#it'll probably be finished by the time i start posting it on here

[rainbows-fanfics]

Fuck it. Got the rest of All'inzio posted in my Drafts. About to Queue/schedule it up.

[raiiny-bay]

my favorite edits - 2023 edition 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

[morbethgames]

New Update Is Out!

First and foremost, new update is out! It's kind of a small one, but it's a scene with Hawks where they are debriefing the PC on the case. Lots of variation in those 10k or so words, so you'll probably only see about 2k of it per playthrough.

Well everybody, I had been taking a bit of time. Admittedly, and a bit… embarrassingly… coding like, 30 different variations of Lance's happy-fun-time burnt me out. But, it gave me time to really think about things for the game and scenes that should be in there and where their place in the story is. As well as a scene or two I could probably cut so the game doesn't take another year. It's all about that balance of whether or not you can say a scene happened, versus which scenes need to be shown happening. Maybe it can be added in later, but right now, the priority is definitely the time skip scenes and the main story.

But one thing that is refreshing, and a little scary, is seeing the fact that the first scene for chapter 5 is now set up in the game to start being written in. Chapter 5. The final chapter of the game. It's been 3 years. Now, it's gonna be another few months (few as in upper few) until it's finished because Chapter 5 is going to be the chapter with the most variations yet. Multiple TBI's to code. Multiple endings. Multiple paths. It's gonna be a huge chapter. But I'm gonna be starting it (in between finishing up the time skip scenes of course). It's absolutely wild to think about.

There are gonna be some scenes in the final game that aren't going to be in the demo, so the incentive to purchase the game is still gonna be there, but as of right now, the plan is to fully beta test this game. Including the ending. Because what's important to me is making sure I get it right, and in order to do that, I need people to help test it. Whether or not I'll do that publicly through to the ending here or not is yet to be seen. I may ask a couple people to beta test it in private. I'm honestly not sure yet. Maybe it'll be a patreon thing; who knows?

What I do know is this game has been, and will be until it's finished, a great lesson. I have a habit of starting things and not finishing them. Obviously I wasn't gonna say that before because then people wouldn't be invested in the game. But I think it's quite obvious at this point that I'm absolutely going to finish this project, and that is a huge accomplishment for me. It's proof that I can do something like this and see it through to the end.

But yeah, thanks everyone for continuing to come back and check out the game. Now that the current version of the demo is finished, I'll be posting a bit more on Patreon as well. Snippets and whatnot. I figured since I released the little mini-extra scenes game on there I could take another week or two to focus on finishing this up.

As always, stay brilliant.

-Vi

🛡️Patreon | Forum Page | Demo Link🛡️

[highlynerdy]

"I do it because I want to protect him from the world, and sometimes from myself. I want to tell him every secret I ever had, and yet I never want to make him choose, to see the hurt in his eyes, to put this, too, on him. I want-I want so many things. Sometimes, I just want."

Turning The Page by @queerofthedagger / art by @schweetheart

I started this fanARTifact in July 2021 and finally, finally finished it in September 2024. Click below to see so many more pictures and read probably too much about the project.

This project was a LABOR OF LOVE because y'all...I failed so, so many times during the making of it. I had grand dreams of all the things that I was going to do and learn and every single time I tried something it was like the universe telling me to go ahead and go fuck myself, we're not doing that. But it's done and I'm pleased with it. I hope Mona and Schweets are. Let's talk about the process.

I read this story back in July 2021 when it came out and immediately wrote @schweetheart on July 23, 2021 to ask if I could use her art for the back because it was such a crucial part of the story.

She graciously allowed me to use it, and even sent me a high res file so I could have the portrait of Arthur printed on art paper.

THEN. My brilliantly stupid self decided that just making the book wasn't enough. I mean, I had already done that for Arthur's journal back in 2020 and I am nothing if not a nutter about learning to do new things, especially for my fanARTifact series.

SO. I'm going to learn to make paper. Yeah. Totally a reasonable escalation in terms of new skills, right?? ......... Nope. I bought a small 5x7 mould and deckle to practice with and some cotton linters to make the pulp. Twas. A. Failure. I didn't have a press or the felts or the sizing needed to make the paper actually, ya know, usable. This was the first time I put the project down for a while.

Moving on to another new skill in late 2021, I decided that I wanted to make the walnut ink myself. Luckily, I was part of a pigment subscription in 2020 (that is a hell of a nerdy statement, even for me) and had all the supplies in my art studio to attempt this endeavor.

I didn't fail this part! Fucking huzzah for small miracles. Now I had two small bottles of black walnut ink to use for the calligraphy that I wanted to do for some of the excerpts. Except now I was stuck again on the paper making part so I put it back down again for an eternity.

Picking it back up in late 2022, I asked Mr. Highlynerdy to make a custom size mould and deckle for me so I could have long pieces to fold for my signatures. It was his first time doing anything like this but he's a buddy and a pal and gave it a try. Surprising no one if you've read this far, we both failed this part. Even now, I'm still not sure we succeeded but eventually we did get something workable. And considering professional mould and deckles cost in the hundreds of dollars...yeah, it'll do.

It took a hot ass minute for me to feel ready to attempt the paper making again but once I was ready, I ordered wet, pre-beaten pulp from Twinrocker. A very curt man on the phone helped me figure out what I needed and added internal sizing to the pulp I ordered. I didn't take pictures of any of the paper stuff because it was very messy and annoying. Once again, Mr. Highlynerdy helped me rig up a drying box with tri-wall cardboard and ratchet straps and a box fan. Once the paper was dry, I used a gelatin mixture to paint on external sizing. Since I'm primarily a painter, I needed the paper to be able to handle ink, paint, pencil. Sizing paper is the only way to do this, but no worries, I won't go further into the nerdy details about this.

Once the paper was ready, I decided to sew the text block. Here's another part where I failed YET A-FUCKING-GAIN. I talked before on Arthur's Journal post about how books were very, very rare in the 6th century (Arthurian period), but BBC Merlin is soooooo anachronistic that it's fiiiiiine to just do what I wanted. HOWEVER. I did want to try to do visible spine binding. But. Unfortunately I had gone ahead and used all of my paper to bind the text block as if I was going to case it in. FUUUUUUUCCCCCK. It's fine. We're fine. Come on, brain. What can we do.

Well, what we CAN'T do is use a piece of leather from my large remnant that I bought for my first journal because someone - FUCKING ME - measured and cut the last piece NOT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE WIDTH of the text block. So now it doesn't fit. And refusing to buy a new piece of leather I'm forced to pivot once again.

I decided to cut the leather spine even shorter, buy some wood pieces and sand them, paint them a matte black, and then glue the leather to those pieces. Cool cool cool. We're moving on. I tested a lot of different glues for this and good ol' super glue ended up being the clear winner. Cue putting this project away again for a whiiiillle.

In October 2023, I decided to pull it out again and do the calligraphy and drawings I wanted. This story has so many gorgeous parts but I finally decided on the first page, the last page, and the page about Gaius.

I mixed my handmade walnut ink with my beloved Finetec gold and used the quills I bought from John Neal Booksellers to practice my Uncial. I shouldn't have been rusty after lettering an entire fic for this fanARTifact, but I was.

The little dragon was inspired by medieval manuscript dragons I found.

Narratively, I loved the idea that Merlin's writing would start off soft and delicate and become stronger by the end of the journal. Also, I loved that the end word "WANT" would be just gold because the ink blend changes throughout. Something magical or whatever.

This part needed tears. They might have been real ones...

Annnnnnnnd, the project was put down again until a few days ago when I decided, after getting back into Merlin fic, I needed to buck up and finish it.

I did so many tests for the cover. I tried embossing, carving, and debossing and hated all of them. I settled on painting it with acrylic paints in the shape of a Celtic knot sort of pattern. I originally wanted to do a triskelion but after reading a bit about how some asshole groups have co-opted the symbol for shitty purposes, I decided against it. It's a mix of black and gold and it's hard to capture the depth of it through photos...eh, I did what I could.

Still. Something wasn't quite working with the brown leather and the black covers with the new symbol so I broke out my matte black leather paint and decided to go all black.

All I had left to do was glue in the text block and it would be done! And that still took me a few days to work up the courage. The book opens nice and flat, which will be good for me as I will use it as a sketchbook.

Sitting here, on September 1st, I have completed a project that taught me many new skills and also taught me a lot about humility and perseverance. There was no way I was going to abandon this project, and maybe I should have started over many of the times, but I am quite in love with the final result and I just hope that it does it's inspiration proud. Thank you @queerofthedagger Mona for all you create and share with the Merlin fandom, and thank you @schweetheart for allowing me to use your gorgeous art.

Also, you may see quite a few other fanARTifacts in this photoshoot because I will use any opportunity to show them off lol.

If you read to the end of this, you deserve a cocktail and a cookie. Thank you. 💛✨✨

[starryficsfinishwen]

✧。◟ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴍᴇ ʟɪᴋᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ! — PGR Men x reader

last night, I laid in bed so blue / then I realized the truth!

summary // how do your favorite constructs kiss you?

a.n. - post Valentine's post :D I've been so busy with irl lately, I only just got back on my Tumblr 🫠 how'd your valentine's go?(I had a date with my school project :'D so peinful)

pairing(s) - lee, chrome, wanshi, kamui, camu, watanabe, noan, roland, noctis x f!commandant (and can be gender neutral!) (separate!)

content // suggestive LOL basically how your favorite playable characters would kiss you scenarios~

dividers by @/saradika-graphics!

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ Lee: Hyperreal

Kissing Lee is like breathing.

Inhaling, in the way his hands are on your jaw, the little smile on your lips when his breath fans yours. Breathing in, the smell of the cologne you've gifted him makes you dizzy in a good way, the softest brush of his mouth on the corner of your lips. Taking in, the taste of chocolate; bitter as the coffee you made the first time, yet morphs into something so sweet as sugar cookies, and you can feel him smiling as your lips meet, savoring every drop he offers—

Exhaling, as Lee pulls away to give you air, foreheads touching, because you are both too intertwined to move away from one another.

“We made quite a mess here,” you giggled.

The newly-made kitchen of the Gray Raven base is as messy as a child's breakfast: pots and pans strung everywhere, chocolates and other liquids splattered all over the counter, the drain is probably clogging for some reason (it was Lee's fault), and there was a burnt cake placed somewhere (your fault) but you both never minded those.

“I told you to let me handle all the baking,” Lee huffs, thumbs unconsciously caressing your jaw, “You had to be so stubborn.”

“I knew what I was doing,” you pout, “You always follow the recipe, even though you could just do some feeling!”

“I am starting to doubt your feelings. Remember the first-”

“-not another word.”

“Okay, okay, I'm sorry to burst your bubble.” Lee smiles at you, hands now placed beside your legs on the table you sat on, “We might as well clean up and just order something else.”

“Nooo,” you whine, tugging on his 'Kiss the Cook' apron, “The last cake is in the oven. It'll be done. I promise, it will taste yummy.”

Your lover laughs, his head rubbing your cheek, “Remind me again why we are baking?”

“It was supposed to be my surprise for you for Valentine's.” You admit, sighing, “You had to come and ruin it.”

Everything feels natural; his body fills in the gaps in yours. His head rests on your neck, your hand on his cheek and hair, his arms on your waist. You breathe in the same air, laughing off the smell of the burnt cake from earlier.

“I'm sorry,” he softly murmurs, his lips lightly kissing your neck, “...at least I get to take you out tonight.”

“Tonight?” Did you have a plan for tonight?

“Yes. I reserved a table for us at the restaurant you like.”

What a surprise. Pulling away to look at Lee's cerulean eyes, you somehow realized something:

“I thought you hated dining outside of our lounge.”

“I do,” Lee purses his lips, before sighing, “but I know we've been busy and you wanted to eat outside. Besides, it's still practical because of the restaurant's offer for Valentine's.”

Ah, this man is so smooth. You already knew that it wasn't just for that reason. Leaning to press your lips into his, you could feel your heart leap out of joy. You could hear the ting of the oven, but you never cared. You only wanted Lee's kiss— Lee's love, in the form of inhaling, taking in, exhaling.

“Commandant,” Lee pulls away slightly, whispering, “the cake-”

“I love you, Lee,” you giggled, hands threading in his hair as you purposely let your leg catch that particular spot that made him shudder, “You're so sly.”

“...You better finish what you've started, Commandant.”

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ Chrome: Glory

Kissing Chrome is needy.

It's hot, it's heavy— his hands that grasped your shoulders, almost afraid you'd disappear if he wasn't careful; yet, still so gentle— his lips on yours are so soft, you feel like you'd melt if he wasn't holding you.

“I missed you,” Chrome mumbles when he parted from yours for air, “I missed you so damn much.”

It's not a common occurrence for the both of you to be away from each other. He was the Captain of Strike Hawk, and you had your own team. But to be away from the public eye, to be in some random corner of the streets, as your heavy breathing mingled with one another and your bodies touching, you remember that you couldn't be away from your lover far too long now.

“I missed you, Chrome, I missed you, too.” You could sob from the intensity of your situation, hands reaching for whatever part of him—his shoulders, his arms, his cheek— “Thank God, I can finally see you.”

“Me too,” Chrome breathes, placing a kiss on the crown of your head, “I couldn't wait any longer.”

“Do you still have more appointments?”

“I do,” he groans, frustration evident on his pretty face, “I still have to meet a few more people...”

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't be,” Chrome is the one who apologizes instead, starry eyed twinkling that made you frown instead.

It's always busy and no rest days. Apart from your lover being such a dependable leader, sometimes, your greed makes you want to steal him away. But alas, as you caress his cheek, the cool touch of his skin underneath your fingertips, it makes you lean onto him, lips kissing his jaw.

“[Y/N]...?”

“I missed your touch,” You admit, hands now on his cheeks, “I missed your face. I missed your hands, your kisses— I don't want to be away from you longer.”

Was it your position that somehow made you hot? Or was it the way Chrome leaned more into you, kisses reaching every inch of your face, to your chin, to your exposed jaw— you stifle a quiet moan, as Chrome nips at a particularly sensitive spot on your neck, something that you've never touched before, something that was a step closer into your relationship.

“I am trying so hard not to overwhelm you, [Y/N]. I missed you so badly,” Chrome groans, “but finally seeing you, finally being able to touch you...I want to show you how much I missed you, but I'm afraid it'll be too much...”

“Don't stop,” Boldly, you proclaimed, hands running through his hair, disrupting it into a messy one, “Let's go home, Chrome. Show me how much you've missed me, and I'll show you mine.”

Pulling away so slightly, Chrome's turquoise irises reflecting a darker shade amidst the light from the crack of the corner. In between those eyes and your pending responsibilities, you already made your decision. As you feel Chrome's hold on your hips, you pressed your lips to him.

“I hope you'll stay true to that offer, [Y/N].”

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚Wanshi: Hypnos

Kissing Wanshi is dreamy.

In the tender tones of daylight, the artificial sun bleeding into your skin. There are too many touches all at once, but neither the two of you bother to pull away. Wanshi's lips find your skin without a hassle, humming when you swallow your laughs. He's everywhere— your hand, your arm, your shoulder, the dip of your breasts, your clavicle— everywhere but your face.

“Wanshi,” you purred, never bothering to open your eyes, “you're so needy...”

“Hush, let me dream a bit longer,” your lover sighs in your neck, nibbling your skin, “it's not everyday I get to kiss you like this.”

“We'll both be late at this point. Didn't you say Captain Chrome warned you already?”

“He already put those rules before,” he pauses, yawning, arms now wrapped possessively around your waist, “I'm exempted.”

“I won't be surprised if you get to be deprived of your capsule for another week...”

“Hey, this is about us today,” he murmurs, lightly kissing the side of your neck, “I don't want to hear another man's name in our bed...”

Your lover never learns. But still, you couldn't help but laugh at his antics. It's his problem anyways, not yours. As you giggle, your hand finds itself cupping Wanshi's soft cheeks, squeezing it.

“Wanshi, darling, we really need to get up soon. I also have work.”

You could feel Wanshi pouting against your skin. Without a warning, he gets on top of you, golden eyes looking at you. “Five minutes. Give me five more minutes, and I'll let you go.”

As you were about to ask what he meant, Wanshi leans down to capture your lips with his. You squeak from surprise, but in the end, you couldn't help but submit to his whims. His soft lips, the love that permeates from him, slipping in so deeply into you as you felt yourself buried deeper into the sheets. Your hand finds his, intertwining as he leads it above your head. Forget your job, forget that it's another shitty work day; it's only you and Wanshi, in your bed, and his dreamy kisses.

You love Wanshi, and you'd always pick him, despite his sleepy circumstances, despite everything else.

“Mm...Wanshi, give me more than five minutes.” You mutter, letting your legs wrap around his waist, pressing into him.

“Oh?”

“Yes, nngh, you win this time. Now, give me more kisses.”

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚ Kamui: Tenebrion

Kissing Kamui is like catching the sun in both hands.

More like a surprise; playful shouting as he wins another round of your favorite game, leaving you dumbfounded in your chair. You love your man so much that you'd rather see him with that goofy smile on his face. But sometimes, some victories feel like they are being rubbed hard on your face.

“Haha! This is the third time now!”

“Alright, alright,” you shrug, placing the controller down, watching Kamui lead out of his seat, “You win.”

“Does this mean I get to have the seat for a week?”

“A month, too, if you want,” you shrug again, “Congratulations, Kamui.”

It's his playful character that made you fall for him in the first place— a unique laughter, the way his eyes crinkled with delight, how Kamui's feet would curl. But unbeknownst to him, however, you had another trick on your sleeve.

“Time for a free round!”

“No, thank you,” you flutter your eyes at him, “I'd like to see you play for now. I might get you next time if I watch your movements.”

Kamui laughs instead, making your stomach jump, “Babe, just watch, then. But I'm sure that I'll win again like always.”

As Kamui positions, your plan goes into play. He won't win against you, the real mastermind of the game.

Kamui's eyes glimmer as he focuses intently on the game. Somehow, in the middle of scoring another new record, his mind lands on you.

“[Y/N]? You seem qui-”

When he turns his head, he is met with a surprise kiss on his lips. Kissing Kamui always felt like reaching for the sun in your hands, especially this way: the surprised sound from his lips when they met yours, the softest yet so hot as he absentmindedly drops his console, reaching to hold you; Kamui doesn't hesitate to kiss you back with the same intensity— tongue tasting his favorite drink on yours, the smell of your perfume, and the dizzying heat when he refuses the pull away, in spite of your little plan.

You squeak when Kamui gently pushes you onto the sofa, him breaking away to find your saliva strung together on both of your lips. The game plays in the background, forgotten as Kamui straddles you. Looking back at his glinting eyes, you seem to miss this in your equation.

“Really, [Y/N]?”

“Y-you didn't have to- I-I thought you'd-”

“Tsk, tsk,” Kamui laughs, thumb caressing your swollen lips, “[Y/N], you already knew I'd let you win. I guess you'll be getting your present early, then~”

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚Camu: Crocotta

Kissing Camu is like snow on the beach.

So rare, so sudden. It's the rumble of the vending machine of some unknown brand, dropping a new kind of food. Was it edible?

“So they really did put up these things.”

It's the low sound of Camu's husky voice surprising you on a random sunny afternoon. You quickly pick up the food, presenting it in front of him, “Do you mean this?”

Camu takes the food from your hand. It's a cake in a can, you presume, as it is written boldly on the cover. Squinting his eyes, Camu effortlessly tears off the lid without the use of the safety pin. At this point, such a scenario no longer surprises you.

“A cake in the can?”

“A cake in the can.” Camu affirms, giving it back to you, “It was a staple for the Japanese vending machines back in the Golden Age.”

The little treat (although forced open) seemed cute. Using the spoon provided, you took a few bites. Immediately, a yummy flavor pours into your mouth, making you squeal with joy. You quickly taste more.

“Mmh! It's so sweet~!”

“Yeah, they're usually really sweet.”

Taking a large spoonful, you hold it out to Camu. “Would you like some?”

Hesitant. Camu looks at you, somehow judging you (do you usually hold out food to random people?), yet cautiously leans down to your height. His eyes never leave yours as he takes a bite, even until he gulps it down. Your eyes twinkle as you notice your joy reflected in his, signaling the sweet taste of the dessert.

“What do you think?”

“...it is very sweet.”

“I really want to eat more of this~” you grin, “let me order-”

Camu holds your shoulder, causing you to stop. When you turned to look back at him, focused dark eyes looked at you.

“Wait.”

Camu leans forward, his face inches away from yours. As you feel your temperature grow higher, you only notice Camu's thumb caress the corner of your mouth.

“...you had a bit of cream there.”

Did you only notice Camu's handsomeness just now? Or was it because of the close proximity? His breath is cool on your lips, pretty dark eyes devoid of any harshness that he usually portrays, yet the subtle softness of his features somehow made him look more handsome up close. It makes you want to kiss him.

“I'm sorry?”

Snapping out of your reverie, you blink at him, “Huh?”

“You said you wanted to kiss me.”

Crap. You and your thoughts! You groan, trying to mask your reddening embarrassment, “Ah, Camu, I'm so sorry, I didn't-”

But Camu closes the gap anyways. It catches you off guard at first, but his kiss is cool and warm at the same time, almost felt like bathing in the sea amidst the snow. You taste the sweet cake on his lips, the smell of peppermint invading your senses. It is only a short while, ending as fast as it started. When he pulls away, you find dark eyes reflecting your emotion: curiosity.

“...ah-!”

“Technically, we indirectly kissed already.”

Camu points at the spoon, realization dawning on you. You squeak, trying to assess more of the situation. But Camu, with a small smile on his lips despite the deepening blush on his cheeks, coughs, “...I guess it's time for me to ask you out later during the Valentine's event, then.”

You were about to ask what the deal was about, until your mind whirred back to his initial words.

“I thought you don't like Valentine's?”

“I don't like Valentines.” He said.

“So why...?”

Camu, turning away from you, before looking back with a smile on his face, “I like you, obviously.”

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚Watanabe: Epitaph

Kissing Watanabe is always a surprise.

It's when you least expected it. From the sudden kisses in front of children, to meet ups in the warehouse, and even in random times of the day. Watanabe would always keep surprising you, you almost think it's a routine at this point (God Bless your heart; hopefully his antics won't kill you before your fated day).

However, lately, it's almost not happening.

“Hello, [Y/N],” your lover greets you as he passes by, opting to continue talking to the man beside him. You retract your expectant hands.

“Watch out, [Y/N].” Watanabe calmly catches you by your hips, when a child nearly hits you with the ball. You wanted to reach out, but he was already walking away.

“I'll be taking that.” And gone was the playful kiss on your shoulder, instead, it was a smile on his lips as he took the supplies and left you in the dark. What the hell was going on?

On a random evening, he started to avoid you on purpose.

“Watanabe!” You cried out as you watched him disappear from the sea of people.

It was the nth time of you trying to track him down that day. Tired from running around, you slump against the wall, tears filling your eyes. Your tears began to escape your eyes as the atmosphere around you, despite it being Valentine's, was full of love and laughter.

What did you do wrong? Watanabe is your lover, one you've long promised to be with forever. But what was forever if he no longer looked at your way?

“Miss [Y/N]?”

Sniffling away your tears, you looked up to see one of the Forsaken soldiers. “Y-yes?”

“...are you alright?”

“Y-yes, yes,” you were not, but you still stood up, facing the soldier, “What do you need?”

“Could you kindly come with me to the warehouse? I need someone to inspect the weapons before we head out tomorrow.”

Wordlessly, you follow the construct. Your mind swims in a hazy sea of doubts and self depreciation. Should you leave this place? Go back to Babylonia? You are still welcome there, last time you checked. But the people...

It didn't take a while before you both arrived at the destination. Stepping inside the dark warehouse, you failed to notice that the door behind you closed. As you ran to pry it open, from the corner of your eyes, you saw a lone light shine in the middle of the dark warehouse.

It's Watanabe.

All of your anger rushes to your brain. Your legs move quicker, however, sprinting to reach out to the estranged man.

“You selfish little-”

“[Y/N]-”

Anything Watanabe says is fast, but your reflexes are faster. You held onto his arms, your tears of anger flowing as you cried out.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I know, I know-”

“Do you know how sad and angry I am at you? For leaving me with no answers?”

Watanabe does not answer. He lets you speak.

“Why? What did I do wrong? Why are you ignoring me?”

“I am aware, yes.” He answers, sorrowful, “I am sorry for treating you that way, [Y/N]. I know I shouldn't have done that, but my actions hurt you instead.”

“Then why did you do it?”

Watanabe doesn't answer. Instead, he reaches out to cup your cheeks, genuine sadness reflecting in his expression.

“I have been thinking. And I made up my mind.”

He caresses your cheeks with such reverence, it almost makes you melt. “...being away from you is so cruel. I wanted to make such a heavy decision, to leave you so you could be with another human, but I realized that I was just like you— I would be angry, too.”

Watanabe leans down, your forehead touching, “I want to be greedy for you, [Y/N]. Please, let me make it up to you.”

Suddenly, you were aware of the weight of your words from earlier. You weren't mad; you were devastated. Should this man, the love of your life, leave you, what becomes of you, then?

“Watanabe...”

You tug on his collar, whispering, “Don't go. Kiss me, please.”

Kissing Watanabe really is a surprise. It's fulfilling, in a way that completes you like a puzzle, his warm lips on yours. You love him just as much as he loves you, perhaps more— it's agonizing, it's too much, yet you crave for him; he is all you have. When he reluctantly pulls away, he whispers your name.

The lights of the warehouse turn on. And behind him, a dazzling display of flowers and pictures are shown.

“What-”

“I know it's not much, unlike the luxuries in Babylonia,” Watanabe kneels down, the glittering stone on the engraved jewelry in his hand, “But this is all from every corner of my heart; I love you, my [Y/N]. Please accept my proposal.”

You couldn't hold your tears anymore— from anger, they turned into immense joy. The answer has long been spoken.

“Marry me, my [Y/N].”

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚Noan: Arca

Kissing Noan is sweet.

Little kisses and noises of joy as you take breaks in between your book reading. It's his warm hand on top of yours, the other busy flipping through the pages. Noan's voice is a soothing lullaby, a gentle lull as he reads the passages for you.

“It's quite ironic,” Noan breaks away from the book, putting it aside as he brushes away the hair covering your face, “I thought you wanted me to read to you.”

There you were, comfortably laying on his lap, watching him with tired eyes. Slightly pouting, you weakly tugged on his scarf, “Noan, why did you stop...”

“My lap isn't very comfortable to sleep in. Let's move you back to your base.”

“Nooo,” you stubbornly shook your head, trying not to let Noan stand, “Finish reading the book, please? You're almost at the exciting part...”

Sighing, Noan picks up the book. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, one of the books that caught Noan's attention. Driven by your immense curiosity and how Noan was itching to read the story, judging by its summary, you thought it was a nice idea to let him read to you. It's hitting two birds with one stone!

“I don't get how you're so interested in the book,” Noan asks, flipping back to the page where he left, “You're already falling asleep.”

You don't have the heart to tell him you've already read it while you were still in the F.O.S. “Well, I think the concept is neat.”

“The concept of a man who has the body parts of dead people off killing people just to appease his creator?”

You shrugged, “I mean...”

Noan laughs, fingers idly drifting and drawing circles on your cheek, “Just tell me that you're just doing this because you think that I'm interested in it.”

“Are you not?” You turned to catch brown eyes looking at you with mirth.

“In a way, yeah.”

You pondered for a bit, trying to remember the contents of the book. Lifting your hand to cup Noan's cheeks, you huffed, “Y'know, you remind me a bit of the monster.”

Quickly catching yourself with your words (to which Noan laughs), “I mean, minus the killing. Wait, no, I mean-”

“Okay, okay, something related to that?”

“Yes, that.” You grinned, “the monster wasn't supposed to mean any harm. He simply wanted the attention and love from his creator.”

Your lover, in a way, was similar to the monster of the book. Rebuilt and revived, nearly as a killing machine. But does a killing machine have to look this beautiful in the hazy afternoon glow? Noan's lips parted for a bit, before pursing them. Lifting your head, you snuck in a short kiss on the corner of his mouth.

“You're similar yet different from the monster, Noan.” You murmured, closing your eyes as you inhaled his smell, “Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by slight ligaments are we bound to prosperity and ruin.”

Noan chuckles, lightly squeezing your cheeks, “and you tell me you've never read the book before-”

“I didn't disagree, didn't I?”

“Hmm...”

“Noan,” you whispered, “Unlike Frankenstein's story, you are never feared, nor despised.”

You kissed Noan. It's sweet— the taste of the cookies you gave, the herbal tea; his lips that were made to kiss yours, to fit; and Noan, who went through too much, was yours to protect forevermore.

“You are loved, even more than your creator.”

When you pull away, deep red tinted his cheeks and ears, which made you laugh. “Well, Noan?”

“Mm...I should stop reading the book since you already know-”

“Keep going, please?” You purred, “I like you reading to me.”

“...mh, fine, you're lucky I like you.”

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚Roland: Flambeau

Kissing Roland is, well, comedic.

He's laughing; the crescendo plays a melodic tune, as he plays his role. Your lover is a clown at this point, laughing manically with every step he takes.

But you love him anyway. You love your clown.

“Roland, dear,” you giggle, “Remind me again what's my role?”

He pauses, before approaching you. “Mi amor,” Roland reaches out to your hand, kissing it, “You are the lead of this play!”

As he continues to play his role, you are sitting in front of him, on a fancy chair. For Valentine's, you half-expected Roland to join the theatre, however, he was here in front of you— with only you as the audience and apparently the lead as well.

“What do I do?”

“Sit prettily there,” Roland winks, “That's your role.”

“Alright. Do I still get compensated?”

“Hush, the climax of this story is now nearly in full bloom.”

With a crisp spin, Roland turns to face you, the spotlight hitting every nice angle he had. In his hand, a single, beautifully blooming rose.

“Mi amor, my love, my light,” Roland began his monologue, “Though it has been a very long journey and story, here we are, still alive.”

Ah, you realized this scene now. The first proper confession.

Roland walks to you, despite his clownish appearance, he genuinely had a sweet smile on his face. “Damned by those who defy our circumstances; from this day forward, I am yours, as much as you are mine.”

He looks at you, with gentle hands holding your cheek, “What do you say, mi amor?”

In the original story, you ran away out of fear. But you were in a new scenario with him now. Smiling, you dragged him to you with his shirt, “Hmm, sounds missing.”

You wink at Roland, “Ah, I know now.”

Without a warning, you closed the gap in between your lips. Roland eases into you easily; grasping at hands, responding to your move. It's still soft, his lips that make you dream of oceans and theatre plays— it makes you want more.

But Roland pulls away, chuckling, “Well, that certainly wasn't part of the script.”

“You kept missing the cues,” you stuck your tongue out, “I merely filled in the gaps.”

“That's my girl,” Roland praises, “My perfect muse, my perfect actress.”

Comedic, in a way that it's the perfect timing. You leaned further to kiss him more.

“Mm, I still have a few ideas you can add to your script.”

Roland's hand in your hips tightened, mirroring your smile, “Do tell, we should execute it afterwards.”

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚Noctis: Indomitus

Kissing Noctis is wild.

In how he holds you effortlessly in one hand. You grasp where your hands could reach, but you could only breathe in. In how Noctis's voice sends shivers. A melody that echoes so long.

His lips are begging to be with you. It's almost painful.

“[Y/N], [Y/N],” Noctis whines, “Please, let me touch you.”

“We are in a public area, Noctis,” you whisper, aware of his creeping fingers on your pants, “Mmh, it's not just me...”

Your lover was supposed to be a grown man, but who knew his neediness could make him such a needy child?

“Please, please, I promise it won't take long,” He groaned as his fingers rubbed your thighs, “I'll be very quick.”

Sighing, you try to look around you. Making sure that no one else could see, you pulled Noctis closer, lips mere inches away from one another.

“Be quick, okay?”

And you trust Noctis. Kissing him is wild— as if asking to be breathed back to life, he kisses you with such fervor. Never minding touchy hands, it's so hot that you unconsciously opened the buttons on your shirt. Noctis loves hard and harder, the beating of his heart a testament. His tongue on yours, hands everywhere else.

“Thank you,” he cries out, making you throb, “I owe you so much...”

“How about pushing it past my limits today, Noctis?”

Without a word, Noctis slips into you for one more stolen kiss. “You have my word, then, [Y/N].”

Writing this half asleep HAHAHAHAHSHSHA

— starry

[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook

𝐄𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐞. | TEASER

There's magic in everything.

Tags/Warnings: Royal Warlock!Jungkook, Maid!Cat Hybrid!Reader, Magic!AU, realistic Fantasy, sci-fi, Strangers to lovers, Fluff, Romance, Angst, mentions of war, Injury, Violence and blood, Smut

Length: ???

There is no taglist for this fic. This is a Patreon-Exclusive.

A/N: due to fantasy stories never doing very well here on tumblr, Exhale will be posted on Patreon only. I've also lost my job, so currently, Patreon is one of the only ways to make money right now. Please understand that I'm gonna advertise it more often due to that. Thank you for your understanding.

⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅

"You'll feel at home soon, Sir Jungkook." You say as you place the plate of his food in front of him, his dark eyes looking up at you.

They don't scare you. Neither does the fact that he draws his powers from.. well, not the light. He's shown by now that he still has a kind heart, even if it's a bit hidden and cluttered with other things he deems more important. "I do not need to feel welcome here." He denies, starts to eat quietly, averting his gaze from you.

"Sure, you do not." You respond, turning around to wash the other's dishes in the sink. Jungkook's eyes raise at that, focusing on the way your tail sways from side to side softly.

Your dress looks a lot more.. tailored to you, than he's used to see on maids. In fact, everyone appears to be dressed in clean, and well made clothes that still fit their status and job- but don't appear to be simply given from one to the next. Kim Seokjin knows every staff's name in fact, and does not seem to really draw a line in who he speaks to and who he does not.

Odd.

"But doesn't it feel better?" You ask, singing to yourself as you wash the plates.

Jungkook doesn't respond, simply thinks. He doesn't have to feel at home here. Once King Seokjin doesn't have any use for him any longer, he will be sent out once more. The less connections he makes here, the less he will be driven away from his path. He doesn't need friends, or a home.

He's learned that many times in his life. It'll only hurt.

"How long have you been working here?" Jungkook asks as he rips off a piece of bread to eat. You dry your hands, and sit at the table with him, stretching out your legs beneath if for a moment.

"Hm.. I was living here since Jin-.. King Seokjin was still a prince, Sir." You answer. "I was born in the nearby forest village. My mother became a maid when I was old enough to attend school." You remember.

"Explains your lack of respect for him in your tone." Jungkook says, not looking at you. You stiffen, ears pinning backwards.

"Ah- but I do have respect!" You almost whine. "It's just.. his crowning was years ago, I know. But.. on occasion, I forget the boundaries set by society." You sigh, leaning your chin on your hand. "Any other kingdom would've already had me beheaded." You giggle to yourself.

"Or at least exiled." He mumbles, biting another piece of bread.

It's good that you seem to be aware of the luxury you're experiencing inside this castle. As a mere hybrid maid, you're not much more in status than a dog- and yet, for some odd reasoning, the King himself treats you as much more, just like the other staff. The way he'd spoken to Jungkook, with such familiarity almost, had shown just how soft the King really is. He truly is in need of protection. God knows he probably has not fought a single time in his life.

Just as his food is finished, Jungkook notices your other hand that's not supporting your head. There's something on your palm he's not sure of, but the skin is clearly irritated. He motions for you to turn it over, and you do- scratches having reopened from washing the dishes earlier.

Either you're very dumb, or just very devoted to your purpose in this castle.

He's slow with his movements to give you a way to deny him- but you do not, instead even leaning forward a bit in curiosity to see what he's going to do, as he covers your hand in his own, silver rings bulky on his fingers. There's no glow, or anything really- not much is happening at all, apart from the tingling feeling underneath your skin, stinging from the cuts slowly ebbing away like it's dipped in cold water.

And when he removes his hands, your palm is covered in what looks like black soot almost.. but once you brush that off, the skin is healed- no scars remaining.

"Oh! There you guys are." Yoongi offers, walking closer into the kitchen, a hand on your shoulder as he stands behind you. "The king requests you, Jungkook. " He tells the warlock, who still feels oddly irritated by the man's lack of proper wording regarding him. "And you should clean up. It's late." He says much softer to you, and you nod.

"Look! sir Jungkook healed me!" You hold out your hand, and Yoongi clearly grows irritated, frustration clear on his face.

This is what Jungkook is used to. The anger, distaste, disgust even regarding his practices- this is what's comforting to him. He can work with that, knows that people like this man will not get unnecessarily attached to him and cause problems. He likes that-

"Yah, where'd you even get hurt again?!" Yoongi scolds you instead, however. "Be glad Jin didn't see, or he'd make you report to him daily again.. show me. Is it really healed.?" He mumbles, inspecting your hand, before he shakes his head at you, ears pinned back. "Thank you. She sometimes has the coordination of a dragon hatchling." He says towards Jungkook, and he's caught entirely off guard, eyes wide open and face clearly showing his surprise.

And you just laugh at that, happily so, before you tell him goodnight with a playful bow, running off after teasingly thanking Yoongi for washing Jungkook's dishes.

Which, yet again irritatingly enough, Yoongi indeed does do for you.

This castle is weird.

But fitting for its king, he thinks.

[tsandoll]

Lowkey wanted to post about this but I’m too lazy so I’ll just share it on here. Sorry if it’s disorganised:(

Jaehyun breeding kink…

Before he met you he gave it no thought and kinda thought it was a weird kink to have. It changed once he heard you moan “inside” when he asked where to cum. It was like a flip switched, ever since then he’s made it his personal goal to hear you beg for him. He’d purposely pull out just so he could listen to your whines and pleads. Every time it happens he gets further away from his soft-dom role and hurdles towards submission. Like he just starts rutting into you while whining.

Firm believer of his voice cracking right before he finishes and him being extremely breathless once he does 😇

since i got this ask ive been wondering who u are 😞 i assume u have an at least somewhat active blog since you said you wanted to post abt this so i wonder if ive interacted with you before 🤨🤨 im just hella nosy LMALHDSJ anyways 😋

jaehyun never thinks very deeply about the things he's into or the things he's intrigued about, he's a go with the flow kinda guy, especially during sex because he's spontaneous and loves discovering new things as he goes along which is why i think he probably hadn't given breeding kinks much thought. his initial reaction to it would probably be to be weirded out by it just cuz his immediate thought would be "what if you get pregnant 😟😟😟" like he'd overthink it like crazy if it doesn't happen in the moment, if he's able to think too hard then it'll be so hard for him. but lucky for us he lacks the ability to think hard <3 (im jk) but his mind is always in overdrive during sex, he's always so into it and focused on both of you cumming so when you moan out "inside" he'd go insane, his hips would move in and out of you so fast so he can pump u full of his cum, just hearing you wanna be filled up like that does something to him. he'd be immediately hooked, always wanting to cum inside of you and in a sense make you his. him getting hurdled into submission ughhdhjdj i feel like he'd often make that shift in the middle of sex just because of the fact that when he's really needy he gets so whiny and and can easily go slightly submissive.

i agree with you so bad, me and thea have said before that we believe his voice would get much quieter when he cums, the whining and moaning is during the lead up to his orgasm but when he actually cums he gets breathy and sometimes sucks in a breath and doesn't let go until he's halfway done or fully done cumming. his voice cracking makes so much sense too cuz he's so raspy already and i feel like he'd dry out his throat a lot too during sex 😫

[spockandawe]

Oh, this is interesting. To me. I'm not sure it's interesting to anyone else! But I'm on my computer for once and FULL of words again, and I'm delighted to talk to myself given half an excuse.

So, I made a post about Long Live Evil! Because I cracked open the book and was absolutely taken aback by how transparently it seemed to be an SVSSS reskin. I wrote up a goodreads thing (it's whatever, I'm going to rehash the main points here too), because I was also full of words and beans after finishing the book yesterday, and after polling online friends, I was surprised to see that the comparison didn't seem to have organically occurred to anyone else, when it was so naked to me. I know there’s a TON of transmigration and isekai stories out in the universe, and pointing at one single book was a big claim, so I just had to assemble all my thoughts! I find this so interesting! And I reblogged my initial one-off post with a little more elaboration about some of the things that jumped out at me, then got on with live and went back to chipping at ORV and GHG, and shotgunned MADK this afternoon.

This is a subtle nod and a wink to my passionate love for these kind of... morally grey main characters! Calling them villains might be a bit much, I don't think there are many true villain protagonists out there (LLE included), and even Devil Venerable has a demonic cultivator who's doing demonic shit and killing loads of people... but with the ultimate balance of the heavens and earth as his priority. This kind of story is my jam. I was recced this book on the basis of transmigration and sketchy protagonists being my thing. I can't rightfully call SVSSS the best cnovel I've ever read, but it is my favorite. And I've probably reread it more times than any other cnovel.

So, that SRB post, huh? I put Long Live Evil behind me, and honestly even following up on the sequel is mmmmmdoubtful, but THIS snagged my attention again. First, the comparisons she's calling out as incorrect are wild to me. Draco and Harry? What? Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian?? (I had to ponder that one for a hot minute, but I bet you anything it's about 'the golden cobra' and 'the last hope' and that's just silly, they're not wangxian, they're MOSHANG)

I was recced LLE in one friend group, but I had an anti-rec from my book club friend group. My book club friend hadn't been at all impressed by it! And she's cool, and I talk up svsss and mxtx to that crowd every so often, without really expecting them to read it. I talk about transmigration as a plot device that I love, and the things that can be done with it! But with that connection in mind between the books, as I started LLE, I was jokingly defending the honor of SVSSS to this crowd, so I admit I was primed to recognize similarities.

I really truly did not make it far in the book before locking it down. I was getting vibes basically from the moment Rae started gushing about her problematic fictional fave, I referenced 95% certainty shortly after she makes the jump to the fictional universe, the golden cobra was 98%, Lia Mingyan's, I mean Liu Mingyan's lack of sex scenes was 99%, and the first pov section for Marius-jun was where I gave up and called it as a sure thing.

It'll be very funny if I'm wrong! I don't think I'm wrong.

Plenty of spoilers to follow, because I identified this inspiration early, I guessed basically every plot twist early, I don't have the patience to dance around spoilers while explaining how it all lines up.

Now, I said this elsewhere, but it bears repeating: I don't think this is plagiarism. I think it's tasteless to accuse an author of stealing and repurposing characters to her face. But I think it's also tasteless to repurpose characters as nakedly as happened here! Again? If I'm wrong? That's why I'm talking to myself on my blog and not messaging her directly (?????? who even does that). What are the stakes for me being wrong here? I look like a clown online? That would be terrible, I've never done that before! It's not a crime to write in ways I find distasteful. It's not a crime to write a book I think is not good, even apart from the use of fictional influences. But I like talking about my feelings online, and I can't be stopped!

But there's two aspects of this that make me somewhat uncomfortable in a less fun way. Both are contingent on the big IF. If this is inspired by svsss, I think it's not a classy move to take a Chinese story in a Chinese setting, inspired by the modern Chinese literary scene and classical Chinese fantasy, and just dump the characters into a generic western setting. Fanfic? Have fun and try to be respectful. Profic, making money off it? Ehhhhh. The question of how much change is necessary is a tricky one! It's not one I'm equipped to answer, this is not my wheelhouse or my place to speak. But it doesn't make me feel good!

However, here's where I have more personal stake:

Again, if this is inspired by svsss. It really doesn't feel great to see a queer story (a smash hit in more than one country!) stripped down for parts and made into a heterosexual story. It's not all heterosexual, we get side lesbians, we get men with homoerotic tension. But the central ship is now a guy and a girl. And it... stings a little extra, because in the story of svsss, the idea of assumptions about default (hetero)sexuality are such a central theme. A queer man has written a trashy, oversexed stallion novel where the hottest guy in the universe collects the hottest women like pokemon, and it sells so much better than the more personal stories he tried to write. He has to write this pandering trash to make money to live, he can't live on the more authentic stories he tried to tell before. The protagonist is the projection of his own insecurities and self-hate, and the protagonist's right hand man is his projection of his own ideal man. Another man transmigrates into the book, assuming that he himself is straight, assuming the protagonist is straight, and the force of their love changes the course of the entire narrative. In retrospect, it's upsetting to see those load-bearing themes casually carved out of the story and the hollowed-out remains used like this.

Anyways, in their place, now we've got running gags about how the heroine's tits are BIGHUGE now and she can't keep her balance because her GIANT HONKERS keep tipping her over.

I'm a little more bothered than I was yesterday! On the other hand, since I saw SRB's post, I've been chewing on that central ship. Full disclosure, it was one of my favorite aspects of the novel! My other favorite aspect is the dynamic between the golden cobra and the last hope (the moshang, which I think some people misdiagnosed as wangxian).

I know that the central ship here is the thing that's LEAST comparable to svsss, and the biggest roadblock in the way of my theory. On the other hand, I think it was the thing that HAD to change if this story was going to repurpose svsss without getting called out for being a classic 'bro can i copy your homework' adventure.

For this section, let's assume that I'm right and let's roleplay an author trying to figure out how to change Bingqiu into something not-obviously-Bingqiu. How do we need to differentiate Rae and Key from Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe.

First, we eliminate the martial sect thing. Easy peasy! That's a wuxia concept, and this book goes full nondescript western fantasy. She's not his teacher, he's not her student. And if she's not his teacher and he's not her student, why does this woman have power over this man, to build up the resentment that inspires him to turn the tables on her later? Well, in nondescript western fantasy, she's a noblewoman of some kind, and he's a servant of some kind. Noble lady treats servant like garbage, servant resents her. Doing great.

And to loop back around to the beginning of this a little, I think it really is key to this reskinning that Rae is a SHE. If the central ship remained queer, it would be so, so hard to pull away from the most identifiable thematic aspects of svsss. And pieces of what remain are... kind of bizarre for a normie heterosexual ship where our protagonist is aware that she's transmigrated into an impossibly desirable sexpot character!

Shen Qingqiu never considers that Luo Binghe might be interested in him because Luo Binghe is about to have a HAREM of beautiful women, he's the most heterosexual man of all time, and Shen Qingqiu is straight too! Besides, Shen Qingqiu is his teacher! He half-raised Luo Binghe! Even if Luo Binghe was bent, he wouldn't be interested in an old man like Shen Qingqiu!

Rae is 20, occupying a 24-year-old body. Her character's sexiness is relentlessly remarked upon from start to finish. Key is 18. Why is Rae so sure that he looks up to her as... a mentor, as an older woman? He almost goes down on her! He makes out with her! And she's like 'ah yes, it means nothing. lol. so funny how these things happen.' Bruh, at least after Luo Binghe kissed Shen Qingqiu, Shen Qingqiu finally got hit with the clue stick. Binghe didn't try to blow him only for Shen Qingqiu to keep noodling on about how Binghe definitely isn't into him in any sense, even the most oblivious man in the universe managed to catch on.

Why doesn’t Rae think there’s any chance of genuine attraction here? Yeah, I get that she's coming back from terminal cancer. She's doing great. She knows that the fictional character she occupies is one of the most desirable ladies in the land. He’s a teenager. He’s not expressing disinterest. A lack of horny for sexy lady ought to be more surprising for her. But I guess she’s slightly older than him and that small age gap has been magnified by the transmigration, so she conceptualizes herself only as his teacher, I mean mentor.

I’m not even mad at this dynamic. I love their chemistry, the ‘boss’ thing is cute, but lordt, I have to wonder if it’s meant to substitute for ‘shizun.’ But you know where this comparison really falls apart? Key isn’t really THAT much Luo Binghe.

At least, he isn’t in terms of personality. I mean, we’ve got the mysterious magical heritage, the healing factor, the unbeatable fighting skills, being beaten repeatedly because of the protagonist (tbh it’s sexier when she’s responsible, rather than just being a bystander), being yeeted into the abyss, I mean the ravine, to rise again and assume power as the merciless ruler of all the land. Oh, and he comes back from the dead still bearing the scar that represents her betrayal. In the original novel, he turned on her the moment he got his opening and was responsible for coming up with her gruesome torment.

(Also, Shen Qingqiu being terminally ill isn’t canon, but it’s very popular fanon, and it’s hard to ignore that with how hard the narrative lingers over Rae’s terminal illness as her gateway into this fictional world)

But! But the things that are different! Luo Binghe is a smart and sweet teenager, who had a rough start on the streets and has a tragically deceased single adoptive parent, but that’s their only backstory parallel, he doesn’t blacken until he’s thrown into the abyss. Not like Key, Key is a murder-happy sociopath, a former street kid who fought the odds and made good, and who’s a lot sharper and cleverer than the upper classes think someone like him should be. He utterly destroyed a righteous cultivator clan, I mean glassblowing guild, for the sake of revenge. Once our heroine scores a number of trust points with him, we unlock secret backstory about how as a small child, he experienced deeply formative hand trauma.

He’s Xue Yang.

It took me a moment to process the wangxian allegations SRB mentions in her post, because I was trying to figure out how someone would be aware of wangxian, and read that backstory, and somehow miss it. But it’s fine, I’m pretty sure they were actually talking about the golden cobra and the last hope! So LET’S TALK MOSHANG.

It was so funny. I was liveblogging the book to friends, because honestly, I do not jive with the buffy-esque joss whedon relentless quip-quip-quip writing style. I was struggling to stay engaged when the narrative never took a moment to breathe. And I perked up at the introduction of this new character! He seemed kind of fun, kind of meta, Key came over to share Secret Info with him, and I messaged the friend who recced this to me (also an svsss appreciator) ‘lol, what if he’s shang qinghua. just straight from svsss shang qinghua.'

Reader, a second transmigrator has hit the narrative.

Now, in some ways, he’s a disappointment to me. He’s not nearly as interesting as Shang Qinghua. Adding the author to their own narrative is way more fascinating to me than just dropping a rando into the story. But I’ll take what I can get, I think multiple transmigrators are almost always a fun decision. And for the queer reasons I mentioned above, I think Shang Qinghua ties into the themes of his novel a lot more strongly than Eric does here. I don’t want to call him ‘the golden cobra’ every time, I get more self-conscious every time I write it. And honestly, the reveal of Eric’s full Eric Whatever name feels a little awkward and… pointed compared to the sheer opacity of Shang Qinghua’s existence. Never mind what his name was in the real world, we don’t even know his name before he was a Peak Lord. I’m not upset we got a name or anything, it would make certain fannish activities a lot easier if Shang Qinghua had additional canon names, but it was an interesting detail in light of how parallel the characters are.

Okay! He’s not the author! He’s still a super-fan. He transmigrated into the book years before the LLE main character, and has settled in pretty well. According to canon as Rae knows it, he’s fated to be killed by his own favorite character. He’s fast-thinking and fast-talking, and scattered and all over the place, but dangerous when cornered and more competent than he looks. He deals in information and manages a network of spies. He’s a creative! He and the main character banter relentlessly and get along like a house on fire. He and the king’s trusted ice-cold right hand man share a weird codependent dynamic that’s part hostile, part homoerotic.

Marius has complicated feelings about not-shang-qinghua. Eric is a coward, he’d rather talk fast and lie than stand up for anything, he cowers and cringes and isn’t honorable. He and Mobei-jun also shared a deeply formative experience in their youth, where as a teenager in distress, Eric/Shang Qinghua appeared before them and announced their devotion. In Shang Qinghua’s case, it was offering to serve him (and saving him from huan hua injuries), and in Eric’s case, it was declaring him to be his favorite character (and saving him from sad teenaged isolation), but man. And in the end, after a long, fraught relationship, Marius/Mobei-jun is furious and strangely distraught when Eric/Shang Qinghua abandons him.

Guys, it’s not wangxian.

I think it hits less hard when Marius’s themes of family violence aren’t allowed to sit directly in the narrative, and when it seems like some vague berserker rage thing rather than Linguang-jun just bluntly wanting to murder him for practical reasons, but hey! This was still, genuinely, one of my favorite parts of the story. I wanted more more more of them, I would read this moshang au any day.

After that, the parallels get a little more nebulous! The comparisons between the abyss and the ravine are pretty obvious. I’m not sure why we decided to build our city and palace right on top of the pit of people-eating ghouls rather than literally anywhere else, but it means we don’t need to take a special field trip to Jue Di Gorge, which means we can do the bait and switch where it turns out Key was a heavenly demon all along. The temperamental King Octavian, the young master of the palace, one might even say the xiao gongzhu if they were feeling spicy, jealously tries to romantically monopolize half our main ship and has the other half flogged with a magic whip.

I already mentioned that Rae brings up that Liu Mingyan — wait, I said I’d change some answers so it wasn’t obvious I copied — Lia doesn’t get a sex scene in the books even though loads of other people did, just like Shen Qingqiu praises Liu Mingyan for her untouchable image in such an oversexed, gratuitous book. I don’t think it would be right to call Liu Mingyan a white lotus heroine in either SVSSS or PIDW, but her archetype is in that wheelhouse, and Lia is just a white lotus rival played straight (and played deliberately, another touch I liked). We don’t have made up animals like black moon rhinoceros pythons in LLE, but we do have leucrotas, which are like a lion and a hyena and serve no narrative purpose.

Oh, you know what else I forgot to mention? Rae gives Key one of her red ruby earrings, and he refuses to sell it, and stubbornly holds onto it until the bitter end. Is this Xue Yang holding onto the last piece of candy Xiao Xingchen gave him, or is it Hua Cheng determinedly keeping Xie Lian’s red coral earring with him even through his own death? Por que no los dos?

There are things that are original in here. I know that this presentation undersells how much of the book is original. The trouble is, almost everything I thought was good is something that either was lifted from another person’s creative endeavors, or is being tainted by association with all the other naked lifts. Some of the noble ladies have an archery contest! That’s pretty new and fresh, huh? We didn’t have any archery contests in SVSSS!

Yeah, but we sure did in MDZS. And MDZS is already in play, because we’ve already got one character who’s just copy and paste Xue Yang.

There’s a thermocline of trust in this book that fell off for me sharply, and it turned a lot of this into a guessing game of ‘wait NOW what the refrance? owo'

I’m probably on a hair trigger by now, but I’ve also probably missed some things. And I’m sure this is a synthesis of multiple influences, because most stories are. But this feels like cooking and trying to season your dish with a little salt and then the container lid just falls off.

Emer isn’t a clear parallel to an existing character! Love that for her! Love a lady with an axe, especially if she gets a nice girlfriend! On the other hand, in terms of backstory? Wow, she’s been raised with our protagonist since early childhood, as not-quite-foster-siblings, but she was always the clear unfavorite and harbors a lot of resentment over that. Oh, and once Rae entered the story, Rae started trying to speedrun an enemies to 'hello hiiii we should bestiessss' arc with her. I think she had to have an axe, because a whip or a sword would make the Jiang Cheng and/or Liu Qingge vibes a little uncomfortably strong. She doesn’t follow their character arcs! But the disappointing thing is that it felt like she was just there to facilitate pasting the frankenstein patchwork of the narrative together rather than having an arc of her own.

(why did Marius stop to give her a sword lesson? Why did she immediately sneak onto the roof to eavesdrop on the king?? It’s hard to give her credit for being an original character when none of her original actions make sense in the greater universe)

Oh, I almost forgot, we’ve even got magic plot macguffin plants. While Binghe is in the abyss, Shen Qingqiu needs to get the Sun And Moon Dew Flower Seed so he can build an escape hatch for himself before Binghe wrecks his shit. Rae, on the other hand, needs to secure the Flower of Life and Death by an arbitrary deadline as an escape hatch so she can go back to her original life rather than being trapped here forever. Very different! There’s even little side tangents about how these plants can be so beneficial to others, Zhuzhi-lang is desperately trying to secure a seed to build a new body for Tianlang-jun (which Shen Qingqiu enables him to do, despite not knowing what he wants it for), and Rae thinks about how the flower could “save someone on the very doorstep of death,” and gives it away for that exact purpose. So different!

I need to cut myself off, otherwise I’ll keep going. Truly, there is original content in here. It was just all the stuff I didn’t like. The character quipping was. God. There sure was a lot of it! By sheer volume, that’s a lot of original content. Some of the extended cast was interesting, I enjoyed the Horrors and their brothers, I liked Valencia. Now, I didn’t like how basically every girl ADULT WOMAN in this cast was in shitty teen mean girl mode. I didn’t like how immature every character interaction period was. I lost track of how many times Rae was going around in sexy clothes and rando servants were like “HARLOT,” out loud about a favored noblewoman, you know, as you do. Especially when her bodyguard is pulling against his choke chain just waiting for an excuse to do a murder. I don’t need Rae to be the picture of flawless maturity. But nobody is mature, full stop, not even the set dressing servants.

For a less loaded example, the cumplane friendship dynamic is here, practically intact. Shen Qingqiu can't snipe about authorial choices, because Eric isn't the author, so instead Rae and Eric squabble about favorite scenes and favorite ships and such. But it isn't nearly as charming when we don't see these two characters dropping their dignified Peak Lord cultivator roleplay to talk shit with each other. Rae and Eric never have a filter once in this book. They are always Like This, it isn't a secret face that gets unlocked when they're bouncing off each other, they are never circumspect, never have a filter, never have any idea they shouldn't be speaking their full thoughts at full volume 24/7. Even after this starts to have material consequences when they're inevitably overheard! It's an immersion-breaking level of immaturity, which is terribly frustrating when the original dynamic that I loved is only changed in such minor ways.

And another thing that actually tastes way more sour than it did on first reading – Valencia is probably the least mean girl of all the women in the cast. She’s delightful. Too bad that in every scene but her last one, Rae, who repeatedly references her own experiences having her body and appearance ravaged by cancer, cannot for love or money stop talking about how uggo Valencia is.

I know this is an adult novel. The characters are, by age, adults. There’s almost an oral scene. God, I wish we’d gotten the oral scene. But by every other metric, the characters are all high schoolers and I’m an exhausted adult muttering to myself ‘they’ll grow out of it, please GOD let them grow out of it.’

Again, none of this is a crime! Nobody forced me to finish the book! And I did enjoy the book. Parts of it! But that very distinct partial enjoyment experience almost forced me to dissect my own emotional response. And truly, other than a few flashes like Valencia, almost everything I enjoyed about the book was something I could trace directly back to one author, and mostly to one book by that one author. I… enjoyed half of the book. And if I can track most of that half back to mxtx and svsss, I really think that says something about how much wasn’t done to make the inspiration behind this book the author’s own.

It's disappointing! I read this book because I like svsss, I read it because I want more books like svsss, I read it because I trawl the novelupdates tags looking for more books that will hit me the way svsss did. It doesn’t taste good to be served reheated svsss with expired buffy sauce drizzled on top. It tastes even less good once I have a minute to think about what turning an m/m meditation on sexuality and self-image and assumptions about others into a m/f snooze does to the themes I loved so much. It stings to see an author rehash a book that was/is so important to me, and see what they kept and what they threw out, and be like ‘oh, so… these were the elements that mattered to you?’

Again, I hate to be redundant with this, but. I think calling this book plagiarism would be overdoing it. I think it’s tasteless. I don’t think being tasteless is a crime. It remains wild to me that she’s getting messages calling out her supposed inspiration, even if I’m simultaneously criticizing the judgment of the people making those specific comparisons. And I ABSOLUTELY understand why she’s reluctant to own up to the specific inspirations behind this book, because good lord. If it was me, I’d be professionally embarrassed too.

It’s not my job to be the book quality police, but I think someone as experienced as this should be able to do a better job of synthesizing inspirations into something original. I dropped ‘can’t afford to offend my scheming disciple’ earlier this year, because that narrative couldn’t shake the taste of stale svsss fanfic, and it was much more subtle than this is. Once again, if I’m wrong, this post will be retroactively VERY funny and I’ll be all ears to see what her inspirations actually were. I don’t think I’m wrong.

[zombiesturniolo]

Ink

part 1

Chris Sturniolo x Female Reader series

Tattoo Artist!Chris Sturniolo x Tattoo Artist!Fem!Reader

Warnings !! : Fingering, p in v, praising, pet names (princess, baby, sweetheart), drinking, i dont really know what else so lmk if i missed something

Summary : You and Chris had been working together as tattoo artists for quite some time now, probably about 2 years. You've always had a little bit of feelings for him in the back of your head, but you've convinced yourself that the feelings aren't real. Though, you can't help but feel jealous as Chris always flirts with every single one of his clients.

Authors note : Sorry for not posting 😭 anyways, if anyone likes this then ill probably write another part !! enjoy :3

You currently sat in your room, bored out of your mind. You scroll on your phone, trying to find something to do. Your attention is caught as you see a new text message from Chris appear at the top of your screen. "Hey, I'm about to head out to a party. You wanna come?" It reads. Chris would often invite you to come with him to parties, though you rarely said yes due to being busy. However, right now, you had nothing to do.

You smiled as you sent him a text agreeing to go with him. You sat up, walking to your closet and picking out an outfit. You tried your best to get ready quickly, swiftly applying your make up. Once you're finished, you take one last look at yourself in the mirror before heading out.

You arrive at the party, walking in, looking around for Chris. You eventually find him, in the kitchen, a red plastic cup sat in his hands. His eyes light up a little as he sees you, "Hey loser." He says, smiling slightly. You roll your eyes at him playfully before responding. "Hey dummy. Are you having fun?" You ask him, pouring yourself a drink. You stand next to him, taking a sip of your drink. Chris shrugs dully, "Yeah, I guess. The party's alright. Kinda boring, maybe it'll be funner now that you're here." Chris takes a sip of his drink, looking at you, smiling. "Maybe," You mumble in a quiet tone, looking at him.

You and Chris just talked for a bit, you guys seated on a couch in the living room. You're rambling about whatever, that's when you feel Chris shift his hand to your thigh. You slightly freeze, shutting up quickly. You don't know if he did that on accident, or on purpose. Either way, you could feel yourself growing more flushed. You stare at Chris, having nothing more to say.

You watch as his other hand moves to your jaw, his thumb stroking your cheek softly. "You know, I've always though that you were so pretty." He states in a gentle but flirty tone. You only feel the blush on your face spread. "R..really?" You mumble out in a slightly stunned tone. He nods a little, before pulling your face closer to his.

You and Chris' lips meet, your hand moving to his jaw as he kisses you. The kiss grows more passionate over time, and one thing leads to another. Now you're in a random bedroom with him, on the bed, with him on top of you. He kisses down your neck, his fingers tugging at the hem of your shirt. Chris looks up at you for approval, in which you nod back. He takes your shirt off, admiring your body for a minute, before going back to kissing your neck.

Your hand runs through his messy hair, you let out a low groan. He kisses back up to your lips, before pulling away again to take his own shirt off. You grab at his belt desperately, which causes him to pull away, looking into your pleading eyes. "You're really that desperate for me, huh?" He says in a teasing tone, before pulling off his belt.

You take off your own pair of jeans you had on, watching as he takes off his own. He gets back on top of you, kissing your neck again. He pulls your underwear to the side, pulling away from your neck and watching you as he starts to rub light circles on your clit. He smirks as he feels how wet you are. He hears you whimper, applying more pressure to his touch. He slips a finger into you, causing your breath to catch in your throat. After a bit, he slips another finger into your entrance. "There you go, princess. Gotta get you ready for me." He says, still smirking as he listens to your whimpers.

You let out a whine as he removes his fingers from your core, watching as he gets up and takes his boxers off. You swallow, his tip leaking with precum. He gets back on top of you, placing a light kiss on your lips. He slowly pushes himself into you, letting out a low whimper at the feeling. He strokes your cheek gently as he steadily moves his length into you. "It's okay, sweetheart..." He whispers in a soft tone.

Chris gently kissing your neck once it's fully in, "There you go... good girl..." He groans, continuing to kiss your neck as he thrusts slowly. You let out a moan, in which he places a warm hand over your mouth. "Shh baby... there's a lot of people here..." He whispers to you, causing you a nod and whimper against his hand.

His thrusts grow faster as he continues, trying to keep his own moans down as well. It's not long until you feel yourself grow closer to finishing. Chris feels your walls tighten against him, sensing that your close. He picks his pace up, trying to get you closer to releasing. You let out a loud moan against his hand as you feel the knot in your stomach break. He doesn't finish much longer after you do, burying his head in your neck to muffle his whimpers. He pulls out of you, before laying down next to you. "I've wanted to do that for so long, princess." He says in a breathless tone, watching as you let out heavy breaths.

[deerspherestudios]

Hi! I played your game and really, really like it, I am a huge fan of slow burn - combined with Yandere too? That's kinda rare nowadays, haha. Thanks for making it and creating Mychael, I love his design. Two questions: How many days are planned to be playable in the full release?

And

Since in just one day Mychael feels very friendly towards us (according to a post you made with where his feelings are based on a meter) does that mean he's very clingy??? Like, in just one day he feels like our friend. What little effort and words will it take for him to go from crush, to love, to whatever yandere thing he might be??? Like, is he okay??? Should I be worried???

This guy? Clingy? Nahhh. Nothing to worry about, anon :-) 🍄❤️

As for the game, long (!!!) answer below cut: might be spoiler-y might be not.

For context, here's the post mentioned above.

I'm still not sure how many days it will be, but it's definitely ranging between 4-5 days. Granted it'll be a while before the game is finished finished but I think progress will pick up as I complete assets that will be reused. I'm writing Days 2, 3 and 4 simultaneously (anyone who writes can probably relate to wanting a specific thing to happen in the story but dread writing up to it, so I skip around in order to keep my motivation and interest up)

As for relationship progression, slow burn usually means a long time passes before anything develops. But this is a VN and I'm a solo part-time dev so the scope still has to be small 😔 That said!

Mychael, as a person, is quite solitary in nature; he likes being alone and you'll find out why. He does however desire company and he's only realized just how pleasant having someone around can be (hence his reaction for the Bad Endings in Day 1 if you wish to leave/run away)

Although I'm not a fan of the 'you do one (1) nice thing any decent person would do and yandere is already head-over-heels for you' trope, I do have to make use of it but, drip-feed style? You grow closer to Mychael as you hang out with him and do little things that he appreciates. (Honestly I just realized I'm describing the typical visual novel experience just without the yandere beginning-- go! figure!!! /lh)

Example: the first thing that boosts you to immediate friend status is your willingness to accept his physical looks, something that's never happened to him before. (I know my artstyle makes him a yassified pretty boy but imagine genuinely meeting a sentient creature in real life with patchy green skin, a dextrous tail and four blinking pitch black eyes, I think I'd freak too haha) Little things like that mean a lot to him and motivates him to prolong your stay.

In a way, the MC is written to be more kinder and open-minded (at least outside of Bad Ends) than the sweet/sour personalities that come in a VN, so (for narrative AND coding purposes) I can't really diversify it much. I hope that's okay ¯\_(; v ; )_/¯ If Mychael met a more grouchy/mean MC on Day 1 he'd probably not be as attached. He'd just save you, feed you and send you home when you ask hahaha. Of course this will change as he gets to know you better, at that stage he'll be willing to overlook your flaws like any upstanding yandere

Phew this was a lot to dump in an ask but I did wanna explain my vision for the game! I enjoy yandere VNs as an escape fantasy, but it's common they start out with the yan already being invested in you or fall for you too fast!!! if that makes sense. I'm interested in yanderes in the aspect of how love (romantic or otherwise) starts from innocent affection and spirals into dark obsession!!! It's also compelling as to why a character is so devoted to someone, in this situation the MC, and I wanna write the kind of person Mychael would fall for. And personally 'love-at-first-sight' as a reason just doesn't do it for me 💔

(Disclaimer!!! I'm not saying my game is any more original or better than the other wonderful yan VNs in the works, but hopefully with Mychael as a character I can deliver that 'slow-burn-and-yearn' storyline I'd like it to be. As my itchio profile says: I make games I thirst for in secret but are sadly lacking around the internet 💔 )

Thank you for the ask!! :-D

[callsign-dexter]

Deployments and Slugs

Summary: Jake is called away to a deployment leaving Bradley home with their 5-year-old daughter. Jake meets an interesting friend and decides to keep his husband and daughter updated.

Pairings: Bradley Bradshaw x Daughter!Reader, Jake Seresin x Daughter!Reader, Bradley Bradshaw x Jake Seresin, Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw x Carole Bradshaw, Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell x Tom 'Iceman' Kazansky

Warnings: fluff, angst, deployment, inaccurate Navy talk, sickness

Our Little Girl

Masterlist

A/N: Inspired by this clip.

A/N 2: I feel like I rushed the weeks and I'm sorry about that. I don't think this is one of my best fics.

It was rare for Jake and Bradley to go on deployments without one another but sometimes it needed to be done. This time Jake would be deploying for 2 months to a base overseas in Spain. He hated leaving his family but knew it had to be done. Ice tried to stop it or send both of them or another person or team but whoever ordered it wasn't having any of it. Jake would be deploying with Javy.

They had found out during work while they had just finished doing some run-throughs. Maverick had met both him and Bradley on the tarmac. Bradley had come over to Jake once he was down and finished with his post checks. "What's up, Pops?" Jake asked in a cheery tone Maverick gave a weak smile.

"Cyclone, Ice, and Warlock need to see you both in the conference room." Maverick said

"Mav..." Bradley started and he knew what was coming.

"Who?" Jake asked understanding the tone.

"I can't tell you. Goose and myself will be there." Maverick said and Bradley and Jake looked at each other. They didn't like the sound of this. "Meeting is at 3 PM." Maverick said and thru nodded and then he was leaving.

"What do you think it is?" Jake asked and Bradley shrugged.

"Probably about a deployment." Bradley said

"Do you think it'll be the two of us?" He asked

"Probably, I hope it's none of us. I hope that it's all of us meeting about something new." Bradley said and Jake nodded.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 

3 PM rolled around and they were heading to the conference room, nervous as hell. They walked into the room to see Ice, Goose, Warlock, Cyclone, Maverick, and Javy there. Bradley and Jake looked at each other. Both men took a seat next to their teammate and friend. "Thank you all for coming." Ice starts. "I've called you here because a mission has come up and only two of you will go." He said.

"What are the three of us doing here then?" Bradley asked

"Well, considering that you're Jake's spouse and vice versa I wanted you to hear the news with him." He explained and Bradley nodded "We've decided to send Jake and Javy on this mission." Ice ended and Bradley's heart dropped. He was looking at Jake and saw that he was keeping a straight face but he knew what he was feeling. He silently reached under the table and grabbed his hand and instantly felt him squeeze it.

"When do we leave?" Jake asked

"A week from today." Cyclone said and they nodded.

"Do we know what kind of mission this is?" Javy asked

"You will be gone for at least a month. You'll be in Scotland." Warlock said and everyone nodded. Soon the meeting was over and information was given. By the time they got done talking, they were the only ones left. They went to the locker rooms took showers and got changed as they stood, they began talking.

"I wonder what kind of mission this is." Javy said and the other two males nodded

"I hope it goes by fast. I hate leaving Y/N and Bradley." Jake said

"I hate it too." Bradley said

Now it was time for Bradley and Jake to pick up their daughter from school. Bradley and Jake got into Jake's truck since the Bronco was acting up and headed to your school. It was a silent ride but it wasn't really uncomfortable but filled with thoughts that nobody was saying out loud. "When should we tell her?" Jake asked.

"Maybe after dinner." He said and Jake nodded agreeing with that. They arrived at your school and they saw you before they even got to you. You were standing with your teacher and you were laughing about something, you had the biggest smile on your face. Bradley got out and walked over to you as Jake stayed in the truck and he smiled as you got even happier seeing one of your fathers. He couldn't help but let thoughts get to him.

"They'll be fine if I don't make it back."

"They'll have each other to help each other heal and not to mention all of The Daggers and his parents along with Ice and Mav."

"Jake why are you thinking like this? It could be a very simple and easy mission. You love them too much to leave them you're going to fight to get back to them."

His thoughts were pushed back when he saw Bradley holding you and walking to the truck and he put a smile on his face. Bradley opened the back door "Daddy!" You shrieked and that brought a real smile to his face and he turned around.

"Hey, Sweets! Did you have a good day?" He asked and you nodded.

"But it's better now that I'm with you!" You said excitedly and he knew Bradley had you say that and he looked at him. Bradley had a smile on his face as he was buckling in. He was so grateful for his husband he always knew how to make his day better.

"Well, ours is better now that you're here." He said and reach back and tickled you and you giggled and squirmed.

"You're lucky I've had practice strapping her in while she is moving." Bradley said chuckling and that made Jake chuckle. They both had practice. Once Bradley had you settled in buckled in, he got in the passenger side. Now they had to wait to get out of the pickup line but luckily that didn't take long, before they knew it, they were on their way home.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 

The days leading up to the mission were nerve-wracking the routine never changed but there was some tension in the air that could be felt. Jake had taken on most of the responsibility for you Bradley of course took some too but he knew how important to Jake it was to in as much Sweets time as possible. One night, 3 nights before Jake left, it turned out to be a bad night. It started out good but it just increased into a bad night as the night progressed. It was the weekend so that meant that they didn't have to worry about going to work the next day. Everyone had just finished supper and now it was time to get you in a bath and start winding down for the night. "Alright time to get you in the bath." Jake said and you looked at him and pulled a face.

"No." You said and Jake looked at Bradley.

"Sweets, you've been playing outside all day. You need a bath." Jake said and you shook your head.

"No." You repeated

"Y/N/N listen to your Pops." Bradley said and you looked at him.

"No. I don't need a bath." You said

"Yes, you do." Jake and Bradley said at the same time. You shook your head.

"No." You began crying.

"Sweets, please for us. Take a bath and you can watch whatever you want afterwards." Jake said and you looked up at him.

"Really?" You ask and Jake looked at Bradley and he nodded.

"Really." Jake said and you took a moment to think about it.

"Ok." You said and that made your fathers smile.

"Good. Come on." Jake said and lifted you up and carried you down the hallway while Bradley smiled and cleaned up. The bath turned into play time which resulted in Jake becoming drenched but you thought it was the funniest thing in the world and he let it happen. Finally, after the bath was over, he was drying you off, getting you dressed, and then taking you downstairs to join your other father. He burst out laughing when he saw his husband which made you laugh.

"I see bath time went smoothly." Bradley said chuckling and smirking and Jake playfully glared at him.

"You take her while I shower and get changed." Jake said to a laughing Bradley.

"Did you and Papa have fun?" He asked and you giggled and nodded. "I can see that. Let’s pick out a movie to watch." He said and you nodded as you got settled in. Not long after picking a movie a damp haired Jake came down dressed in sweats and a t-shirt.

"What are we watching?" He asked

"Shrek!" You exclaimed and they smiled and he settled in and the movie began. You three watched Shrek and then you were falling asleep and soon they were taking you to your room and tucking you in for the night. They both decided to go on to bed and watch TV in their room.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 

It was the day that Jake and Javy were leaving for the deployment and you were clinging to Jake like your life depended on it. Instead of them going on a carrier they were being flown to Scotland. "No. I don't want you to go." You said crying into his neck and everyone's heart broke.

"Sweets, I'll be back before you know it. I'll talk to you and daddy every day. Ok?" He asked and you shook your head.

"No, Papa. You no leave!" You exclaimed and some people passing by were looking at the both of you in pity. They knew something was going on especially seeing two men in uniform.

"It'll just be a month. I promise." He said and then he looked at Bradley and nodded. Bradley wrapped his arms around your middle which made you cling to Jake even more.

"It's time to go, Honey." He said and started to use force to get you to release you father and man did you put up a fight. But with Jake prying your arms away from his neck and Bradley holding your middle they were able to get you off him and Bradley doubled down on his strength of holding you so you didn't lunge at Jake.

"I love you, Sweets." He said kissing your forehead and then he kissed Bradley and then he was turning around and heading further into the airport with Javy who had waved at the two of you.

"She going to be, ok?" Javy asked and Jake nodded.

"She will be in a day or two." He replied as they reached security. He had half of mind to turn around and not go but he knew he would be in trouble.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 

It was a silent ride back to the house because you had fallen asleep and Bradley could confirm this, because when he looked up at the first stop light you were out. He smiled and continued driving it was a 2-hour drive back home and that gave him time to think but didn't have long because his phone began to ring and he answered it. Carole's voice sounded through the speakers.

"Hey, how did it go?" She asked immediately.

"She didn't want him to go and fought so hard not let him go. It was heartbreaking." He replied

"How is she doing?" Goose asked

"Sound to asleep. She fell asleep before we even got to the first stoplight." Bradley replied.

"You both want to come over for dinner?" Carole asked

"We would love that. A distraction for her would be great around this time." Bradley replied as he glanced into the review mirror to find you still asleep. "Actually, can we come over now? I think it will hit her again when it is just the two of us home alone." He added.

"Of course! Come on over." Carole said and Bradley smiled.

"We're 10 minutes out." He said

"Can't wait to see you both." Goose said

"We love you both." Carole said and Bradley smiled.

"We love you too." He said and then they both hung up.

10 minutes later they were pulling up to the Bradshaw residence. Bradley parked his Bronco and got out and then worked to get your sleeping form out of your car seat. You only stirred but didn't wake up and that made him smile you could sleep through anything just like Jake despite him being in the Navy. As he got you out the front door was opening to revel your grandparents, he silently closed the door and walked up to them. "She's still out?" Goose asked and Bradley nodded.

"Leaving Jake drained her. I'll wake her up her soon." He said

"Let her sleep. We have all night and it is the weekend." Carole said waving him off as she ushered everyone into the house. "Go put her in her room." She said referring to the room you had here when you slept over for different occasions. That is what Bradley did he walked to your room and took off your shoes and tucked you in with a kiss to the forehead. Once he was satisfied that you were ok, he left the room and walked downstairs into the living room. He hugged his parents and then sat down. "It was bad huh?" She asked and Bradley nodded.

"We were getting sympathy looks from everyone that walked by." He said

"It's tough but they wouldn't be sending them if they didn't think they would be up for it." Goose said and Bradley nodded.

"I know but it doesn't make it any easier." He replied

"None in the slightest." Carole said they continued to talk for about an hour before you started to wake up.

"Daddy?" You asked

"Looks like I'm being summoned." He said and he got up and headed upstairs. His parents smiled at him watching him walk up the stairs to you, his daughter their grandchild. Just hearing him being called 'daddy' makes their heart swell. A few seconds later he was walking downstairs with you in his arms.

"Hey there, Chick." Goose said standing up as Bradley got close enough and took you from his arms.

"Hi, Grandpa Goose." You said and everyone smiled.

"You hungry, Honey?" Carole asked and you nodded laying your head on Goose's shoulder still waking up and they smiled.

"Alright let's get dinner started." Bradley said and everyone went to the kitchen.

"Actually, I have been making her favorite all day. Roast with plenty of potatoes, carrots, and onions." Carole said smiling and being her bright self.

"You knew this would happen, didn't you?" Bradley asked and she smiled and he had his answer.

"I did." She said. Bradley shook his head but grabbed you a plate and began to put some on it and then his. Goose had sat you in a chair and everyone else got theirs and supper began. Small talk was made and then once supper and dessert were eaten you and Bradley were saying bye. Bradley had you in his arms and your head was on his shoulder Carole and Goose followed him out carrying leftovers. "You two going to be, ok?" She asked and Bradley looked at her as they arrived at the Bronco.

"I know I will be but Princess here" He said nodding his head to you "Might not be. You know how she gets one we go on a mission." He said and they nodded.

"You need anything at any time let us know and we'll be there. No matter what time." Goose said and Carole nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, Dad and Mom. Hopefully it'll be a fast mission and he'll be home soon." Bradley said and then he felt your breath even out. "It seems like she's asleep. Time to get her home and into bed." He said and they smiled.

"You go and take care of our granddaughter." Goose said as they both came over and kissed your head and hugged the both of you and Carole kissed her son.

"I will." Bradley said and then started to buckle you in while the food was placed on the passenger side. Once fully buckled in Bradley was getting in the driver's seat and heading home. It was a short drive home and when he arrived, he parked besides Jake's truck and worked on getting you out. There was a garage but it was used as a hang out area but the vehicles could be parked in there if need be. He got you and grabbed the leftovers and headed inside. He placed the food on the counter and carried you up to your room. Not once did you wake up. When he got there, he got you into pajamas and then tucked you in. He took a picture of you tucked in and planned to send it to Jake when he was done. Once he was satisfied, he kissed your head "I love you, Baby Girl and so does Pops." He said and then started to walk out of you room making sure to turn your night light on. He walked out of your room and cracking the door. Bradley walked into the kitchen and put the food in the fridge when his phone began to buzz, he grabbed it out of his pocket and saw it was Jake and smiled and he answered.

"Hey." He said

"Hey, we just got to our place we are staying." Jake said

"How was the flight?" Bradley asked

"It was long but we were first class, I guess that is what happens when the Admiral of the US Pacific Fleet Commander is your family." Jake said chuckling and that made Bradley chuckle.

"You got that right." He said

"How is, Sweets?" Jake asked

"Currently asleep." Bradley said

"Damn, I was hoping to talk to her." Jake said

"Hold on." Bradley said and quickly put him on speaker and sent the photo. "Check your messages." He said and Jake did.

"I'm already missing her and it hasn't even been a full day." Jake said

"If you aren't busy in when it is morning here, I can give you a call and you can talk to her." Bradley said

"Oh, I would love that." Jake said

"What time is it there?" Bradley asked

"Currently 4:30 AM." Jake said

"I should let you go. I'm sure you both have a big day tomorrow." Bradley said with almost sadness in his voice.

"Yea, hey it won't be long. I promise. You and Sweets will get through this together. You also have the squad, our parents, and Pops, Ice, and Slider." Jake said sensing the sadness in his voice.

"Ok ok. I love you." Bradley said and that made Jake smile.

"I love you and Sweets. Give her a kiss for me." He said and Bradley smiled.

"Already done." Bradley said

"Good. Get some sleep, I'll talk to you later." Jake said

"Alright, Babe. Talk to you later." He responded and then they were hanging up the phone.

"Alright, Bradley. You got this. It is only 4 weeks." He said as he headed to bed. He checked on you one more time and then he headed to his and Jake's room and got ready and laid down. He looked at the framed picture of you three, the one where they were both kissing your cheek and you had the biggest smile on your face and eyes closed. "We love you, Jake." Bradley said and then closed his eyes and went to sleep preparing for what tomorrow would come.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 

Week 1

The next morning, the start of the first week of Jake's deployment, Bradley was up bright and early, as he normally was, and changed into his gear. He would normally go for a run but since Jake was not at home, he couldn't leave you alone so he would have to do it during lunch at work. It was currently 7:30 AM in California which meant it was 3:30 PM in Scotland. This is the time you usually were getting up and getting ready for school with the help from one of your fathers.

"Daddy?" You asked and he smiled.

"Right on time." He said to himself "Coming, Baby Girl." He said and walked upstairs to your room and he opened the door and smiled seeing you sit up. "Good morning." He said walking into your room.

"Papa?" You asked and he sadly smiled.

"Remember he is going to be gone for 4 weeks." He said and you nodded and he wasn't sure if you understood or not. "Hey, you wanna call him while you get ready for school?" He asked and your face lit up and you nodded and he chuckled "Alright go and pick something out then we'll go and brush your teeth." He said and you were up out of bed so fast picking everything out. He quickly got his phone out and texted Jake.

Bradley: Yup for a video call?

Jake: Always.

Bradley smiled as he looked up and saw that you had dressed yourself in jeans and a shirt that you had gotten recently from Jake. "Hey you wanna talk to Pops?" He asked.

"Yes!" You exclaimed and he chuckled.

"Alright let's get to the bathroom and started doing your hair and teeth." He said and you practically bounced to the bathroom. Once in there he stood behind you as you stood on your stool. He pulled out his phone and clicked on Jake's contact and hit the video call option. He set it up to where you were mostly in the frame and waited for him to answer and almost instantly he answered.

"There is my, Sweets." He said and you lit up as Bradley started your hair.

"Papa!" You shrieked

"Are you behaving for you Daddy?" He asked and you nodded.

"Uh-huh! We had supper at Grandma and Grandpa Goose's house last night." You said smiling.

"You did? I'm sure they loved having you over. Did you have a good time?" He asked and you nodded.

"Yes! I love going over there." You said and they both chuckled.

"Is Daddy doing your hair?" He asked as Bradley started French braiding your hair.

"Uh-huh! Papa what is on your wall?" You asked and he looked over and smiled.

"That is my boy, Freddy! He was here when we got back this afternoon!" He said and he watched your face light up and eyes go big.

"What is it?" You asked in amazement.

"It is called a slug. They are really slimy but harmless." He said getting a close-up of it. "He can do awesome stunts, like this!" He added and showed the slug climbing the wall. "He came like that." He finished and you giggled which made him smile and Bradley as well. "He is killing the game. Look at that height!" He exclaimed and zoomed in on the slug.

"I want one!" You exclaimed and both of your fathers chuckled.

"We'll see about that." Bradley said as he finished off the braid and was checking it over to make sure everything looked good.

"Are you going on about the slug?" Javy asked

"Javy!" You exclaimed and he came into view.

"Is that you, Short Stack?" He asked and you giggled.

"Yes." You said smiling "Papa was showing me his slug friend." You said

"It's cool, isn't it?" He asked and you nodded.

"Yea it is. Well, I hate to cut this short but we have to get Baby Girl's teeth brushed and off to school." Bradley said

"Ahhh man! Well, I'll keep you updated on Freddy! I love you, Sweets. Be good for Daddy." Jake said

"I will, Papa. I love you!" You said

"Love you too, Babe. Be safe." Bradley said

"Love you too. You be safe as well. I'll talk to you later?" He asked and Bradley nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." He said and then they were hanging up the phone.

"Papa has a slug pet. I want one." You said as Bradley was getting your toothbrush ready.

"We'll see about that." Bradley said and you pouted but he gave you your toothbrush and you started to brush your teeth. After that was done you both were heading out to his Bronco and he was taking you to school. He walked you in and gave you a kiss and left you with your teachers and headed back to his Bronco once there he texted Jake.

Bradley: She wants a slug now.

Jake: Haha we can talk about getting her one. They should be easy keepers.

Bradley: Jake

Jake: What? It's just a thought. I love you.

Bradley: We'll talk about it. I love you too.

He then put his phone away and drove to base to start his day. It was going to be a long day. As he parked and started to get out Bob parked next to him and got out. "Good morning." Bradley said.

"Good morning to you too. How is Y/N with Jake gone?" He asked

"We talked to him this morning and it lit her up like a Christmas tree." Bradley said and Bob smiled.

"We need to get her and Mason together one day. It would be a good distraction." Bob said and Bradley nodded.

"They really do like each other, don't they?" He asked and the other male nodded.

"They sure do. It would be crazy if they dated when they got older." Bob chuckled and Bradley nodded as they continued to walk.

"Jake was showing her a slug in their room and now she wants one." Bradley said

"Oh goodness. You going to get her one?" He asked

"We will see about that. Jake said we could talk about it later." Bradley said as they entered the building they continued to talk until they had to start teaching.

When it came to lunchtime instead of eating Bradley decided to go on a run. He would eat later since he didn't have to teach. We went to the locker room and started changing when Mickey walked in "Hey, you not eating?" He asked and Bradley shook his head.

"No, I didn't get to run this morning. I'll eat afterwards." He said

"How is it going without Jake being at home?" Mickey asked

"Surprisingly good at the moment. She got to talk to him this morning so that made her happy." Bradley said as he finished putting on his running shoes.

"Good. It'll go by quickly." He said and Bradley nodded.

"I know that but it's going to seem like forever for her." Bradley said and Mickey nodded.

"I would imagine so. Have a good run." Mickey said as they reached the cafeteria.

"I will. I'll see you later." Bradley said and Mickey nodded and smiled and then he went outside and started his run. When he was done, he went back to the locker room and showered and changed back into his flight suit. He grabbed himself something to eat and went on with his day.

By the time he was ready to pick up, he was exhausted and ready for some cuddle time with you. He didn't stay around long wanting to have you in his arms. He was quick to get to your school and it was fairly quick to get you and then you both were heading home. Just being in the car with you made it all better and then hearing you laugh, which sounded like Jake and sometimes his, made him smile.

When the both of you got home, he kept your mind busy by playing games, watching movies/shows, and food. Each activity he was taking pictures and sending them to Jake who replied each time when he could. By the time you had supper and a bath you were exhausted and out like a light before he could reach your room.

He kept up the usual routine throughout the week. You three talked whenever you could but sometimes Jake ran late at work and it ended up being only one time. But Bradley and he still texted and it was mainly about you and pictures of you.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 

Week 2

Going into week 2 was a little easier everybody had kept you busy to the point where you weren't getting distracted by Jake not being there. Of course, you knew he wasn't there but keeping busy took the sting of not having one of your fathers not there. It was early in the morning when Jake texted Bradley.

Jake: Can't make the call this week. Been super busy. Tell Sweets that I will give her an update on out slug friend next week. Hopefully she won't be disappointed. I love you both so much.

Bradley: That's ok. You gotta do what you need. I will tell her and she won't be disappointed she will understand, I promise. She's smart for a 5-year-old. We love you too and be safe.

When Bradley finally walked into your room you were sound to sleep and he smiled. He walked into your room and you sensing he was there woke up pretty fast. "Daddy?" You asked and that made him smile more.

"Hi, Princes." He said and came over and sat on your bed.

"Talk to Papa?" You asked and he smiled sadly at you.

"Not this week, Baby Girl. He has some pretty important stuff that he needs to work on this week." He said and you nodded frowning.

"That's ok. I understand." You said and he smiled.

"How about I cook you breakfast and then drop you off at Grandma and Grandpa's for the day while I go to work?" He asked and you brightened up.

"Ok." You said and suddenly got into gear and he chuckled. Today you had the day off from school because the air went out in the school. They don't know when it will be fixed but they would let the parents know, but that was ok for Bradley because he had some built-in babysitters that would watch you in a heartbeat. He had texted Carole about it and it was an instant "Bring my grandchild over." Which he chuckled at.

When you were somewhat ready to go after having done the stuff you could do by yourself, he helped you with what you needed help with. Then he was loading you up in the Bronco and heading off to the other Bradshaw household. "You be good for Grandma, ok?" He asked and you smiled at him the same smile that Jake had.

"Always, Daddy." You said and he chuckled and then was pulling up into the driveway. He was quick to park and get out and then get you out. He walked up to the front door when it opened and there stood your Grandma smiling and being her energetic self.

"My babies!" She said and opened her arms pulling the two of you into them.

"Hi, Mom." Bradley said

"Hi, Grandma!" You said at the same time as your dad.

"We're going to have a fun day! I convinced Judy to let me keep Mason so he'll be here soon." She said as she pulled away.

"Did you hear that, Y/N/N? Mason is going to be hanging out with you." Bradley said and you got really excited.

"I like him." You said and they both smiled.

"We do too. Now I have to go to work but I'll be back soon I promise." Bradley said as he made the easy transition to Carole. Bradley kissed you on the forehead and then was heading out at the same time Judy was pulling up with Mason.

"Good morning, Bradley." Judy said with a smile and he smiled back.

"Good morning, Judy and Mason." Bradley said

"Hi." Mason said and that made Bradley smile. He also thought about how scary it was that he and Bob looked so identical. Bradley was quick into the Bronco and took one last look at you and saw that you were already playing with Mason and then he was off to work with a smile.

When he got to work, he parked next to Bob's truck and it seemed like he had just gotten there too. Bradley got out and so did Bob. "Hey, Mason get to your mom's?" He asked and Bradley nodded.

"Yup, he and Y/N started playing before I even left." Bradley said

"They're such good friends. How did we ever get so lucky to have kids like that?" Bob asked and Bradley chuckled and shrugged his shoulders as they walked.

"Probably because they have such good parents." Bradley answered

"True. You and Jake are great parents to her." Bob said

"I can say the same about you and Judy. Mason is so much like you. He's just so kind." Bradley said and Bob blushed.

"Thank you." He said as they walked into the building and into the classroom to be briefed on the day. The day dragged on and all he wanted was you and Jake but since Jake was gone for at least two more weeks he just wanted to cuddle with you. The cocky Top Gun students were putting him through the wringer and he was ready strangle them all. By the end of the day all he wanted to do was rush to the locker room shower, pick you up, and go home. But being an instructor of Top Gun it was never that easy. As he finished the day he was being pulled into a meeting with Goose, Maverick, Warlock, Ice, and Cyclone. "This can't be good." He said to himself.

"Lieutenant Commander Bradshaw." Cyclone said and Bradley saluted them.

"Admirals." He said

"Have a seat." Ice said and he took it. He was nervous that something happened to Jake.

"As you know Lieutenant Commander Seresin and Lieutenant Commander Machado are on a month long deployment." Warlock said

"Yes, Sir." Bradley said

"We got word this morning that they will be coming home next week. The base they were having some things to come up and they need to send home everyone deployed there home." Ice said and relief washed over Bradley. He was getting his husband back early and you were getting your other father back.

"When will they be back?" Bradley asked

"By the end of next week." Maverick said and Bradley nodded.

"You're dismissed." Cyclone said and he nodded and saluted them once again and walked out of the room and to the locker room. He showered and then he was rushing out of the locker room to the parking lot and too his Bronco. Everyone else had left so she pulled out his phone and dialed his husband's number and he answered instantly.

"I take it you heard?" Jake said instantly.

"I did. Best news I've heard all day." Bradley said

"What happened?" Jake asked and Bradley sighed.

"Everything. Students wouldn't listen. Jets were breaking down left and right. All I want is you and Y/N home in my arms." Bradley said

"You will have us both at the end of next week. I think we should surprise Sweets." Jake said

"That would be great. You should video call her one last time and give her an update on your slug friend." Bradley said

"I love the way you think. I gotta go but I love you both and can't wait to see you both again." Jake said

"We love you too." Bradley said and then they were both saying their goodbyes and then hanging up.

Bradley laid his head on the head rest and sighed. Then he was sitting up and heading to the other Bradshaw residence. It seemed like forever but he finally got there and was parking in the driveway. He turned off the Bronco and he was heading inside of the house. "Mom, it's just me." Bradley yelled out.

"We're in the living room." Carole's cheerful voice came through and and he was heading in there. "Mason left about 20 minutes ago." She said looking up at him.

"Daddy!" You shrieked out and ran and hugged his legs.

"Hi, Princess." He said and hugging you back. "I would've been here earlier but I got pulled into a meeting." Bradley added.

"I heard. You're dad shouldn't be too far behind you." She said smiling as he sat down. "Stay for dinner?" She asked.

"Only if you're ok with it." He said

"We're always ok with you staying." She said and just then Goose was walking in the door.

"Honey! I'm home!" He said and Bradley smiled and so did Carole. He nudged you and you knew what to do. You ran to him and attacked him with a hug to the legs nearly knocking him down. "Oof. Hey there Chick." He said and they guessed that he picked you up because you giggled and he walked into the living room with you. "Well hello you two." He said.

"Hey, Dad." Bradley said

"Hi, Honey." Carole said

The rest of the night was spent together laughing and supper was dished out and by the end of the night Bradley was carrying a sleeping you out of the house and to the Bronco and then home.

The rest of the week seemed to sail by knowing that Jake and Javy were coming home and he couldn't wait.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 

Week 3

Jake and Javy were coming home at the end of the week. Early Monday morning Bradley was up way before you he was too excited to sleep. When it was time for you to get up he already had his phone up and ready. He started the wake up routine and you groggily woke up but perked right up when Bradley said that Jake would be calling this morning. Almost on cue Jake was requesting a FaceTime and Bradley was expecting it.

"Oh where is my slug?" He said energetically and you giggled having remembered it "Not here. Not here. Not here. Not here. Not here." He said as he showed the wall going up to the slug "There he is!" He said and you giggled loving it. "Now where is my Sweets?" He added and you smiled brightly.

"I'm right here, Papa!" You said and Bradley smiled loving the interaction between the two of you.

"You being good for Daddy, Grandma, and Grandpa Goose?" He asked and you nodded as Bradley started on doing your hair.

"Of course, Papa!" You said the two of you talked and Bradley chimed in when he could and when it was getting time to go he wanted to get in one last slug update. It was Sunday which meant that he could stay on the phone longer. As the three of you talked for 2 hours it was time for Jake to go.

"Before we get off of here one last update from Slug Line with Freddy. He has now moved because now I have to stand on a chair." Jake said as he moved to stand up on the chair "Because my slug is now chilling on the ceiling. Gravity ain't no thing #SlugLife." He finished and you burst out laughing. "I love you, Sweets." He said.

"I love you too." You said and then Bradley was telling you to go and get dressed leaving the two of them alone.

"You haven't told her have you?" He asked and Bradley shook his head.

"Nope not a clue. Please be safe. I love you." Bradley said and Jake smiled.

"I'm always safe. I love you too. See you both very soon." He said and then they were hanging up.

Bradley spent the day with you doing anything you wanted just to keep you occupied. Goose, Carole, Ice, and Maverick had all came over and that helped keep you occupied while the sorted everything out for the returned of Jake.

Throughout the week you started to pick up on the energy and knew something was up but you didn't know what. You had to back to school which helped somewhat keep you occupied and it also exhausted you as well. You had talked to Jake everyday which was unusual but you weren't complaining, it may not have been through FaceTime but just hearing his voice put you in a good mood.

By the time Saturday came around Carole and Goose had come over early so Bradley could get a jump start on getting Jake. When you woke up you called out for your Bradley but Goose was rushing in and scooping you up. "Where is Daddy?" You asked.

"He went to get a surprise for you." He said as he carried you out to Carole.

"A surprise?" You asked curious and Carole smiled along with Goose.

"Yup! You'll love this surprise." She said and you giggled and so the morning started with keeping you busy enough until they got back from the airport.

Bradley must've caught every single red light heading to the airport and that frustrated him to no end but he kept his calm and eventually got to the airport where Jake and Javy were waiting at the arrivals. He parked and got out and rushed into his husbands arms. "Hi." Bradley said.

"Hi, Baby." Jake said and then pulled back slightly and kissed him. They broke apart and Bradley greeted Javy.

"Hey, Javy." Bradley said and hugged him.

"Hey, I'm not kissing you." Javy joked and everyone laughed.

"If you do then we are going to have problems." Jake joked and again everyone laughed. The bags were loaded and they were headed back to the Seresin-Bradshaw household. The ride was filled with updates and talking about anything and everything. Bradley gave them updates on you and he finished as he pulled into the driveway next to his parent's car. "We'll worry about the luggage later." Jake said "I wanna see my Sweets." He added and they all got out and walked up to the front door and Bradley opened it. Laughter could be heard and they walked into the living room to see you and messing around his Goose. The looked up and smiled at the three men. "Mind if I help you, Sweets?" Jake said and you froze mind slowly registering that he was there.

"Papa?" You asked turning around and seeing him there, Anything that was in your hand was dropped and you were bolting over to him and into his legs and he was instantly picking you up and hugging you tightly.

"Hi, Angel." He said using another of your nicknames.

"Hi, Munchkin." Javy said when you turned to look at him and waved at him excitedly.

"Uncle Javy!" You yelled and he came over and hugged while you were still in Jake's arms. "Missed you both." You said and they smiled.

"We missed you too." Jake said Goose and Carole came over and gave them both a hug but you weren't letting Jake go. You stayed in his arms or by his side the entire day going into the night the only time you were away from him was when he went and changed and got everything out of the Bronco. Bradley offered to drive Javy home and he excepted it. Carole and Goose had gone home to give the three of you some time alone. While it was just you and Jake you gave him the rundown of your time away from and he listened happily.

When Bradley returned he found the two of you cuddled on the couch watching one of your shows and both sound to sleep. He debated on either waking you both up and leaving you two, he chose the first option. "Baby, let's get you to bed." Bradley said shaking Jake who gradually woke up and smiled at his husband and nodded. He gently picked you up and you snuggled into him. They stopped by your room and dropped you off.

"Papa?" You asked

"Yes Angel?" He asked

"Can we get a slug?" You asked tiredly and Jake looked at Bradley.

"We'll talk about it." Bradley said and you seemed satisfied with that answer because you rolled over and went to sleep. Jake kissed your forehead and so did Bradley and then they were heading to bed.

"I'm ready for my own bed." Jake said

"I'm ready to have you in my arms." Bradley said and Jake chuckled. They both got changed and slid into bed and into each other's arms. "I missed you." Bradley said.

"I miss you too." Jake replied and after a beat of silence he got the signature Seresin smirk on his face.

"Oh no. What is it?" Bradley asked

"Soooo about that slug..." Jake trailed off and Bradley rolled his eyes but smiled.

"We'll talk about it in the morning." Bradley said and Jake seemed satisfied because he nodded and snuggled into him.

"I love you." Jake said

"I love you too." Bradley replied and they both fell asleep.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 

Jake was safely back with his family and that is all he could ask for. A week later you did end up getting a slug and named it Freddy 2. Freddy 2 is still alive and slugging away but you ended up getting bored with it and it became Bradley and Jake's responsibility.

Tag list:

@athenabarnes

@fanboyluvr

@aizawash0e

@els-marvelvsp

@alohastitch0626

@itsdesiree86

@callsigns-haze

@happypopcornprincess

@kmc1989

@atarmychick007

@nyx2021

@sabrinaselina55

@grandstrangerphantom

@mavrellover91

@angenu01-blog

@talesofreading

[bvidzsoo]

Daemonium (teaser)

﹢﹑⟡ Daemonium → evil spirit [Latin] ﹢﹑⟡

Pairing: demon!Jung Wooyoung x female reader

Genre: supernatural!au, university!au, demon!au, crack somehow too~

Rating: nc-17

Warning: cursing, attempts of murder, descriptions of death, usage of witchcraft, suggestive

Summary: ﹢﹑⟡ Starting university and moving in with an unknown dormmate should've been stressful, not to you though. You couldn't wait to finally break free from home and live life freely. But isn't it weird that you start having near death experiences quite often after you meet your dormmate, Jung Wooyoung? ﹢﹑⟡

﹢﹑⟡ Read the story here! ﹢﹑⟡

“Yuyu, you can’t even pinpoint one instance when he’s tried to kill me, stop being dramatic—”

“Oh, I can’t pinpoint one instance?!” Yunho’s eyebrows angrily shot up, “How about I pinpoint a dozen then, you stupid woman!”

“I’m all ears.” I singsonged and leaned back in my chair as Yunho groaned loudly, leaning closer, as if that would make him sound less insane and make me finally agree with the way he thought things were.

“Fine,” He snapped and pressed a finger against my chest quite painfully, “you had been living with him barely for three weeks when it just so happened that there was a fire scare in your apartment, and your door was locked from the outside? Not even two weeks after that, he walked inside the bathroom while you were bathing and pushed your hairdryer into the bathtub, but thankfully it wasn’t plugged in, right?! Oh, and how about on Halloween when he dressed up as Ghostface and only chased you around and got arrested when the cops realized he had a real knife as a prop?! What about, I don’t know, when he quite literally broke a bottle and held it against your neck under the excuse that he wanted to see how you’d react ‘under pressure’?! Let’s not even mention him burning your hair when you were feet away from the stove. Or that time when the lunatic was playing around with throwing knives and almost fucking gauged your eye out with it? He’s set your favorite blanket on fire, Y/N, while you were underneath it! And you said he tried to push you into the river while you were out taking photographs for your portfolio for class—”

“Alright!” I raised my hands in defeat, sighing loudly, “I do admit it’s weird how often it happens that I’m placed in harms way whenever I’m around Wooyoung, but they are just coincidences, Yunho—”

“Coincidences my fucking ass!” Yunho hissed, cheeks and ears reddening from anger. I sighed defeated and placed my elbow on the table and then rested my chin in my palm with a pout on my lips. Yunho only cussed when he was really angry.

“Yuyu,” I poked his hand with my left hand, lightly scratching his smooth skin with my nails, “I love and you love me, and I know you worry about me because ‘you know how men are’, but Wooyoung is inoffensive, trust me. He’s odd and yeah, weird things happen around him, but I actually quite enjoy his personality. He’s a rational and down-to-earth guy, he tells me as things are and he’s quite fucking good at photography. I probably passed a few of my classes due to his help, so please, try not to think of him as a serial killer.”

A/N: As mentioned a while ago, I have quite a few up-coming oneshots for you, my lovelies! ^^ I hope this little bit is intriguing because you'll be in for a ride once I am finished with this piece haha. If I manage to finish it tomorrow I'll post it tomorrow, if not, it'll be posted by the 17th ^^ divider

↳Perm. taglist: @orshii @jjoongstar @tinyelfperson @thestarskiller @zuuhaa

@aaa-sia @gong-fourz @a-tinycarat @sooberryworld @hopefulrascalstatesmantoad

@anastasiamin860 @yunhogrippers @vcutparis @tunaasan @blvckarabixnvoid

@yusalterego @arigakittyo @slowee00 @jaerisdiction @hey-syia

@vnessalau @oddracha @chatsgotmytongue @potatos-on-clouds @yunhowooyo

@watermelon2319 @yoongzsmile28 @klllerwaifu @apriecotte @hwasbbyg

@kyeos4ng @samiiy20 @woosanhobros @aswho1estuff @khjoongie98

@ateez-main-yapper @kang-ulzzang @felixs-voice-makes-me-wanna @ginger-mingi @redzie02

@unholywriters

❀ complete the forms if you're interested! ^^

[tokyasu]

[WIP]

i kind of dont want to ruin the surprise but also i wanted to share this little project im working on.. more under the cut!

first of all i dont know why the colors look so dull on mobile, they look perfectly fine on my pc :,) ill fix that when im done with the entire thing LOL

this said, the pic i posted may look like a simple silvio drawn in twisted wonderland style... and that's half-right! what im actually working on is a rig of this model, my first rig ever :) ive always wanted to try my hand at rigging, and now that im on break from uni i actually found the time and motivation to try it out. i decided to go w the twst style because due to practical reasons (a huge variety of assets to directly learn from) i thought it'd be easier for me, though i'll find out the truth of this decision in a few days when i'll finish the drawing part and actually start rigging.. ahahah....💀

anyway... if my rig ends up being terrible, it'll never truly see the light of the day here on tumblr, so feel free expect things but please keep the bar in hell and dont be too disappointed if there wont be any live2d of the model posted.. (though i'll still post the entire sprite for you all to see since i spent so much time working on it anyway).

this said, for now, i dont plan on making this a series... if i do other models in the future they probably wont be ikeseries related. its a project that is extremely time consuming, and silvio is the only character i love enough to endure all this pain for ahah🧍‍♀️ (though jude and victor would be an option if it wasnt for both their hair and me struggling to make jude look like himself when not drawn in the series' artstyle, sigh)

[animeyanderelover]

I recently saw a post where some people on Tumblr were mentioning that in posts the reader is often depicted as really small. So I decided to make the s/o in this story a bit taller, we're talking about 5 feet 8 inches. It'll probably be irrelevant because Toji is really big but I wanted to start somewhere. Also, despite writing an astonishing 8.4k words, there isn't really any mentions of any Yandere stuff yet. This was more of me establishing the key characters and introducing the conditions. I'll start writing Toji's downfall into obsession in part 2.

Tw: Yandere themes, unhealthy relationship, possessive behavior, obsession, overprotective behavior, jealousy, paranoia, abduction, violence, death

The CEO and her bodyguard

“(y/n), I just wanted to let you know that…(y/n)?”

The little woman let out a mildly worried sigh when she found you, your upper body sprawled over the large desk made out of mahogany in between a mess of different documents and other papers. Soft breaths escaped your mouth, your face smushed against a pile of the many documents and contracts. There was barely any light in the room, the earliest morning hours were still painted in only the busy lights of Tokyo with a dark sky to. The only source of light was the lamp placed on your desk. You didn’t stir much when she screeched and as soon as she realized that you were only asleep, she let out a relieved sigh.

She carefully walked closer to you, glancing at your sleeping face before reading briefly over the many documents and contracts messily placed on your desk. Her shoulders sagged a bit in defeat. She had carefully arranged and sorted them for you but of course you had to make everything so unmanageable for yourself. At least you had finished everything as far as she could tell. After all the deadline was in a few hours. Unbelievable, sometimes she wondered how you’d managed to inherit the Ito company in the first place.

She placed the files she had carried in her arms down on the desk, although it was a little struggle to find space on the table where you hadn’t scattered all the contracts and documents. After that she slowly tapped you on your shoulders to wake you up. As much as she would have loved to let you sleep since she knew that you had finished everything in one of your spontaneous night actions when the final countdown before the deadline gave you the rush of motivation and concentration to actually sit down and work, she had something important to discuss with you. Not to mention that it couldn’t have been good for your back to sleep in such a position.

The smaller woman slowly placed one of her hands on your shoulders before gently starting to shake you, hissing your name quietly out.

"(y/n)! (y/n)!"

You let out an incoherent grumble, slowly shifting your body up in the chair in such a slow and stiff motion that reminded the other woman of some depictions and movies she had seen featuring zombies. The low and weird groan you let out whilst sprawling your stiff limbs certainly added to that effect. You let out a jawn when you were finally seated straight in the chair, blinking a few times as you collected your still groggy mind from your sleep. When your eyes met the smaller woman standing right in front of your desk, you gave her a silly and sleppy grin.

"Aki-chan. What are you doing here?"

"Checking if you're done with the work you were supposed to do until today." The smaller woman answered you, watching with slight amusement and some concern as your frivolous grin was replaced by a slight frown when she mentioned something including 'work' before your eyes widened as you remembered what she meant.

"Flipping heck! What time is it?!" You shouted startled, the chair creaking ominously as you nearly jumped out of your seat before your hands flew to the wonderful mess on your desk. You gathered all wildly and completely out of original order placed documents close to you, hastily going through all of them.

"It's twenty past five in the morning. So we have roughly 40 minutes left before Sone-san has to deliver everything to our main building. You have finished everything, right?"

Her last word sounded slightly worried as she saw you hurrying through all the many papers and contracts, reading everything written on it rapidly to see if you had signed everything and had also finished your own thoughts, ideas and plans involving the future course of your industrial empire. You slumped down into your chair with relief written on your face when you were sure that you had done your job properly before arranging everything into a messy pile and handing it over to Aki with a sheepish grin.

"You may wanna rearrange that a bit because I already forgot in which order they were supposed to be in." You scratched the nape of your neck as you saw Aki throwing you a short glare.

"Not like you actually ever did this in the right order. You probably just grabbed what seemed most interesting for you at first and worked your way through everything randomly." Her grumbling voice made you chuckle a bit.

"Am I that obvious?"

"I've known you for nearly 20 years. Believe me, I know how your gears turn around up there."

Your eyes landed on the other pile of thick files she had brought with her and your face fell into a mildly mortified expression.

"Oh, you're kidding me! I just finished work! Do I have to do somethhing else now?!"

You let out a frustrated groan, banging your forehead against the mahogany wood. Gone were your hopes of going out for a while and touch some freaking grass after having been stuck in your apartment for nearly 2 weeks. Yes, you had a big apartment that had cost you about 2.3 million yen with a rooftop garden, four bedrooms, two jacuzzi baths and a restricted entry since the elevator of this place didn't go up to the fourth floor unless someone had the right key or you pressed a special button in your apartment which enabled the elevator to go up to the fourth floor. But that was no substitute for trailing down the buzzling streets of Tokyo, Shinjuku or Shibuya and visiting your favorite izakayas and bars.

"Those files don't mean any work for you. This time at least. This is actually something Sone-san, I and a few other people from Ito company have been planning to arrange for you since a while now. It's for your own safety."

Aki remarked, going through your finished work and slowly trying to sort all the mixed documents and reports back into its original order whilst throwing some glances at you. She looked weirdly serious, more serious than she already was. That probably meant that whatever those files included something unpleasant or something specifically unpleasant to you.

You cautiously eyed the pile of files she had brought with her before pulling it over. This time you weren't just scattering everything around as all of them looked from the outside identical so you grabbed the topmost file, opened it and read through the reports inside of it. Your eyebrows furrowed before you dropped the first file quickly on the desk before grabbing the second one, scanning rapidly through it before continuing this process through the next couple of files. Your facial expression gre more and more confused as your forehead had formed deep furrows, your eyebrows pulled together.

"Aki, what is this?" You asked her slightly flabbergasted as your gaze wavered back and forth between her form and the currently opened file in your hand.

"What does it look like to you?" She replied to you, sighing as she asked you this question as if already being able to predict your incoming reaction to the news.

"Well..." You started, tilting your head shortly as you gave the file a conflicted look. "It looks like you collected me a bunch of data for different highly acclaimed and trained bodyguards. If I wouldn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to force a babysitter onto me. But this has to be wrong."

You gave her a light laugh as you looked at her, waiting and praying for her stoic face to crack and tell you that this was a prank. Instead you were met with a serious look on her face, not a single muscle moving as she gave you that cursed look she always gave you when she was about to put you through something you would never do on your own account. When you were met with her unchanging facial expression, your own expression fell.

"No."

"Yes, (y/n). Yes."

"Why on earth would I need a bodyguard?!"

“For the very same reason you were forced into your apartment for the last 2 weeks.”

“You’re overreacting! Just because some random suspicious looking guy stumbled into the building and threatened to see me by essentially trying to break through the security doesn’t mean that I’m in immediate danger!”

“He had a knife with him!”

“He didn’t use it! Also, he didn’t get past the security anyways! Aki, you are-“

She lifted her index finger warningly which quickly made you shut up. Her eyebrows were twitching ever so slightly and she looked like she was having a headache. Then she just gave you that look that reminded you of an angry and disappointed mother.

“(y/n), I understand why you’re frustrated for being isolated like this. However, no one at the company wants a repeat of the incident 3 years ago. You’re too important for the company and as a CEO you have a responsibility.”

Her voice was matter-of-factly with just a slight edge to it that made you shrink the tiniest bit under her gaze. Impressive, considering that you were visibly taller than Aki. You pursed your lips when she mentioned the incident a couple of years ago.

“All of them were arrested or killed anyways so why do you mention it?”

“Because we believe that the guy who stumbled into the campus was a former member of their group.”

“…What?! B-But I thought…”

Your voice trailed off as you sank further down into your chair, a shocked look on your face as you digested the news Aki had just given you.

“We thought that too. However, turns out that a handful of them still exist outside. Their group has suffered irreparable damage so we at least don’t have to concern ourselves with any assassination attempts. What is very likely though is that they’ll try to come for the CEO of the Ito company. They’ll come for you. That’s why we need you to have a bodyguard.”

You spaced out for a moment, deep in your thoughts before you seemed to snap out of it. You tentatively reached for a folder of the many Aki and Sone-san had prepared for you and opened it, giving it this time a bit more time to scan through the detailed records and information of birthday, height, weight and experiences. Needless to say though, you still looked not entirely convinced.

“(y/n)…”

Your friend started, your eyes flickering away from the folder to look at her. Her stern expression had faded away for now as she looked at you with a more sympathetic and worried gaze.

“If you don’t want to do it for the company, do it for me. Even if the risks are lower, I don’t want to lose you.”

Wow, this warmed your heart. You were touched. Dang it, she won. You blew out some air as you just nodded.

“Fine. I’ll go through all of this and pick someone. Can’t leave you all alone after all. What would you do without me? You’d die out of boredom.”

“I could say the same about you. Without me you’d probably drown in all the paperwork or would literally forget any important appointment.”

~~~

Your eyes were glued to the ground as you walked through Tokyo's busy streets. It was early afternoon and you mindlessly picked up some of the things people walking past you were chatting about. You'd spent a considerable amount of time going through the folders, reading through all of the information Aki had collected about each and everyone of the bodyguards she had hand-picked herself. On the surface all of them seemed immaculate and you would have expected nothing less from your best friend. From snipers to professional boxers to martial art masters, all of them were experienced and skilled. Each one of them would be an excellent choice to protect you and yet...something just appeared to lack. You couldn't even put your finger around what it was besides that none of them had captured your interest.

They all seemed like terrible company and that would be a problem considering that your bodyguard would essentially be your second shadow. All were trained professionals and perfectionists, valued their work over fun and enjoyment. That shouldn't have been a surprise considering that Aki had picked all candidates as she herself was far too reserved and analytical most of the time. Of course she would want your bodyguard to have the same values as her but the problem was that that meant that you'd be stuck with an uptight and far too logical man for most of the day. Honestly, you wanted a drinking budyy who would cut you some slack instead of judging and scolding you instantly.

What gave you even more of an headache was the information Aki had given you. That there might still be some survivors from that assassination group. 3 years, it had been 3 years since that incident. Now the Ito company had you as their official CEO, the first woman in the history of the business. You'd done your best, hadn't you? Thanks to you business was flourishing and you had broadened your influence by melting together with smaller companies, branching out in different areas. You were doing good, weren't you? You owed them that much...

You abruptly stopped, trying to swallow back the dwelling feeling that was stuck in your throat like a lump. You didn't want to think about it anymore. The sound of laughter and cheers caught your attention as you lifted your head up. You were standing in front of a small alleyway. An izakaya was somehow cramped inside there and you didn't know if the inside of it would be as small as the exterior made it look like or if it would actually be more spacious. Loud noises came from inside and a whiff of smoke and food blew against your face. Your feet moved on their own accord as you walked inside through the shoji doors.

The smell of cigarettes and different foods intensified when you stepped inside as did the chatter of the many guests inside. Quite a few of them were smoking, puffing on their cigarettes whilst enjoying glasses filled with beer or some sake out of small wooden cups. Strangers were bumping elbows with each other, enjoying food and alcohol under the golden glow of the lights. A counter with a few seats facing the small and cramped kitchen was the first thing you saw, behind the counter the rest of the room was plastered with tatami-mats, a handful of low tables on it.

The owners of the izakaya, an eldery couple, greeted you kindly as you entered. Almost all of the places were taken, only two seats at the counter remained free and since you had entered now anyways and it would have been very impolite to leave again, you sat down right in front of the counter. You looked around, soaking in the carefree atmosphere inside this place before your eyes were drawn to the little TV hanging on the wall. All eyes of the customers were drawn to it and it dawned on you just then that most of them had some sort of ticket in their hand with numbers written on them. On each ticket, one specific number was encircled in red and when you took a closer look at what was played on the small TV, you realized that it seemed to be a horse race of some sort. So they were gambling, huh?

The small women, still taller than Aki though, approached you from behind the counter, offering you one of the tickets.

"Do you want to buy one too? You just have to stake your money on one of the numbers 1 to 7 and if the horse with the right number you bet on wins, you'll win 15000 yen."

You looked surprised around the interior, counting roughly 20 customers, yourself excluded. Then you turned around to look at her again.

"Wow. Will you financially be fine? I mean, you have a lot of customers and if a couple of them have staked on the right horse, you'll rid yourself of some money quickly."

"It's fine. We only do something like this twice a year. We have a lot of loyal customers here so we would like to give them back something for choosing to visit our izakaya as frequently as they do."

15000 yen really wasn't much, it was a grain of dust in comparison to the mountains of money you received and transferred everyday. You didn't plan on revealing your identity though, it was rather refreshing just feeling like a normal person enjoying her daily life as opposed to being known as the CEO of the arguably biggest and most influential company in all of Japan and having to uphold some sort of image. So despite your tiny voice of reasoning, you bought one ticket from her. And in the true spirit of a gambler, and also because you were woefully unaware of which horses in the race had a track of winning or not, you just went with a random number. You ordered some beer and Yakitori as well, watching the announcer introducing all of the horses since the race would soon start whilst also interviewing some of the horsemen and how they felt.

You initially didn't look up when you heard the owners of the izakaya shouting 'Welcome!' when another person entered through the shoji doors, your eyes drawn to the TV as you took tiny sips out of your beer. It wasn't until the person slid down on the only available seat which happened to be next to you. That's when you stopped sipping from your beer, your lips still attached to the glass as you stopped focusing on the TV. You didn't quite know how to describe it but you could sense some sort of powerful presence from next to you.

"Old lady, give me one of those tickets."

You turned around as you heard the sound of his voice, his range very unique. When you saw the mass of a man sitting next to you, your eyes became as wide as saucers. He was massive! Packed with muscles anywhere to the point where you were sure that he must have felt like a rock if you were to touch him. He had black hair, green eyes and a scar on the corner of his mouth that only added to his wild and roguish vibe. His clothes were casual, although his black shirt was so tight around him that you could clearly see the outline of every single portion of his upper body. He was ridiculously handsome, you had to admit that.

You were so caught up in admiring the bear of a man sitting next to you that you sort of forgot that you were staring at a stranger who looked like he could kill a man by flicking his forehead. So caught up in fact that you initially didn't even realize that he had noticed how you were looking at him.

"What are you staring at?" He asked you, his tone partially rude as he looked down on you. Despite his somewhat rude exterior, and damn intimidating one too, that didn't derogate your pure amazement in any way.

"You're really tall, mister. And muscular too. I think I've never met someone with such a physique." You told him in absolute awe, feeling somewhat a bit excited about sitting next to someone like him. Your self-proclaimed sixth sense told you that you should definitely try to get to know this one better.

"Are you like working out really hard to have such a body or were you just born with it?"

Your eyes finally left his muscles and looked up to meet his own gaze. One of his brows lifted up the slightest bit as he mustered you and the curious and excited look on your face. Apparently he hadn't expected you to compliment and then proceed to ask him for his way to have acquired such a body. His body looked sculpted, far too perfect for any human to ever achieve. Both of you just stared at each other, the gleam in your eyes sparkling as you looked for him, waited for him to say something whilst he seemed to think about what to say to you that would actually make you shut up. You didn't know if you were imagining it but he looked almost a bit puzzled with the way you were looking at him and responding to him.

Your face almost fell when the stranger decided to ignore you, ordering instead some takoyaki and draught beer before turning his attention to the TV. You were just about to try to spark a conversation with him again when the izakaya suddenly errupted in cheers and yells. Your head whipped around as you realized that the horse racing had started. Even the owners had joined in watching. Was gambling that popular and beloved? Would Aki allow you to enter that business too?

The desire to try to have a conversation with him was still there but you quickly let yourself be taken away by the excitement of the other customers, joining them in their cheers and shouts of encouragement. You didn't even care about the horse you had bet on and you forgot about it after a while too, just soaking in the atmosphere and allowing yourself admist the yakitori, the beer and the excitement, laughter, roars and yells of everyone else who had gotten at this point a bit drunk to forget all of your worries. It was an amazing moment for you and you made a note in your mind to definitely visit this place more often. When finally one of the horses with the number 5 crossed the finish line, you cheered for it regardless of whether it had been the horse you'd placed your bets on or not.

Collective groans and a couple of cheers echoed throughout the cramped interior as winners and losers either celebrated or lamented over their choices. You picked up an annoyed scoff from the man next to you and when you turned around and saw the slightly annoyed look on his face, you knew that he belonged to the group of people who hadn't made the right bet. Well, not like you were one to talk. You had also just picked a number by sheer coincidence. Ah, talking about that...

You pulled out the lot you had brought from the old lady which you realized you had stuffed in the pocket of your suit. You couldn't even remember which number you had chosen. You held it in front of your face...and just stared at it. The nice old lady happened to glance at the encircled number on the lot as she cleaned up all the empty glasses and plates on the counter.

"Congratulations, Miss. You've won." She told you in a warm tone as you were still staring somewhat dumbfounded at the number five you had staked your money upon. This was your first time ever gambling like this. Maybe you should try it more often? Or maybe not because Aki would surely make your ears bleed if she'd ever catch you gambling and wasting your money.

"Huh...Lucky me, I guess." You muttered to yourself. You were better in this than expected. You looked up to the guy sitting next to you and you actually caught his gaze lingering on you, presumably because you had made the right choice and won. Then he turned his head around, looking disinterested as he gulped down the last bit of his beer before suddenly standing up. Was he planning on leaving already? Was it because he had lost? This was bad, you had planned to chat a bit with him. You looked down on the winning lot and then back to him leaving and decided that in all honesty, you already had enough money.

"Hey! Heeey!" You called after him so that he would notice and turn around. He did turn his head in your direction and so did a lot of other people but you didn't care much. Most of them were drunk anyways and the 2 or 3 glasses of beer you had consumed yourself had certainly given you some courage. Not that you didn't have enough already.

"Do you want this?" You asked him, holding the lot with the winning number on it up. He tilted his head a bit and you could see his green eyes glaring at you. Geez, had you said something wrong?

"Keep it for yourself." He answered before turning his back to you. Now you were probably going to be an 'annoying leech' as Aki sometimes called you but unfortunately for you and everyone else around you, you could be awfully persistent when it came to something that caught your interest.

"Why? Don't you want the money? That's the whole reason why you got so pissed when your pick didn't win." You spoke as you walked hastily after him. A part of you knew that this wasn't without any danger because he seemed like someone not to mess with but you were curious right now. Also, you would like to get to know him better. Apparently he didn't appreciate being followed like this as he abruptly turned around and you nearly crashed into him. If looks could kill, you'd be dead by now. He really was damn intimidating. He'd make a good bodyguard with that body and his look...

"I don't want your stupid lot." He repeated himself, his glare unrelenting and you would have lied if you would have claimed that you weren't a bit scared right now. You swallowed heavily but still, walking away now would just make you look stupid and like a coward. You didn't want that either even if literally no one would have blamed you for it.

"Then tell me why." You insisted.

He stared at you, you held his gaze as good as you could. You were slightly frightened but also quite defiant right now. Eventually the anger partially faded as annoyance took over yet surprisingly, he answered you. You didn't know why. You had either expected him to just leave or knock you out. Perhaps it was a sign of some respect for you actually showing some guts in front of him?

"I don't need your pity."

"Pity?" You repeated after him slightly confused. Then your face lightened up with realization. “Ah, so that is what you mean! Don’t worry, don’t worry.” You waved your hand dismissively.

“I earn enough money already as it is so those 15000 yen aren’t really much to me. And before I let you leave and walk along the streets with a look on your face that would make everyone think that you’re about to kill someone, I’d rather just give it to you. Instead of the rich people getting richer, wouldn’t you want to take it instead to make your visit here at least worthwhile? If you don’t want it though, I’ll just give it to someone else here.”

You held the ticket a bit closer to his face, looking at him with big eyes. The look of anger had transformed into something else. It almost appeared like he was a bit flabbergasted as he scrutinized you as if you were an alien. The lot in your hand was left ignored and after a while you just let out a disappointed sigh.

“Fine. Be an idiot and ignore me then. You’re no fun after all.” You grumbled as you turned around and marched back into the izakaya to just hand it to someone else. You stopped though when you felt his hand reaching out for the lot and tugging it out of your hand. You spun giddily around as he observed the lot in his hands before sparing you a quick glance.

“Don’t think too much about it.” He spoke before walking through the shoji doors to collect the money. You waited outside for him. A question was burning on your tongue that you wanted to ask him. He didn’t look exactly surprised when he came outside and saw you still standing there although he did look a tiny bit annoyed.

“Listen. Just because I took the lot from you doesn’t mean-“

“Are you strong, Mister?”

Once again, you managed to make his tough exterior crumble for a short moment as you interrupted him in favor of asking him your question. He looked for a second or two puzzled, his eyebrows furrowing.

“Do I look like I’m not strong to you?” He asked, putting one of his hands on his hips as he gazed down at you in an attempt to figure you out.

“Oh, you look like you could break someone’s neck with ease. I just need to see for myself.”

“…Why do you want to know anyways?”

He was actually engaging in a conversation with you! Perfect! Now you only needed to convince him.

“Because I’m considering hiring you so that you can work for me.”

He hadn’t expected your answer. The bewildered look on his face appeared again, observing your face as if thinking that you were joking only to figure out that you were dead serious.

“You’re not joking, are you?”

“I am not. So, I need you to tell me where you are working so that I can talk to your boss and convince him to let you leave your current job so that I can make you work for me and-Hey, where are you going?”

“What are you? A moron? What makes you think that I’ll work for you just because you gave me 15000 yen?”

He didn’t even turn around as he casually walked away from you. How infuriating! However, now you were fully invested. You just needed to catch his attention somehow again.

“You’re talking quite big. But I bet that I could convince you to work for me in 10 seconds.”

The provocation did its job. He halted in his steps and slowly turned around.

“Hoo? You think that it’ll be that easy?”

“It will be.”

You replied confidently as you pulled something out of your handbag. A piece of paper alongside with a pen.

“What’s your name?”

“…Fushiguro Toji.”

You started scribbling something down on it before walking to him, holding the check in between your index and middle finger.

“If you still reject after this, you’re either the most strong-willed person I’ve met or the biggest idiot I’ve ever met.”

He ripped the check out of your hand, his gaze on you for a few moments longer before he read what you had written on the check. The first thing that caught his eye was the ridiculous sum of money written on it. You had mentioned that 15000 yen wasn’t much for you but if you could casually throw out such a huge sum of money, you were even richer than he had expected. The other thing that caught his attention was the name written on it, presumably your name. (l/n) (y/n).

Wasn’t that…?

“Are you…?”

“Yes, I am. With that knowledge in mind now, what do you say?”

The corner of his mouth was pulling itself slightly up as a cocky grin spread on his face.

“Are you always walking around and throw money at whoever you deem you want to work for you? Must feel nice, being so dirty rich as you are.”

“I don’t do that with just anybody. I am stuck most of the day either in my office at work or in my office at home so if you believe it or not, you’re the first person I’m doing this with. Also, if I am as ‘dirty rich’ as you call it, I might as well use my money.”

You weren’t all that stupid after all. He could at least acknowledge that.

“What would you do if I would still decline?”

He wanted to test you, you knew that. Perhaps to abuse you a bit since you were showing so much interest in him right now.

“I would probably be quite upset and try to still convince you until I’m forced to quit and find someone else who will do the job for me. Then I’ll probably find someone or something else which will catch my attention and my interest in you will disappear until you’ll only remain as a small memory in my head. You’re at least memorable enough so that I won’t forget you like I do with 90% of the people around me.”

You were pleasantly surprised when he huffed amused when hearing your honest answer.

“You have no filter, do you?”

“No, I usually say what I think.”

“What would you want me to do if I were to work for you?”

“Tell me, Fushiguro-san. Have you ever been a bodyguard before?”

"...Bodyguard, huh?"

~~~

"Can you drive a little bit faster?"

"May I ask why? You seem to be in an awful rush ever since (y/n)-san called you with a request to pick her up?"

Sone Kazuma always had to be so worringly calm and collected. Which on the one hand made him perfect for his role within the company as one of your closest assistants but she felt like he was sometimes a little bit too soft around you. Almost acted like the kind grandpa when around you.

"She calmed me randomly and begged me to pick her up because she had a surprise for me. I do not trust her sudden burst of joy. If it is one of her idiotic ideas again, she'll have to walk home on her own to reflect on herself."

"Am I driving or are you?" Sone replied amused from behind the wheel as he saw the wrinkles forming on the younger woman's face before she leaned back in her seat. She observed the many streets outside and all the cars passing by the window. She could only wonder what you had come up with this time.

"Is it here?" Sone asked her, his question pulling her out of her thoughts as he drove into a parking in the middle of a block with lots of cheaper apartments available.

"It is. She should be around here somewhere." Aki replied as Sone drove around in search for a spot, parking it in an empty spot before she finally opened the door and exited the car. Her eyes were wandering around the place as she couldn't help but wonder why you had chosen this place to be picked up. Sure, it was easier in a more empty street for Sone to find place to park compared to the busy and full streets of Tokyo but she couldn't help but feel like this was a bit dangerous. Especially if some members of the assassination group were still lurking around.

"Where is she? She's late." Aki grumbled as she pulled out her flip phone and dialed your number in, prepared to call you and give you directions if you should have gotten lost somehow.

"We just arrived, Aki-san. Let's wait a bit longer for (y/n)."

He gave her a reassuring nod and she decided to try to take his words to heart as she put the phone back into her backpag .

"5 minutes. No more."

It was rather quiet in this part of Tokyo as most of the population in the city were either at work or walking around in the full and lively streets and it was rather strange. Aki enjoyed the silence though, she wasn't the biggest fan of overly crowded places as it was personally hard for her to properly concentrate under such conditions. She followed the hand on her watch as it slowly ticked away.

1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes...

"There she is. Seems like she found us."

Indeed. When Aki glanced up and followed Sone's gaze, she saw you waving from across the parking lot. Then her gaze landed on someone big right behind you and for a short moment, her usually composed mask wavered a bit as she saw the person right behind you. Massive and tall were the first things that came to her mind as he, she assumed at least that it was a man, trailed closely behind you. For the shortest split of a second she feared that he might be after you but even you couldn't have been dumb enough to not notice a person as tall as him following you so closely. Not to mention that she actually saw you turning around to him, pointing in her and Sone's direction. She glanced at Sone only to see that he had kept his calm smile, although she saw the flash of curiosity as he watched you getting closer, urging the other man to walk a bit faster.

"Aki-chan! Aki-chan! I did it! I found one!"

You cheered happily as if you had just accomplished a sublime feat and wanted her to praise you for it. Aki on the other hand couldn't stop focusing on the man behind you who she could now actually see clearer now that he was so close. A tight black shirt, dark trousers which were more on the baggy side and, from what she could at least tell, green eyes. She pursed her lips, her eyes nervously darting back and forth between you and him as she tried her hardest to suppress the fact that she was slightly intimidated now. You were already quite a bit taller than her and frequently teased her about it but even you didn't look as tall anymore in comparison to your unknown companion and if she would have stood right in front of him, the top of her head wouldn't have even reached his shoulders.

She had seen tall people before but never someone who had possessed such a pronounced physique with muscles over muscles layered across his body. She held the saliva back that she had almost swallowed just now as she attempted her best to put appear unfaced as she slowly tore her gaze away from him. She bit her tongue when he spared a glance down at her and seemed to grin slightly as if sensing her fear.

"(y/n), who is this?"

"My new bodyguard! Isn't he great?" You gestured excitedly at him with the same troublesome infatuated excitement you always held as soon as you found something extraordinary or had a new 'great' idea.

"What?"

"My bodyguard. You wanted me to choose one, right?"

For the first time in quite a while, Aki was actually left speechless as she just stared at you, spacing out in the process. He hadn't been on the list of candidates she had handed you earlier this morning. You had really just done it, hadn't you? You had picked a random man you had met on the streets and had handed your safety and security over to a total stranger. It was almost surreal.

"No."

"Yes, Aki. Yes." You replied, nodding happily as if to enhance your point. She felt the urge to lash out for a bit as the frustration bubbled hotly up in her chest but she tried to compose herself as good as she could. You had a good eye despite sometimes acting like you had been dropped first on your head as a baby, you wouldn't take this subject lightly. Esecially not with them possibly still around.

Her eyes were almost spitting fire even if her face was mostly emotionless as she looked up at him.

"You, what's your name?"

"Fushiguro Toji." He replied as he held her gaze, unfazed by the passive-aggressive tone she had just used to refer to him in a slightly rude fashion.

"What is your current job?"

Green eyes glanced at your own as if asking if he really had to answer all of those questions. When you gave him a weak nod, your eyes begging him to just go along with Aki's sudden interrogation, he rolled his eyes.

"I don't have one."

"You don't have one?" Aki repeated in a dissatisfied tone, scrutinizing him more sharply all of a sudden.

"I take some jobs when they're offered to me, receive my payment after I'm finished and then leave and wait for the next employment offered to me."

"So you're some sort of freelancer?"

"You could say that."

"Is that so?"

You could tell that Aki wasn't convinced at all judging by the way she eyed Fushiguro suspiciously. There was some tension in the air as both of them were glaring at each other and even if the height difference was almost painful to witness, Aki held her own ground well against him.

"Okay, everyone. Let's stop looking at each other as if hoping that the other one will drop dead all of a sudden. We should drive to my apartment instead to finish all the formalities. Fushiguro-san here has to sign a contract after all." You interfered as you stepped between those two in an attempt to appease both of them.

"You're really serious about hiring him? A random man you just met on the streets?" Aki inquired once more as she gave you a long and serious look. Your awkward smile fell from your face as you saw the hidden concern in her eyes, the sceptism if he was even trustworthy. And you couldn't blame her for it.

"I know that this is very sudden and I know that it looks really stupid. But you just have to trust my intuition right now. I have a feeling that he'll be the perfect choice."

"You're putting your safety and life in the hands of a stranger you just met because of your gut feeling?"

"Yes. I'm trusting my instincts here. I'm not going to ignore what my feelings tell me anymore."

He observed the sudden change in your facial expression half-interested as it suddenly matched Aki's serious expression whilst also noticing your little friend's own determination wavering as she witnessed your own.

"What about you? Why did you choose to suddenly work for her?" She eventually asked as her eyes flew to his form again, this time inspecting him more neutrally.

"For the money."

She let out a sigh, although she didn't seem to be very surprised. At least she hadn't expected anything more from him.

"Of course that's your answer. Are you suited for the role though? Can you really guard her against anything and anyone that might endanger her life?"

"Are you underestimating me? That's the second time someone has questioned me about my own capabilities today."

His green eyes shortly darted to you as he said this and Aki felt a wave of relief washing over her when she understood that you had been the first one to question him about it. At least you hadn't hired him completely blindly.

"I assume as long as the payment is right, you'll fulfill your job then?"

"That goes without saying."

She appeared to consider it thoroughly as she glanced at him, glanced at you, glanced at him again before her eyes were averted to the older men standing a few feet away from all three of them.

"Sone-san, what are your thoughts?" She asked him for his help, still quite a bit conflicted about this entire situation.

"I say that we give him a shot. From his looks alone he seems to be promising and if his motives lie only in money I don't think we have to worry. The Ito company is unmatched when it comes to wealth and influence so he shouldn't stray away from us. I have a hunch that it's better to have him on our side than to have him as an enemy."

That sounded surprisingly more shady than Toji had expected from someone so kind-looking but on the other hand people in power were rarely not corrupted somehow.

His own opinion finally seemed to cause Aki to give in as she let out a incoherent grumble before giving you the best angry look she could muster.

"If he messes up even a bit, I will have him fired and then I will pick your next bodyguard myself."

~~~

He had to hold a grin in when he saw Aki shuffling out of the car as soon as they arrived at their destination. She had appeared to sit under fire the entire care ride despite her hardest attempt to not let anyone notice. Her rigid body had told him something different though. You on the other hand had busily chatted with Sone as he had driven all four of you to your apartments. Apparently all three of you lived in the same building with the roof and the fourth floor belonging entirely to you, Aki owning one of the two apartments in the third floor and Sone living in one of the three apartments on the second floor. Otherwise the building was uninhabited since it was only for people who worked extremely close to you and despite Aki's greatest displeasure, he would be living there too. As your new bodyguard it would be wisest after all to have him all the time as close to you as possible.

Toji had to admit though that he was a bit disappointed when he saw the exterior of the building, the most boring grey sad thing he could see everywhere else in this city.

The interior however, looked far more pleasing. The first floor was the lobby of this place. An empty reception desk to welcome the most likely limited visitors into this place and, for whatever reason, a water fountain embedded into the wall. A few paintings were hung up on the walls, some showing some landscapes of cherry blossoms or landscapes and others looking like someone had given a toddler some colours, a canvas and told them to just left them alone with it. Well, all that money had to be wasted somewhere after all.

It got more interesting when all four of you got into the elevator and Aki pulled out a key, sliding it into the key hole within the lift and turned it around. One of the buttons, the one someone had to press in order to reach the fourth floor, suddenly lit up and Aki left the key in the hole as she pressed the now functioning button.

You noticed Toji's eyes resting on the key and took it upon yourself to explain to him.

"You need such a key in order to reach the fourth floor unless I'm in my apartment and press a button in my own apartment which would also allow it to reach up to the fourth floor. Currently only Aki, Sone-san and I possess such keys."

"Do I get one too then?"

You wanted to answer but were interrupted by Aki.

"Not just yet. I'm not allowing you to have one unless I'm convinced that I can trust you."

He let out a scoff through his teeth but didn't push it any further. Losing such a job with that much money offered to him would be too much of a shame.

Your own apartment was at the end of a longer hallway and already made everything look fancy and special but he couldn't help but be actually impressed when you unlocked the door and let him and the other two inside. It was huge with lots of rooms inside. He could have probably spent a good amount of time exploring each and every room but he was ushered by Aki to follow her as she marched into what appeared to be a living room.

A sliding door was right next to him and seemed to separate another room from this area. Despite the space you had for yourself, there were surprisingly few pieces of furniture. A TV installed on the wall, a modestly sized couch and what appeared to be a desk for you to do all your work on.

"This is where I live. I also have a garden up on my rooftop."

You welcomed him, gauging him for his reaction. You were just hoping that he wouldn't just see you as a spoiled and rich woman for your apartment. It hadn't originally belonged to you. You had just been forced to take it after the previous owner had been unable to live in it anymore.

"You have a garden on the roof?"

"Yes, she has. But we didn't bring you here for sightseeing."

Aki told him quickly and matter-of-factly before letting you actually offer him to show him the roof which was completely irrelevant to why he was here.

"Where exactly will I be livingthen? On the third or second floor?"

Hmm...I think having you on the third floor would be more convenient because you would be closer to me. What do you think, Aki? Would that be alright with you if the two of you would be neighbours?"

She didn't look thrilled about it at all as she threw him a side glance.

"Do whatever you want." She mumbled after a few moments and turned her head away from him, resigning herself to her fate.

"That was easier than expected but I'm glad that this is settled. Sone-san will give you the key to the other apartment on the third floor then." You said, looking mildly surprised at Aki as you had expected her to argue more.

"Don't get any wrong ideas, I think we should focus more on the contract and explain all the rules and conditions to him instead of quarreling where he will live because he will live in this building anyways and I'll have to see him regularly for now no matter what. So-"

"Ah! Before I forget it. Fushiguro-san, do you have any family? Children? A wife? Someone else, regardless if it is a relative or friend? If there is anyone, I could arrange for them to live with you or at least in the same building."

Aki arched her eyebrow as if she had expected you to have asked him such a question already but decided to keep quiet. You looked expectantly at Toji.

"There's no need for that. I'm by myself."

Pt.2

Tags: @saiyara05

[ask-the-royal-absol]

(It has been one year since I joined the pokeask community with my silly absol. One whole year. How did I get here? Like, damn. It’s just been such a lovely community and I’ve met some truly wonderful people.

I’m sorry I couldn’t get more of you on here. I wish I had the time to draw each and every one of you. This is why I needed the head shot so thank you to everyone who sent it over. Thank you to everyone in this community for being my inspirations, my joy and my friends. I cannot thank you enough. If I could make you all something more to say thank you, I would. (Also forgive me if the image quality is garbage. Tumblr does that sometimes. If you click on it, it'll be clearer.)

I suppose I’ll just go on and say I’ve always admired the community from afar. So many stories I was following. So many inspirational people. The events. The characters. They are all so wonderful. And I followed these blogs for years.

Getting hooked into everything about the ask blog community. At first, I was going to making an ask blog about a royal Goodra/Vespiquen fusion who goes to other places to make political connections for their hive. I drew up a couple of concepts but I didn’t go ahead with it.

I kept following the community, constantly being inspired and amazed by everyone inside of it. I’d wanted to join a community for a while. At first, I joined the Pokémon fusion community. It was fun. I met some great people. But, after a few years, it didn’t fill me with joy. I did fusions on multiple platforms, even making some fusions for the infinite fusions game (they’re still in there). I had a go with commissions. It just became a bit of a chore.

I tried making my own region. It only lasted a month. It left a gap which I didn’t know how to fill. I also did dnd with friends which mostly satisfied this but we didn’t do it consistently enough. I definitely miss doing it. I probably did fusions for 6 years. The blogs are still up. There was nothing I wanted to draw consistently.

Near the end of last year, I had a really tough time. My mental health took a really big dip and I was struggling. It was an incredibly dark time. I didn’t have much going on. Maybe we were doing dnd. I don’t remember though. I started drawing Pokémon because I wasn’t in the mood to draw dnd art.

I don’t know why but I started to draw an absol. I think it may have been inspired by my current dnd character. As I was drawing this absol, ideas started to form in my mind about who this absol was and the world they were from. Ideas kept flowing and flowing.

Once the absol was finished, I drew another character, and another and another. And I just kept drawing. Soon, I started drawing maps and a prophecy for this absol and their world. The name Destino came from the word Destiny. It brought me so much joy. I worked on it for a few days and put it to the side.

Then came around the 27th December 2022. I looked back on my planning for this world and thought perhaps I could turn it into an ask blog. At first, I was so nervous. I didn’t want to go through with it. My partner convinced me to make the blog. That’s when I began to draw the first post. And on December 29th 2022, I created the blog and made a reference post for Destino.

Soon, the first post was posted and I got asks. Exciting stuff! And it was so much fun deciding how Destino would respond. More asks kept coming and I eventually started sending asks to others. The most exciting part would have to be seeing people follow me who I was a huge fan of. Gonna be honest, I’m still so incredibly excited when talking to these people and when they like my stuff.

My love for this blog grew and I’ve spent a lot of my time working on it. I have loved each and every moment of it. It was fun having this smug, egotistical absol interacting with many characters who I am a huge fan of and entertaining to see their reactions. Destino was becoming a bit of a thing. Memes were made of Destino. Destino was insulting every legendary they could come across. For me, it was hilarious. And it seemed others were enjoying their antics too.

I am incredibly thankful each day with every interaction, every like, every follow, every reblog, etc. I’ve had. I’m grateful for this entire community. Every one of you has been so friendly and I love talking to you. This community has filled a void which I wasn’t sure would be filled. And I hope I can continue loving being in this community for a while. Destino is going to stick around for a while. I’ve got big plans for them and I hope to enjoy this journey with you all.

Thank you everyone. I hope I can continue to work with you all and have fun! Let’s get ready for another year of Destino.)

[reidsaurora]

okay but consider

Spencer post prison needing his routine to be even more specific because he had such a rigid schedule while inside, like he always had lunch at the same time everyday, so you and spencer are like working a case and lunch starts to approach but everyone is kinda in the throws of research and spencer is clearly not doing so well

so you pull spencer aside and are like "spence whats wrong?" and he explains hes uncomfy cuz of wanting lunch at a specific time, so you talk to emily and the two of you take your lunch together, and it becomes kind of like a little routine for the two of you to take your lunches together

wrote a lil blurb about this because you, my love, deserved a lil blurb. hope ur having a lovely day!! 🫶🏻🧡

pov: Spencer is having a hard time adjusting to life outside of prison. luckily, he has you to make it better ♡

warnings: Spencer Reid x GN!BAU!Reader, angst to fluff sorta, lots of talk about spencer's time in prison, descriptions of food, lots of crying, 0.9K words, not beta read!

Spencer looked up from his Tupperware container, curious eyes meeting yours. "What are you doing?" he asked, brows pinched together in confusion.

"Well," you started, sitting down across from him, "I wanted to have lunch with you. If that's okay."

He nodded slowly, setting his fork down and giving you his full attention. "Why?"

You let out a soft laugh as you began unpacking your lunchbag. "You're always sitting alone," you shrugged. "Figured I'd change that."

A tinge flooded the brunette man's cheeks. He looked away from you—though, he wasn't really looking directly at you in the first place—and focused his attention back on the Tupperware, poking around at his taco salad. He sent an understanding nod your way, as if unsure what to say next. You knew from experience that Spencer wasn't the most conversational person, having struggled with social cues, so you decided it was for the better to eat in peaceful silence.

The room remained comfortably quiet, a small space of availability staying open just in case Spencer had felt exceptionally talkative that day. You caught him occasionally glancing at you, like he'd wanted to close the small space you'd left open, but stayed silent anyway, wanting to finish his salad as quickly as humanly possible.

Finally, you decided to bite the bullet, so to speak, and crack the silence first. "Spencer, you know you can talk to us, right?"

He nodded, poking around at the ground beef that was left at the bottom of his bowl.

"I know things have probably been hard since…" your voice trailed off. Since what? Since prison? Since being locked in a cage for months? Since being tortured for days on end, probably?

"You can say the word, Y/N. It's not like it'll kill us to talk about," he grumbled, nearly under his breath. His eyes remained on the Tupperware, his cheeks heated as he continued to avoid your gaze.

"Spencer, I know it probably felt like you were alone in there," you started, your heart heavy as you thought about those agonizingly long three months he was stuck in that prison, "but I can assure you that you're not alone now. We're here for you. I'm here for you, Spence."

Finally, for what felt like the first time since he'd been locked up, his honey tinted eyes met yours, tears forming in them but not quite at the point of slipping down his cheeks. "I know, it's just… it's stupid."

"What's stupid?" you questioned, slightly hurt that he assumed you'd find whatever was bugging him ridiculous.

"The reason I keep leaving to eat lunch by myself. You guys are going to think it's stupid."

You weren't sure why you did it. You knew that Spencer wasn't a huge fan of physical touch, and it wasn't your place to do it anyway. Still, your hand moved across the table, your palm wrapping around Spencer's wrist, your delicate fingers seeming small in comparison to his giant hand. "Tell me. Please. I can't fix the problem if I don't know what's wrong, Spencer."

He looked down again, where your skin touched his, but didn't make any efforts to move. "I used to eat lunch every day at the same time by myself. Every day, at 12:07 p.m., I would sit alone at this table in the corner of the lunchroom. I made sure I was facing the door and facing everyone that came in, because I was getting so tired of having to watch my back every second that I was awake."

You placed your fork down before moving to sit down on Spencer's side of the picnic-style table, wrapping your arm around him. You knew it was ridiculous, putting your hands on him so many times in such a short span of time, but you couldn't really bring yourself to care. Your palm splayed across his spine, rubbing soft circles as he fell against your frame. Tears fell down his cheeks and onto your shirt, broken breaths and sobs escaping his lips.

"You're never gonna go back to that place. Not if I'm around to stop it," you reassured him, holding him ever so close. "You will never have to live like that ever again. I promise."

His chest rose and fell in quick movements as his tears picked up. "I'm so scared, Y/N. I'm scared of going back. I'm scared of never being my old self again. I'm just… terrified."

You held him like that until his tears had slowed, and when they picked back up a second time, you just kept on holding him. Every tear he hadn't cried in prison had surely made its way to the surface, but neither of you cared. Even when you knew it was much past when you should've gone back to work. Even when five minutes turned into ten, and when ten minutes turned into twenty, and so on.

Spencer's dark eyes met yours, his cheeks still damp with the leftover tears that hadn't quite dried yet. "Thank you."

You gave him a gentle smile, the back of your hand reaching up to wipe your own cheeks where you'd cried for him. "Always, Spence."

"Do you think…" he started to ask, gaze breaking yet again.

Your brows furrowed as you wondered what he wanted to ask. Your stomach flipped at all the possibilities. "Yeah?"

"Do you think we could start doing this every day?" he finally asked. "Just until I start to feel safe again."

You didn't even have to consider your answer. "I think that would be excellent."

-> taglist: @lowsodiumfreaks67 @drayshadow @alexxavicry @nomajdetective @kbakery @leigh70 @darkloverfox @sammyrenae68 @cherrycandle @asgardprincess97 @gh0stgurl @esposadomd @randomwriter1021 @eddieharrington @lunar-affection @givemeth @lavhoes @rhyanishere @cat-lockwood @danielle143 @marsmallow433 @handsupforamiracle @topguncultleader @mente-sindescanso @reverieofmgg @spencer-reids-adventures @ah-blossom @encyclo-reid-ia @reidselle @thevisionthedream @dungeons-are-too-cold @wwwonzeee @louderfortheback @reidsbookclub @annahalstead5021 @cwritesforfun @soapiebear @maelartasch @buckyyyismahhlife @cynbx @hellooitsrose