#any romance they tried to present came off as one-sided

[shineonyoucrazyyandere]

Hello, I did not want to disturb but I wanted to know how the stands of Bucci-Gang + Trish and Diavolo would behave in front of their beloved?Since they are manifestations of his soul, they would also show his Yandere side, sorry if it is a lot of work and I love how you write

*just so everyone knows I keep a lot of asks and hope to eventually write them later if I really like the concept…even if it may literally take an eternity to get to them*

So since this is Yandere focused I’m going to lean on that, but you’ll get to see the expressions of obsession as I write.

Yandere Bucciarati Group + Diavolo and Trish’s stands reacting to their darling

Bruno Bucciarati

Generally speaking Sticky Fingers particularly seems to “stand guard” around you. It’s fingers sometimes float across your skin, gentle touching. But at a moments notice is quick to use its ability if Bruno even suspects you trying to escape or pull something. There are times where you feel it grab your arm and drag you closer to its master.

Leone Abbacchio

Since his stand doesn’t really have offensive capabilities, it tends to like also hanging around you. Though if Abbacchio really insists on you not leaving his side, Moody Blues will do its best to keep you still. If he decides to use his ability depending on where you’re at, it does it relatively quickly and quick to pause with precision if it’s something like seeing your face sleeping at night. Simply watching you seems to be one of its favorite things to engage in.

Guido Mista

The Sex Pistols pretty much adore you, even the troublemaking number stops being a nuisance when you’re around. If you can see them, they insist on you feeding them when mealtime comes around. They may slightly pester Mista saying you’re better at doing so simply for holding food a certain angle. He enjoys this as much as the pistols do, and even if you can’t see them and feed them they still generally cheer when you’re around. if anyone outside the gang and Mista himself, they’ll end up reacting somewhat hostile. Snide or sarcastic remarks if someone tries to romance you.

They’ll also pester Mista if he hasn’t seen you in a few days due to a job or something he had to take care of on his own.

Narancia Ghirga

Aerosmith’s flight patterns seemingly change course a bit when you’re around Narancia. Out of protective instinct, it seems to fire it’s bullets/weapons more aggressive if you’re in any sort of immediate danger. Or if Narancia is tracking, Aerosmith seems to get a quick reading on you, fast. For some reason if the stand was used casually, the way it would fly around would be akin to something at an air show. Presenting the way Narancia may be excited to be with you.

Pannacotta Fugo

Purple Haze is interestingly affected by Fugo’s obsession for you. It stops obsessing over its arms, drooling minimizing to almost nothing. It’s aggression in battle nearly quadruples, out of getting rid of anything that Fugo considers a threat. So there’s times things may or may not get out of control or on the other end of the spectrum killing something with almost unusual precision . But it settles once knowing you’re safe, this may or may not exhaust Fugo occasionally. Under the surface Purple Haze would be pleased if you came to check on Fugo out of concern.

Giorno Giovanna

Gold Experience and Giorno are pretty much in sync almost constantly. It generally likes to express certain flowers that evidently have deep romantic meanings as a gift. It’ll daze you in a heartbeat if you try to sneak off somewhere, giving way to its stand master taking care of you for a few hours. Generally it seems to enjoy kissing your hand, and occasionally turning an object into a small animal for you. It doesn’t hesitate to turn something that you own into an animal to track down either if it means being in your presence again.

Aromatherapy is another thing it seems to do with plants, especially after Giorno figures out what your likes, dislikes, (and potential allergies) are.

Requiem is basically game over for any escape attempts with a stand, and even if you’re hesitant takes some effort to try and comfort you. Caresses and touches that would be comforting in a normal context that’s not having you run in terror from a mafioso.

Diavolo

Due to his violent tendencies and tactics, King Crimson is intense in presenting Diavolo’s dark desires. It’s touches are tight and unbelievably strong, that it tends to leave bruises on your body. Erasing time is smooth and precise, inducing confusion from trying to escape Diavolo. The stand is of course as impulsive as it’s stand master, your legs are broken or are knocked out as quick as your thoughts to wander.

Trish Una

Spice Girl has some impulsive traits that King Crimson does, as much as Trish probably doesn’t want to admit it. This stands intensity shines through sitting on your lap, arms around your neck. Not caring in the slightest if you can see it or not. It gives faint phantom kisses on your cheeks, and certainly uses its abilities to keep you in place no matter the area. It tends to also enjoy having you match Trish someway, even the smallest accessory it enjoys seeing Trish put on you to coordinate. Like you and her were meant to be.

#yandere #yandere x reader #yandere jjba #yandere imagines #yandere jjba imagines #yandere jjba x reader #yandere headcanons #yandere jojo’s bizarre adventure #jjba imagines #yandere x darling #yandere x you #bruno buccarati #giorno giovanna #guido mista #narancia ghirga #pannacotta fugo #jojo diavolo #jjba diavolo #leone abbacchio #trish una

[thelargefrye]

STARSEED : PERFECT LOVE … mature one - shot

pairing : king!hongjoong x concubine!m!reader (ft. concubine!seonghwa and guard!yunho)

genre : fantasy au, slight historical au, royal au, smut, romance, sprinkle angst (i'm sorry i just can't help myself)

word count : 3.7k

warnings : language, slight jealousy (mainly yn), mentions of working in a brothel

smut warnings : unprotected sex, anal sex, oral, slight cumplay / eating

note : for my secret santa @yourfatherlucifer! i hope you enjoy it and happy holidays!! no tag list for this since its a present!

as the king’s favorite, you had many advantages and most of those included being with king in a way no one else could.

something felt uneasy in your stomach. like a swarm of moths flocking around inside of you. it was a feeling you didn't like, but you couldn't figure out how to get rid of it.

"what's wrong, moonflower?" you look up at the voice that snaps you out of your dazed thoughts. your eyes easily lock with seonghwa's figure who is standing behind you. his features are so soft and comforting as he smiles down at you.

his hands come to rest on your shoulders, gently massaging them and you feel the uneasy go down. but not disappear. "hmm?" he cocks his head to the side and you swallow the lump in your throat.

"i don't know... i'm just nervous i guess."

"nervous? about what?"

"hongjoong hasn't requested to see me in a while," you say with a sigh as you feel seonghwa's fingers press into your shoulders and you slowly feel the knots go away. seonghwa always was good a massages.

"i'm sure he's just busy, y/n. he is our king after all," seonghwa tries to reassure you and you appreciate his attempt, but it still doesn't settle the uneasiness. you hate it.

it's been several days since hongjoong last came to see you or even requested for you to spend the night with him. basically almost a week, and he's never went longer than a day without coming to see you. you couldn't help the thoughts running through your mind. was he still interested in you? did he still love you like he claimed?

you know he hasn't been by himself. having heard that he's been requesting for seonghwa as of late. your eyes flicker back up to the male standing behind you. seonghwa... he was so beautiful and kind. you don't blame hongjoong for taking him as a concubine, because you too fell in love with him. it wasn't hard.

perhaps hongjoong has just fallen for seonghwa harder and enjoys his company more than yours. the uneasiness returns tenfold the longer you think about these questions.

"moonflower?" seonghwa's voice once again brings you back to the present, his hand coming to rest on your jaw as he turns it to look at you. his eyes filled with worry as he looks at you.

you don't want to admit it, but you're completely jealous of seonghwa. how could you not be jealous of your lover? even when you both were growing up, he was the star of the village that everyone either wanted to marry or be. even when your village was raided and you were both sold off to the brothel, seonghwa was seen as the favorite "jewel" that everyone wanted. you were always second place to him, your own lover.

hongjoong probably only kept you as a concubine because of seonghwa.

"y/n, what's wrong?"

you open your mouth to speak; however, a knock at your chamber doors stops you. it opens to reveal yunho stepping inside, his armor hugging him nicely as he stands tall and proud.

"excuse me for interrupting, but his highness as requested to see you, y/n," you feel your heart jump into your throat as you stand up. you feel your palms sweat at the negative thoughts that fill your head.

this is it, he's going to tell you that he doesn't want you anymore. he's going to dismiss you and you'll never see him or seonghwa or any of the others again.

"hey, y/n," seonghwa grasps your wrist and you turn to look at him. "come find me later. so we can talk, okay?"

"okay, hwa," he smiles at your words before he's quickly leaning over to kiss you. his lips feel soft against your skin and you have to will yourself to not melt into his touch. thankfully before you can he's pulling away, his touch lingering on your skin even when you walk out of your chambers and down the grand hall.

yunho trails behind you, not saying anything as he escorts you to hongjoong's personal chambers.

"thank you for escorting me, yunho," you say looking at the guard with a smile. yunho returns your smile, bowing his head a little bit and you can't help but think he might have gotten taller since you last saw him. he's definitely gotten buffer, probably training with san and yeosang instead of resting. his brown hair is soft looking and he looks much happier now than when he did years ago when you first met him.

"of course, y/n," he says before his eyes are darting down each end of the hallway. there's no one else but the two of you and yunho takes the chance to lift your hand up and kiss the back it. he lets go of your hand before he's standing tall and adjusting his armor before he's turning and making his way back down the hallway.

and then you're left alone in front of hongjoong's chamber doors. you feel an ugly twist in your stomach as you knock on the oak doors and wait for his voice to let you in.

"come in," god, how long has it been since you've heard his voice. even just hearing him speak is enough to make you weak.

opening the door, you are immediately greeted to the sight of hongjoong lounging at his table, sitting in one of his plush, velvet chairs. his royal garments have been discarded, leaving him in only his thin, silk blouse and black trousers. his brown hair framing his face perfectly and you feel a wave of butterflies fill your stomach as your heart beat picks up.

hongjoong turns to see who has arrived and upon seeing you, his stoic face quickly turns into one of happiness. he stands up and makes his way over to you as you close the door behind you.

"my moonflower," he says, arms open as he brings you into a hug. his strong scent fills your nostrils as his arms wrap around your form and you can't help but to return the hug as you bury your face into his neck. you hear hongjoong let out a small laugh as his hand comes up to run over your head. "i've missed you so much."

you can't help but doubt his words. the knowledge that he's been seeing seonghwa again and again comes crashing in. if he truly missed you then why did he wait till now to request you?

"i've missed you too, your highness," you tell him, you can't help the mix of emotions that swim through you. you want to question him, but you know it will do no good. it will only make you look jealous.

"come on now, y/n," he says with a grin as he pulls away just enough to look at you, "we're alone, there's no need to call me that."

you can't help but feel flushed at his words, "sorry, just a habit," you say a little embarrassed, but hongjoong brushes it off with a laugh. "so... did you call on me solely because you missed me?"

"ah, yes, i actually have something i want to talk to you about?" he says before he's taking you by the hand and guiding you to his lavish and overly large bed. you sit down when the back of your knees hit the edge of the bed.

"talk about?" you feel your nerves bubble up when you watch hongjoong walk away from you and over to his desk that is filled with an assortment of stuff, but mainly parchment papers with writing all over them. however, its none of the papers that he picks up, but a small ornament box instead.

hongjoong holds the box as if it will break any second before he's gently sitting down next to you on his bed. you look at the box with confusion before you're are looking back up at hongjoong.

"this box is very important to the royal family," he begins to say as he runs his hand over it. you take notice of the white moonflower – the lunar tear – craving on the top of it. "my mother gave this to me when i became king," he adds on and you can't help but feel your palms start to sweat. "when she gave it to me, she told me about the duty my family had to the goddess and to protect this box."

"what's inside it?" you couldn't help but ask as you reached your own hand out. not to touch the box, but to touch hongjoong's hand.

"my mother told me its the spirit of a great evil. that centuries and centuries ago, pandora's soul was trapped in this very box by the goddess," he explains and for a second you want to laugh at his words. you think he's messing with you, but when you look at his face you can tell he's serious.

however, despite this information he is sharing with you, you can't help but want to ask him the one question that stands in your brain. "why are you showing me something this valuable, hongjoong?"

"because, my moonflower," he says with a smile as his hand comes up to cup your face. "i want to give it to you, to protect for me."

"me? h-hongjoong have you gone crazy or something?" you are completely caught off guard by his words. he wants to give you the box that supposedly has the soul of the most evil spirit the world has seen.

pandora is a person of myth; however, its been proven throughout the history of the world that she was just as real as you and hongjoong are. her goal was to bring about the end of the world. how she attempted to bring about the end of the world tended to change slightly, but her goal was still the same. kill any and everything.

and here, hongjoong was giving you this box to trust and hold. "hongjoong..."

"i'm giving entrusting this box because i know i can trust you," he says, leaning over as his lips ghost over your cheek. you feel a chill run down your spine as you look towards your lover right as he rests his forehead against yours. "my favorite flower, the one i love the most," he adds softly as he places the box into your hands.

his words make your heart skip a beat as his hands come up to cup your face. his breath fans against your lips as his hovers closely to yours. just centimeters from touching yours.

"but that's only if you accept the box, my love, i won't force you to take it," he says and that's when you're reminded of the weight in your hands from the small metal box.

you take a deep breath before answering, "of course, i’ll guard it with my heart, joongie." the king's smile is enough to make your heart do a flip.

“that’s not the only reason why i summoned you here though,” hongjoong said, his usual grin on his face as he gently takes the box and sets it on his bedside table.

you feel hongjoong tug on your sleeve and you turn to see his eyes filled with lust and longing and you can't help the smile that tugs at your own lips. "its been way too long since we have been one, don't you think?"

"yes it has, my king."

hongjoong's chamber was filled with a mixture of your moans and the sound of skin slapping skin. your legs were spread wide and you were practically bent in half as hongjoong pounded away at your hole. you couldn't help but arch your back as how hongjoong's cock filled you up.

"you take me so well, moonflower," hongjoong says a grin painting his lips as one of his hands wrap around your own cock, he gives it a firm squeeze that makes you cry out. your lover can't help but let out a laugh as he watches you wither underneath him.

"n-ngh! joongie! p-please!" you cry out as you feel hongjoong hit your sweet spot as he continues to stroke your cock. his thumb runs over your slit and it slowly begins to leak pre-cum that hongjoong uses as lube to stroke you off quicker.

"please what, love? use your words," he's clearly mocking you as he leans down to kiss you before he's pulling out of you and turning you onto your stomach. you can't help but moan at how hongjoong handles you like you were nothing.

"h-hongjoong," you can't help but moan as you feel hongjoong lick at your puckered hole as his hand grabs at your cock again and begins to jerk you off once more. "a-ah fuck! fuckfuckfuck!"

hongjoong laughs as he licks at your hole before he's pulling away. "does it feel good, moonflower?"

"y-yes s-so-so good, joongie!"

you let out another moan when you feel hongjoong enter you once again. you can't help but let out a sigh at hongjoong not only filling you up once again, but also at him finally leaving your poor cock alone. both his hands grip your hips tightly and he begins thrusting into you once again.

you grip the sheets below you tightly as you can't help but feel your eyes roll back as hongjoong's cock massages your prostate. you clench around him tightly as you feel your orgasm build up the longer he fucks you.

"you're so perfect, my flower," hongjoong says as he presses his chest against your back. his hands wandering over your body before they stop of play with your nipples and pinching them harshly which causes you to let out loud cry. "you take my cock so well and your body was made for me."

"n-ngh, yes joongie, only yours," you say in your fucked out daze as you felt hongjoong trail his lips down your back. you felt a pleasurable chill run over your body when hongjoong licks up your spin before his arms are wrapping underneath your armpits in order to pull you up off the bed.

you're pressed flush against hongjoong as he continues to abuse your hole, pounding away as he uses you for his pleasure. not that you mind, you would happily allow hongjoong to use your body to his heart's content in order to pleasure himself and make himself happy.

"you're so beautiful," he says before kissing your cheek. "i love you so much, moonflower," he says and the nickname that him and seonghwa and others always use for you makes your heart skip a beat. you remember when hongjoong had overheard seonghwa call you that nickname and how he had asked if he could call you that ask well.

"if i could marry you, i would in a heartbeat, but t-those bastard ad-visors of mine– fuck!" hongjoong cuts himself off as he does a particularly hard thrust before he's stilling himself inside of you for a moment.

he slowly lets you go as you rest back on his sheets, the cold material feels good against your hot skin. hongjoong moves once more to hover above you as he leans down to kiss you again.

"i wanted to ask..." he begins as he moves at a slower pace this time. "if you would come with me on my next campaign. i can't bare being without you and so i want you to be with me."

"r-really?" his question catches you off guard as you turn to look at him with just as much shock as you feel.

"yes," he says with a little laugh. "i've been trying to find a way to ask you since i got back from my last one and i even asked seonghwa if i should ask you. he scolded me for trying to hog you too much, but he eventually told me to just ask and so... yeah, here i am."

"fuck– hongjoong, of course!" you say when you feel his tip rub against your sweet spot. hongjoong gives you a teasing smile.

hongjoong doesn't say anything as he kisses you one last time before he's focusing back on making the two of you come. and when you finally do, you moan at how you feel hongjoong pumping you full of his cum. you know that when he pulls out, it will leak out of you knowing how much cum the king has.

you are left a panting mess as you feel your own cum panting your stomach. hongjoong pulls out slowly and you whine at how empty you feel as your lover turns you onto your back to look at the mess he had cause.

you watch as hongjoong bends down before licking up most of your cum that painted your skin. he then moves to lean over you before kissing you and you cringe at how you taste yourself on his lips and you can tell hongjoong is enjoying himself.

when he pulls away from your lips, you can't help but pout as he smiles at you softly before he's rolling over to lay next you. he brings his hand up to rest on your waist as he pulls you closer to you.

"i love you, my king," you said and hongjoong looks at you fondly as you brush some hair out of his face.

"i love you too, my moonflower."

its a few hours later when you are finally leaving hongjoong's chambers. your lover of course begged you to stay with him longer, pleading to spend the entire night with him, but you turned him down. not because you didn't want to spend the rest of the night in his embrace, but because you needed to find seonghwa.

you wanted to talk to him as a way to clear your conscious from those jealous thoughts you had earlier.

you kissed hongjoong's pouty lips, "next time we can spend the entire night together, my king."

"yeah, yeah, just go before i change my mind in letting you leave," his tone is full of tease as he rests on his side, his silk blankets the only thing covering his nude body.

you let out a laugh as you reach for the box before making your way out of his chambers and down the hall before you are arriving at the wing that has both yours and seonghwa's private chambers.

standing outside of seonghwa's chambers, you feel a sense of nervousness settle on you as you try to build up the fleeting courage to knock on his door.

then without a second thought, you knocked on his door. you bit your lip as you waited for your lover to open the door, and it felt like ages before you heard the door opening.

your eyes immediately met seonghwa's bright and shining ones. and then he beamed a bright smile at you when he realized who was at your door.

"ah, y/n!" he says your name and you can't help want to hear him say again and again, over and over. "did you go see hongjoong?"

"yeah, i just got back," you tell him and the box he gifted you feels heavy in your hands as you look at seonghwa. "b-but i wanted to talk to you, can i... can i come in?"

"of course, moonflower," seonghwa says before letting you, "how did your visit with hongjoong go?" he asks once the two of you are in his room and away from any prying eyes.

seonghwa had stripped you of your clothes, a wet rag in his hands as he wipes down your body. you felt a warmth spread over you as you felt seonghwa's hands roam around your body. you had to stop yourself from moaning when his hand wrapped around your cock.

"so..." seonghwa begins after he finished wiping you off, "what did you want to talk about?" his head tilts to the side as he watches you redress yourself.

"i wanted to apologize for earlier," you say, feeling embarrassed now that you say it out loud.

"what for, y/n?" seonghwa asks as he comes to sit down next to you on his bed. he takes your hands into his warm ones and sweet scent makes you want to melt into his embrace.

"i thought hongjoong was going to dismiss me from being his concubine because he had been seeing you more than me recently. i was... scared that i would never be able to see you again."

"oh, y/n, i would never let that happen," he says pulling you into his embrace. your head rests against his chest, your cheek pressing into the soft material of his blouse. "i love you so much."

you couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by his confession, tears brimming at your waterline as you wrapped your arms around him. "i'm sorry for being jealous, i'm sorry for not being good enough like you."

"you hush now, don't think like that, my love. you are more than enough for me, that's why i love you." you peer up at seonghwa to see him smiling down at you. his hand runs through your hair before he's cupping your face and kissing you.

you immediately melt into the kiss as your hands pull him closer to you. seonghwa moves in order to lay you down onto his bed with him hovering overtop of you. both his and your own hands roam over each other's body, pulling away your clothes so that you are both bare and pressed up again each other like you have been so many times before in the past.

seonghwa kisses down your body, his hands squeezing your flesh as he leaves his own trail of lovebites next to and around the ones hongjoong had left.

and then seonghwa is entering you, your warm hole welcoming his cock as he milks your prostate. your moans fill his chamber as his hips meet your ass and you can't help but feel loved by seonghwa.

eventually, you reach your climax with seonghwa before you're laying together in his bed. the two of you lay so close to each other that your noses graze each other whenever one of you moves.

"seonghwa?"

"yes, y/n?"

"we'll be together forever, right? nothing's going to tear us apart?"

"no, never. together forever." you two share a brief kiss before seonghwa is pulling you to rest your head against his chest. seonghwa smiles down at you before his eyes flicker up at pandora's box that sits idly on the bedside table behind you.

network : @cultofdionysusnet @cromernet

#codn: santa23 #cultofdionysusnet #cromernet #kdiarynet #ateez x reader #ateez blurbs #ateez imagines #ateez smut #ateez hongjoong x reader #ateez x male reader #hongjoong smut #hongjoong x male reader #ateez royal au #ateez fantasy au

[andypantsx3]

fingerprints | 9 | todoroki x reader

pairing: Todoroki Shouto / Reader

length: 3.9k of 38k words | 9th of 9 chapters

summary: When you’re outed as pro hero Shouto’s soulmate on national television, there are really only two sensible things for you to do: blame someone else and run.  

tags/warnings: romance, soulmate au, fluff, pining, not actually unrequited love, aged up characters, eventual smut

fic masterlist

“Momo!” An enthusiastic cry went up from the Class A table.

You watched, a tiny thrill of anticipation zinging down your spine, as Momo smiled and approached your hightop. She was even prettier in person, her dark hair shiny and her features so prim and pert. Even her movements were charismatic and sure.

Mina shoved over to make room between herself and Jirou, and Momo gracefully perched on the stool, accepting the drink Jirou had apparently had waiting for her. Like Shouto, Momo was also treated to a round of fist-bumps which she returned with a soft smile and perfectly manicured hands.

Chatter quickly resumed all around you, Kaminari seizing your attention to show you a trick where he opened his beer with his forearm, looking pleased with himself. Then Shouto wanted to try, and your heart rate ticked up as he shrugged off his sweater in favor of the gray tee shirt beneath, his biceps cording with the movement.

You swallowed your own drink wrong, and Mina had to pat you on the back as you coughed, smirking knowingly. Your eyes briefly met Momo’s as you looked back, and she waved, a dainty little swoop of her fingers.

It took a few minutes for Shouto to learn the trick, as he didn’t seem to have enough fat on his forearm to manage it neatly, and had to push the bottle against the muscle a little more firmly. Once he had managed the cap twist perfectly, however, he presented you with the beer proudly, and you grinned at him.

Those mismatched eyes glittered in the dim light of the bar, dipping to your mouth as you took a sip. Heat pooled low in your stomach as he leaned in, watching you carefully.

You were somewhat startled to notice that his gaze was fixed solely on you, as though he had no thought for anyone else in the room. You realized, quite belatedly, that other than a nod at Momo as she approached, Shouto hadn’t shown any specific reaction.

In fact, come to think of it, no one had seemed to assume that Momo’s place would be by Shouto’s side when she came in. And Shouto had gone right back to opening a beer bottle for you, watching you drink it, looking like he wanted some reaction from you.

You again had the thought that he was unlike anyone else–so watchful, so kind, so unbelievably good down to his core. So unbelievably good to you, down to the smallest thing. He was your soulmate—yours, and he had tried so hard to keep you in his life ever since you had first met. Had dedicated so much of his time and attention to you since then, had made you feel so precious, special, cherished.

Despite all the shit people were saying on twitter, despite the fact that the entire world was on the verge of finding you out for sure. He had never cared. There was only one person he had ever made you feel like he cared for—

And suddenly, just like that, in a tiny, nothing moment, with Shouto’s eyes on you in a dimly lit dive bar–you realized.

Shouto had never been Momo’s.

Shouto had never been anyone else’s. Not in the permanent sense.

Shouto had chased after you. Shouto had been spending all his time with you. Shouto had bought you an entire animal rescue, and was even now sponsoring its refurbishment with miles and miles of security apparatus.

Todoroki Shouto had always, always been yours. And the reaction of his skin to your touch proved it, more definitively than anything.

And you had been so fucking stupid this whole time.

“Are you alright, love?” Shouto asked in his low, soft tone, and you blinked up at him, realizing you’d paused over your next sip.

His face was so stupidly perfect up close, his lashes so long and pretty, his mouth so soft and full. In the dim light, the edges of his scar were softened, a dusky pink against the rest of his skin. You’d always wondered if that part of him would react to your touch too. Before you even realized what you were doing, you reached up and gently pressed your thumb just under his eye.

Color bloomed under the pad of your finger, and Shouto blinked curiously, his fingers coming up to take your hand. Color blossomed under his touch too, staining your skin like watercolor.

You could have leaned in and kissed him right then, but something held you in place.

When you chose him, for the first time, you wanted it to be just between you two. Just for a few moments. Because the entire world would find out as soon as the Todoroki Agency made its statement, only a few days from now.

But you wanted this one thing to be just yours at first–the way Shouto was. No one else’s but yours.

You shot Shouto a grin and finished the beer he’d given you, telling him it tasted better for the cool factor his trick had put into it. You stifled a laugh as he tried not to look smug, and wondered how you could have ever, even for a minute, doubted Shouto’s feelings for you.

The rest of the evening was a blur, a haze of rowdy chatter and a rapidly escalating competition of drinking tricks. Pro heroes could apparently put away a ton of alcohol, and couldn’t resist showboating as they did so. You felt yourself grinning ear to ear, and then found those ears flushing with heat when Shouto’s hand found your hip as he watched his classmates get sillier alongside you.

Fetching your final drink of the evening–just regular soda water, considering you wanted to be clear headed enough to talk to Shouto when you got home–you ran into Momo at the bar.

She leaned in immediately, pulling you into a hug that felt like cashmere and smelled like some light, expensive perfume.

“I’ve been wanting to meet you ever since Shouto first showed up at our agency looking for you,” she said, a little bit of a flush on her cheeks. “I know we haven’t met formally but I feel like I know so much about you already.”

You smiled up at her. “Same to you. Shouto’s told me a lot.” Then you paused, curious about what she’d just meant. “Wait, he showed up at your agency looking for me?”

Momo blinked, then looked embarrassed. “Oh! Yes. Um, I hope you don’t mind. Jirou and I run our own agency and her quirk has to do with sound, you know.”

You nodded, curious where this was going. “Well, she’s excellent at long-range intel gathering and we’ve shaped the agency largely around that. We have a lot of heroes with quirks useful for that kind of thing, and civilian employees who specialize in data-gathering techniques as well,” Momo said. She sounded a little proud. “Um, so when Shouto needed to find you…well…”

A smile crept across your mouth. You remembered all those months ago when Shouto had neatly dodged the question of how he’d found you. “A friend ran video footage,” he’d said evasively.

So Momo had been a friend–the friend–all along.

He must have gone straight to her after the rescue, considering he’d shown up in your animal shelter the very next day. And that itself was a dead giveaway.

God, how could you have ever believed he didn’t want you?

“I will never be able to convey how grateful I am that you helped him find me,” you told Momo sincerely. “But, um, I’d love to buy you a drink as a symbol of my thanks.”

She flushed prettily again, but accepted, and you managed to obtain her drink of choice–an unexpectedly no-frills whiskey on the rocks. You would have to remember that for future nights out. There would never be any amount of drinks that could truly give back to her what she’d helped give you, but you could at least try.

After a little more idle chatter, Jirou came looking for Momo, and you thought you understood things even more clearly when you saw Jirou’s tiny, fine-boned hand slide possessively around Momo’s waist. And then you felt a much larger hand touch yours, and you turned to find Shouto lingering over you, watching you carefully.

And you knew, right then, that you couldn’t wait to tell him any longer.

“Hey,” you said in greeting, feeling pleased and bold and shivery with nerves all at once. “Wanna get out of here? I have something I wanna tell you when we get back.”

Shouto blinked, clearly mystified, but murmured his assent. You collected your coats and bade goodbye to everyone and then started the trek back to Shouto’s place, the night air cool on your skin.

“I like your friends,” you told him as you walked. “They’re good people.”

Shouto’s smile was small and pleased and toe-curlingly charming. “I have no doubt they liked you as well.”

“They just like that I made an idiot of myself on national television,” you said. “They like that I gave you a hard time.”

Shouto politely did not mention how prolonged that hard time had been, given that you’d actually been misunderstanding him for months. He told you instead about all the times Class A had made idiots of themselves on national television too, murmuring stories about their first sports festival in his hypnotically low voice as if to calm and reassure you.

You liked him so much.

When you finally made it through Shouto’s door, and Shouto had replenished Princess’s food and water, you knew it was time to tell him for real.

You drew in a nervous breath, then stepped close to him. “I think…I have decided what I want the Todoroki Agency statement to be,” you said.

Shouto’s mismatched eyes went wide, and you watched as he schooled his features into that classically blank expression, as if he did not want to influence you.

He was so, so, so unbearably good.

You had planned to say more but all of it was lost in that moment as you watched him wait for you, watched him try not to push you. It was what he’d been doing this entire time, you realized. Making his intentions clear, giving you everything he possibly could of himself, but never, ever pushing you into something you did not think you were ready for. Like he’d waited for you that day outside your apartment, holding still, letting you make the final move.

You were finally feeling bold enough to do it.

You leaned up, and, heart in your throat, you pressed your mouth to his.

And it was like the entire world snapped into alignment.

You didn’t know how else to describe it. As soon as your mouth met his, it felt like everything was finally right, a wave of something like relief washing over you. Shouto shuddered like he felt it too, and then his hand came up to catch your chin, cradling your cheek.

He kissed you back fervently–scorching one moment and tender the next. He tasted like the sweet fruit and soft tang of his drinks, sugary and delicious. An electric warmth lit you up inside, roiling in your stomach, every single one of your nerves buzzing.

His other arm came around you, gathering you against him, pressing you tightly to him. You clung to him, desperate.

It was a long time before he let you go, and you clutched the collar of his jacket, feeling a little weak-kneed.

“I hope–” Shouto started, sounding a little dazed. He blinked down at you, then tried again. “I hope that was not a farewell…”

You shook your head, gripping his coat even tighter. “No. No–Shouto, I am in love with you. I’m sorry it took so long for me to get my head out of my butt. I have had the most insane crush on you since the second I met you, and I’ve only fallen deeper the more I’ve gotten to know you. I could never, ever give you up for anything—not my privacy–nothing. I choose you.”

The most stunningly gorgeous smile you had ever seen broke out across Shouto’s mouth, luminous in its delight. “You choose me,” he echoed quietly, as if to himself.

Your heart did a weird flip in your chest at how utterly and insensibly handsome he was in his happiness.

You smiled back, feeling giddy. “Yeah. You’re my soulmate.”

Shouto’s fingers tightened on your chin, and then he was tilting your face back up to his and slotting his mouth against yours once more. It quieted every single word in your head, all the months of self-doubt, the stupid shit people had been saying about you online, the worry about what people would say in the future. All you knew, all you could think of, all you could feel was Shouto’s body pressed against yours, Shouto’s mouth over yours, Shouto’s breath filling your lungs–Shouto, Shouto, Shouto.

His thumb traced over your cheek, and Shouto pulled back, watching the motion of the pad across your skin, doubtlessly tracking the streak of color left behind. “Mine,” he said, more than a little smugly.

It startled a laugh out of you, the childish straightforwardness of it. You supposed he was allowed now, considering he’d behaved so carefully, so gentlemanly all throughout the previous months.

“All yours,” you promised.

Shouto seemed to like the sound of that very much. You heard your jacket being unzipped and suddenly it was being tugged off of you.

Shouto’s mouth found its way to your throat, and his fingers crept up under the hem of your shirt, sliding over the bare skin of your waist. “Y/N,” he breathed. “I almost thought I might never have this. I want to see you, all of you…” All of what’s mine, went unsaid.

You nodded, dizzy with the feeling of his mouth in the hollow of your neck. “Yes–I–me too—want to see you…”

You barely managed to scrape together enough brain cells to successfully pull your shirt off, and Shouto let out a low, appreciative groan, guiding you back to the wall with his hands. You watched as he stared at you, dragging his hands over you. Shivers wracked you at the sight of his dilated pupils following the streaks of color left by his fingers, like he could barely control himself over the thought that you were his.

He really, really wanted you.

Shouto’s mouth back on yours distracted you from thinking much more. Your fingers tangled in his hair as he pressed himself against you, shuddering when you felt his hardness press against your stomach.

His hands came under your thighs, boosting you up against him, and then that hardness was slotting right between your thighs, exactly where you wanted him. Your head made a dull thud against the wall as you threw it back, Shouto’s hips hitching to grind himself harder against you. His breath came harsh in your mouth, and you realized you were no better, letting out little puffs of air, squirming against him.

“Shouto,” you managed between kissed, “Shouto, I want—I want—”

“Yes, love,” Shouto said, even as his hand pressed down against your hip, grinding you harder into him. He let out a shuddering breath, eyes fluttering closed.

“I want you, please—” You gasped, accidentally digging your nails into the meat of his shoulder as another cant of his hips pressed him firmly but indirectly to your clit through the fabric of your pants. “Shouto, Shouto, please—more—”

“Anything you want, love,” he said. “I will give you everything.” And then suddenly he was stepping back, and you mourned the loss of heat against you, frowning.

Before you could get a word in, however, he was dropping to his knees, in front of you, tugging down your pants. Your hands seized his shoulders as he took one of your calves in hand, gently helping you step out of them, pulling your leg over one broad shoulder. He pressed a fluttering kiss to your stomach, and then your hip, and then lower, and lower, and lower, until his fingers were pulling aside your panties, and his mouth pressed directly to you.

Your head made another dull thunk against the wall as you threw it back. This is not what you had meant—!

“Fuck–oh my god—Sho–!”

Shouto groaned deeply, then licked over you more firmly. “Yes, pet?” he murmured, before doing it again.

You produced an embarrassing little squealing noise in place of words. You could feel his mouth shift into a smile against you, which was so weirdly hot, and then he went back to work on you, murmuring his appreciation.

His grip on you was firm, holding you in place as you shook with each delicate suck, each curl and swipe of his tongue. When you finally managed to look down at him, those heterochromatic eyes were staring back, drinking you in carefully, sliding over every spot his fingerprints had left his mark on you. The sight of him so wrapped up in you pushed you right over the edge, and he licked you right through your first orgasm, looking so utterly wrecked himself.

You didn’t have a single second to recover before Shouto was surging up, covering your mouth with his again. He caught you by the waist, and herded you urgently towards the couch, his mouth never leaving yours for a second.

You spilled over the side of it, Shouto’s heavy weight bearing you down to the cushions. You practically tore your panties off and fumbled with his belt, desperate to get Shouto inside you. He seemed to know instinctively what you wanted, slotting himself between your thighs.

His cock was predictably just as gorgeous as the rest of him, long and full, and he slid inside you with a low groan, fisting the cushion beside your head.

“Fuck, love,” he uttered, those long, pretty eyelashes fluttering. The sight of him so instantly undone–the furrow of his brow, and the almost-pained twist to his mouth–almost sent you right over the edge again.

He bucked his hips again, burying himself deeper inside you, and launched into an almost desperate pace, like he couldn’t bear to slow down now that he had you. You didn’t know what it was–if it was the fact that he was your soulmate, or if it was just the fact that he was Shouto–but he fit so right within you that you thought you might be driven insane with the feeling.

He held himself up over you with one hand, and the other dragged over every part of you, cupping your face, thumb sliding across your mouth, then slipping down to circle a nipple. You could see the fingerprints left all across your skin, and Shouto’s eyes seemed torn between your face and those bold streaks of color.

Shouto’s mouth only added to things–he was keeping up a stream of praise in that low tone, rough with feeling. “Fuck, love—that’s it. So good, you’re so perfect. Made for me, like we were made for each other. Mine, you’re mine.”

You could only pant out his name in return, writhing underneath him with every expert twist of his hips. “Yes, Shouto, please–!”

“Wanted you–from the very first minute I saw you—” he groaned. “Want you forever—”

The praise, coupled with the slap of his hips against you, the slide of him inside you immediately became too much.

Something inside you seized up, and you were thrown straight back over the edge, biting off a shout into the muscle of Shouto’s shoulder. The clenching of you around him made him groan, and he picked up, his thrusts became faster and looser, like he was losing control. He reached up, pressing his hand high on your chest, leaving a full set of fingerprints on you like a brand over your heart.

And then he was cumming too, flooding your insides, his hips jerking against yours uncontrollably.

You clung to him, sweaty and flushed and so unbearably full of love for him. He smiled down at you, that charming, half-moon grin, looking so incredibly smug and deeply pleased all at once.

“Did you really want me from the first minute you saw me?” you asked curiously, unable to help yourself now that everything was finally, finally on the table.

Shouto nodded, his hair falling into his eyes as he adjusted himself over you, leaning back on his haunches, pulling himself out of you. “Even before you left your fingerprints on me,” he said. “When I saw you–even though you were less injured than the others, it was like all I could focus on was getting you out of there. I had to force myself to prioritize the way I was trained.”

You blinked, feeling strangely flustered. “Really?”

His smile went charmingly crooked. “Like that, do you, love?”

You could practically feel your face fill with heat thermometer-style, like a cartoon character. “I just–to think we could have had this sooner, if I hadn’t been so stupid.”

“Yes,” Shouto agreed, and you tried not to pout.

“In fairness, you never made any moves on me!” you said.

Shouto’s eyes flickered over you assessingly, and he smoothed back some of your hair away from your face. “I was waiting for you to choose me,” he said calmly. “I know what it is to be the family of a pro hero–what it is to not have a choice about being publicly known.”

You warmed at the mention of family. “I’d pick you whatever the circumstances, Shouto,” you said, giddy with the boldness of actually voicing it out loud.

He leaned back in and took your mouth again, a kiss which grew rapidly more interested as Shouto laid himself out over you once more, his fingers sliding into your hair.

Except, as he did, there was a slight rush of air over you, and a light patter along the top of the couch.

You peeked an eye open to see Princess looming over the two of you, looking extremely put out with the goings on in her domain. You sputtered out a laugh as Shouto looked up too, his expression embarrassed and fond at all once.

“We’ve disturbed her majesty,” you said.

Shouto huffed out a small laugh, then gathered you up his arms. You suppressed a squeal, watching as Princess suddenly grew much farther away.

“We will have to take this elsewhere,” Shouto said, carrying you into his bedroom and shouldering the door closed. “As I’m not finished with you yet, love. We have many months to make up for, as you’ve said.”

You couldn’t help the laugh that left you as he deposited you onto his sheets, climbing over you once again, looking so handsome and mischievous and perfectly yours.

“I’m going to leave my fingerprints all over you,” you promised, leaning up and kissing him again.

“I have wanted nothing more,” Shouto said, smiling into your mouth.

And then you did—you marked him so thoroughly as your soulmate, the way you should have done from that very first day.

And Shouto let you, looking pleased—yours, as he always had been.

#todoroki x reader #shouto todoroki x reader #shoto x reader #shouto x reader #todoroki shouto x reader #bnha x reader #shoto x you #shoto todoroki x you #todoroki x you #todoroki smut #todoroki x y/n #shoto x y/n #bnha x you

[gabessquishytum]

I’ve been fighting with this for ages when that other Cinderella ask popped up, how serendipitous that we’re all thinking about messing with fairy tales 😁 here’s my take:

Dream is what is commonly known as a fairy godfather, a matchmaker of worthy souls to create long-lasting stories. Everyone knows that a match facilitated by a fairy will supersede any objections due to class or circumstance.

His latest project involves the three-day festival being thrown to find a consort for the prince, who he plans to match with the handsome and kind but beleaguered Hob Gadling, who so dearly deserves a happily ever after.

The first night of the ball, Dream appears before Hob—who looks appropriately stunned and awed—and declares his intention to help him attend. He’s not entirely sure how he came to be personally escorting Hob to the ball soon thereafter, but as he sits in the transformed carriage next to a magically decked out Hob, who is charmingly clutching Dream’s arm in shy excitement, Dream reasons that it couldn’t hurt to be a little more hands-on this time, and give Hob the support he clearly needs to meet his Prince Charming.

Except when they arrive at the ball, the prince gave Hob one curious glance when they entered, and then proceeded to completely ignore him the rest of the night. How dare he?? When Dream specifically chose him for this treasure of a man, as the other half of one of Dream’s stories!! He’s utterly offended on both his own and Hob’s behalf. Luckily Hob doesn’t seem to have noticed, too busy staring at everything and curling himself into Dream’s arm, probably out of bashfulness, poor thing.

Well, the fairy tale romance may be a bust tonight, but at least Dream can still make sure Hob has a magical time for the rest of the festival while Dream regroups and makes new plans. So he spends the rest of the ball by Hob’s side, plying him with food and drink and attention, and whisking him off to the dance floor whenever he wishes, and plans to do so again on the second and third night. He even extends the magic on Hob’s clothes past the midnight deadline, now that there’s no more call for a dramatic and mysterious vanishing into the night to further entice that waste of space of a prince. (Dream is also vaguely keeping an eye on the rest of the attendees on the off-chance that he comes across a hidden diamond worthy of Hob’s heart and Dream’s story, though he doubts the likelihood of that considering how much of a disappointment the literal prince turned out to be. Best to keep the most of his attention on Hob’s enjoyment, and return to finding him a match worthy of a fairy tale after the festival)

—

Hob knows exactly what he’s been doing from the moment Dream appeared to him; literally everyone knows what’s meant to happen when a fairy calls themself your godparent, and had any other fairy done so, Hob probably would’ve been quite pleased to go along with it. But he fell in love at first sight with Dream, and knew then and there that no Prince Charming would supplant him from Hob’s heart.

So he manages to convince Dream to escort him, all but glues himself to his fairy patron’s side for the entire ball, and (when Dream isn’t looking) glares at anyone who appears interested in him to scare them off, especially the prince. He plans to make the most of the festival to woo and seduce Dream until the fairy understands that the best fairy tale match for Hob is Dream himself. (Worst-case scenario he’ll climb onto Dream’s lap in the carriage at the end of the last night and present his case more directly)

-🪽anon (I tried to find a place to make a “fairy god-dilf” joke but it never quite worked ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Fairy cockfather perhaps? Fairy godDADDY??

Look, Hob has had a shitty life. Everyone he's ever loved is dead, his remaining family suck, he's miserable and he wants more from life. And he is NOT about the bet all his chances on some snooty prince, when he could have a literal fairy!! Dream is everything that Hob has ever wanted, and he's not going to let this opportunity slide.

So yes, maybe he pretends to be a bit more helpless than he actually is. He blushes and flutters his lashes and keeps asking Dream to help him with little things, like lacing up his beautiful glass shoes. By the third day of the festival, he's convinced that Dream is feeling some sort of spark between them. Hob is certainly at the end of his patience. He's danced, flirted ("shyly"), talked and laughed with the most beautiful magical being in the whole world, and he is very much losing his patience. He wants to kiss Dream!! And maybe suck his dick!!! He's got a lot of feelings!!!

And as the hours pass Dream sees less and less candidates around who he deems worthy of Hob’s hand. There's always something wrong, none of them are good enough for his Hob... how could Dream even have thought that the Prince was a good match?! He's clearly nowhere near as handsome, clever or delightful as the kind of spouse that Hob deserves. All of the people around them are too boring to make a good story. Hob needs someone... unique.

And when Hob pulls him to a private balcony at midnight on the third night of the festival... and slowly guides Dream’s hands to his hips... and leans in so their lips brush together.... the light bulb moment finally happens. Its going to be a wonderful story.

(Incidentally one of Hob’s lovely shoes does get left behind. Yes, it's because they were fucking on the balcony and Hob was so cock-struck he didn't even notice his lack of shoe. No, he's not even a little bit sorry.)

#🪽anon #the sandman #dreamling #nsft

[imagines--galore]

If you don't want a funny one, and something sweet. Maybe a reader whose usually loud but is drunk for the scene and just wants to cuddle but starts crying when Sherlock tries to pull away

Pairing: Sherlock x Reader Rating || Genres || Warnings: T. Romance. Fluff. No warnings. A/N: Pfffft I can just imagine Sherlock panicking when theres tears lol Also I just LOVED this gif, I mean there is hesitation there but also affection so SQUEAL!

It wasn't often that you got drunk. But when you did, you got absolutely smashed. Not because you drank a lot, but because you were a lightweight. It took only a couple of drinks before you were tipsy, and a few more for you to be riding that high that came with alcohol.

So perhaps going out to celebrate a friend's birthday at a wine tasting hadn't been the best of plans. But it was your friend's birthday and it would be rude not to attend. And even ruder to go against everyone else's plans and not join in the wine tasting.

Suffice to say, after a couple hours you were sloshed.

Somehow, you managed to find your way out of the establishment and into a cab. Managing to slur out the address you were to go to, you tried your best to not fall asleep in the back of the cab. Though you did nod off here and there, only to jerk awake whenever the cab would stop at a red light or an intersection.

Finally, you were stumbling towards the all too familiar door of your residence. Your fingers fumbled with the keys for a good few minutes as you tried to find the one that fit. After a struggle with one key that really got jammed in the keyhole, you pouted at the door as if it had done you some personal offense.

Of course it was right at that moment the door swung open to reveal Sherlock standing there with an ever present condescending look on his face.

Your face, however, broke into a wide smile. "William!"

Even in your inebriated state you knew just how much he loathed being called by his first name. Which was why you used it all the time to get a rise out of him.

Sure enough his nostrils flared and an annoyed gleam came into his eyes as he pursed his lips at you.

Smiling sheepishly you lifted your keys. "Couldn't find my key." You giggled, all but stumbling through the threshold, grabbing the front of his shirt to steady yourself and nearly making him loose his balance.

"When you are aware that you cannot hold your liquor, why must you go about and do so?" Sherlock asked in an angry tone, turning around to stomp up the stairs. "As if you're any better!" You called out behind him, lifting a finger to where you could barely make out as he walked up the stairs.

Somehow, you managed to get up the stairs and into the apartment. It took you a little longer to actually climb all the stairs, but you finally made it. Pulling off your coat and scarf you threw them to the side. "Why is it so hot?!" You whined, before blinking at the fireplace where a fire was burning. "Oh." As the reason registered in your mind you looked around for a place to sit.

Finally deciding on a location you stomped over to it. Removing your shoes along the way, you came to a stand in front of Sherlock's designated armchair. Which was currently occupied by him.

You motioned your hand in a shooing motion. "Skooch."

His gaze lifted from the newspaper he had been reading to fix you with a deadpanned look. "Excuse me?"

Pointing at his armchair you clarified. "I wanna sit there."

An eye roll followed your words. "There are perfectly good seating placements in the rest of the apartment, Y/n. Sit in one of them." You frowned. "But I wanna sit here."

Knowing there was no deterring you from your decision, Sherlock decided that perhaps confusing you with be the best way to go. He set the newspaper aside and looked up at you from his seated position.

"Why?" He asked, that one word holding so much contempt that anyone else would've been put off by it. But you only shrugged.

"Because I wanna sit with you."

Where it had been his intention to throw you off, you did that with just those words. He blinked, his brilliant blue eyes clouding with confusion as he tried to determine why you would want to sit with him.

You sighed. And tired of waiting for Sherlock's response, you simply pushed him back by the shoulder, before climbing into his lap. You threw your legs over the side of the armrest so you could sit more comfortably.

He was definitely annoyed now, or perhaps he was more......confused with the sudden onslaught of feelings that rose within him at having you so close to him. And if there was something Sherlock despised more then anything it was feelings.

They were still new to him, given that he had known you and John for all but a year or so. And though you had all shared in many adventures since then, Sherlock was still finding it difficult to be around people who actually cared about him and didn't just see the asshole persona he put up.

Besides John you had been one of the first ones to call him out on his bullshit. John had nearly laughed himself to death when you had confronted him. Seeing Sherlock speechless truly counted as a Wonder of the World.

"Y/n? Get off." He said, not exactly liking he way his body had involuntarily responded to you being so close to him. His hands twitched at his sides, as if he were physically restraining himself from wrapping his arms around you.

"Hmmmmmmm no." You giggled, all but snuggling closer to him. "You're much more comfortable then a chair William."

"Stop calling me that." He snapped.

"But I like calling you William." You pouted. Suddenly your eyes were swimming in tears. "Don't you like it when I call you William?" It would seem getting drunk made you loose control of your emotions.

Sherlock caught sight of the tears and his eyes widened in panic.

Drunk you he could deal with.

Emotional and weepy you was something he was about to experience while you were drunk.

He finally relented.

Where his hands had been gripping the armrest, one of them slowly came up to wrap around your waist. His touch was hesitant and slow, as if he were unsure of where his hands were meant to go.

Through your cloud of inebriation, which was slowly beginning to loosen its hold on you, you wrapped your arms around his shoulders. "Is this alright?" You asked, a sudden shyness creeping into your voice as you looked at him from under your lashes. He nodded mutely, to which you smiled in response.

The both of you continued to gaze at one another for a few more minutes, unable to look away. "Do you know why I call you by your first name?" You asked, your eyes beginning to grow heavy with sleep as you adjusted to rest your head on his shoulder. Your nose brushed against his chin as you did.

"Enlighten me." He said, though his voice was not above a whisper as he did.

"Because no one else calls you that. And calling you Williams makes me think that you're mine." You admitted, smiling shyly as you fought to keep awake.

Yours.

Perhaps that was not such a bad thing? Belonging to someone, Sherlock mused as he drew hesitant circles where his fingers rested against your back.

"Sentiment will do you no good Y/n." He stated firmly. He waited for you to respond, to rebuff his claim. Yet you said nothing. He peered down at you, only to discover that you were fast asleep.

And as he watched you sleep, Sherlock couldn't help but allow a surge of.......affection to overcome his cold heart. "Then again, perhaps it is not always a bad thing."

So saying he leaned down to press a soft kiss to the top of your head.

#Sherlock #sherlock x reader #sherlock x y/n #sherlock holmes x reader #sherlock holmes x y/n #bbc sherlock

[echantedtoon]

Monster Bride Part 2 What Shall We Find?

(Just for context. After this there will one chapter and ending for each character except for the Hantengu boys which will end in a poly romance. If there's any suggestions for what you'd like to see them do feel free to leave them in the comments.)

You liked living alone.

No one to order you around. No one to say what you shouldn't and should do. No one scrutinizing yourself. It was a good life. Just you, nature, and the few farm animals you kept for company. It was a good life. Your parents were a bit concerned about you wanting to buy a house and  live alone but considering your circumstances they agreed and purchased a home from an old farmer as a new year's present a few years back. It wasn't too big. Just two rooms including the bathroom and just a small space in the back for a few animals. Just it was perfect in your eyes. And it was just outside of town. Close enough to visit whenever you wanted but far enough to give you complete privacy in the woods. Which was EXACTLY what you wanted.

Unfortunately your life wasn't meant very easy.

From the moment you were born it seemed your life was going to be a problem for you. Mostly because it was almost like you had a spell casted over you to just have the worst of luck with men. Oh no. They weren't repulsed by you. Quite the opposite actually.

THEY WOULDN'T LEAVE YOU ALONE!!

Your parents must've had at least two hundred offers from other parents to arrange a marriage between you and their sons.  Thank the gods above they were amazing and kind and always asked if you wanted any of the marriages. You refused so they refused. And you would still be bombarded with offers of other parents to boys just attempting to court you any chance they could get. It was one of the reasons why you chose to live all the way out here instead of in town where you'd just be bothered. Although men still occasionally showed up here. And sometimes an older man or woman would trying to talk you into marrying their sons. You always refused and made them leave no matter how polite, persistent, or rude they are. And boy. You've gotten a few rude guests you had to kick to the Kirb. But you also had the ones who couldn't take a hint like the one months ago. Stupid guy. He even tried to use that stupid tradition to get you to marry him.

For thousands of years, people married off their daughters and ladies desperately scrambled to find a husband obsessively in fear of a monster dragging them away from as the blood moon came every hundred years. WHICH WAS STUPID!! You've lived your ENTIRE LIFE playing in the woods and walking around and now living in the woods and not even ONCE did you ever see any ghoul, goblin, troll, fairy, ghost, or any other inhuman creature. They only existed in stories and the imagination of children. You hated that so many people were legitimately terrified of this. And you especially hated that someone tried to use that against you!  You wouldn't be scared into a loveless marriage that wouldn't be fair to yourself. Or the man to be honest. 

With a sigh you woke up that morning and did yours chores which wasn't a lot. Feeding the few animals you had and cleaning your house. Neither of which took very long because of how small your home was and then you started on the laundry. Again it wasn't much and you were just scrubbing a blanket in your home when there was a noise outside that made up you jump and whirl your head towards the back of your house. Your cow was mooing and thrashing about by the side of your house.

THUD. THUD. THUD.

You heard her knock and the kick the side of the house a few times making you drop the cloth and stand up as even MORE noises came from your backyard. Your chickens were going absolutely NUTS!! Clucking and calling a out making you run to the back door and throwing it open-

"AH!!"

Your arms threw up over your face and closing your eyes as a flurry of your hens jumped up and flew a out you in a panic. 

CRASH!! THUD!! RUSTLE!!

Your cow mooed louder and ran past you towards the well on the side of your house as a giant black blue went diving into a bush right by your hen house causing feathers to fly and more chickens to rum about in panic blocking your view of...of...Well  whatever it was. You blinked just seeing the bushes move and hearing whatever it was crashing through the woods away from you as quick as the wind. Leaving you standing there blinking with a few panicked chickens and your cow irritated and half hiding behind the well....

What in all the heavens just happened?!

The chickens were still running around as the last few crashing sounds made their way into the woods before it was silent all around. You stood there and just...blinked. What was that?! A bear? No, no. A bear was too big and bulky and couldn't run off THAT fast?! You looked around noticing that...no chickens were missing. All fifteen of your hens and one rooster was still around. Oh... Whatever it was you must've scared it off before it could make off with one of them. But what was it? Couldn't have been a fox. It was too big and it wasn't a red color...

"A wolf," you mumbled having finally deduced what it was before scowling. "It must've been a wolf!! A wolf was after my chickens!!" 

Scowling you marched on over to the bush where it disappeared through making your chickens scramble from your legs. Grabbing the bush branches, you pushed the thing apart roughly but saw... Nothing. The back of your hill sloped down a hill to where a lot of wild berry bushes and a few fruit trees were ending in a stream that came up to your shoulders almost with how deep it was. Another reason you chose to live here. Free food! You scowled looking around more but there was no signs of any creatures. No wolf either. Curses! It must've ran off before you could see it... You'd buy a trap in town. You were going to head there after you finished laundry anyways. Letting the bush go back the way it was before you angrily turned and stomped off back to the house.

"I'll be damned before I let a wolf make off with my animals. I'll put them all in the barn before I go but first I'm going to get the laundry done."

Unbeknownst to you, eyes opened up from the shadows and followed your form back to your home. You stopped in the doorway pausing... before turning around to fully face the backyard and the eyes widened.

Y O U  W E R E  T H E  M O S T  B E A U T I F U L  W O M A N  T H E   E Y E S' S  E V E R  S E E N.

A shiver went down your spine as you narrowed your eyes looking around.. before going back inside and continuing inside before closing the door behind you. Yeah. You'd finish up before you left for town and buy the BIGGEST trap they had. 

The eyes way he'd awestruck at the beautiful figure walking into the house and closing the door. A chicken wondered close to a different bush unknowing. A hand reached out. The chicken only gave out a muffled squeak before it was yanked into the woods never to be seen again.

You  finished hanging up the laundry inside and went back out to heard all your chickens back into the henhouse and locked up your still spooked cow safely in the small barn before you left for the town. You thought you heard a twig snapping in the woods behind you before you left down the road towards town but you were sure it was just the wind. You weren't as paranoid as the others in your town.  So you started down the forest path back to the nearest town. It was an hour's walk there and an hour walk back. A bit of a way to walk but you'd like to think it helped to discourage others from seeking you out most of the time. You started down the road..but kept looking over your shoulder thinking you heard someone...but nothing was ever there. You got the feeling something was watching you from your home and the feeling didn't go away until you couldn't see your house anymore. Then you felt more at ease. Probably was the wolf, or your paranoia that was thrown a bit since you weren't expecting it. However unbeknownst to you it was something much, much more supernatural than that.

The rest of the trip passed by without incident or without that sixth sense of something watching you. An hour later you arrived at the town. It looked as busy and crowded as you remembered and it was then you realized something. You might as well probably get your shopping done  since you were here. You'd be needing some more supplies. So off you went to the first spot which was a candle store, then a library, and a few more places. While at a certain book store however you again felt eyes on you, and this time you turned and found the source of them this time. Four men working on building the side of a new house were staring at you as you skimmed over some books near the doorway. Upon realizing that you saw them, two of them looked embarrassed and sent back to work quickly, one man smirked and winked at you, and another one politely smiled and waved. You frowned before quickly retreating into the store further.

Why did this happen EVERY TIME you went into town?!

You just wanted to get you some supplies and be on your way. On the way back through you stopped by the blacksmith. He sold hunters they needed from bows and arrows to knives to bear traps. You walked right in gaining a few looks from a few men in there looking over the knives and two of which were asking who was presumably the owner which one would be the best for deboning large fish. Amongst the swords and horse shoes, and other items you found the traps. Big ones. Obviously those were for hunting BIG game like bears. But there was others of a more reasonable si-You froze as someone leaned on the wall next to you. Arm above and out. A face smiling down at your head. You turned to see one of the hunters smiling down at you.

"Hello, Wood Dweller "

NOPE!!

You didn't even give him a chance to speak. You turned on your heels and RAN like the wolf itself was chasing you. NOPE NOPE NOPE!! NOT DEALING WITH THAT TODAY!! Besides you saw the prices written above the traps. Too expensive and you didn't have enough money. You'd have to use the old rope tied to the tree trick. Running down the street with basket in hand, you just happened to look up and noticed that the sun was setting. If you didn't want to walk alone in the dark, you'd better head home now. So that's exactly what you did. You veered quickly through the streets as people headed home quickly fearing the dark and so called 'monsters' that lurked in the dark. You didn't fear any fake monsters. You were more afraid of that wolf! But you needed to get back before your animals could be in danger again. So leaving the town behind you veered off the street and down the path leading you back home.

The light was quickly disappearing and you ran faster and faster down the road.  Shadows danced across the pathway before you as you went down the pathway. Trees blew creepily and creaked as if their branches were trying to reach out and grab you. To take you captive. It made a shiver run down your spine. You didn't reach your house until the last rays of light left the sky and plunged the world into total darkness. The moon high in the sky and crescent shaped like a sadistic grin. You ran right up to the front door, pulling it open but stopped and looked around you real quick. You saw nothing but the creaking wind and trees. You shivered again before you stepped inside and closed the door. Finally. You were safely home. With a sigh you leaned against the door for a long moment before reaching out to flip the lock. With the door safely locked you pushed yourself off the door smiling and carrying the large basket over to place it gently by your-....Wait a second. Blinking you turned to window and blinked. Your window's shutters were... Open? 

YOU DIDN'T LEAVE THOSE OPEN!!

You always closed your shutters before you left anywhere. Why were they open now? Especially when you KNEW you closed them before you left!! Stunned silence filled the dark house as you stared at it silently. Before slowly approaching it and looking out the window into the backyard. The moonlight hit everything in the yard. You saw nothing on the other side. Your brows furrowed. This was... strange. You remembered locking it shut before you left but you must've not locked it properly in your haste to get the trap. Which meant you had to go outside to close it again. ...your form slowly approached the back door and you grabbed a hold of the sliding door at the same time something was walking through the forest. Neither of you two noticed each other. However when you silently opened the door you froze when you heard it. The sounds of something coming from the other sides of the Bushes.

The SAME bushes the wolf disappeared into. But they sounded a bit farther away from the henhouse! That stupid wolf was back!!.. Your eyes flickered to the pitchfork by the he house. If you scared it away by threatening it then it would be unlikely to come back again. It worked once when a fox wouldn't stop trying to bother your hens. It should be work on a wolf too. And if comes down to a fight, you'd have a nice fur to sell in town tomorrow. Slowly you stepped out of the house and back towards the bush. Your bare feet touching the ground gently and quietly enough to not make yourself known. 

Step after step after step.

Quietly you stepped closer as and closer and CLOSER to the bush silently. Slowly behind the henhouse you went and stopped right in front of the bush. The wind blew swaying it's branches creepily and looked like thrashing arms. You grabbed a handful and silently and slowly pulled them back.

And you froze at what you saw-

#monster bride #kny #kimetsu no yaiba #demon slayer #Douma #douma x reader #Akaza #akaza x reader #gyutaro x reader #Gyutaro #enmu #enmu x reader #Daki #hantengu x reader #hantengu clones #hantengu #urogi x reader #urogi #aizetsu x reader #aizetsu #sekido #sekido x reader #karaku x reader #Karaku #kaigaku x reader #kaigaku #kyogai x reader #kyogai #zohakuten

[skynapple]

Budding Romance | Ch. 5

Love and Deepspace | Jeremiah x MC / slow-burn / friends-to-lovers

warnings: none

Multi-chapter | A03 link

Beginning | <;- Prev | Next ->

A long time ago, a leader encourages her commander. At present, a florist deals with customers who just won't leave.

It was a long, long time ago. The early morning air of Philos was crisp, cool, but not quiet. Birds and creatures rang in unison with the sound of metal clamor as soldiers readied throughout their tasks, sharpening swords, tending to each other, organizing supplies, and readying breakfast. A rosy glow had settled onto the horizon over the mountains in the distance. Jeremiah sat on a makeshift bench of stacked crates, sharpening his sword with a special tool. Dew began to settle into his clothing, making him shiver a little. In spite of his efforts, the edge of his blade wasn't cooperating. He grumbled and tried not to be frustrated. Nothing but precision and patience would fix it faster.

The tent behind him rustled and out emerged their leader, her. The war skirt and thick coat she wore that matched his caught the early morning's first rays, glittering like stars. He glanced up at her, ready to spring up if necessary, but didn't move from his position. While he respected her as her second-in-command, deep down, she was still only his friend.

"Ah, she emerges from her slumber." He started, tone dripping with humor and sarcasm.

"Jeremiah." She greeted, somewhat coldly.

"You look…well rested, my lady. One might wonder what you dreamed of."

Half a smirk curved up one side of her lips, disappearing as soon as it appeared.

"In my dream…" She took a step closer to him. For a brief moment, he felt mildly threatened and felt his shoulders tense.

"…Xavier returned," She finished, her gaze softening, causing him to make a face.

"Allow me a guess, my lady," he rolled his eyes, "He took you ever-so-gracefully in his arms and-" Now he made a kissing face in mockery causing her to blush a deep red.

Pain struck his shoulder where her fist connected with it. "Stay your tongue! It was nothing of that kind. I refuse to be trifled with so early in the morning." After clearing her throat, she placed some distance between them and crossed her arms.

"Fine, fine." He stood now, setting his sword to the side knowing he wouldn't finish his sharpening anytime soon. "Any new orders, ma'am?"

She stared at the horizon, tiredly. A light breeze caught her bangs and ruffled the fronds of her war skirt. It glittered even more now. If he thought about it, she looked breathtaking. But he didn't, only being concerned with what she said next. "We move out westward back towards Starfall forest. I sense fluctuations growing stronger there."

"How can you be sure?"

She flashed a smile at him. "It came to me in a dream."

He almost rolled his eyes. "Very well. Perhaps that bastard's spirit comes with the light then." He gave the rosy dawn one last look. "These wanderers are relentless." He sighed. "No matter how far we press them back, they return. Are we even doing any good?"

She reached over to grab the hilt of his sword that he'd settled beside them. "I understand your frustration, but we're in this together." She said, handing it over to him. "I need your resolve."

Despite her weariness, there was clarity in her eyes that he hadn't seen lately.

"Sharpen your sword, Jeremiah. Our fight is not yet through."

Nodding at her words, he settled it into its hilt. While it was more or less a direct command, the much needed encouragement struck his heart. She had a way of making him feel just a little less wise when he spoke his mind too thoughtlessly. Not that he minded. It was better this way.

"I shall prepare the troops, ma'am." Bowing his head, he went away to carry off orders."

---

Jeremiah brought himself back to the present. It was a distant time, different circumstances. He tried to remind himself not to think about it too much. Up until now, many of the memories hadn't resurfaced often, and when they did it was brief and fuzzy. It wasn't that he didn't care to remember, just that in the past there wasn't much benefit to dwell. Normally, when his memories had gone her way, it had been to wonder if she was alive, and how she was faring as a leader of their forlorn nation. Now, this other version of her was right in front of him. He found himself struggling with how much of what resurfaced was true memory, and how much of it was what he wanted to be a memory. He wondered if Xavier was going through much of the same.

Right now, he decided to focus on the task in front of him, which at the time was coordinating florals for a customer who just couldn't make up their mind. Despite the many, many suggestions and attempts to narrow their vision, they just wouldn't decide.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her standing outside his shop. She'd been there for the better part of an hour, more concerned about whatever was on her phone screen than anything else in the world. For the time being, he'd made no attempt to catch her attention, or poke his head out to see what she was up to, or why there. At first he had half a mind to wonder if there were Wanderers outside, despite not having sensed any protofield fluctuations in the area. Although, it had been long enough now where he assumed that wasn't the case. He continued to be busy helping customers for a while, unable to pay her much attention, just observing now and then that she remained unmoved outside.

Eventually she stepped inside. By then, the sky had darkened outside, setting a soft glow through the glass walls of the shop. He barely noticed, only looking up to notice her now and then until finally the customer he'd been long tending to finally finished their transaction and left. Even then, he didn't have time to greet her. He spent time on the phone, placing a few orders and absent-mindedly arranging a new bouquet. When finally he hung up, he looked up to see she was walking towards him and waving.

"Xavier's not here today." He said, tiredly. Ignoring his words, she crouched below the counter in front of him, hands on the glass, peering up expectantly like a puppy.

"You free?"

In confusion, he rose a brow. "I'm literally at work."

"All your customers are gone now."

"Well, first of all, we don't close until 5."

"I know!" She held up her phone. "It's 4:30. How long does it take you to close up?"

Was she… waiting?

Ignoring that question in his mind, he refocused on the arrangement in front of him, "Was that you outside the whole time?"

"Yeah, I was going to come in sooner, but I was trying to beat this level. Have you heard of Amor and High Earth?" She began to give the details of a game he had never heard of, and the more she talked about it, the more he realized he would never have an interest in playing. The topic shifted then to shows that were interesting lately, and her voice then occupied the quiet minutes of the next half hour.

It was nice to just hear her voice again, despite the casual tone that he still wasn't quite used to hearing. While Philos-her had always been less formal with him than Xavier, she definitely hadn't used the slang that this. The words tickled his brain, making him laugh for no reason occasionally. She seemed to think it was because he thought she was entertaining. So on and on she went.

This version of her likes to talk. A lot. Cute.

A short time later, he stood locking the doorfront and turning to her, pausing with a quizzical expression. "You, uh, really aren't looking for Xavier?"

She shook her head with a smile. "No, I try not to bother him outside of work. He's always really busy, and then basically goes home and sleeps. I'm pretty sure he was just getting back when I left."

Jeremiah still couldn't imagine why she'd possibly need him, but, he didn't mind in the slightest that she felt comfortable enough coming to him. "Well, if there's something you need, I'm at your service. No charge. My supplies are in the greenhouse, so we can head back that way." Right when he was turning away from her, she reached out to tap his arm. "Actually-" The expression on her face said she had something else entirely in mind, making him rise an eyebrow.

"-The summer night market is back downtown! I wanted to play this game but you need two people."

It was a pitiful excuse, but he couldn't possibly have know that.

She looked so genuine to him about it, that he couldn't help but smile a little compassionately, now feeling bad that she had to wait for him so long. "Is that all? You didn't need to wait for 2 hours like a stalker! You should have called!"

"I… don't have your number." She responded, looking a little sheepishly away.

"Oh. Surely Xavier could have given it to you if you asked!"

"I wasn't sure if that would be ok…"

Right after he said it, he realized she probably wouldn't have gotten it from him had she asked anyhow. The thought of his friends pointless jealousy creeped up again, making him think some naturally devious thoughts. Only, Xavier wouldn't be around tonight if he did hang out with her, and knowing that made him a little cautious. There wasn't much point to fake-flirting if the party he was trying to make jealous wasn't present. Then again, if it was a good time maybe she'd talk about it to him. He could almost see the man's expression now.

Casually he leaned over, now resolved in his mischief. "If you just wanted my number this badly…You definitely should have asked him. No worries though. I'm flattered."

After exchanging contacts, he winked. "So where's this game? I'll give it my all since you were so keen on my partnership. Unlike someone else, I promise to be reliable tonight."

He wasn't sure where the tone shift came from. Force of habit. She tended to bring up things in him he'd long forgotten.

You have to do better. She's not the same person. Forget it. Just pretend she's… any other new friend.

Thankfully, she found it amusing but nevertheless was quick to defend her embarrassment. "It's not that. Just.. none of my other friends were available either. They're all on duty. That's all! Come on!"

Saying this, she grabbed his arm and indeed dragged him away.

#madi writes #jeremiah x mc #love and deepspace jeremiah #love and deepspace #love and deepspace mc #lnds jeremiah #lnds mc #l&ds jeremiah #lnd jeremiah #jeremiah x skylar #madi plays lnds

[theheraldsrest]

if you folks dont mind, could one of you write for an inquisitor that maybe romanced krem? i know hes not romanceable in game but man. i need more content for this ship, if possible. no pressure of course! have a wonderful day you two!

“Krem Romance Headcanons”

You got it, dude! From talking with others, I think a lot of people fell for Krem the first time he was properly introduced. Can’t blame them. This got long way too fast, oops.

-Lord Lex

-Absolutely fell hard when he first met you. He kept his cool though, only a flush on his face giving him away

-When you came to fight with them, he tried to show off a bit. Iron Bull was wondering why he kept getting hurt much more than usual

-Oh god, Bull. Chief tries to give him advice and tips on how to whoo a woman when Krem tells him about his crush. He regrets it.

-At Haven, he’ll try to strike up conversations with you more, coincidentally giving you a flower that he picked while gathering herbs

-At Skyhold, you caught him standing up on his chair looking around and, when spotting you, dropped to sit on the head of the chair. Told you it was just to keep an eye on things. 

-He really wanted to ask you to dinner or to drinks, but was a little afraid of what you might say when he told you he was trans. Of course, he eventually did tell you and was so relieved to see you had no problems with it. 

-It was actually when you got back from a mission that he asked, quite smoothly, if you’d like to get drinks with him. By smoothly I mean his hand missed the counter and he fell down to the ground.

-But you said yes. Holy shit, he’s way too excited and forgot he was on the ground. When you met back up with him at the front of the bar, he didn’t lead you inside but instead up the stairs next to it.

-On the roof of one of the towers, Krem had set up a blanket, some food, and drinks for you two. Tried to make it romantic and kept asking if this was alright. 

-He never really leaves your side unless both of you have seperate things that need to get done. Will always offer you his hand and act like such a gentleman to you

-Dating Krem also means being around the Chargers more often and learning that all of them had been giving him advice. Yes, including Grim. 

-You also learn that there are a lot more puns for Krem’s name thanks to Bull. If you use any of them when talking to Krem, you’ll see him flush before he tells you to hush.

-Whenever you're free or need to de-stress, he’ll take you up to the tower. Get you away from the hustle-bustle from down below and star gaze. Knows a lot of constellations, surprisingly.

-Great with cuddling. Finds all the pillows and blankets and makes a nest on your bed for you two to hide in. Holds you close in his lap while you two just talk or joke.

-Krem can cook and it’s pretty good. Whenever he makes something new, he tries to have you be the first to taste test it. Has also shown you his favorite recipes and how to make them.

-Every time you go on one of the major missions, Krem always gets worried for your safety but he knows you’re strong and capable. Plus, you got the Chief with you. Not sure if that makes it better or worse.

-Always finds you little trinkets when he travels so that he can give you a present when he gets back. 

-When he leaves, he always takes your hand and places a gentle kiss to your knuckles, promising to come back safe for you. When he does come back, he picks you up in a hug.

-Boy will pick a fight with any noble that looks at you wrong. Imagine the mixed reactions with Krem Aclassi as the Inquisitor’s date to the Winter Palace.

-After the battle with Coreypheus, highly debates whether to sticking with the Chargers or by your side. Eventually decides on traveling, but knows that he'll always come back to you

-When you do lose your hand, he’s by your side offering his own to help you with anything. Even suggests getting an arm made by Dagna. He trusts her…Definitely.

#dai #dragon age inquisition #inquisitor #krem #krem aclassi #headcanon

[bengiyo]

Theory of Love Rewatch Ep 12 Stray Thoughts

Last time, Third caught Khai in a compromising moment with Ching Ching and reacted to the betrayal he always expected by trying to hurt Khai back. They had an ugly fight that they both walked away from bloody, and Third ended up cutting off contact with Khai. Khai tried to reach out to Third, but didn't know what to do, so still got the tickets and waited to go on their beach trip. Two sided with Third and decided to skip in solidarity, but Bone didn't know anything that had happened and was dealing with his own shit. Third, realizing Khai thought he'd been abandoned by all of his friends rushed to see him at the train station in a moment that really worked for me this time. Meanwhile, Lynn broke things off with Two who is sorting his feelings for Un. Bone did the mature thing and supported Paan and Gab on their relationship journey.

Khai has come a long way. He is right that no one would believe him about Ching Ching, and it is frustrating to be trapped by your own reputation.

This conversation works really well because Khai is finally attuned to how Third feels. Third has never really wanted Khai to suffer (even if I did), and so Third visibly regrets how hard he pushed Khai away without asking any follow up questions.

"Today is not normal." Well look who finally learned how to talk.

Ep.12 My Dear

It is nice to see this friend group back in equilibrium.

Okay, I was not expecting the grilled chicken to be a whole quarter of a goddamn chicken on a stick.

I like this scene where Khai runs into Jam at the beach. He's always going to be nervous about his relationship history with women now that he knows how it impacted Third. Third also has to wonder what things will look like for him if they break up.

I like the UnTwo scene on its own, but I do think they are the weakest part of this show. I think they're meant to offer additional flavor on long-term pining, but they never really resonate with Khai and Third for me.

Oh, Third, I feel you on all your insecurities about Khai, but you came on this trip. Please try to enjoy it.

Third is so fascinating. It's like watching the second lead throw away victory constantly. I get him. Sometimes you get used to being lonely and hurting. Hope becomes scary because it is so uncertain.

"Khai, don't break my friend's heart." I love you, Two. White is one of my favorite OGs.

I do love how literally Khai is taking this list.

People love to queue. Very egalitarian of these girls to all go in for just one lick on Khai.

The commentary on the romance genre feels unintentional here. Het romance has done a number on queer people letting that inform their understanding. Third and Saengtai come from the same messed up place of thinking someone else should "just know" when these ones won't say what needs to be said.

We didn't think the lighting team because they're still working for this grand gesture.

The audience must be so confused. They can't read these cards.

I'm not personally one for grand gestures like this, but returning the Love, Actually presentation to Third was probably the best way to do this for him.

I'm actually getting so emotional about them starting a production company together and winning an international award together.

It feels right that even together, Khai has to still chase Third a little bit.

I think the core storytelling is actually very strong. I have my own hangups with Khai because I know so many guys like him, and I still question the intent of this story to present this ideal since the Khais of the world are not watching this show. Still, I actually like that this is a story about filmmakers and how the presentation of love has informed their own relationships. It's useful to talk about the romance genre itself and how it has informed romantic identity. I do think the show went a bit far in the Khai Sucks deep end and didn't necessarily pull out of it.

I'll reserve my revised verdict until I watch the special tomorrow, but I am generally feeling like this project is more worthwhile than I did in 2019, though I don't know that this was really written for gay people at all.

This rewatch has been brought to you by @lurkingshan, with support from @waitmyturtles and @neuroticbookworm who often listen to my gripes and intense dislike of Khai and the people in my life he reminds me of. Tagging @twig-tea by request.

#Theory of Love #thai bl #bl series #Ben watches

[fanfic-scribbles]

Dinner Date Chapter 28

Masterlist

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

Overall Story Facts:

Fandom: MCU Captain America/Avengers

Story Summary: Steve Rogers has a girlfriend. A prickly, generally asocial girlfriend, but they make it work. They have more in common than some people might think.

Quick Facts: Romance – Steve Rogers/Reader – Female Reader

Story Warnings: Reader-insert that verges on OFC, written in 1st person past tense

Chapter 28: A Celebration of Life

Chapter Summary: Steve gets an early birthday present, and reflects on good things past and present.

Chapter Word Count: 4342

A/N: This frigging chapter. It took some work but I’m finally pretty happy with it, and I hope you all have fun with it too. Warning for the very end: there is a section marked ~extra~ that goes into third person, present tense from an outside perspective. It was a little experiment and if you don’t like it I don’t think you have to read it since it is slightly divorced from what this fic is actually about, but…it does hint at something that will come up again in the future. Not any time soon, judging by how much work this chapter took, but… :3 Anyways. Enjoy!

~

Watching Pepper on the phone was an…experience.

Steve was doing some Avengers stuff in the training room and he was late so I ended up waiting in one of the upper floors, because apparently leaving to chill at a coffee shop was ‘weird’ and ‘anti-social’ and the day Tony Stark got to brag about being a better-adjusted human being was the day I bit off my own tongue. So there I was, drink in hand, with Pepper for company, while Pepper was still technically working. Or something.

What could have been an unbearably awkward situation though became a masterclass in how a functional adult handled a difficult phone call. At least, I assumed it was difficult. I sort of hoped it was difficult because if this was what she had to deal with normally that was fucked. I tried not to stare, and she was far enough away, (in this giant room bigger than most city apartments), that words filtered in and out, and she danced the line between patient and patronizing in a way her voice kind of masked but her facial expressions betrayed. It was kind of hilarious, at points, but eventually her expression relaxed, her shoulders sank, and she said, “Thank you,” in a way only the truly tired could, and after a few more pleasantries she lowered the phone, let out a heavy sigh, and detoured back to grab something from the fridge before she came back to the sitting area.

“I am so sorry about that,” she said and fell back onto the chair next to me.

“Oh, no, don’t be–” I said and waved her off, only realizing that was my drink hand just before I could slosh liquid onto a couch that probably cost more than my rent, and quickly settled back down. “I’m sorry for crashing.” I could only bite my tongue so far though. “However, no offense, but Tony Stark doesn’t get to be right about anything, ever, if I have a say in it.”

“That’s the only right way to deal with him,” she agreed. She popped the tab on her can, whatever was inside fizzed, and she took a long drink. Even that looked refined when she did it. She breathed a sigh of relief. “In any case, I have most of his birthday sorted, so that’s one thing off my plate.”

I nodded. Tony Stark’s birthday would be a huge to-do– wait. “Wait.” Wait. “Didn’t…didn’t he just have a birthday?”

“I start planning well in advance,” Pepper said. She gave me a very tired look. “Do you have any idea how hard he is to shop for?”

“God I can only imagine,” I said, because even without the obscene amount of money…yeah. I had decided to err on the side of liking Tony Stark, (especially after he had that PR ‘snafu’ for going off on that asshole who had been snarkily homophobic about Steve), but he was, and probably always would be, A Lot. “That must be nice to have it all set up though. I just barely found something for Steve’s birthday.”

Pepper got a look on her face that felt familiar. Though whether that was a ‘Steve’ grimace or a ‘another fucking gift-giving holiday’ grimace I was a little unsure of. “Speaking of people hard to shop for…” She sighed and rubbed her head.

I could sympathize. Hardcore. “If you really want to get him something he’d be fine even with a nice message on a pretty card.”

She gave me a ‘seriously?’ look, so I said, “Seriously.” And I (seriously) thought about it. “Heartfelt can be hard though, so I get it. But he really isn’t fussy. Charity donation in his name? A ‘get out of PR jail free’ card the next time he pisses off Fox News?”

She seemed to consider it, but then shook her head. “What did you get him?”

I puffed up, because my gift was awesome. “Concert tickets for an act and opener he’s going to love, and I’ve planned out dinner at a place he hasn’t been to yet.” It was torture to have to wait on the second one, but it was going to be worth it. Pepper was right; Steve was awful to buy for and always insisted he didn’t need anything and I was about to score ‘best girlfriend ever’ points for at least a month. I could only hope the memory of this birthday would help ease the sting of the future gifts I was inevitably going to whiff it on.

“That sounds wonderful,” Pepper said. Calculating. I did not like that. “How good are the tickets?”

Yeah, I really didn’t like that. “They’re perfect.”

She smiled deviously. “I bet I can get you better ones.”

“Nuh uh, paws off,” I said and mimed smacking her hands away. “This is my gift. You go get your own.”

She faked a heavy sigh– the smile gave her right away. “Any suggestions?”

I shrugged. “Are there any art things going on?”

It was a sort of flippant suggestion– she seemed like a fancy, in-the-know lady, and fancy, in-the-know ladies would know about stuff like art shows. However, I realized we both understood it for the surprisingly good suggestion it was at the same time. A part of me was a little bummed I hadn’t thought to bank that for myself for another time. A bigger part of me though was pretty happy to look smart in front of Pepper Potts. Also being helpful to Steve’s friends was nice or whatever.

And by the near-glow of her eyes, she already had a good idea, which was going to be good for Steve, so I couldn’t be too upset about it. “That. Is genius.”

I shrugged and tried not to smile as hard as I wanted to. “I try.”

“Do you know what kind of art he likes best?” she asked, whipping out her phone and tapping at the screen with furious purpose.

“He varies a lot and I haven't delved into his absolute favorites yet,” I admitted. It seemed to change by the week sometimes. “He posts some stuff on social media and goes around there liking things. Though if I could say one thing, I would advise you to be careful of abstract. Some of it he really likes and some of it he really fucking hates and I have no idea where that line is.”

“It’s okay; this– I think he’ll like this. It’ll be a little early but…” she said and beamed at me as she held the phone up to her ear. ‘Thank you!’ she mouthed and walked off before starting a whole new conversation.

I shrugged and leaned back against the couch. Since it involved Steve, I’d probably find out why she seemed so excited soon enough.

~

A few days later counted for soon enough. “So,” Steve said, fake-casual as he slid onto the couch next to me. Why he bothered trying to attempt casual with that barely-suppressed grin on his face, I could not fathom.

“So,” I said and kissed him, because he really was too cute to resist sometimes.

“So,” he repeated, but slipped his arm behind me and cupped my hip in a way that told me we could continue that line of activities later. “Pepper got me two tickets to an art gallery I’ve been looking forward to,” he said, focusing again. “Opening night of a new exhibit. Would you come with me?”

“That sounds great,” I said. “Pepper doesn’t want to go with you?”

“She’ll be there, but she said she’s going to be networking,” Steve said. “This way we can come and go whenever we want. I’ve been to a couple of showings; most of the time the people there are too snooty to care about Captain America hanging around, but I’ve seen previews of the pieces that are going to be there and they look amazing…”

Steve continued to go on about some of the artists and that somehow led to lighting and negative space and tonality and I sort of lost the thread after a while but I couldn’t help it– interesting though it was, it was more interesting to watch him go off into his own little world, smiling so easily as he talked about art education videos he was watching and he was just so happy that I couldn’t help but stare at him and soak it all in.

When he took a moment to go to the bathroom, I snuck out my phone and opened up my text log with Pepper.

Me: A++++ gift giving he’s going to be excited all the way to it Pepper: Thank you for the excellent idea Pepper: I hope I’ll see you there? Me: Definitely

“Who are you texting?” Steve asked as he sat back down and pulled my legs into his lap.

“Pepper. I was just telling her she did a great job with your gift,” I said and put my phone down.

“Really?” He let out a sigh of relief. “I was afraid I was boring you already.”

“I like hearing you talk about it,” I said. “I like hearing you happy and excited.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. It’s almost like I care about you or some bullshit.”

“Well that can’t be right,” Steve said, but he was smiling too hard to be serious. “You have a reputation and all.”

“Damn right I do,” I said, and opened my arms. “Now get over here and ruin it.”

His grin was a little more wicked for what I had meant by that but, well.

I definitely didn’t mind his definition of ruin.

~

Art parties had pretty great food.

Well, this one did. The drinks were a little substandard but I kept an eye on the waiters with the finger platters at almost all times as I wandered around with Steve who, true to his prediction, did not get glommed on at all. I also watched for snootiness but everything felt really oddly chill and relaxed and…nice. It wasn’t as fancy as I had feared, but it definitely still cleaved to the nice side, and we had dressed up accordingly, but everyone really did seem to be there for the art, which was also pretty awesome.

And then there was Steve. He mostly stuck by me as we wandered from piece to piece, and whenever the artist was around and willing to talk with him, he always took the chance. So far he had a hundred percent success rate in surprising them by actually knowing his shit, and that was kind of vindictively fun to watch. I hadn’t paid attention to the theming and was at the point where I was too embarrassed to ask, but it seemed like a new art take on classic pieces and movements of the past. Leyendecker through a Warhol lens which had a companion piece of Warhol but make it like Leyendecker. Art deco graffiti. Alphonse Mucha if his seasons were made in the era of global warming.

So it was pretty fantastic. And we even got to hang out with Pepper for a little bit, the three of us stealing away to a corner with a small pile of pilfered snacks and drinks.

“You really do find the best hideouts,” Pepper told me appreciatively.

“I take my duties as resident miser very seriously,” I said, and tried not to beam too much at the compliment. Steve was grinning at me though, and when Pepper was distracted by saying hi to someone, I threw a napkin at his face.

“I saw that,” she said, but with a wicked smirk. She then stood up and straightened the end of her form-fitting dress. “Steve, have you seen the hallway gallery yet?”

Steve and I both peered where she was gesturing; a very wide hallway with good lighting that not many people were going down now. “Not yet,” he said as we both sat back.

She smiled cryptically. “I think you should. There’s a really great artist– well, several of course, but there’s one with a piece in particular that I…I think you might like.”

She escaped with a quick farewell, and I munched on the last of the snacks. “Mysterious,” I said once I was dusting my hands of the crumbs.

Steve stood and held his hand to me. “Let’s go find out, Watson.”

I scoffed, but took his hand. “I’m way more of a social disaster than you,” I said as we walked. “I should get to be Sherlock.”

“Solving mysteries seems like a lot of work though,” he said.

“True,” I admitted.

We meandered leisurely down the hallway, looking at each art piece and leaving the scarce few people behind as we went. I remembered briefly looking down this area at the start of the night and thinking, ‘Nope,’ with the ridiculous amount of people that had been down here before, but apparently they had all seen what there was to see, leaving us to enjoy it practically on our own.

“This is nice–” I suddenly bumped into Steve. “Oof!” I quickly backed up a few steps and he remained. Stock still. “Steve?” I asked, but he was staring up at the wall to my right, his expression stricken, and I turned to see what had him by the metaphorical throat. It was a mural, massive, and it took me a second for it to all come into view. When it did, when the image of a man with a very familiar visage fell into place, all I could manage was a soft, “Oh.”

“Bucky,” Steve said in an awed exhalation. I looked from him, to the painting, and back and forth again. He seemed to be taking it all in and I had nothing I could think to say, so I did much the same. It was a beautiful work of art; colors faded seamlessly together and words of varying sizes acted as modified stippling to create the whole image of one James Buchanan Barnes, larger than life like a comic book hero, but with a serious set to his face, wearing the iconic jacket, and fading out where it looked like he’d be holding a gun in his arms.

After several minutes of utter silence, I tentatively rubbed Steve’s arm. He flinched a little, but gave me a small, slightly twisted smile. “Sorry,” I said. “I just wanted to make sure you were still breathing.”

He huffed a laugh, but his eyes looked a little wet and he blinked furiously. “It’s…I’m sorry; it’s…”

I squeezed his arm. “Hey,” I said softly. “It’s okay. It’s always okay and it’s always going to be okay.”

He swallowed and sniffled, but through sheer stubbornness did not let go of one single manly tear. Crying in public did suck though, so I wasn’t about to give him a hard time about it. I rubbed his arm up and down as comfortingly as I could, trying to help, and he moved slightly to take the hand I wasn’t using. “Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it,” he admitted softly, and gave me a weak smile.

“I know,” I said softly. I would have kissed him if I could have gotten away with it, but someone was walking down the hall towards us, so all I could manage was a brief but tight squeeze of his hand before I let go entirely, and he visibly tried to brace himself for the oncoming interaction.

“Hello!” a breathless woman said as she approached. She looked young but carried herself confidently, dressed in a stylish combination of pants, half-skirt, and suit-top, with locs in a beautiful half up-do that framed her face and cascaded down past her shoulders. “I was told there was someone who–”

As soon as she saw Steve, a lot of that confidence just evaporated and she froze with kind of an ‘urk!’ look on her face. As the seconds ticked on and Steve didn’t (probably couldn’t) speak, I squared up and hoped I wasn’t going to make a mess of things. I cleared my throat. “Are you the artist?” I asked. She looked at me, still a little frozen, but she managed a jerky nod and pulled her shoulders down from her ears. “It’s beautiful,” I said as emphatically as I could.

She seemed a little reassured, but her eyes flicked back to Steve, who was looking at it again. He swallowed and managed to look at her, a small smile on his face. “Absolutely amazing,” he said.

She exhaled such a long breath that I had to bite my hand not to laugh, while Steve was startled into doing just that. “I’m so sorry,” she said and waved her hand, relaxing a lot more as she walked closer. “My brother told me someone was standing over here but he didn’t mention who, and when I saw you, I wasn’t sure if it was uh…offensive?”

“In your brother’s defense, no one’s come that close so he probably didn’t get a good look at me,” Steve said, still a little dreamy as he looked at the picture. After a second though he frowned and looked at the woman, more focused. “Why would it be– it’s not offensive; it’s incredible. And I mean technically too; the way you…”

He drew closer to her, talking about the art itself, and she snapped into being a professional, talking to him, explaining the piece that was part of a series on the Howling Commandos, and I stepped back to let them have at it. I couldn’t keep from looking at the art itself again. I tried to imagine how I would think, if it was of Steve, if Steve had– but…I didn’t really want to think of that, right now, in the middle of what was actually Pepper’s birthday gift to him, meant to mark his life.

Though, I thought and tilted my head to see it from another angle, what a life. To make such a mark on the world that this many years after he was gone, an artist, a complete stranger, would spend however many hours of her life putting forth the effort to try and make him as large as the legacy he left behind.

Steve was right. It was pretty amazing.

~

We stayed there until it was time for the gallery to close. Though Steve had made sure he had all of the artist’s socials, and her website where he could see the picture any time he wanted, he still seemed to be soaking in the presence of the piece itself. So I felt a little like a jerk that I was getting sleepy, and I leaned into him to try and relinquish some of the energy used in standing straight to focus on appearing as awake as I could. He leaned into me in return, and I looked up at him. His expression was…peaceful. A little happy, even, and he glanced over at me and smiled a little more.

“What are you thinking?” he asked softly.

I was more curious about what was going on in his head, but I wondered if even he knew. I still didn’t know how I would really feel if someone I loved so dearly was now being immortalized by strangers in giant murals, gone long enough to have become simply part of a story long past. Steve was here, and alive, and I was grateful for every moment of that, every turn of his life that led him here, that I didn’t want to think of the other way it could have easily been.

So I snuggled in and asked, maybe a little quietly, “Is it weird if I say your boyfriend was pretty cute?”

That probably could have gone badly, I thought in a way too belated realization, but Steve snorted and clamped his hand over his mouth as he tried to get a handle on it. Eventually he breathed deep, but the smile stayed strong. “He was very handsome,” he agreed and shot me a little smirk. “He would have corrected you with that.” Steve shook his head. “God, the two of you…I don’t know if I’d’ve survived that.”

I rested my head on his shoulder and squeezed his hand. “You probably would have been fine,” I said. “I would have been hard on him too. Sharing a boyfriend doesn’t get you any free passes. Just ask Peggy.”

He snorted, then looked abashed. “Fair enough.” He looked around. “Let me just snap a quick picture of this and then we’ll head out, all right?”

“Of course,” I said and took a few steps back to make sure I was out of the way. Steve took several shots, some from different angles, and then started to slip his phone back into his pocket when he suddenly stopped, and looked at me. “Hey,” he said. “Can I take a picture of you in front of it too?”

I leaned my head to one side and looked at it again. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” He smiled. “Past and present; I just…really like the idea.”

“Sap,” I said, but my heart melted faster than an ice cube in July and I went to stand in front of the picture. I didn’t know how to pose, but after a moment considered how well Steve had taken my joke about how attractive Bucky was and– what the hell. I turned my back to the subject, clasped my hands in front of my face, bent one leg behind me, and threw the most coquettish look over my shoulder I could muster.

Steve snorted so hard, and took so long to regain his composure, I started tilting from my poorly-thought-out balance before he finally snapped a photo he was happy with. “You’re terrible,” he said with an out-and-out grin as I rejoined him.

“You love it,” I said and stood as close as I dared, even with the event winding down.

Steve showed no concern for any of that, and wrapped his arms around me. “I really do,” he murmured and snuck a soft, but lingering kiss.

~

~extra~

The picture causes a sense of overwhelming echoes in the back of the mind. It makes him want to break something.

He doesn’t. Someone spent time and effort and this isn’t his and this isn’t him. Not really. Not anymore. He sighs and relaxes his shoulders, and checks the time absently. The security guard won’t make it over here for at least another twenty minutes, and he intends to be long gone by then.

He should be gone now, and yet he stays. James. Barnes. Bucky. They don’t feel quite right anymore, fitting better the unreal image in front of him, and yet still he keeps them, like a familiar old coat gone too tight at the shoulders but too sentimental in value to throw out. In any case he refuses to be the Asset or the Soldier, and he can’t think of another name he would choose otherwise, and so he…keeps them. Just in case they fit right again.

He can’t wait to be out of New York though. He thought it would help, maybe bring things into focus, but those old memories come with flashes of pain, like when they were forced out of him, and he has to grit his teeth against every flinch they bring. He only wanted to come and check on…Steve. Because Steve is, was, always has been, the one thing that matters, and as hard as it has been keeping him ignorant of the ‘Soldier’s’ identity, the one thing that makes it easy is imagining the look on Steve’s face if he realizes what Bucky became.

That fight. It still hurts to think of; makes him wince. It’s better now than it was at the time though. At the time he fought through what felt like double-vision, a face ghosting over the one in front of him, and then to complicate things, the Target, the Mission, was competent in ways he had never known before; every hit matched, blow for blow, the Asset’s implacable strength against the Captain’s unyielding resolve.

And then.

“I can do this all day.”

And he had cracked in two. Six little words had broken him entirely, backup had arrived, and the Asset-not-but-yes had…fled.

But not back to his masters.

The months thereafter were (are) a haze of repressed memories, repressed nightmares, repressed…everything. But without constant conditioning and punishment, he had managed to pull himself back into the shadow of a person. And now he…

He breathes slowly, and finds himself holding his forehead again. He shakes away the pain, stands tall, and looks back to the museum entrance where he had watched Steve leave. With his date. With his partner. And it…hadn’t made him violent, like he feared it might.

Steve is happy. Genuinely happy in a way that makes Bucky nearly relax with relief, and the hurt isn’t as bad as it could be. He’s taking care of and being taken care of in return, and the jealousy and anger Bucky was prepared to have to deal with is just an empty space. This is good. This is better for everyone.

He sighs and checks his watch. Time to go. He has a tip that the redhead has not managed to sniff out yet (Jesus Christ she’s like a bloodhound sometimes) and he’s left another trail for them to pick up on while he follows this because, no offense lady, but this one is a lot more personal and he is actually looking forward to tracking this particular ‘head’ down so he can kick it right in the teeth.

Steve has a life. A good life. And he has a chance to live it now. He’ll handle cleaning up the small fries, and come home at the end of the day. Bucky will continue to take care of the worst of it. As he has. As he should.

He turns, and leaves the image of James Buchanan Barnes in the past. Where he belongs.

~

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

#steve rogers x reader #captain america fanfic #avengers fanfic #captain america reader insert #avengers reader insert #dinner date

[unreadpoppy]

Some of the Minthara romance banter transcripted

I'm planning something and to do that, I needed some of the lines of Minthara's romance banter with other companions written down, and I think this could be useful to others so I'm dropping them here. It's not everything (i just wrote down the ones I wanted/needed) and they were based taken from this video.

Lae’zel: Our leader is a fool for love, Minthara. I’d never be compelled to conduct such a poorly planned jailbreak. 

Minthara: They did not do it for love. They did it for my prowess in combat. As well as coitus. I excel in both. 

Lae’zel: As do I. Sometimes the acts are not dissimilar. 

…

Minthara: A few pointers, Lae’zel. I heard you and your lover locked in combat, but the test you set was not rigorous enough. Next time, tie them to the ground, and do not release them until you are both satisfied. 

Lae’zel: Hm…you have given me ideas. 

…

Wyll: I really hope you’re being careful with our friend, Minthara. I wouldn’t want you to break each other. 

Minthara: If I break them, it will be in the pursuit of pleasure, and they will die, smiling. 

…

Shart: Any doubts about falling for a foe, Minthara? Or, does that just add spice to things?

Minthara: I do not fall for my foes; I vanquish them. I cannot love who I do not trust, with either my heart or my body. I am fortunate to have found someone worthy 

…

Gale: I’m glad to know you have a softer side, Minthara; I was beginning to think you rather heartless. 

Minthara: Loving another is not soft, wizard. It is one of the hardest things a person can do. 

Gale: So you admit you found love! Oh, how delightful. I’m happy for you both.  

…

Minthara: Are you a better man, now that you are loved, Astarion? Did they mend your ways?

Astarion: I rather think they did. Can’t imagine anyone wanting to do that for you though, dear (laughs). 

…

Astarion: So…what’s it like caring for someone other than yourself, Minthara. 

Minthara: You have never tried it, I assume. 

Astarion: Hahehahahe, gods no. It sounds like a lot of work. 

Minthara: It takes less work than you devote to maintaining your foppish facade, and it’s far more rewarding. 

…

Karlach: It’s funny seeing you so smitten, Minthara. Didn’t think you were able. 

Minthara: I took my first lover before you were a spark in father’s eye, child. 

…

Karlach: Hey, so, what’s romance like in the Underdark, Minthara?

Minthara: Here on the surface, gender does not define one’s role so stricly. There are weaklings of every sort. In Menzoberranzan, romance is commonly a luxury enjoyed between women. Men are mostly present for propagation.

…

Minthara: She was a High Priestess of house Vandry. Beautiful, elegant, ruthless. I adored her and had been sharing her bed for some time when the order came that she must die. 

Karlach: Oh no…

Minthara: I stayed with her while the poison did its work, and whispered words of comfort as she slipped away. 

…

Wyll: Amourous passions usually make people more considerate, Minthara. Kinder, sympathetic, better at cooperating. 

Minthara: They can also make people more protective, guarded, paranoid, and jealous. 

…

Astarion: So…how does Lolth feel about romance? Are you expected to bite your mate’s head off afterwards?

Minthara: Be grateful I no longer follow the Spider Queen’s teachings. If I did, you would be the first  to fall into my web.

Astarion: I can’t tell if you’re joking- She is joking, right? 

…

Minthara: Half the men in Menzoberranzan are pleasure servants. Weaklings whose beauty is their only redeeming quality. You would fit right in with them, Astarion. 

Astarion: You think I’m beautiful? Minthara

Minthara: (grumbles) 

#it's not perfect but also it's almost 3 am where i live #and the video was 40 minutes long #minthara bg3 #bg3 #banter #also i most likely wrote menzobenrranzan wrong #don't come for me ok i had to write these by ear and the word is hard

[translations-by-aiimee]

Mistakenly Saving the Villain - Chapter 17

Original Title: 论救错反派的下场

Genres: Drama, Romance, Xianxia, Yaoi

This translation is the product of my limited knowledge of Chinese characters as I attempt to learn the language. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

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Chapter 17 - A Lifetime of Memories

Song Qingshi hugged Yue Wuhuan tightly in his arms that night, desperately comforting him and speaking incoherently throughout. He cycled through philosophy, medicine, and sociology theories, and when he was excited, he burst out in English, German and Latin. All the while, Yue Wuhuan couldn't understand. Even he himself didn't know what he was saying.

At least, he had the right attitude. . .

Yue Wuhuan had already recovered. He quietly smelled the comfortable fragrance of the medicine on his body and listened to those messy but reassuring words. The corners of his mouth could not help but curl up slightly, feeling a little bit bitter.

He has long known that he couldn't hide it for the sake of temporary security and waited for others to present these dirty pasts in front of Song Qingshi to sow discord and smear him at will. So during the trip to Lecheng, even if Song Qingshi didn't find these picture albums, he would've taken the initiative to lure him to the bookstore, pretending to let him see them casually, and then while he still likes him, be honest, fight for sympathy and promises, and ruining the chance of some scheming person to do it instead.

So ridiculous. . .

It was obviously something that he had been prepared for a long time ago, but the moment Song Qingshi opened the picture album, he was still so embarrassed that he couldn't bear it. What's even more embarrassing is that even though Song Qingshi saw such things, there was anger and sympathy in Song Qingshi's eyes but no desire at all. This made him realize more clearly that the likes of the two are different.

Song Qingshi's type of like was appreciation, cherishing, and love.

His type of like was exclusivity, aggression, and desire.

Yue Wuhuan greedily kissed the tip of his hair, thinking about it like crazy. . .

Why is it that every time he tries, he sees only good in this person?

How could he let go of this?

How nice would it have been to meet this person when he was clean?

The venom of resentment spread from his heart to his whole body. He hated Xie Que, hated Jin Feiren and everything that soiled him. He hated this disgusting world so much. He wanted to destroy all the places outside Medicine King Valley so that there was only one piece of pure land and only enough for one person. . .

. . .

After this incident, the two rested their minds while visiting Lecheng. They rested casually for the night and set off for Medicine King Valley the next morning.

Song Qingshi studied various options for Yue Wuhuan to change his face and hide his identity along the way.

He even thought about plastic surgery to change his face, but ultimately could not destroy that perfect face. . .

Suddenly, the sound of a fight between cultivators came from the forest.

Song Qingshi stopped the immortal beast to look, but saw that it was two high-level cultivators fighting for their lives, their swords filled with energy, and the sky filled with heavenly weapons. After fighting for about two-quarters of an hour, the cultivator in black was defeated miserably, and the cultivator who defeated him took his heavenly weapon and mustard bag and hurriedly sailed away on his sword.

This kind of drama of killing and taking away treasures was common in the immortal world, and neither could determine the identity and grievances of either side.

Therefore, unless you know one of the parties, you wont interfere in this matter.

Song Qingshi followed the laws of this world and did not want to get involved in these messy things. After watching for a while, he was ready to turn the immortal beast and drive away.

Yue Wuhuan stopped him: "Master, let's go and see. Maybe that person is still alive."

After he finished speaking, he drove the immortal beast to the cultivator in black. Song Qingshi hurriedly followed after seeing this.

Although the black-clothed cultivator still had breath, he was seriously injured. There were seven or eight sword cuts on his body, some internal organs were also damaged, and he was unconscious. If he left him alone, he might not live for long.

In order to avoid trouble, Medicine King Valley never accepted patients with unknown origins.

Song Qingshi frowned, a little hesitant.

Yue Wuhuan squatted down, put on gloves, carefully inspected the black cultivator's wound, and then asked: "Master, you recently taught me the method of suturing and wound healing, which I have learned, but I lack the opportunity to practice them myself. Can you bring this wounded man back to Medicine King Valley so that I can heal him and practice my medical skills?"

The shou protagonist is still kind-hearted even though he encountered such ugliness, and he may become a famous doctor who can help the world in the future.

Song Qingshi let out a long sigh and immediately agreed to help the patient with some emergency treatment. They put him on the immortal beast and took him back.

In Medicine King Valley, Song Qingshi placed the patient in a quiet ward.

This was the first patient Yue Wuhuan took charge of. He was extraordinarily attentive, not only stitching up all the wounds but also boiling the medicine for the patient himself, constantly recording the vital signs and asking for advice on everything, lest there be any mistake. Song Qingshi also had to lament that he's highly talented. He did everything right, every step was done perfectly, and the medical records were well-written. There was almost nothing to criticize. After the patient's injury showed obvious signs of improvement, he was relieved to leave the matter in the hands of Yue Wuhuan.

The black-clothed cultivator woke up three days later. He smelled the smell of medicine in the room, moved his wound a little and found it was tightly bandaged. Knowing that he had been rescued, he was very happy. He raised his head to thank his benefactor but saw a bright, beautiful face he had never forgotten.

"I-It was you who saved me?" The black-clothed cultivator murmured.

Yue Wuhuan had been watching over the sickbed for a long time, and when he woke up, he nodded his head and bowed, "This slave has met the immortal elder."

The black-clothed cultivator named She Yun was a demon cultivator, not really a figurehead. Two years ago, he was lucky enough to visit Golden Phoenix Manor with his friends. Originally, they were not qualified to meet such a stunning beauty as Yue Wuhuan. However, the beauty did not serve the distinguished guests well that night. As a punishment, he was drugged and rewarded to them so they could have fun.

The lax phoenix eyes, the demonic tear mole, the seductive voice, the imprisoning mark.

The pleasure of that night could never be forgotten.

No matter what kind of brothel he was looking for, he didn't have such a taste anymore.

She Yun looked closely at Yue Wuhuan and felt some thirst in his throat. The slave was under the control of the Acacia Seal and had no ability to hurt people, so why was the beauty trying to save him? Could it be that he still remembered him. . .

Under those scorching eyes, Yue Wuhuan lowered his head slightly. He poured out the elixir that had been warmed for a long time in the pot, carefully served him to eat it, and then said with a smile: "The medicine is bitter, so take a sugar pill, Immortal."

With his fair fingers, he put a sugar pill into She Yun's mouth.

Beautiful eyes looked at him, full of tenderness and expectation.

She Yun was too dizzy to think. The sugar pill melted in his mouth, and there seemed to be some weird bitterness inside.

Yue Wuhuan waited for him to finish taking the medicine and got up to clean up the room. He piled all the miscellaneous things in the room into a corner, leaving only a small empty table and chairs, and then put on a pair of light demon beast skin gloves.

She Yun asked expectantly, "Do you remember me?"

Yue Wuhuan walked back and looked at him, eyes blooming with desire: "The immortal elder made this slave happy. This slave does not dare to forget."

In the past, he was like a flowering branch that had been artificially pruned. Although he was beautiful, he was too pretentious. Now he has his own colour, which was even more dazzling, and he was even more beautiful than before. If Jin Feiren saw it, he would regret letting go of such stunning looks, right?

She Yun felt his mouth dry, his heart beating faster. His whole body felt weak, and his lower body gradually started to react.

Yue Wuhuan glanced at him and smiled even more charmingly. He gently slid his fingertips across She Yun's chest, picking open his shirt, and then pressed heavily, saying ambiguously: "Today, I want to have sex with the immortal elder again. Is that okay?"

She Yun was so teased that he couldn't believe that such a good thing would happen, he quickly promised: "My heart is pleased with you, and if you are disgusted by your master, I would like to take you back."

Yue Wuhuan smiled happily as if hearing something funny.

Immediately afterwards, She Yun saw Yue Wuhuan paste a no-sound talisman charm on the door and then take out a bunch of strange small tools from the mustard bag and put them on the table covered with a white cloth. Knives, scissors, pliers, saws, and some horrible instruments he didn’t know the names of. He introduced them one by one: "This is a scalpel, these are surgical scissors and bone scissors, and these are curved forceps. . ."

She Yun sensed something was wrong and wanted to struggle to get up, but found that he had lost control of his hands and feet and couldn't move.

"You've taken the Puppet Pill. I haven't made it very well. I can't control your actions, but this is enough." Yue Wuhuan put on his robe, put on a mask, picked up a scalpel, and asked with concern, "Now, apart from not being able to move your body, you can feel everything, right?"

She Yun was shocked and angry: "You're not controlled by the Acacia Seal?"

Yue Wuhuan let out a mocking chuckle, but there was no human emotion in his eyes, only the madness and longing that was threatening to overflow like a demon crawling out of hell.

"Please, please, don't do this." She Yun finally realized what was going to happen and begged frantically, "Let me go!"

This night was like that night, the devil faced with the defenceless lamb, no pity, no mercy, only cruel play.

The scalpel fell heavily, and the wailing sound continued for a long time.

"Are you comfortable being penetrated?"

The devil happily repeated what he had said word for word:

"Come, let me enjoy this ultimate pleasure on earth. . ."

"Please me with your vile body. . ."

"Scream well, scream to the point of ecstasy. . ."

". . ."

Yue Wuhuan looked at the dirty blood on his hands, but his heart was very satisfied.

So he really is crazy.

. . .

It was late at night, and Song Qingshi was still sitting on the luohan bed in the library reading a book and suddenly found that Yue Wuhuan was leaning against the door and looking at him. He took a bath at some point, wearing a newly made red unlined garment, exuding a mixture of orchids and medicinal herbs. His hair was also wet, casually curled up, and his mood seemed to be very good.

Song Qingshi raised his hand and signalled him to come in: "Taking a bath so late? Be careful not to catch a cold."

"My clothes came across some dirty things, so I washed them," Yue Wuhuan obediently sat on the luohan bed and opened a book casually, "I can't sleep. I want to read a book with Master, okay?"

Song Qingshi naturally welcomed him and pushed the snacks on the table toward him.

"By the way," Yue Wuhuan said casually, "The cultivator who was rescued a few days ago woke up and insisted on leaving, so I let him go."

Song Qingshi was slightly stunned: "He's gone? His injury hasn't healed yet."

Yue Wuhuan said: "I saw that he seemd to have some personal concerns, so I don't want to ask more."

Song Qingshi was afraid that he would be unhappy, so he persuaded him: "Patients who are forcibly discharged from the hospital can't be controlled so just let him go."

Yue Wuhuan laughed and said, "It's okay. He paid me, so we don't owe each other."

Song Qingshi saw that he didn't take it seriously, so he put the matter aside and concentrated on studying.

Yue Wuhuan leaned over lazily, feasting on his scent.

The crazy killing intent gradually dissipated, and the bloodthirsty desire slowly calmed down.

This is his pure land.

The author has something to say: Top Scholar Song: That patient is really disrespectful, and disobedient. He was just discharged from the hospital before his injury could heal. Next time, he won’t be admitted.

Yue Wuhuan: Good.

(The medical information text is based on this doujinshi’s information. If something is wrong, real medical students and doctors will hit me. . .)

#mistakenly saving the villain translation #mistakenly saving the villain #bl novel #chinese novel #english translation #chinese bl #danmei #danmei novel #yaoi #yaoi novel #song qingshi #yue wuhuan

[fateinthestars]

Happy Halloween!

Well it's Halloween, so there's only one choice for which special stories to cover in one of my thoughts/review/rambling posts: Decadent Kisses on a Devilish Night: Wishes and Decadent Kisses on a Devilish Night: Punishments

Spoilers under cut

Decadent Kisses on a Devilish Night: Wishes

Leon: An Invitation to a Forbidden Ceremony

I know MC wanted you to intervene with the other's teasing Leon but I actually think letting MC go with you was a mistake. Yes she should have thought a bit more but there was no need to put her close to danger in the first place.

Talking of that teasing though it's kinda funny how Leon is more 'eh, whatever, I wanna watch MC squirm' rather than how the others get obviously jealous in their own ways. I know they did actually get to him a little but he's clearly more confident and self-assured than a lot of them.

This is all a bit of a mess really though. MC should have stayed put but if she could only stay there, her being in the heavens seems pretty pointless really.

Still Leon's sweet at the end here.

Teorus: A Night with You, the Black Cat

The insistence on the outfit aside (and even there he realises he needs to keep MC safe), this one trends more towards the Teo I like. He's even really sweet when he turns down the competition prize, although once again he uses his powers without thinking things through. I guess it came from the right place in this one though and if I can't get mad at Ichthys then it'd be hypocritical of me to be annoyed with Teo. It's Halloween after all. What's a little magic gonna matter?

Yes this one is actually really really sweet, and nothing here leaves me feeling exasperated.

(You can probably tell by now that my feelings regarding Teo are all over the place lol)

Huedhaut: A Love Potion's Sweet Trap

Oww. My heart. Poor Hue. I don't think he would have ever forgiven himself if that had gone further at that point.

But Hue, you told MC about that myth regarding that ball. Please talk to MC soon.

I wonder whether anyone's ever done this special story before reading any of Hue's routes. I mean his and MC's linked past is subtley there in other paths but this seems pretty blatant.

And Leon 'not all the potion's fault' indeed. Is that just your way of trying to nudge Hue in the right direction?

(Another timeline note here: Clearly before they are dating but it also can't be in Hue's path timeline because it'd contradict the sequel epilogue. It seem more like this (and Ichthys' story as he has his divine powers without MC being present) happen in a timeline where the marks of sin were solved without any romance being involved).

Decadent Kisses on a Devilish Night: Punishments

Scorpio: Jinxed

The King really enjoys making Scorpio feel awkward and pissing him off if he's the one with MC doesn't he?

But anyway, that's a sideline to what actually is important in this one.

You know Scorpio, maybe instead of warning MC off potential scenarios and mentioning about going to your room, perhaps you could have found a way to more clearly say: that market stall holder? Stay away from her? Just a thought.

Scorpio's tender side really shines through in this one though. Yes he knew MCs thoughts but he could have just ignored it, and he definitly didn't have to use that myth to reassure MC and yet he still does despite making his own feelings on such things clear earlier in the evening.

I seem to be haiving trouble reading Scorpio again though. Try as I might I can't get a blessed ending on this.

Dui: The Magic of Your Kiss

Poor Dui. All he wanted was a quiet night alone with MC, and the others are either being oblivious or willfully obtuse.

I love how genuinely upset he is at the thought that Humans can't eat fresh cherries all year round because they go out of season. The whole shopping scene is sweet actually.

Judging by Ichthys' comment I do think they were being willfully obtuse though. At least Hue tries to sort things out. I mean he's not successfull because Leon is also a problem in another way, but at least he tried.

Also MC, wake up! You were clearly put out too, why did you even mention the cake? At least Dui finally worked out what to do.

Ichthys: Bewitching Tricks or Treat

"Is there such a thing as trick or trick?" Oh Ikky 🤣

I fear Ichthys is going to be in a lot of trouble for everything he does here but still it's all a lot of fun.

He did ought to be a tad more careful though!

But yes ignoring something that should be reported, not to mention how risky it seems to hold a party at the mansion with humans present (even if it is only in the grounds), could have seriously backfired.

That said the party itself and the balloons and the costume candy is all really fun. Also, Ichthys totally would be this kind.

I suppose I should do an attempted ranking again, but honestly? All of these are pretty great. I think I'd rank Leon's last, but I'm struggling what order the other's would be in - Unfortunately even though the ending of it is fun and sweet I think I'm going to have to knock Scorpio's down for the lack of warning about the market place itself, and I think I might have to knock Ichthys down a bit for once too even though he did apologise.

So that'll leave us with:

Dui

Huedhaut

Teorus

Ichthys

Scorpio

Leon

Yes you're reading me right I have put Dui top. He deserves it after nearly having his Halloween completely taken over by the others.

#star crossed myth #scm #star crossed myth spoilers #star crossed myth review/character rambling #scm ramble #scm leon #scm huedhaut #scm teorus #scm scorpio #scm dui #scm ichthys

[jasonbehrs]

🍬 corollary 🍬

by airauralintensity (aka me, jasonbehrs!)

If you lose your food-obsessed fiance in a crowd, here’s how to find her in three tries or less.

fandom: incurable case of love, koi wa tsuzuku yo doko made mo characters: sakura nanase, tendo kairi ship: sakurendo genres: romance themes: introspective, character study, tendo focus, post-canon word count: 3.3k+ book: 2/2 rating: T

read it on ffnet, aff, wattpad, ao3, or below!

~~~

A/N (7.26.2023): "Another Sakura-Nanase-loves-food fanfic from airauralintensity? What gives?" Listen, there are so many plot points in the show that are driven by Nanase's love of food. More fan content needs to acknowledge that if she had to choose between a falling patient and a falling plate… well, she would still choose the patient, but she would hesitate.

If you happen to be reading this fresh off of finishing the show, I'm ignoring the timeline of Episode 10. This fic is set after she returns but before they're married, which isn't a very long time period according to canon.

This isn't a sequel to 'a delicious conspiracy of love' in the consequential narrative sense, but they're still heavily related, so I encourage you to read that one first. I named this fic 'corollary' not just because it suits the plot but because this fic builds off of themes from the first one.

~~~

Sometimes, Kairi still needs to offer Nanase a hand.

He doesn't just mean pulling her to the side so that she doesn't accidentally run into a tourist because she's too busy window shopping to pay attention to her surroundings (though that does happen with an alarming frequency), but he also means literally.

In the times when she is too conscious of him, she won't hold his hand herself.

Despite the many professional advantages her year of community nursing abroad has brought, one of the personal disadvantages was that it also sort of reset their relationship, at least where Nanase was concerned. She didn't break off their engagement or anything, but there is a certain composure present where there was none previously.

They kept in regular contact during their time apart, which did a lot to ease the longing and keep their relationship feeling like a relationship, but he supposes a year's worth of conversational intimacy doesn't immediately nor necessarily translate into physical intimacy, even one as simple as this.

She has never been shy around him—as her blatant overtures for his affection back when she really was just a rock in his way made abundantly clear—but they were the actions of a woman on a mission. All years considered, she has spent more time pining for him than actually having him, and the relationship habits they were building before she left didn't have time to truly settle in.

All this to say: when she returned, she still treated him like he wasn't completely and irrevocably hers.

Kairi has enjoyed reminding her (oh, has he enjoyed reminding her), but now he thinks he needs to work harder.

He will. Once he finds her.

The Sumida Park Farmers' Market isn't that new, but it's new to them. It started up while Nanase was gone, and Kairi didn't have a reason to visit until she came back. It's also in the half of the park that isn't on their side of the river, so neither of them were that familiar with its layout even without the influx of people and vehicles and vendors.

Unfortunately, these are not as good excuses as he wants them to be. He ends up losing her in any given crowd nine times out of ten. She's always bouncing back and forth, admiring the wares and sampling the goods and talking to anyone who makes eye contact with her like the extrovert she is—which wouldn't be such a problem if only she would hold his goddamn hand.

But like he intimated, this happens pretty often; and he wouldn't be the man he is today if he didn't learn from his mistakes the first time. When a quick 360 doesn't immediately reveal his favourite smile or the sound of excessive cooing over someone's baby, he doesn't panic. He just closes his eyes and focuses on his breathing.

More specifically, the scents he's breathing.

If you lose your food-obsessed fiance in a crowd, here's how to find her in three tries or less: identify the smell of cooking then follow your nose to the closest food stall. It hasn't steered him wrong to date.

Nanase is always so surprised to be found, mostly because she's always surprised that she's lost in the first place. "How did Sensei know how to find me?" she would ask. He never tells, though, instead affecting a burdened air and moving forward with their date, lest he accidentally sully the sanctity of his trick.

The scent of friend dough catches Kairi's attention first. He follows the lead to a baby castella stall. There is no sign of his fiance, but he does buy a basket for her and dusts it with powdered sugar.

Repeating the process brings to his attention a smell that reminds him of the sea on a hot summer day. The takoyaki stall he comes upon also has no Nanase, but he buys a half-dozen anyway and prepares it the way she likes: topped liberally with pickled ginger and accompanied by a dollop of mayonnaise on the side.

Finally, he smells fried vegetables with an undercurrent of something sweet. It takes him to a crepe stall, and he's finally run out of hands and composure. Nanase is still nowhere to be seen.

He stands in the middle of the path and forces the flow of people to go around him as he furiously thinks of what to do now. This strategy has never failed him before. Besides, what good are two handfuls of warm food when there isn't a fiance with a never-ending appetite around to eat them?

Kairi spins in a circle, looking for a place to sit and set down his prandial burdens but mostly hoping that Nanase would still appear and validate his methodology. He needs to be right about this.

It was his job to be right about things like this.

.

An enthusiastic "Tendo-sensei!" was the first thing Kairi heard when he answered the phone.

Nanase picked a good time to call. He had already eaten breakfast, and it's easier to talk when he isn't concentrating on not overcooking his food.

They realised pretty early on that her night shift ended just in time for his day shift to begin. This sweet spot when she's getting ready for bed and he's getting ready to go became the obvious choice for any video calls. They couldn't call every day; but when they could, it happened around now.

He chuckled as he set the phone on a stand he bought for this specific purpose. "You can start calling me Kairi, you know. Isn't it weird to call your fiance by his last name and an honourific? I'm not even your attending physician anymore."

"You still call me Sakura sometimes!" By the echo, he could tell she was in her bathroom too, and something about being in a similar place at the same time made the distance feel smaller.

"But I call you Nanase the other times."

"Awww." The pitying sound made him glance over from the mirror to see a cute little pout on his fiance's face. "I miss the sound of my name."

He leaned in closer so she could see his incredulity. "What do they call you over there if not by your name?"

"No, no! They do call me Nanase. It's just, with the accent, it sounds more like… Nan-ase? I don't know. I feel bad saying this because it's not like I get all their names right all the time either, but…"

"Nanase."

"Hm?"

He turned away from the camera to reach for a towel with the added benefit of hiding his smile. He didn't say her name to get her attention, but he could pivot. Flexibility was a strength of his. "Not too tired from the night shift?"

"Not too tired to talk to Sensei~ Besides, I had coffee in the second half of my shift. I'll be good until after the call ends!"

He stopped what he was doing and looked back at her. "Since when did you start drinking coffee?" He worked alongside her for over four months and never even saw her drinking matcha.

"It's recent! It actually surprised my coworkers that I wasn't drinking any. Besides the long shifts, Berlin has a huge coffee culture. I wanted to fit in, so I started ordering some from the cafes that my coworkers recommended in town. I like it! I think. There's a lot of variety, at least. They even have matcha over here!"

Kairi let her elaborate on her journey of discovering coffee and tried not to overthink. Sakura Nanase, more energetic than a fully-charged battery and sweeter than Japan's finest wagashi, was not the sort of person he associated with coffee. It wasn't something he thought she'd enjoy.

It's not that he was against her drinking coffee. It's not about the coffee at all. It's the fact that there could be things about her that he couldn't predict. Considering he fell in love with her for her transparency, the discovery unnerved him.

Kairi was a man who prided himself on accurate deductions. From the moment he received a patient's echocardiogram, he could map out their entire recovery journey in his mind's eye. Of course, when the facts changed, he changed his mind; but anticipating and addressing viable changes in condition were the cornerstones of his entire career, and he was only capable of such astute assessments because he was an expert on cardiology. He didn't become one of the most successful heart surgeons in the country by wasting mental or temporal resources on understanding things that didn't matter to him. Heart health mattered to him.

Sakura Nanase also mattered to him.

He knew exactly how much rain it took to dissuade her from her outdoor plans. He knew the earliest she could wake up given her bedtime the night before. He could narrow down to the minute the point at which she needs a snack to boost her blood sugar.

Nanase wasn't predictable, necessarily, but humans were creatures of habit; and he observed and studied hers to the point of expertise.

If he wasn't an expert on the things he loved, what was he?

This was why he wasn't nearly as worried about her study abroad as she was. The distance was immaterial. Whether she was right next to him or on the opposite side of the world, he remained the foremost, citable, preeminent authority on all things Sakura Nanase.

"Does this mean I'll have to start sharing my coffee supply with you when you come back?"

"Maybe!" She giggled. "I like sharing things with you."

But mastery wasn't a checkpoint. It was a lifelong endeavour, and his chosen field of expertise had a similarly lifelong intention to keep growing, evolving, maturing. He reminded himself that this was actually exciting, and he was actually lucky. He got to witness those changes in real time; he got to remain the expert.

Especially in circumstances like these, he needed that assurance. Their time apart wouldn't matter because when she came back to him, she wouldn't be a stranger.

"I'm running a little behind, but do me a favour before I go?"

He directed his full attention to the phone, as he always did for the last few minutes of their calls. She shuffled closer so that her whole face took up his screen, and he refrained from mentioning that he took a screenshot of it. "You name it!"

"What's the name of your hospital, again? I forgot."

The sight of her fond eye roll did more to wake him up than his own cup of coffee did. "You didn't forget, Sensei. You just like to hear me butcher German."

He shrugged. "I forgot how much I like hearing you butcher German."

"Fine, fine. I'll say it so you won't be late." She cleared her throat. "Ge-ma-i-n-sha-fu-su-ka-n-ke-n-ha-u-su Ha-fu-hu-u."

"Oh, that's why it's so small? It's half of a real hospital?"

"One day, that joke will stop being funny," but the smile on her face said otherwise.

.

"Kairi! There you are, I've been looking all over for you."

He whirls around, barely keeping the food in their containers as he does. "What. No, you weren't. I was looking for you."

Nanase tilts her head. "Couldn't we have been looking for each other, then?"

He doesn't have an answer for that, still hung up on how his three-tries-or-less strategy failed him. "Where were you?" he asks instead.

"Oh! Here, have some." She opens her mouth, encourages him to mimic her, then plops something smooth and sweet onto his tongue. "Isn't it so good?"

Hard candy. She was buying hard candy. Hard candy does not emit an odour.

He doesn't know if he's annoyed that his strategy doesn't account for things like this or pleased that it still has merit under most but specific parameters.

"I saw a family back there holding a bag of something colourful," she continues, "so I asked them where they got it."

He follows her pointed finger to find that the hard candy vendor is literally right behind the castella stand, which is only a few stalls down from when he noticed he lost her.

He makes up his mind: he's definitely annoyed.

"Can I have some?" she asks about the food he forgot he is holding.

He offers both of his hands to her, looking down at the food both literally and figuratively. "They're for you," he grumbles.

Her eyes light up at the prospect of eating, and it says something that that alone isn't enough to lift his mood.

She points out a seating area with picnic tables a little ways away from where they're standing—which Kairi probably would have seen sooner if he were actually looking for those instead of blatantly focused on looking for Nanase instead—and he follows her lead. There appear to be no places for them to sit together, but a pointed glare at a pair of teenagers who are done eating rectifies that problem very quickly.

"Ah! I love pickled ginger with my takoyaki!" she effuses once they're seated side by side.

He waits until she takes her first bite—"It's the perfect temperature, too!"—before he brings up his concern: "Nanase, you need to hold my hand more often when we're in public."

"Really?"

"Yes…?" He meant to say that definitively, but the absolute delight and obvious relief on her face puzzle him. "That isn't a problem?"

"Not for me! I thought it would be for Sensei, though."

He ignores the reversion to an honourific. "What possibly gave you that idea?"

She does a quick, breezy shrug, more focused on preparing the next takoyaki ball for her consumption. "I didn't think you were happy to hold my hand when we're in public. You always looked burdened. I thought, 'Ah, he doesn't like it,' so I stopped," she explains casually, like she didn't just shatter his entire perception of their relationship in the ten seconds it took her to say that.

He, unfortunately, knows exactly what she's talking about; but the burden is fake!

Moreover: "That never stopped you before," he accuses. If there's one thing he understands about Sakura Nanase, it's that she chases after the things she wants without abandon or shame, even in the times when it would behoove her to exhibit more abandon or shame.

"Yeah, but I was pretty single-minded before, wasn't I?" she says plainly. This self-reflection is evidently not new to her. Where was he when she decided these things about herself? "I did and said so many things just because I wanted you to keep looking at me, even if it was in annoyance… which it usually was. You didn't like it even back then."

Sure, but that was back then.

"I was able to calm down in Germany, though," she reminisces. "Not getting to see you every day made me treasure the times I do have your attention, so it became easier to respect your boundaries."

"I don't have those!" he blurts out.

"Eh?"

He doesn't even know where to start. He was so misunderstood. He misunderstood so much. He's spiralling.

"I love it when you hold my hand. I love holding your hand. Hold my hand all the time."

"O-okay," she agrees with wide-eyes and an offered palm, thinking the directive started now.

He stares at her waiting hand, suddenly feeling like he doesn't deserve to hold it, but ultimately grasps it like a desperate man.

He is pretty desperate. He's spiralling, but her touch is a tether. "You're not a burden. You haven't been for a while, and I thought you knew that."

Her smile is brilliant. "Yeah, I worked hard to become an asset in the ward—"

"—With me, too," he interrupts. "It's an act; it always has been. I can't be straightforward about my affection; it feels weird. I'd rather be subtle about it,"— he gestures to the food—"but that only worked because I thought you knew to look past my pretense."

"I definitely thought it was real," she admits sheepishly. "Or at least coming from a real place. I just was willing to ignore it."

She didn't even know he was acting. He relied on the notion that she knew he was acting. Does he know anything about her, about this relationship?

"I thought you had become self-conscious," he confesses like a man who gambled everything he had and lost it all.

"I-I sort of did!" she gets out in a rush, a misinformed attempt to uplift her dour fiance. "I became conscious of how my past self behaved when I was pining after you and realised that I didn't need to do that anymore because I actually have you now," she ends optimistically.

He misunderstood so much. "What else don't I know about you?" he asks in all seriousness.

"Huh?" She chuckles in confusion. "What are you talking about? You know everything about me."

"Evidently not."

"Of course you do!" She holds up her half-finished takoyaki. "You remembered the mayonnaise!"

"Nanase, this is important!" he groans. "Just because I supplied mayonnaise for your takoyaki doesn't mean I know everything about you."

"And just because you misunderstood this one little thing about me doesn't mean you don't."

She doesn't get it. It's not just the hand-holding. It's the illusion of transparency, it's about inaccurate deductions, it's because she matters—

Nanase tugs his mouth open and puts in a baby castella. "Here."

For a split second, he considers spitting it out on principle before realising spitting it out would be disgusting. "I got those for you," he reproves once he's done chewing.

"And I'm letting you have some. I'm not the only one between the two of us who likes sweet bread, right?" she argues as she holds up another one to his mouth.

Kairi acquiesces on sharing the food, but he doesn't let her feed him. "See, you do have a limit on public displays of affection," she points out when he eats a castella of his own volition. "I just misjudged where that limit was."

He looks at her incredulously. "We're already holding hands," he retorts, covering the sight of his half-chewed food with one hand while the other waves their joined ones for emphasis. "Additional intimate interactions are superfluous."

"I would certainly appreciate 'additional interactions'."

"Appreciate what you have," he snarks on habit before remembering himself. He checks her reaction out of the corner of his eye. Will she start looking past his pretense?

Her exaggerated, coquettish blinks are answer enough. "So you won't hug me?"

He maintains a beleaguered veneer through the relief. "Hugging and hand-holding are mutually exclusive activities. One must replace the other; therefore neither will surpass my quotient for ardent displays."

She immediately releases their grasped hands and sticks her arms out in a low invitation. "How about now?"

He knows—he knows—his heart is not physically swelling from overwhelming fondness. His syncopated heartbeat is not arrhythmia. He requires no medical attention… but the sight of his adorable fiance and her cheeky but earnest ploys for his affection wreaks just so much havoc on his constitution.

He can't smile, or blush, or do something else with his face to betray that affection, but he doesn't have to. That isn't what she's asking for.

He wraps her up in intentional, unhurried movements, and he's rewarded with the squeeze of her arms around him. It's as grounding and reassuring as it always has been.

"I can't say I fully understand what you're worried about," she murmurs right below his ear, "but I can say I'm just as in love with you now as I was six years ago. I can also say that I know you love me, too."

He does. He doesn't say it nearly as often or as easily as she does, but he loves her.

"So how about this," she continues. "I show you love the way I know how, and you show me love the way you know how, and we can make up for the difference with honesty." It is framed like a proposal, but she speaks like she already knows how he'll respond.

Maybe she does.

"I can agree to those terms," he says as a formality, and she hugs him tighter.

Maybe she is the foremost, citable, preeminent authority on all things Tendo Kairi.

~~~

A/N (7.26.2023): Believe it or not, this was only supposed to be around 500 words…

The location I picked for Nanase's community nursing study abroad program is Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Havelhöhe (Havelhöhe Community Hospital) in Germany, which is a small academic teaching hospital in a very suburban area of Berlin and actually practises community nursing. It's associated with Charité, one of Europe's biggest university hospitals and the primary hospital in Berlin, which makes it even more likely to actually host a study abroad nursing program. (It does not in real life, though. The Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Havelhöhe mostly trains doctors, not nurses.)

Kairi's joke about it being half of a hospital is because the first two syllables of the neighbourhood it's located in, Havelhöhe (hæ-fu-heu-eh), is pronounced like how the English word 'half' is pronounced in Japanese.

#恋はつづくよどこまでも #incurable case of love #love lasts forever #koi wa tsuzuku yo doko made mo #jdramas #sakura nanase #tendo kairi #jdrama fanfiction #sakurendo #jaso* #corollary #a lukewarm can of soda

[summercreolefanfictioner]

romantic feel by feel || helen and maya

@nutaella-kookie I only have 6 words for this summary: saint maya, pray for us all (new readers can refer to maya's masterlist for more info)

Expertise and knowledge: things that Helen took pride in when it comes to the flirting department... until a storm in the name of Shuu fucking Sakamaki came along.

Helen has dated tons of guys before—the nerd, the secret creep, the lonely, the romanticist, the one who needs ego boosting, manchild—basically every guy you can think of. Heck, she even studied all too well how to handle them all properly because Helen is not Helen if not for her prowess to attract men and make them beg for her attention with their 'sincere' "I fell in love with you"'s and sweet nothings.

But Shuu—oh my fucking gosh—this man has tested her patience (she might sound like Reiji right now but she didn't care).

It wasn't like Shuu's the most terrible man she ever met since the day she was born. It's just that he was really hard to pin down. Like Helen tried everything to turn situations and make him act romantic (even a tiny bit) on her. But it all ends up with her forcing it out of him or swallowing her pride and begging for his attention. And as much as Helen didn't mind it, she yearned for that day when she can finally manipulate Shuu to do his bidding.

Hence why she was currently sitting by the bar counter, watching Maya prepare a mushroom soup with puffed pastry on top. To be honest, Helen can just browse about the recipe online and call it a day, but the thing is, she needed to have some sort of excuse to ask Maya for help. Besides, her pride is on the line here.

Don't get her wrong, though. Helen and Maya have interacted plenty of times, especially when Helen drops by the manor or whenever they pass by each other at school. However, they don't hang out as much because Maya's purple gremlin husband has been hogging her 24/7. Furthermore, Maya doesn't frequent nightclubs like Helen does because according to Shuu, the vampire doll pukes at the scent of alcohol for some unknown reasons.

Anyways, what started this whole fiasco is when Maya told her once that she wanted to reenact this one library scene from the romance manga she was reading where the male lead catches the female lead off guard by suddenly holding her hand from the other side of the shelf. Of course, Maya asked Kanato about it, and surprisingly, he agreed. That moment made Helen rake through her mind any plausible reasons on how Maya did what she was trying to do with Shuu for a few years now.

Like seriously, how in the name of heaven did she pull that shit? And with Kanato, of all people?!

"Helen-san."

Helen was snapped from her thoughts, blinking away to recognize the present where Maya was staring at her blankly, hands dusting off the leftover dirt on her apron.

"Oops. Sorry 'bout that."

"Why are you apologizing, though?" the doll inquired, turning to the oven to set the timer for the puff pastry. "I am not mad at you or something."

Once done, Maya ripped out a page from her notebook and handed it to Helen. "You can also refer to that recipe for your future reference."

Helen took the paper with care, folded it neatly, and placed it in her purse along with her never-ending receipts. "Thanks."

Silence.

It seemed that they were only waiting for the puffed pastries to come out just fine since the soup had already been made. And with that, Helen decided this was the right time to ask Maya indirectly about her dilemma.

"Maya-chan."

"Hm?"

"I wanna ask something." Maya gave Helen a questioning look, to which the ballerina added, "Ah, no worries. This is not difficult."

"Okay."

"So..." Hmm... where should I start? "It's not that I am being nosy or anything, but... how do you ask Kanato out on a date?"

Maya stared at her blankly, and even though her face was void of any emotion, Helen could feel that she was looking at her like she had asked that stupidest question ever.

"I-It's okay! There's no need to answer if you don't—"

"Now that you mention it, I have never asked Kanato out on a date."

Helen suddenly felt her world stop at that, repeating Maya's words in her head.

"... never asked Kanato out on a date."

Never. Asked.

NEVER. ASKED.

"... oooooka—wait, hold on! How do you go on dates if you don't ask him out then?"

"To be honest," the vampire doll was a bit reluctant to explain, "I have no idea we were having a date until he told me we are going out on one."

Helen just made a face of understanding even though she found Maya's answer completely unhelpful. "Ah. Okay."

And then there was the silence again, followed by the 'ding' of the oven signaling that the puff pastry was ready. While Maya was taking out the soup, she asked, "Is there a reason you're asking that question, Helen-san?"

"Nothing, in particular, I guess." LIES. "I just remembered someone... uhh... asking me for advice and... uhh..." Another lie. "I wanted to think I gave the right one."

Even though I am the one seeking advice here.

Maya only shrugged in response, preparing the two soup bowls in front of Helen until she stopped in her tracks, realizing their whole conversation.

"Are you asking me how you can get Shuu-san to be romantic with you?"

And at that, Helen immediately jumped from her seat and held Maya's shoulders, not minding if the doll was startled a bit by the contact.

"YES! YES! YES!"

"Umm... Helen-san, I am confused—" Because I should be asking you about that.

"You see," the ballerina started, already at her wit's end and eyes filled with desperation, "I've tried everything, like everything! And nothing seemed to work. That's why I have to ask you about your secret," and she whispered the last part, "even though this pains my pride."

"Eh? What secret? But I am not flirting with Shuu-san, though." Deep inside, Maya is already thinking, I hope Kanato is not around, or else he'll misunderstand things and skip to his imagination again.

Oh, boy, she's already hearing his voice yelling in her head like the troublesome gremlin prick he is: 'Are you flirting with my older brother just because he is your legal guardian? Is that it?'*

"Of course, I am not referring to that blonde guy," Helen clarified, and Maya found herself sighing in relief. "I am referring to you and your husband."

"What of it?"

Helen frowned. "Remember when you prepared soup for me the other day here in the manor?"

"And?"

"You told me you asked Kanato to reenact that library scene in one of your romance mangas," she explained slowly, and then... "I expected he would reject you, only for you to tell me HE DID WHAT YOU ASKED HIM TO!"

Now, Helen's half-screaming all her frustrations on the poor vampire doll like a punching bag.

Helen-san's wrong. Kanato only held my hand for a few seconds, but he traveled up his fingers to the inside of my elbow. Not that she needed to know that.

"Like seriously, how is that purple freak romantic to you, huh?!" She swore she could rip her hair out here and there. Then she remembered, "But he and Shuu are still brothers, right? There's got to be some way!"

Maya was only quiet, fingers under her chin as she contemplated Helen's words. "You're right."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Shuu-san and Kanato are brothers, and both of them are closed-off." Helen's face lit up at that, only for Maya to bring her down by adding, "But Kanato is really romantic in nature despite his personality. Shuu-san is never romantic in any way, though."

Helen exhaled. "So there's no way?"

"You are not listening to what I am saying, Helen-san."

Now Helen was quiet, waiting for Maya to continue.

"Shuu-san and Kanato are brothers," Maya repeated. "And as such, there's no need for you to do anything at this point."

Helen gave her a dumbfounded expression. "W-What? So is that it? There's nothing I can do? So I'll just suck it up until he flirts back at me?"

Maya let out a breath of frustration, which was rare, so Helen immediately straightened and zipped her mouth shut, remembering Shuu's words. ("Don't piss that doll off. She might look frail, but she's scarier than both Kanato and Subaru.")

"The only thing you can do is do nothing," Maya said. "The six brothers are all sadistic in their own ways, and they love controlling people. That's why you must let Shuu-san do whatever he wants and make him think he has power over you."**

"Are you sure about that?" Helen asked, wondering how applying this advice would turn out. There's an underlying fear that she's treading on something she shouldn't.

"I would not be alive and married to Kanato if that wasn't the case, Helen-san."

And over the next few weeks, Maya received tons of missed calls and texts from Helen. When she opened her phone, it said:

"IT WORKED!"

"🤯🤯🤯"

"OHMYFUCKINGGOSH IT WORKED"

"THANK YOU SO MUCH, MAYA-CHAN!"

"🙏🙏🙏"

"I OWE YOU ONE"

"❤️❤️❤️"

NOTE:

*refer to the shuu x maya relationship post

**maya's way of controlling kanato is the same as his, as stated in this post

#SoundCloud #Spotify #diahell #diabolik lovers #diabolik lovers fandom #dl fandom #diabolik lovers oc #sakamaki brothers #sakamaki #dl oc #shuu sakamaki #sakamaki shuu #kanato sakamaki #sakamaki kanato #helen #helen harrison #maya sakamaki #sakamaki maya #maya #diabolik lovers prompt #diabolik lovers imagine #diabolik lovers scenario #helen x shuu #kanato x maya

[badass-at-fandoming]

Hello! Love your yuri recs ! You seem to read alot of yuri so I was wondering if you knew of any yuri with bisexual leads? I love I'm in love with the villainess and was hoping to read more like that.

Ahh, thank you! I love yuri manga, and, thank God, there's always more to discover. I'll do my best, but if you want to do a real deep dive, I definitely recommend following @yurimother! Her Year End Yuri Guides are treasure troves. Here is the 2023 manga one. My blog here is mostly about queer vampire shenanigans.

I'm In Love with the Villainess is the crème de la crème! You have great taste! Because it's the best, it was hard to find another title where all those great elements came together: it's got slice-of-life school stuff, transmigration into a fantasy world, and explicit queer rep. Your mileage will vary with a lot of the below recs. Due to cultural factors and the Japanese publishing industry, most stories never state the characters' sexual orientation. It was a major deal when I'm In Love with the Villainess used the word "gay" and "lesbian." I tried to find manga with two or three of the story elements that make In Love with the Villainess great.

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! + Side Story: Girls Patch - This light novel/manga/anime/otome series is probably your best bet. An otome-obssessed high schooler dies and transmigrates into the otome Fortune Lover...as the villainess character! Determined to avoid her character's grim fate(s), Katerina basically goes out of her way to befriend everyone. Men AND women fall for Katerina, but she's oblivious to their feelings. The Girls Patch side stories features alternate scenarios where Katerina recognizes the women's feelings. The series isn't yuri in the traditional sense, but Katerina's chaotic bisexual energy is off the charts.

Revolutionary Girl Utena - After receiving a rose signet ring from a prince, Utena vows to become a prince herself. Her princely senses are outraged when she discovers her elite boarding school has a secret, underground sword tournament to win the hand of another student. This "Rose Bride" needs rescuing, and Utena steps up! The manga and anime differ, but either one are classics of the yuri genre. Probably the second closest of what you're looking for.

These next 4 are fantastical/transmigration yuri stories, but I couldn't figure out if the characters are bisexual:

The Executioner and Her Way of Life - Executioner Menou is tasked to protect her world from transmigrators by killing them, without mercy, on sight. She doesn't question her task until she meets Akari, whose immortality presents a serious problem. A darker story, but an interesting deep dive and perspective reversal on the transmigration genre.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady - In a magical country, Princess Anisphia has no magic except the "magicology" she remembers from a past life. Euphyllia is a magical genius with a broken engagement. Together, can they revolutionize magic as the world knows it?

5 Seconds Before a Witch Falls in Love - The witch Meg loves making trouble for local witch hunter Lilith, but a prank goes too far when Lilith turns into a cat. Stuck caring for her nemesis, Meg's feelings change from animosity to something else entirely.

The Whole of Humanity is Yuri Except for Me! - Marika is determined to be a normal girl and live a normal life, with a job, husband, and kids. Accidentally traveling to an alternate, all-woman universe puts a serious wrench in her plans! Hilarious sci-fi fun.

The last 4 are contemporary stories featuring people with previous partners:

Girl Friends - Mari is a shy student at a big high school. When the bubbly, popular Akko takes her under her wing, Mari wonders where the line is between friendship and romance. I ADORE this manga. Morinaga-san is my favorite mangaka.

Kodama Naoko's work - Kodama-san has three titles that fit and I wasn't sure which would perk your interest the most. NTR is trashy teenage sexcapades about two women "practicing" physical intimacy with each other and enjoying it more than time with their boyfriends. Melodrama and teenage stupidity to the MAX. My review here. I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up is like the reverse of that: a fluffy, p mature rom-com about falling in love after marriage. Days of Love at Seagull Villa is a mix of the two, with melodrama, sexy silliness, but between two adults. Kodama-san is fond of ridiculous boob physics XD

Citrus - Speaking of trash, have you read Citrus yet? Yuzu comes home from school one day to discover her mom has remarried. She takes one look at her new step-sister Mei and realizes she's a lesbian lol. Just like, turn your brain off and settle in for a soap opera. I'll just link my review of this one because it's terrible but compelling. A Journey.

Even Though We're Adults - To end on a high note, Even Though We're Adults follows Ayano and Akari, who meet at a bar one night and let the sparks fly. Drawn to each other, they must decide how much of their comfortable lives they're willing to change; most notably Ayano has a husband!

Best of luck, Anon! It's a bright world out there.

#ask #anonymous #text post #yuri #lgbtqia #manga #lesbian #bisexuality #pansexuality #book recs #girls love #gl manga #yurimother