#time for a queue display of skill!

[winnisblur]

“Cracks In Our Hearts.”

pairing ❤︎‬: gender neutral reader x sunghoon. w.c ‪‪❤︎‬: 4.5 - 5k (it’s word vomit at its finest) synopsis ‪‪❤︎‬: you’re a player in squid game, and thanks to a certain square guard, you’ve managed to survive (and get fucked).

this fic includes ‪‪❤︎‬: smut so mdni, death(s?), blood, sunghoon is a guard and is hot with a mask and pistol, he’s also cold(i think that’s the word), reader just trying to survive, ends up dying tho lol, bathroom sex, choking, pain and gun kink, degradation, sunghoon is actually a jerk beneath the mask, so is reader, unprotected sex, readers skin colour nor private parts are mentioned and etc.

warnings ‪‪❤︎‬: english isn’t my first language, not really proofread so srry about that, and i’m nervous af cus this is my first time writing T-T, this is based off of s1 so spoilers ahead (for those who haven’t watched both seasons”.

…..I shouldn't have survived the first game.

The thought clings to me like a stain as I sit cross-legged on the cold gray floor of the dormitory. Around me, everyone's faces wear that same haunted look-eyes sunken, shoulders hunched-but it does nothing to erase this truth: I'm still here, and a hundred others aren't.

My hands shake as I clutch the bottle of water they gave us, the only comfort in this nightmare. “Red Light, Green Light” was supposed to be simple. A childish game, nothing more. But then, when the first shot went off, the simplicity was in pieces. I kept my head down, my steps calculated. An act of luck rather than any skill saved me. Halfway, my legs had locked, but the chaos around saved me. I was too scared even to breathe, let alone blink while that giant, doll-like machine scanned the field. The screams. The silence. They cling to me as much as the relief of being alive.

But that leaves me with just one question: how long will I last?

Dalgona Game

As the guards herd us into the grounds, that feeling of luck is not there.

The sun knocks heavily upon the earthy ground, and a whispering wave curls through the players. In front of us stood a table piled high with tins, each containing the next nightmare: “Dalgona candy.” The guard with the square mask appears to be in charge; he steps forward. His voice rumbles from behind his mask. "You will each choose a tin. Inside is a shape. Your task is to extract the shape from the candy without breaking it. You will have ten minutes."

That's it? A shape?

But then I look at the examples on the display-circle, triangle, star…and an umbrella. My stomach does a flip. Not just precision, but luck too. A wrongly picked tin means my death. The queue moved fast; shaking hands reached for tins, people picking as if their lives depended on it. Because they do.

When it's my turn, I force myself to breathe and reach for the one closest to me. The metal feels cool and heavy in my hands. I don't even open it right away, afraid to see what fate I've chosen. Finally, I lift the lid.

The umbrella stares back at me.

"Great," I mutter under my breath. I look around, and there are a few groaning in despair as they unveil their shapes. Most got stars or circles—luckies. The timer starts, and the courtyard almost becomes a battlefield of concentration. People start licking their candies, tapping needles at them, and quite a few try to bite them. I take the given needle and gently press it against the candy. The sound of cracking candy nearby makes my heart run. I start shaking and tracing the thin, delicate lines of the umbrella. "Steady," I say to myself. Halfway through, it happened.

Snap.

The handle of the umbrella broke off clean. My blood ran cold.

It was over.

Instantly, my head jerks up to find the nearest guard. They are already converging on other players who busted their candies. I heard shots ring out and immediately froze. That is when I see him.

One of the square-guards, taller than the others, stops a few feet away. I cannot see his face, yet there is something different in the way he looks at me. His head tilts slightly, studying me, and for that one fleeting instant, the noise falls away. Then he takes another step closer.

"No," I whisper. Shivering, my heartbeat surges as I hold the shattered candy tightly against my body, to hide it from view. But instead of brandishing his weapon, he leans in and whispers, "Pretend you're still working." I stare up at him, appalled. "Do it," he says sharply in a low voice, and I automatically comply. I push the broken pieces together, my hands shaking so severely it's a wonder they don't break into a hundred more pieces. The guard-he-stands close enough that I can sense his presence. He occasionally looks around, subtly blocking the other guards' view of me. “Why?" I dare to whisper. He says nothing.

Minutes tick by-although by some miracle, no one notices my snapped candy. When the buzzer goes off, I hold my breath for the worst to happen. Instead, the square-guard advances, feigning that he's inspecting the other players. Somehow, I get away.

The dormitory is noisier tonight. Some are cheering, others crying, but I do not think of anything besides him. Why did he save me? Was this some sort of mistake? A test? My head runs with the different connotations, but no sensible fact makes sense. Guards are not supposed to show mercy.

When the lights dim for night, I am awake. I play that moment in my head over and over-the quiet authority in his voice, the way he lingered just long enough to save me. There's just no getting answers, yet I couldn't help my mind from running over and over with thoughts of him.

Sunghoon’s POV

This was reckless.

I lean against the wall of the guard quarters, helmet in my hands, and let my breath out slowly. My heart hasn't stopped racing since I saw them-their trembling hands, the way they froze when their candy broke. I should've ignored it. I should've done my job. But something about the way their eyes widened, filled with fear and determination, stopped me. I don't know why I helped them. It wasn't out of pity. It wasn't out of guilt.

It was them.

I have seen hundreds of players, most of them desperate enough or selfish enough to catch nothing but their own survival. But they're different. I shouldn't be feeling this way. Guards aren't supposed to feel anything. Yet every time I think about their face, my resolve cracks just that little bit more.

If anyone finds out, I'm as good as dead.

But somehow, I just can't seem to care. Tomorrow's another game, another chance to see them. I just hope I can keep my distance.

For both our sakes.

The Next Day

I wake up to this gnawing feeling in my chest. It isn't the ache in my limbs or the exhaustion of staying up all night, reliving the events of the Dalgona game in my head; it's the dread of what comes next.

Another game, another chance to die.

They walk us to the next arena as effectively, coldly, with all the same efficiency of people used to doing a day's labor. My head was down, letting myself just become part of a whole, not standing out too much. The cold-faced, geometric-mask-covered guard statues line the wall opposite. My eyes fly toward each square mask.

Grievously stupid. Insane even-but what did it matter? Had he watched me just then? Was he going to try to save me?

A small part of me wants him to, but the larger part is reminding me of one crucial thing: here, I am on my own. Completely and utterly. Not even him.

Sunghoon’s POV

There they are.

Perched atop the arena above, my eyes find them in a heartbeat. They scan the guards again, their shoulders tense, eyes keen despite the exhaustion clinging to every player out there. I shouldn't watch them. Shouldn't give a damn.

Yet I can't peel my eyes away, though. Still alive, that's what matters.

My grip tightens on the rifle in my hands as the Robotic Female’s voice booms across the arena, announcing the rules for today’s game. I already know what’s coming. Another trial, another bloody mess.

And I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure they survive. Even if it means breaking every rule I’ve sworn to follow.

The Tug-of-War Twist

We are brought to a very large outdoors arena, with several platforms towering up to the sky. Ropes traverse atop thick, and beneath these? A fall so long I could hardly see the bottom.

Tug-of-war.

The explanation is simple: teams of ten; whoever wins lives. Losers. well, the fall does the talking. I'm pushed towards a group, and panic bursts in my chest as I realize the dynamics are uneven. None of them appear to be very strong. A few even shake so hard that I don't think they can hold the rope.

This is bad.

The guards line the edges, rifles in place to take out anyone showing even a millisecond of hesitation. My eyes flicker to them out of instinct, and there he is-square guard. His posture is stiff, but his helmet angles toward me as I step on the platform. Is he looking at me?

The thought's cut off by a buzz. And with that, the first match begins. I am horrified as the opposing team pulls with ruthless precision. Losing is being dragged, inch by inch, toward the edge. Their screams echo when the rope jerks once more, sending them plunging into the void.

This isn't just about strength. It's strategy.

When it's our turn, I reach for the rope, my palms already slick with sweat. My team looks hopeless, all whispering prayers and clutching at whatever scraps of courage they can muster. The opposing team, however, is all muscle.

"Pull!" someone yells as the buzzer sounds, and I dig my heels into the platform. The rope's abraded heat against my palms sears the skin as we're yanked forward. Arms scream, legs wobble-it feels like we are seconds away from catastrophe. "Lean back! Use your weight!" someone yells, but it's futile. We're losing so much ground. That's when I saw him.

The square-guard stood near the edge, his head cocked as he watched me. For what feels like an eternity he doesn't move, before finally he moves a step closer and leans on his rifle at his shoulder. I'm stuck until his hand moves after all, and it does really slowly.

It was the signal.

I watch transfixed as his gloved hand takes direction toward the other guys on the opposition side of this platform, then he tap-dances his foot quickly yet small - almost in a blur-close around anchor point holding their ropes steady. My eyes widen.

Is he telling me their side is rigged?

I have no time to think. I lean back with all my strength and yell to my team, "Pull to the left! They're off balance!" The others hesitate but follow my lead, shifting our weight. The opposing team stumbles, losing their footing, and in the chaos, I catch something flicker in the corner of my vision-a quick, subtle motion from his side.

The anchor point snaps.

The opposing team barely has time to act before they're pulled forward, screaming as they tumble into the abyss. We collapse onto the platform, gasping for air. Relief washes through me, tainted with disbelief.

I should be dead.

I glance toward him again but he's already gone, sucked back into the sea of guards. Tonight, I cannot get him out of my mind. The square-guard. The one who has saved me over and over again. No one else is paying any attention to anything but celebration or mourning as I slip into the shadows near the edge of the dormitory. The guards patrol the perimeter, their masks gleaming under the dim lights. And then I see him.

He leans against the wall, a little apart from the others. As I approach him, my heart pounds, and every step sounds louder than it should. "What are you doing?" I whisper. His head snaps toward me, and for a second, I think I have made a mistake. But then he steps forward, his voice low and sharp. "You shouldn't be here."

"Neither should you," I shoot back, emboldened by adrenaline. "You've been helping me. Why?” He hesitates, glancing around before tugging me further into the darkness. "You shouldn't ask questions you don't want answers to," he says. "I think I deserve an answer," I say, crossing my arms over my chest despite the tremble in my hands. "You've saved my life twice. Don't act like that's normal." For a moment, he says nothing. Then, with a sigh, he lifts his mask just enough for me to see his face.

He's younger than I expected. Sharp jawline, intense eyes that seem to pierce right through me. "You stood out," he admits, his voice softer now. "Most people here…they're just trying to survive. But you-" He catches himself, as if he's said too much. "But what?" I press.

“You fight," he says so simply. "Even when you're scared. Even when you shouldn't." The words dangle in the air, between us like a challenge. Heavy, electric. "I don't know why I do these things," he continues more irritably. "But if you wanna stay alive, don't trust me. Don't trust no one." His words shouldn't assure me, and yet suddenly, for the first time since I have been here, I do feel one thing: hope.

"Thanks," I say under my breath. He doesn't answer, but pulls his mask back down and steps away, leaving me in the shadows.

I trudge up the stairs, the fluorescent lights above me flickering with every labored step my legs take. It was mountainous, but I had survived another game, another step closer to whatever hellish end this place had in store. The other players say nothing. Their faces are hollow, their skin pale. No one dares speak anymore. Silence is safer.

I stop on the last step as a guard blocks my path. Square mask. My heart catches. "What's this?" I say, sharper than I mean to. Exhaustion has sucked any tolerance from me. "You're flagged," he says bluntly. "There's suspicion you might be carrying something you shouldn't be. You'll have to be searched." My blood turns cold. Suspicion? Prohibited? “That's crazy," I say, my panic rising into my chest. "I don't have anything-"

"Follow me." There's no request about it. The other players glance my way, their eyes wide and wary, but they don't get involved. They're too frightened to risk drawing attention to themselves. I hesitate, my mind racing. If this is a setup, if they think I've broken a rule, this could be it. This could be my end.

But I have no choice. Taking a deep breath, I follow the guard down a dimly lit corridor and into a bathroom. The sound of the door locking behind me makes me shiver. “Turn around," the guard instructs in a cold, emotionless voice. I do so, my heart racing. "Look," I begin, "I don't know what you think I've done, but-"

"Stop talking.” It cuts through my protest, and there's something about it-something familiar. I turn to face them, my brow furrowing. “What is this?" I ask. "Who are you?" For a moment, they don't respond. Then, with a slow, deliberate motion, the guard lifts their mask. My breath catches.

It's him.

The square-guard who's been helping me. The one I thought was gone, fired, or worse-killed for breaking the rules. "You-" I stutter, my voice barely above a whisper. "I had to see you," he says, his voice soft, yet urgent. "I couldn't stay away any longer." I blink, trying to process the rush of emotions-relief, confusion, anger. "I thought you were-what happened to you? Why did you stop-" "I had to lay low," he interrupts. "They were watching me. But I'm still here. I don't know what to say. My mind is racing, torn between gratitude and frustration. “Why did you bring me here?" I ask finally.

His eyes lock with mine, intense and unyielding. “Because I couldn't take it anymore," he says, his voice low, stepping closer. "Watching you risk your life, knowing I couldn't do anything to stop it-it's been driving me insane." I swallow hard, my heart racing as he closes the gap between us. "You shouldn't be doing this," I whisper. "If they find out—"

"I don't care," he says with finality. "I've already broken the rules for you. What's one more?" And before I can say another word, his hands frame my face, and he kisses me. It's not soft or tentative-it's desperate, raw, like he's pouring every ounce of fear and longing into the moment. I'm stuck in a freeze-frame moment for a second, mind whipping. Then I yield and cling to his uniform while kissing him back with every ounce of fierce intensity of my own. The world falls away, and I feel something other than fear for the first time since this nightmare kicked off.

But not for long.

He pulls away, forehead resting against mine, hard breaths mingling between our lips. "I can't protect you anymore," he says, his voice cracking. "Not with what's coming." I search his face, my chest tightening at the pain in his eyes. "You've already done more than enough," I whisper. He shakes his head. "It's not enough. It'll never be enough."

A heavy silence falls between us, and I know this is goodbye. Expect it wasn’t actually, his lips captured mine again, his lips….almost saying they wanted me, needed me. That is until he broke the kiss again, and pinned my back against the cold, colorful tiled wall of the bathroom. His body language seemed like he has longed for the dramatic (sort of) crash of holding me against the wall, kissing me like he was dreaming about this every single minute of the day.

He winced as my nails raked across his back through his pink suit, he probably felt like his outfit was being torn by my nails, which could get us both in trouble if that was actually to happen. He winced again as he took ahold of my wrists and slammed them to the wall in retaliation, wedging his knee between my thighs, which made a gasp leave my lips at the slightest bit of friction I was getting from his thigh.

“Didn’t know you were this desperate for me,” he teased after breaking the heated kiss for the nth time, leaving him and me breathless, panting with saliva connecting us. His low chuckle echoed through the empty, now suffocating bathroom, and making his vampire teeth pop out. “it’s laughable, really. Does the games make you horny?” he teased yet again, raising his thick eyebrows in a way that seemed mockingly, his thigh moving back and forth slightly, earning a whine from my lips as he chuckled like he was enjoying me being teased. “Does your life being on the line make you horny? You sadist bit-“ Pain blistered across Sunghoon’s cheek, he couldn’t help but grin as it sent shockwaves of sensation tearing across his body. Adrenaline hummed through his veins as he hungrily kissed me again, choking me with his gloved hands. I thrashed, ripping at the back of his head by a fistful of hair and biting down hard on his lower lip. Both of our lips were bleeding now, but the metallic tang only made him deepen the kiss even more, greedily trying to taste much of it as possible, masochist much?

“Fucking slut,” He hissed, licking blood and spit from my chin. “You’re a cunt and a dick, a motherfucking cunt and dick sucker.” I hissed back, he chuckled. He fucking chuckled this was all a fucking a circus show for him. “Damn right,” he teased. “But only good girls or boys get their cunts and dicks sucked by me, which isn’t you unfortunately.” he grinned, his hips rolling against my privates, yet again another chuckle slipped from his lips like he enjoyed watching me being frustrated sexually, and I could confirm it just by looking at his eyes that had a glint, a glint of giddiness everytime pain was inflicted upon me.

I hooked my foot behind his knee, forcibly collapsing it. First, he tries making me shit in my pants from coming out of nowhere and telling me that I had to be pat down, makeouts with me, choked me and almost knocked out all of the air in me, calls me names and now his hand is reaching up to my knee to bring me down with him…great. He smirked as he yanked me down onto him, flipping me onto my back and pinning me to the cold floor now instead. He gave just one slow, merciless grind of his hips against mine, and I’m only just realising but…he’s fucking big.

“Who said that…I want you to fucking suck me off or eat me out?” I bit out, nursing my injured lip to keep from moaning as he set out a torturously slow pace through our clothes. “It seems pretty eager to me,” Sunghoon teased, gloved fingertips dipping beneath the waistband of my pants. “I bet I could make you cum in- shit-!” His head smacked harder against the tiles than it should have as I tossed him onto his back, thighs clenched tightly around his hips. The throbbing pain only added to the throbbing pleasure as I rolled my hips. “Just who do you think fucking I am? Just- fuck- just because I’m trying to survive and win doesn’t mean I’m gonna be your fucking bitch.” Sunghoon grinned up at me, I was already flushed bright red and riding his hips with rough, desperate japs of my hips. “Big talk for someone who’s riding me like their life depends on it, ironically.” he snickers. “I can feel you, asshole. You’re in the same situation as I am!” Sunghoon smirked, and in one quick move, he snatched my wrist and rocketed back to his feet, spinning me back around and leaving me face-first against the wall. “You might not be able to kill people like me, and neither I could survive the games you’re playing but god…you’re right, I do want you.” I shuddered at his deep voice. I shifted, legs spreading to support myself better and Sunghoon slotted his knee right between them once more, hands settling on my waist as I got my one free hand between me and the wall, trying to push and give myself some space. I only succeeded in pushing our bodies closer than before, his cock nestled firmly against my ass.

“Let me have you,” Sunghoon purred, squeezing my waist and slowly moving up my sides the way that turned me into putty. I moaned, shuddering again. “Fuck you! If you want me so badly, then come and take it, take me!” well, that is an invitation that Sunghoon hasn’t heard before, even before doing this whole crazy guard thing at a unknown island. He growled, jerking my pants down in a hurry, like he actually couldn’t believe that his dreams are about to come true. I threw my elbow back, but Sunghoon just pinned my wrist back to the wall. “Stop being a fucking brat,” he hissed. I struggled and choking back a moan, feeling the material of his pink suit against my bare ass. “Get your shitty ass outfit outta the way,” I demanded. “Shit feels like sandpaper!” I hissed. “So sensitive and demanding,” he cooed, even as he let me have both hands back to brace myself against the wall. Sunghoon didn’t dare to move back and give me an opening to escape, only reaching up to unzip his suit and free himself, mostly his cock that was strained against the fabric and begging for friction as it twitched in his underwear. I adjusted, leaning away long enough for Sunghoon to free himself. “If you were me, you’d complain too!” I hissed. “Yeah, yeah, stop running your big mouth. You want it or not?” he rolled his eyes, his suit and underwear failing to his ankles as he leaned forward, completely trapping me between him and the cold wall, his bare cock resting just on my ass, just right where I needed him, so far yet so close. “I told you you fucking idiot, just take it-“ Sunghoon couldn’t help but thrust all of his cock in one go. Making me moan out loud at the blissful pain from the thrust.

For Sunghoon, you were a wet dream come true to life; Sunghoon’s cock glided through you without resistance, soft and slick, tightening only as he rutted against a known sweet spot along your walls. I moaned, arching my back, wrapping tightly around him. He groaned in response, leaning over me, his hands covering mine, fingers almost interlocked. The sweat on my neck left a layer of salt on Sunghoon’s tongue, but beneath it was nothing but you. Sunghoon muffled his own moans against my throat, sucking and biting his way down to my shoulders. I turned my head, covering my mouth with the inside of my elbow as he fucked me against the wall. Sunghoon hiked me up onto my tiptoes, leaning back to appreciate the view, your skin glistened with sweat under the fluorescent lights. “…Please, I’m close da- fuck-!” your words and moans rang loud in his ears, in the bathroom, the silence sharpening your cries. They acted as pokers to the hot coals of fire in the pit of Sunghoon’s stomach, making him embarrassed over how loud you were, neither was the wet and loud sound of skin smacking was making it any better. If any of his fellow guards were outside or just a tad bit close to the bathroom, he’s fucked and killed to death alongside with you.

That is when Sunghoon got an idea, an idea that satisfies his other personality, the one that was created whilst being here for a very long time that he has lost sense of time, and that is fear. He lives off of the idea of goosebumps appearing on the player’s skins just before he kills them, and in this case, while he’s fucking them and practically making them cock-drunk from his stroke game. Sunghoon leaned down and grabbed his long forgotten, abandoned pistol on the floor, aiming the barrel at your forehead, and with that his thrusts became harder, sloppier but you…you were terrified. Terrified on why there’s a gun to your head suddenly, is he going to kill you after using you like a worthless, lifeless sexdoll? Is that what’s going to happen? You couldn’t lie to yourself because the thought kinda turned you on and made you wetter even more, because you wouldn’t mind being his sexdoll if his cock was constantly inside you and making you go brainless. “Stop moaning like a whore unless you want me to pull the trigger right now, and kill you before they find us.” he threatened lowly in my ear, licking and bitting as he tried to muffle his own sounds. By now, you knew you looked pathetic with your eyes red, red and snotty nose as tears stained and wet your flushed cheeks as you began to bite onto your ragged and bloody jacket, trying to keep quiet because as much as it turned you on at the thought of dying on his dick, but you valued your life at the moment because, living longer equals bouncing on his dick for even more before you die.

Sunghoon barely managed to pull out on time, painting his pleasure all over your ass. He grinned at the realisation that you were still haven’t even came yet, still hanging on the edge as he lowered his pistol and patted his gloved hand on your ass, watching it jiggle with the motion of his hand, giggling to himself as he brought his head up and was met with the sight of you, eyebrows furrowed and eyes narrowed at him. “Get your own self off, brat.” he teased, putting on his suit back and mask, giving you one last cocky glance before he makes sure he looks presentable in the mirror and walks out on you, leaving you frustrated at him, at not being pleasured enough, at the games, and yourself because behind his handsome looks, he’s actually just like the other guards, ruthless and cold.

The Final Game

The days blur all together.

The games are getting more brutal, and the players, myself included, are growing desperate. Every moment feels like a race against time, against fate. The tension among the remaining participants is palpable. We’ve all become numbers now, not people—just pawns in a game that doesn’t care about our lives. The final game is announced, and my heart skips a beat.

It's the one everybody's afraid of: the glass bridge.

We line up in a row, one behind the other, in front of the two routes laid out before us, each comprising several glass panels, some strong and some weak. We had to walk over them and choose appropriate ones to cross or plunge to death. A shiver runs down my spine as the first few players go up front, and what happened was inevitable. One after another, they fall. Screams pierce the cold air, but clear had been the instruction from the guard that no one was to move unless his turn came upon him. Just as I'm about to take my first step, I suddenly feel. something.

It's him.

The square-guard above watches on, his eyes tracking my every movement, and for a split second, our gazes meet. The connection is brief, but it's enough. I don't know what to make of it, but something in the way he watches me is different. There's something in his eyes-something almost…regretful.

It's my turn.

I step onto the bridge, my legs trembling as creaks come from within the glass as my body weight presses down upon it. The first few steps are just fine. My luck has to turn sometime. The crack starts to give under me and I freeze. I looked back, and that is when I see it-something shifting in Sunghoon's posture. Moving.

Too late.

Balance is lost.

I heard him scream my name-my real name, not a number-and did not care. I fell. This was a never-ending fall. The world spun and the only thing I was aware of was air rushing in as I dropped with the pretty firm knowledge I'd not live to cry out.

And then, there was nothing.

Sunghoon's POV

The world is silent.

I stand in stock-stillness, my heartbeat the only sound of the drumbeat as their body disappears into the void below, and with every shattered piece of me. I should have. I should have—

My fist slams against the metal wall. Its echo rings out into that space. Why didn't I act sooner? Why couldn't I pull them back? Why couldn't I protect?

I close my eyes, the guilt suffocating me. This wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to feel this way. But here I am, crushed under the weight of it, the weight of my failure. I should never have gotten involved. I should never have helped them.

But I couldn't stop myself.

And now…

I failed.

I failed them.

The game goes on, but Sunghoon's mind is a maelstrom.

The rest of the players are like shadows, their faces hollow with fear and exhaustion. To Sunghoon, however, time has stopped. He stares at the rest of the players, his eyes searching among them for any sign of the one he couldn't protect. Every step weighs too much to be taken. Every decision he makes feels like a mistake. And when the final buzzer goes off, he barely hears it.

It's the end of the day now, and it doesn't matter anymore.

The only thing filling Sunghoon's head is the weight of his own guilt. The others are rejoicing, but his mind is consumed by you-your face, your eyes, and the time you spent together. He had never gotten the chance to say goodbye.

And he never will.

[freyito]

ᴅᴀʟɴɪᴍꜝ ⨟ ᴄᴀʀᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀ ᴅᴀɴᴄᴇ?

✭ pairing(s): balor, eiland, hayden, march, olric, ryis (seperate) x reader

✩ inspo: hayden and Dirt On My Boots by Jon Pardi during a very trying shift (boothill related fic incoming)

★ in which: you find out if he's any good at dancing.

✧ a/n: my people need me (my 1k tumblr followers) in these trying times (the american election) and i must provide (comfort fics that arent even in my queue)

✦ taglist: @shinysora, @garfieldb0t

🗒 cw: gn reader, just fluff, not proofread

✎ wc: 1.6k

⎯ Balor

If a charming young man like BALOR can’t dance, then he’s afraid he isn’t worth his salt. As a merchant, he needs to be relatively skilled in most, if not all fields. And dancing is one of them. Though he seldom uses anything but his pristine bargaining skills and his smooth talking, it’s good to know. At least, that’s what he tells himself. When you take over the old farm, however, he decides he needs to impress you in other ways aside from the oddities he brings back.

So, when he offers you his hand one night at the inn, who are you to say no? He’s treated you so kindly since you moved in (though, everyone has), and he’s been quite a help to you. Aside from that, you couldn’t help but feel like he was flirting with you as well. Not that you minded at all, he was quite handsome, and admittedly you fell for his charms.

When you take his hand, you can hear the kids gasp and whisper. Balor is smooth and fluid with his movements, spinning you around the little space you two had in the inn. His movement is something like a Viennese waltz, keeping you close as you two spin, making sure you don’t get too dizzy. You can’t help but feel flustered as it feels like everyone’s eyes are on you. Granted, it’s not every night they get to see Balor of all people dance.

⎯ Eiland

Being born into nobility, EILAND can dance quite well. That, paired with lessons from Elsie in the current day, help him become one of the best dancers in Mistria. The thing is, he only took an interest in dancing once more when you had taken over the old farm. He’s consistent and damn near princely, and finally, he decided to invite you to the manor to “spectate” on some of these lessons via letter. Don’t ask why his handwriting looks suspiciously like Elsie’s.

Still, you decide it’d be quite fun. Perhaps you could learn something yourself, no? It isn’t often you get invited to the Manor, especially to see such a grand display. You hope, at the very least. However, when you enter the Manor, Eiland seems very surprised to see you, only for a second. He completely masks his surprise with that friendly tone once more, welcoming you in almost hurriedly.

You take a seat and Elsie begins the session as Eiland’s partner, only for about three seconds, before she beckons you to take her place. You don’t even get to shake your head before she’s grabbed you by your hand and led you to the center of the hall. Neither of you get to protest before she’s urging you two to begin. Without a second thought, Eiland begins. To say you feel like royalty is an understatement, he spins you two around and dances with such grace that you feel as if you are in a ballroom, you can practically see yourself with him at some sort of gala. However, you can’t help but catch the deep blush dusting his cheeks. You avert your gaze for a second, simply so you don’t point it out. You yourself are already flustered enough, you’d rather not fan the flames of Eiland’s own embarrassment.

⎯ Hayden

While HAYDEN can dance, he’s not much for showing off his moves. While he’s not ashamed, his country style feels a bit out of place among people like Eiland and Ryis. That being said, not many people have seen Hayden dance. Most of the time, it’s in the morning when he’s cooking his breakfast, hyping himself up for the day. It’s nothing much, really, tapping his feet and whistling some tune to himself.

When you catch him early one morning, muttering his own song to himself, he doesn’t shy away. Why would he? He’s having fun, so why not join him? Before you can even question yourself, you’re taking his hand and he’s spinning you around to a steady beat only he understands. It involves a lot of swaying, some spinning, and little flares that make Hayden feel fancy. He likes to keep you close to his chest, which is enough to make you blush.

Regardless, it’s fun. It’s way too early in the morning for your mind to catch up with the fact, but your body moves with Hayden’s so easily. While you get a lot of time to yourself in between tending to your farm and the rest of the town’s requests, you rarely get moments as… quaint as this. It surely isn’t something you thought you’d start your day with, but it is welcomed nonetheless. There’s a sort of gentleness within his movements, the way he pulls you closer ever so subtly, that makes you swoon internally.

⎯ March

MARCH being… March, he knows how to dance. On his own. He takes it as an opportunity to be the best at yet another thing. If he wasn’t good at it, then who would he be? April? He can’t have that. He has to be the absolute best at it. Even if Eiland and Adeline grew up with proper dance lessons, even if Balor knows all the fancy stuff. March has gotta be the best. In town. So he says.

Problem is, he’s bad at dancing with a partner. He’s clumsy and miscalculated and tends to trip over your feet when he does so. He pouts and huffs and blushes, as if he’s impatient. He’s embarrassed, really. But he’s not going to tell you that. He talked himself up so much, practically told you he could dance like a king, and here he is fumbling like it’s the middle school dance. Don’t say a word, and he’ll spare you.

As awkward as he is as a dancing partner, he’s still kind of earnest about it. He’s never danced with someone else before, but he tries quite a lot to be all fancy and elegant like Eiland and Balor might be. While it started off as an attempt to impress you, it quickly turned into a mess of laughter. March let a soft chuckle slip, before quickly trying to cover it up with his tough guy facade, pouting and frowning as he acts like he’s more interested in the steps than you. Yet he continues to steal glances, which ultimately end up in him stumbling once more.

⎯ Olric

No. This man cannot dance. OLRIC cannot dance, what-so-ever. That doesn’t stop him from trying, of course. He has no need to be embarrassed if he’s having fun. Doesn’t matter if he comes off as a little goofy when Hemlock and Josephine end up in a duet on nights at the inn, he’s gonna dance and he’s gonna have fun. It’s infectious, really.

You can’t help but join. Either it’s the little bit of alcohol you had working its way to kill off your embarrassment, or simply the big ol’ smile Olric wears as he dances. Or perhaps it’s the fact that his insistent ‘c’mon, join me!’s have gotten to you. You don’t know! You don’t care! Maybe you two look like two fools on the floor, but you’re enjoying it as you try to mimic his moves. He really is horrible at dancing, even you have a hard time trying to move like him. So stiff and silly… it’s impossible to replicate.

Eventually, he pulls you into him by complete surprise. No warning, no nothing, now you're trapped between his strong arms and his chest as he sways to the beat. It’s oddly romantic, and it seems both Hemlock and Jo have shifted their tones to follow you and Olric’s dance. It feels like all eyes are on you by that time, as Olric hums slightly off-key and sways gently. You feel your cheeks heat up, either from embarrassment (which you thought you had thrown away at the start of the night), or from the fact that you’re just so very close to Olric.

⎯ Ryis

RYIS isn’t much of a dancer. At least, socially. He’s more than happy to sit and watch on rowdy nights at the Inn, despite his Uncle trying to get him to join in. He’s more of a romantic, really. Fancy balls and galas don’t stick with him as much as cozy nights do. So dancing in general isn’t something he had tried much. Even in the capital. Still, he knows how to, just not on the scale others might.

He gives it more thought when he catches you dancing along to a little bout Elsie started one night. He can’t deny that he’s a little enraptured, almost pulled to join you. But then again, he decides he can wait just a little and surprise you with something a little more intimate later on. Perhaps he’d write up a nice little invitation for you to join him by the lake, underneath the apple tree.

That letter comes in the next morning, and you are all too quick to meet him up. It’s a little embarrassing to admit that you ended up by the lake a little less than an hour earlier than when he had asked you to join him. However, when he finally joins you, a little flustered that he was ‘late’ to this date, he is quick to pull you into a somewhat grand spin. With a big smile on his face and a soft blush, he begins. It’s small, but lovely, swaying underneath the shade of the apple tree as he practically drowns you in all sorts of compliments and sweet nothings that he had kept to himself for this particular moment.

© freyito, 2024 | masterlist | queue | kofi | star header by roseschoices DO NOT REPOST AS YOUR OWN OR USE FOR AI/AI CHATBOTS.

[merbear25]

Hiii, got inspired by Mihawk's recent birthday and was thinking maybe his SO trying to spoil him for his birthday? Both with small gift and then something more NSFW, like reader indulging him in one of his favorite kinks? (idk why I see him as a mirror sex guy or/and into blindfold)

Ohhhh!!! This is a good idea... Thank you for sending this in! I hope you like it!

Caught with your hands in the cookie jar, you were unable to keep your cool. After all that work you'd put into trying to think of a good hiding place, here he was suspecting you of just that. You needed to be reminded that you should never keep a secret from him.

CW: NSFW, MDNI, gn!reader, established relationship, some fluff, mirror sex, rough sex

Secrets are meant to be shared (Mihawk)

There weren’t many options when it came to finding that perfect present for someone like him. Although he wasn’t outwardly outspoken about what he favored, he had his preferences much like anyone else. Something that showed your attentiveness to his less spoken of interests would go a long way with him. Tucked away under your bed so as to remain out of sight, the perfectly wrapped present with a modest bow waited patiently.

Hearing footsteps traveling down the hall, you sprang up from the side of the bed just in time. He entered the room, side-eyeing you and the flustered look upon your face.

“Did you forget something?” Your curiosity was far from subtle.

He took a moment to examine your posture. Your palms were sweaty and your eyes showed the amount of stress you were experiencing. “Perhaps…” 

The few steps he took towards the bed sent your heart racing. You knew you shouldn’t have risked hiding it in the shared space, but you’d convinced yourself that it would be too obvious to raise suspicion.

When he stopped at the side of the bed, you stared at him from across the mattress. “I have a feeling you’re keeping something from me.”

“What? Me? I could never.” You were the least graceful liar there was. He sighed and walked over to the vanity mirror, gesturing for you to join him. He stood behind you and gently laid his hands on your shoulders.

“Look at yourself. You’re shaking like a leaf.” The attention to your frame shivering slightly from the tension you’d caused for yourself was apparent. 

As he leaned closer, his breath bathed your neck. Soft, open-mouthed kisses were pressed on your sensitive skin. He held your hips tightly while you bore more of your neck to him. The sensation of his teeth grazing over your pulse made goosebumps break out over your body. A gentle bite when paired with roaming hands on your thighs were making your head spin. Softly, a moan passed your lips, giving him his queue to delve deeper into desire.

Such a beautiful display of devotion deserved to be handled with the utmost care. His fingers undid your pants, letting them drop to your ankles. Running his hands over the outer parts of your hips and thighs served as a reminder that the best of things come to those who wait. Despite your body aching for more, you knew such patience would be rewarded handsomely. A glimpse of you in the mirror was all he needed to see the evidence of your arousal.

He nipped at your earlobe, while his hands gripped your inner thighs. Finally, he reached under the elastic of your underwear. The soft sound you made when he touched you where you needed him most complimented his guttural groan. Your body was already eager for him, but he couldn’t resist teasing you a little for thinking you could keep a secret from him.

Your hands clamped down upon the dresser, causing the mirror to shake and rattle. Each skillful movement of his fingers had your thighs trembling. The huffs and pants of needy moans coming from you were growing more and more impatient. There was no use in trying to hold back those blissful sounds of euphoria; he knew your body too well.

The sound of him unbuckling his pants crept up behind you, shortly followed by his arousal being pressed up against you. Him stroking himself at the mere state he’d put you in was making your ass shake slightly from the friction. You gripped the dresser harder as he teased your tight little hole with the tip of his cock through your underwear.

Just as withholding your begs and groans for more was reaching a boiling point he finally gave into his own desires. Ripping that last shred of clothing down, he pinned you against the dresser. Firmly, he grabbed your hips, spreading you perfectly for him to slide right in. Stretching you out never felt anything less than heavenly.

Slight grunts as he thrusted against you alluded to more than the heat of the moment. You were his and he was yours, anything other than passionate in a moment like this would be criminal. Losing yourself in the pleasure, you leaned forward on the wooden surface. Gently, he wrapped his hand around your throat and forced your back to arch while he pulled you up. Making eye contact as he took you from behind made your entire body tingle. He reached around to play with you and coax out every sound you were capable of all while his thrusts went deeper and harder. 

Your moans of ecstasy, you clawing at his arms, the way your body was spasming around him the closer he pushed you towards the edge: he couldn’t keep his eyes off of you—a vision of beauty. The mirror shook more violently, and the drawers were opening and closing with urgency as he chased his own high.

Your body quaked against him, choked back cries of your climax filled his ears. He couldn’t resist letting himself indulge in such blissful release any longer. Watching the way your body moved as he released each drop of himself deep inside you made the sensation all that more intense. He bit your shoulder to muffle his own groans of pleasure. The extra spasm from you got him to bite down harder as pleasure jolted through his veins.

A few more pushes into you were all he needed to completely drain himself. You fell on your forearms as your legs gave out. He leaned over you, a sense of pride and affection washing over him. His hand caressed your back and lingered on the dip of your waist. Softly, he pressed a kiss on the bite mark he left on your shoulder, soothing any sting he’d left behind.

Trailing kisses up your neck, he whispered in your ear. ���And don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll love any present you’ve stowed under our bed.”

You hid your flustered expression in your hands. “You knew?” 

“You’re anything but subtle.”

Groaning at your own lack of the art of surprise, you went over to get the present from under the bed. Holding it in your hands, you nippled your lower lip. “I’d hoped to give this to you in a more… romantic setting.”

Much to his word, you had nothing to worry about. Being a man of action more than verbal expression, you knew right when he opened the box that he appreciated what you’d spent so long putting together.

[sundrop-writes]

Better Than Sleeping

Jason Todd x Fem!Reader

Summary:

You and Jason are friends with benefits. Though you have come to realize that the relationship doesn’t always ‘benefit’ you when he ends up annoying you after a long, tiring day of training.

(He quickly makes you come to see that his annoying persistence can benefit you, even if you would never admit it aloud.)

Jason Todd x Fem!Reader. Friends with Benefits. Smut. Set during Season 2.

Word Count: 5,300

DC Titans Masterlist | AO3 Link

THIS IS A RE-POST. This is a fic from my old blog (a blog that was shadowbanned, forcing me to move). This fic is not stolen, it is completely mine, and I am just re-posting it to help people find my new blog, and to make my masterlist complete when I post new fics for this fandom.

Warning: This fic contains Dubious Consent. One character ‘wears down’ the other and ‘convinces them’ to have sex, and both of them display verbal consent that goes against their true actions and desires (they say no to having sex when they do truly want to) and they think of convincing the other person to agree as a kind of ‘game’. It is a relationship that is playful in nature, and this consent is based on bodily queues, facial expressions, and knowing a person’s safety and comfort based on being in a relationship with them for a period of time. If this makes you uncomfortable, please don’t read the fic.

List of detailed warnings and author’s notes below the cut.

Warnings: friends with benefits, this is primarily a smut fic, the reader character uses she/her pronouns and has a vagina, Jason is more dominant and the reader is more submissive (once the sex begins), the reader could be considered a brat, Jason calls the reader ‘babe’ (it is a canon event), Jason calls the reader ‘baby’, Jason calls the reader ‘good girl’, dubious consent - coercion (please see the above for an explanation about this), mentions of masturbation (watching someone masturbate), mentions of fucking someone to sleep/fucking someone while they are asleep, mentions of free use kink, mentions of cumming inside someone/unprotected sex, marking/biting, groping/touching through underwear (reader receiving), orgasm denial (toward the reader), ‘just the tip’,teasing, there is a point where Jason’s dick is inside her without a condom but he doesn’t cum, and he puts on a condom before fully penetrating (what would you call that?), begging, slight mentions of subspace (but it’s more so described as a lustful drunkness), there is implications toward the end of fucking someone to sleep/fucking someone while they are asleep with their permission. I believe that is everything.

A/N: This is definitely one of my favourite things I have written. I thought maybe I was going to edit it some before re-posting it, but I was rereading it the other day and I actually realized that it's really good the way it is, so here you go - some random cocky Jason smut, inspired by the 'just the tip' trope. I hope you enjoy!

...

You knew that becoming a Titan was never going to be easy. 

But fuck, this was a lot harder than you imagined it would be. Dick Grayson was quickly becoming your least favorite person. Between the 5am wake up calls and the endless workout routines, paired with the bland ‘nutrient filled’ meal plans he had everyone on to ‘fuel your bodies’ for training - he was becoming a menial drill sergeant that you couldn’t get away from. One of the only things that made it better was the fact that you had friends around - the ability to joke about him with Rachel, Gar, and Jason behind his back. Was it a bit mean-spirited? Yes. Did you feel less guilty about it whenever he added more onto the training routine? Also yes. 

You had no clue when these skills you were working so hard on were ever going to come into play. Every single night, Dick retired himself into the comms room full of computers to ‘monitor the city for threats’ - but he seemingly never found anything worthy of the team’s attention. At least not yet. So you went about the routine of training hard, becoming exhausted, falling into bed to sleep and then doing it all over again. 

Oh - and there was the other thing. The not so occasional part of your routine where Jason fucked your brains out. The fact that the two of you had developed a mutually beneficial relationship to help ‘relieve’ each other when you were horny, a quintessential friends with benefits situation. But with your muscles sore from training and your entire body so exhausted, that was the farthest thing from your mind on this night. 

After a long, hard day of training, the last thing you wanted to hear was a knock on your bedroom door. You hoped that it was simply Gar asking to borrow some of your body wash again (because he liked the smell), or Rachel asking you to kill a spider in her room, and not Dick alerting you to some surprise training drill that he had suddenly thought up. 

You shoved your pajama top over your head, finishing getting changed for the night, and rushed across the room to the door. When you opened it, you barely had time to gauge if you were pleased or displeased at seeing Jason before he spoke. 

“I’m horny.” He announced abruptly, being very abrupt about delivering his feelings. 

But it was in character for him, and didn’t surprise you in the least. 

You hated that your stomach jolted at his words, even if just out of Pavlovian habit. It had been only two days since the last time he had fucked you. He had caught you in the shower in the morning, snuck into the bathroom with a condom between his teeth and opened the shower door to join you while you were distracted meditatively washing your hair. It had been steamy, soapy, slippery, and goddamn wonderful. 

But it had left you sore and stiff before training, and you were wondering how much give and take there was - if you truly needed his cock. 

“Hello to you too.” You said, your tone just as dead tired as you felt. 

You wouldn’t admit that you were a bit horny too. You were tired, and you wanted to go to sleep. So that made you annoyed with his presence. (It should have made you more annoyed than you were.) 

Jason bit his lip, raking his eyes up and down your body with an intense heat lurking there. You glared back at him. 

Jason was intensely attractive. He was a good looking guy, that was just a fact. And while you did enjoy the way he was looking at you, staring you down like you were a porn star when you were slumped with exhaustion, wearing baggy old pjs with mascara smeared on your face with sweat, your hair a mess from the day - there was barely a spark stirred in your stomach at the idea of fucking him right now. You were just too damn tired. Dick had been running you all into the ground, instituting the same training that Batman had given him, and it was fucking exhausting. 

“So - can I come in?” Jason asked. 

He gave you a very expectant curl of his lips and tilted his head toward you when you didn’t say anything for a few seconds. You just stood there and stared at him bitterly. 

You sighed hard through your nose, not wanting to answer the question. 

Fucking him might be nice. A good orgasm before bed. But you needed to put what little energy you had left into your nightly routine and then get a good, long sleep before Dick woke everyone up at ass o’clock again. 

“No.” You finally told him. “I’m going to bed.” 

You turned and walked back into your room, but left the door open. You hoped that he would get the hint to leave on his own. You grabbed your bottle of makeup remover and a cotton pad and began taking off your makeup. 

You weren’t so lucky. 

“I’ll go to bed with you, babe.” He announced proudly. You could practically hear the smirk in his voice. 

He then came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist from behind. You felt the half hardness of his cock pressing into your ass as you wiped away your makeup with stern hands. You tried your hardest not to let him wear you down, even as you felt a tingle between your thighs. He was used to training this hard, so it wasn’t as exhausting for him. Clearly, he didn’t understand how tired you were - how badly you needed the rest. 

“Go get in your own bed.” You barked, your tone becoming more strained. 

As you leaned closer to the mirror to inspect your face, to make sure that you had gotten all the tiny specs of makeup off, you unintentionally arched your back, pushing your ass much closer to his crotch. Jason let out a quiet moan and you caught him smirking at you in the reflection of the mirror. 

He leaned in close, draping his warm body entirely over your back, trapping you there as he put one hand on the dresser and the other on the wall and leaned his body weight on you. You could have shoved him off you if you wanted to - but as you felt a tingling heat creeping up your back, you weren’t entirely sure if you wanted to. 

“Come on, babe.” He sighed into your neck. 

His hot breath on such a sensitive place caused a shiver through you that you would deny. 

“Why are you being like this? You know if you want a good sleep, getting fucked nice and hard is the best way to get it.” He told you, so entirely cocky. “My cock will put you right to bed, baby.” 

The words sent a hard jolt of electricity through you, settling a hard heat through you from your gut all the way to your face, burning uncomfortably through your skin. Combined with the way he ground his increasing hardness against your ass, you were forced to suppress a whimper. 

It made you even more annoyed with him - the fact he could play your body like an instrument he had finely tuned. And you reacted with that intense annoyance. 

“Why can’t you just masturbate like a normal person?” You scoffed at him, entirely firm, not giving away an ounce of weakness in your voice. 

“As if.” He held intense disgust in his voice at the very idea. 

He gave another firm dig of his hips, causing you to be pressed into the sharp edge of the dresser - a small twinge of pain that only added to the heat growing in your stomach. 

“Why the fuck would I resort to touching myself when I have the sweetest pussy ever to fuck right down the hall?” Jason explained. “But ya know, if you want to watch me jack off, that can be arranged.” 

Instead of responding to that, you just rolled your eyes. You hoped that he wouldn’t notice that subtle shift of lust in your features that said this was definitely a new fantasy of yours because he had brought it up. 

“You can’t deny that you need it too.” Jason whispered into your ear. 

“I need sleep.” You grunted in return. 

You then shucked out of his hold, using one of the evasive maneuvers that Dick had taught you in training, ducking under Jason’s arm when he wasn’t expecting it. Before he could blink, you were across the hall and in the bathroom. It was mostly because you knew that if you stood there any longer with his warm body pressed against your back, you would have given in far too easily. 

Naturally, Jason followed you. 

He stuck by your side through your entire night time routine, trying to wear you down. You weighed the pros and cons in your head without truly listening to him as the exhaustion seeped into your bones and battled with the lust growing inside of you. 

Jason brushed his teeth standing next to you in front of the sink while you brushed yours, all the while mumbling excuses through his toothpaste about how the sex would be good aerobic exercise to help with your training. By the time you got to doing your skincare, you ended up putting a face wash and moisturizer on him just to mentally drown out whatever he was saying - something about orgasms and endorphins and how it helps mental health. 

As you pulled back the covers to finally settle in, he snuck his way into your bed under the guise of ‘just cuddling’. Though you weren’t anywhere near convinced of that sentiment, you didn’t kick him out of the room or protect. You were surprised, but grateful when he took off his shirt, laid down, and seemed to finally shut up. You weren’t sure which you were more grateful for - the quiet or the stunning eye candy of his tight body on full display. But you didn’t question the fact that he had finally stopped nagging you. 

You crawled into bed beside him and settled into his arms. You gave him a kiss on the cheek as a goodnight (knowing that if you kissed him on the mouth, it would turn into something more heated). It was only about two minutes after you shut off your bedside lamp, shrouding the room in darkness, that the talking began again. 

“You could sleep through it.” He noted quietly. 

You sighed with deep annoyance. 

“If you want to. I could be gentle about it.” 

His voice continued on from behind you as he spooned you, one arm under your head underneath the pillow and the other laid almost possessively around your waist. 

Of course, he didn’t even have to be too descriptive for you to know what ‘it’ was. 

The idea of him gently fucking you while you fell into a lazy sleep was entirely too appealing. But he didn’t need to know that. He didn’t need to win. Especially not after you had put so much of your very little remaining energy into deterring him all night. 

“Go to sleep.” You told him with a huff, shoving your head further into the pillow. 

He simply chuckled. 

You hoped that if you just ignored him, he would shut up and go to sleep. 

You would never admit to him that heat bloomed in your stomach at the idea of Jason crawling into your bed when you were already in a deep sleep, using you for his own selfish pleasure and leaving you sore and full of cum to wake up to in the morning. 

“Hmm… no.” He replied, as easily as a petulant child, his breath fanning out over your neck once again. 

Your heated thoughts easily blossomed into a moan from your lips when he latched onto your neck without warning. He picked a particularly tender spot, sucking hard with teeth and the fullness of his lips, easily knocking the wind out of you. You shoved your heated face tightly into your pillow, praying that he wouldn’t notice your reaction. That he wouldn’t realize he so blatantly had you like putty in his hands. If he knew that, he would know that he could just take whatever he wanted and you wouldn’t protest. Not in the slightest. 

Jason already knew that. But he wasn’t just going to pull down your shorts and slam his cock into you. As much fun as that would be - he wasn’t barbaric. Plus - now that he had one of your sweet little sounds in his ears, he wanted more. He wanted to hear you beg for it after denying him for so long. 

He moved his arm from being so tightly around your waist, and pushed your shirt up. You tried your best to put up a wall of indifference toward this. He began skimming his touch oh so lightly along the roundness of your stomach, right above the band of your shorts. You knew he felt the shiver that ran through you, but you refused to say anything. You weren’t pretending to be asleep at this point, but it was a game to the two of you. You still refused to give in. 

But he was playing to win. 

He shoved his hand into the waistband of your shorts, touching you outside the fabric of your underwear. His skin felt like he could have burned you, even through the fabric. You had to make a conscious effort not to buck forward into the touch. When his fingers skimmed across your hotly beating clit (when had you gotten so turned on?) you swallowed another whimper and steadied your voice. 

“Jason.” You said his name firmly, like a warning bell. “If you don’t behave yourself, I’m gonna kick you out.” 

“I don’t think you will.” He whispered into your neck, defiantly cocky once again. 

He sucked another hard, hot mark onto your skin as he cupped your pussy whole in his palm and began grinding the heel of his hand against your clit. 

You let out a wobbling moan and your body thrashed, your energy so depleted that you could no longer hold back your body’s natural reactions to him. You were met with the hard wall of his body behind you, so firm and perfectly hot as he pressed himself tighter into you. 

He gave a satisfied grin into your skin and only doubled down, putting more pressure on your throbbing clit and causing hot waves from that point, adding to the rolling boil that raged under your skin. 

With the beautifully firm pressure and Jason’s talent, the way he knew your body so well, you could have come from this alone. Especially as the pleasure throbbed through your core, your underwear became more soaked through and it was all so beautifully smooth and wet. 

Jason began grinding his cock - still trapped inside a pair of sweats - against the back of your thigh. He groaned into your neck when he felt a pleasurable tingling of his own spreading through his gut, though he craved to be inside of you. As much as he was enjoying this - the sweet, needy sounds falling from your lips, the way your thighs clamped around his wrist, as though desperately trying to keep him in place while your hips humped against his hand like a bitch in heat - he knew that he needed more. 

And he was going to make you beg for it. 

When he felt the signature twitch of your legs that said you were about to cum, he stopped. He held his hand completely still, his strong arm easily pinning your hips down to the bed to prevent you from humping against him and simply taking what you needed. In that moment, he even curled two of his fingers up to shove the fabric of your underwear inside of you slightly, creating a sharp sting that reminded you just how empty you were feeling. 

“Jay-!” You let out his name in a petulant whine, about to scold him for the ruined orgasm, but he cut you off. 

“You gonna ask me nicely now?” He rumbled into your ear. “Admit you were wrong?” 

You wanted to bark out ‘either make me cum, or go to your own damn bed’ - but you knew that Jason was just as petty as you were. At that point, he would have gotten up and left for his own bed just to prove a point. 

“You’re keeping me awake right now.” You huffed out, trying your best to sound annoyed. (Which wasn’t too difficult, considering how badly the ruined orgasm had frustrated you.) “My point still stands.” 

Of course, sleeping was the farthest thing from your mind now. The sexual frustration had injected a new wave of energy through you, and you knew that you wouldn’t be able to rest until you were truly satisfied. 

Unfortunately, Jason knew that too. 

“Okay.” Jason sighed quietly, giving a click of his tongue. 

He then completely pulled his hand out of your shorts and pulled away from your body. It seemed like he was moving to get out of the bed - you worried you had accidentally triggered that signature pettiness in him. 

But as usual, Jason Todd surprised you. 

You bit your lip to hold back a cheer when he reached for the waistband of your shorts and underwear pulled them down all at once, exposing your hot, soaked cunt to the cool air of the room. (At some point, the blanket had been accidentally shoved off you.) You took a glance over your shoulder and of course, he was shoving his pants down to his knees. You caught a glimpse of his long, thick, hard cock bobbing out of the fabric in the darkness. But you didn’t dare to spend too much time admiring it, for fear of making him too cocky. 

You relaxed against your pillow in satisfaction, waiting for Jason to grab a condom out of the bedside table’s drawer so that he could literally fuck you to sleep. 

You were surprised when he scooted back toward you, pressing himself right up against your back once more. He proceeded to simply press his hips against yours - his cock laid flat against the bare folds of your leaking pussy, immediately becoming slick with your wetness. But be made no moves to grab a condom or even tease you by pushing inside of you raw. 

(Which - yes, the two of you had agreed to always use condoms, but it was secretly a fantasy of yours that he would go against the rule because of his overbearing need to feel you raw - or even the need to cum inside of you). 

But instead of doing any of that, Jason seemed to be settling in to relax. 

Jason draped himself across your back, wrapped his arm around your waist again, and gently laid his head on your shoulder. But he made no effort to move, or fuck you. Your pussy throbbed with need, feeling the hot, hard length pressed against you, entirely unmoving. When you clenched around nothing, you let out a wave of slick that you knew he could feel right on his cock. You felt a groan catch inside his chest, but still, he didn’t move. 

“Jason.” You breathed out, having to question him after a few more moments of silence and stillness. “What are you doing?” 

“Going to sleep.” He answered, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I thought you wanted me to just shut up and leave you alone so that you could get some rest?” 

That. Little. Shit.

You resisted the urge to elbow him in the face. 

Obviously, being so close to you, he felt your entire body tense up with anger and annoyance. He was only able to partially hold back his satisfactory laughter. When the quiet snickers met your ears, you became even more annoyed. 

“Jason.” You scolded him gruffly. 

“Oh? I’m sorry,” He said, entirely sarcastic. “Did you want something?” 

“Did you want something?” You parroted back, mocking his words in a childish voice. 

Essentially, you had no more clever comebacks left. He had won. 

“I guess I can give you something for your troubles, babe.” Jason sighed, as though it were a grand inconvenience to him. “Maybe just the tip, though.” 

“Just the tip.” You sighed, finding yourself repeating his words once again. Though this time your voice was dead and sarcastic rather than mocking - mostly because you didn’t believe him. 

You knew that in Jason land, ‘just the tip’ meant slamming his entire cock into you after the tip lingered in your entrance for a moment. You clenched down on nothing again at the thought. 

Once again, you were expecting him to grab a condom so he could fuck you freely without worry. You were surprised when he peeled his body away from you slightly and reached down to grab his cock. After a moment of rubbing the fat cockhead along your folds to get it nice and wet, he did as promised and pushed the tip inside. 

It was the first time he had ever been inside of you without the barrier of a condom, and feeling his hot, raw skin touching yours - even just a little bit, made you gasp. 

“Jason!” 

Your voice was whiny even to your own ears, so needy for him after so much teasing. Upon instinct, feeling that painfully empty ache coming from deep inside you, you arched your back and attempted to shove your hips toward him - attempted to pull more of his thickness inside of you. But Jason was quicker, and he had his hands on both your hips, shoving you down onto the bed so hard and fast that the tip of his cock fell out of you with a wet pop. 

It was a sound that made heat beat through your cheeks, and the feeling of his wet cockhead brushing against the backs of your thighs took your breath away. 

“Oops.” He chuckled, and moved to slot himself back into position.

You had no clue why it was so dizzyingly hot. 

But this time he held you down firmly so you couldn’t simply fuck yourself back onto his cock. You moaned as the thickness of the cockhead popped back inside of you - you yearned for more, but he stayed still. 

After a moment, he began to move his hips so slightly, feeding no more than an inch of his cock into your throbbing cunt before pulling it back out. It was an entirely careful movement on his part where he fed you the first inch, and didn’t let the tip pop out again, in pathetically shallow thrusts that could barely be called sex. Your pussy ached, tingled, yearned for more. 

You mentally cursed Batman for teaching him such good self discipline and him using it for this.

“Jason.” You whined, trying fruitlessly to fight against the firm grip he had on your hips in order to fuck yourself on his cock. 

“What, babe?” He chuckled, leaning down to kiss a line across your shoulder. 

“You know what.” You replied, your tone even more frustrated and whiny. 

You wiggled your hips desperately, trying to get more of him inside of you. You yearned to feel the perfect ache of his thick cock splitting you open, hitting all of those perfect spots so deep inside of you. 

“No, I don’t.” He told you, his voice somehow steady and confident. “You’re gonna have to spell it out for me.” 

You couldn’t see it or feel it, but his hips were trembling and his abs were tight with the pure resistance of his self control. All of the energy he was using not to slam his cock into the tight, warm velvet of your cunt, especially as he felt it leak so freely around the tip of his cock, knowing how badly you needed him. He wanted nothing more than to watch you whine and babble and fall apart on his cock - but he wanted to win just a little bit more. 

There was a distinct pause. The last shreds of your own stubbornness hanging in the air, even as your cunt throbbed with need. 

Even if Jason couldn’t see your face from this angle, he could feel the warring in your body. He knew you too well. And he knew how to break you down so perfectly. 

“If you want anything more than this,” He told you, emphasizing the point with another pathetically shallow thrust. “If you want anything more than just the tip of my cock,” His voice was low and silken and creating even more heat that almost drowned you. “Then you’re gonna have to beg for it.” 

“Fuck you, Jay.” You whined out in protest, once again trying to fight his grip on your hips to fuck yourself against him. 

He viciously dug his fingers into the fat of your hips, causing a sharp sound from your throat at the beautiful pain. 

He leaned down and pressed his lips to the back of your neck, and growled out his next words in a low tone that dragged through your insides in the exact spot where his cock should have been. 

“Come on.” He urged you on. “Fucking. Beg.” 

That was when you broke. 

At least you hadn’t given in too easily. 

“Please,” You whined out breathlessly. “Please, fuck me! Fuck me, Jason! I need it.” 

“What else?” Jason asked expectantly. 

You could have killed him. But when your desperate cunt unconsciously clenched down on the fat head of his cock and you felt yourself growing only more hot and needy, you knew that there was only one thing to do. 

“I’m sorry, Jay, I should have - I should have just asked nicely in the first place. I do need it. I need your big cock inside of me so badly.” You poured it on thick, emphasizing the last words in the most pornographic voice you could muster, hoping that he was running low on self control as well. 

And he was. So he was very satisfied with this. He grinned into your skin, leaving a surprisingly tender kiss on the back of your neck before he mumbled out ‘good girl’ - something that made you moan out sharply. 

You let out a sharp noise of disappointment when his cock popped out of you again. 

“I need a condom.” He told you, giving you a reassuring pat on the ass. “As much as I’d love to cum inside you, we do have an agreement.” 

You weren’t sure which was hotter - his sex-thick voice admitting that he shared one of your deepest fantasies, or the fact that he was caring so deeply for you, making sure that he protected you with a condom even when you were in that floating headspace and willing to let him do just about anything do your body. 

Your mind was swimming contemplating it, and next thing you knew it, he had the condom on successfully. He then slammed his cock inside of you in one firm, smooth movement. Any thoughts were easily pounded out of your head by the practiced movement of his hips.

“Better now?” Jason grunted into your ear. 

You could practically feel his smugness radiating through his cock, spearing into you. 

But you were now alight with intense pleasure, warm satisfaction rolling through you - so you couldn’t bring yourself to truly care about how smug he was. Every bit of cockiness he had, he did back it up with a pretty big dick that he knew how to use well. Not that you would ever say those words aloud to him. Not even on your deathbed. 

“Just shut up and fuck me.” You ordered, though it was breathless and had no bite. 

“As you wish, babe.” He replied, and then doubled down - his hips fucking into you with an intense fury. 

You moaned like a whore at this, finally feeling that dizzying fullness that you had been craving since he had snuck his touch into your shorts. Jason drank up your sounds and easily wanted more - more of your perfect pussy squeezing around his cock, more of that wetness coating his inner thighs, more of that filthy wet smacking as he fucked into you. 

He leaned down, draping his body fully over yours once again, creating a pleasantly smothering weight on top of you as you laid on your stomach on the bed with your face nearly drowned in the pillow. He slowed the pace of his hips to a dangerous torture of a grind, fucking you so deeply now that you were sure you could feel him coming up inside of your throat. You let out a wounded noise, and he hushed you gently. 

“Shh, babe, I’ve got you.” He whispered into your ear. “Gonna make you feel so good.” 

He moved one of his hands from your hip and shoved it between your body and the bed, and once again he was cupping your mound fully in his hand - but this time there was no fabric barrier, and he was settled deep inside of you. It was filling your whole body with lava, turning every place he touched you to boiling ash. You were sure that you would have dissolved into nothingness if not for the anchor of your cunt hanging onto his cock, keeping you grounded in reality with that slight nip of pain as your muscles clenched onto him. 

“Now say thank you.” He told you, his voice so gruff in your ear, so thick with desire that it made you dizzy. “Thank me for giving you my cock.” 

He used two precise fingers to rub circles on your neglected clit, immediately sending shockwaves through your body that made your muscles jump and jolt. 

You gulped for air and struggled to move your face out of the fabric of the pillow, and Jason saw this. He moved his other hand and slid it under your cheek, gripping under your jaw to fully lift you up. 

He stilled his hips completely once again, causing a pained sound to emanate from your lungs as you clamped down on his cock deep inside of you while he continued to relentlessly work over your tender clit. He gave you a couple of seconds to catch your breath. But you were so cock dumb that you had to be reminded of the goal. 

“Come on, baby.” He encouraged you, pressing his lips to your cheek that he wasn’t holding onto. “Say ‘thank you’.” 

“Thank you.” You easily repeated back, now completely pliant to his desires. “Thank you for-for your cock.” 

“Good girl.” Jason praised you once again. 

Then he began fucking into you once more - it only took a few careful thrusts of his hips and the talent of his fingers on your clit to finally bring your orgasm to life. He shoved his tongue into your mouth as you screamed through it, imitating some sloppy version of a kiss while you flailed and creamed on his cock, your body becoming truly boneless and tired as the orgasm rocked you. 

When it was finished, he was still throbbing hard inside of you, and you let out a whine of disappointment. You were absolutely dead tired now, and you couldn’t even think of how much energy it would take to finish him off. Mister ‘Twice In A Sunday’ could last quite a long time, and that didn’t exactly work for you in that moment. 

“You can go to sleep now, babe.” He whispered into your ear. “I’ll clean you up when I’m done.” 

He began thrusting into you once more, and you couldn’t help but let your eyes drift closed. 

It ended up being a good night for both of you.

...

If you enjoyed this fic, check out my DC Titans Masterlist for more of my other fics!! And please consider reblogging and commenting on this fic to tell me what you liked about it.

[chronicangel]

There's not much I can say about The Narcissist Cookbook's MYTH: Side One that hasn't already been said (blast busy days, keeping me from listening to my favorite artist's new album), but I'll try anyway: The Narcissist Cookbook is one of the most impressive music artists and storytellers I could name, and they put those skills on full display here. Telling three separate, equally fascinating and engaging stories, this album punches you straight in the gut, and you better fucking like it. They already have two albums that have been credited with keeping me alive, and it is safe to say that the next time I'm at the edge of that cliff (which, let's be real, will happen again), this will be at the top of my queue. I want to listen to it a hundred times, and with winter break starting, I just might. Seriously, I don't care what kind of music you like, just put this album on and listen to it—really listen to it. I'll post some of my favorite lines after I give it a second listen after work tomorrow. (And possibly a third.)

Also, with how much MOTH means to me, I physically, audibly gasped for "MYTH: Side One - Excerpts From 'Lighthouses Of The British Isles' (two)". IYKYK.

[orion-lake]

Happy 2025! I hope you all have been celebrating or enjoying the holiday season.

I wanted to shoutout my favourite posts from 2024 - that just means I reblogged them during 2024 and I like them…. ALOT!

You may have seen the posts I do monthly, I am going to continue this into 2025. I released the December one yesterday, you can find it here.

I scrolled through all my posts (archive…shhh!) to find my absolute favourites from this year. I am sorry if I missed you….I reblog a lot of content and I have about 400+ in my current queue.

I cannot wait to see what next year has in store because I am sure I won’t remember a lot of what I have queued up for us all.

If you would like to draw my attention to any posts your create. feel free to tag me #usernae.

I want to say thank you to my fellow content creators that make this site such a joy to be on, and be in awe of. You are all crazy talented and I am always surprised by the style, concepts, and skill so many of you come up with and display. I am amongst some of the most talented people and I love it.

But mostly, thank you for all the time you put into making these creations - I want to acknowledge the effort and resources put into this kind of fan art and content creation.

Now...to get the show on the way…

(P.S. some of these posts have reblogs/likes so low it is criminal - have a look through these posts and show them some love.)

Please find all of my favourite posts from 2024 below the cut.

kanthony (bridgerton) gifset by @shadowhaert

katniss everdeen (the hunger games) edit by @kttniss

taylor swift (midnights) gifset by @antoniosvivaldi

everlark (the hunger games) gifset by @alicenthighstower

dramione (harry potter) gifset by @hermiome

harry potter gifset by @bbbbbbvf

sick like me (in this moment) gifset by @x--daughters-of-darkness--x

katniss everdeen (the hunger games) gifset by @blackthornluce

penelope x debling x colin (bridgerton) gifset by @ohtendril

olivia dunham x peter bishop (fringe) gifset by @richardgrimes

dramione (harry potter) gifset by @draconisxmalfoy

the hunger games gifset by @stevenbucky

everlark (the hunger games) gifset by @jessmalia

polin (bridgerton) gifset by @bscgirl99

the tortured poets department (taylor swift) gifset by @reputayswift

johanna mason (the hunger games) gifset by @cressidascowper

sabrina the teenage witch gifset by @binariesuns

allison argent (teen wolf) gifset by @bansheenolan

in this moment gifset by @hauntedwhispers

polin (bridgerton) gifset by @crowley-anthony

the purge (in this moment) gifset by @hauntedwhispers

the nanny gifset by @shadowhaert

the unicorn and the wasp (doctor who) gifset by @andtosaturn

polin (bridgerton) gifset by @crowley-anthony

david rose (schitt's creek) gifset by @rosedavid

polin (bridgerton) gifset by @crowley-anthony

the snow queen (once upon a time) gifset by @singinprincess

enid sinclair (wednesday) gifset by @wenclairdaily

tangled gifset by @antoniosvivaldi

katniss everdeen (the hunger games) edit by @hearthorne

peggy carter (marvel) gifset by @userpeggycarter

derry girls gifset by @shaunashipman

katniss everdeen x finnick odair (the huger games) gifset by @graciesabram

polin (bridgerton) gifset by @nataliescatorccio

the hunger games gifset by @abigaillazaar

merlin gifset by @ughmerlin

katniss everdeen (the hunger games) gifset by @padme-amidala

the hunger games edit by @peetamllar (deactivated)

2024 grammys (taylor swift) gifset by @breakbleheavens

peggy carter (marvel) gifset by @userpeggycarter

wenclair (wednesday) gifset by @jennaorctega

tortured poets department (taylor swift) gifset by @sadbeautifutragic

regina george (mean girls) gifset by @cynthiaserivo

polin (bridgerton) gifset by @nataliescatorccio

everlark (the hunger games) gifset by @padme-amidala

kathony (bridgerton) gifset by @crowley-anthony

peeta mellark (the hunger games) gifset by @loupettes

weyler (wednesday) gifset by @remusjohnslupin

polin (bridgerton) gifset by @padme-amidala

taylor swift gifset by @sadbeautifutragic

eloise bridgerton (bridgerton) gifset by @claudiajessies

weyler (wedneday) gifset by @weylersource

kathony (bridgerton) gifset by @padme-amidala

queen charlotte gifset by @danburys

good omens gifset by @moramabel-moved

merlin gifset by @thebookluvrr1816

broadchurch gifset by @renrapp

ex x stede (our flag means death) gifset by @crowley-anthony

wednesday gifset by @remusjohnslupin

our flag means death gifset by @mikelogan

broadchurch gifset by @meliorn

rocky horror picture show by @gr63wdc

helen norville (the newsreader) gifset by @richardgrimes

kanthony (bridgerton) gifset by @yenvengerberg

wenclair (wednesday) gifset by @cynthiaserivo

derry girls gifset by @drinkcrywrite (deactivated)

malia tate (teen wolf) gifset by @maliagf (deactivated)

morgana pendrgaon (merlin) gifset by @ughmerlin

spuffy (btvs) gifset by @clarkgriffon

yellowjackets gifset by @nataliescatorccio

[tenpintsofsundrop]

Better Than Sleeping

Jason Todd x Fem!Reader

Summary:

You and Jason are friends with benefits. Though you have come to realize that the relationship doesn't always 'benefit' you when he ends up annoying you after a long, tiring day of training.

(He quickly makes you come to see that his annoying persistence can benefit you, even if you would never admit it aloud.)

Jason Todd x Fem!Reader. Friends with Benefits. Smut. Set during Season 2.

Word Count: 5,300

Titans Masterlist | AO3 Link

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This fic contains Dubious Consent. One character ‘wears down’ the other and ‘convinces them’ to have sex, and both of them display verbal consent that goes against their true actions and desires (they say no to having sex when they do truly want to) and they think of convincing the other person to agree as a kind of ‘game’. It is a relationship that is playful in nature, and this consent is based on bodily queues, facial expressions, and knowing a person’s safety and comfort based on being in a relationship with them for a period of time. If this makes you uncomfortable, please don’t read the fic.

List of detailed warnings and author's notes below the cut.

Warnings: friends with benefits, this is primarily a smut fic, the reader character uses she/her pronouns and has a vagina, Jason is more dominant and the reader is more submissive (once the sex begins), the reader could be considered a brat, Jason calls the reader ‘babe’ (it is a canon event), Jason calls the reader ‘baby’, Jason calls the reader ‘good girl’, dubious consent - coercion (please see the above for an explanation about this), mentions of masturbation (watching someone masturbate), mentions of fucking someone to sleep/fucking someone while they are asleep, mentions of free use kink, mentions of cumming inside someone/unprotected sex, marking/biting, groping/touching through underwear (reader receiving), orgasm denial (toward the reader), ‘just the tip’, teasing, there is a point where Jason’s dick is inside her without a condom but he doesn’t cum, and he puts on a condom before fully penetrating (what would you call that?), begging, slight mentions of subspace (but it’s more so described as a lustful drunkness), there is implications toward the end of fucking someone to sleep/fucking someone while they are asleep with their permission. I believe that is everything.

...

You knew that becoming a Titan was never going to be easy. 

But fuck, this was a lot harder than you imagined it would be. Dick Grayson was quickly becoming your least favorite person. Between the 5am wake up calls and the endless workout routines, paired with the bland ‘nutrient filled’ meal plans he had everyone on to ‘fuel your bodies’ for training - he was becoming a menial drill sergeant that you couldn’t get away from. One of the only things that made it better was the fact that you had friends around - the ability to joke about him with Rachel, Gar, and Jason behind his back. Was it a bit mean-spirited? Yes. Did you feel less guilty about it whenever he added more onto the training routine? Also yes. 

You had no clue when these skills you were working so hard on were ever going to come into play. Every single night, Dick retired himself into the comms room full of computers to ‘monitor the city for threats’ - but he seemingly never found anything worthy of the team’s attention. At least not yet. So you went about the routine of training hard, becoming exhausted, falling into bed to sleep and then doing it all over again. 

Oh - and there was the other thing. The not so occasional part of your routine where Jason fucked your brains out. The fact that the two of you had developed a mutually beneficial relationship to help ‘relieve’ each other when you were horny, a quintessential friends with benefits situation. But with your muscles sore from training and your entire body so exhausted, that was the farthest thing from your mind on this night. 

After a long, hard day of training, the last thing you wanted to hear was a knock on your bedroom door. You hoped that it was simply Gar asking to borrow some of your body wash again (because he liked the smell), or Rachel asking you to kill a spider in her room, and not Dick alerting you to some surprise training drill that he had suddenly thought up. 

You shoved your pajama top over your head, finishing getting changed for the night, and rushed across the room to the door. When you opened it, you barely had time to gauge if you were pleased or displeased at seeing Jason before he spoke. 

“I’m horny.” He announced abruptly, being very abrupt about delivering his feelings. 

But it was in character for him, and didn’t surprise you in the least. 

You hated that your stomach jolted at his words, even if just out of Pavlovian habit. It had been only two days since the last time he had fucked you. He had caught you in the shower in the morning, snuck into the bathroom with a condom between his teeth and opened the shower door to join you while you were distracted meditatively washing your hair. It had been steamy, soapy, slippery, and goddamn wonderful. 

But it had left you sore and stiff before training, and you were wondering how much give and take there was - if you truly needed his cock. 

“Hello to you too.” You said, your tone just as dead tired as you felt. 

You wouldn’t admit that you were a bit horny too. You were tired, and you wanted to go to sleep. So that made you annoyed with his presence. (It should have made you more annoyed than you were.) 

Jason bit his lip, raking his eyes up and down your body with an intense heat lurking there. You glared back at him. 

Jason was intensely attractive. He was a good looking guy, that was just a fact. And while you did enjoy the way he was looking at you, staring you down like you were a porn star when you were slumped with exhaustion, wearing baggy old pjs with mascara smeared on your face with sweat, your hair a mess from the day - there was barely a spark stirred in your stomach at the idea of fucking him right now. You were just too damn tired. Dick had been running you all into the ground, instituting the same training that Batman had given him, and it was fucking exhausting. 

“So - can I come in?” Jason asked. 

He gave you a very expectant curl of his lips and tilted his head toward you when you didn’t say anything for a few seconds. You just stood there and stared at him bitterly. 

You sighed hard through your nose, not wanting to answer the question. 

Fucking him might be nice. A good orgasm before bed. But you needed to put what little energy you had left into your nightly routine and then get a good, long sleep before Dick woke everyone up at ass o’clock again. 

“No.” You finally told him. “I’m going to bed.” 

You turned and walked back into your room, but left the door open. You hoped that he would get the hint to leave on his own. You grabbed your bottle of makeup remover and a cotton pad and began taking off your makeup. 

You weren’t so lucky. 

“I’ll go to bed with you, babe.” He announced proudly. You could practically hear the smirk in his voice. 

He then came up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist from behind. You felt the half hardness of his cock pressing into your ass as you wiped away your makeup with stern hands. You tried your hardest not to let him wear you down, even as you felt a tingle between your thighs. He was used to training this hard, so it wasn’t as exhausting for him. Clearly, he didn’t understand how tired you were - how badly you needed the rest. 

“Go get in your own bed.” You barked, your tone becoming more strained. 

As you leaned closer to the mirror to inspect your face, to make sure that you had gotten all the tiny specs of makeup off, you unintentionally arched your back, pushing your ass much closer to his crotch. Jason let out a quiet moan and you caught him smirking at you in the reflection of the mirror. 

He leaned in close, draping his warm body entirely over your back, trapping you there as he put one hand on the dresser and the other on the wall and leaned his body weight on you. You could have shoved him off you if you wanted to - but as you felt a tingling heat creeping up your back, you weren’t entirely sure if you wanted to. 

“Come on, babe.” He sighed into your neck. 

His hot breath on such a sensitive place caused a shiver through you that you would deny. 

“Why are you being like this? You know if you want a good sleep, getting fucked nice and hard is the best way to get it.” He told you, so entirely cocky. “My cock will put you right to bed, baby.” 

The words sent a hard jolt of electricity through you, settling a hard heat through you from your gut all the way to your face, burning uncomfortably through your skin. Combined with the way he ground his increasing hardness against your ass, you were forced to suppress a whimper. 

It made you even more annoyed with him - the fact he could play your body like an instrument he had finely tuned. And you reacted with that intense annoyance. 

“Why can’t you just masturbate like a normal person?” You scoffed at him, entirely firm, not giving away an ounce of weakness in your voice. 

“As if.” He held intense disgust in his voice at the very idea. 

He gave another firm dig of his hips, causing you to be pressed into the sharp edge of the dresser - a small twinge of pain that only added to the heat growing in your stomach. 

“Why the fuck would I resort to touching myself when I have the sweetest pussy ever to fuck right down the hall?” Jason explained. “But ya know, if you want to watch me jack off, that can be arranged.” 

Instead of responding to that, you just rolled your eyes. You hoped that he wouldn’t notice that subtle shift of lust in your features that said this was definitely a new fantasy of yours because he had brought it up. 

“You can’t deny that you need it too.” Jason whispered into your ear. 

“I need sleep.” You grunted in return. 

You then shucked out of his hold, using one of the evasive maneuvers that Dick had taught you in training, ducking under Jason’s arm when he wasn’t expecting it. Before he could blink, you were across the hall and in the bathroom. It was mostly because you knew that if you stood there any longer with his warm body pressed against your back, you would have given in far too easily. 

Naturally, Jason followed you. 

He stuck by your side through your entire night time routine, trying to wear you down. You weighed the pros and cons in your head without truly listening to him as the exhaustion seeped into your bones and battled with the lust growing inside of you. 

Jason brushed his teeth standing next to you in front of the sink while you brushed yours, all the while mumbling excuses through his toothpaste about how the sex would be good aerobic exercise to help with your training. By the time you got to doing your skincare, you ended up putting a face wash and moisturizer on him just to mentally drown out whatever he was saying - something about orgasms and endorphins and how it helps mental health. 

As you pulled back the covers to finally settle in, he snuck his way into your bed under the guise of ‘just cuddling’. Though you weren’t anywhere near convinced of that sentiment, you didn’t kick him out of the room or protect. You were surprised, but grateful when he took off his shirt, laid down, and seemed to finally shut up. You weren’t sure which you were more grateful for - the quiet or the stunning eye candy of his tight body on full display. But you didn’t question the fact that he had finally stopped nagging you. 

You crawled into bed beside him and settled into his arms. You gave him a kiss on the cheek as a goodnight (knowing that if you kissed him on the mouth, it would turn into something more heated). It was only about two minutes after you shut off your bedside lamp, shrouding the room in darkness, that the talking began again. 

“You could sleep through it.” He noted quietly. 

You sighed with deep annoyance. 

“If you want to. I could be gentle about it.” 

His voice continued on from behind you as he spooned you, one arm under your head underneath the pillow and the other laid almost possessively around your waist. 

Of course, he didn’t even have to be too descriptive for you to know what ‘it’ was. 

The idea of him gently fucking you while you fell into a lazy sleep was entirely too appealing. But he didn’t need to know that. He didn’t need to win. Especially not after you had put so much of your very little remaining energy into deterring him all night. 

“Go to sleep.” You told him with a huff, shoving your head further into the pillow. 

He simply chuckled. 

You hoped that if you just ignored him, he would shut up and go to sleep. 

You would never admit to him that heat bloomed in your stomach at the idea of Jason crawling into your bed when you were already in a deep sleep, using you for his own selfish pleasure and leaving you sore and full of cum to wake up to in the morning. 

“Hmm… no.” He replied, as easily as a petulant child, his breath fanning out over your neck once again. 

Your heated thoughts easily blossomed into a moan from your lips when he latched onto your neck without warning. He picked a particularly tender spot, sucking hard with teeth and the fullness of his lips, easily knocking the wind out of you. You shoved your heated face tightly into your pillow, praying that he wouldn’t notice your reaction. That he wouldn’t realize he so blatantly had you like putty in his hands. If he knew that, he would know that he could just take whatever he wanted and you wouldn’t protest. Not in the slightest. 

Jason already knew that. But he wasn’t just going to pull down your shorts and slam his cock into you. As much fun as that would be - he wasn’t barbaric. Plus - now that he had one of your sweet little sounds in his ears, he wanted more. He wanted to hear you beg for it after denying him for so long. 

He moved his arm from being so tightly around your waist, and pushed your shirt up. You tried your best to put up a wall of indifference toward this. He began skimming his touch oh so lightly along the roundness of your stomach, right above the band of your shorts. You knew he felt the shiver that ran through you, but you refused to say anything. You weren’t pretending to be asleep at this point, but it was a game to the two of you. You still refused to give in. 

But he was playing to win. 

He shoved his hand into the waistband of your shorts, touching you outside the fabric of your underwear. His skin felt like he could have burned you, even through the fabric. You had to make a conscious effort not to buck forward into the touch. When his fingers skimmed across your hotly beating clit (when had you gotten so turned on?) you swallowed another whimper and steadied your voice. 

“Jason.” You said his name firmly, like a warning bell. “If you don’t behave yourself, I’m gonna kick you out.” 

“I don’t think you will.” He whispered into your neck, defiantly cocky once again. 

He sucked another hard, hot mark onto your skin as he cupped your pussy whole in his palm and began grinding the heel of his hand against your clit. 

You let out a wobbling moan and your body thrashed, your energy so depleted that you could no longer hold back your body’s natural reactions to him. You were met with the hard wall of his body behind you, so firm and perfectly hot as he pressed himself tighter into you. 

He gave a satisfied grin into your skin and only doubled down, putting more pressure on your throbbing clit and causing hot waves from that point, adding to the rolling boil that raged under your skin. 

With the beautifully firm pressure and Jason’s talent, the way he knew your body so well, you could have come from this alone. Especially as the pleasure throbbed through your core, your underwear became more soaked through and it was all so beautifully smooth and wet. 

Jason began grinding his cock - still trapped inside a pair of sweats - against the back of your thigh. He groaned into your neck when he felt a pleasurable tingling of his own spreading through his gut, though he craved to be inside of you. As much as he was enjoying this - the sweet, needy sounds falling from your lips, the way your thighs clamped around his wrist, as though desperately trying to keep him in place while your hips humped against his hand like a bitch in heat - he knew that he needed more. 

And he was going to make you beg for it. 

When he felt the signature twitch of your legs that said you were about to cum, he stopped. He held his hand completely still, his strong arm easily pinning your hips down to the bed to prevent you from humping against him and simply taking what you needed. In that moment, he even curled two of his fingers up to shove the fabric of your underwear inside of you slightly, creating a sharp sting that reminded you just how empty you were feeling. 

“Jay-!” You let out his name in a petulant whine, about to scold him for the ruined orgasm, but he cut you off. 

“You gonna ask me nicely now?” He rumbled into your ear. “Admit you were wrong?” 

You wanted to bark out ‘either make me cum, or go to your own damn bed’ - but you knew that Jason was just as petty as you were. At that point, he would have gotten up and left for his own bed just to prove a point. 

“You’re keeping me awake right now.” You huffed out, trying your best to sound annoyed. (Which wasn’t too difficult, considering how badly the ruined orgasm had frustrated you.) “My point still stands.” 

Of course, sleeping was the farthest thing from your mind now. The sexual frustration had injected a new wave of energy through you, and you knew that you wouldn’t be able to rest until you were truly satisfied. 

Unfortunately, Jason knew that too. 

“Okay.” Jason sighed quietly, giving a click of his tongue. 

He then completely pulled his hand out of your shorts and pulled away from your body. It seemed like he was moving to get out of the bed - you worried you had accidentally triggered that signature pettiness in him. 

But as usual, Jason Todd surprised you. 

You bit your lip to hold back a cheer when he reached for the waistband of your shorts and underwear pulled them down all at once, exposing your hot, soaked cunt to the cool air of the room. (At some point, the blanket had been accidentally shoved off you.) You took a glance over your shoulder and of course, he was shoving his pants down to his knees. You caught a glimpse of his long, thick, hard cock bobbing out of the fabric in the darkness. But you didn’t dare to spend too much time admiring it, for fear of making him too cocky. 

You relaxed against your pillow in satisfaction, waiting for Jason to grab a condom out of the bedside table’s drawer so that he could literally fuck you to sleep. 

You were surprised when he scooted back toward you, pressing himself right up against your back once more. He proceeded to simply press his hips against yours - his cock laid flat against the bare folds of your leaking pussy, immediately becoming slick with your wetness. But be made no moves to grab a condom or even tease you by pushing inside of you raw. 

(Which - yes, the two of you had agreed to always use condoms, but it was secretly a fantasy of yours that he would go against the rule because of his overbearing need to feel you raw - or even the need to cum inside of you). 

But instead of doing any of that, Jason seemed to be settling in to relax. 

Jason draped himself across your back, wrapped his arm around your waist again, and gently laid his head on your shoulder. But he made no effort to move, or fuck you. Your pussy throbbed with need, feeling the hot, hard length pressed against you, entirely unmoving. When you clenched around nothing, you let out a wave of slick that you knew he could feel right on his cock. You felt a groan catch inside his chest, but still, he didn’t move. 

“Jason.” You breathed out, having to question him after a few more moments of silence and stillness. “What are you doing?” 

“Going to sleep.” He answered, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I thought you wanted me to just shut up and leave you alone so that you could get some rest?” 

That. Little. Shit. 

You resisted the urge to elbow him in the face. 

Obviously, being so close to you, he felt your entire body tense up with anger and annoyance. He was only able to partially hold back his satisfactory laughter. When the quiet snickers met your ears, you became even more annoyed. 

“Jason.” You scolded him gruffly. 

“Oh? I’m sorry,” He said, entirely sarcastic. “Did you want something?” 

“Did you want something?” You parroted back, mocking his words in a childish voice. 

Essentially, you had no more clever comebacks left. He had won. 

“I guess I can give you something for your troubles, babe.” Jason sighed, as though it were a grand inconvenience to him. “Maybe just the tip, though.” 

“Just the tip.” You sighed, finding yourself repeating his words once again. Though this time your voice was dead and sarcastic rather than mocking - mostly because you didn’t believe him. 

You knew that in Jason land, ‘just the tip’ meant slamming his entire cock into you after the tip lingered in your entrance for a moment. You clenched down on nothing again at the thought. 

Once again, you were expecting him to grab a condom so he could fuck you freely without worry. You were surprised when he peeled his body away from you slightly and reached down to grab his cock. After a moment of rubbing the fat cockhead along your folds to get it nice and wet, he did as promised and pushed the tip inside. 

It was the first time he had ever been inside of you without the barrier of a condom, and feeling his hot, raw skin touching yours - even just a little bit, made you gasp. 

“Jason!” 

Your voice was whiny even to your own ears, so needy for him after so much teasing. Upon instinct, feeling that painfully empty ache coming from deep inside you, you arched your back and attempted to shove your hips toward him - attempted to pull more of his thickness inside of you. But Jason was quicker, and he had his hands on both your hips, shoving you down onto the bed so hard and fast that the tip of his cock fell out of you with a wet pop. 

It was a sound that made heat beat through your cheeks, and the feeling of his wet cockhead brushing against the backs of your thighs took your breath away. 

“Oops.” He chuckled, and moved to slot himself back into position.

You had no clue why it was so dizzyingly hot. 

But this time he held you down firmly so you couldn’t simply fuck yourself back onto his cock. You moaned as the thickness of the cockhead popped back inside of you - you yearned for more, but he stayed still. 

After a moment, he began to move his hips so slightly, feeding no more than an inch of his cock into your throbbing cunt before pulling it back out. It was an entirely careful movement on his part where he fed you the first inch, and didn’t let the tip pop out again, in pathetically shallow thrusts that could barely be called sex. Your pussy ached, tingled, yearned for more. 

You mentally cursed Batman for teaching him such good self discipline and him using it for this.

“Jason.” You whined, trying fruitlessly to fight against the firm grip he had on your hips in order to fuck yourself on his cock. 

“What, babe?” He chuckled, leaning down to kiss a line across your shoulder. 

“You know what.” You replied, your tone even more frustrated and whiny. 

You wiggled your hips desperately, trying to get more of him inside of you. You yearned to feel the perfect ache of his thick cock splitting you open, hitting all of those perfect spots so deep inside of you. 

“No, I don’t.” He told you, his voice somehow steady and confident. “You’re gonna have to spell it out for me.” 

You couldn’t see it or feel it, but his hips were trembling and his abs were tight with the pure resistance of his self control. All of the energy he was using not to slam his cock into the tight, warm velvet of your cunt, especially as he felt it leak so freely around the tip of his cock, knowing how badly you needed him. He wanted nothing more than to watch you whine and babble and fall apart on his cock - but he wanted to win just a little bit more. 

There was a distinct pause. The last shreds of your own stubbornness hanging in the air, even as your cunt throbbed with need. 

Even if Jason couldn’t see your face from this angle, he could feel the warring in your body. He knew you too well. And he knew how to break you down so perfectly. 

“If you want anything more than this,” He told you, emphasizing the point with another pathetically shallow thrust. “If you want anything more than just the tip of my cock,” His voice was low and silken and creating even more heat that almost drowned you. “Then you’re gonna have to beg for it.” 

“Fuck you, Jay.” You whined out in protest, once again trying to fight his grip on your hips to fuck yourself against him. 

He viciously dug his fingers into the fat of your hips, causing a sharp sound from your throat at the beautiful pain. 

He leaned down and pressed his lips to the back of your neck, and growled out his next words in a low tone that dragged through your insides in the exact spot where his cock should have been. 

“Come on.” He urged you on. “Fucking. Beg.” 

That was when you broke. 

At least you hadn’t given in too easily. 

“Please,” You whined out breathlessly. “Please, fuck me! Fuck me, Jason! I need it.” 

“What else?” Jason asked expectantly. 

You could have killed him. But when your desperate cunt unconsciously clenched down on the fat head of his cock and you felt yourself growing only more hot and needy, you knew that there was only one thing to do. 

“I’m sorry, Jay, I should have - I should have just asked nicely in the first place. I do need it. I need your big cock inside of me so badly.” You poured it on thick, emphasizing the last words in the most pornographic voice you could muster, hoping that he was running low on self control as well. 

And he was. So he was very satisfied with this. He grinned into your skin, leaving a surprisingly tender kiss on the back of your neck before he mumbled out ‘good girl’ - something that made you moan out sharply. 

You let out a sharp noise of disappointment when his cock popped out of you again. 

“I need a condom.” He told you, giving you a reassuring pat on the ass. “As much as I’d love to cum inside you, we do have an agreement.” 

You weren’t sure which was hotter - his sex-thick voice admitting that he shared one of your deepest fantasies, or the fact that he was caring so deeply for you, making sure that he protected you with a condom even when you were in that floating headspace and willing to let him do just about anything do your body. 

Your mind was swimming contemplating it, and next thing you knew it, he had the condom on successfully. He then slammed his cock inside of you in one firm, smooth movement. Any thoughts were easily pounded out of your head by the practiced movement of his hips.

“Better now?” Jason grunted into your ear. 

You could practically feel his smugness radiating through his cock, spearing into you. 

But you were now alight with intense pleasure, warm satisfaction rolling through you - so you couldn’t bring yourself to truly care about how smug he was. Every bit of cockiness he had, he did back it up with a pretty big dick that he knew how to use well. Not that you would ever say those words aloud to him. Not even on your deathbed. 

“Just shut up and fuck me.” You ordered, though it was breathless and had no bite. 

“As you wish, babe.” He replied, and then doubled down - his hips fucking into you with an intense fury. 

You moaned like a whore at this, finally feeling that dizzying fullness that you had been craving since he had snuck his touch into your shorts. Jason drank up your sounds and easily wanted more - more of your perfect pussy squeezing around his cock, more of that wetness coating his inner thighs, more of that filthy wet smacking as he fucked into you. 

He leaned down, draping his body fully over yours once again, creating a pleasantly smothering weight on top of you as you laid on your stomach on the bed with your face nearly drowned in the pillow. He slowed the pace of his hips to a dangerous torture of a grind, fucking you so deeply now that you were sure you could feel him coming up inside of your throat. You let out a wounded noise, and he hushed you gently. 

“Shh, babe, I’ve got you.” He whispered into your ear. “Gonna make you feel so good.” 

He moved one of his hands from your hip and shoved it between your body and the bed, and once again he was cupping your mound fully in his hand - but this time there was no fabric barrier, and he was settled deep inside of you. It was filling your whole body with lava, turning every place he touched you to boiling ash. You were sure that you would have dissolved into nothingness if not for the anchor of your cunt hanging onto his cock, keeping you grounded in reality with that slight nip of pain as your muscles clenched onto him. 

“Now say thank you.” He told you, his voice so gruff in your ear, so thick with desire that it made you dizzy. “Thank me for giving you my cock.” 

He used two precise fingers to rub circles on your neglected clit, immediately sending shockwaves through your body that made your muscles jump and jolt. 

You gulped for air and struggled to move your face out of the fabric of the pillow, and Jason saw this. He moved his other hand and slid it under your cheek, gripping under your jaw to fully lift you up. 

He stilled his hips completely once again, causing a pained sound to emanate from your lungs as you clamped down on his cock deep inside of you while he continued to relentlessly work over your tender clit. He gave you a couple of seconds to catch your breath. But you were so cock dumb that you had to be reminded of the goal. 

“Come on, baby.” He encouraged you, pressing his lips to your cheek that he wasn’t holding onto. “Say ‘thank you’.” 

“Thank you.” You easily repeated back, now completely pliant to his desires. “Thank you for-for your cock.” 

“Good girl.” Jason praised you once again. 

Then he began fucking into you once more - it only took a few careful thrusts of his hips and the talent of his fingers on your clit to finally bring your orgasm to life. He shoved his tongue into your mouth as you screamed through it, imitating some sloppy version of a kiss while you flailed and creamed on his cock, your body becoming truly boneless and tired as the orgasm rocked you. 

When it was finished, he was still throbbing hard inside of you, and you let out a whine of disappointment. You were absolutely dead tired now, and you couldn’t even think of how much energy it would take to finish him off. Mister ‘Twice In A Sunday’ could last quite a long time, and that didn’t exactly work for you in that moment. 

“You can go to sleep now, babe.” He whispered into your ear. “I’ll clean you up when I’m done.” 

He began thrusting into you once more, and you couldn’t help but let your eyes drift closed. 

It ended up being a good night for both of you.

...

A/N: This is another fic of mine that was originally supposed to be like 1k or 2k and it ended up this long lmao. So I hope you enjoy it! I have been reading a lot of fics that use 'just the tip' as a trope or a prompt, and it reminds me so much of Jason (especially the Titans version of Jason) - where he would be whiny and begging for sex, and be like 'come on, just the tip' and originally that part of the fic was going to be a bit different, but I do like the way this turned out. So definitely let me know what you think of this, and keep in mind that right now (as of July 24th, if you don't have timestamps on) my Titans smut requests are still open. (And if it's in my pinned post that they're still open, then they are). So definitely send me a request for any of the Titans characters if there is something you'd like to see! I love being inspired by requests.

[anonymous-hopeful]

Hi, is the ship headcanon request still open? Can I ask for Angus/Izaack?

(do they have a shipname... this fandom is in dire need of an official shipname list...)

Of course it's still open! It's open till I say it's closed. Also, I humbly dub this ship BusinessReport.

Getting an official shipname list sounds like a fun project...

Headcanon below!

What do you get when you put two bombastic extroverted flirtatious men together? You get two people with very, very poor skills at hiding a relationship. Not that anyone particularly minds them dating, of course, but pretty much everybody knows that they're together before they state it themselves...and once they do announce it to everyone, the entire building hits them with the "We know".

It started with the two exchanging glances every time they met up in the queue line for building entry, locking eyes for so long that the line before them had long moved up and anyone directly behind them (doppleganger or otherwise) knows exactly what they are.

Once they got to the security window, the not-so-subtle flirting didn't end. Whether or not Angus or Izaack were first in line, they'd conveniently forget their ID and Entry Request just to be able to look back at the other as they slid the papers through the hatch. Does the doorman care? Not particularly. If anything, unless the dopplegangers suddenly decided to get together, watching Angus and Izaack make eyes at each other in the most obvious way at least provides some sort of hint towards them being human. As soon as the both of them are in the building, the two unfortunately have to part ways since Angus lives on the first floor and Izaack on the second. This doesn't mean they have a quick goodbye, of course, it just means that they'll spend the next couple of hours standing by Angus' door talking about how they'll miss one another and can't wait to meet again tomorrow. They think they're being quiet, but really, everyone on the first floor can hear them.

One time a doppleganger got in, saw their public displays of affection, and just...turned around and left. What were they gonna do? Interrupt? Nah, let the gays be.

[thesims4blogger]

The Sims 4: New Game Patch (May 28th, 2024)

There is a new game update for The Sims 4, to prepare the game to the upcoming kits. Read it all on the blog post below.

If you have auto updates enabled in Origin’s “Application Settings”, the game will auto-update once you open Origin. If you have auto-updates disabled, you will need to manually update by clicking the game in your library.Advertisement

To ensure your game is up to date, check the game version found in Documents > EA > The Sims 4 > GameVersion.txt. Your game should now read: PC: PC: 1.107.112.1030 / Mac: 1.107.112.1230 / Console: 1.92

Sul Sul Simmers! It’s time for some late Spring cleaning! Let’s fix some things and make a few improvements. We’ve got quite the spread, with a host of resolutions for base game issues as well as addressing a wide assortment of packs. There’re also some performance gains, gallery updates, and DirectX 11 previews. We squeezed lots into this release, but there’s still more to come! Talk to you soon!

-The Sims 4 Team

Bug Fixes & Updates

Base Game

Oh you thought you could hide, dishes? We will find you and we will wash you. Dishes left in corners will no longer be ignored when cleaning up.

Begone weeds! Plants won’t grow weeds when Out of Season. If a plant has them when it becomes Out of Season, the weeds will be removed until it’s In Season again.

Campfires will stop causing so many fires on the lot. Campfire spreadfire was triggering a 50% chance every 10 sim-minutes to burn objects other than chairs in the area. We removed that to only focus on when Fireworks trigger (which we all know is the real danger).

“A Trash Can Is Required“ message will no longer display when trash cans are present on the active lot. Get that garbage outta here.

Skills will not randomly increase or change when leaving the lot or editing the household. If your Sim knows, they know.

The skills list is arranged in alphabetical order and my eye will no longer twitch when looking at it.

TS4 Packs are listed in the right order in the Build/Buy filter. Get back in line For Rent, Home Chef Hustle and Crystal Creations!

Careers will no longer have a blank daily task menu.

Summon Grilled Cheese interaction will no longer drop from the interaction queue.

Sim will no longer get stuck in the ground and continue to Swim Laps if the pool is removed in the middle of it. Because physics. Now the Sim will reset. Because magic.

Calendar notification light will remain on after traveling. No forgetting those important events.

Customizable pronouns were adjusted to appear correctly on a few of the Romantic Relationship phone calls and will no longer display improper usage like “ask their out.”

Sims can properly merge or move households with NPC Sims “not in world“; the merge/move button is now accessible. It’s all about bringing families together!

Console

After switching to build mode from world map a red bar will no longer display in the upper right corner.

Performance

We’ve made some optimizations so the game uses less memory. You may experience fewer crashes, better frame rate, and/or more responsive simulation.

We’ve improved the lot load process so it should happen a bit faster.

Cats & Dogs / City Living

Small dogs, puppies, and kittens will properly use the elevator to go downstairs from Penthouses. They can finally go potty! Poor little things.

Cottage Living

Hatchable and spoiled eggs will now remain visible in the Chicken coop whenever the Sim travels to the lot.

Dine Out

‘Order For Table’ interaction will properly clear from the interaction queue after the waiter delivers food to the table.

Home Chef Hustles players can now add Waffles to the Restaurant Menu. More menu additions to come.

DirectX 11 Preview

DirectX 11 is available on The Sims 4 on an opt-in basis and will be rolled out fully in a later update for Simmers running Windows. If you opt to run The Sims 4 using DirectX 11, you will potentially experience enhanced game performance and graphics quality. This update is designed to increase the overall gaming experience, with improved rendering capabilities that will allow for more details and immersive environments in future releases! We would appreciate your feedback and any issues you experience on our DirectX 11 Answers HQ thread.

Simmers running Windows and have DirectX 11 compatible hardware can now enter the argument -dx11 into the EA App or Steam to switch to using this renderer. You will be able to see which DirectX version The Sims 4 is using in your game version information displayed in the bottom right corner of the Main Menu.

You can find all the information you need to check if your PC is DirectX 11 compatible and learn how to enter launch arguments for both EA App and Steam here.

While DirectX 11 is available for those Simmers who want to try it, you may experience visual issues with mods so we recommend disabling all mods while using this command line argument.

Eco Lifestyle

Nose rings will no longer break when paired with brow piercings from this pack.

For Rent

Property Ownership of “Tam Nang Sands“ lot will be recognized in the owned rental tab.

“Unpleasant Surroundings“ Moodlet no longer triggered from the Pressure cooker and Kettle.

Tourist location icons will now appear correctly when hovering over the Tomarang world select screen.

Gallery Server

All profanity filter false positive reports sent to us via  The Sims 4 Gallery Profanity Filter Feedback survey up to May 1st have been reviewed and changes implemented. We appreciate all the reports and responses and will continue to update our systems based on your feedback.

Non-anonymous Gallery users appearing in the Following and Followers tabs will once again display the number of Followers each user has.

Get to Work

Aliens will stop having noticeable changes in facial structure (placement, size, etc) when aging up. No more morph faces.

Growing Together

The “Had a Baby“ Milestone now triggers from having a Science Baby or giving birth at the hospital rabbithole.

High School Years

Teens cannot send flirty messages on Social Bunny to adults or household family members.

After a teen high school Sim completes all tasks and aces exams, they will also be promoted to a better grade. They’ve earned it!

Horse Ranch

We all know how cute they are, but Sims will no longer autonomously want to buy mini goats (causing the UI to pop up).

Nectar value is now properly increased when selling to the mysterious rancher.

Horses will no longer get stuck while sleeping too close to the Horse training ball.

Island Living

Mermaid Conservationists can now complete the “Snorkel in Mua Pel’am“ job task.

Seasons

During winter, the weeding animation will no longer repeat and the Sim will actually remove all the weeds surrounding the plants. Checkmate weeds!

[the-incapable-hero]

Hello. I read your post for card requests so I was wondering if you could do mine? It's okay if you don't want to! (Hopefully I didn't sound mean cause like you are doing this for free so it's not as if you're bound to do it so saying 'it's okay if you don't want to' might be weird but I still wanted to let you know I am sorry if it sounded rude)

If possible could you write something with hermitage mika? I don't really have much details (I just want to read more mika lol) but it would be nice if you could put shu (vanquish/ spotlight event/victoria) OR jun (wedding tour/spotlight one) or ibara or rei or kaoru... (do whatever you want I am too indecisive lol) You don't really have to put anyone in tho even mika alone is fine( BUT put only one if you plan on adding any of the characters i mentioned) and you dont have to follow the cards I asked do whatever you think is best! Btw it doesn't have to be romantic. I mean I do enjoy romantic stuff but as I said before you can do whatever you see fit as long as it's hermitage mika.

I would be grateful if you could write this! Sorry for the long post 😅 (English isn't my first language + bad habit of overexplaining + barely talk to anyone except my mom so my social skills are at rock bottom).

Thank you.

P.S. -I know you said people multiple requests are ok but I still wanted to ask if it's okay if i request again cause yk you might get alot of requests so I don't want to burden/trouble you [ tho i might not request again cause terrible social anxiety { it's a surprise I wrote this I guess I am too desperate for mika content (it doesn't matter if its anonymous. Writing this is still scary not that you are scary or anything! it's more like I am scrared of everyone except well... my mom)} + I am a procrastinator]

Hermitage Mika, got it! I hope this is to your liking, sorry if I missed the mark haha

I decided to use Shu's Essence of Eternity (his Spotlight Event card) since I just really like that card lol.

And no bother at all! This is actually what I do for practice since, while I'm no author, I would like to be at least Okay at writing. And you know what they say, practice makes perfect! So feel free to submit as many requests as you want! I only have one more in the queue right now, so the workload isn't big at all haha

Ask away! (even if it's asking for a redo if you didn't like this work)

The museum curator hadn’t been seen for weeks, and the doors had long since been permanently locked to the public, leaving only the exhibits inside. Nobody bothered to look inside the building, previously meticulously maintained, and the pristinely preserved contents were left to time, presumably abandoned to be undisturbed for years on end.

However, this would not be the case. With the first full moon of the new year, pity was taken on these works of abandoned art, and the light of the moon illuminated a painting. Enshrined in a golden frame, a composed figure with sharp, violet eyes stood in a lovingly painted pose, holding a lantern to guide his way through his forest of pigment.

And then, he blinked. The flame in his lantern flickered with life, and just like a clear coating burning away, the transparent barrier preventing him from crossing over to the physical realm was enveloped in a small flame, allowing him to cautiously step out of the frame, the warm light of his lantern joining the cool moonlight.

He was free.

In the back of his mind, memories of being painted and sold and collected and displayed were there, but none of them were so clear as this moment. He knew where he was, who he was, and what he was, but that didn’t matter. Because now with his new freedom, he could explore the museum to his heart’s content.

The other paintings remained still and flat. It seemed he was the only anomaly. The halls were silent, save for the even click of his shoes on the polished hardwood. The lantern light revealed crisp, flickering shadows across fine jewels and butterflies pinned in display cases. They reminded him of the firelight butterflies in the forest he’d just left behind. And as if on cue, one of the butterflies that had evidently escaped the painting with him delicately landed on his finger.

His tour took him across the whole museum, to diagrams and sketches, mosaics and machines. Even a room filled with beautifully made clothes, which particularly caught his eye. He even wandered down to the basement, where the curator’s personal project sat, forever unfinished. The unused fabric piqued his interest, but he left the room, continuing down the rest of the halls. Those ideas weren’t fully formed yet. He would be back. Definitely.

Then, he entered a very odd room. In fact, he was startled just for a moment, as several eyes stared back at him, only for him to realize not even a second later that those eyes were made from glass and stone and would not see as the curator had.

Sculptures were neatly displayed in every corner of the room, dressed in the finest of clothing. He smiled, awestruck at the creativity.

And then, he saw him.

The statue was lifesize, just like every other one, though this one was encased in glass and surrounded by flowers, sitting on the ground and gaze lifted up. It almost looked real, as not only was it properly colored and dressed, but it wasn’t made from stone or clay. Perhaps the gentle colors were from ceramic? Draped in long, flowing black fabric lined with purple, and adorned with gold and jewels, the painted man was awestruck. Even though the messy raven-colored hair wasn’t nearly as neat as the marble sculptures in the room, the subtle multicolored sheen was enough to captivate him. 

One of the glowing butterflies fluttered over to it, and once it landed on the glass near the statue’s face, two differently colored eyes were illuminated beautifully.

‘What a treasure.’ was the only thing the painting could think. The rest of the night was spent there, looking at the fine details, and thinking about what he could create based on them.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

When the sun filtered in through dusty glass, two eyes, previously unmoving for many years, blinked. Gloved hands flexed after being still for so long, and, shakily, the sculpture stood up. He pressed his gloved hands against the glass he found himself in, gently pushing, and happy to know that the glass gave no resistance and swung open easily.

Distantly, he remembered the previous night, even though it was enveloped by a fog. A man, dressed in pearlescent ribbon and surrounded by warm candlelight and butterflies had watched over him.

He didn’t know how he woke up, nor did he know who the other was, but he knew he had to find out. That sharp gaze filled with a thousand thoughts drew him in, and from then on, it was a done deal.

Fumbling through drawers and cabinets, it took a long while before he found some paper. After all of that, the mysterious visitor was still nowhere to be seen.

By the light of the morning sun, he wrote a note:

“Hi! My name is Mika Kagehira. I saw you last night. What’s your name?”

Mika hummed, satisfied, and searched for a place to leave the note. It was absolutely imperative that the stranger saw it. Maybe by the glass case? Or on a door somewhere? Or maybe in another room? What else was here, anyway?

As Mika got distracted perusing the museum halls, incidentally, he found the one he’d been looking for, locked behind oil paint, completely still, yet holding up his lantern to navigate the pigment forest. Mika grinned, happy to have found the one who’d kept him company all night.

“Hiya! I dunno if ya can hear me, but, uhm, I got a note? Jus’ in case. I’ll leave it… hmm….” Mika twirled this way and that, back to searching for a good place to put the note. He managed to nearly trip over his own feet several times, not used to moving around, but eventually, he gave up and settled down on a dusty bench. Right in his line of sight, was the painting, and sat neatly on his lap, was the note.

All day, Mika talked to the painting, watching over him just like the other had done for him.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

When Mika woke up again, hazy memories of the painting coming to life now in his mind, he looked excitedly at his lap. In its place was a clean piece of stationary, and beautifully written in the middle was a simple introduction:

“My name is Shu Itsuki.”

Mika hummed and giggled excitedly. He’d never written a note to anyone before, and even though the response was short, the fact that he’d gotten a response at all was incredible!

He leapt up and twirled around some more, slightly more coordinated than yesterday but still quite clumsy. And during this joyous celebration, he noticed there was more on the reverse side.

“What do you do while the sun is up? At night, I busied myself by looking at your clothing. It’s immaculate.”

Excited all over again, Mika rushed to find more paper, his long outer layer fluttering behind him. Fondly, however frozen in place, the painted man looked on.

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

When the sun was fully set and Mika’s eyes had gone glassy again, Shu stepped out of his frame for a third time and immediately beelined for the note on Mika’s lap, one corner slightly creased.

“I don’t do a lot. I already walked around the place. What do you think I should do?”

Short, of course. Shu shook his head with a sigh. The animated sculpture certainly had character. Shu’s memory was clearer last night, and he recalled several instances of Mika twirling around and nearly falling over. Sure, when they were moving about, they were no longer composed of paint and ceramic respectively, but to see Mika fall would be no good. And he was wasting his time away, even after receiving such a blessing?

This letter would just have to be longer. 

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

When Mika blinked awake to sunlight, he was filled with a wonderfully warm feeling seeing an envelope on his lap rather than a single note-sized piece of paper. Plus, a stack of stationary placed perfectly stacked at his side, ready for just as long of a reply for when the moon came.

Carefully, as if he didn’t want to rip the envelope open at all, he opened the letter, and read what was inside.

Most of it was scolding Mika for being so careless; twirling around every time he got excited. And making odd noises. And not being attentive. And not doing anything with his time.

But Mika never stopped smiling while reading the letter. ‘How odd’, thought the painting, watching from close by.

But Mika didn’t think it was strange. Because this person cared enough to scold him. He gave him advice and instructions. And, after watching Shu roam the halls through glassy eyes, graceful and poised and everything Mika felt like he wasn’t, of course he wanted to absorb every bit of knowledge thrown his way.

Plus, Shu had given him an idea:

“When you have free time, the answer is obvious: create. We were created, so it only stands to reason that we should create with just as much attention.”

Mika hadn’t seen any of Shu’s creations fully, just glimpses of fabric taken from the storage below the museum, stitched together in perfect, even stitches, not unlike Mika’s own attire.

He knew his fingers wouldn’t have the same skill or finesse.

And yet…

With a surge of internal fire, just like the sun that woke him up and put Shu to sleep, he rushed down to storage, pulled out as many scraps as he could, and began to create.

[slugdragoon]

Devlog #17 - Big UI upgrade & the Anatomy of a Skill + buff timers

Finally got together a new devlog, and I actually think it's pretty meaty this time! A ton of my focus was on untangling the anatomy of what a Skill actually is in my game, and that also went hand-in-hand with UI upgrades, which are very much WIP

Character portraits are now visible in the Pause menu Summary screens - I needed the character sprites associated with the UI for party members for the next step, so I made them visible here as well. Other than that I have not polished the Pause menu at all, but now you can see the character in their stat screen.

In-battle character wheel & plans for UI regarding targeting - So I had this idea of having the party member who is targetted by a single-target attack (or the entire party in case of a party-wide attack) appear at the bottom of the screen, but because of all the information that can be on screen already, I don't want them to always be visible. My solution is a wheel that displays the selected party member, which can be used both when you are selecting them on your turn AND when the enemy selects one of them for a target. This wheel is not finished, but I have a rudimentary version of it in there to see how I like it.

The anatomy of a Skill - I really had to think this through to untangle a lot of the ideas about how to present information clearly while having a lot of interacting and flexible choices for Skill design. I had come up with a lot of passive abilities that sell the feeling of each character/class, but for example, a Poison boosting passive is only as good as your range of active Poison skills, so I needed many active Skills in each category. I also want things like Fire and Ice mages, while having Fire and Ice feel more interesting than different kinds of elemental damage.

What I have so far - Any active attacking Skill (meaning not Passives, Healing, Status, or Buffs/Debuffs) can be, independantly, either Single-Target or Multi-Target, Single-Hit or Multi-Hit, Magic (costs MP and can be silenced, but has more variety and power) or not Magic, Ranged (bypasses time cost of attacking into many summons but loses accuracy) or Melee (the opposite), have an elemental Type (Fire, Ice, Elec, Poison, etc whatever I need) and a melee damage type (Cut, Pierce, Bash, with their own advantages).

Elemental types aren't rock-paper-scissors, they have more bespoke effects. Instead, Fire spells feel like Fire because they inflict the Burning status. Ice spells can slow or freeze enemies, etc. Skills with those tags though, are made more effective by certain passives. As for Melee types, Pierce skills should bypass Defense buffs, Bash attacks scatter summons, and Cut attacks may deal extra damage on crits (maybe, unsure). A Fire Sword attack, for example can be a Single-target Single-hit, Magic Melee Fire Cut attack, and I can balance it all with MP and Time costs.

That's a lot, I know, and the goal is to make it as simple as possible in the battle UI to strategize, but also make the game very flexible and interesting.

Skill tags & properties - Skills in battle display tags that represent the above properties, so we are always clear what we are working with.

Skill and Item description boxes - Now we can read what our Skills and Items actually do in battle! This will also greatly help me to write down the actual current implementation of skills and balance them while playtesting.

Stat buff turn timers - Stat buffs are now applied on individual 3-turn timers (for now this is by default 3 and maxes out at 3, but that could change). Reapplying a buff resets the timer to 3, but while buffs and debuffs counteract each other, buff don't reset the timer unless they are on the positive side, and vice versa for debuffs (ie you can only extend debuffs with debuffs). An alternative approach would be to have a queue of effects with their own timers, where a bunch of buffs and debuffs can be active at once, meaning if the buffs expire, you could be left with a set of active debuffs, but I think using one side to cancel the other works well in concept, I have to think on it some more.

Such a long post, but I've been thinking about this all for like 40 days since the last one!

[webthreecorp]

Mastering Linked Lists: Beginner's Guide

Hey Tumblr friends 👋

After learning about Arrays, it's time to level up! Today we’re diving into Linked Lists — another fundamental building block of coding! 🧱✨

So... What is a Linked List? 🤔

Imagine a treasure hunt 🗺️:

You find a clue ➡️ it points you to the next clue ➡️ and so on.

That's how a Linked List works!

🔗 Each element (Node) holds data and a pointer to the next Node.

It looks something like this: [data | next] -> [data | next] -> [data | next] -> NULL

Why Use a Linked List? 🌈

✅ Dynamic size (no need to pre-define size like arrays!) ✅ Easy insertions and deletions ✨ ✅ Great for building stacks, queues, and graphs later!

❌ Slower to access elements (you can't jump straight to an item like arrays).

Basic Structure of a Linked List Node 🛠️

data -> stores the actual value

next -> points to the next node

📚 CRUD Operations on Linked Lists

Let’s build simple CRUD functions for a singly linked list in C++! (🚀 CRUD = Create, Read, Update, Delete)

Create (Insert Nodes)

Read (Display the list)

Update (Change a Node’s Value)

Delete (Remove a Node)

🌟 Final Thoughts

🔗 Linked Lists may look tricky at first, but once you master them, you’ll be ready to understand more powerful structures like Stacks, Queues, and even Graphs! 🚀

🌱 Mini Challenge:

Build your own linked list of your favorite songs 🎶

Practice inserting, updating, and deleting songs!

If you loved this explainer, give a follow and let's keep leveling up together! 💬✨ Happy coding, coder fam! 💻🌈 For more resources and help join our discord server

[ashipiko]

random ahh q but how did u develop ur artstyle? :D

HIYA!!!! oh yeeeesh this is gonna be such a long answer 😭😭 it’ll be under the cut…… but um. warning for old Ashi art HAHAHA it’ll basically just be me guiding you through my gallery from all these years <3 I HOPE IT CAN HELP A LITTLE!!!

old Ashi Art JUMPSCARE

BUT BASICALLY. YEAH! this is me starting digital art in like? 2020 and getting into a3! <3 as you can see. this is my kind of sad attempt at replicating the style ??? you can tell from the way I colored my eyes, hair, and copied the way the hair is drawn!! it’s not OVERLY obvious but if you look you can see that I REAAALLY referenced it. which is kind of a big thing for creating an artstyle

and queue in my art around a year later!! 🤔 kinda more used to drawing the a3! characters (which mind you were the ONLY characters I drew for like. a whole year) and so naturally I adopted the artstyle more into my own art. learnt more about airbrushes would reference the original art a LOT. redrawing really helped me 🙏 once again. lots of referencing and looking at character references. and while I didn’t always redraw it exactly, looking at the character designs themselves made me pick up quirks of the original artstyle to better display the characterization and charm of the characters!!

then 2022 rolls around and I start getting more into proseka. start finding little things about this artstyle that I liked— whether that be finding that out through redrawing the art or trying to replicate the style. started picking up things like the smaller face shapes (as compared to twst and a3! which I was focused on previously) the way they drew the hands, the bodies, etc etc!! along w softer brushes and rendering 🫶

at around the same time I return back to a3! and make attempts at replicating the artstyle (left) or making edits to the predicting art to try and make it blend in (right). as you can tell I start playing around more w hair highlights and the rendering and all that stuff!!! 🤔 sort of like picking up new skills that I missed out on the first time. starting noticing more of the little details

and SO then I returned yet again and begin redrawing a3! cards!!! but you can tell that there’s more of a concrete style w the squisher faces and more experience the rendering 🙏🙏

and I did a LOT of redrawing. 😭😭 a3!’s artstyle is soooo dear to me because it has so much charm despite not being insanely rendered or having too much detail. and I LOVE that. so to try and add it to my own art I redraw and redraw and MIMIC in attempts to gain that exact same energy.

🤔 and though it’s not twst art…… this is when I started replacing the twst style and picking up on it’s quirks, then adopting what I thought was fun about it. most notable the varied opacity rendering. and you might notice that my lineart is more see though!! I MUST SAY!!! THAT WAS JUST BECAUSE OF A LITTLE EXPERIMENT I WANTED TO DO and I enjoyed it SO much that I dropped solid lineart sketching IMMEDIATELY!!!!! I think developing an artstyle is really dependent on you being willing to step away from your “art style” and look at others. maybe try some new things. pick up smth else and try to mimic it, and see what ingredients are used to make that artstyle succeed in the way that it does. between these three images you see such a change because behind the scenes I’m trying all of these different things, and seeing if I like doing them!!

🤔 sorta like….. oh I like this ingredient. so I’m gonna take them and add it to my own food because I like it. if that makes sense?

AND SO YADDAH YADDAH. you follow my blog you know my art and where it is now

A SNEAK PEEK FOR ASHACE ART SINCE YOU READ THROUGH ALL OF THIS….. and like. as you can see my art really is just a mutant combination of all of these things that I like from the artstyles I enjoy. slowly it came together w no rush and I’m sitting here now satisfied with a signature artstyle that everyone can recognize.

!! I REALLY DONT THINK YOU NEED TO WORRY TOO HARD ABOUT HAVING AN ART STYLE especially if you’re a beginning or learning artist still. and don’t think that art styles just come out of nowhere!!! art is a combination of stealing parts of things that you like and putting them together. as all things are 🫶 but yeah!! the Ashi gallery HAHAHA

[sarcasticdolphin]

Smrtolf fae au: September Prompt 25: "Picture Frames"

For the amazing @adridoesstuff as all the Smrtolf drabbles are.

Cut is just for length

“What about the gold one?” There might be a faint tinge of amusement in Aemilia’s voice, but Rudolf was concentrating too closely to care.

“Too ostentatious. Too-” Rudolf makes a few vague gestures with his hands. “Performative.”

The words don’t seem fully sufficient. Most of Rudolf’s paintings remain unframed, and framing them is always so difficult. Add to that the king’s marked dislike of plain black frames and it ceased to be a minor concern and became a full on conundrum.

“A wooden one, then. Perhaps with a little staining. Something understated.”

Rudolf looks at the frame and hates it immediately. The wood is the wrong texture - too birchy. The painting in question is of redwoods. It will clash horribly.

“Too-” He gestures vaguely in the direction of the door and the poor servant who is displaying the picture frame takes the queue for him and his rejected frame to exit stage left.

“Rudolf.” As much as Rudolf could deny the air of amusement in Aemilia’s voice before, now he most certainly couldn’t.

“Aemilia.” She’s smiling, too, and gently stroking Anna’s raven. The white bird was happily snoozing in her arms, feathers softly fluffed.

“I hate doing this.” There is no venom to Rudolf’s proclamation, and Aemilia gives a gentle laugh.

“Each time it takes more and more frames before you eventually acquiesce to one. Perhaps you ought to take up picture frame making and solve your problems that way.”

Rudolf rolls his eyes, but he’d considered it before. There were some problems that were best solved by taking matters into one’s own hands. Though thinking that was far easier than becoming a skilled enough carver or carpenter to make a picture frame that would be satisfactory.

“Perhaps I should take to painting murals for a bit. Those at least have the benefit of not needing frames.”

“Indeed. They are also incredibly time consuming. But I have no doubt the king would be happy to have you in his quarters painting the walls for half the day. I’d probably have to drag him to court or he’d skip it.”

Rudolf smiles at that. It’s just the sort of thing that Smrt would do, and Aemilia would certainly be the one to drag the king to his court. Or maybe she’d come to visit him with her horde of demon crows. That might frighten him into doing his duties.

“And why do I even need a picture frame in the first place? The canvas itself is enough.” Perhaps it is a more boastful statement than Rudolf would typically allow himself, but in this he knows his skill. And his work might benefit from framing sometimes, but it stands alone.

“For a wrapped canvas, certainly, But when you paint on anything else you will have issues.” Rudolf hears the unspoken part as well - to say he found the wrapping process tedious would be an understatement if ever there was one. It was worse than grinding pigment in Rudolf’s eyes, even if it wasn’t as time consuming. And then there was the annoyance of dealing with a larger wrapped canvas. That made things even worse.

The white raven almost seemed to yawn as it woke up, accepting a few scratches from Aemilia before hopping over to Rudolf and perching on his thigh. Rudolf offers Anna’s dear bird a fer scratches, but he can only shake his head sadly when the bird gives him a hopeful look. Anna was still being rather strict with treats. And it was working - her bird was looking a little less plump and more like a typical raven, though it was always hard to tell under all the feathers.

The raven gives a sound that Rudolf can only describe as forlorn and starts preening, but Rudolf finds himself feeling immensely guilty. Anna’s sweet raven could guilt trip like no other.

“Perhaps I should take up drawing.” Rudolf already had to do some sketching, though he personally much preferred paint.

“Drawings still need frames.”

“Sculpture, then.”

Aemilia only raises an eyebrow at Rudolf’s suggestion. He’d tried a few sculptured, but he hadn’t the patience for it. Pigments might cause him difficulties from time to time, but there was a vast difference in having to spend a few extra minutes mixing pigments and spending days and days carving away at a block of rock, hoping to bring forth something beautiful. 

Rudolf glances down at the white raven. “Maybe not sculpture.” He gives the raven a few more scratches before turning back to Aemilia.

“I miss when painting was simple and easy.”

“When someone else ground all the pigment, prepped the paint, and selected the subject?”

Rudolf exhales. Aemilia has a way of hitting issues square on the head while not actually saying anything directly about them, and as usual she was right. He prided himself on preparing his own pigments and paints, and on selecting his subjects. Hadn’t he complained mightily when his tutor had forced him to learn how to properly paint still life? He’d certainly made a bit of a theatrical fuss of grimacing at a few innocent fruit bowls.

“How was the court?” Rudolf asks the question in earnest curiosity, but also out of a faint sense of defiance. Aemilia was the rare type of fae that thoroughly disliked dithering on unnecessary topics.

“I have no doubt the king will give you a full and complete accounting of the affairs of the court today. We aren’t here to talk about the court, Rudolf, we’re here to find a picture frame. How about the white one?”

The white one is nice - simple and with an elegance, but Rudolf finds himself displeased with it. The edges are quite thin and it will make the painting and frame look all out of proportion.

“Too small. Too skinny.”

Aemilia tilts her head to the side just a hair and gestures for a servant to bring the next picture frame. “What about the blue one?”

“Too blue.”

“They gray one?”

“Too melancholy.”

“The black one?”

“Smrt doesn't like black frames.”

[mariacallous]

More and more women are joining Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion, but while they can now take on the same roles as men, the challenges they face are very different.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, more than 11,000 women have voluntarily joined the ranks of Ukraine’s armed forces.

“From the first day of the war, women along with men stood in queues at territorial recruitment centres to join the defence of our Motherland,” Lieutenant General Serhii Naev, commander of the United Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said on June 22 this year.

Some of them have taken on the most dangerous assignments, becoming machine gunners, snipers and tank gunners, firing grenade launchers and mortars.

As of early 2023, at least 600 women had expressed their desire to join eight new assault brigades – the Offensive Guard – tasked with pushing Russian troops out of occupied parts of Ukraine.

‘No right to make a mistake’

Armed conflict in eastern Ukraine broke out in early 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Back then, a total of 49,926 women were employed within the Ukrainian armed forces, of which 16,557 were military personnel and 33,369 civilian. By March 1 this year, a year into the full-scale invasion, the total had climbed to 60,538, including 42,898 military personnel. That’s a 2.5-fold increase in military personnel since 2014. The number of female officers is now six times higher, at 7,416.

As of publication of this article, 106 female soldiers have died in combat since February 24, 2022.

More women will be need for the war effort, but they will continue to face different challenges to their male colleagues.

Ukrainian society and military servicemen have been slow to accept women fighters.

“As a woman, you have no right to make a mistake; you always have to prove yourself more than men. The attitude towards you, as a woman, is ‘It’s just a girl’,” said Sharlotta Khmelnytska.

Aged 26, Khmelnytska holds a BA in political science and a Master’s degree in public administration. She is also a senior lieutenant in the army, an example of the changing nature of military service in Ukraine and the transition of women into combat roles traditionally reserved for men.

Major reform of 2018

Women have served in the armed forces of Ukraine since independence in 1991, but usually as the wives and daughters who followed their husbands and fathers to new military posts.

Ukraine kept with the Soviet tradition of military rotation in which the family members of officers would rotate with them; wives and daughters would typically work in the military compound where their husbands or fathers were stationed, as administrative staff, secretaries or other civilian personnel.

Over time, the number of female military personnel steadily increased, particularly within the officer corps: between 2001 and 2006, the proportion of female officers rose from 0.7 per cent to 2.25 per cent. The hostility displayed by some toward female officers was largely due to the fact that military men did not want to hold lower-paid positions.

In 1994, women could apply for a limited range of positions. Social stigma forced women to occupy more typical ‘female’ posts such as medics, administrators or logistical support.

There was also a shortage of women trained to perform highly-skilled jobs. In the Soviet era, most of those studying IT, technology, or science were men, while women traditionally enrolled in more ‘feminine’ fields such as pedagogy, light industry, medicine, and cooking.

Consequently, the majority of women in the army typically occupied low paid, ‘feminine’ roles.

By June 2016, 62 combat positions were open to women, and on September 6, 2018, military laws were amended to bring radical change to the rights of women in military service.

Law 2523 introduced six amendments to the Statute of the Internal Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Law of Ukraine titled ‘On Military Duty and Military Service’.

Women became eligible for all military positions and ranks, with the same duties and opportunities as their male colleagues: the age limit on women serving in the military was raised from 40 to 60; servicewomen who reach the age limit are now transferred to the 1st category reserve, as opposed to the 2nd, meaning an increase in their pension pot and the chance to be mobilised first if needed.

As Ukrainian society pushed for greater gender equality, more women than ever began to join the army. In 2018, 53 per cent of Ukrainians supported the idea of gender equality between women and men in the army; in 2023, that number stands at 80 per cent.

The sharp rise in the number of women joining the armed forces reflects the army’s increased recognition of women, and the need felt by women to contribute to the war effort.

“Once I realised that a full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation into the territory of Ukraine was inevitable and that the enemy would try to occupy my hometown, Berdiansk, I could not sit by,” said Khmelnytska. “I had to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine – so I did.”

Currently, 24,797 servicewomen perform different tasks in the army, from combat engagements and special operations, to admin and logistical support.

More than 16,000 serve in the Ground Forces, at least 7,000 in the Air Force, over 3,000 in the Territorial Defence Forces, around 2,000 in the navy, and approximately 1,000 in the Airborne Assault Forces. The rest serve across other departments of the armed forces.

Women as prisoners of war

Women who join the military effort in Ukraine are in double jeopardy: they risk death or imprisonment by Russian forces, and sexual harassment within their own forces.

While there is no publicly available data on the total number of female prisoners of war, the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War believes that several hundred women may have been taken prisoner.

Since February 24, 2022, there have been several prisoner exchanges involving women. One of the biggest occurred on October 17 that year, when 108 women were exchanged.

Maryana Mamonova, a female Ukrainian military doctor who was pregnant at time of her detention, was held captive by the Russian army for six months. According to Mamonova, Russian soldiers told her that she would give a birth to “a Nazi/Banderite” and that the child would be better off raised by a Russian family.

Fortunately, the media coverage of her case led to her release in the ninth month of her pregnancy.

When asked to describe their imprisonment, female servicewomen report systematic violations of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war by Russia – including torture, psychological abuse, the refusal to provide medical care, and a lack of food and water.

Many say that in Russian prisons they are not only denied hygiene products but often denied any opportunity to wash themselves at all. Detained Ukrainian women report being tortured during interrogations, shaved, and forced to undress. Some were sexually abused by Russian soldiers.

Ukrainian military women are also sometimes at risk from their male colleagues. The results of a 2011 study by the Research Centre for Humanitarian Issues of the Armed Forces of Ukraine revealed that every tenth woman faced sexual harassment in the army. “A woman has a harder time in the army than a man,” said Khmelnytska.

“When we did military training we faced sexism. Dealing with it was draining on my nerves, my energy, and my emotions. At times it was terrible. For example, you could be punished or reprimanded because you were a woman and the brigade commander didn’t like it.”

Sexual harassment in the army remains a taboo topic in the Ukrainian army.

In 2021, Olga Derkach became one of the first to speak out publicly about sexual harassment in the military when she accused Colonel Oleksandr Krivoruchko of harassment that she said began in 2016.

According to Olena Shevchenko, head of the Ukrainian human rights NGO ‘Insight’, complaints of sexual harassment are often submitted to Insight by the friends and acquaintances of the victims, rather than the victims themselves. Insight has received more than a dozen in recent years.

“According to women who complained to us, the commander harasses the woman, demands sexual favours and her loyalty,” said Shevchenko.

The head of the NGO ‘Association of Women Lawyers of Ukraine’ also reported receiving similar complaints. “Complaints are not coming from the frontline,” said Khrystyna Kit. “Women combatants are less likely to be sexually harassed than admin staff who work away from the battlefield.”

But even when women are willing to testify about harassment, it is often difficult to bring such cases to court. “Women have no witnesses to the harassment and, apart from her own testimony, there is no one who could confirm her claims,” said Kit. “Holding the perpetrator criminally accountable is a difficult and traumatic endeavour for a female victim.”

Social stigma

Ukrainian women serving in the army still fight to be recognised by society as equal to male soldiers.

The traditional view of the army as an exclusively masculine environment prevails, and women – so the argument goes – have no place in this environment.

Debate has raged on social media in response to comments on women who have decided to join the army, especially those who have children. As more and more women volunteer for the frontline, the more heated the debates become.

Some express full support for women and mothers; others argue they should think first about their children, who could become orphans at any moment. Such debates do not happen when it comes to men.

Despite their increasing involvement in the armed forces, society still believes that women have no place in the army. As a consequence, women’s experience of war remains neglected by the media. We have seen changes in public perception, but not as rapidly as one would expect in response to the rapid changes caused by war.

From the start of full-scale hostilities to the end of 2022, 350 military servicewomen have been awarded for bravery. The highest award, Hero of Ukraine, was bestowed posthumously on two women. Recently, Forbes-Ukraine magazine added ten women from the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to its list of the 50 most influential women in Ukraine.

In preparation for future waves of military mobilisation, women of certain professions are now legally obliged to register for the military. While full scale mobilisation is not expected before 2026, women can serve under contract. The list of professions from which women can be called up for military service has also expanded. According to the new law, women with any type of science or medical background must register.

Once registered, women will be subject to general mobilisation to the same degree as men.

At present, only women with medical backgrounds are legally obliged to be drafted into the war effort and this is due to the constant shortage of military medics. With the potential for a prolonged conflict, the change will be necessary to maintain strength and numbers on the battlefield, meaning that women could fall subject to general mobilisation.

[miniar]

So Apparently Diablo IV is coming in a perfect display of Blizzard's ongoing downfall.

Blizzard Entertainment went and fucked up a while back by banning a Hearthstone tournament champion from competing because he voiced support for Hong Kong protesters in an interview and since then things have only gotten worse.

Diablo 1 and 2 were iconic games along with the warcraft and starcraft series. For a long time these games were praised and loved as reliable good fun and the blizzard servers that let you play with people around the world were... well.. they existed and were perfectly serviceable.

The games ofc would connect to blizzard net by default so when that whole thing was discontinued that was simply that.

Then World of Warcraft happened, and a popular cash cow that was. It fast became the most played MMO around. I played it.

Of course, when you reach late game content it was all a tedious grind requiring multiple hours of multiple days of commitment to attend, and you were required to have the correct gear and correct stats and correct skills to be permitted to attend, and so any individuality or desire to do anything but this meant you might as well be playing a single player game if it wasn't for the (usually toxic) chat.

When Diablo 3 came out, many of us old timers bought it and played it. It had references to the old stories and it was a good time. Fun even. It had it's flaws, ofc, but there are some lines from that game that still play in my head when the situation is about right.

I had no idea Diablo 4 was in the works. To be fair, I'm not paying as much attention as some do, but given how big the Diablo franchise was, it came as a complete surprise to see it suggested in my Steam queue. A tiny nostalgic spark went off in my head and I wondered what direction they'd take the story from where it left off, what kind of heroes would be called, whether maybe I should pick it up and play necromancer again, my go to "bring your own army" build dreamily dancing in the far back of my old goth mind.

And the video trailer gave me absolutely no information what so ever. It was a popular song (you should see me in a crown) playing over the unimpressive "reveal" of a succubus-esque form followed by shots of mid combat chaos.

And nothing else.

Nothing.

No interesting characters, no indication of what the class options are going to be, no suggestion as to what the story is, or why, or anything remotely interesting.

Just, "check out this sexy boss we made, also here's some combat".

It REEKS of half-assed cash-grab mediocrity, at best.

And that's the thing. In the last decade or so, Blizzard's slowly but surely becoming known for shit customer service, product decline, and absolute lack of anything remotely resembling a spark of creativity.

Diablo 4 looks like a knock-off diablo phone game.

Blizzard, by the way, created a phone game, and instead of reworking their earlier games and porting them to a phone where a younger generation could experience the iconic franchise for what made it popular and older players could come back and bask in nostalgia, they built a boring, superficial mess.

And just to make it worse, just like their shitty phone game, it looks like Diablo 4 is gonna force you to be connected to the internet.

And you know, I'm annoyed, because these games were in the stack of things that made playing a game something I enjoyed doing. The stories, the characters, the challenge, it was all a good time. And now we're getting the "sad wankfest" versions from what used to be a pretty good game dev company.

It's like finding they've replaced one of your favorite fruits in the supermarket with an artificially flavored wax version that isn't actually for "eating" but you can chew and spit out pieces of it for the "experience" of what it might be like to eat a fruit as interpreted by a person who's only experience with said fruit was a picture and a third hand description of the flavor.

If you've never had an apple in your life, sure, maybe this'll be a good time for you, but for the love of all that is holy, please, there are better options out there, some of them are even free.