#i noticed a pattern and i went wild

[cowboybeepboop]

Lost in you

"God, I can't get enough of you..."

Pairing: Tyler Owens x fem! Reader

Genre: smut (all smut)

Word count: 3.8k

Summary: You’re coming home from the bar with Tyler when things get a little bit intimate.

Warnings: p in v sex, no protection, lots of oral, hand kink ig?

a/n: I don’t really have much to say this time around other than like I hope y'all enjoy 😝

As the neon lights of the bar faded into the rearview mirror, the cool night air filled the car with a gentle hum. Tyler expertly navigates the quiet, winding streets, the dashboard lights casting a soft glow on his focused face. The silence between you was comfortable, a testament to the years of friendship that had grown stronger with every shared experience. You lean back into the passenger seat, mind wandering through the memories of the evening's laughter and banter, feeling the weight of the world lift from your shoulders.

He took the silence as an opportunity to glance at you, taking in your features illuminated by the low light. His eyes traced the curve of your cheek, the slope of your nose, all the way down to your lips. He quickly darted his eyes back to the road. Not wanting to stare.

His mind wandered the same as yours, thinking of every little thing that happened that night. Every laugh, smile, and touch that he shared with you. He took a deep breath, trying to push those thoughts out of his mind.

Your eyes wander over to Tyler, a small blush creeping up your cheeks as you notice his hands. His strong, big and veiny hands. Your mind fills with thoughts of what they could do to you. Fantasizing about them all over your body as he pleasures you, causing you to suck in a deep breath.

He heard the shift in your breathing and his grip around the steering wheel noticeably tightened. He could almost sense the change in energy coming off you. He took another deep breath, his thoughts and imagination starting to run wild.

He tried to clear his mind, telling himself that he shouldn’t be thinking about you in those ways, but he couldn’t help it. He’d been silently dealing with his growing feelings for you since he met you.

Your skirt slides up your thighs slightly as you move around in your seat, noticing the way his arm flexes as he turns. As you adjusted yourself he noticed the movement out of the corner of his eye and his gaze immediately went to your exposed skin, his hand moves as if on auto pilot, reaching out to touch your bare thigh.

His breathing hitches in his throat, and a spark of electricity courses through his body. He feels your skin under his rough, calloused hands and his grip reflexively tightens a bit before loosening and softly caressing your thigh.

A quiet moan slips out of your parted lips as he squeezes your skin. Your breathing becomes slightly ragged as he slides his hand further up your thigh. He grips your thigh tighter, his mind and body filled with this sudden urgency.

He tries to fight the urge growing in him, but the way your breath hitches and the quiet sounds coming from you make it nearly impossible. His hand moves further up your thigh, his fingers tracing soft patterns along your skin, his knuckles lightly brushing against the edge of your underwear. He takes another deep breath, his heart beating out of his chest.

“Ty..” you gasp out his name as your head falls back against the seat. Your hand moves down to his as your legs spread open, guiding his fingers between them. The sound of his name coming from your soft, parted lips was music to his ears. He watched as you repositioned his hand and his breath hitched.

He could feel the soft, damp fabric of your underwear as his fingers ran along the edge of them, his hand twitching and slightly clenching.

His chest ached and his mind went blank, except for thoughts of you and the sounds coming from you. He pushed his finger gently against the damp fabric earning a desperate moan from you.

Tyler's hand slipped under the fabric of your underwear, his fingers delicately exploring the slickness he found there. Your eyes snapped open, meeting his in the dimly lit car, and for a moment, you both froze, the gravity of the moment heavy in the air.

But the heat and desire in your gaze only spurred him on. He began to rub in gentle circles, matching the rhythm of your hips as they rolled in silent plea. The car's soft purr and the quiet whispers of the night outside became a distant backdrop to the symphony of your mingled breaths and the intimate dance of your bodies.

As he touches you, you guide him to where you need it most. The connection was palpable, the line between friendship and something more blurring with every touch.

Your hand slid over the bulge in Tyler's jeans with surprising confidence, and when you gripped him firmly, his eyes widened in shock before a groan of pleasure escaped his lips. You felt his cock, hard and hot, pulsing in your hand as you began to stroke him.

The car's interior grew even more intimate as you both succumbed to the heady rush of desire. His eyes never left the road, but his focus was split as he felt your hand moving over him, feeling the weight and heat of his arousal in your grip.

The sound of your breathing grew heavier as you worked him, matching the tempo of his movements against your pussy. The leather of the steering wheel creaked under his white-knuckled grasp as he fought to maintain control of the car and the situation, but the raw passion in the air was undeniable.

The car's speed remained steady, but the rhythm of your bodies grew more urgent, a silent promise of the explosive release that was building between you.

As the truck pulls onto your street, the heat of your desire almost tangible. The heady scent of arousal filled the small space, mingling with the faint aroma of leather and the cool night breeze that slipped in through the slightly open windows.

Tyler's eyes remained fixed on the road, his breathing ragged and his pulse racing as he felt the warmth of your orgasm against his fingertips. You bit your bottom lip to stifle a cry, your eyes squeezed shut as your body convulsed in pleasure, your hand tightening around his cock.

The muscles in his arm strained as he stroked you faster, eager to feel you come apart under his touch. Then, as the car rolled to a gentle stop, it happened. Your body arched, and with a keening wail, you climaxed, your walls clenching around his fingers.

The sudden tightness and wetness sent Tyler over the edge as well, his hips jerking involuntarily as he spilled his release into your grasp. The world outside the car was still and quiet, the only sounds the erratic thumping of your hearts and the soft whimpers escaping your mouths.

For a moment, you both sat there, panting and trembling, the aftershocks of your shared climax resonating through your bodies. The reality of what had just occurred washed over you, and you slowly opened your eyes to find Tyler looking at you with a mix of awe and vulnerability.

The silence was deafening, the unspoken question hanging in the air like a heavy fog. What did this mean for your friendship? What path had you just ventured down? But in that moment, all you could do was look at him, your breathing still uneven.

With trembling legs, you managed to exit the car, the night air brushing against your flushed skin as you stepped out onto the sidewalk. Your hand lingered on the door handle for a brief moment, giving Tyler a chance to come to terms with the raw intimacy that had just unfolded.

Your heart pounded in your chest as you turned to face him, the intensity in his gaze made your pulse race, and you hoped he would read the unspoken invitation in your eyes. You took a deep breath, biting your bottom lip as you leaned against the car door, watching him closely.

The silence stretched out between you, filled with the promise of what could come next. Without a word, you turned and began walking towards the house, your hips swaying with a newfound allure that seemed to beckon him to follow. Each step you took felt like a silent dare, and as you reached the door, you glanced over your shoulder, the anticipation building as you awaited his decision.

Tyler's heart hammered in his chest as he stumbled out of the car, his legs weak from the intensity of the moment. He watched you saunter away, your hips swaying in a way that seemed to beckon him closer.

His mind raced with the possibilities of what could happen once you crossed the threshold of your house. The chemistry between you was like a live wire, crackling with electricity, demanding to be touched again. He took a deep, shaky breath and followed you, his legs moving almost of their own accord.

Each step brought him closer to the door, closer to the promise of passion that was unfurling in the air. His hand reached out, brushing against your lower back, and you turned to face him, the door to your house open and inviting. Your eyes searched his, looking for the same desperate need that had taken over your body.

The moment Tyler stepped into the house, the air thickened with anticipation. He closed the door behind him, and without a word, you found yourself in his arms, your bodies colliding with a desperation that had been simmering for too long.

His hands cupped your face as his mouth claimed yours in a fiery kiss that sent shockwaves of pleasure through your entire being. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him closer as your tongues danced together, exploring and claiming each other.

His hands roamed down your body, finally landing on your waist, and with a gentle yet firm grip, he lifted you up and pushed you against the soft cushions of your couch. Your legs instinctively wrapped around his hips, drawing him closer, and you could feel the insistent pressure of his hard cock against your wet pussy.

The fabric of your clothes was the only barrier between you, and it was a barrier that felt as flimsy as the line that once separated friendship from desire. Tyler's kisses grew more urgent as he slipped between your legs, his hands exploring the soft skin of your thighs, the heat of his palms leaving a trail of fire wherever they touched.

The world outside your entwined limbs ceased to exist as you became lost in the intoxicating maelstrom of passion that had been unleashed.

With a gentle touch, Tyler trailed kisses down your neck, his warm breath sending shivers down your spine. His lips found the soft mounds of your breasts, peeking out from your bra, and he took one into his mouth, teasing the sensitive peak with his tongue.

You moaned softly, arching your back to give him better access as he unhooked the clasp and let the fabric fall away. His kisses continued downward, his hands working to unbutton your blouse, exposing your stomach to the cool air.

Each new inch of skin he revealed was met with a soft nip or a gentle suck, setting your body alight with need. The sound of your own gasps and his hungry growls filled the room as he peeled away your clothes, revealing your nakedness inch by inch. His eyes never left yours, the heat in them burning as brightly as the passion that flared between you.

Finally, he reached the waistband of your skirt, and with trembling hands, he slid it down your legs, leaving you in nothing but your damp underwear. His gaze took in the sight of you, sprawled out before him, vulnerable and open. With a flick of his thumb, he pushed aside the fabric and kissed the sensitive skin of your inner thigh, the anticipation building as his mouth drew closer to your pussy.

The touch of his lips was like a brand, leaving a trail of fire as he kissed and licked his way to your center. Your legs tightened around his neck, guiding him closer, and when his tongue finally found your clit, you cried out, your body jolting with pleasure.

The taste of you was intoxicating, and he couldn't get enough, his tongue circling and flicking as you squirmed beneath him. The room spun with desire, and all you could do was hold onto the edge of the couch, your body quivering as he devoured you.

With a feral growl, Tyler's mouth found your center, his tongue plunging into your wet heat with an intensity that left you gasping for air. He lapped and sucked at your clit with a hunger that seemed to have been building for an eternity, his teeth grazing the sensitive flesh just enough to make you squirm.

His hands gripped your thighs tightly, holding you in place as you bucked against his face, your hips moving in a silent plea for more. He was relentless, his mouth working you with a finesse that spoke of his desperate need to bring you to the brink and watch you shatter.

Each flick of his tongue sent waves of pleasure crashing through your body, and every suck was a declaration of his craving for you.

Your hands tangled in his hair, pulling him closer, your breath coming in pants and whimpers as he feasted on you. Your climax built with every stroke, coiling tighter and tighter in your core until it was all you could feel, a delicious pressure that demanded release. And when it came, it was like a dam breaking, a flood of sensation that had you screaming his name, your body convulsing with the force of your orgasm.

Tyler drank in every drop, his eyes never leaving yours, the look of pure triumph and adoration on his face only adding to the intensity of the moment. He kissed your thighs softly as you came down from the high, your legs trembling and your heart racing.

As the aftershocks of your orgasm subsided, Tyler looked up at you with a fiery gaze that seemed to pierce through your soul. You sigh out his name, bashfully covering your exposed breasts with your hands, feeling a mix of vulnerability and satisfaction that washed over you like a warm wave.

His eyes remained locked on yours, a silent conversation passing between you that needed no words. With a gentle smile, he placed a soft kiss on your inner thigh before rising to his feet, his erection straining against his pants.

He reached out a hand, helping you to stand on wobbly legs, and led you to your bedroom, the anticipation of what was to come thick in the air. Each step was a silent promise of the passion that was about to unfold as you stepped into the sanctum of your desires. The room was bathed in the soft glow of the moonlight that filtered through the curtains, casting shadows that danced across the walls as you approached the bed.

The mattress dipped under Tyler's weight as he sat on the edge, his hand reaching for the button of his own jeans. With trembling hands, you watched as he revealed himself to you, his cock standing proud and demanding your attention. The sight of him, so open and eager, made your pulse quicken, and your own desire grew stronger with every beat of your heart.

You stepped closer, dropping your hands from your breasts, allowing him to see all of you. His eyes roamed over your naked body, a look of awe and desire that made your knees go weak. And in that moment, as you both stood there, the air charged with the electricity of your newfound love, you knew that there was no going back to the way things were before.

This was the start of a journey that would redefine everything you thought you knew about passion and connection.

With a sense of empowerment, you sank to your knees before Tyler, his cock bobbing in front of your face. You took a deep breath, inhaling his scent, and wrapped your hand around the base of his shaft, feeling the pulse of his need against your palm.

Looking up at him through your lashes, you leaned in and kissed the tip gently, tasting the salty precum that beaded there. His eyes closed, and a soft groan rumbled from his chest, the sound sending a thrill through your own body.

You took him into your mouth, your tongue swirling around the head before you began to take him deeper, inch by inch. His hands found their way to your hair, guiding you but never forcing, as you found a rhythm that had him panting and his hips moving in time with your mouth.

The feeling of him in your mouth, the sound of his moans, the way his muscles tightened with every stroke - it was intoxicating. You could feel his cock swell even more, his body tensing as he approached his peak.

You took him deeper, your hand moving in tandem with your mouth, and watched as the pleasure played out across his features. When he finally came, it was with a roar that echoed through the quiet room, his hot release filling your mouth as your eyes remained locked on his.

You swallowed, licking your lips clean, and took a moment to bask in the power you held over him. With a gentle yet firm tug, Tyler pulls you onto his lap, your naked body straddling his. His cock, still hard and pulsing, presses against your stomach, leaving a trail of wetness from your juices. You feel the warmth of his skin against yours, the beat of his heart a rhythmic drum that matches the pulse between your legs.

His hands glide over your hips, guiding you closer to his erection, and you can't help but rock against him, the friction sending sparks of pleasure through your core. He kisses you again, his mouth demanding and possessive, as if he's trying to claim every part of you.

His grip tightens, and with a soft moan, you lift yourself slightly, aligning his cock with your wet entrance. The anticipation is almost unbearable as you hover there, feeling the warmth of him against your slickness. And then, with a gasp, you lower yourself onto him, feeling him fill you up, stretching you in the most delicious way.

Your bodies move in unison, the sound of skin slapping against skin mingling with your desperate moans and his guttural groans. Each thrust is like a declaration of a newfound love, a silent promise that you're both ready to explore this uncharted territory of desire.

The world outside your embrace fades away as you become lost in the rhythm of your lovemaking, the only thing that matters is the connection between you. You lean back, resting your hands on his broad shoulders, head thrown back in pleasure, his eyes hooded with lust as he moves inside you.

The headboard of your bed thumps against the wall in a steady rhythm that matches the pounding of your hearts. This moment, this perfect union of bodies and souls, is a testament to the unspoken truth that you've both been dancing around for so long.

As Tyler fucks you with an unbridled passion that resonates through every fiber of your being, he buries his face into the crook of your neck, inhaling the sweet scent of your skin. His teeth graze your neck, sending shivers down your spine as his strong arms wrap around your waist, holding you tightly against him.

Each thrust is punctuated by a muffled groan against your flesh, his breath hot and ragged in your ear. His hips drive into you with a fierce intensity that matches the pounding of your hearts. The feeling of his cock sliding in and out of you, the roughness of his stubble against your sensitive skin, the possessive grip of his hands - it all combines into a symphony of sensation that threatens to overwhelm you.

You wrap your arms around his neck, nails digging into his shoulders as you hold on tightly, riding the wave of pleasure that builds with each stroke. The intimacy of this moment, the raw, unfiltered need, solidifies the unspoken bond that has been forged between you. His teeth graze the skin of your neck, and you feel a soft pinch as he marks you, leaving his brand of desire in a place that no one else will ever see.

Your breath hitches, and you whisper his name again, a plea for more, a declaration of your own need. The world outside the cocoon of your entwined limbs fades away, leaving only the two of you, bound together by this carnally beautiful dance of love and lust that has forever changed the landscape of your friendship.

As Tyler's hips piston upwards, driving himself deep inside you, you feel the coil of pleasure in your core tighten to the point of snapping. His eyes, filled with a fierce love and lust, bore into yours as you both reach the peak of your climax together. Your body convulses around him, muscles clenching as wave after wave of ecstasy crashes over you.

His own orgasm hits like a storm, his cock pulsing with every beat of his heart, filling you with his warmth as he groans out your name. The room seems to spin around you as you cling to each other, the intensity of your shared release echoing through the night.

You collapse against his chest, both of you gasping for air, your hearts racing in perfect sync. As the tremors subside, he kisses you softly, his breath mingling with yours as he whispers sweet nothings into your ear.

The aftermath of your passion leaves you both drenched in sweat and satisfaction, the stickiness of your melded bodies a testament to the depth of your connection. The silence that follows is no longer filled with tension but with the quiet understanding that you've crossed a threshold, leaving behind the confines of friendship and stepping into the uncharted territory of love.

Your legs, still wrapped around him, don't want to let go, and he makes no move to pull out, savoring the feeling of you clinging to him. The world outside seems to hold its breath, waiting for the next move in this unscripted play of desire that has unfolded between you.

But for now, you're content to stay right here, tangled in the sheets and in each other, forever changed by the raw, unbridled passion that has claimed you both.

He nuzzles his head against your neck, kissing and worshiping the soft, sensitive skin with a renewed vigor. He whispers between kisses, "God, I can't get enough of you..."

[tiredfox64]

Hello, I wanted to know if you accept requests and if so… could you make the Lin Kuei brothers who are discovered spying on you while you shower?

Peeping Toms

Prior notes: They could never do that with me they would see me starting arguments with my conditioner.

Pairings: Lin Kuei Bros x Gn reader

Warnings ‼️: Suggestive

The water ran down your body. It cooled you after that hectic mission you just finished. The water felt wonderful, you could stay in the shower for hours.

Yes, please, please do stay. Enjoy your shower to its fullest. You deserve to relax your muscles and wash the filth off of you. It will do you good and the men next door.

Oh, you don’t know? You don’t know that there will soon be three men that you thought so highly of and saw as honorable waiting to take a peek at you? All of them are dying to get a look at your naked figure as water slips down. Ain’t it crazy that hormones can drive men to do such acts? Well, enjoy your shower.

Enjoy the view, boys!

══💤══╡°˖✧🦊✧˖°╞══💤══

It was by accident at first, they swear. If you don’t believe them then it was Tomas’ fault. Seriously it was. He was the one who found the hole in the wall. He didn’t know at first that the hole was even in the room beside yours. But when he went into the room to grab some supplies that Bi-Han needed, he heard running water nearby. Following his ears he found himself getting closer and closer to a hole in the wall. When he peeked in, he was pleasantly surprised to see that the hole allowed him to peek into your shower. And you were showering at that moment! He gasped before backing away from the hole. Oh that can’t do. You were in a vulnerable state and anyone could take a look at you. Maybe Tomas should do something about this.

Or…he could keep this hush hush. No one goes into this room since it’s only meant to store weapons and other supplies. In all honest he didn’t want an opportunity like this to disappear. When else would he have the chance to see you in all your glory?

It felt dirty to do but it can’t be all that bad. It’s not like he told the whole clan about the hole. He won’t do anything nasty while looking at you. He would make a mental note instead.

It began a pattern that Kuai Liang and Bi-Han started to notice. Every time you went to shower after training or a mission, Tomas had somewhere to go. Every. Single. Time. It was highly suspicious to the point that Kuai Liang had to investigate for himself. This day was the day he would find out what Tomas was up to.

At this moment you were scrubbing your hair with your shampoo as Tomas took a peek at you through the hole. His breathing grew heavy as his mind ran wild. The thought of showering with you made his hormones rage. He would hug you from behind, feeling his skin against yours. His lips and hands would travel on your body. His tongue would trace up your neck while his hands would go down between your legs…

“What are you doing?” Kuai Liang asked in pure confusion.

Tomas gasped but quickly covered his mouth as he turned towards Kuai Liang. He didn’t realize his brother had snuck into the room. He was stuck in his mind having his dirty fantasy. Kuai Liang’s eyes drifted to the hole in the wall and heard the sound of running water. Before he could get closer, Tomas caved. He doesn’t like hiding anything from Kuai Liang so he spilled everything. How he found the hole, where the hole leads to, and how he does this every time. This was a surprise since he didn’t expect his brother to act this way. He would have scolded him but…he too was curious.

He's human too. His hormones sometimes drive his decisions and right now they were taking the wheel. He had the same thought process as Tomas: this is an opportunity to see you in all your glory. He felt shame in this but he assumed it was only him and Tomas who knew of this hole. They will keep their lips zipped.

Kuai Liang signaled for his brother to quiet down. He knelt down beside him and slowly leaned his face towards the hole. Oh yup, that’s you all right. Wet and naked with the suds of the shampoo washing off of you. His eyes followed the bubbles as they traveled over your curves. He slowly pulled back and looked at Tomas. He thought Kuai Liang was about to yell at him before he said in a calm voice,

“How long do they shower?”

Tomas stared blankly for a few seconds before responding, “About forty minutes. They do their hair, then their face, then the rest of their body. They make sure to clean everywhere.”

“We will switch every five minutes, understood?” Kuai Liang asked.

Tomas nodded frantically. Kuai Liang immediately went back to peeking at you. He’ll right his wrongs when you finish your shower. He’ll tell Tomas they can’t ever do that again no matter how tempting it is. He will take what he has gained now and cherish it in his mind. He has a good memory. So that image of you letting the water run over your hair with the front of your body right in front of him will stay in his head for many years. That will be useful when he is struggling to fall asleep.

Twenty minutes into your shower and the brothers were eating this up. It was like they were in their own world where they were fantasizing about you. They were so stuck in this world that they had no idea that Bi-Han was looking for them. They were gone for too long. He asked all the clansmen and they all pointed him towards the direction of the supply room. When he found him they were bickering silently about whose turn it was.

“What is going on here?” Bi-Han questioned as he got closer.

They both shushed him which left him stunned. Who do they think they are trying to silence their grandmaster? Bi-Han was already set off. He didn’t allow them to explain the whole situation. His eyes drifted to the hole since they were arguing near it. He already concluded that it was the issue. He pushed Kuai Liang and Tomas out of the way before kneeling and looking for himself. Alright, he moved too fast. He was not prepared to see you naked with soap all over your body. He just found his new favorite thing. Soapy bodies are hot.

“Were you both-“He was about to ask them if they were peeking at you but they covered his mouth. They couldn’t risk you hearing.

Except this time you did hear it. You were already hearing the bickering and whispering on the other side but you passed it off as you hearing things. But hearing Bi-Han’s voice also clearly was the nail in the coffin. You started looking around to figure out where they could have been and why you were hearing them. You did a double take behind you when you saw…a hole! Oh no! You had no idea how you could have missed that. It must have been because you were always tired when you went to shower that you never noticed little things like that. You started connecting the dots in your head and you decided to press your ear against the wall to see if you could hear anything they were saying.

“And you decided not to tell us?” Bi-Han growled.

“If I told you would you have done anything different to what we were doing?” Tomas shot back.

“Do not accuse me of anything, Tomas. You are the guilty one who has involved us now.”

Involved? What does that mean?

It means Bi-Han wouldn’t have done anything differently. He would have peeked at you multiple times as well. He’s more upset that Tomas was keeping this fact from him than being upset with him looking this whole time.

“Do not prevent me from looking.” He ordered them.

“But brother-“

“Obey your grandmaster, Kuai Liang.”

He kept Kuai Liang and Tomas at a distance before looking back. You already moved away from the wall and tried to act natural. This shower cannot go on for much longer. You washed the soap off your body quickly. Your hands ran over your body which excited Bi-Han. Your hands went over every curve, bringing his attention to all of them. But when it was just getting good you turned the water off. You quickly grabbed your towel and wrapped it around yourself before quickly getting out of the bathroom. Bi-Han groaned in frustration. He barely had time to enjoy you.

When they decided to leave the door suddenly swung open. You stood there, towel wrapped around you and your body still dripping with water. You crossed your arms and looked at them for an explanation. Kuai Liang was about to give you one but Bi-Han was quick to move the blame onto Tomas. Tomas was not staying for what was to come so he threw down a smoke bomb and teleported away. That left you with two guilty suspects. They were stumped. There was no lie that could get them out of this one.

“If you so badly wanted to watch me shower you could have asked. Weirdos.” You said before walking back to your room.

Huh? Did they hear that right? The brothers looked at each other to confirm if what you said was actually spoken. Suddenly Tomas pops out from behind some of the weapons with a look of sadness.

“How were we supposed to know we could ask?”

They stared at him blankly. They couldn’t even get upset with him for bailing on them. Were you actually serious? Well, if you were, Bi-Han will be the first to ask. He deserves it. He is your grandmaster.

After notes: I need to stop biting my fingers because it physically hurt to type this. Can't have anything in this damn state. Adiós!

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Hi! I have a question about snow leopard coloration. I've noticed that some individuals are quite a bit more cream in color, like so:

Some (esp cubs) are the classic grey we associate with them:

(Never quite as grey as people draw them, but nevertheless!)

So I was just wondering -- what causes this? Is it genetics? Climate? Dust? (I was watching trail camera footage and saw one on a sheer cliff shaking off a BUNCH of dust, and went Oh... That could be it...)

I think it's a combination of a lot of things, probably.

We've definitely just oversimplified their representation in media to "white and grey." People hear 'snow'leopard and want to make them really clearly light color.

Snow leopards also have a lot of color variations in their fur, as you can see in the photos you provided. That makes them much more effective at blending to rocky or patchy snow backgrounds. Take a look at this photo of Marai - she's got a bunch of different greys and browns, in contrast to her white belly fur.

Light conditions and environmental color also influence how their coats look. In cool-toned indirect light, they look more grey to me.

If you're shooting through glass or acrylic (like at a zoo), all your photos will have a blueish tinge. If you're using automated functions in an editing program, those will also tend to make snow leopards look a little more grayscale. Lots of trees or pine needles will reflect color light onto their fur, too, and change how they look.

I think a lot of the rest is just genetic variation. A range of coloration and patterning would be adaptive in the wild, as differently camouflaged cats would find success hunting in different terrains.

[haikyu-mp4]

Break up with your bf

word count; 738 – f!reader

After high school, Osamu didn’t usually join Atsumu when he was going out despite the occasional invitation he received. However, every now and then he gave in and joined Atsumu with some of his friends, like this instance.

While he liked most of the people Atsumu played with, some of those he hung out with didn’t quite charm Osamu.

You’re not sure how your lowlife of a boyfriend became friends with a couple of professional volleyball players, but here you are. Your boyfriend brought you along to the bar again just to have you as his arm candy, but everyone could see how his eyes travelled to other women while he totally ignored you. You were getting bored, already feeling your interest in dating this guy reduced. He used to be quite sweet, but now you could see he was looking for someone better.

The lights were a little too wild and the music a bit too loud for you to just ignore his behaviour and do something else. You didn’t want to stoop to his level but you were really wasting a night, so for now you went to the bathroom. Your reflection stared back at you and looked straight-up bored. That’s quite enough, your boyfriend could find someone else to bring home tonight. Opening the bathroom door again with a new fire, you briskly walk out of the bathroom and almost reach the main room when you bump into someone.

Osamu let out a small ‘ouf’-sound and then chuckled, loosely grabbing your waist so you wouldn’t trip. You rested a hand on his chest and held your breath. “That’s some power, who are we beating up?” he joked. Your shoulders relaxed and you chuckled along with him, shaking your head before looking at him.

“Don’t worry about it, pretty boy,” you answered, returning some of the energy you felt from him.

“Really? I was hoping you’d say your boyfriend over there. Think me and my brother could take him.” he said, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of your group and dropping his hands from your waist.

When did he notice? You think back to the things your boyfriend did tonight right in front of the others. His hand on that one girl’s ass. The other girl he complimented while leaning over to the twins, one of whom had looked over at you while looking like a question mark. Your mind was telling you it was the one you were talking to now. You sighed in disbelief and considered whether or not you should answer. The music played over your heads and every other minute, someone would bump into either of you. The twins had introduced themselves at the pregame, talking to you for as long as their attention span could manage when the rest of the guys were trying to get them to drink. “Osamu, right?” he nodded, about to say something when you pretended to stretch your arms. “I’ll get him myself, but you’re welcome to join me when I leave,” you said.

“I’ll get our jackets,” he announced and you happily handed him your jacket number. With a new fire under your ass, you barged over to your group’s table, tapped your boyfriend on the shoulder and waited for him to turn around. Lucky for him, you weren’t actually going to beat him up, you were just tempted to.

Instead, you simply said “I’m breaking up with you,” before turning around and walking away. The bastard didn’t even attempt to stop you and Atsumu was cheering when you walked off.

Osamu waited by the entrance, a smirk growing on his face when he heard his brother’s cheers. “I take it that went well?” he asked and handed over your jacket.

“I want food.”

That’s how Osamu fell in love. And also how the two of you ended up at McDonalds. You stayed there for over an hour just talking and munching on your food, ex-boyfriend long since forgotten.

And maybe, though not if anybody asked, Osamu ended up in your bed the next morning. He’s holding his phone to his ear, listening as Atsumu told him about how the girl they talked to at the pregame had broken up with that idiot of a boyfriend she had, all while Osamu drew patterns on your bare back as you rested on his chest.

He’s glad he joined Atsumu for drinks, just this once.

masterlist

[dunmeshi-darlings]

Little idea I had..

During the dungeon journey the happened across a random wild spell that turns everyone into a hybrid

All except for izutsumi and the reader (cuz they a kobold)

Thinking how the party reacts to the everyday things the reader goes through

Oh this is a delightfully hilarious idea,i approve of it. Perhaps it was a trap laid in the dungeon by thistle or perhaps another adventurer did it, either way the outcomes are funny.

Laios - You have never seen laios so genuinely excited, He cheered and laughed happily at this new transformation. This is everything he could have ever dreamed of. His transformation made him a dog hybrid so he was perhaps the most similar to You as a kobold. You teach him about properly brushing your fur and how to sit with a tail. Though over all laios couldnt be happier, he finally gets to be more than just a tall man and can be a cool hybrid.

Marcille - She was transformed into a Rabbit hybrid, Her long elf ears now even longer floppy rabbit ears. She was far from excited to say the least, Frantically trying to find a spell that could possible fix this, Though she did have to admit the magic was impressively strong. Her bunny legs were a challenge for her to get used to, she could use them for walking sure but they were more suited for hopping. Her tail wasnt as large so she didnt have as many issue sitting as laios did at first. But you still helped teach her how to handle her instincts and not run away at the slightest of loud noises.

Chilchuck - While you had expected him to become some sort of mouse or rat hybrid, however when it turned out he had become a Racoon hybrid was fitting all things considered. The dark fur pattern around his eyes giving him almost a thieves mask, which you couldnt help but chuckle at how ironic it was. you also taught chilchuck about sitting with a tail now but other than that his transformation went the easiest out of anyones. You did happen to note that chilchuck became incredibly prone to washing his hands before and after eating, an instinct that wasnt actually the worst one to follow.

Senshi - At first you were all confused on what senshi had transformed into. The fur was smooth almost velvety, and his hands had grown slightly bigger, and you noticed the mustache portion of his beard had grown. Eventually Laios realized that senshi must have become a mole hybrid which upon reflection made sense. Truthfully not much about senshi had changed, However he had noted that he now had an insatiable craving for things like Treasure bugs, mimics, and living armor again. This you werent sure if you would attribute it to his new mole hybrid existence or just how he is normally. Either way you helped him get used to his fur/hair which was incredibly soft.

[lostgirlmuseum]

Stuck Together 🕸

Pairing: Bucky x f!reader

Summary: Bug Boy and Big Man get into an argument. Luckily, you’re there to save the day! Until you find yourself in a sticky situation. 

Words: 2.3k

A/N: A much lighter fic after the last one I posted to balance the scales. Please let me know if you like it!

Warnings: This is just silly.

(divider credit- @saradika)

“HELP ME, HELP ME, HELP ME—” Peter scrambled into the kitchen and slipped and slid over to the counter when he spotted you there.

“Peter? Woah, slow down!” He caught you off guard as you were about to start chopping some fruit for a smoothie you wanted to make. Your face scrunched as you tried to decipher what the sudden commotion was. For example, why was Peter running like his life depended on it, and why was he now hiding behind you and using your body as a shield?

“Save me, please! He’s going to kill me!” You continued to stare at his beet red face as his voice cracked pleas filled your ears.

“Who’s going to kill—” Your question, however, was abruptly cut off—but simultaneously answered—as Bucky Barnes came crashing into the room. If you thought Peter’s face was red, Bucky looked like he was on the verge of exploding.

“PARKER,” Bucky boomed, standing his ground by the table. His stance was open, ready to attack. The only thing keeping him from ripping Peter limb from limb was your (comparatively) feeble form.

“Hold on,” you started, “everyone just calm down,” but it was no use. Your attempts to diffuse the situation were no match for a pissed off Bucky and a scared shitless Peter.

“She can’t protect you, Parker.” Bucky pointed a finger directly over your right shoulder, where Peter was cowering and peeking over.

“GAHHHH!” Peter shrieked.

Your patience was dwindling. 

“Can someone tell me what happened?” 

As if on cue, both men—boys? The manchild and the child started spewing their sides of the story, distressed voices overlapping each other in a soup of overstimulation for your ears.

“One at a time!” You held your hands up for them to pause, to which they both surprisingly did. Feels good to be seen as an authority figure. “Bucky? What happened?”

Bucky huffed and struggled to take his piercing glare off of Peter.

“I was minding my own business in the gym when Bug-Boy decided to shoot my metal arm with his stupid web!”

You finally noticed the unusual pattern of white on Bucky’s metal arm as he held it out for you to see. Only then did you also notice the web was also all over the front of his white Henley (a color you didn’t even know he owned, but looked good in none-the-less).

Taking the moment of silence and inspection as a sign for his side of the story, Peter started his word vomit.

“It was an accident, you have to believe me!” He lightly shook your shoulders to get your attention, and you looked into his wide, earnest eyes. “I was beta testing these new web blasters I made, but something went wrong—maybe a transmitter went haywire, or a screw got loose—I don’t know, maybe it just needs some WD-40—”

“Peter, focus.”

“Right, anyway, I was aiming for a target I set up by the punching bags, but my web blasters went crazy and the web managed to fly 15 feet off and hit Sergeant Barnes.” His wild hands matched his wild hair as he finally took a breath.

“He’s forgetting to tell you the part where he made it worse and rubbed it! Into the plates! Of my arm! Now it’s stiff, and isn’t moving right!” You swiveled your head back to Bucky as he pointed at you this time.

“I was trying to help get it off you!” Peter yelped as he shrunk himself even smaller to be hidden behind your back.

“Boys, enough!” You shout.

Bucky freezes, and tenses as he directs his attention to you. Simultaneously, Peter slowly stands back up and faces you.

Both of them were being immature, however, you could understand both sides, but especially how Peter would run from Bucky. You decided to protect the kid first.

“Bucky,” you sighed, turning so your body directly faced him, “you don’t need to kill the kid. It was an accident.”

“An expensive accident.” He grumbled, his pouty face turning away slightly to avoid your disappointed gaze.

“And Peter,” you turned to face the kid, “maybe you need to be more careful when you’re testing new equipment. Maybe you should do it when no one else is in the training room. We both know this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.”

“I know.” Peter dejectedly glanced down at the marble floor.

“What about my arm?” Bucky spoke, once again holding it out for emphasis.

Deeming the situation to be safe enough, you stepped out of the way so you were no longer a human shield, and you could see both of them simultaneously. 

“Peter, how long does it take for the web to dissolve?” 

“I think like an hour…or two.” He fidgeted with his fingertips. 

“You don’t have anything that can speed up that process?” You crossed your arms like you often do when in ‘solution mode.’

“There’s a formula that breaks it down faster. But I ran out, I’d have to make some more.”

“How long would that be?” Bucky’s voice was no longer hostile, but back to his familiar grumpy tone.

“I can whip some up in fifteen minutes.” Peter offered with a nod.

“Why don’t you go ahead and make that?” You put your hand on Pete’s shoulder. “I’ll see what I can do now.”

“Okay. Okay, I’ll be back in a bit.” The flush finally left his face as he scurried off to the lab.

 “Can I see your arm?” You knew you had to be careful in asking. You felt strangely honored that he had trusted you, whether he realized it or not, to calm the situation between him and Peter. You didn’t want to scare him off by asking, but you also just wanted to help.

Luckily for you, he simply shrugged, emotion void from his face.

You gently approached him and instinctively grabbed his left palm with your right hand. You carefully inspected it, and noticed the webbing following the crevices of the gold along his hand. Awkwardly, you tried to pull away, but his hand followed yours. You lightly gasped. You knew it would be sticky, but neither of you realized how resolute it was, as you struggled to let go of his hand. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Bucky grumbled.

“Whoops.” You grimaced, fruitlessly attempting to separate your hands. After a moment of useless struggling, you sighed. “Let’s try this. On the count of three, we’ll both pull away with all of our strength. I’ll pull my way, you pull back your way.”

He nodded, but his furrowed brows suggested his doubt.

“One,” you backed away slightly from him to find your footing. “Two,” he leaned back and you both prepared to pull. “Three!”

It was certainly a sight, the two of you in the kitchen, holding hands as you both leaned in separate directions trying to leave the other. You both groaned with effort, but all it did was cause you some pain. After an eternity of pulling away from each other, adjusting stances, and more effort, Bucky stepped back a little too far, and managed to trip on the leg of a chair, sending him falling backwards…and you with him. 

“SHI-” 

Boom. 

His back was on the floor, and there you were, right on top of him. 

“Sorry, I’m sorry,” the words tumbled out of your lips as your hands quickly found purchase on the ground (well, your left palm was on the ground to the side of Bucky’s shoulder, but your right hand was still attached to his.)

“It’s fine,” he mumbled. 

But as you tried to push yourself up and off of him, there was an extra force–something other than gravity–keeping you to his chest. 

“Oh my god, it’s on your shirt too.”

You both looked down at the part of his chest that wasn’t snug with you, and noticed the mess of web.

“I’m going to kill him.” Bucky whispered.

“No, no killing.” It felt like a weird thing to say while hovering over Bucky, but it had to be said.

You both made eye contact for a second, before he quickly looked away to the side.

“I guess you’re a bottom.” 

“I’m a what?”

“Nothing. That was supposed to be my inside voice.” You chuckled. “We should try to get up.”

“Here, if I can get on top, I can probably get up.” He offered.

“Um, okay.” 

Bucky managed to somewhat easily roll to where his body was now over yours. He did a weird plank, and a series of awkward maneuvers. You inwardly cringed at how weird you both must look, on the kitchen ground, no less. Eventually, Bucky was able to get enough momentum to swing both of you back up to a standing position.

“Okay!” You cheered. “Now what?”

“Um. I haven’t thought that far ahead.” He scratched the back of his neck with his free hand. “How long did Parker say until he could get us the formula, or whatever the hell he’s getting?”

“Probably about ten minutes now.”

“This is just fantastic.” Bucky murmured, looking up in exasperation.

“Alright, cool it, no need giving me a complex.”

“What?”

“You’re acting like it’s the worst thing in the world to be stuck to me for a couple minutes.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to be close to you,” he started, but flushed when he saw your teasing face. “I mean, not that I want to be close to you—not in a way like I think you’re gross—because I don’t think you’re gross! If anything, I think you’re really nice—I mean that in a normal way.”

“Bucky, it’s fine,” you chuckle, “I’m messing with you. I know it’s not me, you like your personal space. I get it.”

“Uh-huh.” He bites his bottom lip and once again avoids your gaze.

“Hey, are you feeling okay? Your face has gone really… red. Are you having an allergic reaction or something?” You lift your unoccupied hand to his forehead, and place the back of it to his skin. 

“I’m fine, it’s fine.” He quickly deflects.

“I don’t know Buck, it—”

“PETER!” He yells, and begins to rush for the lab, dragging you along with him in an awkward shuffle. 

“Bucky! Slow down, for god’s sake—”

“PETER PARKER!”

Bucky had never wanted to see the kid’s face so bad. 

By the time the two of you reached the lab, you had given up protesting. 

“I’m almost done, Sergeant Sir! I swear it!” Peter had noticed the close proximity of you and Bucky (how could he not?) but he knew better than to comment on it. Besides, he was busy fighting for his life. 

“What’s all this yell—” Tony nearly burst out laughing once he walked into the lab and saw not only how close you and Bucky were, but the sheepish look on the normally tough guy's face. “Well. Looks like you two have gotten very close.”

Bucky’s face flushed even harder. 

“You’re even holding hands! Aw, that’s sweet.” Tony continued.

Bucky took the opportunity to try and hide behind you by turning so that your back was facing the lab doors, although it seems he forgot how much bigger he is than you, his form peeking out behind yours. Looks like everyone was using you as a shield today.

“I wonder where he went,” Tony mocked.

“Tony,” you turned your head over your shoulder to see him as best you could, “leave him alone.”

“Okay, okay.” He laughed. He lasted five seconds before opening his mouth again. “I can’t help myself, it’s so obvious he—”

“Done!” Peter interrupted, holding up a beaker filled with a translucent light blue liquid.

“Thank God, kid.” Bucky gasped.

“Was this your doing, Peter? Well done.” Tony quipped one more time.

Peter didn’t answer, just gave an awkward smile, and poured the liquid onto a cloth.

“This isn’t going to stain my shirt, right?” You asked.

“No, don’t worry.” Peter said, wiping the cloth over where yours and Bucky’s hands connected. 

Within seconds the web dissolved, and you were able to remove your hand. You grabbed the cloth from Peter and started wiping where your shirt stuck to Bucky’s, carefully avoiding actually touching his chest. You both sighed once you stepped back from each other.

“Bye.” He quickly said, and turned on his heel to rush out.

“Bucky, wait!” You called.

He quickly turned back, a question in his eyes. 

“Your arm, remember? The web is still stuck in the plates?”

“Oh. Yes.” He turned back to you and grabbed the cloth, and for good measure, the beaker Peter had in his hands too. “Bye.”

Tony quirked a brow as Bucky brushed past, and out the doors.

“He’s in a hurry.” Tony said.

“Yeah, to get away from me,” you sighed, looking at the hand that had held his only a minute ago.

You wonder what you did to make him so revolted by you.

Little do you know, at that very moment, Bucky is resisting every urge to run back to you.

--------

A/N: Thanks for reading, please let me know your thoughts if you’re comfortable! I’m thinking about maybe making a part two, if anyone is interested. I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

UPDATE: Part 2 is now up!

[fraugwinska]

Could I get Alastor x Reader where he teaches her to swing dance in their room after they both talk about what was popular when they died as she comes from the current earth era so either 2010s or 2020s up to you!

Thank you so much if you write this and if you do not wish too that is totally okay! Have a wonderful day!

Aaaaaah, such a cute prompt! Of course I tried my hands on that, dear! I hope you'll like it!

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Going with the times

You flipped the page in the heavy photo album, laughing. „Oh look, that's from my first party as a university student!“ Alastor scrunched his nose. „These shoes are quite... scandalous, dear.“ „Hey, I was in my early twenties, everyone wore overknee boots.“ „That doesn't make them decent.“

You elbowed him, with playful annoyance. „Watch it, I don't make fun of your style choices!“ Alastor cocked a brow at you, grinning proudly. „That's because I always dressed with timless class and style, sweetheart.“ His gaze returned to the picture – You, arm in arm with your group of friends, in the midst of a club in the city you went to study for a degree you never used, since you died too young.

„What kind of establishment were you at, anyway? It looks awfully... modern.“

You rolled your eyes. You knew Alastor enough to know that when said 'modern', he really meant 'awful'. The only 'modern' thing Alastor didn't hate, was you.

„It's a dance club. Me and my girlfriends used to go almost every weekend, just dancing, having a good time and a few drinks.“

Alastor looked intrigued. „Oh? What style did you dance to? I always loved swing and jazz, but I do enjoy a good quick-Step too.“

You couldn't help but snicker – he truly didn't keep up with the times, that one.

„No, Al, no... that kind became very... formal. We just danced, you know? To hip hop, or electronica and clubhouse, like this!“

You hopped up from your bed, swaying your hips, lifting up your arms and bouncing to a beat only your could hear. He watched you, half amused and half horrified. He laughed and shook his head at your movements, so you stopped, hands flew on your hips and you rose your chin. „Okay old man, why don't you show me how you danced when you were young and wild?“

He was so quick, you didn't even see him moving when you already felt one arm around your waist, the other lifting your hand.

„Oh my dear, it's my pleasure to demonstrate what real dancing is all about!“

As only Alastor could do, an upbeat, jazzy song began to play from god knows where, and he began stepping sideways and forwards with you clumsily following him. With each stumble, he caught you with his reassuring, beaming smile, his patient guidance encouraging you to press on.

He truly had some energy to his step, spinning you every which way and having you laugh out loudly. After your first awkward steps, you found some kind of pattern to stick to, and your feet slowly but surely fell into his set rhythm without crushing his toes. He noticed that as well and chuckled, increasing the tempo and spinning you gleefully. „Bravo, darling, bravo! Now come, don't lose your flow, eyes on me! Excellent. A twist! Ha-ha-ha, marvelous, and again!“

You found yourself lost in the music and enjoying this way of dancing thoroughly, your heart beating as quick as your dancemoves. You felt warm and lightheaded in his arms as he moved with you, until the music ceased way too soon, and you two stood in the middle of your room, a bit out of breath and panting softly.

Alastor pushed a stray strand of hair from your face back behind your ears, grinning smugly.

"How about it, darling? You want to try that in your silly overknee boots?"

[hollowtones]

first yiik impressions?

Hi. Thanks for your message. I've been thinking about this for days. I wrote paragraphs. Here you go!

Everyone talks up how the game is bad, but I've never looked into it much myself, so I went in with an expectation along the lines of "people whose opinions I often agree with think it was an awful mess, I'll likely think something similar". Expectations were low. Even then I wasn't really ready.

"YIIK" is a game of tedium. I don't think it's a game about tedium, that's something different (though it could be, if it was a different video game altogether; "what if the world was made of pudding" etc). To some degree I think the tedium is by design but I'm not really sure what it's in service of.

I don't think tedium in a video game is a bad thing. "Morrowind" and "Breath of the Wild" are two video games I like very much, and some of my favourite memories of those games are of slowly wandering through empty expanses, or having to suddenly deal with equipment degrading or supplies dwindling because I forgot to prepare. Moments like that feel thoughtful! They're interesting moments of reprieve or of tension that feel thoughtfully and intentionally designed! "YIIK" feels like trudging through chest-deep molasses so it can shout "hey did you know you're stuck in my molasses right now? that's weird, why are you stuck in my molasses right now? did you notice?" directly into your ear.

You'll notice this is a pattern.

Combat is turn-based and involves completing little minigames, timing button prompts or hitting targets or some such. It's a cute idea that wears out its welcome when you start realizing how long every single one takes to resolve, especially when you have multiple party members, and sometimes multiple enemies (I'm told this part specifically gets more egregious as the game goes on). I don't think it's awful or unsalvageable but I'm not super into it as of the point we're at.

This is a pattern.

Leveling up is a manual process that you have to unlock, and it involves going to a save point (any save point? we didn't check), to enter the Mind Dungeon, to enter the actual Mind Dungeon, to walk down a set of stairs and enter individual doors one-by-one, so that you can choose how you want to allocate stat increases, so that you can walk down a different set of stairs to commit your choices and spend your banked experience to level up. I think "you can only power up at specific points / times / locations" and the granularity of stat growth are interesting ideas, and the environment they made for it are a charming idea, and I don't think it needed to be a "Hotel Mario" level that you had to slowly walk through. It could have been a menu. They could have used the resources for a nice background or backdrop for a menu that accomplishes the same thing.

This is a pattern.

I haven't really mentioned anything about the story or writing yet. The protagonist's name is Alex and he's a very self-important nerdy misanthropic dickhead white man (a very specific kind of guy that I've definitely met at least once or twice) who is obsessed with a paranormal message board populated by people like him and desperate to find out more about the disappearance of a woman he witnessed. (The woman & her disappearance are based on the real life death of Elisa Lam & aren't handled with a whole lot of tact, IMO, but other people have put this into better words than I can right now. It sucks. It keeps coming up and it makes me bristle every time.) Alex is a bad person. I know he is. You know he is. The game knows he is. I've seen some reviews say a negative point of the game is "the main characters aren't likeable", which I don't really get, because that's the point of the characters, as far as I can tell. The issue, then, is how much time the game takes to exposit at you how bad the characters are. It's exhausting. Every time Alex has a monologue, it feels like it sums up to 10 minutes of "I am a bad person. I am a bad person. Alex is a bad person. This character is a bad person. Do you get it? He's a bad person. Alex is a bad person. Do you understand yet, player? Alex is a bad person. You should know that he's a bad person. Do you get it?"

This is a pattern.

(I don't know how interested I am in bringing up the game's lead writer right now, if at all, but there's a well-known anecdote where he talks about wanting to write a story about a bad person who is forced to grapple with himself and do better, and how the reason why his game wasn't well-received was because people who play video games didn't get it & weren't ready for a story like that. I dunno. I can understand being upset about negative reception to something you poured time and sweat into, and saying something hasty because of it. "Final Fantasy 4" is a beloved RPG classic, though, and "Disco Elysium" came out the same year to overwhelming praise. I haven't played either of these yet, though, so I'll admit maybe I'm off the mark here.)

The characters we've met so far (i.e. the ones that aren't unnamed NPCs) are… well. There's a smarmy younger kid who idolizes(?) Alex & also made the aforementioned paranormal website. So far it seems like he mostly exists to go "hey fuck you Alex, you dickhead" and immediately say something even more insensitive. There's the insensitive based-on-a-real=ass-dead-woman elevator woman, who immediately disappeared from the narrative while still being an essential part of the narrative. There was a dead(?) robot in a bedroom, who had a choir of ominous hooded people monologue about how weird and sad and strange and uncanny the scene is. What the!? There's a woman who works at the arcade and has Powers. Her design's cute. (I feel like, generally, the game's visuals are Fine. The audio, too. That all ranges from Just Fine to Surprisingly Neat. I don't really have much issue with those aspects of the game, but I don't have much to say about them either.) Alex and Kid Whose Name I Didn't Care To Remember are constantly very uncomfortable to her, because she's a woman and because she isn't white, in the 15 or so minutes we've seen her on-screen, and she gets to tell them off, but then immediately kind of goes "well whatever I can smile and put up with this and hang out with you". It feels misogynistic. I know to some degree Alex is misogynistic on purpose, because the game is bludgeoning your skull in and yelling "ALEX IS SHITTY TO WOMEN! AND PEOPLE OF COLOUR! DO YOU GET IT? HE'S SELF ABSORBED IN A SHITTY WAY! DO YOU GET IT, PLAYER? YOU UNDERSTAND THAT ALEX SUCKS ASS YET? MAYBE 10 MORE MINUTES OF THIS WILL MAKE IT CLICK?" But for a woman of colour (the only one we've seen so far who isn't Probably Just Dead) to finally tell him off for being a shithead, only to turn around and go "well it's ok, you're cool now, let's hang out now because it's narratively convenient and you're the protagonist" is pretty damn egregious!

This is a pattern.

Writing in general feels stilted and long-winded. Most of the main characters feel like they don't talk like people do. Alex gets to feel like a person but that's mostly because he gets to talk to himself so damn much. Most of his monologues feel like overly flowery prose, like someone padded it out with identical adjectives to meet a school essay word count. There's an interesting idea or premise or setpiece every now and then. There's a spark. A glint of something compelling. Every single time this has happened so far I find it immediately snuffed out by an over-blown "oh my god!!!!!!! how weird!!!!!!', or a very long plot dump, or a Joss Whedon-ass quip. There can be no small moment of joy. No story element or visual element can stand on its own legs. There can be no room for ideas to breathe. No space for the player to wonder, to dream, to play in the space. The narrative is compelled to suffocate iself on itself, to take up all space, to swallow itself whole in its making. One very minor (so far?) side character has some interesting dialogue in this one dream world, and I think "oh that's neat", and then I learn they're lines taken wholesale from a book (and I think that's fine, reference is fine, but I have a bit of a chuckle over the fact that this character is the reason why the game has a giant REFERENCES option in the main menu). The literal first minute of the game is a bird telling you "oh my god, the title of this game, right? why'd they spell it like that? so fucking dumb, am I right!" It feels insecure. It reads like the writing has no confidence in itself. It has to make a comment about how silly and video-gamey it is, roll its eyes at itself, mock itself for the thing it's doing while continuing to do it without addressing it or discussing it or doing anything with it.

This is a pattern.

There's a specific part of "YIIK", at this early point in the game (we're only around the start[?] of chapter 2), that feels emblematic of the thing as a whole up to this point. Alex is getting phone calls from a stranger. They're confusing and weird and sound a little like something you might hear in a dream. They make references to some shared past, some childhood, some understanding of Alex, or maybe of you, the player. They've come up a few times. Every single time, I'm left thinking about what it could mean, how it fits in with everything we've seen so far & what the game seems to be talking about, with regards to connecting to other people and to yourself. It's a neat little thing. It's a neat idea. I'm charmed by it. As much as my thoughts on this game are largely negative, I still try to look at it fairly, to understand it, to talk about it, to let myself be surprised by it. As soon as I find myself thinking about this, my thoughts are immediately drowned out by Alex telling me how weird the phone call is, how random and uncanny and dumb this is, and how he's rolling his proverbial eyes about it, in spite of all the other paranormal happenings around him, for another period of Just Too Long. And I am sapped of all strength and I crumble to dust.

I'm genuinely transfixed. I'm transfixed! Maybe the fact that I wrote Paragraphs about the 4-or-5 hours I've seen of the game can tell you as much, even if you skip everything I wrote in them.

I can't wait to see more.

This, too, is a pattern.

[beansricejc]

Returning the Favor - John Wick x F!Reader

⚠️warnings: DUBCON, smut, piv, facial, pressured intimacy, implied abuse (not John), graphic depictions of violence, cursing, alcohol, blackmail, noncon pictures, no use of y/n!, 3716 words.

a/n: it’s me again, back with something I’ve been cooking for a few days. life is wild rn but I hope u all enjoy!

summary: John does a hit for you, at no cost, and now he wants something in return. it’s only fair, right?

John remembers your little face. The way your eyebrows furrowed at his insistence of doing this job free of charge. The split skin on your lip and the bruising on your cheek and wrists, he can picture it clearly.

He pictured you walking up to him in the alley outside of the Continental, where a friend of yours told you he would be.

He recalled the way you asked about his services.

“Who do you need gone?” he had asked, as you handed him a manilla envelope. That’s when he noticed the blue and yellow pattern that littered your skin when you reached your hand out to him to give him the paperwork.

“My fiancé.” you stammered out of those damaged lips of yours. “He’s the chief of police, and I’ve tried getting away, getting protection orders, but he’s able to just get rid of anything I do.” you elaborated.

John’s eyebrows raised at the sound of that. He added the context clues together and immediately understood, especially after seeing your bruises. John assumed you weren’t a kickboxer in your spare time.

He’s still able to admire your delicate features, despite the fact you’re not trying exactly to look pretty. He can still tell that you have gorgeous eyes and long lashes, a nice haircut that frames your well shaped face to perfection. Your skin is smooth and clear, and your body? Even though you’re in a cropped hoodie, you do have leggings on.

Oh leggings. Truly underrated in all aspects. The way the cloth clings to your body, shaping around your hips, thighs, and ass.

Truly beautiful. He can tell.

Maybe he could use this to his advantage? Not necessarily the most morally correct way to get a woman, but it could do the trick.

And use he did. He would use it to his advantage, in a simple and innocent move.

“I’ll do it. No charge.” John replied to you, you’re taken aback by the sudden generosity from him, you’re so shaken by the entire situation you don’t even notice his eyes trailing your entire figure and checking you out.

“Really? No, I can’t let you,” you insist, handing him a duffel bag full of 5 figures of cold hard cash, but he simply refuses it.

“We can discuss it later…” John says, shaking his head and outright not taking the bag. “Keep your money. Please.”

-

He’s thinking of this encounter as his blade thrusts into your fiance’s throat, finally getting the winning blow after their quite large altercation. As a police captain, your fiancé knew how to hold his own in a fight quite well.

Not well enough apparently.

Your fiancé gurgles as John shoves him against his bed, the blade destroying his vocal chords and windpipe. John makes one swift movement with his wrist, and the blade rips out of his flesh, separating several tendons. The severed arteries cause blood to squirt onto John’s neck and face.

“No one likes a woman beater.” John clicked his tongue at the dying police officer, who crumpled to the floor, blood pooling from his lethal wound and onto the carpet. A bubbling sound echoes from his mouth, the red liquid dribbling from his lips, and in a few more moments, his eyes are drained of any life that was left in them.

John rolled his own eyes and quickly did his best to destroy the good condition of the condo, making it seem like a robbery gone wrong. He grabbed a few things that looked of value, including a few expensive watches and some impressive Japanese chef knives, and went on his way.

-

You had stayed at your friend’s house in the meantime. Anxiety spiked through your chest, hoping everything was going to plan. You honestly weren’t able to take it anymore, your fiancé had really outdid himself this time. You had gone out with your girlfriends for some drinks on Saturday night, he didn’t appreciate you not sharing your location with him. So the obvious reaction? To beat the absolute piss out of you. You were wearing a sweater in 70 degree weather because of the purple and blue marks that littered your skin, including on your arms, abdomen, and back.

You had enough. Clearly enough to save up money doing side gigs without him knowing and saving enough to pay for a hitman that a friend of a friend told you about. You’re playing something with your friend on her Nintendo Switch as you feel your phone buzz in your pocket.

You frantically grab the device, opening it to find a text from an unknown number.

It’s done. Meet me at the Continental’s bar.

Your heart dropped to your stomach. That could only mean one thing. The job was finished.

He was finally dead.

Sighing in relief, your friend raised her eyebrows and turned to you.

“You good?” she asked.

“Huh?” You say out of the blue, shaking yourself out of your solace. “Yeah. Never better.” you force a smile.

-

John waited for you at the bar, he had changed and showered, washing the blood that had gotten on him from his little altercation with your now ex. The atmosphere is the typical Continental’s vibe, comfortable, upscale. He’s waiting for you at a small table with an open bottle of champagne. John hadn’t been able to get your cute face and nice figure off of his mind since he met you the other day. The day when he said to not worry about paying him.

Well, today he’d discuss another form of payment he was interested in. A favor for a favor one would say. A body for a body.

He wanted you.

His eyes trail up towards you who just arrived, wearing a simple yet oh so flattering outfit, your eyes are glued to your cell phone while you walk in.

John cleared his throat and shot you a little wave of his hand, catching your attention. Your beautiful eyes widen, and you smile at him, slipping your phone into the purse slung over your shoulder as you make your way over to his table. John couldn’t help but check your entire body out. Your face, legs, tits, even the way your hips swayed a bit while you walked made him just want to take a bite out of them.

God, you looked delicious.

Sitting down, you smiled at John.

“Hey, how are you?” you asked him, attempting to disguise the fact that you’re freaking out. Several emotions have been pumping in and out of your brain, you don’t know how to exactly feel. Grief? Safe? Relief? Distress?

Especially in front of the man that solved your biggest issue in your life within a manner of minutes. How do you present yourself in front of him? More importantly, how are you going to possibly defend yourself to the police?

Only time will tell.

John sighs, you sit down. He begins to speak as he pours your light, bubbly glass of alcohol.

“Not too bad, actually.” John answered your initial greeting. “More importantly, how are you, my dear?” John boomerangs your question. Your heartbeat accelerated and you set your purse in your lap.

“Complicated. I’ll figure it out later.” is what you manage to come up with, biting the inside flesh of your mouth, your delicate fingers are silently tinkering with the zipper pull of your purse that sits just under the table. Of course he asked that. This is what he does for a living, he doesn’t think twice about the act.

The two of you engage in small talk, and it’s surprisingly refreshing. John has a lovely smile for a killer, with his nicely maintained dark scruff outlining his cheeks and jaw whenever he chuckles at a quip of yours. His brown eyes are always in a narrowed position but they seem to always glow towards you, never taking them off of your face for a moment.

You don’t know it at first, of course you don't. John’s a professional. He's deliberate in every breath, every shift of his body, in such a way that could only be described as masterful.

You don’t notice him until he has taken forty-five minutes to inch closer to you in his chair, shifting every so often to eventually, be brushing up against your delicate frame, arm to arm.

By now you’re on your third glass of champagne, you simply didn’t want to think about any of your problems, to just enjoy your time with this man that simply did you a favor.

Right?

“I’d like to request something of you.” John suddenly says in the middle of a conversation about your hometown. He’s been awfully interested in different topics about your life, you haven’t even thought twice about it. “I can’t tarnish my reputation with the fact that I did a job, free of charge.” John states, his head tilted directly down at little ol’ you, who’s currently sipping your drink.

Your heart drops to your gut while you swallow.

“…that’s fine. I still have the mon-“

“I don’t want the money. It’s not important to me.” John interjected, with his hand suddenly resting on your soft upper thigh, the feeling of his long fingers squeezing the limb almost making you jump from your seat.

The way his thin brown eyes are gazing over you and your figure, it would have sent most people into cardiac arrest. You put two and two together, holding your breath as you maintain eye contact.

“I see.” were the words you whispered while he gave you a soft and endearing smile.

But those eyes? Those eyes were cold. The pair of his told you things you couldn’t imagine repeating.

Before you can say anything else, John’s lips travel to your ear, his hot breath tickling your skin as he speaks. The hairs on the back of your pretty neck stand straight up at the knowledge of how close he was to you.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since I took the job.” John informs you, his voice low and sultry, only meant for you to hear at that moment in time. “I made sure he suffered. And you owe me for that. Least you could do is… well,” John’s eyes trail down your figure, especially eying your cleavage.

Your heart is breaking. There was a twinge of hope in the back of your mind, aching for this man to be the one. The one to swoop you off of your feet and come save you like the damsel in distress that you were. But men are so disappointing.

“So, are you going to give me what I want? Or do I need to take it?” John sharply asks, snapping you out of your thoughts. Your blood turns cold at the thought of this killer having his way with you, touching you, fucking you. You were stuck. The anger churned in your gut as you clenched your jaw.

“Fine.”

Several minutes pass, and he has led you to his hotel room on the 8th floor, unlocking it and allowing you to enter first. You can only tell the luxuries this man has at his disposal, just from the glamorous hotel room he has brought you to.

The room is dimly lit, with a few candles he begins to light and the moon shining through the curtained windows. You furrow your eyebrows, biting your tongue, as you never imagined John, the killer, to be the romantic ambience type. You suddenly snap out of your head when he calls you by your name.

“Hm?” you ask, eyes wide as he’s turned towards you next to the bed.

“I asked, is there anything you’re uncomfortable doing? And what’s your preferred pace?” John repeated himself, apparently you had been stuck in your own thoughts and didn’t catch it the first time.

Of course there are things you’re not comfortable with in bed. Hell, you’re not even comfortable doing this with a man you hardly know!

You tell him the few things that are completely off limits with you, he ponders this and nodded his head, agreeing to your terms, even though this was a favor you were returning. The man, perhaps 20 years your senior, hasn’t broken eyesight with your figure for the past hour.

You almost feel like a meal that’s been prepared, just for him. Served on a silver platter and sent directly to his room, waiting to be ravaged upon. You wouldn’t be surprised if he began drooling soon.

He wasn’t kidding when he told you he’s been thinking about this since he met you a few days ago. It’s like you’ve tattooed yourself into his fleshy and morbid brain, refusing to let go, tormenting him with every small action you did, unintentionally or not.

But your curiosity is killing you.

“What pace do you prefer?” you shoot the question back at him instead of answering it yourself. You were experienced, sure. You were a grown woman. The past several months were filled with abuse and subpar sex with your (now dead) fiancé. Not that this owed favor would be any better, you’re expecting something that lasts maybe a few minutes just so John can get his stress out.

Of course you’re not expecting John to be generous, especially if this is simply a debt to be paid by your body.

John tilted his head to the side, clicking his tongue in thought while he sauntered over to you, who was on the opposing side of the bed. His eyes linger on you, not blinking even once as he soaks in your features. His rough hands began to undo his black silk tie, unbuttoning his white dress shirt that had already been stripped of its suit jacket. His knuckles are bruised and scabbed, John’s been a busy boy this week.

“It seems I may have grown a bit, fond, of you, this week.” John says, clearing his throat. “Can I show you how I want you?”

Your heart rate goes up, you bit the inside of your cheek, blinking up at the tall and intimidating creature that is John. It’s not like you can say no. You owe him. You owe him your life, he practically saved yours, no matter how unethical this was.

So you nod your head.

Moments pass but it doesn’t take John long to practically rip off your cute outfit, revealing the soft and sexy figure underneath. His bruised hands immediately grab you, he’s completely overtaken by the reminder of how small and delicate you look. Your sheer size difference between you and him, in height and weight, makes him so fucking erect. John shoved you against the fancy hotel wall, attaching his lips to yours, initiating a dance of tongues and teeth, taking your bottom pink lip and nibbling a bit. The move earns a squeak from your throat. John takes a moment to take his hands off of your soft flesh, disconnecting his lips from yours. John unzips his pants, letting them and his heavy belt fall to the floor.

It doesn’t take a second thought for him to reattach his hands to your thighs, grunting as he easily lifted your body up and to his level, with easier access to your lips and… well, your other pair of lips.

In the few minutes that you’ve been kissing, your cunt began to glisten with your arousal, especially now with John’s bare and rock hard cock pressing up to your small entrance.

“Shit, I just know you’re a tight little thing, huh?” John growled, using his innate strength to only hold you up by one arm, spitting into his hand and rubbing the slick between the tiny folds between your thighs. You moan as he delicately rubbed your clit, then giving himself a few pumps to wet his length.

“You gonna give up your pretty little pussy to pay me back? Huh? Gonna be a good hole for me to fuck?” John asked in a gruff and low tone into your ear, while you felt his thick tip push inside. Your breath hitched at the burn of his unexpectedly large dick, your cunt can only adjust so much in so little time.

“Agh! Y-y-yeah, just like that, please,” you stammered, gripping hard onto his muscular and wide back while he began to thrust. John gave you little to no time to get used to his length. You’re quickly able to adjust to his pace while he grabs your hips and thighs, moving you up and down on his cock that he was simultaneously thrusting into. Tonight, you’d be his good little fuck toy.

“Fuck, need to be deeper in you.” John growled, manhandling you and tossing you onto the hotel mattress. Within seconds, he had flipped your body, stomach side down and pulled your ass straight up in the air, giving you a few hard smacks.

You cry out in pain but before you can say anything, he’s already jammed his cock back into your tight cunt, with you squeezing yourself around him, earning yourself a few tender moans from John.

John took his large hand to grab the roots of your hair, pulling your head and neck back while John pounded into you, causing you to go dizzy. He’s fucking you almost like a rabid animal, and for some reason, you love it. The two of you resemble dogs in heat, while he relentlessly thrusted into your already sore pussy, moving his hand from your hair to around your throat. You can even feel his balls smack the cusp of your ass, informing you that he’s been fucking you with his full length for a bit now. You swore you could feel John’s cock in your stomach, moaning and begging out loud for him.

John’s hand tightens around your throat, restricting as much oxygen as possible, quieting your moans and cries for more.

He brings his other hand and spanks your red ass again, it’s gonna hurt to sit down for the next few days, but the sensation along with him fucking you from behind was a delicious combination.

“Good little slut, who’s my whore? Huh?” John asked, spanking you again. The sting of your ass is almost too much to bear.

You struggle to answer, but you do it.

“M-me! I’m your little whore.” Your scratchy voice strains. He flips over your pretty body again, his hands and eyes glazing over the front of you. You’re going to hurt tomorrow. You can only imagine all of the bruises and scratches you’ll be finding over the next few days.

“I’m the luckiest man in the world right now.” John mumbled, spreading your legs all the way to your chest and putting himself into you, thrusting over and over again. The tip of his cock keeps brushing against your cervix, making you whimper and cry out, your nails dig into his biceps, and he couldn’t care less. “So fuckin’ beautiful, just for me…” John grunts under his breath. He lets out an intense groan from the bottom of his throat, pulling out of your sopping wet hole. You almost frown.

Unfortunately, you ended up beginning to like this favor you owed a bit too much. So much so that you begin to whine and pout the second that John pulled himself from you.

The older man bit his lip and raised his eyebrows, forcing himself to stifle his wicked smirk as he peers down at a desperate and needy little thing from below.

That thing being you, of course.

“Oh?” John asked innocently, despite the filthy sin you two were committing at the moment. “What do we have here?”

Remember when I mentioned that you were a meal in waiting?

Well, John was about to devour you.

He’s starving for you, attaching his lips and tongue to the folds he’s been unforgivably pumping into for the past half an hour. The sensation of his calloused fingers gripping and spreading your fleshy thighs apart, with malicious intent, mixed with the gentle and needy laps his tongue is giving your pussy is nearly too much to handle. He even gives your clit a few soft motions with his lips, your vision is blacking out from the carnal ecstasy John is so humbly gifting you at the moment.

Your ears can pick up a soft grunting from him, he’s taking his free hand and twisting it up and down on his shaft, touching himself to the act of him savoring your cunt.

John pushes two of his long fingers into you while he quickens the pace on your sensitive core, earning a sudden scream from you, jolting up and arching your back. John opens his eyes, not stopping, rather just looking at the way your tits bounced when you arch your back.

You were close. Way too close. John’s fingers were skillfully working you up, and you began to unconsciously clench around them.

“J-John, I’m gonna-“

“Cum for me.” John interrupted, his mouth still in your pussy as he kept his movements steady. He let out a few masculine whimpers into your clit while you lost control of your senses.

Your orgasm nearly brings you to the brink of tears, your vision blacks out, this is a completely new way to experience a climax. Your small hands grip the hell out of the hotel bed sheets, John allows you to ride out your orgasm, while you’re still recovering with your eyes closed, he quickly moves up towards you, and you feel a hot sticky substance splash onto your lips and cheeks.

“Fuck.” John catches his breath, panting and trembling along with you as he came on your face.

And there was a ton of it. Your eyes fluttered open, but you immediately shut them again, noticing that he wasn’t done, with more thick white ropes of his seed spurting now onto your nose and brow, painting a licentious portrait onto your delicate features.

You hear a click, and can see the outline of a bright flash through your closed eyes, but with your cock drunk state, you wouldn’t even think to mention it to John.

Besides, now he has a pretty little Polaroid picture of the facial he gave you, just the right size to keep in his wallet for safe keeping.

Now he has a bit of leverage on you, just in case he'd like another favor like this again. You wouldn’t want him to spread such a lewd picture of yourself around the internet, now would you?

He’ll enjoy every last bit of you for every single session you two share together. He’ll take advantage of your vulnerability and willingness to cave at any slight disadvantage you had.

You were his, and you didn’t even know it.

[urprettylittlething]

Hiii, I have a scenario opinion in my mind. After a few days, our little kitty became upset because she wanted to go outside and play with butterflies or puppies. So they couldn't stand seeing her like this, so they decided to walk her around. they take her to a park that has puppies and butterflies. She plays with them cutely and tries to catch a butterfly as they watch her. She was so cute...

After they went home, little kitty tried to reach them on their cheek cutely, putting her small hands on Gojo's knee while she was on tiptoe. But when she couldn't reach him (she is too short lol) Her eyes fill with tears

You are loved <3

Thank you so much for this ask ml! <3 This is such a cute ideaaa omg I just had to write some little headcanon thingy for it!! I actually had a different version of this in my notes app ready to be edited but I lost it earlier today in some kind of glitch, so I had to write it all over again :,) so I apologise if it's not my best, but it's such a cute idea how could I not write something <333 and thank you so much :,) you are very loved as well <3

warnings - fluff, mentions of rules, collar and leash but very brief, not used in a weird way, more like they don't want her running off kind of way

≧◠ᴥ◠≦≧◠ᴥ◠≦≧◠ᴥ◠≦≧◠ᴥ◠≦≧◠ᴥ◠≦≧◠ᴥ◠≦≧◠ᴥ◠≦

♡ I imagine that Kitty had been sulking for a few days, her ears flattened and her tail all curled and droopy

♡ Geto would be the first person to notice, of course

♡ A few days before, they had finally let Kitty watch some tv programs with them, the only deal was that they would both be there the whole time and be able to monitor what she watches

♡ That whole thing was going smoothly for a while, until Geto was in the kitchen fixing up a snack and Gojo had 'quickly' scurried off to the bathroom

♡ That meant Kitty was alone with the tv for a short while, and it just so happened that the tv program had rolled over to the next one

♡ A nature documentary, about butterflies

♡ And like at the start of every documentary it starts showing clips of loads of butterflies, some swarms and some singular, zooming in on their beautiful patterns and filming them perched on flowers and leaves

♡ One of the boys eventually came back in time to turn it off before it could really begin but not before she had seen those first few clips, leaving her to deflate at being denied what she wanted to watch

♡ Geto had eventually told Gojo about how sad kitty had been recently

♡ The both of them piecing together that it was probably from the TV incident from a few days ago

♡ So they spend the next few weeks discussing ideas and going back and forth with each other before finally settling on an agreement

♡ When they told Kitty for the first time that was she able to go outside, only for a short while if it would help cheer her up, she was over the moon

♡ Her ears instantly perked up, tail swishing from side to side in her euphoria

♡ While she was rubbing her head all over their chests and purring the loudest they think they've ever heard, they explained the rules that she has to follow

♡ She was to be kept on collar and leash

♡ She was not to stray further than the lead would allow her from them

♡ She is to listen to everything they say when they say it because her safety, her life, depends on it

♡ Kitty was just happy to be able to go outside so she agreed wholeheartedly

♡ The plan was that Gojo would be the one to teleport them all there, to avoid any car travelling or Kitty seeing anything she shouldn't

♡ When they arrive it's to a beautiful spot in the middle of some forest, a big patch of open land filled with wild plants and flowers, honey bees buzzing back and forth in search for nectar, birds chirping and searching for food to feed their young, and the butterflies

♡ Fluttering about and perched on stems and petals

♡ The two boys stood back and let her explore

♡ She looked radiant basking in the sunlight and chasing after butterflies, in the hopes of being able to hold one

♡ Her happiness almost contagious in the way they were admiring her, smiles on their faces

♡ It wasn't long before a little tug on her leash brought her back to them and they headed back home

♡ It had only been about 10 or 15 minutes that she spent outside but it could have easily been the best day of her life

♡ The two of them gently praised her, petting her ears and calling her a good girl for listening to them so well and following their rules

♡ She tried her hardest to reach up on her tiptoes, trying to give them each little kisses to show her happiness to them since she just couldn't find the words 

♡ They both shared a chuckle when she couldn't quite reach, a small pout appearing on her lips until they each bent down one after the other

♡ She immediately perked up again, covering both their faces in little kisses and nuzzling into their chests with a content purr

♡ An eventful day for Kitty that ended with them all sandwiched in bed for a nice long and peaceful nap

[ohgodimafraud]

5x r/eigen sneezed incidentally and 1 time he did it on purpose - m/ob p/sycho

r/eigen x s/erizawa, kink!s/erizawa

Parts: 1 2 3 4 5 +1

Perfume

Serizawa was used to Reigen’s quirks, his fast talking, his wild gesticulating, and his questionable claims and methods. He was even desensitized to his sudden yelling and general intensity. The things that used to raise his anxiety to sky high levels were now routine and mundane.

“Hh- huh’EUSHh’ewh! …Ughh… hehh…hh!-…hHEDTSCHh’iew! -huh.”

That was another story.

Serizawa held his breath and looked away as Reigen blew his nose into the same tissue he’d used to catch the pair of violent sneezes. The polite thing to do was to ignore it. Easier said than done, considering it was just the two of them alone. Maybe he should’ve said bless you instead, but he was pretty sure he’d already missed the time window. And now he was certain.

“Sorry, ugh. That lady’s perfume was rhh-really, ahem, strong.” 

Serizawa nodded. “Yeah.” He could smell that client from the moment she’d opened the door. Older women tended to really like Reigen, and this one had been particularly handsy with him throughout the consultation and in her wake had left a cloud of sickly-sweet perfume to slowly diffuse throughout the room. Knowing those particularly wrenching sounding sneezes had a cause did things to Serizawa that he’d prefer to only acknowledge in the privacy of his home. 

“Excuse me,” Reigen said, snatching another tissue and glancing up at the light for a moment to help the itch in his nose surge past the point of no return. “heh…hh…EUSCHhiu!” 

The tissue was visibly soggy, and Reigen pulled a face as he discarded it and rubbed hand sanitizer into his palms. 

“...Are you okay?” Serizawa asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he said, waving one hand while his other pinched the bridge of his nose and massaged a few circles into his skin. The explicit squelching sound that followed the action echoed a few times in Serizawa’s inner ear in spite of his best efforts to disregard it. He discarded the tissue and let out a noise of discontent. “Ugh.” 

If Serizawa had learned one thing about Reigen it’s that he could hold a conversation with a brick wall and not run out of words. And right now, he was sure he could only focus on one subject.

“I was trying so heh— so hard not t-to hheh… w-wait… hh… hehDSCHh’ew!” This time he wasn’t fast enough in bringing up a fresh tissue to catch the sneeze and ended up spraying his fist instead in an attempt to cover his mouth and nose. Belatedly, he grabbed a few tissues for his nose which was already scrunching with irritation, and he managed to get it up just as his nasal sills began to glisten in the light. He blew his nose gently and rubbed his nose vigorously before tossing and replacing the tissue.  

“Ugh, god,” he bemoaned, pausing to sniffle and wipe the droplets from his hand with the fresh tissue, “Anyway, uh, at least I didn’t sneeze on her when I was performing that exorcism.”

“...Yeah.” 

Upon further inspection, Serizawa could see a speckled dark gray pattern on the sleeve of  Reigen’s jacket. His ears went hot as he tried to shove this exchange into an imaginary file cabinet within his mind for later. 

Reigen blew his nose again. “God, like, it’s in my nose, it’s in my ch-heh- damnit!—H’GSHschhu! -guh.” He rubbed his nose again through the tissue and groaned. “It burns like hell.”

“I’ll, uh, open a window.”

“Thank you.”

Serizawa figured this would help the both of them solve their respective problems. He was about a minute into somewhat successfully willing his dick to stop standing at attention to stand by instead when he turned around and realized Reigen was staring at him. This couldn't be good. Could he have noticed? 

“Are you alright?” Reigen asked. 

“I'm fine, thank you for asking.” Serizawa winced at the way the words tumbled out of his mouth and cleared his throat.

“Oh,” Reigen murmured, giving him a closer look, “Was it bothering you too?”

“Yeah, I—I have a headache,” he lied, though, at this ratte he was sure he really was going to have one later. 

“I see. That sucks” Reigen’s brow furrowed. “Well, sorry for all the noise, I’m sure it’s just making things worse.”

Serizawa could feel the heat rushing to his face as scanned the room for an out. He looked at the empty cup on Reigen’s desk. Maybe there was a god.

“Not at all. I’ll make some more tea.”

Thankfully, Serizawa was facing away from Reigen because his blush only worsened when Reigen made a poor attempt at stifling another sneeze, letting out a shuddering breath afterwards. “hGNKk’ch…huhh…” 

Oh shit. Was he doing that on Serizawa’s behalf? Yeah, there was no way he’d be able to turn around from the kettle anytime soon.

“I’ll be right back,” Reigen said, followed by the familiar sound of tissues being pulled from the box. 

After about fifteen minutes in the restroom, he returned with a red nose and watery eyes, but had managed to stop sneezing for the rest of the day. He also suddenly had a lot less to say than usual, and for the rest of the day Serizawa felt a twist in his chest every time he saw him pinching the bridge of his nose.

[not-goldy]

Tae's behavior is what I expected to happen one day. His songs/words back then, its obvious he felt something for Jimin. His bestfriend, who doesn't feel the same. Must be torture, esp seeing Jimin fall in love with their bandmate instead. He couldn't escape Jikook. And the group together never gave him a chance to get away from Jimin. Kinda hard to get over someone when they're always around, looking hot as hell & you're stuck in a solo photoshoot with him, praying for Jesus to take the wheel cause you pulling out all the restraint from wanting to kiss them lips, so you kiss Jimin's Chimmy doll instead. Yes Tae. We saw. So when Tae saw a chance at Hiatus he ran & never looked back. Went out and found him a GF, put distance between him & Jimin. Makes sense, but he didn't have to be so harsh with it. And this is why when he gets around Jimin, you can tell he misses him bad. Notice the pattern. He was off with his girlfriend, woogas, Jk for the better part of their hiatus & takes ONE trip with Jimin and its like Vmin every where after that & we get Fri(end)s just for now with the opening line "you're in my head" and this is exactly what Jimin said about Tae that is infamous in the Vmin shipperland. A song he had on hold for 2 years but only released after he was around Jimin again. He knows he & Jimin will never be, cause Jk will always be there, even when Jikook are being petty, cause that is who Jimin loves. I get it, but no excuse to be a bad friend, when Jimin has been a great friend to him.

On second thought, he gives off the straight friend who thinks just because you're queer you're into them till they realize you're not and now their ego is bruised.

I think Tae just wants a deep intimate friendship, relationship or connection with someone and Jimin and Jungkook are his top potential candidates except they are not perfect candidates because they don't share the same vision with him and can't be what he wants them to be for him all the time.

Jikook are not always emotionally available to him.

If he had a best friend who saw him as their best friend, they would be unstoppable. They would come whenever the other called, do wild and crazy things together, get in trouble, support eachother, be exclusive, and committed to each other.

Unfortunately Jimin doesn't have a crazy wild side or the testosterone to keep that crazy wildness going like Jungkook does and Jungkook isn't capable of the emotional intelligence he needs from Jimin.

The result is him jumping from Jimin to JK and whichever one of them is available to him as and when he needs.

And as anal retentive as he is he won't hesitate to hold back and or punish either of them for not returning or opening up or availing themselves.

[lendeah]

The currents of destiny

Chapter 3: Guilt and remorse.

Summary: In his third vision, Astarion observes himself trapped in a relentless cycle of thirst, remorse, and yearning within the shadows, witnessing others moving forward while he goes back to familiar patterns of the past. Pairing: Astarion x Fem!Reader/Tav Word Count: 3.6k Tags: Heavy Angst, Psychological Trauma, Blood and Violence, Character Death, Psychological Torture (kind of), Emotional Manipulation, Verbal Abuse, but just chapter 2, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending.

a/n: tysm to @tinystarfishgalaxy for helping me with this chapter &lt;3

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[AO3 Link]

Astarion wept, as his body shook uncontrollably. His thoughts and emotions were swirling, Tav's agonized screams still echoed in his mind, haunting him. And those staring, lifeless eyes... they would forever haunt his darkest dreams. He shuddered at the thought of what he could have become: a soulless monster who would have used and abused Tav without remorse. The weight of guilt and regret bore down on him like a heavy cloak, suffocating and unrelenting. He wanted to kill that version of himself, he wanted to erase him from existence.

He briefly believed they were returning to the vast emptiness of space. But before he could process that thought, he was being violently pulled once more. Then, everything went black.

Astarion's heart clenched with fear as he quickly realized that he was inhabiting another body, once again a different version of himself. His mind was still spinning from the previous vision, but he forced himself to calm down and focus on his current reality. None of this is real, he told himself, you can still change everything.

The first thing he noticed was the emptiness in his head, the silence. The lack of parasite buzzing over his senses. That explained why his limbs felt heavier and slower, without the surge of power he had grown used to. He was back to being a vampire spawn.

We won, then. We beat the Nether Brain.

He would have laughed, had he not noticed the feelings coursing his body: regret and a deep-seated remorse. It was a stark difference from the empty void of emotions that had possesed him while inside his Ascended body. This version... this future Astarion, was filled with nothing but guilt. And hunger, so deep it shook his frame to its core.

He looked around, taking in his surroundings. He was crouched against a damp stone wall, his body weakened and exhausted. The putrid stench of the city sewers filled his nostrils, adding to his misery.

His clothes, ragged and wet, were clinging uncomfortably to his body. Hells, he looked like a wild animal.

Disgusting.

Astarion's senses heightened as his body caught a whiff of fresh blood, human blood. His stomach growled and he could feel the thirst coursing through his veins, demanding to be sated. How long had it been since he last fed? Judging his estate, he estimated it had probably been weeks, if not a whole month.

He hadn't felt this feral in years. Since...

Since Cazador buried him alive for a year. Have I been starving myself?

His body forced itself to stand up, legs shaky and weak from lack of nourishment. He stumbled through the dark corridors of the sewers, following the scent of fresh blood like a predator on the hunt. The sound of voices echoed off the walls, growing louder as he neared his destination. He froze at the end of the tunnel, straining to make out their words.

"There's another body. How many innocent civilians have to disappear before someone takes action?" A woman's voice said.

"I know. We're doing our best to find those damned bloodsuckers. But the Dukes seem to have other priorities at the moment." Another male voice responded wearily.

Astarion's heart sank as he realized what they were talking about. Shit, the spawn. They are in the sewers too.

From behind the corner, he could see two Fists standing outside. Their weapons of choice were stakes and swords, a comical sight if he wasn't in so much pain.

He crouched down, trying to gather his strength and formulate a plan. But before he could process everything that was happening, his body was wracked with searing agony. His vision blurred as he fell to the ground, clutching at his stomach.

Then, everything was a blur.

His body launched itself at the unsuspecting guards. The sudden attack threw them off guard, their shocked cries echoing through the darkness.

What are you doing? Stop, you bastard!

Astarion willed his new body to halt, but it paid him no mind. With ruthless precision, he sank his fangs into one of the guards' necks, and tore the soft skin in seconds, hot blood pouring all over him. The other guard scrambled for his weapon but Astarion was too fast, too desperate. He struck again. However, the guard managed to slide the sword out in the process and lunged forward. Astarion barely managed to dodge it, the blade grazing his arm instead of piercing through his heart. The pain shot through him like lightning but did little to deter him.

He buried his fangs in the man's neck, relishing in the warm rush of blood as it filled his mouth and quenched his hunger. The guard struggled against him, but Astarion was far too strong in his primal state.

It wasn't until both guards lay lifeless at his feet that Astarion snapped out of his bloodlust-induced haze.

The silence was deafening. He released the limp body from his grasp, letting it slump onto the cold stone floor. The hunger had subsided for now, and he was left with a chilling emptiness; a void that echoed with his victims’ last moments.

He felt…dirty. Disgusted with himself and the monstrous actions he was forced to commit while under the control of this abhorrent future self once again.

The future version of Astarion sat in a corner of the room, his back against the unforgiving stone wall. He crouched over the blood-soaked floor, holding his knees tightly to his chest.

A bitter laugh escaped his body. "Look at what you've become," he muttered, "A monster...a butcher." His voice was barely a whisper, drowned out by the steady drip, drip, drip of the sewer pipes.

Oh, hush, Astarion supplied inside his brain, you are just trying to survive.

Survival was indeed his main priority now. With no friends or allies, Astarion had to do whatever it took to stay alive. And if that meant giving into his vampiric instincts and becoming a ruthless killer, then so be it.

But even as he tried to justify his actions to himself, guilt gnawed at him from within. One thought kept resurfacing in his mind - Tav. The one who had shown him kindness when all others saw him as nothing more than a tool to be used.

How could he face her after what he had done? Would she still see him as someone worthy of forgiveness or would she turn away in disgust?

How did you even get to this point? he asked himself.

Astarion's future self felt a strong urge to chase after her and make amends, begging for her forgiveness and asking her to take him back. But his pride wouldn't allow such a display of vulnerability. Instead, this version of himself reveled in the anger he felt towards her for not helping him complete the ritual. After all, it was her fault this had happened. If only he had ascended, he wouldn't have resorted to killing innocent people now.

No, he told himself, you would be killing her, you idiot.

But as always, he didn't listen. Didn't know.

As his eyesight blurred and shifted, Astarion found himself in another scene. It was late at night, and he was slowly making his way to the Elfsong tavern. Astarion felt a sense of unease, concerned that future him might harm his companions. But then it became clear: he was there to beg for forgiveness at last.

He watched for a moment as his body hesitated at the entrance of the inn. From within, he could hear the sound of laughter and music spilling out into the night. Through the dimly lit window, he saw his companions seated around their usual table, their faces glowing with warmth and camaraderie. There was Wyll, spinning tales of his latest exploits while Shadowheart listened with feigned indifference. His heart ached as he saw Tav, alive and well, her eyes sparkling as she shared a story with Lae'zel and Gale, her laughter more enchanting than any song sung in this tavern.

His heart swelled at the sight of her, revealing on seeing her unharmed, happy. If he had been in his own body, he would have cried of relief. For a moment, he allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to hold her in his arms again, to feel the warmth of her embrace. What he would give to feel it right now.

But instead, he felt future Astarion's heart sink. A sense of longing for the life he could have had if he had chosen a different path. He could have been sitting with them, laughing and sharing stories instead of being haunted by guilt and regret, like a wild animal, resorting to living in the sewers to escape the sunlight.

The weight of his shame was too much to bear, and he couldn't bring himself to ask for their forgiveness. He convinced himself that they were better off without him anyway. As tears threatened to spill from his eyes, he glanced one last time at the scene before turning away from the window. He didn't want them to witness his broken state - humiliated, reduced to a mere shadow of his former self.

And a part of him, real him, thought it was true. They seemed so happy without him, like he had never been there to begin with.

Do they even miss me?

His consciousness was pulled away once again. When he came to his senses, he found his body standing pressed against the cold stone wall of an abandoned alley. He took in his surroundings, trying to make sense of this new place. Through his future self's eyes, he sensed he was scanning the darkened streets for potential victims. His gaze lingered on a handsome young merchant, who despite his drunken state, still exuded a certain innocence. His body stepped out from the shadow, a charming smile already playing on his lips. The image was too familiar, and for a brief moment, he wondered if he had somehow traveled back in time instead of forward into the future.

The merchant's eyes, predictably, lit up at the sight of him.

"Well well, what do we have here? A handsome stranger wandering about all on his own?" he purred, trailing his finger down the man's arm. "My dear sir, it's far past bedtime for such daring adventure on your own."

The merchant blushed and stuttered something about getting lost. Astarion chuckled softly and offered to escort him back to his lodgings - an offer the man happily accepted.

His real self could only watch everything in disgust and shame; he had reverted back to his old ways. And this time, he wasn't even under the influence of his master.

Guiding him down an even narrower alleyway, Astarion couldn’t help but curse himself inwardly for what he knew he was about to do. Astarion wished he could look away as he saw his body lean in close, his voice a smooth whisper in the man's ear. He could see his blush and giggle, taken in by Astarion's false charm.

Oh, how he wished he could warn him of what was to come. But all he could do was watch on helplessly as his body continued this dreadful performance he had practiced so many times before.

I am back to being a puppet.

"Astarion?"

His body stiffened at the sound of his name, and he turned to face the voice.

"Tav," his body breathed her name. Their eyes locked, and for the first time in a year, he felt something other than the hunger that had become his constant companion. A sly smirk danced across his lips as he effortlessly masked his true emotions. "Well, well, what brings you to this enchanting alleyway?"

"I could ask you the same," Tav replied, her voice filled with a mixture of concern and shock. She glanced at the merchant standing next to him, stumbling in his drunken stupor. Her eyes filled with sadness as she took in the scene.

There was a tense silence as they stared one another down. Astarion swallowed hard, racking his brain for an excuse that would believably explain his current situation. Before he could come up with a response, Tav spoke again.

"Astarion," Tav uttered again, her voice trembling slightly. "Are you... are you okay?"

No, I am not.

"Of course, darling," he replied smoothly, flashing her a charming smile. "Just enjoying a late-night stroll with this... gentleman." He gestured towards the drunk merchant, who was now leaning heavily on Astarion for support.

Astarion's heart, however, constricted at the concern in her voice. He desperately wanted to tell her the truth, to hold her close, to kiss her breathless.

Do it, tell her. Kiss her. Save yourself.

"Are you sure you're okay, Astarion? You... you can tell me," Tav asked once again, her voice tinged with worry as her eyes flickered between them, clearly not buying his explanation. Astarion could feel her searching gaze boring into him, trying to read him like an open book.

Just as he was about to confess everything, Shadowheart appeared behind her, sliding a hand around her waist.

What?

"Love, what are you doing in an alleyway? You are asking to get murd-" her eyes suddenly locked on Future Astarion. Recognition and shock flashed across her face before it hardened into a scowl.

"Shadowheart," Astarion acknowledged her presence coldly. His gaze was caught on the way Shadowheart's fingers rested possessively on her waist; a sight he found increasingly difficult to stomach.

What is the meaning of this?

For once, Astarion felt the same way as his future self; confusion and hurt mingled with betrayal and anger. Shadowheart and Tav... together? When did that happen?

Tav turned around to look at Shadowheart, a soft blush spreading across her cheeks. "I was just..." she began nervously, gesturing towards Astarion and the merchant. "I saw..."

"Astarion." Shadowheart's voice interrupted, cold as ever. Her grey eyes looked past him to the merchant who was almost passed out at this point. "You have poor taste in company these days."

Despite the icy edge to her voice, Astarion could make out a hint of worry in her eyes as she looked at Tav. It was a concern that echoed his own, one that served only to intensify the bitter taste of jealousy creeping up his throat.

"Perhaps," Astarion finally replied, his voice filled with false cheerfulness."But at least he knows how to appreciate a good drink." He then mumbled, "Anyway, I should probably take him home," gesturing towards the unconscious man.

As he started to walk away, Tav weakly protested and broke free from Shadowheart's grasp to approach Astarion. "Hold on!" Tav interjected, still unsteady on his feet. "You still haven't answered my question."

A tense quiet settled over them as they locked gazes once more. Astarion could see the mix of emotions in her eyes - confusion, pain, and yet a glimmer of hope. His other self didn't understand, but he did. He saw right through her.

She wanted him to ask for help, because that would mean he was ready to rejoin their group. She needed to help him. To redeem herself and close the wound he had opened a year ago.

He desperately yearned to do it, to return to his friends, to her. Instead, his body betrayed him and spoke on his behalf, "I assure you, Tav," he declared with stiffness in his voice, fighting to keep his emotions in check. "I am doing perfectly well without you."

Like hell you are!

Tav's face fell at his words, her eyes widening in shock and hurt. But before she could respond, Shadowheart spoke up again, her tone sharp and accusatory. "Oh yes, Astarion. You are the very definition of perfectly well." She directed a pointed look to the boy, who was sobering up and looking utterly confused, "You should go home," she said firmly.

The boy stumbled away, casting a final bewildered look at Astarion before disappearing into the darkness. Astarion watched the boy leave and turned his gaze back to Tav. He could see the disappointment in her eyes, but he couldn't explain or apologize, trapped as he was inside his own mistakes.

Tav hesitated for a moment before talking again

"Why didn't you return? We could have searched for a solution together."

Astarion's heart was heavy with the pain in Tav's voice. However, watching them together, watching how they had moved on without him, was stirring up a sick and ugly sensation within his chest. He could feel the longing consuming him, but his future self chose to focus only on the anger instead. Focus on the pride.

"Yeah, looks like you all missed me so much." Astarion quipped bitterly, glancing between Tav and Shadowheart.

Tav flinched like she had been hit. Astarion wanted to hit himself for it.

"Astarion, we didn't mean to hurt you, I-"

"That's not what it looks like. In fact, it seems like you both have moved on quite easily without me."

"Enough, Astarion," Shadowheart snapped, her patience clearly at its end. "Stop playing the victim. You disappeared without a word. What did you expect us to do? Wait for you forever?"

Yes. Maybe.

Tav's words were softer, her face etched with worry and regret. "You could have come to us... we would have helped you..."

Astarion scoffed. "Like hell you would." His tone was bitter, but he couldn't bring himself to meet their eyes. "You were the reason I left in the first place. Your betrayal."

His body had expected to feel relief upon seeing them again... but all he felt now was an overwhelming sense of loss. The sight of Tav and Shadowheart together brought a reality crashing down on him – they had moved on and he was stuck in the past. In the same toxic cycle from his time with Cazador.

There was another tense silence between them as they stood there in the dark alleyway. Astarion could feel their gazes burning into him, but he couldn't bring himself to meet their eyes again.

Shadowheart spoke up again. "What are you going to do now?"

Astarion shrugged casually. "Who knows? Maybe I'll just find someone else who actually keeps their promises," he said with a tone of bitterness.

But that was far from the truth. He felt completely isolated and alone, with no one to turn to for comfort or support.

Tav glanced at him once more, her head shaking as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry," she said brokenly.

No, I'm the one who is sorry.

The need to reach out was overwhelming. But he could just watch in despair as his body decided to keep quiet, and observe as she silently turned around and left.

Shadowheart, however, stayed put, looking at him dead in the eye.

"I thought you'd come back for her, you know?"

I almost did, he told himself, I almost did, but I am a coward.

"You know, I thought you of all people would understand why I left. How could I stay after she ripped me off my only opportunity at freedom?" Astarion responded, finally meeting Shadowheart's gaze.

He expected anger, but was instead met with deep sorrow.

"When you left, something in Tav... it broke. She cried for you, night after night. For months, Astarion."

Of course, he knew. He had seen the scene at the Elfsong Tavern. However, this version of him hadn't.

He scoffed in an attempt to hide his pain, but Shadowheart continued relentlessly.

"She suffered so much because of your selfishness," Shadowheart said, her voice barely a whisper. "I... I had to pick up the pieces, Astarion. I had to convince her not to... not to lose herself."

Astarion felt a wave of guilt wash over him as Shadowheart's words hit him like a physical blow.

"I'm sorry," was all he could manage to say, his voice breaking with emotion.

Shadowheart's expression softened for a moment before hardening again. "Sorry doesn't fix what you've done. What you said," she replied, her tone biting.

"I know," he mumbled quietly, feeling the weight of his mistakes crashing down on him.

They stood there in silence for a few moments longer before Astarion spoke again. "She's hard not to fall in love with, isn't she?"

Shadowheart's eyes opened in surprise, and the softened slightly.

"Yes. Yes, she is," she replied under her breath.

Astarion shook his head.

"Is she happy?" he asked, unable to help himself.

Shadowheart sighed. "She’s getting there," she admitted quietly. "But she won’t be if you drag her back into your mess now."

And he knew what that meant. Let her go. She is happier without you.

Astarion hung his head, feeling a familiar pain bloom in his chest. He was quiet for a long moment before finally looking back up at Shadowheart.

"I won't," he promised, swallowing hard around the lump in his throat.

Shadowheart’s gaze bore into him for another moment before she nodded, and finally turned to leave.

"And Astarion?" she called over her shoulder, causing him to look up at her again.

"Hmm?"

"I hope you find your happiness too. You deserve it."

And with that, she walked away, leaving him alone with his thoughts. Astarion watched as she sauntered towards Tav, who was standing a little ways off. He could barely make out the details of her face from where he was standing but even from the distance, he could tell she was beautiful – more beautiful than he remembered.

Shadowheart gently approached Tav, her hand resting on her arm before leaning in for a tender kiss. Astarion couldn't help but feel like an outsider, witnessing this intimate moment between the two. As he watched them, he noticed the way Tav gazed at Shadowheart with such adoration and love - the same way she used to look at him.

He watched their retreating figures until they disappeared into the night. And his heart threatened to break into smaller pieces at the thought that this had probably been their last conversation.

In a flash, Astarion was once again standing in the void, surrounded by darkness. He felt a sense of unease wash over him as he waited for G'axir's voice to come through again.

See now... Astarion? G'axir's voice echoed around him.

See what? All I see are stars. Astarion asked, feeling frustrated at the cryptic messages.

Amidst the shroud of remorse and longing... lies the opportunity to redefine. Hope's whisper still lingers... in a realm unseen.

Tag list: @tinystarfishgalaxy, @imaginarypetlizard, @nanamisfriedstick, @stuckinaoaktree, @madislayyy, @cosywinterevenings, @fandom-garbage, @generalstephkenobi

a/n: I kind of hate G'axir. If I was Astarion I would be throwing hands, ngl. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the last angsty chapter! Thanks for the support! And lmk if you want to be added to the taglist☺️✨

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[chefkids]

Did you notice at the end of s3 ep9 carmy ia getting ready for Ever's funeral service and the last shot it's just a scrunchie and Mike's Jesús pastor image?? Idk what that means but that shot is stuck in my brain

The Scrunchie Does Not Fit In, but Carmy is Saving it for Later

Carmy finds a funeral card from Mikey's funeral in his suit jacket and puts it on top of a book next to the scrunchie and some bobby pins.

The book is I DON’T FIT IN – My Wild Ride Through The Punk and Power Pop Trenches with The NERVES and THE BEAT, which is a memoir about the lead singer from the band The Beat, but not the british one that wrote Save it For Later.

There are actually two bands called The Beat, an English one and an American one. The two bands came up around the same time and were often confused with each other, so the English one went by The English Beat and the American one went by Paul Collins' Beat. They actually ended up touring together. So why have a book about the Paul Collins' Beat when the recurring song this season is written by The English Beat?

Save it for Later has a few versions of it throughout the season. The first version we hear is from the American singer Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam when Sydney is on her way to The Bear after the incident and there is montage of classic Chicago spots. And if you listen closely to the full song, at the very end you can hear in the backing vocals "can't find a better man" from Better Man by Pearl Jam. We know Carmy is a big fan of Pearl Jam. Come Back by Pearl Jam was the song playing in the table scene with Sydney and we know the music in the show is supposed to represent their inner thoughts and feelings, so at this point Sydney is still thinking about Carmy.

Then an instrumental version of Save it for Later plays when Richie is talking to Jess on the phone about the Ever funeral. When Sydney is talking to Shapiro and he makes her the offer, the original Save it for Later by The English Beat plays.

They are setting up the American vs British confusion. Sydney is going to be torn between Carmy and Luca (and Shapiro by de facto), the same way Carmy is torn between Sydney and Claire. The song is instrumental, neither british or american, with Richie because he is the puppet master in this whole british vs american ordeal that is going to happen between them.

So much of this season and the previous have been about confusing people or projecting them on to the other, like with Claire and Sydney in Season 2, and then again in Season 3 with the polka dot dish freezer incident. This all ties back to the plotlines of Vertigo and A Midsummer Night's Dream that are referenced in Season 3 where the love interests are frequently confused with each other, sometimes on purpose and sometimes on accident.

The bobby pins seems more like a Claire item that she probably left behind, but when Claire's hair is tied up it is always with a plain black hair tie. The hair clip at the beginning of Tomorrow is probably Claire's, but a girly floral pink scrunchie? That is so Sydney.

The Bear had pink floral dinner plates back in Season 2 before Carmy switched to natural earthenware in Season 3, which also when he basically erased Sydney from The Bear. The scrunchie is a remnant of Season 2.

Sydney has been seen in pink and florals, whereas Claire never has. Sydney also loves patterns. From her bandanas to her shirts and jackets.

She actually has a whole book about them sitting in her locker. She was probably the one who picked the tropical wallpaper in The Bear's bathroom.

Claire is really never seen wearing patterns or prints aside from Friends & Family night (aka ClaireCarmy's relationship funeral) when she wears a black floral shrug, which is the last time Carmy saw Claire. The funeral card is notably Mikey's, not Marcus' mom, which has also always been tied back to Sydney and the Let it rip note. He texted Sydney before opening the note and then had Richie give it to her in a frame to put on her expo.

It's easy to see why he might confuse the scrunchie with Claire's things and put them together when the don't fit actually fit in, the same way The Beat's get confused. And probably the same way Sydney is going to feel confused about Luca vs Carmy in season 4. Is Carmy going to realize the scrunchie is Sydney's and not Claires? It's in his bedroom so I doubt it was Sydney herself that put it there. Seems like he is once again using Claire to project his feelings for Syd, by missing her instead of Sydney.

[thetxtdevil]

The Vampire Hunter pt. 1

Vampire Kai x Hunter Reader

summary: In a supernatural world, you find your city facing troubles with a particular vampire who is threatening many humans lives, luckily you're a hunter for the supernatural and you intend to capture the bloodsucker.

content: mentions of blood, vampires and other supernatural beings, soobin makes an appearance

word count: 1.5k

pt. 1 -> pt. 2 -> pt. 3

in a world of humans and the supernatural,

strange things become more normal as time goes on. ghosts roam the shelves of public libraries, werewolves guide other creatures and humans through woodsy trails, all lives became less segregated. while there is the police force patrolling the safety of humans, there are supernatural hunters keeping the balance of the supernatural race and human race. both sides find this beneficial as it kept humans from any harm of stronger beasts and creatures away from retaliating humans.

you were one of the said supernatural hunters, a good one at that. so to your dismay when you attend the city's hunter meeting you find out that there was a feral vampire in the area. the lead hunter shows a board of a map of the city showing where this vampire has been and pictures of victims the bloodsucker has close to having killed. you sit there squinting at the map in focus.

"and why haven't we captured this vampire yet?" you interrupt the speech.

the lead stops mid-sentence trying to find the words. "ah well, y/n you see they're too hard to track, we don't know their personal information, and no clan has claimed them"

you lean back at your chair nodding. you understand the hardships of a vampire without a clan, even though they are independent creatures they tend to do well with a support group.

"i'll take the assignment."

"y/n, many hunters have tried but as you can see some of them came back dangerously wounded"

you look at the board recognizing some faces, "really, i wonder why you didn't put me on this assignment in the first place."

you snatch the folder about the wild vampire out of the lead's hands. the leader roll his eyes at your cockiness.

"be careful y/n"

✥✥✥

it was a brisk night in the city, gusts of wind drifted litter from the ground into the air, people hugging themselves to keep warm. you walk the sidewalk that framed the many tall buildings of the city. citizens passing you minding their businesses not noticing your attired covered with classic vampire weapons and in your hand a heavy trash bag. you come upon an alleyway that seemed like a perfect place to satisfy the hunger of a blood-lust vampire. the first steps in the alley glowed golden hues from the street lights, but the further you went in it was dark radiating blue from the night sky.

when studying the vampire's whereabouts you concluded that this creature did not have a certain pattern other than drinking secretly in alleyways like this one. reaching in your pocket for gloves putting them on to open the black trash bag that held pig hearts. pig hearts were not only similar to size and appearance but the blood was also vaguely similar. one by one you laid the muscles zigzag until it reached the end of the lane. here you stood with a wooden stake in you hand pointing straight out to stab any visitors that come your way.

hours passing by you shift in your spot, becoming uncomfortable from standing in one position for a long time. you knew this could be an all nighter, but the cool weather and silence made you ache. then you hear pigeons from the street all at once taking flight, you knew someone was coming. you blink and open your eyes to see a silhouette of a tall man at the end of the alley. your grip on the stake was tight.

the man walks into the back alley investigating its current state. bending down to pick up one of the pig hearts taking a closer look. the man's eyes widen after smelling the muscle concluding that this is what he was smelling a few blocks back. he opens his mouth to snack on the bloody meat.

a gust of wind brushes against your skin, the air moving towards the preoccupied vampire. the creature's red eyes glows when he catches the scent of you. he looks over your way to see your shadowed figure standing at the end of the alley. you felt a flash of wind on your face but it wasn't the air it was the vampire himself now barely an inch from you.

the vampire hovers over you breathing heavy, looking down at you with his bright crimson eyes. his vision is blurry from your intoxicating scent, so blurry that he doesn't notice that he got too close to your stake. his chest impelled and his senses overloaded, you had enough strength to grab his arm to twist him around so now his back is towards your chest and fangs away from you. the pain engulfs the vampire which sends his in a downward spiral loosing conciseness.

✥✥✥

in your cabin, you sit on your reading chair taking sips of your freshly made coffee. the rising sun seeps through the tall windows of the room making the space feel warm. you smile to yourself as you watch the news casting on your living room tv. the news anchor claims that the spontaneous vampire attacks that have been happening in the city has been subsided.

as soon as you get comfortable in your chair covering your body with a blanket and taking a big gulp of your coffee, you hear distinct noises. you sigh knowing your cozy morning will have to come to an end. you scramble out of your chair to walk to the noises of groans and chains clashing together. opening the door of what would be a guest room but now your supernatural jail.

the vampire was sitting up on the bed which was set in the middle of the room. handcuffed to make sure the reckless vampire doesn't use his powers for his sake. the man was wearing baggy clothes covering his lean physique only his top is torn from your chest stab. thanks to his immortal abilities the wound is now gone. he was slumped over, long dark brown hair hiding his face, his nose was the only facial feature you could see of his. from your experience you could tell this was a newly turned vampire as he had a modern look to him and no courtesy of his blood hunt.

"why... how am i here?" his raspy voice fills the room

"you know why and i brought you here"

the man clenches his jaw, tugging hard at the silver chains.

"i have my ways to get you the way you are now" you smirk to yourself, only you know the struggle you had dragging the tall stature out of that alley all the way to your cabin in the outskirts of the city. "listen, you will now live with me until you get your act together, i don't want to see anymore victims falling prey to you"

"but,,, it tastes so good" he dramatically lies down on the plush bed.

you refrain from chuckling at the pathetic sight before you. your suspicions of the man being a new vampire were being confirmed as a old vampires would instantly insert their dominance towards you. although his weak front was shown, you were not all too comfortable with the vampire so you keep your distance and leave him to sulk.

walking out of the groggy room that held the vampire. you close the door to the room and stood there leaning your forehead on the wood. this bloodsucker needed training and fast because you don't know how long those chains are going to last. reaching for your phone to look through your contacts many were mystical friends and it was time to call your good ol' vampire friend. you walk back to your blanketed reading chair with little knowledge that the captured man was watching intently to your shadowed footsteps from the crack of the closed door. i'll get a taste of that sweetness someday.

holding the phone up to your ear while you play with the loose strings of your blanket, a few rings went by until you hear a familiar voice, "y/n long time no see... i assume you caught that vampire"

"yeah no help from you, soobin" you roll your eyes, even though you're friends, vampires still have their antics. the supernatural lived equally with humans they still preferred to do what they did before modern days. that being said you weren't surprised that soobin, a well developed vampire, wouldn’t fret when there was a vampire going around having the time of their eternal life.

"since i have the baby vampire in custody could you help train him?"

"what do i get out of it?"

"hmm, you can add another vampire to your clan"

soobin hums through the phone, noticing the hesitation you let out an audible sigh.

"fine, i'll try to find a way to have a whole blood bank truck for you to have for a whole night"

"sounds good, but you know blood taste much better straight out of a human..."

"do you know who you're talking to?"

"yeah okay..." soobin sighs

just like that you two begin planning the training for the little bat. hoping you and the new vampire will someday become good friends.

✤✣✤ -> pt. 2

A nuisance,

TxT's Devil

[skyloftian-nutcase]

I literally set myself a reminder to send a submission to your askbox and forgot anyway. 😅 I would've completely missed it if you hadn't reblogged the post again. Thank you.

Honestly, I would like anything with any version of Hyrule and/or Sky. But I'm going to just put a few ideas below for your perusal.

After the events of Elastic Heart, I imagine Sky probably needs to explain what happened to Sun if he's still recovering the next time they go to Skyloft.

Someone should take healthcare Sky to one of those bird garden things where you can feed rainbow lorikeets. I think he'd enjoy it.

I also think healthcare Hyrule deserves to have a fun camping trip with someone out in the woods complete with s'mores and stargazing and hugs.

Hero of Shadows Link also deserves hugs. If I read what you wrote correctly, he literally stabbed himself in the head with a sword to escape Ganon. A nap and some soup would fix him, right?

Anyway, don't forget to drink water and eat food. Have a lovely rest of your day and/or night. ❤

They weren’t entirely sure what the newest gate would bring, but everyone was huddled closely around Sky as they exited.

This new area was… familiar. The forest was filled with something that felt far more alive than anything he could describe, and there were bright colors everywhere. The others seemed a little confused, wondering where they could be. Sky, on the other hand noticed movement and froze, trying to hone in on it. Hyrule noticed he’d stopped and immediately went on the defensive, glaring around at the tree line.

“Look at these mushrooms!” Wind pointed out. “They’re huge!”

“I wonder if they’re edible?” Wild muttered, examining the large iridescently blue fungus.

Sky gasped. “I know where we are! This is Faron Woods!”

By the goddess, they were in his land!

Then that meant what he saw was—

“Hey, little guy,” Four greeted quietly, kneeling. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

“Machi?” Sky questioned, moving towards him. Twilight and Warriors immediately hovered close to him, nearly crowding him as he attempted to reach his friend.

“Easy, Sky,” Warriors warned. “We don’t know for sure—”

“Link!” The little Kikwi shouted as he emerged from the brush. “Oh, you’re back! We were all wondering if you were okay.”

Sky smiled, tilting his head to the side as he crouched. His body trembled a little at the position, and just as he tried to speak to reassure his little friend, his knees nearly gave out. He gasped a little, but Twilight and Warriors caught him by either arm, easing him to the ground.

Time was kneeling in front of him in an instant. “Are you alright?”

Sky felt himself leaning away from the man, somewhat exasperated and more than a little overwhelmed with everyone’s attention. “I-I’m okay, don’t worry. My legs just got a little tired.”

He knew he shouldn’t be so caught off guard by everyone’s reactions. He, well, had died a few days ago. Briefly. Before Hyrule had revived him with the Triforce.

Goddess, that entire situation had been a mess. But he…

He sighed. He was still trying to reconcile what had happened. It wasn’t a surprise that everyone else was too. He just wasn’t used to so much scrutiny - he hadn’t been this overcrowded since he’d nearly died after his initial adventure.

Huh. There seems to be a pattern there.

He ignored that thought.

Oh Hylia. Oh, Hylia. Zelda!

His heart fluttered, singing with worry and relief, and he shot to his feet, catching his brothers-in-arms off guard. Legend gave some kind of scolding remark, warning him not to exert himself too much, but he ignored all of them, rushing through the woods. He knew his way from here, and perhaps—

The foundations of their little settlement was within sight after a few minutes, and Sky was so close when his body finally gave out.

He hit the dirt hard, groaning a little, before he was instantly surrounded by the others.

“Sky, are you okay?” Wind asked worriedly.

“Sky, I said don’t push yourself, why are you running, you suck at running—” Legend snapped.

Twilight’s voice was next. “Here, take it easy, I’ll help you sit up, okay?”

Sky bit back his annoyance. He was tired and he wanted to see Zelda, but his brothers had a reason to worry. He had no right to snap at them for looking out for him, even if his nerves were fraying. He let Twilight help him sit up, he let Wild hold him steady, smelling the spices the teenager used to cook breakfast. He closed his eyes to block out some of the—everything going on around him as his mind filled with the noise everyone was making.

Four pat his back. “I see a settlement up ahead. Sky, is it one you know?”

Sky nodded, trying to catch his breath, eyes remaining closed.

He felt Twilight’s arms move around him, readying to carry him, and he scrambled out of the hold. “I’m okay! I’m okay. I promise.”

Time watched him, eye discerning, arms crossed. Sky shriveled under the look a little, but he didn’t back down.

Hyrule, on the other hand, looped an arm around his. “He said he’s fine, let’s go! We have somewhere new to explore!”

Sky smiled at the adventurer, thanking him with a little nod as Hyrule dragged him along. The hold was clearly a protective one as well, but it was less… overbearing. Hyrule wasn’t a very contact oriented person anyway.

It was a testament to how paranoid they all were about Sky’s well-being, honestly. He tried not to feel guilty about it.

With Hyrule’s help, Sky made his way into the settlement without too much effort.

It didn’t take long for him to be noticed.

“Stand back! Who—LINK!”

Sky held an arm out, trying to stop the onslaught, but it was too late. “Groose, wait—”

He was immediately grabbed by the shoulders, manhandled out of Hyrule’s hold, and shaken vigorously while his friend excitedly greeted him. His addled mind half expected some kind of protest from the others, but even his friend recognized that he was ready to collapse as the world spun around him.

“Link, what’s wrong? You look almost as battered as you did after that one fight with the ugly monster—” Groose noted before cutting himself off and narrowing his eyes scrutinously. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” he mumbled, placing his hands over Groose’s to try and orient himself, but he had no time to do so before someone else had slammed into him, pulling him into a bone crushing hug.

A gentle scent of feathers, sweet soap, and steel filled his nostrils, with the slightest hint of—

“Zelda,” he whispered shakily, closing his eyes and melting into her arms.

The pair slid to the ground together gently, Zelda guiding the descent, until they were kneeling and pulled so close together he could hardly breathe.

Goddess he’d missed her.

He fluttered his eyelashes open, seeing the sunlight caught in her hair, seeing her looking down at him with eyes filled with worry and relief. She smiled when they made eye contact, and the two moved towards each other together to gently kiss. Sky felt tears sting in his eyes at the touch, the familiar sensation, the love poured through it.

He leaned against her, sighing in relief after they pulled away, letting her just hold him, wanting nothing more than to just hold her in return.

Except Zelda was just as paranoid as Groose. “Link, you’re trembling, what’s wrong?”

Sky sighed heavily. “I’m just happy to see you.”

She poked him on the chest. Hard. “What are you hiding, sleepyhead?”

He felt her jolt a little, startling him into action and sitting up. She had just noticed the others, watching them a little warily, her hold on Sky tightening.

“And who are you guys supposed to be?” Groose demanded, sword already drawn. “If we wanted a carnival we would’ve asked Beedle. And where the heck did you come from?”

“They’re my friends,” Sky supplied with mild amusement.

“Beedle’s here too?” Wild asked, incredulous. “How in the world does that man get everywhere?”

“I don’t think it’s the same one, buddy,” Twilight whispered.

“Not unless he knows poetry,” Sky noted with a tired laugh. Then he looked at his fellow Skyloftians. “Guys, these are my brothers-in-arms. They’re…”

Oh, no. Explaining it would immediately tip Zelda off. He fumbled, trying to find the right words. “They’re, ah, knights from other eras of this land’s history.”

Legend scoffed. “I’m not a knight.”

Twilight huffed in agreement.

Sky frowned at them. Work with me, will you?

“I got knighted?” Wind asked excitedly. “Haha, nice!”

Sky sighed heavily, burying his face in his hand.

“We all share the same destiny,” Time tried to explain instead. “We’re all h—”

“Heroic men!” Sky interrupted with a clap of his hands. “Wonderful, truly heroic men and I am honored to travel with them. We’re investigating those dark gates together. They appeared in their worlds too.”

Groose was immediately curious, asking a million questions of the group.

Zelda, on the other hand, only looked at Sky.

“Link,” she said quietly. “What are you hiding?”

Sky bit his lip. “I’m not—”

“What’s wrong?” She pressed, eyebrows pinching together in worry.

“Nothing,” Sky insisted gently, reassuringly, willing all his love into it as he hugged her again. He didn’t want to worry her, please not her. “I’m okay, I promise.”

He knew his best friend too well, though. She’d caught on that something was off, and she would not let it go. She watched him, her expression shifting from worry to something else. Before their adventure, it had been a discerning and somewhat exasperated tenacity that would push him to discuss whatever he was hiding.

These days, it felt far more… intense. Piercing, knowing beyond all capacity, otherworldly. It was never threatening or scary, but it was definitely… unsettling.

But it was Zelda. She could never unsettle him. She couldn’t.

Sighing, Sky knew better than to continue the fight. “I… made a bad choice. It led to bad consequences. But I… please, Zelda, I… I don’t want to talk about it right now. I just… am tired. And… it’s a lot to talk about.”

The goddess receded from her eyes, and only his friend remained, worried and supportive. Zelda sighed a little, holding him close. “Well, let’s get you up to Skyloft. We can help you better there.”

Sky smiled, feeling her silky hair slide across his cheek as she moved to kiss him again. He wouldn’t argue over the fussing - he’d endure anything to spend time with his beloved.