#it's weird and you only tend to hear about hyper awareness when it comes to abuse or trauma

[fulfillingbineeds]

misfits rewatch- 1x1 thoughts & rambles

-Alisha checking out Simon in the welcome to CS scene 👀 maybe there's always been an attraction lmao

-Every time the word freak gets mentioned, it pans to Simon 😭

-When the storm hits, Simon immediately with his phone out lol

-My DVD subtitles keep putting Simon: when Nathan's talking, and it's really bugging me lol

-Shame Gary got killed. It would've been interesting to see what would play out with the others and their dynamics. I think the others would've subconsciously paired him and Kelly together cause chavs. I do think if he had gotten a power, it'd have something to do with aggression. Something where it'd affect others, but not with touch like Alisha. For example, if he got irritated or aggressive towards someone, they'd be aggressive and wouldn't stop until Gary chilled himself out. We only see a glimpse of Gary, but we know he has some anger issues. With the others, their powers sort of give them the finger towards their insecurities. So I think Gary having to learn to control his issues or risk death would be a neat storyline... I honestly have a lot of thoughts about this topic; I might make another post.

-This ep, specifically the two scenes where Kelly is trying to see if they've felt weird after the lighting, and Simon's the only one to take it seriously. When he first says something, there's a glint in Kelly's eyes, and at that moment, I feel like Kelly decided that she and Simon have a bond and wants to sort of protect him.

-When Tony's having his freakouts, especially when he's doing it outside close to the rest of them… how can they not hear him??? lol? Maybe it's just because I tend to be hyper-aware of my surroundings, but I'd be bugging from hearing it haha

-God, Alisha's snarky remarks 😫 I miss early season Alisha when she still had flavour and wasn't watered down to girlfriend

-Nathan was so unnecessarily mean to Simon in the first ep. I get it during the second day of CS 'cause Nathan wants to deflect his feelings after his mum kicked him out. This ep really sets the scene for their dynamic, Nathan taking the piss and Simon fighting back (poorly, might I add), which Nathan finds amusing, so he keeps doing it 🙄 lol

-Kelly's really is that girl. Anyone else would've been booking it home rather than warning the others. (Out of the others, I think Simon might have warned them. Curtis, too, but would only do it so he could warn Alisha)

-When everything's going down, and Curtis starts talking about travelling back in time, Simon is clearly interested in the superpower talk… but also freaked out by the possibility of getting murdered.  

-When they find Gary's body and everyone else's reaction is entirely valid, and Simon's just there like 🧍👀🧐…little freak (endearingly)

-I felt so bad for Alisha when her power got discovered. Truly one of the worst powers. Curtis was just trying to comfort her, and then the power makes the already traumatic experience even more so.

-Thank you, misfits writers, for feeling the deep need to make sure Simon has some freaky taste. Thank you 🙏

-Simon and Nathan coming up with the plan.

-Nathan still dwelling on the piss thing when they're burying the bodies lol

-My DVD doesn't have the Lonely Souls montage 😭😭😭 awful

-Iwan's eye acting is phenomenal

-Nathan's giving Simon a little lower back pat when leaving during "if anyone asks; it was a completely normal day" 👀

-"and I ask you, in this world of intolerance and prejudice, who are we? Who are we to condemn them?" Classic. Sally leaving because she's about to sob 😢 and the LOOK Simon gives Nathan after his little monologue oh my god.

-Misfits has such a phenomenal first episode.

[nightswithkookmin]

I'm not a jikooker because I prefer jimin with another member I ship him with..jimin is someone so affectionate and caring towards the people around him. With this jm is close to each member but somehow for some reason its always jikook who are spotted hanging out together off schedule. so many sightings from army spotting them in a restaurant and restaurants confirming this.the DVD memory 90% is jikook ofc the company favors them more that's why they film only their moments. because honestly as I ship jm with another pason I tend to always spot jikook together that it pisses me off so much.have had enaf of them together.no hate to jk but he should leave jm alone sometimes not hovering around him all the time duh!my question the latest run bts suga said "that's smth a couple would do" I mean why do they feel the need to highlight that all the time? Thats weird 😭if jikook are real and closeted isn't this exposing them?outing them just for a content lol it doesn't work that way.this is putting them at risk given they are in a homophobic country? or maybe the company wants to push this narrative of jikook as a couple?.also have mentioned about them spotted many times hanging out but we never see any other member hanging out off schedule just recently I saw jihope watching soccer. And its very rare.feel the company is pushing this fanservice even in their private lives.they want people to believe jikook are a thing.

Excuse me, you prefer Jimin with who??? 👀

If it's V or Suga or Namjoon I understand but anyone else and I'll snort😆

And I agree. Jimin is ship compatible with every one including himself. Yes. If he were a twin I'd ship him with his twin too and I'm not ashamed of that.

If you can't picture them making out I can and it's hot

Honestly I don't know if I should be flattered or mad or both or neither at this Ask so I'm just gonna be as respectful as I can be.

I haven't watched the run episode. I've only seen snippets but I will watch it this weekend. I have a ton of analysis to do and I hate commenting on stuff I haven't consumed.

This is not the first time Suga has said something of that nature. He's been alleged to have said "You weren't even a couple then" during Festa when Jikook shared the rain story.

Jin has made similar statements as have Namjoon and the others. When it comes to Jikook that is. He'll jikook have called themselves a couple too.

Since I don't speak their language and can't understand the nuances of it myself, I refrain from depending on any linguistic analysis for validation. I just take notice of it and carry on with my life.

Karmy can be a bit prudish and wow at everything because it's bold and daring and so out of the norm and gosh did you hear that? that's so gay, and sensationalise almost everything because they are so shocked easily by the prospect of two men "acting gay" when gay is so such taboo in their culture.

They are like me when I stare at a vagina that isn't my own.

I've said this over and over, but perhaps the company gravitate towards Jikook not only because what they have is authentic but because it's the best content they have💀

Best in terms of content production, engagement with fans, conversion of that engagement into monetary value, their chemistry is great, they self produce or come up with independently thought of and creative spontaneous moments that the best of hybe CCs couldn't conceive if they tried.

Which is strange because Vmin have awesome chemistry too and frankly I'm trynna see it. Jimin is a whole other mellow character around Taehyung sometimes. He steps back and let Tae take it away. Whereas around Jungkook most times, he gets so animated and hyper you'd think he swallowed a dynamite.

Not sure how much of his hyper activity is triggered by a subconscious awareness of Jungkook's proclivity towards introversion on screen. Whereas with V I feel he's more trusting of his co-workers ability to engage the audience on his own and come up with exciting and unique ideas for them to engage in without him necessarily worrying about censorship and worrying Tae's nerves will cause him to slip or make mistakes.

With Jungkook he gets lost trying to loosen him up and get him to relax on screen and not be soo aware of the cameras, or not read too much into anything he does while also trying to rile him up to get a reaction out of him because he's often fascinated by Jk's visceral response and reaction to him. He acts like there's no camera around, JK it's into it but soon forgets that millions of people are watching and so Jimin has to be on high alert around him. They give me headaches but I'm toxic so I love it. Bring it on Jikook.

Anywho, that was old Vmin. And old Jikook. These days Jungkook is the one that tries to loosen JM up.

And these days VMin can't play or keep it going for more than 5minutes without boring us to death with whatever weird vibes and inside jokes they have going on between them.

Case in point

Exhibit B

Don't get me wrong, they have impeccable chemistry and are also very good friends but let them be alone for an hour and you start blinking blankly at the screen- like you know there's something they not telling us and they matured and they all acting like grown ups with so much self respect and admiration for eachother.

Like when Tae confessed he liked Jimin alot I didn't expect Jimin's reaction at all, certainly not Suga cringing cos if those two are besties and face time eachother everyday I love you should be something they both should be used to hearing from eachother by now and their friends should be used to their shenanigans too by now.

Besides Taehyung confesses his love for Jimin more than he breathes oxygen in the air and this is Bangtan raised to the power Kpop- gay isn't exactly new to them if you know what I mean.

Yet no one said well that's so something a couple will do for that VMin moment. They cringed harder than a ma cracks his knuckles. Like friends would if another friend started acting homo around the bro table. There's a scene from Boys over flowers where Lee Minho goes to kiss another one of their friends- note to self, gurl, you have to rewatch those dramas you loved it. We loved it. Cool? Cool.

That moment with vmin and Suga reminds me each time of that scene from the drama.

Where's if actual couples did it, the reaction would be one of just pure awkwardness because no one knows how to react around couples. You can't stare at them on the bus when they kiss cos you feel you are the creep creeping up on private moments. It's just awkward and you don't know what to do with yourself.

Then if they are your friends you try to play it up by teasing them, mimicking them, hooting at them

Or you just exchange awkward glances and smirk

And to put things into perspective, Namjin cringing and bursting out a romantic soundtrack over Jikook's rain fight narration was warranted.

It was the first time they were hearing this from them and their reaction was as anyone would- yet Suga didn't find that cringing AT ALL like he had found VMins moment to be- just a smirk like it's just ridiculous with those two. See how similar Jin had reacted to their hickey story too?

Hobi forgets to react at all sometimes💀

He just smiles warmly and stares or laugh his brains out. Except for that one time Jungkook let it slip he wanted to be handcuffed by Jimin🥺

And why was it necessary for Tae to say that? Why was it necessary for Tae to make that confession? And why did the members intuitively assume JM was going to choose Jungkook for that? Namjoon went with V but only because he voided his gut instincts and used his head. We've all been there.

Jimin have said Tae has matured so much and we only see glimpses of Old Tae but he's different. Of course that's gonna impact the way they interact on screen.

They keep saying that's something a couple will do because THAT'S SOMETHING A COUPLE WILL REALLY DO.

There's no beating around the bush about it.

The ironical friends sharing a couch or they look exceptionally close today does not explain why they sneak into each other's hotel rooms or why cameras were placed in their rooms without their notice and Jikook had to walk in blindsided.

Jimins reaction was priceless.

You frankly don't need to see or hear them going out to restaurants to know something's up with those two. You don't.

Anyone who claims otherwise is just in denial.

Personally, if a Korean were to ask me about Jikook I'd say to them they are friends fuck off. If an Iarmy were to ask I'll say they are more than that. I see them for what they are and I celebrate them, I appreciate them, I love them and I support them. But I will protect them against anyone that posed a threat to their safety their well-being and their essence.

It's just the gay way.

And I feel this is often the conundrum people are faced with when it comes to Jikook. On one hand, they want to be celebrated- who wouldn't -but on the other hand their safety careers and lives could be as stake and they would want to protect that too.

And the best way to do that, if I were a company, would be to hide them in plain sight. Which is what everyone and their momma does with Jikook.

Jikook have not always been the creme de la creme of ships and hybe have not always used them as their go to fanservice ship. Granted fanservice is part of Kpop.

The Busan Brothers have split. The sun and moon duo blah- jikook don't nearly get marketed as a couple as much as other ships in bts to be frank. Editors have called Tae Kook romantic or a couple with chest in content, Sope get called couples almost everyday, they deliberately put members together to promote stuff because THEY ARE ALL THERE TO WORK.

This is somebody's business. They invest real money Into all of this. If ships were hurting their business and hard earned or borrowed money, they would dead that shit two dinosaurs ago. The fact they ain't said nothing means it's serving them. We are the puppets and they are the puppeteers.

They pull the strings and we go. Not the other way round.

As to whether they are doing this at the expense of Jikook, Jikook would be the best determiners of that. They have agency and in the past where they were "too young" to comprehend the consequences of their actions they had their hyungs to look at for them- hence all those tensions and allegations of members breathing down their necks.

Bighit was acting like Kris Jenner, encouraging them to strip and gyrate metaphorically for the cameras while they smiled all the way to the bank to cash out.

But it's 2022, a year where BTS have gone up against the government of Korea itsself and decided by themselves to call off any postponement to their military service and serve.

This is the same year you want to peddle the Hybe making Jikook do fanservice in their PRIVATE LIVES???

Girl BYE. Can't take you seriously.

I won't lie you lost me there.

WERE YOU IN THE FANDOM WHEN THEY ISSUED A STATEMENT TO THE EFFECT JUNGKOOK'S PERSONAL MATTERS IS NONE OF THEIR BUSINESS DURING HIS ITAEWON SCANDAL??

What they do off schedule really is none of our business or company's. Just as you get to go off work and your boss don't follow you home. It's reasonable to assume same for these boys.

YOU DIDN'T SEE HOW THEY SAID JACK SHIT ABOUT TAE JENNIE RUMORS?

There's been so much history and so much growth and the boys have accumulated enough socioeconomic capital to be reduced to such nonsensical levels of ridicule and bad takes.

And I'm sorry but what do you mean Jungkook should back off Jimin sometimes??

THE ANSWER IS A GRAND NO.

Read my lips, NEEEEEEUUUUUUUU

They are two legal adults half way through and almost 30, who determine whom to give their time and energy to and they choose to do that with each other- Oh look, I found something. Respect. Have some. For them.

Jimin has been spending his time with various persons both in a professional capacity and non professional capacity and we should be grateful that he is a functioning human being capable of functioning outside his group dynamic.

Going solo is pretty scary and they are all transitioning well and adjusting well to it. That's all that matters. Let's be glad that in spite of their personal projects that they make time to connect with their members and keep the spirit of BTS alive.

Real heartache is them finding BTS outside BTS and forgetting how precious their friend group once was.

But I get where you are coming from. rather than try to manifest Jungkook out of the picture, try manifesting your fave into the picture and go nag them until they call him up m- don't worry I'll put them through when the call comes. Wink.

Jimin is an extrovert and honestly he is well adjusted. I don't think he needs much help connecting with ppl.

My good sis, let's just enjoy the breadcrumbs while we can, before Jikook officially ties the knot🤧

Once they do it's game over for you and I and all the jm side ships on the black ship market🥺

I wouldn't say the company want ppl to believe Jikook are a thing. They only want you to believe they aren't a big deal. It's called normalization. The oldest trick in the books.

I'm high on pain meds.

I made sense some where I hope. Deadass💀

[ihavefrogsinmybag]

Chapter 3: First Hang-out.

Seren picked up a turkey fry and munched on it while April talked.

"That's crazy!"

Seren exclaimed.

"I know right? When it happened, I was like, whaaaaaat?!"

April drawled loudly, she drug out the last word while making a funny shocked face.

Seren snorted in amusement and took a sip of their drink. They fiddled with their straw as April continued talking. She was telling them a story about some of her friends. Seren listened to her thoughtfully, just enjoying the company of their new friend.

Even though this was just a casual hangout, Seren felt lucky to be there. Due to struggling a lot socially, they didn't come by friends very often. So when April asked them if they wanted to meet up at the near by Burger Queen, of course they said yes.

The two had texted back and forth a bit, and they actually got along pretty well. So far, Seren had learned that April was into journalism, loved video games, and really liked action hero movies. Especially these two movie franchises they had never heard of, Jupiter Jim and Lou Jitsu. April had only mentioned these things briefly but Seren had a knack for noticing and remembering small details. They were usually very hyper aware of everything around them, which seems like a good thing, but it usually just got them lost in thought. It tended to make them tune out conversations and get off topic a lot... oops.

April snapped her fingers in front of Seren's face.

"Hellooo? Earth to Seren?"

Seren quickly sat up straight in their seat.

"Sorry sorry, I swear I'm listening. I have a tendency to zone out a lot."

April shook her head playfully.

"You remind me a lot of my friend, Leo. He can NOT stay on topic for the life of him. He's constantly zoning out."

Seren smiled softly, playing with their hoodie strings.

"Is that one of your friends you were telling me about, the ones that live abroad?"

April made a face like she had caught herself saying something she wasn't supposed to.

"Yeah that's one of them.."

She deflected.

"But enough about me, tell me about some of your friends back home."

Seren retracted a bit.

"Oh yeah uhm- my friends.."

April folded her arms on the table and leaned in a bit, intrigued to hear what Seren said. They tensed up a bit and twirled their hoodie string awkwardly.

"Well I- I didn't really have any."

April's look softened.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up a sore subject."

"No no, you're fine, it's not like that."

Seren sputtered,

"It's not like I didn't have friendly acquaintances or people to chat with. I just didn't have any.. "real friends", I guess?"

Seren sat back into their booth and let out a small sigh.

"I've never really been good with people.. I've always just been kinda "weird", y'know?"

April smiled empathetically; seeing as she had 4 mutant ninja turtle brothers, she was no stranger to the feeling of weird.

"Trust me, I know allllll about being the weird kid."

Seren chuckled in amusement.

"Really? You? I'd never think you'd be a weird kid."

April busted out into giggles.

"Are you kidding me? Last year I wore a wizard costume to school for Halloween and everyone made fun of me. I was the laughing stock for a week!"

Seren perked up and put their hands on the table.

"What?! That's so stupid. A wizard is an awesome Halloween costume!"

They defended.

"I know, right?! But apparently, "I'm too old for Halloween" and "Halloween is for little kids"!"

She complained in a mocking tone.

"They don't know what they're talking about. Halloween is for all ages."

Seren affirmed.

"See, you get what's up! Halloween is the stuff!"

They both laughed.

April sat back and smiled.

"Normal friends are overrated. You can be part of the April O'Neil dorky pals for life club. We're always excepting new members."

"That sounds like the club for me."

Seren jested.

The two sat in silence for a minute. Seren looked around, out the window, and watched the people passing by. It was dark outside but the city wasn't. The streets were lit up with signs and billboards. It felt very lively; it was beautiful. They enjoyed looking at the sight for a moment before turning back to look at April.

"Sorry that the conversation got a little heavy there for a second."

"Don't worry about it, I do that all the time. I guess that's just part of being a weird kid."

April reassured.

Seren let out a small snicker and grinned sofly.

"Must be."

April got up from the booth and stretched her arms.

"You ready to go?"

Seren nodded and quickly piled all of the trash onto their tray.

"I'll go throw that away. Would you mind refilling my drink?"

April asked.

Seren stood up and grabbed their cups.

"Not at all! I was gonna refill mine anyway."

"Thanks, Seren."

Seren responded with a warm smile and turned toward the soda machine.

"No problemo, new friend!"

Seren strolled over to the drink machine and April headed over to the trash can. After dumping the tray, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She looked over to Seren, who was still refilling the drinks,

and took this moment to scroll through her phones notifications.

She had a few unread messages, probably from the turtles, no doubt. She clicked on the first message, which was from Mikey.

"Good luck with your new friend!"

The message was followed by a gif of a cute cat jumping around happily. Raph and Leo had also sent her good luck texts, even though Leo's was more teasing than anything. Donnie, on the other hand, was asking for a name, photo, a date of birth, and various other ridiculous questions. April rolled her eyes at his antics and sent him a message with an annoyed emoji.

"I am not asking for their blood type Donnie🙄"

She saw Seren walking over and put her phone down. They held out a now full soda cup to her.

"Here you go."

April grabbed the cup from them.

"Thanks a ton."

She took a sip of her drink and pulled her phone up.

"You wanna take a quick pic before we go?"

Seren beamed.

"Sure!"

April held up her phone and the two scootched together. She moved her phone to where they were both in frame and put her arm over their shoulder to squeeze them closer.

"Say "new friends"!"

Seren held up a hand for the photo.

"New friends!"

April took the picture and let them go.

"Alright! Our first official friend picture."

Seren peeked over her shoulder to look at the photo.

"It came out pretty good!"

They remarked.

"I'm pretty good at taking pictures."

April jested.

She shoved her phone into her jacket pocket.

The two walked out of the restaurant and onto the sidewalk.

Seren zipped up their hoodie and pulled out their phone to check the time. 8.00 PM.

"I had a great time hanging out with you, April."

"Me too! We'll have to meet up again soon. This was a blast!"

She exclaimed.

Seren beamed with joy.

"I can't wait! Well, I have to go. See you soon!"

April smiled softly.

"Bye Seren-"

"Oh wait!"

Seren interrupted.

"I almost forgot! I brought you a gift."

They started searching through their pockets for something.

"A gift?"

April asked.

"Yup, a gift!"

Seren stated proudly as they held out their hands. In their palms layed a little pink and white plastic cat figurine.

"I noticed your phone case was a cat, and it reminded me of this little toy cat I have."

Seren explained.

April curiously took the cat from their hands and inspected it. It was small, mostly white with some pink spots, and it had a pink bow tie.

"Awww, it's so cute!"

She gushed.

"Thank you, you didn't have to do that."

Seren seemed very happy with themselves.

"I know, but usually when I make a new friend, I try to get them a small gift. It's my way of trying to start the friendship on a good note."

"That is an awesome way to start a friendship."

April complimented.

"Thank you."

Seren simpered bashfully.

They remembered what time it was and swiftly turned around.

"Okay. Gotta go, but for real this time!"

Seren joked while speed walking away and waving goodbye.

April snickered at their enthusiasm and returned the gesture.

"Bye Seren!"

April put the gift in her pocket and turned to walk home. She jogged to her apartment complex and climbed the stairs to her floor. She unlocked her door, stepped inside, and flicked the lights on. The house was quiet, which probably meant her mom was still at work. She took off her shoes and before setting her stuff down, she grabbed the broom next to the front door. She lifted it up and gently knocked on the ceiling with the handles tip.

"Hey Drax, I'm home!"

April yelled in a sing songy tone, a faint low voice replied from above.

"O'Niel, please stop doing that."

Draxum complained.

"Not a chance sheep man! Gotta make sure you're still alive up there."

April teased.

She heard an annoyed sigh, some grumbling, and footsteps walking away.

She knew she had successfully pissed him off, per usual, and triumphantly put the broom back down. She waltzed to her room and set her stuff down next to her desk. Mayhem leapt into her arms, purring and pawing at her face.

"Okay, okay, I'm happy to see you too!"

April giggled.

She sat on her bed and snuggled Mayhem before letting him go. He sauntered next to her leg and curled up against her.

April sat back and pulled out her phone. There were some new messages from her brothers. The first one she clicked on was from Leo in the group chat.

"Soooo..How did it go??"

April sent the picture her and Seren had taken together. Then she remembered about the cat toy and quickly grabbed it from her pocket to take a picture of it. She sent the two photos along with a text message.

"It was great. They're super cool. We ate at Burger Queen and talked for like an hour straight. And look at this adorable little cat toy they gave me!"

Leos' reply was almost instant,

"How fancy 🤌🤌"

Then Mikey.

"Awww look at how cute that little guy is!"

Then Raph.

"Glad you had fun April!"

And finally, Donnie.

"Will be looking up more about them now that I have this picture."

She sighed in amusement and put down her phone to get ready for bed.

[awkward-teabag]

One of the wild things about touch starvation is how it makes you hyper aware of any and all touch. It’s not sexual or romantic or anything like that, it’s simply your mind being blown at human contact. It is so out of the norm that you can’t not notice it.

[thehaitanis]

𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔦𝔯 𝔠𝔯𝔲𝔰𝔥: 𝔪𝔦𝔱𝔰𝔲𝔶𝔞 𝔱𝔞𝔨𝔞𝔰𝔥𝔦 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔯𝔶𝔲𝔤𝔲𝔧𝔦 𝔨𝔢𝔫

❮★❯ summary: how will mitsuya takashi and ryuguji ken (draken) act around their crush?

❮★❯ warnings: none, maybe bad writing.

❮★❯ disclaimer: english is not my first language, so forgive me for any mistakes. yes i did cry with the war flashbacks in the draken one.

as i said before, mitsuya is one if not the most mature guys in toman. he had to grow up really fast so it is expected that he would be hyper aware of everything that happens in his surroundings so yes, he definitely knows he has a crush on you. he knew of his affections for you the moment he caught himself thinking about you outside school, in every moment he spend alone and even in his own club. the thought of hearing your voice calling his name and seeing your cute face smile because of him got mitsuya all soft inside.

unfortunately, his crush is obvious only to him. he doesn’t want to be too forward simply because he’s afraid he’s going to scare you, besides, he’s terrified of the idea of getting to intense with his actions so he prefers to keep a low profile until he feel it’s safe to show you just how much he likes you.

mitsuya would begin to show his interest the moment you give him signals that you might like him too. that would be his queue to act and the little things that he would do for you at the beginning would make you definitely like him for real. he’s a gentleman, so it’s not weird to see him offering to walk you home, give you a ride or even asking you to be his model for the things he’s making. anything is a good excuse to spend time beside you.

with all the effort he puts into making you feel special only around him it’s obvious that you would guess what’s going on. mitsuya is someone who tends to keep a neutral stance on everything, he doesn’t go out of his way to talk to anyone with who he’s not friends with and would of course ignore everything that’s not important and might get him in trouble but, with you he doesn’t care about that. he doesn’t care that he met you a few months ago because you’re already so special to him that he’s willing to fight for you if you need him to, so please be sure that all his actions come from a genuine interest.

if you do show signs of liking him after all the things he does for you, he would totally confess to you. it wouldn’t be anything too extra because he himself hates that kind of thing, it would be something small but very intimate, something that can show you just how much he already likes you.

draken is completely aware of his crush on you but will he act upon it? no, he won’t. however, that doesn’t mean he’s going to ignore it, he knows he likes you and even if he pretends he doesn’t when he’s in front of you, he always ends up worrying about you and your safety whenever the situation gets out of hand. this refusal comes mostly from the fact that he feels like you deserve something better, someone who’s not in a gang and someone who actually cares for a future that won’t be as dangerous as his. he’s loyal to toman and mikey but that might get in the way if he actually decides to listen to his impulses, his more normal impulses.

like mitsuya, his crush is not exactly obvious but this is because he chooses to deal with it in silence. he can’t seem to show you his affections but he’s still there if you need him, always watching over you and protecting you from anything and anyone that might want to harm you. draken is not used to feel that way so he would probably distance himself from you every now and then in hopes for his feelings to go away. they never go, but he likes to pretend as if they do.

when he is around you everything seems to be more fun. he’s always teasing you in some way. he always surprises himself by smiling at whatever you do. it’s impossible to pretend he doesn’t care about you when you look at him with those eyes and, so far, only mikey’s been able to notice his strange behaviour, meaning that he’s lost because there’s little time until his friend connects the dots.

you won’t find out until he finally gets fed up with everything and decides to tell you. he probably realized that you could be gone any moment now and because he doesn’t want to have any regrets in his life he’s willing to risk it all just to let you know how he feels about you. yes, he will be very harsh about it, yelling out of frustration with himself for taking so damn long but please be sure he’s not mad at you, he’s just an idiot who doesn’t know how to handle emotions.

after he confesses it is probable that he distances himself because he’s afraid he might have fucked that up. he wanted to let you know in a more special way but his feelings got the best of him and well, now it’s your turn to reassure him if you do feel the same as him. but be gentle, he’s on edge and well, he’s still a dumb guy after all.

❮★❯ requests are: closed!

[the-insomniac-emporium]

Dimitrescu Daughter HCs

I thought this would only take a few minutes. I was so, so very wrong. Anyway, some of these are somewhat exclusive to my fic (Serenade), but they’ll make sense even if you haven’t read that.

Daniela:

Others have already talked about how Daniela reads a ton of romance novels, so I’m not really going to go into that very much, just saying that I agree 100%, I mean c’mon, it’s practically canon.

While she mainly sources books from her family’s library, there are a few she’s “acquired” over the years that she keeps locked away in her room. These tend to be a bit, ahem, steamier than her mother would approve of/let her read under normal circumstances.

How did she get these? Well, there has to be someone who delivers goods to Castle Dimitrescu (Duke, perhaps?), seeing as the Maidens need, like, actual food to survive. Sometimes Daniela manages to convince them to order books for her, usually just asking for books by authors she likes, or ones she’s heard maidens whispering about.

No, the delivery person does not read the book’s summaries or reviews, they have a feeling (based on titles and covers alone) that they don’t want to know.

As for her experiences with actual romance… she’s so very, very excited about it, all the time. Wants to kiss every cute Maiden she sees, and sometimes daydreams about a beautiful woman fleeing from lycans who comes to the castle for shelter, clinging to Dani for warmth and protection, and it’s love at first sight, and they kiss and kiss and right as it gets to the good part-! Someone interrupts her daydream (usually Cassandra).

However, her actual experiences are fairly limited. Sure, she has kissed Maidens, but she tends to get over excited. Like in Serenade, she starts to rush the process, and usually ends up draining her “lover” aka victim before anything more intimate happens.

She’s definitely done sexual things, just, well, not with other people. Private things. Usually during or after reading one of her special books. You get the picture.

Because of this, and her aforementioned love of romance novels, Daniela has become somewhat obsessed with the idea of her first time. She wants everything to be perfect. The setting, the timing, who she’s with… Hence her reaction in chapter 3 of Serenade. It’s not that she didn’t want to continue, just that the circumstances didn’t feel right. She’s very particular!

Favorite Music Genre: Girl goes wild for an emotional, gut-wrenching love/power ballad. The type to lie in bed and cry while listening to Hozier or Lorde (not that she can hear either of them, considering her limited music options). Doesn’t admit it, though, and mostly listens to indie pop when other people can hear. That and whatever the Maiden plays on piano ;)

Okay it feels weird to joke about her loving music I wrote, anywayyyy

Hobbies: Other than reading there’s not too much I can see her doing, really. She’d be sure to get into anything that her s/o enjoys, though, even if it’s something difficult or time-consuming. Writing is something she’d love, but it’s difficult for her to keep her focus on just one project at a time. Ideally she’d write short stories, romantic ones obvs, and have someone else proofread/edit them. For the most part she’d write within fantasy and historical setting (seeing as she’s got experience in both of those departments).

ADHD, BABY. Bigtime, seriously. Maybe this is just my adhd ass projecting, but I can’t not see her as having it. For her it mainly manifests with hyper-focusing/difficulty staying on task. It’s like a switch with those on either end, flipping back and forth every once in a while. She can spend six hours reading two different books in one sitting, but if someone just breathes too loudly it disrupts her completely. Because of this she’s somewhat prone to abandoning projects. It’s a sore subject for her, and her sisters are aware, normally only bringing it up if they’re really angry with her.

Opinions on the four lords: Thinks Heisenberg is a tool (pun intended), also thinks that he secretly reads super erotic novels. She doesn’t have any proof, though, and would never say anything about it out loud. Just makes fun of him in her head. Doesn’t actually judge him for what she thinks he reads, just judges his personality and the “need he feels to hide his secret”. Loves Donna, and low-key thinks she’s attractive. Daniela mostly bases that off the portrait she’s seen, but, like many fans, also thinks the hands are nice. The puppets don’t bother her, though she also doesn’t really care about them, other than thinking that Donna interacting with them is cute.

Opinions continued: Moreau is… uh… fish boy. Daniela thinks he’s weird, kinda gross, and hardly considers him a “real” lord. Poor boy :(  At least she doesn’t actively make fun of him?... Even if that’s only because she kinda forgets about him most of the time. As for Lady Dimitrescu, well, obviously Daniela loves her mom. The whole family is very close, and as the “youngest”, Daniela gets a lot of attention. Sometimes she thinks her mother is too strict, but at the end of the day there’s no love lost.

Bela:

Cleans up after her sisters a lot, but still nowhere near as much as any of the Maidens do. Often agrees to help with messes in exchange for blackmail material. “Oh, Daniela, what a shame you broke mother’s favorite dish… I could help, but you owe me one.” At the end of the day, though, there’s plenty she would slide.

Being the “oldest”, she’s expected to behave the best, and often feels more restricted than her sisters. Being an example is hard! Occasionally she’ll have the impulse to rebel, but this usually only manifests in scenarios like the one mentioned above, aka she’ll simply be more lenient of her siblings for a bit.

Overall far less sadistic than her sisters. Cares more about the quality of pain then the amount of it. Only ever goes overboard if someone full out threatens or hurts her family. Insults towards them still earn her ire, and will get her to punish someone, but it’s not enough to make her resort to torture. Usually.

Gets the most restless out of the three. As cool (and large) as the castle is, it’s all she’s ever really known. If not for her weakness to cold, she’d go out on hikes a lot. Nature interests her, fascinates her, but she’d be a little less fond of most of it in person. Like, oh, waterfalls sound so cool, followed by a hundred complaints about the noise. Thinks deer are the cutest shit ever (second only to humans, maybe).

Unlike Daniela (though that HC is relevant almost exclusively to Serenade), Bela has actually slept with a Maiden before. She doesn’t really care for them enough to consider it a relationship, instead admiring them for their entertainment value. Definitely could fall for a Maiden, simply hasn’t yet. Of the three I feel like she takes the longest to fall in love, and even longer to actually act on her feelings. Sometimes resents her siblings because they unknowingly “claimed” a Maiden that she was starting to be interested in. However, she fully acknowledges that she should have said something if she didn’t want to lose the girl, considering the situation they live in.

Favorite music genre: Classical, full orchestra style, with a soft spot for swing/jazz. Enjoys having music play softly while she reads, and is very particular about the volume. Absolutely would argue with her sisters if they tried to change the music or turn it up.

Hobbies: Reading, duh. Less interested in romance than Daniela by a considerable amount. For the most part she reads non-fiction books, enjoying learning about history and the sciences. Astronomy is at the top of her favorites list, followed by biology, then obscure (and often bloody) pieces of history. Niche=perfect. Also enjoys music, even if she had to rely mostly on self-teaching books. Knows the basics of piano, but doesn’t actively play, much preferring both the violin and harp. Most of the time she’ll only play if she knows her sisters won’t bother her, or if her mother asks her to.

Opinions on the four lords: Admires Heisenberg’s work/his edgenuity, but thinks the actual man is a temperamental child… who smells like wet dog. He’s only been at Castle Dimitrescu a couple times (per Mother Miranda’s request), and both times Bela moved to the other side of the house so she wouldn’t have to acknowledge his existence. While she would never admit it, she’s low-key creeped out by Donna’s dolls, and really only tolerates Angie. However, she would never act on her nerves, out of consideration for Donna’s feelings. She knows that her mother gets along well with the dollmaker, and keeps this at the forefront of her mind.

Opinions continued: “Moreau who? Oh, the fish guy? He’s still alive?... Good for him.” Wants to make Lady Dimitrescu proud, but not as desperately as Cassandra. Unknowingly mimics a lot of her mother’s little habits and ticks, and would be quietly embarrassed if someone pointed it out to her. As mentioned previously, she feels like she has to be an example for the others, and somewhat resents the pressure this puts on her. On the other hand, she does enjoy being “responsible for” (read: in charge of) her sisters. Additionally, she is the most likely to get away with lying to Alcina, though she does not often do so. This isn’t because she’s the most manipulative (that’s Cass), or the best liar (that’s Dani, if she’s trying), but simply because Alcina doesn’t think her oldest daughter would lie. Even if she doubts something Bela says, she’ll usually give her the benefit of the doubt… as long as it doesn’t happen very often.

Cassandra:

Sleeps the most of the three, if only because she’s the most active of them. Not as fast as the others while in swarm mode, but the fastest on foot, partially because she’s more likely to simply walk places. She knows the sound of feet on the floor scares the Maidens, and she drinks their fear with utter pleasure. Additionally she claims that it just feels nice to “stretch her legs”. But she will not hesitate to enter swarm mode when chasing someone. As fun as it is to smell their fear, she can get impatient, wanting to get close and personal to her target.

Tends to hide most of her feelings, sometimes even opting to “convert” them into anger. In other words, think of her emotional state as an ever-filling bottle of water. As things happen, she feels emotions, and the rate at which water pours into the bottle increases. Ideally if the water level started getting too high, she would address whatever is increasing the flow of water. Instead of that, she often uses anger, which is equivalent to shaking the bottle a bit and letting water messily spill out of it. Doesn’t address the actual problem, but let’s her release some pressure/free up some room.

Goes through Maidens faster than her siblings (yes, even Daniela “draining you of blood is romantic” Dimitrescu). Not all of them even die in the basement, sometimes what was supposed to be a “warning” turns into “oh shit the blood won’t stop coming out, this is how I die, in this accursed castle, no friends or family to mourn me, just the painful knowledge that I will not be the last, I will die for no cause, no glory, just the bitter whims of a blood-soaked mistress” or something along those lines.

While more likely to get attached to someone than Bela, Cassandra isn’t one to do much about it. She might flirt, might even try to kiss (or, uh, kiss while also not wearing clothes wink wink), but she won’t (usually) claim someone as her own, or protest if one of her sisters wants to have some fun with them (even if it’s the bloody kind of fun). Technically gets over breakups and “breakups” (i.e. death) easier than either of her sisters. To be fully accurate, Daniela still goes through lovers faster, but she also remembers them and cares for them for longer post-breakup.

Somewhat of a blood kink. Like, more than vampires automatically have. In intimate settings she cares more about the quantity of blood and what she can do with it (loves bloodstains) than what causes the bloodshed.

Favorite music genre: Rock ‘n roll. Leans towards older stuff, as well as heavier songs. Soft spot for symphonic metal, but doesn’t admit it out of the fear that some might consider it a “weaker form” of the genre. Almost exclusively listens to bands that have female vocalists, and gets crushes on them more than she’d ever admit.

Hobbies: Art! Painting, mostly, but dabbles in sculpture from time to time. It’s been too long since I took an art class for me to suggest a style for her paintings, but I imagine her sculptures would be somewhat abstract. Her art would revolve around emotion, the stronger and rawer the better, with viewers often being left uncomfortable. While Alcina buys plenty of art supplies for her, Cassandra is fond of improvising, especially by creating her own “tools” (of questionable efficiency) out of items she has laying around. She is absolutely the one who took her mother’s lipstick. If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry, it’s just mentioned in one of the RE8 notes that Lady Dimitrescu’s valuable lipstick is missing.

Opinions on the four lords: Tolerates Heisenberg more than the rest of her family by a considerable amount. She’s seen glimpses of his work, his steampunk-adjacent style, and actually kind of digs it. While Bela cares more about the science behind his work, Cassandra just digs the aesthetic. Sometimes for her art she also needs things she can’t get from the castle, and are too obscure to get from a merchant, so she trades tools/ideas with Heisenberg in exchange for him making something for her. “Can you make a battery but whenever it’s in use it makes a horrible screaming sound?” “Yes. PS I hate your mother and Miranda.” “I didn’t fucking ask.”

Opinions continued: Doesn’t really care much about Donna, but acknowledges her as a fellow artist, and would be willing to consult her if she talked more (and talked without Angie). Cassandra hasn’t met Moreau, thankfully (he would cry). Knows about him from her sister/mother, and as a result doesn’t care about him. Internally whenever someone mentions him, she pictures, like, a Goldfish Cracker (the snack that smiles back) with legs except also it’s green and moldy.

Opinions cont.: Loves her mother so much. Determined to please her, to make her proud, but often left feeling less loved than her sisters. This strains her relationship with her family, not that she’d ever voice her feelings and talk through the issue. Let’s be real, Alcina would probably feel guilty for not realizing how Cass felt. Nonetheless, Cassandra probably spends the most time with her mother, often offering to assist her with tasks, or trying to get her to appreciate her art.

[earliebirb]

nosedive

steve/tony, fluff, (newly) established relationship, 3250 words

Tony stares absentmindedly out the airplane window as he puts his phone up to his ear, watching people run back and forth, performing last-minute engine checks. Some of the guys look sweaty and out of breath.

From the comfort of the air-conditioned Stark Industries private jet, he feels a slight twinge of sympathy for the people having to suffer in the humid summer heat.

He loosens his tie and sinks deeply into his seat, closing his eyes with a massive yawn as he listens to the ringing tone. He hadn’t been able to sleep very well throughout his five-day stay in Tokyo, too anxious about the contract to rest properly. 

The ringing tone goes on for a few more seconds before ending with a click, replaced by an achingly familiar voice greeting him in his ear. 

“Hello?” 

Tony’s eyes spring open. Outside, an aircraft marshaller walks by, speaking rapidly into his walkie-talkie.

“I had a blueberry muffin for lunch today. One single blueberry muffin.”

“...What?”

“It didn’t even taste that good. I couldn’t finish it. Too dry.”

“Tony, that’s not good. Is that all you had for lunch? You should really eat—”

“The meeting went well, by the way. Mr. Watanabe finally signed the contract, everything went as planned. My ride to the airport, however…”

“I told you things would go smoothly, you had nothing to worry about. You’re a brilliant negotiator—”

“The traffic? Fuck. I had to keep shifting in my seat to avoid pins and needles.”

“That sounds awful, are your legs okay—”

“Did you know that Tokyo is number nineteen on the list of cities with the worst traffic congestion in the world? I know that, because I looked it up on the way to the airport. But boy, did it feel like it deserved the number one spot. I think I lost feeling in my ass.”

“I did not know that. And, uh, is your ass okay—”

“Thank God for my private jet. These plush seats are the best things I’ve ever spent my money on.”

“That’s objectively not true, and you know it—”

“Then again, I think these seats in particular were Pepper’s choice? We remodeled the airplane’s interior like… two years ago. I couldn’t be bothered to meet with the airplane seat people and I just told her to pick whichever looked best. I had much more important things to tend to, like sewing up the holes in JARVIS’s Christmas stocking.”

“I am concerned about how you sort your list of priorities—”

“Hm, that’s right. I think it was around two, three weeks before Christmas and I didn’t want JARVIS to be upset about the whole stocking thing, you know?”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t have—”

“Also, you’re right, the single blueberry muffin was a bad idea because now my stomach won’t shut up. So I’ve ordered some pasta for my in-flight meal. Robbie’s making it, you’ve met Robbie—”

“I’ve met Robbie, yes, he’s—”

“Larry’s replacement after he resigned. Gotta say, I was sad to see Larry go. Guy worked for me for seven years. But then there was that thing with his grandma, and he had to leave, so… But! Robbie makes a mean carbonara, maybe even better than Larry, don’t tell Larry I said that—”

“I don’t even know Larry like that, how would I—”

“Mr. Stark, we’re ready to go.” The pilot—Paul—emerges from the cockpit, staring at him in anticipation.

Tony nods and makes a few rapid gestures with his free hand that he supposes Paul is only able to interpret perfectly after years and years of working for Tony. The gestures roughly translate to something like “Copy, I hear you, just let me wrap this up and then I’ll let you know when I’m done. Capiche?”

Paul—bless him—just gives him a curt nod and retreats back into the cockpit. 

“Anyway,” Tony takes a deep breath and puffs his cheeks out with the exertion of his exhale, “I called because… I got a feeling, Steve.”

“A… feeling?”

“Just— A gut feeling. A feeling in your gut. Inside of me. Like a hunch?”

“Okay,” Steve says patiently, his voice low and warm, “what are you feeling?”

“I… got a bad feeling. Today. A few hours ago. The feeling came to me when I was sitting in traffic, and I just— I feel like something bad’s gonna happen today, Steve. I can feel it in the air. In my heart. In my gut. In my joints.”

“Your joints? Like… the feeling old people get when it’s about to rain?”

“Okay, maybe not in my joints. Also, are you calling me old, grandpa?”

“I did not, you told me you felt something in your—”

“Anyway, so yeah. Where was I? Oh, right. Feeling. Bad feeling. Like, like, I don’t know, something bad’s gonna happen. Like an accident. Like a plane crash.”

“God, please don’t say that. You’re scaring me, Tony.”

“And I guess, I just called because I… I feel like I need to do this before the plane crashes and I die a violent and fiery death.”

“Nothing bad’s going to happen, Tony—”

“Like, if I didn’t do this today, maybe I’d never get to do it, you know? And, uh, okay, I’ve honestly been ranting to stall for time, but the longer I keep it in the more nauseous I feel, so maybe I’m just gonna do it now so I can die in peace—”

“Do what? And stop saying that—”

“Look, I’m trying to be brave and honest here and— Wait, actually? Maybe I’m being a coward because if the plane actually does go down, I won’t have to face the consequences of my actions, so I guess I’m just going to say fuck it, and say that I love you.”

“The plane is not going to— Wait, what?”

“I, uh. Love you. I’ve known it for a while now. And, uh, I know we’ve only been dating for like, a week, but—” Tony blinks. They’ve only been dating for a week. 

“...Fuck.” Tony can feel his own pulse starting to race. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

“Tony?”

They’ve only been dating for a week. What is he doing? What the hell is wrong with him? Normal people don’t do this. 

“Fuck. Shit, I mean— Uh, I’m sorry. That was super weird, huh?” Tony laughs nervously. He closes his eyes, gritting his teeth and cursing his stupid brain. Of course it’s weird. He always gets too attached to people way too quickly. No wonder Pepper was his only long term relationship. She was the only person who could put up with him—everyone else just got weirded out. “Uh, see you tomorrow? Or not. Fuck, sorry, I’m just gonna hang up before this gets—”

“Tony, wait.”

“...Yeah?” Tony says, hyper-aware of how breathless he sounds. His heartbeat is ringing in his ears. Everything is going to be fine. Right? Right. The worst thing Steve could do is… break up with him.

Oh, God, that is the worst case scenario. He really should’ve just kept his stupid mouth shut. 

“Tony, are you freaking out? I feel like I can hear you freaking out from all the way over here.”

“No, I’m not, of course I’m not. Who says I’m freaking out? You have no proof. I am calm, I’m calm as a clam, is that the saying? Did I get it right? Or was it happy— Anyway, I am absolutely calm, I’m the calmest I could possibly be. Any calmer and I’d be asleep. I’m—”

“Tony. Breathe.”

Tony forces himself to drag in a slow breath as he grips the arm of his seat with his free hand, focusing on the soothing hum of the airplane’s engine.

“Look, Tony, I—”

“No, listen. I’m sorry I jumped the gun, I hope I haven’t weirded you out or anything. You really, really don’t have to say it back to me. I mean it.”

“Tony—”

“No, in fact— Please don’t say anything. It’s fine. Let’s just pretend this never happened, okay?”

“But—”

“Drop it, Steve. Please?” Tony pleads. Clearly, his brain hadn’t been firing on all cylinders. That is the only reason that could explain his temporary lapse of judgment. “Look, I feel like talking about it more right now is going to send me spiraling into a panic attack.”

“...Okay. Fine.”

“Thank you. Uh, I’ll see you when I get home. If I get home. If the plane doesn’t crash. Haha.”

“Would you please stop saying that? It’s not funny.”

Tony latches onto the change in topic like a lifeline. “It is objectively true, you know. In order for me to be able to see you tomorrow, the plane has to land safely, and unfortunately, some things are just beyond my control. Like, who’s to say the plane won’t explode mid-air and—”

“The plane is going to land safely and you’re going to come back home to me in one piece. This is non-negotiable, Tony. You hear me?” Steve demands, his voice all hard authority and no-nonsense, like there will be Consequences should Tony fail to comply. 

As if he could ensure Tony’s safety with the force of his willpower alone. 

Come back home to me. 

That sounds good. Really good. Tony closes his eyes and pictures Steve’s baby blues in his mind’s eye. Warmth flowers in his chest.

“I hear you.”

“Great.”

“Awesome. I, uh, I gotta go now.”

“Okay. See you tomorrow.”

“See you.”

Tony hangs up and lets Paul know that he is done with his phone call. The jittery feeling left over from his call with Steve refuses to leave him, however, so he pulls up the drawing application on his phone and begins sketching something just to give his brain something else to fixate on.

He tends to lose track of time when he is hyperfocused on a project, so he isn’t exactly surprised that the next time he becomes aware of his surroundings, the plane is already well up in the air, his sketch of what looks like a flying coffee pot is almost finished, and Robbie is placing a plate of spaghetti carbonara on the table in front of him. 

“Spaghetti carbonara. With extra cheese.”

Tony’s mouth waters as he eyes the mountain of grated Pecorino Romano sitting atop the pasta. He sighs dreamily and smiles up at Robbie.

“You’re a lifesaver.”

“Enjoy, Boss.” Robbie grins and slips back into the kitchen.

He only realizes just how truly famished he is after taking his first bite, and proceeds to finish the rest of his meal with gusto. Afterward, he spends the majority of the remaining flight time sleeping, the result of post-carbonara food coma and his sleep-deprivation finally catching up to him. 

It’s well past two in the morning when Tony finally makes it to his floor in the Tower, which is why he is surprised to see Steve sitting on his couch, one of Tony’s fantasy novels open in hand. 

“Steve, what are you doing here?”

Steve’s head snaps up at the sound of his voice. Tony frowns. “Actually, why are you awake at all?” He is usually an early sleeper, unless—

“Nightmare?” Tony gives him a sympathetic smile. It wouldn’t be the first time. In the early days of their friendship, Tony and Steve would sit together in the living room whenever they had trouble sleeping, talking to each other until the sun came up.

Steve shakes his head, closing the book with his eyes still trained on Tony. “No, I was just… waiting for you.” Tony blinks. 

“It’s…” Tony glances at his watch. “Half past two. In the morning.”

“I know, I just…” Steve stands up, shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweatpants. He ambles over before coming to a stop right in front of Tony. “I wanted to see you.”

Tony stares at him uncomprehendingly. “You’ll see me later anyway.”

“I couldn’t wait any longer. I didn’t want to go to sleep without seeing you first,” Steve says, low and earnest. His gaze wanders around Tony’s face, as if he were cataloguing each and every facial feature and trying to locate any changes he might’ve missed during his absence.

“Oh.”

Steve steps closer, arms snaking around Tony’s waist and pulling him close. His next words are whispered against Tony’s shoulder.

“I knew you’d make it home safely.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“You were wrong.”

“I was… wrong.” Tony swallows. “Uh, turns out the bad feeling completely disappeared after I woke up from my nap on the plane, so I suspect that perhaps the bad feeling I got was due to my severe hunger and sleep deprivation. I mean, I’ve heard about hallucinations caused by hunger or exhaustion, but this was—” 

Steve presses a soft kiss to the column of Tony’s neck, effectively cutting off Tony’s ramblings.

“Tony,” Steve whispers against his skin.

“Yeah?” Tony squeaks.

“Please don’t call me before a flight and say that you think the plane is going to crash, ever again.”

“Right. Noted. I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” Steve says, pulling away slightly and loosening his hold around Tony.

Tony allows himself to relax, letting out a quiet sigh. This thing with Steve is so new and delicate that every single physical contact still sends his heart fluttering, butterflies going crazy in his stomach.

Which makes, in retrospect, his abrupt love confession—as truthful as it was—that much more insane. God, Stark. Never do that again.

Except, it turns out that Steve only pulled away to slide his hands down the back of Tony’s thighs, wrapping his hands around them, and then lifting him up without warning.

Tony yelps, and in his alarm, promptly locks his ankles around Steve’s waist. When Steve begins moving, Tony quickly wraps his arms around Steve, resting his chin on Steve’s shoulder.

“Uh, Steve?”

“Hm?” Steve says, calm and nonchalant, as he begins walking away from the elevator. 

“Um— Wait— My suitcase—”

“Leave it. It’ll still be there in the morning.”

Tony blinks, staring dumbfoundedly at his lonely suitcase, abandoned by the elevator. It becomes smaller and smaller with every step Steve takes. 

“Where are we going?”

“Your bedroom.”

“Why are you carrying me there?”

“Because I want to.”

“You know it’ll be faster if you just let me walk, right?”

“Maybe. But you won’t be in my arms.”

“Um.”

“Bear with me, will you? I missed you.”

“I, uh, missed you too.”

Steve hums, satisfied. Tony lets himself settle more comfortably in Steve’s arms.

When Steve has successfully carried him to his bedroom, Tony fully expects Steve to deposit him on the bed. 

That is not, in fact, what happens. 

Instead, Steve turns around and begins walking backwards towards the bed before sitting down on it. Tony, still seated on his lap, swallows and pulls back slightly to look at Steve. 

“Look, Steve, as much as I’ve missed you, I’m kind of tired right now. I mean, don’t get me wrong. This whole carrying thing? Great. Very romantic. Ten out of ten. But I’m just not in the mood for sex, you know? Like, I’m not even sure I would be able to get it up if—”

“We’re not going to have sex.”

Tony blinks.

“We’re not?”

“We’re not. I’m just here to tuck you in.”

“Oh.”

Steve reaches up and begins undoing his tie. After setting it aside on the bed, he begins to unbutton Tony’s shirt. He takes his time, one button at a time.

“So…” Steve begins with a deep breath as he unbuttons the final button. “Did you mean, uh, what you said to me? On the phone?”

Tony closes his eyes, feels his own cheeks heating up. “Steve—”

“I’m sorry, Tony, I know you told me to drop it. But— I feel like if you did mean what you said, I owe it to you to… set the records straight.” When Tony opens his eyes again, Steve is looking up at him, blue eyes solemn.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… We have only been together for a week. Well, eight days. In fact, we’ve only been on one date. And it was interrupted. By giant lizards.” Steve chuckles incredulously. 

Tony remembers that day very well. They were in the middle of dessert at Tony’s favorite Italian place when they received the call to assemble—something about giant lizards wreaking havoc in Central Park.

The lizards had green, gunky blood that got into the nooks and crannies of the suit. It had taken forever to clean.

“But Tony…” Steve gathers the material of Tony’s unbuttoned shirt in both of his fists, pulling him closer until their noses are only inches apart.

The second their eyes meet, Steve smiles the sweet, lopsided smile that never fails to make Tony’s stomach flip.

“I need you to know that… I didn’t have to date you to know that I loved you. I figured that a long time ago.”

Tony stills, breath frozen in his lungs.

“I guess, what I’m saying is… I love you too. I’ve loved you for a very long time, Tony. Even way before—” Steve breaks eye contact, looks down as he clears his throat. When he speaks again, his voice is tight. “Way before we got together. I’m talking… years before.”

Tony still finds it hard to breathe. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Steve says, the word more breath than sound. He meets Tony’s dazed gaze. “So you don’t have to worry about… jumping the gun. Not with me. I’m in it for the long haul.”

“...Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Good.” Tony feels a lightness growing inside of him, spreading outwards to his extremities.

“Good.” Steve smiles, warm and impossibly fond.

“...Glad we’re on the same page.” Tony’s gaze drops down to Steve’s lips.

“We are.” Steve inches closer, nose brushing Tony’s. He then tilts his head ever so slightly and takes Tony’s lower lip between his, kissing him so tenderly Tony’s heart feels like it’s about to burst with it.

Steve’s warm hands slide up Tony’s naked back under his open shirt, sending goosebumps breaking across his skin. Tony buries his hands in Steve’s hair and relishes the feeling of the soft strands caught between his fingers. They stay caught up in each other for a few moments, capturing and releasing each other’s lips until the need for breath becomes too unbearable.

They break apart eventually, accompanied by soft chuckles. Steve smiles up at him, lips slick and cherry red, courtesy of Tony. He reaches up to caress Tony’s right eyebrow with the pad of his thumb, fleeting and affectionate.

“Get some rest, okay? You must be really tired. I should probably go to bed, too.”

Tony looks down at his lap, clearing his throat. “Uh, I know that we haven’t done this before, but…”

Steve waits patiently for Tony to gather his thoughts, hands stroking up and down Tony’s sides.

“Do you want to stay with me tonight?” Tony finds the courage to meet Steve’s eyes, holding his breath.

Steve’s blue eyes are gazing at him intently, looking at him like he’s the only person in the world worth his sole, undivided attention.

Tony swallows. “No sex. Just to sleep. If you—”

“Yes.”

“Yeah?”

“I would like that very much.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

“Good.” Tony feels his own lips slowly curve up into a smile, wide and unbridled. 

“Good.” Steve nods, lips twitching, his eyes never leaving Tony’s. 

Tony grins, feeling near giddy with delight. “Glad we’re on the same page.”

“We are, sweetheart.” Steve looks up at him, blue eyes fond and smile radiant. “We definitely are.”

[aizenat]

Like what’s crazy is there are more zoomers and zillenials on this site rn. At least actively so. Us older ppl just be chilling or whatever so I don’t see us saying a lot lol. Maybe that’s me but I can only speak to that.

Still, on every social media site these days, I am so hyper aware of how…different the way conversations are had and how kids dominate these conversations and spaces. Like, I think that op in particular was talking about the way ppl make posts on here, especially with all the virtue signaling and ish. Which younger people are more likely to engage in if only because y’all were literal children when a lot of these conversations began and tend to say things that were the conclusion of a very specific conversation and use that conclusion as the basis of your thoughts. But it was someone else, a zoomer I’m sure, who made it into a generation thing.

It’s weird because zoomer humor is the natural conclusion from millennial humor. And like a lot of millennial humor was very insular on internet culture. Millennials and zoomers tend to interact on social media a lot because that humor is so similar and relatable to each other. Like part of the reasons we may say something “weird” or “omg you’re thirty” worthy is because when online we are aware that chances are the majority of our audience is y’all and we’re catering to that audience. To a degree of course.

Zoomers have this weird idea that someone who is 21 should never be interacting with a 30 year old, that you’re only allowed to talk to someone in your age range or else it’s “creepy” or whatever. Like, I’m not rushing to hang with y’all lol, but really y’all the ones losing that benefit of interacting with people not so much older than you that they can be your parents but old enough to impart some wisdom. I remember being 20-22 interacting with people ten-fifteen years older than me and them treating me with the respect and care of someone who wanted to look out for me without looking down on me the way gen xers and boomers did.

Like there is something so nice about having people who society looks at as “real adults” view you as a peer. You’re more likely to listen to their advice and they take your shit seriously. You feel seen and heard and validated, and it also helps you view yourself as an adult. It’s so important to your coming of age process, but zoomers really do not seem interested on hearing what millennials have to say. They just put us on the same level as gen xers and boomers (whom WE have a lot of resentment towards lol) and be like “why are you even on social media, aren’t you 30???!!!!!!” as though you turn thirty and lose all rights to do anything for fun or enjoyment anymore.

[thebrownssociety]

i noticed that in a past post you had mentioned daffy was in the front lines of world war 2. how was that like? how did toons particularly handle war?

Not particularly well. Toons are not designed for war, they're designed to make people laugh. Added to that that most of the toons were very young [under 15] when they were sent to the front and the story gets sadder.

Warnings: Mention of War and descriptions of PTSD [I have done research, but this is Toon version, so it's not going to tally exactly with humans]

Disclaimer - this is a headcanon. I have mentioned the companies here and Walt Disney [briefly] stating the obvious, it's all made-up.

All of the companies involved did there best to help/protect the toons as best they could. None of the female or children toons were allowed to go and there was a limit on how old the 'adult' toons had to be before they could go. That ended up being 5. The companies wanted 10, the Military wanted three, five was a compromise - although the companies had to fight hard to get that. In the end it boiled down to 'Either five, or they don't go at all'. The companies also re-negotiated the initial year the toons would be away down to 6 consecutive months. The companies wanted three months, so it was another compromise.

Stating the obvious, none of the toons enjoyed it much. Even the ones who thought they would thrive [Like Donald, Yosamite Sam and other 'tough' toons] found it difficult. Not to say they don't remember some bits of it fondly, mainly the comradeship they found, but for the most part it was hell on earth. After the first lot of Toons who's gone in the first month [about 30, mainly background toons, Prince Florian and Sylvester] came back from the front they looked so pale and ghostlike [visually, a shell of there former selves] that none of the others wanted to go and the companies tried to pull them out of it. [This being near the end of 1943] But they weren't allowed to, so the toons had to go.

The time the toons were fighting was 'only' Jan 1943 - end of war, Sep 1945, and the toons were only there for 6 months, but it was a long, terrifying 6 months.

The weird thing was that after the first initial couple of months while there coulor came back and they looked more life-like again, they seemed okay. Really! They could still act - and act well - they joked with each other in a normal manner and they talked to people. Sure, there were a few of them showing more difficulties adjusting - like Daffy who was acting paranoid and was constantly on the edge and Donald who's already-existing anger issues went through the roof, not to mention Elmer who was mute for a few months after coming back and Pete [Disney] who locked himself away and wouldn't come out, not to mention the at least 30 of background toons who were all showing extreme level of difficultly, but, hey, that was only a couple of toons, right? In the grand scheme of things. The rest of them were fine.

They were not fine.

It took a good couple of years [between 5-10] But eventually the cracks started showing. The Toons who had fought in the war started reacting weirdly to loud noise. Jumping onto the ceiling and refusing to come down, hiding under things and in things [like jugs and cups and cracks in the wall] whenever they thought they were under attack. They were having frequent, intense nightmares and a lot of the toon were displaying mental health issues like paranoia and splitting themselves in two [literally. It depended on the toon as to what exactly the personalities looked like, but as a general guide they'd be one 'young' one from around the time they were first created and another one that was closer to there normal age, but looked and acted completely different. Doctor Scratchesniff theorised it's what the toons worse fears about themselves are, visualised and brought to life.]

The toons were also having flashbacks to the war, which is bad enough on its own, but because they're toons the flashbacks literally engulfed them and whoever was near, drawing them into a world that they hadn't been in for about five-ten years. This, as you can probably imagine, was quite a major problem so the three major studios - Disney, Warner Bros's and Hanna-Barbera - put there heads together and came up with a solution, and that solution came in the form of Doctor Scratchensniff. [I do have a separate headcanon on him, covered in my 'Mental-Health' headcanon] The idea was that D.S. would work across all three studios and have enhanced toon powers.

While it's well known that a lot of Toons have been affected by the war, I'll go through a few of the toons that [I headcanon] have had the most noticeable difficulties after the war.

Daffy - He now goes back and forth between his 40's characterisation [screwball, Clampett version] and his greedy-jerkass characterisation in later years. The way it works is he will be the 'sensible' persona of the Greedy Daffy for most of the year [who, for all his faults, does care about his friends/family and can take care of Plucky easily], then he will suddenly switch back to his 40's persona. [Who, although he does still care for his friends/family, he can't express it as well and he has NO IDEA who Plucky is.]

After a bit of help and counselling from D.S. he has identified his major triggers [and Daffy has informed the rest of the LT's so they're aware of them]. For example, flying a plane will instantly put him back in the 40's mindset. For a time it was flying in general that put him in the mindset [which was fun when the LT's went to Australia] but now Daffy's okay with it and can manage small journeys easily. Longer journeys he struggled with, but he simply doesn't go on long plane journeys.

He also doesn't like Toons taller than himself getting in his face, [much taller, I mean. Bugs is alright.] He'll go into 'Fight' mode and try to attack them. Non-expected loud sounds like a car backfiring or fireworks can also remind him of war. Daffy's reaction when he hears something that he's not sure of what it is, it to try and find it and attack it. Either that or he would teleport away to a small space [like a jug, under a staircase or a crack in the wall] and not come out until Avery/Elmer/Porky calmed him down. [Bugs does try, but Daffy tends to get more wound up whenever Bugs tries anything, so the rabbit had to stop.]

Donald - I'm not going to spend long on Donald, mainly because his issues have [I'm fairly certain] been touched on in canon? His triggers are a lot like Daffy's except that Donald is MUCH more likely to try and attack anything he thinks is a threat rather than run away from it. He has inadvertently hurt [both physically and mentally] people he cares about by doing this, but they understand the reason why. Doesn't necessary make it easier, but they understand.

The main difference between him and Daffy though is that Donald has always wanted help. Ever since he realised he was hurting the people he loved, he wanted help. He had time off from work, Scrooge stepped in and insisted Donald and the boys move in with him so he didn't have to worry about a roof over his head and getting food and stuff. [Unfortunately this genuine well-meant, kind act only added to Donald's general feeling of uselessness]

The good news was that not only did Donald have extended family support, but he was best friends with Mickey and Goofy. Mickey was able to lean in Walts ears and convince him to treat Donald more leniently than he might have other toons, he also did his best to help Donald come to terms with what had happened to him during the war. Goofy could - in theory - do a lot less than Mickey, but he WAS more available and completely willing to take the boys off him for a couple of hours/days/weeks if needed. Goofy can cook - and cook well - so he'd bring food over for Donald so that if [as happened often] he didn't feel like cooking he'd have something ready to heat up/put in the oven.

Elmer - Some of the toons when they were put in charge of there units got on quite well, in that they had men who were willing to listen to them, and treated them kindly. Elmer's troop wasn't like that. He was very young when he was sent there [8] and was still more like Egghead. A bit silly, a bit hyper and not as hard as he needed to be. He cried the first time he went into battle and had a lot of trouble trying to gain the respect of his men. This has had a knock-on effect in that he thought everyone around him hated him and didn't like him. Even when he went back to Toontown, he just thought all his friends/family were being nice to him because they had to, not because they genuinely liked him.

Over many years Elmer has come to accept this isn't true and has been in therapy with D.S. in order to discuss it further. On a different note the main immediately noticeable difference upon coming back from war [aside from the fact he was mute for about two months] was that he started sleepwalking. His sleep had never been great at the best of times, but the war gave him such bad nightmares that he hardly ever slept. When he did eventually get to sleep, he started sleepwalking. Elmer being Elmer somehow didn't notice this at first? He thought it was completely normal [?] to start the night in your bed and wake up in Toon-World Australia having somehow swam his way across the ocean and hacked his way through the Australian outbacks to the middle off Australia, while asleep. He then had to spend several days trying to get back to Looney-Tune Street. With this in mind, it was really only a matter of time until it was noticed by the others.

They do there best to look out for him, if one of the LT's see Elmer sleepwalking, they will follow him/go with him and try to look after him. It should be noted though that despite the fact Fudd is clearly asleep, he is somehow aware of his surroundings and should someone attack him he will fight back and, most times, win.

[silenthillmutual]

daniil dankovsky is autistic and here’s why:

because i’m autistic and i said so

i kid, obviously. what sort of autistic person would i be if i wasn’t read to back up my silly little claim with an overly long post of evidence a total of three people will read? (hi ned hi jordan hi raven :))

i’m aware that this is cringey because adults aren’t supposed to have autism or interests or talk about either of those things, but this is my blog and you are free to block me if the cringe is too much for you.

these are some things i picked out from the DSMV’s diagnostic criteria, found on the CDC website:

deficits in social-emotional reciprocity

reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect

abnormal social approach

abnormalities in eye contact and body language

defecits in […] understand[ing] relationships

difficults adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts

repetitive motor movements or speech

rigid thinking patterns

highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus

hyper- or hyporeactivity to sensory input

there’s also some misc. stuff not in the diagnostic criteria (though it may be in the adir or gars-3) i thought was worth noting.

important note from the diagnostic criteria: “symptoms cause clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning”. i’d say that in his case, they do.

spoilers for pathologic classic, pathologic 2, and the marble nest

deficits in social-emotional reciprocity

in bachelor route of classic, daniil

seems completely oblivious to eva making advances toward him, to the point where she complains to him that he’s ignoring her in favor of asking questions about simon.

seems surprised when people mention maria being in love with him, despite outright asking her a couple of times if she’s flirting with him.

not to mention the fact that he asks her that at all.

his inability or resistence to making connections with others is typically considered one of his character flaws. although it is not outright stated in the dsmv criteria, one trait of autism and other neurodivergencies is “having extremely high or extremely low empathy” - and daniil, despite being a doctor, lacks empathy. which is not to say he doesn’t care at all. i think that he does, but is terrible at showing it.

for example, this scene from marble nest:

Sticky: You must feel terrible… right? That’s fine. I forgive you. You just got confused… Adults always do. Daniil: Oh yes, adults are always occupied with the most asinine nonsense. Like feeling anxious that a bunch of urchins keep roaming the streets, putting themselves in mortal danger!

daniil clearly cares about sticky’s wellbeing (and the wellbeing of the kids looking after him, though he’s not cognizant that he’s in a coma), but his way of showing it is… kind of by being a jerk. all of which bleeds into the next item on the list

reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect

he has no problem sharing his interests, but in both pathologic classic & pathologic 2, daniil speaks with a flat affect - which is to say that he lacks intonation. the words we read him saying may be dramatic or come across as passionate, but the actual voice reading his lines is very monotone, which may contribute to being read as lacking emotion.

and in pathologic 2, he has a voiceline lamenting not telling “her” (eva?) how he felt

in marble nest, he’s teased by the tragedians for being “heartless”:

Tragedian: Maybe. Possibly. But it’s useless to explain to a heartless man. …Take heart, Excellency! If you ever find it, that is. And then come back to us… Even though it all sounds like a rather implausible turn of events.

abnormal social approach

daniil has a tendency to say things that are tactless, odd, or just socially inappropriate. i probably don’t need to point out too many examples, as i think it’s fairly obvious - these are the things people love to pick at when it comes to him, but i do have a few in mind. like, for example, from haruspex route in classic:

Haruspex: What of the antibodies essential for making a serum? Bachelor: I don’t know for sure yet, I’ll send you a report in a few hours. Don’t go about cutting people’s hearts out for your panacea until then. It’s a… controversial solution, you know… Haruspex: What?! Do you even hear yourself? Bachelor: Sorry! I meant no offence… it was just a momentary lapse of… well, you know. Haruspex: None taken.

until artemy points out, daniil doesn’t seem to be aware he just said something rude. even with therapy, picking up on social cues doesn’t come naturally to people with autism, so we tend to say things that come across as rude or strange to others without realizing we’ve put them off. we tend to lack a “filter” that tells us when things are or are not appropriate to say. even when we may recognize it, the rules may not make any sense to us. for example, it makes very little sense that allistics favor politeness over honesty.

i think the glaringly obvious abnormal social approach in pathologic 2 is him threatening to hold artemy at gunpoint to get in the house, which is just overkill, but my personal favorite comes on day 7, when he’s complaining about the orders aglaya has given him. artemy stops him to say he doesn’t understand what daniil wants from him, to which daniil replies:

From you? Oh, nothing. I was just sharing.

to daniil, they were just having a normal conversation. but some part of this - his tone or his words or maybe even his body language - didn’t give artemy the impression that this was supposed to be a regular conversation. (we could, in fact, attribute the same idea to artemy here; why didn’t artemy pick up that this was a normal conversation? the reason i count it towards daniil is because artemy doesn’t seem to have this problem with anybody else. for the record: i don’t think artemy is neurotypical either.)

abnormalities in eye contact and body language

it’s hard to get proof of this in video games, but i will say i think it’s very funny that in pathologic 2 daniil’s idle animations are “pacing”, “sitting like he desperately wants to start bouncing his knees but is stopping himself from doing it”, and “standing unnaturally still” - but there you go. i don’t know anything about making gifs, or i’d gif this one specific talk menu idle he does where he holds eye contact for about three seconds, looks away uncomfortably, and then looks back out of the corner of his eyes.

deficits in […] understand[ing] relationships

mostly examples from his route in classic:

when the army arrives, he can claim to block that aglaya, whom he’s known for two days, is his best friend

he seems baffled by the fact that everone is smitten with maria and working with her, and seems equally baffled by the idea that she’s smitten with him

despite eva implying on day two that she is in a relationship with andrey, is completely blindsided by the revelation on day 6, asking him, “How in the world is she ‘your woman’?”

i’d also like to use his sign-off on his letter to artemy, day 2 of the haruspex route - he signs it as “Your friend (hopefully)”. i know i’m not the only autistic person who used to ask people if we were friends or not. pro tip, if you’ve never done this: don’t. it really weirds people out.

difficulties adjusting behavior to suit various social contexts

the fact that he stands out is blatantly obvious even in pathologic 2 and in the haruspex route of classic. people will comment on him being an outsider and mention that they don’t trust him. but you can watch it happen in real time in his route, because he never fully acclimates to the town. he says something about this to aglaya on day 7:

Bachelor: Was there any particularly notable backstory? I’m deadly tired of all these people. They’re inhuman. They tell the future, believe in walking zombies, and die in all manners of painfully abnormal ways. Inquisitor: Your line of t hinking is obviously falacious - and I was implying something rather mundane. I promise you, no one can really tell the future around here: and neither are deaths inspired by third parties uncommon. Mysterious phenomenons do occur here sometimes… but hardly more often than anywhere else.

actually, there’s an example of him saying something similar to artemy on day 5 in pathologic 2:

Damn this town… I feel I’m trapped in a nightmare. The absurdity of it all… There’s no one to talk to. Everyone’s so volatile. They all seem to want to help, but… their help is worse than hostility.

some of this can be explained by the town’s strangeness, but keep in mind that the first instance happens after he’s been there and involved in the ongoing for an entire week, and the second at nearly a week in. clearly he’s struggling to adjust to the changes.

it’s also worth noting that his reason for fleeing the town in the nocturnal ending?

I have no place here anymore.

This town is no longer mine. No longer human. No longer rational. It doesn’t… accept the likes of me anymore.

repetitive motor movements or speech

it’s harder to see the motor movements in classic, but remember how i pointed out earlier that he paces? pacing is a form of stimming. murky, who is canonically autistic, can also be found pacing as one of her idle animations. having stock phrases for characters to speak when you come near them already ticks off the box on “repetitive speech”, but that by itself doesn’t really cover what they’re talking about - echolalia.

but you know what this does fit with? “‘quoting’ things(communication is HARD! sometimes we need to take shortcuts and use someone else’s words)“

i’ll get to the more obvious example in a minute - i want to point out something that happens very early in pathologic 2 first. you know how you first meet him and artemy accuses daniil of trying to guilt-trip him by asking if it’s true that isidor would still be alive if artemy had come sooner? keep in mind that he spoke to rubin first. and this is what rubin says, when you get a chance to talk to him:

Yesterday, I was told you had killed your father.

That’s not far from the truth, Burakh.

You betrayed him. You left when he needed you most. He cried out for your help, but you didn’t care. He was in peril, and you were too busy elsewhere, He believed, truly believed, that your arrival would put an end to his troubles. And, as always, he was right.

i’m not saying this was necessarily the game’s intent, but it’s entirely possible daniil is parroting back to artemy exactly what rubin said to him.

now, for what you’re probably expecting in this section: the latin. people love to refer to his use of latin as “random”, so let’s clear that up:

it is not latin daniil has made up. with the exception of latin that is mispelled in the game’s texts, all of them are proverbs or otherwise common sayings. you can find most of them on the wikipedia list of latin phrases, or through a 3-second google search.

he’s a doctor. him having taken latin isn’t anymore strange than a lawyer taking latin. in fact, if you pay attention, artemy also took latin; this is implied when artemy tells him he’s always sucked at it.

his uses of latin actually aren’t random at all. what he says fits the situation, and sometimes is used in place of him having to come up with something to say on his own.

prime example:

Forget it, Burakh. I have a splitting headache. If you have no urgent business, then we’ll talk later. Later, later… Qui non proficit, deficit.

qui non proficit, deficit - he who does not advance, loses ground. in other words, “i’m sorry, but i really do need to keep working.” one of his voice lines.

as for why he doesn’t translate the latin: it probably wouldn’t even occur to him to. these are not obscure sayings. the utopians all have a certain degree of education - what would he need to translate them for?

this bleeds into something that isn’t really mentioned, but that i’ve found i have a lot of trouble with in everyday life. autistic people have a tendency to either overexplain (and then have everyone get mad at you because they feel you’re being condescending) or underexplain (and have everyone get mad at you because you haven’t explained anything). the latin would be a case where it feels like a justified underexplanation. you’ll notice that when it comes to anything scientific, he tends to do the reverse, and overexplain. this also happens in classic, whether artemy has asked him to clarify or not.

rigid thinking patterns

the thing i had marked for this was simply his strict adherence to western medical practices and refusal to acknowledge the supernatural, even when it seems obvious - he has a conversation in his route in classic with yulia about this, and that is in fact how he manages to get to her: by asking saburov if there are any other logical skeptics in town. it should be noted they seem to be breaking with this in pathologic 2, where one of his voicelines is “I’m no positivist. There are things in this world beyond our mundane perception.” i have no idea where they’re planning on going with that.

there’s also a quote floating somewhere around twitter about him having been raised by a military man, and militaries tend to enforce very rigid routines. you could say the same thing of block - who (in classic at least) i also have my suspicions about.

highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus

special interests. the one that should obviously come to mind is thanatology, though i would argue latin if not classics in general is a special interest of his as well - in addition to his usage of latin, he also references pericles in the marble nest and was probably refering to the roman occupation of haruspicy in addition to augurs in the same text. he also makes references to shakespeare more than once in both marble nest and pathologic 2.

hyper- or hyperoreactivity to sensory input

i don’t have much written down for this one but there seem to be several places in classic especially where he asks npcs to stop shouting at him. we don’t really have the privilege to know their volume or how they’re interacting with him, but i think it’s also worth noting that he’s the only one of the healers who wears gloves. in pathologic 2 he’s the only named character i can think of who wears them at all. his thing in the lucid dream about the brain being “a border”? gloves are his border, as is his jacket, which may be worn to cut down on sensory issues.

he will also sometimes seem to “overreact” to the situation at hand - such as in classic, when some dogheads mispeak and say that daniil is going to “sterilize” them, and instead of understanding that they must have mispoken, freaks out over the idea that they think they’re going to be… well… sterilized. or in haruspex route, when his reaction to the inquisitor arriving is to threaten suicide.

miscellaneous

he never goes anywhere without that carpet bag. we don’t see it in pathologic 2, but we do hear about it and he doesn’t let it go for a second in classic - not even in the cutscenes where he’s using the microscope. his bag could be a comfort item.

“getting very attached to things like inanimate objects” could work for the bag - but you know what it actually fits the bill much more obviously? the polyhedron. in the haruspex route he recognizes that it’s a lost cause, but he’s still too attached to it to let it go.

in classic at least, daniil is absolutely terrible at lying. most autistic people either are not good at lying, or feel uncomfortable or anxious with having to lie. when he’s asked by yulia and the kids in the polyhedron to lie to block (for different reasons) he’s clearly uncomfortable with the idea that it’ll work. and when it actually comes time to come up with a way to lie to block about why he needs five rifles, your options are to either buckle and tell him the truth, or simply say that you need them for “self-defense”. block believes that you’re not lying to him, but daniil can’t come up with any embeleshments to explain why he needs what he’s asking for.

Commander: Are you hiding something from me? Bachelor: No.

he comes across as naive to other characters. in classic, capella has a voiceline saying, “The Bachelor is not smart. Intelligent, yes… but not smart.” in Pathologic 2, Daniil complains that Aglaya takes him for “a useless dreamer”. he’s also easily used by the Kains to fulfill their endgame in classic.

my final, and absolute favorite: he takes things way too literally. autistic people (and adhd people, from my understanding) have a hard time differentiating jokes and sarcasm. so my favorite moment in marble nest is a case of him taking that earlier advice - to “take heart” literally, by bringing the tragedians a literal human heart:

Tragedian: Oh… Excellency. What a sordid sight! Sorry for underestimating you. You definitely do have… how shall I put it… a creative touch. But this is pure madness. You can’t take things so literally! Daniil: You wanted me to come back to you with an open heart. Well, here I am. …It looked too fitting to be a coincidence.

your mind map, after this, updates to say “I misunderstood the tragedians.”

conclusion

people don’t stop being autistic with age and i think he’s a good example of what it’s like to be in your late 20s and be autistic. i’m sure i missed things as i haven’t finished haruspex route of classic yet and there may just be some other things he does or says that i missed! if anyone has anything to add they think fits i would love to know, thank you for your time :)

[morimakesfanart]

Sindria’s Prophet Ch1

I shut my laundry alarm, slipped on my flip-flops and headed to the basement to get the clothes from the drier.

My frustration lead my hands to my eyes while taking the steps down. I had been hyper-fixating on Sinbad's character arc again. Constantly vacillating between love and hate for this fictional character was driving me, and everyone who had to live with me, up a wall. I needed to get my Sinbad feelings under control before I ranted my best friend/sibling/roommate's ear off again. They would just remind me that you don't get to choose your hyper fixations. Or your comfort characters. Or who you're attracted to. As they've said before, "people are attracted to appearances and personalities. That's why it hurts so much when we find out someone is a bad person."

"Ah!" Vertigo pulled me out of my thoughts as I tried to take another step down after already hitting the bottom of the stairs. I groaned at my own lack of awareness.

The lighting was different. 'Did the power go out?'

The space around me was pitch black. I felt like I was being pulled. It was like feeling the current in a stream. I got walking.

A very dim light grew around me. All of the shelves of my basement were gone. Was I dreaming? I've been a lucid dreamer since I was 5 so it was possible -sure as hell felt similar. Given my mental state, it made sense that I couldn't control the dream like normal and only had awareness.

Hopefully, having to do laundry was part of the dream.

Worried voices came from a turn up ahead.

As soon as I made the turn I saw a bunch of people panicking around a child on the ground. More people came from behind them to see what was going on.

"He isn't breathing!"

I had first aid training back when I was a student and had experience using it into my time as a teacher. I was by the child's side in a flash, having squeezed past the useless people swarming around them.

Long blue hair in a braid, open blue vest, turban, and a golden flute. This was Aladdin from Magi, and I knew what was wrong with him.

I ripped the flute from his hands as Alibaba and Morgiana rushed over. Alibaba pulled Aladdin into his arms and pleaded for his friend to hold on before I could check his condition. At least I had removed the flute so he wouldn't die.

Maybe I *was* a little too obsessed with Magi to be reliving it in a dream, but this gave me an opportunity to do a thing I always want to in scenes like this -hell, I've had to do it with real people.

"Put him down! And stop shaking him!"

The two just stared at me.

I gestured to the ground. " He's weak so holding him like that could hurt him. Put him down."

The desperation on Alibaba's face was one I've seen before in series and on real people. I knew Aladdin would live and I had training, so I could face this calmly, but he didn't.

My words finally register and he put his friend back on the ground. I passed Ugo's flute to them adding, "Keep this away from Aladdin." Holding the flute would hopefully give him something to focus on. "He was pouring all of his magoi into that empty vessel -basically killing himself."

Luckily Aladdin's breathing had returned immediately. I pushed up the sleeves of my oversized hoodie, and adjusted his posture to help his breathing and checked his pulse.

The crowd watched while I checked Aladdin's condition. His pulse and breathing were both uneven, and I felt a weird sensation like I could tell he was drained of energy -like a nearly empty well. I knew the future though so I wasn't too worried.

"He's unstable but holding together," I said. Alibaba and Morgiana were still in shock at seeing their friend like this. "He will live, and wake up when he's ready in a few days. I promise."

"Thank you." Both teens said with shaky voices.

Then I looked up at the crowd, "Can someone get a stretcher or something so he can be moved safely?"

Gold eyes were watching me with an unreadable expression.

How could I forget that Sinbad and Ja'far were in this scene?? Sinbad was the one who originally yelled to remove the flute from Aladdin's hand. There was a look of recognition in Sinbad's eyes as our eyes met, and I felt that strange current again. My stomach went cold. He might be my favorite character, but I also knew all of the horrible things he has done and will some day out do. And I knew I'd probably struggle to keep composure around him.

All the same I felt a pull towards him that I couldn't deny. I tried to play it off, and turned back to focusing on Aladdin.

A guy left and returned with the stretcher, so Aladdin was moved safely.

I hung back as the main cast followed the stretcher to wherever Aladdin was going to be staying until he obtained Solomon's Wisdom. The more space between Sinbad and me, the better.

I needed to decide where I was going next. I tried to change the dream. I didn't want to live through the revolt in Balbadd nor have to deal with Sinbad or my feelings. Still nothing. I could still feel that current strongly, so I couldn't be awake. And yet it seemed the only thing I had an affect on was myself.

A few people were watching me. I was wearing an over sized zipper down hoodie that was just long enough to hide my short-shorts -not to mention my flip-flops and glasses. I didn't exactly fit in. Even I thought it was weird though; in dreams I'm normally in a t-shirt and jeans or at least have my legs covered.

Thin fingers pulled my sleeve to get my attention. "Please come with us." Morgiana stared at me. I could tell she wasn't just asking me to come, she wanted me to help look after Aladdin since I knew what was wrong with him.

She was only slightly shorter than me. She'd get taller in a few years.

I sighed. I couldn't bring myself to say no -especially not when the others also seemed to be waiting for me.

---

After securing Aladdin a private room, Ja'far confirmed his condition.

"How did this happen?" Alibaba panicked over his friend. "This is so much worse than in the dungeon!"

"He used too much magoi." Sinbad and I said in unison. We glanced at each other, and I gestured for him to do the honors, inwardly cursing my tongue. I knew he was going to explain but I couldn't stop myself from answering anyway when I saw Alibaba's worry in person. I identify with aspects of Sinabd for a reason.

The violet haired king explained how even though Aladdin was a Magi, he was too weak to call upon the unlimited magoi of the surrounding Rukh so could only call upon his own.  Even a Magi can die if he loses too much magoi.

During his explanation, Sinbad had watched me out of the corner of his eye. No doubt he was looking for my reaction to the boy being a Magi. I couldn't find it in me to act surprised given the circumstances even though the last thing I needed was for him to pay attention to me.

I took note of his unnecessary lingering on my chest and bare legs though. Sinbad will always be Sinbad after all.

I decided to add information. "The Djinn isn't even in the metal vessel anymore., so his efforts were wasted."

"How can you tell?" Sinbad asked. I couldn't tell if it was genuine curiosity or a test.

I pointed to Ugo's flute in his hands, "The most obvious sign is that the star isn't on the metal vessel anymore." It was something Sinbad was going to take notice of anyway. "Besides, it wasn't Aladdin's magoi fueling Ugo, so when the magoi ran out during the fight there was nothing left keeping Ugo here."

Alibaba and Morgiana were too worried about their friend to notice the name drops, but the King and his aid caught them.

"Regardless, Aladdin needs rest."

We all left the room. Alibaba and Morgiana went to tend to more of the injured. Sinbad and Jafar were supposed to meet up with Masuru and help manage the situation, but instead pulled me aside to a different private room. It was the one with the small table they used after joining the fog troop. Sinbad sat on one side and gestured for me to sit across from him. Ja'far stood behind him.

"Now then, who are you? You're clearly not from around here." Sinbad's nonthreatening smile didn't actually put me at ease. "I could have assumed that you heard Alibaba call Aladdin's and Ugo's names earlier, but you didn't blink at hearing Aladdin's a Magi and now you even know why his attempt to save his friend didn't work. You don't seem to be a magician or a dungeon capturer." He smiled, but he was gauging how much of a threat I was. "Hmm?"

I couldn't blame him for being suspicious of me; I appeared out of nowhere, dressed like no one in this world had ever seen, and knew way more than average. He may have even thought I was a member of Al Thamen. I had to swallow my nerves if I was going to get through this. I tried to think of it like a business meeting, so at least I'd be half put together.

I shrugged, "I doubt you'd believe me even if I told you, King Sinbad." No way he'd believe I was dreaming. I purposefully said his name and title to make it clear that I knew who he was even though he hadn't introduced himself yet. I tried not to, but the longer I looked at him the more nervous I got, and even though he was the Sinbad that I had fixated on and found so comforting he still gave off a slightly dangerous air. I felt a light blush coming on.

"You'd be surprised how much we know. Why don't you try anyway?" Of course Sinbad wouldn't be deterred.

I sighed. "Then would you believe that I actually read this world's fate many times. And I mean more than feeling it's waves. I know exactly what's going to happen next."

"What?” the room seemed to gasp with them. They had been through many adventures and seen many unbelievable things, but never had they met someone who could read fate. The way Sinbad tensed when I mentioned the waves gave me a good feeling -almost like I actually had some level of control.

Part of me regretted saying it of course. However, I thought it would be safer to tell the truth than to lie and reveal it later. Besides, there was no believable answer I could give.

"What type of fools do you take us for?!" Ja'far yelled at me.

Sinbad put a hand between us, quieting Ja'far. "Can you prove that?"

I thought for a moment and looked between them. "If I can 'predict' events that will happen during the next 24 hours, would that be proof enough?"

Sinbad's gaze was piercing, but I knew I wasn't lying and returned it. His eyes were like molten gold with all of his focus. It was the longest I had looked at him directly since I arrived in the world. He was much prettier in person -too beautiful. If he didn't say something soon, I was going to start studying him and get distracted. He had glanced at my legs and chest a few times already, and I was ready to return the favor -even if I'd appear weak to him in the process. Seeing him without his metal vessels was a rare sight after all. He was a good art reference when fully gilded, but it was much easier to see his form when there was just clothes covering it. He almost looked soft; he definitely look about 10,000% more touchable when not covered in a thick layer of gold, silver, and jewels.

"Fine." Sinbad's words shook me from my thoughts. "What is going to happen next?" His smile widened. His sudden charming act must have meant he noticed me ogling him a bit, but I wasn't about to drop my guard for a gorgeous face even if I was blushing.

I answered, "Tonight, the person who has been leaking information to the fog troop will reveal himself -no, I won't say who 'cause it's more fun that way, but let's just say he normally stands behind the king of this country- and he will let everyone know that said king plans to sell his citizens as slaves to pay off his debt to the Kou Empire in order to keep his luxurious life style."

This garnered an even louder, "WHAT???"

I ignored them and carried on with my recounting of the story. "Alibaba will struggle with the stress from being asked to fix things by Morgiana and the informant due to his inexperience. You will step up again, and in turn become more disappointed in Alibaba's abilities than you've done already. Then while drunk tomorrow morning you will voice your disappointment only to be over heard by Morgiana, who will tell you of a past accomplishment of Alibaba's that will make you realize you judged him too quickly. Jafar will call you out as being a drunk idiot-"

"HOLD on a second! You seriously think he would sell his own citizens?" Sinbad's had to be remembering King Rashid and not wanting to believe his son would destroy his legacy that badly. Things were worse than he thought, but it explained many of the problems he was seeing in Balbadd.

I figured he probably only had such an animated response unlike in the original because of how I said it -like the outsider I am, without emotion.

I put my hands in my hoodie pockets. "Soon enough, you will be able to ask the leak yourself."

"Hmm." Sinbad seemed to think he'd find answers somewhere on my form if he looked at the right spot or he was just checking me out openly. His eyes were piercing as he said, "That's still a very serious accusation. What will you do if it turns out you're wrong?"

I sighed and looked away. "Probably the same thing I'll do if it turns out I'm right: try to use what I know to help people and survive another day." If I was going to be dreaming this seriously about any series, I was going to do my best to help, even if I end up changing the plot in the end. I've never been the type to stay still.

"It will be interesting to see what happens." Sinbad seemed to accept my words. "I do have another question."

"Oh?"

"What's your name?"

Ah that. I had been hoping he wouldn't ask. "Call me whatever you want." I really didn't want to hear him say my name.

"Then," the smoldering look he turned on me was too much, "how does 'Beautiful' sounds?"

My face became red as the setting sun as it crashed into my hands. I couldn't tell if I was more embarrassed to be called such a thing or if it was second hand embarrassment for Ja'far having to put up with such a man.

"Whatever! Fine! I don't know why I was expecting anything different from the womanizer of the seven seas, but here we are!"

Ja'far looked at me with pity as Sinbad chuckled at my reaction.

I continued spewing embarrassed nonsense, and left before he could try to to get anything more from me.

I can only assume that the two would go to do whatever they originally would have during this part of the story.

---

This was becoming the most realistic dream I'd ever had. I'd had dreams before with smell, touch, pain, etc, but this one had no time skips, and I felt hunger. In some of my past dreams when I got tired it was actually a sign that I was about to wake up, but it felt different here. It felt more real.

I couldn't take it. I either needed food or sleep or both, and I had no money to get either.

It was a bit sneaky, but I went back to the room Aladdin was resting in. Alibaba would spend some time there later that night after getting asked to save the country. He wasn't there when I arrived, so I was pretty sure Sahmad hadn't revealed himself as the informant yet.

Aladdin was doing as expected. I was a bit disappointed that I wouldn't get to actually meet him before I woke up. He was a good boy -a perv, but still good.

One of the corners of the room had a gap in the supplies so I sat down in it. Some poles would block view of me from the door and most of the rest of the room. I pulled my hood up, my hoodie over my knees, and laid my head on my knees. Hopefully, when I'd wake up I wouldn't have to do laundry.

---

Honestly, I didn't want to wake up. The air was dry so my throat hurt, my back hurt from sleeping in a bad position, and I was really hungry. It would be easier to just sleep a little longer until my hunger subsided so I could move to actually get food.

My stomach growled at me for not taking better care of myself, and I groaned back in frustration. 'I really should get up and feed the cats at least...'

"H-how- How long has that thing been there??"

I blinked my eyes open and looked up at the source of the voice. With my hood no longer protecting me, the sunlight from the window assaulted my eyes. I jerked my head back down with a squeak, "Too bright."

The voice was Alibaba. There were others with him, but I didn't get a good look. How was I still dreaming?

I think I heard someone say, "so this is where she was hiding," under their breath but I could have been hearing things.

Gentle steps made their way towards me and stopped about a yard away. "You're the one who helped Aladdin before, right?"

I lifted my head up slowly that time. I tried to look Morgiana in the eye while adjusting my crooked glasses. "Yeah. That was me," I mumbled.

She was crouched in front of me. "Can you look at him again please?" Her eyes pleaded with me.

"You said he'd wake up in a few days. How long will he need??" Alibaba joined her on the floor making me jolt.

This was not my idea of a good wake up call.

"Calm~ down~" I said through a yawn as I stretched my legs out then stood up.

I walked past them both and up to the sleeping Magi. My too long sleeves covered my hands and I couldn't be bothered to fix them as I yawned into the fabric again.

The two got up and watched me. There was definitely someone else in the room but I couldn't see them past my hood, and I was still too sleepy to care.

Aladdin was sleeping like he would be for a while. What was I supposed to see? "I don't remember exactly how long. He won't wake up until after his Rukh goes and visits Ugo."

A cluster of voices shouted "What?" and "How?" with varying levels of detail.

"Oh right.. That was a secret, wasn't it? Forget I said that." I really should have waited until I was more awake to say anything.

Not looking at any of them, I closed my eyes and moaned. "I just woke up. And now I'm achy from being in that position for so long." I flapped my sleeves in frustration and in an attempt to wake up more. I opened my eyes again, still looking down at Aladdin. "As long as you take care of his body, he'll be fine."

And then my stomach growled again spoiling the moment. My left hand pressed into my stomach. I really felt that one. "Can I impose on you guys for food? I don't have any." I was glad my hood was up. I could feel my eyes getting watery. When I was young I got hangry, but as I got older I started becoming sadgry instead.

There was a light clapping sound and a jovial voice answered me, "Food is not a problem, Ms. Prophet! Just come with me and we'll get you fed."

I turned to the source and saw Ja'far giving me his best professional smile.

[onemuseleft]

I am having a weird sad night and can't find the kiss ask list, can I get some jake/marco fake dating kiss in public?

*hugs* I hope your night is going better!

Also this came out more fake married than fake dating, I hope that’s okay!

Fake dating Kiss, Jake/Marco

About an hour into the charade, Marco was forced to the realization that if this was going to happen, he was going to have to do it. 

“Your spouse is very quiet,” the Ambassador said, waggling one of her tentacles in Jake’s general direction. “Is he upset?”

Marco flashed a smile, though he wasn’t sure if it would come across quite as reassuring to a seven and a half foot-tall being with transparent - and, glittery? Sparkly? - purple flesh and multiple tentacles. Body language was a crap shoot in situations like this. “Oh no, he’s fine,” he said. “Jake’s just a quiet guy.”

The ambassador made a kind of… wibbling sound that made their whole body vibrate. Marco thought it might mean they understood. “Humans place great value on the stoic nature of their leaders. I understand.”

Marco wasn’t sure if that was good or bad, but one thing was sure: of all the couples in the room, he and Jake were the only ones who weren’t cuddling, kissing, hugging or at least standing with their arms around each other. It made sense the Ambassador had noticed. He gave the Ambassador and their spouse - a slightly rounder, slightly more red transparent orb - a bright grin and made his excuses to slip away as soon as he could.

He caught Jake at the bar and threw an arm around his shoulders, plastering himself against Jake’s side. “You’re so bad at this,” he said.

Jake didn’t even flinch when Marco grabbed him which - since Marco had seen Jake once toss a guy over his shoulder for touching him unexpectedly - meant either Jake had seen him coming, or Jake knew it was Marco just from the touch.

The first one was pretty likely. Jake tended to be hyper aware in situations like this, where they were surrounded by unfamiliar faces and high-profile targets (like they weren’t high profile targets themselves) and he would have been keeping an eye on his six, and probably on Marco’s as well.

The second one kind of made his stomach do flippy floppy things that Marco was pretty sure shouldn’t happen when he thought about his probably straight best friend who had never once so much as batted an eyelash in Marco’s direction.

Jake turned his head a little so at least he was facing Marco’s direction. “Sorry. I thought maybe if I wandered off to get a drink it wouldn’t look so awkward, but…” 

The holiday they were ostensibly celebrating was an alien one. Marco had skimmed the reports they’d been given in the briefing, but honestly hadn’t retained much besides “epic romeo-and-juliet-style romance from a hundred years ago ended the equivalent of a nuclear war and now the planet places a huge emphasis on romantic love and incorporates it into all their political and social policies to the point where they won’t negotiate with a non-married being.” It was phenomenally stupid in his opinion. Were there no asexuals on their world? People who weren’t comfortable with PDAs? Introverts? People who liked being alone for a while? So far none of these guys had split up long enough to go to the bathroom. It was weird. “Maybe they don’t need to use bathrooms,” he said.

Jake let that one pass, used to how Marco’s train of thought went after all these years. “Please tell me we can leave soon.”

“Sorry, buddy. We’ve barely been here an hour.” The party was supposed to last until dawn, as the fabled lovers had apparently ended the war with the break of a new day, and Marco was painfully aware of how far away that was. “What’s got you so wound up?”

Jake hunched his shoulders a little, then sighed and straightened up. “It just feels weird,” he said.

There was clearly more to it than that, but Jake was stubbornly silent. Marco cocked his head, eyes locked on Jake’s face. “What, the relationship thing? I know you don’t give a shit if people think you’re gay.”

“Not that.” Jake took a deep sip of his drink, which looked an awful lot like a plain coke. At least Marco didn’t smell any rum in it. Jake wasn’t a lush, but he wasn’t a teetotaller either. If he was going sober for this it meant either he thought they were in danger - which, while more or less the defaults of their lives since that night in the construction site, was a very low risk at the moment - or he thought he needed to be in control of himself.

“Wait, is it me?” Marco almost pulled away, but remembered their cover at the last moment. “Jake, hey, wait. Are you weirded out that I’m touching you?” He was suddenly, intensely, aware of his arm around Jake’s shoulders, how close they were standing, the fact that his mouth was just inches from Jake’s. They’d stood like this before, probably a hundred times - Marco had always been touchy and Jake had never seemed to mind. 

But there was the whole “prentending to be married thing” now, maybe that was making it weird? Or.

Or there was the whole “Marco was more than half in love with his best friend and maybe Jake had finally noticed and didn’t like the idea that Marco was taking liberties” thing.

Panic bubbled up in his gut, pushing up his throat until he almost choked on it. Shit. If he’d been making Jake uncomfortable - he’d thought he’d been doing okay hiding it, but considering Rachel, Tobias, Ax, his father, and at least two different reporters had called him on it recently he might need to re-evaluate his standards of “okay.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Jake said. He made a face at Marco, apparently seeing more in his expression than Marco intended. That was always the problem with trying to hide something from your best friend. They knew you too damn well. Marco hadn’t been able to get away with anything during the war, either. “You’ve literally held my intestines in with your bare hands. We’ve shared beds since we were three, why the hell would I mind you holding my hand.”

It was an excellent point, but did nothing to explain what was going on in his head. “So tell me what’s wrong.” Marco glanced around, then tugged Jake away from the bar, toward a window along one wall. He positioned them so no one in the room could clearly see their faces, then leaned into Jake’s personal space.

Jake’s arm came up around his waist, tugging him in closer, turning them just a little so he was between Marco and the window - overprotective bastard. Marco didn’t bother calling him on it. “If something’s wrong we can bail early. This is just a diplomatic thing, no one’s going to get hurt if we take off.”

“No.” Jake gave the room a once-over, then focused his gaze solidly in the direction of Marco’s left ear. 

The panic was back, pulsing in Marco’s chest. Jake wasn’t even looking him in the eye now? “Tell me,” he said in a low voice so it wouldn’t carry. 

Jake sighed and pulled back, just a little, letting go of Marco’s waist. The sudden absence of touch felt strange and left Marco feeling cold. “I don’t want to get into it here,” Jake said, and me met Marco’s gaze suddenly. There was something there, something afraid, that Marco hadn’t seen aimed at him since… ever.

Jake wasn’t afraid for him - he’d seen that a thousand times during the war. But he was afraid of Marco. Right then, at that moment, he was afraid of what Marco was going to say or do if he kept talking.

Marco’s hand jerked with the sudden urge to pull away. He forced himself to be still. To stop, and not feed into whatever bullshit was going through Jake’s head. Because something had to be going on - they’d been friends for twenty years and Jake had never acted like this, not when he broke up with Cassie or got back with Cassie or broke up with Cassie again, or had to execute war criminals or give the order to abandon his own family. Jake had never not looked him in the eye.

“I need a drink,” Jake muttered under his breath and like a freight train, it all made sense.

Jake hadn’t flinched when Marco touched him - not once all evening, had even leaned into it a few times. But he wasn’t touching Marco back - and when he was, he stopped. Like the arm he had just removed from Marco’s waist.

Jake wasn’t drinking because he wanted to stay in control of his own actions. 

“You’re weirded out about touching me?” Marco asked, fighting to keep his voice low. “Jake what the hell? That intestines and bed sharing thing goes both ways, you know.”

Jake snorted and almost spit out the Coke he’d just swallowed. “Jesus, Marco, do you listen to yourself? Intestines and bed sharing. God.” He took another sip of Coke and sighed. “Look, can we talk about this later? After all this,” he waved his drink in the general direction of the rest of the room, “is all over?”

It was probably a put-off. Marco figured the odds that Jake would conveniently forget all about this as soon as they got home and had a good night’s sleep between them and all of this were better than even.

But Marco also wasn’t going to bully him into doing something that made him uncomfortable. They’d all had enough of being forced into uncomfortable situations by the time they were in high school to last the rest of their lives. “Yeah, okay. Hey.” He caught Jake’s eye. “We’re good, right? You and me?”

His heart was beating hard enough that the entire room could probably hear it. 

But Jake just scrunched his face up. “Of course we are.”

“Okay.” Marco gripped the back of Jake’s neck and squeezed a little, holding on for just a second. “So you and me, we’re gonna go get a real drink and we’re gonna nurse the shit out of it in a dark corner somewhere and take off the second the horizon turns pink. Plan?”

Jake swallowed, hard, then nodded, just a little. “Plan.”

Marco let go of his neck and reached up to tousle his hair. “God, you’re gonna give me an ulcer always worrying about you.”

Jake blushed, cheeks pink. “You worry too much,” he said. “I told you everything is fine.”

“Liar,” Marco said, but cheerfully. He ruffled Jake’s hair again, not quite a noogie but he made sure the intention was there.

Jake closed his eyes and leaned into Marco’s touch, just for a second. 

Jake stiffened and pulled away, eyes cutting past Marco’s shoulder, and that fear was back in them. “I’m gonna go get a refill. What do you want to drink?”

Marco’s hand hung in the air for an instant before he let it drop to his side. “Jake.”

“Yeah, I know, anything but red wine. Give me a minute, I’ll just-” Jake stepped back, ready to beat a hasty retreat, but Marco snagged him by the wrist and yanked him to a stop.

“Jake,” Marco said again. “Are - are you as fucking stupid as I think you are?”

Jake’s eyes snapped up to meet his. “Hey!” He stilled as he seemed to see something in Marco’s eyes - Marco wasn’t sure what, but honestly at this point he’d settle for anything as long as he didn’t see Jake look afraid of him ever again. “Marco?”

“Such a fucking idiot,” Marco said. He curled a hand in the front of Jake’s shirt and yanked him down.

The kiss was a little messy, a little unpracticed, and Jake stiffened up so much that Marco thought for a moment that he’d misjudged and ruined everything.

But then Jake relaxed into the kiss and his arms came up around Marco’s back, pulling him closer.

Marco’s pulse was pounding in his throat, behind his eyes, so hard he thought he’d pass out. When Jake broke the kiss, Marco kept his eyes closed, and waited to see if he’d ruined everything.

Jake pressed a kiss against the shell of Marco’s ear. “If I’m an idiot for never saying anything,” he said, “then what does that make you?”

“The one smart enough to figure it out, obviously,” Marco said.

Jake didn’t stop laughing at him even when Marco pulled him down into another kiss.

[soyouareandrewdobson]

Dobbear! SYAC: The Master Review 6

I am so going to ruin someone’s childhood with that now, but...

guys, it had to be done!

Dashing and daring…

Courageous and caring!

Faithful and friendly…

 With stories to share!

 Doesn’t at all apply to this one artist…

Lesbian obsessed and  each nerddom’s nightmare!

Dobby BEAR!

Whinning here and there and everywhere!

Making claims that are beyond compare…

This is our Dobby-Bear!

Yeah, if you can’t guess, around now is the time I am going to put down the kids gloves and will really dig into why SYAC is garbage. And a huge factor into this, is in part Dobson’s self insert past 2012.

The existence of the blue bear as Dobson officially calls it (or Dobbear as most people call it) is in my opinion rather baffling already in terms of design choices.

I get e.g. that Dobson wanted to distance himself of his past humanoid self inserts as much as possible. But why of all things a bear?

The fact I am focused on that may sound weird, but hear me out for a bit. For starters, I know that Dobson likes western animation. And seeing how western animation has for the longest time been dominated by anthropomorphic animals, I can understand why he would redesign himself as a funny cartoon animal.

But there are at least three things that feel weird about it. First, Dobson had made it clear in the past that he hates furries. So him actually redesigning himself as an anthropomorphic animal is kinda weird

In fact, Dobson himself acknowledges that realization in one of his strips shortly after his fursona took over.

Second, of all the animals to choose from, why a bear? This question is in so far valid, as that bears are not necessarily one of the first to go animals, furries or western animators tend to go for when designing an anthro. And before any furries or anthro enthusiasts are calling me a hater, let me make one thing clear: I like anthropomorphic cartoon and comic characters too, and am okay with most furries. As long as you don’t have a diaper fetish, are a pedophile  or hurt actual animals, you can do and enjoy whatever you like.

But I am also aware enough of furry culture to know, that bear based anthros are most of the time hyper sexualized and muscular, connecting them to how the term “bear” is used in real life gay culture. Which is okay, I think it is just a funny coincidence that Dobson choose an animal, that most furries associate with a life style that Dobson is deeply afraid of, even if he claims to be an LGBT ally.

And as stated earlier, bears are not necessarily the go to animals for animators.

Don’t get me wrong, we all know some cartoon bears like Winnie the Pooh, Yogi Bear, Poh and the main cast of TaleSpin (btw, Kit Cloudkicker fan for life). But lets be honest here; ducks, mice, rabbits, canines, felines, equines and any other “easily to domesticate” animal in the real world tends to make better for easily recognizable cartoon characters than something that can reach a size of 3 meters tops and weigh over 500 pounds.

Truth be told, the pool of cartoon bears is so small, these are the first two things that came to my mind when thinking what may have inspired the Dobbear

And wouldn’t you know? According to Dobson, the Carebears were supposedly the main inspiration for his design.

 Unfortunately, this is also more or less the most I could find of Dobson addressing what went into the creation of the character.

Which kinda brings me also to the third issue as why I think the bear redesign is weird; It is too sudden.

One day Dobson draws himself as a shaved 20 something, the next day he is a fedora wearing Carebear clone, likely created and then rejected by Care Bear villain No Heart, as part of a plot to create a mole when conquering Care-A-Lot.

… and now I need to reevaluate my choices in life, that I was able to make such an elaborate Carebear joke.

It is just a change of design that in my opinion should have been addressed either outside of the comic or in context of it. Which it kinda is, but isn’t.

See, this is the first strip with the blue bear

And then only 13 strips or so later in something called “Continuity” is Dobson more or less willing to address the change…

And he does so in a passive aggressive manner, with Persistent Pam as a stand in for those asking him what is going on, while Dobson just dismissively continues working.

On one hand, you can argue that this is just the joke. The change happened, don’t bother with it, just enjoy what is still to come. And you know, I don’t want to make a rope out of everything Dobson ever posted, including that comic.

But then you have also to account for the fact, that Dobson would eventually associate himself with the blue bear so much, he made him his avatar and icon for his comics and online accounts. In fact, that one comic I posted WAY BACK in the first Master post of Dobson reminiscing how he started SYAC?

For reasons that are a bit confusing to me, he redrew himself (badly I have to add) as the blue bear in one of his earliest strips ever. The one where he belittles the manga fangirl for drawing manga. So I have to ask, what is going on here? Has Dobson increasingly decided to reset his past? Does he want to destroy any traces of his “human” self in his work to create the illusion to any new readers, that he never was as controversial of a person as he was and that there never was a need for him to reimagine and reinvent himself? Is this 1984? And how many of you realize that this paragraph is just me going conspiracy nuts for the sake of entertainment?

But still, it is kinda weird that he went to the bother of redrawing his human self in that one background sketch as a bear. Plus, I honestly think Dobson never even attempting to “explain” the change in the pages of his comics is a wasted opportunity for some decent jokes. Like every time Dobson tries to explain why he is a bear now, something interrupts him or we only get fragments of a story that if we put them together would be as ridiculous as the entirety of “Trapped in the Closet”.

I mean, the dumbest joke idea I have in mind is that Dobson went to build a bear to get a present for a family member. Instead he was build into a bear and later on successfully sued the company, which explains why he can afford to live despite not really working on comics anymore but lecture people badly about the evils of nerd culture.

So yeah, three major things about the design choice that more or less confuse me.

But here is the thing: Confusion is nothing compared to feeling genuine disdain for the design at hand. And compared to Dobson’s earlier human designs, Dobbear is just utterly unlikable.

A lot of that boils down to the following three facts:

1. From a certain point in time on (which I will cover in more detail later on) Dobson uses his bearsona primarily as a soapboxing mouth piece to talk about “politics” in nerd culture. Or at least what Dobson perceives as politics, coming off like a condescending jackass who believes among other things that white people are inherently incapable to identify with black people…

 … or that comic book shops have radicalized nerd culture, essentially calling them terror cells.

Which btw are so inherently offensive to me, I promise I will cover these two separately. One even sooner than the other.

2. If Dobbear is not talking about politics, he will tend to be a smug asshole to other people (most of the time strawmen) or their interests in one way or another. Being e.g. used by Dobson to express his disdain for criticism…

 or to mock legit criticism he had gotten by exaggerating things.

 All while also tending to make his critics look like inherent assholes.

These two facts, combined with Dobson’s average erratic behavior online on platforms such as dA, twitter and tumblr over the years, pretty much assured such a close association between the two, that a separation between artist and creation was not possible anymore, condemning them.

And for the record; Dobson was always a bit of a whinner who liked to act as if he was a better nerd than the average comic book fan. Otherwise, we would have not e.g. gotten Danny and Spot out of it.

But as the years went by in the last decade, Dobson turned from someone in his mid 20s, desperate to be seen as a “quirky” and likable internet persona (like certain internet reviewers), into a virtue signaling, lesbian obsessed asshole who likely regrets his life choices.

… Like certain internet reviewers.

But seriously, Dobson turned into someone who would flip the lid at something as ridiculous as Cheeto flavored chicken fries…

 While also being just the worst type of condescending nerd….

All while losing his mind about politics. Especially after Donald Trump became president

And just as Dobson became a radicalized left winged jackass who saw politics in everything he consumed, so did by default Dobbear, because Dobbear was not a character with his own personality, but a mouth piece.

Something I am about to get into detail in the near future. But till then, I want to cover in the next post the following third and final fact about Dobbear that really makes him unlikable to me: The fact he can’t be happy.

[carewyncromwell]

“You never know when you're gonna meet someone, And your whole wide world in a moment comes undone -- You're just walking around and suddenly Everything that you thought that you knew about love is gone... You find out it's all been wrong...

And all my scars don't seem to matter anymore 'Cause they led me here to you...”

~“Start of Something Good” by Daughtry

x~x~x~x

Atticus Grimsley Lestrange @cursebreakerfarrier hadn’t gone to Hogsmeade village very much. The Ravenclaw Prefect had always been hyper-aware of how much his family legacy was placed squarely on his shoulders -- as the only son of the family not currently in Azkaban for the torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom, Atticus was the one who could bring his family the esteem his father so thought they were entitled to. Atticus being Sorted into Ravenclaw alone had broken a precedent, so Wulfric Lestrange was all the more strict in his expectations for his only child.

This time, however, Atticus told himself, there wasn’t much choice in the matter. He had to have the oral report ready for Binns, and his partner had set their meeting place as the Three Broomsticks. That didn’t mean Atticus would ever tell his father any details about the assignment -- he could just imagine how very displeased Wulfric would be, knowing his son had to engage with a Muggle-born like Robert Bellamy.

Atticus brought an entire heavy stack of books from the library with him, all of which were recommendations from Madame Pince. To his surprise, the school librarian actually seemed oddly pleased that Atticus was working with Robert.

“He seems to be a very bright boy, and yet he seems determined to not show it,” she said, sounding almost petulant. “Filius has said Mr. Bellamy likes reading -- that his marks are quite high, even despite his obsession with Quidditch and his penchant for trouble. And yet the faculty’s said he frequently holds back during class demonstrations, and in the last five years, I have never seen him study in the library. I see his friends in here plenty, but Mr. Bellamy? He’ll practically sneak in, pick up his books, and then leave as quickly as possible. I almost wonder if he’s actively trying to avoid being seen here...”

She smiled indulgently at Atticus. “Perhaps you might be able to get that boy to actually take pride in something other than chucking Quaffles around.”

Atticus wasn’t entirely sure how in the world he’d ever do that, even if he wanted to. After all, Robert was Barty Gilbert’s best friend -- Atticus didn’t want anything to do with Barty, and Robert was deathly loyal to him. But even with this, he had to admit, something about Robert intrigued him. Madame Pince thought that Robert was determined not to show he was smart, and yet when Atticus challenged him, he launched into a whole history lecture on the Witch Trials that could’ve put Binns himself to shame. Robert had even taken out a bunch of Muggle books on the subject over the summer and read them before coming to school, so that he’d understand the material in depth. Still, Pince’s assessment made Atticus feel a bit better for having seen Robert as a dumb jock -- he never really had stood out much to Atticus before, except as Barty Gilbert’s sidekick. Yet Atticus couldn’t help but wonder...why would someone who was Sorted into Ravenclaw, and therefore valued wisdom, knowledge, and learning, actively try to downplay how talented he was? Perhaps it was the thought of a mystery Atticus could unravel, but he wanted to know why.

When Atticus arrived at the Three Broomsticks, the stack of books under his arms, he found Robert sitting at a table, two butterbeers placed in front of him and the seat across from him. Standing beside the table were his best friends, pretty, ginger-haired Cecelia and tall, auburn-haired Barty -- Cecelia was pulling lightly at Robert’s arm despite him sitting down, chatting animatedly to him, and Robert was grinning broadly.

“...now, Ceci!” he said. “I doubt Atticus Lestrange would be much the sort to want to talk homework while trying on robes at Gladrag’s. You and Barty go on ahead -- you lot’ll have more money to buy something cool anyhow..”

At the sound of his own name, Atticus couldn’t help but hang back. Not only did he feel awkward about interrupting, but part of him really preferred the thought of not interacting with Barty more than he had to. He didn’t like the weird, irrational ball of dislike that would well up in his throat whenever he looked Barty in the eye.

Barty was blushing slightly, but the mention of his friend being low on money made him frown.

“If you want something, I could buy it for you,” he said in a very quiet, but earnest voice. “It could be an early birthday present...”

But Robert waved a hand dismissively. “Don’t worry about it, mate, I don’t need anything. Now go on -- I’ll catch up with you later, okay?”

Cecelia was frowning too. She exchanged a look with Barty, looking faintly hesitant, but finally released Robert’s arm.

“All right,” she sighed airily. “Be sure to invite Atticus along too after you’re done, all right?”

This startled Atticus. Robert looked uncomfortable.

“Invite him to Gladrag’s?” he sad, trying to play it off with humor. “Not exactly a party spot, Ceci.”

“Invite him to hang out with us,” Cecelia corrected him.

Robert frowned deeply. “What? Ceci...I get that you’re trying to be polite...but every time Lestrange gets within ten feet of Barty, he looks at him like he ran over his cat.”

Barty sighed and then gave a reluctant nod of agreement. “You know he doesn’t like me, Cecelia. I don’t even really know why, aside from his dad not liking my parents...”

Atticus felt like his stomach was being squeezed uncomfortably. Part of him wanted to just leave the pub all together -- but what Cecelia said next made him give pause.

“Barty, you’ve always said you feel like he must be lonely, sometimes. And Robert, you said the same thing, right after you first collided with Atticus, remember? ‘He should be smiling,’ you said. ‘His face doesn’t look right, somehow.’”

Atticus straightened up slightly. He understood that feeling. It was the same feeling he had when he first met Barty -- that his eyes weren’t right, that his smile and voice weren’t right. And yet the sentiment here...also came across as oddly sweet too, in a weird way.

“I was eleven years old, Ceci -- eleven-year-olds say dumb things,” said Robert in a voice that attempted to sound off-hand, but instead came out rather evasive.

“I don’t think it was dumb at all,” said Cecelia very firmly. “You felt sorry for him, and you didn’t even know him that well.”

“It was rather cool of you, Rob,” said Barty, smiling proudly at his best friend.

Robert, however, sidestepped the praise.

“It was a stated fact, not me trying to be nice,” he said in a very grounded, modest tone of voice. “I don’t get why a guy who’s as smart as he is can’t loosen up a little and have some fun once in a while. He can’t be happy, being so...”

He trailed off, his dark eyes drifting down to his mug of butterbeer.

‘Strange?’ Atticus finished in his own head dully, thinking of how everyone else in school tended to nastily play off of his name.

As soon as he thought it, though, another word echoed over his mind.

“You really are too grim for your own good…”

Atticus felt that weird, sad kind of deja vu ripple over him for a second time.

Cecelia sighed tiredly. “As always, you’re determined to play off the best parts of yourself.”

She turned to Barty. “...I guess we should go. Play nice with Atticus, Rob.”

“Yes, Mum,” Robert shot back with a playful smirk.

Barty grinned over his shoulder at Robert before leaving with Cecelia, his cheeks touched with a blush as he looped his arm around hers.

Atticus watched them leave -- then, swallowing back the lump in his throat, he finally approached the table where Robert was still sitting.

“...Hello,” he said stiffly.

Robert looked up, only mildly startled.

“Afternoon,” he greeted.

Noticing the books in Atticus’s arms, he held out his hands. “Here -- let me take those.”

He immediately took the stack, lifting it with significantly more ease than Atticus had and putting it down on the table.

Atticus glanced at the mug of butterbeer placed at the spot left aside for him. Noticing the glance, Robert frowned.

“Do you not like butterbeer?” he asked. “You struck me as the type of person who would...”

“I do,” said Atticus very quickly. “...It’s one of my favorites.”

He slowly lowered himself down into his seat, still feeling oddly hesitant. It had been so weird hearing Robert talk about him with his friends. Most of it wasn’t surprising -- after all, Atticus and Robert had rarely talked largely because of Robert being Barty’s best friend -- but the thought that Robert had actually expressed concern about him despite that...was kind of surreal.

“...You thought I’d be the type to like butterbeer?” he asked.

Robert shrugged as he took a sip, his dark eyes drifting up toward the ceiling. “Don’t most people like it?”

“I suppose they do,” granted Atticus.

He picked up his mug and took a long sip himself. It warmed him up from head to toe, and he couldn’t help but relax slightly.

Robert looked Atticus up and down briefly, cocking his eyebrows.

“You’re awfully overdressed,” he said lightly.

Atticus raised his eyebrows rather coolly in return. “I’m sorry -- I suppose I could’ve ripped the knees out of my trousers, before coming.”

Robert blinked. Then, to Atticus’s complete surprise, he actually burst out laughing.

“So you can joke!” he said. “Merlin...and here I wondered if I’d have to be serious the entire time...”

Atticus raised an eyebrow. “Is that something you can do? Be completely serious?”

Robert smirked slightly. “Of course. I just don’t fancy doing it that much.”

“Not like me, you mean.”

“Definitely not like you.” Realizing what he said could be considered offensive, Robert then added, “...You’re a smart guy, Lestrange, don’t get me wrong. I guess I just don’t get why someone as smart as you would be willing to settle.”

Atticus looked down at the books on the table and then back up at Robert, his eyebrows knitting over his blue eyes.

“And I don’t quite understand why someone as smart as you tries to hide it,” he said straightforwardly. “I mean, someone who can do lectures like the one you came up with on the fly the other day could easily become a professor someday...yet you don’t tutor, or participate in class...you don’t participate in any of our classes, by choice. And when you do...I reckon you’re holding back.”

Robert snorted. “I don’t hold back on the Dueling Field -- I don’t love getting my arse handed to me that much.”

Atticus couldn’t completely bite back a laugh. Robert was actually pretty funny, too.

Robert took another sip of butterbeer, his expression slowly becoming a bit more serious.

“I just don’t see the point in broadcasting my marks or how much I know, that’s all,” he said simply. “I learn so that I can be of use -- not to show off. Knowledge is power. With it, you can fix people’s problems and make the world better. I don’t need to win awards or accolades for my academics -- I just want to know as much as I can and use that knowledge for good.”

Atticus’s expression softened somewhat. “That’s...actually really admirable.”

Robert shrugged. “It’s how I feel is all. Just because I play Quidditch doesn’t mean I’m obsessed with getting attention.”

“You don’t seem uncomfortable about the attention,” said Atticus.

“Well, it’s not just me, is it? Even when I get attention, it’s attention for the team, not me. And any attention I do get, I get for helping out my mates. It feels good to be what they need, that’s all it is.”

Atticus’s blue eyes narrowed slightly as he brought his mug of butterbeer up to his lips again.

“...You really are determined to play off the best parts of yourself.”

Robert straightened up noticeably. Atticus couldn’t help but grin, seeing how effectively he’d startled him. 

“Will you be all right with presenting what you’ve already researched?” he asked. “I reckon the class would probably find a lecture about both the wizarding and Muggle perspectives of the Witch Trials really interesting...and it would almost surely earn us an O.”

Robert raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking me to teach the rest of our class with you?”

“Well, since you’re so critical of Professor Binns’s teaching style, perhaps it’s right you show everyone how it should be done,” said Atticus smugly.

Robert’s lips curled into a broad smirk. “Is that a dare, Lestrange?”

Atticus’s own mouth also spread into a wry smile. “You could always refuse to accept it.”

“You know full well I won’t,” said Robert, his dark eyes sparkling with mischief. “All right, old boy -- we’ll be Professors Lestrange and Bellamy for a class, then. And if we don’t get an O, I’ll dress like you for an entire month.”

Atticus couldn’t hold back his own laughter. “Careful -- I might be tempted to get an E just to see that!”

[jmnjmnjmn]

Eternal Beings | Chapter 15

Pairing: Vampire!Jungkook x Human!Reader

Key words: supernatural, vampire, soulmates.

Word count: around 3,000

Inspo board

Masterlist

Please let me know what you think of this chapter. I kind of got bored of the ‘non-believer reader’ narrative. What do you think of the switch?? 😬

With your phone against your ear, you walked out into the corridor. After a moment of listening to static beeping, you heard shuffling and a groggy voice mumbling out a barely audible ‘hello’.

“Yoongi?” you asked not sure if it was him that answered the phone.

“Speaking,” you exhaled sharply before jumping straight into explaining your current situation to the man on the other end of the line. “And what do you want from me?” he asked, gaining alertness with each passing second of your call.

“I want you to tell me if it’s safe to do this.”

“There surely are safer choices, Yn,” -he sighed- “but Namjoon knows you’re not to be touched,” he didn’t have to say a word more, you knew what that meant.

Jungkook marked you as his soulmate and for whatever reason, that meant you had some kind of immunity when it came to others of… his kind. You thanked Yoongi for his time and help and quickly ended the call. You hesitated before walking back inside Namjoon’s office. Your thumb hovered over the darkening screen of your phone while you wondered if you should follow the hunch in your stomach. 

“A  hunch,” you thought. “It’s merely a hunch, nothing more,” you ran a hand through your hair, pulling on it a little too harshly. “A hunch that’s telling me I’ve been living with tunnel vision until very recently.”

Eventually, you pressed on the unnamed contact at the bottom of your text list and raised the phone to your ear. The wait for Jungkook to pick up wasn’t long. You barely managed to take a deep breath before he answered.

“Why are you calling me?” you scoffed at the lack of greeting from his side.

Why were you calling him you didn’t entirely know. You just felt like it… When Yoongi mentioned that Namjoon knew you were ‘not to be touched’ your mind instantly associated the statement with Jungkook. You were his soulmate and it meant something for some reason. “Allegedly,” your inner voice added quickly. “Allegedly I am his soulmate.”

“Is this how you talk to all your soulmates?” you shot back and Jungkook chuckled lightly, happy to hear you use that word to describe yourself even as part of a joke. 

You imagined him shaking his head with a grin, strands of shiny hair falling onto his forehead as he did so and maybe for the first time you didn’t frown at the thought. Instead, the corners of your lips started to rise as the image of the boy appeared before your eyes. A small smile formed between your rose-tinted cheeks.

“Only the ones that are rude to me,” he purred teasingly.

“Sorry about that,” you murmured, leaning your back against the wooden panelling on the walls of the corridor.

“What was that?” he asked and you cleared your throat.

“I said ‘I’m sorry’,” you repeated a little surprised with your actions and the lack of annoyance that usually rose up in your chest whenever you heard Jungkook’s voice.

You felt the potential for a possible outburst of sudden aggravation but stuffed it down deciding to focus on the light feeling of felicitousness that you haven’t felt in a long time. 

You weren’t the type to look at the world through rose-tinted glasses, quiet the opposite. You wouldn’t describe yourself as pessimistic, rather painfully realistic. That quality of yours oftentimes meant you would notice flaws or disadvantages to your own or others’ plans or ideas. Having noticed those negatives you found it hard to pull through with whatever it was you were considering doing. 

There were times you let go and let someone else take the wheel. Involuntarily your mind travelled to the memories of the beginning of Taehyung and yours’ relationship. You were careless and reckless but most of all happy and excited to be experiencing true love for the first time. No wonder you found it hard to let it go when it came to an end. However, what you managed to build back up with Taehyung after he came back into your life was nothing like what you had before. The relationship between the two of you was garbled and tainted, bitter-sweet.

There were moments, very few volatile moments when you felt good around Jungkook. In those moments you felt as if someone, for the lack of a better term, put a spell on you. You became both hyper-aware and jaded at the same time and everything was perfect and he was just beautiful… As realistic as you liked to be you also craved to cling onto those sweet moments.

“I know I’ve been hard on you.” you continued speaking and this time the words came from your heart, leaving the mind looming in the rearview.

You felt the nerves and anxiety start pooling at the bottom of your stomach. Desperate to hold onto this one nice thing, this one nice moment you decided to shift your focus to the barely audible rhythmic sound of Jungkook’s breathing.

“I’m usually not like that. I swear,” you paused for a second to exhale heavily and give him a chance to say something but he remained silent. “It was just a lot to see you almost kill that man then and then seeing you at Taehyung’s and everywhere else I went and with everything that Hoseok said in the park…” the words spilt out of your mouth as rapidly as they came to your mind. “You know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I guess,” he finally said after a couple of long seconds of quietness. “It’s fine. Really, Yn,” he assured you but you didn’t believe his words, being certain that your admitting to not wanting to love him even though it was true wasn’t ‘fine’ by him.

“I tend to get snappy when I’m stressed out.”

“You didn’t seem snappy last night and you just got fired,” you exhaled a small chuckle.

“I was too tired then,” you whined, smiling at your weak excuse. “And I needed someone to be there for me,” you added truthfully.

“I’ll always be there when you need me, Yn.”

“God, that was corny,” you laughed and your heart almost skipped a bit as you heard him do the same.

It felt a little weird talking to Jungkook so casually without feelings of anger or frustration but you liked it.

“Where are you?” you asked trailing off from his adorable declaration.

“Near,” he answered vaguely but you could swear you heard the smile in his words. “I’m always nearby.”

“You’re doing it again,” you exclaimed meaning his corniness and earning another laugh from him.

“Why are you calling me? I’m genuinely curious.”

“I just wanted to talk to you about something,” you whined shyly.

“What’s on your mind?” 

You bit your lip before answering, needing a moment to come to terms with the fact you were about to talk to this man about things you considered unreal as if they truly existed. You struggled to find the right words.

“I’m in the city with Taehyung right now, trying to get a job at this restaurant but it turns out the guy who runs it is… Of the same sort as Yoongi and you.”

“You mean he’s a vampire?” not immediately getting an answer to his question Jungkook decided to give you his opinion on the matter. “It’d be best for you to stay away from him.”

“That was my first thought as well but I called Yoongi about it-”

“I wasn’t your first choice?” he asked, teasing you again and you rolled your eyes.

“I called Yoongi because he knows him,” you finished your sentence. “He said that if I were to start working here it wouldn’t be ideal but in the end fine.”

“What’s his name?”

“Namjoon,” you answered without hesitation, not seeing any harm sharing the information with Jungkook.

“You’re applying to work at Honey Cafe?” you furrowed your brows at the mention of the restaurant’s name.

“You know this place?”

“Yeah, I go there all the time. It’s the only place selling blood legally in this godforsaken city,” you gulped slightly shocked which Jungkook must have picked up on because he rushed with an explanation. “Don’t worry about it. If you end up working there he won't make you serve the nonhuman customers.”

“Nonhuman,” you repeated halfheartedly. “Jungkook, I don’t know what it is but whenever I see you I don’t feel well,” you blurted out without thought.

“W-what?” he stuttered out and you weren’t sure whether he was taken by surprise or holding back a laugh caused by your bluntness.

“I- my head hurts and I can’t think straight,” you kept talking despite your mind yelling for you to stop. “Also I think Namjoon was trying to-”

“Hey,” your head snapped to your left where a wonky-looking door you didn’t notice earlier cracked open. “Yn, right?” you lowered your phone slightly, ignoring whatever questions Jungkook was asking.

You eyed the man that walked through the door. He left it open, letting the sunlight seep into the otherwise pretty dim corridor. The rays hit his black hair, making it shine prettily. He looked familiar but you couldn’t match his face to any name that came to mind.

“Jin,” he reminded you and you nodded in realisation.

“I gotta go, Jungkook, but I’ll call you back,” you said past his concerned questions and hung up. “You’re one of Yoongi’s roommates,” Jin nodded with a soft smile.

“Picking up bags for your boyfriend?” he asked and you barely had time to scrunch your eyebrows, wondering about the ‘bags’ and the ‘boyfriend’, before Namjoon’s office’s door swung open.

“Finally,” he sighed, looking at Jin who shot him an embarrassed grin. “This week’s delivery is in the freezer.”

With just a nod directed towards you, Jin left to get whatever was waiting for him in the freezer, leaving you pondering.

“I want this job,” you stated sternly, meeting Namjoon’s stare.

He knotted his arms over his chest and you saw the golden rings appearing around his otherwise brown irises. You knew what would come next if you didn’t stop him in time.

“Don’t even think about it,” you growled through gritted teeth.

“What?” he asked innocently and you rolled your eyes.

“My head hurts enough without you trying to play your tricks on me,” you sighed, not sure what tricks you meant but he seemed to have gotten the hint as he shook his head and walked back into his office.

“Write down the hours you’re available in,” he passed you a blank piece of paper. “You’ll hear from me by the end of the week,” you grabbed the closest pen you saw on the desk and wrote down ‘all day every day’ but after giving it a second thought you added a minus at the end of your sentence and wrote down the hours where you had the most important classes in your online college course.

As you strutted down the corridor you felt your phone vibrate in your pocket. You took out the device and read the unfamiliar number. After letting it ring for a couple of seconds you put two and two together realising it must be Jungkook who’s calling and swiping your finger across the screen.

“Don’t hang up on me like that,” he hissed and you just shook your head with a heavy sigh. “What was Namjoon trying to do? What were you going to say earlier?” he bombarded you with questions.

“I don’t know how to say this without sounding crazy,” you whispered walking back into the restaurant.

Jamie was behind the counter taking an order from a group of girls and Taehyung sat in your booth, busy doing something on his phone. You took the opportunity to slip outside and talk to Jungkook without anyone listening in.

“His eyes lit up as yours do. I think it… Made my head hurt,” you said hesitantly unsure whether Jungkook would wave you off or take your concerns seriously.

“That prick,” he snarled. “Don’t apply to work there, Yn, please.”

“Too late,” you breathed. “But I told him off for doing it so maybe he’ll stop,” Jungkook scoffed into the phone.

“If he does that again I swear- if he does that again tell me, okay?” you hummed in agreement. “Hey,” he cooed suddenly changing his tone from aggravated to sweet and soft.

“What?” you asked, looking at your feet as you leaned on the window of the cafe.

“Look up,” you did as he said and immediately smiled.

“You were near,” you thought, looking at him standing on the opposite side of the street, and he hummed a low ‘mhm’ mimicking your happy expression before looking both ways and crossing the street.

You lowered your phone, pressing on the red button to end the call and he did the same as the distance between the two of you shortened with his every step.

“I thought you might need me,” he smirked, stopping just far enough not to invade your personal space but close enough to make you aware of his presence.

You simply smiled, not knowing what to say. You called him and now here he was, right in front of you. The shadows of trees planted along the street danced over his features beautifully. Your brain seemed to have switched into a strange mode that reminded you of the choice-based video games you played on Taehyung’s XBOX way back when.

You inhaled slowly letting the smell of Jungkook’s cologne fill your lungs fully and two choices came to your mind. You could decide the scent was two heavy or take it as intoxicatingly sweet. You chose the latter.

“You good?” he asked while stuffing his hands into the pockets of his baggy pants.

You smiled and nodded, still silent. His brows twitched slightly as he stopped himself from furrowing them. He never saw this side of you, silent and soft. On the other hand, he hadn’t seen many sides of you whatsoever.

“I never came in from the front,” he said just for the sake of breaking the silence. “I usually go through the back.”

“You get your blood here?” you asked, holding back a gag that rose in your throat at the thought.

Jungkook nodded, scanning your face with caution. He felt uncomfortable. Your peaceful and quiet demeanour made him feel uneasy. He imagined there was something brewing inside of you and one miss-step could set you off, end this delightful moment and damage everything.

“I’ve got some to pick up right now,” he murmured, kicking a small rock across the pavement.

“Go get it then,” you encouraged him and this time he didn’t hold back the raise of his eyebrows. “I’ll go with you,” you proposed and turned around to push the cafe’s door open.

You still felt a little confused about, well, everything. Letting yourself play along with Jungkook’s supernatural theory gave you some weird sense of peace. You didn’t believe a word he told you about his vampiric life but at the same time, you did experience whatever it was you experienced in the park with Hoseok and him.

Jungkook walked one step behind you completely dumbfounded. He kept his hands in his pockets as the two of you stopped by the front counter.

“Namjoon’s in?” he asked Jamie and the girl nodded glancing up from her phone for a short second.

“Your stuff’s in the freezer,” she gestured for the back door leading to the corridor and Namjoon’s office.

“Where are you going?” both of your heads snapped towards Taehyung.

He was looking at you with a raised eyebrow. Before speaking up he stared Jungkook down, feeling a tinge of jealousy and annoyance at the back of his head which became the driving factor in raising his voice.

Jungkook looked at you questioningly and you nodded your head, telling him to lead the way.

“I’ll be right out,” you waved your friend off.

You weren’t sure if you wanted to see what Jungkook’s ‘stuff’ was but you knew you weren’t going to back down now especially since you were the one that proposed it.

“Besides if he thought it would be too much for me to go to the freezer with him he would undoubtedly say something,” you smiled at the thought you just heard pass through your head. “He wouldn’t willingly put me in an uncomfortable situation,” you nodded to yourself, weirded out by the fact you were so sure of Jungkook’s intentions.

You walked arm in arm with him down the corridor in the direction opposite to Namjoon’s office towards a heavy-looking metal door. Goosebumps immediately formed on your arms as it was opened from the inside and wind of cold air hit your exposed skin.

“Jungkook-ie,” Jin exclaimed, walking out of the freezer room with a big cardboard box in his hands. “I didn’t expect to see you today. I thought your girl was picking up your food,” you bit your lip when he used the term ‘food’ to describe blood completely letting the fact he called you Jungkook’s ‘girl’ fly over your head. “Can’t have her carry such heavy boxes, huh?” Jungkook chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. “Your things are on the back shelf,” he added before bidding you both goodbye.

Jungkook stepped inside the freezer while you stayed outside. He picked up two heavy-looking boxes, stacking one on top of the other and walked back out. He shut the door closed with his foot and shot you an awkward smile.

“You need help?” you asked earning a shift in his expression.

He shook his head with a cocky grin and you walked back to the restaurant. You held the door open for him despite him commenting he can do that himself even though his arms were more than full. You ignored Taehyung’s judging glare as you walked Jungkook to his car parked on the other side of the street. He balanced the boxes in one of his arms as he tried to fish out the keys to his car out of his hoddie’s front pocket.

“Let me help you,” you hissed, unwinding your arms from the knot you held them in across your chest and stepping closer to him.

Jungkook quickly put his hand back on the bottom of the box to keep it from tilting and falling to the ground as you dug your hand into the pocket swiftly retrieving the car keys. You unlocked the vehicle and opened the trunk.

“Thanks,” Jungkook breathed out with a chuckle and you glanced down at the two boxes. “You wanna see what it looks like? It’s not that scary, really,” you looked into his eyes and noticed how sincerely he was staring at you so you muttered a faint ‘okay’ and followed his hands with your gaze as he lifted the lid of off one of the boxes.

“Hm, it’s just like it is at hospitals,” you commented looking at the neatly stacked clear bags of blood, each marked with the letter assigned to a specific type, and he hummed. “And what? You just drink it with a straw, like in cartoons?” Jungkook chuckled at your weak attempt at a joke.

“Yeah, I mix it with human food too,” he laughed and you weren’t sure if he was joking or not. “I have to have it to not be hungry,” he explained. “Regular food wouldn’t satisfy that need for me.”

“Then why eat it at all?” you asked thinking back to the time he ate McDonald’s with Taehyung and you.

“For the taste, of course,” he smirked.

You pulled your phone out of your pocket and glanced at the screen. You read a short message composed of three question marks that Taehyung sent you a second ago and looked over your shoulder towards Honey Cafe.

“Go to your friend,” Jungkook said, shutting the trunk. “I’ll see you at yours later.”

“I swear if we met in different circumstances I would not have such a hard time starting to like you,” you blurted out while shaking your head slowly and turned around.

Jungkook watched you walk away as he leaned against his car, astounded.

[vore-scientist]

Demanding

[FLUFFY Safe, soft, willing, GT, non-romantic non-sexual M/f vore, fantasy setting. No additional warnings]

Proper Title Demanding: Yonah in Terra-Syor

Ok a little explanation is needed for this: IT'S NOT PART OF THE NORMAL MYSTIC WOODS. IT'S AN AU+ CROSSOVER SILLINESS

Been talking with @vixen525 (dA, tumblr) and we’ve been talking about fun crossovers with our worlds/characters and this came out of that! 

To set you up: Yonah, for whatever reason it’s not important for this story, got transported to the dimension/world of TerraSyor (which belongs to @vixen525 ), but in the process suffered memory loss (bc I wanted to be cliche as fuck and it makes things so much fun!!!). Giants in TerraSyor are called Syors or Syorians which are two subspecies. Check their dA for more information. They are a LOT larger than Yonah. But anyways. That’s kinda the set up, other things you need to know are explained in the story. 

---

Like last time we find ourselves in the office of the King of the Giants (who is away on a diplomatic mission) on the giant desk which had a smaller human sized desk on the upper right hand corner. Only this time it is night, or rather early evening. Though in this northern region, the sun had gone down over an hour ago; the Chief Political Advisor is sitting at her desk with mage lights hanging around her.

With King Connor away, Naomi tended to bury herself in her work. Because her best friend, the aforementioned King, is not there and while she misses him she has a lot of work to catch up on! King Connor tends to let it pile up. Often by keeping her from being able to do it thanks to his favorite way to enjoy her company. So while she missed her friend, she was not about to let this opportunity go to waste!

She would stay up for days to finish the paperwork! She had done so before even against the orders of the castle’s human physician for her to maintain a proper sleep schedule. As if she could sleep without Connor! And she was reluctant to ask one of the castle staff for assistance. Once or twice she’d gone to Lana, but the former Queen and interim King wasn’t someone Naomi liked to bother much even if she was available. Always more than happy to help, extremely sweet, but a little overbearing.

Thankfully her new guard was there to get her proper rest every night! Well. He tried. One all nighter he was willing to allow; he would force her to sleep should she try two in a row.

Tonight was such a night, however it would prove to be much more interesting.

Grunting as he glanced at his pocket watch tick into later evening he stood up and feeling a bit playful he reduced himself from 23.5ft to 7.5ft tall. Even at his full size he was more than small enough to sit comfortably on Connor's desk. Naomi didn’t notice him walking up until he was pulling the politician from her chair. She protested and held onto the desk and Yonah pretended to let her be strong enough to hold herself there.

“No! I need to finish reviewing this trade negotiation!” she sounded serious but there was a hint of playfulness.

“You can review it in the morning, you were up all last night! I know you miss Connor, that’s why I’m here!”

“I’m your boss, you’re paid to protect me!”

“I’m not technically paid and apparently I need to protect you from yourself. Also I need to sleep too! How can I protect you if I’m exhausted” He had tried to sleep last night, Naomi in his arms, powered by caffeine and hyper fixation, and armed with her portable desk, she did not waiver.

And he did manage to nap a few times. Not for more than an hour total. He was disinclined to sleep while she worked for several reasons. Mostly her safety even if this was the most secure room in the palace. Assassins had still gotten in before! And because once he woke up buried in paper. He was sure he’d inhaled a page at some point. Such suspicions were confirmed a moment later when Naomi got mad at him for it. And for his snoring.

So no more sleeping on the job!

Finally Yonah yanked her away from her desk, and ripped the paper from her hand. “I’ll give you one chance to change into PJs or you’re going down as is!” He grinned.

She had not changed clothes in almost 36 hours… she sighed and agreed. Plus she needed a shower, even if it would be made pointless soon after. Very soon in fact, as they both put on PJs after drying off but before heading to Connor’s bedroom, which they both lived in. No this is not weird.

Now, with both in their PJs, and teeth brushed, it was time! Yonah had returned to his normal size a while ago and he picked up the human and locked her dark and sleep deprived eyes onto his own. Before he lowered her from eye level and shoved her into his mouth.

Now, Naomi was never enthusiastic to be eaten, at least, not by Yonah. Not by anyone but Connor really. It kinda sucked, a lot. Being swallowed was the worst part. Yonah, being almost five times shorter than Connor, could barely fit a human torso in his mouth and Naomi’s sides sometimes got bruised against his teeth, and even though it was a short trip down it always felt like she might be squeezed to death. But that wasn’t why she was so unhappy.

Yonah noticed her hesitation but didn’t say anything as he swallowed her down as quickly as he could, and then promptly made his way to Connor’s chambers. Maybe the motion of his gate would lull his passenger. It was a fair distance even for Yonah, at 23.5ft, navigating a Castle meant for much larger giants. But the wash chamber was nearby to make it more convenient for Naomi. Soon he was in the bedroom and making his way to his own bed that was tucked into a corner of the room. It was a four poster with a canopy, and curtains, which gave it a feel of a box or a container, or cage… which wasn’t a bad thing, in fact it kinda felt familiar but he was sure he’d never been caged in such a way.

Yet sleep did not come. Specifically Naomi couldn’t sleep. As he climbed into his bed he felt Naomi shift. So much so it was clear she hadn’t woken due to his movements. Normally such little hints of struggle lulled him, but he could sense her restlessness and with him being in charge of her wellbeing, his worry chased away any lulling effect.

“Something wrong Naomi?” He sat at the side of his bed, feet on the ground, and pressed a hand to his belly, pleasantly full with the small human woman. She didn’t seem to appreciate this.

“It’s nothing!” She kicked, knowing it didn’t hurt him but he still grunted for her edification.

“That’s a lie, you need to tell me,” he rubbed at her.

He heard her sniff.

“This is. So different from when Connor eats me… it’s so confining!!” though her tone carried an air of falsehood.

“Do… you want me to spit you up? Will you sleep if I hold you in my arms?” Yonah knew full well that Naomi was from a tropical kingdom, used to warm humid nights, and was so accustomed to sleeping in Connor’s stomach that the cool dry air of the giant’s castle made it hard for her to fall asleep.

“I just miss Connor!” She finally wailed softly. Oh. This wasn’t a problem he could fix, and he was about to suggest he cast a reversal of his reduction so that he was closer to Connor’s size, if only briefly. But The problem wasn’t his size, the problem was he wasn’t Connor, so it was unlikely to help.

Yonah still held his stomach, he could feel her shaking as she cried under his hand. There wasn’t anything he could do.

Then his keen ears picked up a new sound and he stiffened. Naomi was too preoccupied to notice at first. Until he poked at his stomach, and with that poke was able to convey an air of novel concern.

“Wha-”

“I hear something-”

“Surely not an assassin, Connor’s not even-”

Shhhh - he pressed his hand forcefully down, feeling her squish in frustration. The sound was distant and small, he needed her to be silent. As emotional Naomi was, she knew that this took precedence. In fact she was a bit worried. What if it was a an assassin, or a slayer! Technically any slayer after Connor is also an assassin given his status as King.

“Yonah if you eat an assassin without spitting me up-”

“The fuck!? That’s horrid, and please, quiet-” he said at a whisper. It was probably the lack of sleep combined with missing Connor that had her so delirious that she even thought he would make her sit in his stomach if he caught someone. Now that he was thinking about it too and it made him a bit sick to his stomach. But he forced such images away to focus on the sound.

“Oh!” he said as he realized what it was. It wasn’t one he heard very often. “That’s the human door!”

Naomi sat up, curious but not without some concern. “You’re sure?”

“Very sure, and it sounds a bit frantic”

“I doubt it’s trouble... “

They sat there for another minute.

“Still knocking” Yonah reported.

Naomi shifted like she was thinking. Then Yonah heard the door unlock, open, and then the quick steps of bare feet across the stone floor, headed right for him! Him and Naomi! Quickly he put on his glasses, withdrew the curtains, and peered into the darkness.

The figure passed through a section of the floor that had a spot of moonlight shining down from a window and Yonah startled but chuckled as he saw the plump female form.

“It’s Dani!” he said.

He thought that would make Naomi relax but the way she flopped over she wasn’t relieved as much as suspicious.

And her suspicions were confirmed when Dani climbed right into the bed and dropped what a moment ago had been a human sized book, now the correct size for him, into his lap with a THUP. Yonah anticipated the next sentences out of her mouth as, hands on her hips, she glared at him with fierce confidence.

“Eat me! Read to me!”

Yonah was acutely aware that his hand was STILL over his stomach, and Naomi had gone still, but he wasn’t worried about that. While he loathed to turn Dani down, his stomach was already occupied. This wasn’t really up to him.

Having also gotten little sleep his first emotion was annoyance, then anger. But no. He wouldn't lash out. Instead hesmiled kindly down at Dani, scooping her up in his free hand and kissing her chubby cheek, stroking the back of her head. Then he rubbed at his stomach and looked down, Dani looking as well.

“Only if Naomi says it’s ok”

Even in the dark He could see Dani’s face get red.

“I- didn’t realize-” she flicked her eyes back to Yonah’s which in the darkness glowed softly. “I’m having trouble sleeping, so I thought- even if you don't eat me…”

Naomi sighed with her entire body. Seemed like Yonah’s services were in high demand tonight. Still. The idea of Yonah eating Dani along with her… The chamber that was his stomach was so small that Naomi filled up most of the space already. Yonah said he could do it, eat more than one person, but was now the time for him to prove it? As a test she stretched out the space a bit. With her massaging it graciously gave way, not as much as she would have liked, but better than nothing. Another sigh, and then she deflated.

“Misery loves company, she can’t make it worse!”

Yonah grimaced, he wasn’t so sure about that. But then looked back at Dani who was snuggling into his arm, smiling softly. She hadn’t heard Naomi’s reply. Though now with Naomi’s permission, Yonah couldn’t see himself not eating Dani. One person in his belly was pretty great. But two? Wonderful. Delightful. The ideal amount of stuffed for a perfect and well deserved night’s rest. So he jostled his arm and Dani looked up at him.

“Naomi said it was alright” he kissed her cheek again, this time sticking out the tip of his tongue to get a brief taste, for soon he would get the full experience.

Dani’s eyes lit up, “Really! Then what are you waiting for?”

The light chuckle that came from Yonah shook Naomi who couldn’t help but giggle as Yonah said “Nothing, I’m just not feeling rude enough tonight to not warn Naomi that she’s about to have company.” He pressed fingers into his stomach to make sure she was listening. Since she could hear him speak, his statement to Dani was all the warning she needed.

He held Dani up to his mouth and opened his jaws wide, placing his tongue over his teeth so she could crawl in. There was more flavor on Dani tonight, she must have used some new bath salts. Yonah had recently caught onto Dani’s attempts to find a combination of salts that would be nearly irresistible to him, but since the magic flavors of the salts were designed for Syorians, there hadn’t been much success. He still held her in his mouth for longer than he had done Naomi, enjoying the new and interesting flavor that complimented her natural one.

There wasn't much space with her halfway in his mouth but he could still move his tongue enough to make Dani squirm a bit, laugh a bit. Until he tipped his head back, and he pushed her in a little further as gravity helped slide her to his throat and he took a swallow. While he liked to take his time with this too, as the stretching was painful but in a good way, his airway was completely cut off, he had to continue to swallow. Slowly but steadily. Naomi was also scrambling a bit, probably to make room. That felt nice. When he took a deep breath as her body slipped past his collar and allowed him to breath he could feel the pressure in his chest.

“Hey!” he heard Dani yelp and his own breath caught! As he felt something he hadn’t in a while.

Her hands had only left the esophagus, her head not even breaching into the chamber, when strong hands took her wrists and pulled her in. While their safety charms produced light, they had both set them to be dim in anticipation of sleeping, but not pitch black just yet, they needed to get settled in some semblance of comfort in the confined space.

“Hi Naomi!” Dani said as she tried to get off of the woman of much higher authority. That mostly failed but at least she wasn’t on top of Naomi anymore. More laying across.

This wasn’t the first time they’d done this, but it had only been a once or twice before. So adjusting to being so squished wasn’t very quick. They had to move around a lot to experiment with different positions. Yonah hummed small vibrations as they made their various attempts, and his constant poking and pressing at them did not help, but neither did they tell him to stop.

Oh it was a great day, or night, when he got to eat two people! And two of his favorite people in this world. Friends always tasted better. And every shove was a small burst of joy for him as he sat, completely content.

Finally the movement stopped but yonah didn’t notice until one of them, probably Dani, did her best to kick his insides.

“The book, Yonah? You’re not getting this full belly for free you know!” that was Dani, and Naomi laughed.

“Naomi needs to sleep, Dani!”

He felt the women shift a bit and had a hushed discussion that he couldn’t hear well enough.

“I’ll fall asleep faster if you read! Your voice is very soothing.” That statement was accompanied by stroking against his insides.

Placing all of his pillows behind him so he was sitting up for maximum comfort, he picked up the book. There was a bookmark in it but disregarded it. This was Warrior Mages: Into the Feywild, the first story from a series he’d not read before. Of course being from another world (not to mention his loss of memory from the interdimensional travel), he hadn’t read most book series. This one in particular he’d wanted to read, on Dani’s recommendation. Sneaky little human!

The effect wasn’t immediate but it was much quicker than he’d have bet on, as he could soon hear light snores coming from his midsection. He’d barely made it a second chapter in, and while he’d been hooked he was also on the verge of passing out. Keeping his voice low he told Dani this, laying a hand lightly over his stomach. She only responded with some strokes from the other side of his flesh. Still awake but not about to insist he keep reading.

Very carefully and very slowly he adjusted his position and pillows so that he was laying down. The weight of the humans settling in his gut, he kept his hand over the spot, using his other to pull up a thin blanket.

Apparently the night's adventures were not over however, as only 2 hours later the door burst open with the King’s early, loud, dead of night return. Yonah thanked the gods the didn’t think to shout for his friend. But the crash of the door and the approaching thunderous footsteps were just as infuriating.

Taking note that Naomi was not as her desk, Connor made a beeline for the small bed in the corner, dropped to his knees, leaned down, and drew the curtains without warning, though he was met with the angry, tired gaze of his little, doll sized guard who was sitting up, clearly stuffed with the king’s favorite treat. A little too stuffed if Connor was inclined to notice, but he was not. Yonah’s mane of jet black curly hair was also in the most amusing state, which Connor did notice but didn’t care about.

His eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and he had a massive fanged grin on his face like a child looking at both a pet rabbit and a piece of chocolate cake.

“Spit her up!” he said without any more pretense. His voice devoid of consideration for the time of night.

Yonah put his hands defensively over his stomach, “Welcome back, Your Majesty.” The two humans in his belly waking up slower than he, but upon Yonah’s words Naomi called out as well.

“Connor’s back! Let me out!!”

The pointed ears of the king flicked to catch the voice of his friend and favorite snack.

Normally he’d obey a direct order from The King. Without question he would follow identical orders from the King and his second in command. But he was sleep deprived, no mood to deal with a demanding royal, and more so no mood to give up his treats! So delightfully full. He deserved this. The King could fucking wait.

“No.” he growled, making his eyes glow.

Connor blinked in surprise. A bit confused and taken aback at this blatant disrespect for his authority.

“What do you mean, no?” He narrowed his eyes surely his guard wasn’t disobeying him!

“What do you mean, no!!” Naomi’s voice rang out. Dani stayed silent, not really her place to intervene.

Connor’s ears flicked back and forth, switching between showing frustration and staying locked on Naomi’s voice.

“Yonah if you dont spit her up, I’ll-”

Yonah glared “Do what!? Fire me? Punish me? If you do, I hope you Have fun finding another guard, You had such great luck before.”

Connor’s hand had started to reach for him but stopped at Yonah’s threat. He knew Yonah wouldn’t really quit. But he finally noticed the bags under yonah’s eyes as the fire and sleep deprived fueled angry otherworldly half-giant continued to glare at him. Then pulled the curtains closed before the king could respond. The bed chamber was brightly lit now but the curtains, though translucent, were designed to keep most light out.

A smile crept onto Yonah’s face as he heard Connor continue to grumble yet stood up and walked away. He lay back down and fell asleep quickly as Naomi continued to complain while Dani regretted her choice of bed for the night.

[FIN]

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