#[ continues to drag u into this even 100 years later ]

[lumaejin]

Your Highness | JJK

➳ Ship: Jungkook x Reader

➳ Genre: Fantasy AU. Prince!Jungkook x Warrior!Reader

➳ Word Count: 3.3k

➳ Rating: General Audiences (nothing mature/explicit)

➳ Summary: Your childhood best friend. The prince of your realm. One minute you were causing trouble together, the next he was... gone. But almost 100 years later, you finally see him again.

(banner made by me)

I lunged out with my wooden sword, the tip cutting through the dummy’s throat, sending its head flying. I smiled at my work, thinking about the possible praise I would get from my trainer. Someone started clapping from behind me.

“What are you doing here Jungkook?” I said, walking towards the decapitated head of the dummy and picking it up. With all my strength, I threw it across to the nearest bin.

“Well you know, escaping classes and what not,” he said. I rolled my eyes. Typical.

“You do know these will be important once you’re the emperor, right?”

“I still have ages until I have to worry about that. Besides, don’t you want to… you know, get out of here for a bit?” he asked, looking around at the old training arena, “It smells in here.”

“True that,” I said, contemplating his idea, “You know what… why not? BUT, I get shouted at for ‘being a bad influence to you’, you will not get off easily.”

“Sure,” he said, grinning mischievously.

“Now help me with tidying up.”

“That’s not fair! You made this mess!” he pouted. You stopped for a moment to admire his expression, before looking away.

“But you,” I said, dragging out the u, “want to get out of here quickly.”

He sighed, walking over towards the rest of the equipment, grabbing it, “I could always go without you, or with my hyungs, you know.”

“We both know you would never.”

[…]

As soon as the dummies had been thrown out and the area cleaned, we made our way towards the stables. Technically, Jungkook wasn’t supposed to be here, so we couldn’t just ask Hoseok for the horses like we normally would. Instead, Jungkook was going to saddle them secretly, while I went to distract Hobi.

“HEY! HOBI OPPA!” I yelled out, waving furiously at him. Jungkook had already snuck to the other side, entering the stable from the back door.

“Hey Y/N! What are you doing here?” he asked, smiling at me.

“Well, I was bored so I decided to come here.”

Walking towards a bench, I sat down, patting the spot next to me. Maybe I did feel a bit bad for lying to him, but that could be worried about later.

“Jungkook’s in class, right?” he asked.

“Yeah, his classes are getting longer and longer every day. So, what have you been doing?”

“Oh, not much, just this and that. Oh, we got a new horse, did I tell you?”

“You did? Is it a he or a she?” I asked, genuinely interested. Horses were beautiful creatures, especially the royal steeds.

“A she. Her name is Snowy and she’s beautiful! If you want, I can show you right now?”

Shit, no Hobi. I appreciate it but please don’t.

“Ugh, maybe another day? I’m sure she still has to get used to everything. Wouldn’t want to disturb her now, would we?” I said, mentally slapping myself. Couldn’t I have come up with something better? I glanced around, focusing on my peripheral vision. I couldn’t see Jungkook anywhere, so he was still inside. I sighed internally, couldn’t that boy hurry up?

“Ah no, she’s the sweetest. She gets along really well with the others, even with Flare and you know how she is.”

“Yeah. But just to be safe, you know.”

“Sure…” Hoseok narrowed his eyes at you, but you smiled.

“How did your training go?”

“The usual, Taehyung managed to land himself detention once again, and I stayed back a bit to practice after that.”

“What did he do this time?” Hoseok said, shaking his head, a smile on his lips.

I laughed, replaying the scene in my head, “Well, the usual prank. This time, it was on the assistant trainer. It was hilarious, but no one was dumb enough to laugh.”

The image of the assistant, covered from head to toe in paint, flashed in front of my mind and I bit back another laugh.

At that moment, I saw a figure waving out of the corner of my eyes. Jungkook. Mission accomplished.

“Anyway, it was nice chatting and all, but I have to get back to my grandmother now. Thank you! I’ll see whether I can stop by later?”

“Sure,” he said, as I ran off to the back of the stable, waving at him until I wasn’t in sight anymore.

“…TELL JUNGKOOK THAT HE CAN’T SKIP CLASS FOREVER!” I heard Hoseok shout after me. He must have seen me glancing at the stable doors every now and then. I grinned at his words and shook my head, yelling back “I WILL!”

A second later, I reached the edge of the forest, where Jungkook was waiting for me.

“I’m supposed to tell you, from Hobi oppa, that you can’t continue to skip class,” I said, taking the reins, which he held out towards me.

“You have to be more subtle next time. I mean, if Hobi hyung can pick up on it, then anyone could.”

“Stop complaining,” I said, playfully hitting him on the shoulder, “I’ve been doing the same thing for years, and Hobi oppa and the rest of your hyungs are the only ones who ever pick up on it. By the way, why did you take so long? What the hell were you doing in there?”

“It’s not my fault that Fire over here was trying to bite off my finger!”

“You should have let her, you know how much she likes eating human parts. It would have made her happy,” I said, giving him a smile.

“Don’t you worry about my happiness, woman?”

“Nope.”

[...]

A long ride and a few close encounters with castle guards later, the rushing sound of the waterfall could be heard. The forest was teeming with life, like it always was. Birds were chirping happily, the leaves were rustling and every now and then, I could hear the sound of animals rushing around between the bushes.

As we got closer, the water splashing was more and more obvious and the air started to feel more humid.

“Y/N, look!” Jungkook said.

I turned around to look in the direction he was pointing to find the trees clearing up, revealing the waterfall we had been looking for.

“Woah! It’s not changed at all since the last time we were here,” I said, gaping at the beautiful sight. The fog started to get thicker, but still, it was beautiful.

“What did you expect to happen, for it to suddenly turn red?”

“You never know. Maybe someday one of you magicians decide red fits the landscape more?”

We dismounted the horses, tying them to nearby trees. The closer we walked, the louder the sound of the rushing water became. At some point, it started to be close to deafening, but neither of us cared. We walked to the side of the curtain of water and over a bridge.

The water was splattering me everywhere, but I didn’t notice too much. We kept on walking and soon we had reached the opening to a few dark caves. I took a torch from the wall and held it up for Jungkook to light. Immediately, the rush of cold air greeted me, as we walked further in, but I ignored it. A few moments later, we had reached our destination.

With a flick of Jungkook’s wrist, the lights in the small cave turned on. They were glittering in every different colour, creating a rainbow effect on the walls. A heap of blankets and books were piled in the corner, just like we had last left them.

I went over to them, while Jungkook unpacked the food which we had bought in village. The delicious scent of baked goods immediately filled the cave and I sighed in content. Quickly arranging the blankets, I grabbed a croissant from the basket and sat down in the fluffy haven. Jungkook plopped down next to me and I leant my head on his shoulder as we munched the food.

“I read that earthlings do similar things. They sit on a checked blanket and eat food like we are now, but I heard they do it on meadows or in a forest instead,” he said, staring into the distance.

“That’s boring! Why don’t they find more exciting places?”

“Dunno, but I think it’s interesting that they don’t,” he said.

I laughed. This was typical Jungkook. There was a comfortable silence, as we were both lost in our own thoughts.

“Kookie, what do you think will happen in the future?”

He didn’t reply for a while, thinking it through. “I’ll become emperor… probably marry some stupid whore my father wants me to marry, and die at some point I guess and you...”

My heart stung a bit, but I already knew what he said was true. There was no way he would ever fall for me.

“…you’ll become the best Valkyrie in the realm I bet!”

“As if!”

“Well, even if you don’t, as soon as I have the power to, I’ll appoint you head of the royal guard. This way we’ll never be apart.”

My cheeks felt warm and I turned my head to look at him, to find his eyes already on me.

---

TIME SKIP

I watched the scene unfold from afar, standing in the shadows opposite the small café. There he was, wearing normal clothes and working at a normal job, smiling at and interacting with normal people. With earthlings. Yet, as much as it was weird to me, I couldn't help but be happy for him. This was what he had longed for so many years.

Before he was banished, Jungkook had always been curious about the earth. He would read about it, the way things worked or the way people behaved, and then go rant about it to me. He had told me about how he found it fascinating and that one day, he would see it with his own eyes, regardless of whether he had permission or not.

Therefore it hadn't surprised me at all when his hyungs had informed me of his banishment. That couldn't be said about the people of Yinshratha however. It was the only topic talked about for days. No one had believed it at first, because Jungkook's father, the emperor, had always made sure that he was known to be 'an exceptionally well-behaved boy'. Any time we had gotten ourselves in trouble, his involvement was always kept quiet.

As a result, it had been a great shock for most people to find that Jungkook, their prince and the successor to the throne, had been caught returning from the earth. Going there without permission was a major crime, which was punishable by death. Normally, the emperor would have just kept it quiet, resorting to giving his son house arrest instead, but unfortunately, many people had witnessed Jungkook being dragged towards the palace. There wasn't much of a choice for the emperor after that, but to banish him. I hadn't seen my best friend since.

100 years had passed now, and every day, I had missed him. I had thought multiple times of just going to earth to find him, but the last words I had said to him before his banishment prevented me from doing so, along with my responsibilities as a Valkyrie.

A year ago, the emperor had declared war to a neighbouring realm, underestimating their power completely. Half of his troops, including most of my comrades, had been killed in the last battle, leaving the emperor no choice but to look for reinforcements where ever he could find them, which meant looking for banished folk. I had already found nearly all of them, the only one left now was Jungkook.

I had always doubted whether he would return when he was called, but instead of dwelling on it too much, I had pushed it to the back of my mind instead, focusing on tracking and finding the others.

Yet, as I watched him go about his business, serving customers in a small café, these doubts resurfaced. He seemed so happy, making me wonder whether I should really bother him with the news of his old home. As soon as I had registered what I was contemplating though, I shook the thoughts out of my head and moved out of my hiding spot. It was 16:50 now and the shop would be closing soon. I had already wasted enough time.

Silently, I entered the small shop, joining the shrinking line. There were people chatting happily everywhere, most of them were holding a weird rectangular thing in their hands and moving their thumbs over it quickly. In fact, there were multiple tables where all the people who sat there didn't talk to each other at all and just stared at their rectangles instead. How weird.

I looked to the front, where Jungkook was currently serving another customer. He was as handsome as ever, with his forehead showing underneath his hair, and his charming smile. There was that feeling in my stomach again, almost as if it had never disappeared and always been there. I was getting distracted again.

The line moved again and a while later, I was at the front.

"Good afternoon miss. Welcome to our café, what would...?" he trailed off, staring at me with wide eyes, "Y/N? What are you doing here?"

I knelt down in front of the counter, "Your highness."

There was a lot I would have given not to do it, but Vakyries who didn't kneel were often punished and even though I knew that Jungkook would never do anything of the kind, there was no telling who was watching.

The people in the café looked at me weirdly, while Jungkook's eyes widened, quickly telling me that there was no need to bow. I stood up slowly, "I have been sent by his majesty, the emperor-"

"Let's not talk about this here. Come with me," he cut in quickly, before more people could overhear and question my sanity, "Sejin, can you cover for me?"

I walked behind the counter and followed him into a back room. He pressed something rectangular, causing the room to suddenly be lit. A small table, surrounded by a few sofas was placed in the middle of it and there was a fireplace on the wall before the small setup. Additional tables lined the wall. He turned towards me, leaning against one of them, and smiled cheekily, "Since when have you called me 'your highness'?"

"It is required of all Valkyries to call all members of the royal family -"

"I've told you before that even after you finish your training, that you won't have to do that. It already gets annoying enough when everyone else does it, there is no need for you to do it too."

"Yes, your highness, but it's been a while since we've last talked," I replied. My thoughts strayed once again to the day we had last seen each other and I cringed internally. Clearing my throat, I said, "His majesty, the emperor -"

"I hereby command you to drop the 'your highness' bullshit and all that formality," he said, making me sigh with relief, "Now before you go on again about-" he imitated my voice in a ridiculous manner, for which I almost hit him with my bag and stopping myself at the very last second, " 'his majesty, the emperor-' I wanted to catch up. What have you been doing? How are you doing?"

"Jungkook, I- oh shut up," I said at his smirk. Only then realising what had slipped out, I quickly covered my mouth. 'Shut up' was not something I was allowed to say to the prince.

He laughed at my gesture, shaking his head, "Seriously, you've changed. When have you ever cared about this stuff? You used to hit me with a ruler and tell me to shut up for no apparent reason all the time."

"I was a kid back then! And you definitely deserved it. Your status was really getting to you," I said, smiling feebly at the old memories of us running through the beautiful meadows and laughing. Immediately, an image of the battle flashed before me, making me drop it instantly.

"Jungkook, listen. I was sent here to inform you that your banishment has been lifted," I said, " His majesty declared war to Hanashem and unfortunately, their forces are stronger than was anticipated. He sent all of the elites in, but- but most of us didn't make it. He's afraid of losing this war, with the majority of us gone." The images of the battle scene were there again, haunting me as they had done in the past few weeks.

"He...what?" Jungkook said, his voice laced with hatred, "How could he have been so careless to send you in? And what the hell happened to the 'realm of peace'."

"Please Jungkook, I know you hate him, but the realm needs you. Your hyungs need you. I need you," I pleaded, images of my dead comrades were now flashing before my eyes, "Please. Please come back."

The next thing I knew, arms were wrapping themselves around me, enclosing me in a comforting hug. Butterflies were gathering themselves in my stomach again, but I ignored them, subconsciously leaning into the embrace, forgetting the principles which had been drilled into me completely and any will that I had had in the last few years to get over Jungkook.

"Of course I'll come," I heard him whisper as he stroked my hair softly, "It's going to be okay."

We stayed like that for a while until he spoke again, "There's something that I've been meaning to talk to you about."

He pulled away, looking me in the eye. I had an inkling of what he wanted to say. This was something I had been dreading for a while. I had kept the thought at the very back of my mind, but it was always there.

"Did you mean what you said to me in the last few moments before I was banished?"

There it was. The words I had dreaded. If I told him the truth, would it affect his behaviour around me? I knew it would because there was no way he felt the same. I was just his best friend, nothing more.

But I couldn't lie to him: he always knew when I wasn't telling the truth, not to mention, however close we had once been, I would be lying to the prince, a member of the royal family, which was something not to be done.

I hesitated, avoiding his gaze, before bringing the words out, "I did."

"Do you still feel that way?"

"It doesn't matter, I-"

"Do you?" he persisted.

I sighed heavily, "I do, but I can get over it. I -"

But I never got to finish my sentence. I felt his lips moving against mine, carefully but passionately at the same time. My heart pounded loudly in my chest and I felt my knees going weaker and weaker. Heat rose from my stomach upwards and I felt the butterflies fluttering around. Was this a dream? If it was, it was one I didn't want to wake up from.

As we pulled apart, both gasping for breath, I could only stare at him, wide-eyed.

"Did you expect me not to fall for you when you were, and still are, so perfect all the time?" he whispered.    

A/N: This was written a long time ago on wattpad. I like to think that my writing’s evolved since then, which is why I will make time to edit in sometime in the near future.

[opalmaplehibiscus]

Vice Dorm Leader Study Date HC

Hello Anon! Sorry for the wait! I wasn’t quite sure what you wanted to see so I tried my best trying cover a lot of ideas OTL If this wasn’t what you wanted, please do request again with what you wish to see! 

Trey

·       Study dates with Trey are very rare

·       He’s always busy due to his responsibilities as vice dorm leader while preparing to becoming a 4th year, so going on dates with you in general isn’t going to happen a lot

·       When you do end up going on with him though, he would cherish them and try to make it last as long as possible, trying to catch up on all the missed times with you

·       Usually, the study dates happen by Cater (best wingman ever by the way), who ends up stealing Ace, Deuce, and Grim from you on the days you’re supposed to study with them

·       Whenever that happens, Trey gets a message with a “U owe me~ ;9” from Cater as said guy drags the “interference” away

·       Trey: Cater, you shouldn’t be calling our underclassmen interference... Cater: Eh~ So, are you saying you don’t feel annoyed that they’re spending more time with you-know-who? Trey: …You don’t see me saying it up front now do you

·       He would do his best to help you study, teaching you whatever you needed to know  - tips, tricks, what topic that would be covered the most on the exam, etc

·       Would he try to make you flustered and blush though? Yeah. He thinks you’re adorable when you blush – endearing, cute, someone he wishes to cherish with all his heart

·       It’s why he would make passes on you, leaning towards you and brushing shoulders when he sits next to you as he helps explain something you don’t know or purposely having his hand graze yours as he points out something in the textbook or your notes

·       Expect to be spoiled with all types of sweets and desserts when with Trey

·       Cake? Cookies? Pudding? He would bring all sorts of things for you two to snack on when taking a break and studying, including tea. After all, you’re someone he happens to love so he has to somehow make it obvious one way or another

·       Trey has younger siblings. It’s why he naturally wipes the crumbs off your face since it’s habit to do so. Yeah. That’s it. Totally not

·       What isn’t natural is when, near the end of the study date, you would either hug or kiss him on the cheek, after finally understanding something or making progress, as thanks

·       Covering half of his face, he would turn his face away to hide his red face that could rival Riddle’s hair, trying to tell you he was fine with a small stutter and wavering smile when you ask if he’s okay

·       Now if only you would realize said study dates were actually dates and he likes you…

     Ruggie

·       Like Trey, Ruggie is a busy man. Busy doing Leona’s orders while chasing after all the money and food he could possibly get, so having study dates with him are also rare

·       In fact, the percent of having study dates with him are lower than Trey’s because of how much work he’ll be forced to deal with

·       It’s why, the only times he would be able to go on study dates with you are when you come visit Savanaclaw once every blue moon

·       Most often you would come over because of Jack, whether it’s to just hang out, give him a memo, whatnot

·       The thing is though, whenever you come over, you end up meeting Jack a bit later because something would always come up right when he’s about to meet you

·       And it’s totally not suspicious that it happens whenever Ruggie is coming back to the dorms. 100% true.

·       Don’t worry about Jack by the way. It so happens that a certain dorm leader kidnapped said wolf because he happens to be a good wingman when he’s bored

·       Also, he’s running low on blackmail on Ruggie. Might as well get a refill when he can

·       When seeing you alone at the entrance either being bothered by the other dorm members or looking bored, Ruggie ends up taking you to the lounge and chat with you

·       The conversation always  school orientated with school work and teachers coming up

·       While you’re in the middle of complaining about Trein and Crewel again over their ridiculous assignments (like seriously, what’s so important about hair-color changing potions again? And what about the history of the school’s chandelier, is this shade???), Ruggie teases you about not being able to do something “as easy as that”

·       He does his best to hide his soft side towards you when you sulk about it, seeing it as you pouting. Which is adorable and cute in his eyes and he loves  seeing it

·       Just as you’re about to get up and leave from getting annoyed, Ruggie quickly offers you his help on your assignments despite saying it in a teasing tone

·       Yes, he likes to troll with people a lot but he can be serious when he wants to, evidently seen when he helps you through the questions

·       His explanations aren’t great, yet he doesn’t give up trying to get you to understand and solve the questions

·       Will he tease you while explaining? Yes. Will he snicker at you and give his infamous infuriating cute smirk? Yes.

·       In the end, the assignment still gets done along with you feeling better with the concepts you weren’t so sure of thanks to him

·       It’s his turn to blush as you give him a surprise hug, ending up covering his face with both hands and sigh once you let go

·       As this happens, a certain lion continues to film the whole thing while covering the mouth of his “precious” kouhai with a smirk on his face. He’s not sorry when he shows it to Ruggie by the way.

  Jade

·       Having study dates with Jade happens more frequently than Ruggie and Trey’s solely because Jade would make sure he has one with you

·       By that, he means using the pretext of having to “tutor” you per request by one of the staffs to get to go on one with you

·       He will proudly say it’s his favorite excuse to use against Azul and Floyd since they wouldn’t be able to bother him nor interfere when he’s trying to spend some time with you

·       Yes, he enjoys hanging around them for entertainment but he has his own limits too. Plus, he wouldn’t have to use….some other methods to get them off his back though he wouldn’t hesitate to do so if they interfere (cough blackmail cough)

·       Studying with Jade is difficult no thanks to how much he enjoys teasing you

·       He’ll be kind, polite, and courteous but he’ll do everything he can to get to see you blush

·       Brushing shoulders and hands “incidentally” is nothing compared to the times he explicitly makes a move on you like gently cupping your hand whenever he takes your pencil so he could write some helpful notes in your notebook or sitting really close to you in general

·       The worst part is how he’s actually good at teaching you with whatever you’re struggling with

·       Makes good analogies, explains things thorough enough for you to grasp the foundation, surprisingly writes neatly and draw good diagrams – he truly lives up to his position as one of Azul’s hands and vice dorm leader

·       That along with the fact he would be providing hospitability such as teas and snacks that you enjoy definitely makes him seem like a kind gentleman

·       He enjoys teasing you during the whole time, having fun with your reactions his favorite other than seeing you blush being you being annoyed

·       Just needs to shade here and there to get a good grasp and push your buttons only to get amused in the end from seeing you huff and pout or chuckle at any smart remarks you make towards him

·       However, when you give him one your softest, genuine smile or initiate any physical contact yourself, it’s going to be his turn to blush and perhaps even tsun a bit

·       Will go wide eyes at first with cheeks dust pink to turning lobster-red if you point it out while covering half his face and look away a bit

·       Hugging is a whole different story though where you would be very successfully into getting Jade to go “Jade. exe has stopped working” after surprising him with one once you finally understand and get whatever you were confused with and do it out of happiness

·       Once the date ends, he’ll show you out before going back into the dorm and find Azul and Floyd who he knew was spying during the whole thing

·       He finds all the photos they took of him blushing and either would burn them or delete the files if saved on phone or PC

·       He does secretly keep the ones that includes you looking happy or being close to him

   Jamil

·       Study dates with Jamil happens a good amount of time thanks to Kalim who makes sure it happens

·       By that, literally Kalim would get everyone in Scarabia to help out but that’s another story for another time

·       Out of all the vice dorm leaders, he’s the one that takes the study date seriously

·       Wouldn’t really strike up a conversation because he would be focused on trying to get as much done as possible no thanks to how he’s busy in general

·       That being said, most of the time would be more studying orientated

·       Jamil would be attentive and help you with anything you need help with, going over them and making sure you get at least the foundations solid

·       His explanation and tutoring skills are nearly par to Trey’s probably because of his many years of experience with Kalim, his sibling, and now, the other dorm members

·       So, the idea of teasing you wouldn’t come up initially. Keyword: Initially

·       Just because he’s focused on studying doesn’t mean he isn’t aware of his surroundings and other’s behaviors, especially yours

·       He’s aware his attraction towards you is very much mutual since he practically caught you who-knows-how-many-times you looked at him, only to blush and stutter whenever he asks if there’s a problem

·       Cue the teasing like the rest but unlike the other three above, his is more subtle

·       He’ll be testing the water-  see how far he can go with teasing you

·       He honestly enjoys how you’re trying to keep a straight face, all cool and collected when he sits next to you to the point only a pencil case would slip through the space between you two

·       Acting innocent and nonchalant, Jamil struggles to not smirk when he sees your ears turn red and the corner of your lips twitch

·       Totally would pull “face too close for comfort” on you when he finds you getting distracted from whatever he explains something to you

·       It would only happen once and never again though during the next few study dates since he’ll realize he nearly lost his self-control when he unconsciously and nearly closed the gap between the two of you

·       What do you mean you heard him click his tongue? He did no such thing. It’s not like he was disappointed or anything because he wanted to-

·       When you hug him, he’s not going to be calm. Whatsoever

·       Pulls his head over his head and tells you not to come near him as he pulls his hoodie’s strings and try to cover his face completely

·       This is when Kalim comes out of his hiding place and tries to get Jamil to calm down while telling you that he was “just passing by” when you ask where he came from

·       It isn’t until he’s back at his room does he start calming down only to drag his hands down his face from realizing he messed up on trying to look cool around you

·       Kalim: You like them that badly, huh~ Jamil: Shut up

 Rook

·       Study dates with Rook is bad for your heart. Not because he does weird things to you or anything. It’s just that…he’s rather direct. Very direct

·       Although he does an excellent job teaching you, he doesn’t hide his attraction towards you at all

·       Calls you all sorts of endearment without any shame when you come over to Pomefiore to have the study date with him: mon cœur, mon chéri, mamour, and more

·       Like with everyone else he takes interests in, he very much likes to look at you. Even though it’ll distract you, he’s genuinely happy and in bliss getting to spend time with you

·       To him, getting to see the you studying with such calmness makes him think you look absolutely enchanting, loving to see you putting effort and trying your best

·       Despite being a hunter, he isn’t aware how you tend to look at him when he’s focused though nor does he know that you like seeing his serious side

·       …and you probably shouldn’t since the minute he realizes this he probably would take advantage of it and cause you more problems down the road

·       He spoils you a lot, mostly because he wishes to see you happy. Meaning, he would prepare all sorts of things to make sure you’re feeling comfy and happy when you’re with him

·       In all seriousness though, he does education justice when he’s the one tutoring/teaching you

·       Goes over everything thoroughly to the point where he would continue practicing and quizzing you until he knows you actually understand everything

·       Every time you get something right, he praises you a lot to the point you would probably feel bashful

·       When you’re feeling down or frustrated from the fact you can’t understand something or from anything in general, Rook is the one who’ll realize it first which often leads to him being the one to make you feel better in a short amount of time through words of encouragement

·       In fact, he’s one of the two people who would be the best comforter of the vice dorm leaders

·       By that, he’s the one you would probably pour your heart to without worries and end up feeling better after every single study date

·       Hugging can go two ways with Rook

·       When he senses you about to hug him (happens 90% of the time btw), he’ll hug you back with the same amount of excitement. He wouldn’t let go after you realize what you’ve done out of pure instinct and would instead hug you tighter while your face burns in his arms

·       When you catch him off guard, he’ll freeze and blush, completely not expecting it. Probably would be his first time ever getting flustered too as he tries to quickly recover once you let go of him

      Lilia

·       Study dates with Lilia is more like a hang out than anything else

·       He literally will pull the “immortal-being” card, where he’ll look over your shoulder and see what you’re doing before going on a long story-time telling of how each theorem, principle, historical event, etc. was discovered when he was whatever age-old at the time

·       When dealing with assignments, he would complain about doing them, muttering along the lines of “back when I was in school, we didn’t have to do these”, “kids aren’t going to even use what they learned in real life”, and so on

·       Don’t expect him to even attempt to study. He would ask you why he would ever need to when he lived who-knows-how many years and being at all those events that took place

·       With all of that being said, you would think it would be impossible to get anything done, doing a great job distracting you especially when he just name drops a famous historical person and tells you the guy/gal’s life from baby to adult all in one go

·       “That kid used to be so cute, as expected they would end up being this great”, “What’s this nonsense? How did that brat even did that when they couldn’t even answer 1+1 correctly”-

·       However, when you try to study and start struggling, he would always help you

·       There’s going to be teasing and he is very bold about it

·       When you stifle a laugh from his stories, he sulks first only to kabedon you in your chair

·       Leaning closer to you, he’ll ask whether you’ll take him seriousness now, gently holding your chin so you wouldn’t be able to look away

·       He does end up letting you go with a smirk, giving you some space and time to get over what had happened in less than a minute, thinking that you looking like a deer caught in headlights with a bright blush made you look extremely adorable

·       It’s not shocking that he teaches you well, especially when he’s the one that taught Sebek, Silver, and Malleus. How? He’ll never tell you how but the look their faces when you ask them makes you decide not to think about it further

·       Lilia also happens to be the other greatest comforter, probably even better than Rook

·       It’s because he raised three children on his own, he’s able to pick up any stress or sense the struggle you’re having when you do your assignments or studying before you say anything about it

·       When it happens, he has you take a break on studying and lends you an ear, making sure you say everything that’s in your chest since he knows you’ll be needing it

·       By the time he’s done helping you and you hug him out of gratefulness, he’ll be surprised and widen his eyes at first

·       He does quickly recover and hugs you back with a satisfied smile, rather seeing you happy and filled with joy than anything else

·       And it’s obvious that’s the case since once you leave, Malleus, Silver, and Sebek would ask him if anything good happened

[ranger-kellyn]

Do you ever think about how in BOTW Robbie says in his diary he never got to say goodbye to Purah? Like- I can't. I JUST CAN'T! 😭

WHEN I TELL U I THINK ABOUT THAT NEARLY EVERY DAY I AM ONLY BARELY EXAGGERATING

i reFUSE to accept it. i think he lied in his notebook. they all write their journals like they're EXPECTING them to be read. they all LIED and i rEFUSE-

-----

have the extended wip from my very first wip wednesday based on this VERY THING

-----

Slapping her hands over her mouth was all Purah could do to smother her own laughter, watching as Robbie smacked Link in his lower back with his rolled-up notebook.

“I’m starting to think I liked it better when you kept your nose outta things!” Robbie said, huffing and puffing his entire way back to his chair.

“I’m sorry!” Link said, keeping his distance out of swatting range.

Robbie swatted at the air, grumbling again.

Looking over at Link, all Purah could do was grin. “What’cha get into this time, Linky?” she asked.

He crossed his arms, face flushed with embarrassment.

“Journals I never said he could read!” Robbie answered, getting another laugh from Purah.

“How was I supposed to distinguish that from all your other mess of papers that you said I could?” Link asked.

The look Robbie shot her was that of, ‘Can you believe this guy?’

She shook her head. “Now he’s done it to both of us…”

Robbie continued to fuss at Link, all the way until Jerren and Zelda came to his rescue, dragging him along on their trip to Skull Lake to further investigate the shrine that was there.

Given it had been over 100 years since they last saw one another, Purah opted to stay behind with Robbie to continue catching up.

For the both of them, seeing one another after so long was...odd, at best; but in the same breath, odd always accompanied their relationship in some way, pre-calamity and post-calamity, so it wasn’t too hard to find a rhythm with one another again.

On Purah’s end, it was odd seeing Robbie as he was now. As a little old man, with a wife and a kid. (Never mind the part where his wife had been her assistant at one time)

For Robbie, even though he was fully aware of her experiment that had led to her physically reverting to a child, nothing could have prepared him to see her looking almost exactly as she did the day they last saw one another, the only key difference being a lack of dye in her hair and on her nails.

“What was he even getting into, anyway?” Purah asked, setting her cup of tea on the table separating them.

Unrolling the notebook, he leaned forward to place them down, angled to where she could read the first page -an invitation to continue reading if she wanted. “Just an old journal detailing coming out here and whatnot. My fault for having it out, I guess.”

Waiting for him to lean back, she looked down at it. “Can I?” she asked.

He nodded. “Go ahead. Nothing good in there, anyways. Just a lot of guilt,” he said, tugging at her heart.

She knew the feeling all too well. Far too many of her early journals were just detailed rants about the guilt she felt about not having done enough to stop the calamity.

As she began to read the first few pages, a smile tugged at her lips. His writing always tended to be more...poetic. Writing tended to be the only place he ever properly gathered his thoughts, whereas when speaking he could easily get off on one tangent, only to go down six other tangents before finally getting to the point.

It was one of many things that helped them get along, seeing as she was no better in the manner.

“Pushy? Me a pushy woman?” She asked, her grin evident in her tone.

He crossed his arms, returning the grin. “Don’t even pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about,” he said.

She rolled her eyes in a playful manner. “I have never been pushy a day in my life. Especially not when it came to you,” she teased.

He chuckled. “Pushiest damn woman I’ve ever worked with,” he said.

When she looked up at him over the notebook, it occurred to him that, a lifetime ago, the look would have been more than enough to drive him mad in only the best kind of way. In only the way Purah ever did.

“Oh, please, you liked it. You wouldn’t have rolled over so easily if you didn’t. Mister Rebel Without A Cause only ever let me push him around,” she added.

“You and now my wife, apparently,” he said, thinking nothing of the comment.

Purah hesitated, re-reading the same line she had been on again. “That’s because I trained her first,” she said.

She re-read the line again, still not absorbing any of the words, too suddenly consumed with the thought of her oldest partner marrying and having a child with her old assistant. An assistant who was fifty years younger than the both of them.

If there was one major drawback of suddenly being so much younger, physically, it was that her emotions had distinctly become harder to control again. All the experience from her lifetime wasn’t enough when faced with a frontal lobe that wasn’t fully developed again.

A frontal lobe that only wanted to scream about how wrong all of it was. A frontal lobe that was competing with the knowledge that the calamity had forced people into odd situations, good, bad, and indifferent.

Robbie and Jerren were merely a product of the calamity; two people making the best of a bad situation neither had any control over and--

She re-read the line for a third time, finally registering a few words.

Though, it was thanks to her third re-read that she realized something: this wasn’t Robbie’s writing.

At least, it wasn’t his writing from when it would have been written.

Despite his hasty nature, his handwriting had always been immaculate. Neat, flowing letters, always in a perfect line even without some sort of paper line to guide him.

This handwriting was...scratchier. Some things didn’t connect the way they would have in the past. It wasn’t like his current handwriting, but it was better…

As she turned the page to continue reading, she hesitated.

Up to that point, she knew his account wasn’t entirely accurate, but had chalked it up to emotions getting in the way.

The way he described their parting, however, was an outright lie.

“Lost in my thoughts, I didn't notice that Dr. Purah had slipped away. I knew Hateno Village wasn't much farther along the road, and that the Calamity had barely touched that area... So I felt safe letting her continue on her own. We parted ways without even saying good-bye, I suppose. Stirring myself back to action, I set out on my own journey back to Kakariko Village.”

Closing the notebook over her finger, she looked up at Robbie. “You and I both know that’s not how we parted,” she said, keeping her voice down, as though there was even anybody to overhear.

He looked away, unable to come up with a response.

“I might have skipped over some details, but I at least implied what happened,” she continued, feeling a distinct ache in her chest, cursing her young body. She had sworn a long time ago she had put all those feelings to rest.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he carefully looked back up at her. “You know I very well couldn't have written out every little detail like some trashy novel-”

“Like I said, I at least implied…” she defended.

Though, there had been a journal, long ago, right after she set up in Hateno, where she detailed everything. From everything the two of them had done, to every emotion she had forced herself to hold back from saying.

The guilt she felt from burning it in the ancient furnace nagged at her now and then.

“Don’t know why I’m trying to keep secrets after 100 years.” He adjusted himself to be more comfortable in his chair. “That’s an amended version, Cherry.”

From the other room, she just barely heard the Ancient Oven stir to life, a low grinding sound as it moved around.

Despite herself, she felt a shiver run up her spine. It had been a long time since she last heard that nickname. A nickname he had given her after she first put the red streak in her hair. A nickname she only allowed him to use.

A nickname she realized he had omitted from the journal -something he would have never done in the past.

She leaned forward again to put the notebook back in its place, her desire to read any more thoroughly quashed. “You never told Jerren about us, did you?” she asked.

“No, but in my defense, you never did, either,” he said.

“No, but I didn’t knock her up and marry her, did I?” she asked, not holding back any of the bite.

He seemed to flinch at her words.

Over 100 years later, and she could still get a rise out of him; always knowing just how to get under his skin.

And like 100 years ago, no matter how much he wanted to fight back, he rolled over.

“Jerren wasn’t even born by the time you and I had to part ways. There wasn’t a point in bringing it up,” he said.

She’d rather he just punch her in the gut.

She wanted to fight back. To yell. To lay into him for making her think that what they had never actually meant anything.

For the life of her, she couldn’t. No words would come out.

Robbie breathed a laugh. “I know that look, Cherry.” She wanted to tell him to drop the nickname. “Whatever you’re overthinking, don’t overthink it.”

She rolled her eyes, pushing herself back into her chair. “Easy for you to say. You’ve got an old man's brain! I’m over here stuck with my dumb twenty-something brain that is determined to bring up every dumb emotion I swore up and down I had buried!”

He was silent for an uncomfortably long time.

Staring at the fire crackling away in the fireplace, she nearly jumped when he said her name.

“Humor me. Come with me a minute,” he said, sliding off his chair.

She said nothing, but stood to follow him.

He led them back into the main room, where the Ancient Oven turned to greet them, their weird voice tone still grating to Purah’s ears.

“Greetings, Dr. Robbie and FamiliarNameMissing,” they said.

Robbie chuckled, regarding the machine with a look that was probably uncomfortably soft for just about anyone else. Purah, however, remembered the look well. He had always been attached to the guardians they had drug into the Royal Research Lab, giving each of them individual names.

At the time, she pretended to think it was stupid, but, secretly, she had known all the names he had given them.

“My pride and joy, the Ancient Oven. Few things I love more in life,” he said.

She breathed a laugh, uncrossing her arms.

“Jerren, though...hates it,” he continued, getting another laugh from Purah.

“Kinda figured that. The way the poor thing sprung to life after Link finally replaced the blue flame told me it hadn’t been on for a while,” she said.

It had been rather sweet; Link not even needing to be asked to do it. The second they arrived, he saw that the outside furnace wasn’t lit, and headed off without prompt. The personality adjustment was still new to everyone, but he still had his core, endearing qualities.

“Ancient Oven wasn’t her original name,” Robbie continued. “And well...I suppose you deserve the truth.”

The machine looked between the both of them, Purah now regarding her...differently.

“Ancient Oven, what’s your name?” he asked.

She focused on him. “My name is simply Ancient Oven,” she responded in her odd cadence.

He shook his head. “What’s your real name? The name I gave you?” he clarified.

She hummed for a second, a slow grind of her gears. “My name is Cherry.”

There had been considerable heat emitted from the machine before, but Purah was positive the heat she was now feeling was from her own flush.

“Why are you named that?” Robbie asked.

“I am named after the first woman you ever loved...” The machine almost seemed to hesitate.

Maybe it was a part of her programing to acknowledge everyone within her vicinity while talking.

Maybe it was pure happenstance.

Maybe the machine somehow knew.

“Cherry,” she concluded, looking straight at Purah.

If she was flushed before, she was having a full-on hot flash now.

“Don’t misunderstand me. I love Jerren dearly. I love the son she gave me more than life itself...but there will always be a part of me that belongs to you.”

Run.

She wanted to run.

She wasn’t sure what was making it so hard to breathe. The heat from Cherry, her own flush, or the knowledge that she could say the very same to him.

She wanted to cry.

“I’m sorry-- I shouldn't be here,” she said, turning on her heel to leave.

“Purah-”

“No, no- I shouldn't be here. This was stupid- I’m so fucking stupid-- I knew coming here would do this! I knew seeing you would do this,” she said, ranting her way to the door. She didn’t even bother going back for her coat, or anything else she didn’t have on her person. Zelda and Link could grab it for all she cared. She needed to get out.

“Purah, please,” he pleaded, following her to the door.

The midday air outside was far cooler thanks to the constant breeze coming off the ocean.

She looked around, searching for Mule among the horses in the nearby holding pen.

“Maybe I should have left without saying goodbye! I knew it then-- I should have made you hate me! Getting you to hate me- I should have. I should have done it.” She nearly tripped down the stairs, barely catching herself in time.

“You know damn well I could never hate you. I only ever lo-”

She instantly reared on him, talking over him so she didn’t have to hear that word. “Don’t! Don’t say it! Don’t you fucking say it!” she yelled.

Words that were all too familiar.

Words she said before.

Her eyes began to sting as she fought back tears. “I don’t care if you don’t feel it now, but don’t you dare tell me you felt it then!”

He waved his hands in exasperation. “Why? What is so damn bad about hearing me tell you how I felt?” he asked.

“Because you just don’t get it! You don’t get how pathetic I feel because I never got over you! I never moved on! I promised you I wouldn’t let you hold me back, but I lied to both of us! For over 100 years, I never moved on! I’m pathetic!” she yelled.

Only the wind dared to break the silence that followed. A soft rustle of the spring leaves. A sound far softer than her confession.

It took everything in her to not crumble in on herself. “You just don’t get it, Robbie. Maybe it was easier for you to move on, but I just...I never could.”

He grabbed a hold of the railing, but made no motion towards her. He only looked pained. “I don’t know what to say here, Purah. Nothing I can think of will make you feel better.”

[lotusjwy]

“Don’t listen to them. Don’t you EVER listen to them.” jiang cheng and wwx - @gremlinmetawin

hello hello again, so! i decided that this prompt fit.. very well with the last xicheng on (which i will link in the notes, bc i’ve heard links break tags? in case u haven’t read it yet), and so this is a continuation of that 😬  and i was 100% meant to finish this earlier today, but i ended up being out of the house until like 9pm OOPS, but i finished it and here it is! also gonna tag u so u see @gremlinmetawin 💜

Wei Wuxian narrowed his eyes in confusion as he watched Jiang Cheng stalk away from the Hanshi, very obviously distressed. Well. Obvious to anyone who had grown up with Jiang Cheng. It was uncommon for Jiang Cheng to leave Lan Xichen’s company in anything less than a good mood, yet here he was storming away as if he couldn’t escape fast enough. 

Suddenly, a thought popped into his head. A thought of his Lan Zhan walking into the Jingshi with pain in his eyes, pain that even with all the embraces and kisses in the world, Wei Wuxian hadn’t been able to fix. A pain that was caused by his love’s own brother, because it would seem that the events of Guanyin Temple had affected him more severely than they had originally thought. 

He tended to be uniquely cold in these moods, knowing exactly how to stab someone exactly where it would hurt the most. He’d once told Wei Wuxian that he was the cause of the fall of the Jiang Sect, which was something he’d never told even Lan Zhan.

Everyone residing at Cloud Recesses knew to avoid the Hanshi on mornings they didn’t hear a flute sound from the dwelling. However, Jiang Cheng didn’t reside in Cloud Recesses. He didn’t know of this unspoken law of the land; how could he have known? Of course, he hadn’t known, and thus Lan Xichen must have said something that had severely hurt the other.

Quickly turning to Lan Zhan, Wei Wuxian tugged on the other’s robes to get his attention. “Did Xichen-ge play the flute this morning?” Wuxian wasn’t awake at the time Lan Xichen usually played, he rarely was awake that early, relying on Lan Zhan to tell him when he should avoid the elder.

Lan Wangji thought about the question for a moment, before shaking his head. “He did not. If you wish to see him, you should go tomorrow, instead.” He was unwilling to let his husband go through the ordeal of his brother in one of his moods again. He still didn’t know what his brother had said, but it had haunted Wei Ying for weeks afterwards.

“That’s not why. Didn’t you see what I did?!” Wei Wuxian was growing frustrated at the situation, his eyes frantically searching after where he had seen Jiang Cheng stalk off towards, realising that he was no longer there. Without waiting for the other to respond, he continued, “someone let Jiang Cheng go see him, fuck.”

Lan Wangji actually hadn’t seen Jiang Wanyin, but he wasn’t about to question his husbands’ words. However, he didn’t exactly see what the problem was, and voiced as much, “I’m sure xiongzhang would have said nothing that Jiang Wanyin hasn’t heard about himself before. Would he not be fine?”

Wei Wuxian rounded on his husband and glared him for his words, “Lan Zhan, we are going to have a serious talk about this later. But for now, I have to go find my idiot brother who’s probably about to shut himself away from everyone he cares about, again.” Without listening for another word from his husband, Wuxian quickly sped off – ensuring not to run lest he piss off Lan Qiren again.

He made his way through Cloud Recesses, realising that Jiang Cheng would have wanted to leave, immediately. He was hoping that instead of flying back to Yunmeng he’d stay in Caiyi for the day. If he had gone to Caiyi, Wuxian could catch up with, Yunmeng, however, would take a lot more time.

It would seem that he wouldn’t have to worry about either journey, as he had found Jiang Cheng, who was stood frozen not too far from the gates to Cloud Recesses. As Wuxian quickly made his way towards the other, he heard not so hushed whispers coming from the various Lan disciples surrounding them.

“Sect Leader Jiang just got here and he’s already leaving in a fit? You’d think years of being a sect leader would have calmed this infamous tempter.”

“He’s always so angry, it’s no wonder he has no wife.”

“Wife? It’s no wonder all of his disciples are terrified of doing him wrong.”

“Have you heard how many times he threatens to dismember and maim Sect Leader Jin?”

“He used to torture demonic cultivators in the past, so what difference would it make? He killed his own brother after all.”

It seemed that the gossiping would never end, each comment growing worse than the last, Jiang Cheng’s fists clenching even tighter with each spoken word, his entire body beginning to shake. Wei Wuxian had had enough of people belittling his brother.  

“If I recall correctly, and trust me, I do, gossiping is forbidden in Cloud Recesses. Scatter before I stop being nice and get Hanguang-jun to hand out your punishments.” Wuxian watched with a cold expression on his face, as the disciples scattered off into various directions, faces flushed with the shock of having been caught.

He approached Jiang Cheng as one would approach an injured, wild animal. With caution. “Jiang Cheng? Are you okay?” When he got no response, he sighed and moved closer to the other, gently placing a hand on the other’s arm. “A-Cheng? Shidi?”

“Who the fuck are you calling shidi?” Jiang Cheng’s voice was rough, as if he was holding back from either crying or screaming, he couldn’t tell yet.

Giving his brother a grin, Wei Wuxian wrapped an arm lightly across the Jiang Cheng’s shoulders, “he speaks!”

“Perhaps I shouldn’t.” He let out a pained sigh and turned to look off into the distance, not wanting to face his brother right now.

Fuck, Xichen-ge had definitely said something bad to him. “No! Speaking is good, speaking is wanted! In fact, let’s go down to Caiyi, have some Emperor’s Smile and have a nice long talk.”

“I’m not great company right now.” He risked a glance at the other, his eyes slightly narrowed, “you just want me to pay for your drinks, don’t you?”

“Hmm? Really? You’re no more different than usual, I’d say. But you’re right, I do, so let’s go!” Wei Wuxian let out a laugh, smiling as he spoke, dragging Jiang Cheng down the path.

Somehow, they had found themselves in the corner of a tavern in Caiyi. Once they had been served, Wei Wuxian turned to his brother tapping lightly on the table to catch his attention, knowing that he needed to say this now rather than later. He couldn’t let Jiang Cheng be stuck in his head for much longer.

“Don’t listen to them, Jiang Cheng.” Wei Wuxian situated himself directly in front of his brother, making sure the other could see how serious his words were, “don’t you ever listen to them!”

“What are you talking about?”

“What those disciples said, earlier. They don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about. They don’t know you.” He hesitated for a second, before letting out a sigh, “As well as whatever Zewu-jun said to you when you visited him today. Whatever he said, it wasn’t true.”

Jiang Cheng froze, “how did you know I saw him today?” Had he been that obvious? Could everyone tell what Lan Xichen had said to him?

With a shrug, he responded. “I saw you leaving the Hanshi.”

“How do you know he said anything?”

“He- uh. I don’t know how much I’m really allowed to say, so I’ll only say my own observations?” He waited for Jiang Cheng to nod, before continuing, “ever since Guanyin Temple he… hasn’t been okay. Sometimes, and It really is very rare, he gets into these foul moods, where he picks at our biggest insecurities to get us to leave. We should have warned you; someone should have warned you. I’m so sorry.”

Wei Wuxian had said ‘us’, that means that Lan Xichen had said something horrible to him as well. Jiang Cheng was curious what Lan Xichen had to say about his brother’s husband, and so he asked, “what did he say to you?”

He shifted uncomfortably for a moment, before letting out a sigh. He couldn’t get Jiang Cheng to talk, if he himself was unwilling. “That I’m the reason yo- our sect burnt to the ground. He told me that if I had minded my own business that the Yunmeng Jiang Sect would have survived, and all those disciples, your parents,  would still be alive to this day.” His voice barely above a whisper, the words still piercing through his heard.

Jiang Cheng froze and sucked in a sharp breath. The man really was ruthlessly cruel, wasn’t he? Why did Jiang Cheng get vilified for his angry disposition, yet Lan Xichen was getting away with saying such horrendous things?

Not willing to speak anymore on the issue, as it had passed, and Wei Wuxian had already made his peace with Lan Xichen over it. They were here to talk about Jiang Cheng, not him. “I shared, now it’s your turn. What did he say to you?”

“What didn’t he say? His words more or less mirrored everything those disciples was saying. That I’m a cruel man, who should have shut myself off from the cultivation world.” He took a shaky breath, willing himself to not break down right here. Once he had calmed down a little, he continued to speak, “that all I do is torture innocent people, who I should have given a chance. That there’s a reason I’ve been alone all these years and it’s not just because my entire fucking family died.”

“He’s wrong,” Wei Wuxian had never been more confident than in the fact that his brother was a good man. How many of Jiang Cheng’s insecurities did Lan Xichen have to bring up? Why couldn’t he be done with just one?

Jiang Cheng let out a short, humourless laugh, “is he?”

Grabbing his brother’s hands, Wei Wuxian looked at Jiang Cheng desperately, “yes. Jiang Cheng, please tell me you don’t believe him.” He searched Jiang Cheng’s eyes, shocked as he realised just why the other’s words had hurt as much as they did.

“Who am I to disagree with the great Zewu-jun?” He turned his face away from Wei Wuxian’s, not liking the look on the other’s face, knowing that he had figured it out.

“You have feelings for him.” It was as if a pin had dropped, silence falling upon them for a few moments, as both took in Wuxian’s words.

With a heavy sigh, Jiang Cheng pulled his hands away from Wei Wuxian’s, placing them on his lap, to play with his clarity bell, hoping to find some peace. “I did. Now I’m unsure. This… has taught me some things, I suppose.” He didn’t know if he could try to pursue anything with someone who had dragged his every insecurity through the mud as if it were nothing. Who had brushed him off as if he were nothing.

Wei Wuxian looked at his brother sorrowfully, wishing that he could make it better, that he could take back the words Lan Xichen had said to him. “A-Cheng…”

“It is what it is, Wei Wuxian. It’s not as if my personality is a secret to the world.”

“But it is. Everyone thinks you’re this hateful person, but you love so fucking much, Jiang Cheng. Anybody unwilling to learn that about you isn’t worthy of your love.” He would die on this fucking hill if he had to, Jiang Cheng was and always would be the most loving of the three of them, both in what he gave and needed, yet never seemed to receive.

“Wei Wuxian…” Jiang Cheng looked at Wei Wuxian with confusion in his eyes, unwilling to believe that the other had this opinion of him. Surely after everything that had happened, even his brother wouldn’t believe he was capable of love.

“No! I refuse to let you or anyone else badmouth you. That’s my job and Jin Ling’s fucking job, that’s it. That’s all that’s allowed. No one else.” He would spend the rest of his life making sure Jiang Cheng knew that he was loved, and he knew Jin Ling would, as well.

“Alright, alright, I’ll… try not to let it get to me. Can we fucking eat now?” He had had enough of talking about himself, about his feelings, he wanted to pretend that the first half of this day hadn’t happened.

Pursing his lips, Wei Wuxian surveyed the other, before giving him a nod, “fine, but say the word, and I’ll yell at Zewu-jun for you.” He could always start this conversation another time, when Jiang Cheng was less likely to walk away from him and just fly off because he had gotten overwhelmed again.

Jiang Cheng snorted a laugh in response, choosing to take a bite of chicken,  knowing he didn’t require any other form of response.

[ladynightshade30]

Too Late for the Gods

Author’s Notes: It took me a long time to finish this. Mainly because I was working on getting my original story, Red, ready for my editor so I can publish that in the fall. But this is part of a soulmate A/U that I am working on called, “My Heart’s Lighter Soul” which I hope to have up at some point. Not 100% sure of this. I might go back later and rewrite the fight scene. But here ya go @fuchsiagrasshopper my entry for your celebration! Ivar/Eadwulf (OC) 

The constant shifting of Ivar disturbed her sleep and she moaned softly before he settled back down. She waited a moment before allowing herself to drift off to sleep again. Only to be awoken by more shifting from her husband.

“What’s wrong Ivar are you in pain?”

“No, my Sweet Fox just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Our life? And what will come next for us.”

Eadwulf sighed and sat up in bed looking down at her husband. His face lightly lined with age and his dark hair streaked with silver. They had been married for nearly thirty years and while it had been a rough start she did truly love him. And he was still as handsome as he was when they first met.

“And what about our life and our future is on your mind?” She asked, stroking his cheek.

“How well it’s gone.” He whispered, staring into her eyes. “I always worry that our Gods will take you from me. And I will be prevented from seeing you.”

She smiled. “I doubt you would allow that to stop you from seeing me.”

“What about you?”

“I told you I believe our Gods are friends and will allow us to be together even after the world ends.”

“Will you stay with me in Vahalla?”

She smiled, “Of course. I told you, I won’t let you be alone in this life or the next. I will always come to you sooner or later.”

Ivar dug his hand into her hair and pulled her closer for a deep kiss. She moaned against his lips and shifted in order to straddle his lap; while his hands pushed up the bottom of her nightdress. His hands trailed up the inside of her thighs and along her hips, over her back into her hair.

“I have never deserved your love,” he whispered when they pulled apart to breathe.

She shifted, causing him to groan as she sat up careful of his legs before admitting. “Perhaps not at first but you do now, my Snake.”

“I want you to come with me.”

“Where?”

“On the boat. When I die. I want you at my side. Not just a slave but you as well.”

“I’m not fucking your men when you die Ivar, so you had better hope we die close enough together to be on the boat with you.”

“You better not woman.” Ivar grinned as he pressed his lips against her neck. “And I feel it in my gut that you and I will die on the day.”

“Do you?”

“Yes. Have you not heard I have the same gifts as my mother.”

“I am sure you do.” Eadwulf groaned as he trailed kisses down to her shoulder.

“Ivar!” Hvitserk shouted barging into the room.

Ivar scowled and turned his attention to his brother. “This had better be good brother.”

“We’ve gotten word of assassins in the area.”

“What?” scowled Ivar, gently pushing Eadwulf off of his lap. “Do you know who they want to assassinate?”

“We managed to capture one but as of right now he is refusing to speak.”

“Take me to him,” Ivar said as he climbed from the bed and pulled on his braces.

“Be careful both of you,” Eadwulf said as they headed out the door.

“Don’t worry about us dear wife,” Ivar said before turning to the guards. “Make sure no one gets in.”

“Yes, my king.”

Eadwulf sighed and slipped deep beneath the covers trying to return to sleep until Ivar returned to her side.

“Who sent you?” Ivar asked again as he stared at the man who was secured to a chair and bleeding pretty much everywhere.

“Go to hell heathen,” he gasped.

Ivar rolled his eyes and nodded to his brother who drew a long slash against his chest causing the man to bite back a scream. “I admire your courage, Christain. You would have made a good Viking. But it’s alright to let go now.”

The man’s reply was to spit in his general direction.

“I have a feeling he won’t talk brother.” Ubbe said. “Let’s stop wasting our time and just kill him and see if there are any more.”

Ivar stared at the man. “Send him to his god.”

Ubbe nodded and made one final slice through the man’s throat.

“Keep me updated,” Ivar said. “I am going to check on Edawulf.”

“I’ll go with you,” Hvitserk said as some of the men dragged the corpse away. “We still don’t know how many more there are.”

“There is no need for you to accompany me.”

“Ivar take him with you.” Ubbe said before adding. “He will be one more person to protect Eadwulf.”

“I don’t need help protecting my wife.” scowled Ivar.

“Ivar.”

“Fine,” Ivar grumbled, storming off with Hvitserk following behind.

“Now,” Ubbe said to one of the guards at the door. “Let’s get rid of this trash.”

Ivar and Hvitserk had barely made it back to the longhouse when they were attacked and quickly separated by more men, which quickly turned into a brawl in the brothers’ favor.

“Who sent you?” Ivar screamed into the face of one of the men. “Who are you here to kill!”

“Ivar!”

Ivar froze at the sight of Eadwulf in the arms of one of the other men. “Release her!”

The distraction was enough for the other men to grab hold of him and his brother keeping them both from going to her. 

“Give me a reason I should release the traitorous whore!” The man replied, digging the knife into her skin until he drew some blood. “You should want her dead so she can continue to spread her legs for you from her throne in hell.”

Ivar snarled and threw his head back, breaking the nose of the man beside him. The action was enough for him to throw one of his knives at the man holding his wife. As the man dropped to his knees choking on his own blood he brought Eadwulf with him, slicing her throat open. 

“No!” Ivar screamed.

“You bastards!” Hvitserk snarled from where he was being held.

Eadwulf lay in a pool of her own blood as it poured from the wound and escaped her mouth as she choked on it. One of the men holding Ivar back, slammed his foot into the back of his knee, breaking the bone and causing Ivar to collapse to the ground where he repeated the action with his other leg. The man grabbed hold of Ivar’s hair and pointed at his wife. 

“We are going to kill you Ivar the Boneless, but first we are going to give you the honor of watching your wife die and then we will desecrate her corpse.”

Ivar screamed in fury and slammed a knife through the man’s jaw, ripping it out violently. He then threw the man to the side and crawled over to his dying wife. But the remaining man followed him and just as he was about to reach her he slammed his sword through Ivar’s chest.

“Try reaching her now,” He mocked only to start gurgling as he fell over with an arrow sticking out of his back more arrows came sailing freeing Hvitserk.

“Ivar! Eadwulf!” Ubbe shouted running to his brother’s side with others not far behind.

Hvitserk scrambled to his brother’s side and helped him over to where Eadwulf lay and joining their hands together

The hand on Ivar’s shoulder roused him and he blinked staring up at Odin.

“Allfather,” he breathed.

“It’s time to go.” He said as he pulled Ivar to his feet.

Ivar looked down at his dead body and turned his attention to Eadwulf, who was standing beside a tall man with dark skin and hair. His golden-brown eyes were staring at them as if he knew every little secret they both held and his lips were turned upwards into a warm smile.

“Allfather,” the man said, nodding to Odin.

“Nazarian,” responded Odin.

The Nazarian turned his attention to his wife and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It is time to go now Child. Do not worry you will see your husband again soon.”

Eadwulf nodded and stepped forward to give Ivar a kiss before she allowed the man to lead her away.

“Worry not,” Odin said to Ivar. “The Nazarian is right. You two will indeed meet again.”

Ivar nodded and felt himself being lifted up into the air before the earthly world and his brothers were lost to him.

When he woke next he found himself in a field staring up at the blue sky.

“You’re awake,” Eadwulf said excitedly appearing at his side.

“I guess you were right,” he said with a grin holding her against him. “Nothing will keep us apart.”

[nad-zeta]

Hello, hello, hello! I loved your head canons about the warlords' ages and I wonder if you can write head canons of the warlords' profession, not in modern AU but the warlords deciding to go to the future with MC and well, the profession they would have!! Thank you so muuuuuuuuuch. 💕

Hi hi, love! 🌻Thank you sooo much for the ask! This is legit my third time writing this up, the first time I did this, I forgot to save the word file, and the second time my laptop crashed right after I finished writing it😭....... But finally, here it is🌻! I’m so happy you liked my HC, I hope you enjoy this one, and I hope you have a good day! ❤🔥

Headcanon: Warlords and their future jobs 

Nobunaga

I think the second Nobunaga arrives in the future he would become a businessman

He would start off small from your apartment, but within the month he will turn into the biggest corporate leader, having thousands of people working under him

He would spend the first few weeks just chilling in the future with you but soon start to get bored

He would also, low key feel like its wrong for you to be supporting both of you

He does some research on stock trading and then starts playing around with your life savings

Good thing for you, Nobunaga is a clever man, and he manages to triple the money in a week by playing around on the stock market

He uses the income made, to start a small business, which soon starts growing at the speed of light

This man will not be able to work for someone so I can definitely see him being the CEO of his own company

He will be the ruler of the corporate world in no time

It’s pretty funny how in the span of a year he has earned the old name he once carried in the past “Devil king.”

Masamune

This is a no brainer

Obviously he will be a chef

I think he would start off small like finding a job at a local café but then soon take the culinary world by storm

It started off when the two of you went to eat at one of your favourite cafes

He enjoyed the food so much, he couldn’t help but pop into the kitchen to thank the chef (◕‿◕✿)

The kitchen was absolute mayhem and the chef had told him that he was very short-staffed

And that is how Masa got his first future job

He worked in the café for a few months picking up experience and learning to use all the futuristic equipment

From there, he bounced around from place to place learning all sorts of cool culinary techniques

I think at the end of the day he will most likely open his own restaurant

One that specializes in authentic Japanese cuisine

Hell I wouldn’t be surprised if he opened a branch of the restaurant in Nobunagas company

Mitsunari

I can see this cutie angel being a teacher or professor

I think he would be a great academic and educator

I can actually, see this boi being a professor teaching all sorts of subjects from statistics to the art of war ヾ(●ε●)ノ

The first few weeks of being in the future with you, he spends in the library absorbing as much knowledge as possible

One day while he is sitting and reading up on every and any subject, he overhears a group of struggling professors at a nearby table

Apparently they had been trying to solve a certain equation for months now but to no luck (ﾉಠдಠ)ﾉ︵┻━┻

Mitsunari walks up to the group and cheerily asks if he can be of some assistance (◕ᴗ◕✿)

Usually the group would just laugh and chase the random stranger away but desperate times…

They hand Mitsunari the equation and this clever boi takes one look at it and starts writing out the answer

The math professors were sister shook… Like he didn’t even freaken, need a calculator (◯Δ◯∥)

They legit offered him a job as a lecturer and he soon becomes the students’ favourite absent minded professor (◕‿◕✿)

I think he will most definitely also publish a few research papers as well and contribute to the body of knowledge in all sorts of subjects

Ieyasu

Also super easy he will either be a vet or a doctor although I am leaning more towards veterinarian cause of his love for animals

He will most likely join Mitsunari in university, cause he is a super-smart porcupine he will become a certified vet in no time

Also spends the first few weeks of being in the future at the library absorbing as much medical knowledge as possible

He gets the idea of becoming a vet after watching a bunch of animal rescue shows on the national geographic channel 

While you are at work he starts volunteering at an animal rescue during the day to pass the time

That is where he met one of the vets that help out at the rescue in their free time, he legit liked Ieyasu so much he took him on as an apprentice, while Ieyasu was busy completing his studies

Later on he will most likely have his own veterinary practise

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he starts his own animal rescue on the side as well

Within two years the two of you move to live on a big plot with all yours and Ieyasus rescued pets

Hideyoshi

Hideyoshi could go one of two ways hehe 

If Nobunaga comes to the future with yall then you best be sure this boy is ganna help Nobunaga rule the corporate world

Buuuut if it’s just the two of you, I 100% see him becoming a primary school teacher

Like he would just be so good with kids

He is basically trademarked as mama hen anyways, so why not put him in a primary school to teach lil chics

I think he would be such a good teacher, supportive, kind, and patient

He has enough practise lecturing Nobunaga for bad behaviour, so he might as well put that to good use correcting the behaviours of troublesome kids

He gets into teaching when your sister drops her kid off at your apartment to babysit

You had work, so the only one that could care for the child was, the mother hen himself

He sat and taught the little boy how to read and write, this impressed your sister so much that she recommended him for the position of substitute English teacher at her child’s school

At first Hideyoshi worked as a substitute teacher, but soon he became the designated aftercare teacher and within a few months he was teaching his own class

The children absolutely adored him although they would sneak behind the school building to eat candy cause, they didn’t want to get yet another lecture from Yoshi on the negative health consequences of their favourite sugary treats

Mitsuhide

100% detective (¬‿¬)

I mean can you just imagine how sexy he would look in a trenchcoat… like OMW (づ￣ ³￣)づ

The first few weeks of spending time with you in the future you introduce him to CSI and Law and order and he is super fascinated

You are so amazed by the fact that he can figure out who the perp is 5 minutes into the show

The crime in your neighbourhood was pretty bad, but since Mitsuhide’s arrival something crazy happened 

The crime seemed to disappear. 

Like no more robberies, no more drunks walking up and down the street, just peaceful quiet calm neighbourhood 

One day as the two of you were buying snacks for your CSI bingeing session, two armed men came into the convenience store 

You looked over at your lover who seemed completely unphased, like one of the robbers were legit pointing a gun in his face, yet Mitsuhide looked uninterested

Within a blink of an eye, Mitushide managed to disarm the men and tie them up 

The police were hella impressed with the way Mitsuhide handled things 

He helped the police department solve a few petty crimes in your neighbourhood and soon they started calling him up, to help them crack some difficult cases

After a while he becomes the most famous and popular detective in town

The government low key recruits him as an agent to help them

Kenshin

Again I don’t see Kenshin working for anyone

I think the first few weeks the two of you arrive, bunnies start following him around

Looks like the bunny lord is never safe from the love of the cute fluffy creatures 

The two of you will definitely be living on a bunny farm

Kenshin, although he doesn’t admit it, has a soft spot for the cute fluffy creatures 

So the bunny farm is actually more of a bunny rescue although that’s just his part-time job

As he adapts to the future, I can see the farm transforming into being a bunny and sake farm

Lol Kenshin loves Sake so much 

He knows how good sake should taste, so naturally he starts to make his own and sell it

This starts one day when a friend of yours invites the two of you to a sake tasting

The instructor was so impressed with Kenshin’s keen sense of taste that they got to talking and before Kenshin knew it, he had two people willing to sponsor him, to start his own sake brand

Naturally he never backs down from a challenge

He actually goes on to become the largest Sake producer and bunny rescue

Yukimura

I can legit see this boy doing something active like being a firefighter or gym instructor- cause lets be real this boi is ripped

Or actually maybe both

The first few weeks of being in the future he managed to save 2 peoples lives by fearlessly running in a burning building

The firefighters were legit so impressed they decided to take him on as an intern

He got some of the perks, i.e. free gym membership to stay fit

That’s when he started giving out a few pieces of advice to the people around him

“Like seriously dummy, don’t you even know how to do a proper squat, u legit ganna hurt your back if ya keep doing it like that.”

The members of the gym appreciated his advice so much, some of them started paying him to become their instructor, and soon the gym decided to hire him part-time

Now when Yuki isn't running into burning buildings saving people he is training people in the gym 

Best be sure he is gonna drag you to the gym with him

Shingen

Hehe I’ll admit I’m not too sure what this boi would get up to in the future

I think the first few weeks will be spent with you just adapting and getting to know everything

I think he would continue on with his carpentry

He kinda starts to notice your apartment is furnished in super cheap furniture

You tell him you are just a student in this time and don’t really have money to buy anything fancy

He buys a few cheap pieces of wood and starts furnishing your apartment with the most beautifully crafted furniture

Some of your friends visit the two of you and notice the remarkable craftsmanship and start commissioning him to make them some furniture

After a while he becomes the best carpenter in town

Goes on to open up a shop selling the different furniture he makes

I can see him hiring people in need, and that need a fresh start and then teaching them the trade to be able to make something of themselves

I can also see him volunteering at rescues and fostering bear cubs cause he misses his so much

I hope you enjoyed this dear and thanks again for the ask! ❤❤🔥🌻

[mxpseudonym]

Hell or High Water: Part II

Pairing: Tommy x OC

Summary: Having a detective as a partner pays off when you’re a gangster.

Length: 1704 words (allegedly)

Warnings: Swearing

Ask: Hell or high water is amazing ! can u write a 2nd part where she talks to polly and the rest of the family and maybe something happens so that they learn to trust her ? - Anonymous

A/N:  I hope this is up your alley, anon! I was writing this and was lowkey scared for Sara’s future and may make a part III, but I don’t really know. 

Part I: Hell or High Water ; Masterlist

--

It had been nearly a year since Polly had declared Sara what she was: not a Shelby and never to be one. Sara moved back to London for more pressing assignments, and, to her absolute delight, Tommy kept his promise. He got a reasonably sized apartment for himself when he bought Ada's house. Sara would stay there with him when he visited, lovely suspenders and trousers already in the drawers.

"How did you manage all of this?" She asked as she looked into the wardrobe. Tommy wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and kissed her shoulder.

"I've got my ways, Miss Miller. One day I'll convince you to move in here too," he mumbled that last bit.

"But then it wouldn't be very inconspicuous would it," she pointed out. Instead of an answer, Tommy tugged her button-down from her trousers and continued her undressing. 

Even for a short amount of time, you learn more about someone when you live with someone. Sara already did an impeccably good job at reading him, but she had gotten too good. She never let on, but Sara knew what flour on his pants leg and the lingering smell of illegal rum meant. She also knew that it was only a matter of time before it happened. 

"Fuck me," she murmured to herself when she opened the file that was waiting on her desk after lunch. She sat and read up on the man she would surely be in bed with that weekend. "Thomas Michael Shelby, decorated veteran. At least it's interesting." There was a knock at the door, and her boss's pageboy was standing there a folder in hand.

"Chief Harrington would like to see you at the half-hour, Miss," he said. Soon enough, she was sufficiently annoyed with her love and standing in front of her Chief Harrington, file in hand.

"Miller, give me a good reason to not arrest those Peaky Blinder scoundrels right now," Harrington said so calmly. "They've scurried up the river and into Camden and brought a few boatloads of workers with 'em. If nothing else, they're poking at the whole Jewish Italian gang nonsense. Inciting violence, all of 'em." The balding man placed his pipe in his mouth and stoked it. 

If she were honest and good at her job, she'd tell him to do it. There was a multitude of sins committed by the razor gang that couldn't be taken back even if they wanted to, which they didn't. The Shelbys were agitating the already war-like street corners in the city. But that's not what she said. Because Sara had been hired by Chief Harrington for her "magic trick." But she was too good. There were things she'd found that he'd tell her to hide. These cops weren't on the straight and narrow, they were all in somebody's pocket. And men like Harrington wanted to be in good graces with the right people. She deserved acting in her best interests sometimes.

"Sir, we can't arrest them," Sara said. "It's out of our jurisdiction until we have evidence. More importantly, your contract is being revisited this year," she said. Harrington looked up in surprise and intrigue. He loved power indeed.

"And?"

"While the Peaky Blinders may be moving into London, it won't be as impressive to stop them as it would to stop, say, Charles Sabini. Also, the Peaky Blinders' leader, Thomas Shelby, is a decorated veteran, Sir. A tunneler. He's been of help to Winston Churchill in recent years."

"Bloody hell," Harrington coughed on his smoke. "Why haven't I heard about this before?"

"It's not well known. I had to do some work to find it," Sara responded vaguely to which he smirked.

"That's right, your little parlor trick. Alright, that's your professional opinion?" He looked her over. Still not happy he couldn't make out her curves, it seemed.

"Yes, that's my professional opinion."

"Bury it then. We'll only revisit if we have to," Harrington told her then promptly shooed her out of the office.

After work, she packed a small bag and took the train to Small Health. The whole time she thought about her relationship with Tommy. Where was it going, and could they actually get there? Their paths would keep crossing like this until one of them stopped. But when would that be? When Tommy went above board? She laughed at that one. That would be a sight to see. But she wouldn't leave her job until she was booted, which didn't seem that unlikely with the way corruption was going. Still, unlikely. She sighed and let her eyes close until it was announced she was at her destination. 

The Shelby's had family meetings when needed, and lately, that had been more. Tommy checked his watch in the dim light of his office and began putting his work away. He had reports from London that would, hopefully, shut the worriers up a bit. This was good. A knock sounded at his door, and he told them to come. 

"Sara?" He stood as she walked in and looked around. 

"This is nice," she commented on his office, picking up a decorative paperweight on her way to him. 

"Couldn't wait 'til Saturday?" Tommy moved to the front of his desk and leaned against it. Sara avoided answering any question and decided to kiss him instead. She was even surprised by how passionate it was considering her frustration.

"You're so stupid," she murmured between kisses. Tommy's brow furrowed, but his arms wrapped around her to pull her closer anyway. She sighed into the embrace. "I love you."

"What's wrong," he asked once they were forced to breathe once again. Honestly, he half expected this to be another lecture about him smoking three packs of cigarettes a day when he was supposed to be down to two. He couldn't figure out how she could tell. Maybe it was his shoes?

"Tommy, what have I always said about you and my work?" She asked. The flicker of realization told Sara that Tommy knew exactly what she meant. "The ABC, Tommy? Alfie fucking Solomons?"

"It needs to happen. Don't worry, we won't unionize," Tommy chuckled but stopped when she shook her head.

"I don't just work on unions, Tommy. That was just one assignment. Your file came across my desk today. 100 men shipped to Birmingham doesn't just go under the radar in a gang war," she explained. 

"Okay, so what do we need to prepare for? A raid?" His arms left her waist to cross over his chest.

"No, I took care of it. You're okay for now. But you should know this happened." Sara stepped away with a sigh 

"What do you mean, took care of it?"

"You have a family meeting in 10 minutes, don't you?" She asked and checked his watch. 

"I do. What gave it away this time?"

"You don't just stop working at 8pm. Your lights are off, and you were putting things away when I got here, but you're not tipsy, so you'll be speaking later." She waved off the process and motioned for him to stand. "I'll walk with you and tell you what happened." She only planned to walk to the doors of the betting shop and wait in the Garrison after, but Tommy swept her inside.

"You deserve to be here," was all he said. He never expected Sara to use her job to help them out. Had he hoped? Of course. But she did it on her own. Sara's attempts to object were ignored as he sat her down. His family came bumbling in a moment later, conversation stopping when they saw the young detective at the table.

"What the fuck is this, Tommy," Polly spat, pulling out a cigarette. 

"Just listen, Pol. We have some news about London," Tommy told her then motioned them all to sit. It didn't take long to explain, and Sara was there to answer questions about the cops and the law. She told them which policemen were working for Sabini, and who was susceptible to bribing as well. It wasn't her intention, but she was already in deep. 

"Good to know, Sara," Arthur nodded, taking a drink of whiskey. It was the first time she'd heard any of the Shelby's positively utter her name. 

"I'm always here to help." She smiled and let Tommy wrap up the meeting. Polly still didn't look entirely happy with Sara, especially when she was invited to the Garrison. While Tommy went to talk to his brothers, Sara sought out the Shelby matriarch. 

"I won't deny what you're doing for my family. That doesn't mean I'm opening my arms to you," Polly said before taking a drag of her cigarette. "And if you think,"

"Polly," Sara stopped her. Polly was about to snap for being interrupted, but the young detective continued. "I know that Tommy wants you to take me in, but I want you to know it's okay if you don't. I promise. You have a family to protect, and I think you also have yourself to protect."

"I don't need your pity."

"I don't have pity to give," Sara said. "I respect you a whole lot, Polly. I happen to love Tommy a lot too, so I'm not going to stay away from him unless he wants it. But, I'm not going to make you like the law when I think they've hurt you more than some of the others know." She gave Polly a sympathetic smile. "Not that I could force you to do anything anyway." 

"You're damn right," said Polly, though her eyes were a bit misty. 

"If you ever want to talk, I'm here. I think I, unfortunately, understand what you may have gone through." Sara pulled a card from her pocket and handed it to Polly. 

It was a tense situation, but with a little time, things between Sara and the Shelby's worked out. Sure, things got a little less honest at work, but there had to be a trade-off somewhere. Sara liked to think being invited to family dinners by Polly and the few lunches they had in London even warranted some trust. And Polly Shelby's confidence in any person went quite far. 

--

Original ask: May I request something for Tommy Shelby where he falls for a woman who is very unique (wears suits instead of dresses, but still has long hair, is quite like Sherlock Holmes yk knows how to deduce and is a detective, insanely intelligent) and he smiles a lot more etc and his family is a little skeptical since he's a detective and they think she's like Campbell but they both really love each other? - @midwinternightz

Tommy: @soleil-dor

[rainbowdonkee]

With 2019 coming to an end, I wanted to make a list of my personal top 10 video games that came out this decade. I was 12 in 2010, and now being 21 video games have always been important to me! Many of the games that are the most dearest to me sadly came out before 2010 (HG/SS barely made the cut with the NA release). I tried to not make recent releases be part of my bias (FE3H lol), plus there were many games such as Bioshock 2, Fallout New Vegas, DA2, ACNL, and many more that I love but this list would have been too long! 

1. Dark Souls (2011)

2. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)

3. Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver (NA 2010)

4. NieR Automata (2017)

5. Final Fantasy XV (2016)

6. Bloodborne (2015)

7. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (2017)

8. Astral Chain (2019)

9. Granblue Fantasy (2014)

10. Deemo (2013)

Dark Souls: Although I haven’t really completed the game personally, I’ve seen many playthroughs and videos about the story and characters. Hidetaka Miyazaki is absolutely awesome in creating those fantasy worlds and characters, everything that Dark Souls ended up influencing was pretty groundbreaking. And the OST is always enjoyable to hear again.

Breath of the Wild: This game took quite a long time for Nintendo to release, and when it finally came out on the final year of the WiiU and the birth of the Switch... it was pretty emotional. Also to realize that Iwata-san never made it to see the rise of Nintendo’s success after the failure of the WiiU gets me everytime, but I hope he sees all the smiles and joy BOTW has brought since its release. The game changed not only what is a LOTZ game but what is an open world, I’ve played it twice and each time I picked it up was a new experience.

Pokemon HG/SS: This game was released around Fall 2009 in Japan, but for NA it was out in March 2010. I still remember the anticipation for Spring Break to arrive in order to spend all my week playing it! I never had the chance to play the original Gold/Silver, so everything was new to me. My 12 year old mind almost exploded when I ended up finishing the Johto League only to find out we were ALSO traveling to Kanto!!! I was shook! This game is amazing, and I’ll forever wait for them to somehow add our Pokemons following us around, that mechanic was so cute! And of course the OST is golden, and I can always listen to it and be brought back to those days.

NieR Automata: I never played any of the past NieR games (although I was aware of their existence). The first trailer I ever watched had the “Become as Gods” song so I was hooked from the start! And learning that PlatinumGames and Square Enix both developed the game made me hyped for its release. I love everything about it, the characters, story, music, themes. By the time I finished the game, it had brought me into a journey of questioning so many heavy topics about life...I really wasn’t expecting that about a game. Not going to lie it may or may not have brought me a mini existential crisis but with a game made my Yoko Taro can’t be too surprised.

Final Fantasy XV: The game I so often heard fabled tales since as back as 2009 and the hype was just building up for this game! I remember going to the movie theater when they were having special screenings for the Kingsglaive movie (I dragged my friend, little brother, and mom lol). The game went through so much, many cuts and changes were made but I personally ended up liking what we got. Still super sad that many unreleased DLC’s were cut off, but the love I have for the characters and music will always stay.

Bloodborne: Hey another Miyazaki game, what can you say...the man just makes brilliant games. He took everything I love about gothic, victorian era, and Lovecraftian esque and made this extraordinary game. I’m here hoping that maybe this 2020 we can hear a slither of news of Bloodborne 2, the theme for this game is too good for them to leave it as only one game.

Fire Emblem Echoes SoV: After the train wreck that was Fates, I literally was not expecting for us to get another FE title so soon! Japan waited 2 years for Echoes but thanks to localization giving us Fates in 2016, we got SoV a year later. I never heard of Fire Emblem Gaiden, before this game I never played any of the Japan only FE games, so when news was coming out about this title I tried 100% to AVOID it. Why? Because this was the first time I could start a FE game without personally knowing anything about it, and when I first played it, right from the start it felt so different, it didn’t felt like a Fire Emblem game (which isn’t bad at all). With the new art direction it also felt like a whole new world, I love Hidari and I hope we get to see them more in future FE games. The game had a simple plot which I didn’t held it against them, I knew this was a remake, and personally I’m glad they didn’t added things like an Avatar or S-Supports. They stayed true to its original source, and SoV will stay as my personal favorite FE game. Also Heritors of Arcadia will be the best vocal theme we got in FE series.

Astral Chain: Oh snap another PlatinumGames IP? This developers are just too good! Astral Chain came out of nowhere although I’ve heard it was worked on for a long time, supposedly even before NieR Automata was developed. I really enjoyed the game very much, from all the 2019 games that came out it caught my eye and I went in with not too many expectations but I had a good time. The story took a crazy turn and I could see some similar themes as NieR Automata but it held its own ground to become unique. The fighting mechanics were so much fun to play and the music was also awesome! I wish more people talked about this game since it is Nintendo’s new IP. I hope we can get the twins for Smash Ultimate!

Granblue Fantasy: I first new anything about Cygames back in 2016 when I saw the OP for Rage of Bahamut. After Seeing the OP for season 2, seeing Azazel in all his glory I knew I had to watch the anime! Luckilly Rage of Bahamut season 2 was continuing in 2017 so I was able to catch up just in time for its final 10 episodes. I LOVE Azazel and Kaisar and of course ROB Lucifer! Then to my surprise I found out about GBF, and I was dumb and thought the app was unavailable in the west which is technically true since you need a Japanese account to download the app which has an ENG text option. So it wasn’t until 2018 that I downloaded the game and started my journey through the sky. This gacha game literally changed what is a gacha game to me, the developers listen to fans, the community is fun, and just everything about this franchise is so great. I’m not a hardcore player so I’m not too worry about grids, I’m here for the cute husbands. (Lancelot, Sandalphon, Albert, Grimnir I lov u).

Deemo: I love this game, one of the best app games I’ve ever had. Back in the day I used to play TapTap Revenge and that was my first taste of rhythm games, Deemo brought me back to those types of apps. Whenever I was anxious I could always play this game and pass the time while keeping my mind busy. Plus without Deemo I would have never known artist’s such as Mili. The game is on the Switch which I’m so happy because I was able to just get all the songs without flooding my tablets storage space.

[aryll-14]

My friends

This is my first story, so it's probably 100 percent cringe. I'm sorry.

I've had this story idea for awhile now, but haven't really tried to write it, but when u asked someone to write it they said I should try and I did. And it was SO MUCH FUN! So thank you for the inspiration. @sky-squido you gave me the inspiration I needed to write it!

Wild has more animal friends then he does people friends.

Twilight looked into the the dark starless Sky, the crescent moon looking down at him, the only sounds around him besides the cherp of a few brave crickets, where some frogs crocking down by the creek they used to fish for dinner, and the occasional CRACKLE from the small fire they used to keep warm at night.

He wasn't supposed to be awake, none of them where. They had travelled to Wild's Hyrule that day, and Wild had said that this particular area was one hundred percent safe. So they didn't have a watch going on. He would normally be a wolf keeping an eye on the eight other boys, but today was different. Very different.

Wild was acting strange, Stranger than he normally was. Wild was constantly looking around, the trees, the sky, even the flower field they passed by, with this look of absolute want, like he expected to see someone or something to come running at them.

Twilight had asked him what was wrong but Wild just shrugged the worry off by saying 'its absolutely nothing... Just thought I saw something'. And continued on with cooking the fish Time and Wind had managed to catch in the near by pond.

A near by rattle brought Twilight out of his thoughts, he strained his hearing trying to listen closer with out making it look like he was awake. Soon Twilight realized that the noise was coming from inside the camp. He automatically thought someone had gotten up to use the restroom, but a CLANK from a metal buckle told him other wise.

Twilight got up slowly from his laying position to see wild slowly but surely putting on his gear.

"And where are you going" Twilight asked, with out much thought. Wind rolled away from the noise right in to warriors side, but fell asleep once again.

Wild turned around quickly with wide and surprised eyes to look his mentor right in the eyes.

"Twi, what are you doing awake? It's half past midnight." Wild said with a shacking voice. He looked like a child about to be scolded by a parent.

"Don't beat around the bush cub" Twilight said, with a critical glare. Being careful to keep his voice down to not wake the others.

"Well... Uhm" Wild said, looking around as if the trees would help him out of this situation he found himself in. "well I ...I- I'm going to visit a friend"

Twilight looked at him like he was crazy. "You're 'going to visit a friend' in the middle of the night?" Saying it while making air quotation. "And what friends would they so happen to be?"

Wild looked like he was about to have a fever, his whole face broke out to a scarlet red all the way to the tips of his ears.

"I..uhmm.... I- I'll go to sleep now." and with that he immediately went to his bed roll and throw his blanket over his head.

Even with all his gear on.

'This kid is going to be the death of me.' Twilight thought, as he got up from where he sat and walked to Wild.

At the sound of footsteps coming towards him, Wild took a chance and peaked through a little hole he made from his blanket.

He immediately saw his mentors boots right in front of him, and felt a hand come and snatch away his blanket.

"Hey... HEY!" Wild squeaked out. Trying his best to grab the small blue blanket back from his mentor but ultimately failed.

Twilight grabbed Wild's arm that was trying to get the blanket back and pulled him up and practically dragged Wild to a more Secluded area.

"Alright, what the hell is wrong with you today." Twilight looked at his protege in the eyes "and don't give me the 'oh it's nothing Twi'."

"It's NOTHING! I was just going to see a friend!!" Wild said while looking down at the grassy floor.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that.

"A friend? In the middle of the night?"

"Yes"

"Are you insane? And let's say I believe you, wouldn't this 'friend' be asleep?"

"Nope, she's nocturnal"

"WHAT?!" Twilight didn't even try being quiet anymore. He was too shocked to even think right now.

'A nocturnal friend? Then wouldn't it be an animal?'

A snapping twig from behind them caught their attention. Turning around they came face to face with a very angry looking Time.

All the noise twilight made when dragging Wild out of bed must have woken their unannounced leader up, and Time did not look happy about that.

"And why, pray tell, are you boys awake and away from the camp?" Time inquired, even with one eye they both felt the burning hole he left with his stare.

Twilight looked at his mentor and could have sworn Wild looked like he was about to have a panic attack.

"And why is Wild in his full gear?" Time was now more confused, when he got a good look at Wild with the limited light the moon gave.

"I..I can explain!" Wild squeaked out. His voice high with embarrassment.

"Then please explain, and do add details." Time said with the flattest voice Twilight had ever heard.

"He was going to visit a friend." Twilight interrupted his protege. Wild gave him a look of thanks, and looked back a Time.

Times raised his eyebrow and he looked at Wild like he just did the stupidest thing known to man.

"You where going to visit a friend in the middle of the night?!"Twilight had never seen Time look more confused.

"Yes! I'll show you."

And with that Wild marched over to a very large oak tree with several large dark brown roots poking out of the ground, obviously this tree had a good number of years under it's pink-ish green leaves, with many stories too tell.

Then Wild made the weirdest sound Twilight had ever heard anyone make, it was like a whistle but had a distinct sound that made it like a squirrel call, mixed with a vibration that made Wild's voice Shiver.

All at once, the pink-ish green leaves, above Times head, started to rustle.

A small grey blurr flew down from the branch above Time, managing to wack Time over the head with it's tail on the way down, and glided down nicely into Wild awaiting open palm.

"This is Smokey, he's a flying squirrel. Also one of my friends." Wild said with a triumphant grin.

Time and Twilight didn't know what to say or do being to over whelmed with shock.

'Did Wild just call a flying squirrel to show us he was serious?' Twilight thought as he examined the animal.

Smokey was a very small squirrel that fit just right onto Wilds hand, with grey fur on top with darker flanks that faded to a very light cream color underneath, he had two Large black eyes and a flattened tail. He looked to have a furry membrane that connected his front and rear legs.

'probably how he flew down to Wild' Twilight thought as he examined the small nocturnal creature with interest.

"Wait..." Time said, interrupting Twilights thoughts in the process. "Did you say 'one of my friends'?"

'Wait...did he?' Twilight had been so preoccupied with looking at the squirrel that he had failed to process what Wild had said.

"Yes, Smokey saved me when I was hungry, He brought me nuts and fruits. So ever since than we've been friends." Wild explained while looking at his little friend with a small smile, Smokey looked right back at him with his small black eyes.

"We've always had each other's backs"

That one statement stood out as odd to the duo as they watch with wonder. Smokey casually took out a nut from his mouth and gave it to Wild which he placed in his pocket.

Smokey then jumped from Wilds hand and glided down to Times bicep and latched onto his sleeping shirt, pulling him self up to his right shoulder.

Smokey then started to squeak very loudly and began to pull Times ear, as if he was giving directions.

Wild then suddenly snapped into action grabbing Smokey off of Times ear and shoulder and began running off to the right into the thickets of bushes, branches and leaves.

"You should probably follow pup," Time said, looking into the bushes where Wild had just run into. "Just to make sure the cub doesn't kill him self. I'll stay with the camp"

Twilight just gave his mentor a nod and placed the shadow Cristal to his forhead. The transformation was basically painless now, he had done it so many times the wolf was just his normal self.

Wolfie looked back at his mentor before running off into the bushes after Wild. Following his protege's smell he ran as fast as his four legs could carry him through the forest of roots cast onto the green floor.

The woods soon became a clearing that spread out to a small patch of untouched grass, except for the small amount stepped on by his protege on his run.

Wild was crouched down in the ankle deep grass. His back was turned towards Twilight so he couldn't see what Wild was looking at, but a very small whine got his attention.

With out thinking Twilight took out the shadow Cristal From his forhead and made his way towards where his protege was crouching.

Down in Wild's hand was vary small fox like creature in a hunters trap. The foxes back legs where being crushed in the trap.

Just by looking one could tell that this fox wasn't going to get better on its own, one of it's hind paws was mangled up like it had been trying to escape it's prison for hours on end, and it's front right paw looked to be snapped in two.

The fox wimpered once again when Wild tried to remove the trap from it's hind legs.

Wild whispered a small apology and tried again at another angle.

Twilight couldn't take another wimper and decided to help Wild out to the best of his ability. Grabbing one end of the trap he used his body weight to push the trap open. Wild was then able to gingerly pick up the injured fox and place it on a red colored shirt.

After wrapping it up and making sure that the fox wasn't going to move when picked up, Wild stood up.

Wild turned to his mentor and looked him in the eyes and said "look I'll explain later, but can we just get her to camp and see if Hyrule can do anything?"

"Yeah, I'll lead the way" Twilight said while placing the shadow Cristal on his forhead.

Soon he found himself on four legs sniffing the ground for the correct directions to the camp.

The wind soon changed directions and brought with it The smell of smoke, Ash, and warriors colonel. Why he insisted one wearing it was beyond everyone in their group.

Wolfie turned to look at Wild and saw him looking at the small fox in his left hand and on his right was the same trap that held the small fox moments before.

Wild looked up at Wolfie and nodded. With that Wolfie turned left and walked straight in to the thick bushes.

Within 6 minutes of walking they where clearly able to see the camp, Twilight quickly changed forms and kept walking with Wild several feet behind him. Smokey was somehow able to latch on to Wolfie and was now on Twilight's head.

Time had taken a seat on a fallen log close to Sky and Four's sleeping place.

Hearing twigs snapping Time turned his head from the fire to his protege. Time's face turned from worry to confusion when he saw Smokey on Twilight's head and a sad looking Wild with a bundled up shirt behind him.

Twilight sat next to Time and made space for Wild but he just stood there, looking at his small injured friend in his arms.

"What happened? And who's in the shirt?" Time asked after a long minute of silence.

"Her name is spirit" Wild said while looking up at Time. "She's a fennex fox, they usually live in Sandy places but for some reason Spirit lives here."

Wild knelt down to the floor next to his bed roll and placed Spirit on top of his blanket. He then very careful started to unwrap the shirt, Twilight had never seen his protege be so carefull in his life.

Inside was a sleeping white-ish golden fox.

Spirit was a very small fox with very large ears that looked like they belonged to a bat, they seemed to measure about 5-6 inches, her body was corraled in a small round ball with a long, white and red, tail.

Her left hind leg was completely red with blood and her right front paws was most definitely broken.

"What happened to her?" Time asked, after taking a good look at her mangled body.

"She was in a hunters trap" Wild answered with a sad voice. "Hunters aren't aloud to hunt here on satori mountain, there are many rare animals here that are endangered."

"Then someone is breaking the rules?" Twilight found himself asking even though the answer was obvious.

"Yes, I'll do anything to protect these animals like they did for me." Wild answered.

Wild then looked at Time and asked "is there anything we can do for her?"

Time walked closer and knelt next to the sleeping fox. " I don't know cub, but we could try. Maybe Hyrule can help her"

Wild practically leapt from his seating position and ran to Hyrule, but stoped short seeing Hyrule was asleep and cuddling up to Legend.

Everyone knew not to wake Legend up.

Legend did NOT like to be woken up.

But this WAS an emergency.

Surely Legend would understand. Right?

So slowly but surely Wild made his way to the side Hyrule was sleeping on a tried his best to not wake Legend.

But apparently that was to much to ask for.

Legend opened his eyes and stared a very frightened Wild right in the eyes.

They stayed like that for a good minute untill Legend asked with a low growl

"What the Hell are you doing?"

"I need Hyrule." Wild squeaked out.

"And why is it that you need him? He's asleep!"

"My friend is hurt and I don't know if she'll live until tomorrow if I don't get her medical attention!" Wild blurted out.

That struck as odd to Legend as he slowly got out of Hyrule's hold and sat up looking Wild in the eyes.

"Friend? What friend would need medical attention at this late hour! It's literally two in the morning! And SHE?! Who is SHE?!"

At legends out burst Warriors sat straight out of his bed and on his feet with a very confused and groggy face. After seeing there was no threat he looked straight at Legend with a glare.

Time didn't want the entire camp woken up by Warriors and Legend's bickering so he decided to get in before it was to late.

He arose from where he sat and cleared his throat.

Both heads snapped towards their unannounced leader. Then looked at Twilight who still had a small squirrel on his head and a small sleeping fox bundled up in his hands.

"Legend if you may allow Wild to wake up your.... Cuddle buddy so we may be able to go to sleep again." Time said with a very sly grin. It's not everyday you are able to tease Legend and get him to go as pink as his hair. So Time took the opportunity with Open arms.

At Times statement Legend's face flushed a slight pink "I am so going get you back old man." Legend mumbled as he shook Hyrule.

Hyrule slowly opened his eyes and mumbled a small 'five more minutes' closing them again.

Wild wouldn't let another minute go past with one of his best friends hurting. So he took matters into his own hands and grabbed Hyrule's blanket from off his shoulder and pulled.

Hyrule sat straight up and looked around confused, but seeing his best adventure buddy, with a face of one hundred percent concern, got him out of bed faster then one could say 'link'.

After a quick fill in on what was going on by Time, Hyrule was immediately by Twilights side looking at the little fox.

"I can try to heal her the best of my ability, but I won't be able to heal her completely." Hyrule said after examining Spirit.

"Why not?" Wild couldn't help but ask. He didn't even try to hide the worry in his voice.

"Well... My healing magic takes the power from me and the patient, but for big stuff like this.."Hyrule gestured to her hind legs.

"It could kill her. She is so weak that if I heal to much right now, she might not ever wake up again." Hyrule explained.

"If you were able to heal what you can now, would she be alright by morning?" Twilight asked for Wild. Wild gave his mentor a small sad smile and a nod of thanks.

"Well in theory yes, but there could be complications." Hyrule answered, He then looked at Wild and said "I'm sorry, there isn't much I can do for her right now. But I'll try my best to keep her alive."

Wild wiped his Misty eyes and said with a small smile, "it's okay.... She's strong, she can pull through."

That got a smile out if everyone awake, even Legend, who doesn't really smile.

With their small conversation over Hyrule immediately got to work with Legends help. Hyrule calling for supplies and Legend handing it to him, they where an unmatched team.

"You should get some sleep cub" Time said when he got a good look at Wild.

Wild had purple bags under his Misty eyes, and could barely keep his eyes open but kept forcing them. If he didn't sit down now Time was sure he'd fall over and somehow hurt himself, like always.

"M'fine" Wild slurred, as he kept on pacing.

[billehrman]

Build Back Better

Build Back Better

President Biden introduced the first of his two multi-trillion-dollar, demand-focused stimulus bills this week. Both plans reflect the Democratic agenda as it goes far beyond pure infrastructure spending to include a social agenda too. It is important to note that these programs would be spent over ten years while financed over 15 years. These stimulus plans, if passed, would boost growth beyond what we already are experiencing, a supercharged recovery.   We are doubtful that either bill will be passed as-is, nor will they matter much in 2021 at all. However, the market is a discounting mechanism, therefore we need to factor in what we believe will happen in our forecasts. We expect that the aggregate spending will be less than initially proposed and more focused on infrastructure and “building back better.”  It will bring supply lines home. Most of the burden will show up as higher taxes on the wealthy plus a boost in the corporate tax rate closer to 25% (rather than 28%) to remain globally competitive. We do expect most individual and corporate tax loopholes to be closed and collections to increase meaningfully. None of this alters our view that 2021 and 2022 will be bang-up years economically, with corporate profits increasing over 50%.  We continue to view the markets favorably boosted by huge amounts of excess liquidity, an accommodative Fed, and tons of fiscal stimulus.

Let’s begin with an update on the virus, as getting our arms around it is the key to the sustainability of the recovery both here and abroad. We are making significant progress domestically, with nearly 100 million people, or almost a third of the U.S. population, having received at least one dose. Nearly half of the U.S. states will have opened vaccinations to everyone 16 and older by the end of the week. That will rise to about three-quarters, or 35 states, by the end of next week. There will be enough vaccines available to vaccinate all Americans by the end of May. We learned last week that Pfizer’s vaccine was 100% effective in protecting children, which was great news that should permit schools to fully reopen in the fall. News overseas is not nearly as good here, but we remain optimistic that vaccinations will increase dramatically in the months ahead such that all could be vaccinated by year-end. This good news strengthens our conviction that this economic cycle will be sustainable well into 2023.

We are confident that all key monetary bodies: the BOJ, Bank of England, ECB, and Fed, will maintain overly accommodative stances well into 2022 even as the global economy picks up steam and inflationary pressures build. All will have to look past the expected near-term surge in inflation due to shortages, weather, supply line issues, and the drop-off of last year’s exceptionally low numbers. Yield curves will continue to steepen as the global economy picks up steam and the demand for funds increases which is all excellent news. We do, however, expect long-term inflation to stay contained due to global competitiveness, the surge in technology spending boosting productivity, and the continued increase in disruptors everywhere you look. On the other hand, we see a higher PPI as demand will outstrip supply in many industrial and agricultural commodities for a couple of years. In addition, we currently have shortages of semi-conductors, but that will end as companies have announced well over a hundred billion dollars in capacity additions beginning now with government support.  On the other hand, it takes 5+ years to bring on new mines, and agricultural cycles last at least three years. The bottom line is that we think Powell will be right in his belief that the near-term surge in inflation will be transitory, and pressure will subside as we move later into the year well into 2022.

Let’s look at Biden’s $2.2 trillion “American Jobs Plan.”   It includes $621 billion for transportation (ports, bridges, roads, public transport); $311 billion for utilities (water, broadband, and the power grid; $310 billion for buildings (lots of housing); $400 billion for caregiving infrastructure; and $580 billion for R&D, manufacturing, and training. If enacted in its entirety, it would add 0.5% net of tax drag to 2022 GNP and increase the deficit by about $140 billion (stimulative). Biden’s plan calls for raising taxes on the wealthy (over $400,000?) and higher corporate taxes close to $1.3 trillion over 15 years (rate from 21% to 28%, double the GILT to 21%, and a minimum tax at 15% of book income).

The second bill is for “human infrastructure” which could cost up to $2 trillion over ten years and is for free community college, universal preschool, childcare, paid leave, long-term care, and a prescription drug overhaul. It will be paid for from higher personal taxes, increasing capital gains, and lowering the estate tax exemption.

We expect a more focused infrastructure bill with less of a social agenda to be passed this year, close to $2.0 trillion with higher individual taxes on the wealthy and a hike in the corporate rate to around 25% to keep us competitive globally. Yellen mentioned phasing in the corporate tax hikes over a couple of years to minimize the near-term negative impact on the economy. Any plan where new spending is much more than new taxes is highly stimulative and will boost growth above what otherwise would have been.

Recent economic data continues to improve dramatically: the U.S added 916,000 jobs in March that was broad-based; the unemployment rate fell to 6%; U-6 declined to 10.7%; the average workweek increased; hourly earnings fell 0.1%; chain store sales increased 9.8%; home prices rose 11.2% year over year; consumer confidence surged to 109.7, a multiyear high; expectations index jumped to 109.6 from 90.9 last month; the Chicago PMI surged to 66.3, the best level in 3 years; the HIS Markit Manufacturing PMI hit 58.6, near a six-year peak and the I/S ratio continues to fall to new all-time lows. These numbers are off the charts, especially if you consider February weather and supply line issues. Also most of the stimulus money has not been spent, and we are still in the midst of the pandemic. Just imagine how strong the recovery will be as we put the virus behind us only to fill pent-up demand supported by all the excess liquidity in the system.

Growth in the U.K and the Eurozone has surprisingly improved over the last month despite the rise in cases in some areas: the U.K Markit Purchasing Managers Index rose to 58.9 in March, a decade high; the German final PMI hit 66.6; the French PMI increased to 59.3 and the Eurozone March final manufacturing PMI jumped to 62.5. China’s factory activity rose to 51.9, above estimates, and the non-manufacturing PMI rebounded to 56.3. We are confident that this expansion will be global as we put the virus behind us, lifting all boats for the first time in nearly five years.

Investment Conclusions

We have not changed our view that the recovery will be broad-based and supercharged both here and abroad, supported by overly accommodative monetary and fiscal policies. Everyone wants the economies to run hot after a dismal year that included heightened deflationary fears. We continue to emphasize companies leveraged to the economy as we have entered a period where production will outstrip consumption as inventories everywhere are way too low. Corporations have learned so much from the pandemic and will continue to control costs; invest heavily in technology to boost productivity; invest in high-return projects, and jettison weak businesses. The net result will be much higher operating margins, earnings, cash flow, and ROIC, which will lead to higher stock market valuations. Here is where firsthand research will pay off, as not all companies will be successful. This is our strength, as evidenced by 45+ years of significant outperformance.

Each of our investments each will benefit from the sustained economic recovery plus from Biden’s demand-focused stimulus bills, which support infrastructure, 5/6G wireless broadband, technology, transportation, and building back better.  Our portfolios include industrial/capital goods/machinery companies; technology at a price; transportation; financials; industrial/ag commodities; and several unique situations. We would continue to avoid all bonds, except TIPS, and highfliers selling at huge multiples to sales, hoping for earnings  5 years out.

Our investment webinar will be held on Monday, April 5th, at 8:30, am EST.  You can join by entering https://zoom.us/j/9179217852 in your browser or dialing +646 558 8656 and entering the password 9179217852.

Remember to review all the facts; pause, reflect and consider mindset shifts; look at your asset mix with risk controls; do independent research and …

Invest Accordingly!

Bill Ehrman

Paix et Prosperite LLC 

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #298

“i don’t like what i am becoming  /  wish i could just feel something”

Do you have sensitive skin? Very. Do you wear necklaces or earrings more? Just my tragus piercing, really. I only ever wear a necklace sometimes if I'm taking a "nice" picture. Rings or bracelets? I currently don't wear any bracelets, but I do always have one ring on. How many toilets are in your house? Two. Is your current crush younger than you? By just a couple years. Are you a lighter complexion than your father? Yes; he's very tan, especially his arms from being a mailman. Ranch or barbeque sunflower seeds? I don't like sunflower seeds. Do you know the first five books of the Bible in order? No. Do you have a pet fish? Nah, they're not my thing. Do you believe being gay is a choice or a "disorder"? Neither; I believe it's a genetic mutation. It defies biology and the very motive for life, but I always say that a mutation does not, in any way, equate to "wrong." I am extremely adamantly pro-gay rights and bisexual myself, so I can't shit-talk it. What are some of your favourite sounds? Crunching leaves, rain gently tapping on windows, windchimes, birdsong... mainly nature sounds. There are others, I'm just blanking right now. Are you a warm weather or cold weather person? Cold, 100%. What time do you wake up? What for? This spans over a massive gap, honestly... I can wake up as early as 5 or as late as 9:30. Most often, it's pretty early, and I call that my "trial" of being awake, lol... because I will almost without fail go back to sleep for a couple more hours. Hell, that happens even if I sleep on the later side. Do you ever listen to music to fall asleep to? I used to do that in middle and maybe some of high school, I think; I'd fall asleep with my iPod on and earbuds in. I haven't done that in a very long time, though. Could you spend the rest of your life with someone who had bad taste in music? ... Yes? Their taste in music has nothing to do with them as a person???? Do you still talk to the person you fell hardest for? No, and it's best I don't. Have you ever wanted to get drunk and get your mind off everything? Yes, and that's how I found out I'm far from a lightweight. I wasn't going to drink more than I actually wanted to drink just to get wasted. Did you love playing hide and seek as a kid? Yeah. Who is the last child you held? My youngest niece. Have you ever woken up not knowing where you were? Maybe for a few moments after my surgery? I don't really recall. When is the last time you made the wrong choice in anything? Every fucking day when I decide what to do with my time. What is the most interesting thing in the room you are in? My snake, I guess. She's a champagne morph ball python. When washing your hands, do you wet your hands or put soap on first? I put on soap first. When was the hardest you ever cried? What was the circumstance? Probably when Mom literally dragged me home after I tried to walk to Jason's to talk the night of the breakup. I lost my fucking mind. Which gift cards do you have in your wallet? I don't think I have any. Coke or Pepsi? Coke. I hate Pepsi. What is better: cute smile, or amazing eyes? A cute smile. What song are you listening to? "Drilled a Wire Through My Cheek" by Blue October is on currently. Name your best friend(s): Sara. Do you know any mechanical stuff about cars? Nope. Last night you felt? I wasn't suicidal, but still kinda wanted to die lmao. Do you still watch Disney channel? No. How do you like your eggs? I only enjoy them scrambled, and preferably with cheese. What’s your all-time favorite song? "False Flags" by Massive Attack. If you could be any TV character, who would you be and why? Idk, I don't watch TV enough. Maybe Donna from That '70s Show. Very strong and independent, outspoken, and not to mention she has great taste. I find her to be a good female character to look up to. Do you ever come up with really good ideas for stories or movies? Do you do anything with them? Yeah; I'll try to integrate them into RP characters and plots. What sort of things do you post on your Tumblr? Vintage photos, screen caps, girly things? It's a Markiplier cesspit lmao. Sometimes I'll reblog shit I find funny. I've been very inactive on it, though. Have you ever had a dream that you couldn’t shake, even for days after you woke up? Oh yes. When was the last time you felt like a nuisance, or unwanted? Recently, I'm sure. When was the last time your dreams were crushed, or at least hindered? I dunno. How’s school going? I'm not in school. Are you angry at anyone right now? Myself. The last person to say they loved you? Mom. When is the last time you laughed hard? Hard? I'm really not sure. Are there any words on your shirt? No, it's just a blank black tank. Does it take a lot to make you cry? NOPE. Do you tell your parents everything? No. Do you get bored easily? I'm bored to the point of thinking being dead would be more fun at some point almost every day. I have anhedonia badly. I'm honestly starting to think I've over-medicated to a numbing degree so am trying to wean off some things. Have you ever burned someone's picture? No. How long was your last nap? Maybe three hours? I was really, really tired, though. Can you name the last time you felt happy? Probably when Sara and I talk-talked for the first time in a while. When was the last time you played with sidewalk chalk? Oh, I have zero clue. Probably not since I was a kid. Do you have friends obsessed with World of Warcraft? Bro wtf don't @ me. Have you ever punched a hole in the wall? No. Have you ever told someone you hated them? The only time I've seriously said that was to my dad before we reconciled after the divorce. What was the color of the bridesmaid dresses of the last wedding you went to? I actually don't remember... Favorite thing to do on Facebook? See The Memes. Do you wear flip flops, regardless of weather, all the time? I SAID don't @ me. What is in store for your future? I both do and don't want to know. Have you ever seen a live bat? Yeah. I adore bats. Do you chew on straws? No. Do you have any trophies? Yeah. Who’s the last person that creeped you out? Some guy who walked into the store I was at with Mom, continuously looking back and forth. Would you believe an ex if she/he said they love you? Well, that would depend on the person. Have you ever been kissed in the rain? Yeah. Anything exciting happening soon? My half-sister and her kids are visiting tomorrow and staying for a few days. It's a surprise for Mom. Do you keep a diary or journal (offline or online)? You could say these surveys kinda are. I don't have a designated "diary," though. When was the last time you took a painkiller? What was it for and did it work? I had womanly issues a few days back, and yeah, it helped. Have you ever had to go and rescue someone because their car broke down? When was the last time that happened? I mean, I've driven /with/ Mom to do so. I myself don't drive. What’s one sweet/candy you miss from your childhood? Is this item something you can still buy or has it been discontinued? Y'all remember Baby Bottle Pops??? 'Cuz I do, and I love those fuckin things. I still see them sometimes in gas stations. When was the last time you used some kind of moisturiser? A few days back for my hands. They were painfully dry. If you’re under lockdown/stay at home orders at the moment, are you struggling or managing okay? A bitch is s t r u g g l i n g. Has anything positive come out of the pandemic for you? Fuck no. Do you wear a watch? Is it analogue/digital? Does it it have things like a step-counter in it? No. Do you have any gifts from Christmas that you still haven’t opened or used? Not used, yes. Well, then some things are still in their boxes, but they're unwrapped. Do you know how to tie a tie? If so, who taught you? No. Who was your last missed call from? Did you ring that person back? Some number I didn't recognize, so no. When was the last time you had some kind of problem with your internet connection? Is this something that happens often? A few days back. It has occasional instances where it'll go out but come back on shortly. Do you have a favourite celebrity chef? No. Do you prefer pizza or pasta? Pizza. Have you ever volunteered anywhere before? What was the reason behind doing so? Once at PetSmart when they had dogs to adopt out, which was for school volunteer hours. I spent time with them, giving them attention and taking them outside. I also had two other animal-related volunteer days, but each was only a few hours because my fucking weak-ass body couldn't handle them. Have you ever been truly obsessed with something? What was it and how did you come to feel that way? I have an incredibly obsessive personality; I could probably name near on a dozen or so things I've been genuinely obsessed with. I don't know what it means to love in moderation. Some are/were pleasant obsessions, some aren't/weren't. Does it bother you when people turn up at your house without asking or waiting to be invited? Yes. Are you taller or shorter than average height? I'm the average for an American woman. Do you have any family members whose beliefs or ways of life completely embarrass you? YUP YUP YUP YUP. Are you scared of heights? Yes. When was the last time you lost something of great sentimental value? Did you ever end up finding it again? I don't know. Have you ever injured anyone in self-defense? No. What food do you find to be the most filling? Is this something you eat a lot of? In relation to its portion sizes, oatmeal or eggs. I can't have a whole lot of either. I wouldn't say I eat either a lot, but oatmeal is more common. Have you ever heard people talking badly about you behind your back? Did you confront them about it? Yes, and in at least two instances. Do you consider “home” to be the place you were born, or is it somewhere you create for yourself? I consider it to be my childhood home; not the one I was actually born in, but only because I was way too young to remember and we only lived there like, maybe two years into my life. Have you ever experienced having to leave your home due to a fire, or due to the threat of fire? No, thankfully. When was the last time you felt you were in a dangerous situation? When we had a serious tornado warning Christmas Eve. Yes. In winter. Are there any superstitions that you believe in? Which ones and what are your reasons for doing so? No. Are there any series of books/films that you never finished - either because you got bored of waiting or just lost interest? Oh, I'm sure. I Wouldn't say I lost interest in a lot though, I just wasn't interested enough, like for The Hunger Games. Which theme park is your favorite? I haven't been to nearly enough to know. Like, just one. Do you eat healthy? I try to be, at least. Though I've been doing very poorly about it lately because I'm a emotional goddamn eater and am having a very hard time. Do/did your parents fight often? They're divorced for a reason. Do YOU fight with them often? No. Would you say that you're respectful? I hope so. Are you a fan of Green Day? Yeah, I love them. Would you rather have 4 kids at one time or never have a kid? Jesus Christ, never. I don't want any anyway. Do you think 'friends with benefits' relationships really ever work? No. Do you or have you ever known a drug addict? Yes. Do you turn off the water while brushing your teeth or leave it on? I always turn it off. No reason to waste it. Do you have any nieces or nephews? Lots, if you include my half-siblings. Are caterpillars more cute or disgusting? I tend to find them cute. What's your homepage when you bring up the internet? Google. Was the last book you read for fun or was it for some type of assignment? It was for fun. Have you ever dated someone you met online? Yes. Would you go on a date with someone right now if they asked? Depends on who's asking. Do you own any band tees? Oh, I have lots. Off the top of my head, some that I frequently wear are Metallica, Otep, and Korn. Do you know someone who wears a wig? No. Have you ever kissed someone under fireworks? I don't think so. What kind of dressing do you eat on your salad, if any? I strongly prefer the Olive Garden kind, but I also enjoy ranch. What genre of music do you listen to the most? Metal of some sort. Have you ever dated someone who was way overprotective of you? No. Do you personally know any cops? No. How many different colleges have you gone to? Three. How much stress can you handle? Not much at all. How confident are you in achieving your dreams? I ain't got the slightest clue by this point in my life. What is one thing you thought you’d never do but have done or are doing? There's a lot of things, most bad, some good. Do you have to take medication for any mental illness? A lot. Do you like looking at pictures? It depends on what's in them. Specifically pictures from my past, that's usually a big no. Do you believe the dead can have connections with the living? I guess in very vague ways. Which family member do you get along with the most? Well, define "get along with." I by far have the strongest relationship with my mom, but we fight sometimes. As for who I stay on the most stable ground with, that's probably my dad. Would you ever be able to become a vegan? I know I couldn't, but I'd love to. How did you meet your newest friend? Who even IS my newest friend... Have you ever watched the show Teen Mom? What did you think about it? No, and I think it's an awful fucking idea for a television show. Put a spotlight on and money into teen pregnancy, yeah, that's a genius plan. Are you old enough to remember MySpace? Yeah. Do you think you’ll be a good mother/father? I wouldn't be. Do you have trouble deleting your text messages? I don't need to. Is there something that you haven’t told anyone that you actually would like to tell someone? No. Have you ever been called a tease? Yeah. Do people ever make fun of your religion or lack thereof? No. Do you say/do things a lot for shock effect? No? What was the last compliment you gave a guy? I probably told my nephew Ryder he was a good brother. Was one of your grandpas in a war? Maybe? Idk. I never knew either well at all. Have you screamed in a pillow before? Yes. What do you like more, acoustic or electric? Electric. Have you ever ordered something off a commercial on television? No. What's worse, having someone mad or disappointed in you? Disappointed. Do you still consider Pluto a planet? Yes. Didn't they reinstate it as one, anyway? Right now, are you at a high, leveled, or low point? What's lower than "low?"

[petty-revenge-stories]

Karen vs. The University Debate Camp

Recently, some close friends and I attended a nearby university debate camp for some further experience and to prepare for the policy 19-20 year, and considering it’s a debate group, you would think there wouldn’t be much drama (if any at all), but boy were we wrong.

It all started on our second last day of camp at the university’s cafeteria, where we have the task of everyday finding a table or two that can somehow fit the 26 of us. For the majority of camp until that day, we had no problems borrowing seats from one or two tables here and there, but a certain Karen was about to change that for all of us.

Immediately upon entering the same area as her, we immediately got the classic soccer-mom Karen vibes, and when I even came near her table, she snapped at me, saying “these chairs are reserved, get out”. Let it be noted that there is a university policy on reserving chairs, and there are ways to indicate if she actually reserved them or not, which of course, she didn’t.

As the tables were filling up, and we had two of our kids standing chair-less, one of my friends (who from this point I will call Nate for privacy), asked her when the group would be coming. She responded that they would be there within an hour, and Nate politely asked her for the chair to borrow since we generally took 30 minutes at most to eat. A normal person would usually either happily comply or at least politely decline, but if this was a normal story, we wouldn’t be here, now would we? Instead, this Karen responded “How about you check your fucking white boy privilege and sit the fuck down”. This was funny because firstly, she was 100% white herself, and secondly, he had nowhere to sit.

Obviously taken aback, he just finds another table, somewhat far away from the rest of us, and Karen continued to heavily police the table. A few minutes later, another friend, who I’ll call Ethan comes over, fully unaware of the situation at hand, walks over to Karen, and politely asks her for a chair. She goes ABSOLUTELY APESHIT at this point and explodes on Ethan. Ethan being less passive than Nate, engages with her, calling her out on her ridiculousness.

At this point, Karen just goes beyond nuclear and drags Ethan and Nate to the university office, and literally files a harassment claim on these FIFTEEN YEAR OLD teens. This is where she made her fatal mistake and our petty revenge begins.

In the office, a university cop was called to talk to Nate, Ethan, and Karen, where she proceeds to make preposterous claims about them and says there are witnesses. One by one, we strike her arguments down with proof, true policy debate style, and actually get witnesses to testify to her craziness. At this point, she’s getting flustered and angry, and tries to play the sympathy card, but we effectively destroy that. At this point, the police actually end up turning on her and she ends up getting a harassment charge.

In the end, the moral of the story is if you’re gonna mess with a group of teens, make sure they aren’t the advanced policy debate team, because we WILL win.

(source) story by (/u/SolarDestructor)

[blushnote]

ur writing is absolutely wonderful !! i was wondering if you could right a hansol kind of thing (wow i suck at wording things haha) where ur on a call with a really good friend of yours and your talking about how you can't get off at all and ur too shy to tell hansol, but secretly he's listening to the whole conversation,,and later he brings u into the bedroom and u have the kinkiest sex,,he's 100% a dom just to get u off–

↳ requested | 2.5k words

↳ dom!hansol smut

a/n: thank you my love! btw, some slight warnings include degradation and choking. sorry for the delay on this! i hope you enjoy :^)

the practice room is empty.

as you drag your feet along the polished floorboards, engaged in a slightly humiliating conversation with your best friend, there is a coarse heat that blooms across your face. you find it difficult to meet your eyes in the wide mirror, and instead keep your back turned while the confession trickles from your lips. it’s something along the lines of your recent inability to get off, how it’s been causing much frustration.

“i’ve tried so much shit,” you sulk, tugging your sweater tighter around your frame, “my usual vibe just isn’t cutting it, the showerhead on full goddamn blast doesn’t work, and even that dildo i bought from the sex shop last year is fucking failing me. this sucks.”

a sigh crackles on the receiving line. “i’d stab myself,” your best friend then laughs, “but, yeah, that’s really rough. maybe you’re thinking about it too much?”

“i don’t know… maybe.”

you’re completely lost as to what’s wrong with your body. there had been one night where you sat on the shower floor so long with the head guzzling between your legs that the water actually went cold. arousal was coated to your folds, but the orgasm never happened. on occasion, if you really tried, you could force some sort of contraction, though it was incredibly meek and unsatisfactory and it only made you irritable.

“have you told hansol?”

you’re blinking absentmindedly at a backpack in the corner of the practice room when the question hits.

“w-what?” you stutter despite hearing your best friends’ words exactly.

“y’know, have you spoke about it to your boyfriend? i’m sure he could, well, help.”

you swallow tensely. hansol was completely incognizant to your current dilemma. one part of you figures it might put too much pressure on him to perform, and the latter is too terrified to even mention it to him out of some miscellaneous fear he’s going to think you’re broken. furthermore, it was difficult to have a moment of privacy with hansol when he practically lived at the company building alongside his members.

scuffing the floor with your sneaker, you shrug and say, “there hasn’t been much alone time between us lately. besides, i don’t want to pressure him.”

“trust me,” your friend snorts, “i do not think he would feel pressured. from experience as the third wheel, it looks like he really has a hold on you when you two get… handsy.”

you jam to a halt in your idle pacing while a prickling heat slithers up your limbs. for the most part, you and hansol were a reserved couple, meaning you weren’t all kissy-kissy and slobbering over each other like some blissfully unaware relationships. however, it wasn’t that hard to tell when you two needed to escape the public glare and find some privacy. hansol was never fond of playing coy to his impatience.

“anyways, i have a shift starting at eight o’clock, i should get going.” your best friend sighs.

“have fun, idiot,” you chuckle, “and thanks for hearing me out, i appreciate it.”

“no problem, dumbass. talk to you later.”

as you hang up the call and wriggle your phone into your pocket, you make an impetuous glance toward the door of the practice room. suddenly, this balloon of dread sticks to the walls of your stomach. the door isn’t fully shut, in fact it hangs open a lot more than a crack and you’re already wondering if anyone lingering in the corridor could have heard your conversation. the panic creeps steadily upon your face.

before you can even try to calm down, hansol seems to pop from thin air. he swings the door wide open and peers inside the practice room, his expression igniting when he sees you awkwardly hovering beneath the burning white lights. hansol enters the room to grab the backpack you’d been staring at earlier. he puts it over his shoulder and approaches you, smiling sweetly as his black hair nearly hides his eyes.

“found ya,” he grins, reaching for your hand and interlocking fingers, “are you ready to leave now?”

judging from his behaviour, he appears to have not heard anything. one headphone is plugged in his ear anyways, so you assume almost too quickly he’d been listening  to his music. the breath you release seems to quiver as it ghosts between your lips. subduing the earlier dread, you delicately brush the thick strands from hansol’s eyes and then place a light kiss on the tip of his nose.

“i’m ready.” you  nod, squeezing his hand.

“it’s been awhile since my last stay at your apartment, huh?” hansol reminisces as you two exit the practice room together. you note that his arm glides around your waist, pulling you particularly firm against his side while he purrs, “i guess we should make the most of it this time.”

you’re starting to think hansol heard you in the practice room, the frayed ends of your suspicion finally cooled in hard wax when he steps behind you at the vanity, his hands pressing tightly to your hips as you remove an earring. the tiny bead slips from your fingertips and rolls across the table when hansol pops the button on your jeans, your throat suddenly vacant of all moisture, the little hairs raising on your skin.

“s-sol,” you stutter, meeting his lustered, amber eyes through the mirror, “what are you doing?”

hansol pushes himself in a thinner line of proximity against you, until his hard chest is flush to your back and the curve of your ass is rubbing at his crotch. he simply smirks at your question, then begins to pull your zipper down while his other hand grasps at your sensitive side. a surge of heat rushes into your abdomen as hansol proceeds to fit his palm past the strict waistband and into your pants.

rubbing you through your underwear, the boy smirks, “isn’t this what you want though? baby can’t come by herself anymore? needs me to touch her and make her feel good?”

sheer embarrassment coils around you like the shiny scales of a serpent and you want to get blown off the edge of the universe in some torrential wind. however, for the first time in this horrendous dry spell, you feel this astounding, pleasurable sensation seep throughout your body. hansol continues massaging between your thighs, the warmth and strength of his palm drawing a tiny whimper from your mouth.

as your head falls back against his shoulder, hansol runs the tip of his index finger along your clothed slit, satisfaction intensely colouring his face upon noting how your arousal is already pooling and soaking the fabric. your chest sharply rises in a curt breath when he twists his index and middle finger beneath the thin cotton to stroke the slipperiness of your flesh. you’ve never wanted to rip off your jeans this badly.

your fingernails plunge deep into the veins of hansol’s pale wrist when he collects the gloss at your slit, dragging up the juices to circle slowly into your clit, ensuring every sensation is wholly felt as he takes his time in the lascivious touches. truthfully, this is what you needed, for hansol to take control and break you down in the best possible ways. he rubs into your clit firmly and you release a pitiful moan.

“i’m gonna to do whatever i want to you,” hansol’s lips hover by the burning cusp of your ear and a shudder melts down your spine, “would that make you feel better? instead of treating you like a princess i treat you like my slut? make you come until your pretty pussy can’t take it anymore?”

dumbly, you nod your head, you succumb to nothing but acquiescence in this desperation that infiltrates you like poison. hansol delights in how malleable you’ve become. to reward your compliance, he begins sinking two fingers into your heat and curls them against the warm, tight flesh, ticking a spot inside you that turns your knees into gelatine. you’re completely distracted as he reaches for a vanity drawer.

hansol’s prodding around inside the compartment flutters in your peripheral vision. you lightly thrash against him when he pulls out your vibrator. you don’t exactly make an effort to hide the device. nonetheless, the sight of him holding it makes your head dizzy. dragging his slick fingers from your opening, hansol massages the wetness into your aching bud before his hand leaves your jeans.

he pushes the restricting fabric a little ways down your thighs then helps you peel your shirt above your head, his hand skimming down your bare side, electrified at feeling your smooth skin. the pale lilac toy seems to taunt you in the mirror. you’re already breathing heavily as his finger feathers the button to tease you. for a moment he places the toy between your legs, dragging it up your clothed centre.

you jolt at the almost ticklish sensation, but a whine is what bubbles at your mouth. hansol finally slips the vibrator below your underwear. its cool, silicon surface glides like silk against your glistening, sopping skin. hansol takes the tip of the toy and nestles it against your clit, a devious curl appearing on his pink mouth before he clicks the button and an intense vibration has you squirming and mewling.

he keeps you pressed tightly against the vanity, mocking your flustered noises in his husky voice, chuckling all while your hips struggle to ride against the buzzing device.

“awe, you gonna come already? dumb little whore can’t hold it for even a minute?” hansol laughs, though you just grit your teeth and focus on gaining more contact between your clit and the purple toy.

his palm then pushes beneath your bra, taking a hold of your breast and harshly groping the plush skin, pulling and massaging while the stimulation from the vibrator replaces your blood with euphoria. you grip onto the edge of the vanity as hansol decides to press the little button again. the toy starts to tremble against your clit at a more rigorous pace and you cry out, attempting to bury your face in hansol’sneck.

“m’s-so close, p-please—,” you whimper pitifully.

quickly maneuvering his fingers, hansol undoes the back clasp on your bra, practically ripping the cushioned material from your torso. his palm connects with your already abused breast in a stinging slap, and he roughly squeezes the flesh while clicking the vibrator to a higher setting. in a broken chorus of curse words you sink your nails into his wrist, your bud throbbing as the climax makes you starry-eyed.

your arousal coats the vibrator until it’s glimmering. under regular circumstances you would have been utterly embarrassed, but given the fact you haven’t experienced an orgasm in a blue moon, you’re fully expecting to have the toy swimming between your legs. hansol feels your body quivering against him and he grins. he turns it off  and tosses the vibrator onto the vanity like it no longer serves any purpose.

his hand slips back into your underwear. you flinch upon his contact with your core, though he only teases your slit with a light tracing of his fingertips.

“all this come between your legs,” hansol begins kissing up your neck, “you’re such a messy little girl, aren’t you, baby?”

you agree, instantly nodding your head. for a moment hansol presses his fingers into your heat, pumping them gently, pulling out more of the stickiness which he then smears down the side of your thigh.

“do me a favour.” hansol entreats, turning you around by the hips and helping you sit on the vanity, his eyes sparkling. he grabs your wrist and guides it to your core, “finger yourself for me,” he growls.

“but hansol i—,” the beginnings of a question fumble at your lips, though you are silenced a mere second later when hansol wraps his hand around your throat and applies a spotting, stern pressure. he inclines into your body and you can smell the fresh scent of aftershave on his skin.

“just shut the fuck up and do what i tell you,” hansol seethes, a dark glint momentarily casting in his golden gaze. the next moment, he smiles faintly and places a soft kiss on your lips. “now,” he whispers against your mouth, “finger yourself. and stop only when i tell you.”

as his hand pulls away from your neck, you can’t deny that the risky contact felt somewhat electric. your boyfriend sits on the edge of the bed, leaning on his elbows, watching your slightly tremouring fingers glide up and down your slit before swirling tiny circles around your sore bud. hansol drags the black fringe from his eyes once you push in your digits, a sticky, squelching noise making your ears burn.

then, you begin to pump them, a sharp crinkle darting across your brow. your core is still sensitive but you can already feel the coil start to rebuild itself. faster, deeper, you construct a pace, perspiration growing flush to your forehead as hansol’s gaze skips between your thrusting fingers and the gaping of your lips. brushing down on your clit with your thumb, a moan breaks from your chest.

“f-fuck, a-ah— hansol m’gonna c-come a-again,” you mewl as the sensation towers into the clouds.

he says nothing, simply observes in a state of pure lust while you roll your hips, practically riding your own hand. you almost forget his earlier instructions in the midst of the pleasure that ripples in the powerful surges from your stomach, seizing your body until it shivers in the mellow afterglow. your fingers begin to slow, but hansol snaps at you, and you swallow harshly upon the sudden sensitivity.

“p-please, sol,” you whimper as your nerves start protesting the touches, “it h-hurts…”

“isn’t this what you wanted?” hansol taunts you once more. “you wanted to come, didn’t you?”

biting into your bottom lip, you roll your exhausted clit between your fingers and nod. it is what you wanted, and despite the cautionary shocks from your body, you feel yourself waning for more. hansol stands swiftly and marches toward the vanity. he slips his warm, firm hand just underneath your jaw, tampering with your air supply only marginally while pressing your head back to the glass mirror.

he looks unflinchingly into your eyes, “so don’t complain.” hansol advises, though it seems more like a warning.

tucking his nose close to your hair and tightening his hold at your throat, hansol manages to send another jolt between your trembling thighs as you continue rubbing yourself, every patch of your flesh feeling ravaged by flame. “now turn around and bend over,” he growls into your ear, “let me fuck you open on my cock like the dumb little slut that you are, huh?”

[artificialqueens]

Coming Home (Biadore) - doctor bitchcraftt

Home at last after five months on the road. Roy finds himself with a small truckload of Amazon purchases and a mermaid asleep on his bed.

Fluff, sweetness, and a little bit of serious conversation.

Based on Instagram, it looks like Roy might be seeing someone, although given how private he is with his personal life it’s not 100% sure. If so, I’m with Danny on this one in terms of just wanting to be sure he doesn’t get hurt.

So happy that folks are enjoying what Miss Alyssa and I are up to as well!  I can’t believe she talked me into collaborating on smut.  Actually, I can, but still… Xoxoxoxo, bitchcraftt

********

See you soon!

Home, where r u?

The texts showed delivered but unread, out of the ordinary for someone who at times seemed to be physically connected to his phone.  The first was sent at LAX as soon as he had his luggage, the second moments ago as the Uber pulled up to the curb.  Staring at it didn’t make the message change though, and he sighed before pocketing the phone and pulling out his keys.

Roy dragged himself over the threshold, heaving one and then two suitcases in before shutting the door.  He paused for a few seconds, leaning on them heavily, before straightening and turning to move further into the house.

“Well fuck.”

True to his word, Jamie had gone ahead and picked up all of his held mail.  His progress was blocked by the assortment of boxes, bags, and padded envelopes piled over the couch and coffee table, not to mention the small drift of legal sized envelopes and magazines spilling across them all.  When he’d been ordering things from Amazon over the last five months away from home, it hadn’t seemed like this much…

Laughing quietly, he picked his way over a stack of boxes and continued down the hall, stopping to flick the light on in his sewing room.  From the doorway, everything was just as he left it, dust covers on the sewing machine and serger and bolts of fabric in the corner.  Being on the road and spreading Bianca’s hate was something he wouldn’t trade for the world, but he sorely missed creating.

Roy headed back into the kitchen in search of water and maybe a glass of wine.  A couple of minutes later, he settled down with both, tossing his hat onto the table and resting his elbows on it.  He frowned as the hat made an odd scraping noise - the snapback was plastic, and that sounded like metal moving on wood.  Curiosity piqued, he set down the wine and lifted the hat to peer underneath.

The culprit turned out to be a long safety pin, one he couldn’t remember leaving on the table.  His were gold-tipped and shorter, and he picked it up to study further.  A silver crescent moon dangled off one end, a sense of familiarity tickling Roy’s exhausted brain.  Where had he seen that before?

He stared at the object for another thirty seconds before realization hit.  When it did, he felt his cheeks ache from the force of the smile stretching his lips.  Folding the earring into his palm, he pushed up from the table and headed down the hall again, wine forgotten.

Roy paused outside his bedroom door, listening intently for signs of movement.  Under the hum of the air conditioning, he could just make out an intermittent buzz.  Grinning even wider, he opened the door and stepped inside, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the low light.

The flickering light from the candles he left around the tub bathed the room in shadows.  Next to the chair, a pair of worn leather boat shoes laid at right angles as if their owner had kicked them off and simply let them fall.  His extra charger cable draped across from the nightstand to the bed, connected to a phone clutched in a tattooed hand.

Curled up on top of the duvet with fingers tucked under his cheek, Danny snored quietly.

“There you are.”

No response.  He tried again a little louder.

“Pussyface?”

The snoring continued, and he shook his head in fond exasperation.  Moving to the dresser, he pulled out a pair of boxers and a clean T-shirt, tossing them on the bathroom counter.  He brushed his teeth and dropped his dirty clothes into the hamper without any attempt at being quiet, but still no movement from Danny.  Shrugging, he stepped into the shower, humming Loco’s song from Jamie.  The hot water relaxed muscles tense from travel, and he found himself blinking heavily as he dried off and dressed.

He blew out the candles, turning the nightstand light on low.  Danny’s phone screen came to life as he prised it from his unconscious grip, his own texts popping up in notifications.  He wasn’t intending to be nosy (he had Danny’s unlock code anyway), but couldn’t help noticing the calendar appointment simply titled “Willow home”.  Warmth bloomed in his chest, and he set the phone on the nightstand quietly.

Years of experience told him that dead weight mermaid wasn’t easy to move, which meant Danny would have to be woken up.  Roy sat on the edge of the bed, shaking his shoulder gently.

“Pussyface, you’re on my side.”

Danny scrunched up his nose and buried his face further in the pillow.

“Wake up and move over.”

An annoyed grumble.

Roy nudged him in the ribs, picking up the keys and wallet that had spilled out of Danny’s pockets and setting them next to his phone.

“C’mon queen, I wanna go to bed.”

Danny’s eyelids fluttered, and he swatted clumsily at the fingers brushing his hair back but still didn’t move otherwise.

Time for the big guns.  Calling up Bianca’s voice, Roy leaned over and spoke right into his ear.

“Adore, I want my corset back.”

That got a response.  Danny’s eyes flew open and he sat up so fast that Roy barely avoided being head butted.

“Not funny-”

He had just enough time to register sleepy outrage turning into delight before Danny’s arms wound around his neck, pulling him flat in a tight hug.

“Willow!  You’re home!”

Roy laughed at the strength of his stranglehold, giving back as good as he got even from the awkward twisted sprawl.

“Lemme up pussyface,” he eventually spoke with his nose squished into Danny’s shoulder, “I can’t breathe.”

As soon as he released him, Danny scooted over to the other side of the bed, unzipping his sweatshirt and tossing it carelessly onto the floor.  His jeans followed in short order, and he wriggled under the covers.

“Cuddle?”

The indulgent smile felt permanently etched onto his face, but Roy didn’t care.  Chuckling, he climbed into bed and held out his arms, waiting for Danny to make himself comfortable.

“I wanted to stay awake till you were back,” Danny yawned, “but your rich lady mattress is too comfortable.”

“Gotta spend the money I’m making somewhere.”

“What about that guy?” Danny’s voice sounded smug and a little suspicious.

“Ummm.”

Roy felt his cheeks heat.

“Uhh huh.  You barely told us anything in chat, what’s the tea?  Court tried Insta stalking, but she couldn’t find out anything.”

“Well…I.  Yeah.”

Danny pushed himself up with a hand on Roy’s chest, expression falling into something serious for once.

“Willow.  You don’t have to, if you don’t wanna.  Just, like be careful okay?  I’ll stab a bitch if you get hurt.”

Roy swallowed and tried to put his thoughts in order, appreciating the sincerity but too tired to go into any depth.

“Isn’t that my line?”

“I mean it.”

“I know.”

They fell into silence, faces inches apart.  Danny’s eyes gleamed gold, mouth soft with worry.  He studied Roy’s face, nodding to himself in some sort of satisfaction before laying his head back on Roy’s shoulder.

“Can tell me more over brunch?”

“Yeah.  I’m not trying to not tell you guys-“

“We know,” Danny poked him in the side, “and I’m glad you’re home.”

“Me too.”

“Goodnight Willow.”

Roy reached over to turn off the light, kissing Danny’s temple.

“Night pussyface.”

[putschki1969]

Hello! Big fan here, I just wanna ask: what are the qualities/traits of the Kalafina girls that caught you by surprise/off guard? Like, "hey, I didn't expect this from Keiko/Wakana/Hikaru". It doesn't have to be related to their singing haha but for me, I was genuinely caught off guard by how beautiful Hikaru's falcetto is, and I still think it's the most beautiful falcetto I've ever heard. I always look forward to when they're performing oblivious because of this, but I want 2 know what u think

*waves* Hello!!!

Forgive me for taking SO LONG to reply to your ask. This has gotten a little lost in my draft section and now I am finally working through all those abandoned posts. Sorry!! m(._.)m

First of all, OMG, YES, Hikaru’s falsetto is absolutely gorgeous!!! The later “oblivious” performances have all been amazing, I am so glad I got to hear Hikaru’s falsetto live at the 10th Anniversary concert. She slays those Hanae parts and I am just super happy for her because she is no longer reduced to having to lip-sync her way through this song.

As for my thoughts…It’s actually surprisingly hard for me to put my love for Kalafina into words (／。＼) But I shall try my best!

Since we are already talking about Hikaru, let’s start with her.

~Qualities/traits that surprised me~ Hikaru Edition: First of all I really love her stubborness. At first glance you wouldnt assume her to be the stubborn type but what’s that saying? Quiet waters run deep. She will not be influenced by others and when she has her mind set on something she will see things through no matter what. I am quite stubborn myself so I really appreciate that trait in others. It may be seen negatively by some people but I think it’s actually a big strength. Just looking at her tweets is so inspiring, she always has a life-lesson in store for us. I am so proud of her for taking on the challenge of becoming a solo singer all by herself. It must be so intimidating and I am sure there are lots of hurdles she has to get past. But if there is one person who can do it is Hikaru!! And then there is something I have only recently become aware of. It’s Hikaru’s love and appreciation for us fans. Again and again I am surprised by how much she thinks about us. The way she interacts with us on twitter (how she even thinks about foreign fans), the way she conducted her birthday event. The way she is taking her fans’ wishes into account while preparing for her solo live in December. I am just so incredibly grateful to her. And honestly, she has been like that ever since the beginning. Just look at her blog posts. Since 2009 she has been uploading posts super frequently (more so than Keiko and Wakana I think) and she has always kept us up-to-date with her travel diaries.As a singer/vocalist/performer: I was obviously thrown off by Hikaru’s fierceness because one would never expect her to have such a strong stage presence just by looking at her.

~Qualities/traits that surprised me~ Keiko Edition: I think it must be her love for and protectiveness of Wakana and Hikaru. Reading all of her interviews it seems like in the past Keiko never really cared a lot about other people, I guess you could say she was a little arrogant/self-centred. And hey, there is nothing wrong with that, especially if you are part of the entertainment industry. However, working together with Wakana and Hikaru for such a long time really changed her. She obviously cares so much about them and wants to make sure they are doing fine. It was never just about supporting them vocally, no, she always supported them in all aspects of life. Keiko was the driving force of Kalafina, she took it upon herself to “take the lead” when Wakana and Hikaru might not have felt comfortable with it. Even now you can still tell that she is a beacon of strength for Hikaru. Hikaru has tweeted a couple of times that she always feels better and more confident after she has talked with Keiko. Unfortunately we don’t see any of that being posted publicly but I am 100% certain that Keiko is also supporting Wakana in her endeavours. Aside from her protectiveness I was really surprised by her vulnerability and her determination to hide that side of herself from us. We all know she is strong, tough and super determined. Among the three members of Kalafina she is least likely to show her emotions but once in a while she will open up a little and let us know that hidden behind that stoic exterior there’s actually a very sensitive girl. Of course she will do her very best to hide it from us - she really doesn’t like showing her tears - but once in a while we are lucky to get a glimpse of her more vulnerable side. I was really surprised when I first read her solo interviews in “Kalafina Record” and “Kadokawa” because, they are so “real” and personal. It makes me cry whenever I read about Keiko’s insecurities when she started working together with Yuki Kajiura and the other singers. How she thought she couldn’t do anything and she was dragging everyone down. Keiko takes pride in being the best in what she does so for her to admit that she had so much trouble fitting in due to feeling inadequate, it’s something incredibly rare.As a singer/vocalist/performer:Well, what can I say except her deep and sultry voice? I think everyone is caught off-guard when they first hear those low notes coming out of her mouth. No one expects this cute little girl to be able to produce such a deep, dark singing voice.

~Qualities/traits that surprised me~ Wakana Edition:Wakana has always been very open about herself, what we see is what we get. So I guess there is not a lot that has surprised me throughout the years. But if I had to pick something it would probably be her strength to move forward despite hardships. Hikaru has her stubbornness and Keiko has her determiniation, they are both incredibly strong women. Next to them Wakana often comes across as frail and a little weak. She has openly admitted to be the type that easily gives up and there was a time when she seriously considered quitting Kalafina. And I do not blame her for that. Just imagine what she must have gone through! With her voice going through all these changes it must have been so rough for her. It’s obvious that Yuki Kajiura has always been most demanding of Wakana. Not to crumble beneath all that pressure takes a lot of strength and stamina, especially if you are slowly becoming aware that you might no longer be able to properly fulfull all these demands. The fandom’s disdain turning full force towards her probably didn’t make things any better. Yet, despite all of this, she kept going, she persevered. Yes, she did have Keiko and Hikaru at her side to support her but it was still Wakana who made the decision to continue. That takes a lot of strength!And these days she is even stronger and braver because she is slowly taking control of her life. She knew the consequences of staying with Space Craft but she took her chances. She cannot please everyone, she knows that and she doesn’t care. She wants to follow her dreams and right now that’s all that counts for her. I think Wakana is a people-pleaser at heart and for the longest time she has done nothing but give things to others without ever taking her own wishes and needs into account. It takes courage to change a mindset like that. Her interviews reveal the struggles she has been going through, of wanting to please her audience but also wanting to do her own thing (knowing that her old Kalafina fanbase might not appreciate it). As a singer/vocalist/performer: I guess it just always surprises me to see that a woman with such an angelic voice is actually a big-fat dork.

[g0dtier]

leftist tumblr/twitter really needs to chill with the outrage directed at other leftists and check facts and shit. like take leftist youtubers for example

hbomberguy got a callout posted about him that contained like 3 images of an incomplete chat log which accused him of being a rape apologist and over the years the story just turned into “hbomb is a rapist”

and like the whole story is convoluted as shit because i just went on like an hour long deep dive trying to find all the deleted pics and logs and posts and i did! and what i found was so underwhelming and weird but what it comes down to is this

this person accused a friend of hbomb without proof and conflicting messages of something heinous, 5 years after the fact apparently happened, was met with understanding but questions about clarification or proof which they could have easily given which they said so themselves but actively decided not to, said they “didnt want to blow this wide open” and then posted their callout to every single leftist and gaming subreddit they could find, raged about hbomb not linking to their callout in his apology, and then deleted their tumblr, the callout they wanted people to read so desperately and all the screenshots with it and now the facts (which were barely there) have become so convoluted that a bunch of people think hbomb is actually a rapist or smth

if u are into drama and wanna know other shit heres like, what i put together from all the shit i found

like it starts with skype chat logs in the middle of a conversation, u know a convo has been held about this before but the logs arent there for some reason, K didnt decide to post the first conversation about these accusations for some reason and this is kinda important cause later on K does something else weird with the chat logs

K accused Hbomb’s friend PL of being a rapist and sending them rapey messages 5 years before these call logs

K continued to work with Hbomb knowing PL and Hbomb were friends for 5 years before deciding to accuse out of the blue

without proof because their computer died, even though skype chat logs can easily be recovered even on a new computer and they said they had proof and logs they got from other people about PL’s behavior yet refused to show them to anyone or post them in the callout

chat logs start off with Hbomb asking about the situation but that they dont have to talk if K doesnt want to and K immediately going into a rant about how they rely on Hbomb to not become homeless and how their former rapist now has kids 

this is like a really weird thing to start off a convo with. if ur friend is like “hey if you want to, you can talk to me about this rape accusation” and u immediately reply with “lol yea anyway the person who abused me as a child has kids now and no one will believe me when i talk about him and also if you dont believe me and i get shit for this accusation i WILL be homeless” thats like. some heavy emotional manipulation to start off a convo with. anyway the accusation is this

K accuses PL of threatening to rape them 5 years ago, K and PL were wanting to meet up but PL made rapey comments and K, according to the callout post, didnt show for the meeting

Hbomb says he has some trouble with this because he absolutely wants to believe and support K and asks what he can do for them, but also mentions how theyve talked about PL for years and that there never was anything like this mentioned and that this accusation is sort of coming out of the blue. he also mentions, which is kinda important, that K told him after the original meetup was cancelled that they were afraid PL actually cancelled the meetup because he lost interest in K. Which doesnt correlate at all with what K claims and seems like something they should clear up right

anyway hbomb is like completely chill and supportive during this entire conversation and mentions how he feels like garbage over not being able to believe K out of the blue, which is 100% fucking reasonable considering the situation where K actually apparently felt sad about the meetup not continuing, everything being fine for 5 years, and then accusing PL out of the blue without any proof while also prefacing it with a “if u dont believe me i will be homeless”. like thats 100% just a fucking reasonable reaction lmfao. 

so u imagine there’s gonna be some clearup about everything being fine for 5 years and what hbomb said about K confiding in him all those years ago that they thought PL cancelled the meeting because they didnt like them, right?

wrong because the next logs are the only chat logs of that conversation where a bunch of K’s reply is completely cut off. Like K decided posting these logs was important but deliberately decided to cut out a bunch of their own reply after being asked in the most non-confrontational way fucking ever for some 100% reasonable clarification on their accusations. like they have multiple screenshots which show the chat continuing exactly from the last screenshot by including the last thing said on the former screenshot but they did decide that the last screenshot should start halfway through their last message to hbomb

K then decides to not go after PL at all but make a huge ass callout about hbomb instead for not believing them. like the callout isnt even “hey PL made rapey comments at me” the callout is “hbomb didnt believe me when i told him this”

after this a couple things happened

K spread the callout everywhere they could because they wanted everyone to know about this and they recieved tons of support

they posted some out of context screenshots of hbomb replying to unknown messages and his replies may or may not be about this incident, no one knows because theyre completely vague without earlier context which again wasnt included

they also posted stuff about his mods defending him when all the mod (singular) in question says is to take up comments about this with hbomb himself bc discussing public callouts and dragging people has been prohibited since way before this thing happened and it makes people uncomfortable to discuss new and vague situations like this in the public server instead of in PMs which is like. logical

then they claim that (again no proof) they heard through the grapevine from someone else that hbomb had been dragging K in voice chat and calling them a crazy bitch or something like that which makes zero fucking sense because boasting in a public voice chat on a server where people are already trying to drag you about how someone who made a callout post is a crazy bitch, with your own voice, which can easily be recorded and is way harder to accuse of being faked is actually a 0 brain cell move and while i dont know hbomb personally i dont think anyone would actually be that fucking stupid

Hbomb wrote an apology and K accused him of copying it from an ask they got about what an apology should be like which is like really fucking weird because nothing in the apology even remotely resembles what they asked for so its like aight

after hbomb was thoroughly dragged through the mud because K spread the callout everywhere they could and got mad at hbomb for not including a link to their callout in his original apology and then, right after the fucking apology and they got all the traction they really tried to get they just...deleted their tumblr and all the archives and screenshots lmfao