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therhythmafterthesummer · 1 year

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Heat (M) ~Changbin

Pairing: Werewolf!Changbin x Werewolf!F.Reader Themes: Supernatural/Fantasy AU | Smut | Fluff | Established Relationship Warnings: time jumps, graphic depictions of intercourse (smut warnings under the cut) Word Count: ~6k | AO3 Summary: With you, Changbin was able to explore areas of himself he’d never even imagined existed. With you, Changbin found himself feeling at home more than ever, which was why he wanted nothing more than to experience your heat with you, too. [This story is an instalment of my WereRoomies series, a sort of part 2 to Finding Comfort in Autumn].

Author’s Note: this piece had been sitting in my WIPs for way too long ! i missed Changbin and his girl… since i finally got some inspo to continue this one, i rode the wave and here we are ! a bit of a pwp but i just couldn’t hold back…

Due to all the abovementioned warnings, this story is intended for an adult audience only. Minors please do not interact.

Changbin’s WereRoomies Instalments: Finding Comfort in Autumn · Heat · The Love I Always Dreamt Of.

Smut Warnings: Fingering [M.Rec gasp], Oral [M.Rec], unprotected penetration [piv], snowballing, marking, breeding kink, werewolf cock, copious amount of fluids, knotting

Disclaimer: the story represented in this work does not represent Stray Kids in any way; anything described in this story and all actions performed by the characters are purely fictional, this was created just for good fun.

Changbin was worried.

He had been for a while, but he didn’t want to express it too much. Not because you would judge him, or disregard him in any way, but because he knew that vocalising it time and time again would probably make it worse. So he settled on being a good partner and giving you an ear to complain to on the matter when you needed it.

It had been over a year since you ran away from your pack, over a year since you moved in with him, a handful of months since you finally shared your affections, and the whole time, you’d not gone into heat. Not even once. Changbin had gone on his rut right before you two got together, he had left your shared home a few days prior to the fact to stay in one of the vacant flats at their den to not make you uncomfortable in any way.

Going into his rut when he lived with an omega was dangerous, especially when that omega was you. By that point he had already developed feelings for you, so he made it a point to leave as soon as he saw the first signs of his rut approaching, meaning his rut-enhanced pheromones had no time to affect you and send you into heat. At the time that was for the best, all things considered, but now that you’d been together for a while it had become quite the topic.

It wasn’t that Changbin needed you to go into heat by any means. There was no real push for breeding in any way, but he worried about your health, about your well-being. Not going into heat could potentially mean there were underlying issues with your health and that was something he hoped you didn’t have to go through.

So, you had seeked medical advice with a specialist just for your kind–funny thing, how werewolves lived so intertwined in human spaces and they didn’t even notice. Not even the other doctors at the clinic knew one of their seemingly normal doctors was treating her own kind, along with humans. Changbin couldn’t go with you to the appointment, and it wasn’t because he hadn’t tried, but work had been hell that week and he had to work extra hours. ‘Don’t worry about it, Binnie, seriously. I’ll be just fine. Will call you as soon as I’m done. Besides, our dearest Pack Mum has offered her company, so I won't be alone’, you’d told him at the time, and it was just as he had left the server room that evening that you finally called him.

“Okay, good news and bad news… Which one do you wanna hear first?” You said it so unfazed, so level, Changbin truly wasn’t sure what to expect.

“Bad news first, pup. Always the bad news first”, Changbin felt his hands shake a bit as he fumbled with his ID card to leave the area.

“Okay”, you took a deep breath, trying to ease nerves of your own, Changbin supposed. “She said it’s probably due to stress. A combination of leaving my former pack, joining a new one, my general day-to-day stress at work…”

Changbin found the exit to the roof, stepping out to try and get more privacy and enjoy the fresh evening air. “That doesn’t sound… That bad?”

“Hm. The bad part is that there’s no way to medically trigger it”, Changbin heard your tired sigh on the other side of the line, just as he leaned on the railing to look at the tiny flashes of light moving through the roads below. “My heats have been so… Stunted for so long she said it’d take a while for my body to push a normal cycle again”.

You had explained to Changbin that for the past handful of years you hadn’t gone into heat on your own, they would mostly get triggered by your ex’s rut, and even then they wouldn’t always occur. With the new information from the specialist, Changbin figured your entire situation in your former pack had made it so your body was in a constant state of distress, meaning your cycle really had been thrown off for years.

“So it’s all about waiting?” Changbin pushed a pebble with his foot, hearing your hum of confirmation.

“Yes. Physically everything’s alright, and my birth control shouldn’t be affecting the cycle anyway, so it’s just a matter of patience”.

“Something you don’t have much of, unfortunately”, Changbin teased you a bit to try and ease the mood, chuckling at your mock offended ‘hey!’ on the other side of the line. “And the good news?”

“The good news is that the results of the tests came in! I mean, not like we didn’t know already, but now we know for sure. Your precious little omega is one hundred percent clean. So I hope you’re ready for us to fuck into next week, baby!”

Changbin couldn’t help but let out an incredulous laugh, feeling his cheeks heat up a bit at your forwardness as if he hadn’t already fucked you countless of times–to his credit, you hadn’t done it raw this entire time, and just the mere thought had him vibrating with excitement. “And to the week after, too. Damn…”

When Changbin came back home at almost midnight, exhausted out of his mind after dealing with the goddamn priority one outage in the office, you had engulfed him in a tight hug, proceeding to smother his face in kisses, making him giggle.

‘Poor Binnie has been working all day long. Let me take care of you, baby, hm? Got a surprise for you’, and Changbin almost wept when you guided him to the bathroom, dimly lit by numerous candles that you had carefully placed on every available surface and an already prepared warm bath.

When Changbin lowered himself into the tub he quite literally let out a sigh of relief at the feeling of warm water easing his muscles, making you chuckle just as you went in as well, leaning on the other end of the tub, looking fondly at him.

“Good, Binnie?”

“So good. Feel like I might cry”, Changbin chuckled, closing his eyes and sinking further into the water.

There was movement, and the water around him sloshed slightly as you moved closer to him. By the time he opened his eyes you were already kneeling between his legs, smiling at him. You reached for him, setting your hands on his shoulders and softly kneading his flesh, eliciting a content hum from him with your tender touch.

Sometimes, Changbin couldn’t even believe his luck. Starting a relationship with you had completely liberated this side of himself that he had tucked away deeply within his heart for years, the side of him that rejoiced in the way you took care of him.

He had been a bit worried at first, wondering if you, like he himself had done many times in the past with former partners, were simply trying to mould yourself to him, to his needs. ‘I really do enjoy taking care of you, Binnie. Making you feel good makes me feel good’, and when you looked at him like this, there were no doubts in his mind that you were telling him the truth.

“What time are you working tomorrow?” You asked him as you continued to knead his shoulders.

“Not working tomorrow. That was my condition for the out of hours thingy today. Wanted to rest. Plus you won’t be working tomorrow either, right?” Changbin was turning into putty in your hands, just letting himself enjoy your touch as he lazily reached for your hips, softly digging his thumbs on your skin.

“Mm, not working tomorrow either”, moving your hands from his shoulders, you cupped his cheeks, pulling him to you for a tender kiss. “Wanted to be fresh for our run in a couple of days”.

“Smart…” His hands sneaked to the small of your back, drawing circles there with his fingertips as he pressed a kiss to your lips. “You think the full moon might…”

You sighed, pulling away from his lips to look him in the eyes, just as you returned your hands to his shoulders. You clearly knew exactly what he was asking, on whether you thought the full moon would trigger your heat or not. “Dunno… It hasn’t the past handful of months… But one can hope, right?”

“Mm…”

“Why?” Leaning closer, you brushed your nose against his briefly, only to bring your lips to hover over his. “Wanna breed me that badly, Binnie?”

A shiver ran up and down Changbin’s spine. He couldn’t help it, it was an instinctual thing. Sliding his hands further down, he groped your buttcheeks, just as he pressed a brief kiss on your lips. “What if I do? What if I wanna stuff my precious omega full of my pups?”

“Would you?” You mumbled against his lips, and Changbin could practically feel you vibrating in his hold. “Pump me full of your pups? Maybe even… Mark me?”

Changbin had to use every ounce of willpower to not let his canines enlarge at the suggestion, suddenly feeling lightheaded, salivating, at the mere thought of claiming you, of marking you as his. “Want me to mark you, pup? Make you mine?”

“Hm…” You lightly brushed your nose against his, threading your fingers through Changbin’s hair and tugging his head back. “But only if you become mine, too”.

“Already am”, was all Changbin murmured before he connected his lips to yours in a heated kiss.

“Shh, Binnie… You’ll wake up the whole house…”

Changbin bit his lip to muffle himself. It was hard to stay quiet when you had two fingers up his ass and your fist around his cock, but he was certainly not about to complain.

“You’re leaking, baby”, you chuckled, keeping up those slow strokes on his length and the even slower thrust of your fingers. “So much…”

Changbin swallowed, just as the heat on his cheeks spread all over his chest, too. “All for you, pup…”

Last night’s run certainly affected you, just like it had affected Changbin. It didn’t particularly trigger your heat like he was expecting, but the way you jumped him as soon as you were inside your shared room almost knocked the breath out of his lungs. Not only did you fuck like bunnies–or should he say, like wolves…–last night, but you’d woken up in the same needy, horny mood this morning.

It was really early, but the second Changbin woke up and got the first whiff of your scent, he wasted no time in waking you up. As soon as you opened your eyes you took a hold of his length and guided him to your entrance, letting him stuff you full and fuck into you until you were trembling with your release, and when you recovered, you simply turned around and pushed on his shoulder for him to lay down.

Which got him right here, with his legs spread open for you, all lubed up and stretched open by your fingers.

The first time you told Changbin you wanted to finger him he was a bit apprehensive, mostly out of his own prejudice. After all, males–and especially alpha males–were taught that the act was something to look down on, but considering he was going through his own journey of self-discovery, he trusted you enough to be that vulnerable, and the second he finally gave you the go ahead and tried it, he realised two things:

One, that he wasn’t any less of a man–of an alpha–for taking a finger up the ass. He hadn’t felt any less of anything since he started to be more open with himself, so this discovery didn’t surprise him.

And two, and the most shocking of all, was that it felt so fucking good, which certainly helped cement discovery number one.

The feeling was almost indescribable, having his cock tugged and sucked and played with was amazing on its own, but the added stimulation just made him feel like his entire body was alight. Every time your fingers went in and out, tiny shots of pleasure ran up and down his spine, and every time you hit that sweet spot within him, he’d literally shiver and leak fluids like crazy.

As an alpha, Changbin already produced almost triple the amount of a regular human male, and double of a werewolf of any other designation, but whenever you stimulated him like this, the amount increased considerably, and the fact that you seemed to love it made it even more arousing than it already was.

“Puppy…” Changbin was panting, whining, writhing a bit, and he felt so, so close. It was the second time you got him this close, and he needed to come or he would seriously start crying under your touch.

“What is it, baby?” Your voice was deceivingly sweet, speaking to him just as you settled to massage his prostate, making him whine.

“Wanna… Wanna come…” Changbin held your gaze, getting lost in your lust-filled irises. Had you done this last night, with his senses enhanced by the full moon and looking at your glowing eyes, he would’ve blown right then and there, he was sure.

You squeezed the base of his length, and Changbin couldn’t help but throw his head back as you kept massaging him. “Already?”

Changbin let out a strained laugh, gripping the bed sheets tightly. “It’s been–Fuck… Over twenty minutes of this, pup… Wanna–”

He all but choked on his words as you resumed your movements, now with the addition of your warm, wet mouth around his tip. Bringing a fist to his mouth, Changbin bit down to stop the sounds that were desperately trying to come out of his mouth, carefully rolling his hips to meet the thrusts of your fingers, but not enough to shove his cock too much down your throat.

Changbin loved to see you like this, he would admit. Settled between his legs, struggling to take his cock into your mouth. He was big, just like any other alpha would be, but that never stopped you from wrapping your lips around his length and making him whine and whimper for you.

You bobbed your head, sucking harshly on his tip, jerking the rest of his length that you couldn’t fit in your mouth just as your fingers kept massaging him, working him up closer to his release by the second, and Changbin felt his mind cloud, registering only your touch, the pressure building inside of him, and the feeling of his teeth sinking on his index finger.

Finally, that pressure inside of him bursted, all that tension left his body as he came with your lips still around him, pathetically whining and moaning as low as he could–he had embraced this part of himself, but Changbin didn’t particularly feel like having his entire family hear him have a mind-blowing orgasm, he was barely conscious enough to keep that in check.

His legs were shaking, you kept sucking him and massaging him, and it was just too much. So he called for you, the most strained ‘puppy, enough…’ leaving his lips for you to finally pull your fingers out of his ass and your mouth off of him with a lewd pop.

Crawling up his body, you settled on his lap, cupping his cheeks and pulling him to you for a heated kiss, and Changbin couldn’t help but moan as you shoved your tongue inside his mouth, spreading his cum over his tongue. He swallowed it all, just like he always did, holding you tightly, naked chest against naked chest, kissing you with fervour.

Changbin felt tingly all over, not only from finally blowing his load, but also just by having you close, by being completely engulfed in your scent. These days he just felt completely flooded by it, and he absolutely loved every second of it.

“Good boy…” You mumbled against his lips, petting his hair and making him huff out an incredulous chuckle.

“Unbelievable…” With his arms securely around your waist, Changbin rolled, bringing you with him and pinning you to the mattress, smothering your face with kisses. “You’re seriously unbelievable”.

You chuckled, wrapping your limbs around him and pressing a kiss on his lips. “You love me either way”.

“I love you because of it”, Changbin gave you a brief kiss, pulling away from you entirely right after. “C’mon, let’s get ready for the day, I really want to clean my ass and I’m sure everyone will be awake soon…”

By the time Changbin and you had taken a quick shower and made your way downstairs, there were already some pack members in the kitchen. Chris, his girlfriend, and Jeongin were sitting at the table, while Hyunjin, Felix, and Jisung got busy preparing breakfast.

You offered Felix your help, while Changbin simply made his way to the table and sat down, engaging in conversation with the rest. This was honestly one of Changbin’s favourite moments of their monthly trips, just being able to sit together and chat, everyone still in their pyjamas, hairs tousled, and still sleepy. It made him feel completely at home, at ease, and he always felt grateful that this was his family now.

It wasn’t like his previous pack wasn’t family, it just wasn’t the same. Changbin loved his parents–his mother particularly was very important to him, he’d go visit her once every two weeks at least–but the pack Chris and Changbin built together had become such a safe space for him he truly couldn’t imagine himself living anywhere else, with anyone else. Even more so now that he had you in his life.

“…It sucks ‘cause I’ll have to take the night shift once we’re back in the city”, Jisung was whining about his job, just like he often did. He always claimed he loved it, but loving his job wouldn’t stop him from complaining either way.

“Didn’t you say you loved night shifts, baby?” Chris’ girlfriend chuckled from where she was sitting on Chris’ lap, with one of his arms securely around her waist as he fed her pieces of freshly cut apples.

“I kinda do, but lately they’ve been getting weird… We’re getting a lot of weirdos in the emergency room and it’s annoying…”

“You do work at a hospital that tends mostly to supernatural creatures, what were you expecting exactly?” Hyunjin said as he continued to whisk eggs in a bowl. “Find a normal, human hospital if you don’t wanna deal with oddities, darling”.

“But then what’s the point?” Jisung sighed dramatically, handing Felix his freshly chopped veggies.

“Morning”, Minho mumbled as he walked through the door, with an arm draped over his best friend who was coming to one of their monthly trips for the first time–his kitten, as he’d often call her, both to her face and when she wasn’t there. ‘Ahh, my kitten’s coming tomorrow…’, ‘Ahh, my kitten’s not feeling well…’, ‘Ahh, was just talking to my kitten…’ Minho would always talk about her, and Changbin found it endearing and annoying in equal parts.

Endearing, because it was cute to see Minho being absolutely whipped, but annoying because he’d never act on it. They’d been friends since childhood, and it was more than clear that both of them had feelings for each other, but they were both oblivious to the other’s more than obvious crush. It was even more painful than watching Chris and his girlfriend interact when they were just roommates, considering they had even more history.

“Morn–” Jisung’s sentence cut short with a gasp as he looked at his two childhood friends. “You two fucked?”

Jisung asked in his version of a whisper, which was, essentially, audible to everyone in the room, including the humans–if the snort that Chris’ girlfriend let out was anything to go by.

Minho facepalmed, groaning. “You sure are the epitome of discretion, Jisung…”

“I’m sorry! You caught me off guard, okay?!” Jisung’s ears were slightly red, but Minho’s… Friend? Chuckled regardless.

“How could you even tell?” She made her way to the table, sitting next to Chris and his girlfriend, who offered her a slice of apple, too.

“Scent”, you touched your nose, grinning at her, and her face flushed as she let out a barely audible ‘oh…’

“Alright, everyone”, Chris’ girlfriend interrupted the conversation, with her hand outstretched, palm up. “Pay up. I’ll collect the payout from the others later and distribute it”.

Minho’s jaw went slack, watching completely incredulous as some of his packmates deposited tenners on their Pack Mum’s hand. “You bet on us getting together?!”

“Just like you bet on us fucking last night”, Chris motioned to him and his girlfriend with a teasing smirk on his face. “We’re fucking even”.

Minho just scoffed, but he was smiling regardless, and as he started to uselessly banter with Chris, as the rest started to add their playful remarks and teasing jokes, Changbin couldn’t help but feel incredibly happy once again that this was the family he had chosen to have.

Going back to work after a couple of nights in the woods was always more refreshing than Changbin could ever expect. He loved being able to run freely in nature, especially when he did it with his pack, but coming back to his mundane office job always reminded him that he wasn’t just an animal, that he was very much part human, too, and it helped him connect with that side of him.

You had decided to take your annual leave right after the trip, since you had a bunch of errands to run and it’d be easier to do them if you didn’t have to deal with office shenanigans. So, Changbin had been coming to work on his own these past couple of days, which was fine, you two often had different schedules so it wasn’t particularly uncommon for that to happen, but still he enjoyed seeing your pretty face around the office every once in a while when he was able to leave his desk, which he couldn’t do now that you weren’t here.

The network was stable today, he’d checked all the switches early in the morning, everything was in order, so today was one of those rare days in which he was able to fulfil all his tasks in a few hours. There wasn’t much to do, just stay put in case something happened and his expertise was needed, so he settled to pretend to be busy by checking the pack’s group chat through the messaging app’s web browser.

> Seungminnie: guys > found a gnome trying to sneak into the den

> Mr Alpha: what u do with it > ???????

> Minho: why tf would a gnome try to go into the den?

> Mrs Mother: pls tell me you didnt kill it > or eat it

> Innie: dw mum > we just chased it away

> Hyunjinnie: they say it’s bad luck > if a gnome visits a werewolf den

> Jisung: literally who said that > no one said that > u just trynna spook us

> Hyunjinnie: @Jisung look it up sweetcheeks

Changbin just chuckled, puzzled at the entire exchange, and it was just as he was going to add to the conversation that he felt his mobile phone buzz in his pocket. He couldn’t stop the smile that settled on his face as he saw the ‘💕Gingerbread💕’ text on the screen.

“‘Sup, pup?”

There was silence for a moment, until finally, Changbin heard you swallow, thickly enough for him to hear it over the phone. “Binnie…”

Changbin went stiff, suddenly frozen in place. The way you said his nickname had the fine hairs on his nape standing on end, and the sound sent a shiver up and down his spine. “Babe–”

“Need you”, you whined, and at that exact moment Changbin understood what was happening, and he simultaneously felt as if a cold bucket of water had come down on him, and as if he was being lit on fire. “Please, Bin, it hurts so bad… Need you…”

Changbin stood up from his desk, gathering his belongings and hastily shoving them in his bag. “I’ll be there soon, pup. Don’t worry. Are you at home?”

“Mhm…” Your voice was a bit weak, but knowing you were safe at home was enough for him.

“I’m on my way”.

While the call disconnected Changbin was making his way out the door, shooting his boss a quick ‘there’s an emergency at home, I have to leave now’. His boss didn’t object, probably because Changbin had inadvertently used his alpha voice, if anyone so much as tried to stop him right now that he was trying to get to you he’d surely rip their head clean off, so it was for the best.

The drive to the den was a blur, all Changbin could think about was you and how you’d be managing, about how he wasn’t there to take care of you. As an alpha, knowing his omega was in heat and he wasn’t there for you at this exact moment brought a mix of distress and anger that was difficult to handle while driving, but he was able to make it home without much trouble, thankfully.

As soon as Changbin stepped through the door he was hit by your overwhelming scent, your delicious nutmeg and ginger scent that drove him absolutely insane, now heightened and somehow more concentrated, making him stumble slightly and brace himself on the hall’s wall.

He got his shoes off out of habit, an action completely mechanical as his hands started to tremble, and his mind started to cloud more and more with each intake of breath. Fertile, breed, claim… Were words that repeated in his mind in an endless loop as he stumbled towards the bedroom.

Sure enough, as soon as he opened the door, his mouth watered, his cock that had steadily been growing hard pumped to its fullest just as the sight. You, laying on your shared bed, wearing nothing but one of his t-shirts, surrounded by a mix of yours and his clothes, sweaty, panting, whining… And the second you registered his presence you squirmed, with the most delicious mewl leaving your lips.

“Changbin… Changbinnie, please, baby…”

The sound of your voice, so desperate for him, your scent flooding his senses completely, the sight of you in your pretty nest on your shared bed was enough to send Changbin into a frenzied state. He could feel his humanity quickly slipping between his fingers as his wolf instincts started to take over. Please, taste, mount…

His skin felt ten times hotter than it did before he stepped into his flat, so he removed his shirt, swiftly making his way to the bed, climbing on top of you to press kisses all over your face.

As soon as his lips were on you, you whined, so, so desperate, needy… Your hands reached for his chest, your touch seething as you felt him up. “Shh, pup… I’m here”, Changbin’s lips descended from your face to your neck, nibbling and licking right on your pulsepoint. The salty taste of your skin, coupled with the smell of your scent had his nerve-endings on fire, and his hands moved below your shirt–his shirt–to palm your hips as he pressed his nose to your neck and inhaled deeply.

“You smell so delicious, puppy… So, so good, fuck, wanna–” Changbin choked on his words as he felt your hand on his crotch, pressing firmly against his erection as you started to kiss and lick his cheeks.

“Need you”, your breathy tone had his head spinning, had his cock twitching in his underwear, just as fluid started to leak from his tip.

You fumbled with his belt, and Changbin grabbed a handful of your tit to knead and squeeze while licking the expanse of your neck. He didn’t know where to start, there were so many things roaming chaotically in his brain–licking your cunt clean, stuffing his fingers in you until you were crying for him, sucking on your tits, fucking you, mounting you… There were so many options, and his mind was so hazy and cloudy he just couldn’t choose one.

You, however, clearly knew exactly what you wanted right now, since your fingers expertly unbuttoned his now soaked trousers and shoved them and his underwear down just enough for his cock to spring free, holding him in your hand and pumping him, eliciting an almost desperate growl from his lips.

“Need my alpha’s cock, please…” Before Changbin could register the movement, you had locked your legs around him and pushed with your whole bodyweight, effectively rolling you both for him to lay on his back and for you to straddle his hips.

“Pup–” Changbin’s call for you died on his tongue, replaced with a groan as your lips finally connected to his. His tongue pushed its way into your mouth, making you whine as your hips started to roll, grinding yourself on his length.

You were literally dripping, your fluids mixing with his, covering his lower abdomen and your inner thighs with them. Enjoy, satisfy, submit… His hands found purchase on your buttcheeks, gripping you tightly and moving you harder against his cock as his hips bucked up trying to get as much friction as possible.

There was that damn shirt, though… The fabric prevented him from feeling your heated skin against his and he was hating it, he wanted to feel your breasts against his chest, for you to feel the rumble resonating from deep within him as you pressed yourself to him, to feel your rumble against his chest…

“Need to feel you…” was all he mumbled against your lips as he tugged on the shirt, and you mewled, bringing your hands to his chest to push yourself up.

You tugged the shirt off of your body, shuffling down to tug Changbin’s trousers and underwear fully off of him, leaving you both completely bare. Once you climbed up his body again, hovering just above his length, you braced yourself on his abdomen. “Please, please, Changbinnie, can I–”

“Yes!” Changbin interrupted you, knowing exactly what you wanted from him, him wanting exactly the same thing. His hand reached for the base of his cock, angling it to rub the tip against your folds, and you shuddered with the touch.

Before he could even register it, you took a hold of his wrist and sank down on him just as you moved his hand away from his length and brought it to one of your breasts. As soon as your walls wrapped snugly around his cock a shared moan of relief escaped you both. His hand squeezed your breast almost on instinct, and Changbin felt heat spreading all over his face and neck just at the feel of you, warm, wet, tight, his…

Changbin had spent many ruts with people in the past, he had helped friends through their heats as well, but never had he had his rut triggered by someone’s heat, never had he felt this way, this needy and desperate. More than wanting to do anything to you, he vaguely realised he wanted you to do anything you wanted to him, he wanted to give you anything and everything you asked him for, and the thought of you voicing your needs and taking him however you pleased had him burning up from the inside out.

You leaned in to kiss him, your hips moving up and down his cock with ease, the mix of your slick and his aiding every single one of your movements. Moving a hand to one of your buttocks, Changbin squeezed tightly as the other tangled in your hair, tugging you off of his mouth for him to press kisses on your neck, right where your scent concentrated the most, thrusting up into you as hard as his hips would let him. “Such a good little omega, aren’t you? With your pretty little nest ready for your alpha to breed you, hm?”

You couldn’t help but moan, nodding frantically as much as you could with his hand still holding onto your hair. “Do you–Do you like it, Binnie?” The neediness in your voice had his cock twitching inside of you as he continued to drill into you, the sound of your wet skin meeting almost drowning your meek words, had you not whispered them against his neck as you sucked marks on his skin he could’ve easily missed them. “Prepared it… Just for you… For us…”

Warmth spread quickly within Changbin, his hips stuttering the slightest bit once your words registered in his hazy brain, but he recovered quickly, holding you tighter in his arms, his grip on your buttock probably leaving bruises already. “I love it. Love my perfect omega’s little nest”, you clenched hard around his cock, and he couldn’t help but groan at the feeling. “Fuck, pup… Want to do so many things to you… For you…”

“Later… Later, baby. Now, I–” A whine fell from your lips, and your thighs twitched as his cock continued to hit that sweet spot inside your walls. Bracing yourself on his chest you sat straighter, and Changbin’s hold on your hair relented as soon as you started moving. His hands frantically roamed your body, not knowing where to settle, your hips, your ass, your tits, your thighs… There were so many places for Changbin to hold onto he just couldn’t settle for one.

As you started to bounce up and down his length Changbin started to feel his knot expanding within your walls, a loud, desperate moan falling from your lips as you clearly started to feel it as well. “Fuck… So big, so, so big…” Your pace picked up, Changbin’s hips chasing your hips to enhance your pleasure and his as you continued to move. “Want you to stuff me full, Binnie… Want your pups, alpha, my alpha…”

Omega, mate, tie… Changbin couldn’t help but moan, the thought of filling you up, breeding you, stuffing you full of his seed had him close, so close to the edge he started to lose a bit of his self control, and his hips pistoned up as hard as he could against you, just as his deepest desires flew past his lips before he could even stop himself.

“Mark me, puppy…” His eyes were fixed on yours, taking in the blissed out expression on your face, your beautiful features contorting in pleasure, whether it was for his words or his movements he didn’t know, nor could he think too clearly about it to care. “Please, mark me… Want everyone to know I’m yours and yours only. Mark me…”

With a whine, your canines enlarged upon his request–not much, you were an omega after all, but that didn’t stop you from dipping, and your mouth found the junction of his shoulder and his neck for your teeth to sink into his flesh, sending sparks of hot, unadulterated pleasure throughout his entire system.

The feeling of your teeth breaking his skin, along with your merciless hips bouncing on top of him was enough to send him over the edge, lodging his knot deep within your walls for him to shoot his seed into you with a long, drawn out growl just as your walls started to spasm around him, just as your whole body shook in his hold as you came undone with him.

Changbin felt lightheaded as his cum spurted almost endlessly from his tip, filling you up. You weakly licked his neck, right where you bit him, trying to soothe the wound. “My alpha, my Binnie, mine, all mine…” You whispered against his skin, bringing heat to his face, making him blush.

Turning his head slightly, Changbin’s lips found yours. One of his hands came to rest on the back of your head to deepen the kiss, and his tongue pushed lazily against yours, savouring you. “My sweet, precious omega, mine, all mine…” He mumbled against your lips, hearing your satisfied hum when he finally stopped coming, when he finally stuffed you full of everything he had.

Hiding in the crook of his neck again, you snuggled impossibly closer to him, letting out a content sigh as you both just laid there catching your breaths for a long while.

Changbin’s skin felt tingly, especially where you bit him–holy shit you marked him. As he regained clarity, he finally realised he begged you to mark him, and you did. You marked him and the mere feeling of it made him blow his load immediately, and his mind was racing.

Suddenly, you tensed, moving away from his neck to look him in the eyes. “Holy shit, Changbin…” Your fingers traced the mark on his neck, making a shiver run down his spine at the contact.

“You marked me”, Changbin confirmed, feeling his heart swell in his chest as he said it, his voice was barely a whisper, and his palms moved from where they had been laying on your back to softly caress your shoulders. “How does it look?”

“Like… Like a mating bite…” You licked your lips, your eyes jumping back and forth from his face to the mark. “Didn’t even know omegas could mark others… Much less an alpha”.

“You’re no ordinary omega, pup”, one of Changbin’s hands pushed away the hair that was sticking to your forehead. “Just like I’m no ordinary alpha, thought we had established that already”, with a hand on the back of your neck, he pulled you down gently, to press a soft, tender kiss to the apple of your cheek.

“Do you–” You shuffled, or at least tried to, but the tug of Changbin’s knot in your core made you wince and whine as soon as you tried to move.

Changbin’s hands found your hips, keeping you firmly in place. “Don’t move, baby. This is quite possibly one of the worst positions we could’ve tied in”, Changbin chuckled softly, pressing kisses on your cheeks to try to soothe you.

“Sorry…” A sheepish smile made its way onto your face, a blush settling on your cheeks. “Couldn’t help it…”

“I know, pup”, stretching his neck a bit, Changbin’s lips found yours, placing a peck on your lips. Wrapping his arms around your waist he held you to his chest and inhaled deeply. “You smell so good, puppy… So good…”

“You do, too, baby…” You rubbed your forehead on Changbin’s shoulder, letting out a content sigh. “Did I… Did my heat trigger your rut?”

Changbin just hummed, softly caressing your hair and your back. “The second I stepped through the door and I got a whiff of your scent I lost my mind. My rut wasn’t due yet”.

You hummed, pressing soft kisses on his neck. “Guess you’ll have to call in sick…”

Changbin chuckled. Leave it to you to think about work even in a moment like this. “They’ll live. This is more important than that stupid office”.

Giggling softly, you smothered his face with kisses, bringing the widest smile to his lips just as you brushed Changbin’s nose with yours once you had finished your attack. “We’re gonna have so much fun, Binnie…”

Once his knot fully deflated, Changbin moved you off of his lap, and your eyes went wide as you looked at him, still hard and leaking. With a smirk on his face, he took a hold of your hips, a tiny squeak left your lips as he harshly turned you around and pulled your lower body up to rest your weight on your knees.

“My turn now. Gonna make a mess out of you, pup…”

Yes, Changbin enjoyed being taken care of. He enjoyed letting you take control, but on odd occasions, and especially now, with his mind still hazy and completely drunk on your scent and your pheromones, he enjoyed taking control, too. He was determined to take care of you.

Tagging: @raspbinniecreme @staaa96 @oiminho @dundullresident @honey-lemon-goose @straylightdream @carefully325 @lavenderxkies @starshine-moon @biribarabiribbaem @meowmeowhoon @100layersofdaddyissues @dearalice @alexis-reads-fics @xcookiemonsteer @knowleeknow @chanlovesme If you want to be removed from the list just PM me. If you want to be added fill in this form~

Constructive feedback (or even keysmashes, really. any respectful feedback...) is always welcome :)

Changbin’ WereRoomies Instalments: Finding Comfort in Autumn · Heat · The Love I Always Dreamt Of.

#stray kids supernatural au #stray kids fantasy au #stray kids werewolf au #changbin fluff #changbin smut #stray kids fluff #stray kids smut #stray kids fanfiction #changbin fanfiction #changbin fic #changbin x reader #skz fanfic #skz fanfiction #stray kids fanfic #werewolf changbin #✨🌙✏

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thesiltverses · 7 months

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any clues on whats next after tsv ends ? :)

No concrete confirmation, but we did put out a Patreon post back in spring with a few draft pitches, to gauge initial interest and see what kind of genre storytelling folks were most excited to see from us.

I'll paste them below, so you can see the kinds of things we've had in mind (#2 and #3 were the most popular, but it was a fairly even spread outside of that). We've had a few more really fun ideas since then that I'll keep schtum about for now.

General feedback was that people were most enthusiastic about seeing ongoing, multi-season projects from us, which makes perfect sense and is much more sensible for us anyway in terms of sustaining a livelihood / retaining audience members along the way.

That said, TSV has been a three-year endeavour which is a big commitment, and personally I think the best horror is often self-contained, short and sweet.

So I'd really love to have the time to work on a few miniseries-type shows as well, but also need to recognise that we likely don't have the bandwidth to juggle two projects simultaneously.

With all that in mind, I think the direction we're hoping to be able to pursue is:

1+ shorter horror miniseries or one-offs with production or network partners (if they want to work with us) where we're largely on writing duties or with a lighter load.

1 longer, ongoing weird-fiction show which is all ours, baby, all ours.

Draft pitches

#1: Manes

Genre: Historical horror, cosmic horror, family drama with murderous stakes

Influences: The Terror Season 1, pretty much.

Summary: In 208 AD, the ailing Roman emperor Septimius Severus travels north across Hadrian's Wall into Caledonia, with the aim of finally uniting Britain under imperial rule.

For Severus, there's more at stake - his two sons are openly at odds over the succession, and it's openly said that civil war will follow the emperor's death.

Severus himself rose to supreme power through violence and the elimination of his rivals. Now, haunted by the possibility of revenge by the shades of the divine dead and dwelling unhappily on his legacy, the emperor hopes to share his final triumph with his sons and demonstrate a different lesson to them - that an equitable peace is a lasting possibility.

But as the Roman column makes its way north into apparently endless woods, surrounded by cronies, schemers, Britons, soothsayers, priestesses of Cybele, and more, the emperor and his family find that their enemy is nowhere to be seen - but they are being pursued by a force that is both strange and terrible.

And soon enough, the Romans realise that they have perhaps strayed not into Caledonia at all - but into a hostile realm of their own imagining...

Why make this show? We adore period horror, and there's far too little of it out there.

Severus and his family are a fascinating set of characters who we'd love to spend some time with - as ethically-compromised participants in a very Shakespearean tragedy, and as individuals whose heritage, religious beliefs and psychologies allow us to explore aspects of ancient Rome that haven't been done to death in fiction already.

#2: I'll Dance In The Deep Shadow

Genre: Weird-fiction noir, paranoid espionage fiction, cosmic horror

Influences: Cold War spy classics, Roadside Picnic

Summary: Across the water from the mainland UK, a vast walled city has come unexpectedly into existence.

The city’s walls are composed of purest shadow; its leaders have not revealed themselves to us, nor have they made demands of us.

Upon its streets, our own dead and forlorn doubles wander; grinning doppelgangers who seem to know something terrible from the future that’s to come.

We call the city Umbra.

Umbra is a bottomless well of shadow and secrets; its darkened landscapes are home to suppressed memories turned savage and monstrous.

Its citizens and its guards are twisted echoes, repetitions, and whispering relics of the world's buried past - and they will not reveal Umbra's purpose to us.

Around Umbra's great walls, representatives from the world's governments gather and plot against one another - mercenaries, guides, spies, black-market traders, scientists and killers - to infiltrate the city, map its streets, and navigate its dangers for themselves.

Why make this show? Less of an Eskew sequel than it probably sounds at first glance, this one.

We'd love to do a paranoid, twist-filled, pessimistic John Le Carre-style spy thriller, with multiple characters who can neither trust themselves nor each other - and we feel like we've got some really interesting horror themes around memory and forgetting here to explore with this concept.

#3: Our Wars Have Ended

Genre: Dark fantasy, New Weird fantasy

Influences: The Black Company, the Bas-Lag series, Gormenghast.

Summary: It’s a strange time to be alive.

Thirty years ago, countless legions of the ancient dead rose from their graves to conquer the living lands; lands which now rest in an uneasy - but peaceful - state of occupation.

Withered corpses sit upon the thrones of the living and play silent courtier in the shadowed halls, acting out the rituals and habits of their past lives while dead men and women keep watch from the ruined towers.

Mortal historians and linguists frantically mediate between our returned masters, trying to keep the peace - which estate belongs to whom? Who shall rule eternal? Which traditions deserve to live on?

But this is a time of wondrous change, too - new technologies, empowered by the revelations of the Dead Reclamation and the will of the Ancestors. Strange machines rumble through the hills and necronautical vessels delve into the unexplored territories of the afterlife itself.

And it has been announced that the Hollowbrow Queen will unite the nation with a powerful gesture, taking on a living consort in a marriage of the fleeting and the eternal.

On one side of the conquered country, an old veteran leads his mercenary company on a reluctant expedition towards the capital, in the employ of a long-dead king on a mission of revenge.

On the other, a young dead-diver and essayer into the realms of the dead is hired to investigate a peculiar mystery, and a conspiracy that may involve both the living and the returned…

Why make this show? Because Game of Thrones had no interest in the (to us) enjoyable questions of 'well, why do the ancient dead want to conquer the living, exactly? What happens once they've done it?' and we'd love to deconstruct that and play with the idea of loathsome undead aristocrats from every period of history squabbling with one another over what their conquered nation actually means.

Because we think we've built up the confidence and the skills to take a big swing at an epic adventure story and a semi-traditional fantasy - it feels like an idea that could potentially appeal to a wider audience while remaining true to our own core values of Weirdness, Horrible Things and More Weirdness.

#4: To Those Who Wait

Genre: Cosmic horror, dark comedy, mockumentary

Influences: Dead Set, Ghostwatch, Savageland, Evil Dead

Summary: Eskew Productions has gone in a surprising direction with its latest production - a new reality experiment and dating-show podcast.

Eight lovelorn singletons have been given rooms in the exclusive Gregory Hotel. Over the course of six weeks, these contestants will go on dates, carry out team challenges, and ultimately try and find themselves a life partner - all without seeing each other's faces.

The aim of the experiment? To prove that good things really do come to those who wait.

As they pore through a mixture of recorded and behind-the-scenes footage, however, it may become very apparent to listeners that something else is waiting in the Gregory.

And one by one, our contestants find themselves at risk of far more than being voted off...

Why make this show? As a great big act of play more than anything else.

We adore horror mockumentaries, but in audio-drama they tend to be faux-journalistic.

Doing a show that instead mimics hokey reality shows to the point of being mistakable for the real thing, but turns out to be a ghost story instead...that's a lot of fun to us.

#5: In The Devil's Counties

Genre: Historical horror, cosmic horror

Influences: Nathan Ballingrud's Wounds, Seven Samurai, Between Two Fires, Dog Soldiers, Aliens…

Summary: As the Magna Carta states: “All evil customs relating to forests and warrens, foresters, warreners, sheriffs and their servants, or river-banks and their wardens, are at once to be investigated by twelve sworn knights of the county, and within forty days of their enquiry the evil customs are to be abolished completely and irrevocably.”

In early-medieval Sussex, a motley group of knights rides out to investigate tales of ungodly horror and acts of forbidden worship from deep in the English countryside - including Ralph Dagworth, 'hell's mapmaker'.

What the party of knights discovers out in the warrens and the forests of the county, however, is far stranger and more terrible than any Christian conception of hell…

Why make this show? Again, because we're itching to have a go at some period horror, and that weirdly specific Magna Carta quote is just too fun to pass up as a springboard for some 'isolated squaddies in enemy territory' storytelling. (Sadly, it does have a more grounded explanation.)

#6: Strangling Knot

Genre: Anthology horror

Influences: Junji Ito, experimental 8-bit horror, Black Mirror's Bandersnatch

Summary:

“The rules of the game are simple. This is a place of endless forking paths and one exit.

There’s something terrible in here with you. Get ready."

A Choose Your Own Adventure-style horror audio anthology; each episode is a distinct story with branching paths that may lead to failure (most of the time) or escape (more rarely).

Why make this show? This is likely the only show that we could reasonably produce as a side-project (and we've been chatting to a couple of other talented horror creators about it already, sssh).

We'd like to be able to play with single-narrator horror storytelling again that's relatively quick and easy to produce - but we do want to at least try and ensure it doesn't feel like we're repeating I Am In Eskew.

There's some really fun stuff happening out there already with CYOA-style audiodrama, and that seems like an opportunity that's ripe for playing about with.

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emilybahu · 5 days

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I love 9-1-1 so much!

I have fallen in love with tv shows before, watching episodes religiously as they aired weekly. 9-1-1 has been different for me though, it’s become more like an obsession. In some ways that’s bad, it’s consuming my mind a lot of times and it’s distracting me from other things I need to get done. However, really getting into the fandom of this show has also been wonderful for me, it’s made me so happy, actually getting involved with other fans and talking to people the last couple months has been so fun! You all are amazing, funny, talented people and I’m truly grateful that I’ve been able to interact with you!

Now, I’ve heard about some toxicity within the fandom, Buddie and BuckTommy shippers turning against each other and fighting about what’s best for the characters. (Which btw, isn’t really up to us anyway)

I personally haven’t seen a lot of that, who knows, maybe I’m just ignoring it because I don’t want to see it. Either way I always try to keep a very open and and neutral stance when it comes to shipping. I let myself enjoy the stories, the edits, the fan art, and the speculation. However, I also try to stay grounded in the reality of what’s happening in the movie/book/tv show.

When it comes to 9-1-1 right now, between Buddie and BuckTommy I’m not picking sides. I like both ships the same, and I don’t think that’s gonna change any time soon. I really, really enjoy both ships! (Plus the fan fiction for both are amazing, so I’m LIVING)

Buddie is part of the reason that I started watching in the first place, Buck and Eddie are my favorite characters. I love them both to death, and regardless of their relationship status they have something special, no one can deny that! Their friendship is beautiful and deep, they do truly love each other, they’re family, they will always be there for each other whether or not they end up in a romantic relationship. I’m honestly just happy to see them together in any capacity. And yes, I will happy, overjoyed even, if they decide to make Buddie cannon, but I’ll also be happy if their relationship remains as it is.

As far as Buck and Tommy go I was surprised when the kiss happened, but OH MY GOD… I was totally there for it! I’m actually really happy with this storyline so far, (even if the second hand embarrassment nearly killed me during the first date)I think that they’ll be great together, I really can’t wait to see them getting to know each other more! Wherever this goes, I’m here for it! I’m excited to see Buck explore his bisexuality with Tommy, and learn about himself through this relationship. I’m also excited to learn more about Tommy! And if they don’t end up being very long term, I really hope that they stay friends.

I’m really enjoying being into a ship that’s canon for once, it makes me really happy. I don’t think there’s ever been a ship (apart from these ones) that I’ve been into that have even had a remote chance of becoming cannon (Stucky… my first love!)

Anyway, I digress, the writers and the actors KNOW these characters, we know that if something felt off it the story, they’d want to do right by the characters. We know for a fact how much Oliver and Ryan love Buck and Eddie, and if it feels right and true to them Buddie will happen. If it doesn’t feel right to put them in a romantic relationship, to me, it’s fine because regardless we have these two men with an absolutely beautiful and meaningful friendship, and I’m always here for that!

All of this to say, all this fighting about “who’s right for who” isn’t doing anyone any good. I mean we’re all in this fandom because we love this show RIGHT!? Being on platforms like this is meant to bring us TOGETHER!

SO WHY THE HELL ARE SOME OF US TRYING TO RIP EACH OTHER APART BECAUSE WE HAVE DIFFERENT OPINIONS ON A DAMN SHIP!?

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions after all… so yeah, share your opinion, just don’t be rude about it. Putting someone down because they disagree with you doesn’t make you right… it just makes you mean. It scares people away, maybe makes them feel like they’re not safe in this community. I’ve seen it a couple times too, with myself and others, being afraid to make a post because of the possibility of hate.

In my experience you’re meant to feel safe in a fandom, in a community because you’re sharing your love for something with others who love it just as much as you do! We should love each other like we love these characters!

To conclude, all I need is for our boys to be happy, that’s really all we should care about here anyway. It shouldn’t necessarily matter who’s dating who, as long as they’re HAPPY! I’m really just along for the ride, I’m here for whatever they decide to do with Buddie and/or BuckTommy in the future. Buck and Eddie are my loves, and we barely know Tommy, but I’m starting to like him already, as long as they’re happy, I am too!

Thank you for reading my TedTalk…

Sorry if it doesn’t sound completely coherent, stringing words together isn’t always my strong suit…🫠

#911 abc #9-1-1 #buddie #bucktommy #tevan #eddie diaz #evan buckley #tommy kinard #time to rant #buck and eddie #I really love this show

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mollfie · 7 months

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I was reading a really good thread by a male SA survivor about how a lot of the fan sexualisation of Astarion makes them uncomfortable, how a lot of people seem to miss the nuance of his character, things they wish had been handled better, what he liked etc. I often forget how people can be super weird about traumatised characters like Astarion. He was not telling others how to enjoy their game, just talking about their experience, but brought up some great points that gave me something to think about.

I very much focus on the hurt/comfort nonsexual aspect first. I love the dynamic of Astarion healing and working out what he wants in all aspects of his life.

I wish the game allowed for more nuance regarding that. It would have been great to be able to really encourage Astarion to heal and assure him that you're not going anywhere beyond a line or two.

But, they're also all adult characters, and I think it's disingenuous to act as if abuse survivors can't enjoy sex and have ownership over their sexuality. I also would have liked the game to explore that more and had some more in-depth interactions where Tav or whoever could assure Astarion and be more supportive.

There's a few moments, such as with the Drow Twins, where I would have liked just one or two lines addressing consent and discomfort. I would be interested to hear why the writers made some of the choices they did.

I think a lot of fans don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. They just get caught up in the horniness of it all and are having fun. I also think a lot of people haven't finished Astarion's personal quest or played very far into the game or just don't think about it beyond them being fictional. And, it should go without saying that most people wouldn't behave the same way in real life.

Overall, I think Larian did a stellar job. Better than any other crpg I've played in recent years. Luckily, I am also very happy to fill in the gaps and head canon things I thought could be better.

I love Astarion because he is a complex character. I always like characters who are dealing with and overcoming their trauma, finding friendship/love/family, and maybe some revenge as a little treat. I like characters who are not nice. Let them be messy and awful and human. My favourite thing is when someone is terrible but trying to do better, and they are still loved even at their worst.

The way some people act about Neil Newbon, though, does weird me out. He has also mentioned how some elements hit close to home for him, and he drew on that for Astarion's characterisation while voice acting and working with the writers. He doesn't seem all that bothered by how people act, and he plays into the Astarion bit online and on streams. I just find some comments and content to be super out of pocket.

This is such a messy post. Just some rambling thoughts. Anyway, it was a good thread. I just have a lot of feelings. I could expand on this even further, but this post is long enough already.

#bg3 spoilers #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #astarion #astarion ancunin #mollfie

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commander-krios · 19 days

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THINGS THAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW ABOUT MY FELLOW WRITERS

I was tagged by @lemonsrosesandlavender, thank you so much!! These are always fun <3

Tagging: @aevallare, @eluvisen, @aceghosts, @storyknitter, @starknstarwars and @my-favourite-zhent

Last book I read:

The last book I finished was "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien but that was like last year lmao Currently, my reading list has "The Time of Contempt" by Andrzej Sapkowski (i'm about 1/3 of the way through it I think) and I might attempt to start the Dune series if I get brave enough.

Greatest literary inspiration:

Sylvia Plath and J.R.R. Tolkien are pretty important to me as far as writing goes. And Jeaniene Frost. They are all different in their styles and writing but each have their importance to fiction.

Things in my current fandom I want to read but I don't want to write:

More tiefling refugee fics! I don't have a preference on which ones because I love them all! Bex, Danis, Lakrissa, Alfira, Ikaron, Guex etc all deserve as much love and attention as Rolan, Dammon, and Zevlor imo. I mean, I WILL probably write more for them eventually, but I'd like to be able to read more about them in general.

Things in my current fandoms I want to write but I think nobody would be interested in them but me:

Me and maybe a handful of people maybe, but I'd like to write more about the Zhentarim prior to the events of BG3. Mainly focused on my former Zhent and Rugan, but there are some relationships I'd like to explore more and some characters like Zarys and Roah.

You can recognise my writing by:

Descriptive emotion, angst, pining, hurt/comfort. I love writing self reflection for a character as well as characters taking in the things around them: scents, sounds, people, etc.

My most controversial take ( current fandom):

I not a fan of x reader fics. Idk why they got to be so popular but I'd rather read about people's OCs! I've read a few x reader in the last few months and they can be done well, but I think it's a POV thing for me. I don't like being the one put in the situations.

Current writing mood (10 – super motivated and churning out words like crazy, 0 – in a complete rut):

Uhhh anywhere from a 0 to a 3, depends on what part of the day we're at. It's been a struggle for the last few months. I did write a little bit for Round Rugan with my friends in the Zhent Discord Server, but personally, it's been tough. I'm hoping I got a breakthrough on my cat!Juni fic though, so fingers crossed.

Top three favourite tropes:

Hmmm that's a tough question. If we're going by favorite tropes to write, I'd say hurt/comfort. I always need hurt with the comfort, even if it's held off for a bit. Some good ole mutual pining. It's always requited even if a character doesn't realize it. There needs to be a resolution to it though. And found family. I am a sucker for found family always.

Share a random frustration:

Fandom. Just... fandom.

#things i would like to know about my fellow writers #things i'm tagged in

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podcastjam · 1 month

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Project Spotlight #4: The Ichorous Rot

Time for another project spotlight! Today, we're chatting with Sam from The Ichorous Rot.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your teammates!

@spinning-logic: Hey-o, I'm Charlie. I will be voice acting, sound editing, and assisting in some writing for our Podcast Jam entry! My first ever fiction podcast was Welcome to Night Vale (as it is for many, I'm sure), and my current favorite is pretty squarely tied with Malevolent and The Magnus Archives--though I'm truly loving Protocol too. I'm dipping my toes into hearing even more podcasts, like WOE.BEGONE and Old Gods of Appalachia. This is the first Podcast I've ever worked on, and hopefully what I learn from it will lead to creating more!

@moookar: Hi hi hello, I’m Mooo! I’m voice acting and writing. I’ve never worked on a podcast before TIR, but boy oh boy do I have lots of experience listening: WOE.BEGONE, Malevolent, and The Grotto are some of my current favorites, and I got started listening with The Magnus Archives and Dimension 20. Most of all, I’m just a fan of any speculative fiction I can get my hands on.

@gooboogy: I'm G! I do the music and some of the voice acting for The Ichorous Rot. I've been listening to audiobooks for ages and I listened to The Adventure Zone but only really started listening to audio dramas about a year ago with The Magnus Archives and Malevolent. It's not until I listened to WOE.BEGONE that I considered doing one myself! I don't have a fav podcast, but I have some fav characters such as Lucas Miller, Elias Bouchard, Kayne, and Ty Betteridge respectively. My fav genre is when Shit Gets Weird and I love it best when there's fucked up little blorbos :3

@fluxoid: Hey there! I'm Niall! I'll be doing some of the voice work for the Ichorous Rot. I've been listening to audio drama (and actual play) podcasts for over a decade now, starting with Welcome to Night Vale (of course). Current favorites are probably WOE.BEGONE and Midst, though I'm listening to many more. This is my first foray into the creative side of things and I'm excited to see where it goes!

@falloutcoys: Hello, I'm Sam! I'll be co-writing for The Ichorous Rot. I got started listening to WTNV in 2014 but really got into audio dramas when I picked up TMA in 2021. My current favorite pods have to be Midst,Not Quite Dead and WOE.BEGONE! This will be the first show I'm involved being published, but I'm writing my own passion project as well (@aboardtheichthyoid).

What's your podcast about?

Our project is set in 1880s West Virginia. Dr. Theodore Yates as he's overwhelmed in his duties as Janesville’s only doctor by a mysterious illness spreading through the town. We follow him through a combination of his own medical notes recorded on a wax cylinder, and snippets of audio following him and his best friend Alonzo as he tries to find a way to resolve The Ichorous Rot. It's a mystery that explores the effects of working class life and generational trauma through a supernatural lens.

What are you most excited about in this event?

This event has been such a great learning opportunity and way to collaborate with others! Everyone has had great ideas and we're able to bounce off each other and flesh out the story together, which is a really unique experience.

Any advice for other participants, or those on the fence about joining?

If you've been on the fence about joining, go for it! This is a really fun experience and it has the lowest possible stakes. Worst case scenario, you've met some great people and learned about producing a podcast. Best case scenario, you make an episode you're really proud of that grows into something much bigger.

While this team is no longer looking for new members, you can follow their project here on Tumblr @theichorousrot. Additionally, with a couple days left to sign up, there's still time to join the fun and work on a Podcast Jam project yourself - find out more information here!

#project spotlight #podcast jam #audio drama #fiction podcast #pbc podcast jam

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sunyot · 1 month

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Must See T.V. Moments - Invincible 2024

*****SPOILERS for SEASON 2: EPISODE 6*****

I'm in my T.V. Phase now...

*******I MEAN IT. SPOILERS AHEAD******

The 'parasitic alien' remains a classic Super Hero villain. My personal first introduction to this villain came from watching Batman Beyond. In a two-episode Saga, Terry gets the opportunity to fight alongside The Justice League of his era. Naturally, he finds discord only to discover... well you get the idea.

This concept plays on one of our fears as people: being controlled. As gamers, we're so used to being puppetiers. Yet imagine Being the puppet. Imagine further maintaining a small hint of consciousness; an out of body experience where you watch your every action taking place. We might wonder if we'd still feel pain? Would we feel anything at all? The parasite would probably have a total lack of self-preservation, and that scares us.

This show still reigns as one of the best-written shows on television. Robert Kirkman handles tension so well. I'm avoiding reading the comics, but when I see an episode as good as this one it's very tempting. The series integrates so many layers, adding a density to the storytelling. Amazing story craft like this, in my opinion, is the cause of fiction withdrawal. I know the feeling well.

Sometimes, a series feels like it's speaking to you personally. It becomes a drug that taps directly into your veins. I keep a list of shows on my phone that give me this feeling. Maybe one day I'll share them. Really, I keep them to remind myself which shows give me the true feeling I'm searching for. I do this in the hopes of limiting my sometimes lengthy searches for new entertainment.

Let's start with the obvious.

Do you Ship 'Mark X Amber' or 'Invincible X Atom Eve'?

Fans of the series remain vocal about their preferences. And I get it. They prefer for Mark to spend the majority of his time as Invincible, the superhero. They want to see him at his most powerful, going on adventures, fighting alongside a crew, and receiving the admiration of beautiful potential partners. Seeing Mark in a more ordinary human life could feel less fun. And Amber is, in a way, a representation of that. Her groundedness reminds Mark, and the audience, that he's still just a guy. This can cause conflict between the audience and certain characters. Protagonists often serve a cathartic outlets for viewers. Fans of Twilight want to see the quiet, studious, normal young lady swept up into an extraordinary series of events. Seeing someone like themselves, allows them to live vicariously through the plot.

Likewise, superheroes serve as one of our culture's best self-insert fantasies...

This is good. This is healthy, I'd argue. Being able to explore yourself in an idealized fashion can help people create fragments of identity which can sometimes become the sparks of our moral centers. All that said, writers like Kirkman, understand that stitching these fantasies to universal human experiences are what make them memorable. It's the filtering of the wild through the boring that make our stories sing.

In real life, we have relationship problems. We screw up. We do poorly in school. We fail at our obligations time and time again, while the world forces us to push onward because our obligations are always with us. As Mark continues to try and do the right thing, his humanity outshines his Viltrumite heritage.

*****SPOILERS for SEASON 2: EPISODE 6*****

Rexsplosion reads Home Decor Magazines - Invincible 2024

"I actually thought Rex died..."

This series plays with tension brilliantly. It also avoids having too many moments of relief. When the immediate danger fades, the characters still live in a state of worry. They're always waiting for the other shoe to drop. We learn something quirky about Rex, but only because he almost died. This semi-sweet moment humanizes him, yet emphasizes the ominous nature of the series. Our heroes have to take their happy moments when they can get them. The Team, now scattered, became a question mark. This world cannot afford uncertainty surrounding its heroes. We saw their near demise in Mark's absence.

And with a few quick scenes of Mark's loved ones, we're of where he's most vulnerable.

This brings me to my favorite aspect of the episode:

- The Fiction inside the fiction -

This will always be one of my favorite methods of storytelling. Seeing characters in fiction read or watch their own fiction lets us see how they relate to their world. Sometimes it's done through myths and legends. Sometimes in other clever ways...

When Mark receives a box of science fiction stories (stories written by his father) we are able to more directly relate to the character.

This look of wonder and skepticism on his face. This is all of us...

My father introduced me to Star Wars. He had the original trilogy on VHS tapes. He recorded the movies when one of the major networks aired them without commercials. I wore those tapes out, watching until my imagination expanded to the vastness of any epic tale; spilling over into my daily life sunshine I could carry in my pockets.

At this moment in the show, I am Mark. I'm sitting on my bed, hearing my father's voice as the story plays out on the pages and in my mind. And I'd wager, I'm not the only one.

In dramatic fashion, we now get to go on the journey inside this new universe. This fiction within a fiction is crucial as it becomes the notion of creation from the perspective of beings we know to be created. How funny is that. Funnier still, to Mark this tale plays as cinema. Whereas to us, it's still animated; which is a wild concept when thinking of sentience.

Even the title 'The Man with the Invincible Gun' ...feels like foreshadowing to me.

*****SPOILERS for SEASON 2: EPISODE 6*****

I'm sure most of you caught on quick, realizing that these stories are based on Mark's Father's real adventures. I think it's funny seeing a character like Mark, superhero, space traveler, one of the strongest beings in the Universe, forget all that, and lose himself in the story. Again, this character trait displays Mark's humanity. Of course, he eventually realizes that these stories are far from lore.

Knowing his father, it's probably safe to assume these were not heroic journeys of an idealistic space explorer. More than likely they were unsuccessful Viltrumite invasions of unsuspecting alien inhabitants. I also think we'll at some point get to meet some of these aliens and learn the truth of these encounters. But still, it's fun to dream.

This episode makes me want to read a good book...

It also makes me want to write. It's been a while since I've done that either.

A few more things. Seeing the Seth Rogan alien makes me wonder when I'm going to be able to hear him as his own character because every time he talks, all I hear is Seth Rogan. His is the only character that does that to me. I'm hoping my brain eventually adjusts.

Also, let's readdress the title screen.

What does it mean this season? In Season 1, the answer felt obvious. The blood splattered across the title showed the surprising violence of the heroes world, which slowly dragged Mark deeper into its depths. In this season, the classic 'Invincible' logo cracks away to reveal a red one.

What's the meaning, I wonder. Mark might be one bad event away from turning into Omniman, a true Viltrumite warrior, like the Mark of the other Universe. And speaking of other Universes...

Our friend Giant-Brain-Outside-My-Body-Man returns to get a bespoke suit from a tailor with four arms.

This tells me that no matter the universe, timeline, or year, nothing feels better than wearing a fresh new suit. We also get to see him do a little multi-dimensional hopping.

I wonder which Universe this could be...

Cryston

#sunyot #sunyotmedia #invincible #nolan grayson #omni man #debbie grayson #invincible show #viltrumite #amazon #amazon prime #amazon prime video #prime video #robert kirkman #tv stills #steven yeun #invincible season 2 #invincible spoilers

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avocado-ramen · 5 months

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My Tybalt Exposition

I read somewhere (likely on Twitter, but no guarantees) about people getting really upset with the depiction of Tybalt in the two most recent October Daye novels (Sleep No More and The Innocent Sleep) which cover the same events, one from October's POV, the other from Tybalt's. This is the first time there's been another narrator in the October Daye series outside of short stories/novellas.

That original poster said that while they saw Tybalt's behaviour as problematic in Sleep No More, they had hoped that The Innocent Sleep, since told from his point of view, would clarify matters and perhaps 'redeem' his character. They went on to say that The Innocent Sleep made it much worse, and (I am completely paraphrasing here, I read this weeks ago and no longer have those posts available for reference) that Tybalt was basically abusive trash. If I recall correctly, they toed the line with calling the author a DV sympathizer/apologizer, but it was a near thing.

Even if I remembered where that original post was, I wouldn’t link to it, because I don’t want to bring attention to what they said, nor do I want to risk people piling onto them as is common when people feel like an IP they love is being attacked in any way. I’d rather just make an entirely too long post explaining my own views, and possibly rambling too much and make no sense – because that’s what I do. 😊

As I’ve now finished The Innocent Sleep, I felt the need to get some thoughts down to address some of the things brought forward in that post/thread/whatever I read just after The Innocent Sleep was released.

The author: people need to realise that these books are FICTION. The bonus of writing fiction is that you can safely explore troublesome parts of humanity and society without actually agreeing with those troublesome things.

A significant portion of the books I read have murder happening either on page or off screen in the first few pages because the mystery of a dead body gives the protagonist something to do. Do I think these authors all believe that people should be able to go around killing each other just for fun? No. So why on earth would people think an author including any other kind of violence in their work approves of that violence? This could be it’s own post, and many others have made this point much better than I ever will. Tybalt’s behavior in Sleep No More: We are seeing Tybalt through October’s eyes. Sure, we as readers are privy to the previous 16 books worth of information (even more if we’ve read all the shorts and novellas), but at this point in time, October doesn’t know Tybalt. She’s never seen a Cait Sidhe. She doesn’t know anything about them aside from what Titania’s illusion tells her. From this framing, Tybalt comes across as brash, angry, controlling, and violent. He has a tendency to storm off if things aren’t going his way. To October, Tybalt’s behaviour is completely out of line, and she’d be correct – from everything she knows at this point. Tybalt’s behaviour in The Innocent Sleep: One thing people need to remember before they start applying present-day human morality to Tybalt is that he is not human. At all. He’s fae. Cait Sidhe. He is both a cat and a humanoid, but he is not, and has never been, human. One of the things the author has reiterated time and time again is that both the fae as a whole, and Cait Sidhe specifically, live by an entirely different set of rules than humanity does. Titania hates the Cait Sidhe because she believes they are beasts and below the perfection of her other descendant lines like the Daione Sidhe. As much as Titania is the villain, she’s not entirely wrong. First and foremost, the Cait Sidhe are cats. When backed into a corner, they’re going to lash out. If they’re stressed, or hurt, etc., they’re going to lash out. It’s what they do. I have the scars from my own cats to prove it.

Tybalt knows he is barely in control of his emotions. He freely admits that, and the fact that he at times needs to walk away before he lashes out and does something he’ll regret, which I feel is smart and responsible of him.

Tybalt’s attack on Ginevra in the throne room in Golden Shore is excessive. And it’s meant to be. It’s completely unexpected and jarring in Sleep No More when seen from October’s point of view. In The Innocent Sleep, being in Tybalt’s head, while still a severe overreaction to a situation he wasn’t paying attention to and therefore didn’t have full context of, it is completely in line for how a) a cat would react, and b) how a Cait Sidhe king would react when they believe someone has attacked/injured/wronged someone that ‘belongs’ to them. Does that make it right? No. And Tybalt himself shows as much shame as his position allows when he sees Ginevra at dinner. Do I think Tybalt is an abusive asshole that needs to be shunned, killed off, or whatever other over the top reaction people have had? No. And no, that doesn’t mean I approve of his behaviour or think he should face no repercussions. But context means a lot. I can see when his behaviour is completely in character for his species and title, while also admitting when he’s crossed a line. The benefit of an ongoing series is that it is quite possible that Tybalt will face the fallout of his behaviour in Book 19, or even further. I don’t expect everything to be wrapped up in a perfect bow at the end of each book. None of the characters in these books is perfect (with the exception of Spike, Cagney, and Lacey), and if the author can foreshadow some of the things we’ve seen in Book 16 way back in Book 1, then we can believe she’s got plans for them for Book 19 and beyond.

This is the same author that took one of the most loathsome characters and made me want to wrap him in wool and protect him at all costs (ok, I still want to shake him now and again), to the point that I named my new kitten after him. Please, admire Simon “The Tiny Terror”.

#Seanan McGuire #The Innocent Sleep #Sleep No More #October Daye #Tybalt #Books #my cat

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suzannahnatters · 1 year

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Trope Talk #1: Enemies to Lovers: A Deeper Dive

Reports of my death have been exaggerated, but not greatly. While I was in bed for a week lately, roleplaying a Victorian invalid, I watched a YouTube doing a deep dive on the enemies to lovers trope. While it was really fun seeing her break down subtropes (hate to love, rivals to lovers, reluctant allies, villain romance, and more - all of which I adore), I found myself somewhat disappointed by her attempt to discuss the deeper issues surrounding the trope. Like, yes: a lot of people enjoy things in fiction that they would not enjoy IRL and mature readers CAN distinguish between fantasy and reality...but also the media we consume DOES shape us, not all readers ARE as mature as we'd like to think, and while this trope can be executed in a way that's not problematic, it can also be executed in a way that is. Even if we wouldn't all personally draw the line between toxic and healthy in precisely the same place, I think that line does objectively exist. So, here are some of the ways I've subjectively drawn that line in my personal writing and reading when it comes to this trope...

SOME WAYS OF DOING ETL RIGHT

1. Not everyone is going to agree as to what's healthy and what's not, and it's important to listen to others.

Some are going to be mad at me for loving this trope at all, and some are going to be mad at me for thinking that one still needs to exercise judgement and that not everything goes, but hear me out. As a writer, the harder you go with this trope, the more divided your audience will be. Given that we all tend to draw the lines in different places, I think that listening to each other and discussing the reasons behind our own preferences and choices is going to help all of us understand the stakes, avoid hurting or triggering readers who have trauma from toxic relationships, and extend grace to storytellers who don't make the same decisions we would. And we shouldn't be defensive that this is necessary. ETL is actually a fairly new and under-explored trope, which I think is part of why it can be so divisive, especially in a post-#MeToo landscape where a lot of us are starting to rethink the controlling men and helpless women in pairings we've been conditioned to see as romantic. Meanwhile, as an author with a deep love for this trope, I hope that posts like this will help more cautious readers to understand that writing about dark and spiky relationships doesn't necessarily mean romanticising abusive behaviour. Either way, I've benefited from listening in humility and I truly think my stories are better for it.

2. Remember that evil is not misunderstood.

If you'll be writing ETL, then you need to decide early on if the love interest is evil or just misunderstood, and be careful to write him accordingly and be honest about it. If the love interest literally goes around killing innocent people, deal with that. That's evil, that's not (just) a traumatic childhood. On the other hand, if the love interest is antagonistic because of a misunderstanding, but is a fundamentally decent person deep down, he probably wouldn't casually slap the heroine around or otherwise act like a jerk. One mistake I used to see a lot of writers making (less often these days) is trying to convince me that some loathsome jerk is just misunderstood. No, if he's been doing bad things, don't try to explain his guilt away. Confront it head on.

THE LAST JEDI was my gateway drug to ETL precisely because I'd never seen this trope done so beautifully and so uncompromisingly: when Rey is forced to face the fact that the boy she likes is unrepentantly evil, she refuses to join him, explodes him and gets out of there. Ben isn't ready to seek repentance yet; he's a proud, if wavering, villain. Because the movie was absolutely honest about the evil within Ben, I was able to genuinely hope Rey might confront that evil and exorcise it, instead of being gaslit into thinking it was all right.

By contrast, in the very Bluebeard-vibes kdrama MASK, the love interest believes he's responsible for the death of his late fiancee and is being manipulated by the villain into thinking he's criminally insane. As a result, he believes that he's going to kill the heroine, his new wife. Physical touch and dirt are both triggers for him, too, and what the audience sees as a trauma response comes across to the heroine as strong hostility. He tells the heroine he is going to kill her, and she believes him, but the truth is that he dreads it as much as she does. This is a really beautifully done form of misunderstanding. Just remember that to be believable, misunderstandings need to be resolved fairly quickly.

3. Enemies doesn't need to mean hatred or toxicity.

While hate to love is a valid subtrope - especially in contexts where the characters aren't literally trying to kill each other, like in a contemporary romcom - ETL does NOT need to involve toxicity. There's a difference between ordering the assassination of an enemy, versus strangling your wife to terrorise her into obedience; both are bad, but only the latter is classic domestic violence, which casts doubt on any "HEA". Enemies need not hate or even abuse each other to be at odds; they may feel deep personal respect for a worthy opponent, who just happens to be ideologically committed to an opposing cause and therefore duty bound to antagonise the other. Personally, these characters may like, respect, or even passionately love each other - but thanks to duty, they're obliged to thwart each other.

A favourite example of this is Nikita and Michael from the spy show NIKITA. The pair started out as master and pupil before becoming coworkers for a rogue government agency, Division. Now Nikita has gone rogue herself and is working to bring down Division. She knows that Michael is still hanging in there for several reasons - he still believes Division serves his country, he's been skilfully manipulated by the head of the agency, and above all he feels the need to protect Division's young agents who are increasingly exploited by them. Nikita still has respect for Michael because of all these things and because he's the man who trained her to be as awesome as she is - and because she's his best student, Michael returns the sentiment and still goes out of his way to protect her, even as he's trying to hunt her down. Midway through the season, Nikita tries to protect Michael by preventing him from taking out the man who once killed his family - at which point Michael's view of Nikita sours. But she never stops respecting him and he's still willing to work with her when necessary to protect his agents. Throw in some mad chemistry and you've got the ingredients for a perfect ETL situation - although it has some hostility from Michael's side, it's never without that solid core of care and respect for each other. This is what makes the romance work, of course; all romances need a good reason for the character to care about each other.

4. Remember that ETL is a fundamentally transformative relationship.

This builds on my first point. In ETL, unless there's a valid misunderstanding at play, there are probably moral/ethical differences between the characters. Thus, a huge part of your romance needs to be about resolving those differences, usually for the better. In other words (unless you're really into a corruption arc for the protagonist), the villainous/antagonistic character needs to genuinely repent and change, and we need that change to be demonstrated convincingly in story. At this stage, then, a good ETL story becomes about character growth, which means that it cannot be rushed. If the love interest has genuinely been evil, then he needs to change and prove it.

LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL is a great example of a transformative ETL story. At the beginning of the drama, Dongfang Qingcang is a terrifying evil overlord who has frozen his emotions, killed his own father to rise to power, mastered hellfire magic and terrorised the three realms. As the story unfolds we do learn that there are some misunderstandings: Dongfang's father is the one who destroyed his emotions and forced him as a child to kill him, as well as instilling in him the fear that his people will be destroyed unless he conquers their enemies. But, this doesn't make Dongfang's villainy okay. Even after his emotions have been reawoken by our adorable heroine he still needs to realise that invading her homeland is not the right way to say thank you. By the end of the story we see that Dongfang is indeed a changed overlord. It takes a while, but it is believable.

5. Related, the characters should be a match for each other, especially when it comes to power and to morals.

I think a lot of the objections to ETL and villain romance pairings come from a perceived mismatch between the two characters: a weak person with a stronger person, or a pure and good person with a despicable manipulative blackguard. I think that it's always a good idea to balance this out. If your story begins with the love interest kidnapping your heroine to be his queen, why not let your heroine run a coup and replace him on the throne - right when he least expects it? The fact that your heroine is willing to get her hands dirty when it comes to this antagonist is not just delicious drama - it's also evidence that the two of them have more in common than they might think, and that in a longterm relationship she won't have any problems standing up to him. Alternately, if your heroine is going to remain pure and good throughout, she should probably be a match for the villain in terms of power, however that is measured in your story (and it can be a totally different sort of power than the villain wields). One of the most delicious things when watching any villain fall in love is finding the one woman whom he's absolutely helpless before.

I think Holly Black did this really well in the FOLK OF THE AIR trilogy. At first, Jude is a powerless mortal in the deadly fae court, and Cardan is the fae prince who delights in tormenting her. Jude proves herself far more cunning and ruthless than Cardan as she maneuvers the two of them into power as reluctant allies. It's clear that what Jude lacks in magic she makes up for in sharp intelligence and will to survive, and her ability to find a happy ending hinges on her ability to let down her guard and be vulnerable to Cardan. On the other end of the scale, Beauty and the Beast in most of its incarnations is about two kind people who want different things for sympathetic reasons, so that even though Beauty is held captive by the Beast we can understand the Beast's desperation to break his curse (and the Disney animated classic makes his motivations even more sympathetic by imposing a rapidly narrowing window of opportunity in which to do so). The Beast is truly gentle, and Belle is just spirited enough to snap back at him when he snaps at her. Both these stories work because the lovers are fundamentally a match.

6. Be creative.

There are all sorts of ways to create that delicious see-saw between "I adore you" and "I am going to kill you". The kdrama THE MASK, as mentioned above, uses the hero's mental health in an incredibly respectful way to create a sense of antagonism. The kdrama FLOWER OF EVIL does something similar. In Megan Spooner's absolutely incendiary SHERWOOD, there's a scene where the love interest goes from nearly killing the protagonist to tenderly embracing and caring for her within the very same chapter. Normally this would be the red flag to end all red flags, but it doesn't work that way here. How did Spooner manage it? Simple. The love interest doesn't know that the outlaw Robin Hood, whom he's trying to capture, is actually the same person as Maid Marian, the fair lady he's in love with - and when a quick costume change takes our heroine from one persona to another, the love interest's behaviour changes too. The emotional rollercoaster is real - but only for her.

7. There doesn't need to be a HEA.

I know, a lot of you are going to be up in arms about this, but it's true. Sometimes, especially in a straight up villain romance, the villain shouldn't get the girl. Maybe that's because she wants someone else, maybe it's because he's too manipulative and evil to be convincing as a long term relationship. But, let me frame it like this: why limit yourself just to writing the viable romances? There's a lot of good fun that can be got out of unviable romances too. You may not feel comfortable settling down with the villain, but that doesn't mean he can't be kissed :3

For example, in THE RINGS OF POWER the showrunners did something I never expected and gave Sauron himself a little crush on his greatest nemesis, Galadriel. The final episode, as he revealed his true identity and did his level best to manipulate her into joining him to rule Middle Earth, put joy into the souls of fangirls everywhere. It also caused a whole lot of people to clutch their pearls for some reason which remains opaque to me. After all, Tolkien was the man who wrote Eol, Maeglin, Wormtongue, and that moment when Morgoth himself was perving on Luthien Tinuviel. That aside, this is never going to be a viable match. Galadriel is married and hates Sauron's guts and Sauron is still a manipulative snake whose plans for healing Middle Earth involve him ruling as its lord and master, hopefully with Galadriel at his side. Galadriel doesn't fall for it for a second, which is one of the very things that makes this kind of story so incredibly satisfying to me. The fact that she won't succumb to his manipulation and temptation is incredibly empowering. As in THE LAST JEDI, the ball is in Sauron's court as to whether he changes to deserve her. And of course he won't - not just because he goes on to become the Lord of the Rings of Barad-dûr but more importantly because he never loved Galadriel for who she is but because of the way she made him feel, powerful and purposeful.

Not all villain romances need to end this way, of course, because some villains are capable of change. I think this is what makes Reylo viable where Haladriel is not. While Sauron and Galadriel each appeal to the EVIL in each other, Rey appeals to the good in Ben; he meanwhile desires the Light in her. This is why her refusal does ultimately prompt him to change, although of course the story's resolution was massively bungled in THE RISE OF SKYWALKER.

8. Love should be what the villain needs - but not what he wants.

It's hard to make absolute rules when it comes to any artistic choice, but this is probably the closest I come when dealing with this trope: because there should be consequences for the love interest's misdeeds, especially when it comes to the heroine. I call this the POTO rule: if the love interest wants the heroine romantically or sexually abuses her, he should not be rewarded by getting her. Enemies to lovers may fight over anything by any means, but not over romantic or sexual possession of each other. If the villain becomes a villain in order to possess the heroine, then a HEA for them involves giving him exactly what he wanted and thereby justifying his bad behaviour. Mind you, this doesn't mean the love interest can never want the heroine on some level; if he did not then this would not be a romance. We're talking about his most fundamental motivation and his most important story goal. She should not be either of them; she should be a distraction, an impediment to them.

This is simply good writing sense. Enemies to lovers normally implies a positive change arc for the love interest. Every good positive change arc involves a character who Wants one thing, say, to rule the world; but Needs something totally different - the capacity to make peace through compassion, say. Such characters may or may not get what they Want, depending on how good it is for them and the people around them, but they'll always get what they Need. This is why I think ETL works best when the heroine herself is the thing the antagonist doesn't know he Needs. As an enemy, and even more so if he's a villain, he's likely to be unscrupulous in getting what he Wants, and he shouldn't get her for the same reasons that characters often don't get what they Want. Think about it: the villain probably needs some hard consequences for what he's done. He can get them, *and also get the girl*, but only as long as the girl isn't the motivation for his crimes.

{How does this fit with the "stolen bride" genre of story, usually a fairytale? Do I disapprove of those on principle? Mm, no. If the bride was stolen primarily because the kidnapper claimed to have a romantic or sexual attraction to her, I might object. But there's usually some other motivation. He wants to break a curse; he wants to annex her kingdom; he wants to keep her out of his enemies' hands; he might have been ordered to marry her by someone he dares not cross, or bound by an ancient custom; in any case he ought not to be personally motivated to control or possess her. This is one of those grey areas where lines blur and it's wise to listen and be careful because so many real women have been trapped in marriages to real live villains; but the thing is very doable under the right circumstances.}

I call this the POTO rule because it was inspired by THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. In this story, Erik is obsessed with Christine to the point where romantic and sexual possession of her drives everything he does. He kills, manipulates, and gaslights everyone at the Paris Opera in an attempt to win Christine's heart, and ultimately he's willing to threaten to kill the man Christine truly loves in order to get the thing he Wants: Christine's hand in marriage. Now, I know a lot of you ship this pairing and I'm not going to scold you for it; maybe you ship them the way I ship Haladriel, loving the relationship without thinking it should end in a HEA, or perhaps you think Christine can fix Erik through some genuinely transformative plotline, or maybe you just want Erik to get what he wants even though it's messed up, and whatever it is I hope you have fun with it. But personally, from the perspective of a published author with a sense of responsibility to my readers, I really think the story ended in the best possible way. Erik doesn't get what he Wants (Christine) but he does get what he Needs (a transformative moment of transcendent compassion that enables him to act in a truly loving manner, by letting Christine go).

So, most of the time, I think it's wisest if the heroine is what the love interest doesn't know he Needs. Again, LOVE BETWEEN FAIRY AND DEVIL does this SO well. Dongfang Qingcang doesn't have time for love - emotionless and too busy Evil Overlording, he's never been in love before. So, when he's saddled with an adorable, dimwitted flower fairy, he can't wait to break the spell that links them together so that he can kill her and get on with his villainous plans. When her emotions begin to infect him, he can't help falling in love with her, even though he fights it every single step of the way. She's absolutely not what he Wants, but she is everything he Needs to thaw his frozen heart and teach him to act with compassion and empathy. Even though he spends much of the series planning to kill her, the HEA doesn't strike me as being Problematique the way that an Erik/Christine HEA would be - because a HEA with Orchid represents the moral growth that Dongfang needs, rather than the selfish desire he wants.

9. Maybe the villain's HEA is with someone else.

This doesn't mean a villain is irredeemable or shouldn't get a HEA. It just might mean that his HEA is with someone else. (Unless he's actually a rapist. Then just light the man on fire.) Erik shouldn't get Christine because he's done so much evil in order to possess her. But, once she's broken through to him to show him compassion, he might be ready to learn to love and to make amends for his past crimes...perhaps with someone else.

This was a huge part of the inspiration for the character of Vasily in my Bête Epoque stories. He does something which traumatises the heroine so much, there's no realistic HEA for them. Like Christine, she forgives him anyway, even in the midst of betrayal. And like Erik, he finds he's unable to go through with his villainous plans. She gets her HEA with somebody else, but I found myself with this incredibly compelling character whom a lot of people were pulling for. Vasily has already learned a huge lesson through having loved and lost my first heroine - so when he meets my second heroine, even though in a lot of ways he's still a treacherous monster, he's able to start afresh, and do better, with someone far more resilient who holds far greater power over him.

10. Individual characters will need individual things.

Finally, I think it's necessary to use judgement based on the individual characters and what they need. This is another reason why it's so difficult to make hard and fast rules here. For instance, I said that if the enemy sexually assaults the heroine he should forgo any hope of a HEA with her. But I think we've all seen romances that involve, say, some dubiously consensual kissing, which we can understand the kissee forgiving. By the same token, the act which disqualifies my character Vasily from his first HEA is not sexual assault but something which is coded that way within the story world, and experienced that way by the heroine (vampire bite). The fact that it's not literally sexual assault is what makes it possible for Vasily to get a romantic second chance, but the fact that it is figurative sexual assault is one of the main things that decided me against a HEA the first time. So, I think that whether you're a writer or reader, it's important to exercise judgement based not just on the things that are obvious, but also on less obvious things like the characters' specific needs, the thematic symbolism of the story world, and more.

So those are my best ETL writing guidelines - and again, this is only what works for me! I think it's really hard to make hard and fast rules for any artistic work, but from thinking about what works for me and what doesn't, these are some of the lines I've drawn for myself. If you're reading this, I hope it provokes some helpful thoughts :-)

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hopefuloverfury · 5 months

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maybe a weird ask, but what do you think the bachelors/ettes superpowers would be?

Imagining the marriage candidates with some kind of ability was both super fun and also a pain in the ass. I didn’t want to go the obvious route with anyone, and I also didn’t want to make any of them into an actual superhero, so, under the assumption that they exist in a world where everyone is super-powered in some way or another, I came up with these. I also made sure that they all had some kind of drawback or a “catch” of some kind, so they wouldn’t be completely broken powers.

I don't think there are any necessary warnings this time. Enjoy!

Sam

Everyone’s favorite golden retriever boy gets Instrument Manipulation. It’s the kind of power that does exactly what it says on the tin. Sam can manipulate instruments, but unlike Musical Mastery, for example, Sam is only able to use this ability to play on instruments he’s already familiar with. We know he can play the guitar and the drums, but he wouldn’t be able to use this ability to play the violin, or something. He could probably use it to bash someone up the head with one, though.

Sebastian

Before anyone gets excited—we’ve only got room for one sorcerer in Pelican Town, and that’s Rasmodius. With that in mind, Sebastian’s superpower is Cyber Presence. The ability to exist within cyberspace, and effectively exist everywhere, all at once—as long as there’s some level of technology in that area. Whether it be a global computer network, radar or security systems, or even satellites, Sebastian would be given the freedom to enter and exist in the cyber world at his own will. However, if any of the devices have a virus of some kind, it will affect his physical form and could potentially harm or otherwise “alter” him.

Alex

You’d think he’d get something like super strength or super speed, but I think Alex would get the most use out of Enhanced Stamina. He’d be able to practice gridball for hours to days without tiring, and he’d have no issues with helping around the farm for as long as he needed to. If you chose to have children in the future, I imagine he could keep up with the kiddos without breaking a sweat either. This wouldn’t be an absolute thing—he would get tired eventually, but he’d last a while. A few days of uninterrupted activity, at most, but he'd never go that long. Granny Evelyn still worries, you know!

Elliott

Literary Travel allows the user to effectively “dimension hop” between different works of fiction. Elliott can act as himself in these fictional worlds, but cannot affect the plotline or the outcome of whatever story is being told. He would also only be able to hop into these fictional works while touching the physical medium(books, movie CDs, etc.). Elliott would use this ability in a myriad of ways, but as a man who’s constantly wrapped up in the dramatics and whimsy of life, I think he’d use it most often as a form of escapism. He’d have a limit for how much time he could spend in alternate realities, and his escapades would always be dreamlike. It would allow him the freedom to explore those places, but it wouldn’t deteriorate his perception of his reality, which I think is important.

Shane

I want him to be able to speak to his chickens, so Shane gets Zoolingualism. He wouldn’t be able to speak the language of an animal that’s gone extinct, but he can speak to every other animal with ease as long as meets a member of that species once. Unlike Marnie, who can perfectly replicate and mimic animal sounds and literally speak their language, Shane communicates in a more intangible way. Rather, he speaks to the animal, and the intentions, emotions, and thoughts are injected into the animal’s brain. The opposite is also true for him. He comes off as a bit anti-social to the people who meet him, mostly because he spends all of his time in the barn communicating with the animals instead of the humans outside. Chickens are safer.

Harvey

I thought about giving him Flight because I’m an asshole, but eventually I decided against it. Instead, Dial allows Harvey to speed up or slow down an individual’s healing by manipulating a patient’s cells. Harvey can accelerate the healing process by quite a fair margin, and after so many years of mastery, he’s completely abandoned stitches because he can seal any wound closed on his own. Further, if he were setting someone’s fractured limb, their time with a cast would be severely shortened by using his ability. However, he can not immediately cure any or all ailments, and using his ability for long periods of time will give him body aches. He may go too far or push himself a little too hard, and his body has shown the effects of that in recent years. He’s not able to bounce back as quickly as he used to.

Maru

You may have thought that I’d go with something obvious like Absolute Intelligence or whatever, but we all know intelligence isn’t Maru’s lack, so let’s ignore her brains for a moment and shift gears. Interstellar Projection would fit her best. Being able to project herself through the infinite cosmos and visit the trillions of solar systems she’s only ever been able to see fuzzy glimpses of through her telescope would be a dream come true for her. However, because she is a human and could not survive in the vacuum of space without substantial protection, she would only be able to project her consciousness into space—not her physical form.

Penny

Telekinesis is Penny’s superpower. I think due to her responsibilities and her personal interests, being able to interact with objects without ever laying a finger on them would make a ton of things easier for her. Washing dishes, cleaning her home, cleaning up the library table after teaching the children, and reading would all be far simpler for her. Her emotions would affect it, however, so if she and Pam ever got into a heated argument in the trailer, their belongings might start levitating. She can manipulate inanimate objects, but cannot manipulate living things. She couldn’t make Vincent float, for example.

Abigail

I considered Invulnerability and Weapons Mastery for Abigail, but I think both of those would kill her enjoyment of swordsmanship and adventuring. So instead, I think she would get the most use out of Tactical Analysis. With the ability to see the perfect course of action when going head to head with a floor full of powerful monsters, I imagine she’d be one hell of an adventurer, but she’d still have to train her ass off to succeed with the kinds of plans her brain comes up with.

Haley

Charisma isn’t something Haley struggles with, but I think it’s an ability that fits her best. Being wealthy, popular, and having an ability to charm people would have contributed heavily to her developing a conceited and selfish personality, but after she expands her worldview and loses her superficial tendencies, I think she’d use her ability for good. If you’ve seen her heart event after getting married, you know exactly what I’m talking about. However, this ability’s effectiveness wears off the better you know her, and doesn’t have any effect on people she’s related to by blood, so it doesn’t work on Emily, and it stopped working on Alex a long time ago.

Leah

Leah’s ability is Foresight. Being a mix of Wisdom, Future Vision, Fate Sight, and Analytical Precognition, Leah has the ability to see a short distance into the future. Her ability takes the form of visions, lasting anywhere from a few seconds to a minute long. They are usually random, but if she focuses on herself very carefully, she can induce a vision. The ones that she doesn’t call forward are far more pressing and require more of her attention. Namely, a few visions in the months leading up to the end of her abusive relationship with Kel(y’all know how I feel about them), and even some regarding the Farmer’s appearance in the valley. She always has a pretty nasty migraine after a vision though, and needs to hold warm or cold compresses against her eyes to soothe the aching.

Emily

Emily was a toss up between a few powers, but eventually I settled on Omnilingualism. This ability allows the individual to speak all human languages fluently. Emily has a few cutscenes and lines in-game that make it clear that she isn’t lacking in the supernatural department, but her most notable characteristic is her immense kindness and empathy. Her desire to help others is admirable, and so I gave her this ability in the hopes that it would make it easier for her to offer aid to a plethora of different people. However, she’d only be able to speak a language after formally meeting a person who spoke it, so she couldn’t learn any dead languages.

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