuck you even more aggressively as your legs start to shake, 'oh- fuck- i'm- cumming- please-' as your clear liquid spurts out of you, and he laps it up happily, chin soaked with your juices. 'good girl' he praises, kissing your thigh before moving to kneel atop you, and you smile dazily at the compliment, still on your orgasm high.

'you still with me doll?' he murmurs gently as he frees his half-hard cock from his boxers. you nod, 'yeah...please...art.' and he smiles, 'you keep talking to me baby, got it?' 'uh huh' you grunt as he slowly pushes into your soaked cunt, 'so wet for me' he groans as he enters you, feeling your walls clench around his dick. slowly, art starts to shift his hips, his cock moving in and out of your pulsating pussy and you moan at the stimulation, eyes glazed over.

art's hands find your ass, lifting your legs up so the tip of his cock can hit deeper inside you and you gasp, 'oh- shit- mmph-' as he starts to pick up the pace. 'yes- yes- yes- yes-' is all you can garble out over art's huffs and whines, his head thrown back, 'your pussy feels so good like this- ngh- doll'. you nod dumbly, lost in the throngs of pleasure.

teetering on the edge of overstimulation, you start to feel your second orgasm incoming. 'art!' you screech as he fills you to the brim, 'oh god- please-' but before you can let him know your second orgasm hits you like a truck. you're babbling incoherently as your squirt around his cock, the only thing decipherable is his name over and over as clear liquid soaks the sheets. 'oh- fuck- felt you clench there baby-' art grunts before you feel his hot seed spurt into you too as he cums, prolonging your orgasm. he coaches you through it as you shake, 'that's it...so pretty doll...so good for me...' he purrs encouragingly as he watches you come undone.

he puts your legs down and slowly pulls out of you, watching in delight as your hole twitches, a mixture of his and your fluid dripping out. he slides off the bed and gets you a glass of water, stroking your hair as you sip gratefully, 'you're the only one for me doll...i promise' and you smile dopily at that, satisified in more ways than one.

tags: @blastzachilles @s0ftcobra @femme-lusts @glennussy @cha11engers @stanart4clearskin @artstennisracket

[novascharms]

teach please me — tutor!reader x soccer player!rafe

reader's life is meticulously planned, from high school to becoming president of the country—she knows exactly where she's headed and every step to get there. but her airtight plan hits a snag when the principal ropes her into tutoring rafe cameron, the school’s star soccer player, who’s failing algebra and at risk of being benched next season. the team needs him on the field, and reader needs the principal’s glowing recommendation to secure her spot at her dream school. balancing her ambitious goals with rafe’s chaotic charm might just throw her perfectly crafted plan off track.

word count — 3.6 chapter index — prev. chap. — next chap. masterlist

six

tuesday, january 28th

you sat on your bed, legs crossed over eachother with your laptop on your lap. your philosphy teacher had given out this assignment friday and you'd been mulling it over the entire weekend.

you stared at the question asked.

what defines 'perfection"? is it a universal concept, or is it deeply personal and subjective? discuss how ideals shape our perceptions and actions.

you'd been staring at a blank page for five days now, unable to come up with anything. it was like writer block's mean older sister, academic block. anything you did come up with was stupid: a stupid attempt at dissecting society's perception of perfection which was boring, everyone was going to do that. another attempt would talk about how perfection didn't exist and though that was true, your writing quickly turned into the whole, 'nothing is real, nothing really matters mumbo jumbo.' so, you scrapped that too.

your thoughts were abruptly interrupted when you felt something being thrown against your head. you flinched and looked at rafe who was sitting there, innocently with his bowl of jellybeans.

"do you know how lucky you are that i've allowed you to eat in my room? and here you are, just taking my kindness for granted," you say and he laughs and waves his notebook up.

it's messy, full of scribbles where he scratches out his mistakes instead of using an eraser. the corners are littered with little things he doodles like footballs and small animals. by now, you could read it all perfectly though, could understand what he meant even when he didn't even remember his own thought process or was unable to read through all the scribbles on his page. "i'm done." he sings and you glance at the time, "23 minutes, record time." you praise as he stands to stretch his legs.

"we're approaching it."

"what are we approaching?"

"the moment when student becomes teacher." he says plainly and you roll your eyes with a stupid grin. "yeah, can't wait." you mutter, eyes flicking back to your screen.

"if i eat anymore of these, i might actually go up a weight group and coach will chop my balls off so i'm gonna go give your brother a sugar rush. be right back." he says and it only dawns on you after a couple of minutes of him being gone that you didn't even flinch at him just meshing in with your family, casually going down to your brother and you could just imagine the smile on your brother's face when he saw rafe, partly because of the jellybeans in his bowl but also because of how much he'd grown to enjoy rafe's presence.

you didn't know whether to be scared or happy.

you glanced at his sweater on your desk, all frumpled up right next to yours, neatly folded.

you looked back at your screen and started typing.

the concept of the ideal: a personal reflection

the concept of the ideal is elusive but also compelling, isn't it?

philosophically, ideals are often framed as unattainable benchmarks, guiding us but forever out of reach. plato’s theory of forms suggests that ideals exist in a realm beyond our physical world, serving as pure, perfect templates against which our imperfect reality is measured. yet, in our daily lives, ideals often take on a more tangible form—not abstract but embodied in people, moments, or emotions.

for me, the ideal feels deeply personal. it's not static or universal but shifts with my experiences and perceptions. i've always thought of 'perfection" as something distant, unreachable, and theoretical, yet recently, i've found myself reconsidering this definition. sometimes, the ideal isn't flawless but deeply flawed in ways that make it real and irresistible.

take, for instance, the idea of the ideal person. philosophers like aristotle argue that virtue and reason define the 'ideal human' but our hearts rarely follow reason. we find ourselves captivated by individuals who challenge our ideals and force us to question whether perfection lies in symmetry or in the cracks and contradictions.

my own life is a perfect example. i used to imagine the ideal as someone who fit a checklist—organized, predictable, and safe. yet lately, i've been drawn to the unpredictable, the messy, the human. there's someone i know who doesn't fit my old definition of perfection, but somehow, they embody something more profound. their laugh is loud and uncontainable, their honesty is sharp and unpolished, but it's real, they're restless and noticeably want more from life, there's a chaos to them that should be maddening but instead, feels like freedom.

perhaps the ideal isn't a fixed destination but a reflection of what we value in the moment. it's fluid, shaped by context, emotion, and the stories we tell ourselves. this realization doesn't make the ideal any less compelling or desirable. if anything, it makes it more so, because it feels within reach—even if only for a fleeting second.

in the end, the concept of the ideal may not be about finding something flawless but about recognizing the beauty in imperfection. it's about the moments, people, or ideas that briefly make us pause and wonder if we've just had a glimpse at something divine.

rafe walks into your room, your little brother in his arms. "that's not what i meant when i said you need a study buddy." you tell him as you close your laptop and rafe pauses from blowing raspberries in his stomach. "you're my study buddy," he says to you before holding your brother up real high and making him giggle up a storm. "this little rascal is our mascotte!" and your mouth hurts from smiling so you turn away from them and start tidying up your room.

"you wanna go somewhere with me?" yes. always, every day, any time. literally anywhere.

"depends on where you want to go." you say and go to pick up your brother who is now waddling to your book shelve and is bound to drop a couple of books on his own head.

"my friends are pestering me about this bonfire." rafe explains as he's putting his hoodie back on. "i kinda stood them up when i went to the retirement home with you last week so they're on my case now. it's close to your house but i can drop you off at home afterwards if you want?"

did he want you to meet his friends? you weren't sure you really wanted that. you had friends that you wouldn't trade for a thing in the world but maybe this was him trying to show you that he did want you in his life for longer than the next four months.

his friends were different than you, liked different things, had different priorities and different interest but ultimately, rafe was one of them and you really liked rafe so who says you wouldn't like them?

"how many people are going?" you ask even though you're already thinking about what you're going to wear and which perfume screams, 'i may be a little bit of a nerd and at times too studious but i know how to have fun when in the right mood.'

he takes your brother from your arms and goes to lie on your bed with him. "i'm actually not sure. hopefully not too many cause all this algebra has me pretty beat."

you're hesitating. you don't know anyone but him and he wasn't even sure if this was a bonfire which would turn into a beach party or a bonfire that would stay just that: a cute little bonfire with less than fifteen people which was totally your vibe. beach party with fifty plus people? not so much.

"but i'll be there," he says like he can feel your hesitation from across the room. you fiddle with the blouse in your hand. "and i won't abandon you." it sounds like a promise and you're a sucker for those.

you turn and nod, "okay, yeah, let's go."

"you're not invited." he says to your little brother, a sad little look on his face. you smile and turn back to your closet to pick an outfit.

you do your best at hiding how nervous you are on the car ride there and rafe doesn't seem to really notice which is good. you want him to think you're normal. just a normal girl who maybe doesn't ever go to parties but isn't about to shit her pants at the thought of one right now.

you look down at your outfit. a little unusual for you and your sister did give you a look when you were leaving but when you hid in the bathroom to search "bonfire outfits" on pinterest, this was what everyone was wearing. the pictures had lots of loose clothing, loose pants and big hoodies which you didn't have much of. the most casual thing you owned were these leggings and your dad's old university hoodie. a pair of sneakers that you bought for the gym membership you never used. they were almost brand new and a tote bag with some essentials. it wasn't that bad, right? you felt that maybe it was too sporty because it was missing those damn loose pants but you didn't have those in your closet.

when you arrived and took a look around, you realised, rafe looked perfect—always—but specifically for the occasion. he blended in seamlessly and what did you see? atleast twenty girls in either bikini's or skirts. you were ready to scream into your pillow. they were wearing sandals which you didn't understand because the sand would get all over them? and bikini's? it was january. that's like one of the coldest months of the year.

either way, whatever you thought made sense didn't matter because you were the one who stood out like a sore thumb, walking over with one of the most stared at people in this town.

the bonfire’s glow grew brighter as you and rafe walked down the sandy path, the muffled sounds of laughter and music getting louder with every step. the air was cool, carrying the faint scent of saltwater and burning wood, and the horizon was painted in deep oranges and reds from the flames licking the sky.

as soon as the two of you stepped into the circle of firelight, it was like a switch flipped. people called out rafe’s name from all directions.

“rafe, my man!” one guy shouted, jogging over with a grin that could rival the flames. a group of girls nearby waved enthusiastically, their voices blending in a chorus of greetings.

“hey, you made it!” a tall blonde clapped rafe on the shoulder, already pressing a cold beer into his hand. “and who’s this?” he asked, eyebrows raised as his gaze shifted to you.

“this is—” rafe started, but you jumped in with your name and a polite smile.

“right, right, the tutor!” the guy said, giving a quick nod before motioning toward the group gathered near the fire. “come on, everyone’s over here. there’s drinks and snacks if you want.”

as you approached, more introductions followed.

"guys, look who's graced us with his presence!" the guy who was obviously already drunk said to the group sitting around together.

"rafe!"

"what's up, cameron."

"and you brought a friend.."

the girl who said that didn't seem too pleased but before you could let it simmer in your mind too long, rafe started talking. "i'm gonna do a very quick round of introductions, just try to keep up and remember no one expects you to really remember these names." he says and the guy cuts in, "except my name, i fully expect to be remembered." he grins making the group laugh. you smile when rafe starts, "this pestering moron that has been attached to my hip since elementary school is topper," rafe introduces him first and topper does a little bow.

"then we have, kelce, cleo, adriana, jj, pope, kiara, john b and cora." he points at each person and you recognize most of them from school and almost all the boys seem to be on the soccer team. you knew without a doubt that adriana and cora were cheerleaders because of the pep rallies.

"so, you're the girl who's been keeping rafe so busy." so busy? you saw him twice a week. they got him for five, that sounded like a really sweet deal to you.

"honestly, it's the opposite. she's got better shit to do then tutor me." rafe says before you can and you feel a wave of relief come over you that you aren't totally being put on the spot here.

"right because you're student body president, right?" one of the girls, cleo, you think, says. for some reason, it excites you that she knows you, that these people know anything about you. you never cared before but you wanted rafe's friends to like you or at least, not hate you.

"yes, that's me." you smile and tuck your hands into the pockets of your hoodie when you feel a sudden breeze. "shit, you're number 1, aren't you?" one of the other guys suddenly says and you tilt your head, frowning in confusion. "your class rank." he clarifies and it dawns on you what he means, you nod and hope they don't feel like you're bragging.

"she's also number 1 for grade rank." rafe says it proudly and your heart warms at the thought of him even remembering that. "wait, what's class rank? what's grade rank?" you think his name is kelce but you aren't sure.

"you know that number right in the corner of your report card that says 'rank: 410'? with her it says 'rank: 1" because she performed the best in our grade. you can try to guess what yours means." kiara explained while the others were already laughing at kelce's rank number.

"i've been trying to beat you since sophomore year." the same guy who pointed out that you were number one speaks again.

"pope is number two." jj says before putting a joint between his lips and your eyes go wide, "wait, so," you pause and turn to rafe. "this whole time, pope could have been helping you with algebra!?" you're happy he didn't but still, the idea didn't dawn on them?

"he didn't want to help me!" rafe laughs and looks at pope who's quick to defend himself, "woah, woah! i tried to help him! he's the worst student!"

"false accusations, you just don't explain it the way she does."

"what? she's better than me?" pope laughs astonishedly.

"well, we know she's better than you. you're number two." topper says mockingly as he wraps an arm around rafe's shoulder.

pope's eyes briefly close as if it actually pained him but he's smiling so you know it didn't. "low blow, thornton."

"okay, how about another round!" one of the cheerleaders said and opened the cooler to distribute more beers.

they handed rafe another one almost immediately, while kiara held out a cup toward you.

“drink?” she asked, her smile warm.

“oh, no thanks. i don’t drink,” you said casually, shaking your head.

the reaction was instantaneous. every conversation in your immediate vicinity paused as heads turned toward you. “wait, what?” john b asked incredulously, and cora chimed in, “not at all?”

kiara blinked at you, still holding the cup as if you’d suddenly sprouted a second head. “you don’t drink? like, ever?”

you laughed nervously, feeling the weight of their stares. “yeah, um, i just don’t. it’s a personal choice, but also, i’ve read a lot about what alcohol does to the brain. it slows down neurotransmitters, messes with your decision-making, and—” you paused when you realized they were all still staring at you like you were speaking another language. “anyway, it’s just not my thing.”

an awkward silence settled over the group for half a second too long. then, rafe cleared his throat, stepping in smoothly. “she’s got a point,” he said, holding up his beer. “matter of fact…” without hesitation, he set it down on a nearby log. “guess i’m not drinking tonight either.”

a few eyebrows rose at that, but no one questioned it. instead, someone cracked a joke about who was going to give rafe a hard time for being sober, and just like that, the conversation shifted seamlessly to the music playing in the background. the tension evaporated as the group resumed their chatter, and the attention shifted away from you.

"you don't have to do that." you tell rafe and he's shaking his head, moving to sit on a log near the fire. "it's all good. i'm very worried about my..neuro..things.." he says slowly as if he's trying to guess the world. you giggle, "neurotransmitters." you correct and he nods, "that, and i'm driving you home so i shouldn't drink anyway." he did have a point.

rafe stayed with you for a while but then more and more people showed up and the music only got louder and topper forced rafe up to his feet and they were gone, disappearing in the crowd with big smiles on their faces.

"so, if you don't drink, i'm assuming, you don't smoke either?" kiara was suddenly asking and you smiled small, shaking your head. "then what's your poison?" cora asks and you guess you don't really have one.

"i.. don't think i have one.." you say and see adriana's brows go up. "how bland." she says flatly. you weren't sure when it became uncool to not be addicted to substances but for some reason, your lips wouldn't move to defend yourself. "shut up, adriana. no one asked." cleo tells her and adriana's rolling her eyes and walking away. cora follows her. "she's not usually like that. she's been in a mood for a while." john b suddenly says before he's shrugging and facing the sky again, joint between his lips.

"it’s perfectly normal. pope is the same way. the only thing pope can’t get enough of is…" kiara trails off, gesturing somewhere far behind them.

you follow her gaze, squinting into the distance until you just barely make out pope and jj—practically attached at the lips.

“oh, i didn’t even realize they were—”

“they’re not,” john b interrupts, cutting a glance toward the scene with a faint grimace. “jj’s a freak about commitment.”

kiara smiles sadly, but you can’t help the way your brain immediately starts connecting the dots. “well, that actually makes sense,” you blurt out, drawing their attention. “there’s a 2017 study in personality and social psychology bulletin that suggests people who have commitment issues often have a stronger sensitivity to rejection. it’s not that they don’t want connection—it’s more like they’re wired to perceive potential threats in intimate relationships, so they avoid them altogether.”

cleo, john b and kiara blink at you, a mix of disbelief and faint amusement in their expressions.

"why does that sound like something pope would say?" cleo gasped with a smile.

"i was about to say!" kiara laughs and john b perks up, “god, you and pope really are a match made in nerd heaven,” he says, rolling his eyes.

kiara shoves his arm and tells him to be quiet before turning back to you. “so what’s the science on why you’re always blurting out facts?”

“probably an overactive prefrontal cortex,” you joke, earning a laugh from kiara who shakes her head, "we have no idea what that means!"

you have to admit, the bonfire is fun and apart from adriana, you felt okay about everyone. rafe popped in and out a couple of times but you didn't expect him to stay by your side the entire time either. everyone here seemed to want to talk to him so you stayed with kiara and cleo and even danced a little. it was fun but you were ready to go. it was still a school night. you only gave yourself this much time because you were having fun and you finished your essay.

you had briefly seen rafe with cora and she was standing by the makeshift bar, opening a can of beer. you lightly tap on her shoulder and she whips around, "oh..hey." she says and you ignore her complete disinterest in you. "hi, i'm looking for rafe. i saw him with you a couple of minutes ago but then i lost him again."

"oh..he's.." her voice trails off and she's quiet for a moment, eyes almost examining you. "over there." she points behind some wooden beach bar that was closed. however, you could see people surrounding it so you thanked her and walked over to beach bar, grateful to be standing on some solid land.

you didn't see him immediately and started to wonder if cora hadn't sent you here just to get you out of her sight. you sigh, pulling out your phone as you walk to dial his phone number even though the chances of him hearing his phone were slim.

that’s when you saw him—or them. rafe was leaning casually against the ledge, adriana tucked between his legs like she belonged there. they weren’t kissing, but somehow, it felt worse. their faces were so close, lips barely grazing as they exchanged soft words and easy laughter. the way they smiled at each other made it clear: they were flirting, and neither of them cared who saw it.

you couldn’t stop staring. for a split second, your mind flashed back to all the times rafe had said something to you—his teasing comments, the way his smile lingered just a little too long. you’d wondered if he was flirting with you, or if you were just reading too much into it.

but now you were sure. because the way he was looking at her? it was the same way he’d looked at you.

your stomach twisted, an ache blooming in your chest that you didn’t want to name. you turned quickly, forcing yourself to walk back toward the party, your footsteps heavy and unsteady. that’s when you saw cora, standing there like she’d been waiting for you.

her smile wasn’t kind. it was small and pitying, laced with something sharper. “don’t worry, they’re just friends,” she said, her tone light but somehow cutting.

your lips parted to respond, but she wasn’t done. her next words hit you like a slap. “it’s a different girl every day with him. but hey, maybe next time it’ll be you.”

for some ridiculous, stupid reason, there were tears threatening to spill from your eyes. you blinked them back furiously, refusing to let them fall. you weren’t about to cry over a guy who, a month ago, barely knew your name. no way.

without another word to cora—or anyone—you kept walking. past the party, past the noise, past the place that suddenly felt suffocating. the whole way home, you blinked those tears away, again and again, the lump in your throat tightening with every step.

by the time you reached your door, the ache in your chest had dulled, but it hadn’t disappeared. you let out a shaky breath, swearing silently to yourself that this would be the last time you let rafe cameron get to you.

chapter index — prev. chap. — next chap. taglist — @rafeysworldim19 @my-name-is-baby let me know if you'd like to be added to the taglist & interact with post to remain tagged <3

[fire-of-the-sun]

Noctis and The 'Black Moment' That Never Was

Given the recent discovery of an earlier version of a Final Fantasy XV scene featuring Noctis being imprisoned by Bahamut in Angelgard instead of the Crystal and him showing genuine fear about his destiny (here), I'm reminded of how unfortunate it is that the final game didn't explore the reaction to his fate as well as it deserved and how it could have been one of the most significant scenes in the game. In light of this new scene, I want to use it as an opportunity to address this vital plot point, how it affects Noctis' arc and the story as a whole and why what we got just didn't quite hit the mark.

THE 'BLACK MOMENT'

In typical story structure, this plot point would represent the "The Black Moment" or "The Dark Night of the Soul" among other titles. Taking place before the climax of a story, this pivotal moment is intended to feel like all hope is now lost and showcase the protagonist at their lowest and, in many cases, physically alone. To overcome this, these scenes demand that they gain new insight and understanding - essentially to realize the lesson meant to be learned that defines the thematic core of the story - to pull them out of their despair and carry them across the threshold to the final act. In the above image, you can see that this event precedes the "Road Back" which, in the case of this story, is obviously represented by Noctis returning to the world and regrouping with his allies before entering the climax to face Ardyn and fulfill his calling. Of course, everything leading to the end hinges on the 'Black Moment' beat, so let's explore how each version of this scene tried to tackle this and how they could have been improved:

SCENE COMPARISON

In the original version of the scene, Noctis is physically imprisoned in a dark and gloomy cell in Angelgard - a fitting choice that helps to highlight the tragedy of his circumstances and reflect how he feels trapped by his destiny as well as parallel Ardyn's own imprisonment. Noctis verbally lashes out at Bahamut and expresses genuine anger and fear towards the newly discovered truth of his impending demise.

"'Returned to naught'? I just... fade away? Wait - no! Lemme out of here! - Noctis

Though this missing scene does a better job portraying a stronger reaction from Noctis than the final game, it does still fail to give credible evidence to validate his decision to accept his fate beyond the player simply selecting an option to continue. As such, Noctis and the player may feel more coerced into saying 'yes' here without actually going through the time and processing necessary to truly accept it. Though I'm sure this scene doesn't fully represent the developer's initial intentions and there could have been far more to it, as it stands, it's still not enough to create a successful 'Black Moment".

"Only at the throne can the Chosen receive [the power] and only at the cost of a life: his own. The King of Kings shall be granted the power to banish the darkness, but the blood price must be paid. To cast out the Usurper and usher in Dawn's light will cost the life of the Chosen. Many sacrificed all for the King so must the King sacrifice himself for all. Now enter into Reflection, that the Light of Providence shine within." - Bahamut

In the final version of the game, the essential elements needed for this scene to work are... present to a degree but could have been greatly improved as these aspects are implied rather than explored. After being told the news of his impending death, Noctis does make a distressed expression, but he never gets to voice or process his feelings about it and the moment quickly moves away to show him being forced into slumber.

This is supposed to be a huge turning point. A gut punch to the character and audience and it deserved a stronger reaction - one more akin to the panic and anger that is showcased in the original scene. On the heels of this devastating news, discovering Ardyn's true identity and nefarious intentions and finding himself utterly alone without his friends, Noctis is understandably at his lowest and we need to feel that. Light shines brightest in the dark and the darker we allow this scene the be, the brighter hope can shine after and the more satisfying it will be.

By way of processing, we see a brief montage of footage from previous moments in the game to show Noctis reflecting on them and then he awakens 10 years later having completely worked through all of his trauma, grief and guilt and the sudden transformation naturally feels a bit jarring. Progress is assumed through the passage of time and the natural maturation that comes from age, but this simply isn't enough. There is a lot to unpack here and it deserves to be. The game can't simply rely on a time skip to produce a grudging acceptance. It needs to be a choice - one that he makes wholeheartedly and that the audience fully understands.

I will say, I do like physically seeing the power entering Noctis via the Ring of the Lucii in this version rather than implying he's powering up off-screen, but it's something he should earn after accepting his fate rather than it being forced on him without his consent. Gaining the power he needs to save the world needs to act as the reward for choosing to do so.

DIGGING DEEPER

So, what is necessary for him to grow here? What is the thing that truly awakens the inner King in Noctis and brings him out of the depths of his despair? What makes him choose to willingly sacrifice his life? Though it's an amalgam of a number of things, above all, it is love. Love for his father, love for Luna, love for his friends, love for the people he's met and the world he lives in. Love that counteracts his fear. He has to remember what and who he's doing this for. Though the cost is steep, he has to determine it's worth it to fulfill his duty and save the world.

Of course, Noctis' opinion about his calling changes throughout the story. After Luna first introduces him to the reality that he is the Chosen one as a child, he's hesitant at first, but promises he won't let her down. He has no real idea of what his task will truly be but shows enthusiasm anyway most likely because it was Luna herself who showed such belief in him. As an adult, Noctis begins to struggle with his new reality after the death of his father and shows great anxiety about the mounting responsibilities thrust upon him including his kingly duties, upcoming marriage and the growing burden of his calling. After the loss of Luna, his dedication to continue feels largely driven by immense guilt and need for revenge. In Episode Ignis, after Ignis suggests they end their quest due to suffering so much loss (and now knowing about Noctis' fate), he responds:

"Are you kidding me? That's exactly why I have to keep going - because if I give up now, their sacrifices would have been for nothing!" - Noctis

Though not wanting their sacrifices to be in vain is noble, this should not be his main driving force, especially if his desire to press forward comes from a place of pain and contrition more than anything else. He even refuses to put on the Ring - the symbol of his Kingship and destiny - which shows his lack of true commitment to what is expected of him. At this point, he still has a lot to process and understand before he can fully accept the reality of a fate he is still largely unaware of and truly let go of the fears and anxieties surrounding it.

Noctis has had little time to process his emotions on his journey thus far and the respite afforded by the 'Black Moment' now allows him the opportunity to do so. Whether through playable content that permits Noctis and the audience to tangibly explore his past and current emotions or a prolonged cutscene in either the prison or Crystal, we definitely needed to see him confront what's happened thus far - the good and the bad - and grow from it.

In the Dawn of the Future version of the story, we learn more about what Noctis was dreaming about in the Crystal which included witnessing some of the history of the world, seeing insightful pieces of the lives of characters such as Ardyn and Luna and even getting to interact with his father again. Given this was added to the book and therefore indicative of the developer's intention to feature it in Episode Noctis, I wonder if it had always been their desire to explore his time in the Crystal this way but never got the time to realize in the final game. Noctis actually getting to see and interact with the past and other significant figures would have made for a far more effective 'Black Moment' given its prolonged introspective and revelatory nature.

THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

To help guide and comfort him as she always has, I believe that somehow seeing or hearing Luna's spirit again in some way during the 'Black Moment' would have been essential given her narrative purpose and provide a satisfying reference back to her dying promise to him:

"When the world falls down around you and hope is lost. When you find yourself alone amid a lightless place. Look to the distance, know that I am there and that I watch over you always." - Lunafreya

Like the moon shining in his dark prison cell in the old version - the literal light in the night sky - she is the reminder of love and hope to cling to when the darkness threatens to swallow him. This dialogue is so accurate to this scene that I feel it was foreshadowing it specifically to payoff here. Also, if they had gone with the idea of Noctis drawing his power from the moon instead of the Crystal, her presence would be even more significant here and it certainly seems like the original version in Angelgard attempted to spotlight her to a degree as the translated dialogue after he accepts his charge reveals:

"No one tells me anything. I'm always late accepting. Luna, I'm sorry. I will fulfill my duty." - Noctis (Translated by K as in Kei)

This situation creates an even deeper connection between them as, to save the world together like they were destined to do, both Noctis and Luna have to die and surrender their personal desires for a future. As in life, Noctis has to continue to follow her lead and example to become the man she always knew he could be. If she could be dutiful and walk boldly to her fate, so can he and that knowledge would be paramount in helping to encourage him to complete his journey as he remembers his promise not to let her down.

Of course, to truly accept his death, Noctis would naturally have to mourn the life he won't get to live. So many aspects of his life have been derailed already and, after the loss of his father, his home and his fiancé, he now has to face that he has no future beyond being a sacrifice. This is a reality that Luna had to face as well, which would help him better understand what she had to go through and even come to terms with her death as he comes to terms with his own. By letting go of the guilt he feels and truly recognizing that it was an inevitable and accepted part of her calling and not a product of his own mistakes, can he start to forgive himself for everything else, too.

"[...] That may be but it's my choice. If only... if only I could hear his voice once more. If we could laugh together as we did as children. If we could live out our days together as we once dreamed. [...] Forgive me, I vowed to only cry where prying eyes could not see the tears in mine. [...] No, she is no different at all. She wants exactly what they do: to be with the one she loves. But want though she may, it is not to be." - Lunafreya

In a moving flashback, we see Luna grieve the life she wanted and knew she would never have but emphasize that, despite her sorrow, it was still her choice to "throw her life away" and one that she accepted fully with humility and grace. We see her persist to the end due to her strong sense of duty and, most importantly, her love and dedication to Noctis and the people of the world which is what he must use to guide him as well.

To me, this moment feels reminiscent of the campfire scene where Noctis also tearfully voices his acceptance of his fate while allowing himself to uncharacteristically reveal the pain of it, too. Though Noctis has had a decade to process these feelings by this point and fully come to terms with them, he's still a person mourning the sudden finality of his life and the now fleeting moments he'll get to spend with his remaining loved ones. The emotional strength of this scene could act as a reflection of his initial despair as the pain becomes fresh once more but, this time, Noctis is more readily able to tame it. As he stands and looks to each of his friends in turn, reflecting on their friendship and his love for them, he allows that love to outweigh fear and grief. As we watch his tears turn into a smile, it is a perfect display of how he's grown from the 'Black Moment' and a fitting final scene to the game.

"So, I... I've made my peace. Still, knowing this is it and seeing you here, now, it's... more than I can take. Well, what can I say? You guys are the best." - Noctis

All of this emotional progress would also lead him to simply start believing in himself and his worth. He has to remember that he has the support of so many who truly have faith in his ability to fulfill his duty and it's something he needs to accept in himself, too. If they had gone with the Angelgard prison version, a place once defined by punishment would herald Noctis' liberation and, instead of succumbing to darkness like Ardyn, he found light.

METAMORPHOSIS

By reflecting on and embracing his past and remembering what drives him, Noctis would then be ready to finally accept the reality of his calling and begin his metamorphosis, both physically and emotionally, into the King of Light. The man that emerges 10 years later is wise, mature and at peace with his fate. Though the sudden change may not feel as congruent in the final game without taking the time and necessary steps to get there, there are still many moments depicting just how far Noctis has come after the time skip that leave an impact regardless. Beyond the campfire scene, another great example that comes to mind is his conversation with Ignis, showcasing that he can now look back on his life fondly and doesn't hold onto negative emotions:

"You know, looking back, it wasn't all bad. [...] And our fair share of trouble too... but I don't have any regrets. Luna and you guys brought me this far and now I'm on my own." - Noctis

We can also see how much he's grown in his final battle with Ardyn. Not only is he physically stronger, but he's also gained the mental and emotional fortitude to withstand Ardyn's denigrations regarding his efficacy as the Chosen One and his guilt about his father and Luna. Though these barbs would have hit their mark in the past, Noctis is now resistant to them as he's fully processed those emotions and no longer gives them credence. Noctis has tasted the darkness Ardyn once knew but come out of it intact due to the strength of his relationships that ushered him through it. Unlike Ardyn, he is not alone and he fights for love instead of revenge and that is why he succeeds.

"Yet when your father died, you were off playing with your friends! When your beloved died, you lay watching powerless to stop it! You think 10 years is a long time? It is nothing to me! I have lived in darkness for ages!" - Ardyn

Despite what some might think, defeating Ardyn in the physical world is not the Climax. It's in the throne room that Noctis must face the true test of his calling and finally allow himself to be sacrificed. This is where the themes and the lessons he's embraced from the 'Black Moment' rise to the forefront and lead to Ardyn's ultimate demise. It is here that Noctis walks to his death without visible fear, summoning his own executioners with steeled resolve. There are no tears. No second thoughts. Just an unwavering determination to fulfill his calling and save the world once and for all as he assures his father to trust in his ability to do so.

"I'm home. I walked tall and though it took me a while, I'm ready now. I love you all. Luna, guys, dad. The time we had together, I cherish." - Noctis

Through dialogue, the scene reminds us that Noctis' relationships are his driving force and, in what could have been an even more moving parallel to the 'Black Moment', the flashback footage of his loved ones that he remembers at his lowest once more is what helps him endure the agony of his sacrifice and is enough to sustain his strength to continue to the end.

"It's finally over." - Noctis

As Noctis utters these final words at the culmination of years spent in turmoil facing the obstacles of his unjust fate, Noctis dies with a small smile on his face, relieved that his struggles are finally over. He has restored light and hope to the world, fulfilled his calling and can now rest with his lost love knowing he succeeded in safeguarding his remaining loved ones and provided a future for generations to come. It's a bittersweet conclusion to his life - one filled with great strife and heartache but also great love - love that was essential to save the world.

In another parallel between them, Noctis' end reminds me of Ravus' words regarding the death of his sister, Luna, in Episode Ignis and further showcases how much Noctis succeeded in following her footsteps:

"I always knew that [Luna] would face [her] fate without fear, fulfill [her] duty without regret. But part of me always hoped... she would get the chance to live and love as she pleased. [...] And, as in life, I know she will confront that challenge with a smile on her face." - Ravus

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, allowing Noctis to have a stronger reaction to the devastating news of his fate and exploring his passage to acceptance to provide necessary character growth would have been a huge improvement and further embodied and enhanced the heart of this story, one that, though touched upon to a degree, is lacking the immense impact it could have had. Though this game is full of powerful, moving moments, a more successful 'Black Moment' could have been one of the strongest and added more weight to an already emotionally resonant conclusion.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this meta, please like and reblog to help spread it around and check out my #ffmeta and #ffedit tag for more!

[yoiiyoii]

In honour of the birthday of Giyuu Tomioka the best character in demon slayer (to ME), I will use my free will to rant about the best Giyuu panels in the manga:

1.

Peak. Best of the best. Magnum opus of Demon Slayer manga. This specific moment is when my emotions reach the climax every single time I read the fight.

Giyuu and Tanjirou, one arm each, holding on to one sword, focus on the Rengoku sword hilt. Tanjirou being guided once again by the two hashiras he looks up to the most.

Once again, right after this, Tanjirou pushes Giyuu back and saves his life. A full circle, the lowest of the low for Giyuu, the highest of the highs of striking Muzan together.

Notice that Giyuu unlocked the red blade TWICE, once with Sanemi, his foil among the hashiras, and now with Tanjirou, the one he cherishes the most. Giyuu - always defined by his relationships. Giyuu as an individual character in a vacuum has very little to show. It's just another backstory, a traumatized hashira, just like the other demon slayers. Giyuu stands out in Demon Slayer because he is constantly present, he has developing relationships. The red blade is just another show for that. This panel does this theme of Giyuu justice too.

And, lore aside, the absolute HYPE of this scene. The long drawn fight, the hashiras with lost limbs all down, Sanemi and Obanai come in to attack Muzan and save Tanjirou, but oh-- where's Giyuu again? RIGHT HEREEEEE!!!!!!! LENDING A HAND TO TANJIROU, LITERALLY, AS HE ALWAYS HAS.

2.

Pretty self explanatory. Absolute badass, putting himself between an Uppermoon and someone he cares about, Tanjirou.

It goes into Giyuu's biggest theme of protection. He hates being protected, he wants to protect the people he loves (just like Akaza). He did not want to be a 'useless komainu' to Tanjirou. I don't know if it's stated explicitly but its obvious that Dead Calm was created so he would be able to protect himself without needing the help of others. His fight against Rui was a simpler version of this: protecting Tanjirou (though at the time he didn't recognize him), against Rui, whose whole theme was about wanting to be protected by a family, with elders fulfilling their role of protection.

Here Giyuu and Tanjirou were, dealing with the same theme again, and Giyuu going all out with wanting Tanjirou to survive. It's not that he's been silent about his love for Tanjirou, but this is where he explicitly declares wanting to protect him, in his own words (do NOT take a shot everytime you see the word "protect").

3.

Debating between this or the 4th panel, I chose this as the 3rd because this is MY post and I want to make top 3 posts all about him and Tanjirou.

And boyyyyyy is it about him and Tanjirou. He cant even sit up. Is it not insane to see him being THIS vulnerable?? in public???? Add to the fact that he knows Tanjirou's closer friends are right there in the same battlefield, and yet it was him who couldn't help but want to stay physically close to Tanjirou. If Tanjirou's death had been true, he'd be back at square 1, being useless, never strong enough (quite a recurring theme in Demon Slayer I must say).

Like, look, he's sobbing, he cried like three times during this whole DKT and death deal. When the inevitable Sunrise Countdown movie comes out, I personally would like to close my eyes and ears during this scene.

4.

I admit this could and should have been number 3. But that aside, the coolest panel in the manga award goes to... (to be fair, that can be debated, other panels are just as cool if not cooler for sure.)

Sanemi and Giyuu, peak relationship in Demon Slayer. This moment is the climax to all of the buildup since !!Sanemi's first appearance!! (you see how Giyuu was giving him a whole lot of side eye that scene?)

In a way Sanemi and Giyuu bring out some ~interesting~ emotions in eachother. Who else would Giyuu call a simpleton? Who else would Sanemi pick a fight with, simultaneously trying to understand them? When you go to the AU territory, that's a pretty hefty magnetic pull of a relationship, isn't it?

And this moment - as I said earlier, one of the red blades Giyuu achieved, it's with Sanemi! Sanemi trusted Giyuu with equal strength (as Kanao said that was necessary for a red blade strike), and we've seen them draw before, and that's the ONLY hashira vs hashira we saw! (well, ufotable added a whole bunch, and I'm thankful for that, but I do regard Gotouge's compact and limited version of the story higher. Gotouge thought that Sanemi vs Giyuu was the most important hashira sparring for the audience out of all of them, and for obvious reasons).

All of that, AND the panel calls back to that one picture of Sabito flying over Giyuu. Two of the rough dudes Giyuu has been associated with, which is a nice touch.

And heyyy that's the sword that Sanemi threw at Giyuu!! Which was a pretty important moment right before Giyuu explicitly called himself a hashira (contrasting with Tanjirou, where he stood merely as the protector, the senior, with no regard to their posts and hierarchies). Sanemi gave Giyuu some real good push this fight. Would have loved to see them on a mission together, but alas, Demon Slayer manga is pretty limited with what it shows.

5.

I don't have much to say. It's just cute, alright? Look at him all teeny tiny smiling about the prospect of being friends with Sanemi. What the hell. Why are you so cute. Look at Tanjirou sharing the same dumbass braincell. What's up with these two

Unranked honorary mentions:

10/10. More of 21 trio stupidness, please. And look at Giyuu's stupid face as if he didn't just insult Sanemi in front of everyone. OBANAI, HE DIDN'T EVEN SAY ANYTHING TO YOU-

His crow he's so attached to :,(. I would personally die for you Kanzaburou. And yeah, absolutely, Kanzaburou mistaking Tanjirou for Giyuu. They have the same essence I guess

MURATAAAAAAA and yes, while I do love this because of the whole Murata celebrity crush on Giyuu thing and all, I love how desperate Giyuu was the entire time to save Tanjirou, even in the middle of his own fight again MUZAN HIMSELF. And who better to take care of Tanjirou than Murata, someone who took care of him back when Sabito died? Connected bonds, alright. Sabito already helped Tanjirou with his journey back in Mt. Sagiri, he could also use someone else from Giyuu's past.

Post canon, all of it. The light in his eyes, his journey, he deserves all of the love and peace.

[astarion-obsessions]

I think not enough people understand that Astarion doesn't want you to be his main or only source of blood. This even stands in direct contrast to what he really wants to achieve with biting Tav. Let me explain.

Why Astarion doesn't want you to be his blood bag

Let me start with explaining how I approached this topic. First of all, when I triggered the bite scene in my playthrough, I obviously let Astarion drink from my Tav. But then I got curious. What happens when I don't stop him? He's said I could trust him just a moment ago, didn't he? So I did just that, I trusted him literally with my life. 

Aaaand... he killed me. Well. What did I expect from a vampire, really. But that he actually drained me dry broke my heart. I really wanted to trust him, to reach out and show him that I didn't judge him for what he was and so on. I was really disappointed in him and couldn't quite grasp why he would do this. Was it a conscious decision? Did he lose control? Surely he would apologise and explain everything to me once someone resurrected me, returning the trust I was giving him the night prior, right?... right?

Of course not. The dialogue after him killing Tav was... at least as disappointing as him killing Tav in the first place. He shows his usual attitude, apologises half-heartedly and then just keeps going on with talking about draining the occasional bandit. He even snaps when you mention the topic of him feeding after that with something like "I already apologised, what more do you want?".

There's no real regret, no emotions. He simply doesn't care.

We know that he didn't care in the beginning, he tells us as much when he confesses his unwanted, growing feelings towards Tav in act 2. But still the whole bite scene didn't sit right with me until…

The Nightmare 

I randomly stumbled upon a clip of Astarion having a nightmare, so I researched about it and even started an Astarion run to experience it myself. So, if you play as Astarion, at the second long rest of act 1 he has a nightmare about Cazador, in which he recites the rules that defined how Astarion and the other spawn had to live:

First, thou shalt not drink of the blood of thinking creatures. 

Second, thou shalt obey me in all things. 

Third, thou shalt not leave my side unless directed. 

Fourth, thou shalt know that thou art mine. 

However Astarion reacts to this dream, he jolts awake afterwards and instinctively panics that he needs to find a way back to his master as soon as possible. His eyes set on his companions, who are sleeping / meditating peacefully around the fire, and then a thought passes his mind.

He could try to break one of Cazador's rules right then and there. He's able to stand in the sun, to bathe in running water, so maybe…

And that's why he decides to bite a companion. Astarion wakes up utterly terrified of what his master will do to him if he doesn't return to him in an instant - and he knows all too well what kind of horrors would await him if he so much as dares to think about rebelling again (read about that here) - so he is in desperate need of confirmation that he is now able to withstand and actively break the rules that have dominated his life for two centuries.

He needs to know that he is able to drink the blood of a thinking creature. And there they are. His clueless companions served on a silver platter. It's like an invitation to him, to test his boundaries. And who would be more fitting than the good hearted leader of the party Astarion wanted to (or already has) seduce(d) anyway?

This piece of information shed a whole new light on the bite scene. But let's look a bit closer at that. 

The Bite Night 

The very first thing Tav registers about what's going on with Astarion that night is him baring his fangs right above us, about to sink them into our flesh. He pulls back as soon as we open our eyes, retreating immediately until there's a safe distance between him and Tav. 

This may be the first time Tav gets to know that Astarion is a vampire, so he gets defensive and tells us that he's never killed a person for food, only animals. But then, instead of letting the idea of feeding on Tav go, he insists that animals aren't enough. 

But it's not enough. Not if I have to fight. I feel so weak. 

If I just had a little blood, I could think clearer. Fight better. Please. 

Then he goes on, literally pleading to get what he wants while putting on a sad expression in the end, even averting his gaze. 

And if we now have in mind that he just woke up from a nightmare about Cazador, feeling powerless and in desperate need of even a glimpse of hope that he might escape Cazador's cruel grip, his lines make a lot of sense. He's veiling the truth, of course, but not all of what he says is a lie. 

He indeed feels weak - powerless in fact - so drinking Tav's blood (the blood of a thinking creature) could prove that he may have regained a bit of power over himself, which had been exclusively reserved for Cazador the last 200 years. This would absolutely make him feel stronger, more confident than he's felt for a long, long time. 

And he indeed could think clearer after tasting Tav's blood, because this would bring clarity to the question if he is now able to break Cazador's rules on purpose and therefore give him information to work with when he needs to think about what to do next. 

Right after this, we get the chance to push into Astarion's mind, and if we do this, we can see what he thinks about. 

His mind opens up, revealing cracked and quivering memories. At their heart, you see dark eyes, commanding you to feed. 

You open your mouth and bite down. Not into a tender neck, but in the twisting body of a rat - the only thing your master lets you eat. 

He recalls the memory of how his master used to force him to eat disgusting vermin. As his memory is told, we can clearly see how deeply this affects him, for he can't keep up his walls of defensiveness and detachment. They just crack, crumble and reveal his misery clearly for Tav to observe. When we ask him about it directly afterwards, he first seems to search for a way out - a witty remark, anything - but gives up almost immediately. And he looks and sounds just completely defeated and tired, confirming what Tav just saw in his mind. 

He goes on with talking about trust. I think here he's seeing a chance to gain Tav's sympathy. If he already reveals such delicate information about his past, he can as well make use of it. So he appeals to Tav's understanding, offering us that this past is the reason for him only trusting Tav slowly. But then he immediately adds that now he trusts Tav, and that in return Tav can trust him, too. 

What he does here is displaying himself as pitiful, gaining Tav's sympathy, then seemingly going out of his way and saying that despite all he does trust Tav, which puts Tav in the position to follow suit with returning the trust… which Astarion definitely lied about on his part. But that's what he does. Manipulating. 

If we then respond with "You tried to bite me. How can I trust you?" instead of assuring us of his trustworthiness with more manipulation, he gets frustrated. 

Because we don't have a choice! Not if we're going to save ourselves from these worms. 

But he goes on with masking his reasons, even if he gave us a hint right in the beginning of act 1 when we picked him up, where he said that he would rather control the tadpole instead of removing it. If we play as Astarion, it gets clear pretty fast that he holds onto the tadpole, because it seems to be the only thing that had been able to "save" him from Cazador whilst no one and nothing else even attempted to help him for two centuries. Of course he would not want to get rid of the tadpole just like that. But he says so nonetheless to align with Tav's goals and display himself as useful. 

And then he does something interesting. 

I need you alive. You need me strong. 

Please. Only be a taste, I swear. I'll be well, you'll be fine, and everything can go back to normal. 

In the beginning of this conversation he mentioned he needed the blood to fight better. Now he takes up on this by saying that Tav needs him strong, hinting on him getting stronger after having a taste of Tav's blood. And then he promises that after this "everything can go back to normal", which right now means Astarion feeding on animals again. 

A few things about this are odd. 

Firstly, "only be a taste". Everyone, literally everyone has heard about the insatiable hunger of vampires. So how is it supposed to work that Astarion gets stronger from just a taste of Tav's blood? For how long? A few hours? Not nearly long enough to pose a real advantage, eh? For me this makes no sense. And if we think about his true intentions - wanting to find out if he can break Cazador's rule - just a taste would be absolutely enough. (And after he bites Tav without killing them, he even says that he needs something more filling!) 

Secondly, if Astarion really wanted to become stronger with the help of Tav's blood, why would he promise to go back to normal afterwards? He just offered Tav a stronger companion but then immediately nullified this argument by literally saying that this will be a one time arrangement. 

Thirdly, he subtly offers a bargain. "You give me your blood, I will be a stronger fighter for you." He did so in the beginning as well, repeating it with different words. And it fits his character very well to do so, because for all he knows everything comes with a price. He almost gets beaten to death and Cazador mercifully comes to his rescue? The price is a never ending life of torment and abuse. Astarion helps a potential victim for Cazador to flee? The price is a year of starvation, locked up in a dusty and dark tomb without knowing if it will ever find an end. Mindflayers rescued him from Cazador, (passively) granting him to possibly be free of him at last? The price is becoming a tentacled monster in the end. 

If we then allow him to bite us, he's visibly surprised about our graciousness, but of course doesn't let this chance slip and suggests getting comfortable instantly. Then he finally gets to sink his teeth into Tav's neck. This part of the scene can more or less be viewed from both sides - Astarion's and Tav's. 

He begins to feed on Tav and after a bit we can decide to interrupt him, but have to pass an ability check first. This repeats a second time when playing Tav, and even if it's only one AC when we play Astarion and decide to bite a companion, it still aligns, showing that Astarion seemingly loses himself in the taste of Tav's blood - which is very likely because (as he later tells us) we were the first humanoid he's ever fed on, so it's imaginable that Tav's blood must be tasting almost divine to him. 

This theory is supported by his actions after we fail the first AC or just let him continue. He grabs the back of Tav's head to pull them towards himself, emphasising on how greedy he is sucking the blood out of Tav. The camera even uses the exact same angles before failing or skipping the first AC and after, so the comparison is easy and the difference is clear:

If we then fail or skip the next AC, Astarion just drains us dry… And it gets even better after the bite night. 

The Morning After 

When Tav gets revived and then talks to Astarion, he is visibly surprised to see us, after he left the dead body of Tav behind with saying "Oh no, something terrible has happened". Sure Astarion, something… 

All of this happens when Astarion still doesn't care for Tav. He reacts with panic when we confront him with the fact that he literally killed us, and just manages to get his expression under control after a few seconds. I mean, just look at him:

'Killed' feels like a strong word. Not many corpses have your vigour. 

He definitely knows what he's done, and that 'killed' is indeed the right word for it, he is just very very bad at coping with guilt (which is amazingly analysed by thelikesoffinn - definitely read this, you'll understand Astarion so much better after this). 

He instantly lays the focus on our codependency again, that we need each other and so on. If we question why we should keep him around, he answers with:

A strong, well-fed vampire? I'm a powerful weapon - you'd be a fool to toss me aside now. 

With mentioning this, he wants to make sure that Tav will let him stay by their side and therefore grant him protection. 

But more importantly he continues:

Anyway, last night was an aberration. It will never happen again. 

He doesn't even start with something like "Next time I'll be more careful" or anything similar. He straight up says that it will never happen again. Period. If we then ask who he will feed on next time he gets hungry, he presents the idea of feeding on villains and bandits "who need killing anyway". And this is exactly what he wants. This even shows in his reaction to Tav's response to his suggestion.

If we agree and therefore allow him to feed on our enemies ("Sounds good. Glad we could agree"), this is how he reacts:

As am I. I'm starting to feel a little peckish already. 

This itself doesn't sound all too enthusiastic, but we get his approval up, which definitely shows that he very much likes that Tav agreed. 

On the contrary, if we suggest he can feed on Tav, ignoring his will wish to feed on villains ("Look, I'm not against you feeding on me, but only if we talk about it first"), this is his reaction:

Of course! This sounds eminently reasonable. 

I shall wait patiently until you suggest we… dine together. 

Doesn't sound too bad either, eh? But we don't get his approval. He doesn't disapprove, of course, because this is still a thousand times better than what he had until then, but still not what he really wants… 

So, what does all of this mean for the initial question? 

Conclusion 

The crucial point here is what it means for Astarion to feed on Tav. The only things he remembers since Cazador turned him, are being relentlessly dominated and horrifyingly abused. The things Astarion wants the most are to be safe and to finally have control over himself again. 

He bit Tav for the sole purpose of finding out if he can be free of Cazador's rules. So why would he jump right into being dependent on Tav? He suggests to feed on villains, because then he is free of anyone's mercy. He doesn't need to rely on Tav to graciously allow him to get a drop of blood. He can do this himself now. 

This is such an important step for his character growth, to find the way to his autonomy again, so if we only allow him to feed on Tav, it instantly sets him back into old habits of bowing to his masters words - or in this case Tav's. Because it's all hes been doing for the last two centuries of his life. 

So, as much as the thought of the self-sacrificing offer to be his personal blood bag may seem romantic or whatever, it's actually the exact opposite, trapping Astarion in what he desperately tries to escape from. The restrictions that come with someone dominating him mentally and physically. And as I mentioned earlier, he doesn't believe in the goodness of people. For him every "kind" act has a price and he likes to know what he has to pay, so he wouldn't even want to just drink Tav's blood without Tav getting anything out of it. He would most certainly expect Tav one day to come around with something he doesn't want to give or do, so he wants to control such situations beforehand. 

All he wants is to make his own decisions and be free in every way possible… 

So please just let him drain some bandits, will ya?