#you saved me with that song its that important and i love it so i love you who laid bare your feelings

[luck-of-the-drawings]

[<==PREV PAGES] [NEXT PAGE==>(not out yet.wait a year.or maybe more.imagine.]

saw alot of comments on prev pages; saying 'i HATE that mean teacher! im gonna FIGHT HIM!!' & i LOVE the energy!! it WOULD be nice. to have that catharsis. but the story of young tidestrider is Not one of catharsis. it is a story of being so small and so special and sucking so bad.

[p1x1x]

me pushing myself further with my art drawing really cool perspectives and whatever with the Duo and then i turn around and make lame cutesy ship art waaahhah 😭😭😭

dont read the tags on this if you havent watched gbc i just ramble spoilers 😭 just uhh screaming yknow. mostly mmnn but i like the other characters i swear its just these guys are making me insane

[holdmytesseract]

Save a Bike, Ride a Biker

Daryl Dixon x fem!Reader

Summary: You plan to surprise Daryl and give his bike a scrub. But before you are able to finish your good work, Daryl walks in on you...

Warnings: TWD stuff, weapons, smoking? fluff, cleaning a bike? suggestive smut

Set in Season 9!

Word Count: 1,9k

a/n: This idea didn't come from me. @erebus-et-eigengrau hit me up with that thought, and I was like: YES, I'm turning this into a fic. I love it! Thank you so much for this, friend!

This song plays an important role:

EoH Masterlist °☆• Daryl Masterlist °☆• Masterlist

Warm, pleasant sunlight greeted you as you rolled out of bed. Smiling, you tiptoed barefoot over to the open window; letting the sun warm your skin for a moment and to take in a deep breath of the fresh morning air. It was going to be a very beautiful day today in Alexandria, as it seemed - much to your delight. Why? Because you'd be a woman on a mission today.

Of course you didn't fail to notice, that the other side of the bed was already cold and empty. Not quite surprising when your boyfriend was Daryl Dixon. You got used to mostly waking up alone. That made the mornings you did not wake up alone even more enjoyable and valuable.

Stretching your still tired limp, you made your way across the hallway to the bathroom; paying the toilet a quite urgent visit. After relieving your bladder of its burden, you made your way downstairs; actually aiming for the kitchen, but when you noticed the main door being ajar, you halted in your movements. Usually, the main door wasn't ajar - except when... You smiled and changed your direction; heading straight for the door. Peaking outside, your suspicion was proven right. Daryl was leaning against the wooden post, which stabilised the roof over the porch. Smoke was billowing in clouds through the air.

Not giving a flying fuck that you wore nothing more than your panties and one of Daryl's way too big t-shirts, you tiptoed over to him with a smile; running your arms over his back and encircling his waist. "I thought you already left," you prodded; pressing a kiss against his leather clad back. The archer didn't even flinch. He knew it was you. It wasn't the first time you had done this. All that was coming from him was a scoff. "Ain't leavin' withou' sayin' goodbye, sunshine. Ya know tha'." "Mhm," you hummed and rested your head against his back. You didn't say much and just enjoyed to hold him; letting his familiar scent invade your airways and clouding your brain. Daryl didn't have to say another word as well. He kept on smoking; finishing his cigarette, before stubbing it out and - well-behaved disposed the stub in the ashtray you placed on the railing of the porch, like you told him. You had been tired of collecting the cigarette stubs all over the porch, so you taught him to get rid of them properly; saving trouble and your nerves.

The archer turned in your embrace then; calloused hands finding your hips and deft fingertips playing with the fabric of his t-shirt. He raised an eyebrow. "Ain't ya cold, sunshine?" Daryl asked; referring to your - some would say flimsy - outfit. You shook your head. "A little bit. But I don't care. You're warm and I just want to stay like this," you smiled up at him with a cute scrunch of your nose, before you buried your face in his chest. A grunt - very close to a small chuckle left his lips; hands wandering and arms wrapping you up in a hug.

The two of you stayed like that for a long while, until a whistle cut through the air, causing both your heads to turn to the left. Rick was standing down the street, waving at his brother and signalling him that they were good to go. "Gotta go, darlin'," Daryl stated the obvious and loosened the embrace around you - much to your dismay, but knew that you had to let go. "Be careful, yeah? I want your pretty ass back in one piece, understood?" You warned in a loving manner; gently caressing his sides. The archer scoffed at your words. "Ain't pretty." You giggled, "Yes, yes it is." and gave his ass a playful swat - which caused his cheeks to redden. "Y/N!" You just giggled more and shrugged your shoulders. Daryl was so cute when he was embarrassed. "Goddammit, woman..." He groaned and sighed almost overdramatic. You stood on your tippy-toes and pressed a sweet, apologising kiss on his chin; feeling his goatee tickle your lips.

And then you quickly shifted back from playful to serious. "I mean it, Daryl. Stay safe, okay? Look after yourself and Rick." He nodded and gently put his thumb and forefinger underneath your chin; softly angling your head upwards. "I promise. Ain't gettin' rid a me." "Good." You smiled and squeezed his middle softly; wordlessly asking for a kiss - and Daryl granted your wish. He dipped his head and met your lips for a sweet, but quick kiss.

"Think we'll be back 'fore dark." You nodded and let go of him; crossing your arms over your chest and watched the man you loved shoulder his crossbow and disappear down the street.

After starting properly into the day - which included a shower, getting dressed, brushing teeth and having a breakfast, you reported for watch duty; taking over for Rosita.

Once your shift was over, you baked some cookies and then finally had the time for the one thing you had planned today. Like mentioned... You were a woman on a mission... Namely giving Daryl's dirty bike a thorough scrub. The archer's beloved two-wheeler was more than dirty. Dirty was an understatement... Since he was more than occupied with leading the Sanctuary, building a bridge and doing runs, his bike was the one suffering from his busy schedule book. Therefore, that he drove with Rick to the bridge today, his bike was here - and that gave you in return the perfect opportunity to get the second love of his life spruced up. Plus, you wanted to surprise Daryl with it, because why not? He deserved it. And the bike as well.

So, you rolled the bike out of the small garage and on the little courtyard in front of the cute little house you and Daryl shared. "Alright, let's do this!" You said to yourself; preparing a bucket with hot water, some soap you found and a sponge. Before you got started, though, you pulled the little walkman you found out of the pocket of the shorts you wore, alongside the familiar cassette. Daryl found that walkman on a run a few months ago, together with a ton of cassettes and of course, he immediately thought of you - and you loved the archer for it.

You plucked in the headphones, pressed play and started your good work.

The music was loud. Not loud enough to attract any walkers or other possible threats outside the walls, but loud enough to be clearly heard by everybody who'd walk by. You didn't care, though. You were in the zone; somewhere on music cloud nine, all while dancing and vibing - and cleaning your boyfriend's motorcycle.

Therefore, that you were so caught up in your music and the task at hand, you neither realised how the sun started slowly to sink, nor how the archer walked down the street to your shared house; crossbow slung over his shoulder.

Music urged to Daryl's ears as he stopped right in front of the courtyard; eyes locked on you - cleaning his bike. The archer didn't have the time to question himself why the fuck you were doing that, since you started humming alongside to the tunes of 'Whole Lotta Love'. Led Zeppelin... Daryl shook his head; unable to suppress the smirk which wanted to spread over his lips. It was another moment in which he realised that he had fallen in love with the right woman.

It was all fun and games, until you picked up the dancing again - and oh, boy, you were a real good dancer...

It was so cliché. Who didn't know the typical image of a hot chick cleaning half naked a vehicle to preferably sexy music? Lots of soapy foam, sponges and wet bikini tops. If this would be a form, Daryl could tick all boxes - except that the bikini top was a sports bra.

He had to take a deep breath.

Damnit, it was cliché, but Daryl didn't give a fuck. He settled for enjoying the show and see how long it took you to notice him. So, he moved to sit on the porch, set aside his crossbow, lit a cigarette and let his blue-grey eyes linger on you; feeling his jeans just grow a little tighter.

Once the song was over, you gave the bike's saddle a last, finishing scrub, took a step back and admired your work. Smiling, you removed the headphones, from which the next rock song was already blaring; hands on your hips and definitely satisfied with the outcome of your mission. You were sure that Daryl was absolutely going to- "Thing ain’t ever looked tha' good. Not even 'fore I put it together."

The archer's voice suddenly sounding from behind you caused you to almost jump out of your skin. Turning quickly, you found your boyfriend sitting casually on the porch; cigarette pinned between his thumb and forefinger. "Fucking hell, Daryl!" You exclaimed; taking a deep breath. "You scared the shit out of me!" The man squeezed an eye shut and ducked his head slightly. "Sorry. Didn't mean ta scare ya."

You smiled, shook your head and crossed your arms over your chest; feeling the wetness of the water and soap soaking the fabric of your bra even further. "How long have you been sitting there?" Daryl shrugged his shoulders; eyes definitely not directed on your face. More like... one floor below. "Dunno, least five minutes or so..." You raised an eyebrow; noticing immediately that he was a liiittle bit distracted. "Enjoyed the show, huh?"

Daryl licked his lips and finally lifted his gaze to meet yours. "Woulda lie if I said I didn't." He jutted his head at you and his beloved vehicle. "Did ya swap the horse fer ma bike now, sunshine?" You giggled; shaking your head. The archer knew that you mostly preferred one of the horses over an vehicle, so he just couldn't let the opportunity slip to tease you.

But you quickly recovered from the scare he had given you and unbeknownst to him ruining his own surprise. So, you had to make the best out of the situation and his forward pass - namely, pot the ball.

"Nope," you started; popping the p, "Just gave it the much needed scrub." and moved to lean against the bike; palms on the saddle to support your weight. "I'm rather saving the horse and steel horse and ride the cowboy instead."

You could've sworn that his jaw was on the verge of dropping, but Daryl Dixon being Daryl Dixon, masked his emotions and opted to play it cool instead. "Pff. Cowboy my ass."

Once more you raised an eyebrow at his reaction. "Oh, apologies, your majesty. I'll rephrase it." You cleared your throat. "I'm rather saving the horse and steel horse and ride the smokin' hot, crossbow wielding archer sitting on my porch instead." Daryl scoffed and merely shook his head. "Ain't 'smokin' hot'. If someone's smokin' hot 'round here, 's you."

You sighed; feeling flattered and a little sad at the same time. Flattered, because of Daryl's cute attempt to flirt, and sad because the wonderful, special, beautiful man across from you still had a hard time accepting compliments.

You'd work on that, but first you had to finish what you started - or might as well both.

Shaking your head, you made your way over to Daryl and climbed the few steps leading up to the porch and reached for the archer's free hand. "C'mon, handsome. We gotta save those bikes and horses..." He immediately shuffled and moved to stand up. "Can't say no to tha'," Daryl took a last drag of his cigarette and quickly discarded it into the ashtray; following you and leaving his crossbow behind on the porch. He wouldn't need it. Not for the next few hours.

Tags: @angelwings-crossbowstrings @belitoxx @lou12346789 @fictive-sl0th @marvelcasey05 @loz-3 @mischief-dream @whore4romance @stitchintimefan @bigbaldheadname @making-the-most-0f-it @erebus-et-eigengrau @km-ffluv @0-aubrie0 @sweetz1919 @mikaela-granger @secretsicanthideanymore @dilfdixon @txtttttttttttttt @dixons-sunshine @stiveroon @cakesandtom @mayday2007

[gutterfuuck]

“ROI—“

more bff!mark for my baby girls out there, i am watching and lurking when you least expect. the title is based on a song! it is the instrumental for roi. i do not have a specific reason, i just heard it while i was writing and hadn’t a title ready. i saw the phrase “sandbox love never dies” on another work, credit is due there for that!

cw: mdni!, dubcon-ish(? not sure how to describe, haha), smut, mark is pining hard for reader, possibly hint of yandere, this one is kind of long, bff!mark, piv, childhood friends to lovers trope, mark is a little delulu if u squint, virgin!mark (implied), semi-dark content please be aware, reader and mark are in college, reader knows that mark is invincible but that isn’t really important to the story.

mark knew this bedroom all too well. how couldn’t he? you both basically grew up in there together. you were always over at his house, he was always over at yours. inseparable ever since the day he had moved in across from you, sandbox love never dies.

his eyes landed on the fairy lights that were stapled to the wall to keep them in place… he had done that, years ago. he couldn’t bare to see the look of disappointment on your face when you realised that they hadn’t come with a sticky back so you could have them up on your wall. he still remembered the way your eyes lit up when he returned to your home with a stapler in hand, being careful not to staple through the wire. mark’s heart fluttered when he saw your little collection of cereal box figurines; also his doing. he couldn’t believe that you had held onto his gifts for so long, let alone display them proudly as if they were medals. to you, they might as well as be.

“you okay?” you asked, snapping him out of whatever dreamy trance he was in. he snapped his head around back to the tv, the ending credits of the zombie movie rolling on the screen. you had noticed how he had been staring into space for the last half hour of your movie, “me? yeah- i’m good, just thinking about something.” he smiled, quickly rummaging around on the floor to pick up the last of the movie cases, your marathon nearing its end. you were both back in town for the weekend, college kicking you both down and your dorm rooms not homey enough for it to feel right, so you had decided to drop in for a couple of days, killing two birds with one stone and seeing both mark’s parents and yours in one trip. your parents would be coming back later, that’s when the barbecue would come out.

mark switched the disk for the unwatched one, the movie menu popping up shortly after with a blood splatter animation on the title screen, “no don’t play it yet! we gotta refill here.” you spoke, pointing down at the almost empty bowl of chips, save for a few crumbs at the bottom. you had even ran out of cookies, remembering how mark had said that they should stop calling them family size if they were only able to feed two people in the span of an hour or two. you retorted with something about how usually people had self control; you weren’t supposed to scoff down three packs of family value cookies. ever.

“you gonna leave me here, all on my own? out in the open like this? i’m a sitting duck out here.” he joked, a satisfied warmth washing over him as soon as you had laughed. he loved your laugh, always. for as long as he could remember, “like anyone would come attack my house while you’re here, mark.” you rolled your eyes, his heart skipped a beat. he knew how much you relied on him to keep you safe sometimes. already knew that you’d know who to call if you were ever in any danger. he fed on it. you picked up the empty bowls, stacking them inside one another and opening your bedroom door.

“d’you want anything from downstairs?” you asked, holding an empty bottle of pop under your arm, hands preoccupied. mark shook his head, getting up to open your door wider for you, “i think i’ll just stick to eating all of this junk you keep throwing at me.” mark smiled, you smiled. mark’s heart ached.

“don’t you dare press play on that movie, mark grayson!” you yelled from downstairs, just missing the way mark’s cheeks dusted pink at the sound of his name on your tongue. you sounded like an angel. mark’s attention turned to your dresser, the top drawer full of your underwear. how did he know? well, he was the reason for your declining pairs of underwear, the source of the disappearing panties act that you had just brushed off as being forgetful or losing them somehow. he got up, face turning beet red as he stepped towards the drawer, fingers shakily reaching for the handle, slowly, slowly-

“are you going through my stuff?” shit. shit.

you had caught him, after all this time you had caught him. his mind raced for an excuse, his heart threatened to give up on him and he hoped that he would just have a heart attack already, quickly, he had to say something. anything, anything- “i’m kidding! if you’re looking for the remote, you already left it on the bed, silly!”

thank god. thank god.

“right, y-yeah! ha, i must’ve- forgotten..” he laughed nervously, heart still racing in his chest. all he could do was try to steady himself, calm his shaking hands and retreat back to his original seat, on your bed, next to you. he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering, couldn’t stop thinking about how he could’ve had you right there if you had actually caught him, couldn’t stop thinking about holding your hands above your head and covering your mouth with his palm, ‘please let me, you don’t understand- just the tip and i’ll be done i swear.. just let me make you take me.’— he was daydreaming again, it was all your fault. he wanted you so badly, so desperately, why couldn’t you see it? why couldn’t you see him?

mark stared blankly at the tv screen with his jaw clenched, looking right through the screen. if he hadn’t had seen this movie dozens of times before with william, he would’ve been missing it. it was as if he was sleeping while sitting up with his eyes open, idle and dormant…

he heard you scream, his body shifting to shield you on instinct, breaking him out of whatever trance he had put himself in. you had thrown your arms over him, eyes squeezed shut. he was ready to fight, but fizzled down when he realised that you had only jumped into his arms for safety because of a jumpscare. a jumpscare. you were pressed up against him, you had almost jumped into his lap. it was like you were doing it on purpose, torturing him just because you could. you clung to him tighter, eyes glued to the screen in fear and anticipation for the next bloody scene…

fuck. he could feel his cock twitching in his jeans, straining against his boxers. leaking, weeping for you, his best friend. he was frozen, his eyebrows furrowed and bottom lip pulled into his mouth with his teeth so hard that he thought he would make himself bleed- bleed for you-because you were clinging onto him like you needed him. he needed you. he couldn’t help it anymore. it was now or never, here or nowhere.

“m’sorry-“ he said quietly and you turned to him, eyes staring up into his. that sent him over the edge. before you could ask him what he was apologising for, you were on your back, mark leaning over your body, a hungriness in his deep brown orbs. you had forgotten how fast he was, his powers completely slipping your mind. that was just it, you never cared. you always stuck with him, even after he had told you about his father’s secret roots all those years ago after he had just found out. he couldn’t wait to tell you, he always knew that you’d still see him the same, believe his words even if he lied-

“y/n, please- just let me talk, please just hear me out..!” he sounded different, shaky, almost scared to speak to you as if you were the one with superpowers holding him down. you weren’t scared, of course you weren’t. you looked into his eyes, concern washing over you as you watched your best friend open and close his mouth again, trying to find his words, “i.. i don’t- look, i…” more silence followed, tears brimmed in the corners of mark’s eyes and landed on your face, his gaze refusing to meet yours once again. you wanted to wipe his eyes, get to the bottom of why he was so upset… oh. oh. that was it, huh?

“mark-“ you interrupted, propping yourself up on your elbows to get closer to his face, closer so you could wipe his eyes-

mark panicked, he wasn’t ready for your rejection. wasn’t ready to hear you tell him that you had a boyfriend or that you couldn’t, didn’t want to hear you tell him that he was just like a brother to you, you couldn’t like him back because you were only best friends. he leaned forward, hands on your cheeks, lips crashing against your own. “mmf-!” you tried to move, his grip only tightening the more you tried to pull away, your hands on his wrists tightly. so this was how it was going to have to go, right? he’d dreamed of this for so long, it was so perfect. you were perfect.

“mark-!” you finally yelled, pushing him away by his shoulders. he could feel a dark pit starting to form inside of his stomach, regret washing over him, wishing that the pit would open up enough to swallow him too… “let me just breathe for a second..!” you huffed, locking eyes with him. your eyes never left his, mark’s eyes would try to flicker away from yours.

to him, it was a miracle. to you, it was a confession. it was years and years of bottled up feelings drowning you both all at once, it was confirmation.

you didn’t hesitate, hands snaking into his hair and pulling him back into a sweet kiss, your legs wrapping around his waist as he gasped shakily, a sweet nervousness behind his reciprocation. fireworks shot off in his brain, opening his mouth slowly only to be met with the intrusion of your tongue first, licking up against his as you held him tighter, pulling him closer, devouring him whole. god, you were going to kill him. are you going to kill him? give him a heart attack right here, right now? he thought so, hands aimlessly wondering under your shirt with his hips bucking into you with a groan rumbling from his throat, you whining back when his thumbs brushed against your nipples, your hips rocking against his. “w-wan’ you so b-bad-“ he spoke in between kisses, desperately trying to shove his tongue back down your throat straight after. you moved your hands to the hem of your skirt, shuffling out of it and kicking it off the end of your foot and onto the floor. this was hot, hungry. your hands pulled at his sweater, attempting to pull it over his head. he paused, sad to leave your lips once more, to take off his sweater and discard it into a random corner. “y/n, wanna- can i.. please- just the t-tip, only wanna feel it..- please let me, i’ll be quick, p-promise-“ you shut him up with a deep kiss, arms wrapped around his neck, “..i want all of it, mark. i can take you.” and mark almost cums in his jeans right there, nodding lazily and sliding his hand between your bodies to fiddle with the button and fly of his jeans, mentally congratulating himself for not just messily tugging them past his hips. he wasn’t alone with your panties jerking off next to you in your bed while you slept anymore- no- he had time. he could take it slow.

you couldn’t help but moan when you caught sight of his cock, heavy and thick and leaking between his legs, aching for you. who would’ve guessed? your best friend was packing. mark rolled onto his back, pulling you on top of him so you were straddling his waist, hands pressed on chest. to him, all you had ever done was look down on him, even if you had never intended so. for once, you really were looking down on him, but he was in control. he wanted to be in control, he should have been in control. and with that, the position shifted once more.

mark’s thumbs separated your gooey folds after pulling your panties to the side, he recognised that pair, he had planned on taking them one night. a pair of red lace panties, simple but permanent in his brain. he knew your cunt all too well, the nights where you would need help to stumble back to your dorm drunk when he would tower over your clothed body, flipping up your dress and lick your cunt until he busted against your bedsheets, he could always dismiss it as a yoghurt stain or something if you had ever asked.

mark grabbed you by the thighs, pulling you closer so your cunt was in perfect line of his fat dick, swiping the head up your slit and shivering when you moaned quietly because of the contact to your clit. this was so surreal, he was living in a dream and he never wanted to wake up. you both hissed when he caught his tip on your hole, eyes meeting once more before he let himself go, hands gripping your hips as he pressed into his your warm, wet pussy. you were going to take all of him. “fuuck..! mnh-“ you almost screamed, trying to adjust to his length. mark didn’t care. neither did you. his cock bullied its way into your tight walls, mark whispered small apologies into your ear as you whined at him, slowly gyrating your hips to try and almost run from the stretch, to give yourself a minute to adjust again, “don’t do that- you don’t have to do anything-“ he started, his warm breath fanning over your neck which caused goosebumps on your skin, “you don’t have to do anything other than lay here.. stay still n’ take my cock.” his words made you tremble, you tried to protest, his mouth blocking your words with a kiss, his dick pressing right up against your cervix with a harsh thrust of his hips, gummy gooey walls clenching down on him, a low “ohhh, ohh f-fu..ck-!” rumbling against your lips.

one thrust and he was immediately pussydrunk, your mouth hanging open and tongue poking out when he drew his hips back, slamming them back into you with uneven, inexperienced movements. he fucked like a rabid dog, his nails digging into your skin as he babbled above you,

“d-do you feel full? can’t push any deeper..” followed by a pressure on your stomach, his hand pressing down so he could feel himself thrusting through your body,

“ghnn..- y/n you feel so much b-better than my fleshlight-!” did he even know what he was saying? your walls tightened around him, the wind being knocked out of your lungs again when he pressed harder, lips working against yours, his vision blanking and ears ringing when you didn’t stop tightening and loosening on him, mushy cunt trying to milk him dry.

you couldn’t do anything but moan breathlessly, pushing the hair falling into his face back, his jaw clenched and forehead sweaty, pressing his head against yours. this was it, this was everything his life had been building up to until now. he thought that maybe he had subconsciously made you fall for him, all of the times he had touched you secretly conditioning your brain. he doubted it, but the idea of him and him only reworking your mind to love him made him keen. “yeah, tha’s right.. take it, c’monnn..” he babbled, his eyelashes wet with tears, not knowing or caring whether they were happy tears or the result of his pleasure. you were right on the edge, your moans getting louder and shorter, scrambling to let mark, your best friend, know that you were going to spray all over his pelvis. you’d squirted before but this felt.. different. warmer, hotter. “c-c-!..” you struggled, eyes crossing and back bowing off of the bed, “fffuck-! ghfuckk yeah..- y-you’re cummin-“ he held your hand, hips stuttering when he felt your tight pussy starting to flutter, the tight coil in your stomach finally snapping;

warmth flooded your insides, legs twitching when you gushed all over yourself and mark. if you weren’t planning on changing your sheets after this, you definitely had to now. white ropes were out of mark’s cockhead riiiight against your cervix, breeding your cunt as if he had no control over himself, which he didn’t. you both panted, trying to balance your breathing. you felt his hips pull back, cock pulling out and opening the floodgates for thick globs of cum to pour out of you, your best friend rolling onto his back and covering his eyes with his forearm, mouth open as he breathed. he was in a daze, completely out of it, both of your liquids stuck to mark’s flaccid dick.

“did you get it out of your system yet?” your voice always bought him back. it was always you, it had always been you. “i… really want to be with you. i wanted- i want you, y/n.” mark spoke sternly, finally being able to complete his sentence from earlier. “i think i could gather that.” you retorted with a laugh. your laugh, his favourite.

you locked eyes, dark murky brown pools staring directly into yours. his pinkie finger hooked around yours, laughter bubbling from both of you. the fairy lights shined in his peripheral vision. the movie’s credits rolled on the screen, the whole movie falling on deaf, horny ears.

it was quiet, the only sounds being of yours and mark’s breathing. this was nice, blissful. peaceful.

“i love you, mark grayson.”

[muntitled]

𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐃: 𝐖𝐨𝐨𝐳𝐢 𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲!?

Didn't anybody tell him being back in the booth will leave him singing solo?

Pairings: Lee Jihoon x Fem!reader | Slight!Kim Mingyu x Fem!Reader

Synopsis: A kink confession in couple's therapy might just save your relationship

Warnings: Established Relationship, Insecurities, Gender Roles, Slight!Toxic Relationship, Fluff, Slight Angst, Smut (+18 Minors DNI), Masturbation, Dom/Sub undertones, MeanDom!Jihoon, Sub!Reader, Innocence Kink, Slight DDLG, Ownership Kink, Hair Pulling, Spitting kink, Massive Degradation Kink, Praise Kink, Slight Humiliation, Submission Kink, Dirty Talk, Grinding, Oral Sex (Male rec), Breeding Kink, Slight!Hate sex

Word Count: 3.9k

Song: Mine | Beyonce

Woops

"I'm aware that I'm on this mission to get my boyfriend to actually want to fuck me again but why does it feel like I've already failed on the very first step?" A whine so childish, and so petulant rips itself from the depths of your throat but Jihoon's running shower silences the pathetic noise.

While he showers, you're left sitting on the floor surrounded by a graveyard of designer lingerie. A too small Victoria's Secret set is immediately abandoned in its box, leaving you howling into the phone as you wriggle yourself into the complicated underwear.

Your confidence wanes as you adjust to the intricate bows and string of the set, wincing as you pull up the pink garter belt until it's clasped around your thighs. Soon enough, you're padding across the floor of your walk-in closet, hesitantly approaching a mirror.

"I mean, this says 'slut' but what if 'slut' isn't what he's attracted to?" Your hand curls tightly around the width of your phone, "Jihoon is an anomaly! What if I end up making a complete and utter fool of myself?" The mirror is nestled between Jihoon's clothing rack harbouring all his neatly pressed designer pieces. You let the sight of his intimidating fashion waver your already fragile confidence. 

"Are you hearing yourself?" Scoffs Mingyu through your phone's speakers, "What man has ever in the history of the universe not been attracted to 'slutty'? I feel like that might be a prerequisite in terms of the origins of the word." He says in a lax, calm manner, "Woozi'll just be happy to see boobs and ass becuase that's usually how a guy's brain goes. Or how mine goes at least."

Despite Mingyu's assurances, your arms are still folded over your scantily covered breasts while you cradle your phone in the air. "I don't know," your bottom lip finds its way between your teeth. "You didn't hear him today at counseling, Mingyu. I feel like our therapist might actually hate us." You continue to cradle your torso, forcing yourself not to flinch at the memory of your earlier session of couples therapy. 

How far away Jihoon had felt despite being seated right beside you, like a gleaming, stoic-faced monolith. You feel as though you have been living in nothing but a perpetual winter, forever trying to please Jihoon, your boyfriend, but always falling short in front of Woozi, the entertainer. Work, work, work, on his mind meant that you were left to entertain your own wants by your lonesome. Even more harrowig, is the excuse he had given your therapist.

"She's always in boss mode," Jihoon's tone was as cold as ice, refusing to spare you even a single glance as he faced the therapist ahead, "And that's one of things I love about her, yes. Her drive and determination makes us compatible because I know I'm the same-"

A scoff slips past your lips at that point, making Jihoon's fist clench on the arm rest as you snootily interjected, "Don't misconstrue." You said, "He works more than me," and it was the truth as far as you believed it. Yes, you would gladly admit to neglecting a few key elements of your relationship in the face of your career, but never had you ever made Jihoon feel microscopic in your pursuits. Not like how he made you feel.

"It's important to listen to each other without interjecting." The therapist calmly scolded, leaving you grumbling in your seat, "You'd be surprised at how much could truly be accomplished by simply listening to each other,"

You were truly ready to tell that old lady to go to hell but something strange happened, and Jihoon finally opened his mouth, unburdening himself with what has truly been bothering him in his relationships as of late.

"It's just," He swears lightly under his breath, which does a terrific job in garnering yout attention. You peek up from underneath your lashes and you're stunned to hear him say, "I just wish she'd understand that it wouldn't burn down the foundations of feminism if she'd just," Jihoon's jaw ticked as he displayed the very first signs of emotion, "-Just let me take that load off for a bit…"

"In what way?" The therapist asked, sensing the nearness of a eureka moment. She treaded carefully, in fear of scaring Jihoon back into his shell. Thankfully, he made himself clearer because by now, you needed to know as well.

"She's the boss in her day to day and I respect that," he says, "But all I'm saying is that it wouldn't hurt to leave all that shit at work..."

The therapist nodded with grave understanding, although even you could see the trepidation easing onto her face. There is no hiding the conflicting emotions displayed on your face.

"You're asking her to become more…" The therapist cleared their throat, "Submissive?" Jihoon had not responded after that, letting the pregnant silence act as his megaphone.

"I'm submissive," you had whispered, nodding as if trying to convince yourself of your words. "I'm like… so submissive," before you could decorate your lie with even more lies, Jihoon finally turned towards you. 

"Really?" He asked, "Where?"

You let an incredulous chuckle escape from your throat as you shot back, "Where what?"

Jihoon did a show of looking around the therapist's clinical office, delving deep into his petty theatrics as he calmly, "Where are you being submissive, because it hasn't been with me?"

The session had ended with you wracking your brain at Jihoon's admittance of what you suspect to be a kink. His words haunted you on the silent drive home. They had piqued your interest considerably, filling the atmosphere with a tense warmth, as if a tempest was brewing. One that neither of you was quite aware of how to deal with yet.

It was a feeling that led you into the deepest confines of your closet, until you pulled out the Savage x Fenty lingerie box, immediately calling Mingyu in a fit of panic while Woozi was in the shower. He was, after all, your best friend way before you even knew of Lee Jihoon.  

Ripping your arms away from your torso is a mission on its own, one you succeed with immense reluctance as you finally gaze at your reflection in all her half naked glory.

You commence a hesitant twirl in front of the floor to ceiling mirror.

Very hesitant. 

The lace bralette is digging into your ribs, and the matching pink garters are cutting into the skin of your ample thighs. It is all so painfully uncomfortable that you're threatening to take it off, no matter how much of a wet dream you may look like.

But there is excitement there too, bubbling beneath the surface, awakened by Jihoon's confession. You are almost excited to try this with him. Submission, sexually, was never on your cards previously but maybe this is something you should have noticed long ago. You pride yourself on being observant so why didn't you notice it before?

The soft affirmations of "Say my name," while he was steadily bringing you to orgasm with his fingers alone. The unmistakable need to have his hand locked around your throat whenever he was on the verge of cumming.

Even the non sexual stuff.

Ordering for you. Making sure your hand was always locked inside his when you found yourselves wandering the city. Forcing you to pay with his card despite knowing you made more than enough to sustain your lifestyle. 

How didn't you know?

Keeping a hesitant grip on your satin nightgown, you tilt your head at your reflection skeptically.

"Imagine how embarrassed I'll be if he just ignores me," The insides of your mouth is bleeding non stop from the way you've been gnawing at it, "Maybe I should just accept that work is the only love in Jihoon's life."

Mingyu's voice is diabolically soothing as it bleeds through your speakers, "No, no," he says, and you can imagine him swatting away at the air in the process "Jihoon acts like a prude but he's one of the biggest sluts- if not - the biggest slut I know."

"Besides yourself of course," you murmur,

"Besides myself of course" Eventually, Mingyu comes up with what he suspects is his big master plan.

"Perhaps you should send me a pic of you in it, that way when the little guy gets out of the shower and sees you, then you'll be far more relaxed in the knowledge that someone else has already seen you in it." 

It truly was Neanderthal mathematics. 

However, there is an underlying veneer in Mingyu's tone bleeding in through the phone's speakers that makes you believe your best friend is far from joking. Despite it infuriating Woozi to no end, Mingyu might never stop flirting with you ever. In respect of your dynamic.

"Surely, I shouldn't have to tell you that I'm not sending you a pic of me in my lingerie for you but I guess I have to put that into words you would understand maybe?" You hold up your fingers and clear your throat as you monotonously say, "how dare you," 'have you no shame, Mingyu," You ask, "Need I go on?" 

In the midst of Mingyu's petulant whines urging you to just 'leave your man' Jihoon's shower silences, and you right your bad posture immediately. You suddenly have no idea what to do with the drawstring of the nightgown. Somehow, this seemed like the make it or break it moment. The moment where you would decide to dive headfirst into your plans of winning back your relationship despite the possibility of being met with Jihoon's hostility and coldness that you had grown so accustomed to.

The pool of dread and anxiety is deep, and your hands are nearly shaking as your fingers gloss over the lacy pink garment. "I have to go," you whisper into the receiver, vaguely aware that you've already clicked the button to sever the line before your sentence even ends. All while you awaited the footsteps from Jihoon. But they never came.

Courageously abandoning your fear for the sake of actually getting laid, you walk up to the door of your shared bathroom and knock hesitantly.

"Jihoon? Honey, are you okay?" But he is not okay, in fact, Jihoon might venture to believe he may never be okay because your voice is just so pretty, even when muffled by a closed door. His eyes are squeezed shut, and his forearm is leaning against the shower glass, and you just called him honey and fuck, if he didn't start tugging at his dick faster. He feels pathetic, having to get himself off when you were right there but the nuances and complexities of fighting with your partner introduced the need for such things. 

Jihoon's jaw is locked tight as he succinctly and suspiciously responds with a rumbling and groaning "Fine."  His brows are furrowed, and his teeth locked tightly together as he fights to get off easily and succinctly.

He hopes that you would take the hostility in his voice as a sign to make yourself scarce. Jihoon already fucked up when he let the 'submissive' thing slip but he cannot bear to imagine the utter humiliation he would be subjected to if you swung that door open right now, catching masturbating in the shower, as if he did not have a girlfriend able to meet those needs… It bruises him like nothing else could. He did not want you to see him like this. He did not want you to know that even in the midst of your fights, you were the only woman he ever really thought of.

His palm skates over his soaked cock as his mind is filled images of you on your knees in front of him, head tilted back and tongue sticking out like a-

"Good little slut," It was intended as a whisper to fuel the violent pool of heat bubbling in his abdomen and make him cum quicker. A whisper that you weren't supposed to hear but your ear is on the door now and you shout back, 

"Did you say anything?"

He cannot reply because his cock is aching and heavy with the weight of his fantasy. A fantasy in which you were his to hold, his to fuck, his to cum inside of until you were completely and utterly full of his load-

"Fuck-"

He rushes to squeeze the base of his dick, edging himself even though he's not quite sure why. This had been his moment to just cum all over his hands, wash off his spilt seed and be done with it, but you're knocking much more fluidly on the door, and you're becoming impatient. 

"Honey, you're scaring m-," You venture to say, despite already pushing the bathroom door open. You're both left momentarily stunned by what the other is seeing in front of them. He is left paralyzed by seeing you in so little clothing… and wearing pink. 

While you did not anticipate seeing Jihoon naked in the shower. Why had you not anticipated that? That’s so silly. Your mouth hangs open with the shock of his beauty perhaps.

Has it truly been that long? 

In the same breath, Jihoon's lungs are wiped clean as he stares at you through the glass. His breathing is heavy, ghosting over the glass while his broad chest rises and falls. He is nothing but darkened hooded eyes. Eyes that ravage the sight of you in your lacy pink underwear, underwear that he had not seen anywhere. Where did you get that? When did you get that? Myriad thoughts swirl in Jihoon's mind, each more sinister and lustful than the last because you look so completely innocent and so soft standing by the door, arms at your side while the dressing gown hangs lazily off of your shoulders.

After a moment of silence, Jihoon decides to stop this nonsense by leaning back slightly. His long black hair still dripping down the sides of his face and his tongue skates over his bottom lip as he says,

“We should not be this surprised to see each other naked,” He says, a deep voice ringing out through the acoustics of the bathroom, “We are a couple, last I checked.”

When you do not respond, he tilts his head downward, letting an even deeper shadow cast over his eyes as he scans you from head to toe. For an innumerable amount of minutes all is quiet. It feels as though the world had been rid of noise, like you had teleported back in time, to a Charlie Chaplin motion picture. A world of absolute silence. 

You begin to wonder how you might respond because surely, you cannot stand here, gawking at him for the rest of your merry life.

Before you could even think of adding to the silence with anything, anything at all, Woozi keeps his ice cold gaze on you, as he leans his head against his forearm, the one still positioned against the shower glass and he resumes his movements of languidly stroking his thick cock buried in his tight fist. 

Your mouth runs dry as your eyes betray you, finally venturing down to watch him. You seem to have forgotten just how beautiful your boyfriend truly was, taking in his damp locks kissing his shoulders. He is all solid lines with a sculpted torso and you feel as  if you never even knew him at all.

"Jihoon," Your voice quivers with immense passion but he silences you immediately. 

"Don't ruin this. Please don't-"

"I wanna help." His mouth snaps shut but he can feel himself twitch in his palm. Jihoon's breath grows hot as you step closer and closer and he squeezes his cock, as the overall scent of you forces its way through his nose and into his brain. You're so utterly addicting, Jihoon's hand strokes almost instinctively, his hips even venturing to push his cock into his palm as he follows your every movement.

"I want you to tell me what to do," You finally say, letting the silk gown fall to the floor as you step into the shower, lingerie and all. Jihoon's mind has completely descended into lechery while his hooded eyes watch you with nothing but adoration.

"Your knees." Is all he is able to force out, "I need you on your knees," He whispers an incredibly hoarse, "Please," that has you falling to his feet automatically. The movement immediately had Jihoon's reeling. 

"Fuck," He whispers, the sound of complete awe rushing straight to your core as he finally let's all his inhibitions wilt away with the rest of his manners. Jihoon is quick to bury his fingers into your hair with a roughness you're surprised to see. Surprised but far from disappointed.

"Open your mouth," He instructs, despite already prying your mouth open with his thick fingers, forcing your teeth open as if you were his plaything all while craning your head backwards. 

Once he gets your mouth open, Jihoon is insatiable. He immediately bends down and crashes his lips into yours, letting his tongue invade the inside of your mouth like his life depended on it. It's a manic, passionate and domineering kiss, neck that had you moaning into his open mouth as your tongue wrestled with his.

"I'm gonna fuck your mouth now, okay?" His tone however, lets you know that he is not asking, not really, but you nod anyway, unsure of who or what has come over you. All you're really sure of is that you want to make him feel good. The goal, the satisfaction of it is building so fantastically inside of you, pushing through your arteries, steadily soaking your panties with arousal and eliciting a slightly wayward kind of dizzying emotion inside of you all at once.

"Tell me," he says, and you're forced to crane your head back as he straightens his form. "Tell me to fuck your stupid little mouth. Tell me it's what you want." His jaw is locked tight as his hand once again encloses around his sensitive dick. He refuses to give you anything, however, unless he hears you submit to him fully and completely. He feels like he needs to hear the words. Some part deep in his monkey brain needs the confirmation from the source, as if hearing you say such nasty, horrible things would increase his already heightened arousal.

"Please, Fuck my mouth, Jihoon!" In any other instance you might have been shocked at the words flowing out of your mouth, but your cunt is absolutely dripping through the fabric and your hand immediately dives down to cup your pussy through your panties as you look up at him and say, "Please fuck my slutty little mouth, Jihoon! I fucking want you to, pleasepleaseplease-"

"Such a slut- such a pretty little slut-" you'd never heard Jihoon's voice crack the way it just did and you really wish to hear that beautiful sound again. His hand is once again in your hair while his other hand is on your jaw. He pushes a finger inside until he's flattening your tongue and craning your neck even further back. You're momentarily confused, trapped in a haze of stupid lust before Jihoon hovers above you and spits directly into your mouth. 

You're moaning, and keening and Jihoon is already forcing his cock all the way inside your mouth.

"Your mouth-" His voice is hoarse as he eases his cock inside the warmth of your mouth. He cannot take his eyes off of you, his beautiful, brilliant girl taking his cock so far into your mouth while you had taken to humping your own hand like an insatiable little slut.

"Fuck baby," He murmurs, letting the tip of cock meet the very back of your throat before inching out again, "is my little girl really getting turned on from sucking cock?" His humiliation is punctuated by a sharp and powerful thrust, one that has you seeing stars and your vision blurring as you fight to keep him inside your mouth. "You don't even have to do anything," He says through gritted teeth, "I'm doing all the work fucking this tiny little mouth of yours, aren't I?" You can feel how turned on he is. He's fucking huge inside your mouth as he slides himself to and fro like his life depended on it.

"God you're so beautiful like this," He whispers, "You're so fucking beautiful taking my cock like a good little whore."

Jihoon's gaze lowers down to where your hand has taken to pushing aside your panties and rubbing swift wet circles on your clit.

"You're not gonna cum like that," He says, almost immediately stilling his frantic hips, "when you cum, it's gonna be because of me, understand?" His grip on your forearm is solid as he pulls you up from off the shower floor. You're absolutely limp in his hands, breath heavy as he brings you close to him. There is a silent, almost tender exchange, with him breathing heavily in your face while you stare wide eyed up at him.

Soon, he's spinning you around with his hands digging into your sides as he presses your front against the fogged up glass. Letting your tits push against the cool, wet surfaces, he draws your hips to his. 

Before he sinks his cock into you, a very strange thing happens. Soft pillowy lips brush against your shoulder blade, eliciting a sharp gasp from you.

"Thank you," He whispers before sinking his cock into you with determination. He bottoms out faster than you anticipate, all while you've taken to moaning and whimpering like a mad woman. Your sounds egg him on, until he's rutting his twitching cock inside of you, desperately searching for the alleviation of a budding and aching need inside him.

"You feel so fucking good, you know that?" You hear him behind you. Feel him behind you. Your walls stretch and contract around his cock who continues to bully your insides.

"F-Fuck, Jihoona-" 

"Fuck, you're squeezing me, Princess," Your orgasm sneaks up on you pile the devil himself, stripping you of your dignity as you push your hips backwards, almost instinctively forcing his cock deeper as you fucked yourself back onto him. Jihoon's mind is absolutely deranged with lust. He sinks his nails into the softness of your sides and he pulls your hips impossibly closer. He fucks you like a madman, his cock is fluid and quick, pushing against that particular cushion of nerves that has your orgasm feeling like an absolute lifetime. Your panties that had been carelessly pushed aside creates a second later of friction that has him so dangerously close to the edge.

"I'm going to cum inside you." He states while never letting himself stop fucking you, "Fuck- I'm going to cum inside you-" It's the hardest you've ever seen him cum before. His hair is messy and a darker shade under the wetness of the shower, his eyes are hooded and glossy and his body is shuddering against you, overcome by a wave of vicious shocks as he stutters and empties his balls deep inside of you. His cock is forced deeper than it's ever been and you're made completely full of his load. Jihoon is utterly spent as he lowers his weight onto your back. Letting a sea of kisses reign down on your back as your heavy breathing fills the warm and damp air.

"You look so fucking beautiful," He says, never letting his pecks against your back stop, "so fucking gorgeous." That seems like apology enough, on both parts.

[tess-talks-inc]

On the Topic of Telemachus’s age:

First off preface lmao I’m a stranger on the internet if you want to see this and be like “I don’t care” more power to you this isn’t to condemn it’s more like my explanation? I guess? Of why Telemachus being represented as an adult is important to the context of the story and also to me.

Like obviously once again I acknowledge artistic interpretation, and Telemachus being young is important to the story as well and is part of the role he serves as a comparison to Odysseus, but like sometimes the way some artists draw him makes him look pre-pubescent and like… I understand what you’re doing, and honestly I respect it and I hope you are having fun, but I am holding your hands when I say that him being a young adult with that attitude is so so so important to his character and his relatability.

Adulthood isn’t something that magically appears one day, taking all of your dreams, immaturity, and weakness away. Telemachus embodies that- at twenty years old, he should be inheriting a portion of his father’s house and assisting in its running. He should, for all intents and purposes, have been a full and functional independent adult looking at purely his age. However, he is both literally and mentally stuck in limbo- his father is lost, so he cannot inherit in the case of his father’s death because Odysseus’ status is MIA, and internally he knows (literally mentioned book 1 of the odyssey and in Legendary) that if he reaches for that authority as an adult, the suitors will kill him. He doesn’t feel like he can, or that he is even on equal standing to the suitors as an adult man, he cannot see himself as one like they are, and it’s why he imagines his dad doing it instead. He wants to be saved, a childlike desire, even though he has advanced to a point where he himself can do something physically. That’s why, in the odyssey, Athena tells him explicitly that he can do something about the suitors, and lays out a plan for him. She says that he is no longer a child to his face, and the Telemacheia thus begins to be a coming of age story in which he matures, and later is registered as a threat of the suitors. He is a young adult yes, and he still has aspects of his young self (idealization of his father, daydreaming, him being quick to frustration), but him being an adult who realizes that he can do something and can understand the way he is childish is important and central to his character arc.

His arc is him growing into his skin, adulthood no longer being something that fits him like loose clothes and only a description of his physical state, but something that now is tailored to him, something that feels close to right.

Honestly, I think this aspect of him being an adult while still holding onto these aspects of childishness is where Legendary and We’ll be fine falls short in adapting his character. I understand why, because while he is introduced he is not the true central character of the Saga- it’s Athena and how he affects her, that’s what’s most important. Also, once again, he was just introduced. He’s not matured yet, but he’s realizing he needs to. I still love the songs and the saga, because it’s a good adaptation that poses interesting questions, but yeah. Telemachus is v clearly a young adult and that hasn’t translated over sound yet, which I think is why this whole age debacle is happening alongside the uwu-ifying of the man.

TLDR: Telemachus is a young adult and he acts like it due to his blend of childishness and slowly gained maturity. You can draw him and see him as a child if you want, have fun with it, but at least internally understand how his 20 years of age plays into his arc a of him maturing into manhood outside of your own interpretation of him :D

[magiccath]

Hold Me Tight (Or Don't)

The Doctor x Reader (written with 10 in mind, but works for any Doctor if you squint)

Summary: In which you just need a little physical affection from your favorite Time Lord

A/N: yeah the title is a Fall Out Boy song, what about it?

By most standards, the Doctor was a fairly touchy individual. It wasn’t something he did consciously, or even a habit he was generally aware of. He wasn’t ever overwhelming about it; touches from the Doctor usually came in the most casual of manners. His hand tangling in yours, dragging you along as he sprinted away from (or more often, towards) danger. Or he’d gather you up in his arms, lifting your feet off the ground with pure enthusiasm as he murmured how incredibly brilliant you had been. 

As time went on, the touches became more frequent - his hand found its way into yours and his arms found their way around your middle more often. You’d never thought of yourself as particularly ‘touched starved’ before the Doctor, but you found that quickly changing. 

You started to crave his gentle touches in a way you never had before. It was like a bug bite - a tantalizing feeling deep inside of you that you longed to itch. Technically, you could, you were completely able to, but the outcome tended not to be advisable. While you knew you had an affliction for the alien’s touch, you didn’t have the faintest clue where he stood on the matter. If he knew just how much his minor affections meant to you, he might stop them altogether. You found that sometimes, it was better to have a little bit of something than not to have it at all. 

Subconsciously, you started to seek out his touch in the smallest of ways; a brush of your pinky against the back of his hand, a gentle tug on his coat sleeve, an adjustment of his constantly wayward tie. Sometimes, your hand almost clung to his, only reluctantly pulling away when his fingers untangled themselves from yours. You clung to his frame tighter, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and burying your face in the crook of his neck when he hugged you, clinging to him like a lifeline. 

If he noticed, the Doctor chose not to comment on your affliction for his physical touch. Honestly, it made sense that the Doctor didn’t notice. He didn't notice a lot of things, especially for someone who claimed to notice all things. Sure, he knew the important stuff, but he wasn’t always the best with subtle emotions or social cues. Sometimes his obliviousness was borderline painful (and at the worst of times, dangerous), but other times it saved you from embarrassment. 

Regardless of the reasoning, you were glad that the Doctor remained oblivious to your longing touches. You didn’t know how he would react to it all. Even more, you didn’t know how to approach the subject at all. “Will you let me just hold onto you for 3-5 business days? For some reason, I feel the need to be constantly touching you. Please and thank you.” 

So, you stayed silent. You found yourself laying awake in bed at night, longing for the secure feeling of his hand in yours. You watched him work on the TARDIS console, constantly fighting the urge to walk over and hug his slender middle as tightly as you could manage. He handed you things and the momentary brush of his fingers made you want to cry with complete and utter need. 

The thought of him wormed its way inside of your brain, nestling deep inside until it was borderline impossible to ignore. Your heart ached for him - for the gentle and loving way that he held your hand, for the caring brushes of his fingers against your cheeks, for the feel of his arms snaking around you, pulling you closer and closer to his body. You ached for him. 

Some days were worse than others - when you had a bad day the aching need burned inside of you, threatening to boil over. On those days, you sought comfort in any way you could, oftentimes hiding away in your bed, clinging to your pillow like a small child. In contrast, the good days were easy. Those days that you spent running around the cosmos with the Doctor, your hands firmly intertwined. At the end of those days, you fell asleep with a smile on your face, the phantom feeling of his hand in yours etched into your memory. 

-

The Doctor knew that you considered him oblivious. Most times, he wouldn’t even bother to argue with you. It wasn’t that he was oblivious per se, but rather that he was selective in his attention. He cared very little for pears or people who talked tantalizingly slow, but he was rapt when it came to puzzles and you. 

You were his favorite companion, of course he paid attention to you. He knew that you bounced your leg when you were anxious, he knew exactly how you took your tea, your favorite kind of biscuit, and the name of your first pet. Most notably, he was starting to notice a shift in your behavior when it came to him. 

Whenever he touched you, you seemed to tense against him before relaxing and practically melting into his touch. Your fingers would twitch when he held your hand, or your arms shook when he hugged you. The first few times it happened he attributed it to other things - nerves, too much caffeine, hunger, etc. As it continued to happen, the Doctor started to worry. 

Maybe you were touch adverse and he was just now realizing. He mentally kicked himself for being so stupid and oblivious. He wasn’t oblivious when it came to you, he wasn’t supposed to be. You were one of the few things in the universe that could hold his attention for ridiculously extended periods of time. 

As he worked on the TARDIS machinery he felt your eyes on him, the weight of your gaze boring down on him. A sudden dread filled him, the fear of you being cross with him enough to send him crawling into a deep, dark cave. With a frustrated groan, he tossed the tool he had been using to the side. He brushed his hands against his trousers and stood up, crawling out of the hole in the grating he had been down in. 

“Are you mad at me?” he asked curtly, deciding it was best to not beat around the bush. 

Your eyes widened quickly in response, shocked by the sudden question as well as the content of the question. “No?”

“You’d tell me if you were, right? We’re best mates you’re supposed to tell me when you’re cross.” 

“I’m not cross,” you retort, your brow furrowed. You wondered where the Doctor got such an idea. He was known to misread social cues, but he had gotten pretty good at reading yours. “You’d know if I was cross,” you added.

“If you don’t like physical touch you could have just told me,” he grumbled quietly, his tone reminiscent of a sulking toddler. He was hurt and almost offended that you hadn’t just told him. You could tell him anything, surely you knew that?

“Who told you that?” Your frown deepened. The Doctor was very good at being wrong, a lot better than he would ever admit to. Still, this was a new kind of off-base, even for him. 

The Doctor tilted his head to the side slightly, “You’ve been acting weird about it lately.” 

“No, I haven’t,” you say, almost too quickly. 

“You-” he struggled to find the exact word, his big Time Lord brain whirling away. “You twitch when I touch you,” he tried, but it still didn’t seem to express his thought process. “It’s more than that, it’s like you tense for a split second when I touch you.”

“Do I?” 

The Doctor nodded, “It’s like my touch burns you, but you’re too nice to tell me.” 

“I’m not too nice to not tell you anything. I will proudly tell you that your hair makes you look like a cockatoo on drugs.”

The Doctor practically pouted, his hand subconsciously flying into his unruly hair, “It does not- That- that’s not the point,” he frowns. 

“I’m not mad about the touch, Doctor. I’d have no problem telling you if I was.” At least that was true. The whole situation would be a great deal easier if you were severely averse to his touch. He wouldn’t think twice if you told him you didn’t like to be touched, so why did it feel like such a big deal the other way around? 

“But you’re mad?” 

“I’m not mad,” you sigh. Now it was your turn to grapple for words. Why did it have to be so hard to explain emotions? 

“It’s not that I don’t like your touch. Really quite the opposite,” you started rambling, looking more at the floor than the Doctor himself. “It’s not that I want you to touch me less, it’s that I want you to touch me more.” 

He raised an eyebrow, slightly stunned by the confession. 

“Not like that!” you say quickly, realizing how it sounded. It wasn’t like that, not at all. 

“I wasn’t even thinking about it like that,” he frowned, finding your comment defensive. 

“I just mean-” you groan, hiding your face in your hands, “I find myself wanting more hugs, more hand-holding, stuff like that.” 

“Why didn’t you just ask?” 

“It seemed weird,” you murmur, still not looking up from your hiding spot. 

“It’s perfectly normal to crave affection,” the Doctor shrugged, clinical as ever. No matter what you said, he always found a way to make it sound ‘perfectly normal’. Somewhere, someplace, sometime, it most likely was.

“It’s not something that I experienced before,” you admit, finally looking up from your hands. You still don’t meet his eyes, your gaze finding it more comfortable to look at your trainers. “I didn’t need it like I do now, it didn’t eat at me.” 

“You should have told me sooner,” he sighed, his voice closer to you now. Your eyes flitted upwards, meeting his. “I don’t like seeing you in pain, you know?” he said, resting his hands on your arms. His thumbs rubbed soft circles against your skin, the gesture so painfully caring it made you want to cry. 

“I didn’t know how,” you admit, finally looking into his eyes. They were always so soft like his default setting was puppy dog. It was hard not to get lost in those endless pools of chocolate brown. 

The Doctor pulled you into his arms, holding you close to his chest. You could hear the steady sound of his hearts beating, the twin organs just barely out of sync with each other. The four-beat rhythm reverberated through your head, the sound oddly calming and familiar to you. 

You gave up on acting strong, pretending that this wasn’t exactly what you needed. Instead, you just melted into his touch, wrapping your arms around his waist in return. Your fingers tangled in the fabric of his suit jacket, clutching onto the garment like your life depended on it. 

The familiar smell of the Doctor flooded your senses. You couldn’t pinpoint exactly what the smell was, but it was trademark Doctor to you. Not quite a sandalwood musk, maybe an alien version of it? A strange mix of cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla - a combination that strangely did not coincide to create the smell of a Snickerdoodle. Sometimes he smelled like fresh linen after he did his laundry or switched out his suit. It didn’t matter what the exact scent notes were, you could recognize his smell anywhere. 

You held on a little tighter to his suit, pressing your face further into his chest. The Doctor grunted slightly in surprise as you squeezed him, making you ease up a little bit on your grip. His hands run up and down your spine, rubbing soft and gentle circles. 

It was a bit of an awkward position, the two of you in a tangled embrace on the floor. Your back was starting to hurt, but you didn’t dare move. What if this was your only chance to hold onto him like this?

“Do you wanna get off the floor?” the Doctor murmured, his hand still rubbing up and down your back in a comforting rhythm. 

“Yeah,” you whisper back but remain entirely stationary on the floor. You felt glued to him, unable to move even if you wanted to. 

“You’re gonna have to let go of me for that,” he chuckled, also making no moves to let go of you. When you also showed no signs of moving, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He started to let go of you, moving to get up from the floor. In protest, your arms tightened around him. 

“If you want to move off of the hard metal floor, you’re going to have to let go of me,” he whispered, stroking the back of your head reassuringly. “I promise we can go back to this, I’d just prefer somewhere more comfortable.” 

Reluctantly, you complied, untangling your arms from around his middle. The Doctor got up first, extending a hand down to help you up from the floor as well. Even after he pulled you upright, he didn’t let go of your hand, a small gesture that you were immensely grateful for. 

Silently, he led you down the hall and into the library. The room was a vast rotunda with seemingly endless shelves of books spanning multiple floors upwards. Gentle light came from vintage lamps and cream-colored candles that never seemed to burn out. Several worn-out pieces of furniture were littered around the room, many of which you had fallen asleep in at one time or another. 

The Doctor selected the largest seat in the room, a plush L-shaped couch with a garish but faded floral pattern. Unceremoniously he flopped into the corner, opening your arms in invitation for you to join him. 

Without hesitation, you practically fell into his arms. You curled up against him, resting your head back against his chest. In turn, he wrapped his arms around your shoulders, holding you against his frame. 

“This better?” he asked, brushing your hair away from your face, his fingers tickling your cheek. You nodded in response, nuzzling yourself further into him. Your face found its way into the crook of his neck, your nose slotting perfectly against the curvature of his shoulder. The Doctor sighed in contentment and rested his cheek on top of your head. 

You felt like nothing more than a puddle in his arms, finally able to melt against him like you had wanted for so many months. Now that you were snuggled against him, you weren’t sure you would ever be able to let go. 

As if reading your thoughts, he broke the silence, “We can stay here for as long as you need.” 

“Thank you,” you exhaled quietly, your heart fluttering at his compassion. 

The two of you stayed like that for the rest of the day, snuggled up in the TARDIS library together. The Doctor made a conscious effort to make this a regular thing, especially on days when you weren’t feeling your best. All you had to do was say the word and he would drop everything to comfort you. After all, you were his favorite companion. 

[stars-and-the-min]

☆ the wrong way to hard launch (14) | OP81

summary : oscar's girlfriend is a walking pr problem for literally everyone (including herself) social media au

pairing : oscar piastri x zhou!fem!singer!oc

a/n wait wait let him cook (imola)

masterlist | last part | part 14 | next part

INSTAGRAM

oscar piastri just posted to their story

TIKTOK

comments

FOLLOW UP QUESTION, WHICH RACE ????

something about a formula 1 driver and a rockstar having like the most normal story of meeting is hilarious

"took me a while to actually start dating her" i'm deadddd, u pulled her in the end tho bro

best relationship on the grid, i would die for them

didn't win the race but won her number, u have ur priorities straight

y'all gas her up too much it's not like she's that big a deal 💀 ↳ she's at least ten times more famous let's be fr for a sec, most of the world doesn't know what f1 is but they've probably heard one of lina's songs on the radio

REDDIT

r/EmptyBottles · Posted by u/luckyluna9364 1 mo. ago Lina x Oscar Timeline [read new comments]

fantstic013 · 12 hr. ago reviving this post bc of oscar's tiktok; they met at a race, which race??? when did lina attend a race?? whatthekermitdid · 11 hr. ago her f1 race debut (her words, not mine) was literally suzuka last month so i'm just as confused niaphilia283 · 11 hr. ago she might have done it behind the public's back. i think we all know that lina is only seen when she wants to be seen; we basically only saw her at scheduled events for the entirety of 2020-2023 like where was she even? what was she doing?

luckyluna9364 OP · 3 hr. ago ppl out there scrambling wondering which race but it has to at least be from the 2023 season bc i bet my whole life savings that their talking period was like 3 months so the new proposed meeting is like... abu dhabi grand prix (at the very least) which was back in december 2023

TWITTER

emme @flowersforcami · 4h still not over last night's show... the shit was phenomenal, it the cherry on top ↳ amie <3 @mieflrs · 4h i don't think we acknowledge how masochistic t*mmy must be to follow lina around europe and enduring those 2 hour shows where almost every song is the biggest middle finger to your existance; personally, if a song like aconite was written about me, i'd just never show my face again

kayla @luna_apocolypse · 5h oscar's story??? sir are you talking about the actual view or the stunning woman on the balcony?? it's important that i know

president linami @ linaminami · 6h 24 days since lina's posted on any of her socials... i can't believe i miss her unserious ass so much 🥲

oscalina real ?! @emptyginbottles · 33m "oscar could do so much better" respectfully how do you get better than selina fucking bui? ↳ oscalina real ?! @emptyginbottles · 33m "he should be with someone like him" she's australian, she's born in 2001, she's got cat energy, she loves sleeping and chocolate, she's slightly unhinged, she's known as a prodigy in her field, she keeps down low and most importantly, she's hot as shit, what more do you want

piaa⁸¹ @ papayaeightyone · 2h he called her his lucky charm 🥺 i love them so much 😭 ↳ lila💚 @kasdanrights · 2h wait lina?? where's this from?? i have terrible signal and no videos are loading ↳ piaa⁸¹ @ papayaeightyone · 2h it's from a video of them entering the paddock, someone asked him what's its like to have her at a race again and he grinned and said she's his lucky charm ↳ lila💚 @kasdanrights · 2h WAIT NO THEY'RE SO CUTE I CAN'T

MESSAGES

from the phone of oscar piastri

TWITTER

oscalina real ?! @emptyginbottles · 4h WE'RE SO BACKKKKK

↳ piaa⁸¹ @papayaeightyone · 4h that lucky charm must be working 👀

pookie piastri @op81ln4 · 34m OSCAR PIASTRI P2 START YES YES YES

oscalina real ?! @emptyginbottles · 21m oh he was not kidding when he said she was his lucky charm ↳ oscalina real ?! @emptyginbottles · 20m i'll have whatever he's having bc he was like a cat on steroids

jess @OPIXSTRI · 28m we were so close to a maiden pole why is it always a fucking haas ruining everything

Jonny @EB_jonno · 32m @ OscarPiastri Mega quali mate, way to absolutely send it (don't give Lina too much credit)

INSTAGRAM

oscarpiastri Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola

liked by cameliazzz and 218,496 others

oscarpiastri Well, it was fun while it lasted 😂

opeightyone Time to have better fun tomorrow then

cameliazzz i bet she found it hilarious ↳ oscarpiastri @ cameliazzz She found the timing hilarious, she was pretty upset it happened

TWITTER

pookie piastri @op81ln4 · 3h oscar piastri is now incredibly familiar with the rear wing of that ferrari it's just a shame it's the hideous hp logo

oscalina real ?! @ emptyginbottles · 3h LANDO??? LANDO OML U ARE SCARING THE SHIT OUT OF EVERYONE

piaa⁸¹ @ papayaeightyone · 2h i mourn the mclaren double podium we could've had... ↳ piaa⁸¹ @ papayaeightyone · 2h what matters most is that oscar finished ahead of sainz, i'm a happy woman

ZG24 future WDC · @zhoupdates · 21m the most iconic cousins are having dinner together in imola after the race

tagged: 周冠宇 | Zhou Guanyu 🇨🇳 and lina !!! ↳ clara @ zgy24 · 5m oscar finally let lina out of his sight this weekend?

INSTAGRAM

oscarpiastri

liked by logansargeant and 264,586 others

oscarpiastri En route to Florence (got really sidetracked)

amelia_belrose who gave them the right to be so cute?

pi4str1 the anticipated road trip happened 🥺 ↳ linasgirl4 @pi4str1 from a mention in a rolling stones interview to reality, they did it guys 🫶

opeightyone Nice quick break before the double header

siera_mblanc he's never looked so boyfriend before this is insane, the girlfriend effect is slowly kicking in

TWITTER

pookie piastri @op81ln4 · 2h something real funny about oscar driving down to florence with lina to spend a day or two before having to helicopter over to monaco by wednesday for the mclaren senna tribute livery/monaco gp promotions like 😭 OSCAR, BREATHE A LITTLE ↳ pookie piastri @op81ln4 · 2h idk how u think this is lina hate, it's just me pointing out that oscar had found a gap in his schedule and immediately went: i'm spending as much time as physically possible with my girlfriend before they forcibly drag me to monaco

Oscar Piastri @ OscarPiastri · 4h Searching my family tree to find any trace of Monégasque roots ↳ Charles Leclerc @Charles_Leclerc · 1h I can adopt you if needed ↳ Jonny @EB_Jonny · 13m did we just become in-laws to the leclercs???

piaa⁸¹ @papayaeightyone · 1h oscar piastri-leclerc 😭

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:

taglist @ririyulife @ashy-kit @fionaschicken @namgification @cherry-piee @urfavsgf @eiaaasamantha @sp1rl @destinyg237 @iloveyou3000morgan

[creativewritersposts]

a damn poet - Connor Bedard

requested; @chericherilvr 💓

summary; Connor Bedard x reader

Connor is so busy trying to have his best season that he forgets about things that really matter. He needs to learn how to be a poet to save your relationship.

warning(s); angst! fluff, argument, maybe grammar errors

author's note; it took me hours to finish this one. It was an honor for me to write this request. ♡

--------------------------------------------------------------

Deep in your heart you know how Connor feels for you. He wouldn't invite you over another continent, joining his world championship, if he wouldn't love you. But something inside you breaks. Seeing all these hockey couples with cute pictures, sending their girlfriend flowers and the players screaming from the rooftop how much they love their girlfriends.

Connor is not like this. He loves you, he cooks your favorite food and watches all movies you want to watch. He's so focused to play the best rookie year he could do and lost the focus on his private life. He doesn't want to post your relationship official, because of his fan base.

You're self-evident for him.

"Hey love", you smile with big eyebags, touching his shoulder as he walks in the hotel room. It's your first time after three days having a real conversation with him.

"Hi", his mouth is straight, kissing your temple and waking in the bathroom. You're exhausted from love-bombing him. You're so tired of being so upset.

"How was your day?", you ask him, hearing the shower. "I can do better", his voice echos back. "You're already enough, my love", you shout back and throw your body into the bed. You spread your arms apart, your legs are on the ground.

Connor comes out after a few minutes ago in a towel, his hair is still wet and he's looking fine.

"What is that?", he grabs a paper from the desk.

"So I hold onto your shirt, as I stain it with blood

Will I finally find my own peace?

Clear my mind out of my thoughts, then state that I'm in love

Tempted with the idea of dying in these sheets"

"I'm writing songs ", your voice shakes. Connor never noticed this because he's always busy and you're asleep when he comes home. You're working full-time in a job you don't like and at night you're writing songs. Hopefully to live from that one day.

Connor looks up from these lines, "since when?", he breathes in. Hid eyes get red. Red like crying. "over a year", you sit up on the bed, your arms are supporting your back.

"Why didn't you tell me, babe?", he sniffles.

Babe. How long didn't you hear this nickname?

"You were busy", you tell him the truth. Maybe he'll break up with you. Connor sobbs, "are you really feeling this way? Finally finding your own peace?", his blue eyes searching yours, you can see how much it burdens him.

"your lyrics are professional, they're so good", he cries and tries to hide it. Whipping his tears with his wrist, face to his bag with all clothes.

He's putting a shirt on, turning around. "I just need time to realize this, babe", he kisses your lips, you taste the salt from his tears.

"You have an important game tomorrow, I'm ok with that ", you response. He nods and lays down. Without a kiss, hug or this comfortable feeling.

He lays down and let you alone with all these thoughts in your head. He doesn't seem to care much about you. Maybe it's time to leave.

Next day Connor feels like shit, even in his hockey clothes, nice fans around his team. He slept surprisingly well, but feels like the night after silvester.

It burns in his chest, you don't feel happy. But why? Since when you're writing songs? as a good boyfriend he should know. What is he missing in this relationship.

He's not shitty boyfriend, he didn't know it's hurting you. He thought its okay that he's having a strict time schedule.

"Concentration, Bedsy!", his teammate hits his shoulder to wake him up from daydreaming. Like a robot Connor played his best game but the celebration feels like a crime.

"Yo Connor are you going out with us?", some boys asking him in the cabin to celebrate their win. "No", he wants to see you. He forgot how stunning you are. How hard working you are. You're a poet and he had no clue!

He walks in your hotel room, lights are out. Just some papers all over the bed. He grabs one paper, reading the lines.

'He grabs me by my neck

Puts a dagger to my heart

Tells me I'm a mess

That I'll never be enough'

Gosh, it hits him. You are more than enough. You're his safe place. He reads every paper, focused about what you feel. It's time to hear out what you need.

He grabs his phone, calling you.

"Hello?", your voice sounds happy. "Where are you, babe?", he asks interested. "I'm at the whirlpool inside the hotel, I'll come over in 5 minutes, okay?", you're scared he's mad when you're late. You thought he's celebrating with his team and won't come to bed until midnight.

You pack the stuff and walk back to your shared room.

The opened door shows you the sort out papers with your lyrics on your bed shelf.

Connor lays in bed, smiling softly. It's typical Connor, he's a clean guy.

He smiles. He smiles at you without talking about hockey. "Congratulations for winning, I'm proud of you", you stutter.

This view feels so surreal, having a relationship after months. Having a boyfriend waiting for you.

"You look beautiful", he grins angelic.

You stopped the last step, "what did you say?". Maybe you have issues with your ears.

"You look beautiful and I love you", he talks loud.

"Love you too?", your honest reaction. The last time he said it, he broke is jaw and was out of his mind because painkillers. Months ago.

"Uhm can we talk, please?", he pets your hand, when you lay down with him. It feels like home. Smelling his perfume, hearing his breath and touching you.

"Sure", you get insecure what's coming next.

"Ok it's not easy for me", one tear runs down his cheek. You're frightened, just able to nod.

"Why do you write songs with me as enemy?", his voice is distanced and cold.

"Oh I'm sorry I don't write lies!", you defense yourself.

"I'm a good boyfriend!", he argues, "you treat me like I'm self-evident!", you yell your frustration out of your lungs. So much pain inside your chest wants to come out of your mouth. So much unsayed words.

"No-", he argues back, more tears are coming out his blue eyes.

"Yes Connor! Yes, it's true! I love writing songs and I hate my job so much! I am crying every night because my boyfriend doesn't care about me and I'm all alone and you're hiding me from fans because you could have a ruined career, I get it!", you sob under choking your salty tears. You're outraged.

You take your pillow and lay down on the floor, Connor looks down, "come over".

"No", "god damn come over!", he huffs.

"You have practice tomorrow, good night!".

That's the last time you saw him for the next two days. He's busy. Semifinals are tonight and Connor posted something on Instagram, you're too upset to check.

One WAG comes to you at the game, giggles and tells you, "never thought Bedsy is a poet!". The game is already on fire but your fingers are like a magnet, they want to switch what he posted - even if he's an idiot.

He posted a picture of you reading a book in the garden, laughing at you without pressure, without hockey and in his caption;

"You can feel, when someone traces your skin

You can kneel, run, jump and also can spin

And when I close my eyes I wish I was just like you"

[wingzie]

Jikook and the Importance of Photos

Photographs are special. They map out our lives through precious memories. They leave a footprint in time that can forever be part of our history. These glimpses of our past, make us who we are and show what or who is important to us. They are full of so much love and emotions, even more so when they are shared with those most trusted to us. This goes for every photo shared by the members.

 I personally think it’s amazing that we can tell when a photo of Jimin is taken by Jungkook, there’s a certain style to it and it comes across even at a glance. One of my favourite photos of Jimin by Jungkook is this one:

This photo was taken from the behinds of Life Goes On. Each MV was beautifully directed by Jungkook, and it’s hard to miss the references made from within their old dorm. I know Jungkook isn’t keen on photos but, just like during GCFT, Jimin is looking at Jungkook and not the camera here with that smile. With that one look, that we are so familiar with, we can trace every single moment within their history which has that same shining expression. It tells a story over time, but also that one photo itself is so telling in the way that it was captured. One of my favourite photos of Jungkook by Jimin is this one:

There’s something raw and delicate in this photo.You can see it in Jungkook’s eyes. Each item in the photo tells its own little story, from the Birthday cake to the polaroid photos on the table that we never saw. This photo is all we saw from the night of Jungkook’s Birthday in 2019 and sometimes I am reminded that with these glimpses into their lives, there are still so many moments of theirs that we are unaware of. For example, Jungkook had a hickey on his neck during MOTS:Online and none of us had any idea until the DVD Behinds came out. 

For every selca or video that Jikook has shared with us, it shows a part of them that we are so lucky to witness. To be able to watch their growth over the years is magical and something I will always cherish. Why am I going on about photos and memories though?  Because they give so much of themselves to us and I will never take it for granted, nor expect them to give more to us than they want to. Some of their memories are for them only, but we can still hold dear what we know already…

Some of you know this already, but I have been caring for my Mother lately. Over the last few months, her memory has worsened. In an attempt to help, we play memory games and repeat simple tasks together. However, her memory is something that cannot be simply fixed with such methods. I had the idea to get out family photos, until I realised that we had stopped taking them when my parents divorced. It’s made me more proactive in archiving things that I do each day. Every little thing I see or hear, I note it down or save the song. In a way, it’s also how I associate with BTS or Jikook. When the BTS World soundtrack came out, I was having a really bad day and it gave me a lot of comfort. I smile whenever I hear Pied Piper because it’s one of my friends favourite songs. Any time I hear “Jungkookie” or “Jimin-ssi”, a barrage of memories come to the front of my mind and I grasp onto all of them whilst I still can. 

I'm sure it's not just me who does this either, Jimin and Jungkook probably do this themselves. You could see that when Jungkook was watching Jimin’s compilation with us. He was recollecting the same memories as us, but he also has access to an entirely different set of memories that we don’t know of. We also saw that with the way Jimin and Jungkook both explained the Rainy Day Fight. During the Festa video, Jungkook mentioned “rainy day” and expected Jimin to understand what he meant. Later on, Jimin and Jungkook gave their own versions of what happened in their separate lives. They both more or less experienced the same thing, but blamed themselves for their actions and not the other. 

They love adding to their own collections of memories. Every single time that Jimin watched Jungkook rehearse and the other way around, enough so that they could probably be a backup dancer. All the clips they have but haven’t shared. The moments we don’t find out until later, the inside jokes they have without context. We don’t understand, but that doesn’t matter. Only they have to and we just watch and smile. Their memories are a huge part of them, it’s what makes their bond so special.  

[supernovafics]

series masterlist | last part — next part

pairing: modern!college!steve harrington x fem!reader, bestfriend!eddie munson x fem!reader

word count: 3.1k words

warnings: explicit language, brief mention of alcohol/drinking, pining, a little angst

summary: steve meets you at eddie’s show and even though you’re feeling a little weird and nervous about what you two are doing, you ultimately decide that there’s a first time for everything

CHAPTER THREE | ❝𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅❞

Fall Semester 2015

Eddie was good. Like, really good.

So good that you had to keep reminding yourself to not ogle at his hands on the guitar, seamlessly moving from chord to chord, or focus too hard on the almost too pretty sound of his voice. 

You silently wondered— as he and his band finished out the last few moments of the song they were rehearsing— if you would be feeling this way as you watched him practice if you didn’t have the biggest crush on him. Or maybe this would’ve ended up being the moment you realized everything, instead of that moment happening in his dorm room just a few weeks ago.

You still hadn’t decided how to tell him, you also still weren’t sure if you even wanted to tell him at all. If you said something and he didn’t feel the same way, you had a feeling that it would mess everything up between you and him, and ultimately ruin this friendship that felt so important to you. 

Therefore, you were leaning more toward never telling him how you felt, or at least waiting for the perfect moment to do so. However, you didn’t know what would necessarily deem a moment as “perfect.” Maybe one day it would just feel right to finally utter the words to him? You weren’t entirely sure. 

For the time being, you pushed those confusing thoughts to the side, and in this moment you simply focused on the final notes of the song being played out, marking its end, and then Eddie placing his guitar down. 

“You guys are really good,” You said from where you sat barely five feet away because of how small the garage was; you couldn’t remember if this was Gareth’s place, Jeff’s, or Doug’s. “Like, really, really good. It’s actually kind of insane.” 

Eddie smiled at you. “I think you’re our number one fan now.”

“I feel honored to hold that title.”

He walked over to where you were sitting. “You wanna come with me to get the pizza?”

His question was one that you didn’t need to outwardly respond to because the answer was obvious. You simply nodded as you stood up from your chair and walked with him to his van. 

You’d go anywhere with Eddie— and that fact was the main reason why you were currently spending your Saturday in his hometown two hours away from your guys’ college, instead of holed up in the library studying for midterms. 

“I think I get it,” You said, gazing out the window as he drove and watching the small empty fields and random houses pass by in a blur. 

“Get what?”

“Why you wanted to leave here,” You answered, turning to look at him even though his eyes were focused on the road. “It’s so small and quiet. I honestly can’t even imagine you growing up here.”

“There was a record store across town that I really loved, and it was probably the only thing that kept me sane growing up,” He briefly explained and you nodded. “And my uncle. And the guys too. We’ve been doing the whole band thing since middle school.”

The thought of an eleven year old Eddie singing and playing guitar sounded quite adorable to you. 

“That’s so cute.”

Eddie laughed. “Cute was not what we were going for.”

“Sorry, what I meant to say was, that’s so cool and rock ‘n roll.” 

“Solid save.” 

“Thank you.” 

“You have to take me to your hometown next,” He said, taking a brief look over at you as he kept driving. 

You shook your head. “Definitely not gonna happen, and not just because we’d have to take a two hour plane ride to get there.”

“Come on, I brought you here.”

Just for a second, you let yourself think about the suburban town you grew up in states away; a town that you also couldn’t wait to get out of because, just like Eddie’s, it felt way too quiet and small. You tried to briefly imagine him walking down the streets you used to walk to get to school or the park that you had liked to spend most of your free time at reading, but you couldn’t see it. You could barely even see yourself doing any of that anymore. 

“This is different. You want to come here,” You told him. “Aside from my parents, and that’s only sometimes, there’s nothing that makes me wanna go back to my hometown.”

You tried your hardest not to think about how actually saying that out loud made you feel a little sad. 

“So, no band with old friends that makes you wanna go back most weekends?” Eddie asked, purposefully trying to lighten the mood, which you were grateful for. 

You gave him a small smile. “Nope, none of that.” 

That was why you liked him, he read you well and knew the right moments to shift any conversation. 

There was a part of you that wanted to just admit to him how you felt right there in his van. Let the words leave your lips and simply see what would happen. 

But then he was pulling into the parking lot of the pizza place and the moment felt effectively over. And a part of you was glad for that. 

It wasn’t that difficult to pretend that nothing had changed for you and that you still only saw him as your best friend. You honestly found pretending to be the easiest thing to do. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

Spring Semester 2018

“Robin just texted me saying, “Tell Eds I’m there in spirit. When in actuality my spirit is dead because this essay is killing me.” So yeah, she’s not coming tonight.”

“Damn, so that means I won’t hear her overenthusiastic “woo’s” after we finish every song.” 

You playfully smiled at Eddie. “I can take over that job for the night if you want.”

“That would be great,” He responded, smiling back. “We need to prove that we have at least one excited fan.”

“Okay, then I’ll make sure to take my job as your number one fan very seriously tonight,” You told him before taking a sip from your drink and then placing it back atop the high wooden table you two were standing on opposite sides of that was a bit wobbly. “I swear we always somehow end up at this specific table.”

“Either that, or they’re all fucked up.” 

“True,” You said and nodded, but you had a feeling that it was probably the same one because you and everyone always ended up occupying the same cluster of tables that were to the right of the small stage— a stage that was currently set up because he was performing in less than twenty minutes. 

You had shown up with Eddie and the rest of the band an hour earlier; which was pretty much a routine when it came to the biweekly gig Corroded Coffin had here. Aces was one of the few bars in town that was actually not frequented by college kids because they were really strict about their carding policies and could spot a fake ID from a mile away. However, Rick, the owner, loved Eddie and the band, so exceptions were made for them; and by extension you and your other friends too.  

You texted Robin back “Your screaming will be missed<3,” and then got a notification for a text from Steve that said, “Just parked.”

“Um, Steve just got here, so I’m gonna go out and grab him.”

“Okay,” Eddie said and then shook his head in what seemed like both disbelief and surprise. “I still can’t believe how good Friday night went for you two.” 

“Yeah, I’m surprised too. I didn’t expect this to happen,” You told him, which technically wasn’t that much of a lie. You really hadn’t expected that night to lead to you fake dating Steve barely a day later. 

The cold night air immediately hit you when you walked outside, even the jacket you were wearing wasn’t enough to keep you warm, so you crossed your arms over your chest as you waited for Steve. You were suddenly glad that you opted against wearing a skirt tonight and decided to settle on a pair of jeans. 

It was a solid three minutes of you looking both ways down the street and waiting for Steve to eventually come into view. And when he finally did, you met him halfway. 

“Jesus, how far did you park?” 

“Way too far.”

Steve fell into step with you as you walked back to the front door. You noticed him look up at the faded sign that had the bar’s name on it and then it seemed as if he realized or remembered something. “Aren’t they really strict at this place?”

“Yeah, but it’s fine,” You answered with a quick shrug before grabbing his hand to keep him close to you as you walked past the small-ish line of people waiting to get their ID checked and get into the bar. You gave a quick smile to Jacob, the bouncer and also Rick’s brother, who was letting you through with no hesitation. “Thanks, Jacob.”

Steve let out a breath of a laugh once you two were fully inside the small and darkly lit bar. “Okay, that was actually pretty cool.” 

You were about to respond to him with some playful joke about how getting into this place both for free and without an ID was probably the coolest thing about you, but then your eyes were on Eddie. He was saying something to the guys as they headed over to the packed bar and then he was left alone at the haphazardly pushed-together tables. Suddenly, you felt nervous and also a bunch of other things that were entirely indecipherable at the moment. 

You turned to look at Steve. “Okay, so, um, how thick are we laying it on right now?”

Instead of answering your question, he seemed to sense your nervousness, so he gave your hand that was still holding his a quick squeeze. “Just chill. Don’t worry.” 

That honestly didn’t do anything to calm your nerves or make you not worried about what you two were about to do. But, it was also weird because even though you were nervous, you didn’t want to back out of doing it. 

“Where is he?” Steve asked.

You simply nodded in the direction of the table Eddie was standing at. 

“Okay, come on,” He said and as you two walked over to the table, he readjusted your hands so that they were intertwined, which made holding hands with him feel a thousand times more intimate. And that was probably exactly why he did it, you realized. 

“Hey,” He greeted Eddie with a smile. 

“Hey, man,” Eddie responded. “Cool seeing you here.”

“Yeah, glad I can finally catch a show.” 

You stopped paying attention to what they were saying, and it wasn’t really on purpose, it was just that all you could focus on right then was Steve’s subtle movements— his hand pulling away from yours and him shifting closer to you so that he could drape his arm around your shoulders instead. He was so smooth and easy with it, meanwhile you were contemplating if you seemed too tense or if your face looked uncomfortable. 

Maybe some practicing would’ve been good before jumping into the deep end of this whole thing. But, what would practicing have even entailed? Steve holding your hand or keeping his arm around you until you felt completely normal about it? That sounded almost too embarrassingly stupid. 

He had done pretty much the same things Friday night on your date— you remembered him holding your hand and wrapping an arm around you during the movie and feeling entirely okay about it; he had even kissed you that night and initially, you had been completely okay before you got too in your head about everything— but this, for obvious reasons, felt entirely different. The point now was to look super into it, and you felt yourself slowly folding under the pressure. 

“Did you tell him about game night?” 

It took you a second to realize Eddie was talking to you because your mind was in an entirely different place right then. You barely even heard the question he asked you. 

“Yeah, she did,” Steve said, saving you. “I’ll be there.” 

“Great, we’ll actually have even teams for once,” Eddie said to you.  

“Talia’s gonna hate that. She loves being referee,” You responded, finally finding your voice and actually managing to feel the tiniest bit normal for a moment. 

“No, she won’t because she’s gonna have the best Pictionary player on her team.” 

You rolled your eyes at that because you knew he was referring to himself. “Vickie is the best at Pictionary, actually.” 

“Okay. Second best.”

“I think Robin’s second, but you’re definitely third because me and Talia are equally bad at that game.”

“Fine, I’ll take third,” Eddie responded. “Unless Harrington here has a secret talent?” 

Steve shook his head. “No, I’m terrible at drawing.” 

Eddie smiled at that. “You two will make a great team then.” 

“I think our bad drawing skills will cancel each other out and we’ll actually end up being really good,” You said, mostly kidding with your words.  

“Or we’ll be worse,” Steve said. 

“It’s very sad to see that you have no faith in us,” You joked, looking up at him, and he only laughed in response.

He and Eddie went into talking about an assignment for the class they had together, and you attempted to pay attention to their conversation, but your mind went right back to overthinking everything. You wondered whether or not things looked real or if it all seemed entirely forced and out of place. 

Steve was doing pretty much all of the work right then at making this newfound relationship look believable, and your only job was to pretend that you were happy to lean into his touch and to make it seem like you were at least a little enamored by him, which was easier said than done. You were now discovering that acting wasn’t your strong suit. 

They continued talking for the next minute or two before Eddie was saying that he needed to head on stage. “I’ll see you guys after.”  

You nodded and said a simple “Good luck,” and then he walked away, joining Gareth, Jeff, and Doug on stage. You let out a breath that you didn’t even know you’d been holding. 

“You okay?” Steve asked once Eddie was out of earshot. His arm dropped from around you, but he still stayed close. “I know we shook hands on it and everything, but we really don’t have to do this. It’s fine if you wanna back out.”

“No, I’m okay. I just didn’t expect this to feel so weird? I don’t know if that’s the right word, but yeah… I swear I’m fine, though, I’ll get better at,” You briefly gestured between you and him. “This whole thing.”

The last time you were so outwardly physically affectionate with someone was years ago; a high school relationship that ended just as quickly as it had started. You weren’t used to this anymore, and maybe it was dumb to think that it would be easy to do it, especially with someone you didn’t really even know that well.

“We don’t have to do this,” Steve reminded you.  

“No, I want to. Honestly,” You assured him, and surprisingly that still felt mostly true.

“When’s game night?”

“Tomorrow,” You answered, forgetting that that had been brought up in the conversation with Eddie. “It’s a once-a-month thing we do at the apartment.”

“Got it,” He said with a nod.

“You don’t have to come if you don’t wanna. It’s mainly just three hours of all of us screaming at each other,” You briefly explained. “That’s the reason why we only do it once a month. Friendships would be ruined if we made it a weekly thing.”

“Sounds deadly.” 

“Very much so.” 

“Also, sounds fun.”

You let out a laugh. “Didn’t peg you for a masochist, Steven.” 

He ignored that. “Do you want me to come tomorrow?” 

You took a moment to actually consider his question. Everyone else was gonna have to meet him eventually, especially if you wanted to make it seem like you “really liked him,” so maybe it would be best to just rip off the band-aid and do the introductions sooner rather than later. 

“Yeah, I do,” You ultimately answered. “You should come. I think it’ll be good.” 

Before he could even say anything in response, the band started playing and every conversation happening in the small bar became drowned out by the music. You bopped your head and softly sang along to the songs you knew, which were pretty much all of them aside from a few new covers they decided to do. And you, of course, loudly applauded and excitedly shouted after every song, just like you told Eddie you would. 

“Wow,” Steve said at one point, mouth close to your ear so that you could hear him over the music. “It’s so obvious that you like him. I honestly didn’t think it was possible to witness heart eyes in real life.”  

You playfully nudged him. “Shut up.” 

You had a feeling that he was mostly joking with his words, but still, you couldn’t help but think, Did it really look that obvious? 

You turned to look at Steve and were about to ask him what exactly looked so obvious and how was he so easily able to notice something that Eddie somehow never had. 

However, you immediately noticed that his attention was on a girl across the bar who was looking right back at him with a matching smile on her face. 

“Keep it in your pants tonight, Harrington,” You told him, elbow bumping his side again. “And until the end of February too.” 

“I know. Sorry,” Steve said, looking away from the girl and back at the stage.

“Y’know, I was mostly joking last night when I said that not dating anyone this month would probably be hard for you. But, now seeing that it actually is hard for you, I’m just concerned. There are tons of support groups that you can join to help with this problem,” You said, trying your hardest to keep a straight face as you said your words, but ending up smiling the entire time. 

“Ha ha,” He said sarcastically, which only made you smile more. 

You focused back on Eddie, listening as he said that he was about to perform what would be the last song of the night. You shouted happily in anticipation and smiled at him when his eyes met yours. 

Once again, you couldn’t help but wonder, Was it obvious?

At some point during that final song, Steve placed an arm around you again, and it surprisingly didn’t feel all too weird that time around. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

next part!

taglist (lmk if you want to be added or taken off<333); @eddiernunson , @loulouloueh , @the-aster , @blckburd , @totally-bogus-timelady , @yujyujj , @irhdifartzamfyaa , @mochminnie , @munsonssweets , @blckbrrybasket , @xprloki

[sunlighthroughthe-ashes]

"the heart is a repository of vanished things:" throughout this episode the sunjae of each timeline called out from within the current sunjae's soul — begging to be heard.

the scene with sol's grandma was so beautifully melancholic: you can lose memories, but their essence stays with you forever. your recollection may become fragmentary; but each piece of the person most important to you will find its way back to you somehow.

when you love someone, it's for life. your souls are knitted together, stronger than flesh.

even when sunjae doesn't fully recognize sol; his body remembers. knows to wipe her tears, to hold her hand while she's sick. to give her a warmer blanket. to prepare food for her, remind her to cool it before eating.

all of his acts of service are for her: and all sol's acts of sacrifice are for him. "i love someone very much," she tells him. "that's why i can't be with you."

it's the truth — sol has torn time apart out of love for him. and sunjae has stitched it back together, for her.

the soul is eternal — it holds love close; and refuses to let go. the scene where sunjae and sol sing 'sonaki' together at the same time reduced me to tears. you can practically see their spirits reach out to each other and link hands — disavowing any kind of distance. once a boy's song of unrequited love, now a girl's talisman of lasting devotion. finally, it belongs to them both.

some cords just cannot be cut, no matter what you do. some loves transcend a lifetime.

and when sunjae finally remembers her!! three timelines worth of memories flooding in: the abject terror and relief in his gaze as his one sacred love returns to him at last. and the fact that it happened while it was snowing — like the weather was a guide leading him back into the light of sol's memory: just exquisite writing.

despite bearing the full weight of how every timeline ends, sunjae chooses to run to sol anyway. he chooses her. he will always, always choose her.

it's his fate to fall in love with sol, even knowing every consequence. it's her fate to try and save him, knowing how everything ends.

i am filled with so much love and awe for this show. i can't believe we only have one day left. no matter what, i'll never let lovely runner go.

[beenbaanbuun]

Love Sick - Lee Chan

Words - 3.4k

Genre - fluff

Warnings - making out, Chan is sick, language, nudity but nothing really NSFW

You were in the shower when your phone started to ring, interrupting your impromptu karaoke session. Of course, you ignored it. It was one thing to stop your music for a few seconds, but pulling you away from your warm, way-too-long shower? That was too much. Besides, you were wet and your hair was still covered in shampoo suds. If they needed you that desperately, they’d surely ring you again. 

After a few seconds, the shrill ringing stopped, replaced by the sound of your favourite vocalist's voice once more. You began to sway, a smile finding its way onto your face as you danced to the beat of the song. You were just about to open your mouth and sing along, but before you got the chance, the song was cut off once more. 

You tried to peer over at your phone to see who it was that needed you so badly, but the glass surrounding you had fogged up, obscuring your vision of anything outside of the cubicle.

“This had better be worth it,” you grumbled as you yanked the door open and stepped into the much colder room. You ignored the puddle that formed under your feet as you stepped onto the tile. It was something you could clean up later after you were done chastising whoever it was that apparently needed you so badly. 

You read the name on the screen, your eyes rolling on instinct when you realised it was your oldest friend - and most annoying friend, for that matter - that was so desperate to get in touch. Knowing Seungkwan, it probably wasn’t anything important he was ringing you with. Probably just the latest drama that he’d heard through the grapevine and thought it to be of the utmost importance that you knew too. Usually, you loved to sit and gossip, but not when it was getting in the way of your morning routine. 

Still, you bit the bullet and answered, but before you could even say the word ‘hello’, Seungkwan had already started talking.

“Chan has a cold.” He said, cutting you off. 

“Huh?” 

“Chan. He’s sick.” Seungkwan repeated. 

“And what does that have to do with me?” You asked, trying to save face even though your heart was aching. You had to stay strong, you reminded yourself. 

“He’s your responsibility,” Seungkwan argued. 

“Since when?” 

“Since five months ago when you two finally decided that the rest of us had suffered your pining enough,” he sassed down the phone. You frowned, but you couldn’t exactly protest. Neither you nor Chan had been subtle with your feelings in the months leading up to him finally asking you to be his girlfriend. 

“Touché,” you grumbled, “but that still doesn’t make him my responsibility. There are 12 of you and one of me. Surely it makes more sense for you guys to take care of him.”

Seungkwan sighed on the other end. You were being annoying, and you knew that, but for a good reason. The last thing you wanted to do was to seem ‘overbearing’ - Chan’s words, not yours - and you couldn’t help but feel as though showing up to the dorms to take care of your boyfriend would be just that. It was only a cold, you told yourself, Chan would be fine without you. 

“Listen,” Seungkwan started. You could practically see the sympathetic smile on his face as he spoke. “Chan told me what happened. I understand why you’re trying to keep your distance right now. You’re hurt and you’re trying to give him the space he claims he wants, but I need you to ignore what he said. You’re usually so good at ignoring what people say.”

“Seungkwan, I can’t,” you fought back, ignoring the very blatant dig. 

“Yes, you can,” he practically growled at you, “Chan is sick because he hasn’t been taking care of himself. He’s been acting weird since you two argued and he keeps saying he’s just tired but we can all see right through him. He hates himself right now and he misses you so much, but he’s too stupid to do anything about it. If you want this relationship to work, you’re going to have to take the first step. If you prove to him that you’re still there, he’ll come crawling back with an apology.”

“I don’t need an apology,” you whined into the phone. “What I need is to not fuck up this relationship! Chan made his wishes very clear, and if he wants me to be around less then I will try my hardest to do that for him. Even if it is killing me.”

“It’s killing him too!” Seungkwan yelled down the line, trying to get his point across. He knew you were stubborn, but this really was taking the biscuit. “Whatever you think you’re doing, it ends now. Stop being childish and get over here.”

And with that, he hung up, leaving you with a war raging inside of your head. On one side, you wanted nothing more than to go and cuddle into his side and feed him soup until he was back to his regular, lively self. You wanted to dote on him and make him feel loved, but for some reason, you just couldn’t get the argument from only days before out of your head. He asked for space, and the last thing you wanted was to go against his wishes just because you couldn’t bear the thought of him being sick. You really didn’t think you could take it if he turned you away, especially when he needed someone to take care of him. It would break you, you were sure of it. 

But then Seungkwan came into your head. The lovely, irritating Seungkwan who made sure to tell you when you were being dumb, or taking things too literally. Who made sure to never send you down the wrong path or put your feelings in danger of being hurt. You trusted him over anyone else in the world, so if he said that Chan needed you, then your mind was already made up for you; you were going to see him.

Before you knew it you were outside of the dorm, dressed in some clothes that you frantically picked up from your bedroom floor and your hair still dripping wet from your shower. You looked a mess, but you felt worse. The constant conflict of emotions in your head had given you a headache, and the anxious stomach ache you had made you feel even worse. If you didn’t have a job to do, you probably would’ve turned around and gone home, taken yourself to bed and refused to come out again. Instead, you knocked on the door and tried your hardest to swallow down your nerves as you waited for it to be opened. 

It took a moment or two, but soon enough you were face to face with a disgruntled leader. Seungcheol looked even more tired than he usually did after a long morning of taking care of his members. Dark bags rested under his eyes as he sent you a smile that was soon cut off by a yawn. He must’ve had a rough night, you thought to yourself, and for a moment or two, you were glad that you were there to offer what little help you could. 

“Thank god you’re here,” he tugged you inside, shutting the door behind you. The first thing you noticed was how quiet the dorm was. Usually, there would be a never-ending stream of noise coming from every which direction, but today there was nothing but an eerie silence. “I’ve been up all night with Chan.” 

“Jesus,” you cursed. Seungkwan had said it was just a cold, but now you were wondering whether he’d just said that to keep you calm. “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s sad,” the leader sighed, “has been since you stormed out the other night. It wasn’t so bad for a few days, he mainly just kept to himself in his room, but now he’s sick as well and all he wants is you. I kept telling him that you’d be here when he woke up, but he wouldn’t go to sleep without you and I couldn’t just leave him, not when he was as upset as he was. He passed out about an hour ago. It was pretty much when Seungkwan rang you and they all left for practice. I’ve been trying to stay awake to wait for you.”

Your heart sank. So Chan really did want you there. He wanted you there so badly that he had put Seungcheol through hell for a whole night. You felt bad for the guy, in all honesty, but you appreciated him taking care of your boyfriend. 

“How did you know I’d show?” 

“Oh, please,” he guffawed, “there was no way you weren’t going to run to Chan’s aid the moment you found out he was sick. You’re just as whipped as he is.”

“You’ve got me there,” you giggled as you set off in the direction of Chan’s room. “Go get some sleep, Cheol. You look old with those bags under your eyes.”

“Don’t be cheeky,” he jokingly scolded you, “You should respect your elders!”

“Bye Cheol!”

You stood outside of Chan’s bedroom door, unsure of whether you should knock or not. If he’d only been asleep for an hour, maybe not. It felt a little cruel to wake him up, especially if he was as sick as his members made him seem. He needed his sleep, and you really didn’t want to be the one to disrupt it. 

There was still that annoying little voice in the back of your head, though. The one that told you that you should’ve stayed at home because he didn’t really want you there. In that case, it’d be better to announce yourself, right? There’d be nothing worse than waking up with someone you didn’t want to see by your side. At least if you woke him up he’d have a chance to get rid of you before you let yourself hope that things would be different than the last time the two of you spoke. 

As your knuckles wrapped against the door, you couldn’t help but feel bad for not trusting Seungkwan and Seungcheol. They’d done their best to convince you that your boyfriend wanted you by his side today, but you were letting your thoughts get the better of you, telling yourself over and over again that this is the one time you shouldn’t believe them. They had to be lying. Otherwise, you’d been keeping yourself away from Chan for no reason other than your own stubborn feelings. 

There was a quiet groan from the other side of the door. A groan that sounded an awful lot like ‘come in, hyung,’ and whilst you weren’t his ‘hyung’ you still took it as an invitation to enter the room.

“Oh, Chan,” you mumbled as your eyes finally landed upon his body that was tangled up in his blue sheets. A thin layer of sweat sat glimmering on his forehead and yet he still held the quilt up to his face as if he was going to freeze to death otherwise. All you wanted to do was take care of him, but as you walked closer and closer to his bed, you couldn’t help but let those thoughts enter your head once more. 

“Y/N, is that you?” He grunted, sounding just as weak as he looked. 

“Yeah,” you replied, “but I can go if you want me to.”

You watched as his face contorted into one of hurt. Great, you thought to yourself, now you’d upset him on top of him being sick. You really were a piece of work. 

“Why would I ask you to go?” He sounded offended that you’d even asked, although you thought it was a valid concern. “I haven’t seen you in days. I’ve missed you.”

You sighed, your feelings all jumbled up. The glee of him wanting to see you was mixed with the hurt of him seemingly forgetting everything he said to you to make you avoid him in the first place. You wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt since he was sick and all, but you couldn’t deny that part of you wanted to cry. 

“Can you come and lie with me?” He said after it had been silent for a minute or two. Of course, you wanted to say yes, but for some reason, your feet wouldn’t move from where they were planted a few feet away from his bed. “Please, Y/N.”

Still, you hesitated. Your thoughts were running wild. One moment they told you that you should just turn around and leave, and the next they said you should just forget the argument and run to him. After all, to be in his arms was all you’d been wanting for the past few days you'd spent without him.

“Chan,” you started, preparing to voice your concerns. 

“Y/N,” he responded in the same tone, “just come here, okay? Whatever you need to say can wait until I have you close, can’t it?”

You sighed, but you did as he asked, shuffling forward on your socked feet until you were standing just above his bed. You could see his face clearly from there. You could see the soft smile that he wore, as well as the gentle look in his eyes. You could see a thousand apologies swimming within them, and for a second you almost forgave him then and there. You held back, instead choosing to do as he asked and crawl into bed beside him. 

“Too many clothes,” he grumbled as you slotted yourself into his arms. “I’m practically naked and you’re dressed like you’re about to walk out into a snowstorm!” 

“I’m wearing a jumper, Chan,” you giggled at his silliness. “Not even anything underneath.” 

He rolled his eyes dramatically. 

“Come on, Y/N,” he pushed his face into your neck as he completely engulfed you in his body, “think about how nice this cuddle would feel without that big thick jumper separating the two of us.”

You had to smile. Chan was a naturally chatty person, whereas you were more docile in nature. It was nice to know that the almost constant flow of words from his mouth didn’t falter when he was sick. It was even nicer to hear him after the radio silence you’d had to endure. You much preferred talkative Chan to any other iteration of your boyfriend. 

“If I take it off will you stop complaining?”

He nodded in reply and released you from his grasp so that you could pull the knitted garment over your head. You felt his eyes on you as you did so but it didn't feel weird. The two of you had seen one another so many times now that all shock value had been removed from the action of undressing. No longer was it a sexual act, but just a regular part of your lives. You always watched him when he came back from practice, rambling passionately to you as he stripped himself before his shower, just as he watched you prepare to lie down in his arms by removing every layer that may separate the two of you.

For a second or two, you contemplated taking everything else off, as you usually would, but you stopped yourself. As normal as Chan was trying to act, things still felt weird between the two of you. Going back to normal straight away without so much as a single word said about the incident that occurred a few days prior felt strange. You didn't want to do it, nor did you think you could. So you just lay down, uncomfortable in your bra and jeans, and let Chan hold you close once more.

Nothing more was said by Chan. In fact, you would've assumed that he’d gone back to sleep if it weren't for the small kisses he kept placing on your shoulder and neck. They didn't come very often, and they clearly weren't supposed to lead anywhere else. They were just a simple reminder that he loved you and he was happy you were there with him again.

“I’ve missed you,” you whispered into the dark room. You didn't expect an answer from him, you just wanted him to know how you felt.

“I know,” he replied, his voice gruff from the cold, “I missed you too.”

“You can't have missed me that much if you didn't even message me since we last spoke.” It was a petty thing to say, you knew that, but some sick and twisted part of you wanted to make him suffer as much as you had.

“I would’ve done if I knew what to say but it's difficult to admit when you’ve been a complete and utter idiot.”

That got a smile out of you, even though you tried desperately to hide it. 

“You still should’ve said something. I’ve felt like shit for the last few days because of you,” you grumbled.

“I’m sorry,” he sighed, releasing his grip a little, but not completely. You were still practically being swaddled by him, but now you had a little more room to breathe. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know, Chan,” you shuffled closer to him subconsciously, denying the space that he’d given you only seconds prior, “You’re just an idiot sometimes, and that's okay.”

He pouted before breaking out into a fit of chuckles.

“So I’m forgiven?” He pondered, moving his head so it was only a few inches away from your own. It was an invitation to kiss him, clear as day. If you were feeling particularly cruel, you may have denied him. Fortunately for Chan, though, even you weren’t mean enough to deny a sick man a kiss, even if he was an idiot sometimes.

“Forgiven,” you whispered, leaning in close and pushing your lips against his. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds before you pulled away. Your forehead was still pressed against his; you weren’t ready to back away just yet. “But if you ever hurt me like that again, I’ll set Seungkwan on you.”

“Of course,” he grinned, “I wouldn’t expect any different.”

One more kiss was placed upon your lips. A sweet one filled with love and pure, unadulterated joy. Teeth bumped against teeth as the two of you grinned into one another’s mouths, but you didn't mind. In fact, the feeling was welcome. It reminded you of all the giddy, too-enthusiastic kisses the two of you shared when you started dating. They were far and few between, when there was still an element of shyness between the both of you. 

“You’re going to get me sick,” you whispered against his open mouth. He ignored you, delving back in for more. Despite your protest, you couldn't help but give in and let Chan put every ounce of passion he had into the kiss. You even returned the passion, holding onto his face so as not to let him slip away from you.

It was at this point that you regretted leaving the rest of your clothes on. Chan was right; it felt wrong to have something separating the two of you right now. You needed to be close, to feel his body close to yours. Even if he was feverishly warm and a little too sticky with sweat to be comfortable, you wanted him pressed against you. 

So without breaking the kiss, you slipped a band between your bodies to unbutton your jeans. Chan pulled his pelvis away from yours for a few seconds to allow you to slip them over your hips and begin to push them down your legs. You kicked your legs, using your feet to push the jeans down the rest of the way and off of your body entirely. There was a small thud as Chan used his own foot to nudge them over the lip of the mattress and onto the floor. 

“You taking anything else off?” He asked, hand already snaking around your back to rest upon your bra clasp. You nodded and within a few seconds, he was pulling the item away from your body and flinging it across the room. “That's more like it. Now we’re back to normal, hm?”

“Right,” you smiled, “back to normal.”

[felassan]

Thoughts on the DA:TV reveal trailer from June 9th. DA:TV spoilers under cut.

this post is rly late, ik hh ◕‿◕

General and some random stuff

It's important to bear in mind what the trailer advised at the bottom, which is that the trailer is "game engine footage" and that "not all images appear in game".

Overall I really liked the trailer and it made me feel super excited!! I thought it was cool. the general more light-hearted tone of it and the music choice weren't what I would've guessed or expected, but they were interesting choices. I was a bit [dog cocking head from side to side in confusion] in the early portion hh, but it really came together for me all chills n stuff with the 'rise of Rook'-kinda shot and the group fight scene at the end, by which point I was overwhelmed with excitement, all the new stuff it had shown and the prospect of going back to Thedas fr to the point that I was teary lmao (don't look at me). I think as well the subsequent gameplay reveal video was more representative of the tone that the game will have, and that DA has.. previous [affectionate] for slightly ?? trailers and portions of the marketing. (remember the DA:O-era Marilyn Manson 'This Is the New Shit' metal trailers with like blood splattering all over the place & screen like strawberry jam fountains and stuff and the male Cousland who inexplicably looks about 40-50 years old? hhh. yea).

I think it looked great ^^ it's very pretty and detailed, it has cool art.

I also dug the sound design, like when there were sound effects like Venatori drawing swords and stuff (as a random example), it was just very crisp and satisfying

Trailer song

I'm so curious to know who the cover/rearrangement of "Heroes" is by and to be able to listen to it in full sometime. Do you think it's simply music for the trailer, or that it's part of the game OST? Didn't DA2's have some Florence and the Machine on it for example?

Interesting to note that "Heroes" is about two lovers from different sides. "Under constant fear of death, they dream they are free, swimming with dolphins". the song "represents two opposing forces", a sense that they will be separated, and the idea that love can endure or overcome anything (umm Var lath vir suledin? 😭). it brings to mind the idea of two people on opposite sides of something as parted friends or star-crossed lovers or something like that.

I also think this is interesting: "Bowie placed the [song] title in quotation marks as an expression of irony on the otherwise romantic or triumphant words and music". When Solas raised the Veil, he saved his people and the world but also doomed his people and destroyed the world - he is an ironic and sad/tragic hero. In a previous trailer, he says [to Rook probably] in a non-positive, almost bitter tone, "They call me The Dread Wolf. What will they call you, when this is over?" It sounds like he thinks (knows..) that though Rook may save the day now, they could poetically end up like him, a mirror of him - hated for it after the fact, or a big damn hero that sadly no-one knows about (remember in Mass Effect when Kirrahe says "We are trained for espionage. We would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way"? remember when Mark Darrah said that at one point or other, the 'vision statement' for DA4 was "We would be heroes, but the records are sealed"?), or being a hero at great personal cost to themself, or saving the world from one issue but inadvertently setting off another or causing great collateral damage or something like that. a "hero", but an ironic one in some form or other. it's argued by some that despite its sound, "Heroes" is not a feel-good anthem per se:

Describing the song, [Bowie] stated it is about "facing reality and standing up to it", about achieving "a sense of compassion" and "deriving some joy from the very simple pleasure of being alive". Likewise, Pegg contests the song contains underlying dark themes that juxtapose its uplifting chord sequence and delirious vocal [...] while the repeated announcement of "nothing will keep us together" asserts that time is short. Regarding the themes, Lurie stated: 'alchemy: We may be average and regular in the present moment, but we have the potential, at any time, for heroic thought and action – even if only for one day. The transformation can be brought about by an external event or through an internal change in perspective'."

Purple and bronze

My favs <3 :)

People we've met before

We knew Lucanis wasn't really dead

I really liked the focus of the trailer and its accompanying text blurb on the cast of characters, a thing which is a mainstay focus of Dragon Age and something that people really love about it. The trailer gives the impression that the game is about Rook becoming a leader, the leader of this specific A-Team crew; the relationships between them and the crew members; all their unique and complimentary strengths and personal storylines as woven into the main plot; and working as a team to defy the odds.. together. the old lesson of, if we work together, we have the power to resist and triumph. real The Power of Friendship, Found Family-vibes, yknow? 🥺 I really liked this line "Create memories with your team which will deepen your experiences and give you more to fight for." (Dates and friend dates with them please). In ME, Liara can ask Shepard what she's fighting for, and if it's a chance to give Garrus peace. Shepard can reply that Garrus has been hurt and betrayed, and that she would like to offer him something better. that's the sort of thing that that line makes me think of.

I also get the impression that yeah, the DA:TV prologue/lead-in comic Dragon Age: The Missing was definitely originally intended to end not long temporally irl before DA:TV marketing content of this kind came out. like if you read The Missing then immediately watch this trailer, you can see what they may have been trying to go for in that comic and how they connect together. The Missing ends with Varric and Harding in Minrathous, and in this trailer, here they are in Minrathous. At the time of The Missing, I wondered:

this sounds like it’ll be Varric’s role in DA:D, right? The person who puts together the new Team, but not a companion per se. so… Varnick Fury? he recruits us? maybe the various characters Varric and Harding meet in this comic series are part of the wider team in DA:D, contacts, folks we meet?

and

D] highlight these four groups/factions and introduce the two new ones (Veil Jumpers and Shadow Dragons) in advance of DA:D. [...] Certainly if I was Varric at the moment when Harding asks “So who are you thinking?” at the end here, after the events I had experienced and people & groups I had met in recent weeks, with those being fresh in my mind, I would be thinking about the Grey Wardens, the Antivan Crows, the Veil Jumpers and the Shadow Dragons, both as groups and terms of the mental list of people that I had recently met who Solas doesn’t know. again it makes you think about the popular speculation that the DA:D PC will have the background of being from one of these groups.

this trailer and subsequent marketing materials since then have indeed detailed that Varric is not a companion, that he recruited Rook, that the devs were kinda thinking of an 'Avengers'-type team, that Neve (appeared in The Missing) is a companion, that Rook can be a Warden, Crow, Veil Jumper, or Shadow Dragon (among other things), that those factions are all important in the storyline of the game, that the companions include a Warden, a Crow, a Veil Jumper, and a Shadow Dragon, and that the crew will also have contact with non-companion NPCs who will be "faces" of their respective factions!! like we don't know for sure that the 'face' NPC[s] of the Veil Jumpers will be Strife and Irelin or one of them, but we do know thanks to Game Informer that e.g. Strife and Irelin do appear in the game as NPCs. When Harding asks Varric in The Missing "So who are you thinking?", it mirrors the trailer, where Varric asks Harding "What are you thinking?" after she states that this will take more than just the two of them.

A fun fact about the trailer is that the 'most replayed' segment is the Lucanis and Bellara part. the people know what they want hh.. ^^

Opening segment: Venatori, Varric, Harding

The trailer begins with a view of Docktown, Minrathous, just from a bit of a different angle to the one in that screenshot. the now-familiar floating castle is in the sky. I guess the bright green light on the docks in the trailer version of this scene is one of Minrathous' magical neon shop signs, specifically one above the door of the building on the docks that you can see here (albeit it's unlit there because it's daytime/or at least not overcast). it's foggy/misty, with a general moody vibe. Varric and Harding are in a bar. I think the bar they're in is through the doorway with the neon green light above it, and I wonder if that bar is this one.

Are the carved creatures with human heads and wings in the foreground statues on the nearest shore (where the 'pov' is standing) or carved prows of ships in the harbor? they remind me of harpies or angels. have we seen these assets before in DA? in-world were they based on a Thedosian creature?

[points] repeating rings/concentric circles

this bit reminds me of the different shapes and patterns here. (around 'Level 30', around '0 points available', and the skill tree itself both in terms of design and the pattern behind it)

Who doesn't love a good Mass Effect-style lens flare? :D somehow these always make me feel nostalgic.. this bit reminds me of an eclipse (of which much could be said in the context of DA and DA:TV..) or other astrological event, or like an event horizon or something.

These guys are Venatori Soldiers. Compare with those in the gameplay reveal video. they even attack in a big group of guys in the trailer the way they do in gameplay, Power Rangers badguys-style (a Venatori classic..). ^^

What's the deal with some of their weapons being red btw?

It's giving red lyrium, it's giving red lyrium blade like Certainty (two), it's giving the vibe of the red lyrium weapons pack, it's giving general Venatori fuckery (they have messed with red lyrium stuff for their own nefarious ends several times before).

the symbol on their foreheads is also familiar.

It shows up in Dragon Age: Absolution.

(from here) the flag scene on the right is seen during Hira's flashback when the Venatori killed her family as an example, punishing them for helping those less fortunate in Tevinter. so it seems like the Venatori have a new symbol and a new look in the post-DA:I material, right? like irl art direction/art updates-wise. just, in-world, they actually were using it in the past, as we can see it in the Hira flashback, at which point she was a child, long before the time of the Inquisition forming. unless this is a specific faction or offshoot of Venatori..?

I'm not sure that it actually is or not, but when I see this type of thing I also think about red lyrium shards. also, some of them have lil spiky shoulder blades -

which reminds me of that 'hostile architecture' vibe Tevinter architecture and designs of stuff have going on, like the spikes on the back of the chairs here. and I wonder if the guy with the red face covering is the leader of this particular squad?

When it pans out to this shot, we get a good look at the bar and also it's clear what a bunch of cowards the Venatori are. What is this, like, 7 on 2 at least.. but it was actually more than that in the beginning because Varric and Harding have already laid several Venatori soldiers out flat on the ground (I count at least 3 there and 1 flat on the bar lol). 11+ v 2 LOL. there are also a couple of injured but not KO'd people crouching who could be more injured Venatori, or else just innocent bar patrons who got in the way. in the background you can see what looks like a hookah, which we have seen in northern Thedas before. also, at this point, Rook is right there, sitting there all casual and nonchalant at a table over by the window, with their hood up and their back to the fight hh. the other thing that strikes me about this shot is the intricate patterns on the rug and how beautiful the lighting is - all those shafts of sunlight and candle/firelight and stuff.

Bar fights are such a fantasy, D&D-type classic. I wonder if this bar is the Swan, the tavern Corinne mentioned as being in Minrathous which has good tavern music? or if it's the same bar as where the game starts off, where Rook has the choice of intimidating a bartender or not? an article also mentioned a pub in the streets of Minrathous which has a dozen NPCs in it and which is reached via a wide, winding pathway. (probably at least two of these various bar/pubs are actually the same one being described/shown in a different way hh.) the Venatori try to look all menacing and the barperson, understandably, tries to scuttle out the way.

Bianca looks great and has had a glow up. the carved patterns are so pretty, and with the eyepieces and stuff she looks almost steampunky or Fable-y. which makes her subsequent demise at Solas' hands in the gameplay reveal video all the sadder. 🥺 we can also see at this point that at Varric's belt, he wears a symbol of the Inquisition, even though it's been around 8 years.. 🥺 as in The Missing, you can also clearly see that Varric has been aging. he looks old and tired, he has more of a beard, and his hair is thinning and graying. this look of his, including the outfit and scarring around his eye, iirc first appeared in Issue 2 of The Missing.

I wrote then of that,

he looks Older and more tired, and also maybe redesigned (outfit, scar etc). if this comic is set around 9:52 or shortly beforehand, he’s over 50 years old now since he was born in 9:1. according to this tweet of Fernando’s, it wasn’t Fernando who did a redesign, BioWare had sent along the reference for Varric for this comic. are we looking at Varric’s DA:D Era (Dad Era..) Redesign? is this how he’ll look in DA:D? 

and it seems we were, and it seems it is! :D

When the shot cuts to Harding, we can see that the bar has a roaring fire (tho I question the heat efficiency of this with a wide open door :D). I like the symmetry of having Varric and Harding both shoot one Venatori each with their bow/crossbow at this point. Harding is in her new gear, the new look that appeared in The Missing. She looks so good! I love all the detailing on her and Varric's clothes, like the fur parts at their collar and shoulders (which up here in Tevinter seems so quaintly southern, Fereldan-y hh). my heart skips a beat when Harding whips her head around and blows her bangs out her face. 🥰 the motion of her and Varric's hair is soo goood (and for stuff like Harding's cape whipping around), and look at the detailing of her braided updo!!

Mid bar-fight, when despite being mid-fight Varric reaches for a tankard and Harding summarily takes it off him.. it reminded me of this panel from The Missing #2. at that time, I thought,

“food poisoning” ye sure okay bud. at the end of issue 1, Varric was after a stiff drink. this panel is a smart bit of continuity from that. [but] on a serious note though I hope Varric is doing okay like, and this was just a hangover after a celebration like he says, rather than part of his recent tired/sad/kinda strugglin vibe. otherwise coupled with his older tireder more haggard look it reminds me a bit of Ser Aaron. [and it's] sad to think about [anyone going through or struggling with that] :( (RIP Aaron...)

and the tankard moment in this trailer reminded me of that worry again. Varric, buddy... are you okay 😭

It's so funny (in a good way) when Harding in the background uses her bow like a freakin baseball bat to level a guy while in the foreground Varric is like 'yea it's fine, she got this' because he knows she can handle herself hh. and like, yea, in these few seconds Harding takes out three dudes herself. Varric is still looking forlornly at his now-empty hand when she's smacking a guy clean across the face with the mug. Harding.. make it rain!! :) bad guys drop to the floor and the sparkly effects of spilled drink both fall around her. also, does it look to anyone else that on the front of a pouch Harding wears on her front, there's the eyeball Scout-or-Inquisition symbol, like how there is on her bow? then Varric is like. 'okay, I'm listening'. :D

Neve

We see Neve meeting someone in a Minrathous backstreet. the setting here reminds of the Minrathous streets in the gameplay reveal, of this concept art and of this scene from a previous trailer. it's raining at night and she's meeting them - an informant or contact etc - at a specific time and place in a secluded area to make some sort of trade. they show her the goods and she offers them a pouch of what is presumably coin

from how the Venatori talk about Neve in the gameplay reveal, and maybe even a lil based on how this 'contact' (who is actually trying to rob her or maybe even trying to complete a hit/kill contract on her) is dressed, I wonder if this person was Venatori or one of their agents?

Neve's saunter made me weak in the knees. she seems so confident and capable. she has great instincts/reflexes, which makes sense for a character who investigates alone on the night streets; she saw the attacker's feint (and their real goal all along) coming straightaway. you can't get one over on Neve

In the final triumphant shot of her, when she holds the item aloft, she's got one foot on the felled person, who is lying on the ground hh

I appreciated the attention paid to the sound effects of her footsteps! it's like there's a metal clinking sound when she steps with her metal leg.

She does her specialty, ice magic, and ice magic looks so lovely - a bright white light coming from it, snowflakes floating all around

though I know it's probably more like, this was her planned design and the comic artist was given BW's reference for her, I love how faithfully Neve's complicated, fashionable design was carried over from the comics into this trailer/vice versa/matches in each!! e.g. the toe of her boot, her leg, all the details of her overcoat, the shape of her snake-belt, everything

Also her mannerisms match too! the spell she does here, with its staff-less magic and both hands coming forward with a burst of ice magic, is exactly like she does in the comics. :D (on the right below). I just think that's such a thoughtful touch.

I'm rly curious about the item that she was after. the red shard-type thing reminds me of red lyrium, and at this point a red gem-like thing set in golden metal surrounds remind me of the Venatori. those are different shapes of course, but see above with regards to: the red and gold symbols on the foreheads of the Venatori guys who attack Varric and Harding in the bar; the red and gold brooch or clasp thing from Absolution; and the red and gold symbol of the Venatori on their banners in Hira's flashback in Absolution.

What is it, and why was she after it? the other thing it reminds me of is the round enchanted clay discs from her TN short story, The Streets of Minrathous. they were seals to the demon's prison (the one that is under Minrathous) and involved blood magic. (this is red and gold though so it doesn't super-match tho, as if I remember right the seals in TN were described as being seated in polished black shell on gold chains, with a long, thin, 4-winged dragon etched on the front that was rising out of a dark sea..)

Another thing to notice here is when Neve's name's splash text comes up, what look like orange-red leaves blowing in the wind blow across the screen. this imagery repeats in a few of the other companion segments.

Lucanis

He assassinates a target in a crowded, beautiful, colorful and busy marketplace. Do you think this is Antiva, Tevinter or somewhere else? ^^ the target is frantic, he knows he's in danger and that he's being chased/watched (makes sense, 'The Demon' has a reputation); but Lucanis is so stealthy that he has no idea where he is. Lucanis is quick and deadly.

the orange-red leaves swirl around in the air

on the back of Lucanis' outfit we can see the purpley wing motif and the patterning of many eyes (more thoughts on that here), these are placed really prominently in this trailer.

Again the detailing of hair movement, clothes etc is awesome! Even the back of the target's cloak is all bejewelled and detailed.

Lots of NPCs in the crowd. peer around at their hairstyles just in case they're among those that are available in the CC for Rook :D we also now know that we will be able to re-create NPCs like these in the CC, as it was used to make them all.

Who do we think the target is? they are a human man. is he simply a random person to showcase Lucanis' assassin-ness for the purposes of the trailer, or meant to indicate a person from a particular group or faction? can we infer anything from the design of his clothes? the red pointy spike on his shoulder pad for example kind of reminds me of that of some Venatori (see above in barfight segment). and in general he seems well-dressed, and maybe his outfit has a sort of mage-y vibe. a higher-up Venatori? a bad magister? we know Lucanis has been going around taking contracts to kill prominent Venatori from TN, and that he was intending to do more of these jobs.

It's a mixed crowd, there are humans present and you can also see elves, qunari and dwarves. :) (please ignore the top right hand corner of the image below, I guess a copy-paste failed and I didn't notice at the time hh).

After the target knocks someone over by mistake, an angry guy behind him gesticulates, understandably annoyed.

Lucanis catches and kills him in one fluid motion. I would let Lucanis assassinate me

Grabs em by the face hh (makes sense, he then covers their mouth so they can't scream and draw attention I guess - it's the middle of a crowded marketplace after all)

mullet singing magnificently in the wind

lil crowfeather-like hair tufts sticking out

And he snaps his neck rather than stabbing with one of his knives or swords (and he is wielding one in this encounter). I guess it's more efficient and quick in this instance than stabbing. it also makes less of a mess. :D The setting and dialogue line for this segment is smart too - Lucanis kills this person by leaping out of the shadows/where he was hiding into the broad daylight, and kills them when it's light outside hh.

Bellara

an ancient elven ruin in Arlathan (Forest or Crater). birds fly overhead. I love the lighting and all the greenery :)

the orange-red leaves continue to fall in Bellara's segment too. they aren't a surprise here of course, the gold/orangey 'omg it's Arlathan/the Veil[Jumper] archer place from old concept art' trees are in Arlathan, where this segment is set, but they also crop up in the trailer in e.g. Minrathous in Neve's segment, in Lucanis' segment. they're a nice continuous aesthetic linking the scenes together ^^ We also see them on the Golden City version of the DA vinyl cover art, twining through the dragon's wings and growing among the buildings, in a way connecting this foliage to the Fade.

the design of the place reminds me a bit of the bridge at the Temple of Mythal in DA:I. I wonder if this ruin was a temple or palace in the past, and if so, to/of whom?

it's so beautiful and makes me feel really excited to explore ancient elven ruins and Arlathan :)

the two startled halla look so pretty

interestingly, the black bird that flies near the halla looks like a corvid - making you think of rooks, and Rook.

green Fade-y light gathers in the archway and our Veil Jumper's official proper introduction, fittingly, has her leaping out of the Fade[?], or otherwise leaping through part of the Veil :D Bellara's segment is so fun and I love that for her and us. when she first appears, she looks so happy and thrilled to be on the adventure that she's on here.

in her hand she grasps her prize, which I guess she's just taken from wherever she was - a gold-colored triangley thing (so, a piece of ancient elven tech or another ancient elven artifact). when she gets caught and pulled back into the portal, she drops it and it falls out of her hands.

👁️ Now, about the tentacles. from previous materials like the short story Ruins of Reality and DA: The Missing, we know that in Arlathan, space and time, and reality, has been warping. the Veil is thin and wild, wacky stuff is going on in there. there are Veil Bubbles. the Fade is a mess close to Solas' ritual and demons are coming through, etc. the tentacles in this segment are very interesting indeed 👀 Veil Jumpers are also being attacked by tentacles in this DA4 concept art. here's another DA4 concept art with a tentacled monster in it. I wonder where Bellara was jumping from? a different pocket of reality in Arlathan or elsewhere? a place "in-between"? from a Veil Bubble? the tentacles also reminded me a lot of the Cekorax. it was a big tentacled monster that Dorian hired Hollix to kill in Minrathous. in that TN story, Dorian recalls that a Mortalitasi once told him of "things past the Veil of our world, neither demon nor spirit"...

Emmrich

Cut to Emmrich in the Grand Necropolis in Nevarra. See the bottom of this post for thoughts on the final shot of the Emmrich segment.

Digging up a lot of buried secrets.. it's giving the mysteries of the Grand Necropolis (the lowest reaches of it are quite ancient), and it also makes me think of secrets in the Deep Roads, Descent-style 👁️

The pov at the start of Emmrich's segment has the camera inside the chest (or coffin-type thing, since the skeleton seems to rise from it a few seconds later) these two people are opening and looking inside. the lore says that the geography of the lower parts of the Necropolis varies and changes, producing a disorienting effect on visitors which has successfully prevented robbery attempts. but we can probably assume from location and context cues that these people are looters or grave robbers right? you could imagine grave goods and other treasures/loot to be found in the elaborate Nevarran crypts. (and, some of the wealthiest Nevarrans decorate their crypts with their most prized possessions.) Emmrich is a Mourn Watcher, a member of an order which serves as guardians and keepers of the sacred Necropolis. so it makes sense to see him foiling an attempted graverobbing :) [disrespectful of the departed anyway, but especially so in a culture where their death-related practises are kinda sacred to them like Nevarra]

I wonder if the people are just random petty thieves created for the purposes of the trailer, or if they represent members of a specific group/'speak' of a particular plot-thread? like I could imagine e.g. some Lords of Fortune or something wanting to loot a storied tomb full of walking dead, for treasure and glory.

the way Emmrich casts his magic here, he reminds me of a pianist or a composer. he's so calm and composed.

he's behiiiind youuu, Pantomime-style hh :)

when the splash text appears on-screen, in the bottom right you can see a fire burning - looks to be one of the robbers' dropped torches, which is a fun touch.

Davrin

I really love Davrin's design and I'm super curious to know which Creators' vallaslin designs he and Bellara have. he's so calm in battle, you get the sense that he's a skilled warrior for sure and I immediately trust him with my life. like Harding and Varric in the bar fight, he's holding off loads of enemies just him (well, him and Assan ^^).

He's fighting darkspawn which have been afflicted by red lyrium. (here's the "red lyrium darkspawn" for real too). as if regular darkspawn and the threat of being Tainted by contact with them wasn't enough, now you need to be careful of their red lyrium claws and the spread of red lyrium and stuff too. look how gross they look from behind.

In the background is a statue of a griffon, so I think Davrin is fighting in a Warden-related area. there are stone structures around and you can see some banners (albeit, not with Grey Warden symbols on them from what I can see).

It's dark and all around are the signs of the Taint - the darkspawn themselves, the dead gnarled trees, the corrupted tendrils, things which look like they could be Blight pustules/sacs, etc. I think the Davrin scene is set in the same location as this screenshot (which as it happens, also features Davrin!):

in the bottom left of this screenshot you can see water, and in the trailer, Assan runs past a boat. plus the other stuff looks the same too. and being that it's apparently a Warden-y location (griffon statue), I think that it's maybe the surrounds (or.. remains..?) of Weisshaupt in the Anderfels, and I definitely think it's the same place as here from the DA Day 2023 trailer:

- as the rock, lighting, structures, red lyrium etc all match up. Remember the line from that trailer, "Grey Wardens don’t hide in our castle. I won’t ask good soldiers to turn tail and run"? chat, it's not looking good rn for the Grey Wardens or for Weisshaupt (ctrl-F "Weisshaupt" in this post, and see also this post, for more on this topic.)

when the big red lyrium darkspawn charges forward, it knocks over one of the small ones hh.

Cut to Assan. good boy Assan!! he's already taken out at least one darkspawn by himself over there and we see him sitting on it hh. I wonder if Assan will join us in battle if we select Davrin as one of the 2 companions? it looks like he and Davrin have a close bond - he knows what move Davrin is thinking of just by how Davrin looks over at him. :) he's a strong baby - when he leaps on the big darkspawn he knocks it right over all by himself from the force of the impact. I love Assan's model and I think he's so cute oml 🥺 the way his ears perk up when Davrin looks at him 🥺... his big blue eyes like a husky or something.. the way he's kinda rangy and a bit scraggly like a puppy in the 'teen' stage where they're kinda tall and leggy but haven't really filled out yet 🥺 the lil whinny and squeaky roar he makes. HIS LYNX-LIKE EAR TUFTIES...

The shield-launching move is so fun and cool :D I think it's my favorite shot in the whole trailer. I just love Davrin, the relationship depicted here between Davrin and Assan, the trust and fun in that moment, the bond between them. and when he launches Assan here, Davrin looks so joyful and happy, it's nice :)

On Assan - is he one of the thirteen griffon hatchlings Valya discovered in 9:42 Dragon? or is he from a subsequent clutch? it's about 9:52 now, the question is how long does it take for a griffon to reach maturity? ^^

I also really wanna know more about Davrin. :D like Bellara and Taash, he hasn't appeared in prior DA secondary media like a comic or story so we don't have insight into him from something like that. we got quite a bit of insight into Bellara as a character in the Game Informer cover story (how we meet her, her personality etc) and a few lil snippets about Taash have come out here and there from social media (though I'd also really like to know more about Taash!). I'm dying to know more about Davrin too!! how did he come to join the Wardens, what motivated him to do that? what Dalish clan is he part of (is it a known one or a new-to-us one?), and where did they tend to roam? was he specifically entrusted with the care of Assan as a Warden assignment, was it more happenstance that he came into his care, or did Assan when he was a lil baby see Davrin one day and kinda be like "yea that is my guy" (griffons chose their riders by themselves, not the other way around) ((also. valid))? what does Davrin think of the possible Grey Warden civil war, the First Warden, the Hero of Ferelden? how long has he been a Grey Warden for, and how far is he from his Calling? what are some random lil trivia factoids about him? does he travel around killing other monsters in addition to darkspawn and saving people from them, and that's how he made his name as a monster hunter ("monster hunter" is giving a lil Witcher-vibe to me, and the voiceover line here anyways implies that Davrin also fights demons)? ◕‿◕

Also at this point is a neat transition to darkness. back in the bar, Harding and Varric are fighting back to back, a trope I am a sucker for hh.

Taash

(reverb womp womp womp sfx like a giant boomerang is being thrown :D)

"We'll need someone with fire in their blood" [to face dragons]. I know what this conveys (fight fire with fire, Taash is badass, brave, bold in the face of danger, will fight dragons etc) but I also thought this was an inchresting choice of line for Taash's segment.. Iron Bull once said "So, when you face a dragon, does it get your heart pumping? Do you breathe a little faster, feel the blood racing?" When qunari Inquisitor speaks to Old God Soul Kieran, he tells them: "I noticed your blood. It doesn't belong to your people." Corypheus taunts Adaar, "What do they call you? A qunari? Your blood is engorged with decay! Your race is not a race, it is a mistake!" In some scenarios, Corypheus can say of Adaar that they are "a beast of strange blood". and some believe that the Tamassrans cultivate dragon blood within the Qunari. so 👁️..

Some thoughts on Taash's design. (so I don't repeat myself too much. I link to each post in that series btw, one for each companion, at the end of this post).

Taash's segment is set on the Rivain Coast (two). you can see the palm trees, beach, bright blue waters, the skeleton of a large dead creature, that statue in the background, etc. fittingly she's fighting a dragon and there's fire everywhere :) I wonder if the Rivain Coast locale is where we will recruit Taash. she isn't among the characters (like Neve) who Varric knew prior to the start of the game; at the timepoint he speaks his Taash line in the trailer, he doesn't know her.

omg, the physics on Taash's braid! :D it looks like the gold cuffs on her horns have an eye symbol carved on them. dear Taash, please tell me the story behind each shiny trophy that you wear. 🙏 in addition to the dragonscale-looking parts of her armor, it looks to me like on her gauntlets there are also teeth (assumedly dragonteeth). love that for her. and as she gets up to charge forward, she does a small smile or smirk to herself. she's havin a great time fighting a dragon :D the heat-warping effects from the fire are cool too.

When Taash's splash text appeared on screen, it was at this point (the last one lol..) that I realized there were different effects on the companions' name texts. Harding has horizontal lines through hers, like the flightpath of arrows. the bits in Neve's could be chunks of ice. Lucanis' looks scratched/slashed, as if by daggers. Bellara's contains the floating triangle pieces that indicate ancient elven magitech. maybe Emmrich's is the particle effects of his necromancy? Davrin's could be slash marks from a sword or claw marks from a griffon's talons. and Taash's is all burning and on fire, with dragon-looking claw marks. smart!!

check this out in the background, the rock structure which looks like a head with pointed teeth -

it's the same structure as in this shot of Rivain from the DA Day 2023 trailer.

only in Taash's scene, she's on the beach and the teeth-rock structure is in the background, whereas in this shot, the POV is like you're standing under the jagged overhang, looking out from the jaws of the 'beast'. in the 'in jaws' shot you can even see the beach Taash may be fighting on, it's the area with the big skeleton on the shore. when we saw this shot in the DA Day trailer, it reminded us of teeth, and now that we can see the rock shape from another angle, it really does look like the maw of a great dragon-y creature, with fangs on the top and bottom jaws. the placement of this in Taash's segment interests me because there is also the suggestion of a dragon-y creature with teeth in the background of her card art. ^^

I also wonder if we can identify what type of dragon it is here from the dragon's design? ^^

When Taash leaps through the air, you can hear her yelling. :D at this point it looks to me like this is the same place as in this screenshot of Rivain Coast that came out later. you can see the big skeleton ribs, the campfire, the wall, and the hanging line thing. it's just from a different angle.

Rook and back in the bar

Do you think the Rook shown in this trailer is the 'default' Rook for marketing, like mage dude Hawke in DA2? And/or the Rook from the gameplay reveal video? you can see a lil bit of their face in this trailer.

dae get the feeling that when Varric says "This crew needs a leader. Someone we can count on" he might be thinking of Hawke? not to suggest as the leader of this crew (remember how he gave the Inquisition the run around to protect Hawke when they were looking for them), but just like, he's thinking back to a different place, a different time, a different crew, a different found family. 20 years ago in Kirkwall, his home, when he was part of Hawke's gang and they sheltered all the DA2 misfits (affectionate) under their wings. a reality he hasn't inhabited for ~10 years now. 🥺 "Someone that the world can count on" takes me back to his line to Cassandra in her interrogation, "The entire world is on the brink of war. And you need the one person who can help you put it back together". And it also has me wondering if by that point he's also thinking of the Inquisitor, another leader that he followed, a leader that saved the world. 🥺

Varric also understands the importance of a good leader as the core of a group, of the power of bringing friends together around someone great. a lesson he learned at Hawke's side, then later solidified or emphasized at the Inquisitor's. then, with "But where are we gonna find...?" he's probably going through the factions he and Harding encountered in DA: The Missing in his head at this point, but I also feel like he's rotating the leader-hero blorbos he keeps in his head and scrolling through them. Hawke? [if not left in the Fade]. Absolutely not, the world has taken too much from them already and he just wants to protect his friend. The Inquisitor? Won't work [for the literal leadership role], at this point they know they need to find someone that Solas doesn't know. and it doesn't even occur to him that he himself could lead the new crew. for one thing, Solas knows him obviously, and he's tired, but for another, Varric knows he's the storyteller, just a character in other peoples' stories, a follower, not a leader (of that kind). its a lil meta but it (and the rest of the stuff I said here) is also just 🥺.. when you think about Varric's life and what's happened in it.

Where in the opening segment, Rook was there chillin sitting all casual at a table by the window in the bar, they've now gotten up and started laying into Venatori themselves. (contrasing with e.g. the bartender, who ran out of the way, and other bar patrons who stand around in the background during the fight at various points or are seen floored. you can see why Rook specifically attracts Harding's attention at this point.) it's so funny [pos] - Varric and Harding are now staring thoughtfully into the fire discussing their plan in a circle of KO'd Venatori, Varric with his hands on his hips, meanwhile Rook has taken the heat off them and fends off a gang of Venatori by themselves. and the Venatori are back to trying to like, 6v1 someone. Oh Venatori dudes, you're so retro Power Rangers badguys. Rook only came out here for a quiet drink, and they are feeling so attacked right now.

Varric and Harding conducting a demon-summoning Heroic Leader[™]-summoning ritual

The unconscious/dead Venatori on the bar is still there on the bar. Rook lays someone else out on a table. Harding hears the commotion behind her and slowly turns around. Venatori flail towards Rook. Rook, backlit all cool, smashes two of their heads together silly-style (pos) and then steals their stuff (a sword). Rook pistol-whips a guy in the face with the handle of one of their own swords. Rook then launches themselves off a bench (floored Venatori in the background), yeeting the Venatori on their back (floored-table Venatori also in the background) into the bar, then elbows them in the face. Harding, understandably, falls in love (I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream..). Varric isn't aware of what's going on yet, either because he's so lost in thought reminiscing about his glory days with Hawke and/or because maybe his hearing is going a lil in his old age. Harding makes bedroom eyes at Rook.

Five Venatori then run at Rook (haha.. these fuckin guys :D). At first I was like wait, where did this wave come from? but if you look around Varric and Harding's feet at this point, the Venatori that were laid out in a circle around them are no longer on the ground - so that's a nice touch, that it's the same ones who got back up to have another go. Rook executes the swashbuckling action-adventure trope of cutting a rope to drop a chandelier, crates or other objects on some bad guys, which is fun. this bar patron (hit the image limit on this post hh) with the magnificent feathery collar is unfazed and just enjoying their drink. Harding's cape whips as she turns around; Harding is paying ATTENTION. The Venatori tackle and swarm on top of Rook like they're playing rugby. The chandelier drops. The Venatori are taken out. Harding is like 'wake up grandpa, get with the program'. Varric turns ("HUH?") and then, understandably, also falls in love. Varric makes bedroom eyes at Rook.

And then Rook rises (backlit, among flames and from the heap of a whole football team of Venatori that they KO'd themselves), and also rises. at the same time the music is crashing to a crescendo and the song says "We can be heroes". :D And at this point I'm feeling a bit unhinged over trees, but it looks to me like some of the particles floating around at this point are the orange-red leaves again hh.. Having no "Rook" splash text at the Rook-focus segment makes sense, they aren't a companion and while they are always "Rook", that isn't their name and of course they are the player-defined character of the bunch. I really like the shot where they look over their shoulder, back at Harding, Varric, and the pov.

looping back to the question I first asked in the 'Rook' section of this post, in this trailer it looks like Rook is wearing this outfit, which is also the outfit Rook (there a Shadow Dragon Rook) wears in the gameplay reveal trailer. So I think we can surmise that the Rook in the character reveal trailer is a Shadow Dragon Rook (and a rogue too, as in the gameplay reveal). I wonder if this Rook, this Shadow Dragon Rook, is sort of the 'default' Rook for marketing? or whether in the next trailer, they have a different Rook?

About Rook's clothing in this trailer. it looks similar (e.g. hood shape, presence of a hood, diamond-quilt-like pattern in places, the diamond-shape pattern on the shoulder, etc) to this figure on a Minrathous street from the 2020 trailer, who I assume is a Shadow Dragon or Shadow Dragon Rook. like in that post, it again makes me think of the art which accompanied Minrathous Shadows, the short story about the Viper. the outfit of the person in that art isn't the same as Rook's, but there are similar aspects in the way that people from the same faction have similar aspects in their outfits. again I'm wondering if maybe the Viper is associated with the Shadow Dragons faction, maybe even the Viper leads it? and what if their contact in that story, a lady who is lightning smart, is Neve? ^^

Also, Rook already has the Veilguard symbol on their clothes in this trailer. I wonder which moment the trailer is depicting. Is it depicting the moment when Varric and Harding first met Rook, then after it they recruited them to join the team? Or is it depicting a time after that when Rook had already been travelling with them for some time (per some info we were told before we know that Rook has been with Varric for a while already before the start of the game), as just a lil part of the team, only their performance in this bar fight was the moment when Varric and Harding realized that Rook could lead? Is it neither of these, and more just a cool scene for a trailer for vibes (that is very valid btw, it's a trailer - we didn't see the Hero of Ferelden's eyes for example glowing blue as they entered that specific cavern full of darkspawn like in that one DA:O trailer etc) - the trailer did note at the start that not all images in the trailer appear in the actual game. the trailer also depicts a barfight, and we know the game can kick off with a fight in a Tevinter bar (depending on if Rook chooses to be aggressive in the bar, a fight scene can follow). or maybe the trailer is showing when Varric and Harding met Shadow Dragon Rook specifically? since we know that faction choice basically determines why Rook has been called to help in the fight against Solas, and in this trailer it's Harding being impressed by Rook in Minrathous as they fend off Venatori, specifically.

End group fight

I really love the tagline "Together - Defy The Gods". "Together" puts the emphasis on the companions, the characters and their relationships with Rook & one another as they work together as a team. it makes sense to flash up at this point too, when the whole party (not just Rook+2) is fighting a serious battle together and quite a few of them get a spotlight of them doing their thing as the camera pans around this battle. the tagline also reminds me of when the Inquisitor can say defiantly to Cory at the end of DAI, "I don't believe in gods". ◕‿◕ I also really liked the swelling of the music and the drumming as the trailer ended, it was cool.

At this point, we can see Shadow Dragon Rogue Rook, Neve, Harding, Lucanis, Davrin and Bellara, though in the next bit we also see Taash fighting in the circle. am I just missing her at this first point? can anyone see Taash in that image? ^^ (Emmrich runs up in a following scene.) they're fighting off loads and loads of red lyrium darkspawn (when I watched this scene a second time I realized those humanoid darkspawn remind me a lot of the husks from Mass Effect, only red instead of blue). the big darkspawn swinging a hammer near Lucanis looks like one of the redesigned ogres. I really liked the group fight scene, I thought it was really cool and heroic. :) I hope this is a cutscene and bossfight-type battle at some point in the game's main storyline, because it is a really cool scene. :D maybe the trailer version with all the companions in it is just that, the trailer cinematic version of the fight, and in the gameplay it's Rook+2 companions as in this screenshot?

from the way the structures around them look architecturally, the place they're in has ancient elven ruins. the red sky is ominous. from the darkness and the curling tendrils, and what looks like maybe sacs on the walls, the place they're in is afflicted by Taint corruption. there are also floating chunks of rock in the sky, a trait of the Fade or places in the mundane world where the Veil is thin and Fadey things are Fadin'. they are in the same place as in this screenshot. (when the dragon alights later in this segment, it also generally evokes the sense of this key art for me.) and like I said here, this place and dragon encounter bears a resemblance to the 2x cover arts of the DA Vinyl, which we know were called "Golden City" and "Black City". so here we are maybe, in the corrupted/Blighted Black City..? and if it has ancient elven architecture.. brb, lying awake at night thinkin of how the elven architecture on the vinyl cover art basically confirmed the long-held theory that Arlathan is the Black City. these tower-tops are quite like what we see here in Arlathan Forest and here in Arlathan Forest at Solas' ritual site in the gameplay reveal video, for example.

Bellara's bedroll in her backpack in this climactic battle is so cute and pratical. 🥺 when her 'arrow' hits its mark, darkspawn blood and guts go everywhere. Rook has a cool golden dagger. Lucanis, please move, you are about to be smashed by an ogre's hammer. I'm really curious about his purple wing ability - like how does it work and what does it do? he pretty much stays on the same spot, wings outstretched, for the duration of this scene. I love the way Neve moves when she casts magic, it's like she's dancing, like some forms of bending in Avatar or something. when she lights up with the bright light she looks even radiant-er than usual. and the flash of Neve's ice magic turning the screen white for the next text to appear is a smart transition. ^^

(darkspawn feet pic.)

I'm a sucker for a good ol' 'camera pans around the gang fighting something off together and looking cool'. you know that one shot in the Avengers somewhere where it circles round them when they stand ready in a circle? that's the vibe, and it reminds me of when the devs mentioned the Avengers in the context of talking about the game's name change.

Davrin's boots have spur-looking parts! you can feel the force of Taash's blow there. and then Emmrich comes running up to the team from somewhere else chased by more darkspawn and the freakin dragon. did.. did they use poor Emmrich as DRAGON BAIT (I kind of get the impression that they wanted to draw the dragon to this particular location, and I wonder if that has something to do with the circle)? 😭😭 Grandpa..?? they wouldn't let him help fight in the circle with his magic, or assign a more physical member of the team to be the bait, and were instead just like run old man, run. 😭 he's running for his life and Harding's like over here Emmrich, I'll keep them off you, promise. at this point you can also see lots of those Blight sacs on the walls. the dragon is huge and looks really cool and detailed - when it's getting ready to breathe fire, you can see light through the tissue of its throat, and the fire dripping from its maw is cool.

in the final scene with the dragon's wings outstretched, on the left you can see a red lamp-type thing. it's the same as the blue ones here, only red. I wonder what those are? and why do they change color?

and of course, like I said here, in the background at this point we can see the Evanuris symbols in the form of their headshapes, specifically on the tops of statues just like the ones that surrounded Solas' ritual site in Arlathan Forest in the gameplay reveal. this makes me wonder - this battle seems quite climactic, if it occurs at the end of the game, maybe the game ends where it all really began, back at the Arlathan Forest Ritual Site, which by that point has maybe become extra Fadey and has corruption spreading in it, which killed all the vegetation? that would be poetic. an alternative spin on this theory is that, since this place is kinda Fadey, maybe it's the in-Fade reflection (specifically the Black City) of the irl ritual site.

I've previously wondered if the dragon in this shot is Elgar'nan (dragons were a form reserved for the divine, i.e. the Evanuris, in the time of the Evanuris), but on a re-watch, from the way things are positioned (maybe that was intentional?), the statue-head directly behind the dragon in the center as it spreads its wings is actually the one with the Ghilan'nain headshape, so maybe it's actually Ghil? this dragon's horns curve down like Ghil's headpiece curves, not upwards like Elgar'nan's. this concept art piece for DA4 to me implies both Ghil and Elgar'nan take dragon form (2 dragons here, 2 Evil Gods rising), and as we know, they were a shape of the divine generally speaking back then anyway so it's totally feasible. the dragon in the trailer matches the one on the left in this concept art more than the one on the right.

The other big thing about the final shot is that there is an eclipse in the background. this is just like on the vinyl cover arts, and is something we've seen a lot in DA:TV marketing (ctrl-f "eclipse" here), e.g. the astral-looking spheres here, this previous iteration of the logo. it's also a thing that has cropped up in related lore in previous games, along with sun&moon imagery (example), like:

two shadowed spheres among stars / an eclipse as Fen'Harel stirred [Emergent Compendium]

and I looked up and saw the seven gates of the Black City shatter, and darkness cloaked both realms. [Chant of Light]

etc. and if you think about it, in a solar eclipse, the moon blocks out the sun. Elgar'nan in Dalish lore is the son of the sun; he threw the sun down from the sky and is known as He Who Overthrew His Father. throwing down the sun would cause darkness, and it could be a poetic reading of an eclipse-type event like we're seeing here. additionally, the Dalish believe that when he did so, he buried the sun in the abyss (which might be the Void), a place which sounds like it's in a different part of reality to the waking world and which sounds like it could potentially be Blighted. (and in this trailer we're looking at a Fade-y or Fade location, and it is corrupted).

as the trailer ends, we can see pretty designs similar to the one here around Rook's level in the top left.

At the end of this post I'm gonna link to some more of the other posts I made about the trailer & related things at the time, just for the sake of completion. ^^

Post with the reveal trailer in it

Related official new screenshots from the website

Yeyyy, griffons are back (outside of the books)

Vallaslin

We saw you from across the bar

Lucanis wings compilation pic

Floating building, welcome back

He is here

A dream come true

Thoughts on the companion 'tarot-style' art pieces: Taash | Neve | Davrin | Harding | Bellara | Emmrich | Lucanis

Yoooo

They have come to deliver this world..  (◡ ‿ ◡ ✿)

[yellow-py]

hello! you've probably been asked these before, but i'm here to ask how long it typically takes for you to make animatics, if you have any tips, preferred methods, and what you use? i saw your funger animatic and it looks absolutely gorgeous! i love all the detail that's jam-packed into the art and story telling, so i'm curious about your animatic process.

sorry if this is a lot! no need to answer if you don't want to. i love your stuff and i wish you well!

Hi! I don't mind answering some questions!

First things first, I'm not a professional storyboards artist. I've done a few things for some youtube channels. I wouldn't call myself an expert. This is to say that my method of doing things might not the best for people who actually work in the industry. 

Most of the time I work in Storyboard pro 7. But honestly, any editing software works as long as it can handle pictures and audio. For the disco elysium animatic I only used  clip studio paint and some random editing program called Camtasia. It worked alright but it takes a bit longer to finish stuff since storyboard pro is more streamlined. My go-to method right not is to draw the backgrounds in clip studio and the characters and editing in storyboard pro. That way, I get the best of both worlds. 

The funger animatic took about 2 and a half weeks to make. It usually takes longer, but the song wasn't that long so that saved me a lot of time. But as another example, my disco elysium animatic took +3 months. So it really depends. I did work longer on each frame for that one tho, so idk. On average, it takes me about 2 months. But that number keeps going up since my expectations of myself keep rising. 

Anyhow! I'll be bringing up my fear and hunger animatic as an example of my process. 

My animatics usually start out having the ugliest thumbnails known to man. It does let me experiment with framing and timing, which is absolutely crucial. I do not recommend that people start refining frames without having planned out things beforehand.

After that, I just save every thumbnail and import it to storyboard pro. I just scale it up to the current canvas size. Then I just line up every frame with the audio. It is a little bit tedious but you gotta do what you gotta do. 

After that, I begin to draw the backgrounds in clip studio. I do the same thing as in storyboard pro and just size the thumbnail up. And then I just sketch over that! Technically, I could have drawn the backgrounds in storyboard pro. But their brushes are pretty uggo so I prefer to not do that :)

As dumb as it might sound, it kind of stresses me out when my storyboards aren't "pretty". Which is pretty stupid since storyboards are literally made only to be a guide for what an animation should be. so in actuality, it's alright if they're kinda crusty. But since I never intend to animate my animatics I find it nice to spend more time on each frame. Which is sorta stupid because I'm shooting myself in the foot by working so long on every frame...

Either way, after that, I import the new backgrounds into storyboard pro and begin to draw the characters. Technically I could draw them in clip studio as well. But its faster to draw them in story board pro and it also allows me to do some semi-animated things and work faster. So, after a lot of experimenting, clip studio backgrounds and storyboard pro characters is the way to go for me! 

And just to note. This animatic might have only taken about 2 and a half weeks. Which sounds pretty good. But when it comes to animatics I can become a real workaholic if im inspired enough. So every day after school I would sit non stop working on this from the second I got home to when it was time to sleep. As well as every second of the weekend after I was done with my chores. So that is to say I work pretty fast and persistently, which i know is not healthy or realistic. So take my timing with a grain of salt. 

But that's kinda my process. I just draw backgrounds and draw characters until the thing is done. 

If I had to give any advice, I would say it's important to have fun when making animatics as a hobby. When I make an animatic, it's because I personally want to see that animatic, and if other people like it, that is a plus! If you're excited about an idea, it'll be a lot easier to add fun details and soul into it. 

But yeah that's it. I can't really come up with anything else to say. I hope I gave some good insight!

[rat-studio]

I’d do anything for twenty bucks I’d sell my sour soul ‘Cause lemonade is bitter ‘till you Sweeten up the bowl

ITS MY FAVORITE GIRL!! PYRRHA!! I LOVE YOU!!

I think this half of the chorus is verrryyy Pyrrha coded-- she's so desperate for love, for any scrap of anything, and she's SO DUMB about it. But it isn't only about Pyrrha!! Wake!! My love-- also desperate af, this fucking sputtering fire of a woman who will blow up her own kid to win.

Part 1 (+explanation of premise)

More thoughts, version without lyrics, and timelapse below cut. Verse 3 Chorus 2/2 Song: Unsweetened Lemonade by Amélie Farren. oh and it’s pretty obvious what the next one’s gonna be if you look at the lyrics…

Ok so honestly I had no idea what to draw for this part going into it, if you watch the timelapse you definitely will get that. But I am very happy with what I settled on. Basically, this is an AU of what could have happened in Pyrrha (not G1deon) had caught up to Wake just as she was going into labour. I think it's really interesting to think of Pyrrha's own relationship to John, to Wake, and to this child that she really has no responsibility for but feels beholden to anyway. John is this symbol of everything G1deon admired, of everything all of them left behind in order to pursue a 'better world', and Wake is the antithesis of all of that: she's likely the descendant of the same billionares that escaped Earth leaving everyone behind, and she is furiously and vengefully mad at all of it. Pyrrha in love with these three people, she hates all three of them in some capacity, she wants to do what's right and she has no idea what that is in almost every situation.

And then there's this kid that's innocent and also tied up in all of it, and there's no guarantee that it isn't actually hers. And she wants to do the right thing-- is that the right thing for millions? A barely thought though plan that could very easily (and does) go astray? Or is that right thing to save this baby? idk, you decide.

I don't know what perfectly cannon compliant Pyrrha would do in this situation, I've read the books three times and I still don't really know, though I'm leaning towards her saving baby Gideon and running off to raise her somewhere (honestly a pretty intriguing story on its own), but for the sake of the AU and the story I am trying to tell: Pyrrha lets Wake go. The mission still fails, the rest of Gtn and Htn and even Ntn continue on as normal, but there is that undercurrent of deeper responsibility that Pyrrha has to Gideon, something that, though I think is present and will be explored further in cannon, isn't incredibly important. I'm a sucker for dad Pyrrha, sue me.

ALSO!! I wrote a fic for this!! Link to it here!