#you get stuff like me asking the power company if they had any programs to help with insulation

[medicinemane]

It does make me wonder about... about people's comprehension as a whole, where it's just like... somehow you've failed to understand the basic premise of the question and by going off on an unrelated tangent you've done nothing

It's like if someone asked "I'm allergic to beets and I don't really like yams, was there another option I could use for that recipe?"

And the person responded "I agree, I don't really like yams either, that's why I usually use beets"

Or it's like the post where the person was lamenting not having disposable income enough to even afford an impulse buy of something like a mug, and everyone gets hung up on giving them tips to buy mugs, when... the mug was clearly an example, the problem they're complaining about is too tight of a budget

It's not just reading comprehension either, because I'll experience this in face to face conversations too, even with very intelligent well educated people like therapists (my really good fit therapist I could say "that's not what I want to talk about", and she'd just be like "cool", and we could get to what was really the problem on my mind that week)

I'm sure I do this too, but like... I at least think I do it relatively rarely at least compared to the times where I've just taken a stab at inferring what someone's feeling based on what they said and having them go "exactly", and at least I usually am willing to just stop in my tracks if someone says "no, I'm talking about this"

Then you've got the question of why people do it, and the easy answer is just "oh, something something intelligence", but... lets say for a second that the majority of people are just plain stupid... well then that's how it is and you have to work with it anyway, but I really don't think that's it

Maybe it's just that we all get so fixated on our own lives and our own values that it's hard for people to stop viewing things through their own personal lens, and that makes it hard to engage with what's actually being said

Maybe it's something totally different... I don't know... there's just a huge communicating issue these days and... and I don't like it

[vorenado-m]

happy disability pride month! please consider helping me take back my life as a disabled person!

the TL;DR is that for the last 3 months i have had an absolutely soul-sucking miserable minimum wage retail job that, due to the way scheduling works (and the app being broken as fuck) has prevented me from having access to literally any of the life-saving mental health/medical care i need as a disabled person.

my disability is best managed through a combination of medication, therapy, and casework-- not a single one of which i have had since march! :) contextually, up until i got this job, i took three daily medications and had casework once a week and therapy once or sometimes twice a week. these services are offered at an affordable cost to me through a local organization that is threatening to close my case due to lack of participation.

ill make another, more detailed post later with some of the services i can offer for money (i draw! i code! i write!) but until then here is a code you can scan if you have a few dollars to spare:

there are more details beneath the cut (idk about you guys but im kinda nosy so i wrote some more stuff in case anyone else is also nosy) but thats the gist of it. you can also always ask for details. i dont have a therapist right now so it might feel good to say things.

my plan is as follows: i would like to take the month of july more or less "off" from work to get my affairs in order, starting with scheduling appointments for therapy and casework and getting back on my meds. i am actively looking for a job, but i would like the ability to be somewhat picky instead of applying everywhere i think might have me for the sake of having money coming in to pay rent.

for the last two years i have made less than $800/mo and i can survive on roughly $600-$650 a month. my july rent ($550) is paid and my august rent (at least $500) is most likely also squared away, through a combination of some cash i was hoarding, a previous donation, my last expected paychecks from my current job, and my brother generously offering to cover whatever is left over. the extra $100ish is for roughly a months supply of the food that is part of my daily routine that i get cranky without (i have tea every morning, for instance.)

i have a fantastic roommate who is not struggling as much financially who will do everything in her power to make sure i have access to staple foods (rice, eggs, etc) so i really just need to buy the things only i consume (kimchi, milk, etc.) there is a food bank i go to, so i am not worried about food, but i can only go to it once per month. we have a barter system where i trade her the things i dont want from the food bank and she buys me things i will eat; alternatively, i sometimes give her things i get from the food bank (eg meat) that she turns into meals for both of us.

i live independently/"alone" with roommates and do not have support from my family pretty much at all. they have never been particularly useful for emotional support and have openly denied me financial support since i was a teenager. moving in with them/getting help from them/talking to them is not an option.

i have emailed my caseworker at the mental health organization i work with as well as my caseworker with the disability vocational program i work with to help me find a new job that is "back of house" and requires less customer interaction. i did this over the weekend, so i expect to hear back from them sometime this week. in the meantime, i am searching for jobs on my own in places like indeed, jobhat, careerbuilder, etc. as well as checking company websites of places like chain grocery stores to see what is available in my area.

my job pool is a bit limited due to the fact that i cannot drive (due to both my disability and the medication im supposed to be taking for it) but i am very well-versed at taking the bus, which is free. getting to and from work is not a concern for me; it is being able to do the job without being driven to the edge of a mental breakdown that is the problem.

the disability vocational program is my ticket out of poverty! last month i had a follow-up evaluation (i had to call out of work for it, but frankly i was at the end of my rope then too) where they approved my career goals as a web developer and we are in the process of deciding what my next steps are! the program will likely (depending on what route i take) help pay for vocational training, too, but i obviously have to pay rent while in training. which i think i can do if i have a job that doesnt make me want to die.

i have some other things that make my life a bit harder (im mixed race, i am nonbinary + gay, etc) but i would say those things dont really impact my ability to get a job as much as the disability does LOL which is why i did not feature them prominently in this post. like, the reason i cant get a job isnt because people dont want to hire me because i have blue hair and pronouns, its because im obviously disabled.

if you have any other questions, no matter how intrusive you think they might be, feel free to send a DM or an ask, and i will try to answer.

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

@intertexts BEHOLD. NEW HAVEN WARDS: THE WIBBY AND DAVID DYNAMIC ESSAY. this got way too fucking long 2 put in ur inbox so im making a post about it. ENJOY THE STICK FIGURE VIOLENCE <3

okay im just gonna start from the beginnign here and try not to get too sidetracked as i go (<< me when i lie) um. so. still not entirely clear on what williams trigger event would be so that may change how some of this works out logistics wise. but just assuming it would be SOMEWHAT similar to pd- william dies/has his near death experience and is Changed By It. in obvious ways that are impossible to hide. his parents find out because he had been missing for days and presumed dead so when he came back home covered in mud and dried blood and Different, everyone kind of broke down. they know about his powers from the start. william hates them (the powers, not his parents) but his dad especially has always been very supportive of capes and urges william to use them for something good! his mom, who has always grieved the lack of a relationship between her two sons, brings up the suggestion "hey, you know what! yeah! your older brother just so happens to live in a city with a really good cape population, maybe you can go live with him for a bit while you go to school <3" (<< this is also going off the assumption that the general public doesnt really. understand. capes much. his parents dont know theyre signing him up to be a child soldier and die before 40. they love him so much and just want the best for him- if they knew about all that they wouldve never even made the suggestion. but they see how much his powers are hurting him and theyre grieving the death of their youngest son who is still. awake and sitting in his bedroom. and i dont think any of them know how to deal with that)

william, not really having a place to argue from or another option to even consider, reluctantly agrees. hes too caught up in the fear and worry and unpredictability of his powers to even imagine himself as one of the heroes. but he goes anyway. and lives with david. its just as painfully icy as you imagine- david never signed up to be a permanent babysitter, i imagine theres a lot of. phonecalls overheard through the walls of his apartment of david on the phone with their mom asking if this was some sort of punishment. david spends all his time at his office and never takes time to even get to know william. he still takes care of him- he has the money for a penthouse apartment and keeps groceries stocked- but its not like theyre having cozy family meals every night. this does wonderful things for williams mental health obviously. which im sure makes his powers feel so much better (<< this is sarcasm). they dont talk much. obviously. william knows david works for/runs a branch of some tech company but thats about the extent of his knowledge and he never cares to ask further details than that. theres a little bit of resentment there on williams side (william wisp, known jealous petty little bitch- "i thought you were the first good thing to come out of deadwood"). david is someone who's important and has his life together and william is. in his own mind. a freak.

after joining the wards program and meeting dakota and virion and such. william IMMEDIATELY decides he is going to spend less and less and less time at davids place. and so the fucking. chasm between them grows. mutual good riddance. (they dont hate each other. theres just. not a whole lot of care there. but theyre still family, yknow?) and its just like. the BARE MINIMUM amount of contact. william stops by davids place to like. get stuff from his bedroom. uses davids apartment as storage for things he can't keep at the wards base (are teen superheroes allowed to smoke? i imagine that cant be good for their public image). so its not like they totally cut contact theres just. even less of it than there was before.

and then william learns about the SIGNIFICANT importance of keeping your cape and civilian identities separate. any villain who learns who you are behind the mask can be a threat to not only you but also your family. william, who loves his parents very much and knows they love him back, wants to protect them at all costs. conveniently, he doesn't live with his parents anymore. his current guardian just so happened to keep their mom's maiden name. so what does he do! bam. easy fix, change your last name to match with your brother. satisfies the heroes a little bit because its that extra step harder to connect william with people outside the city, AND its not suspicious on the civilian side either because. i mean he still matches surnames with his family. surely this will not come back to bite him (foreshadowing). i think it would be PERFECTLY in character and slimy for david to get a kick out of this name change btw. its been weeks since theyve spoken full sentences to each other but the next time william goes back to the apartment david is there at the kitchen table and just kind of laughs at the paperwork like "aw, little brother, i didn't realize you liked living with me that much. im flattered" etc. etc. eugh

behold! i can call him wibby now. awesome. so cool. anyway.

blahblah whatever whatever. im saying for au convenience david lives in new haven even though in pd canon he technically lives in freedom city. don't worry about it. HOWEVER. this becomes important. new haven wards are like?? vaguely sometimes in contact with the wards of the nearest settlement with a significant cape population- freedom city! this is alan, x, cantrip. I think they probably have like. fun friendly sparring matches sometimes (like the cage matches where they first met but like... legal. and mario kart!) but aren't close enough to be Friend Friends. freedom city wards uncover some shady underground company using illegal research (nhw equivalent of harttawa? dying 2 link this back to mark somehow bc im always thinking abt him but i KNOW u have plans for him already and im dying 2 know them) to give people artificial powers (connected to cauldron in some way but not obvious about it. ill explain this more in a minute) and guess who this gets linked back to. our one and only lovely wicked david bell. freedom city wards don't know williams connection to him since they wouldn't know his civ name. I don't think he would tell them. i also don't think they would actually TALK to David here like they do in canon, i think the heist goes a little more successfully and he's not actually physically THERE so all that happens is that they sneak in and see a bunch of files/papers. and william makes the connection with David's name and maybe picture. but the whole. killing a bunch of guards still happens. "its okay they're villains" etc. i don't know who would run freedom city wards program but they're more. loose about the rules than in new haven. which is why xavier and cantrip are Like That.

anyway on the way back to new haven william is REALLY shaken and dakota and virion obv pick up on that right away (i think they'd also know OF williams brother but not a lot of details bc he never talks about him.) william tells them that that was David and doesn't know what to do etc etc . I think he avoids the apartment for a looooot longer than he usually does because he doesn't want to accidentally run into David there and have to confront this. I think he's probably shell shocked by the idea a little- david is VERY MUCH against the hero program and doesn't like capes at all and is very vocal about that fact (this is pd canon too)!! why the fuck would he be working with the company that gives people powers and Makes More Capes! even though his mystery solving brain is going into overdrive thinking about the reasons and details and minutae of this discovery, william is also chronically avoidant of all his personal problems so i don't think he does any digging into it yet. until. well. the freedom city wards go missing

they on the other hand DID do a lot more digging into this. and david caught on to them and we end up with the scene in the basement . this is where I'm gonna get sidetracked bc there's a lot of information I'm thinking about at the beginning of all this

when william/vyncent/tide get there it's a very similar scene to in pd. x and cantrip are chained up, david has allen cut open on a table. william is. HORRIFIED. maybe even moreso than in pd.

x is even more immediately hostile to william when he and cantrip wake up because part of the information they uncovered in doing their own digging was the fact that david and william are related. and this pisses x off SO BAD because william never told them. and I think he uses wills secret identity against him and that's part of the reason william is SO DESPERATE to stop him. Just imagining that scene in the hallway at the beginning where they're screaming at each other and x just goes "that's your fucking *brother?* you're related to that monster and you never thought to, yknow, share that little bit of information with us?! william bell?????" and as soon as x says his name william just SNAPS and swings the axe at him .

anyway. back to the basement scene. david does his whole manipulative villain monologue with a scalpel to Allen's heart and we learn David is the head of an offshoot branch of cauldron (thinking about like maybe where they sell the vials to people under the guise of experimental medical treatment? for their own research purposes on how the vials affect people. real unethical shit! I feel like I need 2 learn more about cauldrons motivations before I set this in stone though) . anyway. we also learn here that david Has Fucking Powers. I don't know exactly what those would be right now but I think they would be pretty... inconsequential and at a really low power rating, but just that fact alone is enough for him to almost lose william completely.

this whole time william is just full of this icy dread and betrayal, but as SOON as david reveals he has powers that all just snaps to rage. comparable to that feeling where you've been bullied for something for years and then one day everyone decides that same thing is cool now. ("how long. how *long*, david? did you have these powers while you shunned me, sat on the phone with mom in the other room complaining about how much of a freak your little brother is? how *painfully sad* it is for you to share an apartment with the corpse of your baby brother, trying to get mom to pity you enough to take me back and get me out of your hair?")

and ofc david being who he is has some sort of slimy manipulation that saves his ass and gets william back on his side. tide and virion being there they immediately see right the FUCK through it but I think william would be compromised enough at that point that he wouldn't be thinking clearly enough to listen to them. (also side note . like I said I'm VERY undecided on what davids powers would actually be but the two ideas I've been bouncing back and forth are a) some kind of medical Thinker which is how he knows how to put allen back together the right way or b) some kind of Master which makes the manipulation thing worse <3. so maybe wibby is compromised bc davids using his powers on him. if it's the second option. smile!)

anyway wibby goes on his nightmare arc. right. even more fucked up bc of what x says to him about his identity. I actually think a lot of this stays the same but just with the addition of context and also the thing I said yesterday about the guards radioing to each other to evacuate.

everything happens pretty much the same with cantrip and he and virion getting back to the office only to find everything totally wiped clean already. william still does the Nightmare Thing in davids apartment afterward. still undecided in whether or not their parents will be there? I guess it depends on what we do with the trickster. (oh god I haven't even thought about the trickster irt new haven wards. fuck!) . I think actually I'm leaning more toward having them NOT being there? because I think william reigned himself in because he didn't want to scare them too much. and this is worm world i don't WANT wibby to reign himself in at all. I want him to go fucking nightmare apeshit.

btw this whole time? virion stays with him and it scares the SHIT out of him. he's still going to stay because ... this is william. this is his best friend (gay) and he HAS to trust that he knows what he's doing. I think afterward william stands up, david still unconscious on the floor, and there are silent tears streaming down his face and there's this expression of rage and betrayal and grief on his face that virion has NEVER seen on another person. so he reaches out to put a hand on his shoulder or maybe offer a hug (which in my mind is HUGE for him bc I've been imagining virion being SUPER careful and sort of avoidant about physical touch bc of his powers) but then william goes to brush his hand away as he walks out of the room and there's just the briefest moment of skin to skin contact. and it only lasts for maybe a second but virion gets this BURST of williams powers and it's terrifying. he can see and feel and hear and know *exactly* what william just did. it goes away almost immediately but the force of it is enough to throw virion off balance for a second as he processes it and when he comes to again he is just. shaking. and he doesn't say anything to william but he *knows* now and he doesn't know what to do with that information. hes scared out of his fucking mind but he's also. sad. he's REALLY fucking sad his best friend (gay) just had to do something like that. and he's not good with words so he doesn't say anything but he stays there. he stays by williams side despite everything. ughahhvhh

uhhhh final note. pain and suffering. william gets a whole Fucking Complex about sharing a name with david after this. but he still doesn't change it back to wisp because he knows x knows his identity now. which means he doesn't know how many other people could know, how many other people x will tell out of spite as a way to get back at him (<< william wisp paranoia WIN) and it's. LEAGUES better that any potential enemies would come after david and hurt david. (in fact he probably privately wishes for something like that to happen. hed never say that out loud though). using his name as a kind of shield even though it hurts like hell to be connected to his brother like that.

anyway! yeah! wisp-bell brothers torment nexus or whatever!

[ayoyoungg]

Because I got sucked into the drama on Twitter, I watched Popstar Academy (would not have otherwise):

First, I hate survival shows. I’m just like keep that stuff within the company and start showing us material once you’ve chosen the people for the group. I know every company goes through that process of selecting people for the debut group but I’m not a fan of seeing it.

Reason I say this is because I understand & get people having star power or certain people always being in the lineup because they fit what the company is looking for. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. In fact I think that’s the industry. But the way this show was formatted and presented to the girls, they went in thinking something else. Which I’m not sure what they were pitched vs if it was naïveté. (Also, it seems like only a small percentage of the girls were actually familiar with or fans of kpop, just an observation).

Having like 8 or so trainees join LATE, and picking trainees that didn’t even have singing or dancing background was certainly a choice. Like the show made the initial training group feel like a pre-training to get the girls where they need to be for the actual training/show. It’s a typical Netflix thing but I feel like some of the later trainees could’ve really benefitted from being there from the start. Especially since the show had some of the girls really starting from ground 1.

It turning into a survival show halfway through was VERY messed up, especially considering how many girls kept asking before they agreed to the program if it would be a survival show. That contract must have either been very vague with the wording or small font or something.

As the program was happening live, I think I only saw the Buttons performance. I wasn’t paying much attention to the program because I wasn’t interested. That said, the survival show didn’t even make sense if it was solely based on the performances & whatever content the girls chose to post on social media. I understand wanting to gauge fan interest in the girls but like idk have test groups? They should know any time there’s fan voting it’s biased as hell. There should always be a percentage taken into account with fan voting vs judge voting. But anyways, what makes this survival show weird is that part of what affects choosing favorites in other survival shows (like p101) is that you get to see the trainees interact with each other. Even though mnet evil edits, you see through the show who has leadership skills, who’s caring, who’s hardworking, who gets along, who’s improved, etc. All of that was missing when the program was live?! (unless I’m wrong) We’re only learning this stuff through the documentary. I’m only using this as an example but the girls were so shocked Manon scored high, but viewers didn’t know about the missed practices & stuff. Had viewers known, would Manon have scored so high? Who knows (she def has it girl + charisma, so very likely, but you see my point)

On Manon, as I alluded to before, I think it def would’ve been better if she were in that starting trainee group. While some things were missed due to covid which is excusable, it seems that other classes/training were missed just because. It has me curious if something serious irl was going on or what the cause was, but I suppose that’s her business. Classes/training are important. Personally, it would affect my choice of a bias if I knew that they skipped a lot and broke rules such as missing curfew a lot. That said, I do appreciate that she does show up & out when the time calls for it. I’m not sure if the girls really did isolate her or if anyone at least made an attempt to check on her. I understand the frustration of someone who consistently breaks the rules not getting penalized in some way. I’m glad Manon held herself accountable and really showed up at the end.

This program being in partnership with Hybe is so…🙃 to me. For example, Bang PD discussing the plateau in trainee growth and urging them to debut faster. Meanwhile Hybe groups are on blast about their short trainee times and the need to develop skills further. We start seeing more & more injuries in the girls and it’s like maybe if they took the time to further their training and learn how to properly do things, the amount of injuries could lessen. And then the emphasis on social media, developing a fandom, and discussing the parasocial relationship — felt very Hybe. Like yes social media skills are needed but the way they discussed creating the fandom was kinda 🙃 to me. Like the fandom is going to form. Those who were less comfortable/confident/familiar with posting on social media were at a disadvantage. And with them suddenly being thrown into a survival show, it’s not like they were prepared to appeal themselves to the public yet. I don’t think it should have been so important for them to necessarily be good at social media yet. That’s something I think could have been saved for the debut group (or maybe if they KNEW from the beginning it’d be a survival show with that type of format, more of the trainees would be those good at social media). But with how this survival show was formatted, social media was the only way to learn anything about their character.

[stevenbasic]

Growing into the Job, Post 387: Another Favor

I am mentally stable. I am mentally stable, calm and cool and collected, any time I want to be. I am strong and ready for change. I am in control of myself and the world around me. Despite all this crappp I am not going to freak out. Shhhhh. The power to be better is in my hands. My emotional strength is matched only by my physical strength and I am haha really really strongggg

I stared into the bathroom mirror of the staff bathroom with the best smile I could manage and what I hoped wasn’t a super-crazy look in my eyes. I could feel the ceramic of the counter top threatening to give way under my finger tips and saw the mirror haha shaking from the authority in my voice as I said my affirmation. I took a long, slow, deep breath. Yes, I was strong. I…me! I was in control.

Okay haha enough of that! I need to talk to Marisela before she leaves. I stepped out of the bathroom with the paper I needed. 

Mmm…But actually I am actually really, really proud of myself for not being too upset right now. I mean haha - look at the day I’ve had! The photoshoot stuff was cool this morning (I’m sooo excited to be a TV star haha) but then the lawyers? Ack. They tried to take him away! What the actual F. Are there more of them? Should I look? What would I do if I found them? And then - then! - the girls showed me that security video? The one that showed it was Cici - one of my own girls! - that had trashed his apartment? Ack ack ack!! If I hadn’t been able to center myself with these breathing exercises, these manifestations, I may have haha just she-hulked out right there in the breakroom where they showed it to me. I’m so glad Lakshmi had taken him away to keep him busy, brought him along with her to see some patients. I wouldn’t have wanted him to see my reaction (I didn’t really like that soda machine anyway, I’ll buy us a new one) or know that it was…what was her name?…Cici that did that.  <clack clack clack> My heels echoed loudly through the hallways. I wanted everyone to hear.

Was I angry? I mean, yeah, maybe a little. Both with, uh, Cici and with what happened with those lawyer guys. But I knew what I had to do, had a plan. And hah I didn’t think he’d mind. I liked how it felt, you in my blouse, earlier. Didn’t you? The closer u are the stronger I feel. This’ll let me be really strong. 

I could make it happen, I knew it. I turned the corner as I thought of his little head, buttoned up in my top. Nnngh! Haha we could be even more. It might take some time, and he might need a little convincing, but omigod yes. Yes yes. I needed to keep him safe and I figured what better way than to-

Haha shush, Missy. You have to find that girl. Cici, right? Or Cynthia? Why can I not picture her face? Anyway. Let’s take care of these lawyers first. I had an idea, was headed to who I needed to ask for help. I had the paper. 

<<clack clack clack>>. Thunder cracks through the halls, really loud. The office was otherwise quiet. There were only a few girls left, mostly cleaning up the rooms, and he was somewhere with them. I bet you hear me. Does it make your heart race? Do you get a little nervous? Good. 

Marisela, thankfully, was still at her desk. 

“Hey Melissa.”

“Hey sweetie,” I replied, appearing calm. Marisela had her own little corner in the main office where we let her do her work. She’s really smart. I looked over her shoulder. She had one of her graphic-design programs opened up. “Are you working on the-?“

“Yeah,” she replied, swiveling to me in her chair. Aww she was just so pretty. Her straight black hair was done really nice today, probably for our little company photoshoot. “I just started on it.” She opened up a window for me, but then turned back, finished looking at the screen

“Ooo! looks cool. Hey, listen, I'm just about ready to take him home for the night. Would you mind closing up?” Still proud of myself for not acting crazy. But I could only hold it in for so long. 

“Of course sure yeah,” she replied, “Lakshmi and Josie and I are going ax-throwing. Wanna come?”

“Fun but no,” I answered, “I have something to do at home.” Him. 

Marisela's eyes flittered as she noticed the yellow paper I had in my hand. I’d tried not to crinkle it too much. Her smile crooked as she eyed it. 

 “Let me guess, you have another favor.”

I giggled, and maybe did sound a little crazy. “I do,” I said, handing the paper out to her. She took it, glanced down at it, noticing the signatures and names and all the legal words. They’d dropped it, left it behind. “These people tried to take him,” I said, my voice changing. I felt it, it got deeper. It might have been my imagination but I think the room dimmed. “I want you to help me. Can you do something about this?”

Marisela brought the paper closer to her face. She sniffed it, drawing in a deep breath. Suddenly her eyes widened, and a dark smile that showed a lot of teeth - two of them getting really sharp -  broke her face. Those big brightly pretty eyes flashed. She had fangs. 

“You know what I want?” I asked. She had their scent. 

“Absolutely...”

=============================================

[monsterfloofs]

V1C3 LORE! V1C3 LORE! I am kicking my legs as I look at them in all all their pride and problem filled glory. I am so so curious to see them tested to their limits for their love, one that’s angry and frustrated and fights back. One that makes choices that would threaten the monopolized near anarchy-like control this dystopian is under. To threaten their pride, their iron fist, their very ego, to have it almost crumble into fumbling scraps when the human they care for is scared and livid and nearly dying from the chokehold of this world. Of them. How would that dent their mind? Dent their company? Rust their sharper edges, worn down by beat burst love from squeezing too hard?

Being robotic they probably just get rid of the source of it all, but it hurts. They can factory reset. Too risky, too much information lost. They could filter through and pinpoint these emotions in a program exposing their soft insides, their code, but they’re too useful. They feel too good. Warping their human to be anything otherwise is no less terrifying of a thought either. That’s a scary part of love for someone like them I’d imagine

Fighting and flowing against and with their human’s every more stings and burns but the mere idea of riddance is like a guillotine.

They are so fascinating and I wanna pick them apart and see they stretched out to their limit. It’s interesting to see these rigid controlling types be bent screeching and rough like metal. Thankfully there are ways in the world to break through steel, softening it, heating it, molding it. V1C3 is so intriguing and I need to study them under a microscope and see them put in situations.

I am extremely normal about them odbskanakqmql (if any of this makes you uncomfortable please let me know)

Alternately:

V1C3: Sex is disgusting and primitive, you have millions of other form of enjoyment and you choose to do so in the most depraved manner

—

V1C3, having installed various sex toys now and definitely known for fucking the human VERY LOUDLY out of possessiveness (and being asked): …

Other robots: So.

V1C3: shut the fuck up-

(^ probably wouldn’t say this but I think it’s a funny thought)

Oh my haha, that is quite a deep dive! I am totally here for it!!

You mentioned looking at what they would go through, but also!!

On the other hand you got the human that is fighting them at every twist and turn. They h a t e them. But then also get to see a side of them NO ONE ELSE SEES. Something quiet and sweet, what does that do to the human of the equation too?? Is it like quicksand?? Slowly realizing that the villian they have hated all this time has a hand on their heart? 8O WHAT THE HECKIE DO THEY DO WITH THAT???

They can't just forget or delete files, and their wounded heart I am sure hurts just as much if not more! To love someone who is so flawed, and possibly a blight on society THAT WOULD BE HORRIBLE!!

It's like you start out trying to figure out how to destroy them, but then save them? Or save myself? Can I do both?

WHEW-- That is some deep stuffs.

Vice was my attempt at making a romanceable baddie, and there are a lot of messy atrings attatched. <: 3

I know I can say, if they dealt with a fiesty protag. it would take them a lot... longer for them to bond with this person? They also may not have as much inaccidental power over Vice. Vice wouldn't trust them too much. It also makes me think if the beanie really despised Vice they wouldn't have taken whatever offer, or Vice wouldn't have been interested? I am sure people despising them is probably a dime a dozen! Why this specific person?

Putting someone that has known activity against his empire in "house arrest" would be a plausibilty for their character and also for them and the protag. to exist in the same space for a while. Taking someone who is important to the human organization and tossing them in a quinessention lavish jail to laugh in the face of their opposition.

Essentially like: "Oh, I think you have had enough time to scheme for a while. You get a time out."

Heckin rood robo-boss >:I Let me have my vendetta.

And also spear jaded remarks at eathother through dealing with one another.

That might... make more sense and work out potentionally?

BUT OH MAN 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Vice with humans is a little more careful, and considerate, even when their irk him. BUT HOLY CROW VICE HAS A ROBOTTO INSULT THEM?? Oh man. 👁👁 I think they'd crunch the poor bbies face into a wall, and ask politely for a new member of staff SKDKDKSKS

WHEEZE HHHHHHH

Oh man oh man oh man--

Yeah please staff... do not piss this one off, they have no mercy for beings who can fix themselves easily..🥺

A cheeky bot... may easily become scrap metal if you say something that Vice deems as rude.

That's why having a sweetie would be so 😳 The JUNK THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH??

"I stole yo car, I broke out of the house again and I am driving down the interstate at 4 am." 😎😎😎😎😎😎😎😎

THAT RIGHT THERE gets an amused chuckle and a "Must we do this again? You know you can't get far. ♡"

While some other poor folk gets hunted down for so much giving them a sassy comment dkskskkdsks HHHHHH.

But- yes ahaha 🤣🤣🤣

NO, NO YOU'RE GOOD, OH MY GOSH I AM GLAD YOU LIKE THEM 👁👁

Thankfully, due to Vice nature, they would give their hooman a lot of space! So no one has to hear intimate time! Unless... Vice is being an arse... >:I

I also can't really see fiesty protag... really wanting any kind of intimate nonsense with them...? 🤔 There may be a way that works out later?? Thinking about hating someone and human emotions that hooman would be more likely to trad insults.. oh man-- I like you dear anon, get really into those details and try and understand the microcosm that is story!

I wanna be able to see how it all would thread together 🥺🥺🥺 That one would definately be a quintessential enemies to lovers trope though, oh gosh!

Most scenarios kind of would be?? But this one, very much so!!

[pbandjesse]

Today was not what I expected at all. It was really good in parts and really not and others but we survived to see another day.

I slept okay here. I was very comfortable. I did not really want to get up. And I woke up at 7:30 when my alarm went off and then reset my alarm for 8:30 and go back sleep. I would wake up a little bit before my alarm went off and it didn't really matter that I had slept in. My first group wasn't supposed to come till 9:45.

So I got washed up and I got dressed. I didn't wear the outfit I have planned but I really liked the outfit I ended up.

Help a little bit better about myself to die. I still feel like my face seems wrong. And I was talking to CJ about it and I think I might be holding my breathing in the wrong spot. Like I'm holding my face incorrectly and pulling my chin in. So I'm going to try to be mindful about that.

I also just think it'll help me breathing.

Because breathing was hard today. There's more wildfire smoke coming down from Canada and we were back in the 170s for air quality. Not as bad as it was a couple weeks ago, but hazy.

I didn't really know if it was going to affect us today because no one communicate than anything to me. I had my yogurt and I walked down to the lodge to get to cartons of milk to replace the ones I had used. And then I came back up here and I started working on my knitting while I waited for my group. I also started reading one of my dear America books that I have.

And then Alexi walks by and she's like are you ready to teach inside today? And I'm like what? Apparently the Y made the call that we need to be inside as much as possible and cancel any programs that are outside. But mine's kind of both so I was a little confused. And she said that I should try to have my group fit at my picnic table in the building. So I had to take as much of my materials outside inside and set up a new still life and set up spaces for the kids to work. Which is fine I just wish someone would have told me earlier. I don't like that I felt like I was finding out on the fly.

And it ended up not mattering anyway because none of my group showed up this morning. I was supposed to have the boys and neither came. That was really upset about that! I felt stupid. I just hate the lack of communication. I just want to know what's going on.

So I started working on my boxes for color wars this weekend. I got paper cut and a different paints collected and brushes and things. I got really frustrated with my big paper roll and I kept threatening to die of things were even a little annoying. I was just really frustrated and just had to find some way to make myself laugh.

While I was working on that Tony came up to ask about helping him turn a pair of pants and shorts but because of the way that the cargo pockets were it would have made them like 4-in inseams and he didn't want hochie daddy shorts. So that was no. And we chatted for a while about how bad the communication has been. And he told me that Jorge wanted to do arts and crafts still even in their group missed it. So I said I would bring some over to the woodlands village.

I came down there with watercolor paint for him and brought some extras in case I need the kids wanted to do it too but they were watching a movie. So I said bye and went back up to my art building to read.

I double check with Cody that we were having the same lunch as normal and then when the time came I went down to the lodge.

Meals were a mess today. Every single meal was chicken nuggets. With some other side. Lunch was chicken with mashed potatoes which were incredibly salty. And vegetarian chicken was very overcooked. Apparently all of the food that was in the fridge spoiled when we lost power and this was the stuff that was still frozen. So it makes sense but it just kind of sucked today.

I enjoyed Celia and Annabelle's company at lunch though and we had some laughs and talked about how we can improve the enclosures for the animals and it was just a nice time.

Eventually I went back up to arts and crafts to chill until they camp was supposed to come. I was told that they were coming and they did. But then there was only five of them. And one of them wasn't even one of their campers they were from day camp one. But it was fine. They were actually a lot of fun. And they worked really hard on their drawings and once they were done their art that I planned they asked to use clay and draw and we were just having a blast up here. And I was really enjoying talking to my co-workers. I let them stay a lot longer than the plan time so I lost my break but I had such a long break in the morning that I didn't actually care. I was just having a good time doing my job.

Once they left I tested CJ to see if tipis was coming but she didn't know. So I sat down to read my book but then all of a sudden they were there. And I wasn't sure what to do with them because the plan had been to have everyone sit inside but there was 14 of them and their teenagers and so they were not all going to fit at the stable. And so we caught Alexa but she didn't have a good answer so I just decided to tell them all to grab watercolors and an object to draw and we would go to the dining hall. And it was not an ideal situation at all but you know what we made it work.

And it was pretty good time overall. The kids worked really hard and they were a lot of fun to talk to and there was some other drama because apparently one of the little girl cabins tried to clean but mixed bleach and ammonia in their bathroom by accident and created mustard gas. And so they had to evacuate their building. And it was just a day. We were really going through it.

Once TV was done they help me bring everything back up to arts and crafts and I gave them some stuff for their award projects that they need to do and then they left me.

I would spend some time reading and eventually Ty and Quan joined me. They sat on my back tables and ate their meal and we just gossiped and talked and it was a lot of fun. They filled me in on some of their feelings about stuff and I got to learn some of the weird things that are going on different villages that I don't always know about. It was very much a field report and that was a lot of fun to do because I haven't done in a while.

Eventually Quan would have to go but before he did we all laid in the hammocks and just chatted and it was a lot of fun. I just really felt connected to other people in a way I haven't yet at camp and that was really really nice. It was funny though because I was telling Ty that our age gap is the same as the age gap between them and the kids. So I see them as children which is why I don't participate in some of the things that they do outside of camp. But while they thought it was very funny they did seem to understand what I meant. And it was just nice to talk to them.

Eventually they would both leave me and a couple of the tipi kids came back to wash my arts and crafts stuff that was donated from Camp Spencer for service hours. So I pulled a chair out front and gave them some scrubby things and a washbin and they worked for about 45 minutes and I read my book while they chatted and told me all their good gossip and weird stories. And it was a lot of fun.

Soon Tony would come by with Ty and they apparently were playing a game that is Camp wide where people are trading objects. Some objects are "worth" more than other things. Black plastic spoons are very rare and will worth a lot. So I happen to have a bunch of those so I handed those off. And other objects are worth more because you can trade based on someone's perceived value. And I have a whole box of weird objects so I let Ty and Tony go through it and they fought over it and ran around the building and it was very silly. But everyone was having a great time and there was lots of laughing. And everyone was like why do you have all this stuff?? And I'm like I don't know I just collect things over time. And some of it was old pieces of dollhouse furniture and collections and things I've come across and been given and I was glad that it was going to some people that would enjoy it even if it was for a silly game.

It ended up being called the trinket game and I decided I wanted it in on it too. So I held back a couple things that I thought were interesting and I gave a couple away to Louisa and to CJ. So that they can participate if they wanted to. Later in the night I found out that Louisa traded the pen I gave her for a battery and then traded that for a mini jenga block which she eventually traded for the god pen which is blue. And she's trying to trade it up for the god egg. I don't know who has the god egg right now but that's high prize. I have not traded anything yet but I will. Maybe tomorrow. I have some really neat little objects that I think I can get even more neat little objects for. And I just need it'll be funny to be part of the ecosystem. The economy if you will.

Dinner was fine. I really liked the roll. They also have very good tater tots. And I set up my table in the back again and CJ and Annabelle joined me and it was fun. It was nice talking to them. And just catching up about the highs and lows of the day. We're all kind of already a little burnt out and it's sucks that that's the position we've been put in when it's only the first week of camp. It's literally felt like a month. I really hope next week feels more normal because this week has been hard.

After dinner I wasn't really sure what was happening. There was a birthday so they sang and there was ice cream sandwiches and then they were talking about flag and honor cabin and Kona ice. And no one really knew what was going on. So I walked back up to the art building to look for more trinkets and then I came back to the lodge and would go with CJ to help collect the mail to go hand out at flag.

And at 5:00 they get honor cabin so that meant I'm going to go get Kona ice before there's a line of children. So I got my snowball and I decided to get pina colada like always but I put a little mango in it for fun. I may or may not do that again. maybe next week I will try a whole new flavor. There's one called tigers blood that I'm interested in.

I wasn't sure if I was going to go to skit night. But I decided to because CJ wanted me to sit with her. And it was long. We were there from 7:30 until 9:30. They really need to put a cap on how long the kids skits can be if they're going to allow them to do skits. Because those first three took a full half an hour. Blanche and her group performed a song. One of her original songs. She played the guitar while the kids song and it was so sweet. And there was a couple shadow boxing rounds and then the tipis did a hilarious inflatable boxing match which was so good. And then some of the girls did skit of counselor impressions but it was like more dynamic than normal so it was really really good. That was probably one of my favorites. They all pretended to be kids coming to ask to go outside in a storm and they would pretend to be a specific counselor and respond the way that that counselor would respond And it was very funny. They really captured the essence.

But it was long and all of us were kind of done by the end. The last one was the oldest boys doing shadow boxing which was fine but two other group sat down the shadow boxing as well so it was a little bit like ugh. And they took like 15 minutes to do their whole sketch because there was a highlight reel pretending that like these two guys were like teammates and then rivals and then they had a falling out and never played again and became coaches and it was a really good storyline but the actual shadow boxing took way too long. I do got to give it to them though Quan had spent $80 to buy a trophy that he had engraved and I just love the commitment to the bit. That is hilarious.

But finally we were done and I came back up to the arts building and wash my face and put on lotion and I feel a lot better. I did have to go back down to the lodge to get my picnic table because I had left it there because someone told me they wanted to use it for their skit but then that did not happen so it's fine. I mostly just wanted to be laying down.

And that is where I am now. I brushed my teeth and I'm charging my phone and I am hoping that tomorrow feels more normal. I have stockade and pioneers and woodlands and some day camp groups and then I get to go home. And I talked to Alexa before I came up here and she said she's not sure what tomorrow is going to look like because of the air quality. It's gotten worse as the day's gone by. But hopefully it continues on the other way and it doesn't get super bad again. Let's hope.

I hope that you all have a great night tonight. I hope that the smoke isn't bothering you. I love you all. Good night!

[norcalbruja]

Laptop issues averted, thanks to... Tony Stark?

My laptop got fixed in half an hour yesterday, so I didn't have to drop it off at the store or pay anything!

This folds into my delayed updates, because you know how Loki keeps telling me he has "Marvel connections" because HE is a character in Marvel? Iron Man / Tony Stark showed up around the first week of March and he's just... hanging out with Mythical-Loki.

Either Tony was called up by me listening to "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath for a while (because I don't mind pop music in general, but there's only so many times I can listen to THE SAME FIFTY pop songs from some CEO's nightclub playlist for eight hours a day), or Loki intentionally called him over.

--

I have met Tony and the other Avengers before, but I haven't actually asked them for HELP before (what with... being normal and not needing any life-threatening emergencies). But around the 10th, I was just REALLY fed up with work and its inconsistencies, so I was like "Oh mannnnn, I hate this place really bad today. Tony or whoever has the necessary skills, do you think you can get me off work ON TIME instead of 30-40 minutes late?"

He was like "SWEET, you're asking for things!"

GUESS WHAT, I was only about fifteen minutes late when I left work! Considering my workplace can never figure out whether I'm actually supposed to help close or not, 15 minutes is extremely quick.

Unfortunately the next day, my cash register at work started glitching out and rebooted for no reason.

I can put the cash register down to "the workplace computers are ancient, and it's not a secret that they don't work right half the time," but then MY electronics started getting buggy.

My laptop wouldn't turn off until I held down the power button, and then it wouldn't turn back on properly. My phone was also lagging a lot and tended to freeze sometimes.

I was like "Tony!!! If this is you, please stop messing with my electronics!!! If this is someone ELSE, same thing--please don't wreck my stuff JUST YET! I paid $700 for the laptop!"

--

The next day was Monday, and the bowling alley was basically a ghost town, since weekends and holidays are our busiest times. I was doing unnecessary checks on the lanes just to WALK AROUND because I only made about three transactions that weren't paying for my own lunch, so I was like "Fucking hell, they don't even need me here. ...Tony? Can you get me off EARLY this time?"

So Tony went, "Ohhhhhhh yeah, time to turn up the juice!"

In the most Iron Man way of getting me out of work, the managers had me finish my ALCOHOL SERVING TRAINING after lunch. So I officially got off an hour early, but I also spent the hour before that just legally stuck in the office. I love wasting company time, lol.

So I was like "Thanks Tony, you alcoholic motherfucker. But now I’m done with all my employee training!"

He went, "Honey, you know I’m a SMART alcoholic, right? This place is a mess! The possibilities for getting you out of this joint are endless!" And now I need to make a note to BE VERY SPECIFIC about those possibilities. Eek.

While I was panicking about my laptop on Facebook, I wrote "Tony Stark, please make sure I don’t need to get a new laptop JUST yet."

I make a lot of sarcastic pop-culture "prayers" on social media, so I don't think more than like, two people who already know about my pop-culture paganism would realize that I have ACTUALLY been talking to Tony Stark (or "a spirit who identifies as him," for my followers who might find pop-culture paganism weird).

And uhhhhhh... yesterday, my laptop got fixed in half an hour for free.

Granted, my original Windows OS got corrupted somehow, so they had to wipe everything and re-install a new OS, but my important stuff is backed up to Dropbox and Microsoft! All I really need to do is log back into my main websites and re-upload my games and programs. I'll definitely take needing a few days to "refurnish" the laptop in exchange for not buying a new laptop, or paying for repairs.

THE KICKER: While I was driving home with my Fixed Laptop, I saw some huge graffiti on a billboard with MY FIRST NAME ON IT. It is specifically only visible when I'm driving HOME that way, so that gave me a small heart attack.

Tony and Loki thought it was hilarious.

Now, aside from the snarkiness, Tony is actually pretty fatherly towards me and like... he HAS been asking me to ask him for help since he came around.

I think part of it's because he knows I'm ALSO depressed, and I have a complicated relationship with alcohol/drugs because... you know, I'm depressed AND anxious. I don't want to end up self-medicating, especially since I REALLY like the taste of cider and mead and wine.

This one time, Tony told me, "Look honey, I am NOT a god. I am a person. When someone asks for help, I help them. More importantly, I try to help them in the WAY THEY ASK. You asked the gods for help a million times already! DEAD PEOPLE hear it! The FOREST hears it! Sure, the gods tried their best, but it was not the help you need. And most of your own people's gods just aren't showing up. All you want is a house and an art career, and I'M FUCKING RICH. If I can't help you myself, I can find someone who does!"

And then he was like "New laptop, new year, new life! As His Highness keeps telling you."

Anyway: Thank you again for helping with my laptop, Iron Man. I shall keep away from spiders for the near future.

[sweetagnostis]

What do you think of little boys in ballet? I tried asking someone on here and they said because there are usually no boys changing rooms at childrens' ballet schools "the little boys would stare!" - and then tried to claim "none of these think should stop little boys from doinf ballet" - which i pointed out is proven a lie by her "little boys would stare" stuff. It reminded me of what happened with Take Our Daughters to Work Day - the Ms.Foundation that started it *wanted* to start a day in parallel for sons' but - as demonstrated in this NYT article where girls on a TYDTW day see a Take Our Sons Home Day as a way of tormenting boys - https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/29/opinion/editorial-notebook-a-day-for-daughters.html - guys knew that the Ms. Foundation didn't mean it when they said feminism wants to liberate little boys as well as little girls from gender roles. Not really. So a son's day never got off the ground. I grew up in the 1980s with a congenital defect - most of the adults in power or their proteges had been trained during the eugenics/forced sterilization of the disabled period and were against "mainstreaming" people like me - they said one thing when people could see them - and did horrible things to me and others who were effectively their helpless playthings.

There's, um, a lot to unpack here, so I'll just focus mainly on your question, my thoughts on boys in ballet: (To clarify, I'm not a ballet dancer myself, I work in the office for a ballet company.)

I'm not sure who you spoke to, but the company I work for (which encompasses both a ballet school and a professional ballet company) has always had separate changing areas for boys and girls. So that's never been an issue! I've never personally heard of a mixed gender changing room anywhere really, my theater experiences has always taken pains to make sure boys and girls have separate areas. And in the 7+ years I've worked for this company there's never been an issue of inappropriate behavior from male students/dancers towards female students/dancers or vice versa, and trust me as the sole customer service person I WOULD get that angry parent call/email if anything of that nature had ever happened!

For general thoughts, we LOVE our male students and dancers of all ages! The directors of the ballet company i work for (which encompasses both a professional ballet company and a ballet school) very actively work expand our boys dance program and fight back against stereotypes that ballet is only for girls or that there's something wrong with boys studying dance. We may not have nearly as many male dancers in our school as female dancers, but we have male students ages 4 to 18ish and they are all good students, most of the older boys are incredibly dedicated and have been there at least as long as I have.

Men have been in ballet as long as there has been ballet, and any ballet company worth its salt wants and needs male dancers. I'm not sure of your classical ballet knowledge, but without men in dance, who would portray the Nutcracker prince? The brave Prince Desire of The Sleeping Beauty? The dashing Basilo of Don Quixote? And many, many other famous male ballet roles.

While there are shared elements, ballet, for better or worse, has a strict gender binary: women dance on pointe, and men have their own separate ballet technique training that typically leans more into athletic jumps, weight training, and partnering technique. When performing partnering technique in ballet the male dancer really needs to be in good physical shape and know what they're doing, as the safety of the female dancer often depends on the male dancer.

If I can yank a few examples from Bing Images:

Pas de Deux from The Nutcracker

Rose Adagio from The Sleeping Beauty - it might not look it but is a famously difficult sequence for the female dancer, and she really relies on the hold she has with her male partners to keep her pointe. (That handhold typically becomes a death grip by the end of the sequence, lol.)

Grand Pas from Don Quixote.

All of this takes YEARS of training to master, so the earlier a dancer starts training, the better! Many dancers can start as young as 3 years old, but some dancers I know started studying later. We do have a dedicated men's program where men's technique is taught in boys-only classes, but there are classes where boys and girls train together, partnering obviously for older students but there are other classes where boys and girls are combined.

For the record, I'm in favor the idea of breaking down the ballet gender binary between men and women's technique, but that's a whole separate rant, haha.

Complaints about gender binary aside, I'd never ever say that boys shouldn't study ballet. It's as athletic as any sport and has physical and mental benefits. Saying "boys shouldn't study ballet" would be like saying "girls shouldn't play sports" - a terrible and incorrect baseless assumption.

I'm friends with our principal male dancer, and he told me about how studying dance literally changed the trajectory of his life: he did a dance camp in the summer as a teenager, auditioned for and was accepted into a prestigious men's dance study program, and this led to opportunities to allow him to become the first person in his family to get a passport as he'd received a scholarship to study in the United States, where he has gone on to dance and choreograph across the nation. He is a wonderful dancer, reliable and safe for partnering technique, an emerging choreographer, a teacher in our men's program, and nothing but kind and respectful to everyone around him, even to little old me in the office. :) And while he's the dancer I'm closest to, he's by no means an exception.

So, uh, TL;DR: boys and men in ballet = good.

[imkylotrash]

Wouldn’t Change A Thing

Pairing: Riven x reader

Requests: The reader is sarcastic and fiesty and they have constantly arguments but are really into each other. Anonymous And The reader is the only one of her kind so she's automatically an outcast and on top of that she's a dark fairy, like she can control anything to do with shadows and darkness so like the complete opposite of Stella's powers and then Riven like becomes friends with her and it becomes something more than friends. Anonymous

Tagging: @bitchwhytho @music-of-melody @grey-girl @intoanothermind​

A/N I wasn’t sure if you meant dark fairy as like evil magic or dark fairy as just her powers being focused on the dark but I did a little mix, so I hope you like it! 

Look down. It’s the first thing you learn at Alfea to avoid the pointing fingers and mean looks. You tried talking back to them but when you’re one against a hundred the odds aren’t really in your favour no matter how badly you want to throw punches. Being a dark fairy meant being considered evil and bad but you just thought of the dark magic as a different kind of magic. You weren’t going around killing people or actively making life miserable for others, you just allowed your magic to be fuelled by something other than positive feelings and in turn you could control darkness. You could play with shadows and darkness creating illusions and conceal the light. Farah had let you attend Alfea in the hopes of turning your magic around but you were born with this magic. Everywhere you looked someone wanted you to be different. The only reason you attended Alfea was to learn control of your powers and be able to harness it better. The same laws of magic applied to yours even if the lessons focused on positive feelings. 

“Hey.” You look up against your better judgement to spot Riven watching you. The one specialist not bound by honour and a crucial need to do the right thing. He was the one person in this entire school who didn’t seem afraid of you despite having seen your powers in full scale. He’d volunteered to be your partner for the training program and ever since that day you’d practically been attached by the hip. You’d be lying if you said that you didn’t fancy him but he literally drove you crazy most of the time. He always had some snarky comment ready to piss you off and in truth, you knew he enjoyed it. He liked seeing you all riled up. It’s the very same reason you do it to him. He’s so easy to toy with and get upset, it’s almost too easy. 

“Didn’t think I’d see you today. Aren’t the specialists doing some sort of mission on the forest?” You put air quotes around mission knowing it’ll tick him off just slightly. 

“All I’ve said was hey and you’re already being an absolute asswipe.” 

“Don’t call me an asswipe, you dickhead.” He scoffs ready for a comeback when you start laughing. How have you been together for two minutes and you’re already at each other’s throat. And this isn’t even as bad as it can get for the two of you. 

“I brought you food,” he says clearly still in a mood. You grab the sandwich from him with a smile. 

“You know you can be sweet,” you say hoping it’ll distract him from acting like a sourpuss for the rest of the afternoon. He narrows his eyes looking your way but decides to drop it. Instead he signals for you to follow him out on the field. It’s weird seeing it completely empty but all the fairies are in the hall eating and the specialists are out in the forest which allows a little bit of privacy for the two of you. 

“So, why aren’t you with the others?” You take a bite watching for any indication that he’s not ready to talk about it. You don’t want to push him or make him feel worse. You know he worries about these things even if he’ll never admit to it. 

“I got caught smoking in the forest. Silva told me to stay behind and think about my actions.” You know he’s an avid user of euphoric drugs and alcohol but it’s gotten worse lately and it worries you. 

“Have you then? Thought about your actions.” There it is. The twitch in his brow telling you that he’s reaching his breaking point of being calm to getting angry. Just a slight puff of air could push him over the edge. 

“I’ve passed all my exams so far. What does it matter if I like to smoke a little joint once in a while?” he shrugs trying to sound carefree but you know him better than that. He doesn’t want Silva or Sky to be disappointed in him but lately, it seems like that’s all they’ve been. You get it. The fear of disappointing someone you look up to and deciding to fuck things up yourself so that it’s on your terms. 

“It doesn’t. Except it isn’t just once a while anymore. It’s every day.” 

“And what’s it to you, huh? Since when do you decide what I can and can’t do?” 

“That’s not what I’m trying to do, Riven,” you say getting annoyed by his poor attitude. You can’t help how they feel. All you can do is offer insight and try to make him see where they’re coming from. They want what’s best for him and perhaps they go about it in a misguided way but it’s only because they care. 

“You’re not my girlfriend. You can stop acting like it.” He’s trying to hurt you and it’s working. You’re very aware of the fact that you’re not his girlfriend and right now you don’t want to be. When you get up to leave, he grabs hold of your wrist. 

“Where are you going?” 

“To my room. I’m sure the four walls are better company than you are right now.” You try to shake free but he’s got a strong grip. You don’t want to use your powers to make him let go but you also just really want him to let go. 

“I’m sorry. I’m taking it out on you and that’s not fair.” Some of the anger evaporates but the comment about not being his girlfriend still stings. 

“I don’t want you to change. I just wanted to offer their perspective. You’re wasting away a lot your youth on that stuff.” You return to your seat next to him well aware that you weren’t actually going to leave but the threat seemed to clear his mind. 

“I’m sorry for what I said about you not being my girlfriend.” 

“You’re right, I’m not.” You shrug trying to act unfazed but Riven doesn’t buy it. 

“I really am sorry.” He puts his arm around you letting you lean your head on his shoulder. It’s almost peaceful to sit here watching the sun go down. 

“What if I wanted to be your girlfriend?” You say it so casually you’re even shocked yourself. It sounded like you just told him that you wanted to get cereal for breakfast. Why you even said it baffles you but it’s out now. You’re tired of pretending he’s not the one you want. You don’t see yourself with anyone else and you’d rather have him screaming at you for being his annoying girlfriend than his annoying friend. 

“What?” 

“You heard me.” He visibly swallows and it’s clear that he didn’t expect you to say it. 

“Okay.” This time you’re the one turning into a stuttering mess. Did he just say yes?

“What?” 

“You heard him,” he smirks repeating you from previously. Did you just become his girlfriend? In a sense it’s perfect. You’re not into all the drama and romantic gestures. This moment right here is the perfect moment for you and Riven. 

“Well, girlfriend. I have a proposition for you then,” he smiles and right now you’d agree to pretty much anything he says. You’re still not over how casually you and Riven just became a thing and at the same time being very happy about it. 

“What proposition?” you ask feeling slightly suspicious considering that this is Riven we’re talking about. 

“How about for every time I want a blunt, I’ll come find you and kiss you instead?” His words make you blush and you’re horrified by how much of a silly, little teenager those words turn you into. 

“I’d like that.” 

“I have to warn you though. It might happen quite often.” He leans in to kiss you. 

[byuntrash101]

PARAPHILIA - Part 2

Pairing: Privé!Baekhyun x Reader; CEO!Baekhyun x Reader

Genre: EstablishedRelationship!AU, CamCouple!AU, slice of life, smut

Tags: dom/sub dynamics, bratty OC (a lil' bit), orgasm control, orgasm denial, edging, overstimulation, toys, (light) bondage, masturbation (f), oral (m), angry sex, name calling (at the end)

Raiting: +18 (what's new though? 😂)

Word count: 3.8k

Summary: when your (very) busy boyfriend Baekhyun is called back to work to manage his company you decide to make him regret it with (very) suggestive videos.

A/N: I don't know how many times I discarded and started over this chapter but I actually like the way it turned out 💃. Don't hesitate to tell me what you think! My asks are always open!💖💖

Tag list: @lovebuginlove @calamell​ @bobohumyonlyboo @smolbeanmika @making-me-blush @wooya1224 @yixing-jaehyun @f4ncyvelvet @lalalala-lav @deligxt @xofanfics @byunsugar @dixnysustae @to-all-the-stories-i-love @artisticcgroove @myexoobsession  @geniusloey @blahblahblah-boo

Tell me if you want to be added/removed

PARAPHILIA masterlist | General masterlist

(Artifical love will forever be that bitch! Also the way he pushes his jaw to the front, and breathing heavily like that 🥵🥵)

Paraphilia #2: AUTAGONISTOPHILIA; Being on stage or on camera

S P O T L I G H T

"How come he's still in his office... Isn't it Sunday today?" you impatiently whisper to yourself as you turn your face to the calendar that's hanging in the fancy kitchen.

You were right it is Sunday. It's already noon and you haven't seen him yet today. Baekhyun, that is. Your boyfriend. Your incredibly successful but incredibly busy boyfriend but boyfriend nonetheless.

In the quiet of the luxurious house you can hear him speak on the phone. He's probably in a business meeting with some important partners... Yeah they must be really important because he usually always makes sure he saves the Sundays for you.

Baekhyun had always been this way. When you started dating he already was the CEO of Privé. Back then he was already very busy even though it was just a very young brand at the time but it's only gotten worse over the years or better depends on how you look at it...

"The richer, the busier" you say out loud to yourself as you move to the couch of the living room.

You sigh and pull up the cover on your legs as you switch the drama you were watching back on.

Time passes and you are completely caught up in the drama. The romance displayed is very cute and you wish you could be in Baekhyun's arms right now. Then you hear steps in the staircase, you whip your head in its direction and see your boyfriend wearing an expensive and very sleek Armani suit, with his raven black hair brushed back. He impatiently looks at his gold rolex.

His high cheekbones paired with the outfit makes your heart flutter when he appears in front of you. He looks stunning, like a dream.

But something is off about his attitude...

"Are you leaving ?" you ask a tint of sadness underlining your voice.

"Yes I have to... Something came up..." he says fixing a strand of hair in front of the mirror. You bite your lip.

"But... It's Sunday today" You say sulking, giving him puppy eyes

"I know baby but it looks like our website is under a cyber attack and I have to go fix it right now. The banking info of the customers might leak..." his voice is a little harsh and you can't help but to feel hurt by his tone.

"Ok" you say, giving up with a sad smile trying to not let him see how it affected you.

"I'll be back as soon as I can" he says waving in your direction before grabbing the keys of the Audi and walking out the front door...

You sigh once again. And try to forget Baekhyun's harsh tone and furrowed brows... but after a while you realize that you reqlly can't...

You squirm on the couch, working yourself up... The Sundays are supposed to be for you. He employs hundreds of people, couldn't one of them handle the cyber attack? Plus, Baekhyun is an expert in designing styling and marketing but he knows nothing about programming and other geeky stuff you can't even name. Why is his presence mandatory? You know he's the CEO but still... Would Elon Musk run off to the office if Tesla.com was under a cyber attack?

Probably... the voice of reason in your head answers. But you shake your head, chasing away the annoying truth.

You sigh but in annoyance this time. Then an idea blooms into your mind...

"What if... I made him want to get back as soon as possible" you smirk to yourself.

You grab your phone and press record. You perk up your lips and speak in a seductive tone.

"Babe. I miss you so much..." You say as you bring your other hand to your breasts.

"I think I need you right now" You stop the recording and press send before you can change your mind.

You wait for a second and think it's not enough... And to be quite frank, the idea of Baekhyun having to hide his boner at work because of you made you eager for more teasing.

Without even thinking you start to rub yourself between your thighs as you fill the immense living room with very soft moans.

You took your shirt over your head and slided down your pants leaving them on the marble flooring.

You laid on the couch only in your matching navy blue lingerie set. You took your phone back and made another little video for your busy boyfriend.

"Baby come home" you moaned as your fingers played with your bud through the thin lace. You lower the angle to let him see the sexy lingerie set but also where your fingers were. You felt the thrill of doing something so naughty on camera. You bit your lip as you pressed down harder on your core sending electricity throughout your body.

You hit send and drop the phone. You imagine Baekhyun getting these at the board meeting  and secretly stroking himself underneath the table, his dick threatening to rip out of his pants at any time.

Your phone buzzes as you receive a response. You smirk evilly knowing it's your powerful boyfriend being distracted.

"Stop that" he demands.

The smirk only spreads further on your face. You always liked to be a dissident little brat. So you decide to go even further.

You videotape yourself again. This time you slip your hand inside your panties and gasp at the cold sensation of your fingers against your hot folds. You dip them inside your center, moaning shamelessly.

You set your phone to the side and rub yourself over your panties again. You let the room be filled with soft moans and whimpers. Already picturing Baekhyun's clenched fist underneath the meeting table as the shareholders talk to him about the cyber attack. His mind only being preoccupied with your needy moans and sweet dripping pussy.

"Mmmh... Baekhyun... If you want me to stop..." You pump your fingers inside your heat, you feel your walls tighten around them, excited by the thought of being disobedient but also on tape. "Come and make me" you say showing the camera the long strings of juices coating your fingers. Quickly you press send again.

You smirk again as you moan louder, circling your clit through the drenched fabric of your panties.

Then you hear your phone buzz again. You read the text from, you're sure of it, your very angry boyfriend.

"I'm in the car I'll be over in 10 minutes I want to see you in the R-Room"

A huge smile spreads on your lips. You made it, you made your boyfriend return to you. You were so happy you didn't care about the consequences. You happily hopped off the couch and shuffled to the R-Room. You even left behind your clothes, still on the ground , knowing damn well, the mess was going to piss off Baekhyun even further.

You pushed in the door of the R-Room. This room was the only one of the villa that didn't have any windows. It was completely dark. You pushed on the light switch. In the middle was a table, with leather straps at every corner. One camera right over the table, filming it. Another one was on a tripod on the side. And a third one was for the close ups. Because in fact, the "R" stood for "Recording".

In this room,  you and Baekhyun made sextapes. Baekhyun initiated you years ago. Before it felt so wrong and you refused to be filmed from the neck up. You didn't even want to be fully naked. But now, you would simply slip on the black lace rabbit mask and you let Baekhyun bind you and do whatever he pleased to you in front of the camera.

Recently Baekhyun even convinced you to start a livestream show of your escapades. Quickly you two became really popular. Of course, Baekhyun is kind of a public figure due to his job so he never shows his face but you don't mind.

It was the most thrilling feeling. Imagining thousands of strangers touching themselves to you. Suggesting to Baekhyun things to do to you.

You slipped off your bra. You wanted to be nice and ready for Baekhyun when he came back. You put your hair up in a neat bun, even set up the cameras. You're so busy that you don't hear Baekhyun ruffling up the stairs.

He pushes the door open. Making you jump. He's mad sure but he can't help but to smile when he sees you completely naked, already waiting for him. But he doesn't intend on being easy on you, not after what you did.

You stiffen up as you see his smile fade away, walking towards you. He presses his clothed body against your naked one. He takes your chin in his cold slender fingers, forcing you to meet his eyes.

"You think you can make me this mad purposely just to make me fuck you?" You feel your cheeks grow red. "I don't think so missy" He lets go of you and turns around, ready to leave.

No no no, you think. You worked yourself up so much. You knew you were going to get punished but you didn't imagine that... It never crossed your mind that Baekhyun could actually just leave you hanging like this.

"S-should I turn off the c-cameras?" you stutter in a last attempt to make him change his mind. He stops as an even better idea blooms in his mind.

"You know what? No... keep them rolling"

A smile grows on your unsuspecting lips. Baekhyun goes to the laptop and to your different social media platforms where he types a message:

"Surprise live show to punish a disobedient little bunny rabbit"

Within seconds comments start to flow in. People were really excited to get a surprise unscheduled live. And so were you, cause you had no idea what Baekhyun had in store for you.

Baekhyun handed you the familiar bunny ears black mask. Your fingers trailed the lace details before you placed it on.

Baekhyun did some arrangements before switching the live on. The red light of the cameras started to blink and you knew you were on for one hell of a ride.

"All right everybody! Good evening! We are live today" Baekhyun said as the three cameras stared at your naked body.

You saw the first comments on the screen of the laptop.

"Wow already nice and ready"

"Ugh Bunny is so cute"

"I wish I was there to see Bunny irl"

Goosebumps poked up on your bare skin.

"Everyone today Bunny was very naughty and I had to punish her. So, I told myself why not let all of you enjoy it as well. Bunny..." Baekhyun turned to you. "Explain to our friends what you did" You looked up at your pissed off boyfriend.

"I... I disturbed master as he was busy... and was defiant"

"Good girl" Baekhyun caressed your cheek with his thumb.

You read some comments again.

"Oooh Bunny is in trouble hehe"

"Master!! Can't let this flow! gotta show her who's boss"

"Ok, so Bunny" Baekhyun starts "You will start by pleasing master" You looked up at him again you knew exactly what it meant. Baekhyun's hand left your cheeks to press on your shoulder. "On your knees Bunny".

His hand takes a tight hold on your bun as the other one unbuckles his belt and takes out his already rock hard cock.

"Open wide." he says his teeth shining under the indirect spotlight of the dark room.

You open your mouth and Baekhyun doesn't give you time to approach. Instead as soon as your mouth is open he rams his cock inside, hitting the back of your throat right away.  By reflex you want to pull away but his hand around you bun maintains your head right in place.

Right then and there, you finally mesure how mad you have made him. He's never this rough, at least not right at the beginning before you had any chance of teasing him and running his patience thin. But you did all that… just with your videos… Teasing him until he can only process the desire he has for you through rough angry sex.

He starts the thrust himself in your mouth. You gag loudly on his cock, trying to catch a breath, but he doesn't let you.

"Come on, look at the camera, baby. Let them see how pretty you are with my cock down your throat" Baekhyun whispers in a low husky voice. Your tears filled eyes turn to the camera where you have a look at the comments.

"Uh ohhh... Master really IS mad"

"Bunny's mouth must feel so good"

Baekhyun gradually slows down his pace, allowing you to finally breathe. He pops his dick out of your mouth, while you pant. You look back excepting more face fucking but instead Baekhyun is turning the cameras to the table.

Already? you think. But you still get up and walk to the table, quickly checking the comments again.

"Are we bounding Bunny already?"

"Oh yessss!! The fuck-table!!!"

You sat and one after the other, Baekhyun tied your wrists and ankles to the corners of the table with the attached straps. You were now laying there, leg spreads wide, completely exposed to the +15K people that were watching you right now. You bite your lip feeling the familiar thrill swell up in your chest again.

Then Baekhyun approached with the vibrator. He pressed the button and turned it on. The buzzing sounds made you anticipate the feeling of it. You lightly squirm in your restrains. Baekhyun skipped directly to the most powerful setting. You looked at him, he was wearing that same evil smile again...

He places the vibe on your drenched heat. First at your entrance, you gasped loudly. Goosebumps spreading on your skin. With agonizing slowness he brought the vibe to your clit. The incredible speed of the vibrations took you by surprise and you immediately threw your head back, pulling hardly on the straps as unexpected pleasure took possession of you.

Your moans filled the cramped dark room. Tears started to form again, your body didn't know how to react to such an intense and unknown sensation. You felt you juices rundown your legs and coat your thighs.

"Aaaah Master... I'm cumming" you warned Baekhyun and he instantly switched the vibe off. You looked back up at him with pleading eyes, a desperate whimper escaped your lips.

"M-Master p-please" you stuttered.

"Bunny, you really think you can be disobedient like this and expect master to let you cum?" Baekhyun's low voice sent a shiver down your spine. His hands traveled to your folds, slightly playing with your sensitive bud, he coated his fingers with your juices before bringing them to your lips.

"Taste yourself baby" you hungrily sucked his digits, grazing your teeth on them. But he took them back before you were even finished. Your eyes laid on the screen.

"Ohhh Bunny how do you feel?"

"Bunny's desperate moans are the BEST!!"

Again, you heard the buzzing sound of the vibe. Only this time the vibration was really low, barely audible.

You felt the soft vibrations directly on your swollen clit. You didn't even have time to process the feeling that Baekhyun was pushing himself inside your wetness. You moaned loudly as you felt his hot cock stretch you deliciously. When he reached the bottom of you he gently pulled out. He then grabbed a piece of duct tape and secured the vibe on your clit. You moaned again, instantly missing him inside you. But it wasn't for long because he thrusted himself back in with all his might. A strangled moan escaped your lips, Baekhyun chuckled coldly.

"Oops, sorry baby. Had to check if the vibe was well secured... Yeah it didn't move"

Yes, you knew that much as the delicious sensation of the soft vibrations didn't stop for a second.

Soon he started to move at a comfortable pace. His length explored the deepest part of you and you completely lost yourself along the way. Between the vibe and his never ending back and forth your mind went completely blank. 

"Look at the camera baby. Show this beautiful expression." Baekhyun's deep voice said.

You looked straight at the camera that was a close up of your face. You looked at the tiny return of the image. Your hair was an absolute mess. Your now loose bun was violently jumping with each of Baekhyun's thruts. Your eyes were fluttering close, rolled back. You looked delighted... and god knows you were. Baekhyun's big bulging cock felt like heaven inside you. You were so so so close to your release. Your toes curled upwards as you felt Baekhyun dig deeper inside you, his hands gripping tightly on your widely open thighs.

"Master, aaaah...  I'm so... aaah... close" you said. But then again. Baekhyun abruptly pulled out of you and switched off the vibe. Leaving your desperate little cunt hungry for more of him. You whimpered and looked at him again.

"Not yet baby" Baekhyun's low voice said. You squirmed, pulling on your restrains, protesting. The comments flew in again.

"No orgasm for Bunny!"

"I bet Bunny really regrets being disobedient now hehe"

You felt tears of frustration form in the corner of your eyes. You looked at your still pissed boyfriend.

"Please Master" you pleaded as you bucked your hips upwards, shamelessly showing him and the viewers your red and completely desperate pussy. Baekhyun chuckled coldly.

"Look at you acting like a bitch in heat, pushing up your swollen little cunt up in the air like this" you felt shame but the straps kept you from closing your legs. You could only whimper and squirm. Baekhyun brought his thumb to your mouth and you immediately sucked on it.

"You want to cum baby girl?" he asked, his voice somewhat softening. You nodded sucking vigorously on his thumb.

"Then fucking beg for it like a proper slut" he said back with his harsh tone, through greeted teeth, popping his finger out of your mouth.

One single tear rolled on your cheek. But you would have done anything. Anything in the world for him to finally let you cum.

"Master, please... I-"

"To the camera baby girl" Baekhyun interrupted you. You turned your head to the close up camera.

"I'm sorry for disobeying my master. I'm sorry for being dissident. I will do everything to make master forgive me." Baekhyun raised an unconvinced eyebrow.

"What do you say everybody?"

Your eyes went to the screen again.

"That was weak!"

"Make her beg again"

"I would just leave her like this tbh"

You turned back to Baekhyun as he smirked again.

"Gotta have to do better than this Bunny" You took a deep breath and looked at the staring camera.

"Please, Master. This bitch is yours. She would do everything to please her master, She really has learned her lesson. If you accept to fuck me more I promise I will make master feel better then ever." That intrigued him.

"What do you think guys?"

"Yes she was good enough. She deserved it."

"#dickforbunny"

Baekhyun then suddenly thrusted inside you. You gasped as the delicious sensation filled your mind again. You missed him so much these past few seconds. Your pussy was tightly gripping around his fat cock. Holding onto it like it was scared to lose it again, suffocating it in the process. And Baekhyun bit his bottom lip as your warmth enveloped him. He grunted loudly, fucking you senseless.

"Aaaah... master it's so fucking good..." you said moaning shamelessly in front of thousands of strangers.

Without a heads up, he switched back on the vibe, all the way up. The vibration was so powerful, that even Baekhyun felt your whole pussy vibrate and twitch around him. Your nails dug in your palms as you felt immense pleasure wash over you.

"I'm cumming master" You screamed, thrashing your head around, unable to contain your orgasm anymore.

"That's right cum for me baby. Cum on this dick" Baekhyun groaned in a low lust filled voice.

And finally you crossed the edge. Your orgasm washed over you, making you completely drunk on the filling as your eyes rolled back while facing the camera. Your eyes could barely read anymore.

"She's cumming like a real slut haha"

"Wow look at her legs shaking"

But then. Baekhyun didn't stop, nor did the vibe.

"Master, please I just came" You cried out as your voice was cut everytime Baekhyun thrusted powerfully inside you.

"Baby girl. Once begging me to continue, now begging to stop? Make up your mind" He grunted still powerfully slamming his length inside you.

You screamed to the sensation of your sensitive clit being over stimulated. Tears started to roll down your cheeks as you continued to shake. Gradually the pleasure took over you again, not asking permission or even announcing itself. It just simply won you over.

Baekhyun and the vibe both forcing you into a second orgasm, even stronger than the first one. You arched your back and pulled hard on the restrains, the leather dug into your skin. You screamed again, completely losing to Baekhyun's fat cock.

Baekhyun continued to thrust inside you until your pussy was throbbing and sucking him in so much that he had no other choice to release his thick cum inside you. Grunting and cursing, indulging himself in the pleasure.

He slowed down his pace gradually as you fell quiet. Completely exhausted from the forced orgasm. Baekhyun pulled out and you felt his juices mixed with yours slowly drip out of you. Your mind felt numb and you weren't even able to process the words your eyes were reading.

"Bunny won't forget that punishment."

"I came so much watching Bunny shake like this"

"Bunny was fucked out of her mind... look at her... fuck so hot!"

"That was the greatest live EVERRRR"

Baekhyun laughed while reading them.

"I'm glad you guys enjoyed. I'll end it now and will put Bunny to bed" he chuckled looking back at you, chest still heaving up and down, glistening with sweat.

Baekhyun picked you up and carried you to your bedroom where you instinctively snuggled under the blanket. You had a content smile plastered on your lips.

"I'm going to disobey everytime now" you said before immediately passing out. Baekhyun just lightly chuckled before laying soft kisses on your forehead.

PARAPHILIA masterlist | General masterlist  

Please tell me what you thought in my asks or the comments 💖💖

[1magine-engine]

Obey Me: MC is Hiding Something

When MC first awakens in the council room no one thinks much of them. They’re sitting there shivering like a dog left out in the rain and refuses to meet anyone’s eyes.

Lucifer starts to wonder what in devil’s name made you a good candidate for this exchange program. You barely had enough courage to answer when Lord Diavolo welcomed you so graciously, much less look dignified in any way.

Something odd he does observe though is, despite your silence and obvious terror, you seemed to accept the concepts of a Devildom and of RAD and him and his brother very easily or maybe you were just nodding along insipidly.

Mammon’s opinion of you is even lower. He already hated the idea of having to watch and make sure some stupid human didn’t get themselves killed on their first week. Damn it! That wasn’t his job! They can’t even carry a conversation, always just staring and watching everybody.

The human doesnt seem to have any kind of motivations or idea as to what they wanna do. Lucifer will never know if he leaves you alone at school for a while considering you’ve found your friends group with the other exchange students. And at home he sees no problem with letting you go off for just an hour or two. All you really do is walk around and examine the rooms and grounds. Maybe you’re an architecture freak or something.

Leviathan barely pays you any mind when you arrive, not like he ever has the chance to, being that he never leaves his room outside of going to class. But during breakfast he does notice how interested you seemed in the game console he’s playing on. And for a moment he wonders if you’re a gamer or an otaku too

but no, ugh you’re just some normie. You watch Asmo obsess over his compact mirror and Satan over whatever book he’s holding just the same. And you’re conversation is shit like Mammon said. Listless and lacking enthusiasm. But he doesnt stop you when you watch over his shoulder when he plays.

Satan doesn’t have a problem with you. That said, he doesn’t particularly like you. But he can respect how much time you seem to spend in the library, and how many books you borrow about the devildom and kinds of demons. It made sense, you wanted to know the kind of creatures you were surrounded by.

he does wonder though, why one day you seem to be borrowing a lot of Solomon’s books and Solomon’s time as well. But then again, that makes sense too, you were both human after all. Maybe you would stop flinching and get even a little more comortable with someone your race around. When one of his tomes disappear, he interrogates Mammon because of course, it’s Mammon.

Asmo likes your style. It’s not particularly glamorous or eye-catching but it matches your aesthetic. He especially admired your choices in acessories. The amulet you’re always wearing is so pretty and he swears sometimes it almost glows. And your rings were peak Devildom fashion, sharp, edgy iron designs. But he especially adored the silver spike earring you wore.

He was both delighted and smug that he was the first one to get a little closer to you. But of course, how could you resist! You even complimented the perfume he was wearing and asked where he got it. And he directed you to his favorite oils and essences shop that supplied products and ingredients from every realm. And while applying some to your wrist he catches a glimpse of a tattoo peeking out from under your sleeve but you pull your hand away, bashful. Oh, he’ll get you to show him someday. Heehee.

Beel is curious how a human can eat so much. He’s been told human athletes apparently eat a lot to maintain muscle mass and strength and the like but looking at you, you didn’t seem the type to do anything strenuous. Except he does notice that when a demon bumps you in the hall, you’re not hurt or thrown off despite the size difference. And when you’re purposely knocked into by someone else, your reaction is fast, pivoting out of the way and behind the demon and you almost look like...

Nah. You weren’t going to attack him, you began to cower and apologize again and again until Mammon had to drag you way before it got any more embarrassing. The next time you pique his interest is at the gym in the house. You always make sure to go at a time when there isn’t anyone else and he happened to go after you. But it couldn’t have been you that just used that machine. Were you really capable of lifting that much?

Luke and Simeon are sympathetic, Simeon understands the discomfort and the adjustment and answers any questions you have about the brothers and how not to piss them off or placate them if ever you did make them angry. He answers your questions about RAD and the program but does wonder. Wherever did you get an angel relic like the one hanging from your ear?

Luke says you shouldn’t be afraid of those no good demons, if anything happens you can run to Purgatory Hall and they’ll help. He promises. He likes your company and starts up baking with you, teaching dishes and pastries. He tells you a lot about Michael and lets slip things about Lucifer and the brothers back when they were still angels. You don’t push him on the subjects but you do seem pretty interested.

it all came together, very easily. First the lights, Leviathan’s screams echo in the halls as he laments not having saved soon enough. Asmodeus’ whining about losing such good selfie lighting came next and both come out into the hall, yelling for their older brother. “Lucifer!”

If not for that, Lucifer probably wouldn’t have noticed, having been locked up in his firelit office since dinner was over. Heaving a sigh he gets up. All of the yelling told him the lights were out so how could he have expected the brilliant flash of white that burned his eyes when he opened his door. He stumbles, leaning on the door frame for support as footfalls race down the hall.

He growls, feeling his wings and horns materialize but something isn’t right. His vision doesn’t return and his skin starts to burn. In the air he catches the faintest scent of something he hasn’t smelled in a long time. Holy oil.

When the little light in the fridge fades, Beel thinks he may have fucked up. But then it turns out the whole house is out so it must just be some prank. He keeps eating, uncaring whether or not he identifies what it is he’s shoveling into his mouth. Then he smells it.

once upon a time he’d caught Luke with some kind of cookies from the celestial realm. And they were some of the best cookies he’d ever had in his existence. He could never forget that smell, so when it wafts through the air coming from the main hall, he follows. Drool begins to gather beneath his tongue.

He misses the sharp, metallic scent drifting beneath it.

Satan’s vexation spikes when his reading light goes out and his peace and quiet is distrubed by his idiot brothers. Mammon probably tried to turn the power off in Levi’s room to get him out so he can sneak in and steal his stuff again. But then Asmo starts yelling, and one cry from Lucifer rattles his bones.

It’s enough to get him on his feet. But what draws a gasp from him is the flash of lightning that gives him his sight for a moment. White lightning, an impossibility in the devildom’s ever red tinged sky. He goes to the window, knocking a stack of tomes over and unlatches it. But it doesn’t budge. Using the light on his D.D.D. he tries again but it just won’t open.

Outside Satan’s door heavy footsteps, thump along in a slow rhythm. Satan races to the door and Beel is there trudging along the carpet like a zombie, his nose perched in the air.

“Beel?! What the-? What are you doing?”

“Hey what’s the big idea!? Where are you guys!? Who’s doing that weird singing?!”

Mammon calls out into the mansions, just as confused as everyone else. Satan’s brows furrow; he didn’t cause this, then. He’s about to answer but Mammon yelps, and a resounding thwack has Satan grab Beel, and race towards the sound, almost stumbling over each other’s feet in the dark. They’re only guide is the ocassional flash of white and the sound of chanting growing louder as they grow near.

It is still pitch black but years of experience and spatial awareness tells him they’re in the foyer. Satan ventures out, almost tripping over something on the ground; it’s Mammon. He lays at the top of the steps, passed out. Satan is about to shake him awake when Leviathan and Asmo come out of a hall holding up Lucifer between them. Another flash. Lucifer’s demon form flickers in and out, smoke rising from his blistering skin. Satan freezes and Beel picks up Mammon in his arms.

“Satan! What the hell is going on!?” Levi calls out into the dark over the spell.

The chanting stops. So does the lightning and they’re plunged into complete darkness. They hear the sound of plastic and a baggie hits Beelzebub square in the chest, landing on Mammon’s stomach. “Cookies?”

He smells that first but then they recognise the other scent prominent in the air as blood.

Human blood.

“Wait, where’s MC?!” Asmo’s voice comes from the black. “Are they trapped somewhere?”

Someone laughs.

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that.”

Lightning flashes again, bathing the foyer in glaring white. It’s only for a moment but their eyes are quick enough. It becomes clear where the stench of blood was coming from. “After all, I’m not trapped in here with you...”

Your eyes seem to glow, vacant of whatever fear or trepidation you’ve deceived them with for weeks. In your hand is the earring Asmo admired so much, the silver tip dripping red. At your side, your palm is sliced open, already clotting as you’ve used all you needed for the seal activating the devil’s trap around the entire house. Your sleeves are pushed up to the elbows the sigils and signs inked into your skin tasting air again after so long. As you place your hand on the seal they come alight. Your lips curl over your teeth.

“You’re trapped in here....with me.”

Solomon knows a demon slayer when he sees one. And he tells you right off the bat whatever you’re planning it isn’t a good idea. You’re outnumbered and overpowered by them.

but then he sees otherworldly magic light up the skies and decides maybe it’s a good time to visit the House of Lamentations.

Part 2

[nautilusopus]

Turk Cloud

for monkey's paw askbox fics

okay yes this one i can do, this one is in my wheelhouse

here have some time travel fix-it

(i swear i have no particular dislike for reno i actually think he's fun to write, he just tends to die a lot in stuff i make????)

anyway the next one of you fucks that tries to insist shinra would be especially progressive because city and avalanche would be homophobic because hick criminals gets a faceful of they/them raytheon shrapnel

happy pride

"Fix things from the inside". 

That had been the plan when Cloud had joined the Turks. His mako tolerance was too low for him to ever survive in Soldier, but the Turks were where the real power was. Turks made rules and broke them. Enforced policies. Changed lives. Usually for ill, but in Cloud's case, for good. This timeline would turn out better than the last -- even though, all things considered, his own had turned out pretty good. But things could always be better. 

That attitude had lasted him until maybe a week into his second month. Two months turned into four, which turned into a year, and then two of those, and then three, and then....

Once again, Cloud sat down at his desk, furnished with positive affirmations, and opened his first email. 

This one was, thankfully, an impersonal company morale booster, although its contents made Cloud's blood pressure subtly rise anyway. 

Hey, all!

We're pleased to announce that, thanks to your hard work and support, our fundraiser for slum awareness week raised $25,000 for the Wutaian War Relief Fund! None of this would have been possible without all of you here at the Shinra Family, whether we're giving out of 

Cloud felt his eyes glaze over as the email turned into a two page spread highlighting the struggles of one rags to riches middle manager, and how the Wutai War affected them. He deleted it and moved on to the next email. 

This one was unfortunately a direct request for his presence in the Science Department, and could not be summarily deleted. He sighed and marked it for later. 

The third email was an automated notification from the workplace messaging program, Wark. One of the Soldier Seconds wanted to know if he'd be going to the quarterly icebreaker party; Shinra prided itself on creating a friendly, psychologically safe atmosphere, which must have been why they asked questions like, "Does anyone here have any mental illnesses they struggle with?" and, "What is your worst memory?" and, "Who here has some good coping mechanisms to deal with burnout? Cloud, I really liked what you mentioned in your email to HR where you just have a good, long cry after work. It's great you're managing your emotions in a healthy way like that!"

Suddenly the labs seemed a lot more appealing. He deleted the third email and rose from his desk to head down to the labs. 

He passed a wall entirely papered over with rainbow flags on the way to the elevators. Shinra might not have wanted to bother having a healthcare plan to cover things like hormones or childcare to save money, but at least they still cared enough to print out rainbows on a sheet of paper and staple them to bulletin boards. Helped keep riots from breaking out.

Cloud himself had been sent to "discourage" the last shit-stirrer. 

He didn't even flinch as pneumatic hiss of the door to the labs opening gave way to agonised screaming. Hojo was there waiting for him. 

"About time," he said. "I need you to take these reports to Tseng; I have some things I want to cross-test with Ancient cell tissue."

What did you need me for, then? he thought. Could you not have emailed him yourself?

Aloud, he said, "Sure. By the way, the president wanted to speak with you again regarding your budget."

Hojo scowled, and Cloud, to his great revulsion, found himself sympathising. Installing Rufus as the president had been step one to Changing Things, but aside from regularly giving speeches about how Shinra was a forward thinking company always hunting for fresh ideas, he'd done nothing but slash budgets and crack the whip. Then a few days later he'd smooth things over with a "mental health questionnaire" to remind employees that he cared. 

It had done wonders for Shinra's stock prices, though. Already he was being heralded as the dawn of the new age of mako energy -- a youthful, charismatic figurehead, Shinra's first gay CEO, wililng to talk about the grind of rising to meet the challenges of inheriting a billion dollar industry from his dad, by cutting down on unnecessary spending. 

Cloud thought about his time in the military, where he'd been thrown in solitary for having a nervous breakdown over his first kill, of Tifa barely making ends meet, of Aeris being dragged off the streets to draw blood once again, and sighed. 

The screaming had started up again. One of the specimens clawed desperately at the glass with what was left of its arms. He couldn't make out what it was saying through the reinforced plating, but it was clearly pleading to Cloud to be let go. 

Cloud straightened his tie and looked away as Hojo hit a couple buttons on the console to sedate it. It had been painted a sunny green, for Mako Poisoning Awareness Week. 

"Well?" said Hojo sharply. "You have your orders. Go."

Cloud trudged back to his desk and resumed his seat in time to check his fourth email -- a message signifying a meeting at 2 pm, to "answer questions". 

When he'd first started this job five years ago, he'd taken that literally, and had been stupid enough to actually ask questions to be answered. Questions like, "Hey, where did Reno go? He hasn't shown up to work all week," whereupon he was informed that they couldn't share specific details at this time, but that his departure had been a mutual decision that was best for both parties. 

Which was how most corporate "removals" at Shinra went, as it turned out. 

Cloud's head snapped up as he heard the sharp rattle of gunfire in the distance. Those weren't Shinra guns. He looked up at his desk calendar and checked the date. Could it really be...?

He switched back over to the Turks chat room in Wark and quickly hammered out the message:

Strife: Hey guys i think there's a terrorist group in the building we have an active shooter situation. do we stand down for mpaf or what

He got an immediate response. 

KetShee [BOT]: Please bear in mind that the makeup of this Wark is very diverse, and some people feel excluded by the use of the term "guys". Maybe you could try using people, team, all, folx, everyone, or y'all? (More info)

Cloud's eye twitched. 

He stood slowly, made sure his sidearm was loaded, and then left for the stairs again, this time going to the upper floors. With any luck, he would have time to "hand in his resignation" to the president before hitching a ride back to his own timeline. Tifa, at least, had a lot of nice outfits he could borrow that violated the dress code here, and knew how to huck a mean molotov. 

[hermitcraftheadcanons]

Hermitopia AU Conclusion

The last ask has been answered, the masterposts are complete, and (although art, writing, and Discord discussion are still accepted and encouraged) it is finally time to officially wrap up the Hermitopia AU! Because this was such a massive event - and no small thing to moderate - there will be a pause in blog activity for a day or so before the inbox will open for regular headcanons again. I apologize in advance for the wait!

In the mean time, I would just like to say: I am so, so thankful to everyone who participated in the AU. Your ideas and your creativity have made this blog a better place, whether you sent in one headcanon or dozens, and I am constantly in awe of the energy and enthusiasm of this community. Thank you, all of you, for making this universe we’ve created as vast and as interesting as it turned out to be.

Below are a collection of my own ideas, for those of you who like a satisfying (but still not entirely closed-ended) ending. These events take place as many days, months, or years into the future as you need them to make your own ideas work, and none of them are set in stone. You can take all of them, some of them, or none of them as truth if you want to...but either way, it has been an honour to build on a project like this one alongside you all.

And with that...the Hermitopia AU concludes! Finished, or barely begun, like so many good projects are. Have a great day everyone, and happy headcanoning!

- Mod Shade

"People of Hermitopia."

The man on the screen shifts, running a nervous hand across his bald head and squaring his shoulders. The broadcast quality is unstable, but it's more than enough for every citizen in the city to recognize who's speaking.

"This is your Concorp Branch Director, Cub. As I'm sure you are aware, I am the head of Project VEX in this city. You all know the VEX initiative as groundbreaking, life-saving, a shining success and a step towards a new era for humanity...and some of you may even see me as a hero for creating it.”

He closes his eyes, a brief look of pained remorse crossing his face. For a moment, he looks utterly defeated, almost small in the face of his impromptu audience of thousands...but finally, he fixes the camera with a steady gaze once more and begins the great unravelling.

“Maybe it was all those things, in the beginning. Maybe *I* was, once. But today, after far too long, I have some confessions to make...."

~

- For years, Cub had been desperately scrambling to hold the tatters of his life’s work together. Project VEX had started so well, and he had poured so much of himself into it, that when the failed experiments and rebellions became more and more frequent he was unable to accept a change of course. He covered up the project’s failings to maintain funding and public image, but mostly to maintain his own image to himself - that he was still the hero he’d set out to be and create at the project’s start. However, his denial was wearing on him heavily, and eventually he had a breakdown and decided to go public rather than keep drowning the city in lies.

- This breakdown was prompted by xB, who after his own moral breakthrough, confronted Cub and urged him to stop withholding knowledge and truth. xB also informed Cub of his own unknown truth - that the unintended power of his presence was the thing that was keeping the experiments successful when Cub was around. This was the final straw in breaking through Cub’s denial

- Along with Cub’s broadcasted speech, files were released to the media containing proof against most if not all of Concorp’s falsehoods. Many names were cleared of crimes that had been pinned on them, including Beef, Impulse, Doc, Cleo, and the majority of the other Unrestrained and Unaffiliated former VEX trainees that the company had tried to cast away

- Understandably, it took a very long time for the chaos to die down and all that information to be processed by society and the justice system. It may be years before the community can see some of their heroes in the proper light again, but at least they are now free to begin rebuilding their reputation without being labeled as villains and traitors.

- Those who actually did commit villainous acts are given a fair trial, with consideration for their motives and the new Concorp information as extra evidence

- The VEX program is withdrawn by Cub’s superiors and put under a strict review. It is reborn after a massive restructuring, with a new director, new limitations on what experiments can and cannot be attempted, and a greatly extended screening and training program to reduce the chances of graduates becoming villains. The new project will produce far fewer heroes with much subtler powers at first...but if that is the cost for the safety and stability of the city, then most people would agree that it is a small price to pay.

- Cub is not permitted to work on the new Project VEX in a management role, ever again. It’s a harsh blow for him, to have to watch his dream from the sidelines...but he knows he gave up the right to guide it when he abused the control that it gave him. At least his superiors allowed him something to do while he awaits trial: he is present (although guarded) at every new VEX trainee’s first experiment, lending his power to increase their chances of success.

- Mayor Scar resigned willingly. Nobody had enough evidence to accuse him of anything, and he didn’t plan on giving them a reason to look by trying to stay in office. Instead he chose to make his exit from both Concorp and government matters complete, at last. Or so he thinks. Who knows? Maybe he’ll learn what most of the people he’s helped to manipulate have already found out: that connections and old grudges don’t easily lose their grip.

- Scar is replaced by TFC, voted in by almost unanimous community support and funded by donations from all the people he’s saved over the years

- The greater Convex company offers a choice to the survivors of the old program: Come to work under their new, more honorable system, or take a generously large settlement and be free to build new lives

- Team ZIT declines the job offer, pooling their payment and using it to buy a shiny new base together for their independent hero venture. There are still a handful of real villains to fight, after all, and there are bound to be more once people start successfully copying Concorp technology. Now that Impulse is back at their side, they wouldn’t give up their roles saving the community for anything - but they’re done with being used by some guy behind a desk. From now on, justice and bravery will be their only guides!

- ...justice, bravery, and TFC, that is. He isn’t their boss by any means, but the more experienced hero does drop by often between his mayoral duties to make sure the youngsters stay out of trouble and in one piece.

- The nHo, according to all official records, took their settlements and split up, leaving Hermitopia far behind. However, Team ZIT suspects that the vigilante life hasn’t left them so easily. They’d be the last ones to report the odd sighting of a whipping vine or a distant masked figure, though - unregulated as they are, the nHo’s shady methods for a good cause prove useful from time to time. (And their base has really good tea. Okay, maybe it’s a little bit more than “the occasional sighting”...)

- Ren settles back into his meadow cabin, but after that massive release of info and a long, LONG period of processing, he now has Iskall, Stress, and Cleo as regular visitors. Every morning he wakes up and forgets for a moment that it’s real, that they’re really alive and with him again...but they are, and he is happier than he ever thought he would be again.

- Jevin and Mumbo visit the cabin occasionally. It took a while for Mumbo to get his memory back, but he now remembers all of his friendship with Iskall and Grian, and they come together for fun and shenanigans regularly with the rest of the cabin crew.

- Grian still spends his time looking for his clones, but honestly, he doesn’t mind. The adventure always did hold more meaning than the conclusion for him, and now, he has friends to help out!

- False disappears into thin air to wait out the fallout of Concorp’s information release. She snags herself a quiet job and a small apartment on the outskirts of town, fully intending to return to her mercenary work just as soon as the dust has settled...next week, maybe. Or the week after that. Or maybe, once the garden has been fully planted. She’s really enjoying having time for stuff like that now...but she’ll get back to work, really, she will! Soon.

- Joe and Cleo tearfully reunite through xB, and Joe becomes another frequent visitor to the cabin. Cleo also visits Joe’s base in the time exclusion zone, but she really prefers the cabin. Time skips are disorienting, and they make her want to sneeze.

- Keralis and Void come to an agreement. Xisuma isn’t entirely clear on what that agreement is - something to do with an allowance of cookies from Biffa’s bakery in exchange for not killing anyone - but he’s more than happy to be less sore and tired all the time.

Hermitopia is making progress. Real progress, this time - not just the breaking of humanity’s limitations, but breaking them with true heroic care, with the good of everyone in mind. There are some hurts that will never fully heal, mistakes that can be learned from but not undone, and yet...now there is a path, a way forward. It won’t be easy, but a kind and gentle future waits for them, welcome and well deserved. They will figure it out, together.

And together, they will step forward, into the new world that each of them has helped to create.

[otome-on-the-side]

I hope this is okay, but Diavolo finding himself falling for MC? Like he's feeling all this weird overwhelming stuff but he thinks he should not because MC is his temporary exchange student. So he watches for a while but eventually he decides what the hell and just acts on his feelings? Sfw but I'd love a hot make out session in the end pls, and also female reader if possible. Thank you :)

Pairing: Diavolo/GN!reader 

Tropes & TWs: Pining, mentions of ch.16 

Diavolo lounged in his throne; something he only truly did when he was alone and in a bad mood.

He was the strongest demon in the Devildom- or the strongest demon in the Devildom that could be bothered to run it, to make sacrifices for a well run and peaceful country. He didn't enjoy being set above any of his subjects, so he did his damnedest to be approachable, kind, and open to criticism.

The look that the Demon Prince allowed to rest upon his face as he sat on his throne would have utterly undone any impressions of the qualities above.

That boyish charm and happy grin he often carried himself with wasn't quite a mask, but it was a facet of himself he often exaggerated- a surprising number of people were willing to let themselves think that that was all he was.

The majority still knew him as the ruler of the devildom; easily strong enough to hold the throne and run the kingdom day to day, preventing any uppity aristocracy from abusing their power, and stripping anyone of any power (or life) who crossed an unforgivable line. He took no joy in his power over others- ultimately all he wanted for every one else was peace and joy. It weighed on him; seeing people walk on eggshells around him. He preferred it when people were open with him, for better or worse. Problems were simpler to deal with when they were bold.

Diavolo ran a hand through his hair, a put upon sigh escaping him. Which is why he simply could not be feeling what was he was feeling towards one of his exchange students in particular.

You'd lacked any fear of him since you had opened your eyes to find him and the rest of the attending student council welcome to the Devildom. You were incredibly bold for what he was accustomed to- texting him basic questions of the devildom you couldn't bring yourself to ask the brothers you stayed with, meeting his eye and smiling at him in the halls of R.A.D., actively seeking him out to ask about art within his home- seeing how your eyes lit up as you saw a little D outside of your school tasks made him want to pick you up and spin you in the air, you looked so cute.

You were even bold enough to tell him when he was wrong, and as he looked into your eyes, frustrated to the very core of his being, he knew you fully believed it.

And even after he let you march off to a terrible fate, dying horribly and allowing you to revive- to remember the experience so he could prove a point-

You'd still proved that he'd been wrong, as well. Belphegor had indeed been a threat to the exchange program, but you'd nullified that threat; hell, as a whole, you'd strengthened the weakest link in the program, practically forging the whole of it in iron.

And you hadn't looked at him differently after the whole ordeal; You'd texted him less, and thus you didn't speak as often, but that didn't mean you'd become any more wary of him. You still met his eye without any hint of fear, you still sought him out at his castle when you had a free weekend.

Speak of the devil, his D.D.D. buzzed from within his pants pocket.

'Hey, Levi partially summoned Lotan again and flooded the hol. Mind if I sneak over so I can have good company and get out of cleaning?'

Despite the mood he was in, Diavolo laughed, a booming, happy sound that echoed across the throne room as he responded.

'Always. Do you need an escort, or have you managed to sneak into the castle already?'

He rose, watching that little typing bubble turn into a cheeky demoji. Rascal. 

Even if Barbatos let you in (and chances of it were quite high), it was almost unprecedented that someone would simply arrive unannounced. Diavolo loved it; there was no torturous anticipation with your visits, you were just there, smiling at him.

And here you were, poking your head into his throne room. Sliding his D.D.D. into his back pocket he called out to you, grinning as you let yourself in, "Well hello! That didn't take much time, now did it?"

You gave a resigned shake of your head as you spoke. "They're probably working on drying out the house of lamentation's floorboards, if the normal rate of pissed Lucifer cleaning is anything to go by."

"Do you have a specific rate in mind or-"

"It's all fixed and back together in time for getting ready for R.A.D. Every. Single. Time."

Diavolo let loose a knowing 'ah,' that extended into a sigh. He both wished Lucifer could relax, and simultaneously wished his brothers could give him a break as well. They were old wishes, however, and not something he could change, so he left it be. "May I show you to a guest room then? Barbatos just did his weekly sheet changes." He didn't quite know why he felt the need to say that, but it felt important.

You immediately sighed, responding with a haggard sounding, "Yes please. Demon brother shenanigans have been keeping me up for. a while now. A clean, quiet bed would be heavenly."

The walk to your room was pleasant, filled with easy conversation as you caught him up on the latest brother shenanigans that Lucifer neglected to tell him- either out of embarrassment or because the eldest had been hoodwinked beyond his knowledge.

When he showed you to your door, It was meant to be a kiss on the cheek- something chaste, something he could excuse on being ignorant of human customs (some humans truly did greet one another, and say their goodbyes with kisses, didn't they?)- but you turned unexpectedly, and as he pulled back, you grabbed him by the tie and yanked him back for a kiss- hungrier than anything he could have expected from you- and yet here you were, caressing his tongue with your own as he held you close.

Ah, to hell with it; he couldn't prolong this forever- You had to breathe. He gently pulled away, even as you stretched to kiss him again. "A quiet bedroom, you said?"

[thalergetic]

prompt: sugar daddy adora. as a birthday treat 😌

as a birthday treat? of course 😌

As far as Catra knew, most grad students didn’t have closets full of Gucci, Dior, and Louis Vuitton.

They didn’t have a chauffeur that would take them wherever they needed, whenever they needed.

And they certainly weren’t sharing a bed with one of the most powerful businesswomen in the country.

Adora Grayskull, who made the 30 Under 30 list at age 21, had been promoted to COO of Horde Industries about three months before she met Catra, and she was only on her way up.

Catra wasn’t sure exactly what her job entailed — Adora had tried explaining it a few times in bed, but nothing had ever stuck — and wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

After all, that wasn’t something their... agreement had covered.

Catra met Adora when she was in the first year of a grueling PhD program at one of the best schools on the West Coast.

She’d been waiting tables in a fairly high-class restaurant, trying to make enough money to cover her first tuition payment, when Adora walked in.

She had been with a client, Catra remembered, but it didn’t stop her from staring the whole time.

When her client left — in some fit of rage, if the way he stormed out was anything to go by — Adora had sighed and put her head in her hands.

And, well, Catra wasn’t immune to someone that attractive in a well-tailored suit.

She brought over a glass of the scotch Adora had ordered earlier and placed it gently beside her.

“On the house,” Catra said, watching Adora’s eyes flick over to it. “You’re Adora Grayskull, right?”

“Guilty as charged.” Adora looked up at her for a moment. “Care to join me?”

Catra knew she probably shouldn’t, but it had been a slow night, and her manager was too busy micromanaging the hostesses to notice her.

After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded, and pulled up a chair across from her. “What was that guy’s deal?”

Adora sighed a little, looking towards the door before her eyes met Catra’s. “I had to fire him.” When Catra’s eyes widened a little, Adora continued, explaining, “He’s— he was in charge of our Boston branch.”

“Not anymore, though, I guess,” Catra said. “Rough way to end a night.”

“Considering he spent the last two quarters doing coke and fucking his secretary, I think he probably should’ve seen it coming.” Adora took a sip of her drink to hide a smile as Catra let out a surprised laugh.

Adora swallowed, then nodded toward Catra. “My turn to ask a question. What brought you here?”

“Here, like, to LA? Or to the restaurant?”

“Both,” Adora shrugged. “Either.”

Catra gnawed at the inside of her lip for a second. “I’m a grad student at UCLA,” She said. “I just started a PhD program.”

Adora’s eyebrows raised a little as she nodded, impressed. “In what?”

“Mechanical engineering and applied physics,” Catra answered, watching Adora’s eyes widen even further. “Y’know. Basic stuff.”

It was Adora’s turn to let out a surprised laugh. “No shit,” She said, propping her head up on a hand. “Tell me more.”

Somehow, Catra did. She talked — slow and hesitant at first, then with increasing enthusiasm that led her to drawing a diagram on the back of a receipt — about her work, her interests, and her concentration.

The whole time, Adora watched her face with an awed expression. At the end, her only question was, “So why the hell are you waiting tables?”

“I mean, the tuition isn’t exactly cheap,” Catra said. “I got a partial scholarship, but I’m already up to my neck in loans. This doesn’t cover all of it, but...” She shrugged. “It helps. Plus, the food’s not bad.”

Adora nodded a little. Her face clouded with an expression Catra couldn’t place. “Means you have less time to do your actual work, though.”

Catra nodded. “It does. But, I mean, it’s whatever,” She said, shrugging again. “That’s life. What can you do, y’know?”

“Well, I—” Adora cut herself off with a shake of her head. “No, that’s not— never mind.”

Catra frowned. “What?”

As if to give her some courage, Adora finished her drink. She began to run her finger around the edge of the glass as she said, in a careful, halting voice, “If you needed some help, I would...” She cleared her throat. “I would be happy to, um...”

She was blushing, Catra realized. Why would she be— oh.

Oh.

“Um,” Catra started, eyes widening. “You— but, I-I mean, I just met you.”

“True,” Adora agreed. “So obviously you’re under no obligation to accept, but—” She let out a small sigh. “You know you’re the first person I’ve been able to have a normal conversation with in years?”

Catra blinked. She wasn’t sure what to say, and all her brain could come up with was, “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Adora nodded. “And you’re so, so smart, Catra. You should be able to spend as much time as humanly possible doing what you love, not—not giving glasses of Johnny Walker to random CEOs on a Tuesday night.”

Catra was pretty sure her mouth was hanging open. “So, to be clear, you would be, like... my sugar daddy?”

Adora cringed a little at the words, but nodded anyway. “If that’s what you want to call it, then... sure. But we don’t have to discuss it now,” She said, reaching into her suit jacket.

She pulled out a sleek, neat black wallet and pulled one, two, then four hundred-dollar bills from inside it.

“When are you free to talk about it?” Adora asked, sliding the money across the table. “I’ll send a car for you.”

“You don’t have to do that. I can take the bus.”

“If that’s what you want, that’s fine,” Adora said, putting her hands up in surrender. “But if it makes things easier for you, I’m happy to do it.”

In the end, the temptation of a plush, fancy car was too much for Catra to overcome, and she relented soon after.

Later that week, when she and Adora went over the terms of what they’d refer to as the agreement, Catra found herself blushing when she asked the question that had been lingering on her mind for days.

“So... in exchange for the money,” Catra said hesitantly, watching Adora’s expression shift ever so slightly, “What... would I be doing?”

“Right. Um.” Adora started, swallowing thickly. “I know that usually in these types of relationships, there’s—” She cut herself off, letting out a small laugh. “I don’t know why I’m blushing,” She said, shaking her head. “Um. But there’s a sexual component.”

Not trusting herself to speak without it coming out squeaky, Catra just nodded. Her face was on fire.

“If that’s not something you’re interested in, that’s completely fine,” Adora said, raising her eyebrows a little. “I don’t want to pressure you into anything.”

Catra nodded again, clearing her throat. “And, um. If... I was interested?”

Adora’s eyes widened a little, and Catra swore she saw them darken as her jaw pulsed. “If you’re interested,” Adora said, her voice dropping a little deeper, “I’m more than okay with that.”

Feeling her heart rate jump a little at the sudden change in demeanor, Catra blinked rapidly. “Um. O-okay,” She said, nodding again. “Yeah. Cool. We need to—to talk about it more, though, right?”

“I need to know any limits you have,” Adora said, nodding. “Anything you’re absolutely not willing to do.”

“Okay,” Catra nodded. “Yeah. I can do that.”

Adora offered a hand out for Catra to shake.

After a second’s hesitation, Catra took it.

“Then it’s a deal,” Adora said, giving her a smile. “You’ll have access to a car service, my credit card, and the penthouse,” She said. “In return, I would just ask that you keep this between us.”

“Uh. Of course,” Catra said, remembering the very detailed text she’d sent to Glimmer after their first meeting. “Um. I-I can do that.”

“I-I mean, I don’t know what you’ve told people,” Adora said, frowning a little. “Just, you know. Try and keep my name out of it. Not that I’m ashamed of you, or of this, but with the company—”

“Easy, baby,” Catra said, putting a hand on her arm. She began to rub soothingly at it, feeling hard muscle under Adora’s dress shirt. “I get it.”

Adora blushed again. “You—you called me baby,” She said dumbly.

“You’re paying for my tuition,” Catra said, raising an eyebrow. “I feel like it’s the least I can do.”

The words seemed to remind her of something, and Catra swallowed hard. “Speaking of tuition,” She said. “When do you... want me to start?”

“Start wh— oh.” Adora’s eyes widened. She looked behind her, where the door to her bedroom was open, before turning back to Catra. “Are you busy tonight?”

Catra blinked, trying hard to tamp down her blush. “Not at all.”

“Well, then,” Adora said, taking a step toward her. Slowly, so Catra could see and react to it, she moved her hand up so her thumb was resting on Catra’s bottom lip. “There’s your answer.”

Catra opened her mouth a little, feeling Adora slide her thumb inside.

In a second, Catra decided that if she was going to do this, she would do it right.

Putting a hand on Adora’s to steady it, Catra began to suck gently on the finger in her mouth, watching Adora’s eyes fly open as her lips parted.

A few moments later, Catra released her finger with a pop, leaving Adora much less collected than she had been minutes prior.

With a wink, Catra moved past her slowly, dragging her fingers lightly along Adora’s shoulder as she walked behind her into her bedroom.

Catra stopped at the doorway and looked back. “If we’re doing this, there’s something you should know,” She said, watching Adora frown in a mix of concern, confusion, and arousal.

“What?”

Dragging her eyes up and down Adora’s body, Catra gave her a grin. “I bite.”