imagine going to a buffet for your favorite dishes, and then being mad when you see a new dish served as an optional selection to try, so you burn down the whole buffet so no one else could enjoy anything ever again
Everything is feeling a little heavy, but that's alright because Valko is heavier.
ABOUT | 2500 words. fluff. pre-relationship. first kiss. UST. self indulgent. emotional hurt/comfort.
"Whatcha watching?"
Your body jerks in surprise, sending your phone tumbling to the floor as your hands come up to muffle the high-pitched yelp startled out of you.
The sound of the cat compilation video echoing through the living room undermines the fierceness of your glare when you turn to face your intruder. That teasing rumble all too close ā and all too familiar ā to belong to anyone else but-
"Valko," you chide, wishing you could blame the jumpscare when your stomach dips at the sight of his windblown hair and innocent expression so close to yours.
Though letting himself into your apartment like this was nothing new, had become a part of your routine for months at this point, if you're honest, there was something that had been feeling different about Valko's visits to you lately. Less vexing and moreā¦ comforting.
An increased awareness of him, maybe? The sound of his voice. His size. The way his laugh and personality managed to fill the room more than his bulky body. Of the way he always tripped over your living room rug or tried to sneak a rub of his scent into every pillow. Of the way he stood so close when he spoke to you, capturing you in the sweet honey of his eyes.
It was something warm that pulsed in your chest, something intimate that had started to hook your gaze to his mouth and magnetize your palms to his skin even today, when you're at your lowest.
His right ear twitches at the sound of his name as he grabs your phone from the floor, a crease of distaste scrunching his nose when he clicks on the screen to stop the noise and tsks, "Looks like my 'dogs are better than cats' speech needs some work."
"Maybe I'll be more in the mood to hear you outā" you take your phone back and set it on the table with a huff, "āwhen my 'please use the damn front door' speech finally penetrates that thick skull of yours."
A crooked grin scrawls over his face. The pointed tips of his incisors reflecting the dim light of the small lamp you'd flicked on purely to save you from feeling like a complete gremlin while you moped this evening.
"Gonna tell you the same thing I tell Ma every time she says that." He unfurls from the crouching position he'd been in and drops his weight beside you, making your normally sizeable loveseat suddenly feel cramped. "Processing info is for the ears, not the skull."
Resting your cheek in your palm, you narrow your eyes at him with a considering hum.
"What?" Your uninvited houseguest turns to face you, eliciting a concerning creak from the loveseat as his knee comes up to rest on the cushion and his arm drapes over the back. An oversized paw just shy of brushing your shoulder. "What d'you mean, 'hm?'"
"Trespasser, jumpscaring people, terrible manners, and a smart ass to your mother?" You note each transgression by holding up a finger. "No wonder you're always prowling around Linkon alone."
"Hey, hey! Woah, woah, hold on." His hand darts forward, covering yours like it'll hide the evidence. "Noā I meanā sure I may be some of those things, but trust me," he puts one of your fingers down and leans forward, another sad groan coming from below the cushion as he rests his elbow on his knee. "I wouldn't be sitting here, or hanging out with you ā or breathing ā if I were a smart ass to my mother."
Despite yourself, you feel the corner of your lip twitch, the closest youāve come to a smile all day.
It surprises you how naturally it comes, how much lighter you feel, as you take in his easy grin, his warm palms, his artless gaze. Makes you worry that you're becoming used to this feeling, to something you might be misreading.
"Why?"
"Well, she has this really brutal way of grabbing you by the ear andā"
"Noā" the word dissolves on a giggle that has both his ears twitching and an expression you can't quite interpret crossing his face. "I mean, why are you sitting here? Hanging out with me?"
"Oh. I kind ofā" He stops, a hint of pink creeping onto his cheeks as he looks down at your still-linked hands. "I mean, I sorta felt like something wasā¦ off. With you." You're suddenly glad for the loss of his gaze as he starts to fiddle with your fingers, pressing the pads of his fingers to the tops of your nails as if to test their sharpness. "It's like a.. tug?"
Your mind races with panic as you realize just how much your attraction to him has been tugging at you over his last few visits. "Are you saying that with thisā this bond or whatever, you can feel my emotions?"
"Nah, it's not like that." You hope he can't see the stark relief in your gaze when his eyes meet yours again, letting go of your hand to press a palm to the center of his chest. "It's not emotions that call me, it's, wellā¦ you. Calling me, that is. Needing me. Or, pulling at me, more like."
Your brows arc upward. "Like a leash?"
His head shoots back dramatically, paired with a groan that sounds almost as distressed as the loveseat still suffering under his weight. "Mercy, little hellion. Let a man keep at least a little dignity." He shakes his head with a bark of self-deprecating laughter. "But yeah. You've got me leashed up good. Happy?"
His question is gentle but pointed, hopeful. His frame still leaning over you, an umbrella shielding you from the sadness and negativity that have been pelting you all day.
Your chest warms at the sight, making it all the harder to respond with a sad smile and the shake of your head as the all the reasons you're not happy come flooding back.
"Alright," he says easily, unphased and unrelenting. A considering look enters his eyes. "Just means I've gotta take more drastic measures here."
In a blur of movements you barely have time to process, he turns his back to you, kicks off his boots ā an oddly polite gesture that has you reconsidering just how serious he was about that leash comment ā and flops backward. The broad span of his shoulders forces your bent knees down to accommodate the weight of his head as it nestles into your thighs.
"V-Valko! What are you doing?" you stutter, heartbeat galloping as the scent of amber and pine and him wash over you. His ear twitches as he takes your awkwardly hovering hands, placing one behind the wolf ear on his right and the other behind the human ear on his left.
"There," he says with a wiggle of his shoulders, like your thighs are a pillow he's nestling into.
When he notices your hands haven't budged, he gives you an expectant look, nudging the sides of his head into your palms until your lips twitch and your fingers start to move.
"This is your drastic measure?"
He hums in response, eyelashes fluttering as your nails scrape gently over a rose-coloured mix of silky hair and plush fur.
"And this is supposed toā¦" The question trails off but your hands continue.
He shrugs, the heat of his shoulders anchoring your thighs as one of his arms sneaks around your waist.
"I dunno, distract you? Annoy you, comfort you, take your pick." His eyes lock onto yours, sincere, earnest. "Whatever you need."
The combination of his touch and his words act like a stick of dynamite, blasting through the boulder of tension and worry that's been sitting on your chest all day.
You take a deep breath as he sighs in what you instinctually know is relief. And for the first time since he's mentioned this "bond" of yours, you think, maybe this thing goes both ways.
The thought that you might be starting to figure him out as well as he always seems to understand you brings a small smile to your face.
His lips mirror yours. "That's what I like to see," he says, voice low.
You roll your eyes and flick his ear to disguise the way your stomach flips when the praise rumbles through your thighs, flexing them to jostle him and joke, "What? Me being suffocated?"
His finger comes up to tap the end of your nose with a self-assured grin. "Stop pretending you dont like it, I saw that weighted blanket on your bed." You're not sure if it's you or the loveseat that squeaks when he tugs you into his face and nuzzles into your stomach. "Wanna tell me what's got you down?"
There's something about Valko's bluntness, about his willingness to tackle everything head-on, that catches you more off-guard than his casual and abundant displays of affection ever do. It's straightforward, without artifice. And though there's no hesitation in his request, there's somehow no pressure in it either. As if no response you give him could ever result in offense or resentment or awkwardness, making it feel like the most natural thing in the world to tell the unvarnished truth.
So you do.
"It's justā¦ everything? I don't know, it's all piling up. Like, there's work, lack of sleep, friends I'm not keeping up with, not to mention the general state of the world."
You pause, finding his attentive gaze already on you when you look down to see if you're making any sense. He nods encouragingly, the ears on his head twitching in unison like an attentive audience.
"So I guess I've just been thinking about it all and it feels a little overwhelming. Right here." You press a hand to your chest. "Andā¦ heavy, I guess. Likeā" You raise a pointed brow. "Like getting crushed by a giant mutt on my own sofa."
His jaw drops in dramatic affront. āYouā did you just-ā He snaps into a sitting position, your loveseat groaning in despair before he points a finger at himself, as if there could be anyone else you were talking about. āMutt?! Oh you just crossed a line, you hellion.ā
Any response you mightāve had morphs into a high-pitched squeal as youāre scooped up by a muscular arm and thrown over his shoulder.
āValko! What are you doing? Put me down,ā you manage through giggles and laughter as he hauls you to the bedroom with what sounds like a muttered 'Iāll show you a giant mutt.'
You land on the mattress with a breathless oomph, the stray laughs bubbling from your throat feeling foreign but welcome as Valko descends over your figure in an army crawl, finally stopping when you're nose to nose.
Your chests meet on each breath as he reaches up to brush hair from your face. His eyes seem more yellow than amber in the dim light, like marigolds, and you can't think of anything more fitting for the resilient, protective man above you.
"Hi," you breathe, grinning wide.
"Hello, gorgeous," he murmurs, darting a glance at your lips that has your heartbeat pounding against your ribs.
The shadow of his tail swishes behind him as he lowers his weight onto you, fitting his body over yours in a way that anchors and comforts you rather than stifles you.
"Better?" He mumbles into your neck, the heat of his breath awakening gooseflesh over your collarbones. "You know, now that you've made my pedigree your punching bag?"
"Yeah, actually," you realize with a giggle, fingers brushing over the soft bristles of his undercut. "I do."
You haven't laughed this much in a while. In fact, despite being pinned under the heaviest man you know, you haven't felt this light for a few weeks now, you think, which wasā¦ the last time he visited you. You close your eyes briefly, mourning the loss of your sanity at the realization that he was right earlier. You had needed him.
"Then listen to me real quick." Your hand slips to his jaw when he raises his head, his smile smaller, his eyes intent. "Next time you feel overwhelmed, or if it's all feeling like too much, you don't have to isolate yourself, or doomscroll, or muscle through it alone. I know I look like I'm all brains but I can help carry things. So just call me, yeah?"
You smile, agreeing with a small nod, pausing before you joke, "With the leash?"
"Okay, who's the smart ass now?" he mutters with a shake of his head, crooked grin back in place. "I meant with a phone. But the leash works too, I guess."
"What's it like?" you ask, curious for the first time since you've learned of it.
"The bond?" His eyes flicker between your eyes and your lips, a knuckle tracing your cheek. "It's like one of those less traveled paths in the woods. Barely visible to the naked eye, but once you find it and start walking on it, everything starts to feelā¦ right."
"Your chest gets really warm and you have this zappy feeling in your gut." His lips tip up in a faraway smile as his eyes follow the path his knuckle makes over your ear, your neck, your collarbones. "Everything feels possible when it's there. Lighter. And when it's gone? Anything you do feels wrong. Empty."
"Butā¦" You swallow past the heartbeat in your throat. "I thought you couldn't feel my emotions," you protest weakly.
A spark ignites in his eyes, electric enough to charge the air between you as his expression morphs into what you can only identify as a primal satisfaction. He inhales deeply, as if he's trying to memorize the scent of this moment, holding your gaze as his eyelids lower.
"I can't," he breathes, so close his nose brushes against yours when he shakes his head. "Those were all mine."
Your lips part, tongue hovering in wait between your teeth as his palm comes up under your chin, fingers settling on both sides of your jaw to draw you in. Your eyes shut as his lips descend over yours, and despite the warmth of his palm, the first brush of his tongue feel like being doused in flame. You wrap your arms around his neck on a moan, humming when he tilts your head to lick into your mouth again and again.
"Valko." The soft, fuzzy sensation of his buzzed hair grazes your knuckles and he sighs into your mouth, as if you're breathing life back into him with the sound of his name.
You take the chance to nip at his lip, holding it hostage between yours until he answers in kind. The sharpness of his teeth like bee stings on your mouth, soothed only by the sweet honey of a tongue that's licking, tasting, consuming the flushed skin between your lips and your throat.
His body sinks into yours, each of his muscles and contours taking shape around yours like heated metal, a weapon being forged for its master, its weight the heaviest thing you'll ever have to carry again.
ā»ā» MASTERLIST
NOTE: They can take my undomesticated wolf man from me in the game but he will live on as a terrible house guest in my delusions forever xoxo
can't wait to go back to the monotonous cycle of grind -> pull for multi -> grind -> pull for solo -> grind -> pull for multi -> grind -> pull for myth -> grind -> pull for multi -> grind
Infold is pissing me off, so bad rn. And the CN players.
First off, CN players, apparently, sending funeral flowers and cow dung and ritual items to Papergames is batshit behaviour, on it's own. But because they don't like the story/development direction the game is going? One that infold stated has been the plan from the start? Who does that?!
And Infold caving to it is dangerous. It sends the message that this kind of behaviour works, and the people behind it get what they want. Not just towards infold, but other games as well, and that isn't right. What if people start doing this towards other games/communities, thinking it'll let them get their way? What if this behaviour escalates because it's shown to work? Rewarding this kind of behaviour by giving them what they want is unacceptable. On a moral level.
I was so excited for Valko. As well as my sister/friends who play the game too. He seemed like such an interesting character, with fun five stars and unique plot that I was so excited to explore.
I enjoy good storytelling and, say what you will about Infold being a greedy company, they're great at story telling, from the main story to the plot of 5/4 star cards, the anecdotes, world underneath, etc. That's why I trust and remain invested in Infold's ability to tell a story, and believe that if they released Valko before a Sylus and Caleb update, there was some plot related reason they wanted it to happen first. Maybe it's naive, but changing the story because one portion of the fanbase doesn't like it is an insane move, that only serves to piss off the other portion of the fanbase.
To say that I am extremely disappointed with this decision would be an understatement. It feels so disrespectful to the global fanbase that invest time, money and emotions into this game, and even create fan works for it. We were excited for him. He had an audience that would've been excited to explore his character, even if the CN players weren't.
I understand frustration towards the lack of content for Caleb and Sylus, and I do think that Infold needs to address this. I would, personally, prefer delaying the fourth myths in favour of focusing on second bond stories and free four stars for the two. This would also be f2p friendly move, as players have more time to save for the myth.
I also agree that main story updates should be more frequent and prioritised over cash grabs, like frequent multi banners, re runs, paid outfits/events, etc. However, removing a character that the global fanbase is excited for, just because the domestic fanbase isn't is an insane move, and just shooting yourself in the foot.
If Infold had no desire to listen to, and take into account the voices of its global fanbase, then they shouldn't have expanded the game to the global fanbase to start with. They shouldn't have events overseas, or attend expos abroad. Because, clearly, they don't value or the opinions, of global players.
All isolating global players will do is make them leave LADS for a different game, the success of LADS shows there is a market for similar games. Losing players will mean losing their money too, and the decrease in profits will only mean that there will be less money to create content for the existing five characters, slowing down production of myths, main story updates, and other content (such as missing content for Sylus and Caleb).
I sincerely hope Infold reconsiders this decision, and, at minimum, releases Valko for the global audience only, if the CN players really hate him that much.
A warning, feel free to scroll past this because it's just gonna be pure anger.
Fuck the LADS fandom
This has to be one of the most entitled fandoms I've ever been in.
And I honestly think Infold have shot themselves in the foot because now the other half the fandom is upset.
"we rushed Valko" I EXPECTED HIM A YEAR AGO! The OG release, the Sylus release and the Caleb release were all 6 months apart from each other. Honestly anybody who thinks 6 LIs is too much needs to go and pick up another game. Some of this fandom don't know how good a thing they have and desperately need their eyes opened.
I feel awful but a part of me wants to see the game shut down just so some of you would be forced to face the consequences of the parasocial relationship you've allowed yourself to submerge into.
I also really hate that Infold have caved to the aggressive side of the community, the players that have threatened, insulted and swung slurs at not only them but other players as well.
If you're happy about this cancellation go and get a life.
If you follow me, I'll probably be ignoring LADS for a while and posting more about the ikemen series. I'm definitely running back to play some more Silvio's route and I've been enjoying Sympathy Kiss as well. So if you post about otomes other than LADS (LADS content included is fine) let me know, I'd love to follow some people that post more otome stuff.
tbh the more i think ab it, the more insane this situation is because you don't have to get valkos cards, and in the main story he's not a li so ??? he's literally just a guy
infolds revenue from chinese fans is only 60% btw, international fans account for 40% which is almost 50/50, so WHY THE FUCK DO THEY LISTEN TO EVERY DINGLE THING THE CHINESE FANS WANT AND COMPLETELY IGNORE INTERNATIONAL FANS
disappointed is an understatement for the fact that a vocal minority of parasocial liars essentially throwing a week long tantrum is whatās finally stuck.
im extra disappointed from a game standpoint because i know there was going to be a lot of lore added and explained with his introduction bc of his position that weāre now missing out on, and the potential delays in already long awaited updates that re-workshopping this change will cause.
also just genuinely surprised because at the very least, from a business standpoint, all the sunken cost for him alone feels like it shouldāve been the last resort for them to do this and not the first solution, since theyāll never make any money back on him now.
last but most important, not only are the players impacted here, but this widespread tantrum and attempt to strong arm a company over a game is having real life impacts on the writing team that was hired for Valko, all the voice actors and cosplayers and motion capture actors for him, and an entire design and animation team Iām sure. so yay, you nuked the real world just to get your fake world to be exactly as you want it ā¦
it hasnāt even been a couple weeks since he was announced, and they just canceled him???
im not even a player of the game, i just like reading the fics and interacting with the fandom, but i am honestly so sad for the community who do play the game. canceling him and any future love interests because some people (not naming names) couldnāt handle him is insane to me. iāve always thought that if you donāt like something (thatās not hurtful to you or others), then let it be! let the people who enjoy it, enjoy it!
im rly disappointed in infold, it just cements to me what kind of company they are.
if you are in the LADS community who make the fics, please donāt forget about him! i love reading about valko, and im worried heāll be thrown aside since heāll no longer be apart of the game. please donāt let my man be forgotten!!
CONGRATULATIONS to everybody that was "underwhelmed" with Valko's release: the 6.0 Update now consists of ONLY two features (the addition of a kitchen in the Home System and AR Photobooth).
But, hey! Y'all got some free Deepspace Wishes I guess š¤¬
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