#thank you for following me despite the irregularity

[reobsessed]

Guiding My Heart

Pairing: Tav X Astarion, Reader X Astarion. Gender neutral. Content/Content Warning: Panic attacks, anxiety, fluff, hurt, comfort, kissing, 2200 words. Summary: You'd finally made it to Baldur's Gate, unfortunately the city overwhelmed you in ways you hadn't considered possible. Astarion finds you panic stricken, hiding beneath a bridge. He does his best to comfort you and guide you through the sunset streets back to camp. Author's Note: Hi guys thank you so much for the love on my last fic! Wanted to do a comfort anxiety fic, so please bear in mind panic attacks are depicted in here. Thank you again to Suri for the wonderful reads and edits!

The chance to regain your bearings never came, as you were flushed down the street by a torrent of people. You watched with garbled breaths as your companions navigated them easily, all while you were pushed back further.

Heart pumping, nerve tingling desperation took hold of you; the kind you’d only ever felt during the heat of battle. It was fight or flight, as you ducked into a bricked out dead end.

Were you dying? Your chest pounded and ached as though you were dying. Upon examining yourself, there was scarcely a wound to be seen. Checking yourself over for injuries only heightened your fear. What if it was poison? 

The numbing weakness in your legs grew, you clutched the wall for support. 

“Darling, darling? Whatever is the matter?” The sweet words of your lover filled the hollow of the underpass. 

You could only respond in the form of irregular gasps. Fingers, slender and cold, held steadfast to your waist. You gave up control and allowed them to lower you onto a nearby crate. He crouched down beside you and pried your balled up fist away from your heart, replacing your hand with his own. 

“Did something frighten you, my dear?” His forehead crinkled with concern, before being undercut by an attempt at humour. “I’ve only ever heard it beat that fast for me, but I suspect this time I’m not the cause.” He shot you a reassuring smile, belied by a tremble in his voice.

“Started panicking. Don’t know why,” you choked.

He looked at you sympathetically, before rising to his feet. “Won’t be a moment my dear, stay here.” And with that he ran off, back the way you came. You could hear murmurings outside. Those of your partner’s hurried reassurance and that of your companions, voices raised with concern and inquisition.

The voices began to die down, as did the palpitations in your heart. Astarion rounded the corner back towards you, but slowed his approach upon seeing your distress. He moved gracefully and feline, as if you were prey not to be disturbed.

You looked behind him worriedly, but were relieved when none of your other companions followed behind. They didn’t need to see you like this. You didn’t want them to see you like this. Ideally you didn’t want anybody here, but if it were to be anyone you were glad it was him.

“Now then.” He crouched down beside you, dabbing your forehead with a frilled cloth. Cooling relief washed over you as he held the palm of his hand against your temple.

“Feels good,” you sighed, leaning into his touch.

“Ah yes, I thought that might help. You’re terribly warm.”

His gentle touch and the soothing cadence of his voice were enough to calm you, but the unpleasant tingle of your limbs persisted, as did your erratic breathing.

“Sorry for all of this, Astarion.”

“For what?” he mumbled, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear.

“I don’t know what’s happening to me. You only just got back, you finally get to see it in daylight and I’m ruining it.”

“Don’t be silly! We’re hardly leaving tomorrow. I’ll have plenty of time to wander the sunlit streets.” 

Despite his reassurance, your eyes began to well. Something about the rise in his tone unsettled you and like a toddler crying over their parent’s temper, you began to sob.

“Shit,” he muttered, looking around desperately; his face an entanglement of hurt and bewilderment. “I didn’t mean to upset you, my darling.” His hands clamped over yours, desperate to provide you with any sort of comfort. “Did I do something wrong?”

You tried to speak, but all that came out were incoherent whimpers. He looked at you with panic stricken eyes, hands still holding firmly onto yours.

This wasn’t fair, he didn't know how to deal with this sort of thing. You were supposed to support him, you-

“My love.” He looked at you sincerely, a slight smile gracing his lips; one of those rare, genuine smiles, few ever got to see. “Let’s stay here a little while longer.” He planted a tender kiss on the corner of your mouth and held you close.

Tears of a new source began to flow and there was no holding them back. His fingers curled around yours; you were drowning and they were your anchor. You tried to wipe away your tears, but he wouldn’t let you.

“Gods, darling, no. Think of all that dirt and those… fluids- from your enemies I mean, not yours.” He pulled another handkerchief from his pocket (did this man just have an endless supply?) and gently, he dabbed at your eyes and cheeks.

“Thank you,” you sniffled.

“There we are.” He looked you up and down, appreciating his work. “All cleaned up! Shame about your makeup, but nothing we can’t fix.”

Red soreness blazed across your cheeks and seared your eyes with swollen intensity. A quick glance into a nearby puddle revealed the inky smear that enveloped your eyes. Gods, what a sight you were and yet he looked at you with such affection.

You lamented his hands detaching from yours, until they returned to your thigh, stroking soothing circles up and down your leg. Lodged deep within the pulsating heart of the city, you'd finally found your pocket of serenity. Unfortunately your respite was short lived as adolescent bellows converged on your hiding spot.

Astarion’s ears twitched in their direction and his face warped from one of contentment to bitter irritation.

“Oi, oi hanging out under a bridge.”

“Like a couple of lovesick trolls.”

You rolled your eyes at their childish remarks. Astarion, however, lacked the patience needed when dealing with youths. He shot them a glare so piercing, it silenced them in an instant. He was a stray cat, territorial and fierce. A non-existent hiss threatened them from the shadows and like a pair of puppies, they whimpered and scurried out of view.

“Was that really necessary?” you laughed hoarsely. 

“What? You can’t honestly expect me to sit here listening to children babbling on.”

You stifled your laughter. “You’re such an old man. You used to be like that too, you know?”

“I’ll have you know, I was never the sort.”

“I sometimes wonder about that myself,” he laughed bitterly, changing the subject. “Are you feeling better now, love?”

“Hmm, I wonder what kind of child you were.”

You closed your eyes and nodded. “We need to get back to the others.” You rose to your feet and Astarion joined you, a supportive hand on your lower back.

“Very well then, I’ll lead the way.” His fingers locked with yours as he led you back into the sunlight. He lit up literally and figuratively, his skin beaming like a pearl in the warm light and his mouth curling into a soft smile. He was truly in his element. “Which route would you prefer? We have the scenic back alleys of Baldur’s Gate and the even more picturesque sewers down below.”

“We can go the normal way. I don’t think I’ll subject you to the sewers just yet.” You smirked knowingly. Your adventure would lead you down into the sewers eventually, why wouldn’t it?

With a guiding hand he led you away from the dark alleyways and into the teeming streets. You did your best to suppress your rising panic. You focused on the prevailing scraps of nature: trickling water, rustling leaves and the painless cry of birds up above. Astarion, on the other hand, had been suspiciously quiet. You noticed how his eyes lit up with delight, as he stared across the street.

“What’s over there?” you asked.

“Huh? Oh, you mean that.” He pulled you in closer; one hand wrapped around your waist, the other still clasped in yours. He pointed across the street. “I’ve always wanted to visit the florist’s over there. The flowers have the most delightful fragrances.”

“How come you’ve never- ah.” You trailed off sadly, already knowing the answer.

“They always close before sundown. It’s rather unfortunate Cazador never let me bring anything home other than victims. A bouquet of flowers could have done wonders for that tacky little entranceway.”

“Well, we could always go together.”

“As much as I’d love to tour the city with you, you’ve had a long day. Let’s get you back to camp first, hm?”

“Okay, we’ll come back some other time.” You said, making a mental note of the store’s exact location.

The sun began to retreat, lost to the shadows of the upper city. There was no quieting of the streets, as the fading light gave way to an influx of people; those departing their homes and businesses, ready for whatever nightly activities they had planned. Astarion held you near to him, skillfully threading you past any who came too close. 

While you had no intention of stopping, a prominent display of cakes and pastries caught your eye. You ground to a halt, dragging Astarion with you. Unnatural hues of reds, pinks, greens and blues peered at you from behind the glass, like rows of infernal eyes. Their construction was intricate and put the very store they were displayed in to shame.

“Quite darling aren’t they?” he said, standing beside you.

“They’re pretty. I don’t think I’ve ever tasted something so beautiful.”

“Speak for yourself,” he replied fondly, looking through the glass; his reflection non-existent, as he looked between you and the cakes. “A sweet treat for my sweet treat.”

You quirked an eyebrow. “Yeah, we should really be getting back.”

The sun had almost fully set, your surroundings becoming a drab greyscale of abandonment. As you got further and further away the sounds of the city began to fade, muffled behind crumbling properties and streaming waters. It was peaceful, walking together in comfortable silence, firmly attached to one another.

“I could get used to this, you know? Strolling through derelict back alleys with you by my side,” Astarion mused. 

“I’d like that. Wouldn’t mind a change of scenery though, a bit more greenery perhaps.”

Astarion coughed nervously, turning to face you. “I was wondering if maybe you wanted to talk about what happened earlier?”

“I don’t- I don’t really know what there is to say,” you stammered in response.

“It’s alright, we’ll work through it together. We always do.” He flashed you a resolute smile.

“You don’t think it’s a little pathetic freaking out over nothing?” 

“The city can be quite overwhelming, I suppose. Not that I would know, I’ve lived here for hundreds of years.” Just like him to humble brag. “I’ve done my fair share of ‘freaking out’ on our little adventure, far be it for me to judge you.”

You wrapped your arms around him, hiding your face in the fabric of his armour. “Yeah, I guess I’m just not used to it. Sorry, again.”

“Oh stop it.” He returned the gesture and held you in his arms. You stood together silent in the moonlight, rocking against one another, all while steely waters lapped against the canal wall.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been anywhere so… populated. I feel trapped, like a rat almost.”

He gave you a once over. “Well you certainly don’t look rodent like. The taste is significantly better, I might add.”

“I wish I was a rat, then I could just run and hide in a nice wall.”

He hummed in contemplation. “I know it might be odd for me to be the one saying this, but perhaps running away isn’t the best option? We’ve faced all our problems head on so far, surely this is no different?”

You buried your face back into his chest, your agreement coming out as a muffled groan. “But what if it happens again? What if it happens while we’re doing something important?”

He rested his chin atop your head, arms still encircling your waist. “I’ll be with you, so you don’t need to worry.” He pulled back to look you in the eyes. “Just don’t stray too far from me, okay?” His tone was steady and confident, but there was a desperate and needy look in his eyes. A far worse person could take advantage of such adoration. You couldn’t let that happen, you’d never let anyone use him ever again.

You cupped his face in your hands, doing your best to look as sincere as possible within the eyes that reflected you. “I’m not going anywhere. Especially not while Cazador’s still alive.”

Satisfied with this answer, he leaned in and pressed his lips against yours. The kiss was firm and tender, a silent act to seal the promise between you both.

“Right, we should get back before one of them burns the entire camp down,” you said looking off into the distance concernedly.

“Always a possibility when you’re not around.”

The hearty chatter and crackling fire were a welcoming sight, as you approached camp. None of the others had noticed the two of you yet and you were determined to have one last moment alone with your lover. Feeling at ease, you asked him one final question.

“Astarion?”

“Yes, my sweet?”

“Do you wanna go on a date with me?” You grinned sheepishly, lips brushing against his.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #baldurs gate 3 #baldur's gate #Astarion #astarion ancunin #astarion x tav #tav x astarion #tav #reader x astarion #astarion x reader #tw anxiety #tw panic attack #my fic #bg3 fanfic #vampire

[peachypinkygloss]

Hi! congrats on 2k followers ♡ The trope would be Idol!Namjoon x non Idol!reader, and actually just something smut & fluff is okay, like in a new relationship, please.

Thank u ^^

(I'm not a minor dw)

thank you for your support, lovely ): 🤍 means so much to me x love u, mwah 💋 xox

sweaty and steamy

Namjoon is very busy with work so you decide to visit him at his studio. You both end up sweaty and steamy.

pairing: idol/bf!namjoon x non-idol!reader

genre: established relationship, idol au, smut, fluff

warnings: namjoon's the best bf obvi, unprotected sex, studio sex 👀, praising, clit stimulation, a little under 1k.

a.n.: the first thing that came to my mind was studio sex... i mean, can you really blame me? 🥺

This is part of my 2k milestone celebration! Here is the post for the drabble game if you want to participate and send in a request of yours! 🤍

♡・2k celebration masterlist・♡

Namjoon is a very busy person. Not surprising considering the job he has, but sometimes he really dedicates his whole day to his music. It's not a bad thing, he's always productive and hardworking, all of that amplified because he's genuinely passionate about what he does.

You try not to be jealous. After all, he's not replacing you or ignoring you for his lyrics. You know that because he makes it a priority to call you at the end of each day, reminding you how grateful and happy he is to be your boyfriend.

Despite the relationship being new, Namjoon isn't afraid to show his emotions and that's what you like about him. His ability to express what he feels in such a meaningful way, with beautiful and poetic words, makes you fall in love with him over and over again.

Dating an idol is not easy, especially with one who has such a tight schedule, but you both make it work. For example, you like to visit him at his studio whenever you're free from work. You go support him and bring him some food.

You usually don't stay long either because you have to go back to your office or because he has to get back on what he's working at the moment. But sometimes, like right now, it happens you get a little bit distracted and stay longer than you're supposed to.

"Fuck, baby," Namjoon breathes out, throwing his head back against his desk chair. His hands are holding your hips, guiding you over his hard cock. His chest heaves fast, out of breath with you bouncing on his lap. "What a good girl, feels so fucking good."

You whine in response, also having an irregular breath. Your hands are on his naked shoulders, nails digging into his soft and tan skin, leaving behind crescent forms all over his flesh.

You're still not used to his size, being so big he stretches you out really well. It's a bit painful, a burning sensation making you moan, but the feeling is addicting, exhilarating.

"I love it," you admit, having Namjoon's cock nestled deep inside your pussy. You circle your hips, his tip brushing against your sweet spot and making you want more, always more.

He smiles, showing off his cute dimples and straight teeth. "Me too," he agrees. "Love these," he adds on while groping your tits in his big palms, gently pulling on your hardened nipples.

You mewl in his hands, doing a grind motion with your hips. He seems amazed to see you using him to pleasure yourself, finding it hot of you, being so turned on he feels his dick twitch inside of you.

He lets go of your breasts and watches them jiggle on your chest, licking his plump lips at the sight. He won't lie, this must become his new favourite position. The other positions are going to be tasteless compared to that one and all of this will be your fault because you can't just ride him like that and expect him to not become obsessed.

Your slick covers his pelvis and even the inner of his thighs, cock slipping in so smoothly by how wet you are. He knows his studio will smell like sex after that and he doubts anyone who enters won't notice. The odour is strong, but nothing repulsive in his opinion, on the contrary, he adores it.

He won't forget this moment that's for sure. He even believes nothing will surpass it, unless you decide to ride him with that much determination from now on.

It must be because of his work, of how badly you miss him every time he's not with you. He feels guilty, he doesn't like being so busy it stops him from seeing you, especially when you're a new couple. Honestly, sometimes he would drop everything and spend the entirety of his day with you, but he can't do that, which really sucks.

But if moments like these can make up for the wasted time, then he's satisfied.

He feels you clench around him and grip on his shoulders, hiding your face in the crook of his neck. "God... baby, are you close?" Namjoon asks and you nod, moaning sweetly against his ear. "I got you," he announces, his voice husky and low, making you shiver.

One of his hands slides between your bodies and reaches for your pulsating clit, massaging it with his thumb. Your moans start getting louder and he grunts, feeling his balls tightening.

He plants his feet on the floor and thrusts up into you, your thighs shaking as your high approaches really fast. "I'm close too, fuck," he curses under his breath, circling your clit as he fucks you, a hand on the back of your head to keep you close to him.

"I'm cumming-!" You squeak, bucking your hips as your orgasm shoots through you. Your walls close around him tightly and he groans, your high bringing him to his own.

His thighs tense under you, big and strong, hips coming to a halt. "That's it, fuck," he moans and he finally comes undone into your pussy, painting your walls white with his cum. His cock twitches, spilling the last bit of cum he has.

He pats your hair, trying to catch his breath as you do the same, boobs squished against his chest. After some time, a comfortable silence settles between the two of you and you push yourself off him.

You face him and can't help but smile, biting down on your lip. You kiss him, a way to thank him for being with you.

You're happy and he is, too.

.

.

.

#🍑 [drabble game] #requests #bts fanfic #bts fanfiction #bts drabble #bts smut #bts x reader #bts fluff #namjoon fanfic #namjoon fanfiction #namjoon smut #namjoon drabble #namjoon x reader

[doobea]

BORN TO MAKE HISTORY - RIN ITOSHI

synopsis: After his brother takes a nasty fall and calls out before the new season starts, Rin has to step up as your new figure skating partner.

✰ ✰ ✰જ⁀➴ PLAYLIST.

contents: an ice skating au fic (very much yuri on ice inspired), fem!reader, ice skating terms and irl figures thrown around but not that super important, lmao probably inaccurate depictions of figure skating, sfw, kinda enemies to lovers but its really just rin being anti-social and cold, sae is a decent brother in here, characters are in their early-mid 20s, talks about ISU grand prix, mentions of mental health (depression, anxiety, burn out, imposter syndrome), heavy narration, rin centric, multiple parts will be added but no set scheduling of course word count: 4.3K (sigh there will be more) a/n: you know... whenever i feel like i hit a writer's block... thinking about rin always helps me break out of it so thank u...

For as long as Rin can remember, he's always followed in his brother's footsteps. 

Whatever that meant being interested in the same shows, books, and sometimes even hobbies, Rin would always be one step behind. It was a long-time habit that he picked up ever since he was little. There was a small running joke that if you wanted to find Rin, all you needed to do was find Sae. If anyone were to ask him why, he would probably shrug and refuse to answer, though his parents would gush on about how much he looks up to his older brother, and… it’s not a complete tall tale. 

His brother is talented and not in a ‘he can totally balance a stack of rocks in one try’ type of talented—though Rin is pretty sure that Sae can do that—but in a ‘he’s born with a natural gift to be absolutely perfect at everything he touches’ type of talented. So, regardless if Rin is always one step behind his brother, he knows deep down that it will always be Sae standing on the very top of the podium with a gold medal around his neck. 

Sae delved into figure skating at the age of eight, and Rin quickly followed suit. It began on a family night in, the brothers gathered around their small, worn-out television, fixated on the Winter Olympics in muted colors. Although ice skating initially served as mere background noise while their mother knitted, they both felt an undeniable pull.

Rin was only thirteen when he first won silver at his junior debut competition. In that same year, Sae also moved up to the senior-level groups and gave his first professional appearance during the Japan Figure Skating Championships. Unsurprisingly to no one, Sae effortlessly won gold, putting the whole world on notice and overtaking the competition by over 40 points. From that moment forward, Sae was recruited by an international coach and was sent aboard to different training facilities. 

It burned in Rin’s memories of all the irregular Facetime calls they would have of Sae giving him a walking tour of the cities he stayed in. New York was too loud and bright. Chongqing felt like something out of a fairytale and a cyberpunk city at the same time. Saint Petersburg was too cold but Sae liked grabbing pirozhki from a street food vendor before practice every morning. Despite being only two years older, he sometimes felt like he was worlds away from his brother’s place. 

Still, after everything, Rin looks up to him. It doesn’t bother Rin that he’s always ‘second best’—according to those poorly written sports magazines—because this is something they can bond over, something that only they can understand.

And maybe this is Rin’s motivation to eventually surpass him.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t go exactly how he imagines it. 

“You’re going to sub in for me.” 

Sae is sitting up on his bed, his right leg bandaged tightly all the way up to his knee, and he’s saying this with his usual straight-laced expression. Their mother has always complained about being unable to read Sae’s emotions and Rin always thought it was pretty amusing growing up. But now, he finally understands what his mother was talking about.

Rin straightens his back in his seat, a colorful plastic chair from their childhood that’s now too small for a person his size, and almost drops his phone. “Did you hit your head too?”

His brother rolls his eyes and continues, “I know you’re taking a break this season but I promised one of my juniors that I would compete with them. Luckily,” and he points to his injured leg, “this isn’t a permanent issue but I think it’ll also be good for you.”

Sae’s injury happened during practice overseas at a training facility in Madrid. It’s a mild ankle and knee sprain from overexertion and stress factors from jumping too often. He was treated briefly before their parents suggested flying back to Japan to fully recover. It’s not uncommon for skaters to suffer from these types of injuries but why does Sae feel the need to bring Rin into this? 

During last year’s Grand Prix Final, Rin had barely finished in the top ten. He fumbled with his short program and free skate, failed to land his quad jumps three times, and had a sloppy step sequence, both of which were supposed to be his strong suits. That day, he didn’t bother joining his coach at the kiss and tell, ignored all the swarming paparazzi self-proclaimed journalists, and uninstalled every social media app on his phone. His fans, coaches, and his family were all concerned as to how someone like him was able to fall that low compared to his higher-than-average stats. Rin had blamed it on something he can’t even remember, maybe a stomach bug, he thinks. 

Obviously, that wasn’t the case, everyone could see right through the lie but not entirely the truth of it. News outlets flooded the market with headlines shaming him for not living up to his older brother’s standards, not being a good representative for his nation, and that it was all karma for having an ‘unbearable’ personality to work with. His coaches retired after his flimsy performance and all but two of his sponsorships dropped him. Rin hasn’t officially given out a statement regarding anything. 

Depression is a hell of a thing to deal with. Rin’s dealt with it in the past when Sae first moved aboard. Luckily, Sae is perceptive to this kind of thing. The daily calls helped, despite the harsh timezone differences, and eventually Rin was able to move past it. The reality of it though, is that depression never really fades away, it’s almost like an addiction. Sometimes it takes hold in a moment of weakness, one that Rin doesn’t even realize he has until it’s too late. Maybe it’s all the rigorous training, all the comparisons to his brother—he tries not to think too much about it.

He didn’t know when the feeling hit him or why it decided to affect him that day. 

For the past several months, he’s been spending time gliding around their local ice rink, teaching some kids on the side to keep his mind preoccupied because, if not that, then he’ll probably end up laying in his bed all day. It works and it’s at least a healthy distraction but, at the same time, he can’t shake the gnawing feeling in his chest every time someone mentions his last performance. 

Rin feels like he’s hit a wall. A thick, towering, uninviting wall. And he doesn’t know if he’s ready to face his baggage yet.

“I’m not going to do that.” He finally answers and watches as his brother’s face stays unfazed.

“I need you to.” Sae presses on. “You need to get out of whatever rut you’re in. You’re not happy and going back might help. Forget about competing in singles and join pairs.”

Sae might be talented in everything else but, like Rin, he’s bad at choosing his words and comforting. Rin knows what he means though and he can’t exactly blame him. He’s lost weight, most of it being muscle, and whenever he does get back from work, Rin holes up in his room playing horror games all night long. Rinse and repeat. 

At least there’s a level of concern and sincerity behind Sae’s tone, unlike the vulture-like glee from the tabloid reporters.

“I’m…” Rin’s throat feels heavy all of a sudden and he struggles to find an excuse. 

Instead of answering, he fixates his attention back to his phone, it’s a news article about Sae’s injury and his withdrawal from the skating season. The article also has a photo of you posing next to his brother, elbow resting on his shoulder while your other hand raises a peace sign towards the camera. Rin hasn’t heard much about you, not that he actively keeps up with any of his competitors, but Sae has mentioned your name here and there before since you both share the same coach.

From what Rin knows, you started skating around the same age as him. You won a few local competitions and managed a bronze medal in the women’s singles category during the Japan Skating Championships. Supposedly, this year you’re attempting to take a shot at qualifying for the Grand Prix Final for pairs. With Sae out of the picture, Rin really hopes the responsibility doesn’t fall on him.

The look that Sae is currently shooting at him is making him backtrack his thoughts.

“It’ll be good for you,” his brother reiterates. Sae scoots closer to the edge and plucks the phone out of Rin’s grasp. “Plus, I already told her that you would do it.”

Rin’s eyes widen. “You did what?”

Sae hums, and taps his fingers away at the screen, before handing it back to him with your contact information placed in. “She’s actually on her way over here.”

“I haven’t even—”

Sae throws a hand up. “No, you don’t get a choice, Rin.”

Despite being three years younger than Sae, you had no issues barging into his room, suitcase in hand and hair in a frenzy. Rin is still seated, having to process his brother’s ridiculous request and now having to make himself semi-presentable to you. He also eyes the suitcase because… there’s no way that you’re actually staying with them right?

“Hope the flight here wasn’t too rough,” His brother starts casually.

Your cheeks are puffed out, eyes slightly baggy from the presumably restless flight, and you let out an exasperated sigh. “I hope you know that I didn’t tell coach about any of this.”

“Any of what?” Sae asks slowly. Now Rin is internally panicking.

Your eyes fall on him and they sparkle in recognition for a brief moment before you turn your attention back to his brother. “Um, that I flew all the way from Madrid to Tokyo?”

“I thought you said he approved of it.” Sae looks visibly annoyed.

You give a sheepish shrug and try to smile. “Yeah, I might’ve lied a bit.” It looks like you can’t decide if you want to be embarrassed by this fact or want to burst into tears.

Now it’s Sae’s turn to sigh. “Well, you’re already here so there’s no point. I’ll come up with something if Ego asks.”

You’ve made yourself practically at home within the next hour. Sae had told you that you could transform their home office space into your bedroom for the next several months in preparation for the competition, much to Rin’s protests. Right now, your makeshift living space composes of a shitty air mattress that Rin had in his closet since childhood and one of Sae’s extra pillows and blankets. You still need an actual mattress and a bedframe, and Rin doesn’t know if he wants to suggest the local hardware shop down the street. Because, if he does do that, it’ll mean he’ll be accepting his fate for the next upcoming year.

“Are you guys both hungry for dinner? I can whip up something real quick!” You’re saying this as if you’ve been living with them forever. It throws Rin off but Sae is unphased by your informality. 

“Pork katsu curry sounds nice.” Sae muses from the living room couch. He’s streaming a figure skating compilation video from the previous Winter Olympics on the TV while jotting down some notes on his phone. “Why don’t you help her out, Rin?”

“Do I have to?” 

“Yeah,” and Sae lifts his eyes away from the screen to give him a knowing look. “You have to.”

Three protein shakes. A pack of half-eaten grapes. And two boxes of forgotten leftovers from god knows how long ago. There’s not much in Rin’s fridge. His parents have been traveling around the world ever since he got back and usually, Rin would just get himself takeout to save some time. When he rummages through his pantry, he almost feels embarrassed by how barren it feels. A box of cup ramen, some curry cubes, and a small bag of rice on the bottom. It would honestly be better just to order takeout than to bother cooking up something less satisfying. 

“We should—”

“Let’s go to the store!” Of course, you offer that up. Rin can feel his shoulders immediately tensing when he sees you grabbing your jacket and wallet.

Sae throws him another penetrating gaze and Rin recedes. “Give me a second.” And maybe a drink or two.

You’re the complete opposite of what Rin expected. 

Bright, bubbly, and almost downright annoying. It reminds him of how he used to act when he was younger.

The first few minutes of the walk are silent not because Rin doesn’t know what to say but because he doesn’t want to say anything. His mind drifts off to an MMO he’s been currently playing with two of his ‘friends’ that he made during his last competition — if you count only exchanging numbers for the sake of playing games and talking about nothing else. That’s what friends do, right? It’s evening and, if it weren’t for Sae and you, he could be online right now, clearing a dungeon with them. This week is a double drop event and he’s going to miss out on it because you want to buy katsu curry ingredients. 

After passing the third block in the neighborhood, you start to see a few local shops and grocery stores lined up down an alleyway. There are more locals around, some are walking their dogs, others sweeping the sides of their house entrances. You decide to take this time to finally talk to him.

“Who’s your favorite skater?” It comes out as a blurt like you’ve been holding it in.

Rin blinks. “What kind of question is that?”

“A normal one,” You pick up a small shopping cart by the entrance and make a beeline towards the produce section. “Plus it can tell you a lot about a person.”

Can it really? “You first then,” Rin tells you.

You answer without much thought, throwing a couple of apples and potatoes into the cart. “Has to be Nathan Chen! He’s super bold and flashy with his programs.” He’s heard of him before, Rin thinks he’s around the same age as his brother. 

“Yuzuru Hanyu.” He answers right after.

You make a noise, and Rin assumes it’s a good one by the way you’re smiling. “I can definitely see that, he’s really elegant when he skates.”

The two of you fall silent again but it’s a bit bearable. You finish off by buying pork, onions, and a few soft drinks before heading over to the self-checkout. Rin pays for the entirety of the grocery run since it’s mainly his fault for having an empty fridge. If he had kept up with a healthier lifestyle then maybe he wouldn’t be in this current mess.

Dinner, for all things considered, doesn’t go horribly. It’s been months since Rin has picked up a knife, let alone use his cutting board, and you’re nice enough to show him how to properly score meat. And yeah, he just learned what scoring meant outside of sports. He’s learning a lot today. 

Adding apple chunks to the curry really made an immense difference. Tastes a lot sweeter but also comforting. The pork comes out crispy and tender enough for him to easily bite through and practically melts on his tongue. Maybe he should get back into cooking soon.

Sae wipes his mouth before setting down his utensils. “I’ve also taken the liberty to coach you guys too, so don’t let me down.” 

You blink. Rin looks like he’s going to drop his fork on his plate. He seems to catch himself though, and for just a moment. Your heads both tip to the side, and there’s a strange moment of eye contact, one where you are nervously glancing at Sae, and Sae is caught in a strange back-and-forth with Rin.

Yeah, Rin is learning more today compared to the average person.

The next day at the ice rink is a surreal experience for Rin. A year ago, when he did skate professionally, he was used to practicing alone or occasionally sharing the rink with a few other skaters, but now there's a new dynamic—a pair dynamic. You and him. The thought alone sends shivers down his spine, and not the good kind.

Sae is sitting on the side, his injured leg propped up on a chair, and he's observing with a critical eye. Rin can feel the pressure, not just from the expectation of his brother, but also from the fact that you're now involved. His comfort zone has been invaded.

“Let's start with some basic warm-up moves,” Sae suggests, and Rin reluctantly nods. 

The two of you glide on the ice, trying to synchronize your movements to a random classical tune that his brother placed on shuffle. Claire de Lune—he’s warmed up to this song plenty of times before. It's awkward at first, the pacing and speed is off, and you’re both too tensed to initiate physical contact. 

“You need to trust each other,” Sae instructs, his voice echoing in the cold rink. 

Rin shoots him a dirty glare. Trust has never been his strong suit, especially not with someone new.

You decide to break the ice, quite literally, by attempting a lift. Rin braces himself as you come at him with speed, and then, in a moment that feels like slow motion, he lifts you off the ground. Success. You're now spinning in the air, and Rin is holding his breath, hoping he doesn't drop you.

“That was good, Rin!” you exclaim when you land back on the ice.

He's slightly out of breath, both from the physical exertion and the anxiety that came with it. “Yeah, great,” he mutters, avoiding eye contact.

After what seems like an eternity, Rin begins to find a rhythm. It's still not perfect, he’s not used to skinship so he can tell his grip around you is either too firm or barely there. Sae’s a rough teacher and quite possibly the king at micromanaging, the two of you bond quietly over the fact. Rin also learns that you’re pretty good at hydroblading and the Biellmann spin. Well, you’re pretty good at a lot of things. He’s surprised that you haven’t tried out for more international competitions prior.  

By the end of the day, both of you are exhausted—well, you look fine, it’s more like Rin feels like his quads are about to burn off. This is the most he’s done physically and with his career in the last several months. Sae, with his usual unreadable expression, nods approvingly.

“You’ve got potential,” he comments, and Rin is unsure if it's a compliment or just a statement of fact. “So, what’s the theme?”

Right. They need to figure out that first before deciding on anything else. Rin has always struggled with coming up with themes and settles with essentially the same one every year since he feels comfortable with it. The past years he’s played around with ‘solitude’, ‘dormant’, and ‘night’—and all of his programs contained dark, moody instrumentals that went along with it. 

You’re shuffling awkwardly by the benches, fiddling with your gym bag, and raise a hesitant hand. “How do we feel about ‘love’?”

Rin tightens his lips. “Isn’t that kind of vague?”

“Weren’t all of your themes the same?” Sae shoots back and it makes him quiet. “What songs did you have in mind?”

You’re quick to pull out your phone, a playlist pops up with songs that you’ve either wanted to skate or skated to. The song choices aren’t bad, most of them being soundtracks from musicals and pop artists.

“This Love.”

Rin lets out a loud scoff. “Guess you’re into that sappy stuff.” He remembers one of his skating colleagues was floating around the idea of skating to that song when they first jumped into a relationship but decided to shelve it once they found another person.

“It’s a good song,” You say with a huff, to which Rin only rolls his eyes.

“Guys,” Sae claps his hands three times, a signal that Rin recognizes from his earlier childhood days of basically saying ‘shut the fuck up’. “I need you to work together.”

Your index finger jabs into Rin’s ribcage. He manages to hold back every fiber in his body to not yell at you, especially not when Sae is staring right at him. “If you’re going to make a comeback, I think maybe you should get back on social media again to promote!”

“I’ll sleep on it.” He says with a clenched jaw and furrowed brow.

“We’ll see you later back home, gonna do a couple of laps around the neighborhood before we end the night.” You’re lacing up your sneakers while Sae grabs his car keys. Rin assumes his brother is just going to be ‘encouraging you’ from the driver’s seat. Classic big brother move. 

“Sure thing,” It’s the tone that says he’s decided. He’s done. End of discussion. Rin just really wants to lay in his bed right now.

As he walks home, Rin mulls over your suggestion and decides to reinstall some of his social media apps. Surprisingly enough, he still remembers his passwords (he definitely does not have the same password for everything, nope) and immediately logs onto Instagram, fighting back the weird twists and turns in his stomach as the app slowly loads.

There are maybe over a hundred notifications in his DMs, most of which are from random strangers giving half-assed ‘advice’ on how he can be a better skater and some messages from people he’s skated against asking how he was doing. He starts from the bottom of his inbox and recognizes a few of their usernames.

itsyoiboi — sent ten months ago are you doing alright? let me know if you need anything

hyo.chigiri — sent nine months ago Just checking up on you. Coach told me that you left.

megugu_skates— sent nine months ago (。┰ω┰。) rinrinrin!!  dont tell me ur quitting for good?? =͟͟͞͞ =͟͟͞͞ ﾍ ( ´ Д `)ﾉ (⋟﹏⋞) u have to come back!!

baroushouei — sent eight months ago Hey, get your head out of your ass. We’re all worried about you.

Ignore. Ignore. Ignore. Rin semi-appericates the sentiment but he didn’t ask for it. He doesn’t need any of them checking up on him for the sake of it. None of them were ever close to him so why bother?

He eventually reaches back to the top of his inbox. What Rin didn’t expect was to see a message from you.

yn.is.here — sent a week ago um  hi there!! sorry we haven’t officially met before but your brother said you’ll be able to help me compete in skate pairs?? he told me that you’re thinking about coming back this season.  sorry if this comes off as weird!

Ugh, of course, his brother would plan this whole thing behind his back. It doesn’t surprise him, and it explains why any of this is happening. 

When he finally gets back home, he kicks off his shoes and heads straight to his bedroom. Rin plops and eases his back into the mattress, thumb rummaging through his photo album and trying to find a dumb professional photo to post on his page for stupid promotion purposes. He’s about to pick out an old photo from nearly two years ago when your text notification pops up. You sent over ten attachments—guess Sae took photos and videos from today’s practice run.

Rin shifts through the options before settling on a photo with the two of you in it. You’re both gliding side by side, hands barely touching. He looks scruffy, well he looks scruffy in all of them, the smile he tried to make came out more like a scowl, while you look like a complete natural—what’s new? On top of his skating, Rin needs to work on smiling and his skincare routine next.

Rin uploads the picture with a simple caption, ‘im back’, and turns off his notifications. He’ll worry about the lousy reporters tomorrow morning.

[DISCUSSION THREAD] Rin Itoshi's Icy Resurgence, Unraveling the Mystery Girl, and the Journey Without His Brother by [MOD] Dooby

In the world of figure skating, Rin Itoshi is no stranger to both triumphs and challenges. The seasoned skater, known for his graceful performances and technical prowess, recently made headlines by returning to the ice after a brief hiatus. Taking the place of his brother in the figure skating pairs category, Rin has partnered with the talented and rising star, Y/N, to form an unexpected yet promising duo.

[yurio.fan.cl0b] - 17 minutes ago he’s going to make an embarrassment out of himself AGAIN just go back into hiding  [VICChan] - 15 minutes ago Lololol he thinks that piggybacking off another skater it’ll guarantee a gold medal lolol who is even y/n anyway… never heard of her???? [porkkatsu] - 14 minutes ago shes a nobody just like rin *shrugs*  [ISAGINUMBERONE] - 12 minutes ago ^ been a rin itoshi fan since day one — i believe that he’ll make a great comeback!! rin if you’re reading this please ignore the haters!  [itsJJStyleX0X0] - 9 minutes ago are you actually an idiot? there’s no way that they’re going to take gold, not at the level he’s currently at. compared to his brother, rin’s past performance was sloppy and weak. if he’s going to win gold then he’ll probably end up doping himself [SaeItoshisWIFE] - 7 minutes ago Can we please refrain from spreading rumors like this? Doping is a serious accusation to make…

next rink!

a/n: ok... i meant to keep this in my drafts until i finish it but then i realized it would've been like... way too long with the number of scenes i wanted to write.... so here's some content until the next part bleh >:(( i need to fixate on one project at a time but at the same time i love sharing stuff w you guys haha

#blue lock #bllk #blue lock imagines #bllk x reader #blue lock x reader #itoshi rin #rin itoshi #itoshi rin x reader #rin itoshi x reader #blue lock x female reader #heavily inspired by yuri on ice duh #rin is katsuki yuri here (kinda) #also posted during the grand prix figure skating comp!! #cw: depression #cw: mental health

[chibi-tsukiko]

Thankful for you ♥️

This post is just to say thank you to all of you who follow, like, reblog, comment, and share my works.

It gets hard sometimes to continue doing what you love between the algorithms, bad days, and state of the world. But despite my irregular posting schedule and lack of overall presence online…you’re still here.

Even on my low days, when all I manage to do is criticize myself and stare at the dwindling numbers that matter so little, yet consume my every thought sometimes…I’m grateful for you.

I love being able to share what I do with you.

So thank you ♥️

Your support means the world to me.

Tag list : @littleturtle95 @zfoxdraws @bookworm-jedi @magnus-the-maqnificent @beclynn-herondale @khaleesiofalicante @my-archerboy @youngreckless @thomaslightwood @runecarstairs @high-warlock-of-brooklyn @panicatwallmaria @banesbitch @alexandergideonslightwood @ofsandstonebodies @la-lune-chaotique @starlight-in-my-eyes @tamaraheartz @anarchistbitch @iightwoodbane @icycoolslushie @zemiraa @raziyekroos @radisv @elettralightwood @axoloteca @queenlilith43 @astriefer @thomastaircompassrose @ibrushmyteeth-donttellanyone @rinadragomir @carelessflower

#all my love to all of you #my art #malec #magnus bane #alec lightwood #tsc #shadowhunters #the shadowhunter chronicles #magnus lightwood bane #alec lightwood bane #emsart

[jessamine-rose]

꒰ THE SPIDER AND THE FLY - Author’s Note ꒱

Read The Spider and the Fly here ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و

It’s finished…I wrote my Yandere! Miguel O’Hara longfic and lived to tell the tale. Istg not a day has gone by without me cursing Miguel bc of this. To those who’ve already read their story, thank you so much for your lovely tears feedback  (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ )

With that over, it’s time for another Author’s Note!! This is just me rambling about my writing process, headcanons, and creative details in this fic. I hope y’all enjoy this behind-the-scenes perspective <3

“Since the loss of his family, Miguel O'Hara has avoided every Variant of his wife. Then he meets you, a special exception—a version of her whose salvation lies in his interference.” (AO3 Summary)

꒰ Introduction ꒱

♡ Fun fact, the only reason why I got into Spiderverse was bc my socmeds were flooded with Miguel O’Hara. My brainrot was so bad that the fanfics weren’t enough; and even then, I didn’t expect this idea to reach 7.6k words. It was also my first attempt at dual POV and more detailed spice ( ´•̥̥∇•̥̥` )

♡ One major inspiration for this fic was the popular “Miguel falls for his wife’s Variant” trope, and I hope you all enjoyed my take on that idea!! Giving Variant! Darling her own angsty backstory was a must, given my fondness for twisted happy endings <3

♡ Before I continue, I want to thank the following mutuals for making this fic possible!! @yandere-romanticaa for dragging me into the Miguel O’Hara fandom, @diodellet for being the world’s best beta-reader, and @yanmaresu for helping me with the Spanish translations~

꒰ Characters ꒱

♡ We don’t talk about how much Miguel O’Hara tormented me in my attempts to properly write his character. I headcanon him as a strict, overprotective yandere who is only cruel to his darling if provoked. I find his dynamic with Variant! Darling particularly interesting as it opens up his guilt, trauma, and breeding kink yearning for his lost family.

♡ Variant! Darling is the unhappiest version of Miguel’s wife. She has low self-esteem and impostor syndrome, which gets worse as she learns about her more successful Variants. As a result, she craves external validation but doesn’t believe she deserves it. Despite her inferiority complex, she does has positive traits and skills which her other versions don’t have.

♡ LYLA, my love!! I had a lot of fun writing her scenes. She is simply the best wingman/ voice of reason that ever lived, and one of the few people allowed to interact with Variant! Darling.

꒰ Literary Motifs ꒱

♡ The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt - Cheers to Miguel reminding me of a poem from my childhood. It was the main inspiration for the title, Darling’s character, and other details~

♡ The red thread of fate - referenced at the end of iv. triangle web purely out of self-indulgence. I just rlly love that motif, and it helps that Miguel’s webs are also red xD

♡ Spiderweb varieties - I couldn’t think of anything else for the section dividers, thus I embarked on online research ft. unavoidable spider pics. The webs were picked for the following reasons::

i. spiral orb web - the most basic and common web design

ii. funnel web - hiding place for spider, used for surprise attacks

iii. lace web - I ran out of common web varieties and it sounds pretty

iv. triangle web - not sticky, fuzzy threads used to entangle and smother prey

v. mesh web - similar to cobwebs but found outdoors, used to entangle prey

vi. cobweb - sticky, irregular, tangled, found indoors

vii. sheet web - typically permanent, regularly repaired by the spider

꒰ My Favorite Scenes ꒱

♡ vii. sheet web

Mere words cannot describe how many times I died revising this chapter. It was pretty difficult to write due to my inexperience with smut, my fear of making Miguel OOC, and the transition from noncon to angst to comfort. Ultimately, I think I did a decent job at writing emotional smut and indulging my hornii thoughts for Miguel. What do you guys think?? I’d love to hear your thoughts ^^;

꒰ Miguel x Variant! Darling’s Playlist ꒱

Cue me going “!! :0” when I realized that the first song is a perfect fit for The Spider and the Fly. At least Miguel and Variant! Darling got their twisted happy ending <;/3

♡ Yesterday by Official Hige Dandism

♡ Overdose by natori

♡ Cinderella by DECO*27

♡ Delphinium by Remo

♡ BLUE by LUCKY TAPES ft. kojikoji

♡

That’s all I have to say!! Once again, thank you so much to all of my readers. Your feedback means the world to me, so just know that every comment gave me a serotonin boost. It is my sincere hope that more of you will cry over enjoy this while I recover from the mental turmoil of writing for Miguel O’Hara ꒰｡- ᴗ - ｡꒱

#miguel o'hara #yandere miguel o’hara #yandere miguel o’hara x reader #yandere miguel x reader #miguel x reader #miguel o'hara x reader #spiderverse x reader #yandere spiderverse #tw: yandere #fem reader #across the spiderverse #yandere miguel o'hara #yandere atsv #lyla #atsv x reader #atsv #atsv spoilers #atsv miguel #atsv lyla #spiderman 2099 #jessamine-writing

[paranoidginger]

Thank you all so much for your support on my CloneBlu AU! Today I will be expanding on the lore that I have come up with (No art this time, sorry guys!) as a brief overview!

My Team Fortress 2 alternate universe, found under the tag #cloneblu, follows the assumption that the Red team mercenaries are the original mercs, while Blu is made up of clones of Red. Thanks to the cloning process, they are nearly identical to their opposing counterparts, but with a few things that set them apart, such as scars and other small irregularities.

The respawn machine is also used in this AU, but in order to work, the body of the deceased must be placed into the respawn area (a job mostly done by the medic) and the machine must be manually turned on.

Despite being clones, the Blu team follows the same age rules as the Red team, with Scout, Demo, Sniper, and Pyro being the youngest, and the others being quite a bit older. This being said, I will not ship any of the four mentioned above with any of the older mercenaries, who are old enough (or close to it) to be their parents. Based on my headcanons, as well as canon clues, the ages of the mercenaries go as followed:

Scout- 27, Sniper- 28, Demo- 29, Pyro- 26-29, Engie- 45, Soldier- 47, Medic- 47, Heavy- 48, Spy- 48.

The romantic ships that I will be using in this AU consist of Engie + Spy, Heavy + Medic, and Pyro + Scout. I am also fine with Sniper + Scout as well as Sniper + Demo! I personally just like Pyro and Scout as a ship!

For platonic relationships, Medic, Heavy, Engineer, and Spy all have a fatherly relationship with Scout. Engie acts as a dad to all of the younger mercenaries, especially Pyro. Medic and Engineer are close friends as are Sniper and Spy. Demo and Soldier are also very close friends! In general, all of them get along fairly well. (Medic as an adoptive dad to scout is very important to me.)

If you made it this far, please feel free to ask any questions about my AU and I will do my best to answer them!!

#cloneblu #tf2 #team fortress #small artist #tf2 au #tf2 scout #tf2 sniper #tf2 demoman #tf2 pyro #tf2 engineer #tf2 soldier #tf2 spy #tf2 medic #tf2 heavy #engiespy #heavymedic #scout x pyro

[etincelleart]

Hello Etincelle, I love your art style. Something about the kinda sketchy? look of it is so appealing to me. And although I followed you for NND I wouldn't look away if you started to follow a diffrent FNDM (RWBY's got like to community, one really nice and the other is so toxic it you take psychic damage just looking at it.) I also want to say that if you need to take a brake from social media to focus on your work/personal life, go for it. Don't look back we'll still be here when you figure it all out (there probably a better way to frame that) Take care <3

Hey thank you ! I'm happy you love the sketchy style because me too, and that's probably my fav thing to do, add something irregular and messy to my linework to make it feel more vibrant and like a traditional art style (at least trying to make it feel that way). Thank you for liking it :)

And this makes me feel better to read that, I admit there's this pressure of social medias once you get an audience, it really not conscious sometimes but you can have that fear of being forgotten or lost if you don't post enough etc. Fortunately I know that's not true and I really try to do as I want. Especially during times when it's hard with harassment from fandoms etc, it's something kinda new to deal with because one year ago I was still not that known (less than 1000 people followed me on Twitter if I remember). I actually haven't been able to draw since almost a week despite trying because I'm just not too good and I guess I need some time to get some stuff off my brain.

Take care as well and thanks again ♥

#art #sketch #messy lines are the best #fandoms

[quickhacked]

drastic + vincent please :3

DRASTIC [x] characters >> vincent mayer (oc), vitali dobrynin (oc) context >> july 2077; vincent and vitali are in tucson to try and figure out a way to stop vincent from dying after johnny silverhand has been successfully removed from his head total >> 1.6k words warnings >> death mention, hospital, needles, surgery mention

‘Vincent. Can you hear me?’

Wakey wakey.

Vincent could barely open his eyes, eyelids and head still heavy with sleep. The air surrounding him was surprisingly cool; as far as he was concerned it was the middle of summer, and he was in Arizona of all places. Wasn’t it supposed to be sweltering?

Someone gently took his wrist. The action itself did not hurt, nor did the feeling that followed– but it caused him instant discomfort that bordered on pain, the sensation cramping up his entire arm and it took him a second to realize it was the work of a needle that was stuck in the top of his hand.

He was in the hospital. He had just gotten out of surgery.

His eyes finally opened, bright light pouring in from the window on his left and momentarily blinding him as he groaned and tried to adjust. The nurse beside him gently placed his hand back on the mattress and hummed a song as she checked something on the screens, gloved fingers rapidly tapping on the keys of the digital keyboard as she typed in some information.

The soft hum of the devices around him was like a lullaby and Vincent slowly exhaled as he closed his eyes again; but a sudden weight on his chest– as well as the sudden realization of what the surgery had been for to begin with– violently ripped him back to reality and he gasped for air, as if all oxygen had suddenly been taken from his lungs.

‘Easy,’ the nurse said, placing a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from sitting up. ‘You’re alright, Vincent. Everything is fine. Try to breathe as normal.’

Easier said than done. He had a fucking cybernetic lung now– and sure, it worked, but the idea alone was more than enough to cause involuntary tears to well up in the corners of his eyes as he could feel his irregular heartbeat in every single inch of his body and his unstable breathing scraped painfully past the dry inside of his throat.

Ever since he had arrived in Tucson it had been one surgery after another. Preventive measures for the most of it– save from the removal of a bullet shard that had still been stuck in his head, the last bit Viktor hadn’t been able to dig out before– replacing damaged organs where possible and removing previously installed implants to minimize risks.

And none of it had helped so far.

Vincent was still very much dying, despite all their efforts. Initially thought to be the damage the Relic had caused in his body, irreparable at that; not so irreparable anymore but with all holes patched and the ship still sinking, he couldn’t help but wonder if Soulkiller was still working its magic.

Sure, the program had been on the Relic itself– but then again, all technology had gotten damaged by that bullet and with Johnny’s engram overwriting his psyche and then his psyche overwriting all of that to separate himself from the biochip, who knows what kind of malware had managed to sneak its way in in the meantime?

‘There’s a visitor waiting for you,’ the nurse said, shooting Vincent a gentle smile after he had managed to settle down again. ‘Would you like me to get him for you?’

‘Yes please, thank you,’ Vincent replied, not needing to ask for a name to know exactly who she meant, and he couldn’t stop his heartbeat from rising in excitement and relief when she left the room to call the man in.

It still managed to catch him off guard, to see Vitali Dobrynin out of his usual work attire. A sight he had gotten to grow more familiar with over the last few months– the whole situation with Johnny had driven Vitali out of the office often enough for Vincent to catch him in simple sweatpants and a hoodie on the regular– yet it still felt a little strange to him. “The man sleeps in a suit,” Jackie had once jokingly told him. Vincent wouldn’t have batted an eye.

‘How do you feel?’ Vitali softly asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed, sleeves of his flannel loosely rolled up and only partially covering his forearms. His hands were clasped together on his lap– for once not a single ring adorning his slender fingers– and he nervously ran his thumb over the side of his index finger.

‘Little strange,’ Vincent admitted as he reached out to take Vitali’s hand in his own. ‘The more I think about breathing, the harder it gets. I know it’s just between my ears, but– you know.’

Vitali quickly nodded, a light smile on his face as he shuffled a little closer and leaned in to press a kiss on Vincent’s temple. Which, of course, also caught him off guard; with the complete chaos of the aftermath of the attack on Mikoshi he had continuously forgotten about the fact he was dating the fixer now, and now that they could finally have some time for themselves it still did not feel entirely real to him.

‘Don’t you think all this is– I dunno, maybe a lil’ drastic?’ Vincent quietly asked, allowing the other man to cup his cheek and run his fingers down his face. ‘I mean– I don’t feel much different than before. Just increases risk of cyberpsychosis if anything. Even with all the removed implants.’

‘You might not feel it now but something is still happening in your body,’ Vitali simply replied, the pre-programmed answer he had been giving Vincent for weeks now. ‘Sooner or later you will start feeling it. And then you’ll be glad we had precautions done before it got too bad.’

‘Costs a shit-fuckton of money.’

‘Which I have.’

‘Well, I don’t.’

‘You don’t need to.’

Vincent clenched his jaw and exhaled sharply, the action causing his chest to tighten a little and he winced, brief panic overtaking him; but nothing else happened, the cybernetic lung doing its job perfectly fine, and he allowed himself to relax again.

It did not feel right to let Vitali pay for his surgeries. He had done so from the fucking beginning, no less– when Vincent had gotten a correction surgery on his chest and Vitali had told Viktor to put it on his tab, despite Vincent continuously telling him he’d get the eddies himself after his recovery.

But Vitali was a stubborn man– painfully so, insisting on helping Vincent wherever and whenever he could. Out of the goodness of his heart, of course; but definitely so out of guilt as well, having to live with the knowledge he had not been able to save T-Bug and Jackie and because of that so desperately trying to save Vincent while he still could.

If he even could.

Vincent lowered his gaze, softly biting the inside of his lip as Alt’s words echoed through his head again. He was dying; there was no denying it, even if he didn’t feel it just yet, and if they wouldn’t figure out what exactly was going on with him he wouldn’t make it to the end of the year.

If he had done the calculations right, he’d be on his deathbed on Vitali’s birthday of all days. He couldn’t do that to him.

But perhaps Vitali was right. Perhaps the surgeries did help and would at least give him a little longer than what Alt had predicted. Perhaps Alt had not even told him the truth; perhaps whatever was going on with him in that moment was only temporary and the effects would wear off the more time would pass.

But with more and more of his body turning into a machine, Vincent could not help but wonder if it wouldn’t just have been easier to transfer his psyche onto a fucking biochip too.

Would’a been a copy, V, you know that. At least you’re still you, now.

But for how much longer?

Even Johnny– or, well the voice in Vincent’s head pretending to be Johnny– couldn’t answer that.

Vitali suddenly turned, pulling his legs onto the bed and moving closer until he was sat directly next to Vincent, leaning back against the raised mattress. He wrapped his arm around his shoulders– and Vincent in return moved closer without hesitation, burying his face in his boyfriend’s chest, grateful the painkillers were numbing most of the pain in his upper body.

‘We will figure this out, my love,’ Vitali softly mumbled and planted a kiss on the top of Vincent’s head. ‘I promise. I’m not giving up on you.’

He had paused all his business and tossed aside all his responsibilities to help Vincent find a cure. Had left Night City behind– had left his business in the hands of Mikhail– and even now weeks later he was still there by his side, paying for his surgeries and keeping him company through it all. Of course Vitali was not giving up on him– and Vincent had never received such devotion before, to the point he had no idea what to do now that it had fallen right into his lap.

‘I love you,’ he simply whispered in return, on the verge of choking back tears when he felt Vitali momentarily tense up. ‘I love you so much.’

He didn’t know how much time he had left. He didn’t know if Alt was right, he didn’t know if any of what they were doing there was helping him at all–

But at least he wasn’t alone.

At least he had Vitali.

#asks #faerune #writing asks #nuclearwriting #THANK YOU AND SORRY FOR THE WAIT. my brain is a bad soup lately i cannot get myself to write but i Did it #all of what they're doing there DOES eventually help out because vincent's body was very much just. dying. slowly #and the surgeries and all that stopped That specific process so that's a win. and then they get rid of the remnants of soulkiller #and then he's no longer dying :^) or well soulkiller is still there but it's dormant now. he's been given a stabilizer #so Technically soulkiller could still become a problem again in the future but i'm not gonna do that. he deserves a happy ending x

[blazingstaro]

Hey gang! DotS:MMM update!

I will preface: the comic is still live and shall continue at an irregular schedule until I can pull myself together and get back into the flow

Frankly I have not felt up to drawing and forcing myself into a grind. I need to pace myself and not feel like this is an obligation. I started feeling like I had to make pages to keep up the pace and not disappoint, but that started to really ebb at my enjoyment of making this comic

This is my hobby, and not my job. Nobody pays me to make these. I make this because I like it and want to tell a story. Something I have to constantly remind myself, despite the pressure of disappointing my readers with my inconsistency. These days I draw in bursts and end up losing my stamina because I become emotionally overwhelmed

My energy is still fickle. I'm bombarded with overwhelming negativity at home from various sources, including personal stress and depression caused by my current life situation. What I make to decompress shouldn't be a stresser either

I'll continue to chip away at finishing these pages for DotS:MMM Part One, but it will be at my own pace. I'll post again once I feel ready and satisfied enough with how many pages I have in hand. Deadlines stress me out and kill my motivation to draw. Again it makes me feel obligated to do this stuff, to make it instead of just being something I enjoy and have fun with

Also Orpheus decided to worm his way in, so now I have to rewrite some scripts to as well fix a tremendous continuity error that Orpheus has come in to correct. This man makes me rewrite everything, I swear omg

You'll see what I mean in later parts of DotS:MMM

Thank you guys as always for your patience! 💖

Additionally for you all, my Tumblr lovelies, I'll continue to answer asks! Might be able to squeeze in a sketch or two as I go, but goodness I have to constantly train myself to draw for fun and not treat it like work. Tumblr has been helping with that a lot

My previous following several years ago on dA used to pressure me into keeping up with my own content and would punish me with hateful comments if I didn't post art of their fave OC of mine often enough (yes my OWN oc, not a fan character), and UGHGHGH MAN. HEAVEN FORBID I posted a new design without some sort of specific ritual first, just up and dropped a new character like "hi hello this is bleebo blorbie my new baby blorbo kthx bye". They'd throw a fit over that too. Not everyone of course, but it was a lot of people

I was bullied by fans of my own original content 😭 you see why I do fan stuff these days

It wasn't even remotely done, didn't even have a comic or story; people lusted over my own designs. I felt like I had to finish a story that never wanted to be told just to make ends meet, to appease the unappeasable, and burnt myself out entirely on the series to where I had to scrap the whole thing.

Thankfully that's not the case anymore, with my current following being great and sweet, but on rare occasions a rare impatient reader will show themselves on dA specifically

I appreciate you guys being so chill and kind to me throughout this year 😭 Tumblr gang I've always loved y'all. I haven't felt at home on a site in so long

#blazin beeps #dots news #dots comic #dots:mmm #I've been in a creative rut for months #it's been pretty rough on my productivity #I've been slowly getting better and getting out of it in the past couple of weeks #getting back onto fixing up mainline DotS too #things are slowly coming back together #just need to stitch it back into place

[macabremoons]

Happy WBW! It's after midnight and my baby won't go to sleep. Please tell me whether you've ever invented a language for a story. Would you like to?

It's totally Wednesday!

Not only have I tried to make conlangs for my story before, I have WRITTEN A FANFICTION OF DAYCYCLE THAT WAS JUST A THINLY VEILED INFODUMP ABOUT THE CONLANG THAT I WAS MAKING AS THE FANFIC WAS GOING ALONG

Under the cut ill put the whole thing for anyone wondering. No it is not proofread and yes it is benodora

Menodora is sitting in the corner of her favorite cafe when Benjamin sits across from her one day. She’s not really that surprised. Everyone in the group chat knows her schedule. 

“I need your help,” he says. 

Menodora closes her laptop. “Alright.”

“My mother’s family is coming over in a couple of months. They are going to stay for the rest of the year. They do not speak Common nor do they speak fae.” Benjamin scowls at that last sentence, and Menodora takes in his annoyance. “They’re going to speak to me as if I know what they are saying even though it’s been years and they know I don’t.”

“I’d love to help you,” Menodora says, placing one of her hands on his, “However, I do not speak the northern vampire dialect.”

“I know, but most of them do know the common southern dialect. You’re fluent in that one, right?”

They must be some sort of passonist for all vampire culture then. Makes sense as to why they haven’t learned common or fae. They probably did, at one point, but let the language fade over the years.

Bonnie only learned enough to understand Menodora when she can’t be bitched to speak in common. Most of those moments are Menodora asking for water or to be taken to bed. It’d be nice to have someone to really talk to, though in a couple of months Menodora is unsure how much Benjamin could learn.

“Sure,” Menodora says. “Though give me a couple of days to organize a teaching method. And to take my test.”

Benjamin gives Menodora a smile that she swears means thank you, but he doesn’t get out of his seat to leave. “Did you already have coffee?”

“Oh, no.” Menodora holds up an old napkin. “I bought a pastry to sit here. You don’t have to buy me coffee to teach you anything, you know. I don’t mind.”

Benjamin waves a hand. “Despite what it may look like, not everything is about debts. Consider it a thing between friends.”

Friends, right. Menodora opens her laptop. “Well then, order me a black coffee.”

They meet in the library five days later. Benjamin decides, for some reason, to dress up for this. Menodora isn’t complaining too much. He looks good in his sweater and dress shoes.

Right, focus. 

“I’m assuming you know the basics. Like ‘Hi, hello, how are you, my name is?’”

“Nope!” Benjamin leans back in his chair. “Not in the common southern dialect at least. I know it in the northern one. My mom knew this one nodical dialect, but she mostly just used it to talk shit about my family—the one coming over.”

Thankfully, Menodora planned for this. “Okay, so we will start with that. I’m not really going to be able to teach you everything. Every southern vampire dialect is needlessly complex, and there are words and rules even I don’t know about. I can teach you to speak formally and casually, and that should be enough to get you through some conversations.”

She scrolls on her laptop to where she has copy and pasted a grammar book and then takes out a binder full of papers for him to follow along on.

“Wow, you were not kidding about needing time to prepare,” Benjamin says. Suddenly he’s reading over her shoulder. “Now, tell me why there are so many rules again?”

“Because they could. I wish I was lying, but that’s it. If you—in theory—live forever, you—in theory—have all the time in the world to learn the irregular verbs and the genders of nouns being used in a certain context.”

Benjamin looks down at the papers with disgust. “If I didn’t need this, I would be reconsidering this very hard right now.”

Menodora waves her hand. “Don’t worry. I learned a lot of it easily, and I kept learning a bit after I got kicked out. You’ll do fine. Besides, you already know a vampiric dialect, even if it has a lot of influences.”

“Jorson is hello, so formal, and jlori is literally glory but also hi informally.”

“They both come from the word glory?” 

“Yeah. Back in the past vampires didn’t really interact that much, so wishing the other glory before they spoke was a good show of faith. Now it’s just a greeting.”

Benjamin takes out a loose piece of paper. “It’s similar in the northern dialect too. Though it’s spelled gloriee.”

“I swear I read a book about the

Anddd that's where it ends! im tagging my taglist so they can see this mess @lyra-brie, @squarebracket-trick, @immortaladrien, @serenanymph, @wrenofthewords, @kosmic-kore

#project daycycle #wbw ask

[tngrace]

Once Upon a Bradbaby

Meet Caroline

I'm pretty sure @cycbaby gets thanks for the title. It was just too cute not to use. This was a joy to write and I can't wait to write the other kid fics. I hope yall enjoy 💙

🏷: @dragon-kazansky @mrsjaderogers @bayisdying @askmarinaandothers @cycbaby @callsignscupcake @breadsquash @ladylanera

Grace knew the day they decided they were ready to expand their family that it wouldn't be an easy road due to her pcos. But she honestly didn't know how hard it would be, what an emotional rollercoaster it would actually entail. They decided to keep it private, Grace not wanting everyone to constantly be disappointed. She knew it was hard on Bradley keeping it a secret, but he did it for her.

The first year came and went with no results. She finally broke down and told Lucky and Cin one night at girls night when she'd had too much to drink. Her friends understood more than anything, and they just held her as she cried her eyes out. Lucky told Bradley what happened when he picked her up and she was already asleep. "Thanks girls," he whispered, accepting his own hugs from them.

Come July when she had her yearly, her doctor recommended they start testing. She went the beginning of August for a test to see if her tubes were even open and thankfully they were. She wasn't ready to start meds yet, but it was something they were considering. She was honestly afraid they would have to consider the fertility route and she wasn't sure they'd be able to afford it. She was trying to hold out hope that it would happen, but every period seemed to diminish it even more.

She loved all the trying just as much as Bradley. The sex was fantastic if she was being honest, and she loved how much Bradley wanted her, and wanted her to feel loved no matter what. When Cin announced her pregnancy, she was over the moon for her friend, but her heart broke just a little. It broke a little more when Lucky also got pregnant. Neither were planned, and she was truly excited to be an aunt. She couldn't wait, but she also cried that she couldn't give this to Bradley. She knew he'd make an amazing dad and she couldn't wait to see him as an uncle either. Her heart was just battered and bruised.

What she didn't know was that she was already three months pregnant when Lucky found out she was expecting. The tube test had flushed her tubes, and she'd gotten pregnant, but because she continued to have light and irregular periods she never realized it. With her having already gained back some of the weight she lost, her body didn't really change as her pregnancy progressed either.

They're at the Hard Deck one night about three months later, Grace having taken her break to hang out with everybody. She'd been feeling off all day, and Penny had tried to get her to go home, but she insisted she was fine. "Babe you ok?" Bradley asks quietly as she rests with her head on his shoulder, the conversation just swirling around her.

"Yea… just felt off all day. Penny told me to go home but I should stay busy." She cracks her jaw with a yawn and Bradley winces.

"Maybe you don't have to," he whispers. He knows she should start tomorrow and he knows she wants to stay busy to forget about it. But he'd be lying if didn't say he was at least a little bit hopeful they'd made a baby.

"I wish," she mumbles. A guy passes their table and his cologne is so strong, it almost knocks her over. Her stomach rolls, and Bradley swears he watches her turn green.

"Grace?"

She shakes her head and darts to the bathroom. Her head is hurting, she's tired and she just wants to cry. She's so tired of her body fucking with her. Bradley follows her, but since the bar is busy, he doesn't follow her in despite wanting too. He snags Lucky from the pool table, and sends her in. Grace is splashing water on her face trying to hold back tears.

"I'm fine Bay. I promise. I don't know what happened."

"You don't look fine." Her best friend has always been blunt and she appreciates it.

She gives her a soft chuckle before Cin joins them as well. "Everything ok Spice?"

"Yea. Just…" she shrugs. "Just my body fucking with me as usual. Should start tomorrow. I don't know what happened out there but I'll be fine. Might take Pen up on her offer to go home though."

The girls don't push, even though Baylie really wants too. They hug her and then follow her out, Bradley still by the door. "I'm fine. Nothing happened," she reassures him.

He wraps his arm across her shoulder holding her close. "Think we should head home?"

"Yea, I think so," she sighs. She knows he won't leave her side tonight and she loves him all the more for it, even if she feels bad that he's cutting his night short. "I'm just gonna go make sure they're good in the kitchen then I'll be back. Tell Penny for me?"

"Of course." He kisses her forehead and sends her off. Baylie keeps a close eye on her as she heads for the kitchen.

"Think she's ok?" Alana asks Baylie quietly following her gaze.

"No, probably not. But she will be." She gives Alana a sad smile, both of them wishing they could make it better. Before they can voice those thoughts though a clatter in the kitchen catches their attention and they head there, Bradley hot on their heels.

"I don't know what happened. She was fine and then she swayed and she hit the floor before I could reach her," Stacie says. She helps Grace in the kitchen a lot, especially on busy nights.

"She wasn't feeling good. It's ok Stacie. We got her," Alana reassures her, Baylie and Bradley already trying to wake Grace.

"Come on beautiful. We're going to the doctor," Bradley murmurs as she starts coming too.

"I'm fine," she whines.

"Clearly you're not," Baylie says unimpressed. Grace pouts, but in the next instant, she doubles over the garbage can puking. Baylie and Alana share a look, before sharing one with Bradley. "I don't think your body is just fucking with you," Baylie says gently.

Grace wipes her eyes of the tears, as Bradley holds her against him. "Tell that to the negative test then."

"We'll go with you, but we should probably go figure out what happened since you fainted," Alana offers instead.

"Fine," she sighs. Bradley grabs her things and the four of them head out to the Bronco. They find the closest walk-in clinic and they're luckily seen right away. They run some test and draw some blood, Grace focusing on Bradley and her friends during that so she doesn't pass out again. Baylie and Alana do an awesome job of distracting her while they wait and Bradley is thankful they're there.

"Well Mrs. Bradshaw it seems you are pregnant. I would recommend making an appointment with your OB in the morning and we'll happily send all this over."

Bradley and Grace are stunned; Baylie and Alana are ecstatic. "I told you," Baylie smiles.

"Wait, it's not possible. I've still had a period."

"Sometimes that happens. We want to do an ultrasound to confirm but your doctor will be better able to explain all of this to you."

Grace grabbed Bradley's hand effectively breaking him out of his shock. He leans over and kisses her, wiping her tears as the tech sets up around them. It doesn't take long before they hear a steady heartbeat and see their baby on the screen.

"Omg it's real. I…" Grace cries harder, Baylie and Alana taking quick videos for them. Bradley rests his forehead against hers, his own silent tears falling. "It's real," he whispers.

The tech wipes her stomach off, and Bradley helps her sit up. The tech explains that she's about six months along and everything looks just fine. They get a printout and then the Dr sends them on their way. They drop the girls back off at the Hard Deck to their husband's, after Grace hugs them both tight. "Thank you for being there," she whispers to them both.

"No where else we'd rather be," they assure her. She promises to call them tomorrow after her appointment.

After that things move smoothly. She has a May due date and the baby seems perfectly healthy. The nursery comes together easily despite the couple refusing to find out if it was a boy or girl. They'd been surprised up until this point, they figured what was one more.

By March, Baby B has decided to make mama feel as large as a house. It's almost like now that the secret is out, her body has decided to show all the signs of pregnancy. The baby still measures on the smaller side, but Grace swears she feels huge. Bradley dotes on her constantly too. He loves seeing her body change with pregnancy, even if it's just little things. Their friends declare them sickly sweet, even if Jake isn't any better with Alana.

By April, Grace is counting down the days until May. She doesn't get along that great with the girl they've hired to fill in for her, but they were desperate with only her for an applicant. She just can't wait to be away from the bitch. Then Baby B likes to play soccer with her bladder, loves when Daddy talks to him or her making them more excited, and absolutely refuses to want to sleep at night unless Bradley sings. "You already have our child spoiled," Grace pouts one night when she can't get comfortable.

Bradley's rubbing her back as he softly sings with a smile on his face. "That a bad thing?" he teases.

"No," she sighs resting her hands over his on her belly.

"Think you can sleep now?" Bradley starts playing with her hair, a sure fire way to put her to sleep, as he leaves one hand on her belly. The baby seems to have settled, and Bradley's back rub left her feeling relaxed.

"Yea I think so," she yawns as she snuggles up against him.

The next day, Baylie and Alana come to the Hard Deck to hang out with her while she works on finishing the blonde bitch's training. She knows Baylie has been dying to put this girl in her place, especially after the bitch hit on Jake and Mickey the other night. What she didn't expect however was for the girl to be dumb enough to provoke Baylie using Grace and the boys as her driving points that day.

It spiraled quickly into an all out brawl, Alana and Grace standing back watching as Penny called in the boys for backup. It only took a few punches for Baylie to make her point, and then she's tossing her out of the bar, threatening her to never come back. "Mickey's gonna kill us," Grace sighs as she gets Baylie set at a table and starts cleaning her knuckles. She gets her some ice too just as the boys arrive.

"You ok?" Bradley asks her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Yea. We're ok. Though Penny doesn't have a replacement for me, and your sister has some bruised knuckles again."

Bradley sighs as he looks over Lucky's hand. "She was a straight up bitch to your wife," Baylie says unapologetically. "Someone was glossing over how bad it really was," she says with a pointed look at Grace.

"You know I can handle myself sometimes. I have learned a thing or two from you."

"Not with my niece or nephew in there though. She was walking all over you."

Grace sighs as Alana agrees with Baylie on this one. "You girls ok?" Penny asks now that blondie is out of the bar.

"Yea we're good. Although now…"

"Don't even. We'll figure it out. Stacie can probably handle it and we can always just close the kitchen some nights. It's fine."

"Don't think I haven't noticed your winces either," Alana pops up from where Jake is rubbing her back.

"I'm fine," Grace groans as Bradley instantly is on alert. His hands go to her back to start rubbing, knowing exactly where she's hurting the most. The back rub feels amazing, and she won't admit she's been hurting all morning. "I'm gonna go set up the kitchen for tonight. Need anything?" She asks them.

"I think you're taking the night off," Penny insists.

"Pen…"

"Nope. You're taking the night off Grace. You need it. We'll figure the kitchen out some other time. I made it just fine before. A few weeks for you to be off won't hurt us."

"Thank you," she sighs, hugging Penny. At the same time she feels her legs get wet. She freezes, looking down to see the floor wet. "Oh shit," she murmurs.

"Well, you are definitely off now," Penny laughs.

"Its… no. It's too early. We still have four weeks to go." They all see the panic on her face as Bradley pulls her back against her chest.

"Go. Go. We'll go get the bag from the house and meet you there," Baylie says jumping them all into action. She hugs Grace tight. "It's going to be ok. Get to the hospital and we'll meet you there."

"I'll call everybody," Penny promises. They help Grace to the Bronco, Jake and Alana insisting they drive so Bradley doesn't have to. "Well meet you there," Baylie promises.

She and Mickey go to the house using their spare key to get in. They find Grace's bag in her closest, the baby bag and carseat inside the door of the nursery. Jake speeds to the hospital, Bradley holding Grace in the backseat. He wipes her tears, rubs her back and promises her everything will be ok.

Once settled in a room, the doctor on call assures her they will do everything they can, and that thirty-six weeks is perfectly safe. They check her and she's already at five centimeters. Once she's settled, Bradley tells everybody they can filter through to visit. Baylie gets there with the bag and Grace insists she stay with them. Mav is probably the most excited and before they know it the waiting room is full.

Unfortunately Grace has the worst back labor ever but she refuses an epidural, mainly because of her fear of needles. Bradley constantly rubs her back, Baylie helps her with the breathing exercises, she walks and does everything possible to relieve the pain. Its probably a good thing her labor doesn't last long; she's only at the hospital about five hours before she feels the need to push.

Baylie is a solid rock the whole time, reminding her to breath and encourage her. Bradley was amazed at the strength of his girl, despite knowing how amazing she is. "Just a few more pushes, Grace," the doctor says.

"I can't," she cries, the pain unbearable.

Bradley grabs her face gently, wiping the tears and sweat away. "You can baby, you can. You've almost got this and then we can meet our baby. Bay and I got you. You can do this."

She gives him a shaky nod as Baylie squeezes her hand in agreement. It only takes about three more pushes before the head is out. She pants as the doctor instructs and then pushes their baby the rest of the way into the doctor's waiting hands. The baby starts crying immediately, and Grace feels immense relief. They lay the baby on her; "Congrats mommy and daddy its a girl!"

Bradley rests his head against Grace's as their tears mix as they both have hands on their baby, Baylie snapping several pictures for them. "Dad would you like to cut the cord?" They ask after a few minutes.

"Yea," he says quietly as they show him what to do. Once the cords been cut, they take the baby to get weighed, measured, and clean, Grace insisting Bradley go with her.

"I got her," Baylie promises, refusing to leave her side.

While the baby is getting cleaned up, they work on cleaning Grace up as well. Before she knows it, her baby girl is back in her arms, Bradley back at her side.

"She's five pounds two ounces and eighteen inches long," Bradley tells them.

"Our tiny girl," Grace whispers as she rubs the baby's cheek.

"I'm going to give you two a few minutes with her. Just yell when you're ready for visitors."

"Here you can show this picture," Bradley says, sending a picture of the baby girl all wrapped up after getting cleaned up. "We'll come get ya in a few," he promises.

They take a few minutes to admire their baby girl. "She's perfect," Grace whispers.

"Like her mama," Bradley smiles. She does look like Grace, but she also has some features that look like Bradley. They take about thirty minutes with her, Grace getting her to nurse a little before Bradley goes to get everybody. They bring Baylie and Mickey back first since they're the godparents, then Mav, Slider and Whiskey. After them is Jake and Alana and then everybody else that is there.

Mav cries when they tell him her name. "We named her after mom and dad," Bradley tells him as his godfather holds his grandbaby.

"They'd be so proud of you," Mav tells him softly. "She's beautiful."

Grace is exhausted by the time everybody leaves, but they FaceTime Kevin before she falls asleep. "Ready to meet your niece?" She asks as soon as Kevin answers.

The girls crowd around him making Grace smile even more. "I didn't know you had the girls," she smiles.

"Yea got them this morning. We didn't know we'd be meeting a baby today though."

"We didn't either," Bradley laughs finally coming into the screen. The girls all coo and awww over seeing the baby asleep in Bradley's arms. Grace turns the camera more so they could see the baby girl.

"Meet your niece and baby cousin, Caroline Nicole," she smiles.

"Beautiful name. Everything good?" Kevin asked.

"Yea so far. They don't see any problems with her being early."

"When can we come see her?" Sara asks her aunt.

"I think your dad has a trip planned for when you're out of school."

"But we don't wanna wait," Cara pouts.

"Sorry kiddos. Gotta finish school. It's just a couple more weeks. We fly out the day you finish," Kevin promises.

"We'll send lots of pictures between now and then and you can FaceTime anytime your dad says it's ok," Bradley promises.

"Ok," the girls sigh.

"We need to let Auntie Grace get some rest. We'll call back soon," Kevin tells them before they all say their goodbyes.

"Kev's right. Get some rest baby."

Grace lays her head on Bradley's shoulder, while he continues to hold Caroline, and promptly falls asleep. Caroline does well and they're home within a couple of days ready to start their life as a family of three now.

#my writing #bradley rooster bradshaw #bradley rooster bradshaw fic #bradley rooster bradshaw x oc #grace spicy bradshaw #spicy x roo #spicy x roo fic #baylie lucky steele #mickey fanboy garcia #jake hangman seresin #alana cinco metcalf #chaos squad #the chaos squad fics #chaos squad fics #the chaos squad

[frau-line]

Ummm circle family OC facts to get me writing

Madam Circle (formally Y Line):

Came from a very large family, the only daughter out of a dozen brothers. Father was a dodecagon, so she grew up fairly wealthy and could see the power her father and brothers wielded when growing up.

Gained much of her knowledge and smarts by listening in on her brothers’ studies, using her configuration to stay hidden. Of course, she played along with the act of being dumb and forgetful.

There was a brother who was kind enough to willingly share some information and studying with her. He did it with the expectation it would be forgotten later; she used him to make sure her cover wasn’t being blown.

Knowing she had to marry within the aristocracy to retain that power, she followed along with her father’s plan to marry a circle. She met Y Circle at one of these suitor meetings, and got a taste of his naive, dim-witted personality. And she knew he was the perfect mouthpiece.

She has no dreams of destroying the hierarchy or any sort of liberation. Through puppeteering her husband she finally has influence, and maintaining the status quo is the only way to keep it.

Y Circle:

Closer to a true circle, one of his uncles is a priest. He was raised by him alongside his mother and aunt-in-law as his father passed away when he was young.

It’s thanks to his priest uncle that he even has a position in the senate despite his sheer lack of skill in actual politics. He’s also an only child just like his own son, A Circle.

A more fair-weather friend to the lower classes. He’ll wax poetic about how important the lesser-sided are, but when push comes to shove, he’ll support the hierarchy. He’s never spoken on any issues regarding the isosceles and irregulars.

In the same way, he rarely interacts with them. He only gives orders to his servants, and ignores any lesser-sided outside his home unless absolutely needed. Lawyer squares are the most avoided. Having a lawyer makes you look guilty, doesn’t it?

He does genuinely love his wife, completely ignorant to her true nature. Just thinks she’s a little bossy at times, but ultimately helpful with his job.

#flatland oc

[gorejo]

i'm new to following you but that one ask was, not gonna lie, just rude af. i just wanna leave it here that even if it is or isn't true that tumblr is quiet (in general), let's not blame the creatives for it. like??? seriously? don't single ppl out. there are a lot of ppl who are too shy to even try interacting with the writer they fancy, much more silent readers are out there too. even if a lot of writers/artists put out a lot of content, we still manage to touch grass, ok. everyone has a life outside of tumblr, and to that nonnie, i hope you do too.

anyways, ae, i love your content 😌 taking a break or not, we'll still be here to read your piece, in the case that you put out new ones~ 🫶 in the subject of life outside, do you have any plans for the holidays or we're part of the stay cozy at home gang? (it's alright if you don't want to answer)

aw hi nonnie (( : thank you for this, i really appreciate it !! & yes, i totally agree with everything you're saying! personally, whether I get interaction or not, it hasn't been an important factor for me. Though I do start to get antsy when my community starts getting weird, and thankfully, I've been having a good experience on this blog ◡̈ my followers are absolute sweet peas <3

yea, it's a bit difficult sometimes when people are demanding creatives pump out work, but again... thankfully, i haven't gotten much of that here on this blog — besides the last anon I got haha. i am really grateful for the people that chose to follow me and stuck around despite my irregular updates.

oooo hmmm i'll be having a friendsgiving soon!! it'll be a themed get together so i'm pretty excited for that! and for christmas/new years, i might be traveling to the motherland heh

but other than that, i'll be staying pretty cozy in my home bc your girl is an absolute homebody. hbu nonnie!! hopefully, this festive season is good to you <3

#really i appreciate so many of yall here !!! ◡̈ #hope you're having a lovely day nonnie <3 #☏voicemail. #anon.

[i-did-not-mean-to]

Patience is a virtue

This is a celebration of my wonderful crack anon! (I love you, buddy)!

As I cannot thank them enough for their amazing Incorrect quotes, I have decided to combine two of them. (This one and this one) into a mini-ficlet!

Special thanks to @eunoiaastralwings and @sorisooyaa for enabling me and always having my back...💖💖💖

WORDS: 2k

WARNINGS: Dyslexic character, slight anger, potential innuendo

CHARACTERS: Celegorm, Caranthir x Reader

“Come on, Tyelko, you can do it,” you encouraged your friend gently.

“It all looks the same to me,” he groaned, sweeping the book he had been focusing on off the table in a desperately impatient gesture that he regretted almost instantly.

As he walked across the room to pick it up again, setting it down carefully on the table as if to apologise for his outburst, you struggled to keep your overflowing sympathy – that he’d misunderstand as pity – off your face.

Despite his rough exterior and his flighty nature, Celegorm was a good friend and hence, you had been tutoring him – in absolute secret – for a few weeks now; shame and petulant stubbornness had wrought a cage around his generous heart, and you were decided to free him from that burden that tortured him so.

Being the son of a man who had come up with his own writing and the brother of some of the most creative Noldor in existence, he felt that it was impossible to confess that he still struggled with basic reading comprehension.

Given ample time and a space where he felt safe, he could decipher the irregular handwriting of different authors – even though it took immense efforts that left his head spinning and his mood sour – but, if pressed or surprisingly confronted – he often flew into a rage and outright refused to so much as look at the document.

“They all think I’m an odd idiot anyway,” he had grunted during one of his frequent breakdowns; periodically, he would grow tired of doing his best without seeing the immediate results, an intemperate creature such as he was needed to keep going.

Ever the hunter, Tyelko was reliant on stalking and following his prey, but skills such as reading were notoriously elusive.

“It’s getting better,” you promised earnestly, “you’re doing so well.”

With a frustrated grunt, he closed the book – its pages glaring at him accusingly with their blurring, squiggly characters – and hunched over on his chair, leaning heavily on his forearms and all but hiding his handsome face, as the exhaustion from fighting an invisible, untouchable enemy washed over him.

“I’ve wasted your whole day,” he moaned as he realised how late it had become, “and for what? I should just give up…or swallow my pride and ask my father or Curvo for help.”

Putting your hand on his shoulder cautiously, you just waited; his younger brother was one of the very reasons why you had started helping Tyelko. He was unwilling to rely on Curufin all his life; as the older one, he wanted to be a haven of safety and solace to his younger siblings, not a burden.

“I think it would do you a world of good to talk it over with him,” you agreed slowly, “but not until you’re ready. He won’t think less of you.”

“Are you sure? Nelyo and Káno would be so disappointed in me, and I guess Moryo would just laugh at me,” he muttered dejectedly.

At the mention of Caranthir, you flinched a little; it was true that he was impatient, imperious, and – at times – unkind, but you knew that he cared deeply for his brother and you doubted that he’d ever be able to mock Tyelko’s misery.

You might have been wrong though, especially because you were – undeniably and irrevocably – in love with that ill-tempered but utterly sweet wallflower.

“Is Moryo home?” you asked casually.

“Where else would he be? Outside? In the sun? Where people are? Besides, it’s really late, my friend, and I guess the others are all in bed already.”

He pondered for a moment and then said: “I would be a terribly ungrateful friend if I let you leave a house made up of mostly unmarried males in the middle of the night; allow me to fix the guest room for you. Be my guest. Our guest. You might even get to see our red-faced poison-monkey in the morning. I’m sure he’d like that very much!”

“Tyelko!” you cried, swatting his arm playfully and breathing a sigh of relief when his usual, wicked smile returned to grace his sharp, angular face.

You were so relieved to see him return to his usual cheerful carelessness, you didn’t even bother to point out that spending the night in that house, chock-full with young men, would be even more disreputable than to simply slink out under the cover of darkness.

“Don’t hit me,” he laughed, “he’s a pest. You, my dear, are too good for this world and for this house, teaching the family idiot and admiring the family beast.”

“You are not an idiot,” you protested, pulling his hair in an act of childish annoyance, “and Moryo is not a beast.”

Being serious once more, you cupped his face in your hands and pressed a kiss onto his fair brow.

“You know, friend, ‘different’ does not equate ‘bad’,” you said fervently, “and because you’re all brilliant and gorgeous in different ways, you never consider – in your obsessive need for comparison between yourselves – that you’re invariably better at everything than anybody else.”

Celegorm made an unconvinced sound and led you down the corridor, only to freeze and roll his eyes when loud laughter resounded – muffled by the door and probably a pillow – from one of the rooms further down.

“Behold,” Tyelko hissed, “Nelyo, the donkey-tamer. It’s one of the Kános and – seeing that the hour is late and the house is dormant – I venture to claim that it’s Findekáno who snuck in through Nelyo’s bedroom window.”

“Neither your brother nor your cousin deserves to be compared to a donkey,” you reprimanded him patiently, “and you just gave me an idea.”

It was true that there were some humorous, satirical, disparaging pamphlets out there that – more often than not – liked to take a dig at the Fëanorian brood.

“I think I know just the thing to make you enjoy reading more,” you grinned.

“Porn?” he asked hopefully.

“Satire,” you replied sharply, giving the back of his head another affectionate slap.

“About my brothers?” His eyes flashed with interest now.

“Wait and see,” you smiled mysteriously, “you better reread the pages we looked at today, remember the small tricks I’ve shown you, and try to apply this to the next few pages.”

“Aye, aye, captain,” he hooted under his breath and shoved you into a dusty room that had once been a playroom and was now used as a cemetery for discarded and unloved garments, or at least, that was what it looked like.

“Good night,” Tyelko whispered, cocked his head, grinned, and then sauntered away whistling.

You had just settled on the old mattress that smelled like the boys you had known all your life when your phone pinged.

♥Dogboy♥

-      Moryo is not only home. Hes awak. I know bcause I threw dirty socks @ him.

-      Why? -.-

-      Because! Shoot him a msg!

You shook your head and turned around – decided not to give in to the temptation of reaching out to the object of all your secret desires – with a stubborn set to your jaw that would have put even Tyelko himself to shame.

You managed exactly 10 minutes of tossing and turning before groaning and fishing out your phone from under a pile of mismatched shorts once more.

☻His Dark Majesty☻

-      Hey!

With an exasperated moan, you threw your phone across the mattress and buried your face in an old shirt that still held a distinct aroma of grass and mud.

And then…your phone chimed.

☻His Dark Majesty☻

-      Hey?

-      I can’t sleep… ☹

-      I can. Good night!

So much for that, you thought, cursing Tyelko for putting you up to this, but – just as you were about to cry out of sheer humiliation – you heard the unmistakable creaking of a door being opened.

Curious, you stuck your head out of your own sanctuary and glimpsed the pale ray of light falling onto the well-worn floor of the hallway like the beacon of a lighthouse.

Pondering whether this was an invitation or just a coincidence, you paced around the graveyard of a forgotten childhood for another few minutes before creeping down the landing to the open door.

A bedside lamp was on and – in its weak light – you could see Moryo, propped up against the headrest, reading a book settled on his lap. 

From your vantage point at the door, you could see the light and shadow play on his enchanting face as he moved his lips soundlessly around the words his slender index flew slid along fluidly.

Everything about him looked so soft and inviting in this moment and the intimacy of the moment - getting to see him in a washed-out shirt, already comfortably tucked under the covers - made your skin prickle with earnest longing and a dash of raw desire.

“Tyelko should not keep you here so long,” he mumbled without looking up, “you have to be careful; otherwise, he’ll take more than you’re willing to give. He’s greedy like that.”

One of his hands fell on the mattress and patted it thrice in sharp, slightly awkward motions, but his gaze - immobile now - did not turn to you even though he had clearly stopped perusing his tome.

“Awwww, you worry about me?” you teased, climbing onto his bed and shuffling closer to his welcome warmth; he made a face – rolling his eyes at you – but also lifted his arm to let you snuggle into his embrace almost instantly.

Heat was creeping into his cheeks now as if that single look he had allowed himself to throw at you had been too much to bear with solemn dignity. It was true that you had discarded your sweater and your heavy pants to go to bed, but this was far from the first time that Moryo had seen you in your underwear.

Maybe, you thought, he also felt how different it was to be alone in a room, at night, without a chaperone or friend in sight. The silence of the house was both titillating and somehow threatening, and you found that your hands trembled a little as you clasped them coyly against your own stomach.

“Of course, I do, you little fool,” he huffed and very purposefully returned his attention to the book on his lap while you lay – motionless so as to not startle him into pushing you away – enveloped in the fragrant warmth of his sturdy body.

“Do you want me to read aloud to you?” he asked after a moment, turning his gaze upon you once more questioningly while you were playing with a stray thread of the worn shirt – the once vibrant black faded into a murky grey – absent-mindedly.

“Hmmm,” you hummed, already sleepy, and tried to put the awareness of how incongruous and indecent your presence here – in his house, in his bed, in his arms – truly was out of your conscious mind lest it make you do something reckless and unforgivable.

His voice was soft and low as he started reading what sounded suspiciously like a treatise on economics; at some point, he even tightened his hold on you as you started falling asleep, burrowing deeper into the warm space between his body and his bedding.

Comfort and solace flowed like golden starlight through your veins and set your blurry mind at ease; you could have stayed like this forever, his body against yours and his voice in your ear.

“Good night, darling,” he then whispered – barely audible – and pressed a kiss onto your relaxed brow, “you should not have to do this alone. I shall read to Tyelko too, I swear.”

“You know?” you mumbled hazily, too tired to even pretend to be shocked as you knew him to be perspicacious and shrewd to a fault.

“He’s my brother,” he laughed melodiously, “of course, I know. Now, sleep. And from tomorrow on, we'll all encourage our most savage sibling the way we know best.”

“Please don’t,” you protested weakly, your hand scrabbling across his body so you could cling to him as the world fell into drowsy waves of cotton wool, “you’d only anger him.”

Again, he chuckled softly and set aside his book with a tremulous sigh.In the following silence, torn between fatigue and excitement, you couldn’t help but feel as if he was explicitly waiting for you to say something. Unfortunately, you had no idea what.

I hope you find this, dear crack nonnie, and I hope you like it.

The end is consciously a bit...open, because...one never knows 😁

Lots of love from me <3

#fanfiction #writing #homage to crack anon #IDNMT writes #Celegorm #Caranthir #Caranthir x reader #hurt comfort #dyslexic character #everyone is valid #Modern!AU #messages and economics #a bit of non-serious fluff #Love you

[bcbdrums]

New Heights (Drakgo fic #150!!!)

A/N: This...is my 150th Drakgo fic, AND...today, publication day, is my birthday. (My 150th Kim Possible fic overall is A Knotty Situation for anyone curious, and it's hilarious; this new one is KP fic 153 overall.)

I honestly never expected to write for this fandom at all, let alone write so much. Thank you to those who have supported me from the beginning, both those still in the fandom and those who are enjoying other things now. I cherish you all.

An extremely special thanks to everyone who has ever drawn fan art for me. That's a special honor that I treasure deeply.

And now, on to the story... Evil date nights for Drakken and Shego are...unique. Hope you enjoy.

Read on:  FFn    AO3

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

New Heights

Despite the tight seal on the dome of the hover-car, Shego could feel the ominous chill of the air up higher in the atmosphere than she could recall having ever flown before in such a small craft. She couldn't help herself but to look down into the dark, the Earth below too distant to be seen, and layers of clouds so far they appeared as puddle-like lakes hovering somewhere above the planet's surface.

"Doc... Are you sure this is worth it?"

She hoped he couldn't hear the anxiety in her words, but, for how often Murphy's Law seemed to follow them around, she couldn't help but voice her caution. Especially when looking back up was just as frightening as looking down. It was a sea of inky blue emptiness in all directions, distant stars revealing themselves as pinpricks of light twinkling through the vast curtain. Perhaps, if the more familiar glow of civilization was visible below she would have felt more at ease. But Drakken had insisted on flying far out over some rural state, to a place with minimal light pollution.

"You won't be sorry, Shego. These cold plasma phenomena are like nothing you've ever seen. And if we're lucky, we'll see multiple types of transient luminous events."

Shego blinked across the seat at Drakken, the starlight reflecting in his eyes and his giddy grin.

"Come again?"

"There could be various sorts of transient luminous events. Of course, the stratosphere isn't necessarily the best place to view all varieties, but for these specific ones the conditions are perfect. Oh, I hope the dash cam is working... Did you charge the battery before we left?"

Shego blinked and shook her head, both in confusion and marveling at Drakken's perfect rattling off of the complicated words.

"Yeah... Yeah," she answered, still a bit stupefied as he continued to ramble about short-lived electrical-breakdown phenomena in combinations of words she didn't realize he was capable of and didn't fully understand herself. Meanwhile he was using a remote control to adjust the angle of their camera, aiming it upwards in the sky. Below them in the lake-like clouds, a brief flash of lightning illuminating the irregular shapes proved that the world still in fact existed below them.

"...And of course, there is always the possibility of elves and ghosts, but they are less common."

Shego tuned back in as his science talk switched suddenly to the fanciful.

"What? You mean like...like...?"

"We might be able to see a troll as well. There really isn't a chance for pixies and gnomes, but from here we could definitely see—"

"Doc, you've totally lost me."

The excitement in Drakken's eyes didn't wane, and he merely lifted a finger in a gesture for patience as another distant flash below heralded a building storm. She wanted to question again the safety of flying above what would be a turbulent event, since that was apparently needed for whatever it was Drakken was insistent upon showing her in the upper atmosphere. But for all he was going on about, whether it be science or whimsy, none of it was making sense.

She was internally debating insisting they just leave, concerns about the dome failing, asphyxiation, and even lightning strikes (if it could reach that high), rattling her nerves. But before she could open her mouth to voice any of her objections, Drakken set his arm around her shoulders and her thoughts were arrested. Suddenly all she could see was the deep of his eyes staring down warmly into hers.

"The sprites are the most beautiful."

"Sprites?"

"I think it's a ridiculous name personally, along with the rest. But one must stay on theme, I suppose. It leaves out jets of course, they don't fit. But they are the most obvious of the TLE's after all."

Shego shook her head and moved nearer to him, her brow twisting in confusion and worry. She couldn't see below anymore, the vast blue emptiness that faded to black above overtaking her vision. It was unnerving, seeming to be suspended in nothingness, the hover-car a mere speck that somehow was still operational some 50,000 feet above the planet's surface.

Her stomach turned, and she desperately wished for what wasn't feeling at all like an evil date to be over, despite the smoldering of feelings Drakken's look had ignited in her chest. She needed further distraction.

"Tell me more about these...what are they? TLE's?"

"Which ones?"

"The uh... Whatever we're up here to see?"

Drakken held her shoulder more tightly, smiling happily.

"It's really quite simple, Shego. A large polarity change in the electric field after a lightning strike sends an abrupt negative charge into the stratosphere..."

He was going too fast, and she still couldn't keep up with his scientific chatter. Part of her wondered if he was making it all up, but the precision and rapidity with which he rattled off the complex and detailed explanation suggested otherwise.

"The imbalance from the top of the storm and the charge in the ionosphere are the ideal conditions for these TLE's," he said, as if in conclusion, but then he took another breath and continued.

Shego rested her head on his shoulder. Listening to him speak with such excitement and confidence was, she realized, gradually calming her nerves. And she couldn't help herself but to be pleased seeing him so happy. Amid their seemingly endless defeats and failures, it was rare to see him so thrilled and with absolutely nothing standing in the way of his joy. This wasn't a world domination plan that hinged upon tiny, variable details. It was just a date, which she had agreed to without hesitation, and he had promised her the show of a lifetime.

She tuned out the actual words, giving up trying to understand the science he was explaining while equally impressed that he knew so much. She fully believed of course that he was a genius; he couldn't invent and build all of the devices he did otherwise. His sudden frequent shifts into nonsense words and talk of ridiculous things like gnomes and pixies would always confuse her, but...as he talked animatedly about whatever it was he had determined was worth risking their lives for an evil date, she found herself smiling.

In truth, she loved hearing him talk. Not that she would ever let him know.

"...And the higher in altitude, the nitrogen will excite red. But it would show up blue and even perhaps purple if excited lower. Should we see any green, that of course is oxygen. And—"

"Are you sure this is safe?" she interrupted after a faint rumbling of thunder reached her ears from below.

"...It'll be worth it," Drakken said, his smile not faltering.

Shego turned her head and looked at him.

"Drakken."

Before another word could be spoken, a flash of lightning revealed Drakken's reason for bringing her up into the sky.

It was over in an instant, but it was impressed upon her mind like a photograph. A massive wash of translucent glowing red that overtook the sky like a dome but without borders—a three-dimensional presence that seemed real and non-existent all at once. Bright beads and tendrils fractured down and away from the dome like lightning, only far more delicate like the roots of a flower. At their tops they seemed attached to the dome by a cone, and at the very lowest tips of the wire-like structures that sizzled in the icy air was a faint purple glow.

Shego rose up and bumped her head on the hover-car's dome as she peered down in attempt to see the full extent of the thing, but it had vanished like a vapor, the star-studded indigo skies filling her vision once more. She had scarcely taken a breath when another of the red wonders flashed in the sky, further away but no less magnificent. And then another, and another. Each the same, and yet each unique as they came to life and then danced away before she could even fathom what they might be.

She sat down again, Drakken's arm ready to receive her, and laughter bubbled delightedly from his lips as he stared wide-eyed with boyish excitement at what had clearly been his reason for flying her up there.

"What are they?" she said, the words sounding alien as they seemed to come from some other source than her mouth.

"Sprites," Drakken said, holding her closer, the continuing flashes of red making his skin look purple when she glanced at him.

A lingering green mist appeared above the next otherworldly flash before vanishing in a seeming swirl, and Drakken let out a gasp of excitement.

"That one is a ghost! You know, they were only recently officially discovered—"

"Ghosts? Sprites? Who names these things?" Shego asked with a mild scoff, still watching in fascination as the show continued, the phenomena appearing and vanishing across the vastness of the ocean of the sky, seeming almost like animals bobbing up out of the seas to reveal a secret before hiding themselves away again.

"Hn... Scientists, I suppose," Drakken replied.

"They look more like jellyfish," Shego declared as another appeared and then blinked away, another tiny trail of purple and even blue faintly showing at the bottom of the tendrils of light with a boundless dome-like mist at the top.

"You know, Shego, you're right," Drakken said with a smile.

"Seriously, who thought sprites was a good name? They look exactly like...creepy jellyfish out of some nightmare. Jellyfish lightning."

"Ah, but it isn't lightning, Shego. It's more of a cool plasma phenomenon."

"Whatever," she said, moving nearer to him as a rumble of thunder followed a particularly bright red flash, topped again by a green ghost. She couldn't think of a better name for those, so kept her mouth closed on the matter.

They watched the display in silence for several minutes, the dancing of the strange red lights making it seem to Shego they had left the Earth for some place far more wonderful. And with Drakken's arm warming her against the invasive chill of the upper atmosphere, she found she didn't mind anymore having been brought up into the heavens. It was dangerous, risky, and beautiful—everything an evil date should be.

Drakken peered down over the side of their tiny craft through its protective dome as a rumbling of thunder lasted especially long that time, and then he smirked and hummed to himself in amusement.

"What?" Shego asked.

When he turned back toward her, his expression showed that his next words would cause her to either laugh or hit him, and she wasn't sure she wanted to hear whatever thought had entered his mind.

"You know, since we're renaming things..." he began, barely containing his mirth, "clouds are really just...fluffy water."

She stared at him as he held back his laughter, waiting for her response. Red flashed above them again and he glanced away to the skies.

"Shego, you're missing them! Shego...?"

She threw her arms around him and kissed him, as suddenly the only danger and beauty she was interested in was further opening her heart to the mad scientist who both calmed and fueled her flames.

He kissed her back, but after a moment broke away to look desperately into her eyes.

"But, Shego! The sprites!"

"Guess we'll just have to come back during the next storm," she said with a grin.

Drakken's smile returned as revelation reached his eyes, and it was but a moment before they melted into each other's arms and she gave herself up to the passion she too often held back as his lips caressed hers while around them, the lights still danced.

'Transient luminous...whatever,' her mind tried to fill in from Drakken's earlier intellectual talk, but all of it had fled in favor of memorizing the feel of his mouth upon hers and his fingers kneading her flesh. And as she glimpsed the red flashes turning his skin purple once again she couldn't help herself but to chuckle into the kiss.

That night, all she would remember was fluffy water, jellyfish lightning, and the love in his touch.

#drakken #shego #drakgo #kim possible #kp #kp drakken #kp dr drakken #kp dr. drakken #dr drakken #dr. drakken #d/s #drakken/shego #dr drakken x shego #dr. drakken x shego #drakken x shego #drakkenxshego #drakkenshego #drakken shego #drakkenandshego #drakken and shego #shegoanddrakken #shego and drakken #dragko #shegoxdrakken #shego x drakken #fanfiction #fanfic #fic

[blood-bound]

for markyboy! essentials 8 & 9, death 5

oh awesome i didnt even expect this 2 b an sak game but im always here 2 talk abt my Bo7

8. Who are their Touchstones, if any?

We have Dr. Armatto, who was his faculty advisor while Mark was getting his PhD. So he was a big inspiration to him, helped him out a lot - cemented a love of learning, and a love for humanities history w/the idea that humanity is always growing and advancing. They are still in irregular contact. In a year or two I expect Dr. Armatto to question Mark on why he hasn't been publishing papers lately :/ Like Dr. Vela My Friend I Thought You Wanted Tenure, Let Me Help You???

Then we have Kenny, who was his ex from high school. He meant a lot to Mark cause he helped him realize his sexuality and they went through a lot of shit together in high school. They lost contact after he graduated and moved but Kenny of course just back to Detroit and Mark finally agreed to meet with him after months...Kenny is a very openly gay man despite it being 2000s Detroit, very flamboyant, very confident n cool. but yeah Mark is a dangerous person 2 be friends w so he should leave him alone. Finally there is. Sampson <3 whom i love. Sampson and Mark were dating just before he was turned, and theres a lot of shit with them that many of my followers have heard many times but in short he is now Mark's ghoul and ex and things are. difficult betwixt them

9. What are their Convictions (moral opinions and standings they hold fast to)?

So these were poorly worked out cause mark is my first VTM OC and my storyteller was lenient but in approximate order of touchstones above: Knowledge should not be destroyed and should be shared/a general love of humanity and its progress Something about innocence and young love (the worst worked out one aslkdjfds) and finally that People can be loved in spite of flaws

In the game these haven't come up mechanically but are definitely themes. Dr. Armatto's is actually one of the more interesting ones and is a very. opposed viewpoint within kindred society, who look down upon humanity, but idk how it will come up. Mark has already commented that kine are juts as intelligent as kindred to one vampire and got a raised eyebrow look lkasdfjds

5. Which of their Clan’s stereotypes apply to them? Which do they act against, or embody the opposite of?

Tremere are fucking nerds - check

Tremere have a lot of secrets - check

Tremere are kind of assholes - check

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so he embodies that stuff lmao

Tremere are Cool - FAILED Mark is not cool.

Tremere are unforgiving - FAILED Mark does indeed believe in forgiveness <3 So he acts against that for sure. He also is going to act somewhat against the authoritarianism by helping the poor gargoyles <3 good luck Mark

idk if there are more clan sterotypes i missed 4 tremere dslkjfsdfj lmk if so

thank u this was fun af!

#mark vtm oc