zyrnar

[nectaric]

happy birthday, zeus !! (may 24)

in honour of ten years of zeus birthdays (and 11 years of writing him), i wanted to do a little something to celebrate all my amazing roleplay partners and talk about how important y'all have been in either a) influencing my writing, b) influencing my portrayal, or c) being a reason i want to come here and write ten years later.

as many of you know (or are about to learn), zeus has been the actual love of my life for over a decade now. he was one of the first characters i ever roleplayed, and i have stuck with him pretty consistently this whole time. i could wax poetic forever about how much he means to me, and how important writing him has been in my life, but i'll spare you all a glimpse into my crazy. just know, zeus means the world to me. and if he has gone through growth in all the time we've worked together, then so have i. i was an extremely nerdy, extremely obsessive little teenager in her basement bedroom with big dreams and now i'm married, working the job i have always wanted, with a beautiful dog and big plans. it feels kinda crazy that i get to share so much of that with all of you.

and so many of you amazing people have been apart of that journey or have just joined and are giving me reasons to keep writing!

it wouldn't be right if i didn't start off with @ichoric. accepting me into your little roleplay group almost 11 years ago literally changed the trajectory of my life. you are literally one of my best friends in the entire world - we have seen each other grow through so much, have been there for each other through good shit and the bad. not only have you seriously influenced me as a writer through all of our shenanigans (drowning hazel, titans 2, scary ares, the time we sat next to each other on my couch and roleplayed the entire aphrares wedding for hours), but you have genuinely influenced me as a person. forget how much i love your portrayals, and the depth and creativity you pour into them, so much life and love and intensity that is a delight to behold - but so much of becoming who i am now has been with you at my side and i love you so much i'm lowkey crying as i type this. thank you for 10 + great years and i can't wait for more!

@kissofthemuses amber, i think getting to write zeus / hera with you permanently altered my brain chemistry. its crazy to think about just how long we've actually known each other -- but getting to see everything you get up to, all your cosplaying and adventures, has been a gift <3 not only do i feel like i have become a more mature individual thanks to being taken under your wing a little, but i also feel as though my zeus has fundamentally changed because of your portrayal and that's so powerful.

@pistolslinger nat maybe i'm just an emotional goober but you have always been such a beacon of light on my dash, long before you went off and became a crow. writing with you has always been so wonderful and enriching and i just know i can count on your for a laugh or heartbreak or general tomfoolery. never mind that you're so kind and open to everyone you seem to come across, but you're also really talented??? in so many ways???? i still think about our jason n zeus superhero au sometimes. incredible, thank you <3

@stygicniron talk about an og!!! hilary, we have been writing together for so long and every interaction is an absolute gem. you and i have been in the trenches of this fandom and somehow come out the other side relatively unscathed and i know part of that is how kind and wonderful and creative you are, but also because of how talented and solid your portrayal of nico is. i have seen few people have as good of a grasp on a character as you and its always an absolute joy to get to write anything with you. thank you for coming on this journey with me!!

@littleblackqrow khristle, you have been such a constant in my online life for years its genuinely difficult to remember a time before we followed each other and wrote together. the fact that i get to write with you despite fandom changes (because you have impeccable taste) is really so awesome and i've just really loved getting to write with you, talk with you ooc, and just experience being your rp partner for so long. between apollo, qrow, and grif, we've written so many heartwrenching and hilarious things, and i'm just super grateful you've been here !

@rheaeaseandflow marie i think you are one of the people i have been writing with the longest and don't think that goes unnoticed! your rhea is incredible and has honestly helped me to form so many important headcanons and opinions about my own characters that i think is so significant. you have always been this kind, warm, welcoming presence who i always look forward to writing with, and when i think about the "early days" of zeus i often think of you!

@singofus apis i literally cannot imagine this little corner of the rp world without you. i think greek myth and you are one of the first people who comes to mind. i remember when you and i both wrote significantly less muses on different blogs, but now we're here with our hoard, and our beautiful little headcanons we're still getting to develop, and its genuinely made my time here so much more enjoyable! you're so creative and thoughtful and you have seriously influenced so many of my portrayals i wouldn't even know where to start. here's to a lot more writing, and a lot more time well spent!

@asoulunbound krys!!! greek myth without you is like a pb&j without the pb. you occupy such an important space in this community and also just. in my world and i genuinely appreciate how much thought you put into your muses and the generosity you show to others. not to mention, the fact that you and i engage in very similar niche communities makes me feel so much more connected to you and i enjoy getting to write with you and see you on my dash so much !

@seekesotsibteadmist kyrian if there was an award for most supportive roleplayer ever it would be you. i feel so seen by you and you're so encouraging no matter what the circumstances are. i love getting to write with you (honestly, i could be better about it) because i can just feel the love and creativity you throw into S. i always enjoy getting an ask from you or seeing your ic posts and i am so grateful to have you in my little world, so thank you.

@seaprofound another day, another og !! gods sunny i feel like we have known each other for decades at this point - i think of this rpc, and i think about you and the constant beacon of sunshine (pun intended) you have always been. the absolute depth of your devotion to poseida is astounding and your love and care for the people around you is an example i think a lot of us could learn from. thank you for being so authentic and kind and creative and a part of my life for so long!!!

@stolenbythegods beth i know we don't write as much together these days but i will genuinely never forget you or ganymede or how much fun we have had writing together. you are so talented and sweet and i adore your ganymede with everything i have. your portrayal has altered the way i view not only zeus and gany's relationship, but also how i view zeus, and that's a really big achievement in my books. i miss you, and i'm so grateful for you!

@kallistcs unni aside from the level of sheer talent you possess and the care and detail you pour into your portrayals (which i appreciate so much my heart is FULL), you have also always been the one who swoops in and saves my day. i feel like i can always count on you to be the voice of reason to my emotionally driven, passionate rants about vague myth concepts with your frankly impressive knowledge of myth that i both admire and envy (fondly <3). i love having you around and i genuinely enjoy our threads so much i look forward to getting to write them every time i log on (even if i am Slow)

@saccharic MY SON !!! giuli. i'm not even going to talk about writing because you are talented and ily and i enjoy it but that's not what matters here. i remember when you were abt 14 and i have gotten the joy of watching you grow and become so so so successful and such a wonderful little lady and i could not be more of a proud dad. i feel like this is such a rare gift and i cherish it, i really do

this is a shoutout to others who have been a constant on my dash and who have contributed significantly to how much i enjoy being here. you're all wonderful, and talented, and i'm absolutely grateful to have you around <3

@appleyed @eriny3s @eileithyiia @anthcs @tragillary @ofprevioustimes @reastless @deadshe @luxcruor @thecs @withinycu

and to those of you who i haven't written with much yet, but who i genuinely look forward to writing more with! thank you for following me and letting me invade your space <3

@caeloservare @candlewick-corporation @aestasrosis @sunguns @hxntresses @unseenking @allbains @kuokuana @eiiskonigin @noirbeast

[foulwitchknight]

Will You Be Mine: Part I (Eddies POV)

The weirdest day for Eddie is when Steve “the Hair” Harrington started working at Scoops. It was no secret that his family was well off. His shiny hair and nice clothes was a big giveaway. Plus he had many a rager at his house in High school. So it confused Eddie seeing him working a minimum wage job. What your parents don’t give you an allowance anymore? It did delight him some seeing Steve in that ridiculous uniform after all those years of him and his friends making Eddie’s life hell. It seemed like karma had finally found its way to Harrington’s doorstep. The thought made a small smile stay on his face for the rest of the day. Maybe he had celebrated too soon though because the next day Steve wondered into the record store. He looked at the clock. 12:30. Must be his lunch break. Eddie didn’t know why he’d waste it here. He should be spending it actually eating or taking a break. Steve didn’t seem too bothered about how he was spending his time though. He was drifting aimlessly down each aisle occasionally bending over to peek at a particular record. God he does have a nice…. Eddie stopped that thought before it could finish. He couldn’t be gawking at his sworn enemy. He waited for a few minutes to hopefully see if someone else would come to assist and no one did. Eddie held back a groan resigning himself to his fate. Turns out this wasn’t a one off thing. Steve came back practically everyday during his lunch break. Eddie was also pleasantly surprised that he wasn’t nearly the jerk he’d been in High school. He’d grown sweeter not just in personality but scent. Eddie didn’t remember Steve smelling so sweet. His scent made his head spin and did something to his Alpha. Made him want to bite him…HARD. Not just on his scent gland but everywhere. He wanted to mark him as much as possible. It honestly freaked him out a little. As much as Eddie wanted to blame hormones he knew it was more than that. It felt like big deal that his Alpha was attracted to Steve too. He made a point to try to keep their interactions short as possible. At least he tried but then Steve started asking questions…about metal. Since it was his favorite topic he couldn’t help but drive into long winded speeches about all his favorite bands the history etc. It didn’t help that Steve seemed genuinely interested. It pleased his Alpha having the omegas full attention. He started to show off a little too telling him obscure facts and showing him the latest metal albums. He really started to like having Steve around so much so that he started visiting Scoops. He told himself it was for the rocky road, but deep down he knew the truth. Steve had wormed his way into his heart and he didn’t know what to do. Jason his new coworker was a nice enough guy. They had a lot in common and Jason was an easy distraction that helped take Eddies mind off Steve a little. So Eddie got chummy with him maybe flirted a little. He was unmarked it was allowed. Only Eddie still couldn’t help but feel guilty especially when he could have sworn that Steve’s scent had soured the last few times he had visited the store.

Part 2 Steve’s POV

@mx-jinxous

[haptronym]

Hap's Adventures in Dadmight

aka “this experience was really strange so I’m going to write 6,000 words about it”.

Fandoms are bizarre. I know this, but I still keep doing the shocked Pikachu face whenever I join a new one. 

This time around, I really thought there would be no surprises. And yet, the fandom ended up having a really weird, really uncomfortable dynamic that confused the hell out of me for a long time. I met several others who said “Yeah, it freaks me out too,” but they couldn’t explain exactly why, and nobody really wanted to talk about it. So now that I’m mostly done with the My Hero Academia fandom, I’ll just go ahead and vaporize my bridges with a whole-ass case study about what on earth seemed to be going on here.

Warning: very long, very self-absorbed, as usual. Contains discussions of relationships, underage shippers, and how to influence whether something “feels” platonic vs. not.

Disclaimer 1: This doesn't apply to everything tagged "Dadmight." Just a select subset. But this subset appeared pretty consistently.

Disclaimer 2: I'm posting brief, fair-use-commentary examples of the content that made me question my sanity because it has to be seen to be believed, but I'm not including names or links because I don’t want to easily funnel negativity to them. If an author really wants me to, I’m happy to link directly to their story.

Disclaimer 3: I’m not trying to “spread awareness” or do a callout. I just like to write for fun and this time the fun was puzzling out why I, personally, had the experience I did. Many people feel differently and that's great. If all fluff has always felt 100% wonderful and charming to you, then this post isn't relevant to you. But if a supposedly "cute" story has ever made you squirm with discomfort, this might help explain why.

-

A few years ago, I took a terribly wrong turn in life and ended up in the My Hero Academia fandom. My kidnappers were these two:

In short: the little kid on the left, Izuku Midoriya, is exactly as dorky as he looks. He was born powerless in a world of comic-book superheroes and has a tendency to burst into tears under any possible circumstance. The series kicks off when the guy on the right, #1 hero and national celebrity All Might, sees potential in him despite all this. In a fit of inspiration, All Might decides to give Izuku the same chance he was given as a young boy. Despite being a notorious lone wolf, he (secretly) names Izuku as his successor and takes it upon himself to covertly train this weepy, noodle-limbed wimp into a hero, the hero, the next Symbol of Peace who will wield the world’s strongest superpower and safeguard the future of society. Surely they’ll pull it off just fine, right?

(Don’t ask how All Might switches from a bodybuilder to the skeleton pictured  above. The show doesn’t know either.)

I loved these two. I wanted eight seasons of beach training montage. The mentor/student shenanigans were hilarious and the found family potential was off the charts. They’re two awkward bumbling fools with several truckfuls of emotional baggage, brought together by purehearted heroic zeal. Wonderful.

However, I quickly discovered that the show shoveled approximately ten thousand new characters into every new episode and definitely wasn't going to slow down long enough to give me the All Might & Izuku content I craved. So I wandered off to see what kind of fanfiction was on tap.

...I wandered off, while bracing myself. I’ve been a weeb long enough to know that any characters who pass on power through “DNA” are never going to escape a fandom unscathed, regardless of pesky things like “Age Of Consent” and “Have You Watched A Single Minute Of This Show, He Would Never Fucking Do That”.

Their canon relationship is impressively alarming all on its own:

Izuku is 14-15. Underage character? Check. 

All Might is 55+. Enormous age gap? Check.

All Might is both Izuku’s secret mentor and his high school teacher. Teacher-student dynamics? Check.

Izuku is a nobody. All Might is a global celebrity. Staggering power imbalance? Check. 

Izuku’s superpower, which lets him go to the school of his dreams, accomplish his lifelong goals, and be the protagonist of this show, was given to him by All Might at great personal cost. Enormous sense of debt and obligation because of a huge sacrifice? Check.

Izuku is an outright fanboy. His room is full of posters and figurines of All Might in spandex. Other characters frequently comment on how obsessed he is. There is a whole plotline about him being so starstruck by All Might that he can’t think for himself. Literal hero worship? Check.

As the cherry on top, they spend most of the story pretending they don’t know each other and sneak around under the noses of every other character, including Izuku's mother. Secret hidden relationship with a minor that no other adult can learn the true extent of? Check. 

What a pair. Japanese fandom constantly cracks jokes about how Izuku is probably that kind of fanboy. Even official media is well aware of how sketchy it all looks:

With all this in play, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the stuff in their platonic-relationship fanfiction tag vastly outnumbered the stuff in their shipping one. Phew. Finally, a pair of characters who got something besides endless gross hornyposting. 

As I browsed, I kept seeing a certain tag: "Dadmight." This, unsurprisingly, was used by stories that decided to make All Might into Izuku’s biological father. But it was also used by... pretty much all non-shipping media that focused on their relationship. How interesting! I was used to ship pairings having nicknames, but not platonic ones. 

I could imagine why the name caught on. All Might was practically the definition of "goofy wholesome dad energy,” and his mentor/student relationship with Izuku was easy to see in a parental light. Plus, Izuku’s actual dad is never to be seen during the story. Clearly he deserves a replacement.

So I delved in. Man, this was going to be great! A huge amount of good clean platonic content, with an easy-to-find tag too. Reading about cute dadly shenanigans was going to be such a fun-

How he would love to fall asleep to the sound of his soft voice and the touch of his rough hands, telling him he was proud of him, caressing his hair. He was so mortified over having this need, for all kinds of reasons, but it became clear a long time ago that fighting it wouldn’t work, so he let himself dream.

Uh... well... Izuku didn’t grow up with a dad, so... maybe he needed a father figure... to... caress his hair with his rough hands...

More hums of contentment make their way from him, his body swaying with every push and pull from Toshinori’s long fingers. He uses them to massage Midoriya’s head, taking every moment to not just clean his hair, but to make him feel good; Toshinori can’t bear for this to be purely utilitarian.

Uhhh... okay... All Might was a rather isolated guy. I bet he appreciated being able to share time with his student... bathing time...

What if the boy would rather this stay simply as it has been, professional as mentor and mentee? What if Toshinori has read all of this wrong and the boy has no feelings above Toshinori being his teacher, and all Toshinori has done is fall harder and harder for him every day?

What was this? What exactly did people think kids got up to with their dads!?

Well, maybe I just found a few of the strange ones, I told myself. Fanfiction always has its odd outliers. But after more searching, I realized: no. There was wildly uncomfortable stuff all over. It wasn’t all Dadmight stories. But it was a lot. The most popular authors of the “Dadmight” tag wrote it and the rest of the Dadmight authors gave them big thumbs-ups. It was at least as popular as the “All Might is Izuku’s real dad” stuff and sat at the top of the kudos and comments sorting.

Were people just being polite? Or was I overreacting? I know how annoying it is when people deliberately take things in bad faith and demonize perfectly innocent human affectio—

He kept the contact to a minimum, not wanting to take advantage, not wanting to cross a single, unspoken boundary… but how could he possibly completely refrain, with both how proud and how worried Izuku made him?

There was a voice, in the back of his head, that didn’t agree. That voice – either logic or wishful thinking – told him that while Izuku didn’t initiate physical affection, he surely did lean into it, and seemed to crave receiving it as much as Toshinori craved giving it.

Oh god oh god oh god what is happening STOP—

This was horrible. I just wanted to enjoy cute fluff. I’d never had this reaction to platonic fanfic before. I’m a big found family fan and my worst issue with fluff is usually just that it tends to be kind of samey. I normally love reading about chaste affection and closeness between characters who care about each other. So why did these stories read like Lolita AUs to me? Did shippers in this fandom like to hide their softcore stuff in the platonic tags?

I was soon able to find out. I had been writing my own All Might & Izuku story, and got invited to a “Dadmight-centric” Discord server. Almost all the popular Dadmight authors were there, including the ones who wrote the particular stories that made my skin crawl. There were several channels where people brainstormed, critiqued, and discussed the motivations behind their writing. 

Cool! I’d be able to meet new people, make some friends, and get a better understanding of what the Dadmight dynamic really was. So I introduced myself, I chatted, I lurked. Everyone was really nice.

I found zero cheeky shippers. The writers claimed to be horrified by the idea of shipping the two of them. They would never disrespect the purity and innocence of this beautiful platonic relationship, they said, as they churned out stories about Izuku “coming undone” under the caress of All Might’s rough hands. Right...

I could’ve understood if this was coming from naive 14-year-olds. But some of these people were in their 30’s, with kids of their own. If anyone understood family dynamics, it should’ve been them.

But after I spent more time around the server, I began to notice something else... something which explained a ton of the strangeness. 

Baby Fever

To understand what was happening, you first have to understand that Izuku’s baby face inflicts instant brain damage on sight. I mean, look at him:

aaa his cute widdle cheeks oh my god—

This kid sets off maternal instincts like landmines, and in the Dadmight server, I found that the Izuku infantilization train had gone completely off the rails. Writers constantly cooed over the adorable antics of 2, 3, 5-year olds and constantly talked about how much they wanted to make Izuku act them out. And surely, if All Might could indulge in the parental joy of caring for an innocent young babe, then his emotional scars would be healed and he could find fulfillment outside of that pesky “saving the world” business.

Now, the bio-dadmight folks had it easy: they just wrote about Izuku in his toddler years playing with daddy All Might. The cuddling and tickles made sense and were very cute. But other writers faced a challenge: they wanted to keep him 14-15 so that canon events could occur... but they didn’t want to be left out of the fun. 

So... they decided to rationalize and egg each other on. I mean, how much does age really matter? Being a child at heart is always cute and wholesome, right?

Suddenly, a whole lot of very uncomfortable things began to make sense:

So Much Physical Contact

He loved the physical touch. It was embarrassing and he would never admit it out loud, but there wasn’t much in this world he loved more than receiving physical affection from his idol. Every single time it happened he would save the memory to replay it over and over again whenever he felt sad, or almost every night before he went to bed. He was glad no one in the dorms had a mind-reading quirk. And All Might always gave it more freely when he visited his apartment, so of course he went there.

Izuku is often written to have a near-pathological craving for hair stroking and cuddles. Which is cute when directed at, say, classmates or mom, but gets real weird real fast when directed at the adult man he canonically idolizes to a freakish degree. Ever work with teenage boys? Most of them would rather die than be physically affectionate with adults, even parents... unless, you know, they’re that kind of fanboy.

Even freakier is that the grown adult would then reply, “Hell yeah! I see nothing wrong with getting physical with this kid who worships me! I crave it so much! I can't resist!” Ever work at a school? They have rulebooks and seminars specifically about how teachers should never touch or be alone with kids.

Then again, Midnight exists at this school. Maybe U.A.’s infamous lack of safety standards extends to this too.

Either way, though: cute and wholesome for a parent to do with their three-year-old. Very creepy when a high-school teacher makes excuses about why he really needs to cuddle and stroke his fifteen-year-old student in secret.

Narcolepsy Xtreme Edition

His student was never this affectionate or vulnerable when he was conscious, so he enjoyed the moment, even if it was a short one, as he moved to his room upstairs.

If you’ve read fanfiction for more than seven seconds, you’ve probably seen the “cram the character with booze/painkillers until they blurt out Vulnerable Things” plot device. It’s a beloved classic. But Izuku writers are robbed of the alcohol angle since he’s underage, and morphine is pretty niche. So authors who want to use this trick often just make Izuku tired after a long day, conclude that being sleepy is close enough to being five drinks in, and have him murmur “thanks, DAD... OOPS DID I SAY THAT OUT LOUD???” to awkwardly segue into Familial Confessions.

But quite a few stories took the “sleepy” angle to a new, very odd place. Instead of groggily dispensing convenient confessions, Izuku would just... keel over while doing homework and be utterly dead to the world. And instead of having All Might briefly rouse him to shoo him to bed, or worry about his student suddenly becoming catatonic, the writers would make him eerily fixated on the opportunity to physically carry Izuku to his bedroom (which would somehow not wake him up!!!) and tuck him in while waxing poetic about how vulnerable and helpless he looked. 

Before joining the Dadmight server, I was mildly alarmed whenever I saw this, wondering why so many authors were obsessed with roofying the teenager and making the adult fondle him. But after joining, I realized: they were just trying to act out the cutesy aww-the-two-year-old-fell-sound-asleep-while-playing, it’s-so-cute scenes that all those darned lucky bio-dadmight people got to indulge in so easily.

Bed Sharing

It wasn’t long before Izuku’s breathing slowed, and soon he was asleep, snoring peacefully. Toshinori, after a few minutes of debating with himself, said screw it and got into the bed with the boy.

Cue me SCREAMING internally in confusion and fear. But no, it was just that the cutesy-kid-trope obsession stretched all the way to “Well, I used to snuggle with my parents at night after I had a nightmare! It was super wholesome!” Which led to scores of stories featuring a celebrity crawling into bed with his student.

All in all, joining this server was a huge relief. I was so glad to see that these hair-raising scenarios were just the result of the authors forgetting to mention “Oh, by the way, the characters are acting weird because we made them all agree to participate in preschooler roleplay.”

Just picture this while reading and it all makes sense.

Fanfic is uniquely susceptible to this sort of “forgot to mention this strange dynamic that I take for granted” issue. After all, 99% of fanfic doesn’t bother to waste time asking “would this make any sense to someone who had never watched the show?” It’s not worth it to focus on such a broad audience. As a result, fanfic normalizes skipping huge swaths of context that would normally be mandatory in a story. Fanfic authors don’t have to practice asking themselves “did I explain this properly?” anywhere near as often as original fiction ones.

This would be bad enough on its own, but then, we go cloister ourselves away into little sub-fandom echo chambers, and spend months crafting obscure in-joke fractals, and get so absorbed in our tiny myopic corners of the community that we also fail to ask, “would this make any sense to someone who hasn’t spent the last 5 months marinating in this specific Discord channel?” 

Sometimes we know exactly how niche our stuff is and just don’t care. But too often, we just legitimately suck at guessing how our work might come off to other groups. We don’t have to practice theory of mind as much as original fiction authors do. Our fandom buddies see nothing amiss with our writing (since they know all the server insider lore!) and everyone outside our tiny clique politely ignores our word salad... so we never get proper feedback on how incomprehensible our work can be even to other members of the same fandom.

In this case, this resulted in a whole pack of writers seemingly getting lost in the fluff sauce and completely forgetting to address the fact that the stuff men do with their own five-year-olds generally becomes really weird and creepy when done with someone else’s 15-year-old, whether or not the 15-year-old seems to want it. Izuku was a cute widdle innocent baby in their heads, so they assumed he was a cute widdle innocent baby in everyone else's.

Once I realized where they were coming from, it wasn't so hard to adjust my mental framework and enjoy these stories on their own terms. That said... infantilization still couldn't explain stuff like “What if Toshinori has read all of this wrong and the boy has no feelings above Toshinori being his teacher, and all Toshinori has done is fall harder and harder for him every day?”

To explain why that paragraph makes me want to crawl out of my skin, we first need to answer: what makes a piece of writing feel “questionable?”

“Vibes,” A Primer

Love comes in many forms. The big four are platonic, familial, romantic, and sexual. Sexual is easy: you’re horny for the person. Platonic love is specifically non-sexual, and familial love is a subset of platonic love. Romance usually implies horny, though there’s definitely a difference between outright sexual behavior and the behavior we file under the “romance” label.

There’s also a difference between romantic and platonic behavior. And this is where a lot of “questionable” vibes appear: when you’d expect an interaction between two people to be platonic, but for some reason, it has uncomfortable romantic/sexual overtones instead.

But what causes those overtones? A dad can give his kid a kiss on the head, and it comes off platonic. A suitor can give their crush a kiss on the head, and it comes off romantic. In fact, most romantic gestures have nearly identical platonic counterparts. Kissing, hugging, hand-holding, cuddling, vulnerable confessions. So what gives? What makes something “come off” one way or the other?

The actual answer is: a ton of stuff, most of it subjective. Everyone draws their lines in different places, based on culture and personal experience and how gutterbrained you’re feeling on any given day. A lot of it has to do with context (that thing that us fanfic authors are notoriously bad at judging).

Online wars are fought every day about whether some glance or gesture or phrase means they're "totally into each other fr"

But if you want to draw broad strokes, one way to roughly separate platonic vs romantic love is by gauging the level of passion involved. “Passion” is “a strong and barely controllable emotion that compels action.” That last part is key. 

Stereotypical romantic love is incredibly passionate. It’s all about desire to act, desire to change, desire to progress the relationship to something more. It features overwhelming anxious preoccupation about the other person’s thoughts and opinions, feeling irresistibly drawn to them, feeling intense longing. It’s about confessing and hoping the other person also feels the same. It often involves attempting to label the relationship, make it “official”, and show it off. It’s about trying desperately to secure assurance that this love will last forever and ever. You have to do something, and every moment spent not doing something is torture.

Contrast this to typical depictions of platonic and familial love. Familial love is calm, encompassing, soothing. It’s secure. You don’t have to worry, because no matter what rough patches you go through, they’ll always be your family and will always have unconditional love for you. Yes, you’ll fly into action if your loved one is threatened, but at rest, platonic love is generally not “exciting” and there’s generally little sense of urgency.

Romance is usually an insecure, anxious thing that’s trying to get to that secure, grounded familial stage. That’s why people say they progress from being “in love” to just “loving” one another. Romance draws people together and kickstarts the bonding process. And as the steady, mature bond of a long-term relationship forms, the obsessive mania of romantic infatuation fades away. 

So the difference between platonic and romantic behavior is not so much about the actual actions. It’s more about the mentality. Is the person anxiously trying to secure their partner’s affection while treating the relationship as a really big deal that will make or break their lives? Then their affectionate actions may come off more romantic. Are they seemingly at home in their partner’s presence and not trying to deepen or change the relationship? Then their affection will probably come off more familial or platonic.

There are, of course, a ton of things that go into it besides this, and caveats out the ass. For example, people trying to establish a new friendship are often anxious too. But when it comes to determining the “vibes” of a kiss or a cuddle, this can be a useful litmus test. Failing this test is often what makes something feel Questionable. The characters seem too invested... maybe because it's not truly innocent.

Now, let’s take a look at our Dadmight characters.

The biggest challenge of writing familial closeness between Izuku and All Might is simple: they are not family. They have no long shared history to justify any sort of intimacy. Instead they have a teacher/student relationship that places them both into rigid, frigid roles. 

Usually, familial-style bonding just takes time. You wait a few seasons, the characters slowly get closer and learn to trust one another, and eventually they’re hugging. But these two clowns spent the whole show being the ultimate found-family blue-balls experience. They were just never very emotionally open or touchy-feely. Every time they had the chance for Vulnerable Conversation And Cuddles, they passed it up in favor of a pep talk and a fist bump. It took a near-death experience to extract one (1) brief hug and some tears. But in normal everyday life? Arm’s length.

Literally. For example: after five seasons of bonding and character development, they are separated and Izuku is embroiled in a deadly conflict that almost destroys the world. When they finally reunite after the harrowing ordeal, alone under the starlight, they greet each other with a loving, heartfelt… handshake. This, predictably, spawned furious fix-it fic.

Overall, there is a huge gulf that authors need to cross in order to get these two from “polite handshake” to “tender cuddling and kisses.” They could write 50,000 words of setup to slowly accomplish this, but most authors did not want to wear their fingertips to the bone just to inch these two into an embrace. They wanted to jump the gap within a oneshot, leaping from canon frigidity into an unbreakable lifelong familial love that was also super touchy-feely and extremely vocal.

Now, remember what I was just saying? How romance is generally about trying to establish new family bonds? How it’s all about trying to change the relationship into something more?

Knowing all this, what do you think might happen if an author tried to speedrun two characters to the Family Finish Line as fast as they could? What do you think their shortcuts might end up looking like, completely by accident? Especially if their “sane and appropriate human interactions” gauge was warped by an echo chamber of fluff tropes and baby fever?

You might get:

Was it even possible that his feelings could be reciprocated? Toshinori didn’t want to think about it. It would just pain him more. Young Midoriya only saw him as an idol, a mentor who would help him train his body for One for All. Midoriya did not see him in the way he wanted him to.

Or:

He wanted desperately, desperately to have the courage to cross that threshold, to ask him what he longed for, to ask him for that relationship that he dared not voice.

Or even:

Toshinori feels his heart rate pick up and his gnarled stomach twist with nerves. Is he really going to do this? Is he going to tell this boy what he truly thinks and risk everything they’ve built up together over the past year-plus? His palms are sweating and he wipes them on his suit pants, rubbing the pads of his fingers together.

I'll stop now. The point is that these quotes could all have been word-for-word ripped from a romance novel. These are some industrial-grade Questionable Vibes. And reading them in context really doesn't help that much, for me at least. It's almost comical when they throw in "...I crave the touch of your rough hands as a son! A SON!"

If you know the building blocks of romance, it makes perfect sense why stories like this could come off this way. Platonic love is great, but it’s also stable, calm, and slow. It simply doesn’t have the sheer explosive force needed to catapult two stilted dorks into a brand-new dynamic within 2,000 words. Most stories can only achieve that kind of mileage via near-death experiences... or by inflicting the characters with neurotic infatuation.

Not only that, but their canon relationship is uniquely poised to set off romance-adjacent warning bells. Because they are not actually family, it makes sense for them to yearn for a deeper relationship in a way that a normal family wouldn’t. It makes sense for them to be anxious and insecure about their relationship, because it’s a very strange, hard-to-define thing that has to be kept secret from those around them. And it makes sense for them to consider their relationship a huge deal, because in canon, it’s fundamental to the most important aspects of both their lives.

I actually think it’s kind of inevitable that their character dynamic will sometimes stray into places that feel romantic. But that doesn’t mean the writer is a secret shipper... because I don’t think that passion always has to imply sexual desire, especially in fiction.

I’ve spent some time around the asexuality community, and my biggest takeaway was that sexual desire is very different from the desire to make deep, lifelong connections. Most asexual people still yearned to find that special someone, their anchor, a partner who unconditionally loved them and would stay by their side forever. Family. They would fall for people... they just didn’t want to fall into their pants. But it was almost impossible to keep these partners unless they were asexual too. Every one eventually pushed to “take things further,” or they left to find another person who would. 

So I can understand the yearning for a world where sex is kicked to the curb, where two strangers can find each other and share intense, whirlwind, “you’re my #1” love... without any lewd overtones. This little pocket of stories seemed like a manifestation of that yearning. 

Nowadays, more and more stories are taking previously romance-exclusive intimacy and yanking off the sexual baggage. For example, looking on the Dadmight tag will reveal “platonic soulmates” and “platonic hanahaki” stories. Yes, platonic hanahaki. No, not parody. There’s a clear unironic market for this content. People really want to be able to indulge in passionate, “till death do us part” emotional bonding in a safe, nonsexual way.

All Might and Izuku sit in a unique place. Not related, but powerfully linked by something thicker than blood. And their relationship is easy to paint as “safe”. It makes perfect sense that these two would attract creators who want to explore this hard-to-define chaste side of passionate love.

In real life, passionate obsessive-style attraction between adults and kids is a huge red flag. We can never really know whether those feelings are innocent or healthy. 99% of the time, they’re not. But in fiction, the author gets to choose what people really feel and whether things turn out well. They can explore the most unbelievable scenario of all: not a world where everyone is a mermaid, but a world where it’s actually wholesome and healing for a high school teacher and his student to confess their deep, undying love for one another, where a famous celebrity can secretly invite his obsessed underage fan over, stroke his hair, tell him how special their relationship is, and sleep with him in bed, without it ending up on Law and Order: SVU. 

On Critique

“Hap,” you might be thinking, “surely these stories can’t be as bad as you say. If they were, someone would have pointed it out to these poor souls. You should have pointed it out to these poor souls. You were in their writing server for chrissakes, and now you’re gossiping about them like a heartless goblin.”

First: yes, I'm a goblin. Second: I did bring this topic up to several Dadmight authors one-on-one. After getting a bunch of head-in-sand excuses in response, I decided to just quietly munch popcorn and watch the fandom’s antics unfold like a slow-motion train wreck.

Third: people did try to point this stuff out.

It was fascinating to watch the Dadmight server whenever someone posted a comment expressing concern. Some comments were trolls trying to get a reaction, of course. But others were very gentle: “hey, isn't it kind of weird to have them hop into bed together? It comes off kind of shippy...” I learned that the reason I had never seen comments like these in the past was because they were usually quickly deleted by the fic authors.

After deleting a comment, the author would often flee to the server for reassurance. The other users would agree that the commenter was definitely in the wrong, since they could see absolutely nothing questionable about the writer’s story. Someone would inevitably chime in saying that, oh, one time they got a comment calling things questionable like that, and it turned out to be from a shipper who shipped bad things. So, you know, anyone who sees shipping in things is probably just a bad person.

Phew. Crisis averted. If you can successfully paint the critic as a bad person, then there’s no need to descend into existentialist dread as you’re forced to critically reexamine the foundational concepts of your writing and your grasp on relationship dynamics.

(Credit where credit is due: one of the rules of this particular server was not to bash or insult people who like things you don't like. In most groups this is followed with an unspoken "...unless you can clutch your pearls over it", but to my surprise, when stuff like the above started kicking off, the moderators did step in to remind people to keep it civil. So, good job, mods. More maturity than I usually see in online spaces.)

But still, if anyone actually bothers to read this long screed, I already know what certain responses are going to look like. They’ll smugly assert that people who see questionable things are just sex-obsessed weirdos, projecting their icky lewd thoughts onto every innocent interaction they come across. A morally pure person wouldn’t make such gross assumptions.

I’m familiar with this kind of response because I’ve spent a lot of time around another group that responds the exact same way to these kinds of concerns. That group is known as fundamentalist Christians, and their attitude fosters three things:

People are afraid to speak out when they feel uncomfortable, because they don't want to be accused of being dirty-minded. 

People fail to learn the ground rules of normal romance/sexuality and so fail to recognize red flags.

The community is absolutely infested with creeps who take advantage of points 1 and 2 to run rampant.

Sadly, these three things also seem to be true in the Dadmight community. Being a platonic pairing, it naturally attracts people uninterested in and inexperienced with romantic/sexual relationships. And then the vitriolic, derisive responses to people’s concerns teaches them that it’s wrong to bring up those topics around the community at all.

And so, point 3 blooms. I eventually confirmed that my initial suspicions were correct: shippers did camp in the Dadmight tag, and they got away with posting some impressively brazen softcore underage content in public, presumably because even the people who were suspicious knew that going “hey now” would trigger a circular firing squad. 

The Dadmight community wasn’t clueless about this problem. They were incredibly paranoid as a whole. They knew there were bad actors lurking in their tag, but since they had disabled all their own safety alarms and expanded the definition of “platonic” to a ridiculous extreme, they had no way of being able to determine what was shipping and what was not until characters started actively whipping their dicks out. I saw constant fretting over whether it was okay to click the “like” button on an affectionate-looking piece of fanart without knowing for sure the intentions of the creator. But asking intentions was pointless anyway, since shippers just lied to them and then laughed as the platonic group eagerly ate up their evil, dirty-minded content.

I get why these “wait, that feels shippy...” comments feel like attacks. It’s fucking awful when your intentions are pure but someone interprets them in such a horrifying, disgusting way. It feels disrespectful when you clearly label something “platonic” but people still doubt. 

But remember: Going from “mentor” to “dad” with these two generally means breaking down normal boundaries, to escalate the emotional and physical intimacy between an authority figure and a starstruck, needy, vulnerable kid, because they have such a special and unique bond that no one else understands. So special, in fact, that it needs to be kept secret from the public.

In real life, this scenario is known as Groomer Tactics 101. 

Seriously, stop and read that link. It’s short and non-explicit. This is why I called their canon relationship “impressively alarming”—the bullet points of stages 1-3 describe Izuku and All Might nearly word-for-word. This does not mean I’m claiming All Might is a groomer, or that Izuku and All Might’s relationship is bad. Just that, due to their circumstances, they happen to have all the building blocks of relationships that go horribly wrong. All that separates their scenario from tumbling into Bad is the goals of the adult. So when a fanfic then comes along and makes the adult suddenly really interested in excessive touching? And the only reason he gives is “I’m weirdly drawn to this kid and touching them feels really good”? Of course people will get nervous!

Noticing this does not mean someone is “obsessed with shipping”. It means they’re a normal human being with eyes. Accusing someone of being problematic for making the most obvious possible observations about adult/child interactions is like accusing someone of being an arsonist because they embarrassed you by pointing out that your homemade backyard fireworks setup is halfassed and dangerous.

This does not mean it’s wrong to write wish-fulfillment where escalating to bed cuddles actually turns out great and awesome. But it does mean that, if an author writes it ignorantly or carelessly, they risk coming off like they’re glorifying and normalizing Groomer Tactics 101. It’s the same as when careless Twilight fans glorify and normalize stuff that, in real life, is abusive controlling boyfriend behavior.

Yes, it sucks when people come and yuck the yum. I’m sure the Twilight fans also get sick of people who complain and demonize them instead of letting them write their vampire boyfriend fantasies in peace. But the concern usually comes from a well-meaning place. 

Proudly announcing “I ignore the most basic child/adult red flags because they ruin my fun” is not the flex that some people think it is. I highly recommend people reconsider before they try to paint anti-child-groomers as the bad guys.

The Recipe

So, let’s summarize how to reproduce the Dadmight phenomenon. It starts with a canon relationship that has the most enticing found-family building blocks the world has ever seen: a downtrodden kid who really needs a dad + a lonely heroic mentor. However, their canon relationship also sits on top of a powder keg, coincidentally featuring all the “setup” stages of the sexual grooming model: 

a lonely, low-self-esteem kid

singled out by an esteemed, charismatic adult who is a pillar of the community

sharing a “special” relationship

constantly going off alone and keeping secrets 

A platonic fan community forms that is blissfully unaware of the above dynamics. They head off to fluff echo chambers, as platonic fans do. But due to the crybaby tendencies of the teenage character, they start projecting really aged-down toddler-play scenarios onto him. Eventually, as echo-chambered fans do, they decide that contextualization is for chumps. This results in fics that take the powder keg and add:

The adult craving to touch and hold the teenager

The teenager craving touch from the adult and mewling like a kitten when his hair is stroked (I’m not fucking joking)

Completely age-inappropriate stuff like stroking, kisses, and sharing a bed with a teenage student

Izuku and All Might also happen to suffer from loneliness and isolation, even more so in their fanon incarnations. This really resonates with most fans, who want to soothe and heal them. They also want to get to the healing cuddles within a few chapters instead of wasting time on super-slow buildup. So they make the two of them really strongly fixate on and angst about the agony of their loneliness, and how the other person’s love is the only cure that will fix them. In doing so, they insert:

Anxious passionate obsession

Love confessions

Coming-out scenes

Craving for exclusive relationship labels

Desire for exclusivity

Lastly, because platonic groups are either uninterested in or too young for spicy content, they tend to have very little experience with romantic/sexual literature and the tropes and catchphrases they lay claim to. So fic writers will innocently sprinkle in poignant-sounding things they’ve picked up here and there, such as:

Blushing and heart racing when looking at the person

The phrase “falling for each other”

The man “caressing” his partner with “rough hands”

“He came undone”

And because their communities condemn people who “read into things”, nobody points out any of this shit, and it all slides out into the public Internet unquestioned.

And so, we get the most impressively uncomfortable platonic content I’ve ever seen. It’s no wonder I had never encountered something like this before. It required a lot of unusual circumstances intersecting in just the right (wrong) way.

In the end, I think the biggest aspect was just that I'd never become a fan of characters that had such a potentially-problematic canon relationship. Usually adult and kid characters have very different dynamics, so if fics treat their social interactions with all the tact of a bull in a china shop, it just comes off as lazy instead of creepy. I'd be interested to know if other platonic adult&child fandoms suffer from this issue.

In any case, although it was fascinating to watch, I sure hope I never run into it again.

[sunshine-overload]

[BSTS] Kokuyou Birthday 2024 4* Card Story

chapter 1 -starless hallway-

kokuyou: Oh so you’re here today huh? Come to enjoy my hospitality this month have you?

saki: Wah?

kokuyou: I’m talking about the special butler service we’ll be doing for my birth month. I figured I should at least get used to the outfit first. Not like I’ve got much choice. I’m too old to be throwing a fit and saying I don’t wanna do it.

saki: That’s very mature of you.

kokuyou: But still, last year we all made merry choosing presents and this year we’re cosplaying butlers? As usual, the way this store works ain’t normal.

saki: (I can’t imagine Kokuyou-san acting like a proper butler and serving guests like that at all.)

kokuyou: What’s with that strange look you’re giving me? Anyways, look forward to it, yeah?

saki: Huh?

kokuyou: You’re way to easy to read. C’mon, I’ll escort you to your seat.

-starless restaurant area-

kokuyou: Here’s the menu. I’ll attend to the other guests while you decide what you’d like to order. Is that ok?

saki: Ah, yes. That’s fine.

kokuyou: Sorry, I’ll be right back.

-koku moves to another guest-

kokuyou: Hey, you’re a regular aren’t you? Your seat is this way, follow me.

-koku moves to another guest-

kokuyou: I don’t need to give you a long welcome spiel do I? So, what do you wanna order?

Got it, I’ll bring it out once it’s ready… What, you think I’m lacking as a butler? I’m missing a my butler’s smile? Hah, you must still be half asleep. That’s not what you really want from me is it?

saki: (H-he’s killing it out there!)

-koku moves to another guest-

kokuyou: I see your glass is empty. What would you like for your next drink? You’ll leave it to me? I’ll make sure to get you something real exciting then.

Yeah of course it’ll be low on the alcohol, the show hasn’t even started yet after all.

Ah sure, you can take one quick photo. I’m only giving this kinda service while it’s my birthday month, so you better enjoy it.

-

chapter 2 -starless lobby-

saki: (I wonder if Kokuyou-san is still in the restaurant area?)

-cg

kokuyou: You’re still here? I thought you’d gone home already. Today’s butler service has already ended I’m afraid, all the guests have left. Or did you forget your bag or something?

saki: No, but I did forget to say something… Happy Birthday, Kokuyou-san. I’m glad I got to celebrate such a special day with you.

kokuyou: …Yeah, thanks.

kokuyou: ……..

kokuyou: Hey, do you still have some time?

saki: Hm? Yes.

kokuyou: Wait there in that seat then.

-koku leaves-

saki: (Kokuyou-san…? I wonder what he’s doing.)

-time pass, koku returns-

kokuyou: —I am most sorry for the wait, my lady.

saki: …!?

kokuyou: Please enjoy this drink. I prepared it just for you, Miss Saki.

saki: Wh- Huuuh…!?

kokuyou: Tonight please allow me to take care of whatever it is that you wish.

saki: I couldn’t make you do that…! Um, Kokuyou-san…?

kokuyou: …Pfft, how come you’re freaking out? I’m a butler at the moment, right? So you should act the part too.

saki: Huh!?

kokuyou: So, my lady. What is it that you desire?

choice:

Have tea together / Don’t be unreasonable! / Excuse yourself

>have tea together

saki: Would you like to join me for some tea?

kokuyou: Very well. Then, please allow me to take the seat beside you.

saki: O-of course…!

-koku sits down-

kokuyou: Hahahah, we’re both pretty bad at this huh? You can’t stay in character at all.

saki: That’s because you sprung this on me so suddenly, I couldn’t help but be surprised!

kokuyou: I think that should do it. I had just been planning to entertain you a little as thanks for the birthday wishes but I ended up having fun myself.

I don’t consider my birthday to be anything special, its just another normal day like any other. However, it wasn’t half bad hearing you congratulate me. So thanks, Saki.

I’ll make sure to properly play my part as your butler for the rest of the month, so come and visit the store whenever you feel like it. I’ll have to say this every time won’t I?

“Welcome back, my lady.”

—end

other choices:

>don’t be unreasonable

saki: Hmph! You’re being unreasonable!

kokuyou: Hah… My deepest apologies. Please grant me your forgiveness, my lady.

saki: Oh, no! I’m sorry too— Ah, wait, oops…

kokuyou: Hahahah, we’re both pretty bad at this huh? You can’t stay in character at all.

>excuse yourself

saki: Please excuse me.

kokuyou: What are you saying, my lady?

saki: Uhh… I can’t think of anything else to say…!

kokuyou: Hahahah, we’re both pretty bad at this huh? You can’t stay in character at all.

[exoticalmonde]

LUNDInium Outskirts /but it's her insane doodles/ PART VII

I see that a lot of you have been enjoying me posting about our silly Arknights shenanigans, aided by my wonderful company of sillies. So, while we're waiting for me to not be dying from my schoolwork and post more Babel, have some long-awaited doodles.

This time there are just going to be a lot more memes rather than art, because we love all our artists and they work on their own volition.

Me: *Complaining about not having Gnosis* Lundi, a Sankta: *Pushes Gnosis down the stairs* Gnosis: *Falls* Me: *'Just happening' to pass by so I catch him right before he hits the ground* "Oya? Did an angel send you to me?" Gnosis: "…….." Lundi:

---

The context was lost for a little, but Dr. Lundi is here with me as I am making the post to remind us all that this thing Zamboni-looking thing exists on one of the Laterano maps:

And that she, as a Sankta, can't, in fact, drive.

---

(I drew this one personally now that I have my tablet again)

---

After this conversation, I immediately requested it and Dr. Lundi being the devoted horse-respecter can't let an old man sleep just anywhere, he's going to get cramped up 6 knots to Sunday.

Yes, Hoederer has a tail. In my head, but he has to have a tail because I love him and he deserves to have one.

The Aegir in our group however got uh---

---

This is just funny on its own, no silly doodle here.

---

HEY I WANT TO SAY THAT I REALLY DESERVED THAT STAR

Not only did I do the ENTIRE CC on my own without guidance, I thought for my own and used my own characters no matter how powerless they were (Thank you, Totter, for being the MVP of this map and letting me get dinner AND eat it while you were working on the coral freaks) AND I ALSO HELPED DR. KRYO WITH IT WHILE HE WAS STRUGGLING, SO THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY 'your did it' AWARDS, IM GLAD TO BE HERE!

---

He's coming soon, almost less than two months??? GO DR. LUNDI, HE IS SO GUARANTEED FOR YOU I SINCERELY HOPE SHE GETS HIM 10 TIMES IN A SINGLE 10-PULL IT'S SO DESERVED.

---

Ela and Doc appreciation doodle.

---

'Today' means 24th of October. Why am I being messaged this unprovoked?

Because it's ... National Throw Short People Day and Dr. Eve is the shortest of the group.

DURING THIS WE ALSO CELEBRATE DR. KRYO GETTING HIS TABLET. Everybody chap.

---

Dr. Kryo's tablet actually unabled him to do a lot more doodles and he has been making AMAZING progress. To say that I'm proud would be an understatement, I can't wait for him to surpass us all in passion and dedication. That also means +1 person to make memes.

Speaking of which,

---

Although I am not French, I have a great appreciation for the language and from a previous post you might gage that I like the idea of it existing.... Despite all facts proving in the opposite direction.

And that passion of mine was unlocked when Doc hit the world. However, ulterior motives and hidden opinions were revealed during those times.

Like whatever

THIS THING IS---- DR. PLEASE STOP, YOU'RE MAKING A 39 YEAR OLD CRY IN THE OPEN!!!

---

Dr. Lundi: "…" Młynar: "..."

Later Młynar: "So it all started the day my brother was taken away…" Dr. Lundi : *Nods enthusiastically in the patient's chair*

[sawrinwrites]

March Content Plans (Long Update)

As it is now the 25th here in frosty England, it has officially been 2 months since I published my first piece of fan fiction. In that time, I've released:

A one-shot containing my first ever attempt at both monster smut and an explicit F/F sex scene (which is currently my most popular work????)

A low angst (I know, I can't believe it either) romantic one-shot from the POV of a golden retriever

4 chapters of an emotionally intense story that is so far from my usual writing style I have to re-read earlier chapters to remind myself how to write it (a deliberate stylistic choice but boy, am I paying for it)

3 chapters of what was meant to be a fun side project and is quickly turning into something deep and dark and wonderful in its own right

All in all, that's 4 bodies of work spanning 57.7k words released over a period of 9 weeks (not including the 15-20k which got rewritten / replaced / outright cut). Which is, for me, insane. It's also a pace that I won't be able to maintain going forward, so for the sake of setting expectations (my own, more than anyone else's), here's the current plan for March:

The Monsters At My Side And In My Shadow Ch 1-3 update Given that this has gone from "werewolf smut hiding in a multi-chapter fic" to "multi-fic exploration of abuse with a healthy dollop of smut", I want to revise what's already been released to better align with what I have going forward. There won't be any plot / event changes, scenes that get altered will be getting either an expansion or a rewrite, depending on the work needed (which will include adding more smut-adjacent content because it's currently lacking and I want it to be better).

Untitled - An Ember POV Story to Celebrate 1yr Since The Bees Kissed (March 25th) @reeves3 put the idea in my head and now I have a collection of outlines covering various points in Yang and Blake's relationship all told from the perspective of the Best Girl. They won't come out in chronological order as I'm looking to line them up with various events, but the current plan is that March 25th will cover the introduction of a new member into the Xiao Long-Belladonna pack.

Additionally, I'd like to release the following chapters but I am forcing myself to accept that these will likely get bumped to April:

The Monsters At My Side And In My Shadow Ch 4

Shattered Divinity Ch 5

There's a few reasons for the (temporary) slowdown in content:

I am supposed to draft 1 - 3 OC novels this year (the mistake of mixing alcohol with an empty resolutions boards and the word "bet") and I need to dedicate more time than I have done to those projects to have any hope of doing that.

Rather than wait for the fan fic writer's curse to hit, I've gone and done it to myself by buying my first house. The offer got accepted yesterday, so now I have to deal with the joys of legal and financial paperwork. And start prepping for a move. And every other stressful time consuming thing that comes from this period. Don't get me wrong, I am fucking ecstatic, not least because it means me having an actual bedroom for the first time in almost 4 years, but the next steps are going to take a chunk out of my usual writing time.

@kaelidascope is about to drop a veritable feast of content. Look, I'm not subtle about how much I enjoy her work. She's my favourite fan fic writer. She's probably one of my favourite writers period on account of the emotional damage and veritable joy Mightnight Menagerie has brought me. And I'm not just saying this because she's been exceptionally complimentary of my own work (which, by the way, I am still freaking out over). She is one of the main reasons I started writing fan fiction. If it wasn't for the original Beestfic, I'd never have written The Hunt. Which means I'd never have had the concept ideas that initially led to starting The Monsters At My Side And In My Shadow, and without that fic, I wouldn't have had the 3 experimental scenes between Yang and her grimm which ended up inspiring the idea to write Best Laid Plans from Ember's POV. So I will be setting aside some time (translation: every waking moment I have during release weekend) to thoroughly immerse myself in the relaunch. Also there's two Menagerie chapters due and the previews are already threatening my analytics brain and unfortunately it takes time to launch that kind of assault on AO3's comment section.

So yeah. A few things going on in March. I'm gonna try and do this as a rolling monthly thing going forward in lieu of trying to have a timed release schedule. Hopefully the April one will be a bit lot shorter.

[mrs-monaghan]

Thanks for sharing and confirming that my instincts were right. I always tend to trust my gut feelings about people but sometimes I wonder if I should. Well, once again, it seems that I, indeed, should. Now I have to be honest, I never gave much credit to wsj, I ended up unfollowing cause I wasn’t interested in her posts anymore at some point, I really don’t trust people claiming they know stuff about celebrities and posting it on the internet, everybody can pretend to be xyz, unless there’s some solid proof I chose to remain skeptical (I did see a few stuff, tough nothing groundbreaking, from the k-side that I trust though, so maybe she was right). That being said, it’s Tumblr, it’s more private that Twitter, we’re a smaller community, so I don’t see any harm in people sharing what they want to share on their own blog. Just move on and ignore if you don’t like. The campaign against her and other bloggers was disgusting. Let ppl speak on their own tiny corner ffs, if don’t agree you can expose your arguments, have a discussion or unfollow and block. As long as they don’t cross a line I don’t see the problem. I’m seriously done with the holier than thou woke bs attitude. It’s all about virtue signaling these days, showing how you’re so much better and morally pure, and you know everything better than the rest of the plague… give me a break. Also the discussion around jealousy and constant dismissing of k-army and korean dating culture was quite something… because as someone who comes from a country where the dating culture differs a lot with the American/western perspective, where a drop of jealousy and possessivity is considered as a normal display of affection - I’m not talking about excessive and toxic behavior obviously!! - the blatant ignorance and constant undermining of korean dating culture that is quite similar to mine in that regard really annoyed. me. so. freaking. much. It’s deemed as a big no-no in your culture, okay, I get it, but you’re not better than us who thinks that in many cases it’s not that big of deal and, in Jikook case, was quite revealing in the past. Sorry I’m going all over the place, I’ll shut up now!

Ha ha haaa... no, dont even worry about it. Its fine. Thing is though, the Jeonlous/Jimlous thing IS indeed quite exergerrated. Most of the compilations are rubbish. And I can see why most people hate it. Including Regina George. I get that. But it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Especially in the case of other people who are not members. My mind immediately goes to the Sean Mendez interaction. 🤭🤭🤭

(TT is accurate has not been manipulated in any way)

JK almost bulldozed RM and downright ignored him in his rush to get to Jimin. It's actually hilarious 😂😂 Now this can be classified as jealousy. But when it comes to members I don't think that's what that is at all. Annoyance, Irritation, maybe? because he can't do to Jimin what others can. But definitely not jealousy. Either way whatever it is, it happens and denying it is stupid.

As for WSJ I don't see why the notion that an Army personally knows BTS is so hard to believe. Normal people know celebrities all the time. That being said, my issue with everyone who went after her was the hypocrisy. WSJ was very careful not to tell us anything incriminating. And everything else she ever said were things we already knew.

-Jikook is real

-Jikook live together

-Vminkook have issues

Etcetera, Etcetera. These are things we already know. She was just confirming. And she wasn't even worse than us Jikookers. And i said as much to Stormie when she made that shady post. We are the ones talking about Jikook 18+ moments and posting about them. So anyone thinking they have a leg to stand on are being hypocrites. 🖕🏽

[niaswish]

Coming Home

This is based on an au I introduced in 2020 for the NyxNoct week (Chapter 7 of the Heroic Start by Shiary on AO3).

Rating: Teen +

Warnings: Slightly graphic violence near the end. Implied character deaths.

Tags: Hurt/Comfort, implied character deaths, Nyx Ulric/ Noctis Lucis Caleum, eventual fluff, no major character deaths, Dark-ish Nyx, Royalty AU.

Chapter Summary: Nyx and his army returns to their home with the first part of Lucis’ repayment in tow. As they approach the coast of Galahd, Ramuh welcomes them back with a Storm. One that freaks out a certain stubborn Prince. (Day 2: Storm)

The waves rolled high above them, rain pounding on the deck of the ships, and the Galahdians laughed as the Storm welcomed them back home. "You're all crazy!" Nyx smirked at the hiss from his prisoner. The boy was soaked through and looked like a scraggly wet kitten, his stubbornness keeping him outside despite Nyx's repeated offers to go inside. "We're going to capsize and drown!"

Nyx laughed in the face of Lucian ignorance. "If you're scared then feel free to go inside, princeling. This is Ramuh's blessing, our blessing. The Storm won't hurt us so long as we respect it." The princeling's glare showed just what he thought of that. Nyx shrugged and turned his attention back to their arrival.

It wasn't just Ramuh welcoming them back home. The quay was filled with people, waving and cheering loud enough for it to reach them. The rain was too intense to make out who was there but Nyx knew that Selena wouldn't miss their arrival for the world. They would have to head straight to the Reunion Hall to formally announce their victory, and present what they had brought back as initial tribute.

He glanced again at the shivering boy beside him and wondered what the Elders would expect from their Royal claim. The price of Ramuh's blessing on the Founding Oath had been a life from the royal lineage, yet Nyx didn't know how that life would be used. As an Ulric and the leader of the expedition to Insomnia, Nyx could claim the princeling as his own. 

For what though? As fun as watching the spitfire was, Nyx had responsibilities to manage at home. And a spoiled prince was unlikely to be of any help. 

No, better to leave his fate to Ramuh.

Nyx tilted his head to the sky, allowing the rain to calm him down and focus. Prince Noctis was Ramuh's to do as he wished. -Even if the thought made Nyx's chest twinge for some reason.-

-=-=-=

Nyx was putting away the last of his papers when the door opened with a soft chime. He didn't bother looking up as he called out, "Sorry but we're still closed. Come..."

"Nyx." Nyx jerked around to look at the door.

His father was smiling at him, a bag in one hand as he walked over. "I see the preparations for your reopening are going well. I brought a gift to celebrate." King Gaius Ulric handed it to Nyx and watched as he pulled out a bottle of premium Ostium Mango Rhum. Nyx gaped at the gift, quickly opening it to smell its content. 

Gaius chuckled as Nyx wasted no time in pouring some out for both of them. They enjoyed the drink in silence until Nyx put his drink down with a raised brow. "As much as I enjoy the gift and your company, I have a feeling you're not here just to check in on me."

"It's not the only reason no." Gaius admitted with a shrug. "I just received word from your mother about Prince Noctis' fate."

That got Nyx to straighten up. "Ramuh finally decided what to do?"

Gaius nodded. "He is to serve the community until his father has finished paying the reparations Lucis owed." He raised his glass to point at his son with a smirk. "Specifically, Prince Noctis will serve the community by working here, in your bar."

"What?!?!?"

A/N: I rewrote this 3 times! Because Nyx decided that since he was done with his mission, he didn’t have to be ruthless and pragmatic any more. Prince Noct wasn’t going to be his problem for much longer and he just wants to kick back and relax. There goes my outline...

I don’t mind too much since I’m used to my characters going wild and refusing to work with me. Just don’t expected Dark Nyx to appear too often from this point on.

[bat-in-the-machine]

The new chapter of Miraculous World Tour: Gotham is up! Originally, it was going to be all fight but then I was like "do I really want to describe what twenty different people are doing in this akuma battle or do I want to get the fuck on with the real plot?" and I decided to get on with the real plot. Preview after the cut as usual!

-snip-

"What was that about death earlier?" Kate asked, frowning.

"Viperion has the power of Second Chance," Alex said. "Basically, he starts a time loop and keeps resetting it until the team makes it through. Absolutely vital when one of the team members is solely responsible for the successful resolution of the fight. Since Ladybug by nature of her powers cannot be expendable, Viperion's role is to ensure that she doesn't fall, and if she does, to reset the fight until they find a way where she doesn't. Based on the stats he gave, you were on the eighth time loop and the previous seven resulted in four cases where Ladybug and Chat Noir were suborned by the akuma's power and three where one or both of them died."

"And they've been doing this how long?"

"Going on six years now," Jones said. "Wonder Woman has been keeping the Justice League out, but DEO has been monitoring the situation since Ladybug teamed up with the United Heroez in New York a few years ago. Plus there was the attack of the Miraculized last year, during the battle that led to the defeat of the original Papillon."

Kate shivered. "I wondered where those freaks came from," she said. "Were they worldwide?"

"Almost. They predominantly attacked places where Ladybug or Chat Noir had been seen in the past, however: New York, Paris, and Shanghai particularly."

"You can add Rio de Janeiro to that list," Kate said. "I saw a group of them fighting some guys in red robes on the beach there before the robed guys disappeared into a..." She trailed off as the security camera footage she was watching Ladybug console the akumatized victim on showed circle made of pure white light appear in midair beside the two. "...into a portal just like that one."

"Ah," Jones said. "Bunnyx. She's a member of the team, but she's not seen in the field often. Her power allows her to access everywhere in space and time, possibly even alternate timelines. She usually only shows up when things are especially dire."

"What is she doing there?" Alex said, trying to zoom in on the image. Unfortunately, the camera was already at its highest fidelity, so all she got was a pixelated blob. Whatever it was, it was pink and metallic. The akuma victim took it reverently, staring at it for a moment, then immediately tackled the rabbit heroine in a hug.

"All right, so what do you want me to do?" Kate said.

"You just did it," Jones said. "Bunnyx showed up here before the attack and asked me to have you come in and provide assistance over comms to her team."

"And you just believed her?"

"She let him read her mind," Alex said.

"I still have a headache," Jones grumbled. "She has so much information in there."

"All of time and space, huh?"

Jones eyed the bottle of headache medicine bitterly. "They do not make a pill that eases the pain of too much information being processed too quickly. Never read the mind of a demigod if you can help it, Kate."

"I'll uh..." Kate frowned. "I'll try to remember that?"

"In the meantime, the Paris team is likely to be regrouping in Gotham to celebrate their victory and unwind, and I imagine you'll be welcome to join them."

"Wait, in Gotham?"

[sketchguk]

Hi! its soulmate anon. I never though t that mingyu and mc were like best friends! i just thought they were close and fwbs . There's sexual tension after her confession .... :o will they do it immediately though??? ehehe the horny part of my brain wants to jump in immediately too. But that would be so fast and like .... not intense enough??? when they give in it should be so passion no? I LIKE JEALOUS MINGYU omggggg ....... but again Mc would feel bad if he does it just because he's mad at soonyoung :((((((( aaaahhh how they do ittttttttt I though of something .... you know how in hp movies, lavender kissed ron when he was celebrating after playing and winning a match? Can it be that mingyu won a match , against slytherin or something ..... and they won because of him so he was celebrating and all that adrenaline and all ...... he just kisses her??????????

Ahaha I guess mc and Mingyu don't necessarily start off as besties, but they work their way up to it ! They're super playful at first, so if you saw them from afar, you would already THINK they're boyfriend and girlfriend. And you know when you spend a lot of time with someone, they just develop into being your favorite person? That's how it is! They eventually tell each other everything, even all the mundane details of their lives. They also tell each other their worries and their inner thoughts. They give advice, and they're like each other's rock! It's so domestic, and it's no wonder mc has a crush on him! Who wouldn't be head over heels for a heartthrob like him??

I call this trope "friends to close friends to infatuation to him being mc's favorite person to fwb." It's definitely not besties in the traditional sense, but their relationship is pretty complicated lol

Figuring out how they became fwb is tough </3 I'm not totally satisfied with how I explained it either. I think it's most natural when it just "happens," but there should also be some catalyst for it !!! I'm not fond of them doing it when they're drunk either :-( I just wish it was something epic or intense like you said!

It's hard because Mingyu doesn't necessarily have feelings for her. So being jealous shouldn't be the spark for their situationship. It's something that comes later when they've settled into their arrangement a bit more. And it doesn't feel right that Mingyu only wants mc because Soonyoung has her, you're right!! I always imagined that he was really casual about the sex -- he doesn't think much of it. He doesn't tend to get jealous, especially not at the beginning, but when Soonyoung keeps pushing his buttons, Mingyu will know when to snap lol

Oh your suggestion is really cute !!! Maybe he kisses her, and they both find it super unexpected?? But they also realllyyy enjoyed it, and they can't stop thinking about it. Mc probably freaks out because that's her crush !!! Mixed signals aren't cool !! But when it comes to Mingyu, she would definitely take what she can get. She walks away from the kiss, flustered, because she needs more time to think about what just spiraled. So when the scene keeps replaying in their heads, consuming their thoughts, they decide to have a talk to see if they can explain what went on.

They're both conflicted, but Mingyu tells her that he really liked it, and he doesn't mind if it happened again (once again, super casual). And mc takes this as her chance to make a move?? But of course she's a little shocked and hesitant because she doesn't believe that it's happening to her! She's been trying to get with Mingyu for so long. She'll inch closer and closer to test his limits (while simultaneously working up the courage to finally have him the way she wants). She'll give feather light touches against his skin, and her breath will ghost against his lips, mere millimeters apart. She takes it so slow, giving him the chance to back off if he changes his mind.

She'd breathe against his lips, "tell me if you want me to stop."

But Mingyu pulls her into his lap before pairing his lips with her, passionately and lustfully. His hands grip tightly onto her waist while hers are wrapped around the nape of his neck, toying with his hair. Can they fuck NOW? I think this is a good opportunity.

[asoulofatlantis]

Tidus just straight out said it XD Lulu is having non of it - yet - of course, but I think it says a lot if Tidus actually saw through Lulu and her pretending regarding Wakka, especially given how he said he wasn’t keen on the thought of every getting into that complicated connection between Lulu, Wakka and Chappu. He also has not seen some thing we have, and yet he still got it right. But... as I often say, also in other games, neither Lulu nor Wakka were there yet at this point. The spark that lit the fire was long there, but it was not just ready to burn yet. Sometimes, it takes time.

I sometimes chose the last answer, because I believe that secretly Lulu had been in love with Tidus herself... making the feelings she also had for Wakka even more complicated. There have been multiple indicators for that. But since that was never meant to go anyway either way, it was just really a think they didn’t explore any further. Or maybe I just misunderstood something, who knows.

Very funny... Seriously great respect to everyone who managed to doge 200 strikes in a freaking row. A bow to you.

One would call that Karma XD I mean, he didn’t mean to peak on her when she was undressing or something, but its still not nice to look through the keyhole of a girls room ^^’

Okay, okay! This really is enough “Karma” for this poor boy XD

I get why they decided that its Yunas right to make that decision. But... then I don’t. Its like they allow her to ruin what little life she had left, just for the sake of peace and unity in Spira. Doesn’t she sacrifice enough already? I can totally get Tidus frustration here, especially since he doesn’t even know the full truth.

So much for not being Jealous XD I mean why would it bother him that she married for love if it wasn’t for his own feelings? Knowing she didn’t marry love, still made it possible for her to have feelings for him. Tho he actually shouldn’t be happy about a married woman having feelings for him either ^^’

You know... when you look at Jekkt from Tidus perspective, you see an arrogant asshole, having trouble showing his son that he loves him. But here you see the real Jekkt, without Tidus hatred only focusing on the bad things and with Jekkts arroganz blown away by the fact that he understood his faith. Once again, kind of bittersweet to see that he has finally become the man he should have been Infront of his son, but unable to ever see his son again.

I sometimes wondered if Auron wanted that Yuna and Tidus fall in love with each other, given how he always seemed to push them staying close and all. But maybe that is just the shipper in me seeing things XD

We all know that Wakka is one of THOSE kind of believers, who - just as Rikku said - prever to let the religion think for them. But still, AlBhed are disliked in all of Spira because they don’t follow the teaching of Yevon. And yet, Wakka aside, no one in this team has anything against them. I get that Auron and Kimari fall out and so does Yuna, do to circumstances. But Lulu could have easily been like Wakka, given what happened to Chappu and all. But she understands that not everyone who is an AlBhed and doesn’t follow the teachings of Yevon, is per se a bad person. So in a sense, it makes you wonder if Yevons teachings that Sin would die one day, because they have atoned for all their since would have been true... I think they would have never arshived it, as for this to work, everyone would have to be a strong believer like Wakka. And I think you will never manage to get them all to be like him, so Sin would never leave even if the teachings were true ^^’

Things have taken a turn for the worse real quick here ^^’ A few minutes ago we thought we will celebrate a wedding soon and now we are going to kill the future groom - not that anyone wanted that Wedding to beginn with XD - I mean, at least no one from our team.

I still feel like I am too slow. But regardless... that it for me today.

[epigstolary]

The Middle of Nowhere

Technically, I’m free to come and go as I please. My chaser doesn’t keep me under lock and key. There’s no gainer sex dungeon, no bed with handcuffs built into it, no livestock feeding machine with a harness he lashes me into. Anybody could come up and knock on the door, and there’s a decent chance my 800 pounds would even waddle up to the door to greet them. I’m not a captive. I’m not even hidden. I’m just… in the middle of nowhere.

At first, the idea of a farmhouse way out in the country seemed idyllic. Peace, quiet, privacy, and the miles of fields and plains stretching far away. It didn’t hurt that, in a rural place like where I was from, there was virtually nobody interested in feeding and growing someone — except for him, and he was surprisingly close. We met for the first time at the diner in town, but it didn’t take long for the discussion to turn to where he lived — miles away, miles down a dirt road cutting off from the already desolate rural route running along the edge of his land. Nobody around to spy or judge. Someplace where we could be ourselves.

I jumped at the chance to move in with him, and I started blowing up almost immediately. I had the opportunity to indulge myself, and I took it — while he’d be out at work, I’d be sitting around his farmhouse, always eating or snacking between meals, never having to stop and go anywhere. I went from my original fat body to morbidly obese in a matter of weeks, and in six months nearly doubled my weight. He bought me clothes with room to grow, but faster than either of us expected my belly was fully hanging out the bottom of my shirts, resting on the thighs that were stretching my formerly baggy pants to the bursting point. My newly flabbier arms bulged out of the sleeves, flexing the fabric as they lifted more food into my waiting mouth. I didn’t strictly need clothes, since I never went anywhere, but we both liked to keep up the pretense that I was living something of a normal life.

There was no question that he wanted to see me fatter; but he never forced me to eat, never got angry when I said I wanted to slow down or try to eat a little healthier. He just kept cooking, kept serving, kept making sure everything I couldn’t resist was always in reach. That was all it took. It wasn’t long before my belly and arms made me far too large to fit in the small cab of his old pickup. The discovery that I was now isolated here — completely under his power and dependent on him to leave, confined as effectually as if I were chained — took my breath away. Even if I could somehow squeeze behind the wheel, the fat bulging out around it was enough to keep me from turning it or reaching the pedals, however much I might push against that resistance. At that point, my only real means of leaving became tantalizingly close but forever out of reach. I could see it, touch it, get as close as I wanted; but I could never use it to save myself again.

I did try to walk away once. When I hit 500 pounds and he made an entire cake for me to finish to celebrate, I had a minor freak out at just how big I was getting and decided I had to get out. So I started walking in the middle of the night. But at a very sedentary quarter-ton, it didn’t take long before I had burned through the panic adrenaline and started getting winded hauling so much fat around. My back ached from holding up my juggling belly, my thighs burned from the unfamiliar friction of walking a long distance, and my chest clenched tight from exertion and the struggle to breathe. I collapsed about a half-mile toward the road, a sweaty, blubbery heap; and early in the morning I heard his pickup chugging up behind me. Without a word, with no reproach, he helped me up, hoisting my bulbous ass into the cab of the truck. He drove us both back toward the house, my body jiggling with every bump and dip. A pound of bacon and a plate of chocolate pancakes calmed me down just fine.

Things only accelerated from there. Early on, I’d been able to take a snack out to the yard and walk along the fence to get some fresh air. Now, I’m barely able to waddle out to the porch and plop down on the bench, my overhang bumping against my knees with each step. I’ll go out with a plate of food, my ass filling the two-seater bench in its entirety, and watch the occasional car glide by on the distant road, as remote and unreachable to me as the moon. Even if I really did want to leave — even if I thought I could go somewhere, ignore my hunger long enough to get down to a “normal” size, and go back to my life as it was — how would I do it? I’m not struggling for miles to the road carrying nearly a half-ton of blubber, if I could even make it down the driveway on my own without getting completely winded; and even if I did, nobody is picking up a hitchhiker who can barely fit into a pickup bed.

Who could I call for help, then? The police? And tell them what, that they should arrest my roommate because I ate myself to the size of a small elephant? This is the midwest; there’s a decent chance I wouldn’t even be the fattest person they’ve dealt with that week. And there’s nobody here driving for Uber, no cab company within a hundred miles, even if I could fit in their car. I could hire an ambulance, but with what money? And anyway, I’m not ready for the shame of being strapped into a gurney and bundled away by a troupe of men, all gawking at how much lard I’d been able to pack onto my frame and tut-tutting at the fat cow who let their indulgence and morbid obesity get so out of control. That might come whether I want it to or not someday, but not yet.

So here I sit — chewing, swallowing, consuming. Eating so much I can almost feel my body expanding with new fat every day. More weight pressing me down, making the distant road that much further away. My thighs and calves jiggling more, my pudge-filled arms swinging more to balance my weight, my belly hanging lower every day. And he sits here with me — smiling, complimenting, admiring my growing rolls and tighter clothes and slower steps and heavier breaths. Watching as I build my own prison, bite by bite.

It won’t be long before the dozen or so steps to the porch and the now-too-narrow front door are more trouble than they’re worth. Then more and more of my meals will be taken on the couch because it’s not worth my fat-laden frame hobbling over to the dining table. Then eventually, maybe, I stop getting up at all, and just let my fat swell and grow in place. How much bigger will I get then, I wonder.

He doesn’t have to keep me locked up, because I’m doing the job well enough on my own. And I know he’ll never stop wanting me bigger. I can see it in his eyes when he imagines my body under another hundred, five hundred, thousand pounds of fat, wobbling pitifully amidst a pile of unmoving lard and struggling desperately to function at all. What is he going to do to get me there? What’s going to happen to me when I’m too big to go anywhere and he has me, in the middle of nowhere, all to himself?

I guess all I can do is keep eating and find out.

[signedeclipse]

In my douma phase sooo i want to request your prompt oneshot of Douma and a reader that has her own cult. :)))

-💀💕

You'd Think Its Paradise [Douma X Reader]

Reader is Immortal Female | General

Recomended Song - Angeleyes by ABBA

Faith. Religion. Conspiracy.

You had seen it all, been hand in hand in creating some of these human traits. Back in the beginning, you were labelled a human, then a miracle, followed by 'goddess,' and so on until the tradition that celebrated you died out to a few families.

Now, you were called 'the first one,' 'the original god.' You preferred y/n, though.

You had had plenty of time to consider what you were, everyone around you, and why you were different. Everything has answers was the very motto you were known for, but it wasn't true.

Because it only takes that last thought to break down everything you worked so hard for.

~~~

" But why are you unkillable? "

The void of a voice called to you as its husk followed along with your steps.

Your dear friend Douma once again tested the question on his blood-stained lips. You wondered if he ever got bored of asking, but that would require him to feel boredom at all.

" Why are you not, Douma? " A laugh fell past his lips at the question you always shot back. You both knew the answer; even demons were mortal, as everything but you had been.

This blood-thirsting creature never strayed too far from you when you would visit his mountain. It wasn't every day that two otherworldly beings got to mingle, and you were the only one he considered worthwhile.

After all, you wore that dried blue spider lily in your hair.

Douma noticed you wore it every time you visited him, now. You had all sorts of accessories you liked to exchange, each from different people who had long since passed. He assumed you wore it because it reminded you of him.

It would be a painful memory for anyone else, but you took it with a laugh. He broke you from your century-long rest to get it, and you cut his head off in return.

Fortunately for him, you weren't made of the only ore that could kill him. You helped him reattach it after lecturing the demon.

And then, you freaked out; because demons weren't supposed to exist.

But the past was over; in all that time, neither of you aged a day and instead went about your respective duties. Douma fooled his cult, and you took your righteous place with your following.

How your places of worship differ.

" Still eating those that don't know any better? " You always sounded so disapproving and disappointed; that never changed no matter how much you tried to adjust to the new ways of life. Demons were normal now, and they had to eat. To stop him would disrupt the natural flow of the world you wished to preserve, but you couldn't help feeling bad for your favourite species.

" Try not to sound so sad! " Douma never got what you saw in them, but perhaps he was biased. He had all kinds of people just like him, and you were the only of your kind.

As opposed to this desolate jail place of worship, you owned only a towering shrine. It was magnificent, hidden among mountains and protected by the nature surrounding it.

The section where your tomb sat was the most recent addition, but the oldest part dated back thousands of years.

Anyone came and went as they pleased, asking for blessings and leaving their offerings. Before you had fallen asleep, you used to speak and answer to them, but recently all prayers were logged in stacks of books left behind for you to read.

Even now, you carried one in your hand about halfway through it.

You promised you'd read every last page to make up for your absence and, when ready, visit the families themselves.

Occasionally the upper moon visited your shrine, especially when you hadn't gone to see him in all too long, but you always ushered him out. 'Too destructive' 'Ruining the peace,' you always had a new reason.

Still, Douma was your friend, and he wouldn't actually go out of his way to cause you harm.

As much as he wanted that blue spider lily, it was useless if it wasn't alive, and it seemed Muzan had no clue you existed, so what was the harm in keeping his pretty little secret to himself?

As expected of someone so unique, Douma liked you. At least that's what he assumed it was.

If he felt so calm, happy, free in your presence, then surely it just meant he had subconsciously fallen for a god. No person could truly be free from emotion; it was just infrequent that it hit him, so the fact that you consistently bubbled up his heart proved it.

The sound of your steps stopped; Douma's soon did the same as he glanced back at you. Your eyes were staring right into his, searching.

" Douma, I have been keeping something from you. "

' Oh? ' You were so direct that it almost startled him. Since when did his delicate flower know how to be so assertive?

He turned his body completely to face you, stepping closer so he could hear you better.

" You know that prophecies are pretty standard in any religion, I'm sure? " There wasn't much point in waiting for an answer, but you had to take a moment to cull over your following words, " Well, in all truth, I knew I would meet you since the day I came to light, but I didn't expect it to be like this. "

' How vague,' you thought to yourself, almost regretful that you couldn't say more. It would be wrong to meddle too much, but you knew there was only so much time left for Douma.

" Oh! Well, I know. "

You didn't expect a reply, certainly. One of his pale hands just waved it off while the other covered his mouth as he laughed. Still, you saw his pointed teeth peek between his fingers.

" If we are sharing secrets, it doesn't bother me. I am just glad I'll be spending it with you. "

He sure was a strange one, but you weren't innocent either. No average person could confess love without even using the word or any that might hint at a relationship.

Yet you each admitted to your weakness for the other. A god who would give up on changing the future for a demon. A demon that would give up immortality for a god.

You supposed it was the better way; asking the other for dinner wouldn't work either; you shuddered just thinking of the carnage.

Author Note -  SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU AGAIN SKULL ANON I was worried you'd never come back hah! I hope you enjoy this concept, I know its one of my more abstrtact writings on here <3

Word Count - 1,087

Art Credit - しろらば！

[hlizr50]

Elorcan Week Day 1 - Favorite Moment

I knew these words existed before I read Kingdom of Ash, but when Lorcan tells Elide:

"Ask me to stay."

"Ask me to go to Perranth with you."

"Ask me to marry you."

My heart explodes every freaking time.

And so I present to you, a Lorcan POV of my favorite moment:

Ask Me to Stay

Read on AO3

Gavriel.

He could hardly believe it, even with his brother-in-arms laid upon the pedestal where he now knelt. Unmoving and cold. Death had always been Lorcan’s companion - he had never shied from it and had always accepted its price.

But Gavriel.

Losing the lion-hearted male had wounded him far more deeply than he’d expected. Perhaps it was as simple as the loss of his presence, but deep down he knew there was more to it. Gavriel had been kind to Elide, had supported her when Lorcan could not. And Gavriel had supported him, too. Had not let the small, invaluable human woman completely extricate him from her life. And, Hellas, was he grateful.

Lorcan blinked back the sting of emotions in his eyes, cursing the change in his heart and soul. But it was a farce. How could he curse his softened heart when it was Elide that had made it so?

As if summoned by his musings, the tang of elderberries and cinnamon wafted to him, and he felt her gaze - deep and dark as midnight - upon his back. With a groan he heaved himself to his feet, casting one last glance at his brother before he turned. Elide was so small. A body so fragile did not match the spirit within, but he loved her all the same. And when she opened her arms to him he had never felt such relief. Such comfort. Lorcan drew her in, clutching her to him, and nuzzled his nose into her hair.

“I hear that you’re to thank for Erawan’s destruction,” he murmured. His bold, cunning, brave little human. When he’d heard he thought his heart might burst with pride. Her hands pushed against his chest, and she ignored the question in his eyes as she wove her fingers between his and led him out of the candlelit chamber.

“Yrene is,” she answered, bringing them to a halt in front of a bank of windows. Outside they could see Orynth awash in scraps of fabric and ribbon in any vibrant color to be found. A city celebrating victory over evil. “I just came up with the idea.” It was all Lorcan could do to contain a derisive huff. As if her contribution had truly been nothing.

“Without the idea, we’d be filling the bellies of Erawan’s beasts,” he argued, which only earned an eye-roll from the woman. And the towering male couldn’t help but be amused at her irreverence.

“It was a group effort, then,” she conceded, before dragging that plump lower lip between her teeth. Her eyes were so wide, glimmering with both hope and fear, as she beckoned him with her gaze. “Perranth–have you heard anything from Perranth?” Oh, to live in the exhausting mind of hers, always looking toward the next challenge, the next problem to solve. And he wondered, for a moment, if that was how she’d survived so long. Always on guard. Always prepared. A true warrior.

“A ruk rider arrived a few hours ago. It is the same there as it is here: with Erawan’s demise, the soldiers holding the city either collapsed or fled. Its people have reclaimed control, but those who were possessed will need healers. A group of them will be flown over tomorrow to begin.” The sigh she released seemed to shudder through her entire form, and she sagged with relief.

“Thank Anneith for that. Or Silba, I suppose.”

“They’re both gone. Thank yourself.”

Elide waved her hand dismissively, and in that moment he knew.

Knew that he could never leave her.

Knew that this war had been painful, but still kind enough to spare them both.

Knew that this tiny human owned his heart and soul, and he would not waste one more moment without acting upon it.

So he kissed her, a long, gentle caress of his chapped lips against hers, soft as rose petals.

“What was that for?” she breathed as he pulled away. But he just looked at her, his love for her an ache that would never heal. Not that he wanted it to.

“Ask me to stay,” was his simple response. And when she did he could hear the quickening of her heart, a delicious pulse in her throat.

“Ask me to come to Perranth with you,” he continued.

“Come to Perranth with me.” Her voice cracked over the words and her cheeks grew rosy beneath silver-lined lashes. Lorcan nodded his answer, a smile splitting his face so wide, he was sure he’d never made such a face in his centuries of life.

And then, the leap.

“Ask me to marry you.”

Elide laughed, tears spilling down her cheeks, and answered, “Will you marry me, Lorcan Salvaterre?”

Lorcan - towering, dark, brooding Lorcan Salvaterre - had never felt so light, so free, as he swept Elide into his arms, planting kisses over her cheeks, her brows, her nose, her lips. Then he paused, as if realizing that he hadn’t answered. His lips quirked into a smug grin.

“I’ll think about it.”

She smacked his shoulder as she laughed, which he figured he might deserve. But then another laugh escaped her, louder than the first. Lorcan lowered her to her feet, sliding those delicious curves down his body as he did.

“What?” he asked, eyeing her suspiciously as she tried to contain her mirth.

“It’s just… I’m Lady of Perranth. If you marry me, you will take my family name.” Elide paused, looking up at him as if there should be some revelation. But he only blinked at her, waiting for the explanation. She giggled again. “Lord Lorcan Lochan?”

Lord Lorcan Lochan.

It was absolutely, utterly ridiculous. So absurd that he could not stop himself from howling with laughter. He lifted her into his embrace again, spinning her, the delight and the freedom and the love overflowing from him. Lorcan breathed her in, holding her close, his mouth at her crown. “I’ll use it with pride every damned day for the rest of my life.” Everything within him settled, as if some part of him had been waiting forever for this moment. His grin melted away as he set her down and fell into her onyx gaze. Tucking a tendril of midnight behind her ear, his fingers brushing over her flushed skin, he vowed, “I will marry you, Elide Lochan. And proudly call myself Lord Lorcan Lochan, even when the whole kingdom laughs to hear it.”

His lips found hers, unable to contain his devotion to her. Reveling in the feeling of her, of knowing she had survived up until that moment in the woods. That moment when she no longer had to be alone. That moment when she had become his to protect. Lorcan knew he was lucky for her to have made it, even that far. And that he was infinitely lucky that he had made it to this place, this hour, this moment.

“And when we are wed,” he whispered tenderly. Reverently. “I will bind my life to yours. So we will never know a day apart. Never be alone, ever again.”

Elide covered her face with her hands, shoulders shaking as she cried. And if Lorcan knew his little warrior, she was likely overwhelmed at what he offered. What he was willing to sacrifice. But he had been willing to give up his life for her since the beginning. He just hadn’t realized that it was love.

Still, he wondered if that was truly what she wanted for him. From him. He grasped her wrists and pulled her hands away, and though her eyes were red and shining she was still the most beautiful thing in the entire world. “If you would like that,” he said.

Elide flung her arms around his neck, her tears soaking into the linen of his tunic, and he wrapped his arms around her. She was warmth and hope and life. And when she answered, “I would like that more than anything,” he knew.

She was his.

@vikingmagic33 @mystical-blaise @headcanonheadcase @mercarimari @ofduskanddreams @elorcanweek2022

[silver-tongued-bby]

I know I'm late with submitting but I've been so busy this month, but I had an idea for your Halloween prompt!

I've got this one particular dynamic on my mind, inspired by how older poems and musicals personified death/the reaper. death becomes obsessed and slowly falls in love with the Mc from afar. He finally reaches out to her and she is terrified of death. She eventually gives in to him even though fucking death is against her instincts. It's a really rough concept. But I immediately thought of it while reading through the qutes.

"I know you've thought about it don't lie"

"Let me show you exactly how I feel"

Maybe rip my heart out at the end with "I'll always keep you safe" ?

What ever place and character you think would work bestsince quotes. Only know loki and geralt. Not excluding lady loki of course, death doesn't have to be a him.

As for kinks...some flavor of dom/sub and reading thoughts?...maybe a pet/plaything vibe? I really don't know 😩

I'm sorry this idea is so vague. 😅 I've loved everything you've written so far this month and I'm honored by the follow 🥺💕

-littlepupthoughts

Thank you so much for the interesting request and your kind words!! What a way to end this challenge.

This piece took me a lot longer than I'd liked (I re-wrote it a few times). I seriously love the subject matter here, and I really wanted to do it justice. I hope you enjoy it- thank you again!! 🖤

This fic is a part of A Dark Celebration.

Pairing: Death!Loki x fem!Reader

Words: ~3,500

Summary: Death has turned his eyes on you.

This is work of fiction is 18+!!!!, and contains graphic descriptions of sex, fingering, sex (m/f), dirty talk, a touch of somnophilia, and it mentions dead animals, gore, and (unsurprisingly) death. Please do not interact if you are a minor or are sensitive towards any of the themes mentioned above.

Thank you so freaking much to my followers for all of the amazing requests for this challenge! And thank you for being patient with me as I worked through each of these- I had a blast! Likes, reblogs and comments mean more than you know 🖤

~~~

He remembers the first time he saw you.

Snow fell in the early morning light, the city still asleep.

You must’ve been out running errands, the early morning not a deterrent to you in the slightest. He doubted much would deter you.

You turned just as it had happened, the whole thing playing out in your wide eyes. He loved your eyes since that very moment, the terror in them unsettling though impossible to hide your beauty.

He stood as you ran over to the young man, your bags on the dirty snow of the street behind you. You held the young man’s hand as he started to slip from this world, looking up frantically for some help in the empty street.

Then all too suddenly- “hey! Please, please go get someone! He’s not, he’s bleeding out,” you panted, looking right up at him.

He frowned curiously and turned, expecting to see someone behind himself. There was no one there.

Your frantic eyes were trained on his. You could see him. How interesting.

He wondered if you could touch him.

Just then the young man’s soul started to slip from his body, its form drifting upwards. He swore under his breath at the fates, and took the young man’s arm.

You were watching, your expression falling as you realised what you’d seen. He left you there in the street, shepherding the young man’s soul to the beyond.

~~~

The first time you saw death you hadn’t realised. There he stood, long black waves sharply contrasting against pale skin, his bright blue eyes unnerving you. He simply watched as you shouted at him, a slight curve to his lips. He’d slipped away before you could say anything more.

A fear had gripped your heart that day, it’s icy grip tightening each time you remembered how close you were to him. Death was always abstract to you, a concept you needn’t spend much time on. Something to mull over later, once you’d grown old and grey.

But seeing that young man’s soul slip from his body had roused that fear in you prematurely. You felt as if death were closing in on you, making himself known. Be it the mouse you found on the floor one morning, it’s little body frozen as if it died of shock, or the bird that flew into your window, the sound forcing a shriek from your lungs.

You saw him in crowds, glimmers of bright blue watching you then disappearing once you looked.

Then there were the dreams. Those eyes taunting you, long fingers grazing your skin, his laugh ringing loud in your ears. You’d wake breathless and with a chill despite your thick coverlet. You started to notice a depression in the bed when you woke, as if someone were laying with you. It left a confusing ache in your heart, as if you were disappointed to wake up.

After a month you found little gifts, the first a flat golden band engraved with flowers settled in a black box on the pillow of your bed. You frowned at it, running the ring between your fingers. It was cold, seemingly unable to be brought to temperature in your hands. Something brought you to slip it on, it fit perfectly to the ring finger of your left hand. You could slip it off, but you found yourself leaving it on, a smile coming to your lips when it caught the light.

You found books of poetry on your bookshelf, tied together with black ribbon, inscribed with your name. It unsettled you but you found yourself pouring over each little volume, the words inside making your heart race.

~~~

He couldn't stop himself from finding his way to you. Each time he had a moment to spare, even just a minute, he'd come near you- as near as he'd allow himself, watching you with a burning curiosity.

He grew to know you so well, his observations allowing him insight into what made you laugh, cry, or furrow your brows in disappointment or confusion. He watched as you read novels, spoke with others, so animated you easily lit up the room. He saw you alone at night, happy in your own company as you quietly brought out your truest self. He grew to know you by heart.

He watched from the street as you read the latest anthology he left you. He couldn’t stop the smile from spreading on his lips as your eyes lightly closed, the book falling flat against your chest. The ring- his ring glinted in the low light of your apartment.

He slipped inside, his coat falling off his shoulders as he pulled the book from your fingertips and set it on the table, placing beside it a bouquet of dried lavender. He brushed his fingers along your cheekbone, marvelling at the warmth there.

He laid beside you, watching as you slept soundly, your breath even. He traced his fingers down the warm skin of your arm and you roused a little before settling back into your sheets, smiling as you released a content little hum as if you were pleased he was there. He held onto your fingers lightly, your dreams flashing before his eyes.

He couldn’t help but grin as he saw himself flash within your mind, your pulse elevated. “I’m here,” he whispered to you, his form materialising to hold you tight in your dream. You whimpered in your sleep, your thighs brushing together lightly.

In your mind he held you against him, peppering your neck with kisses, his hands tracing lazy circles over your bare skin. You whined and moved against him. “Shall I stop?” His phantom form whispered to yours, and you shook your head.

“Please,” you breathed in your sleep, shifting over the covers.

His dream self slid his hand lower, brushing over your folds and you whined, your hips moving to meet his fingers. He teased you, nipping at your neck as his fingers continued to lightly touch you, cooing gently in your ear. He watched as your mind and body came undone in your sleep, your moans catching in your throat.

Soon, he told himself. He wouldn’t allow you to slip from his fingers with the passing of time. He needed to take you for his own. Soon.

Letting go of your fingers, he bent forward to press a kiss against your forehead. “Until we meet again, love.”

He stood and slid on his coat, leaving you peacefully asleep.

~~~

The day had started the same as any other.

Spring had come, the rain unforgiving in the grey air. You made your way home from work, walking quickly under your umbrella.

You climbed the stairs of your apartment, and opened the door, the grim light outside illuminating it dully. You took off your coat and set your umbrella by the door, walking further inside when you gasped, the outline of a man dark against your window.

You were frozen in fear, your mind running a mile a minute.

“Darling,” he spoke, that low, deep voice so familiar. He stepped forward and you could see the glint of his bright blue eyes even in the dim room.

“You,” you took a step back, “what- what are you doing here?” Your voice shook as you spoke.

“I’ve come to present you with an opportunity,” he smiled, stepping forward once more. His thin lips curved upwards at the edges, his high cheekbones still pronounced.

You took two more steps back only to be met with the wall behind you. “Are you- am I dying?” You whispered, afraid of his answer.

He laughed, shaking his head. “No, pet.” He came closer to you, the chill emanating off of his body in waves. Every fibre of your being told you to get away, to run from him, but you couldn’t bring yourself to move. He watched you curiously, his fingertips brushing your jaw. He gave you a grin. “Do you want to cheat death?”

You held in a whimper at the feel of his fingers on your skin. They were cool but electric, eliciting heat from your body. You suddenly felt as if it were too warm, too stuffy in your small apartment. You did your best to push away the feeling, forcing yourself to focus on his question. “What do you mean?”

“Not many can see me as you do. And even fewer,” he grasped your hand, his fingers cold, “can touch me.” He tilted his head, “you’re a rarity, darling.” He rubbed his thumb over the ring on your finger, his eyes flickering back up to yours. “It looks lovely on you. I knew it would.”

You swallowed, your eyes falling on the little stack of novels he’d gifted you. You felt his hand come to slip around your waist and let out a shaky breath. You could feel your body responding to him, the damp warm heat growing between your legs.

“Come with me. I’ll show you things you’ve never imagined. All the secrets your scholars and religious zealots have debated for centuries. You’ll know everything and so much more.” His grip tightened around your waist.

Your brow furrowed. His proposal made you nervous, almost too good to be true.

“I’d never lie to you.” He spoke, his face serious.

Your brow furrowed. You wondered passively if he could hear your thoughts.

He kept silent, watching you intently.

“Would I die?” You asked timidly.

“Not until you’re meant to.”

“Would I have to…” you trailed off, hoping he’d understand.

“Nothing you wouldn’t want to, darling.”

You bit your lip, considering what was tying you here. You thought of your distant family and friends whom you hadn’t talked to in months. You looked around the tiny room that passed as your apartment, the busy street below and shouting neighbours forever intruding in your space. You looked back to the man- the entity before you and your heart raced. “I’ll go with you.”

He smiled wide at you. “Wonderful, darling.”

You gave him a small smile back.

“Now. I’m afraid to carry on I’ll need a little something from you.”

Your eyes widened, worried he may ask you for your literal beating heart.

You saw the corners of his mouth quirk upwards slightly before he spoke. “Do not fear. All I need is a kiss.”

“A kiss?” You asked, incredulous.

He nodded. “A kiss from death himself,” he smirked.

“I, I don’t know.” You felt suddenly unsure, nerves overtaking you.

“Breathe.” His hand slid into your own, his fingers touching the golden band you wore as if to remind you. He came forward to hold his lips against your ear, eliciting a shiver from you. “I know you’ve thought about it, don’t lie to me.” His lips brushed against the shell of your ear, his breath cool as he spoke.

You let out a shaky puff of air as he came back to face you. You bent closer, holding his gaze, your eyes falling closed as you felt your lips press against his. One touch of his lips and you lost yourself, pressing up against him eagerly, his tongue slipping against yours. It was so familiar, his touch, his kiss, exactly as he felt in your dreams. Even his scent was familiar, deep with a hint of a something sharp and cold.

He eventually pulled away, his eyes watching you, a dark fire burning behind his gaze.

The sound of your breath filled the room. “I’m sorry,” you said, breathless.

“Never apologise, not for that.” He tilted his head curiously, his eyes narrowing. “Do you not know how I feel for you, pet?”

You swallowed hard, shaking your head.

He lifted his chin, his eyes running down your form. “I see. In that case, let me show you exactly how I feel.” He said it with a bit of a growl, his voice low.

You let out a little yelp as he moved to pull you along with him before laying you down on your bed.

He pushed his long coat off his shoulders, the black fabric falling to the floor before he crawled over you, one leg settling between yours, his hair hanging down over his face as he held himself over you.

Emboldened, you reached up to tuck his hair behind his ear. His eyes closed lightly at your touch, dark eyelashes touching his pale cheek.

“What’s your name?” You asked, your eyes searching his features.

He smirked. “Death carries no name, pet.” He brought himself down, pressing his lips against yours, in a searing kiss.

He shifted the leg between your own so it pushed against you, the feeling too much and not enough at once. His hand came to grip your hip, guiding it to move up against him and you let out a whimper at the slow heat building between your legs.

He moved to kiss your throat, his cool lips pressing against your skin. You felt his hand drift lower, coming between you to pull up the hem of your skirt. He pushed your leg over a little, his fingers brushing against the material of your panties. You gasped, arching your chest up into his, so firm against you.

“Oh darling,” he spoke into your ear, his voice low. “You need it badly, don’t you?”

You whined, his fingers slipping under the fabric covering your heat. He delicately ran one finger between your folds and your hips shifted, your hands gripping the coverlet under you.

He chuckled, the wetness between your legs obvious. He came back to face you, holding his lips inches from yours, capturing your shaky breaths. He lightly teased your clit, his fingertip rubbing against it in slow, grazing circles. He licked against your bottom lip, capturing it between his teeth as his pressure built. You moaned into his mouth, your hand coming to grasp the bicep of the arm toying with you. He felt so cold, so hard under your hands, almost as if he were chiseled from stone.

He pulled away to watch you as he slowly inserted his finger into you, the slick around his skin easily allowing him entrance. His touch was quickly warmed by your heat.

“That’s it, pet.” He spoke, his lids heavy as he watched you. “Open for me, my lovely girl.” He added another finger, stretching you a little, your legs parting as you submit to his movements.

It felt almost too good, the sound of your breath filling the room. “Please,” you whispered, unsure of what you were pleading for.

He dipped to kiss your neck, his teeth marring your skin. He curled his fingers in the slightest and you moaned, the sensation causing you to hold still.

“Come on, darling,” he spoke against your ear, his thumb coming to lightly tap against your clit. Your grip on his arm had tightened, your breath caught in your lungs. He was stroking you more firmly, your hips rising off the bed. “Take what you need from me.” He sucked at the skin just under your ear and you cried out, the sensation causing that cord within you to snap, pleasure overtaking you in waves.

You eventually opened your eyes, finding death staring down at you, a grin pulling at his lips. His fingers were gone from you, now resting on your hip.

You gave him a lazy smile, your thoughts slow. You gently pushed your hips against him, watching his brow furrow, his expression falling. All you felt was a need for him, your earlier apprehension gone. “Please,” you spoke, your eyes lost in his. “I need you, please.”

“Are you certain?” He asked, his gaze searching yours.

“Yes,” it no longer mattered who, or what he was. You’d never felt such desire before, your heart warm, your body almost vibrating with it.

He sat back and pulled you up, helping you undress, his touch gentle against you. He laid you back against the bedding and his eyes ran along your form, taking you in. “Such a lovely creature,” he spoke, his hands coming to the buttons of his shirt, revealing a pale chest with corded muscle throughout.

You swallowed hard at the sight of him and he came back over you, pushing your legs apart to kneel between them. He bent to kiss your collarbone, moving lower to your breast, flicking his tongue against your nipple. You gasped and he repeated his actions on the other side, leaving your skin cool to the air as he sat back.

He undid his trousers, his length hard in his hand. He glanced up to you as he ran his length through your folds, causing you to inhale sharply.

He felt so soft against your heat, the cool of him quickly warming with your touch. “Are you ready?” He spoke with a hint of a rasp, the tone sending another wave of heat through you.

“Please,” you breathed, your hips angling out to push him further against you.

His brow furrowed and he remained still for a moment before slowly pushing himself in, carefully watching you. He stretched you slowly, eventually coming to rest once he was fully within you. You could feel the cool of his skin warm against you, your muscles relaxing to accommodate him. His eyes were dark, his jaw sharp as he looked down at you, his eyes closing briefly when you felt yourself flutter around him.

You moved your hips slightly, pleading silently for him to move.

He ran his hands from your hips down to your thighs then gave a slow thrust. The angle hit that spot he’d touched within you earlier, and as he built a steady rhythm your hands desperately grasped his, your breath unsteady.

He shook his head at you as he moved, “you’re going to burn me up, pet. You feel,” he let out a groan, “divine.”

He brought a hand above your sex, his thumb coming down to brush against your clit. You moaned, your back arching up off the bed, seemingly presenting him with a deeper angle that made your eyes roll back inside your head. “It’s too much, I can’t- I can’t take it,” you stuttered, the rising pleasure continuing to build. You felt exposed to him, vulnerable, as you took his thrusts, every part of him overwhelming you.

“Hush, pet. I’ve got you,” he spoke, moving to lay on top of you, his lips softly kissing your neck. “You can take it, darling. I’m right here with you,” he moved up to kiss that spot behind your ear and you let out a breathy whine. “Don’t overthink it, just feel.”

You closed your eyes, letting out a breath as you focused on him. You felt yourself melt a little into the mattress, the warmth between your legs spreading as it continued to build.

“That’s it,” he spoke against your ear, “good girl. Feel it,” he let out a hiss as you started to meet his thrusts, “oh, such a good little pet.”

You could feel the same tightening within you, the pleasure rising. “There you go darling,” he sounded pleased, “cum for me, my pretty girl.” He leant up to watch you, his thumb pushing a little harder into your clit.

It took three more thrusts before your hips held still, your cries ringing out in the silent room. He didn’t stop playing with you until he came, drawing out your pleasure to end with his. Your walls fluttered around him as his length twitched, spilling deep inside of you.

You swallowed, your lips dry as you looked to him, still holding himself above you. His eyes were so full of awe, you could almost mistake it as love.

He pressed a kiss to your lips, then your forehead before pulling out of you. You could feel his seed dribble down the inside of your thigh and you shivered, a smile coming to your lips. You felt happy, happier with your choice, a small knot of nerves in the pit of your stomach.

“Lovely girl,” he said as he pressed a warm washcloth between your legs, carefully cleaning your skin before his own.

You stood to dress, picking the various bits of your clothing up off of the floor. He slid his shirt on over his shoulders, his eyes glued to you, still burning with something behind the brilliant blue

“Are you ready?” He asked, holding his hand out for you, his long coat slung over the other.

You took a moment to look around, wondering if there was anything you wanted to take. Suddenly remembering, you walked over to the small stack of poetry and held it in one arm.

His eyes sparkled in the grey light as he stepped closer to hold you, his hand brushing lightly against the skin of your cheekbone.

“Loki.”

Your brow furrowed.

He smiled, “my name. One of them at least.”

You bit your lip and grinned. “Loki,” you repeated, testing the name on your tongue. “I’m think I’m ready to go, Loki.”

“Of course, darling.” He turned and slid his hand in yours, opening a glowing green oval before him. “Keep close to me. Don’t let go of my hand until we’re there.”

Your heart beat fast and you gripped his hand harder, suddenly afraid of the unknown facing you.

He kissed your cheek lightly. “Do not fear, darling. I have you now,” he nodded at you. “I’ll always keep you safe.”

With that the two of you stepped into the green light, quickly slipping head first into the unknown.

~~~

Author's Note: What do we think of death!Loki? I feel like the job would only ever be given to him as punishment...

In any case, that's a wrap on my first follower celebration!! I may post something for that sub!Loki fic in the near future, but otherwise this challenge is complete. Thank you all so much for submitting such fun requests, I love you all immensely! 🖤🖤🖤

[jiminzfilter]

slow dancing in the night

→ Pairing. Taehyung x reader

→ Genre. established relationship, fluff, slice of life, model!taehyung, model!reader, taehyung missed you a lot, he is starving (his words not mine), gets a bit hot by the last 40 lines, mentions of oral (f) so I guess this counts as mature content, implied smut, making out (kinda), there is a bit of swearing

→ Summary. what could possibly be better than coming home after a long day of work to someone you love and missed a lot ?

→ Word count. 3.2k (!!!)

→ because I wrote this over a year ago when I still didn't know what I was doing with my writing, I had to go through a deep process of editing and re-writing before posting it. This might not be my best work but it's still a fic that I really really like :,)

→ song rec. slow dancing in the dark, Joji// still with you, Jungkook

Fridays have always been exhausting days for both you and your boyfriend, especially on runways weeks. As models, you were put under a lot of pressure.

Pressure to be perfect, to smile but never smile too much, to look good, to not fall on stage.

Falling has to be the most tragic thing that can happen to your carreer as a model, the hungry stares of thousands of photographers and reporters ready to share the latest news to the press.

Yeah, it was exhausting.

This week was no exception... or maybe it was since, this time, you were the only one working until late.

It’s four in the morning and you’re already on your way out - kind of running late, oBviOusLy - quietly wishing your boyfriend a good day.

He is not working today.

That lucky bastard.

He gets to enjoy his free day in bed, lazing around, while you work your ass off all day. He mumbles something that you assume is a sort of goodbye. He is still asleep.

You look at him one last time before leaving the room and smile. He looks so peaceful.

You still remember the day you met, by pure luck even though you both call that fate. That was 5 years ago, when you just debuted your career as a model and were not that comfortable around high heels.

Okay no. Let’s be real.

You hated wearing them because you couldn’t walk in heels higher than 5 cm.

It’s still a wonder how you managed to make it in the first place.

Were you wearing flat shoes for the audition ? Damn you really must’ve done an impression on the judges if they made you pass without the heels try-on.

Your first day at the agency was chaotic to say the least. Your manager made you walk around the building, to visit she said. She made you wear heels. HEELS. That devilish person.

But, thank to that, you got to meet Taehyung. Your eyes landed on him as you were visiting the lounge and couldn’t tear them away from his figure. The poor man had to witness you fall down because you weren’t watching your steps anymore.

I mean.

Who could blame you ??

That was Kim frEaking Taehyung

!!!

He even came to help you get back on your feet and asked if you were alright, kind of amused.

It’s not everyday you see someone falling down in here, let alone a newbie

Let’s be honest, you were so embarrassed.

First day of work and you’re already failing falling.

That night when you came home, you spent the night wearing heels and prayed really hard you’d never have to face him again. After all, the building was big enough and there were enough workers that you could avoid Taehyung easily

If only

The NeXt day, you were told that you had a couple shooting, with none other that Kim Taehyung.

GreaT

He would occasionally tease you about your fall and check on you to see if everything was alright. He watched you carefully as you were walking around with heels.

From up close he looked even more handsome.... :)

After this day, you started talking with Taehyung more and more. He introduced you to everyone around the agency. You met outside of work, got to know each other. You both became regally good friends but there was something lingering in the air, in the way you’d look at each other or stood so close to him after a couple glasses of wine that you could breathe his air.

So what was bound to happen happened and you went from friends a to lovers without really noticing it.

He was still your best friend...somehow

Eventually, you took things to the next level and moved in together... maybe a half and a year ago or so ? You’ve never been happier in your life

And, well, you’d actually be happier if you could spend the day with boyfriend instead of running around trying to find god knows which accessories you need for the rehearsal.

8 in the morning is noT a time to be doing cardio.

Especially while wearing heels

Become a model they said, it’ll be fun they said

“Y/n! Come here please I need you to try on this dress before you go!” Your personal stylist calls “I made sure to fix it yesterday so it’d be a perfect fit for the show”

You stop your tracks and go to her “make this quick i have to go get changed before 9 otherwise I’m screwed. Why did they even decide to do the rehearsals so early today ?” You sigh, frustrated, and put on the dress she’s handing you “thank you”

“Okayyy...it looks great. Gold looks amazing on you.” She smoothes the dress and gives an approving nod, visibly satisfied ; “You’ll look perfect for the Grand Finale. Oh god it’s already 8:30 you better go before Mr.Kim throws a fit because you’re late”

You both giggle ; “thank you for fixing the dress Naeun, see you later today. Well, probably tonight. Byeeee”

The rehearsal seems to never end. You’re squeezed in dozens of different outfits, gorgeous for sure but sO tight. Mr. Kim, the one who organised the runway, is such a perfectionist that you have to re-do some things multiple times before he’s satisfied. One time the lighting isn’t right, the other the models are walking too fast, not on beat and so on.

Everyone hates him for that but he always makes the best shows so you just follow.

After multiple tries, the rehearsal finally comes to an end. It’s already 4PM. You barely get time to breathe and go pee before you’re back into the ‘running-around-to-find-my-dress-and-fix-my-makeup-oh-god-i-gotta-be-on-stage’ crazy mess.

Walking on the runway feels amazing, running backstage is terrible.

It’s so hot and small back there you can hardly move around well.

It takes 2 hours for the whole fashion show to be over, one more for pictures outside the catwalk and chat with reporters. Since you’re kind of a famous model now, you get invited to the afterparty and spend few extra hours interacting with some celebrities that attended the show. Other models were invited and you’re happy to see familiar faces amongst them. Jimin, an old colleague and friend of yours, comes your way and compliments you. You chat with him for a while before deciding you’ve had enough for the day and leave the party. A few more people greet you on your way out.

A taxi takes you back to you company, where you left your stuff in the morning. You spend an extra thirty minutes getting rid of your heavy makeup and striping off that gorgeous but awfully tight golden dress you’ve been wearing ever since the end of the runway.

Now, you can FinaLLy go home. yassssss

It’s almost 12am when you leave the agency and climb into yet another taxi. The ride is quiet, background music playing over the car’s radio, and you take some time to look at what you were gifted for your performance : fancy makeup products, accessories, pieces of clothing-but not those from the runway, you sadly never get to keep those. Being kinda famous has its perks :,)

You then decide it’s time to warn Taehyung you’ll arrive soon and send him a few texts. As if he was waiting for them, he instantly replies saying he’ll be waiting for you and proceeds to spam you with heart emojis. Sometimes, it looks like this man just discovered what emojis were and is trying to use them as much as possible. What a child…

It’s way past midnight when you finally step into your duplex and the first thing you notice is that the place is way too quiet.

Maybe Tae went back to sleep, who knows, it’s super late after all…

:(

You remove shoes and jacket and drop your bags in the entrance before going further and you call out quietly “anyone here? Tae, you sleeping?”

There is a faint glow from the tv on your right but the sound has been muted.

Weird…

“Taehyung ?" You call one last time

Suddenly, two strong arms wrap themselves around your waist and you’re pulled into someone’s chest. You gasp, almost scream, but soften up when you feel the warmth on your back

“Hi baby” a deep voice says in your ear, sending chills down your spine “I missed you”

You turn around and are very pleased to see a handsome face and a warm exposed chest your boyfriend smiling at you.

“Mhm, missed you too” You wrap your arms around him and rest your head against his chest, happy to hear his heartbeat. Taehyung places his head atop of yours and gently strokes your hair. You tighten your grasp around him and hum.

Few seconds later, he lifts your chin up and gently lays a kiss on your lips.

“How are you doing?” He asks, his right hand cupping your cheek. The warmth of it is comforting.

“Exhausted, but you know how it goes” You shrug and he smiles

“Not too tired for dinner ? I could cook something if you want”

“Mhm... let me just go shower and put something else on” You sadly let go of him

“Sure, go ahead” he whispers and you give him a kiss before regretfully tearing yourself away from him.

You walk up the stairs to your bedroom, where you find the bed undone. You smile, Taehyung never really liked making the bed and, very honestly, neither did you. You slump onto the mattress and bury your face into the pillows, inhaling his scent. Lavender. Relaxing. Just like he is.

After a warm shower, you find a t-shirt Taehyung left on a chair in the room and wear it. It’s big enough to reach your thighs and, if you were more energised, you’d probably stay like this. You grab large pants and put them on.

Once again, you smell lavender all around you.

When you’re back in the living area, you see Taehyung busying himself in the kitchen. He hears your steps and his eyes find yours as a smile appears on his face when he notices that you’re wearing his shirt

“My shirt looks better on you than it’d ever do on me” He teases, his gaze longing on your frame.

“maybe I should keep it then” you smile and ask ; ”Do you need any help?”

“no no no no no, you’ve worked enough already. Go and have some rest. I'll call you when everything’s ready okay?”

Too tired to argue on this anyways -and thankful for the given rest-, you go lay down on the couch, your body oriented to let you look at Taehyung.

As he hums and moves to the chill music that was playing in the background, you start to detail his beautiful figure. From the curl of his dark hair (which you knoW are so so soft to the touch) to his beautiful profile and his nose you love so much down to his broad shoulder and then his tanned abs you see from time to time when the opened shirt of his pyjama moves according to his steps.

oH! Let’s not forget his perfect hands gripping at the pan’s handle while he cooks… vegetables? Something like that yeah.

Taehyung is giving his best into what he’s cooking. Vegetables with rice, that’s the only thing he could do quickly.

Quickly as in less than half an hour, unlike his friend Namjoon who’d take this time just to cook the rice.

The music he put earlier is slowly starting to bore him. After washing his hands, he reaches out for his phone and plays a different playlist. It’s one you name yourself when the two of you were still friends (aka not dating yet). “Taetae fm” because you once joked he should have his own broadcasting channel on the radio. He’d always criticise the music playing so why not have his own channel 👀

“You know Y/n, I actually watched the fashion show live this afternoon. I mean, of course you know because I always do that haha. Anyways, you really were the highlight of the runway tonight. And I’m not saying this in a biased point of view. Okay I might be a bit biased as your boyfriend but I swear that it’s true!! You literally shone back there, especially in that gold dress you were wearing and even the audience was impressed by your looks maybe you didn’t see it on stage but some cameras filmed their reactions and everyone was looking at you. Really, you were so gorge-oh” Taehyung looks at you and smile fondly “Of course you’re asleep, baby”

He lets his phone aside and checks the now cooked food before making his way to the couch. There’s a blanket on the sofa, he covers you with it, scared you might get cold. Taehyung put a loose strand of hair behind your ear and places a kiss on your chin.

You slowly open your eyes and find yourself face to face with him. You both smile.

“Hi there beautiful” He whispers

“what time is it? Did I sleep until the morning?” You’re scared of having slept through the entire nap without realising

“almost 1:20am, I just finished cooking. I thought you might be cold so I went to cover you with the blanket. You should go enjoy the food while it’s still hot, imma go to the toilet”

You nod as an answer and watch him leave upstairs. Getting up from the warmth of the couch is the hardest part so you keep the soft blanket draped around your shoulders and walk towards the kitchen. You grab two bowls and two pairs of chopsticks that you place on the counter along with glasses and a bottle of water.

You then go take care of the rice and the vegetables, which you mix in the pan. The song playing changes and your favourite nighttime tune starts.

“I don’t want a friend, I want my life in two” you sing along

“Waiting to get there, waiting for you” Taehyung’s voice startles you as he grabs your wrists and pulls your back close to him. You smile as he makes the both of you dance slowly. You put his arms around you so it’s like he’s hugging you from the back. You swing around for a little while, enjoying the close proximity as you both softly hum the song, making your body vibrate against each other, moving in perfect coordination.

“I love you” he whispers in your ear and then kisses it, sending chills down your spine, before lifting one of your arm up to make you turn so that you’re now facing him “did my baby sleep well?” You nod as you place your arms around his waist, paying attention to go under the shirt so you’re touching as much skin as possible.

Taehyung chuckles before asking you in that same, chill-sending, low deep voice ; “Still hungry? Because I’m starving”

If you didn’t just wake up, you would’ve definitely caught that lust in his eyes and also the fact that this wasn’t as innocent as it seemed.

As an answer, your stomach growls pretty loudly, making Taehyung laugh . “I’ll take that as a yes. Sit down, princess. Let me take care of you”

You do as he says, jumping on a stool, detailing all of his moves. You only realise how hungry you actually were when you start eating. Rice with vegetables has never tastes better. You eat everything in less than 5 minutes when you’d usually take your time to finish your plate.

“Damn, that was a well needed dinner! Thank you Tae” you mess a bit with his soft locks

“Imagine me who was waiting for you all evening!! I was hungry too” He pouts.

“Oh come on, I was working today. Cardio in heels isn’t the best way to wake up, let alone spend the whole day standing in tight clothes. When I think you has a day off… pfff. I saw the bed, I’m sure you stayed there all day, you lazyyyyyyyyy ass.”

He mumbles some gibberish and you giggle, knowing that you're right. He looks away, crossing his arms and obviously sulking. You leave your stool and stand behind him, wrapping your arms around his neck. You leave a few kisses on his cheek and neck

“- Don’t be such a babyy. You know I love you.

- You do?

- of course, you dummy” you bop his nose "Sooo, what do we have for desert?

- You. Uh I mean!! Yoghurt, fruits, cakes, fruits…anything” he clears his throat

“Great! What do you prefer?” You open the fridge

“ I’d very happily eat you out honestly but an apple sounds good”

“Oh sur- wait whaT!?” You snap your head to him, eyes wide open

what did he sayyyyyyyy?????

whaT am I even supposed to say noW oh my goddddd

You close the fridge’s door, suddenly not so yogurt-hungry.

There’s a sudden silence between the two of you, only disturbed by the music still playing in the background.

“Mhm? What is it?” He turns around to face you, asking so innocently “did I say something wrong ?”

This man knows what he is doing for sure. Has he ever been that straightforward before ?

Taehyung stands and closes the distance between your bodies, now towering over you.

He lowers himself slightly to speak in your ear “what is it baby? Mhm?” You feel his smile on your cheek when he lays a kiss on it “what happened to my all proud and fierce y/n who was so confident telling me I was being lazy all day, huh? Tell me” He lays another kiss on your temple

OkaY

now he’s being a tease

Great

1 A.M. fluffy and bare chested teaser Taehyung

gReAT

Anyhow, it’s a good turn on.

Really.good.freaking.turn.on

Being tired and turned on was definitely not a good mix for you. You could feel the heat rising in your body and hear your heart pounding in your ears.

“Tae…”

He laughs gently seeing you silently begging for more, brushing your face with his lips, teasing another kiss.

“Tsk tsk, you gotta speak darling, I cannot guess”

You should calm down and go to sleep, it’s 1am and you have work tomorrow you should definitely-

“Fuck-“ You sigh and grab his face, sealing your lips together while closing your eyes.

It doesn’t take long for that kiss to turn into a heated make out session.

You grab and pull some of his dark curls while his hands travels under his your shirt.

You break the kiss just a second to catch your breath.

“Have i ever told you you have the perfect body?” Taehyung asks

“Did I ever tell you how perfect you are??” You reply

He laughs, deep raspy laugh.

You’re too tired for this

And because you’re tired, you’re even more horny :D

Taehyung puts his hands behind your thighs and you jump, locking your legs around his waist, hands still in his hair, lips against his while carries you to the bedroom.

He leaves your lips to travel down your jaw and then collarbone. You throw your head back.

Taehyung gently lays you on the mattress of your king sized bed and makes it his personal mission to pleasure you tonight.