#they do recreations and their effects do not look like they were made in windows movie maker

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

im rewatching disasters at sea because hi one of my special interests is shipwrecks, and i forgot that one of the episodes includes the phrase

high seas hit and run

[somewhereincairparavel]

General Jason Grace headcanons ⚡

⚡ I feel like he's kinda sensitive. He isn't the crier type of sensitive tho but since he's super emotionally attuned to body language reading and stuff, he gets a little hurt easily, sometimes misinterpreting someone's behaviour to him, so maybe if one of his friend's start getting snappy with him because they're having a bad day, he'd actually be pretty damn upset about it, but would hide it.

⚡ Also also, this man HATES being yelled at. Sure, he's been trained harshly and stuff but he's very hard on himself too so I feel like if someone yells at him (like in an argument or something) the poor boy's whole day would be ruined.

⚡ This is also why I feel like he NEVER raises his voice harshly at anyone even if he's super super angry because he knows how much damage yelling can do.

⚡ But. He can still manage to be terrifying if he's mad. He'd have that intense icy stare directed at the person (I'm pretty sure this is canon and is pointed out by multiple characters in the books). And his voice would be steady but VERY firm and strong. Kinda like a strict dad.

⚡ Also, his eyes would get a slight shade lighter if he's super angry. Like he usually has bright electric blue eyes right? It would just turn into ice colured ones.

⚡ Okay I feel like before they all go to bed, he'd go check on everyone in the Argo ii to see if they're comfortable or if they need anything, etc. definitely an overbearing mother friend tbh. He gets this habit from camp Jupiter where he was kinda in charge for cabin rounds since he was centurion.

⚡ I hc him to have like lemony yellow hair, instead of platinum or golden blonde. It's not too light but it isn't dark either.

⚡ Why do I feel like sun tan literally never affects this guy? Like for instance, I totally hc that percy gets tanned pretty quickly, but this man's skin just wouldn't budge. Instead of his body getting tanned I feel like his hair would get a few yellow shades darker instead lol

⚡ I felt like he'd be sunburnt instead tho. There would be blotchy pink patches on his face and arms after he comes back from the beach.

⚡ He definitely LOVES his roman baths, could spend hours in that bath (honestly if u guys have seen traditional Roman baths, you'd know that they look like a spa day DREAM omg) so he would feel super disoriented when he has regular baths in chb instead and would miss Roman baths SO badly.

⚡ Like the Roman baths literally ease his muscle tension after a long day. It would be like the only part of the day in camp Jupiter that would actually feel relaxing for him.

⚡ He's such a foodie okay. Remember how he kept munching on his brownies religiously when the crew were in such a dangerous situation? ("Pass me the brownies bro") or when he loved the sweet stuff the snake people had made for them? Like food just makes him forget his duties and be a kid for once.

⚡ Which leads us to our next hc, he has such a sweet tooth! (Tho I feel like this was aluded many times in the books aswell). Like he's every dentist's nightmare tbh. He has like teeth stains which he'd deliberately try to get rid of by aggressively brushing his teeth (it does come off lol)

⚡ As opposed to what people usually assume about him. Jason is secretly such a hopeless romantic tbh. Nothing like his dad in that category. Remember how he snuck Piper out the window, led her into his secret rooftop passage simply to recreate their first kiss under the stars, since Piper was super upset about it being fake? Yeah, he hates upsetting his s/o. he's like super thoughtful and plans stuff like these days ahead so he doesn't forget :(

⚡ He's such a people pleaser even with people he barely knows, and the effect only doubles when he has a partner tbh. Like if his partner doesn't like a particular place? He won't like it either. So he needs someone to encourage him and tell him it's okay to like something the others dislike.

⚡ Which is also why I think that he'd be easier to emotionally guilt trip and manipulate. :(( somone wrap him up in a fluffy blanky pls

⚡ As opposed to canon, I feel like Jason only dislikes Camp Jupiter, not New Rome itself. He ADORES that place to shreds. I feel like instead of settling in a mortal area or something, he'd definitely stay in New Rome for long-term living (bc screw canon, him wanting to leave new Rome all together seems SO ooc to me idk) some parts of his roman self would ALWAYS be there tbh. That place was practically his home. Also, he only wants a peaceful, monster free life right? New Rome would obviously provide with all that, yk since they have a strong barrier for the city to prevent invasion.

⚡ He would have an aptitude for sculpting statues and stuff. He'd love to do it as a hobby, not like an architect or something like annabeth tho. He made such cool dioramas for his shrine ideas, so I feel like he just pours his heart and soul into making cool sculptures.

⚡ He would totally study in law school. His dad's legit the god of justice, he's a great speaker, can hold debates calmly, can canonically hear both sides of an argument before coming to a decision, seems very lawyer coded.

⚡ But he'd also be a good history professor. Have yall heard his yapping? Leo called him professor Grace for how much dedication he goes into explaining roman history. And he genuinely LOVES it. A very passionate teacher material to me.

⚡ Also, all he wants is for his partner to listen to him talk :( he has SO much to say but he feels like no one listens, so hed literally cry if someone takes interest in his long explanations (kind of like annabeth in this tbh)

⚡ Also, Octavian can NEVER argue with Jason because that man is just THAT good at smart and witty answers that even octavian saw him as a threat.

[anjelicawrites]

The winner takes it all

Chapter II (previous)

Paring: Aemond Targaryen x reader

Synopsis: inspired by the Æthelflæd and Erik's storyline in The Last Kingdom. Might be spoilerish if you haven't seen it (go watch it!!!), even though I've just stolen the inspiration and went on with the story my way.

Warnings: Canon compliant violence, attempted rape, reader’s husband being a piece of shit, family annihilation.

A/N: reader is AFAB, they/them pronouns are used (they are called “lady” and “daughter of the North”). The only descriptor is that they have long hair

A/N 1: this is an AU. Look at me taking the canon story of Westeros and yell “Parkhour!” as I jump out of the window clutching it in my hands.

18+ only, tank you!

As the only offspring, and heir, of your Lord father, you had to study history, had to learn from the trials and mistakes of your ancestors, and one idea had always remained in your brain: the once free people of the Seven Kingdoms should have annihilate the first Targaryens the moment they set foot to Dragonstone, to stay. The looming danger of their dragons should have been enough to act, yet the once kings did nothing, waiting while Old Valyria was destroyed, while curious stories of disappearing babies kept sprouting everywhere, as white haired children appeared on that cursed place, while the Valyrians started inserting in each and every city and village, like a disease.

Nothing seemed to be the right reason for the kings to unite against the common enemy, and when Aegon I and his sister wives invaded, it was too late to act. Like tiles, every Kingdom fell under Targaryen dominion and their demented dream to recreate their lost home.

The North stood up once, against the peaceful colonization of Valyrian families and then with weapons and with the long, cold winters that nobody seemed able to withstand, but you children of the North. Your people did it, despite not having a ruling House, the power divided between the Starks, your House and your Lord husband’s: in spite of a marked destiny, the newborn Kingdom of North Valyria had to sign a peace treaty with the North, effectively stopping any more conquering attempt. For how long, though?

It is no secret that New Valyria wants to annex the North, the Targaryen trying many times to marry into one of the Northerner Houses, failing; you know there had been talks of you marrying the second son, promptly curbed by your Lord father, who made you decide between Cregan Stark and the man who became your husband.

When king Viserys had remarried and started a second bloodline of sons, you were young, but you still remembered the sheer panic you could breathe in your household, the frantic discussions about the time when those children would be old enough to want a piece of land of their own.

It was common knowledge that the king favored his firstborn daughter Rhaenyra, to the point that he had made her heir to the throne, despite having a brother who could ascend, if anything ever happened to him. Only an idiot wouldn't consider his children from Alicent Hightower, Aegon II, Helaena and Aemond, nothing if not spares, in the case anything happened to her. He didn't do a thing when Prince Aemond lost an eye to his nephew and all the Houses of the North whispered in fear of what those young men would do, when of age.

It was a statement that Prince Aegon II and Princess Helaena were married and produced heirs, the bonding of Prince Aemond with the powerful Vhagar was an even stronger statement, followed as it was by the terrible and cruel stories about him.

Yet, everyone was surprised when the spare Princes decided to overthrow Rhaenyra, annihilating her and all of her offsprings from her two marriages and Prince Aegon II was crowned king. “Kinslayers - everyone whispered - if they didn't have pity for their own blood, what would stop them from dishonoring the peace treaty with the North?”

What’s stopping them, now? You asked yourself many many times, looking at your Lord husband and his idiotic dream to become the King in the North. Can’t he see that a civil war will weaken us, against our cumbersome neighbor? We never had a ruling House and now shouldn’t be the time to try and seize power! What will stop those young men from taking what they surely believe it’s theirs? Nothing did, and that's why you find yourself prisoner.

                                                              ***

Your life has taught you fear can be a never ending feeling, but boredom is almost worse than that. At home, at least, you had to organize the life of the palace, help the women prepare for the oncoming winter or summer, settle issues between the ladies at court; yes, you were always under the judging stare of your husband, always ready to remind you of your mistakes and uselessness, but at least your days were full, here in your cell the only thing you can do is stare at the brick wall and pace like a caged animal.

You know what the brothers are doing, taking their sweet time before sending an envoy to your husband, assuming that the longer the wait, the mellower he’ll be. You are not so sure about that: if your father were still alive, this would have worked with him, his love for you bigger than any political strategy. When it comes to your husband you wouldn’t bet a copper coin that he’d put your life above this war. Granted, he has to consider all the families connected to your House by a bond of loyalty: through marriage they have become his subject, but you know that many noblemen hold no trust for your husband, nor love and him not trying to rescue you would be ill considered, something that the one who wants to become King in the North can’t risk. If there is going to be a North to govern, you think with sadness.

For what little you had managed to see, the brothers are ruthless and burn with a fire impossible to quench, their army is already huge, with your ransom they’ll be able to buy more mercenaries, even from Essos, and they have two dragons. You know your people are strong, although you are aware of your numbers: how will the North protect its freedom, when it’s already dwarfed the way it is? You are happy both your mother and father are dead, they will not have to see the capitulation of their home.

You start pacing again, your brain incapable of coming up with a plan of escape. You know this castle, the brothers have chosen wisely a fortress no one could escape from. What unnerves you is that there’s always a great number of people around, even if you managed to leave your room, would you have the chance to disappear?

The door opens with a bang and you stay still, rooted on the spot as the brute with mismatched eyes enters, tray in hand. He stares at the uneaten food and spits on the ground

“Nothing is good enough for you, right?”

“What I find pleasing is not of your concern. You might leave and take the tray with you, I am not hungry” you say, staring at him with disdain

“You are not hungry, eh? - he advances angrily, hand on his belt - I’ll make sure you’ll be after I am done with you, whore!”.

He launches at you and you retreat to dash on the right, your hand going for the bucket at the foot of the bed. You hand curls around the handle; with a swift move you pull it over your head and down again, to start hitting the brute with it, savagely, on the face, deaf to the sound of his bones breaking, possessed by a rage that was a long time coming, until he falls on your bed and you snatch his small sword, ready to gut him with a primal scream.

Strong arms curl around your frame, forcing your body up in the air, away from your enemy and you scream your rage trying to wriggle out of the impossibly strong hold while guards pour in, taking the injured man with them

“Nobody moves” comes from behind you and you realize that’s Prince Aemond the one keeping you still.

You can see the men freeze on the spot, eyes on your captor and you. Even your attacker stares at the one eyed prince with fear in his swollen eyes

“They are not to be touched, have I made myself clear? They are worth every damned hair on their head” he says coldly and his men silently agree.

After they leave, Aemond deposits your feet on the ground. Delicately, but with a steely hand around your wrist, he forces you to surrender your stolen weapon. You stare at him pissed and he looks equally angry

“It won’t happen again” he says, lilac eye cold and you can’t stop staring

“It wouldn’t be the first time” you confess.

His only eye hardens even more and both his hands curl into tight fist

“Which one of my men?”

“No, none of them - you try to say calmly under his scrutinizing gaze - it happened before you kidnapped me”.

If it’s possible, his whole posture becomes even more tight, a flash of anger on his face he can barely hide.

“I have forgotten how good it feels when you can fight back”.

Unexpectedly this wins you a smile, not bright enough to see his teeth, but his feature softens with it, his eye a fraction warmer.

“My men tell me you refuse to eat”

“How am I supposed to feel hunger, when all I can see are those brick walls? I wish to bathe and to breathe some fresh air, that’s what I desire, not food”.

Prince Aemond stares at you, taking your form in as if he is evaluating something, a soft hmm escaping his shapely lips. You do look like you need a bath even though you managed to wash most of the grime off you.

“Will you eat if I manage to fulfill your wishes?” he says

“Will you?” you are incredulous

“On my honor” he says

“Then I will” and you try not to sound giddy but you feel a small smile on your lips.

Against all your expectations, Prince Aemond takes your hand and kisses it gently, like a nobleman in court would, before stiffly leaving you with your food.

You cradle your hand against your breasts, feeling a warmness that should have no space in your circumstances. It’s only after you have polished the plate, that you realize that Prince Aemond wasn’t wearing those tight braids and his hair were down his shoulders like waves of silk. What are you supposed to do with this information?

Everythig taglist: @hightowhxre

Aemond taglist: @phantoms-main-blog

[your-local-simp-writers]

Glitter and Memories

Word Count: 735

Warnings: None

Cater Diamond x Fem!Reader ︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Cater flashed his signature grin, his eyes twinkling with the same mischievous spark that had first drawn you in. “Today’s the day we let our creativity run wild,” he declared, spreading an array of art supplies across the table.

You couldn’t help but laugh at the enthusiasm he exuded. “And what exactly do we have planned, Diamond?”

With a flourish, he presented a scrapbook, its pages blank and waiting to be filled with memories. “We’re going to capture the magic of our everyday moments,” he said, “and maybe add a little twist.”

The afternoon sun streamed through the windows, casting a warm glow over the glitter, glue, and colorful paper that surrounded you. Cater’s excitement was infectious, and soon you found yourself fully immersed in the project, cutting and pasting with more gusto than you’d ever thought possible.

As the scrapbook began to take shape, Cater paused, a thoughtful look crossing his face. “You know what this needs? A centerpiece that truly pops.”

You raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Oh? And what might that be?”

With a mischievous glint in his eye, Cater reached under the table and pulled out a miniature volcano kit, complete with baking soda and vinegar. “Remember making these in school? Let’s recreate that magic.”

The next hour was a blur of laughter and creativity as you both constructed the volcano, decorating it with an extravagance that only Cater could inspire. And when it came time to make it erupt, you both held your breath, counting down before pouring the vinegar into the crater.

The reaction was immediate, a frothy explosion of glitter-infused lava that spilled over the sides, much to your delight. Cater’s laughter mingled with yours, the sound as bright and vibrant as the sparkling mess you’d created. As the glitter from the volcanic eruption settled, Cater turned to you with a playful challenge in his eyes. “I bet you can’t make a more extravagant page than I can,” he teased, his competitive streak shining through.

You accepted the challenge with a smile, knowing full well that Cater’s artistic skills were top-notch. “You’re on, Diamond. Prepare to be dazzled.”

The two of you dove into the task, each trying to outdo the other with elaborate designs and creative use of materials. Cater was a master of color, his pages a vibrant tapestry that told stories without words. You, on the other hand, had a knack for storytelling, your pages weaving narratives that brought smiles and occasional laughter.

As you both worked, your shoulders brushed, and every so often, Cater would lean over to plant a quick kiss on your cheek, leaving a faint smudge of glitter in his wake. “For good luck,” he’d say, though you both knew it was just an excuse to be close.

The hours slipped by, marked by the soft sound of scissors cutting paper and the occasional burst of laughter when one of you made a particularly bold artistic choice. “Look at this,” Cater said, holding up a page where he’d managed to create a 3D effect with layers of paper. “It’s like we could step right into the scene.”

You admired his work, genuinely impressed. “It’s amazing, Cater. But wait until you see what I’ve got planned for the next page.” You revealed your surprise—a series of photos from your first date, carefully arranged to tell the story of that magical night.

Cater’s eyes softened as he looked at the photos, and he reached out to trace the edge of one with a finger. “That was a good night,” he murmured, and you could hear the love in his voice.

“It was the start of something wonderful,” you agreed, feeling a warmth in your chest that had nothing to do with the room’s temperature.

Eventually, the scrapbook was filled to the brim with memories, each page a testament to the bond you shared. Cater closed the book gently, his hand lingering on the cover. “This is more than just a book,” he said, looking up at you with earnest eyes. “It’s a piece of us.”

You nodded, feeling the truth of his words. “And we’ll keep adding to it, page by page, memory by memory.”

Cater pulled you into a hug, the kind that said everything without a single word. And in that moment, surrounded by the chaos of your creative endeavors, you knew that this was exactly where you were meant to be.

[freetheshit-outofyou]

The 1994 FAWB was actually extremely effective (the single exception being Columbine, the worst mass shooting ever at the time, which has been outdone every 3-5 years since the 1994 FAWB expired).

Anon, first, you are a cunt.

Second, are you fucking retarded?

Honestly, comparing your moronic statement to those with mental disabilities is a slam against them that is not fair. You, little buddy, are in an entire class of stupid that is all your own.

The Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act of 1994 failed at every point we were told it was going to make a positive difference.  From 1994-2004 violent crime involving firearms went down marginally. But that was not because of the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act. Crime was already trending down starting in 1981. Yes, the numbers speak for themselves. From 1994-2004, 114,968 people were killed with a firearm by a criminal. From 2005 through to the most current year of 2022, 178,782 people were killed by a criminal offender using a firearm. I know, right now you're all like "see SEE, right there, crime is worse now than during the BAN.", you're wrong.

From 1994-2004 about 11,496.8 people were killed per year by a criminal with a firearm. From 2005-2022 that 18 year window number is about 9,932.333333... But I'll go an extra step and keep the window at 10 years. from 2012-2022 that number is about 11,208.6 people killed by a criminal using a firearm. Again, I know you're nutting up on yourself screaming "LOOK the numbers between the Ban window and the numbers from 2012-2022 are almost identical", for once you are right. The problem is the ban had been expired for 7 years to that point having no bearing on the numbers. (Just as a silly little side note, from 2005-2015 the number of people killed on average by a criminal with a firearm was 10,150.2. Once again, lower than all of your BAN window.)

A much more important metric here is from 1994-2004, 2,194 (219.4 per year.) private citizens were forced to use a firearm in their defense or the defense of others against a criminal committing a felony. Where from 2005-2019, (249.4666667 per year.) From 2005-2015 that number is 2,395 or 239.5 per year. That means coming out of the Ban more citizens were forced to protect themselves with a firearm than before the ban. Your ban did that. You gilded ban made people LESS SAFE.

I'd like to add the above numbers are just firearms, all the other methodologies of murders are not included in these numbers.

But, since you asked so kindly here are the numbers based on all methodologies of murders.

1994-2004, 172,447 people killed by criminals, or about 17,244.7 per year.

2005-2022, 257,465 people killed by criminals, or about 14,303.61111111111 per year.

2012-2022, 158,693 people killed by criminals, or about 15,869.3 per year.

2005-2015, 150,030 people killed by criminals, or about 15,003 per year.

Based on facts, more people died by criminals, more private citizens were forced to kill a criminal offenders during the Ban window than during the following 18 fucking year. That little one, is what we call a failure. It saved less people, caused more people to have to fight violent criminals for their lives or the lives of others. How in the world is that a success?

Now, let's go to your back handed exception of the tragedy that was Columbine. From 11:19 A.M. to 12:08 P.M. two psychotic shit stains killed 13 people wounding another 24. Of the 4 firearms used 2 of them, the Intratec TEC-9 mini and the Hi-Point 995 Carbine were both under the ban. I'd like to point out the 99 explosive devices were illegal to possess, the killings were illegal to do, bringing guns and explosives to a school was also a violation of the laws of the time. What exactly did the ban do to help those people in that school?

From 1994-2004 the U.S. population grew from 262,273,589 to 293,947,885 and not one new modern self-defense weapon was available. So roughly 31 million people, could not have access to the most effective means of personal defense in the world and murder by firearms was higher. From 2005 to 2022, just to keep the numbers in the same ranges, in 2005 the population was 296,842,670+/- and in 2022 it ballooned up to 338,289,857+/-, that is a jump of 41 million people. All of those people, who were or are law abiding adults, have had access to all of the most relevant modern self-defense firearms the Nation has to offer and CRIME HAS WENT DOWN.

If the Ban was such a resounding success how can the numbers be telling a different story?

I have a small theory, you king cunt of anon, have no fucking clue what you are talking about. You have chosen the wrong fight and are on the wrong side of history.

With that, all I can say is bless your heart.

Source 1, FBI UCR

Source 2, Federal Bureau of Investigation Crime Data Explorer

[arrowsperpetualcringe]

Ohoho

OHOHOHOHO

YOU MOTHERFUCKERS DIDN'T THINK I'D DO IT DID YA?

GUESS WHAT BITCH

I FUCKING DID IT

I MADE MY DREAM TRAINWRECK SETTING

WITH MY OWN TWO HANDS.

AHAHAHA

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

(help I spent a whole ass month working up to this.)

So anyway, here are the fruits of my labor.

First, a general floor plan of the train I’ve created.

Very elaborate, I know. Please, save your applause.

Anyway, next up, the train station I created!

it’s supposed to look all over grown and kinda reclaimed by nature, but idk how well i captured that.

ALSO there were supposed to be butterflies absolutely everywhere to sell that fact, but I some how managed to capture ONE (1) singular ass butterfly when I used the max butterfly effect on ALL of the- you know what it don’t matter, NEXT IMAGES.

going in order from front to back, first up, we’ve got the coach car.

Wow...

You can certainly....

sit there.

anyway

NEXT UP IS THE SLEEPER CAR

That’s the hallway. Mind you, this is animal crossing, and I can’t recreate everything perfectly, so I had to use a little bit of creativity. Incase you can’t tell what’s going on (which you probably can’t, it’s okay---) the shits on the side are supposed to be sliding doors, with curtains blocking the windows for privacy (I FAILED, I KNOW, BUT I TRIED DSFSG)

this is the interior to the sleeper car cabins (bathroom included)

NEXT UP, the  diner car

yep. you eat here. I lowkey highkey want them muffins and now im mad i don’t have any.

Next, the LOUNGE CAR which is my FAVORITE ONE that I made bc I LIKE IT

LOOK AT IT. OUGH. O U G H. this looks so COZY I wouldn’t even be sitting in any of the chairs my ass would be ON THE FLOOR with a BLANKET, SLEEP.

Anyway...

Last, but certainly not least, we have the Observation car.

I like this one a lot as well because lets be real, the best part of long train rides is looking out the window, and this car is all window.

HOUGH....

and that my friend...

is my offical... trainwreck train.

made especially for Mirror Image in particular.

Good god.

[lifeonthemurdersim]

🥑 🔪 🧩 🌿 for the writer ask meme please :3

Thank you 😊

Writer's truth or dare ask meme

🥑- you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

C'mon, obviously YOU and @cptsadist. I mean technically not text, who texts anymore? But message. Obviously there would be a severe geographical hindrance to either of you physically helping but I'd need the moral support. Plus I feel like both of you would genuinely come up with some creative solutions 😆 Win-win.

🔪- what's the weirdest topic you researched for a writing project?

Oh my god so many 🤣 I'm counting RPs in this bc they are collaborative writing as far as I'm concerned. Here are a few I can think of off the top of my head:

How to perform a relay attack to steal a car.

How dark you can tint your windows in different states.

Lot of shit about Michigan slang and phrasing.

The route from Washington DC to NYC. But like in great detail.

Like practically everything I could find about Lawrence from Gato's old ask tumblr.

So much drug stuff. How to knock someone out for example, and how long one can be unconscious without brain damage. Effects of various recreational drugs too and crucially, how to actually take most of them 😅

What a full-body orgasm feels/looks like for an AMAB person. And stuff like refractory periods and such.

On that note, actually, average distance of ejaculation 🤣 OK that one was for an art piece but it had text so I technically "wrote" it.

"Do Americans say (word/phrase)?" 😅

Less deadly bullet wounds, dangerous but healable bullet wounds etc.

Quite a lot of BDSM stuff.

Stalking people's OCs to write them correctly.

If MI5 are watching me, I'm either a very kinky fucker or a serious threat.

🧩- what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

I'll preface this by saying I don't really read much fanfic, in fact I don't read books either anymore, so the fact I can even write coherently frequently surprises me! I generally have read mostly smutty oneshots in the past which is why I think I'm pretty hypocritical for writing a 300k word fic and expecting people to actually read it(there is a lot of smut though)!

I mean there are a lot of things I wouldn't click on in the first place, underage and incest for example, I'm also very wary of non-con even in the context of murder sim fandoms bc it's hard to know what I'll personally find triggering.

There are writing/layout choices that my brain would struggle with, but I feel like I can't really think of an example? I try to keep an open mind with things like point of view, tense and spelling.

I'm also fairly neutral about most kinks I'm not into and will read stuff if it's recommended to me or I otherwise think I might enjoy it. I have a few nopes but I feel like if I get specific that's being critical of those kinks? When really it's just things that personally don't appeal to me.

Yes I have turn offs. Sorry to shock anyone. 😅

🌿- give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

Possibly controversial. If you're not loving it, don't do it. Go do something else, whether that's switching to a different project, a different media or just going to do something else entirely.

By all means let your friends and/or fans know you'll be taking a break! But for me, I have to be passionately focused on something for it to work.

I do have one other tip though. If we're talking fanfic, weigh up the pros and cons of when to post. If you have more ready, it gives you time to catch up. I managed to get weekly 8k chapters out of my old longfic because I had 60% of the thing written already. I made it through several writer's blocks and only got a little behind. Thay said, there were days when the regular comments were the only thing keeping me going. It's difficult to find a balance. I guess it's a personal thing, but as I say, weigh it up.

[desn512-edenrwebster]

Week 10: Poster + Animation Development

I've been reflecting on how to progress this poster. I decided to try visually recreating the sense of moving home without taking attention away from the typography. In this iteration, I tried to replicate windows since they're a part of homes and this poster set is a window into my lived experience in New Zealand. These help to form a grid around the text drawing attention immediately to it. I took some inspiration from the image below for apartment windows since I’ve lived in a few. I made the second poster a separate style to add to the idea of different dwellings.

I also looked at existing examples of letter forms in grids to help visualise composition.

I figured that with this concept I could easily practice animating in After Effects. A few ideas I had around this were either dropping the letterforms into the poster or having them slide through the windows. My intention with this motion was to simulate items being dropped into a box, like when you're packing your things to move. Although I don't believe the intention is clear enough. I think it could also be fun to have the text move across both posters at the same time e.g. house moves from the windows in poster 1, to the windows of poster 2 with scale adjustments. For this to be effective I believe the composition needs to be restructured to accommodate the differences in word length.

I also worked on another iteration to keep ideas flowing. I wanted to take aspects from other explorations and throw them together e.g. script, background, colour palette, and some 3D effects made in Illustrator but compiled in Indesign. I do enjoy having the words for ‘house’ more jumbled to visually create a sense of unease and then ‘home’ is more organised to present more stability. This version feels like it's missing something but I'm not confident what that may be. The colours in particular still have me stumped.

[harrysfilmblog]

Group 7 Scene Recreation -

Pre-Production and Shoot details

My main role during pre-production was to find a suitable location for filming. After visiting a few locations I discovered the Eric Liddle Centre which I took a tour of and found a perfect room with wooden flooring etc. I had given them plenty of notice alongside another place called deaf action. However, both places failed to communicate. Due to this, we had to find somewhere that could tick as many boxes as possible and was not too tricky to get to and from with equipment. I looked into the resource booker, kindly sent to me by Andrew, and found a room with a plain white wall and plenty of space to film, this would have to do. As the floors were carpeted I thought strips of cardboard would look like realistic flooring especially in black and white. Me and Hope discussed production design prior and decided that cardboard could be out best friend. The window, beds and flooring were all cardboard.

We had many meetings to discuss all aspects of the shoot. We had an actor set to play Thomas Howard, however, he pulled out last minute. So to get around this problem I tried my hardest to get a moustache and was thrown into the deep end to act alongside Gabriel, Thomas Wake. When I wasn't acting I was helping Hope with framing, lighting and directing Gabriel with lines and his character's eyelines.

I wanted to make sure my movement was as accurate as possible in the frame so we blocked a lot of movement out and rehearsed plenty.

We were all very pleased with the final outcome. I thought the set design was slightly more simplistic than the original yet was just as effective. The costumes looked great, they were maybe not as clear in the black and white but they still looked the part, even the fake beard looked good. The overall framing of our remake was pretty good, it was just the case of being slightly too tight or slightly too wide on certain shots. Nonetheless, I think we did a nice job of getting the correct size of objects and characters in each shot, for instance, the shots of Thomas Howard against the wall as this towering shadowy figure.

Hector bought a small wooden plate with wheels but this did not work for the Dolly shot! We used our initiative to come up with sliding the tripod and camera on cardboard however there is a slight noise of the cardboard sliding on the carpet. It was very tricky but Hope did a great job of working around it. We managed to capture the pace and overall feel of the original which I think is essential when trying to remake such an interesting scene.

The lighting was too dark at times yet with a few touchups in the edit we managed to get it looking good. Finally, Bella did a great job on the boom as the sound is perfect.

This was a really fun shoot and I think we all appreciated how much work goes into such a short scene, especially in terms of lighting. We all thought this was such a good exercise that was very challenging. The screening and crit was also very rewarding in terms of learning from other groups and learning from other's opinions on what we had made.

[coopdawgg]

Jubilee Church versus Traditional Church

Rome, Italy

January 7, 2023

The first observation I made of the Jubilee Church was that it is all white. This color differs from a traditional church that usually incorporate darker tones and wood in the interiors. Instead, the Jubilee Church has a marble like finish that is reinforced with steel, giving it a modern formal look. This bright and optimistic color may help the user experience because it can draw people into the church. The church stands out in a depressed neighborhood and lightens the space. Second, on the inside there are many differences between this church and a traditional church. The altar and walls are sparsely decorated with the only decoration being the crucifix. The purpose to this design was based on the need for intelligible speech for readings and announcements and reverb and volume for singing. Catholics do not like how the church is so simple because they like the decoration to be able to focus on and devote their faith to. In my opinion, I agree with this argument because at my church I enjoy looking at the stain glass windows and reading the passages on the wall, but I don’t know what to look at in the Jubilee Church with only plain white walls. Behind the crucifix I noticed a specific design called forced perspective, where the white background behind the crucifix contrasts light and dark. The three slits in the wall are meant to draw your eyes up toward the light. There’s a little window behind the altar designed so that at a specific time, the sunlight shines through and strikes the crucifix. Third, if looking at the altar, towards the right there is a wall of wood panels. These panels serve as a permeable membrane between the church and the exterior recreation side of the structure. These wood panels have gaps in between as it was acoustically strategic to let sound through. The acoustics from songs and musical instruments would flow perfectly through the wood panels and create a beautiful noise. I have never seen either of these features in a traditional church and I found the modernity of the Jubilee church to be unique and interesting. Lastly, some other differences I noticed were the three large sails incorporated into the exterior of the structure that represent the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). The church was designed to look like a ship with the three curved sails on the left. They give a feeling of lightness given by the small thickness of the shells. The shape is supposed to represent the church is ready to ship the faithful, revoking early Christianity, and infusing holiness of interior with livability of exterior area. This design is incredibly conventional compared to traditional churches. Along with the sails, the church has a glass facade unlike any traditional church I’ve seen. The glass facade and walls throughout the church allow natural lighting and for sunlight during the late afternoon to penetrate the altar giving spectacular atmospheric effects.

[jlfilmblog]

Final Exercise: Scene Recreation

Recreation:

(Roles in description)

Original Scene: No Country For Old Men

[To 2:42]

Overview of my role:

My role for this film was the editor, both visuals and sound. Initially, the plan was for me to be the DOP but because of the issues we had with finding a location for our previous scene (Memento), the rescheduling meant that I missed the shoot day due to work commitments. I was quite disappointed that I didn't get to be there for shoot day, as I have really enjoyed the practical parts of his module and wanted to give this a go to better improve my interior lighting experience, particularly with the artificial window lighting. I was present for all meetings for the initial plan as well as the newfound final project and got to have my input on cinematography ideas from afar, despite my lack of presence on the day. I also scouted some phones to try and help G, unfortunately I fell short as a BT landline was the best I could find. Maybe I should stick to what I'm good at.

Weaknesses of the project:

I think Ben did a great job with the sound, although I think someone made the decision to stop recording boom audio for the second half of the shots because it was pretty silent in the original. I think this is something we should avoid unless it's entirely necessary for storage reasons because it's better to have backup audio from the shotgun mic than to not have it. Not quite sure what happened there.

I think the most obvious issue would be the lighting strength. I was told that the lights were not as powerful as expected, so theres quite a sharp grain in a few places which we obviously want to avoid. I applaud the group for doing the best they could on set, in future we need to get to know the equipment to assess our options for lights with particular power.

For me, my biggest weakness was probably the colour grading. It's something I've been meaning to get better at for a while but I couldn't help as much as I wanted to and I was forced to stick to the very basics of lighting correction, just to avoid overcorrection and beginner mistakes. There were also equipment restrictions for zooming/tracking so I added a digital zoom effect and I'm not sure it works quite as well as I wanted it too, seems a bit too artificial for my liking.

The elephant in the room however is once again organisation and time management. I think the hiccup with the memento scene would have definitely been avoided if everyone was at the initial meeting where G and I decided to do Memento. Once we picked it we took too long to return to with the project without the us making a gameplan for a location scouting. Thankfully I think we ended up with a better scene anyway but still a bit frustrating.

Strengths of the project:

I was generally impressed with the final product, especially given the late reorganisation. I think the setup was very well executed, our initial ideas of shadow blocking for the window light went to plan which we knew would be difficult considering the location we had to work with. We managed to get the magic lenses (many thanks) and I think they look stunning. There's definitely a 'filmlike' softness to them which really helps to bring about a more 70s/80s vibe. Shoutout to G as well who did a fantastic job arranging the set and seeking the closest props he could find. I was also impressed with Eve's framing and camera movement, I think she was as accurate as she could be with the equipment and environment she had available.

For my personal input I felt I did a decent job sound wise. The scene is so silent so I expected sound to be very straightforward but there was a big complication in replicating the very subtle silent room tones of the original and maintaining a constant silent room tone. Sound design is something I'm interested in but I've not had as much experience in so I think the overall soundscape is efficient and while there are some minor flaws, I did the best I could do in the timeframe. I think my favourite sound uses is where he leans over to listen under the door, I found a take where there is an almost wind whistling sound to emulate a draft. It's very subtle but I feel that with sound design it's the minor things that make the most impact.

I also recorded a little bit of foley as there wasn't a sound effect that really matched the part where he readjusts himself on the bed holding his shotgun. I have a pretty crappy on camera mic that I used to try and emulate it and merged some other sounds from a different take to get the best sound texture.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I've honestly enjoyed in this module. I feel I've revisited some things I knew before, refreshing the mind, and I've learned some helpful new stuff to improve my cinematography game on a theory and practical level. Think it's probably what I'm looking at the most for the future, but there's definitely a good way to go with the research and learning.

Not sure if you're lecturing us next trimester but thanks Andrew, your lectures and tutorials for this module were genuinely good craic, with interesting content and the feedback was always very constructive and useful for me (and the rest of the group I'm sure).

P.S. Think there's a couple more posts in my notes somewhere, will fork them out when I get the chance.

[robbiejohnsonyr3ax3021]

AX3333 - University - TV series Project (Summer) - Tip Toe on the Road - Environments/ Locations

While design the environments/ locations for Tip Toe on the road, I wanted to create locations from memory, whilst still paying tribute to each location the best I could. Since Tip Toe on the Road is a European road trip, I felt it was important to create locations of varying weather and historical importance. In this post I will be discussing the development and thought process for each concept.

The Snowy Mountains

The snowy mountains is a ski resort populated by many other people enjoying the slopes. For this piece I wanted to create a scene where we can see the characters in different attire, whilst showing off a much colder environment, in comparison of most of the warmer places in the series. The inspiration for this scene was my memories of going to Austria on a skiing trip, I tired to put as much as I could remember from my time there and add them to this piece. Log cabins for people staying at the resort, ski lifts, large signs advertising the resort and more. In this piece I had a little bit of trouble with creating the sky, as I wanted the weather to be clear but not bright blue skies. I wanted the clouds to appear heavy as if snow is falling from them, so I used a mixture of darker shades to try and achieve the look I was looking for. In the end I feel that I was able to achieve this look, by having the sky darker in tone and the clouds grey, I felt that I was able to achieve this look.

Speaking of snowy skies, I was able to experiment with some of the effects brushes, I found a particular brush that had a solid outline, but transparent centre. I increased the brush size to roughly 300px and I was able to create the snow falling in this scene. I also wanted to give Jason and Tip Toe a different outfit to better suit the environment they were in, so I gave tip toe a small hat and scarf and the same for Jason.

La Sagrada Familia

Whilst thinking about the different the locations Tip Toe and Jason visit on their journey across Europe, I wanted to draw a location the pair can visit in Spain. After doing research I realised that Spain is a very religious country with dozens of beautiful cathedrals and churches and although I was tempted to recreate the Casa Batllo building, I decided to go with La Sagrada Familia cathedral.

Before further explaining the creation of creating this concept, I should point out I had to break my one rule from every other concept I had created, whilst creating this concept I had to leave a reference open on another monitor as there was too many details for me to remember. But instead, I would try focus on adding as many aspects and details to the building as possible. Such as trying to add as many statues as possible as well as creating darkness and shadows within the lower half of the image. Even though there is no sign of Tip Toe or Jason in this image, I like to think with the angle I have gone with that we are seeing the cathedral from the characters point of view.

Although in the end I may have not been quite able to get the perspective and depth correct in this piece, I wanted to make up for those short comings by adding as many details into this piece as possible. An example of this includes adding some smaller hidden windows in this piece, as well as the 35 diamond shaped blocks on an arch in front of building with all their letters and symbols. Whilst creating this piece, I had broken down creating the building into two layers, the first being the bottom half of the building where a thicker brush was used and the second layer for the back of the building leading up into the sky (separate colouring layers were made for each of these layers too). Whilst implementing the statues to the building, I had caused a problem for myself, as failing to get the correct angle of the picture meant, some of the characters I was drawing I could only see half off. For example, in the bottom left of the front of the building you can see someone riding a horse, in the picture you can only see half of the horse and rider, so I had to improvise and try to draw the rest of the horse and man the best I could. As a final note, I decided to not give the statues and eyes or mouths as to not make them look like real people in the concept, so I gave the characters noses and hair using two shades of brown so you can see where they are looking in comparison to their real-life counter parts.

Overall, I feel satisfied with these concepts, constructing one from memories, to really challenging myself with a cathedral. I knew the La Sagrada Familia, would be hard to draw, but I wanted to challenge myself and, in the future, I may try to redraw this building to see if I have improved on my drawings whilst working on my third-year project. But these concepts were definitely a learning experience, from discovering different effects brushes, to trying to improve my perspective drawing and applying as may small details as possible into a piece.

[heyiwrotesomethings]

(Crashes in through the window) firstly! Please take your time, it's okay that writing hasn't been agreeing with you, things can get like that and it's understandable, put yourself first before your entire online presence! Secondly, I will admit that requests getting opened is a main reason why I have my tumblr notifications for you and only you on ahah, so, this is for demon slayer, character can be shinobu or mitsuri (surprise surprise, im sorry, i kinda view you as like, the patron saint for them) I was thinking, this could either go as demon reader or demon character but what about having reader as someone who loves to paint but lives a quiet life, she doesn't really sell her art or is out there with them or anything, just preferring to capture the scenery on her canvas, now when she meet the character she goes "you're the most beautiful person/demon I've ever seen, please allow me to paint you!" and fondness and affection slowly grows for the other as reader takes her time getting every little detail down and at the end of it she tells them that they're content with their picture being their final masterpiece and being ready to die from them, sorry that this got so long! I have so many other ideas but I'd say this would be the one I'd like to see the most!

Magnum Opus: Solis

Mitsuri Kanroji x She/Her Demon Reader

A/N: I really enjoyed these prompts and I couldn’t decide which I wanted to do so I did this Mitsuri with a demon artist and then a demon Shinobu with a human artist here! I totally didn’t basically give these pieces titles like Pokémon sun and moon shhh. Hope you like these! Word Count: 3,150

Mitsuri walked carefully through the cluttered, aged mansion, her guard up. She had come here to investigate the claims of locals that a monstrous witch lived within the weathered building.

So far, she had found nothing tangible to substantiate those claims. She did find it strange however, that the house appeared to be empty, but obviously lived in. And Mitsuri wouldn’t say she’s an expert, but all the Demon Mansions she had ever had the displeasure of finding herself in never looked so cozy and warm.

Nor so full of art.

Mitsuri had to actively pull herself away from admiring the pieces that covered the length of every wall. There was so much, each one unique. Hallway after hallway, each was the same, filled to the absolute brim.

“Just how big is this place?” Mitsuri wondered aloud.

She made a quick turn, her blade at the ready, but nothing was there. It was strange, she felt like she was being watched from the moment she entered the mansion, but she had yet to find anything. The sense of dread she normally felt in the presence of demons was also absent. Maybe those claims truly were just old myths and stories. She would finish scouting the mansion and if she found nothing to suggest a demon’s presence, then she would take her leave.

Mitsuri found herself growing more relaxed while traveled through yet another quiet hallway, peaking into rooms along the way. She walked with less purpose and found herself pausing more often as certain art pieces caught her eye.

Though they were all different, many of the scenes depicted were of sunny fields and bright flowers, people smiling and laughing together under glittering sunlight. It was strange. The pieces appeared to be happy, so why did they leave Mitsuri feeling melancholy?

Then Mitsuri saw something that made her breath hitch. She blinked and rubbed her eyes then stared at the painting she had almost walked past. She could have sworn the woman in the painting’s eyes had moved.

She moved her body a little to the left and then a little to the right in an attempt to recreate the effect, but came up empty. Then she turned her back on the painting all together and pretended to be invested in another piece.

When she felt eyes on her again, she began counting down.

Four, three, two… one!

“Aha!” She yelled victoriously as she spun around, but then she let out a yelp of surprise as if she hadn’t expected her off the cuff plan to work.

The painting of the woman stared back at her with a shocked expression that certainly hadn’t been there before.

“…What are you?” Mitsuri murmured. She outstretched her hand to touch the painting, but leapt back in surprise when the woman within the painting backed away from her approaching hand and ran out of frame.

Mitsuri grabbed the painting from the wall and turned it over in her hands several times in an attempt to find the woman, then a flash of movement caught her eye and she jerked her head upward in time to see the woman seemingly running between paintings.

“Wait! Come back here!” Mitsuri commanded.

She took off after the woman, concentrating hard to follow her trajectory through the twisting hallways. She took so many turns she didn’t even no what direction she had come from anymore. After many minutes of chasing, she came to a dead end with a locked door at the end of the hallway.

Her body rammed into the door and her fists pounded against it in rapid succession. When that yielded nothing, she sighed and pressed her ear against the door. She swore she could hear a hushed voice and subtle movements from the room within.

If the moving paintings were anything to go by, Mitsuri was sure this was some kind of demon blood art spell. What if someone was trapped inside and needed help?

The Hashira pounded on the door with her fist once more. Then she jogged back up the hallway. When she reached a reasonable length away, she charged towards to the door and barged her way in, leaving a large hole in the splintered wood. Nichirin blade in her hand, she was ready to strike, but froze.

A woman, a demon, who matched the one in the paintings, had dropped to her knees upon Mitsuri’s explosive arrival, revealing the painting she had been working on since Mitsuri had arrived earlier that morning. It was unfinished, but Mitsuri could plainly see that the subject of the painting was none other than herself.

“Whah! You’re drawing me? Why?” Mitsuri was on edge, what kind of sinister thing would happen if the demon finished the painting? Would Mitsuri become trapped forever doomed to roam the confines of the canvas? Or perhaps it would make a clone of her that would parade around as her in an embarrassing manner? Whatever the case, it certainly couldn’t be good!

“I’m sorry! I know I should have asked first, but since you are a slayer, I was too afraid to. It’s just that… you are the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t help myself. I just had to paint you.” The demon worried her brush between her fingers, looking very contrite, “I know it’s no excuse…”

“What?!” Mitsuri cupped her cheeks in her hands, feeling the heat settling there in real time. Her eyes flickered between the demon and the painting, her heart beating faster with every pass of her eyes.

The demon not only found her beautiful, but the most beautiful person she has ever seen, really? Mitsuri shook her head. She had to pull herself together! She couldn’t swoon over a compliment given to her by a man eating demon, no matter how much it made her heart flutter!

“If you are trying to manipulate me into sparing your life, it won’t work!” Mitsuri declared, though she was still flushed and jittery,

The demon laughed, though it certainly wasn’t a malicious one. She smiled, though it did not reach her eyes. She shook her head.

“I’m not. You really are beautiful. I love your hair, and your eyes are warm like spring grass. The curve of your nose, the shape of your lips, the general shape and complexion of your face are are the most intricate I’ve seen. Are your moles natural or drawn? They are so perfectly placed, the symmetry is remarkable… ah, I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

“It’s not working! So you might as well stop trying!” Mitsuri had put her hands over her ears as she spun around with her eyes clenched shut. So embarrassing! Why was the demon looking so closely at her features like that? What was her endgame?

“Ojou-san? You should stop before you— oh!”

Mitsuri tripped on her own ankle as she spun and almost fell, but caught herself in the last moment before the demon could reach out to steady her.

“Could you stop messing with me, please?!” The poor Hashira felt dizzy.

“I swear, I’m being completely serious.” The demon promised. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, I never have. I just want to paint you.”

“How can I be sure you aren’t preparing a literal demon blood art to kill me?” Mitsuri asked pointedly.

“My blood art cannot be used to harm.” The demon assured. She pointed to one of the many paintings that covered the walls and the painted visage of her that Mitsuri had encountered before peeked out from behind the frame and waved shyly from within. “It’s only my paint scouts. I can see what they see and hear what they do, that’s the full extent of my power. A nosy spy, nothing more.”

Mitsuri was conflicted. She felt in her heart that she wasn’t being deceived, but what if the rumors that have brought her here in the first place?

“I sense you have questions. Do you mind if I continue painting? I will tell you whatever you want to know.”

Mitsuri bit her lip. As long as she had her sword in hand, she could handle whatever this demon could be hiding from her. Tentatively, she nodded her agreement.

“Wonderful! Please, take a seat…”

“Kanroji Mitsuri.”

“Kanroji-san,” The demon smiled, leaving Mitsuri feeling warm. “You may call me (Y/n).”

Mitsuri wiggled in her seat constantly, but if it bothered the artist as she painted, she gave no indication.

Mitsuri asked (Y/n) why the people in the nearby village would tell stories of a monstrous witch who lived within these walls if it wasn’t true and (Y/n) shrugged before dabbing at her paint and adding another line.

“People fear that which they do not understand. I’m sure if I was still a human living under these circumstances as an unwed hermit, they would still say the same things. Though it doesn’t help that I can only leave the mansion at night I suppose. I can see how that may be a little unnerving.”

“And what about eating people? I would think that is what has them unnerved.” Mitsuri frowned and crossed her arms. She may be posing for a demon’s art project, but she hadn’t forgotten what she had come here to do. She would not be seen as an easy mark!

“There were close calls in the beginning, I will not lie. However, I have yet to kill anyone. I have a contact in Tokyo who sends me blood every month. Consensually donated blood.” She clarified.

Mitsuri looked down at her sword in her hands and felt a little ill at ease with herself as the demon continued to answer her honestly without taking offense to her questions.

“What do you do then? Just… paint?”

(Y/n) chuckled, “Yeah, I suppose that’s a good way to put it.”

“Do you try to sell them at all?” Mitsuri wasn’t sure what a demon would need money for, but if (Y/n) sold her paintings she would surely be well off.

“No, it’s just a hobby. I wouldn’t want to draw attention to myself as I am currently anyway,” she switched colors and focused on the canvas again, “You however, are more than welcome to take whatever catches your eye.”

“Oh I couldn’t.” Mitsuri waved her hands.

“Please, I have more than I know what to do with. I won’t miss them.”

Mitsuri gave a noncommittal hum and then they sat in silence for a few minutes, Mitsuri kicking her legs out all the while, trying to think of anything else to ask the seemingly docile demon. (Y/n) filled the silence first.

“So Kanroji-san, why did you become a demon slayer if you don’t mind me asking.”

“Ah! Well, you know the same as everyone else I suppose.” She answered with an awkward laugh, twirling a braid in her free hand. There was no way she would tell her the real reason, it’s actually so embarrassing! She would be hard pressed to find anyone else who joined to find someone to marry. She was the only one she knew of.

The blush the painted Mitsuri’s cheeks once again was proof enough of her deceit, but (Y/n) didn’t mind, instead she asked Mitsuri about other things like her favorite season, books, food and so on. They spoke back and forth for hours, but Mitsuri didn’t feel like much time passed at all as she laughed at her own retelling of an outing she had with a few of her fellow Hashira.

Mitsuri had long since disregarded (Y/n) as a threat and had slid to the floor some time ago to lay on her back. After another lull in the conversation, she thought of something to ask.

“I noticed on my way here that you have a lot of sunny flower fields painted. Is it because summer is your favorite season, or perhaps spring?”

(Y/n) paused her painting and rested the end of the prism against her lips, a longing look in her eyes that Mitsuri did not miss.

“Should I not have asked? I’m sorry.“

“No, no, you’re fine,” (Y/n) assured before going back to her task, “It’s a longing, I suppose. I can’t go out in the sun, so I paint one that cannot harm me. It’s kind of silly I guess, but I miss getting to live beneath its warmth in a field of blooming flowers.”

“It’s not silly at all. It sounds lonely.”

“It was,” (Y/n) sat back in her chair and sighed wistfully. She looked the painting up and down before giving a faint nod and she put her brushes and paints away.

When she finished, she beckoned Mitsuri over, “thank you for humoring me, you may come look now.”

“Already? That was fast!” Truthfully it was, the sun hadn’t even set yet if the orangish glow behind the curtains was anything to go by.

“When you live a cursed life as I do, you pick up a thing or two to make the process faster. Plenty of time to practice.” (Y/n) had stated it as a simple fact, but it did make Mitsuri really want to hug her. She talked herself out of it though.

Mitsuri scrambled to her feet and leaned in beside the demon, a soft sound of surprise left her as she took in the portrait of herself in a field of a colorful variety of wild flowers, the sun gently caressing her skin between breaks in the healthy, green leaves of the tree she sat against. Mitsuri never thought she looked more beautiful.

“I’d that really… me?” She tilted her head from side to side. It sure had similarities to her physique, but surely (Y/n) had embellished her image.

“Of course it is you. I told you that you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.” (Y/n) went a bit into detail of her process and Mitsuri tried to listen, but her mind ended up wandering. Knowing that someone saw her this way was almost enough to have her heart leap out of her chest.

“I’m really happy with how this turned out. I’m content with this being my last piece, I’m ready now.” (Y/n) said with a nervous smile, breaking Mitsuri from her own thoughts.

“Um, ready for what?” She blinked, cheeks rosy. She really should have been paying better attention but she had been lost in the demon’s perception of her.

“I’m ready for you to complete what you came here to do, Kanroji-san.” (Y/n) elaborated, “My time is up.”

Mitsuri yelped and grabbed the demon by the shoulders as she shook her head violently from side to side.

“No way! I can’t do that!”

It was true that it had been Mitsuri’s intention to behead the demon, but spending the day with her and getting to know her made the task seem unimaginably cruel. (Y/n) had never hurt anyone. She was just a lonely artist who wished she could feel the sun and see all it had to offer. Mitsuri sniffled.

“I really couldn’t!”

“Kanroji-san, won’t you get in trouble if you let me go?“

“Coming here wasn’t an order from headquarters. It was an investigation of my own to check the claims of the people in my sector. No one has to know!”

(Y/n) closed her eyes, a soft exhale left her lips and she pulled Mitsuri’s hands off of her shoulders. She held the slayer’s hands between her own.

“If someone did find out, that would be very damaging to you. I don’t want you to risk your rank, reputation or especially your life for hiding a demon.“

“I’m not worried!” Mitsuri tried to sound confident, but she had broken out in a nervous sweat and (Y/n) easily noticed.

“You would be doing me a favor too, you know.”

“Hah?! How could you say that?”

“This is not the life I wanted. I would have much rather lived a mortal life in the sunlight than a lonely eternity in the dark.” Her gaze fell to the floor. “All the flowers curl up at night, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to see them bloom in person.”

Mitsuri looked to the covered window, light still illuminated the curtain. There was still time!

“Wait here!”

“Kanroji-san?”

Mitsuri didn’t stay to explain, she ran down the winding halls and when she got lost, a paint scout peeked at her through a painting of a koi pond under a sakura tree.

“Uh, could you lead me to an exit?” Mitsuri asked sheepishly, unsure if it could understand her.

The paint scout nodded and traveled through a couple paintings, pausing only to motion for Mitsuri to come along.

“Wait for me please, I’ll be right back.” She told the scout before hopping off of the engawa and running into the field of flowers where she picked a large bouquet of various species. When she was satisfied, she went back to the mansion and followed the scout back to the room she left (Y/n) and presented her with the flowers.

“Here! Now you’ll remember!” She grinned, pushing the bundle into (Y/n)’s hands.

The demon gasped quietly and ran her fingers gently over the petals.

“You don’t have to be alone anymore. You’ve got me! I’ll help you.”

“I don’t know what to say…” (Y/n) wiped away a tear with her sleeve then cupped Mitsuri’s cheek, “this is very sweet. You’re like the sun, so warm and bright. Thank you, Kanroji-san.”

“It sounds like you do know what to say.” Mitsuri felt dizzy from the praise and the cool touch on her burning face was only serving to make her skin grow warmer.

***

Mitsuri visited (Y/n) weekly with her hands full of wildflowers. They would sit together to talk while (Y/n) painted, the subject usually being Mitsuri, or whatever Mitsuri suggested. Usually it was cats in cute clothes and formal wear doing all manner of nonsensical things. (Y/n) relished the challenges Mitsuri’s mind came up with.

Mitsuri would take home some of (Y/n)’s paintings with her until her house was nearly as full of art as the demon’s was. It made explaining away the sudden additions to her fellow Hashira difficult.

“Kanroji-san, where did you get all this art? It’s breathtaking.“

“These look nice, who’s the artist?”

“I would love to have something that reflects my fiery passion! Do they take commissions?”

“Think you could snag me some? The wives would love these.”

“I’d like something with clouds.”

Safe to say, more art found new homes with the other Hashira, but the artist remained anonymous. No one could stop Mitsuri from being tight-lipped about them. They did however, notice how red she would get when questioned about them, which led to a lot of teasing from some about a secret lover.

And as Mitsuri and (Y/n) grew to know more about each other and began spending more time together, maybe the teasings of Mitsuri’s colleagues weren’t that far off.

[professor-rye]

For Inside There Is Love

Veth was the first person to see Caleb’s room, other than Caleb himself of course.

It’s not like he was trying to hide it. After all, he made their rooms attached to each other by the lab on purpose right? Conjoined, to some degree. Veth assumed it was like that for a reason. Perhaps a subtle cry for connection?

Regardless, when she slowly snuck into his room while he was still downstairs in the library, curiosity burning to see what he had created for himself, she found her heart breaking just a bit.

It was empty. Blank. Completely devoid of all of the love and devotion that he had filled every other room with. Sure, there was furniture there, and Veth could recognize that the rustic zemnian style was probably somewhat homely to the wizard, but beyond that…

It was apparent what Caleb’s room said about himself.

The Tower was a love letter to all of his friends. And regardless of all her best efforts… Caleb did not love himself.

Veth stood in the dark room, heart aching for her friend for far too long before she very quietly left, closing the door behind her.

She couldn’t let this stand. She had to do something. ***

Jester was the second person to see Caleb’s room. She brought the adorable looking children’s book to Caleb to request the spell that would let her read it, but instead, Caleb offered to read it to her, which was just so very sweet.

And then, he led her into his room, which was blank and boring and empty. She didn’t understand at first. Everyone else’s rooms were so cool! So she told him plainly just how boring it was.

“Well, that took a lot of effort for you all, so no time for me,” he muttered, looking down at the book in his hand. Jester only had a moment to consider what he was saying and the terrible realization that followed, when Caleb continued hastily. “Okay, so this is meant for children.”

Jester nodded her head slowly in acknowledgment, letting Caleb pull the topic away from his room and to the book she had brought. Still, her heart was sad as she listened to him begin to read, his accent dancing over the words beautifully.

When she left that night, her thoughts were on the soft way Caleb read to her, and a forest full of dancing cats. However, the next morning dawned, and as she looked around her own room, so full of love and careful detail, she couldn’t help but remember the empty, bare walls of Caleb’s own suite.

She glanced over at her window, recreating the view from her childhood bedroom, but in beautiful stained glass. Her heart ached as she remembered that Caleb hadn’t even put a stained glass window over his fireplace, the way he had for everyone else.

Literally everyone had a stained glass window. But he didn’t…

“Welp!” Jester said to herself as she sat up in bed, “I guess it’s time to change that!” ***

It was hard trying to figure out exactly when to sneak into Caleb’s room. Jester had no idea how long he would be distracted down in the library, and painting took some time, especially if she wanted it to look good. Fortunately, stained glass was a bit easier to manage quickly, but still…

She set up her paints on the mantle of the fireplace and got to work, moving quickly based on a sketch that she had drawn earlier that day. There was only so much she could do, painting on solid wall as opposed to glass, but she made a point to add fake glowing motes of light to give it as close to a glass effect as she could.

She was still scrambling to paint when suddenly, she heard a door slowly open to her right. She froze, turning towards the sound like a cat caught in the food pantry, an excuse already on her lips.

But it wasn’t Caleb. It was Veth.

Veth was sneaking into the suite from the door to the laboratory, a large, plush blanket of vibrant colors and shapes draped over her arm. She froze just as Jester did, watching her for a split second before both women lifted their hands to point at the other.

“What are you doing here?!”

“Why are you in Caleb’s room?!”

They both babbled in tandem at each other for a moment before Jester couldn’t help but laugh. She had asked, but she could tell from the look on Veth’s face and the blanket in her arms exactly why she was here. And with her nearly completed stained glass painting in front of her, she knew that Veth knew what was going on as well.

“Well, I’m glad I’m not the only one at least,” Veth said with a wry smile. Jester stepped down from the fireplace, paintbrush still in hand to look at the blanket that Veth had brought. “It’s from Luc’s room. I’m going to put it on his bed.”

“Oooh, that's a really good idea!” Jester gasped. “I have a whole bunch of extra pillows in my room that I can bring too!”

“Well, it looks like you’ve got a really good idea yourself anyway,” Veth said appreciatively, pointing at the half finished painting. Jester had considered a lot of options, when she had been sketching out how she wanted it to look, but in the end, she had opted for simple but direct.

She was rather proud of it.

“Thank you,” she said somewhat breathlessly. “Wanna help?”

“Hell yeah I want to help!” Read more on AO3

[dimensionwriter]

100 Days

Part Three

Part One Part Two

M! Alien x GN! Reader

Warning: pinning

Word Count: 2296

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Today’s the day. A whole month has passed since Experiment 337 became conscious, therefore that means that he is now in the clear to be able to leave his containment. The reasoning for the 30 day period is to see if the alien holds the ability to breath in our atmosphere. So, slowly throughout 25 days, the liquid in the container gains more oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide until it reaches the point of similarities with Earth’s. Then the final 5 days are just checking on the vitals and making sure there are no complications.

And Shark was able to withstand it! Of course Shark would. There was no doubt in your head that that crazy alien wouldn’t be able to. He’s amazing like that.

Do you know how hard it is to try to look professional and calm while speed walking down the halls? Every time someone would stop to ask you something, you did not stop. You would yell the answer or tell them the name of someone who may know the answer while you were way past them. Luckily, no one pointed out how weird you look speeding to your door.

“Examiner, good morning. You made it just in time,” A low voice spoke to you. You looked away from your door to see your vector’s manager walking towards you. He was the one who’s always speaking through your earpiece. You assumed that he wouldn’t bother you anymore, except for meetings, since Shark was now conscious, but seeing him walk towards you told you that he must have found something new that interested him. Sadly, it must have included you.

“Morning, sir. Have they already started the movement?” You scanned your ID card across the reader causing the door to open. Stepping through, you were met with what felt like a completely different room. The container was broken down into its four glass panels and were laying on the floor in the corner. Your computer was now moved into the corner with a wall around it with windows that peered out into the room. In the middle, was a long table that had the main attraction on it.

Shark was still fast asleep, thanks to the sleeping medicine still being pumped into him. His grayish blue skin seems to look almost matte out of the liquid. Glancing at his limb, the black color that it turned to was a completely different texture. What type would it be most similar like?

“Morning, Examiner. We are almost done here. I am changing their vital readers to be inside of them , so there won’t be cords everywhere that could trip you. I have also added a microchip in their neck, just in case they try to escape. It’ll send a big enough shock to take down an elephant,” The vector’s doctor explained walking around Shark and pointing them out. So he had vital readers in his right thigh, middle left arm, and one in the center of his chest.

“Thank you so much. I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to help you guys,” You apologize seeing how much was done without you. You walked over to your metal closet to put away your personal belongings and grab a fresh pair of lab coat and gloves. You actually get a chance to actually use the gloves.

You watched as your manager didn’t even try to put on any of the sterile clothes and just walked in. He’s the manager, so he should definitely know the rules, but is choosing to ignore it. This man sometimes gets on your nerves.

“So, this is the little shape shifting bastard,” your manager teased, poking Shark in his face. Not the bare hands. Who knows what germs this man has been exposed to and he’s directly making contact with the creature.

“Sir, I would advise that you do not touch Experiment 337 with your bare hands. It is unknown the result that may have on them,” the doctor spoke. The dark bags under their eyes made their statement feel a lot more firm then it would have coming from you. He may be the manager, but the vector’s nurse is equal to him.

He let out a small scoff and started walking around the room looking at things. The nurse went over to the corner room to probably make sure the vitals are actually reading correctly. With everyone busy, you walked over to Shark.

With the tips of your fingers, you brushed away at the spot the manager had touched. Woah. His skin was so cold. It felt like you were touching ice. Lightly, you trailed your fingers down his face to see that the texture was actually similar to something that was matte.

The skin underneath your finger begins to poof out. Looking back at his face, you see that his thin lips were spread out showing his sharp teeth. No way. You looked further up to see a pair of black eyes staring at you.

How was…. There can’t. You looked down to see that there was still a tube going up his back that was pumping the blue liquid. It has been confirmed that this formula worked good enough to put him to sleep. How was he awake?

“Do plan on bringing the bed in later today?” You watched as the manager walked towards the corner room, not noticing the two pairs of eyes on him. He disappeared around the corner and your head snapped down.

“You can resist the medicine,” you accused him. He gave a smirk and let out a quiet laugh. His top arms were folded across his stomach. He reached a little and grabbed the end of your lab coat and began twirling it.

“As I have stated before, Yeah and you can’t. It’s not my fault you humans are so, how do I say this kindly, incapable.” You didn’t even have it in you to argue with him. A million questions were flying through your head.

How did he stop the effects of the medicine? Does it have something to do with him being a shapeshifter? How long has he been doing this? Should you report this?

Wait, why are you doubting reporting this? This is definitely something that should be reported. If everyone thinks all aliens are asleep and there’s little security, he could become a real threat. Going rampant, freeing other aliens, or worse, going onto the outside.

Would he really be that much of a threat? He would probably just try to flirt with all of the security and get them to be his ‘mate’ or something.

“Darling, you look so cute when you think so hard,” his voice purred. You looked over at him to see he was smirking at you. His black eyes drifted down a little and that’s when you noticed that his hand holding your lab coat was raised up. He stretched his neck a little to look underneath it.

“What are you even looking at?” You held no personal items in your pants. Maybe he was analyzing the fabric of clothes better to recreate it better. Has he ever held this type of fabric before? You don’t really know where he came from or his history much. One day, you got a promotion to this vector to be an examiner and got assigned to him. No previous records were given to you.

“Nothing. Just enjoying the view,” he mumbled leaning a little farther over to look. Your brain seemed to freeze as you realized what he was doing. This pervert.

Stepping forward, you yanked your coat out of his hand and smacked the back of his hand. The corners of his eyes crinkled a little as he started to softly laugh. He was enjoying teasing you a little too much.

“Examiner?” You turned around to see the Nurse and the manager staring at you. You blinked in confusion at them. Why were they looking at you weird when Shark was clearly awake? “Can you please not smack the alien? They may be unconscious, but I’m sure they can still feel it?”

Unconscious? You turned around to see that Shark had his eyes closed and his arms back in place. It looked like he was truly ‘unconscious’ it wasn’t for the edges of his cheek twitching from trying to hold in his smile. He was trying to get you in trouble.

“I apologize. Thought I saw a bug or something on his skin. However, it was most likely his skin shifting around due to his ability to shapeshift." You hoped they didn't pick up on the bull crap you just let spewed from your mouth. It's one thing for a manager to touch him, but for a subordinate like yourself to slap him, that's an instant ticket to being written up.

"Bugs? Many workers have been moving in and out of this room. It's a small chance, but still is possible," they grumbled walking towards you. They glanced around the room before letting out a small sigh. "I'll make sure to send a cleaning crew in here just in case."

They actually brought it. You didn't know who to thank. Thank the nurse for being kind and not doubting you or the workers for moving around a lot. Well you thank both.

"Whelp, Examiner. Congrats on getting that thing to live for this long. Definitely thought the damn thing was going to kick the bucket ." His harsh laugh echoed through the room. You didn’t say anything, only allowed a tight lip smile to come on your face. The nurse just rolled their at his dumb statement.

“Examiner, you need to complete your training for in person examinations for Experiment 337,” the nurse reminded you. Their eyes drifted down to Shark next to you before looking back up at you. You swear you saw a small smirk appear on their face. “We will be outside waiting for you to finish up in here.”

They dropped their lab coat in the waste bin and slid their black gloves into their back pocket. Scanning their ID, the door slid open and they walked through. The manager appeared confused by their statement, so where you to be honest, but didn’t question it much and just walked out.

Did the nurse know that Shark was awake? If they actually knew, hopefully you won’t get into trouble for it. That would look so bad if you looked like you were hiding stuff for them and you could get written up, or worse, fired.

“Why do you always leave me?” You turned towards Shark to see he was sitting up now. You tilted your head up to be able to look him in the face. Something to document, he’s tall as hell. His torso to leg ratio is a little less even than humans. His legs are quite long and thick making you believe that’s where his height would mostly come from. But that theory is thrown into a fire seeing as his torso was the length of your entire upper body.

“Now that everyone has left the room, now you want to ogle my body. You perv,” he teased, covering his body with his six hands. The claws protruding out of them pressed into his grey skin. Small little bumps and rises appeared all over his skin. It really was like leather in a way. “Honey?”

“First, I know you didn’t just say I was ogling you. You were the one raising up my lab coat to look at me. You’re even more of a perv. Second, don’t call me honey. I don’t want anyone to hear you say that and get that wrong idea,” you ticked off with your finger. He unwrapped his first set of arms to let the elbows rest on his thighs. Gently, he rested his head on them and stared down at you.

“Then, can I call you babe, sugar plum, my starlight, darling, and/or angel? It would please me if all of the humans on this planet knew you were mine. And I do plan on making you mine,” he whispered. He leaned down towards you with a small smile on his face. In his dark eyes, you could see your reflection through them. Did you really look that flustered?

You stepped away from him and walked towards the door. You took off your lab coat while taking steady breaths. This is your job. You are getting paid to deal with this flirty alien. “Well, I see you're still stuck on that whole mate thing. While you continue to go on about that, I have work to do. See you later.”

You grabbed your ID to scan it when a hand landed on top of the scanner. Then another wrapped around your waist pulling you into a hard surface. Two hands went above you to the door while another grabbed your face to tilt it up.

“I’m not joking when I say you’re my mate. I’m adamant that you are and I don’t plan on letting you go.” His usual smile was wiped on his face, but instead a joyless frown was there. The sparkles in his eyes were all gone. He really was serious about this.

“Don’t worry. I’ll let you go. Just this time.” Every hand around you retreated back to him as he turned away from you. He walked towards the metal table with his tail low to the ground. “But next time, I would actually like some time with you. Please.”

All you could do was give him a small nod as you exited the room. Your mind felt fuzzy from trying to process everything. But you have plenty of time in the future to get answers to these questions.

70 days.

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I actually wrote something. It’s something short but I’m proud I actually did it. I miss Shark and this story. Hopefully, I’ll get to get something else out. Anyway, make sure to Like, Reblog, and Comment. I love to see you guy’s comments. 

[irrelevantwriter]

No Questions, No Lies

Pairing: Rio (Good Girls) x Female Reader/You

Rating: Explicit, NSFW

Warnings: Language, oral sex (male receiving), unprotected vaginal sex, mention of bodily fluids, angst, characters who refuse to say how they feel, asshole Rio (low key loves it)

Word Count: 4.7K

Summary: Part 4. Riding a high, you decide to invite Rio over. But things don’t go as planned.

A/N: Once again, I am here, standing in front of you lovely people and saying thank you for all the love and support this series has gotten. It means the world. And then some. Onto the good shit...this part has lots of feelings, not all of them good. Angst is heavy towards the end, but first...smut. We love some toxic ass yearning, don't we? Also, we get some Rio POV in the first half. I’ve got two more parts planned so as always, stay tuned. I hope you guys like it. Feedback is that good shit. 💗

*Read Part 1 here

*Read Part 2 here

*Read Part 3 here

*Read Part 5 here

*Give and Take series masterlist

*Masterlist in bio.

*********************

He shifted in his seat, eyes glancing in the rearview mirror. He caught a glimpse of you as you handed off the bag of cash to Mick. Your gaze tried to find his through the blackened windows, searching for his presence in the front seat of the Mercedes SUV. It was no use. The tint was as dark as he could get it without drawing attention. Not that it mattered. The cops were always sniffing around...waiting for him to slip up. They were going to be waiting a long time.

He rubbed his chin as you rounded the vehicle and opened the passenger door. A cool breeze carrying the scent of your perfume swept in as you settled into the seat. He took you in slowly, gaze sweeping over your body as it often did when in your company. The sweater and jeans you wore were nondescript enough, but the hint of cleavage was obvious. And because you wanted to draw his attention, he gave you what you wanted and admired the area he’d been up close with only weeks before.

“Hi.” You greeted somewhat shyly, the gesture making him smirk. Even after the sex, you still got nervous around him. It had lessened tremendously since he’d first fucked you on your kitchen counter, but it wasn’t gone completely. And he had to admit that he liked that. Liked that he had such an effect on you.

“Sup, mama…” He replied, licking his lips as you averted your eyes from his.

It’d been three weeks since he’d shown up at your house in the early morning hours, announcing his return. He’d be lying to himself if he said he didn’t miss being inside you. Now that he’d gotten a taste, it was difficult to manage without it. But you both had tedious schedules. He had several businesses. You had your kids. It didn’t always line up. And for three weeks it hadn’t. But seeing you now...he’d happily fuck you into the expensive leather of his seats if you’d let him.

“Everything good?” He prompted, noticing that you were fidgeting with your hands. You seemed worried, like something was weighing heavy on your mind. That wasn’t good.

“Yeah, yeah...of course.” You replied unconvincingly.

Rio leaned forward across the seat and placed a hand over both of yours, stilling the anxious movement of your fingers. Your eyes finally met his, a smile gracing your lips.

“What’s wrong?” He gruffly demanded, more out of concern for his operation than your personal feelings.

Your response surprised him.

“I need you to come over tonight.”

He took a long moment to silently take you and your words in. There was a softness in your features. It was unlike the expression of stress he’d seen you wear before. This wasn’t about business. This was personal.

“For what?” He asked, releasing your hand and sitting back to face you.

You bit your bottom lip and he watched as the appendage came away glossy and begging to be touched. His hand itched to reach out, but he stopped himself. Eager to see where you were taking this. Because he already had an idea.

“I...I need you.” You whispered, your gaze sliding to the deserted streets just beyond the windshield. You were hesitant. And that wasn’t going to work. He was going to have to teach you to take. In this world, there was no room for hesitation. You had to have the confidence to demand. If you didn’t, the weight of those around you who did would crush you.

Despite your timidness, his body hummed at your breathy confession. His blood pumped wildly in his veins while deep male satisfaction filled his chest. Inwardly, he was gloating. Outwardly, he was calm and nonchalant.

He shook his head and angled his ear towards you, as if signaling he couldn’t hear. “You gotta speak up.”

There was no humor in his tone. He wasn’t trying to tease you. He was acting as your instructor. Forcing you to be real about what you wanted.

He heard you scoff and as he turned to face you once again, he could see your hand reach out for the door handle. He stopped you with an outstretched arm, making sure to brush against your chest as he did.

“Just tell me what you want, darling.” He rasped, coercing your eyes to meet his.

You sighed, seemingly frustrated with yourself. He lifted his arm from across your body and instead let his fingertips trail down the side of your face. He watched from his peripheral as your chest expanded with a heavy breath, your breasts straining against the fabric of your sweater.

“You. I need you.” You repeated, the conviction clear in your voice this time.

He nodded, his thumb tracing the pout of your bottom lip. “That’s what I thought you said.”

Rio leaned in close, his mouth hovering dangerously over yours. You licked your lips in preparation for the action, the motion momentarily hypnotizing him. His eyes swept over your face, taking in every detail. His intense study made you shift in your seat. Maybe it was unease. He hoped it was arousal.

“I’ll be there.” He replied, pulling away and settling back into his own seat.

You blinked and nodded, still seemingly dazed by his proximity.

He hadn’t kissed you. And it was intentional. The constant push and pull of your relationship was maddening on most days. There was always an aspect of it that needed attention. Whether it was business or personal. It was always work. But times like these were what made it worth it. The teasing. The buildup. The attraction. It was so palpable he could practically taste it against his tongue. You were as frustrating as you were alluring and he was going to indulge in that combination until there was nothing left.

He wanted it all.

************

You smoothed out the fabric of your dress for the umpteenth time as you scrutinized your reflection. Nerves knotted in your stomach as you struggled to maintain some form of composure. Rio had texted you ten minutes before to say he was on his way. You didn’t know how much time that gave you, but it didn’t matter. It wouldn’t be enough.

You’d regretted your desperate demand of him the instant you’d left his car earlier that day. The cool air had pulled you from the fog of your lust and threw you back into reality. And it wasn’t good. You’d made a fool of yourself. You were better than that. You could form full sentences and express thoughts. You were confident and fully capable of telling a man to come over so that you could sleep with him. Especially one you’d already slept with.

You tried to find the courage that had consumed you the last time you’d slept with him. You’d taken without asking and he’d happily reciprocated. It was the very definition of raw desire and you had every intention of recreating it tonight.

Which is why you were taking extra care to make sure your dress was perfect, along with your hair and makeup. Not that it truly mattered. He’d already seen you practically fresh out of bed in cotton panties.

A knock at the front door made you jump in surprise, the knots in your stomach now turning to butterflies. You took one last look at yourself before you made your way towards the entryway, your bare feet soundless along the cool hardwood floors.

You opened the door, seeing Rio on the other side. He looked good. He always looked good. Dark shirt, dark jeans. And that unwavering look of smugness he so often wore. He was expressive without having to do or say much. He was self-assured. Arrogant even. The calm intensity he possessed was almost a magical power, holding you captive. It had a dual effect on your body. You were afraid. But it paled in comparison to your insistent arousal.

“Hi,” You greeted, gesturing for him to come in.

He did so wordlessly, eyes taking in your form as he moved. He let you lead him through the house and towards the kitchen and you swore you could feel his gaze blazing across your back, leaving a mark. He was good at that. He was good at making you feel seen. The rush of having someone pay attention to you in the way that Rio did was utterly seductive. It was addictive. And you wanted it for as long as he was willing to give it to you.

“You want something to drink?” You asked over your shoulder, heading towards the cabinet that housed the whiskey.

Rio’s voice stopped you.

“Nah, I’m good.”

You faltered and turned to see him leaning against the wall, watching you with an amused expression. Your insides heated with every silent second that passed between you. Looking at him made you remember why you’d asked him over. It wasn’t for a drink and it definitely wasn’t for small talk. Primal need began to swell within you as you stepped towards him. He was going to make you see your desperation through.

He straightened as you approached and invaded his space. You reached a hand out to trace the buttons of his shirt, gently tugging at the end of the fabric as you did.

“Come on,” You whispered, nodding your head in the direction of your bedroom. Any form of pretense was gone. You both knew why he was there...why he’d actually shown up.

You prayed he followed as you walked down the hall and into a space he had yet to be invited into. Until now. His footsteps echoed behind you, entering the bedroom and taking in his surroundings. You swallowed and turned to face him, pure want reflecting in his eyes. It urged you forward.

“Sit on the bed.” You commanded, voice surprisingly steady.

The corner of Rio’s lips edged upwards, but he did as you said. It appeared as if he was humoring you, expecting that you’d back out and end the night before it even began. But you were far past that. He’d made it clear, without words, that he wasn’t going to make this easy for you. He was going to make you work for everything. Whether that be his money or his affection. So you’d do it. You’d put in the work. And he’d reward you.

You reached for the zipper on the back of your dress, but it was too high. You stepped between his legs and faced away from him, motioning to the metal teeth that held the garment together.

“You mind?” You asked, waiting in anticipation. It was only a second later when you felt the brush of his finger against your back as he lowered the zipper. He made sure to drag his skin across yours, slowly and feather-light. It was almost non-existent, yet it pulled a shiver from you anyway.

You caught the loosened fabric before it fell, holding it to your chest. You turned and met his hooded gaze, noting the way his jaw was clenched. You let the dress fall to the floor, revealing the black lace you wore underneath. His eyes scanned your body like a predator stalking its prey, your nipples hardening in response. The sheer material of the bra barely concealed your body’s reaction. He took notice.

“That new?” He asked, chin jutting out and gesturing to the lace that adorned your body.

You stepped out of the dress and back between the space of his thighs, forcing him to look up at you. That familiar spicy scent filled your nostrils. It was his scent. And it lured you in further to his body’s warmth.

“If you want to think that highly of yourself.” You quipped with a coquettish smile, hands resting on his shoulders. His own hands remained on his thighs; not showing any indication that he was going to reach out and touch you.

His question had been spot on though. You had in fact went out and bought new lingerie. Several things in fact. And you might’ve bought them in black. A color that reminded you of only one person.

Rio chuckled lowly at your answer, licking his lips as you eased your breasts near his face. “You can’t let me have an inch, can you?” He challenged, an eyebrow raised in question as he looked up at you.

“If I give you an inch, you’ll take a mile.” You retorted, hands skimming along the back of his scalp. His fingers twitched against your legs at the motion, so you made sure to do it again.

Again he laughed. Humorless and patronizing.

“I can’t take what’s already mine.”

He said the words with so much confidence that you had to pause. You stilled your hands and for once stared right back into the depthless pools of his eyes. You predictably got lost in them, as you so often did with anything involving the man. His declarations of ownership should’ve scared you. They should’ve made you turn and run away. Instead, you went headlong into the storm.

“Pretty confident in yourself.” You replied, lowering yourself to your knees. He let his thighs fall open to make room for you, his expression showing just how pleased he was with your change in position.

“I’m not the one on my knees.” He threw back, hand finally reaching out to caress your cheek. His thumb swiped at your lips as his eyes zeroed in on them, no doubt picturing them wrapped around him.

“Touché.” You teased, kissing his thumb as it slid across your mouth.

You ran your hands up his thighs and towards his belt buckle. He let you, posture relaxing as he allowed you to do as you pleased. You shifted his pants and underwear out of the way as you pulled him free, your mouth already salivating at the sight. He was hardening with every second, veins and ridges calling to your womb like an old friend. You could feel him watching you as you leaned forward and placed a soft lick to the head of his cock. He tasted salty, but clean, and you wanted more.

You suckled at the tip of him while your hand worked the saliva around his length. He was long and pulsing with yearning in your palm. You let your mouth water around him, the sound of skin sliding against slickened skin now filling the room. The sound aided you in your efforts. You opened your throat to take him in, swallowing and savoring the low groan he expelled. It was music to your ears.

You listened to his reactions, catching every twitch of his cock along your tongue. You mercilessly teased him as you licked long strips along his flesh before you suctioned your cheeks and tightened around him. Your hands worked in tandem. Stroking what you couldn’t fit in your mouth while traveling down to caress his sac. He grunted and jerked with the action, causing him to slip further down your throat. Tears filled your eyes, but you kept going.

Moisture touched your tongue and you knew he was close. You chanced a glance up and was rewarded with a blissed out Rio. His head was angled back, his adam’s apple bobbing deliciously behind inked flesh as his hand made it to the back of your head. He didn’t push, but he didn’t have to. You happily gagged on his cock.

“That’s enough.” He commanded, voice low and tinged with barely contained control. He pushed your hands off of him and angled your chin up to him, his mouth descending on yours without a second thought.

You let him taste himself. Tongues intertwined in a show of eroticism that mimicked what your bodies longed to do. You steadied yourself on your knees as you grabbed at his shirt while his hands cradled your face. You wanted him to touch you...to explore your body in every way possible. It felt like your entire being was on fire and only he could soothe the ache. You needed him...badly.

“Touch me...please.” You pleaded once you’d broken apart.

He began to unbutton his shirt, discarding the piece of clothing easily as you waited. “Stand up.”

You did as he said, standing on shaky legs between his own. He reached out and smoothed his palms over your thighs and around to your ass, grasping the flesh and kneading. Your eyes closed in blessed relief, a moan just on the tip of your tongue. You jerked in his arms when you felt the wet heat of his mouth against your stomach, his lips trailing kisses along the flesh. Your hands held his head steady as he gave you what you craved. His fingers slid under the band of your panties, shifting the material up and down on your hips.

Impatience drove you to reach around and unclasp your bra, baring your breasts to his hungry kisses. He didn’t miss a beat. He mouthed at the underside of your breasts while his hands cupped them, massaging the sensitive mounds with skillful touches. Your panties felt too restrictive and uncomfortable. Wetness pooled in them as Rio’s touch urged more from you.

“The bed.” You gasped, feeling him pinch a nipple. The sensation made you shudder.

His presence disappeared from your body as he stood, pushing his jeans and underwear down. They fell to the floor as he stepped out of them, his shoes already off. You took him in for the first time. Took in the scarred flesh and lines of ink that ran along sinewy muscles. He was lean, but beautifully toned. All male.

You followed his lead and pushed the last scrap of clothing you wore down. The material fell easily to your feet and you kicked them away. You reveled in the way he looked at you. Untamed and feral. Like you were sin incarnate. It made your pussy clench in urgency.

Your palms glided up his firm chest as you reached forward to kiss him. He reciprocated, insistent hands guiding you to the bed. You let yourself fall to the mattress, his body following yours. Your mouths didn’t separate. You both savored the moment of finally being bare and pressed so closely to one another. You relished the flavors that sat on your tongues as you kissed, barely able to take in a breath. Hands roamed without barriers as he wedged himself between your thighs. You accommodated him, pushing your hips up to entice him inside you. A finger found its way there instead, dragging along your walls and collecting the moisture that had settled within.

“You ready?” He whispered into your ear, his finger now strumming at your swollen clit.

You nodded and moaned, hoping that was answer enough. Your back arched into his chest when he pressed the head of his cock at your entrance, lathering himself in you. Your nails dug into his back, your legs tightening around him. He showered you with tender kisses along your neck as his hips rutted against yours, not yet slipping into the place you both desperately needed him to be.  

“Look at me.”

You obeyed, locking gazes with him as he hovered over you. The moment lasted only a second before he was pushing forward. He was fully sheathed and throbbing within you as you clung to him, mouth open but no sound coming out. His face was buried into your neck as you both became reacquainted with the other. You felt deliciously full. Overwhelmingly so as his cock nudged the natural barrier within you. He was as far as he could go, and yet you wanted him closer.

“Move.” You said with a whimper, shifting your hips so that his cock dragged along your velvet walls.

Rio obliged, a prisoner to the cyclone of sensations that had swept you both up. He set a steady pace, his strokes deep and thorough. You cried out when he thrust so hard that you edged up the bed, the headboard rattling against the wall. Beams of light glowed behind your eyelids as he hit every spot as if he was made to. You clung to the silver chain that hung from his neck as he grunted in your ear, each pass of him stealing your breath.

“This what you wanted? Hmm?” He punctuated his question with a bruising drive of his hips forward, making your toes curl.

“Fuck, yes…” You moaned, disoriented by it all. The feel of him atop you. The rhythm of his hot breaths against your neck. The growls that rumbled from his throat. The sting of being stretched as he fucked you. It was enough to have you succumbing to your climax before you were even ready.

You slipped a hand between your bodies and rubbed at your clit, increasing the intensity of your impending release. You locked your legs around his waist and scratched at the sheets as ecstasy washed over you. Your pussy contracted with earth-shattering tremors as you flooded Rio’s cock with your spendings. A litany of moans and gasps accompanied your free fall into space. The man above you stilled as you rode out the waves of orgasm and clenched around him in almost painful spasms. And then, your entire body went limp.

The headboard resumed its melody against the wall as Rio chased his own end. He maneuvered onto his knees, his cock never leaving the confines of your body. He watched you from this new vantage point, taking in the expression of euphoria you wore. Your hands trailed up your abdomen and across your breasts, cupping them for him. His hips picked up speed, his body slapping against yours and creating an echo. You accepted it all as he finally came, filling you full with every drive of his hips. He held you firm as he emptied himself within you, ensuring not a drop was wasted. You hummed at the feel of it, warm and thick and possessing you.

His fingers loosened their hold on your thighs as he came down, the flesh already sore from his grip. He soothed the area, the motion making your eyes feel heavy with sleep instead of lust. You met his gaze and let out a breathless laugh, feeling your limbs already beginning to ache with overuse. He slowly retreated from your body and settled beside you, his back pressed against the headboard as the comforter shielded his lower half from view. You eased into a sitting position, bringing the sheet with you. The act of modesty was unnecessary, but you did so anyway.

“You good?” He asked, face turning serious.

You nodded, the mess between your legs proof of just how good you really were.

“We gotta talk.”

His words made you stiffen. The post-coitus high now tainted.

“About what?” You asked, attempting casualness as you faced him.

“You’re gonna have a new contact from now on. Someone besides me.” He explained. His tone was succinct and to the point. He wasn’t interested in making this a discussion. And that annoyed you. Because it deserved one, whether he thought so or not.

“What does that mean?”

“Means I’m moving on to something else. Something different. So now you gotta deal with someone else.”

You shook your head, desperately wishing you now had clothes on. “I don’t understand.”

“There’s nothing to understand. It’s how it has to be.” He stated cooly, features schooled into an expression of professionalism, despite his own state of undress.

“Why?” You asked, still struggling to comprehend what he meant. Because it sounded like he was pawning you off to someone else right after he’d fucked you.

“I’m flipping my game. Nothing can be permanent. You get caught if you get comfortable.”

“Don’t I get a say in this?”

“No. You don’t.” He retorted dryly. The quickness of his reply threw you, the coldness in it obvious.

“I don’t trust anyone else.” You said, standing up and wrapping yourself in the sheet. Your thoughts were running wild, the disbelief you felt clearly written all over your face.

“I trust him. He’ll handle shit.” Rio reassured you, though it didn’t translate. He sighed and stood from the bed, searching for his underwear and pants.

Anger flared inside of you as he got dressed. He was going to drop a bomb on you and then leave? The notion made blind fury replace the satiation of sex within you.

“I barely trust you.” You threw back, watching as he buttoned his shirt. He shook his head and laughed, apparently finding your statement funny. “Why are you doing this?” You asked, trying to keep the shakiness out of your voice but failing.

He moved towards you and cradled your cheek, a gesture you were starting to loathe. He didn’t have to say anything to be condescending. The intent was clear. That familiar pit formed in your stomach as he stared at you, licking his lips.

“It’s business. This isn't personal. Don’t make it that way, yeah?”

You twisted away from his touch, gritting your teeth in irritation. “So you coming over to fuck me when you want is business?” You challenged, wrapping the sheet tighter around your chest.

“I gave you a choice.” He replied, voice raising slightly. His face hardened, his eyes narrowing and spine straightening as you fought against him.

“And what choice was that? To fuck you or die?” You questioned hotly, seeing him take a step towards you.

“You don’t make the rules. This isn’t a fucking partnership, darling. You work for me. You listen to me.” He argued, matching your aggression.

An iota of fear crept up your spine, but you ignored it. You shook your head and turned to leave, but he caught you, holding your arm with a firm grip. It wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t comfortable either.

“Don’t. Do. That.” He warned, pulling you to face him once again. He was pissed. His temper barely under control as he pinned you with an icy glare.

“Fine....” You acquiesced, jerking your arm free. “Leave me in the able hands of someone else. I’ll make sure and show them the same kind of attention I showed you.” You goaded, seeing the vein in his neck pulse.

“Why do you gotta make shit difficult?” He asked, choosing to ignore your remarks. Rio didn’t wear jealousy well and it was obvious.

“You were the one that came to me, remember? You were the one that spouted that bullshit about trust.” You threw back, uncaring of the consequences.

“That's right.” He confirmed, stepping in your direction and crowding your space. You were both practically breathing the same tension-filled air. “And you went along with it. So go along with this. If not, arrangements can be made.”

You blinked, willing the man before you to disappear. You shouldn’t be surprised that things took such a left turn. They were bound to. And Rio was nothing if not an entrepreneur first. You knew that. Didn’t mean it stung any less.

“Leave.” You demanded, not meeting his gaze.

“I’ll be in touch.” He said before he was walking past you and out of the room.

The slamming of the front door echoed throughout the house when he left and you released the breath you’d been holding. Tears welled in your eyes, but you forced them back. The relationship between you and Rio was doomed from the beginning. You were both operating on borrowed time. No matter how much he acted as if he cared, he didn’t. You were a means to an end. That was blatantly apparent now. You were to fall in line and operate under his orders. That was it. But you couldn’t do that. Not when your entire life was at stake. You’d made the mistake of trusting him and he decided to throw it all away. All the progress made...for naught.

Rio would always want his money more than you. It made no difference if you finally offered yourself up on a silver platter, promising to run off with him. He’d surely laugh and pat your cheek, amused by your offer. He’d only been telling you what you wanted to hear. And wasn’t that what you wanted anyway? Wasn’t he just enough for a good time and an even better fuck?

Yeah. He was.

So then why did it hurt so goddamn much?