#no cats were harmed in the taking of these photographs

[yaekiss]

since your normal requests are still open （＾ω＾） i absolutely NEED to go next door to my darling kaeya!!! he can’t just be so devoted and adoringly obsessive without being rewarded! after that little show of a picture he sent, can’t quite be satisfied until i ravage him the way we know he wants </3

𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅

꩜ Room Content: Dom! GN! Reader x Yan! Sub! Kaeya, no gendered terms for reader, Kaeya calls you "my heart", unhealthy and obsessive relationship from Kaeya, unhealthy attachment from reader, stalking (from Kaeya), mentions of biting and marking (Kaeya receiving), handjob (Kaeya receiving), lmk if I missed out anything ! ꩜ A/N: This is a (long overdue) sequel to this love letter from a previous event (now closed!) Sigh I really meant to finish this a lot earlier, first it was supposed to be your birthday present then when that date passed by, a v-day gift of sorts,,,,, But it's here now!! Hope it's kind of what you were looking to read @pulpbeing !

The whole walk over to the next room, regardless of how short it was, you were barely cognizant. It was hard to be, when mere minutes ago, it was revealed to you that your lover was some sort of obsessive stalker. (Yet, why does your heart still hammer so hard in your chest?)

Each step draws you closer and closer to Kaeya, and before you even register it, you’ve reached the door to his room. It's the very last one in the hallway. The room opposite his is vacant.

Your blood thrums under the skin of your fingers as you reach out to the smooth cold handle on the door, as if the mere act of crossing that threshold could shatter everything at once.

And to your surprise, the door swings open without any resistance.

The second your foot pads onto the carpet of his room and the door locks behind you, the atmosphere turns electric as a singular starry eye bores into you from where Kaeya is lounging on the bed.

And there he is. Draped in the same lacy white lingerie in the scandalous photograph he sent to you. As if the sight in the picture wasn’t stunning enough already, the sight of your lover before you outright steals the breath from your lungs. 

Adorned in naught by the gauzy fabric, you drag your gaze down from his face, to the crimson-stained trail left from that trickle of wine from his lips. The sheerness of the lingerie leaves nothing to the imagination with the way it snugly hugs his figure. The curve of his chest, his slender yet toned physique, stark white garter belt against the flesh of his thighs.

It's all ridiculously tantalising to you. And he knows it.

“No need to just stand by my door, my heart. You can do more than just gawk at me, you know?” Kaeya all but purrs out to you from where he’s seated, his one eye squinting as he grins.

Somehow, your body has already betrayed your warring thoughts within because when you next blink, you’ve crossed over to the bed, the mattress dipping as you take your seat beside him. His grin grows more blinding at this and he squeezes in closer to you, until your thighs are touching. 

“So the cat’s out of the bag, and now you know I’ve been tailing after you in Fontaine like some lovesick dog off a leash,” he sighs noncommittally, as if he didn’t just admit to stalking you.

He fixes you with a gaze, “How exactly does it make you feel?”

“Is it fear?”

The silence grows when you don’t respond, as if you know in a deep twisted part of your mind, that despite this, Kaeya would never harm a single hair on your head.

“Or is it desire?”

And it’s at this, that your heart thumps. 

The kiss is messy, more tongue and spit than anything else but you can’t be bothered when you’re busy removing the lingerie still on him. He melts into you as your hands wind around his frame, unravelling and undressing him from the flimsy layers of white lace that dare to separate him from you. When you watch the pure white tumble from him, perhaps he’s not the only one whose desires drive them wild.

A breathy moan leaves him as you leave bite mark after bite mark across the expanse of his neck. The feeling of your teeth pressed against his skin, the pressure and force behind it threatening to break past the surface. You’re kind enough to grant him one last hickey prior to pulling back and briefly admiring your handiwork.

Hands trailing down his side, you graze your fingertips over his hips before you settle a palm against his length. Just before he can roll himself up to rut against your hand, your other hand grips the side of his hip, stilling him as a protesting noise slips past his lips.

“You’ll move when I say you can. You can do that for me, yes?” 

Docile, he nods and simply watches on as your hand wraps itself around him. You can tell by the way he’s fisting the bedsheets that he’s holding himself back, resisting the urge to fuck into your hand. Aided by the precum drooling from his tip, you glide your hand slowly up and down, marvelling at the way his breath hitches and eyes screw shut whenever you twist your grip exactly where you know he likes it.

It doesn’t take long before you can tell he’s reaching his limit. His breathing grows clipped and ragged and his groans and whines become increasingly needy. Every time his hips jerk involuntarily, your hand stills, prompting him to plead pitifully for you to continue. He makes quite the sorry sight before you, and your heart twinges with the need to watch him come undone.

Deciding you’ve toyed with him enough for now, you lean in, whispering, “Go on, let me see how you reward yourself.”

His pulse jackrabbits as you lave your tongue along his jugular, panting out broken “thank you”s at your generosity while he frantically chases his release, rutting into your hand. A quick twist and he’s spilling over, crumpling in on himself as he moans unabashedly at the pleasure you’ve shown to him. He has his chin hooking over your shoulder and arms wrapping around you, pulling you into a tight hug whilst riding out his high, his chest heaving as he catches his breath.

Suddenly, your world tilts when Kaeya pulls you down onto the bed, you lie atop him, trapped in his embrace.

And coy as he is, he slithers next to your ear and whispers breathlessly, “It’s alright, you can have your way with me,” you can feel his heart pound from beneath you, your pulse matching his.

“There’s no one next door anyways.”

Thanks for reading! Consider supporting me on kofi if you enjoyed this or check out my other works hehe ♡

[invalidstories]

Villain's Lair (Part 1)

Warnings: intrusion/trespassing, tension, grief, overall sad theme

Part 2

In the dead of night, Hero crept slowly through the shadows, their heart pounding with adrenaline as they approached the villain's lair. Their mission was clear: to gather information on the upcoming evil plans to break into the mayor's office and foil them before any harm could be done.

As Hero slipped through the corridors of the building, they expected to encounter cold, impersonal surroundings alike Villain's reputation. But to their surprise, what they found was far from what they had expected.

Upon entering, Hero was greeted by the warm glow of softly lit lamps and the comforting scent of freshly brewed coffee. They couldn't help but notice the walls decorated with photographs of the villain with their family, smiling and happy, a stark contrast to the villain's villainous persona.

Distracted by the unexpected sight, Hero found themselves drawn to the photographs, studying them intently as they wondered about the complexity of the person behind the mask. How could someone capable of such cruelty also possess the capacity for love?

Hero's attention was suddenly diverted by the sound of soft padding footsteps. Turning their gaze, they spotted a sleek black cat, its bright eyes regarding them with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.

As Hero continued to explore, they couldn't stop seeing the differences between the villain's reputation and the reality of their surroundings. This wasn't the cold, foreboding lair they had expected – it was a place that felt strangely... comforting.

The hero was engrossed in studying the unexpected warmth of the villain's surroundings, completely unaware of the presence behind them. Lost in thought, Hero didn't hear the soft click of the door as it opened, or the quiet footsteps approaching from behind.

It wasn't until a voice broke the silence that Hero snapped back to reality, their heart skipping a beat as they spun around to face the unexpected intruder. There, standing in the doorway, was Villain – their nemesis, who wasn't supposed to be back for another hour.

Villain's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of Hero, their expression mirroring Hero's own shock. Clearly, they hadn't expected to find the hero snooping around their apartment either, especially not at this hour.

For a moment, the two of them stood frozen, caught in a tense standoff as they assessed each other's intentions, with neither of them sure how to proceed in this unexpected encounter.

Finally, Villain broke the silence, their voice tinged with a mixture of amusement and suspicion. "Well, well, well... What do we have here, Hero? I wasn't expecting visitors tonight."

Hero blinked, momentarily thrown off by the unexpected turn of events. "I... I didn't expect to find you here either," they admitted, their voice tinged with confusion.

Villain smirked, their amusement evident in the curve of their lips. "And yet, here we are," they remarked, their tone teasing.

Unable to contain their curiosity, Hero's gaze wandered around the room, taking in the cozy atmosphere and the personal touches that adorned the space. "I never knew you were a cat person," they observed, nodding towards the sleek black cat that lounged lazily on the nearby sofa.

Villain chuckled, their eyes sparkling with amusement. "Oh, she's not mine," they replied, their tone softening as they glanced fondly at the feline. "She just likes to drop by from time to time."

As Hero's gaze drifted towards the framed photographs on the wall, they couldn't help but voice their surprise. "Are those your family?" they asked, gesturing towards the images.

Villain's expression softened, a hint of melancholy clouding their features. "Yes," they replied quietly, their voice tinged with emotion. "Well, they were."

Caught off guard by the unexpected glimpse into the villain's past, Hero felt a pang of sympathy for their adversary. Beneath the mask layed a person with their own history, their own struggles, and their own regrets.

As Hero and Villain exchanged words, a sense of understanding began to blossom between them, softening the edges of their adversarial relationship.

From the corner of their eye, Hero spotted movement—a small figure darting out from behind a curtain. It was a child, no older than five or six, their eyes wide with fear as they stumbled into the room.

Villain's expression softened as they knelt down, extending a comforting hand to the child. "It's okay, little one," they murmured, their voice gentle and reassuring. "You're safe now."

The child hesitated for a moment, their gaze flickering between Hero and Villain before recognition dawned in their eyes. With a cry of relief, they dashed forward, wrapping their arms around Villain in a tight embrace.

Hero's heart swelled at the sight, struck by the unexpected tenderness in Villain's interaction with the child. "Who is this?" they asked, their voice tinged with curiosity.

Villain smiled sadly, their gaze flickering towards the child with a mixture of affection and concern. "This is one of my henchmen's children," they explained. "They were meant to be here today, away from our... activities."

Hero's surprise was evident as they took in the scene before them. Amid their rivalry, they had never imagined that Villain would have such a tender heart beneath their villainous exterior.

As the child clung to Villain, a sense of understanding washed over Hero. Despite their differences, they were all just people, shaped by their experiences, their relationships, and their choices.

With a nod of acknowledgment, Hero stepped back, allowing Villain and the child a moment of privacy. As they made their way out of the lair, their thoughts lingered on the unexpected encounter, on the complexities of good and evil, and on the possibility that, perhaps, there was more to their nemesis than met the eye.

And as they disappeared into the night, Hero couldn't help but wonder what other surprises awaited them in the tangled web of heroism and villainy. Perhaps, just perhaps, there was more to their story than they had ever imagined.

"Behind every mask lies a story untold, reminding us that appearances can deceive, but hearts cannot."

Masterlist

[athanasius-symposium-of-writings]

If requests are still open can I request moonlight gentleman with ❛ i'll take good care of you, i promise. ❜ and ❛ have a little trust in yourself, i know you can take it. ❜? Thank you ❤️!

It was on this day I learned Photographer moonlight gentleman is not a cat but a wolf... i feel like i lived a lie lolol

Rated Mature | Warning: minor violence mentioned

There were two playful pups in the woods you inhabited, as a fae of these woods you made sure to every and all creatures who lived here. The Oak father’s guardian they called you, you were proud to be of help. The two pups looked up to you, often too playful to help you when creatures had disagreements, but their company was like sunshine after the storm. They were strange to some as they took on human names upon their nameday. The first one took the name Joseph, in honor of a human who gifted him a picture of himself. He is the one most fascinated by human, specifically, their inventions that allow one to capture a moment perfectly. Not like a painting, this is different and mystical to him. The sound one took the name Claude, named after the brother of the man he saw build something to contain the fire and power many working gears. Both of them loved humans, loved everything about them, and they hoped one day to be part of the human world.

Most thought them strange, even offensive when Joseph brought what the humans call a heliograph. The first image he took was of his brother, you smile recalling the joy they both had upon seeing the developed image when the human allowed the first pup to borrow it. The second brother liked drawing plans, many ways for the human he admired to use his device. There was peace but such peace does not last… Humans are always advancing, taking, and soon they took from the woods not only the land but a life.

Claude was killed by a human with a weapon that shot metal. There was no choice but to invoke the rite of thorns and seal the woods off from further interference from humans or any who wished harm upon the land. This included the first pup.

From heliograph to daguerreotype then a camera. You saw no harm, you know he was studying to distract him from his brother's death, but he grew distant. Surrounded himself in time that long since passed, to be forever trapped in one moment of time, to escape to where his brother is alive in those many pictures he took. He stopped using his pure wolf from long ago, he dresses like a human but the traits of his heritage remain. You… Often wished he would come back to the Oak Father's embrace, you wished his grief did not lead him down a dark path.

The rite of thorns sealed away everything for a time, its power strong. Sadly, it did not keep the humans out for long, the Oak Father was dying and thus his power no longer was as strong as the oldest trees in the woods. Greed, the greed of humans drew them back to the woods. You heard from one of the humans that the land was ‘brought’ by someone rich. It makes no sense to you how someone can buy something that no one had claim or ability to offer. You are disgusted. The industries have no respect, they only take. “We can build a new home.” The voice of a man you at first do not recognize appears as you lay beside the oldest tree left in the woods, here your paradise and the spot you choose to become one with nature. He lurked in the shadows before stepping in the light and there you sit up, weak and tired, to see the pup. The pup turned a wolf. 

“I will take good care of you,” A hand over his heart, “I promise.”

A net flies above your head and you are captured.

Your friend, the last of those who were created by the Oak Father, has become someone you do not recognize. He talks down about the humans he once loved, he uses them to create his new paradise. 

The woods are a ‘backyard’ for him as the manor is built on the grounds he bought. It is offensive to see the greed the humans have is embraced by a creature of the woods. Joseph's smile is fake, his laughs are fake, and the way he speaks sweet nothings to those who are charmed by him is fake.

You do not realize how popular Joseph is until he brings you into the human world, he is loved by so many yet he says it is all hollow. He learned to match it, adapt, and control the paradise he created. He indulges in many things and he plans to do the same with you. After all, you are only alive because he ‘saved’ you. 

“Have a little trust in yourself!” The way he smiles feels empty, “I know you can take it.” You nod, you know better than to reject the man he has become. Your wolf is no longer a pup, he frightens you now.

“Kill them.”

Entertainment, the power he lost the connection to upon turning away from Oak Father, but you still have it. You are still strong enough to help remake the world. There is pain but he always kisses it away. 

“I love you.”

“...” You say nothing. He holds you close to him, grinning at the blood that soaks into the ground as a fertilizer for the new world.

[lorrainmorgan]

I. THE BASICS

Name: Lorrain Morgana

Nickname: Lorra - Meva Lorra ( just Ominis can call her that, means Mine. My Lorra ) 

Gender: Female

Birth Date: October 31st

Species: Human

Blood Status: Mudblood-Pureblood

Eyes: Green

Hair: Red-Strawberry blonde

II. MAGIC

Wand: Jörmundgander’s Fang 14 1/2 inches, Hard

For a brief period, she relied on a borrowed wand to harness her magical abilities. But soon enough, she realized she could control magic without the aid of a wand and began practicing without it. It was not an easy task, as her articulations, particularly her fingers, were rigid and uncooperative if not guided by a wand's precise movements. She does not posses the ability to see or use ancient magic. Her powers come from the medieval times.

Animagus: Maine Coon cat

Patronus: Eel 

Patronus Memory: 1. Summer vacation with her Aunt in Paris. 

Boggart: Ominis after The New Years Party

Riddikulus: - ( can’t do it yet :( ) 

III. Amortentia (What Lorra smells like):

Lavender, Cinammon with honey and oak wood. 

(What Lorra smells) 

Fresh Icy Mint, old books and rain (Ominis' smell)

IV. PERSONALITY

Intelligent - Lorrain was a quick-witted and ambitious student, proudly representing her house of Slytherin. With an almost photographic memory, she could easily recall every fact and detail from her studies, but there was a gap in her mind where memories of her childhood should be. Perhaps it was due to her intense focus on the present and future, always striving for success. Among her favorite classes were potions and divination. 

Go with the flow - She is reminiscent of a capybara, her warm smile always present and her social nature drawing others in. She has an uncanny ability to adjust her energy to match those around her, making everyone feel comfortable and at ease. A good listener, she will always offer sincere and honest advice, telling you what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear. Her sincerity shines through in every interaction, making her a trusted confidant. 

Social Anxiety  - Despite her natural social demeanor, she occasionally experiences bouts of “unexplained” anxiety. When they do occur, she has discovered that immersing herself in water helps to calm her. The gentle touch against her body and the feeling of being embraced by the element bring a sense of tranquility and clarity to her mind.

Bullies - Despite being a Slytherin, she cannot stand to see others being hurt or mocked by those with cruel intentions. For instance, when "Puffskein Dunkein" was laughed at, she may have joined in on the joke, but if she were to witness him being incessantly teased, pushed, and ridiculed with malice, she would not hesitate to take action. She. will. slap. you. 

Mind focus - With fierce determination, Lorrain throws herself into any task or goal she sets her mind to. She pours all of her energy and focus into making sure that her objectives are not only accomplished, but done so with integrity and without causing harm to others. Her unwavering commitment and strong moral compass guide her towards success. 

Love language - Lorrain is a master of all five love languages, adapting to the people she's with. If she knows you appreciate a home-cooked meal when you're feeling down, she'll whip one up to lift your spirits. If she senses that Ominis has had a rough day, her love pours out in all five languages simultaneously, determined to make her man feel loved and cherished. She doesn't have a favorite among the five, cherishing each one as it is demonstrated to her by others. To Lorrain, love is not just words or actions, but an intricate dance of understanding and connection between two souls.

Self consciousness: She exudes confidence as she playfully flirts with Ominis in public. She knows her worth, both in terms of relationships and friendships. Despite this, she also possesses a strong sense of self-control and can contain herself when faced with rudeness. She is capable of counting to five Mississippis in order to maintain composure, but if the person persists she will not hesitate to retaliate with clever remarks that leave them silenced. Her words are her weapon, and she wields them with precision and grace, never resorting to rudeness herself… and if they continue: Slap. 

Hair:  Whenever she is learning something new, or challenging, she’ll braid her hair. So if you think she’s up to something, check for braids!. 

V. HOGWARTS INFORMATION

Class Proficiency:

Astronomy: ★★★★★

Charms: ★★★☆☆

DADA: ★★★★★

Divination: ★★★★★

Flying: ★★★★★★★★

Herbology: ☆☆☆☆☆

History of Magic: ★★☆☆☆

Magical Theory: ★★★★☆

Potions: ★★★★★★★★★★

Transfiguration: ★★★★☆

Favorite Teacher: Matilda Weasley & Professor Sharp. 

Least Favorite Teacher: Professor Cuthbert Binns. Enough said.

Quidditch position: beater 

👉 if you made it this far... Thank you 🫰 and have a cookie 🍪

[fortheloveofwonderland]

Darkness Declares Glory | Chapter 13 | S.R

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

A/N - this fic deals with some very dark themes such as drug use, self-harm and suicidal ideation. Please proceed with caution and Minors DNI. There is a reader insert but it is very Spencer-centric.

I am aware a death sentence wouldn’t be granted so fast but artistic liberties were taken. Sue me.

Chapter Summary - Spencer tries to take Maggie’s advice and faces your teasing. Luke and Matt visit and drop a bombshell that could potentially destroy Spencer’s recovery.

Pairing - Spencer Reid / Fem! Reader

Category - dark angst | smut | eventual happy ending.

Warnings - swearing, masturbation (male), fingering, oral (male receiving), voyeuristic dreams, weight gain, mentions of Cat Adam’s, talk of death penalty, Luke’s flashback, stab wounds, self inflicted wounds, blood, mentions of surgery and hospitals.

WC - 4.8k

Chapter 13 - You Want a Battle? (Here’s a War)

He was irritable all day, snapping at people and biting off heads unnecessarily. His unfulfillment of the morning followed him all day like a dark rain cloud. But his days were so busy with therapies and the like, he didn’t have any more alone time. 

When he finally did find himself alone after his second group therapy session of the day, it was short lived. He was in bed with the door closed wondering if it would be better to wait until after lights out when he wouldn’t be disturbed. But he was achingly hard and he couldn’t wait any longer. 

As he trailed his hand under the sheets and palmed himself through his slacks, the door practically burst open. 

“Hey, I thought you might want…” you trailed off and raised an eyebrow at him. “Why are you in bed?” 

Spencer snatched his hand away from his bulge and brought it out from under the sheets. 

“Tired.” He shrugged. “What do you want?” 

“Rude.” You scoffed, inviting yourself in his room. “I wondered if you wanted to hang out. But if you’re too tired…”

“No, I’m fine.” He willed his erection to go down but it was almost impossible with you in his room. 

He watched you glance over his photographs before your eyes landed on the chess set on the desk. 

“You play?” You asked, pointing at it. 

“Yeah, do you?” 

“Used to. Haven’t for a long time.” You picked up the set and expertly carried over to the bed without dropping any of the pieces. 

Spencer drew his legs closer and crossed them, keeping his bottom half covered by the sheets so you wouldn’t see his painfully obvious erection. Just be sure he grabbed one of his pillows and put it in his lap, leaning on it with his elbows. 

You hopped up onto the bed and set the chessboard between the two of you. 

“You look weird.” You frowned a little at him.

“Now who’s being rude?” He scoffed. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing. Just play the game.” He sighed. 

You looked like you might say more on it but thankfully you didn’t and he watched you move a pawn while willing his uncooperative cock to go down. 

***

A few hours and three games later, you were on a losing streak. Spencer never lost at chess, except to Gideon, and even with his muddled brain he was still just as good as he always was. 

Thankfully the game had been rather uneventful and he’d managed to get his erection to die down. It was a good job too as you’d stolen the pillow from his lap to cushion your shoulder against the wall. Part way through the fourth game you looked up at him curiously. 

“Something is bothering you.” You mused. “I can tell.”

“Oh really?” He rolled his eyes. 

“Call it intuition. But something is definitely bothering you. Spill.” You challenged him with your gaze. 

Spencer really didn’t want to tell you what was on his mind. You were the last person he wanted to talk to about this. But before he could talk himself out of it, the words came spilling from his lips. 

“My therapist wants me to masturbate more.” He cursed himself as the words tumbled out. 

Your eyes widened and an amused smirk sprung to your lips. 

“Ah,” you stifled a laugh. “And you have an issue with that? Jeez I didn’t think men needed to be told to masturbate more often.” 

“Yeah, forget I said anything.” He moved his piece on the board but you made no attempt to counter him. 

“Seriously, what’s the issue?” 

Spencer heaved a sigh. He wished he hadn’t said anything. 

“Is it not…this place is far from…you know…?”

“Sexy?” You laughed. “You can’t get it up while you’re in a recovery facility?” 

“I didn’t say that.” His cheeks flushed. 

“Oh so you can?” Your smirk grew. 

“I really don’t want to talk about this.” He focused on the chessboard as he was feeling himself growing hard again. 

“You think I’ve been in here for four months and not done it?” 

Fucking Christ. Fucking shitting Christ. That is the last thing I need to think about. 

“Seriously, can we change the subject?” His face was burning with embarrassment. 

He stayed perfectly still because he was worried if he moved you would notice how hard he was beneath the sheet. 

“Are you twelve years old? Everybody does it Spencer.” You giggled and that did not help the situation. 

“Fuck.” He whined and his voice gave away his arousal. 

Your eyes fell to his lap and you instantly saw the bulge in his pants.

“You should take care of that.” You laughed. “It helps with the cravings. It helps relax your mind.” 

“Please stop.” He closed his eyes, wishing he were anywhere else in the world. 

“I’m being serious! You’re in a foul mood today, an orgasm will do you the world of good.” 

His dick throbbed and he knew you must have seen it. 

“I’m begging you to stop.” 

“And I’m begging you, for the sake of your sanity, just jerk one off.” 

The moan that left his lips was completely involuntary and it made his cheeks burn hotter. 

“I can go. Or I can stay if you’d prefer?” 

“For the love of god.” He groaned. “Go, please? Please just leave.” 

“Suit yourself.” You giggled as you jumped back up from the bed. “Happy masturbating, Spencer!” 

He groaned again, eyes still closed until he heard the door shut behind you. Seconds later he was laying back on the bed, kicking the chessboard to the floor and relieving himself from his slacks. 

He had never been more desperate for touch in his life, even if it was just his own. He watched his hand move up and down his own length, pushing his sleeve up so he could look at your bracelet on his wrist. 

Definitely the same bracelet worn by the woman who jerked him off in that alleyway. Closing his eyes and picturing your face as he touched himself, it really didn’t take much time for him to come. 

And he didn’t think about drugs or his cravings once. 

***

“Fuck, fuck, fuck! I’m close, I’m so goddamn close.” He panted into your neck as you quickened your pace on your strokes.

His fingers were buried inside of you, curling up into your bundle of nerves. 

“M-me too.” You moaned, legs shaking beneath you. 

You were only able to remain upright due to his body supporting you. His thumb rubbed against your clit and you swore you saw stars. Your legs buckled but he steadied you with his other hand. 

“More! More! I need more!” You whined. 

He moved his other hand to your shirt where he practically ripped it open, revealing your bare breasts underneath. He bowed his head and took one of your nipples in his mouth, rolling it between his teeth. 

“Fuck, I’m so f-fucking close.” He whimpered against your skin before sinking his teeth into your nub. 

“Fuck! Fuck!” You screamed, tightening your hold on his cock. “Gonna come. Oh fuck, I’m gonna come!” 

“Come for me, angel.” He moaned. 

Almost simultaneously you both reached your peaks. He felt you clenching around his fingers and your legs trembled furiously as you screamed out into the night. Seconds later his hot come was spilling onto your hand and his cock twitched as he expelled himself. 

He removed his lips from your nipple and rested his forehead against your shoulder while he caught his breath. He held you up right with his arms while you both came down from your highs. When Spencer’s breathing had calmed he looked up at you through hazy eyes. 

“You have no idea how long I’ve waited for that.” Cat grinned at him. 

His whole body stiffened and he practically shoved her off of him. 

“What are you doing? Where’s Y/N?” He panicked. 

“Who’s Y/N?” Cat frowned, smoothing down her skirt. 

The bracelet around her wrist caught his eye and his heart started to race. 

“No, no that’s not yours.” He pointed at it. 

Cat turned her wrist over a few times as she inspected it. 

“Well I’m the one wearing it. So I guess it is.” 

“No, it’s not. That belongs to Y/N. You tricked me!” 

“Oh Spencie, lighten up.” Cat rolled her eyes. “Would you rather it was Maeve you made come?”

Suddenly Cat’s face warped right before his very eyes until she was gone and standing in front of him was Maeve. 

“You’re so good with your fingers, Spencer.” Maeve smirked at him, moving closer and pressing her lips against his neck. 

Her hands wandered his body and despite the fact he’d only just come, he felt himself getting hard again. 

“Fuck, this isn’t fair.” He whined. 

A hard wrapped around his hardening cock, attached to a wrist that was wearing your bracelet. Maeve smiled at him as she started stroking him. 

“I always wished I’d gotten the chance to touch you like this, Spencer.” She was panting even though he wasn’t touching her. 

He wanted to touch her, probably more than he’d ever wanted to do anything in his life. But why did it feel like cheating on you? 

He kept his hands planted at his sides while Maeve worked his dick. He was panting and moaning and at some point he closed his eyes and lolled his head back against the brick wall. 

He felt movement and a few seconds later his shaft was entering a warm, wet mouth.

“Fuck.” His knees buckled a little and he opened his eyes, looking down at the person on their knees. 

The hand with the bracelet was wrapped around his base but the set of eyes looking up at him through long lashes weren’t Maeve’s. 

They were yours. 

“Y/N, thank god.” He panted and then moaned when you took him all the way in your mouth. 

His eyes closed of their own accord again as he gave himself over to the feeling. For a few minutes he was allowed to revel in the sensation and then a voice snapped his eyes back open. 

“Have you ever thought about masturbation?” Maggie stood at his side, eyebrow raised. 

“You know all the facts and statistics on pretty much everything. So I’m sure that you know all the benefits of masturbation, Reid.” Tara was at his other side. 

“You think I’ve been in here for four months and not done it?” You came off his dick and stood up. “Are you twelve years old? Everybody does it Spencer.” 

“I used to do it as soon as we got off the phone each Sunday.” Maeve laughed, appearing at your side.

“It did it thinking about you being locked in prison.” Cat resurfaced. 

“I’ve done it on the BAU jet.” Luke emerged. 

“Haven’t we all?” Tara laughed. 

“What is going on?” Spencer groaned, pushing himself back against the wall. 

“It’s perfectly natural Spencer, jeez you’ve always been so uptight.” Another face emerged. 

“E-Ethan?” Spencer’s eyes widened. 

“Pretty boy will always be uptight.” Morgan was suddenly there too, laughing. 

“It’s just self pleasure, Spencie. It will make you feel so good.” Cat pouted at him. 

Your fingers snaked around his wrist which was now adorned with the purple and gold band again. You guided his hand towards his still exposed dick. 

“Try it, you’ll love it.” You smiled at him. 

“It will stop your cravings.” Maggie chimed in. 

“I-I’m not…with an a-audience.” Spencer tried to fight your grip. 

“We can all do it too, if it’ll help.” Luke chuckled. 

“W-what? No! That won’t help!” His hand was on his cock against his will. 

“Mmm just like that, Spencer.” Maeve sighed happily. 

His hand was moving up and down his shaft without his meaning too, all the eyes on him and what he was doing. 

“God that’s hot.” Ethan moaned a little as he spoke. 

“Feels good right?” Tara nudged him in the arm. 

“No! No, I don’t want this! Don’t look at me!” He closed his eyes but his hand kept moving. 

“Give us a show, kid.” Morgan spoke again. 

He tried to block out the sounds of the people crowded around him, tried to ignore everything in the hopes they would disappear. He kept his eyes screwed tightly shut trying to pretend he was alone and that all these people weren’t witnessing what he was doing. 

His hand continued its movements even though he wanted it to stop. His audience goaded him, giving him words of encouragement. His orgasm built and eventually he came with a strangled moan, feeling completely mortified that all these people had seen what he’d done. 

Panting slightly and legs trembling he cautiously opened his eyes… 

…A nurse stood at his bedside, his medication in one hand and a cup of water in the other. 

“You were out like a light.” She smiled slightly.

Spencer frowned and with a shaking hand he took the medication and the water and tossed them both back. He didn’t say a word as the nurse took the cups back and wheeled her trolley out of the room. His heart was racing as he leant back against the pillows. 

He could feel his cock softening in his pants. And he could feel his sticky come lining his underwear. 

***

For the week that followed Spencer didn’t see you once. It was so easy to believe it was all in his head when you showed up so sporadically. He wanted to see you more than anything else in the entire world. He wanted to see you more than he wanted drugs for Christ sake. 

So it stood to reason, given his desperation to see you and the side effects from years of drug use, he was imagining you. It was the only way to explain how, when he did see you, you acted as though you had no idea who he was. It was just his subconscious willing you to be here and the withdrawals causing him to hallucinate. 

But if that was the case, how did he explain the bracelet still adorned on his wrist? Tara had seen it too so he certainly wasn’t imagining that. His head was a fucking mess. He needed to see Emily. 

By the next time he had a visitor, he wasn’t even a little surprised it wasn’t her. But he had to admit that seeing the two faces waiting for him in the gym put a smile on his face. 

“There he is!” Matt grinned as Spencer limped through the door. 

“Hey man, you’re looking a lot better. Healthier.” Luke smiled too. 

Spencer was able to walk cautiously on his own now and it was so freeing. His leg still hurt but nowhere near as much as it used to. 

“Thanks. I guess I’ve put some weight back on.” He patted his stomach. He was still skinny but his three meals a day were helping him back towards his normal weight. 

Luke pulled him into a hug as soon as he was close enough and Spencer felt his cheeks burning a little. The last time he’d seen Luke he’d been trying to trade sexual favours with him in exchange for drugs and then had to confess to him he’d had a wet dream. And on top of that he’d had two risqué dreams featuring the other man. 

He averted his gaze when the hug ended and focused on hugging Matt. Maybe subconsciously Spencer had always been attracted to Luke and just never realised it. Or maybe it was just because he hadn’t gotten laid in a while. Yeah that had to be it. 

“How have you been?” Matt asked with his usual soft smile, and Spencer shrugged. 

Now he was seeing him again, Spencer wondered how he’d ever seen a similarity between him and Cedric. 

“I’ve definitely been better. But all things considered I’m…ok.” He nodded, refusing to make eye contact with Luke so he focused on Matt. 

“You look a hell of a lot better since I last saw you.” Luke spoke and Spencer just nodded. 

“Why have we met in the gym? I can barely walk, let alone play sports.” Spencer directed at Matt. 

“We thought we could just bounce a ball around, give you a change of scenery.” Matt walked over towards the racks on the far wall that held an array of basketballs. 

“Sure.” Spencer chuckled. “Why not?” 

The three of them bounced a ball between them while Matt and Luke filled Spencer in on the goings on at the BAU. Apparently he’d missed a lot. 

Rossi and Krystall had gotten married, something Rossi hadn’t mentioned when he’d visited. He supposed it wasn’t a time to show off his happiness when Spencer was struggling, but he still wished the older man would have told him. Spencer hadn’t even noticed his wedding ring. 

Kristy was now pregnant for the fifth time and Matt was preparing his house for another baby. Spencer was happy for them but it left him feeling guilty. He’d been so wrapped up in himself that he’d become out of the loop in his friends lives. 

But the biggest news by far was delivered by Luke after Spencer’s leg had enough of standing and he was sitting on the floor watching the two men toss the ball between them. 

“So uh…I guess we should probably tell him?” Luke spoke to Matt as he caught the ball before throwing it back to the other man. 

“Tell me what?” Spencer frowned up at them from the ground. 

“Be my guest.” Matt replied, bouncing the ball a few times, the sound echoing throughout the gym. 

Luke sighed, running a hand through his dark hair before looking at Spencer. He moved closer to him and slid down to the floor, stretching his legs out in front of him. Spencer looked between Luke and Matt who stayed on his feet distracting himself with the ball. 

“Can someone tell me what’s going on?” Spencer folded his arms with a frown. 

“Emily got a call a few days ago from Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility.” Luke played with his hands in his lap. 

“Cat Adam’s facility?” Spencer croaked. 

“Yeah.” Luke sighed as he spoke. “She requested the death penalty. And her petition was granted. But uh…she’s asked to see you before she’s put to death, she wants to see you.”

“Fuck.” Spencer let his arms fall to his sides and he hung his head, furiously grinding his teeth. “She doesn’t want to go to her grave before she sees how much she fucked up my life.” 

“Emily wasn’t sure if telling you was a good idea. But we thought you had a right to know.” Matt held the ball in his arms, close to his chest. 

“That bitch will not be satisfied until she has completely destroyed me.” He reached into his sleeve and caressed your bracelet. 

“We uh…spoke to your doctor when we got here. As long as you're supervised they will grant you day release to visit her, if you want to.” Luke sounded guilty. 

Clearly they hadn’t discussed this with Emily. Spencer looked at Luke, a pained expression in his eyes. 

“That seems like a really dumb idea.” Spencer huffed out a breath, blood boiling his veins at the mere thought. “But I haven’t exactly been known for my good decision making recently.” 

“I get why Emily was skeptical about telling you. It could cause you more harm than good.” Matt nodded. 

“But it could also provide you closure.” Luke added. 

“This is the last thing I need.” Spencer grazed his fingers up and down the woven band. 

“We’re sorry man. We thought you’d rather know than be kept in the dark.” Luke looked guiltily at Matt. 

“How long?” Spencer closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the wall. 

“How long?” Matt questioned. 

“How long until she’s executed?” 

He was met by a few seconds of silence but he kept his eyes screwed tightly shut in the meanwhile. He knew Luke and Matt would be subconsciously trying to decide who would answer that. Eventually he heard Luke sigh before he spoke. 

“Two weeks. The judge had a rush put on it.” Luke croaked out. 

“Goddamnit.” Spencer groaned, opening his eyes and looking between the two men. “God-fucking-damnit.” 

“Just think about it. No one’s going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do.” Luke offered him a sad smile. 

“The last thing I need to do is think about Cat Adam’s.” Just saying her name made him want to use again. 

He needed to forget all about her and all the twisted, fucked up things she’d done to him. He didn’t want to think about her let alone see her. 

“I’m sorry, man. We didn’t want to…” Matt trailed off as his phone started to ring and he stepped away as he answered it. 

Luke glanced at Spencer who looked pale and like he suddenly had the weight of the world on his shoulders. 

“I’m really sorry.” He spoke softly. “We talked about it on the drive here and thought telling you was the best option. Maybe we were wrong.”

“I think I’d rather have known.” Spencer sighed.

“Do you think you’ll see her?” 

“I really don’t know right now. It’s a lot to process. I don’t think any good could come of seeing her. But also maybe it would give me closure. I don’t know.” He rubbed his eyes hard with his palms before looking back at Luke. “Luke?”

“Yeah?” 

“I’m uh…I’m sorry for the stuff I said and the way I acted the last time I saw you.” He felt his cheeks instantly redden. 

“It’s ok. Don’t worry about it. You didn’t mean it.” Luke also blushed. 

“I was…I was a mess.” Spencer chewed on his lip, averting his gaze again. 

“I get it. It’s fine, really. You were better than you were the last time I saw you before that.” 

He suddenly looked back at Luke, eyes wide. 

“W-when was that?” He choked on his words. 

“I guess six months ago?” Luke shrugged. “I was visiting Lisa at the hospital during her shift and I found you.” 

“In the hospital?” 

“Yeah. You were in a complete state….”

Luke happily traversed the corridor, bouquet of flowers in his hand as he made his way to find his girlfriend. He hummed a little as he walked, excited to see her after over a week away on a case. 

He made his way down the hall and through the ER which was the quickest route to the bank elevators which would take him to the physical therapy ward on the fourth floor. The ER was relatively quiet given it was a Tuesday afternoon and Luke manoeuvred through doctors and nurses weaving their way between beds. 

Suddenly a loud, angry voice cut through all the other noises in the emergency room, causing Luke to halt in his tracks. 

“I said don’t fucking touch me!” The voice screamed and Luke watched a doctor run towards a closed curtain of one of the bays. 

As the doctor pulled back the curtain, Luke was able to see the messy haired, painfully skinny man who was trying to fight off the doctors and nurses around him. 

“Don’t touch me!” He yelled again, swatting away a nurse. “I’m fine!” 

“Sir you are bleeding profusely. You need to let us take a look.” The doctor spoke calmly. 

Luke froze, the bouquet of flowers falling to the floor from his limp hand. 

“I don’t care! Don’t touch me!” 

Luke forced himself to move, stepping tentatively closer to the bay. He watched on in horror as the doctor tried to touch him again but was smacked in the arm. 

“Sir you have to let us check you out.” 

“No! Don’t touch me! Don’t fucking touch me!” 

Blood was seeping through his shirt from his stomach but every time someone tried to lift his shirt, they were batted away. 

“Someone get me sedative.” The doctor spoke over his shoulder. 

Luke’s legs had carried him closer until he was standing right by the open curtain. 

“No! No sedatives! Just leave me alone!” He fought off another doctor, sitting up in the bed and groaning in pain as he did so. 

His hand shot to his stomach and he doubled over. 

“You’re in a lot of pain, let us help you.” The doctor tried to help him lay back down. 

“I said I’m fine! Goddamnit go help someone who needs it!” 

A nurse handed the doctor a syringe of what Luke presumed to be a sedative and as the doctor turned he spotted Luke hovering.

“Excuse me sir, you shouldn’t be here.” The doctor told him but Luke ignored him, stepping closer still. 

“Reid?” Luke finally spoke and Spencer stopped fighting off doctors and looked up. 

Their eyes met but Luke could tell Spencer didn’t recognise him. He could also ascertain from the size of his pupils that he was high. 

“Sir please you need to-“

“Spencer?” Luke ignored the doctor again. “Spencer it’s me, Luke. Luke Alvez?” 

Spencer’s eyebrows furrowed as he stared at Luke for a moment or two. It seemed like a lifetime before recognition started to dawn on his features. 

“Luke!” He nodded frantically. “Luke, you gotta tell them I’m ok. Get them away from me.” 

“Can I take a look? Can I see where the bleeding is coming from?” Luke stepped closer to the bed. 

Spencer pulled a face but then sighed. 

“I guess.” He fumbled untucking his shirt from his slacks and peeled the blood soaked fabric away from his skin. 

He was morbidly slim, but the wound in his stomach and the blood pooling from it was more of a concern right now.

“What did you do?” Luke asked softly. 

“Stabbed myself.” Spencer shrugged like it was no big deal. “Worse than it looks. S’fine.” 

“You need to let the doctors help you, Reid. It’s pretty nasty.” 

“No!” Spencer yelled again, pulling his shirt down to cover the wound. “Nobody is touching me!” 

He suddenly started flailing again, more violently than before and smacked Luke in the face in the process. Luke growled at the impact and stepped backwards as the doctor came closer. He tried to grab at Spencer’s wrist but Spencer hit him too. 

“Don’t fucking touch me!” He screeched. “I’ll fucking kill you! Don’t touch me or I swear I’ll kill you!” 

The doctor tried again, this time managing to grasp Spencer’s wrist and forcibly roll his sleeve up. Luke recoiled when he saw the pulsing track marks beneath his shirt, feeling his stomach turn. As Spencer continued to kick and scream, the doctor managed to inject him with the sedative. 

“No! No!” He screamed again but soon he went silent and his limbs stopped thrashing and fell heavily to the bed. 

Luke stumbled backwards while doctors clamoured over his friend. His heart beat frantically in his chest and he felt tears stinging his eyes as he backed out of the bay and the curtains were once again drawn, shielding Spencer from his view. 

“I ended up hanging around to make sure you were ok. They took you into surgery and patched you up but I was too scared to see you when you woke up. I should have stayed. I was a coward.” Luke shook his head sadly. 

“I probably wouldn’t have been happy to see you if that makes you feel any better.” Spencer subconsciously ran his fingers over his stomach. At least that explained the mysterious scar on his abdomen. 

Just then Matt headed back towards them, pocketing his phone. 

“The doctor has put Kristy on bed rest so I need to get back to help with the kids.” He smiled sadly. 

Luke pushed himself up from the ground before helping Spencer to his feet. 

“Thanks for coming guys. I really appreciated the distraction.” Spencer coiled his arms around his waist. 

“I’m sorry if what we told you makes things worse for you. We just thought you had a right to know.” Matt squeezed his shoulder. 

“It’s ok.” Spencer shrugged, following them towards the door of the gym. 

Luke held the door open for him as he limped out and once outside he turned to Spencer.

“If you decide you want to see her, call me ok? I can go with you if you need me to.” Luke reached out for him and Spencer found himself falling into Luke’s arms.

He clung to the other man as though he was his only lifeline. Tears sprung behind his eyes but he refused to let them fall. 

“Thank you. I’ll think about it.” As if he’d be able to think of anything else. 

When the hug ended he sniffed back any tears still threatening to escape. He waved goodbye to them both as his arms snaked around his own waist again, holding himself by way of protecting him against all the evil in the world. 

Or at the very least, it might protect him against thoughts of Cat Adam’s. 

@andiebeaword @muffin-cup @takeyourleap-of-faith @ssa-uglywhore27 @tiredmilky @thatsonezesty13 @1mechanicalalligator @elle-28

@dreatine @matthew-gray-gubler-lover @people-whatabunchofbastards @spencer-reid-wonderland @thebloomingeagle

[sweet-sammy-kisses]

You've Got Me Captured

For the @jaytimweek day 1 prompt photography  Rating: Teen Words: 637 Summary: "Are you pouting? Are you upset that Dex-Starr is getting all of Timmy's attention?" Dick teased.Jason sent a glare at the all too amused Dick who was hanging around for some reason. 

Crossing his arms Jason leveled a glare at Dick, "Who was it who sulked for two weeks when he was denied cuddles from Tim because Dex-Starr hissed at him as he snuggled Tim?"

 Jason reminded his older brother.A dark cloud appeared over Dick's head one that disappeared the moment Jason laughed and the next thing Dick was letting out a small war cry as he tackled Jason.

Tim ignored his brawling boyfriend and older brother as he kept taking photos of his beloved cat. "You are such a good kitty."

You can read it on AO3

Jason had heard about Timbit's love of photography from Dick, who had taken it upon himself to track him down in one of his safe houses and after an epic fight - which Jason still claims to this day Dick cheated - Dick proceed to sit on Jason and show him little stalker Tim's photos and of course, brag that he had the most pictures.

Jason knew that it had been Dick's way of showing Jason that Tim hadn't replaced him but admired him and wanted to save Bruce from himself which Dick backed his claim by showing him cowl footage of Bruce beating up petty criminals just stealing to feed their families needed to be hospitalized, their bills magical paid by a small hacker.

It loosened something in Jason's that he hadn't been replaced and that the old man loved and mourned him, he just wished that Bruce didn't lose himself in the darkness and have to be saved by Tim but now he understands why Tim is considered Batman Light.

It took weeks for Jason to track down Tim and find him without his shadow Black Bat, there were few people that scared him and at the top of that list is Cassandra Cain-Wayne who was extremely protective over her little brother Tim. It hadn't been easy to get Cass to understand that he didn't mean any harm to Tim.

"What do you want Hood?" Tim asked and Jason could see the tight grip he had on his bo staff.

"Here this is for you." Jason thrust the camera he had hunted down for Tim.

Tim looked at it in awe, "Thank you, Jason."

The last thing Jason expected was for Tim to dart forward and place a quick kiss on his cheek.

Frozen Jason could do nothing but hold his cheek where Tim had kissed him as he watched the other man grapple away.

It took a month later before Jason managed to work up the courage to ask Tim out. Something Roy still teased him about.

Jason was all for Tim's love for photography; he just wasn't thrilled about his subject.

"Who is the best kitty ever? You are, yes you are." Tim cooed.

Jason still had no clue how the hell Tim managed to adopt Dex-Starr the Red Lantern of all cats.

"Are you pouting? Are you upset that Dex-Starr is getting all of Timmy's attention?" Dick teased.

Jason sent a glare at the all too amused Dick who was hanging around for some reason. Crossing his arms Jason leveled a glare at Dick, "Who was it who sulked for two weeks when he was denied cuddles from Tim because Dex-Starr hissed at him as he snuggled Tim?" Jason reminded his older brother.

A dark cloud appeared over Dick's head one that disappeared the moment Jason laughed and the next thing Dick was letting out a small war cry as he tackled Jason.

Tim ignored his brawling boyfriend and older brother as he kept taking photos of his beloved cat. "You are such a good kitty."

Later that night Tim straddled Jason's tank-like thighs and happily took photos of his boyfriend. "You don't have anything to worry about, you are the only one I photograph like this."

Grasping Tim's hips Jason growled out, "I better be baby bird, I better be. Because I don't share what is mine and you are mine."

Putting aside his camera Tim lowered his body so it rested atop of Jason's, "I like being yours. Now why don't you make sure everyone knows it?"

Flipping them over so Tim was beneath him Jason kissed Tim deeply and passionately and it didn't take long for Tim to beg Jason for more.

In his room, Dex curled up on his top-of-the-line cat bed and ignored his human and his mate mating.

[now-we-say-c0ral]

May 28, 2023

Woke up around 8am this morning and the room was lit by the sun in such a lovely manner that you wouldn't mind waking up tired from yesterday's walk. Had a steamy morning cuddle with Eddie and he went down so that he could write in his journal. He made me coffee downstairs and offered me a banana for an early breakfast.

We were going to Fell Foot today to do some water activities in the lake. We drove and got to the venue around 10:30am and we were a bit early for our schedules so we just took photographs of the lakeside. Romney was very generous to take some photos of me and Ed and they were really cute, I must admit. We went paddle boarding and after 5 minutes Nico and Eddie already fell from their paddleboats while Romney and I were a bit more confident with the water. The lake was murky and dark and that scares me a bit. I can swim well but I would never really swim in a lake. I even asked the receptionist earlier if the lake had any creature that could potentially harm us because I wouldn't even dare go near it if it had any snapping turtles, big cat fishes, crocodiles, and etc. Luckily she said that they only had harmless non-venomous snakes and eels. Okay, phew! Relief! It was so fun but Ed was really nervous because he's afraid of the water. He better not be when we go to Antalya. I'm going to make him scuba dive with me.

After Fell Foot we drove to Ambleside and had some nice Mexican burritos. It was made by a real mexican lady who was the shop owner's wife. 10/10 would eat again if I ever go back. We also bought some CBD vapes which I haven't tried before. We then went to some shops and I bought a cute jacket for biking and we played some mini golf. I got second place by a fraction after Nico and Ed ranked last, poor him. The look of losing on his face. Definitely my baby boy.

We had dinner in Windermere in a chinese restaurant and it was quite okay for the price and we went back to Barrow and watched London Has Fallen via a DVD.

I borrowed Ed's phone because I had suspicions that he might be hiding something. We had a heated argument but reconciled after but it's going to be a bit hard for me to make things seem normal the next day.

[wuffy-chuffs]

Genshin Impact Vampire AU

Mondstadt

Diluc - Vampire

- He was born a vampire

- Crepus was a vampire who was killed by hunters

- Resistant to fire

- The Ragnvindr’s closest servants are aware of the family’s vampirism and allow themselves to be fed upon

- Diluc only feeds upon those who allow it and never employs vampiric mind control to do so, although he is very capable of it

- He has vampiric arithmomania

- He cannot enter another person’s home without being invited in

- Hates his vampiric nature

- Dislikes the feeling of blood in his mouth

- Can transform into a great horned owl

Kaeya - Vampire

- Kaeya was born a human, but was turned by Diluc when they were preteens. Diluc didn’t mean to do it, but he lost control. That event is the cause of much of Diluc’s guilt, though Kaeya doesn’t resent him for it

- Crepus helped him through his transformation

- Kaeya employs mind control to compel folk to let him feed off them. They have no memory of what happened afterwards

- He cannot enter other’s homes without being invited in

- He can transform into a snowy owl

Rosaria - Vampire and Vampire Hunter

- Rosaria is a hunter who was turned after surviving an attack

- Hates her own nature as a vampire and still actively hunts other vampires, but now only hunts vampires who kill or turn humans

- She needs to feed, so she attacks random people at night. She only takes what she needs and never does serious harm

- She can walk on holy ground and isn’t repelled by religious symbols

- Extremely vulnerable to sunlight

- Can transform into a natterer’s bat

Albedo - Vampire and Witch

- He just suddenly appeared

- Feeds off Sucrose

- Isn’t affected by sunlight

- Doesn’t cast a shadow

- Can be harmed by a branch of wild rose or hawthorn

- Can’t create more vampires

- Was hunted by Rosaria before she was turned

- Helped Rosaria through her transformation

- As a vampire he can transform into a lesser mouse earred bat

- As a witch, he takes the form of a snow ferret

Sucrose - Witch

- Allows Albedo to feed off her

- Does bone magic

- Takes the forms of a deer, a dog, and a cat

Alice and Klee - Witches

- takes the form of crimson foxes

Lisa - Witch

- Knows the identity of most, if not all vampires and witches in Mondstadt

- Razor is pretty much her pet dog on full moons

- Takes the forms of a brown cat, and a short-eared owl

Mona - Witch

- Takes the form of a black cat

Razor - Werewolf

- Mondstadt city doesn’t have any werewolf hunters, so it’s a pretty safe place for werewolves, provided they aren’t violent and don’t cause any trouble

- There are hunters outside the city so villages can be really dangerous for werewolves

- Razor was bitten when he was a baby, so he was socialised when he was transformed as a puppy

- His parents died trying to protect him from the attacking werewolf

- He was rescued by a group of wolves, his lupical

Diona - Witch

- Curses drinks of customers that are belligerent (nothing dangerous)

- Takes the form of a cat

Eula - Vampire

- The Lawrence clan are vampires that kill their prey

- Eula resents them for that and doesn’t drink from people without their consent

- Mainly feeds off Amber

- Has to be invited in before entering a home

- Can transform into a Mediterranean horseshoe bat

Barbara - Witch

- Takes the form of a white dove

Fischl - Vampire and Witch

- Was turned when she was a child

- Started studying witchcraft in hopes of reversing her vampirism

- Feeds off Mona and Bennett

- Doesn’t show up in photographs

- As a witch, she takes the form of a crow

- As a vampire, she can transform into a western barbastelle

Bonus:

Dainsleif - Vampire

- Was cursed with vampirism

- Employs vampiric mind control

- Can be harmed by a branch of wild rose or hawthorn

- Can’t enter a home without being invited in, it doesn’t really affect him because he doesn’t talk to people

- Has vampiric arithmomania

- Can transform into a white-winged vampire bad

[fiberfaerie]

I recently fell back into a pit of depression, so while climbing out I thought a great way to feel better would be to make some frog hats for the boys. ♡

I couldn't even get one normal picture, just 20+ of them both giving me the stink eye.

Shoutout to the awesome author of the pattern for this hat because it was so thoroughly well done!! ☆

[lemondropdancer]

Grounding Techniques

Mental Distraction Techniques

Pick a category of objects and try to think of as many objects as possible that fit within that category (e.g., types of dogs, cities, types of trees, crayon colors, sports)

Pick a letter and think of emotionally positive or neutral words that begin with that letter

Pick a color and look for things of that color. Notice differences in their exact shades

Say or think the alphabet backwards or alternate letters and numbers (A1, B2, C3, D4, etc)

Count backwards from 100 by 3s, 6s, or 7s or count up by prime numbers or perfect squares

Play "fizz-buzz" with yourself. Begin counting to 100 (or over!), but replace any number that contains the number 5 or is a multiple of 5 with the word "fizz" and any number that contains the number 7 or is a multiple of 7 with the word "buzz." For example, 1-15 would be "1, 2, 3, 4, fizz, 6, buzz, 8, 9, fizz, 11, 12, 13, buzz, fizz." When you mess up, compliment yourself and start over

Think of the words to your favorite song or poem or think of facts related to a specific theme

Pick a word or your name and see how many other words you can make from the letters in it

Describe an every day event or process in great detail, listing all of the steps in order and as thoroughly as possible (e.g., how to cook a meal, how to get from your house to your place of work or school, how to do your favorite dance)

Read something technical or meant for children or read words backwards to focus on the process of reading and not the words

Watch a children's television show or movie or watch cute or funny videos on Youtube; it might help to have a playlist already prepared for this

Look at a current news article that is not likely to be upsetting or distressing

Distract yourself with Tetris, Solitaire, Sudoku, word searches, or other puzzle games

Reorientation Techniques

Say or think to yourself: "My name is _________. I am safe right now. I am _____ years old. I am currently at _____________. The date is _____________. If I need help, I am with ________/can call _________. Everything is going to be alright."

List reaffirming statements ("I am fine. Everything is going to be okay. I am strong. I can handle this.")

Ask yourself where you are, what day of the week it is, what day of the month it is, what month it is, what year it is, what season it is, how old you are, and other present-focused questions

Notice things in your surroundings that indicate to you that you're safe or that you're in the present (e.g., locks on your door, electronics that didn't exist when you were younger, the presence of trusted people, a phone so that you can call for help if you need it)

Describe your surroundings in detail, including sights (objects, textures, shapes, colors), sounds, smells, and temperature

Name five things that you see, four that you feel, three that you hear, and two that you smell or taste, and then name one good thing that you like about yourself

Pick four or five brightly colored objects that are easily visible and move your focus between them. Be sure to vary the order of your gaze and concentrate briefly on each one before moving to the next

Think about a fun time that you recently had with a friend or call that friend and ask them to talk about it with you

Sensory-Based Grounding Techniques

Run cool or warm (but not too cold or hot) water over your hands or take a cool or warm bath or shower

Spritz your face (with eyes closed), neck, arms, and hands with a fine water mist

Spray yourself with your favorite perfume and focus on the scent

Feel the weight of your body in your chair or on the floor and the weight of your clothing on your skin

Touch and hold objects around you. Compare the feel, weight, temperature, textures, colors, and materials

Keep a small object with you to touch or play with when you get triggered. Good examples include a smooth stone, a fidget toy, jewelry, or a tiny plushy

Bite into a lemon, orange, or lime, suck on a sour or minty candy or an ice cube, chew cinnamon-flavored gum, or put a few drops of Tabasco sauce on your tongue. Notice the flavor, scent, and texture

Eat something or drink warm tea, coffee, or hot chocolate, and describe to yourself the taste and texture in great detail

Place a cool wash cloth on your face or hold something cold like a can of soda

Listen to soothing or familiar music. If possible, dance to it

Hum, sing, recite poetry, or make up a silly poem or story as you go

Pick up a book and read the first paragraph out loud

Hug another person (if interpersonal touch isn't a trigger). Pay attention to your own pressure and the physical sensations of doing so

Hug a tree! Register the smells of being outside, the wind, and the sights around you

Movement-Based Grounding Techniques

Breathe deeply and slowly and count your breaths

Grab tightly onto your chair or press your feet against the ground as firmly as you can

Rub your palms and clap your hands or wiggle your toes within your socks. Pay attention to the physical sensation of doing so

Stretch out your arms or legs, roll your head on your neck, or clench and unclench your fists

Stomp your feet, walk around, run, jump, ride a bike, do jumping jacks, or do yoga

While walking, notice each footstep and say to yourself "right" and "left" to correspond with the foot currently moving

Squeeze a pillow, stuffed animal, or ball

If you have a soft pet (dog or cat), brush its fur and stroke it. If you don't, brush your own hair slowly and without pulling too much

Color in an adult coloring book, finger paint, or draw anything that comes to mind without worrying about quality

Write whatever comes to mind even if it's nonsense. Try not to write about whatever is upsetting you until you're more capable of doing so without increasing the upset

Write a list of things that make you happy or look for cheerful pictures to make into a collage

Pop bubble wrap or blow and pop actual bubbles

Dig in the dirt or garden, jump on a pile of leaves, or splash around in puddles or mud

Rip up paper or stomp on aluminum cans to crush them

Imagery Techniques

Picture yourself breathing in relaxation, calm, positive feelings, or strength. Picture yourself breathing out whatever is upsetting you. It may help to pair this with imagery of breathing in soothing colors (usually blue, purple, or green) and out more intense colors (usually red or black)

If you need to relax, envision a soothing white or golden light slowly moving up your body, warming and relaxing every part of you that it touches. You can also think of it as protecting you from negativity or from harm

If the problem is intense or uncomfortable emotions, physical sensations, or memories, picture them being surrounded and neutralized by a bright and healing light, temporarily placed in a mental box to be stored for later, or dialed back by an internal controller of intensity

If you have a clear mental picture of what's upsetting you, mentally change it to something silly or harmless. If you're a fan of Harry Potter, cast a mental "riddikulus" to banish the negativity

Picture yourself calm, focused, and able to tackle whatever problems you're facing. Focus on how that would feel in the moment. What would your expression and posture be like? Make whatever changes you need to in order to make your reality reflect your goal

How to Make a Grounding Box

Get a box or basket

Personalize and decorate it with construction paper, wrapping paper, ribbon, stickers, drawings, paint, photographs, glitter, sequins, or anything else that you like

Keep within it:

A list of grounding techniques that you know work for you

A list of positive affirmations and happy memories

A list of the contact information of trusted friends or family who are willing to help and support you

Small sensory objects such as: scented candles, perfumes, or lotions; hard candies or gum; soft fabrics, a stress ball, a stuffed animal, or a fidget toy; happy pictures of you with friends; a CD with relaxing music or meditation tracks. Try to cover all of the senses

A list of possible distractions such as books to read or movies to watch

Small portable distractions such as a pack of playing cards, a small game, or a joke book

A list of comforting things to do such as taking a bubble bath, snuggling up in bed, or meditating

A small journal or notebook

In the Case of a Flashback

Tell yourself that you are having a flashback and are safe now

Remind yourself that the worst is over, and you survived it. What you're feeling now is just a reminder of that trauma and does not fit the present moment

Remind yourself of when and where you are, who you're currently with, and who you can contact if you need help (use the reorientation-focused grounding techniques)

Breathe deeply and slowly. Count your breathes and make sure that you're getting enough air

Use other mental, sensory, movement, and imagery techniques in order to distract yourself, calm yourself, and reorient yourself within the present

If possible or necessary, go somewhere where you can be alone or with a close friend, where you will feel safe, or where you feel protected or shielded

If there is anyone who you can trust or who will support you, reach out to them, let them know what happened, and let them know what you need, what would be best for you, or what they could do to help

Be gentle with yourself and take the time to really recover. If what helps you to recover is to color, take a bubble bath, hug a stuffed animal, or watch a children's movie and if it would not be disruptive to do such things at that point in time, embrace those options whole-heartedly

If possible, note or write down what triggered the flashback, what techniques you tried to use to disrupt the flashback, and what techniques helped

[bizarrequazar]

07-18 (CST) Fanmeet Video Space Notes

This was a space hosted by QuelleVous, joined by Naan, Bluebird, Flora, followerno65, and Zfan. The primary topic of discussion was the video that was released the previous day of a supposed fanmeet “Zhang Zhehan” was present at, with some discussion as well about some information uncovered because of the Vox article. [Recording]

First off a warning: Things are going to get worse before they get better.

Xie Yihua and co. have plans to spread misinformation to CPFs who are on the fence (ie. those who believe the account but still like Gong Jun) that Zhang Zhehan is under duress from his mother who is threatening self-harm to get him to comply, forcing him to indirectly launder money for his brand and the tea shop.

Fanmeet Video

Multiple body doubles for Zhang Zhehan exist, who are used for different purposes (ex. deepfake video vs golf videos, etc.) Therefore, it’s not unreasonable to assume they also have a body doubles for Xiao Yu and Zhang Mama.

Reiteration that Xie Yihua and co. are trying to take advantage of people’s emotional response to things like this video. Take a step back and take some time off if you need to.

This is not a third-rate scammer behind this, it’s CAPA. They’re basically the mafia of c-ent, they have a lot of power and resources. Don’t underestimate them.

The “Xiao Yu” in the video is dressed like he did when he was actively working as Zhang Zhehan’s assitant, this doesn’t make sense for someone who is just living his life. They are playing off of what we the audience will recognize as him.

The sources for the video are claiming it is taken yesterday (07-17) and that the event was over by 4pm.

At no point in the video does anyone in it say Zhang Zhehan’s name. They did ask things like “Is that him?” when he walked in.

“Zhang Zhehan” in the video claims it was a spontanious meetup, but people who claim to have gone said they knew about it in advance.

“Spontanious” yet they have a video recorder, a photographer, a make up artist, Xiao Yu, Zhang Mama, the cat, and Lexus present?

From a PR point of view, this fanmeet makes no sense.

The cards “Zhang Zhehan” signs in the video have 05-11 written on them.

The grand opening of this tea shop was 05-08. Some videos and photos were “leaked” of this opening which showed a woman claimed to be Zhang Mama. It was a similar situation where only some people knew about it.

Xie Yihua and co. had said pre-05-11 that something big was being planned for his birthday, yet nothing happened. It’s possible that this video was planned to be released then but was put on hold due to the Instagram being deactivated and/or COVID lockdowns that were happening at the time that would have made it hard to explain how Zhang Zhehan could be there.

Someone there said that he was only willing to sign those card and refused to sign other things that people asked him to. This fan claimed it was because someone tried to get him to sign a CP photo.

Shenzhen is not currently in lockdown but you need a negative PCR test to access public transport, shops can only work at limited capacity with no on-site customers (ie. takeaway/delivery).

Reiteration that Zhang Mama never owned the Shenzhen tea shop nor any other physical tea shop. The original tea shop was owned by Chen Liying, that company was deregistered last September. A new company was registered for the physical tea shop by two of her relatives. This tea shop is a franchise of Bao Deng Yuan. All of this can be seen through public records.

Legally you cannot find Zhang Zhehan’s PCR tests as people have claimed, doing so is illegal. Don’t do it. QuelleVous asks that people stop sending her these.

There is also currently a 40°C heatwave over Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Another disgraced star recently tried to have a fanmeet and was roasted to hell and back for it. Passersby do not like this sort of behaviour. 

“Zhang Zhehan” having this fanmeet has already been spread around, saying that he’s using it to try to cut leeks. 

It is not on hotsearch though, likely not from lack of trying. Weibo are likely being careful because they’re taking money to do shit but they don’t want to get in trouble for it. Regardless, don’t be surprised if it gets on hotsearch.

Candy break! Around June 2021, Zhang Zhehan and his staff were photographed at an airport carrying a Louis Vuitton bag. This bag had not even become available for pre-order yet (QV checked), and the only people who would have had access to it would be their spokespeople (aka Gong Jun.)

Lexus seems to be taking over some of Sophie’s duties, moving more into the front line. 

Lexus keeps bragging about having graduated from Arizona State University. Flora says this is not an accomplishment at all given that he would be an international student and therefore the schools are trying to meet a certian quota. Naan seconds this.

Toxic accounts have been weirdly protective of Lexus.

Info found through the Vox article

Zfan looked into every source used in the Vox article. Much of it is literally the first Google result. Two articles from Reuters about Yasukuni Shrine were found this way, the latter of which was referenced in the Vox article.

The first article is from August 3rd 2020. It discussed the cherry blossoms but did not say much about the shrine’s controversy, referring to it as a “haunting legacy.” 

The second article is from August 14 2021. This one is almost the exact same, but now edited to talk about people praying at the shrine and very much talks about it being controversial with China. 

Zfan reached out to someone working in news media and asked if reposting an edited version of an old article is normal, they said absolutely not, and that no legitimate news agency would do that. 

Both of these articles came out of the Tokyo office.

6 hours after 2021 article—only a few hours after the CAPA ban notice—an article was released from Reuter’s Beijing office about Zhang Zhehan which includes clear mistakes (ex. him visiting the shrine twice, in 2018 and 2019). Anyone who was looking up the shrine that day would have seen these two articles.

The person who wrote these articles has not been found yet.

For CAPA to utilize a news agency like Reuters shows just how far their reach is.

Closing Reminders

Xie Yihua and co. are posting things like this video as distractions—keeping track of all of this is exhausting, especially if you’re relying on it because you’re still on the fence about whether it’s really him. (Spoiler: It’s not.)

Again on the question of why Zhang Zhehan doesn’t say anything: You only get one chance to clarify for yourself in situations like his. The public only gives you so much time, they don’t care about you after that. You’re not going to take that chance until you’re sure you’re ready, and you want to address foremost what is most important. 

He has to pick his battles, he has to pick his timing. It’s not up to us to decide.

He is the one pressing charges against CAPA, he is not the defendent. 

This keeps being pulled back to a fandom issue when it is and should be a social issue. 

Zhang Zhehan is going to focus on his actual case, not these fandom distractions that are obviously trying to bait him out and decrease the value of his fandom.

The end goal—the one all of us want, no matter what our stance on the Instagram is, whether we’re a CPF or a solo or whatever—is for him to be able to speak for himself. That is what we are all waiting for. That is what is important.

You are the main character of your own life, don’t center your entire life around him. Do good for yourself and be someone you can be proud of.

Concluding candy!

Naan’s: Ace Actress, how all the photos and footage of them were very touchy feely and how they pushed their chairs closer together. Also the way that Zhang Zhehan mentioned on screen and talked to the industry people there about how prepared Gong Jun always is—that is exactly what producers want to hear when they’re looking for who to hire. It really shows how much Zhang Zhehan respects and cares about Gong Jun. 

Zfan’s: The photo Gong Jun posted where he had blue shaving cream on his face from when he was on the previous season of Go Fighting!. 

[notsoheadless]

Remember Longcat, Jane? I remember Longcat. Fuck the picture on this page, I want to talk about Longcat. Memes were simpler back then, in 2006. They stood for something. And that something was nothing. Memes just were. “Longcat is long.” An undeniably true, self-reflexive statement. Water is wet, fire is hot, Longcat is long. Memes were floating signifiers without signifieds, meaningful in their meaninglessness. Nobody made memes, they just arose through spontaneous generation; Athena being birthed, fully formed, from her own skull.     You could talk about them around the proverbial water cooler, taking comfort in their absurdity. “Hey, Johnston, have you seen the picture of that cat? They call it Longcat because it’s long!” “Ha ha, sounds like good fun, Stevenson! That reminds me, I need to show you this webpage I found the other day; it contains numerous animated dancing hamsters. It’s called — you’ll never believe this — hamsterdance!” And then Johnston and Stevenson went on to have a wonderful friendship based on the comfortable banality of self-evident digitized animals.     But then 2007 came, and along with it came I Can Has, and everything was forever ruined. It was hubris, Jane. We did it to ourselves. The minute we added written language beyond the reflexive, it all went to shit. Suddenly memes had an excess of information to be parsed. It wasn’t just a picture of a cat, perhaps with a simple description appended to it; now the cat spoke to us via a written caption on the picture itself. It referred to an item of food that existed in our world but not in the world of the meme, rupturing the boundary between the two. The cat wanted something. Which forced us to recognize that what it wanted was us, was our attention. WE are the cheezburger, Jane, and we always were. But by the time we realized this, it was too late. We were slaves to the very memes that we had created. We toiled to earn the privilege of being distracted by them. They fiddled while Rome burned, and we threw ourselves into the fire so that we might listen to the music. The memes had us. Or, rather, they could has us.     And it just got worse from there. Soon the cats had invisible bicycles and played keyboards. They gained complex identities, and so we hollowed out our own identities to accommodate them. We prayed to return to the simple days when we would admire a cat for its exceptional length alone, the days when the cat itself was the meme and not merely a vehicle for the complex memetic text. And the fact that this text was so sparse, informal, and broken ironically made it even more demanding. The intentional grammatical and syntactical flaws drew attention to themselves, making the meme even more about the captioning words and less about the pictures. Words, words, words. Wurds werds wordz. Stumbling through a crooked, dead-end hallway of a mangled clause describing a simple feline sentiment was a torture that we inflicted on ourselves daily. Let’s not forget where the word “caption” itself comes from: capio, Latin for both “I understand” and “I capture.” We thought that by captioning the memes, we were understanding them. Instead, our captions allowed them to capture us. The memes that had once been a cure for our cultural ills were now the illness itself.     It goes right back to the Phaedrus, really. Think about it. Back in the innocent days of 2006, we naïvely thought that the grapheme had subjugated the phoneme, that the belief in the primacy of the spoken word was an ancient and backwards folly on par with burning witches or practicing phrenology or thinking that Smash Mouth was good. Fucking Smash Mouth. But we were wrong. About the phoneme, I mean. Theuth came to us again, this time in the guise of a grinning grey cat. The cat hungered, and so did Theuth. He offered us an updated choice, and we greedily took it, oblivious to the consequences. To borrow the parlance of a contemporary meme, he baked us a pharmakon, and we eated it.     Pharmakon, φάρμακον, the Greek word that means both “poison” and “cure,” but, because of the

limitations of the English language, can only be translated one way or the other depending on the context and the translator’s whims. No possible translation can capture the full implications of a Greek text including this word. In the Phaedrus, writing is the pharmakon that the trickster god Theuth offers, the toxin and remedy in one. With writing, man will no longer forget; but he will also no longer think. A double-edged (s)word, if you will. But the new iteration of the pharmakon is the meme. Specifically, the post-I-Can-Has memescape of 2007 onward. And it was the language that did it, Jane. The addition of written language twisted the remedy into a poison, flipped the pharmakon on its invisible axis.     In retrospect, it was in front of our eyes all along. Meme. The noxious word was given to us by who else but those wily ancient Greeks themselves. μίμημα, or mīmēma. Defined as an imitation, a copy. The exact thing Plato warned us against in the Republic. Remember? The simulacrum that is two steps removed from the perfection of the original by the process of — note the root of the word — mimesis. The Platonic ideal of an object is the source: the father, the sun, the ghostly whole. The corporeal manifestation of the object is one step removed from perfection. The image of the object (be it in letters or in pigments) is two steps removed. The author is inferior to the craftsman is inferior to God.     Fuck, out of space. Okay, the illustration on page 46 is fucking useless; I’ll see you there. (21) But we’ll go farther than Plato. Longcat, a photograph, is a textbook example of a second-degree mimesis. (We might promote it to the third degree since the image on the internet is a digital copy of the original photograph of the physical cat which is itself a copy of Platonic ideal of a cat (the Godcat, if you will); but this line of thought doesn’t change anything in the argument.) The text-supplemented meme, on the other hand, the captioned cat, is at an infinite remove from the Godcat, the ultimate mimesis, copying the copy of itself eternally, the written language and the image echoing off each other, until it finally loops back around to the truth by virtue of being so far from it. It becomes its own truth, the fidelity of the eternal copy. It becomes a God.     Writing itself is the archetypical pharmakon and the archetypical copy, if you’ll come back with me to the Phaedrus (if we ever really left it). Speech is the real deal, Socrates says, with a smug little wink to his (written) dialogic buddy. Speech is alive, it can defend itself, it can adapt and change. Writing is its bastard son, the mimic, the dead, rigid simulacrum. Writing is a copy, a mīmēma, of truth in speech. To return to our analogous issue: the image of the cheezburger cat, the copy of the picture-copy-copy, is so much closer to the original Platonic ideal than the written language that accompanies it. (“Pharmakon” can also mean “paint.” Think about it, Jane. Just think about it.) The image is still fake, but it’s the caption on the cat that is the downfall of the republic, the real fakeness, which is both realer and faker than whatever original it is that it represents.    Men and gods abhor the lie, Plato says in sections 382 a and b of the Republic. οὐκ οἶσθα, ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ, ὅτι τό γε ὡς ἀληθῶς ψεῦδος, εἰ οἷόν τε τοῦτο εἰπεῖν, πάντες θεοί τε καὶ ἄνθρωποι μισοῦσιν; πῶς, ἔφη, λέγεις; οὕτως, ἦν δ᾽ ἐγώ, ὅτι τῷ κυριωτάτῳ που ἑαυτῶν ψεύδεσθαι καὶ περὶ τὰ κυριώτατα οὐδεὶς ἑκὼν ἐθέλει, ἀλλὰ πάντων μάλιστα φοβεῖται ἐκεῖ αὐτὸ κεκτῆσθαι. “Don’t you know,” said I, “that the veritable lie, if the expression is permissible, is a thing that all gods and men abhor?” “What do you     mean?” he said. “This,” said I, “that falsehood in the most vital part of themselves, and about their most vital concerns, is something that no one willingly accepts, but it is there above all that everyone fears it.” Man’s worst fear is that he will hold existential falsehood within himself. And the verbal lies that he tells are a copy of this feared dishonesty in the soul.

Plato goes on to elaborate: “the falsehood in words is a copy of the affection in the soul, an after-rising image of it and not an altogether unmixed falsehood.” A copy of man’s false internal copy of truth. And what word does Plato use for “copy” in this sentence? That’s fucking right, μίμημα. Mīmēma. Mimesis. Meme. The new meme is a lie, manifested in (written) words, that reflects the lack of truth, the emptiness, within the very soul of a human. The meme is now not only an inferior copy, it is a deceptive copy.     But just wait, it gets better. Plato continues in the very next section of the Republic, 382 c. Sometimes, he says, the lie, the meme, is appropriate, even moral. It is not abhorrent to lie to your enemy, or to your friend in order to keep him from harm. “Does it [the lie] not then become useful to avert the evil—as a medicine?” You get one fucking guess for what Greek word is being translated as “medicine” in this passage. Ding ding motherfucking ding, you got it, φάρμακον, pharmakon. The μίμημα is a φάρμακον, the lie is a medicine/poison, the meme is a pharmakon.     But I’m sure that by now you’ve realized the (intentional) mistake in my argument that brought us to this point. I said earlier that the addition of written language to the meme flipped the pharmakon on its axis. But the pharmakon didn’t flip, it doesn’t have an axis. It was always both remedy and poison. The fact that this isn’t obvious to us from the very beginning of the discussion is the fault of, you guessed it, language. The initial lie (writing) clouds our vision and keeps us from realizing how false the second-order lie (the meme) is.     The very structure of the lying meme mirrors the structure of the written word that defines and corrupts it. Once you try to identify an “outside” in order to reveal the lie, the whole framework turns itself inside-out so that you can never escape it. The cat wants the cheezburger that exists outside the meme, but only through the meme do we become aware of the presumed existence of the cheezburger — we can’t point out the absurdity of the world of the meme without also indicting our own world. We can’t talk about language without language, we can’t meme without mimesis. Memes didn’t change between ‘06 and ‘07, it was us who changed. Or rather, our understanding of what we had always been changed. The lie became truth, the remedy became the poison, the outside became the inside. Which is to say that the truth became lie, the pharmakon was always the remedy and the poison, and the inside retreated further inside. It all came full circle. Because here’s the secret, Jane. Language ruined the meme, yes. But language itself had already been ruined. By that initial poisonous, lying copy. Writing.     The First Meme.     Language didn’t attack the meme in 2007 out of spite. It attacked it to get revenge.     Longcat is long. Language is language. Pharmakon is pharmakon. The phoneme topples the grapheme, witches ride through the night, our skulls hide secret messages on their surfaces, Smash Mouth is good after all. Hey now, you’re an all-star. Get your game on.     Go play.

[dearest-painter]

2(????)

Camera for the soul

TW/CW:Yandere behavior, unhealthy behavior, unhealthy relationship,abusive relationship,abusive behavior,Yandere escape the night,Y/N is a gender neutral but dresses masculine,Y/N is the photographer who can see ghost and other things with their camera,It’s mentioned Y/N has one eye but it doesn’t say who if they lost it or just cover it,It’s a new season and everyone from Season 2 is in there,Timothy isn’t a YouTube just some helper,Gabbie is replaced by Matt,a few ocs sprinkled in,Murder

Waiting for the others to leave you grabbed Alex’s wrist pointing to the Library. He knew you wanted to look in there but you almost die but you were stubborn so you two went. Fighting the feeling of coughing up blood you went in. “Find a dagger,we need it” “okay?” “Camera” “ah okay” your eyes or eye were like cats easy to see things so you started to look through books to see if you found anything unusually. It seems Alex found it under the desk but you both jogged to catch up. Seems like no one noticed you were missing or so you thought,Destrom notice as his rival wasn’t there and so you weren’t either.

He was worried about you even though you could take care of yourself. You were feisty yet sweet,stubborn yet understanding,smart yet oblivious,Protective,willing to risk your life as you did in the past everything that attracted him to you just a big box of mysteries. Soon Father snapped. “IM SORRY! YOU CANT HARM THESE PEOPLE LIKE YOUVE HARMED OUR DAUGHTER! I’LL NEVER FORGIVE! RUN NOW!” You all were shocked expect you so you all ran. You and Alex ran up around trying to get behind mama. “GET OVER HERE YOU DISRESPECTFUL BRATS!” She was about to slam her pickaxe down on Tana but you jumped on her stabbing her in the throat causing the dagger to gaze your chest.

“ACK-!” She dropped her weapon and fell forward bringing you down to. “OH FUCK!” You moved backwards so you wouldn’t die. Soon you took it out her and walked away from her. “Huh,who knew ghost children are helpful?” “Wait ghost kids?” “My camera showed me a little girl,two braids,her fingertips were frozen so were her eyelashes,she wore skiing outfits,around the ages 5-7” “my daughter…you saw my daughter..” “oh…” it was awkward but Tyler grabbed her earring the gem. Father walked mindlessly into the forest. As you went into the safe room you couldn’t help but feel uneasy. What is this feeling?

“The next clue is somewhere” everyone went to check.

1-Check the furnitures

2-Check the paintings

3-Check the fireplace

4-Check the floor

Chose your fate

[un-beel-ievable]

Obey Me! Headcanons - The Demon Brothers react to a MC who owns a golden retriever 🐕

Author’s note: I'm home :3 Feel free to reblog, but please do not repost!! If you enjoy my writing, do leave me a like and/or a comment (and follow me to see similar content in the future :D)!

_____

Lucifer ☕

• When your dog first bounds over to greet Lucifer, it’s difficult to tell if the eldest born is a fan of your four-legged pal or not. The Avatar of Pride scrutinizes the ball of fluff as if he were a judge on a dog show —all the while as your dog vibrates impatiently by the front door with a tennis ball in its mouth. Perhaps it senses the need to be on its best behaviour if it’s to impress Lucifer.

• “A pet is a responsibility, not a novelty. I sincerely hope that you thought long and hard about the obligations of a pet owner before you went ahead with your decision to adopt. That being said, you appear to be doing quite well with your four-legged companion —they’re very well behaved. I have absolutely no qualms with you taking over Cerberus’s care when you return to the House of Lamentation; clearly you’d manage much more elegantly than my brothers. Perhaps Cerberus would enjoy the company of your charming pooch as well…”

• So Lucifer does like your dog. Not an entirely surprising revelation, if you’ve seen how he behaves around Cerberus in private. The strict no-nonsense archdemon turns into the softest dog owner that you’d ever have the pleasure of meeting; he’s all ear scritches and belly rubs. By the end of his visit, your dog is blissfully rolling on the carpet by Lucifer’s feet as the Avatar of Pride informs it over and over again that it is indeed “a good dog”.

• Perhaps you’ll even catch the small —but genuine— smile twitching at the corners of Lucifer’s lips as he does so.

Mammon 💳:

• In hindsight, perhaps giving Mammon a heads up about the presence of your pooch would have been a good idea.

• Despite your numerous attempts to reassure Mammon that the furry ball of enthusiasm barreling towards him is a Good Dog™, the terrified shriek that escapes the Avatar of Greed is shrill and ear-splitting enough to shatter your windows (Metaphorically speaking, of course. Rest assured, no windows were harmed in the writing of this headcanon.). When your dog leaps at him to nudge its head into his hand for scritches™ and headpats™, Mammon’s life flashes before his eyes. The only image that he can bring to mind before he passes out cold on your carpet is Cerberus’s terrifying snarl.

• When Mammon comes to, your dog is sitting on his chest —looking concerned and suitably chastised for accidentally scaring the living daylights out of the demon. (Even though Mammon refuses to come clean about how terrified he was. “The great Mammon? Afraid of a lil’ dog? W-What...What are ya talkin’ about? I wasn’t scared!”) The events that occurred over the last couple of minutes play on a loop in Mammon's mind. It finally dawns on him that your dog isn’t the ferocious beast that his imagination had conjured up, and his cheeks flush scarlet.

• Please give your demon a hug. I think he needs one. Or several.

Leviathan 🎮:

• If Leviathan had a pet ranking system, Henry 1.0 and Henry 2.0 would always claim the highest spots possible —the S-tiered, 5-star gods of the pet world. No golden retriever could ever worm its way to the top and snatch his love for them from under his feet. Sorry. But your dog is pretty cute, he’ll give you that.

• Too cute, maybe. Hey...um...you don’t love your dog more than you love him, right? What? Him, the Avatar of Envy, jealous? No! Of course not! Why would you make such an outrageous assumption? He’s not jealous —an adorable fluff ball of enthusiasm for the outdoors and joy is a way better than an icky otaku, after all. Leviathan doesn’t blame you for choosing your dog over him. Any sane individual would do the same...

• When you finally manage to reassure your demon that your dog is in no way competition for the affection that you hold for him, —he’ll always be your favourite demon, even if you have a dog. Even if you have a hundred dogs. Nothing is going to change that— he begins looking at your pooch in a different light. That’s right —as a potential cosplay partner. There’s this new anime that’s been released recently...Levi was wondering if you had heard of it? It’s titled: My Partner Is The Proud Owner Of A Golden Retriever And I’m An Otaku Who Enjoys The Simple Pleasure Of Collecting Merchandise and Cosplaying. One of the main characters happens to own a golden retriever as well, and if you’re willing to give him your blessing (the irony, I know), perhaps you’d lend him your pooch for an afternoon of cosplay and photography?

Satan 📚:

• Satan is a cultured demon who enjoys the company of four-legged companions, but he’s admittedly a fan of felines...not canines. Still, he prides himself on keeping an open mind towards new experiences, so he agrees to spend an afternoon with you and your dog (Even though he’d much rather be attending the opening day ceremony of the Devildom’s newest cat cafe. The things he does for love.).

• He performs some through research before meeting your dog for the first time; spending afternoon after afternoon in the sanctuary of his room reading about dogs and how to care for them. No number of books could prepare him for the real thing, however. When Satan first comes over to spend the afternoon in your home, he’s stiff and awkward —unsure of what to do with a dog. He ends up spending the first hour on your couch, sipping tea and spouting facts about golden retrievers.

• Show him the rope that your dog enjoys playing tug-of-war with, or the tennis ball that it insists on carrying in its jaws everywhere it goes. It takes a while for Satan to warm up to your pooch, but he’ll gradually learn to love —or at the very least, tolerate— your canine companion, even though he still firmly believes in the superiority of cats. Speaking of which, you’d accompany him on a date to that new cat cafe, right?

Asmodeus 💋:

• Oh! Your golden retriever is absolutely adorable! And gorgeous too —albeit not as beautiful as him, but that’s to be expected. There’s not a single individual in all of the three realms that could match up to his beauty. And your dog has such luscious fur too...dear Diavolo, he’d kill to have a haircare routine that’s as effective on his locks.

• Would you be willing to take a photo of him posing with your pooch? It’s for his Devilgram followers, of course —such beauty must be shared with the world, no? You’re not entirely sure if Asmo’s referring to his beauty, your dog’s beauty, or the shared, collective beauty of him and your dog. It doesn’t particularly matter. The two (three?) of you end up spending the entire afternoon orchestrating an impromptu photoshoot, and then spending the evening editing the photographs from said shoot for Devilgram.

• Generally gets along with your four-legged companion like a house on fire. There’s just one, itsy-bitsy issue.

• Your dog sheds. A ton. No matter how often you brush its fur, or how many boundaries you set about it not being allowed on the furniture, it seems determined to shed every carpet, sofa and bed that you own. Asmo never stops whining about the copious amounts of fur that now decorate every article of clothing he owns, but at least your dog seems happy to be able to leave its mark —on Asmo’s ensembles, of course, but also his heart.

Beelzebub 🍔:

• Corporate has asked you to find the difference between this picture and this picture—

• Asmo gets along well with your dog. Beel gets along with your dog even better. As one of the few only brothers who’s willing to spend any amount of time with Cerberus (granted, most of the time he’s only doing so because he’s been promised free food), Beel has grown into quite the dog lover. Your dog seems thrilled to be in the company of someone who appears to wholeheartedly enjoy its company —your dog is thrilled by the company of anyone who’s willing to give it their time of day, but still— and Beelzebub is thrilled to be in the company of a four-legged companion who appears to wholeheartedly enjoy his company. Beel is happy to spend whole afternoons playing with your dog...interspaced with the occasional snack break, of course.

• Speaking of which, Beel very much struggles with not giving into your golden retriever’s extremely convincing puppy dog eyes. Objectively, he knows that giving your dog human (or demon) food is a terrible idea —the last thing he wants is to be the reason that your dog has to take a trip to the vet. But your dog is so cute! And it’s looking at his food with such an intense longing in its eyes...Beel can relate to that. Surely a little nibble wouldn’t hurt…

• When you find yourself having to tell Beel off, suddenly you find yourself at the receiving end of 2 sets of puppy dog eyes; both Beel and your pupper are very sorry. They swear it’ll never happen again! Please don’t be upset…

• How are you supposed to stay mad at them?

Belphegor 🛏:

• ...listen.

• It’s not that he hates dogs. Honestly! He likes dogs as much as the next demon! But they can be loud and yappy and so incredibly energetic, and your golden retriever is more hyper than most. It always wants to go on walks, or play fetch, or make him throw its favourite tennis ball over and over again but refuse to hand it over so he has to engage in a slobbery game of tug-of-war to steal the ball from it —it’s just too much for the Avatar of Sloth. Just watching your dog zip across the room in a display of its endless amounts of energy is enough to tire Belphie out...is playtime over yet? He just wants to take a nap.

• Makes multiple attempts to talk you into allowing Beel to look after your dog. Just for an afternoon! His twin certainly has the energy to keep your hyperactive pup entertained for the whole day, and since you can be assured that your dog is well taken care of, perhaps the two of you could finally stay inside for once and take a nice, long nap. It’s been too long since he’s gotten to hold you in his arms…

• By the time Beel returns your dog to you, it’s all tuckered out from its day of adventures. As you’re thanking Beel for looking after your dog for the day, you catch him chuckling softly at something over your shoulder —Belphie and your furry friend, dozing off together on the couch. They appear to finally be getting along.

BONUS: I'm still not terribly comfortable with adding the (former) undatables to my writing repertoire, but my partner happens to be very fond of the demon butler...and I happen to be very fond of them. So just this once, just to see how it goes...

Barbatos 🍵:

• Oh? So this is the sweet bundle of fur that he’s heard so much about. It’s a pleasure to meet them at long last. Barbatos has always been fond of dogs, and your dog is quite an endearing creature to say the least...it actually reminds Barbatos of Cerberus when he was a puppy. How time flies.

• Treats your dog as if it were an esteemed guest of the castle. As long as Barbatos is around, you needn’t lift a finger when it comes to the care of your beloved pet. Keeping your dog fed and watered? Barbatos has it covered; the butler seems to have an in built in timer when it comes to feeding your dog —Barbatos serves its meals at exactly 6 in the morning and 6 in the evening. Not a minute early, not a minute late. When taking your dog out on walks, he carries a spare bottle of water for the sole purpose of offering it to your dog if it gets thirsty. Speaking of walks...Barbatos is more than happy to escort your pooch on walks in the event that you’re unavailable to do so yourself. Barbatos generally allows your golden to lead the way on their excursions, and is content with following along behind it to keep it out of trouble for however long it wishes to remain outdoors. If it were to tire itself out, Barbatos takes your dog into his arms and carries it the rest of the way home.

• Your pooch becomes very spoiled very quickly. It’s unclear if you’ve gained a butler...or if your dog has.

[twofrontteethstillcrooked]

21 Oct. Suptober: “Missing him was dark gray, all alone”

Balthazar had a humble look on his face. "Please. I would like to see my brother."

post 15x18 au: deancas, saileen

A cardboard tube, the type someone would use to mail a poster, bonked Sam on the head once before bouncing onto the table in front of him. 

"A gift from another you," Balthazar said, breezing past to flop into a nearby chair. "Or, well, another you at one of those conventions where people buy autographs and get their photos made with actors of a middling celebrity, I guess."

Sam slid out the poster and unrolled it with tremendous unease. His own glum face and a terrible limp haircut stared back at him under the banner, Supernatural: The Next Chapter.

"You attended a con?" he asked.

"God, no, I merely stole this from a convention center restroom. The con is next week."

"Ugh," Sam said, about both things.

"The show was retooled after that one chap who played our dearest Castiel bit the dust, you know, the last time you and your brother visited the universe." Balthazar brushed at the lapel to his standard sleazy blazer jacket and shot Sam a disingenuous smile.

"You're the reason we were there in the first place," Sam said with a certain amount of huffiness. 

"If it helps ease any guilt you may feel at the demise of poor Misha--"

"--I take no responsibility for that," Sam interjected, though in fairness he did feel a little guilty.

"--the man's charity, left to be continued in his honor, has raised millions of dollars for a variety of admirable causes since. He's venerated, beloved, a true saint in a land without magic or real martyrs otherwise." Balthazar bit delicately at a cuticle. "It would appear the deaths of Messieurs Kripke and Singer are not as, hmm, how shall we say? Lamented. But not everyone can be remembered fondly."

No shit, Sam thought. "Why did you bring me this?

The smarminess didn’t drop from Balthazar's face. "For kicks."

Sam read the bottom text, beneath the moody, badly photoshopped photograph of his sallow doppelganger staring off into the distance moodily. "'Missing him was dark gray, all alone'?"

"That universe's T-Swift has fallen on some very hard times herself -- botched plastic surgery and cat hoarding problem, they say. Her catalog is a steal. One of her songs was used in a pivotal scene during the arc where Sam Winchester must cope once again with the untimely demise of his dear brother Dean."

"How was he killed?" Sam asked out of curiosity, before he could stop himself.

"I'm given to understand he fell onto a nail whilst pursued by evil clown vampires."

"Sure."

"One hopes it will be an expiry limited to that particular universe. Rather a paltry note to leave on, really," Balthazar said. 

"So that universe is still…" Sam considered how to put the question. "Chuck didn't in fact just wipe it from existence."

"Well," Balthazar said, scratching his chin, "it probably blinked out for a few days there. Possibly even a few months. But everything I double-checked for Jack and Amara tells me they did manage to put it back right as rain, no worries. No one there even realizes they'd ceased to exist in time and space for an interlude." He groaned and stretched out his arms. "Would that I could say the same for the trip there and back. It's kind of Jack to have devised better means of travel than lamb's blood and all that, but the in-flight meals are just as bad."

Whatever the hell that means, Sam thought. "Jack's taking care of some business in heaven for a few days."

"Ah, yes. I know. I'm here to see Castiel."

Sam sat up straighter.

Balthazar held up his hands. "I mean no harm."

"No, I know." Sam paused. "He's doing better."

"I've heard."

"Doesn't mean he's great yet."

"I understand."

"You came to me first to see if I'd soften the ground for you with Dean, yeah?" Sam crossed his arms over his chest.

"Obviously."

Sam worked over the possible outcomes in his head. 

"I was there too, you know, and for quite a while longer, if you recollect," Balthazar said. "I know what Castiel had to go through in...that place." He shuddered. 

Sam had rarely said 'the Empty' out loud himself. Even the phrase felt like a black hole, bitter cold and dangerous to stray near.

"I'm not sure you do know," Sam said, "what Cas had to do to escape. To help Jack and Amara free you all." 

He didn't mean to sound severe; it was only that he lived with Cas and Dean, the two of them still clinging to one another with a kind of ferocity and grief that made Sam wish he possessed any power to speed along the healing process for either of them.

Balthazar had a humble look on his face. "Please. I would like to see my brother."

"It's all right, Sam," Cas said from the doorway. "He's welcome here always."

Balthazar bolted from his chair to grab Cas up in a hug. 

"All right, all right, that's enough brotherly togetherness," Dean grumbled, pulling until Balthazar let go to clap Cas on the shoulders.

"It's fine, Dean," Cas said, smiling at him in that manner that Sam was not really used to yet, some private way Dean was completely susceptible to.

Dean relented and fell into the chair Balthazar had exited. He gave Sam an eye roll. 

Cas and Balthazar wandered out, chatting down the hall.

"He'll be okay," Dean said, sounding like he was mostly saying it to convince himself.

"Of course," Sam said. But it was a good sign that Cas wanted to see Balthazar. 

Sam exhaled. Both Cas and Dean had put on real clothes today. Sam hadn’t had a nightmare that woke him from sleep in almost a week. They were all healing.

He needed to call Eileen in a minute. Had she ever even heard the story about the tv show universe? She was going to fall on the floor from joy, and imagining her laughter made him feel so lucky he could hardly stand it.

Dean squinted at the poster. "Is that a fucking Taylor Swift lyric on there?"

Sam narrowed his eyes. "How do you recognize it's a Taylor Swift lyric?"

Dean gave him a phony, blank look. "Lucky guess."

[hughjidiot]

Man I Love Frogs II: Electric Boogaloo, A Sashannarcy One-Shot

Well you all seemed to really like the first Man I Love Frogs, so here’s the spiritual sequel that I just published to AO3 not that long ago. Now with even more crack and more of Anne being traumatized.

---

“Honeys, I’m home!” Anne said as she walked through the door to the apartment she shared with her girlfriends.

 Sasha and Marcy were on the living room couch watching anime, Domino III curled up between them. The women looked up at the sound of their mutual girlfriend’s voice.

 “Hey Anna-Banana!” Marcy greeted. “How was lunch with your folks?”

 “It was nice,” Anne said, pushing the door closed behind her and kicking off her shoes. “We tried out my mom’s new chicken  khao phat, it was delicious. She gave me the recipe so I can make it myself.”

 “Awesome!” Sasha said. She noticed the cardboard box Anne was carrying under one arm. “What’s in the box?”

 Anne smiled widely, walking over to set the box down on the kitchen counter. “Oh, my parents also gave me this box of old Halloween decorations. Figured we could decorate the apartment for the season. Check it out!”

 Marcy paused the TV, then she and Sasha rose from the couch to join Anne in the kitchenette. She opened up the box to reveal a wide assortment of spooky knick-knacks: electric jack-o-lanterns, styrofoam tombstones, a pile of plastic bones and more.

 “Aw, these are adorable,” Sasha said, pulling out cardboard witches dangling from strings. “I gotta ask the landlord if we can hang some of these in the hall around our door.”

 “Ooh these are cool,” Marcy said, pulling out some thick silicone squares with skull shapes cut out of them. “Uh, what are they?”

 “Novelty ice cube trays,” Anne explained as she pulled out a bundle of old newspapers, unwrapping it to reveal a ceramic black cat underneath. “Lets you make giant ice skulls for like punch bowls and stuff.”

 “Hmm, maybe we can have a Halloween party to show this stuff off,” Sasha said, digging through more of the box. “We can invite coworkers or some of our friends from college and - huh? What’s this?”

 Anne and Marcy looked over as Sasha reached deep into the corner of the box. She pulled out a bulging envelope, crinkled and tinged yellow with age. Cursive writing on the front read “To Aran, Love On” with a swirly heart doodle next to it.

 “Huh, looks like some of my folk’s stuff got mixed in by accident,” Anne said.

 “What do you think it is?” Marcy asked.

 “‘To Aran, Love On’ huh?” Sasha grinned mischievously as she opened the envelope’s flap. “Ooh, I bet it’s mushy love poems.”

 “I mean my mom  does  like her corny Thai love songs,” Anne remarked with a smirk. “Also ever heard of a little thing called  privacy, Sash?”

 “Aw come on Anne, there’s no harm in taking a little peak. I’ll put it right back-”

 Sasha’s voice trailed off when she pulled a small stack of cardboard squares out of the envelope. She furrowed her brow, then her eyes shot open when she looked at the top square. “... Huh.”

 “What? What is it?” Anne asked, she and Marcy coming around behind Sasha to get a look for themselves.

 Sasha was holding a stack of glossy photographs, the top one showing Anne’s mother. She was visibly younger, but it was unmistakably Mrs. Boonchuy. She was on her knees on a bed with her hands up behind her head, fixing the camera with a sultry gaze. The black see-through nightgown she wore dipped very low on top to show off an ample amount of cleavage and ended high on bottom to show off smooth legs that went on for miles.

 You could hear a pin drop in the apartment.

 “Oh,” Anne said neutrally, her face devoid of expression.

 “Wow,” Marcy said, crimson splashing across her cheeks.

 “Wow is right,” Sasha said with a blush of her own. She started flipping through the stack of photos and smirked, whistling in appreciation. “God  damn, who ordered the caramel milf-shake?”

 “Did your mom ever do gymnastics or something?” Marcy asked Anne, her eyes widening further as she beheld more of the pictures. “Because she is flexible.”

 Being directly addressed snapped Anne out of the stupor she’d fallen into, and her brain finally processed what her eyes were showing her. As a grown woman, Anne handled being exposed to such candid images with maturity and dignity.

  “MY EYES!!”  She screamed, slapping her palms over her face and stumbling backwards out of the kitchen.  “MY EYES!!”

 “Aw come on Anna-Banana, it’s not that bad,” Sasha said casually, still flipping through the pictures. “I mean this is pretty tame compared to the kind of stuff you can find online.”

 “Plus if it helps, I’m pretty sure this was before your mom even had you,” Marcy said, leaning over Sasha’s shoulder for a closer look. “She looks only a little older than we are now and - oh never mind, some of these pictures look more recent.”

 Sasha nodded. “Yup, that’s Anne’s parent’s room for sure, I recognize that gaudy wallpaper anywhere.”

 “Aw and look, there’s that picture of Anne at graduation hanging on the wall.”

  “THE IMAGES ARE BURNED INTO MY BRAIN!!”

 “I think it’s sweet that Anne’s folks still have these,” Sasha remarked. “Shows they still have a healthy love life after… what, over twenty years of marriage?”

 “Twenty-five,” Marcy replied instantly. “They just had their silver anniversary not that long ago.”

 “Oh right, I think I saw something about that on Facebook.”

 “I hope the three of us will be just as happy after a whole quarter-century together.”

 Sasha rolled her eyes, but smiled as she leaned down to kiss Marcy’s cheek. “Please, like I would ever stop loving you and Anne even for a minute.”

 Marcy blushed, playfully batting her eyelashes. “Aw, Sashimi!”

  “I STILL SEE THEM WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES!!”

 Sasha opened her mouth to say something else, but was cut off by her ringtone. She set the pictures down and pulled her phone out of her pocket, and saw an incoming video call from none other than Mr. and Mrs. Boonchuy.

 Sasha tapped her phone and Anne’s parents appeared on the screen, both of them looking frazzled.

  “Sasha! Marcy!”  Aran said quickly.  “Listen, we don’t have much time! When Anne came over for lunch today we gave her a box of old Halloween decorations to take home, and we think something  very  personal got mixed in with them on accident. If you find an envelope in the box whatever you do don’t…”

 He trailed off when he saw the looks on the faces of his daughter’s girlfriends.  “... You already found it and saw what was inside, didn’t you?”

 “Yyyup,” Marcy said, she and Sasha nodding.

 Aran sighed and shook his head while On looked mortified.

  “How… is Anne?” she asked hesitantly.

 Sasha and Marcy looked over at the corner of the room where Anne was on the floor, rocking back and forth in a fetal position and staring off into nothing with a wide-eyed gaze.

 “Never be clean, never be clean, never be clean, never be clean…” she muttered in a quiet, broken voice.

 “She’s taking it pretty well,” Sasha said.