#oop finally dropping this on tumblr

[vmpii]

because docs is a cunt--

Here is the entirety of vampi in this post-!

VAMPIER H. CRUOR

SPECIES: VAMPIRE

GENDER: Male

PRONOUNS: He/Him/His

BIRTHDAY: October 19

HEIGHT: 5'3"

Born in a realm where monster species can roam. Vampi was born to a mother and father who gave him up for adoption for reasons that Vampi could not find out (Personally, he did not want to know.) For the longest time, he stayed in the orphanage. But as they got bored, he wanted to join others in a different realm. While they knew of humans, they had no idea what they could be like. Some say a treat, some say a meal. But for Vampi? He just wanted more friends! The other Monster kids and other Vampires were growing to be boring for him. The others just wanted to talk about wanting a family who could want them. But humans just weren’t knowing of the true power they could possess.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ;; Summoning.

Vampier just needed someone to summon him. But he was so sure that no one could do that. So they will just have to learn how to travel there themself. Couldn’t be so hard to do – right? Well… Not really. But they needed the proper tools…

“Excuse me! Sir!” The smaller vampire tugged on the larger male's robe. Attempting for attention before continuing his statement. “I need... Um.. I need assistance. I want to go to the human realm. The monstrum realm just… It isn’t doing it for me anymore. The monsters here–” Before he could continue his small rant, the male turned around, large… Deep scarlet orbs stared down at the youngster in a lack of amusement.

To describe this male - he was 7 feet tall. A large black robe to cover his built hunched body. A raven on his shoulder, looking down at Vampi as well. “Puerum… Don’t you understand that if you go to the Human realm that you won’t come back to Monstrum…?” His voice was low but filled with his own concern. Thinking that… A child his age... Not coming back to his own home.

Vampi shook his head, placing a hand on his hip. “Sir, aren’t you Sentis? You do that– Magic stuff! Surely you can teach me to open the Human Realm!” His voice, while filled with excitement also with a hint of his own sass. The young Vampi could only perform some magica. Not much… Only Bat transformation, and summoning. Most kids his age can perform much more… But Vampi fell behind - he was never interested in that cliche esquire. He wanted more unique magic, like… Exploding objects! Or being able to create a forcefield! … But most teachers said that it was wizard's play. Thus, he never really got to learn it. But… Surely this Sentis man can help! He was a wizard who typically would help younger wizards with their troubles. A mentor, if you will.

“Alright, listen up small one. If you are really this passionate about being amongst humans. Then you will need to stay with me. Not tell one undead soul about this.” Sentis spoke as he knelt down to the smaller boy's height. “I suppose since you know my name, tell me. What are you called?”

“Um, well.. The orphanage called me.. Vampier. But I go by Vampi, for short. I love it! I have no idea what my original makers called me. Not that it matters! Hahaha~” A laugh as he finished speaking,

“Vampier Cruor, sir. Nice to really get acquainted with you. I hope we have lots of fun.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;; Humans.

2 years from learning the realming spells. Vampier now can summon simplistic things, transform, and realm hop! But only to the Monstrum and Human realm. And he now lives amongst the humans, carrying a black over-the-shoulder bag with him with a parasol. The bag contains blood packets he typically steals from blood donors, hospitals, and trucks. There was always this fear… Of hurting humans. Then they wouldn’t accept him. What would he do then? He can’t go anywhere else! But… To ease it. He had his blood packets he could drink to always ease his nerves and keep him from not hurting others! He wouldn’t be able to forgive himself then…

‘Humans are interesting. They do a lot of the same things.. Just like us Monstrums… I thought they would be … A lil’ more interesting. But.. Maybe they have hidden secrets! Guess I could find out!’ Vampi nodded to himself as his thoughts spoke for him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;; Home.

Over time, Vampi would go between his world and the human world. He would ask Sentis if he could pose as a parental figure so Vampi could go to school. Much like other kids. At first, Sentis was hesitant. He had basically adopted Vampi by now. Giving him general living tips and constantly getting worried about him and having to disguise himself as a normal human. Not in his favor at all. But not much he could do at this point.

“School…? Son- Um…. Vampi. I understand that you are taking a liking to the human realm. But you are… 13..? In those human years - right?”

“I assume so! 320 in vampire years… That would calculate to around 13 or so!” Vampi put his finger up to his head and tapped it while he did the math in his head.

A sigh grew out of Sentis. Scratching his head while the black hair curled up in his fingers. He always had this nice… Long shoulder-length black hair that sometimes the bangs would cover his eyes. “And you want me to pose as your.. Parental figure? I have no idea exactly how um.. Human world ethics work.. Vampi. I am merely a Wizard. But I will do my best.. For you. Okay?” A smile crept alongside his lips as his arms reached out to Vampi and pulled him in a soft embrace. “Making friends would be good for you. And.. I only want what's best for you. You do seem a lot happier from being up there. While I worry a lot, your eyes glow brighter than they did a couple years ago.” A nod from the older man, now letting go and standing.

“Dad.” Vampi started, smiling more as his eyes filled a bit with tears… Tears he hasn’t felt in years.. He feels as if a gap in his chest was filled. Never has he heard… Such… Long lost caring words. Someone actually wanted him around. And worried about his well-being. While the orphanage.. If he snuck out. They wouldn’t even LOOK for him. “I promise, everything will be fine! Okay? Thank you… For caring so much.”

… Dad…. That word… Sentis has … Never heard such from Vampi nor anyone else… Felt so foreign yet .. So at home. And perfect. “I understand. Now.. Let’s get you enrolled. You have lots of things to learn, son. Eeheehee.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;;Friends

Arizona was a fun place for Vampi! The middle school he went to was fun and … Well - better than the Monstrum schooling. He was learning so much about the human world's history! So much culture… And so much more interesting…

It wasn’t until he met.. Two .. Weird individuals…

These two always wore… Masks.. Which was weird to Vampi. But they looked so cool! Knowing that Vampi has ACTUALLY seen Skeleton Monstrums and Pumpkin-ish Monstrums. They were common in his realm. But here? Not at all. But these kids wanted to be like that.

After a few months of talking and hanging out with them. Soon enough .. They were good friends! They didn’t seem to care… That he was a vampire! It seemed like they actually loved that! Calling him ‘spooky’, but that was a good thing to him…? Weird. But good!

It wasn’t too long till Vampi was always hanging out with them. Sentis seemed to get the earful of ‘Here’s what me and my friends did’ and the wacky adventures they would go on… It was really the first time he can say ‘My son is growing up.’ And he felt so proud…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;;

R E D . . . D A Y . . .

August 19th. 20[REDACTED]

The T.V. starts up- you just wanted get your night going as it just begun afterwork… Nothing to crazy. You just got dinner in your stomach and it was time to relax on the couch after a long day of stupid hard labor. But hey, gotta pay the bills. Right?

The T.V. Was dead set on the news channel you had forgotten you left it on. Ah well, might as well check out the new latest killings- right? Or whatever stupid government argument was going on. Either or, a borefest.

“WE ARE LIVE AT THE PETERS [REDACTED] WITH 7 KIDS LEFT COMPLETELY SLAUGHTERED AND DISMEMBERED. AND 4 KIDS SEVERELY INJURED.”

Wait, .. What? Shit, that school was only 4 miles from where you live. You did wonder why there was cop cars rushing toward there and ambulances but.. You just thought of simple injuries.. Not- .. A damn slaughterhouse. But you continue to watch - Needing EVERY detail now. On what the HELL happened..

“ONE KID STATES-

‘THE VAMPIRE KID. HE WENT.. CRAZY!

AND- AND’..”

the kid immediately started to whale on camera. Crying his eyes out. You couldn’t bare look at the kid. The crying and state of trauma was enough. And seeing the blood smeared on the playground was enough. One side of the building was drenched in it.

.. That was .. That was enough NEWS for tonight.

That was the day… Vampi had lost himself.

Once those kids and a few adults had died. He needed out. His friends called him ‘scary’. He now lost his friends. He lost everything. He had rushed BACK to the Monstrum Realm… And told Sentis EVERYTHING.

… “All… All of them…?” Sentis’ large scarlet eyes widen as his already pale skin went white. “.. How many… Lives.. Did you take, Vampier.” His voice, scared, but still deep.

“I .. I don’t remember. 7… Maybe 8, 9?” He shook his head, his shirt, skin, face… All bloody from his massacre. “I don’t even remember WHY I did it. I don’t know what triggered me.. I just remember.. Being hit with a soccer ball. And it hit me in the head. And.. I grabbed the kid, and … Well.. U-Uhh..”

“You killed him.” Sentis finished his sentence for him and sighed, “Vampier.. You need to stay here. You can’t run from this.”

“I know.. But - I don’t want to stay here, dad! I want to .. Go to other places.. So I can not be trapped in this realm all because.. I - I screwed up! I took lives.. I did the one thing I told myself I wouldn’t do. .. Never have I thought of myself as a killer. I took blood packs from hospitals… So I wouldn’t take a humans neck for advantage like normal vamps here. I am a good Vampire! I .. I just slipped.. Somewhere else…” His hand went to his arm as his back slouched on the couch he sat on while Sentis was next to him, rubbing his head.

“I .. I know.. You are a good kid. I would never want to see you as … A murderer. You .. You are my lil’ boy. My little…” He sighed, feeling small tears in those droopy eyes of his. “Vampier..

Now.. Get up. I have to wash your clothes. And get you washed up… You .. You are a mess. Heh..” Getting in front of him, Sentis bent down and picked Vampi up by under his arms and took him to a bathtub to get him washed up from the heavy amounts of blood on him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;; Run, run, run.

Now that Vampi had run off from that situation he needed to learn to leave-

Permanently.... Yet, how? How will he do it? Well, there was a spell that can teach others to dimension hop. Maybe his mentor could teach him.

Surely, that will do the trick. Then he could leave....

He could could run away till he felt satisfied.

Besides,

WHO WANTS TO SEE A MONSTER LIKE HIM ANYWAYS?

[pedantic-poison]

golden | MS47

GIF by brawn-gp

pairing: black cat gf! fem reader x golden retriever bf! mick schumacher

warnings: fluff! and also a brief but very explicit mention of oral (f receiving) and p in v (oops lol)

requested: yes!

word count: 0.9k

author's note: second time posting this because the first time it didn't show up in the tags at all so thanks for that tumblr! anyways yes this IS so extremely inspired by the song daylight by taylor swift not that anyone asked but the second i read the request i couldn't help it

you'd met at a party, where you'd been standing quietly in a corner, drink in your hand, content to just mind your business without talking to anyone until you'd been there long enough that you wouldn't feel bad leaving

it was some friend's birthday, not close enough that you had to spend most of the night with them, but you like them enough to make an appearance, even though you hated parties

Mick, golden boy that he is, was the center of attention without really meaning to be

talking to everyone like they were an old friend he'd known for years, and at some point he looked up and realized that you were the only person in the room who he hadn't spoken to

he didn't even know your name, actually

and he couldn't help himself, he was just too curious, and he thought you were so gorgeous, he figured it was better to just go talk to you than to stare at you with heart eyes from across the room

Mick is such a sunshine boy that even when other people sometimes find you a little standoffish, when he first saw you, he just adored you right away

wasn't intimidated by you at all he was just completely enamored

initially, you were a little overwhelmed by him, kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop and show that it was an act

how sweet he was, how kind, how considerate, the way he would listen to you so intently, like the moment you opened your mouth to finally speak the rest of the world faded away

you just couldn't believe that he was being genuine, that he really cared about you that way

but the look on his face when he's watching you is so earnest

he didn't mind that at first you weren't very talkative, or that it took a little while for you to really trust that his affection for you was real

besides, he can talk enough for the both of you anyways

you finally had to confront just how much you cared about him because of the shit show with Haas

more than once Mick had to talk you down from personally fighting G*nter on his behalf

and once you finally let those walls down and let him in? Mick was stuck to you like glue

he'd come home, or back to your shared hotel room, after a long day during race weekends and just collapse onto you, laying his head on your chest while you'd scratch his head or his back

he fell asleep like that, on top of you, more than a few times

sometimes you weren't really sure what to do or say, but Mick would just assure you that you were making him feel better, that you were doing everything right, even when he was the one who needed comfort

and when you have a bad day at work or school?

that man pampers you like a princess

he literally will not let you do ANYTHING for yourself

and you don't even have to tell him that you had a rough day, he can just see it in your face the moment you walk through the door

he gives you these mini lectures about asking for help when you need it, reminding you that you help him when he has a tough time, and that it's only fair for him to get to return the favor

if you ever try to tell him that he's already so sweet to you, all the time, he won't hear it

just ushers you towards the couch or bed with your favorite blanket in hand

he'll have you lie back against his chest, nestled in between his legs, so he can wrap his arms around you and hold you to him, tight and comforting

whispering sweet nothings into your ear, planting kisses on the top of your head

bubble baths, your favorite foods and shows, holding your book in front of your face for you so your arms don't get tired, kissing the back of your neck or your shoulder each time he turns the page

supporting your body with his as he finger fucks you until you're shaking, caging you in with those big, buff arms and his warm body, your legs draped over his so he can keep them open for him, surrounding you and overwhelming all of your senses, so all you can feel or think of is him, his free hand roaming your body, massaging your tits and reaching up to cradle your throat so he can tilt your head back to give him better access

or making you ride his face so you can make yourself feel good, until you've cum so many times and so hard that you can barely see straight, and then fucking you into the mattress, deep and slow, whispering words of praise about how you're doing so well for him, how you feel so good, looking so pretty while you take his cock like a good girl

when you're overthinking and can't stop worrying about something, and his usual pampering tricks don't work, he'll just fuck you dumb, make you go mindless with pleasure so that you can't think period

he hates having to be away from you for race weekends, even now that he's with mercedes and isn't fighting for his life every weekend

even when you're both busy, he'll always manage to make time for you, dropping in and surprising you, even if it's only for a few days before he's off to the next track

he's also completely immune to any of your usual attempts at self-sabotage

he doesn't let you lash out at him or start fights or have huge blow out arguments

he just wants to give you the whole world

and you just want him

because his love isn't black and white, or burning red

it's golden

like daylight

[atlasofthestaars]

[MK X READER] New Era - Chapter .014

first part | previous part | next part

NOTES:

Hoping for the best that I get this out sooner than nearly 3 weeks haha I’ll update this part with how that goes.

Edit: I had a very hectic last few weeks. Oops. But here’s the chapter finally haha

Some of the ideas in the fic, like the Johnny section was helped by some of my anons on tumblr, ty guys for interacting!

As requested, here’s Rain’s repoll! Probably the only repoll I will do haha ^^ AO3 fans give me your thoughts! The poll will end in a week!

FROM THE EYES OF SOMEONE WHO HAS TO HELP SOMEONE OUT

“I thought I would find you here.”

It was a warm night. It was the type of night where one could sit outside for hours on end listening to the crickets chirp. The sky above was the perfect accompaniment this particular night, being so clear and free from clouds and any sort of light pollution that you could nearly see the entirety of the universe above. It was the perfect night for one to relax and enjoy life. 

But that was not what was happening.

You stood on the very beginning of the crest of the hill, a little away from Liu Kang. Your eyes scanned the hunched over form of your friend. It was an odd look on him, a form so undisciplined from one of the most diligent men you knew. As odd as it was, it only made sense. After all, how could you expect a picture perfect form from a man who has lost his best friend?

The grass rustled as you walked forward, moving to stand right next to where Liu Kang sat. You kept your gaze forward, not turning your head to look at him. You didn’t need to. Without even looking at his face, you could tell all the emotions that he must be experiencing. Frustration, grief, loneliness. It was the same emotions that had been clinging to your friend like tar for a while now.

So, instead, you stared adamantly at the tree. A rush of emotions surged through you as your gaze settled on it. So many memories were connected to this tree. Long days of just relaxing under this tree with Kung Lao came to mind. The three of you would sit under here, chatting and enjoying each other’s companies as the cicadas would sing in the background. 

Or sometimes, you would find Kung Lao here, having sneakily gotten out of lessons to simply sit and snack on a few treats he had stolen from the kitchen. You never sold him out. Even when your father gave you a pointed look, you would feign innocence and claim that you had no idea where the razor hatted man went. 

It only made sense to bury him here, underneath the tree he loved so, so much. It was even his favorite type of tree, the cherry blossom. 

A certain silence hung in the air. It was the silence that could only be made by those who have lost someone important to them. It was the combined silence of someone who had let grief consume him and of someone who refused to grieve yet. The two reactions to the death of your friend could not be any more different between the two of you, but the unspoken words between you two could not be any more the same.

You both missed him, dearly.

“He died in vain.” Liu Kang spoke, breaking the vow of silence he had taken on. His voice was hoarse. You knew it must be from the lack of talking. But there was another part of you who knew the gravel-like quality to his voice must be from his grief and how it tore at him. You could not help but let out a sigh as you dropped your eyes to the humble gravestone in front of you.

“I know.” You replied, your voice laced with resignation. There was a tremble in your voice, your lip quivered for a moment before you set your jaw to prevent the little sign of weakness from persisting. You could not help the slump in your shoulders. It was a hard, harsh truth you’ve come to accept. As much as you’d like to believe that Kung Lao’s death meant something, the invasions Outworld has been sending as of late has proven otherwise. 

You turned your gaze to Liu Kang. It was not inaccurate to say he looked like a wreck. Reddened eyes which felt like they carried the weight of the world met yours. You could still see the freshly dried tear tracks on Liu Kang’s face. It seemed like, at least for now, the champion had finally run out of tears to shed for his long time friend.

“Kung Lao would hate to see you like this.” You said, unable to keep the words from tumbling out of your mouth. You observed the way the man carried himself, and how he almost seemed like a different man entirely. The fury that he had held when he had slain Shao Kahn had burnt out, and only in his eyes could you see the remnants of the dying embers.

“I wish he were here to at least see it.” Liu Kang spat out, bitterness dripping from his voice. You did not flinch at it. You knew well enough the vitriol in his tone was not directed at you. Even if it was, the man was hurting. How could you blame him? His head raised to look at the cherry blossoms, idly watching as a few dropped and scattered around in the breeze.

“Hey, look at me.” You said, tone gentle and soft. You watched as Liu Kang kept his gaze aloft, eyes searching the skies above for an answer to his prayers. You sighed as you raised a hand, putting it gently to his cheek. Even when his fire was put out, he felt warm. Your thumb rubbed softly upon his cheek, taking a moment to wipe away the tracks that the tears left. “I know you’re grieving, but you’re falling apart.”

Liu Kang leaned into your touch. You watched as his eyes attempted to brim with tears he no longer had. His hand rose to cover yours, clinging to it as if your hand was a lifeline. You felt your heart shatter at the sight, but still, you refused to let the man in front of you see your resolve break. You could care less if he saw you at your weakest, you trusted Liu Kang enough to let down your walls. But you knew now you did not have the luxury.

The world was falling apart. Invasions were arriving. You and others would need to forge a group to fight them off. Raiden would need a confidant who had a clear mind. Liu Kang needed an anchor to keep him from drifting off. All of these duties needed someone who could rise to the occasion, and you were willing to do so your allies would not have such a heavy burden.

It was the very least you could do to make up for failing Kung Lao. You could only hope that the others did not see how much your heart was aching too.

“I’m not asking you to stop grieving.” You said. You were slow to speak, choosing each word carefully so as to not upset your friend anymore than he was. “I’m not asking you to forget him either, but you need to start living again.” The way you delivered those words felt less like a moving speech to inspire him to move on, but more like a desperate plea. 

“How?” Liu Kang’s voice cracked and at the same time, your heart squeezed. His eyes searched you, as if the answer to his question would be written upon your skin. You felt his hand squeeze yours with desperation. You did not complain about the tight grip, keeping your gaze steady on his face. “How am I supposed to live knowing he won’t be here anymore?”

In truth, you didn’t know how. But you couldn’t tell your friend that. You couldn’t let him drift aimlessly anymore than he already was, you had to do something. So, instead, you gave him a soft smile as you rubbed his cheek softly once more. You prayed to the elder gods that he did not see the weakness in your eyes.

“Well first, you must take little baby steps.” You said, trying to think of the years worth of advice you had gotten from your father. “I think the first step you can begin to do is to start taking care of yourself again.” You gestured to his form. “Stop skipping meals, stop spending hours out here on end, and start letting yourself accept the fact that he is gone.” You took a deep breath. “I know that sounds like a lot, but I can’t watch you let yourself deteriorate anymore.” 

“But Kung La-”

“Wouldn’t want you to stay by his grave like this.” You interrupted him, sending him a worried look. You closed your eyes and thought back to your friend. “If anything, he’d be upset that you’re doing this. He’d want you to live in his stead, to carry on his stories.” You paused, opening your eyes to watch Liu Kang’s face as you let him absorb your words. 

There was a long period of silence that stretched between you. Afraid to break the fragile tension, you even held your breath. Conflict danced in his eyes, wavering between whether to trust you or the hurt that dragged him down. Silently, you pleaded for him to believe you. You already couldn’t save one friend, you had to save another. 

You couldn’t fail again.

“Alright.” Liu Kang croaked. And finally, you let yourself breathe. His eyes fluttered closed as he seemed to lean his weight into your hand. In that moment, it felt like you took on his burdens. You forced your hand to be still, so he did not see your will waver. The slightest of slimes appeared on his lips, and you felt your heart soar. For even just a bit of his happiness, you would take on the world. “I’ll try.”

“Thank you.” You whispered, hoping he didn’t hear the way your voice nearly cracked. His eyes opened, and you put on a smile for him. You watched as he sat there, watching you for a few more moments before he let go of your hand. When stood up, wobbling just a touch. You wrapped an arm around his waist to steady him. Gently, you squeezed his hip. “Come on, let’s go inside, Princess Kitana has been dying to thank you for freeing her and I have to go with Nightwolf to find a new base in America to help with the recent invasions.”

“Thank you.” Liu Kang said, his voice full of warmth.

“It’s no issue.” You said, your words full of sincerity and fondness. “I would do anything for you.” You told him, a broad smile on your lips. Your heart felt lighter than it has in a while. Just barely, you caught the hint of pink upon his ears when he turned his head. “I’ll have your back, always, Liu Kang.”

Waking up felt like a haze. 

The warmth of Liu Kang’s flank against your side lingered. You laid upon the bed, which had been somewhat patched up due to you sewing up the sheets and the mattress. Your hand fiddled with the sheets, staring up at the soft glow on the ceiling as you ruminated upon what you had discovered and what to exactly do with this information.

How strange it was despite your long years of knowing Liu Kang, you still had memories left to discover with him connected to them. And those words you said, why did they feel so familiar? Not familiar in the sense that you had said them, but you swore you heard them elsewhere. You thought long and hard about it, trying to find a rhyme or reason why you had these feelings. There were several minutes that passed. You sighed as you rubbed your head. The most logical conclusion you could come up with was that it was because you’ve been in Outworld.

What else could it be? All these memories did resurface ever since you’ve gotten here.  

You paused, a sudden thought breaking through the rest like a sprinter did when they ran towards the finish. You breath caught as you stared at the ceiling. Was there any point in returning to Earthrealm if all your memories were here? You laid there for a long while after, unable to ignore the logic your brain was conjuring up.

You groaned as rubbed at your face. There was no point incessantly worrying over this issue, it was not like you could do anything to change the duration of your stay here. At least, that’s what you’re trying to convince yourself. The little whisper in your head would try and continue to try and think over it. You swung your legs over the edge of the bed. Your fingers glided over the hasty sewed up areas of the bed, noting the bumpiness. You’d just hope no one would notice. 

Then, after a few more moments of sitting, you sighed. You sighed so hard, like you were trying to relinquish your worries that way. You closed your eyes, trying to rid your worries once more. Then after that futile attempt, you got up and stretched. Might as well start your day.

After going through the morning routine you’ve become somewhat accustomed to, you stepped out into the hall. Perhaps it was the room, or maybe it was the last of the warm memories finally leaving, but it felt…colder outside. Not enough to have you shivering, but it sent a slight chill through you. A few goosebumps appeared on your arms.

You stood there for a moment. At first, you didn’t realize why, but then as you heard the tapping of feet coming from the far down hallway you realized you were waiting. You turned your head to see the usual culprit, Princess Kitana. You gave her a cheery wave to which she gave a respectable nod. You met her halfway down the hallway. If someone were to observe, they may notice, just for a fleeting moment, that her steps went faster before meeting you.

“Glad to see we’re both back on schedule.” You commented, a light playful tone to your voice. You watched as Kitana’s eyes squinted slightly, the edges of her lips curved upwards in the slightest smile. She hummed, a hint of amusement in her voice. As soon as you joined her side she seemed to be content and nodded, as if she were acknowledging that contentment. Still, as you stood next to her, you felt that familiar nagging feeling once more.

Why did you always feel it around her?

“I heard you got the privilege to tour the Imperial Academy.” Kitana spoke, breaking the silence. Her voice did not hide her intrigue at the idea of you at the academy. Her eyes seemed to rake over you, scrutinizing every little detail of you she could see. You resisted the urge to shiver, to not show the slight moment of weakness upon her observant gaze. “How did you find it?” She inquired a moment later, her voice seeming to imply she already knew your answer. Your eyebrows raised just very at the thought. 

“It was lovely.” You admitted, finding yourself unable to conceal the underlying admiration you felt towards the location. You tilted your head upwards to look at the vast expanse of white marble overhead, thinking of all the wonders you had seen. You were even beginning to see the swirls of magic within the material above. You didn’t think you were obsessed, but it would be hard to deny that idea with how you were seeing things that weren’t even there. You didn’t notice how her smile grew, becoming less restrained. “I wish magic was more used in Earthrealm, it’d be nice to see a school much like the academy there.”

“You seem very interested in magic.” The princess said, reading your reaction. It wasn’t an incredibly difficult feat though, it was obvious to anyone who could see. You could not help but nod in response, only feeling a touch embarrassed at being so obvious. A small chuckle left your lips. Her eyes seemed to soften, if just a touch. “If I recall correctly, you have magic as well. Animal shapeshifting, correct? I overheard it at the banquet.”

“Yes, animal shapeshifting.” You confirmed. You held out your hand, letting it shift into a lion’s paw outstretched with its claws out. You saw the hint of amazement in Kitana’s eyes. Her eyes traced the length of your transformed limb, then stared intently at the flesh where it transitioned. “I’d like to think I’m rather proficient in it.”

“I see.” The blue clad princess said, her tone indicating a hint of interest at your display of magic. “Had you been an Outworlder, I would say you would have a chance at excelling greatly at the Academy.” She admitted. For a moment, your heart skipped a beat at the high praise. Then, you felt a little silly at being so pleased at the compliment. After all, it’s not like it meant you could get in even with your magical skills.

“A shame that I’m not.” You say, a small wistful tone in your voice. It still felt…odd to not label yourself as an Outworlder. In Earthrealm, you did not feel right calling yourself one of them. But here, you did not feel right calling yourself an Outworlder either. Was there really a label you’d feel comfortable with?

“Perhaps, in another life, you could have.” Kitana said, offering you an apologetic smile. You nearly stumbled in your steps upon hearing those words, and the nagging feeling disappeared as the pieces fell into place. Your eyes widened and you stared at the princess, who seemed none the wiser as she gazed into the Great Hall, which you both had ended up at finally.

That’s why you had that feeling and why it was always around her.

Those were the exact words she said as she had laid dying in your lap, in that vision you had about the amulet. Your fingers twitched as you took in a deep breath, holding back a wave of nostalgia as you gazed at her for a few moments more. It was an odd feeling, seeing the princess alive and healthy with little idea of who you were compared to the last time when she had said those words and she had been one of your closest allies and dying in your lap.

“Enjoy the match.” Kitana bid you goodbye, offering a small smile before walking off. You nodded, barely able to return her goodbye before she was out of earshot. Your gaze lingered on her a moment more. Your stomach twisted, and you were uncertain how to make use of the information you had gleaned.

Why did it seem like everyone you had cared about in the last life died? 

Was that fated to happen once more?

Before you could get too lost in your spiraling thoughts, you felt a hand on your shoulder. Your thoughts paused, as if the hand on your shoulder pulled you away from all the noise. You turned your head slowly to see Kenshi looking at you, eyebrows raised. You sent him a bit of a forced smile, trying to not worry him any more than he seemed to be.

“You were spacing out.” Kenshi said simply. His eyes focused on you, searching your face for any indication for your unusual behavior. You felt your smile grow the slightest bit strained, like a string being pulled just a bit too tight. His eyebrows knit together, and you felt a sense of embarrassment at how he could read your expression.

Or maybe you were just easy to read in general. Either way, you didn’t feel too great about that.

“Early mornings, you know how it is.” You said, using possibly the lamest excuse you could have. You nearly wanted to smack your forehead as you realized how uncharacteristic that sounded as well. If anyone were to say that excuse, you were the last one who should have. Your jaw set a tiny bit more, trying to make your smile more prominent.

“I see.” Kenshi said, after a few more moments. There was an odd tension between the two of you. It was the type of tension that could only be made between someone who had lied very, very horribly, and by someone who could see right through the lie as if it were the most polished glass in the world. His hand squeezed your shoulder. 

Your gaze dropped to the hand on your shoulder. You stared at the tattoo on his hands, having nearly forgotten the designs on his hands. He didn’t put them on display very often. Your lips pursed, and you thought long and hard about whether he had similar tattoos, if any, in the old timeline. You don’t think he did.

“See something interesting?” Kenshi’s words cut through your thoughts. You glanced up, seeing his concerned expression having changed into one of interest. The ex-yakuza member’s eyebrows were raised, and his head tilted ever so slightly to the side. His eyes, which you now noted to be just the perfect shade for him, were trained on you. There was a certain tone to his voice that you couldn’t pin down, was it playfulness?

“I was just looking at your tattoos. They’re really pretty.” You admitted, before wanting to smack yourself. It was not because of the admittance, it was because you had forgotten the connection the tattoos had to his past. “Not that I think they’re too pretty, because of your connection with your past.” You quickly added on, resisting the urge to cringe at the addition. You sighed and closed your eyes, shaking your head. “I think they’re nice, regardless of your past, is what I meant.” 

“Maybe the early morning is getting to you.” Kenshi said, his voice having just the tiniest hint of a teasing lilt to it. Once more, he squeezed your shoulder. His eyes seemed to shine a bit, and a smile grew. Out of all your champions, he smiled the least. But whenever he did, you always seemed to notice how bright it felt to you. “But thank you for the compliment, now let’s join the group. Even Cage is there now.”

And so, the two of you walked over to the group. A round of greetings were passed between the group. You did your best to maintain your steady composure. It was getting harder and harder with all the memories coming back rapidly, especially with how dreadful they’ve been lately. Liu Kang and Kung Lao’s greetings were the hardest to return as you were trying your best not to space out and linger on the differences between their past selves and now.

Still, you did it, and no one seemed the wiser. Kung Lao had even given you some food. You were nearly honored by the gesture, knowing he saved you some food instead of taking it all for himself. You let out a small huff at the little wink he sent your way when he handed you an extra portion. 

“What was up with your little moment with Tattoo?” Johnny asked, leaning over with an all too nosy tone in his voice. You’ve seen the older women in Fengjian be less nosy than he was. And man were they always vying for some gossip whenever you visited Madam Bo. You sent him a perplexed look, which seemed to spur him on. “You know, like, when he had his hand on your shoulder.” He said. His hands were very emotive, portraying the story all on their own.

“Nothing.” You said, dismissively. You shrugged, and you watched as Johnny seemed to deflate at your answer. He was either not pleased at the lackluster answer, or how little you elaborated. Probably even a mixture of both. “It was seriously nothing, he just noticed I was spacing out.” You continued, hoping to satiate the little bit of curiosity he had.

“Mhm, sure.” He replied, a hint of skepticism in his tone. “We’ll discuss this later.” The actor insisted. You opened your mouth to respond that there was nothing else to discuss, but then the Empress and princesses strode in, causing you to fall silent. Instead, you sent him a hint of a glare. Of course, the actor didn’t care, just sending you a sunny grin in return.

What unlucky timing.

“Once again, we gather to witness another day of the tournament.” Sindel announced, scanning the crowd. When her eyes landed on Raiden, who seemed to be growing in confidence with every win, her lips pursed. You held back a chuckle at the slight annoyance that glimmered in her eyes. You saw her take in a deep breath before continuing. “After three fights, your resolve has not yet broken.” She observed, raising an eyebrow. “Today, we shall see if that will change.”

There was a pause before she continued.

“Today, you shall fight one of my most trusted allies.” The Empress announced. You were surprised for a brief moment. The last two fights were chosen by the general, did she finally get fed up with his choices? You held back yet another laugh at the prospect. “Sheeva of the Shokan shall be your opponent today.” 

From the end of the hallway emerged a broad, tall figure. Nearly rivaling Kotal in size, a woman dressed in battle-ready armor appeared. You felt a slight buzz upon seeing her, but nothing overly major. Her armor, though indicative of a warrior, appeared different from the ones that both Reiko, Kotal, and General Shao had all donned. It was a hint more decorative, and it reminded you very slightly of the umgadi gear. A purple sash that matched Sindel’s colors was pinned across her body.

“Sheeva is one of the best warriors from the Shokan. Fierce and loyal, she is one of the best guards and warriors I have come to know.” Sindel said, a certain type of fondness in her voice. It felt like a stark contrast to the way she had regarded Li Mei. Sheeva seemed to take the praise in stride, holding her head up high. All four of her arms flexed, showing the muscles that she had gained through the years. “May she grace us with a fight to display just how well she can fight.”

“I have heard many things about your prowess, young one.” Sheeva spoke, gazing down at Raiden. Her face, though it looked unimpressed, did seem to hold just a bit of respect within it. Her upper arms crossed over her chest, while the lower set of arms were firmly placed upon her hips. Her gaze was so strong it was nearly unnerving. “We shall see if they are true.”

“I will try my best to prove it true.” Raiden replied, nodding. Despite the difference in both bulk and height, Raiden seemed to not be cowed in the slightest. You smiled at the sight, feeling proud of the strength he displayed. He has certainly come a long way since the beginning of your training. From a meek sapling to a strong, sturdy tree.

Sheeva’s way of fighting reminded you a bit of Reiko’s. They both utilized the same grappling style, trying to latch onto Raiden like a leech to hit him. The Shokan was amazingly proficient at using all of her arms within combat. Her fighting style, though like the second in command, did not match the calculated way she fought. That part of her felt more like Kotal.

Her brutality was not out of bloodlust, but from the cold precision of knowing her true strength and how to use it against her opponent. Even when she stomped harshly on Raiden’s back, there was no maniac energy from her. It was a detail that you did not miss.

Had Raiden not fought against other grapplers and those who already outsized him in a match, he would have fared far worse. But, unfortunately for the Shokan, it seemed that the previous two matches only served to prepare him for this fight. Sure, he did take a heavy hit here and there, but for the most part it went far smoother than the last few matches did. 

It did not take long for him to stand over Sheeva, a tired but elated look on his face.

“I hope that proved my determination to you.” He said, his voice a bit breath as he adjusted his rumpled clothes. A groan left the beaten Shokan’s face. But as she stumbled to her feet, she seemed to nod in response. Her head dipped low, a look of shame coating her face. She seemed to hold herself a little less tall now. The two exchanged bows, before the woman walked out, her footsteps heavy with defeat.

“Congratulations upon yet another win.” Sindel said, her lips curling upwards. Her smile, once again, did not reach her eyes. In fact, her eyes did not even seem to follow the victor. Instead, they trailed after Sheeva, a slight look of disappointment within them. She cleared her throat, and the momentary weakness disappeared. “We shall adjourn at first light once again.”

“Hah, was that even a challenge for you?” Kung Lao spoke, walking merrily to his friend. A playful shove was sent Raiden’s way. A small “ow” left his lips as he rubbed his arm, which certainly must be sore from how Sheeva had been tugging him around. “I think you’ve got this in the bag!” He encouraged, though this time it lacked the little shove.

“Indeed, your training reflects well in your matches.” Liu Kang added in. He sent a little bit of a look towards Kung Lao. “Remember not to grow complacent, the next few matches may prove to be more challenging than the previous ones.” He warned. His hands were clasped neatly in front of him. The fire god’s gaze then turned to you, expectantly.

“Lord Liu Kang is right. As long as you remember what we taught you when you fight, you’ll do fine.” You said, giving him a small smile. You crossed your arms as you shifted your weight. “But I do agree, you’ll need to be vigilant. I’d say it was a lucky streak that your last opponents had similar fighting styles, but the next few may fight very differently from them.” You placed a hand on his arm, trying to be comforting. “But I, and so do the rest of us, believe in you.”

“I-” Raiden began, seeming a bit caught off guard by either your words or the touch on his arm. He cleared his throat, a faint flush on his cheeks. Johnny took your attention away by slinging an arm around your shoulders. Turning to give him a confused look and to shrug off his touch, you missed the brief look that Raiden sent your way before you turned back. “I understand, I’ll do my best.” 

“Good.” You commended, sending him a bigger smile this time. Then, after a moment, your hand dropped from his arm. Liu Kang picked up from your little moment, telling the group a few things before he dismissed them. You watched as Liu Kang, Kenshi, and Raiden all walked off. But Kung Lao lingered, a look of contemplation on his face. You tilted your head as you walked forward to stand next to the man. “Something on your mind?”

“Just thinking.” Kung Lao answered, a thoughtful tone to his voice. You raised your eyebrows, nodding to see if he would go on. After a few moments, he did. “I know Raiden deserved to be the champion but…” He said, trailing off as he looked to the side. You nodded, placing a hand on his bicep and squeezed it gently, making him return his gaze to you.

“I admire your willingness to fight.” You said, cautiously picking your words. The memory of the old Kung Lao dying because he had been far too eager to fight lingered in your mind. Was it a warning of things to come? Or was it merely just a stain in your mind that would never go away? “But know that we all see your value even without you launching yourself head first into battle.” You pinched his arm. “Don’t go around and be reckless to try and prove yourself, okay?”

“If I were to fight though, I’d win.” Kung Lao retorted playfully, but that attitude melted away to reveal a more genuine smile. “I know, though.” He said, nodding. “I promise I won’t go around picking fights…unless they deserve it.” He said, grinning at you. When you sent him an unamused look, he rolled his eyes before laughing. “I’m kidding! I won’t.” He claimed, raising his hands up in surrender.

“Good. I’m going to do some shopping now, okay?” You said, nodding with a satisfied smile. You dropped your hand, missing the way the farmhand’s eyes trailed after it. As you were about to walk off to go tour Sun Do for gifts, you felt a hand upon your arm. Your eyes trailed up from the hand to the culprit. It was none other than Johnny. “Did you need something?”

“Yeah.” The actor said, his smile that was so bright it nearly rivaled the sun. His hand dropped so he could spread his arms out wide. “Saw the other day that Rai-dude got to have a day with you, it’s my turn now.” He announced, seeming almost a bit too proud of himself. “That, and I did say we had stuff to discuss later.”

“We’re taking turns hanging out?” Kung Lao spoke up, having not left yet. His eyebrows furrowed as he looked back and forth between you and Johnny Cage. A look of utter confusion was obvious on his face. You were nearly certain that a similar look was upon your face. You were no less confused than he was. “When am I getting my day?” 

“We’re not taking turns, don’t worry about it.” You reassured the former farmhand. You looked back at Johnny with an exasperated look. “Don’t say things like that, people will get the wrong idea, Cage.” You scolded him pointing a finger his way. “Why do you even need me to accompany you today?” You inquired. You noticed the slightly irritated tone in your voice and sent him an apologetic look. “Not that I mind.”

“I need someone to help take some pictures of me around Sun Do so I can post it on my socials.” The American informed you causally. Either he didn’t notice the tone in your voice, or didn’t care. You were assuming that with him, it was the latter. A broad grin crossed his features as a more confused look appeared over your face. 

“But I wouldn’t anyone else be bet-” You began. You were shortly cut off by Johnny grabbing your hand. With a surprised shout, you were dragged off by Johnny outside of the palace before you could protest more. Too stunned, you let him lead you away, mind still mulling over the strange excuse he had given you.

Left in the dust was Kung Lao who looked at where you two had disappeared to. There was a moment where there was nothing but sheer confusion spread across his face. Then, Kenshi passed by, having returned to the Great hall. He looked at the farm hand with a perplexed look as well. He glanced back and forth between where Kung Lao was looking and the man himself.

“Are you okay?” The swordsman asked, having not been there to witness the little scene. 

“Yeah.” Kung Lao said, snapping out of his stupor. He shook his head, trying to dispel the strange hurt feeling he felt before shrugging. “I’m just really, really confused.”

“You didn’t have to drag me out here, Cage.”

“Nah, I totally did have to.” Johnny said simply. The blunt response stunned you for a moment. Normally, you would have a witty remark or be able to bounce back. But with how strange Johnny has been lately, you’ve found yourself more and more uncertain of what to say in response. You didn’t quite like how speechless you’ve become. 

“No, you really didn’t have to.” You insisted. Your words fell upon deaf ears as Johnny continued to drag you towards the capital. It wasn’t until you both made it to the city that he finally released your hand. You sighed as you sent him a look before shaking your head. “Well, we’re here.” You stated the obvious, looking around at the crowd. “Where did you need the picture?”

“Oh, we don’t need to do that now.” The actor told you with a grin. You stared at him with a look of disbelief. “In fact we have to wait. I wanted to do these pictures at sunset so we can get those sweet, sweet colors.” You looked upwards into the sky, noting just how early it was. Sunset was hours away. You sighed, you guess you were stuck with the man for a bit. He didn’t seem dismayed at all by your reaction, instead slinging an arm around you and leaning in close. “So, where to first?”

“I didn’t really have a plan.” You said, crossing your arms. “I was really going to go window shopping.” You inform him, trying to think of ideas for the two brothers you hadn’t gotten gifts for yet. So far, you were drawing a blank. Glancing over to Johnny, who seemed to be very pleased with placing almost all his weight upon you, you pursed your lips. “I suppose you don’t have any ideas for what to get Bi-Han and Kuai Liang?”

“The ninjas?” Johnny inquired, eyebrows raising. Before you could correct him that they weren’t quite ninjas he continued, “I dunno, some breath mints for frost face?” He suggested, shrugging. You sent him an exasperated look, but you supposed asking Johnny out of any of them was the wrong decision. He probably didn’t hold either of them in such high regard after what they did to his…Hichuli. He laughed at your reaction, nudging you. “Okay, fine, how about we go window shopping like you said, we’re bound to think of some ideas.”

“Sounds like a plan.” You said, nodding. You stood there, waiting for him to move. When he remained leaning against you, you raised your eyebrows. “Are you expecting me to be able to drag you around everywhere?” You inquired, a tinge of amusement in your voice apparent. A smile spread across your lips. Maybe it was because he was an actor, but he never failed to be entertaining to you.

“Where’s your sense of fun?” He groaned, a hint of a pout on his lips. Still, he relented and got off of you. With an overexaggerated bow that reminded you of certain characters in a movie, he gestured towards the city. “Lead the way?” He inquired, his eyebrows waggling playfully. You rolled your eyes at the grand performance and chuckled before beginning to walk over to the stores.

Even after touring part of Sun Do with Raiden, there were still plenty of shops you had not explored yet. Both you and Johnny peeked into stores, marveling over their wares with different degrees of wonder. There were a few times where you’d hear mutter how he wished that he had an easy way to convert his American dollars to the Outworlder coin. 

It took a while until you found a good gift. Or rather, until Johnny found a good gift.

“How about this?” The actor asked. The two of you had ended up in some sort of jewelry store. While you hadn’t been too keen on the wares here fitting the idea of a gift for either of the brothers, you both decided to tour it anyways. Upon seeing the suggestion Johnny lifted towards you, you were infinitely glad that you did.

You grabbed the ribbon he had held up, eyes wide with amazement. It was made of gold and black fabric, perfectly long enough to do someone’s hair. In fact, it seemed meant to be tied into one’s hair to keep it up. The thread work was immaculate. It was woven intricately, creating a pattern that vaguely reminded you of a scorpion. 

It was practically perfect.

“Where did you find this?” You asked. You rubbed your thumb over the design before flipping it over and admiring how soft the fabric was. You looked from the ribbon over to Johnny to see what may be the smuggest look you’ve seen on his face. “I mean, this is pretty much what I’ve been looking for.”

“Just over here.” Johnny told you, pointing his thumb in the direction of a display of other ribbons. You wandered over, humming as you perused the rest of the collection. Unfortunately, there was nothing that stuck out to you as something you’d want to give to Bi-Han. Still, as you looked back down at the ribbon in your hands, you were grateful to find something. “You seem really pleased by my findings.” He observed. You could hear the grin through his words. “Do I get to have a reward or something?”

“Or something.” You sassed back, shaking your head. Still, you looked over to the man with a smile. “Thanks for helping me, Johnny.” You thanked him sincerely. The smile he sent made your heart skip a beat, though you weren’t quite sure why. Deciding not lingering on the why part, you turned and went to the counter to pay for the item.

Surprisingly, it was cheaper than you expected. A fact that you were grateful for so you did not completely lose your money on this one gift. The centaurian man who helped you even offered to package it in a pretty gift box for free. 

“You’re not trying to find a pretty little trinket for yourself, wildstyle?” Johnny inquired as you rejoined him near the entrance. He sent you an inquisitive look as he crossed his arms. You shook your head as you tucked the box away into your bag for safe keeping. You would be devastated to find that you had lost the perfect gift for Kuai Liang. “You’re a strange one.”

“Really now?” You quipped back, raising your eyebrows as you turned back to look at him. You peered over to the sky, noting how low the sun had gotten. Browsing around had taken far more time than you had expected. It was nearly time for taking pictures soon, assuming that the man still wanted them. “Did you want to go find a spot to take your pictures now? Or did you still want to help me look for Bi-Han’s gift?”

“Still don’t get why you’re buying gifts for the man who broke my Hichuli, but I guess we’ve got some more daylight to burn.” Johnny replied, shrugging.

And so, the two of you continued to browse. Unfortunately, even between the two of you, you still failed to find something appropriate for the icy grandmaster. Luckily for you, you still saw that there were plenty of stalls to go through. Tomorrow, perhaps you’d have better luck.

That’s how you got to the pier, squinting down at Johnny’s phone. You’ve rarely touched his phone. The only times you’ve bothered to interact with it was to play Candy Crush whenever the actor wanted to bribe you to give them a break, or to show Kung Lao the video. 

Still, holding it in your hands, something about the device felt oddly…familiar.

“You know how to take a picture, right?” Johnny said, leaning over to point at the screen. You looked over to him, giving him a sigh.

“That’s what I was going to tell you, Cage.” You told him, sending him an exasperated look. You had nearly forgotten about his little excuse to drag you out here. How silly it seemed now. You thought about telling him if he had just asked to accompany you on your little shopping trip that you would have let him, but you figured you were past that point now. “I have no idea how to really take a picture, so your luck with me taking actual quality ones for your social media is pretty low.”

“You’ll probably have a knack for it.” The actor encouraged you. He positioned so he could wrap his arms around you, placing his hands upon yours. While Johnny was usually touchy, this felt…different. You suppressed a shiver as you noted how gentle he was being. “Here, lift it up to this angle.” He instructed, his voice quieter than usual. And yet, when it was right next to your ear you hardly noticed how he was pretty much whispering. Was your face getting hot?

“Good.” Johnny praised, and like usual, you could hear the smile in his voice. The smile your heard though, was a different type of smile. It wasn’t arrogant or smug. It felt like he was proud of you. “You’ll want to tap the screen if it’s out of focus.” He said, and tapped on the screen to demonstrate. You nodded, pursing your lips as you tried your best to focus on the task at hand. Did he really have to be this close though?

“Anything else I should know?” You asked, hoping the way you spoke didn’t reflect the way you were feeling oddly nervous right now. You had no idea why your nerves were acting up, it isn’t as if you were being tested on anything. You did not turn your head, feeling like you would grow more nervous if you turned your head to look at the man.

“Nope, you should be good. I’ll be telling you whenever to take a shot. Oh, taking a picture is this button by the way.” He said, pressing the circle at the bottom of the screen. You nodded diligently, back oddly straight as you tried to focus on anything but him. You had to hide your sigh of relief as he unwrapped his arms, backing up. “Alright, let me get into position.” 

You watched as Johnny jogged over to the spot he had apparently determined in his head. You kept your arms up, not wanting to lose the perfect angle that the man had decided for you. Still, the memory of his touch on your hands lingered in your mind. Johnny prepped himself, moving between a few poses before he settled on one and called out for you to take a picture. You grinned at the rather amusing pose he struck. Was he trying to pretend to hold the sun?

Nodding, you moved your thumb to press the button. Accidentally though, you made the screen flip, making it turn to your smiling face. Following that accident, you pressed the button. With a sigh, you furrowed your eyebrows as you tried to figure out how to turn it back around. After a few moments, you offered him an apologetic smile as he walked back to you.

“Did you get the shot?” He asked, raising his eyebrows. You shook your head and handed the phone over, sighing.

“I told you I didn’t know how to take pictures.” You sighed, pointing at the screen and how it was still using the forward facing camera. “I accidentally flipped the screen and made it take a picture of me.” You explained, your tone indicating your embarrassment at not knowing how to navigate the device well. You watched as he lifted the phone up, so he could see it better. The only issue now was that you couldn’t see it. “So I didn’t get the picture, sorry.”

“Main man Lord Liu Kang should really get you a phone so you can start learning. Don’t sweat it though, Teach.” Johnny observed, humming as he tapped the screen a few times. His eyes lit up after a few moments. A small smile curled onto his lips. Then, almost as if remembering you were there, he cleared his throat as he looked back to you. 

It was rare to see him taken off his guard.

“Here.” He said after a few moments. When the phone was handed back to you, it was correctly oriented this time. “Try not to switch it again, or do, I don’t mind having a few photos of you in my phone.” Johnny teased you, sending you a wink. Before you could retort, he jogged back to the spot. You shook your head, unable to resist a smile.

This time, you took what you thought was a pretty good picture.

By the time you and Johnny returned to the palace, it was dark. You had spent the fading bits of daylight on taking every picture you could. You thought it was excessive, but the actor had told you something along the lines of “we don’t finish until it’s perfect in the industry”. You had tried to tell him that there was no industry here, but he promptly ignored you.

You had half a mind to groan at his stubbornness.

“Busy day?” Raiden inquired, seeing the both of you walk into the hallway. It seems the reserved seats had changed for the both of you. You had a choice of either between Kenshi and Liu Kang or between Raiden and Kung Lao. You slipped into the one next to the champion, humming as you reached over to get your share of food. 

“You could call it that.” You replied. You muttered an apology as you bumped into Raiden as you leaned over. He took your apology in stride, smiling generously at you. “I managed to get another gift under my belt. No luck in finding one for Bi-Han though.” You said, sighing. “Then again, I predicted getting a gift for him would be the most difficult.”

“Maybe tomorrow I can help.” Kenshi spoke up. You glanced up at him, a bit of surprise on your face. You nearly missed the look of what you could only call betrayal on Kung Lao’s face. Why that was the case, you had no idea. You felt a little bad, it looked a little funny. You brought a hand to hide the bits of a smile that threatened to slip through. You hummed, tilting your head after you recovered from your near smile. You thought about the offer for a moment before nodding.

“I wouldn’t mind that.” You said. As you peered down at the food on the table, you missed the pointed looks the swordsman got. When you looked up, they were gone. “I’ve found that I find the gifts whenever I’m with one of you anyways, might as well not break the streak.” You said contemplatively. “How was the rest of the day for you guys?”

The rest of dinner went smoothly from there. There was chatter here and there, catching up on each other’s day. It wasn’t until dinner was over that you encountered something unexpected. You stood up from your seat, excusing yourself. You had plans to get a bit of alone time before your usual meeting with the princess. Yet, when you turned around you were met with the sight of Rain.

“Oh, hello.” You greeted, blinking owlishly. You offered a small wave, to which the mage returned. “Did you need something from me?” You asked, looking around to see if there was something obvious around to indicate what he wanted. 

“Ah, nothing much. I just wanted to talk.” He said, offering you a smile. You returned the smile, a hint of surprise and joy in your eyes. You knew Rain had offered you friendship the other day, but you didn’t actually expect him to want to spend more time together than he did yesterday. “Do you have the time for a little chat?” He inquired, his hands sweeping out to gesture to a hallway.

“Oh, definitely.” You said, nodding perhaps a bit too eagerly. You weren’t sure why, but Rain and you seemed to click quickly. You chalked it up to the shared interest in magic, and how he seemed to admire your drive to get better. “I’ll see you guys around.” You said, waving to the group before you walked off with your new friend.

“Lord Liu Kang, your stare is…intense.” Raiden pointed out quietly after you and your new friend disappeared down the hallway. The Fire God diverted his gaze away from where you had gone to the champion. He cleared his throat, putting on a cordial smile.

“Do not worry about it.” Liu Kang reassured the man. He cast his gaze upon the rest of the group, nodding at them. “Enjoy the rest of your evening. I shall see you all tomorrow for Raiden’s next fight.” He then stood and disappeared too, retiring to his chambers.

Even gods like him were not immune to human emotions.

You had talked longer with Rain than expected. 

It wasn’t until you saw the man yawn that you realized just how late it had gotten. You felt a twinge of guilt course through you as you quickly realized you had to dismiss yourself. Searching around, you excused yourself, giving him an apologetic smile.

“I really should be going, I struggle with waking up without proper sleep.” You lied. You did feel bad lying to your new friend, but you weren’t certain just how public the information of your meetings with Mileena were. You figured it was best to play it safe and pretend they did not occur. With an understanding nod, the mage smiled.

“I understand.” He said. There was a pause, his lips parting before he shook his head. Your eyebrows raised at the action, but didn’t question it. You didn’t want to be too forward and scare him off.  “I hope to talk to you soon. It’s refreshing to talk to someone like you.” 

“I feel the same.” You told him, nodding. You watched him walk off, taking slow steps away. Then, as soon as you deemed yourself safe enough not to be caught in a lie, you slunk off in the darkness to the hanging gardens. You nearly transformed to make the job easier, but you figured that was more suspicious, so you stuck to the teachings Madam Bo had taught you.

Reaching the gardens, you let out a sigh. Here you felt safe enough to not sneak around. You looked around, spying for any sign of the princess. You caught a hint of pink, and walked right over. Just as expected, she was waiting on the bench for you.

“Apologies for my late arrival.” You said, not even certain if you were even late. It is not as if you had a clock to judge the time. Even if you did, you weren’t even sure if Outworld ran on the same time system as Earthrealm did. You rushed over to take your spot near her after she indicated towards it with her hand. “I got caught up in conversation.”

“Lucky for you, I just got here.” Mileena remarked. The jesting tone in her voice had you relax, letting out another sigh of relief. Hints of thinly veiled amusement sparkled in her eyes accompanying the little smirk on her lips. “I assume you were giving your champion a rousing speech for tomorrow’s match?” She inquired, an expectant tone in her voice.

“Ah, no actually.” You said. You felt a little silly, realizing that her assumption was something you actually should be doing. You knew Raiden did well off of praise. Not only that, but it didn’t hurt to be a little more encouraging towards the champion. Maybe you should do that tomorrow night, especially since you knew that if he won this one, he would have to fight the princess beside you. “I was talking to the High Mage, Rain.”

“I did not know you two were so…familiar.” The princess said, raising an eyebrow. You heard the curiosity in her tone. You chuckled at her phrasing, shaking your head as you waved your hands dismissively.

“Not at all.” You said, holding back a disbelieving chuckle. “He and I simply got along well during the banquet and became friends of sorts..” You explained. You turned your gaze away from the princess to the sky. “It’s refreshing to hear someone talk about magic with such fasciation and depth.” 

“I did not realize you were so intrigued by magic.” Mileena remarked. This time, a hint of surprise appeared in her voice. “Do you possess magic yourself, or are you simply fascinated by the subject?” She inquired. Her gaze scanned your form, trying to see any indication of magic upon your person. Her calculating gaze felt just like her younger sister’s.

“I have magic.” You said. “Magic doesn’t really exist in Earthrealm in the same ways it does here.” You explained. “Very little people know magic themselves, and the ones I know who have such magic don’t have the same passion as the people I’ve met here.” You shrugged causally.

“Perhaps it has something to do with the goddess Delia.” Mileena proposed. “As far as I am concerned, the only god Earthrealm has is Lord Liu Kang, correct?” She inquired. You nodded. You doubted Liu Kang would have hidden another god of Earthrealm from you. “Delia is the goddess of magic, it is natural that Outworld would simply have more magic than Earthrealm.”

“I suppose.” You said, not knowing what to quite respond to that. She was probably correct. You pursed your lips as you pondered on the subject of magic for a few moments more before realizing that Mileena had been staring at you. “Oh, right the story, my bad.” You said, straightening up. You cleared your throat before glancing at the princess. “Any particular stories you’d like to hear about tonight?”

“How about you tell me about Earthrealm’s version of magic?” The princess proposed, connecting the prior conversation to the story she wished to hear. You smiled at the sentiment, thinking of what to tell her before nodding and proceeding.

That night, you told her of magic. And that night, you tried your best to ignore the longing ache in your heart.

part fifteen

tagged - @bonezisded @lollipopin @simpxinnie @zhivaxo @koisuko

[lowkeyremi]

Haikyuu men as fathers :D

Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4

FT. Hinata, Bokuto, Suna, and Kenma. (If you guys want other characters lmk, i'm just not in the mood to do a bunch rn)

SO I JUST READ LIKE THE CUTEST HAIKYUU FATHERHOOD ONE SHOT AND NOW I WANNA DO HAIKYUU CHARACTERS AS DADS, HEAD CANONS (More of the earlier stages of fatherhood, when they first experience it)

This is the first thing I've written on tumblr pls spare me...

Warnings: Indication of relationships and marriage and some angst (mentions of abortion) for a few characters (just put that there just in case) Enjoy lovelies <33

Also sorry for any typos or grammar errors. I'm too lazy to reread through it and check lol.

...

Hinata Shoyo:

He was quite surprised at the announcement of your pregnancy that he passed out

He was soooo excited none the less, being a father sounded pretty fun

He definitely started reading books to try to help him figure things out

He was a terrible diaper changer (like no fucking joke, I think he'd be scared to change another one), he'd seen you do it so many times but for some reason he could never avoid getting peed on

Would brag to everyone about how cute his little baby is, "My baby just got their first tooth, and they're learning how to crawl! They've also got the cutest little chubby cheeks."

If the baby looks like you he would literally talk about it all the time. "Beautiful, just like your mama."

He's had experience with babies because well... Natsu <3

He got the baby a matching jersey so you two could watch his games :)

Bokuto Kotaro:

After finding out you were pregnant he would tell EVERYBODY The two of you were walking together to get ramen and you guys walked into the restaurant and got seats. The waiter came to you two and asked what'd you like to drink. "Hey, guess what? My wife is pregnant! Isn't that amazing?! We're gonna have a baby!" You had to hide your face from embarrassment but the waiter just giggled, Bokuto is def a himbo, your himbo.

He enjoyed decorating the room for your baby

He would dead ass miss practice to go to your appointments for the baby

The first time he held your little bundle of joy he cried like a damn baby, he couldn't help it. It made him so happy that the two of you brought a life into the world.

He didn't let Kenma hold your child for awhile because he was scared he'd drop the baby :')

Very protective of your little one

He wanted the baby's first word to be "Volleyball" but it was "da da" which still made him very happy

Bo is very proud of the baby you two have created so I'm 100% sure he takes a bunch of himself with the baby to post on his social media

He was scared to change diapers but he soon got the hang of it

100% would get up in the middle of the night when the baby is crying, just to let you sleep. "The baby." You sigh loudly as you hear your little one cry over the baby monitor. "I'll go check on them. You get some rest." You turn your head to face him, "You sure?" He just smiled at you and kissed your temple. "100%"

Suna Rintaro: (ofwhuowghwoqrwq do i need to say anything else?)

He thought you were joking when you said you were pregnant (oops) "That's a good one." He turned his attention back to his phone. "Rin... I'm serious. Do you wanna see the ultrasound?"

A little more on the hesitant side. He didn't want to believe it, but you had the proof so like...

He was low key scared to fuck up, his father was not a very good father so he was scared to be the same way his father was.

He didn't even hold the baby for the first few months. "Rin, come on. You aren't your father. You have me to guide you through the process. Come hold our little one." He stalked up the stairs, "no."

After awhile you finally convinced him to have physical contact with the baby "The baby.. i-is smiling at me?" You giggle at him, "of course they're smiling at you. They love their daddy of course."

After he finally started being around the baby, you literally could not tear him away from that child.

Some days he'd take the baby to practice, to the grocery store, everywhere.

You had to pry the child from his arms most days. "Rin, give the baby here.." He looked at you like you just told him to give away his prized possession. "Hell no." You sighed. "Rin you have to go to work!" He shrugged his shoulders, "the baby can come with me, Komori enjoys taking pics of them during practice." Jeez.. this man truly is something.

Overall he was scared for nothing. He was a great father ;)

Somehow he convinced you to have another one... (weren't you the same one who didn't hold your baby for months?) he wanted to make up for the few firsts that he missed

Kozume Kenma: (oh Lord)

He asked "Are you sure it's mine?" (yeah... virtual slap rn)

He told you he wasn't ready and asked if you'd consider an abortion or adoption, it made you really sad but you realized Kenma wasn't ready

It really hurt him to hear you cry about giving up your child which made him wanna try for you

Did not know how to hold the baby for the life of him "Umm.. am I like- holding it right..?" You burst into laughter at the sight. "Ken, you gotta support their head." He looked down at his baby. "Oh..."

He decided that he needed to do research before he ventured further down the path of fatherhood.

Kenma was confused with diapers. "You... you want me to change its diaper?" You scoffed at him handing him a fresh diaper. "Our baby is not an 'it' Kenma!" He groaned as he took the diaper from you. "Why can't you change it?" You rolled your eyes as if it was obvious. "Because I won't always be there to do it myself, duh."

You were out with a friend one day which meant Kenma was on babysitting duty, he was tempted to call Kuro to come watch his child but he'd say something like, "Kenma, it's your responsibility as a father, blah blah blah.." So he and the baby just kind of sat there staring at each other. "What do you wanna do?" He asked the baby, knowing they can't talk. The baby proceeded to poke Kenma's cheek and yell out, "DA DA DA DA." Kenma thought it was cute and laughed softly. "Yep, that's me." The baby repeated saying 'da' for awhile until they tired themselves out. "You're a lot like me." That day it clicked, he finally understood what it was to be a father

He wasn't very affectionate but he tried to show his baby that he cared the best way he knew how

You saw the changes and it made you happy

You caught him cuddling the baby once, when you accused him of being affectionate he rolled his eyes half awake and said, "M'not being affectionate! Go awayyyy."

Doesn't want to admit to being soft for his baby :)

That's a wrap! If you want more characters lmk! I'd be happy to do a part two, this was fun for me :)

[reeddotcom]

[TCSM] Johnny x Reader

➢ Cellar Door summary: just like in the game, you've woken up in the sawyer household and need to escape with your friends. it's your job to escape, though you may or may not have gotten some help along the way. (gender neutral, self-insert)

warnings: blood, minor violence, suggested gore (but honestly nothing 2 cray oops) a/n: this is just the first part and my first time writing fanfic/posting anything on tumblr so pls be nice oop ⸻

Darkness. Silence. How you got here was unknown but you were also just waking up, feeling blanketed by an exhausted haze as senses slowly crept back in.

Tired eyes eventually flickered open to reveal an unfamiliar room encased around you; shades of ocher becoming a wooden door, muddy walls, nobody else in sight. Was this a cellar? Some type of basement? Every blink dissipated visual blur just a bit more until you were able to realize the world was upside-down and, peering towards what should have been the ceiling, the terrain underneath looked less than comfortable to land on. Wait, what was holding you up then? Your hands were free, but as more time passed and differing senses were starting to slowly make their way back to your psyche, your feet felt more restricted than what was normal. Eyes travel downwards, chin tucked to chest—stretching, arching to see that there's a frayed rope tying them together that's attached to the ceiling. What the fuck was going on?

With your heartbeat in your ears and a sudden urgency to feel freedom again, there's a short stretch of writhing and exerted effort that's needed in order to squeeze one or two digits underneath the rope; loosening it from your skin and ultimately getting it undone within a timely manner. That came with an unpleasant drop though that'd knock the air from your lungs, making it rather difficult to catch a full take of breath that didn't feel warm, much like your cheeks that were still attempting to settle with all of the blood that had rushed towards them. There's a coolness to the dirt that makes it worth relaxing in while your body begins to fire off signals of all the pain points that heightened across bruised legs, brandished arms; marks that couldn't even make it within your peripheral.

Something was clearly wrong but… you were also here for a reason.

To find Maria Flores, yeah. Ana's sister. Wait, where was Ana? A sudden scream in the distance provides the answer that you most likely weren't looking for while simultaneously providing the drive needed to finally stand up and move; eager to find a way out of wherever the fuck it is you've been locked in. Palms to ash, then wrapping around a dirtied door handle—was that blood?—you make your way out of the room and in the opposite direction of what sounded like a chainsaw in the distance that drowned out cries of agony from what could only be assumed as your friend. Julie, Connie and Sonny were also here too, right? And Leland, you couldn't forget about Leland. He was the one that came up with this whole idea. Whether or not it was for Ana or for his own hatred for the local police department and their lack of support in this case was debatable.

There's so much to process with each step taken and crying was completely understandable in a situation like this. Left to right, right to left, the walls were narrow and severely lacked any indication of direction. Everything looked the same. It was like an underground tunnel of nightmares where bones hung from the ceiling, some left in piles on the ground, if not shoved in the walls. The further you went, shimmying through tight spaces that were just narrow enough for you to squeeze through, there'd be a gruesome discovery of the bodies the bones once belonged to; their blood being strained into bins from hand-made contraptions, like tree saps. Who does something like this? Some people found things like this interesting while others found it nauseating. Either way, you were unable to make eye-contact with anything but what lied straight ahead, illuminated by questionable light sources that were intermittently placed along the walls. Darkness was a theme more often than not.

It concealed you if there was ever a moment you needed to take a breather, hide in a corner, attempt to gather scattering thoughts. Perhaps there was enough bravery to come up with a strategic plan. There was still no sign of any of your friends but that awful chainsaw still echoed in the distance, far, far away so that was a sign that things weren't all that bad. The potential for circumstances to be worse were always there but fate had different plans for you on this day. Something or someone​ was one step ahead of where you currently stood, having opened a door that was heavy in structure; fenced on the right side, allowing for transparency of the stairs that lead upwards of this hellhole. An opened padlock lay in the dust as your feet pass by it, carrying your body up the stairs in whatever way felt right. Sneaking, rushing, taking two stairs at a time—it was an open exit that appeared completely safe from the angle you were coming from. A red wall with skulls of various animals stared back at you but there weren't any shadows or other general sounds to alert you to the fact there was potentially anyone around, just the sound of a television in the distance. You'd just go the opposite way, right?

Breaching the top of the steps, it became quickly apparent that it didn't matter which way you went or how cautious you were when climbing the stairs; escaping from the sudden grasp of a dirty, gloved hand over your mouth and a knife aimed towards your throat was something that nobody could've seen coming. What's strange though is that… it feels defensive? The movements were performed so quickly, as if this person was expecting you, moving both of your bodies out of potential danger that rounded the corner just as you were dragged around another; back pressed to a heaving chest behind you.

"Useless… fucking Johnny," Mumbled a disgruntled, deeper voice that travelled down the stairs you had just emerged from, "Can't even fucking lock the doors…"

Johnny? Who was Johnny, and who was holding you right now? It's not as if you're at the liberty to ask any questions but the temptation is there, brimming over with each moment that passes as you're held as a helpless hostage. Suddenly, a coarsen voice whispers in your ear.

"Any sudden movements and I'll slit your throat."

It's said with a certainty that makes it sound like this man owns those words. He's repeated them a thousand times before and you're no different, "I'm going to let you go and you're going to quietly make your way upstairs. Left, around the corner, up the stairs…" It was a circle from where you came from so the instructions aren't that difficult to remember. Following them was a different story, "When you get up there, it's two doors on the right. Any other way and you're good as dead, you understand?" There's a part of you that doesn't quite know if this was a threat or an aid; someone providing false hope in a situation that already felt dire. Soothing rolls of an accent are tempting to abide to though, at least for a fleeting moment.

Loosening the rather vigorous hold this person had on you, it offers enough room to nod if you felt so compelled as to offer an answer, if not provide him with a muffled groan or no answer at all. Regardless, he lets you go with the departing gift of the dirt, debris and the taste of unkempt fabric on your lips, pushing your body over towards the left as this darker-haired man rounds the corner on the right. He's built, defined arms exposed by a muscle shirt that was potentially covered in blood but he left in such a quick haste that you weren't able to stick around and check. The shorter mullet was the last thing you had seen beyond muscles and worn-out jeans, so it's with that information and the sound of his accent that you can assume this was his home—his family house maybe? You were still in Texas, that was for sure.

Time was of the essence though and as you begin to follow through with the way you were pushed, there's the quick realization that on the other side of the wall separating you from the staircase, there's also a front door within the vicinity. It's a brief taste of freedom, fooling the senses into thinking you'd smell fresh air again before the sight of a padlock over several other fastening devices catches your eye. Even if you were the world's best locksmith, something like that would take far longer than what this stranger was giving you; his voice ringing in from the other side of the household.

"She went through the back! I saw her out in the field! Go 'get, I'll handle Grandpa."

Whoever he was talking to was quick to voice their displeasure in the matter, exuding a fuss that sounded rather personally charged, "You don't tell me what to do, Johnny!" She insisted, but… her footsteps, followed by the sudden slam of a door said otherwise. Why was this guy lying for you? You had a name for him now at least. Johnny. How sick was it if this guy was isolating you, leading everyone away from the apparent prize that was your death just so he could have it all to himself. Or was he actually trying to help you? Surely, there was kindness to be found in a place that smelled of nickel and soured food; the walls rotting worse than mystery meat that leaked and stained a nearby table you'd almost bump into. Especially if it were coming from the guy who had just held a knife to your neck and threatened to kill you?

But he didn't. And here we are.

Finally ascending the stairs, coming out of the shroud of darkness that was the main floor of the house and heading towards the top floor, everything appeared to have been brighter than anywhere you had seen since waking up. The contrast of white, fluorescent lighting against the flowered wallpaper on your right also serves as an indication that there was no sunlight coming through the few windows that weren't fully covered by curtains. How long had you been here? It was daytime when you came in, as remembered by the way Leland shielded his eyes from the sun with his hands, complaining about a lack of sunglasses as Ana said anything but I told you so.​ She had a habit of being the most level-headed one in the group. You? You were always a little bit… unique. Everyone had a different dynamic with you, one that solidified some friendships with certain individuals more than others but as a group, everyone got along. It's why you all came here together, and it's why you were determined to live long enough to leave and see them all again after this was all over.

Such a motivational thought was enough to blur the movements between climbing the stairs and following the instructions that were given to you to survive. Second on the right, second on the right…

Your eyes travel side to side despite what words travel through your mind, feet carrying forward. On the right was one door, then a hall—a turning point that was potentially the right way, but there were also two doors on the left. Did he mix them up? Did you remember it wrong? Was this all a trap? It sure felt like it but there's no way to definitively say so until there's something to prove otherwise. Unfortunately for you though, there wasn't much of a chance to find out before the smell of husk hits you before the warm pressure of a body against yours; the cool touch of a knife to your throat tingling all the right senses once again.

"You're kind of cute. Listening to someone with a weapon and all."

He's teasing you. Still speaking quietly, as if there's a reason to hide the fact that you two are together in this house of horrors, but there's an obvious amusement in the situation you two are in, "Now why would you trust somebody in a place like this?" The question does make you think, even if it feels like static against the back of your eyes or prickling at the front. Johnny didn't have a preference for those who cried, no matter how good it looked on them, "After what happened to your friend? Maria, was it?"

Whichever way the question made you feel, there isn't much of a chance to flounder in those thoughts as Johnny lowers the knife; taking your hand in his within the same harsh movements he uses to drag you off towards where you may or may not have considered going before, the right.​ It was still technically the second door, the first one around the corner with no differing features from the other entries you had seen across the way or even on the other side of the hall. However, if you really felt the need to compare, Johnny wasn't going to wait around; reaching past you in order to rip the door open and shove both of you through to the other side. The only gentle thing about this entire interaction was how cautiously he had closed the entry afterwards, turning his back towards you in order to press a gloved palm against the structure; latching it closed with a golden clink.

That was the only exit from you can see. A quick glance around the room would've made it pretty clear that this was a bedroom, hosting a single bed—flowery blankets, hospital-like railing, unmade—a vanity and other arbitrary surroundings that were potentially less interesting than the man behind you. Whether or not this was his room wasn't the first question in mind, although it swirls around the other varying pathways you've been given the time to mull over. Two hands pushing against your shoulder blades are what tune you out of those same thoughts, shoving your body into the bed that forces you to fold over it rather than be disturbed. Nailed to the floor was your best guess.

"Now… how do we feel about another lesson?"

Johnny's voice finally matched the higher volume of what were louder, hefty footsteps, most likely caused by steel-toed boots adorned to the man's feet. You were able to consider the footwear as the serial killer special based off of what knowledge you had but that was perhaps the most innocent thought of yours as this man slowly approached you.

With nowhere left to turn, there was the option of either facing the next development or ignoring it. And were you going to keep Johnny waiting?

Part 1.

[hotpinkboots]

jealous mando x fem reader please? reader meets someone while they're out and the guy starts flirting with her

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~Jealous!𝕯𝖎𝖓 𝕯𝖏𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖓 x Fem!Reader Headcanons~

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I don't think you darlings know that I am audibly speaking to you because when I get a request I love it's an immediate "I LOVE YOU OH MY GOD" or a giggle and wiggle from me. I AM SPEAKING TO YOU PEOPLE OUT LOUD

THIS RIGHT HERE MADE ME GASP AND JUMP FROM MY SEAT THANK YOU

*insert more whining about how my black text option on Tumblr is still broken* so yeah it's boring and colorless :(

⭐REMEMBERRR THIS IS ALL PART OF THE MANDALORIAN SEASON 3 EVENT THINGY! Any requests I get with Mando will be done BEFORE any other requests in my inbox! This goes all week long!⭐

~Enjoy~

★★★★

𝕯𝖎𝖓 𝕯𝖏𝖆𝖗𝖎𝖓

★★★★

~So you finally were able to pull Mr. Metal Head out of the ship-

~But then it went downhill.

~Let's say the guy was just chatting with you because he thought you were cute and not because he was a pervert.

~Din, as soon as he saw, walked over and just looked at him, trying to be intimidating but not cruel. Just a warning.

~Guy got the point and backed off, sulking a little and feeling embarrassed because he didn't know you were taken. Oops :(

~But let's say this guy will NOT stop trying to chat you up.

~Maybe you're talking back because 1. he's a funny guy, or 2. because you're humoring him.

~Either way, Mando's way more sensitive than one would think. He feels a sense of abandonment that he always has to deal with because people are always tryna betray him or be like "if I do this for you then you need to do this for me", and his parents, and now you look like you're having fun with this guy so like

~Are you happier?? he wants you to be happy :(

~He knows how God damn AWKWARD he is too and how he's not good with words really.

~So maybe you think he doesn't love you?? What is it?

~Not to mention the fact you aren't even allowed to see his freaking face.

~He's overthinking and watching from afar

~But then jealousy starts bubbling up

~And he's like

~Who does he think he is talking to her she's way out of his league

~Totally glaring and trying not to let jealousy control him.

~Eventually the dude leaves, and Mando comes back. He doesn't say anything yet but he's obviously way more stiff than he usually already is.

~So when you're both walking back to the ship he's silent and weird. Not because he's angry at you but because he's self conscious and wants to bring it up but doesn't want you to think he's saying you aren't loyal.

~"...He liked you."

~It's blunt but straight to the point. He's not gonna tip toe around the subject like it's something that shouldn't be talked about.

~Din ends up getting real close to you and looking down at you like the intimidating bitch he is. In your personal space. Like drop everything you're doing because he's serious rn.

~"Did you like him?"

~Don't tease him about it. If you start teasing him that he's jealous he'll hate it. Makes his chest heat up and his jaw clench, and he just ends up walking away from you.

~Also sorry but purposely trying to make your boyfriend jealous is gross behavior that just makes people self conscious and upset c'mon man

~So it's best if you actually explain the situation and reassure him about it. Communication is key to a healthy relationship. Din wants you to talk to him about stuff even if he doesn't really know how to respond. He'll try his best.

~So yeah overall he's overprotective and might immediately glare daggers at someone if they try for one second to flirt with you. Jealousy makes him self conscious and sulky, maybe even a little annoyed at you for entertaining it and causing it to continue on rather than just speaking up that you're taken.

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I have the biggest FATTEST URGE to write a oneshot for this darling oh my gosh

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Here's my Masterlist!

And here are the request rules!

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⭐REBLOGS⭐>💀LIKES💀

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Discord Server! Here you can roleplay with and as your favorite characters, get updates on my fanfiction, and get sneak peaks for my upcoming videogames!:

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~Love, PinkBoots

[ml-nolan]

Kick's 2023 Fic Roundup (YEEEHA!)

[Please use the Kayne Malevolent voice for that title]

SOOOOOO all domains included—fics, original fiction, nonfiction, and copywriting—I wrote over 300k words this year. Of that, fic was 132,449 words! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 I'm pretty proud of it, honestly, so I thought I'd hop on the rundown bandwagon.

Thanks to everyone who read my stuff, kudos-d it, commented on it, and yelled with me about it on Tumblr and Discord (Honk-Honk to all my honkos!!! 💜🖤💜🖤💜🖤). Y'all have made my life so much more fun this year.

The Sandman - Dreamling

Music When You Speak [Rated E | 72,075 words]

When incognito rock star Dream of the Endless drifts into Hob Gadling's record store, it's instant attraction. Neither of them expected things to get this serious.

This started out as an experiment in "taking time to enjoy the scenery," so naturally I had to [SPOILER ALERT] add a kidnapping subplot that ends with Dream naked and covered in blood.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Oops.

I'm so glad so many people loved it. I loved it too. Still do.

Playlist here

Aaaaand complimentary ficlet, Piece by Piece [Rated T | 610 words].

I'll Make You Sorry [Rated E | 12,035 words]

Things from Hob's past are making Hob's hookups run screaming into the night, and it's really freaking him out. Dream is very concerned (both that other people are dreaming Hob's dreams and that Hob takes so many lovers).

This is my only canon-adjacent fic (so far) that isn't ficlet or pure smut, and I enjoyed making both of them so deeply uncomfortable. Also I need to write more Corinthian because I found his voice disturbingly easy to emulate. 😂😂😂

On Sex Dreams and Anachronisms [Rated E | 1,818 words]: Two embarrassing times Dream dropped in on Hob's sexy dreams and one much nicer one. Second silliest thing I wrote this year.

(Not) Spellbound [Rated E | 1,192]: This is just bondage smut. You're welcome. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

How to Extract Your Boyfriend from Toxic Internet Culture [Rated G | 704 words]: By far the silliest thing I wrote this year. Features retired Dream's stint as a True Crime Wine Mom.

One Tall Dark Stranger [Rated G | 565 words]: From the prompt "Accidental Hand Touching."

You Will Not Be Bothered [Rated G | 420 words]: From the prompt "picking a leaf/flower petal out of their hair, or brushing dirt off of their face."

I'll Be a Better Man Than My Father Ever Was - Chapter 4 by @chaosclimber | for the Dreamling for Ukraine fundraiser.

[PODFIC] Inappropriate Uses of the Dewey Decimal System and Coworkers by Hob Gadling, no PhD (Chapter 2) by @chaosheadspace | for the Dreamling for Ukraine fundraiser.

Metaphysics by @quillingwords

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The Sandman - Femslash Weekend!

This was so fun, and I have at least one more femslash idea I really hope to have the spoons to finish in January. 💜🖤💜🖤

You're Gonna Catch Hell [Johanna/Mazikeen | Rated E | 2,116 Words]

Johanna Constantine, a gun for hire, is meeting a very dangerous new client at Club Hell. A mysterious woman who spots her right when she enters the club might pose some complications.

Pure smut, although I have an enormous hc around this AU that I'm not sure will ever see the light of day.

Obliterate All Prior Things [Lucienne/Gault | Rated E | Words 3,421]

Whatever horrible thing Lucienne says is happening to The Dreaming is certainly happening. But the other part—the bit where Lucienne thinks she is the reason for it—cannot be allowed to stand. Run away with me, Gault wants to say. We'll find our own way. Be whoever we want. And you can finally rest.

I have huge feelings about Gaulcienne, which will become extremely clear if you read this.

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The Magnus Archives — Goof Troop (aka., TimGerry)

Just an Animal Looking for a Home [Rated E | 33,349 words | Love and Nonsense AU - WIP]

When Tim Stoker came to Pinhole Books, it was like someone jammed a foot on the accelerator of Gerry's life. After a health scare, a wedding to his (let's be honest) soul mate, and the exponential growth of the shop, it's showing no signs of slowing down. Now, Pinhole is opening a second location, their beloved Fiona Law is retiring, and Tim and Gerry are bringing a new canine member into their family. But even good changes can be overwhelming, and Gerry finds himself dealing with old trauma he thought he'd left far behind him. Plus, Tim is unexpectedly forced to face old conflicts, which takes him places where Gerry can't follow. With all these stressors on top of the typical growing pains that come with a still-new marriage, Tim and Gerry have to learn to work through their issues together. It's either that or fall apart.

This is the sequel to Hiding in Plain Sight, which I actually started this in 2022 and took a hiatus while I was writing Music When You Speak (so the word count includes 2022 chapters, don't @ me 😂). It's pretty heavy but I think the break will make the story that much better for it, honestly.

Playlist here.

Also in this AU, a couple ficlets set before TimGerry got together.

What's His Deal? [Rated T | 608 words]: Gerry tries to find out what Tim's deal is. Jon is completely unhelpful. From "Blossoming Romance" Tumblr prompt: "Attempting to find out if they are single/available"

Scoop [Rated E | 682 words]: Gerry has just hired a new employee at Pinhole books, and it may just cost him his sanity. Involves ice cream.

Ad Libitum [Rated E | 1,861 words - WIP]

It's Tim Stoker's first week at The Magnus Conservatory, and his piano accompanist hasn't shown up for auditions. An imposing goth swoops out of the shadows to save him, but Tim worries his instant attraction to the man may make it hard to control himself.

I just started this one! Music conservatory AU where Tim is studying voice and Gerry is a pianist. Excited to see where it goes (honestly, your guess is as good as mine at the moment).

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And of course I've got a book and a Patreon with two serials in progress if you're interested.😉😉😉 But I hope to write a LOT more fic in 2024! Love y'all. 💜🖤💜🖤💜💜🖤💜🖤💜💜🖤💜🖤💜

[puffywiz]

Hiii I'm gonna be sentimental and reflective oops

I had a really tough time in art school and when I finally graduated in 2019 I was burnt out beyond belief. Then covid happened and I lost both my jobs, yadda yadda, I went back to online school and did like 85% of a library tech diploma. I was good at it too, but something just felt wrong. I started to want to draw again. I wanted to try following my dream of being a comic artist again, but it hurt and it was hard and it was scary.

I was getting somewhere with it last summer when I was fortunate enough to take some time off from my gallery job. I spent that time writing. I kept like, telling myself the break would be temporary, I'd go back to work and then just make my comic on the side. But when I did go back several things happened. My cat passed away and I got injured, and I spent last fall fighting through one of the most severe depressive episodes I've ever had. I couldn't even eat really, I was drinking a lot of protein shakes. I was so unhappy.

The thing that helped me get through that was reading TLT. When I did my first handful of doodles and came back to tumblr to post them for fun I really did not expect the response I got. I'd gotten a little bit of attention on my art years ago when I used to post DC fanart on here but I'd never gotten such sweet comments. As LAME as it sounds, I've really never felt seen as an artist. Like I said, art school was uhh (forgive the pun?) pretty harrowing lmao. And yeah, its fanart, but it brought me so much joy to bring other people joy.

TLT has such a welcoming fandom. I've been in other online spaces over the years that got so toxic and mean. For the last year I've been sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop, but it hasn't. At least not in my circle. I think the nature of the story attracts people who see the beauty in difficult things. I think this fandom is made of people (queer people, unique and complicated people) who maybe haven't felt fully seen before either.

A year ago today I started reading Gideon The Ninth and I'm so grateful for that. I may be running out of steam on the fanart front for it lately (I've been drawing it for a year straight!) but it's always going to be a piece of media that means the world to me.

I quit online school and I quit my gallery job, and I know now that was the right choice. I'll figure things out, I'm doing seasonal work and illustration gigs and maybe I'll find something else to keep the lights on next year. My webcomic Tailwind is going to have its hard launch this winter and I'm so excited. I'm ready to share more of my heart and my world.

Anyway aaaaall this to say, thanks 🌱 

[dreamaze]

.⟡. 2023 Year in Review .⟡.

cc year in review — every month in 2023 : link your favorite and/or most popular post from each month this year

tagged by: @shorelinnes, @xiaojuun, & @gnanii, thank you lovelies! ♡ tagging (no pressure, & the gifs were extra!): @ye-xiu, @eggheons, @nervousnotion, @honeyimissjoo (if you’ve already done this, feel free to drop the link! ♡)

Hello!! A brief(ish) recap before the actual list. It’s been a pretty wild year in wingsland, mostly thanks to finishing up my second master’s degree in December (finally, BYE!). Looking back, I’m surprised at how much content I actually created, but this has been a refuge and source of comfort for me while running on fumes between work and school and general adulting. 2023 also marked some changes in my listening and sources of inspiration. I fell more out of interest with txt (apologies to all followers who were here for them… this is the second time this has happened, oops?) but fell even more in love with Monsta X while discovering some other new or new-to-me artists (more on that in another post). Reason was my first official comeback with them, and it really lit a fire in my brain. I have a few ongoing series that I intend to continue, whether they’re gifs or audio compilations. I giffed a LOT of besties (minhyuk + hyungwon, the soulmates of soulmate besties). It brings me so so much joy to work on those sets and the various audio edits or just being excited about musical details in my music box tag. I also managed to squeeze in a few angsty mv sets along the way, because tbh I feel like I am thriving most as a creator when something is pulling at the heartstrings. I know mbbblr has been quiet lately (and must seem exceedingly so to those who were around years ago), but I will keep being noisy about them until mx6 is reunited and beyond. Thank you for sticking around with me ♡

(P.S. I am calling these my favorites and audience favorites because what even is popularity on tumblr, and also I am horribly indecisive and can rarely stick to one. Please enjoy the occasionally unserious post descriptions!)

January ⟡ My favorite(s out of an unusually prolific month): ‘Beautiful Liar’ lyrics + reflected shots, control imagery, & Minhyuk/Changkyun choreo; besties livestreams ft. minhyuk about to get his ass kicked by an indignant noodle & besties again not fighting ⟡ Audience favorite: Reason concept ver.3 (where did all those notes come from) followed by Hyungwon in Love Killa/Gambler/Beautiful Liar

February ⟡ My favorite: Besties Lone Ranger recording, Honey PD ’괜찮아’ Recording (ft. bonus honey threatening offering to kiss minhyuk on the lips), Hyungwon ‘Beautiful Liar’ mv + photoshoot behinds, & the following ⟡ Audience favorite: Unofficial art director Lee Minhyuk

March ⟡ The (only) favorite: Hyungwon FRED x Marie Claire (my favorite photoshoot coloring of the year)

April ⟡ My favorite: Minhyuk in Reason era & besties ft. not-very-tsundere hyungwon ⟡ Audience favorite: Hyungwon John Varvatos x GQ

May ⟡ My favorite: Besties All In mv + filming (for the 7th anniversary of All In) & the following ⟡ Audience favorite: Lights album preview

June ⟡ My favorite: Overdrive & “always you and me” besties ⟡ Audience favorite: Minhyuk x Singles

July ⟡ My favorite: Hyungwon x MV water imagery ⟡ Audience favorite: 1/2 of besties enlists (sobwail)

August ⟡ My favorite: Fighter performance video (…ft. besties), besties massage (fail), & the following ⟡ Audience favorite: Changkyun x Marie Claire

September ⟡ My favorite: Jaechan ‘Time’ ⟡ Audience favorite: Minhyuk vs the prop pear

October ⟡ My favorite: Besties with or without mx ⟡ Audience favorite: A pretty Joohoney

November ⟡ The (only) favorite: Minhyuk x Floun

December ⟡ My favorite: Giuk 'My Blue' & the consequences of putting besties next to each other in dance relays ⟡ Audience favorite: Hyungwon Givenchy Beauty x Singles

[artthemasquerade]

Link vs Gandalf big naturals

so to explain this shit post of a picture, Me and my gf were watching a Rom hack of Legend of Zelda and while talking about Zelda lore I keep mispronouncing Ganondorf's name as Gandalf and we had a joke about it XD to the point I was like I wanna draw Link facing off against Gandalf (the big natural meme version) https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/495/248/013.png as the final boss of ocarina of time in place of Ganondorf and thus this picture was born XD Also I do realize that I accidentally drew Link right handed when he is left handed in ocarina of time, I didn't know at the time of making this drawing so oops! XD

Anyways I hope you enjoy this shitpost of a picture and this was a fan challenge to make XD

Btw if you like what you see and want a commission drop me a direct message on tumblr, instagram, a note on deviantart or artistree https://artistree.io/missn11

[idollandhero]

How to get the best rewards in Idol Land Pripara

I wrote this in a google doc for discord (that I'll link at the end) but figured it works as a tumblr post too!)

You may have noticed that a lot of players are wearing the same coord in Idol Land! This is because the research of Twitter user @sio_mintsu + many others have found that one specific outfit is the best combination to get the most rewards.

From your closet pick this outfit!

Click the button on the top right to make your own Promise, note you need a Promise ticket for this

This is the menu that pops up. Click the red arrow button to pick a song, it’s not known if there’s a song that gets you more rewards so pick the song you think you’d play the best.

Click on the blue arrow button to set your parameters. 

Click on the red arrow button to set it so everyone must be wearing the same coord as you.

Click on one of the buttons under the blue arrow (they all do the same thing) to set tags.

Scroll to the bottom of the tag menu and pick the 5 gold ones.

If you did it right it should look like this. Hit the bottom button and then the right button to set your Promise.

Finally it’ll ask you what kind of promise you want. Pink is more iine (Likes, the in game name for XP) Silver is more Silver AiDollars, and Gold brings you to a special shop at the end. In general it’s recommended to pick pink or silver, and if you’d like a special shop you should join someone else’s gold promise.

Click the red arrow button to see your promises, and the blue arrow button to join once it’s full! Note if it isn’t full it’ll have an x and say ⅓ or ⅔ in the promises description (by the magnifying glass). The X will cancel it, or you can wait.

Here’s us all wearing the same coord! (I dropped my combo to take this screenshot and got less rewards because of it, oops!)

And finally here’s all of the tags on the rewards screen. If you play the song well (I did not here) you get a lot of rewards + the bonuses from the tags! Note that this was a pink promise.

Source: https://twitter.com/sio_mintsu/status/1694359732105163076

Additionally: Twitter user @cio_enbun has pointed out that if you have a LOT of promise tickets to go through, especially if you bought the pass, you get more for your time to run the photo promise (pasharing) with these same parameters. They recommend taking all 9 photos right away and then putting your phone down, and then repeating. The yield is slightly less than the above method, but it saves a TON of time.

Source: https://twitter.com/cio_enbun/status/1695204349407023424

The google doc I wrote if that's easier for you to share https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ds5cTJKevfDooet-nMN2OXyW3rUDkzeHIsDI5TZsXw8/edit?usp=sharing

[oohnotvery]

I’m enjoying Wherever is Your Heart, but can’t find chapters 6 and 7…can you help me out? I’m fairly new to tumblr.

Oh, hi! I'm so sorry. I may not have posted those, oops. Here they are. You can also find my whole story on AO3. Thank you so much for reading!

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52337698/chapters/132400432

Chapter 6

Scully’s not answering her phone. It’s half past five on New Year’s Eve and he’s kicking himself for not making official plans with her, for assuming she’d be free on one of the busiest nights of the year.

But he has to try. Their reservations are at eight, and if he wants any chance at making them, he’s got to see if she’s even home.

When he pulls up to her apartment, he can tell she’s home because her lights are on. That makes him frown a little because he’s called her house phone four times since this morning. When he’s walking up the steps into the building, he spots her car in her spot and his frown sinks deeper. He wonders why she’s avoiding him. They’ve barely spoken over the past few weeks; Jesus Christ . . . what if she’s mad at him?  

At her door, he listens for a second to see if he can hear whether she has company. Maybe her mom came over and that’s why she’s ignoring his calls.

Hearing nothing, he knocks rapidly—shave and a haircut.

A few seconds pass and nothing happens, so he knocks again, this time louder.

More time passes. He’s starting to get impatient and considers opening the door with his key, but that seems rude for a first date. He tells himself to be polite and knocks once more.

“Hey, Scully! It’s me, open up!” he shouts, hoping her neighbors are away.

That seems to do the trick, because seconds later, he hears the padding of feet across hardwood and then the lock clicking in the door. He straightens himself slightly, suddenly self-conscious of his well-to-do outfit, and plasters on a small smile.

Scully looks shocked to see him, and he can’t help the way his jaw drops upon seeing her. She is wearing the tiniest pair of white satin shorts he’s ever seen, coupled with a very thin matching satin camisole, through which he can clearly see her nipples.

For a moment, they just stutter at each other, two pairs of cheeks turning bright red. Finally, Scully manages to open her mouth.

“Mulder, I wasn’t expecting you,” she says thickly, nervously swiping a strand of hair behind her ear. He’s just now noticing that her hair looks rumpled and unkempt, like she’s just woken up from a nap.

“Are you feeling okay?” he blurts out, cocking his head. “Are you sick?”

She blinks. “Sick? No, Mulder, I feel fine.”

He clears his throat awkwardly. She’s blocking the doorway with her body and hasn’t yet invited him in. This is it. This is what he practiced. “I was wondering if you had plans tonight,” he starts. “I tried calling, but you didn’t answer. I guess you’ve been sleeping. But if you don’t have plans, I was thinking we could—”

His sentence peters out as a figure emerges from Scully’s living room. Whoever it is passes behind her quickly, but not so quickly that Mulder can’t tell that it’s a man. A half-naked man. There is a half-naked man walking around Scully’s apartment.

His eyes dart to hers in confusion and she dips her head, refusing to meet his gaze.

“I have company,” she says quietly, glancing up at him very quickly. Her skin is so red it looks sunburned.

He feels all the air leaving his lungs, like he’s been punched in the gut. It all comes crashing down around him.

“I . . . see,” he finally says, his voice cracking under the pressure. “Ah, never mind then.” He needs to dip out gracefully, he realizes. He needs her to not cotton on to the fact that he’s wearing a nice suit, that he has a fresh shave, that he’s wearing his most expensive cologne. He needs her to not realize how desperate he was to make this night happen. He needs to get out.

And now.

Chapter 7

It’s Tyler.

She’s dating Tyler. Agent Tyler Meyer, who might possibly be the most handsome federal agent in D.C. He’s got thick, glossy dark curls and sharp bright blue eyes that match her own. They are beautiful together, radiant, even.

Mulder catches them kissing in the lobby one afternoon when he steps out for coffee. With Tyler, Scully seems to glisten. Her smile as he presses his lips into hers is the real deal. She shows her teeth as she steps back from Tyler’s embrace, a very rare thing in his world.

She hasn’t mentioned Tyler to him, hasn’t ever brought up New Year’s Eve. Whether or not she realized he was planning to take her on a date isn’t clear to him either. For all he knows, she just thought he was there to drag her out on some mindless casework again.

A few days after her birthday in February, he notices that she’s wearing a new ring. It doesn’t appear to be an engagement ring, and it’s thankfully not on her left hand, but it’s a ring nonetheless. Silvery, sparkly, with some sort of green gemstone in the middle. In all its audacity, it looks nothing like what Scully would choose to wear, but here she is, wearing it.

A heaviness hangs low in the pit of his stomach at the thought of Tyler giving her a ring. They’ve only been dating for what, two months? Three? Who moves that quickly? Hell, he’s known Scully for years and has never given her a meaningful piece of jewelry. Well, apart from a keychain.

The ring eats at him all day.

That and the fact that she’s moved on from him so quickly. Did he not move fast enough? Hell, he tried to take her out on New Year’s Eve—just a short week after the Christmas party. He isn’t quite sure what more he could have done.

All hell breaks loose when she tells him she’s too busy to go out to a field site with him on a Saturday morning.

“I have plans with Tyler,” she announces firmly, avoiding his gaze. 

He blinks. “I didn’t realize Agent Meyer had earned a spot at the top of your priorities list, Agent Scully.”

She scowls but doesn’t bite.

He shifts around in his seat uncomfortably, stuffing papers in his briefcase and trying to ignore the quick upwards shift of his blood pressure.

“So, when were you planning on telling me?” he finally asks.

“Telling you what?” she asks without looking at him.

He glowers. “About you and Agent Meyer.”

Scully sniffs. “I assumed you already knew.”

He leans back in his chair, crossing his arms behind his head and studying her from a distance. She looks prim and unbothered, but he can tell he’s riling her up. Underneath that pretty, polished façade sits an anger writhing to get out. It makes him angry too. Goddammit, why is she doing this? 

His stomach clenches painfully as he thinks back on the night of the Christmas party. “Isn’t Agent Meyer the same man that tried to take you home at the Christmas party, Scully? Cause he seemed pretty intent on getting you into bed with him.”

At that, she shoots him a warning glare, her bright eyes flashing. “What if that’s what I wanted, Mulder? Someone who actually wanted me that night?”

He sucks in his cheeks, feeling his blood pressure rising.

“Wanted you enough to take advantage of you when you were three sheets to the wind? Gee, that doesn’t sound like a very strong foundation for a budding relationship.” He jumps up, coming to loom over her. He can tell he’s about to make a bad decision by the way his chest constricts. Below him, Scully’s spine stiffens. “It seems like you’re moving on pretty fast for someone who wanted to jump into bed with me that same night. Or did I get that wrong?” He leans down into her space, breathing in the intoxicating scent of her perfume. “Or was it someone else begging me to fuck me, Mulder, please, fuck me that night?”

Her mouth drops open in disbelief and a red flush shoots down her cheeks and chest. He half-expects her to stand and yell at him or maybe even shed a tear or two. Hell, he knows he’s overdue for a slap to the face. At this point, he’s just desperate for some reaction. Something that will get her to talk to him about that night.

But she doesn’t do any of that. She barely reacts at all. Instead, she stands very slowly. The only tell that she is angry at all is the nervous tremble of her hands as she gathers her briefcase and collects her things.

With the slightest nudge to his arm, she moves him out of her space, just enough so that she can pass by. Her eyes don’t even rise to meet his.

And then she’s gone, and he’s left with an indescribable self-hatred in his chest.

[axofluff]

The man in the mask || Fem!Reader x Simon "Ghost" Riley || Part 3

・❥・Part of the previous story: Conflicted feelings

・❥・Tags/Warning: 18+, NSFW, Sexual themes, Blowjob, Fingering, Vaginal sex, Protected sex but no mention of condom used, Reader is assumed to take birth control. Reader is virgin, Body worship, slight mentions of Ghost's trauma, Ghost is dom but mostly a big softie. Guides reader through everything. Aftercare, cuddles and mostly smut/fluff. No angst

・❥・A/N; Finally done...jeez tumblr hates long fics

Part one: The man in the mask || Fem!Reader x Simon "Ghost" Riley Part two:The man in the mask || Fem!Reader x Simon "Ghost" Riley

“G-ghost…I’m close…I can’t hold on any longer” You say between moans, your hands gripping tighter onto Ghost as you bounce on the bed. His balls slapping against your ass and he gropes your ass harder and he kisses you deeply before his thrusts become harder and more intense. Wanting you to climax. “Cum for me baby…let it all go.” He grunts, not slowing down. His cock hitting your sweet spot every single time. It becomes too much and you finally let go and climax, your moans filling the room as he continues to ride you during your release before he climax’s himself. Your pussy clenches around his shaft; milking him dry. His seed fills your cunt to the brim as you shake and squirm from the pleasure. His dick throbbing and pulsating as he leaks the last drop of his cum. “You did so well…so fucking well for me baby…I’m proud of you.” He soothes and pulls you to his chest, rubbing your back. You rest your head on his chest and he calms you down from your high before pulling out slowly, some of his cum leaking out onto the bed. You blush and he chuckles. “Oops…” You laugh softly and you look up, your heart still racing as you meet his gaze. “You took me so well…god…you’re so perfect…that’s the best sex I’ve truly had and I’ve had my fair share.” Ghost kisses your forehead lightly as you cuddle into him. “Mmm…how are you  feeling?” He rubs your back in circles more, his voice is soft and tender now, just wanting you to be ok. “I’ve never felt better…I never knew sex could feel so good yet so intimate at the same time.” You just bask in the warmth, still riding your high. “I’m glad you enjoyed it…you did so well for your first time…and I won’t lie…I want to do it more often with you, if that’s okay?” He chuckles lightly and plans another kiss on your forehead tenderly. “I’d…I think I’d like that…” You smile warmly and nuzzle your head into the crook of his neck. “Hey…I love you.” He nuzzles his nose against your cheek. His words seem to take you by surprise and he pulls you closer to him, his heart beats is soft under your ear. "I love you too…” You murmur back softly, kissing his cheek lightly and he smiles. “We should probably get you cleaned up…we have training in the morning…” He murmurs as he plays with your hair, sighing contently. “Mmmm…alright….” You yawn and stretch. Only realizing just how much of a mess you both made as you look down at yourself, your bottom half is sticky with both of your fluids and you blush. “I’ll go run the shower…You stay here,” He kisses the side of your forehead as he makes his way to the bathroom. Your eyes linger on him as he walks away and you lean back down and you can’t help but giggle. You can’t wait for what the future has in store for you and you laugh to yourself. You’re so proud of finally admitting your desire for him and taking the leap of faith. Knowing that yours and Ghost’s relationship is growing, you feel like you now have a reason to fight…and that reason is for Ghost. As long as you know you’ll be by his side, you don’t see anywhere else you’d rather be.

[burinazar]

[warning: post about my ‘personal’ ‘romantic’ ‘life’, got a little mopey and oversharey. This Is Tumblr, So Im Posting It Anyway]

I sometimes conceptualize of myself as getting online crushes at the drop of a hat, but in fact that is not true. i develop a vague attraction to some online acquaintance about once every one to two years (and then do nothing about this since the idea of such a thing being mutual is…i mean, i’m not delusional, i’m aware it’s zero. stats irl bear this sort of thing out as far as anyone ever “liking me back.” I also can’t bear the humiliation and indignity of expressing such a thing and how pathetic and presumptuous I’d feel doing so, like a crawling worm that thinks it’s a human. Anyway,)

once every couple years …objectively isn’t “often”! most probably the reason I think “oh that happens so often” is that it, uh, does happen ‘often’ compared to the frequency with which I fall for people in real life. crushes number in the single digits and falling in love happened once, ever, catastrophically and extremely badly, for about four years, pathetically and unrequitedly, until it was finally snuffed out by lack of proximity, like suffocating a fire for lack of oxygen.

I’m slightly afraid it never ended and mostly try not to think about it. I accidentally did something really strange to myself a couple weeks ago by (hilariously, it was thru finding my old homestuck art and then thinking about my life at the time) remembering the wrong memories — Like, it was…trigger-adjacent? Idk I don’t like to use that word about myself I’ve never felt like I had a right — Anyway it was really bad I was in bed like shaking and crying and thinking, it never ended, it never ended, it will never end, I just achieve denial, that’s all I can do, I just wrap myself up in the comfort of imagining A&N or B&V and filling my heart with imagining their love but you idiot it’s all just lying to yourself and forgetting that I’ll never again know the peace and happiness I felt at [redacted]’s side and how that was so much better than nothing even if it would never be returned and ten years going by proves that, just like I knew then, it was once in a lifetime

…this was supposed to be a lighthearted post. Oops! Aaanyway, yes, your local Ebil develops some kind of vague online attraction every so often and then does not do anything about it ever. I think the part of my brain that does that kind of refocuses onto fictional love in a weird way? we’re going to go down a really weird path if i try to explore that further though and I didn’t like the way my mind went there when I —let’s say Mentally Stepped On a Rake as described above

tangent: one of the reasons i can get irrationally hurt over people being dicks about my handful of treasured ships is that part of me is like “you won’t even let me have THAT????” yeah yes i know that doesn’t make any fucking sense. christ. no i swear this post was meant to be lighthearted. oh man

[changlixx]

hi. just found your blog and felt the need to say that i LOVE what you're doing. and also the need to share some of my own thoughts (over here hoping that this doesn't go against the guidelines in your pinned, lmfao)

despite me being a firm minsung believer (sorry if you're not LMAO, this is gonna be really awkward) i was always, like, really skeptical of other dating rumors. by other dating rumors i mean hyunlix, lol. i have thought that felix is into men from the get-go but the whole hyunlix thing never felt quite right to me. i've had my first "oh, are they...?" kinda thought after watching the recent changlix 2 kids show episode, but now going through your blog is just like... yeah. yeah they are. so thanks for that as well

the rest of this ask is gonna be a big tinfoil hat moment loosely inspired by you mentioning the possibility of changbin playflirting with hyunjin as a way to distract the public from the real deal because he might be uncomfortable with changlix shippers. it's also gonna be me taking my belief that changlix & minsung are dating and making it the baseline, so like... as i've said, if you're against minsung this will be awkward. LOL. but whatever :) i'm just some silly anonymous person on tumblr dot com

i think you're both right and wrong at the same time? as in, the playflirting is obviously happening to distract people from the real deal, but i don't think that it's changbin's decision to do so per se. i think it's the management. and yeah, ik that blaming things on the ✨ evil ✨management is like, poster girl for conspiracy behavior, but hear me out:

1. stray kids are quickly rising in fame and if i had to pinpoint when they started gaining momentum and had a breakthrough in the recent years, it would be 5 star era. full album, etc. with that influx of fans it's only natural that they would have to start being more careful with their reputation, which, of course, includes dating

2. coincidentally, the hyunjin/changbin thing started being pushed around the same time. even back then i thought it was weird, since it wasn't obviously just the boys having fun - i mean, no, i do think they're having fun and probably find the whole thing bloody hilarious, but it was more than just that. the way things they were edited, to include as many hyunjin/changbin moments as possible felt weird to me. i didn't even think of changlix as a possibility back then so it wasn't like i was biased, but i felt like the editors were just told to push hyunjin/changbin down the viewers' throats for apparently no reason

3. another coincidence - in the most recent comeback, right after their unit song dropped and people started freaking out because things began seeming real, the same thing started happening to minsung, except this time with hyunjin/minho

now i... don't think that the boys are being held hostage in the Fanservice Basement where the Evil Management is holding them at gunpoint. but i think it is highly possible that they were told to just up their game in the "fanservice with other members" department and that the editors were told to include more of these moments in the final cut. both as a distraction and as a safeguard. so every time there's a, say, changlix moment, people who don't really pay attention to the ships/don't care for that would excuse it with "well, changbin is like this with other group members as well, there's nothing suspicious about that", ykwim? they are also all adults and understand very well how the industry works, etc. i do find it weird that both times it's hyunjin at the crime scene, but then again - i think he also finds it pretty funny, and he's also one of the more popular members. any ship with him is guaranteed to have a certain amount of insane people ready to eat that up just because more fans means more crazies, lmao

but then again, this is just me and my tinfoil hat, oops. sorry if you do mind people waltzing into your inbox like this </3

hiiiiii sorry for responding super late, i hope you're still around to see this answer! thank you so much for this ask, i love it, it's so long and thoughtful! that said, i'm about to disagree with everything you said jdgfdsfsdg i'm sorry. first of all i don't believe in minsung at all. no hate to anyone who does, you're all smart and valid and beautiful but i don't think they're dating or they ever have been. i do think minho has a big sad unrequited crush on jisung or at least he used to but that's it. i think so because the minsung ship is treated as such a joke among the skz members. obviously it's the most popular ship in skz so the members love teasing them with it. i don't think they'd do that if they were actually dating. and now minchan is becoming a juggernaut ship in skz and chan is ON that fanservice train. he takes every opportunity he gets to make the minchaners happy bc he knows how to play the game. so that's the first point on which i fundamentally disagree with you.

the second one is the company involvement in changbin flirting with hyunjin. obviously there is a possibility that that's the case but i tend to stay away from what i call the larry excuse. the notion that the company is dictating what to do about fanservice and managing which ships are popular, pushing one ship when another gets too big or suppressing other ships feels silly to me. i don't think div1 concerns themselves with that. they just look at which ships are popular and push those because it makes numbers. also the larry excuse is just so lazy lmao. you can just say that it's the evil company's fault and no one can disprove it because no one knows shit about what goes on in that building. it's an easily defendable position. and that's why it's completely boring to me to discuss what the faceless people behind the curtain might be plotting because we will never know so we might as well just not even try to speculate, you know? i know we like to put every decision we don't like on the people we don't know, but i think the members decide what they do in terms of fanservice.

my point was that i think that changbin flirts with hyunjin bc he himself got a little uncomfortable with how big the changlix ship had gotten and he just didn't want it to be quite as centered. that's what it looks like to me based on how he interacts with felix and with hyunjin (side note, changbin's flirting with hyunjin didn't start around 5 star era, it started way earlier. maybe even as early as noeasy. i agree that it's gotten way more intense around 5 star but it has been going on for quite a while). i don't think he's actually trying to make people think he's into hyunjin, it's just playflirting. it's fun and it gets screentime and it makes people talk less about changlix. and it's totally working! changlix as a ship is becoming less and less popular and hyunbin is growing.

again thank you for your ask! i hope it's not disappointing to you that i disagree with what you said. but you know, i'm just one changlixer of many so it doesn't matter what i think!

❤️❤️❤️

[da-proti-toku-grem]

*breaks down door* DELIVERY BELONGING 2 ONE JURE N JAN LOVING GIRLY/gn N WONDERFUL WRITER CALLED MACA!! :DD

*🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁*

(Jan/Jure! beach date cuz I miss summer N im running out of ideas 4 the perfect date series + my brain is FRIED from working on moodboards N homeschool stuff all day so there’s no tale 2 be told this time srry 😭) BUT I do feel like putting my friends out of their misery with how much they listen 2 me yapping about our silly pretty lil Slovenians N since were all batshit insane over them here maybe rambling 2 U isn’t a bad idea (U don’t gotta read if It gets super long :3) Jure was my original bby when I first found them almost a whole year ago on my birthday,him N Bojan were the ones that caught my attention when they came on N made me drop a perfectly good slice of leftover birthday cake on the carpet N blush like crazy ☺️.Then once I was pretty familiar with the band I started becoming a Jan girly/gn aswell which started my love 4 the two as a pairing (all the nights I scrolled Pinterest 4 photos of them together N binged a bunch of vids still keep me up 😵‍💫) cuz their so PRETTY N GORGEOUS N SWEET N ADORABLE N SILLY N mmmmmmmhhhhhhhhh *melts into a vaguely Gengar plushie shaped puddle* all the gig footage we’ve been getting has made me fall even harder 4 them both (I’m the reason all those Joker Out edit complications have so many f4n views) but in a way they saved me,not just them but mostly them ykyk b4 I was being homeschooled the one I went 2 was shit N I would always head straight 2 tumblr so I could see my boys once I got home,watching the Carpe diem series N welcome to the backstage eps over N over again cuz just seeing my darlings smile made me giggle N kick my feet N twirl my hair (how could I not when they look like THAT *grabby hands*) I can’t remember how many times I’ve questioned my sexuality over them N the whole band until I finally realised my ass doesn’t just like girls N I’ll always be glad I found them N this crazy lil fandom when I did cuz this place is like a famliy N their our home,4 whoever long we got with them N maybe even forever <33333

Hey!! (About the text) Yeah I totally get you, they were totally what saved me at the end of my last year of high school last year. I discovered them when the stress was starting to become too much and they helped me a lot to keep going. And then when I started uni I felt like shit every day (that's why I ended up dropping out - bc: 1. I didn't like what I was doing, and 2. My mental health was is shit rn and I prefer to focus on that) and the only thing that kept me from going absolutely insane was going on tumblr and talk/see people talking about these silly little slovenian men so... yeah :) this fandom truly feels like home to me too <33

(About the moodboard) I absolutely LOVE IT!!!!!! Like, I saw this yesterday at night when you sent the ask and I loved the idea so much that I ended up writing a little fic 🤭 I was waiting until I finished writing to post the ask and the fic at the same time, but I finished at 2am (oops 😅), so I'm queueing both for the morning :3 🩷