#{this is also a long butt post that should probably have been done by day but I didn't have a laptop}

[alyheartsjess]

my unpopular gilmore girls opinions (like actually):

-i don’t mind lane’s husband zach. like i think he was kind of a moron but he stepped up to the plate and was consistantly there for lane. why do people want lane to pine for dave 10 years later like he was her one and only soulmate instead of a really cool guy who was a really cool guy bc he wasn’t on the show long enough to get a villain arc. i think the problem with lane’s storyline is that she didn’t get to go out on an adventure, not that she settled down with zach instead of dave. i would have been pissed if she got pregnant and stayed in SH for life even if it was with dave.

-i don’t think everything that went wrong with luke and jess was jess’ fault and that he only had himself to blame for getting kicked out. like luke taking jess in no questions asked was a really great gesture but he didn’t know what he was doing from that point on. him doing a nice thing doesn’t mean he’s somehow abow getting slightly critisised for handling a lot of things wrong. like i do think a 17-18 yo is entitled to a place to stay without conditions and despite screwing things up and luke needed to either fully be that person or not at all

-i often hear ”rory said no to logan’s proposal just to be his mistress later, she should have just said yes”, which… no, it’s ok to want something at 32 that you didn’t want at 22 (disclaimer: it’s not ok to sleep with someone else’s fiancee). i even hear a lot of people say rory should have said yes to logan even without bringing up AYITL and i really don’t understand why this is the general opinion. and i’m not saying this because i’m team jess over logan, i wouldn’t have wanted jess and rory to get married at 22 either. we’ve known since season 1 that rory has dreams and plans to travel and when logan proposed and they presented it as kind of a 50/50 thing i was baffled because ofc it’s a no. also if someone tells you ”either we get married or we break up”, always break up!!!

-luke and lorelai… are not compat- i mean initially they were cute, but just on a fundamental level- i mean… ok actually i’m not brave enough to go there, maybe in the next post. all i’m saying is that i rooted for them as much as the next guy and that they probably wouldn’t have been truly content if they never gave a relationship a go and they’d probably always be jealous of the other’s romantic relationships a little bit BUT that they’re too different (both personality wise and in handling stuff in general) to actually create a life together. they work in the diner setting but seeing each other 24/7 and agreeing on day to day decisions? idk. oops, looks like i went there anyways. also i’m not saying i don’t like them together, in fact they’re together in every single gilmore girls universe i have in my head but yk

-jess wasn’t the best boyfriend but a lot of their issues was rory subconsciously comparing what jess did with what dean would have done and their relationship was never going to work with such a fresh breakup hanging over them like that. the issue of jess not calling rory and making a plan and rory being mad that she had to sit around and wait for him to do it for example is not jess being malicious, it’s just them genuinely having different expectations and ideas of what a relationship is which could have been solved with a) some communication and b) dean and lorelai not breathing down their necks and preying on their downfall

-i think lorelai could stand to butt out of rory’s life and be a bit nicer to her step-nephew but i’m always gonna back her when it comes to her parents. i have no patience for the ”richard and emily weren’t that bad”-crowd. i’m tired of hearing ”lorelai is pissed because she gets thousands of dollars in exchange for a free meal, is she stoopid?” when it’s so much deeper than that. her sacrificing her own boundries for the sake of rory’s education is actually quite admirable (would emily swallow her pride and values and do something like that?). bc now i actually love emily as a character and enjoy her more than the gilmore girls sometimes. and as an audience we can obviously see that she cares about lorelai. but it’s emily’s responsibility to actually make lorelai feel that. because even tho emily thinks she did what was best for lorelai, it clearly did not make lorelai feel loved, because it was all according to what emily herself wanted.

-i don’t think this is that unpopular but i’ve heard many different takes on this. if lorelai wanted to be overdramatic about rory fracturing her wrist that is within her right, her kid was in the hospital after all and that is scary. however, where she was absolutely just objectively in the wrong is where she went ballistic at luke who’s supposed to be her best friend when he got the tiniest bit concerned over his nephew’s whereabouts after he had also been in that car accident. her screaming at him that he had more of an obligation to herself and her kid than the kid he’s literally in responsible for? this is just one of those situations where i feel like she wasn’t being an adult. it would have been understandable for like lane to barge into luke’s and yell jess’ name and scream that he should never have been allowed in this town but lorelai is 33.

part 2 soon?

[equallyshaw]

rose's relationship with her brothers + reactions to her coming out! | rutger x rose hughes au! ⚘ thoughts! ⚘ au masterlist.

rose + quinn: - that's his rosie posey - originated the nickname, posey after their parents called her rosie the first time - incredibly close as they both lived in BC for 4 years - growing up, he'd always make sure she played with them and always made sure the two others gave her time to learn the game - rose was his shadow growing up - always told her that she didn't need to play jack's position - a center - to make the positions even, like luke and quinn - also, he always said that if she gave up hockey nobody would be disappointed because there was a time she wanted to quit to be 'normal' at school - flied rose out during his time in vancouver that overlapped with hers, whenever she was able to come out. he also flew out to visit her and see her games at BC + her jr hockey club - she sends him all her poems, before she posts them to her poetry/spam account - always says if hockey doesn't work out, she should publish her works. - quinn is her passenger princess when they are together - always there to be a source for advice, and somebody for her to lean on - will belt out olivia rodrigo, any day of the week - since the moment she was born, he made jack promise they'd always be there for her and protect her. the two take their unspoken role very seriously

rose + jack: - tolerate eachother at best - just kidding but they do butt heads a lot because he doesn't always pick up on her sarcasm and thinks she is serious 100% which...it is typically 75% - nickname for rose is flower - jack is always done for spur of the moment ice cream trips and both have an adoration for brunch dates - when she told him that she was thinking of trying to go for the CHL because they had reached out and asked her and her team about joining the men's league, he was incredibly happy and excited for her. not to mention flattered she wanted his opinion, but ultimately she skipped the chl and headed for college- a year early - he is the easiest to make a meme out of, and will regularly post to her spam account (he can literally breathe, and one appears) - during summer camps growing up, rose would be his winger/forward. the two loved playing together and it meant both her brothers could be on the same line

rose + luke: - nickname for rose is lovie - after quinn, her and luke are closest because of their ages - their favorite season is summer because they all get to be together, and especially for these two, the two have always held a bond that nobody can touch - as a kid she used to play defence because she wanted to be like luke, and then realized she wasn't going to grow much more and shifted to winger/forward - coffee partners for life - at the lakehouse you'll probably find these two together. she'll be reading or writing, and he'll be napping either at her feet or right behind her. or nearby. - definitely a sunshine/black cat sibling duo - interchanging - both love drive around with country music blasting - because she hates golf, the brothers take her to mini golf during the summer which leads to a very heated game between the two young ones

their reactions to coming out as bisexual:

quinn: - incredibly grateful she came out to him first after asking for a plane ride to see him - gave her the absolute biggest hug and shed some tears now knowing how long she'd been holding it in and how much turmoil she went through - told her how proud he was of her and that he was proud to be her sister (cue the waterworks again!) - when she started going out with her ex girlfriend - publicly, he was so happy for her and was one of their biggest supporters in private and on social media

jack: - was incredibly proud of her for coming out to them - was happy that she could publicly be with her girlfriend at the time - gave her the biggest bear hug and said if anybody says something or treats you differently- they'd have to answer to him (all three) - because he is always down for a good time, he told her that if she wants to go to a pride parade - he wants to join her

luke: - was a tad bit hurt that she hadn't said anything to him earlier but got over it real quickly after realizing that it was her own journey and the decision to tell him whenever - the two had a long hug and then long talk about when she knew, how things came about with her ex and then like jack, had said he'll always be there to protect her if she needed him to - she told him that it was the hardest thing to keep from not only the whole family, but him because of the bond that they share (lots of tears were shed during their heart to heart)

ellen + jim: - more than accepting, welcoming and supportive - just like all their children, they want rosie to be happy - ellen could tell there was something on her daughters mind for sometime now, and is relieved to hear what it is - as soon as the words were shared, a minute passes before ellen is pulling her baby girl in her arms. - lots of tears were shed - jim was very quiet but nevertheless supportive and welcoming - he was overwhelmed but not in a bad way - gave her the biggest bear hug and forehead kiss - the next morning, rosie awoke to a small bouquet of hydrangeas, coffee + sandwich, and a card from jim - the card said everything he hadn't been able to share the night before, without crying. tells her how proud he is and that he is proud to have her as his daughter, and that he's always been proud of her. - when she tells the family that she has a girlfriend the same week, a beat doesn't pass before them wanting her to come visit them at the lake house and asking every question under the sun about them

[tallyanimatez]

A twisted wonderland mafia au

Authors note: So I had barely any ideas to write for the current aus I have, and since I've seen so many mafia aus in twisted wonderland, might as well join the party since I'm a sucker for these types of aus. Sorry for the lack of posting for who knows how long :D

1. A fresh start

.

Tonight was as cold as usual, the strong winds blowing at the curtains which are threatening to fall at any moment didn't make you flinch that much. After all, there was nothing to keep you warm and nothing you could use to shelter your self. All you could smell was the smell of rotting food, the stench of animal feces, and a tingling iron smell...

What a terrible end isn't it?

But you couldn't bother to go and poke your head into the "commotion" near your dwelling, you are exhausted, starved and thirsty. Your body would not dare to move an inch as if it would shatter against the wind, so you caved into the tiredness and sat there, curled up into a defensive state, to hope for the best that those hooligans will march off to wherever they want after they're done with their business.

You could also nip some of the cash from the dead body if they haven't taken them the next morning, it would be nice to have a decent meal-

"It seems we have another guest near our disposal area." To what you made out was a word from a man said. If they're going to kill off all the witnesses, it better be a painless death.

All of a sudden, you felt a hand on your head, gently patting you as if you were a dog.

"Oh look what I found, a pup in the alley, albeit their looks need more refining."

You groaned, smacking the hand that patted your head. What you don't need now is an empty compliment from a murderer, maybe you should have ran away if they were going to react like this.

"A little Imp? It's been a while since I've last seen them when I worked at a school, I thought nowadays these imps would be in human trafficking."

Okay. You're very annoyed.

Looking up with an unamused face, you probably saw a man who dressed like a super star with his furcoat and the other with skeleton looking features on their skin. You don't know the details fully with your eyes being blurry from all those days on the street.

"Well, since I am such a gracious man, what if we make a deal, little child?" Another voice chimed in

You perked at those words, a deal? You know adults hardly keep their promises, but would a mafia not? It's worth a shot to get yourself out of this wretched place.

"I'll hear you out, Sir."

-·--------------------·-

"Pl-ease! Spare me! I'm sorry that I betrayed Sir Crowley, I-I needed to pro-otect my family fro-"

BANG. The man that was on his knees, trembling and begging for mercy now has a big bullet hole in his forehead. You aren't the type of person who takes in joy from torturing people, but seeing people begging for their life seems ironic to you. Nobody would spare a child who stole food even if they cried for forgiveness.

You took out a note to see what is next on your to-do list.

"Go back and report to Sir pain in the butt, looks like I just need to report back to him that I've dealt with the traitor that I'll get my next gig." You yawned, stretching your hands out. You've been working overtime lately just to earn a sufficient amount to feed yourself, your cat and pay for rent. The image of Grim giving you attitude just because you come home late for his dinner bloomed a smile on your face, an expression that nobody saw, nobody alive saw at least.

Rrrriinnngg Rrrrrinnggggg.

You wasted no time and answered the call, only to receive another news.

"What did you just say Mister Oh so generous Dire Crowley?"

[ghoul-bonez]

~Stars in Her Eyes, Stars in Her Heart~

Chapter 4: Her Heart Will Remain

(Kiri x Fem! Avatar! Reader)

Summary: After the terrifying thanator chase Kiri was worried for your well-being if you were to run into one on your own, so she decided to teach you how to navigate the forest.

Word count: 1.3k

Author’s note: This series is going to have shorter chapters than normal but it’s like 13 chapters long 👍🏻 ALSO rare weekend post!!!

Last - Next

~Series Masterlist~

~Main Masterlist~

Her Heart Will Remain

Kiri had easily decided on your second lesson. Yesterday she had noticed that you had struggled to navigate the forest as you ran from the palulukan. Luckily Kiri had been there, but she feared the outcome that would have happened if she had not been there.

The forest can be hard to adjust to, especially going from one terrain to another, so today you would work on that.

Kiri had beat you to the meeting spot today, but quickly that fact had become fiction as you jumped out from your hiding place, hissing loudly at Kiri who jumped back, placing a hand on her knife.

“Oh my Eywa do not scare me like that!” Kiri removed her hand from her knife and rested it over her heart.

You laughed loudly, “Sorry, but you should have seen the look on your face, priceless!”

Kiri rolled her eyes, “Whatever, we should get started for the day.”

You just smiled at Kiri’s annoyance, “Alright professor Kiri, what do you have planned for today?”

Kiri hummed, “Well, yesterday you were slow, unsure about your movement through the forest. Today we are going to work on that. I believe the English name for the game we are going to be playing is tag.”

You scoffed, “Damn, I didn't do that bad.”

Kiri laughed, “But you were that bad. You probably wouldn’t be alive if I weren't there.”

You smiled but rolled your eyes, “Okay, whatever. Who's gonna be the first chaser.”

“You are going to be chasing me. Try to keep up.” Kiri said before sprinting away, giving you no time to think before you took off after her.

The ground was rough beneath your feet, sticks and stones making you cringe as you stepped on them, but you kept running. Eventually you were able to ignore the pain and push through it. It was like they weren't there anymore when you stopped focusing on them, instead focusing on Kiri who was far ahead. You had to keep up so you pushed yourself even harder, your lungs aching, air burning them when you inhaled.

You avoided tree after tree while you ran, dodging around them, a couple grazing your body as you didn’t aim yourself far enough away.

Soon Kiri was approaching a tree head on, with what looked like no intention to go around it. You hoped you weren't going to have to climb it. You were not ready to climb it, but once Kiri reached it she jumped, grabbing onto a branch above her and pulling herself up onto it.

Higher and higher, she climbed from branch to branch easily, but as she was reaching higher levels your feet were still planted firmly on the ground. Kiri paused to look down at you, who was looking up at her, like you were waiting for something.

You took one final breath, watching Kiri as she took a break from climbing to study you, watching you, waiting for your next move, and then you were climbing.

You were clumsy, struggling to move from branch to branch, and taking a different path than Kiri, but slowly you were making your way up to Kiri’s level. Once you got close enough to Kiri she jumped. She landed on a huge leaf, sliding off it and onto another one. One after another she gracefully fell until she was on the ground.

Everything in yourself told you not to do it. Every instinct told you it was a death sentence, but you didn’t listen to them. You jumped, falling onto the leaf and following what Kiri had done. You made it to the bottom, but with the final drop you landed awkwardly on your butt. You quickly scampered up, making sure you were fully intact, and you were. Nothing was broken, and the only pain was in your butt, and your ego.

Even once you reached the ground the game wasn’t over, and Kiri took off running again. You ran through the forest for a while longer, passing parts of the forest you had never been to, but right now you didn’t have the time to admire them like you would like too.

A lake was in front of you and as you thought Kiri was going to dodge it, running around the perimeter, Kiri jumped right in, swimming across before jumping out of the water on the other side.

You had never been more relieved at your decision to ditch your shoes before today. They would just drag you down, as would the rest of your clothes, but you followed after Kiri anyway.

The water was cold when you broke the surface, encompassing your body and dragging you down. You quickly breached the surface, resurfacing and looking around to find Kiri on the other side. You swam as quickly as possible and eventually made it to the other side of the lake where you hauled yourself out of the water.

You were sopping wet, water seeped into all of your clothes, making you cold in the slight wind. You shook your head, like a dog freeing themself from water, water flying off and you bent over trying to catch your breath. You almost thought Kiri was done, but before you could fully catch your breath Kiri ran off again.

Eventually you ran long enough to come to a sight you never thought you would see. The Hallelujah Mountains were even more beautiful than you could ever imagine, but there was no time to stop and stare as you were hot on Kiri’s tail, only a few feet behind her as she ran ahead.

As you neared the edge of a cliff you hesitated, but Kiri didn’t, jumping off like she knew exactly what she was doing, and she did. She quickly grabbed onto a vine and began climbing up to a smaller floating rock formation. The look on Kiri’s face was pure joy and you questioned how much of this was actual survival skills versus Kiri wanting someone to run around with.

You took a deep breath, preparing to jump, and quickly followed behind Kiri, clinging to the vine as tight as you could once it touched your hands. You wrapped your thighs around the plant and roughly pulled yourself up towards the top of the rock.

Kiri was waiting, standing on the top of the floating rock, and as you got far enough up she reached her hand out to you, pulling you up onto the rock beside her.

“You did good!” Kiri exclaimed.

“God damn you are fast!” You heaved, bent over with your hands on your knees trying to catch your breath. Your lungs worked hard, burning like a star that was dying out but trying its best to stay alive.

“So why did we do this?” You questioned.

“I want you to be equipped if another palulukan comes, and if you are going to survive the forest you have to know how to move through every part. From the ground, to trees, to water, and more.” Kiri spoke seriously, before a smile broke out on her face, “You did better than I thought you would though.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” You rolled your eyes, but a smile was on your face.

Kiri looked off to the distance, towards the expanse of floating rocks and mountains, “You’ve never seen the mountains, right?”

You nodded your head, “Yeah, they're beautiful!”

Kiri looked back to you, bumping your shoulders together, “Well, let’s explore some more then. I’ll chase you this time though.”

You just smirked at her before starting to run off, Kiri hot on your tail. You ran together for a while, Kiri not even trying to catch you because she easily could if she wanted to, but it was fun. Kiri enjoyed it more than she would admit, and you got to explore a part of Pandora you had never seen before.

As they ran Kiri smiled as the newest mysterious words came to her consciousness, “Someday she will outrun the best of warriors, someday she may outrun you, but her heart will remain.”

Word Bank:

Palulukan (Thanator)

Hallelujah Mountains (Floating mountains of Pandora)

[spacedykensfw3]

Kinks, limits, and a little about me!

First things first, basic info:

My name is Max

I’m 27

I use they/it/he in my day to day life, but she/her and anything else are totally fine in a kink context!

I’m a nonbinary butch lesbian (but also gray-aroace. The overlap is a mystery even to me.) Also TME.

I was on T from June of 2022 to like, February of 2024 and now I’m back on it as of mid September 2024!

I’m 5’10” and around 250lbs (which is to say, I’m a fat bitch and if you have a problem with that, move along)

I’m very submissive, and I’m a verse (don’t ask me to dom you, it won’t happen, I’m bad at it, and it’s really difficult for me lmao)

Now, the kinks and limits!

Hard kinks you will likely see on this blog:

Orientation play/dykebreaking, or otherwise being forced or coerced into being with men

Incest/fauxcest

“Hard” cnc/noncon/rapeplay

Less frequently, misgendering and forcefem as tied to my being a butch on T

Also less frequently, misogyny/patriarchy play, but after the results of the 2024 US Presidential election this will probably be very, very rare, at least for a while. Just got too real.

Absolute favorite kinks:

Orgasm denial

Edging

Anal

Piss & omorashi/piss desperation

Humiliation/degradation

Other things I’m into:

Bondage

Exhibition/voyeurism

Free use

CNC

Gangbangs

Fisting (even though I haven’t gotten there yet)

Body writing

Objectification

Forced orgasm/overstimulation

Breeding (I may share posts or fantasize about pregnancy occasionally, but I do not actually have any real world desire to become pregnant)

A wide range of pain play including pussy & clit torture

Squirting (which I’ve done one (1) whole time and have yet to replicate, unfortunately)

Blackmail

Monsterfucking

Oviposition/alien pregnancy

Transformation (particularly gender fuckery, like gender swap pills)

Trans supremacy, particularly transfem supremacy

Things I’d like to try:

Hypno

Dumbification/bimbofication

Somnophilia

Catheter play

CNC around kidnapping

Intox play

Soft limits/maybes:

Piss drinking

Enema play (I am EXTREMELY mess averse when it comes to butt stuff despite having a huge anal kink so uh… yeah)

Anything that might risk getting caught by non-consenting party

Food in holes that aren’t my mouth (more likely to agree to this if it's going in my ass than my pussy, I don't want a yeast infection)

Tickling

Firm limits/almost definitely no:

Ass to mouth

Pet play

Blood

Diapers

Hard limits:

Feet

Scat

Intentional vomit (because I know gagging makes your body do stuff sometimes, and I’m hard to gross out; I just don’t want it to be taken out of me or put on me on purpose.)

Race play

Toilet play (ie licking the toilet or putting my head in toilet water or anything like that)

Some irl public stuff (depends on context & risk lol)

Cutting

Necro/snuff (just not my bag)

Cannibalism

IRL bestiality (I am into monsterfucking and have plenty of knotted dildos so y'know)

Weight-based humiliation/degradation, food control, weight control, etc

Underage (which should be assumed, and also isn’t a kink, but I take this extremely seriously.)

This list is not exhaustive, and I'm sure I'll find new kinks I like and hate as time goes on. If something isn't on the list, just ask me, chances are I haven't even thought about it. If you have any questions at all, just ask! I don't bite (without consent).

A little bit more about me:

I'm a huge nerd, and if you follow my main, you know this. Star Wars, Mass Effect, LEGO, a litany of other interests because I have ADHD, you know how it goes.

Tangentially related, one of my long-time interests has been sex education, kink education, and sexual health. So, while I love being horny on the internet, I also love to answers questions about that kind of thing, so feel free to ask!

I'm typically pretty introverted, and I'm really terrible at keeping conversations going. If I haven't responded in a while, it isn't you, it's because I'm bad at being a person. Just nudge me.

[recurring-polynya]

For the garage sale 1500 follower fest: Portions for Foxes! :D Congrats on the milestone!

I posted the heartfelt and earnest scene from Portions for Foxes earlier, which got cut just because I went in a different direction. This one, on the other hand, got cut for being too bonkers, but I feel that you, especially, will appreciate it.

This takes place towards the end of fanfic when everyone is doing a little better and there are a bunch of sort of vignettes, like when they go to the art gallery to see the horrible painting of Byakuya. Maybe it's a spoiler for the fanfic, but it's also in the tags, so I don't feel too bad about it: Rukia is very pregnant at this point.

Anyway, this is why they should have had a big No Sex in the Champagne Room Royal Realm sign and also made everyone sign a waiver and also probably not let Renji and especially not Rukia up there in the first place.

👹 ❄️ 💥

And then there's the day The Experiment breaks out of Squad 12. It is very large and very disgusting and also has just far too many eyes and teeth and teeth-eyes.

Captain Kurotsuchi is the one who really should have taken care of it, but he happens to be taking some personal time in his sensory deprivation tank.

Captain Zaraki and his top seats are out on a mission. They will all be very salty about this when they return.

It also happens to be one of the days when Renji is over at the Sixth and Rukia is at the Thirteenth.

So, The Experiment breaks out of Squad 12, turns right, and and heads over to Squad 11. It's wrecked their mess hall and twenty meatheads are trying to fight it at once, when Rukia meanders over, dances out a Tsukishirou, and kills it dead in two seconds. And then leaves again.

Renji finds her down at the kidou butts later, cratering practice dummies with souren sokatsui, which he knows is her favorite.

"You here to yell at me?" she asks crossly.

"I made a joke the other day about you fighting Zaraki," he says slowly. "And I'm just now realizing that you weren't just being a worrywart. That it's been really fucking unfair of me to go around havin' a good time when you can't."

A pained look crosses Rukia's face. "I'm doing something important."

"That's right, you are," he announces. "You been doing every single thing that needs to be done since the minute we woke up in Kirinji's hot springs. You've been crushin' it." He takes a long pause. "And I think its been killing you."

"Can't you just yell at me?" she grumbles. "Aren't you mad I put our baby in danger?"

"Did you? he asks. "Baby's gone to bankai with you. Guess I kinda trust you to know what's okay and what's not."

Instead of answering, she annihilates another practice dummy, this time with a plain ol' shakkahou. She's become someone like Byakuya, who can channel a tremendous amount of destruction, even through the lower level spells.

And then Renji realizes what she's doing, that she did just answer him.

"Are you buddying off the baby's reiatsu?" he asks, incredulous.

"He doesn't mind," Rukia dismisses.

"That's not the point, the point is--"  He comes up short. "Are you just guessin' at that 'he' thing, or do you know something?"

Rukia shrugs. "Sode no Shirayuki says we are having a son. You know how full of shit she is, though."

"That's amazing," Renji breathes. "I mean, not that it's a boy, it had to be something, but that your zanpaktou…and you can share reiatsu…" He sits down, right on the ground. "You can't ever do anything normal, can you, Rukia?"

"I don't know how to make a dumb baby," Rukia scowls, crossing her arms. "I was blaming you."

[laylajeffany]

(hi I know you don’t know who I am, but I love your fic “Chaos For The Fly”.) sorry for this long thingy.

Hello, I’ve been reading your fanfic “Chaos for the Fly” I’m sure you’ve heard of it, Yeah?

Ok, good.

Well, I’m just over a chapter into writing my very first, ever (soon to be) posted fanfiction, and I was wondering something.

Feel free to say no, I won’t be upset… much.

But, I would very much like to “borrow” several of your OCs from Chaos. I just feel as though they are cannon to me and any OC that I come up with, would just be a pale, poor imitation of your characters. I mean, granted, they would still be pale, poor imitations of your work. Regardless of if you let me use them or not.

Like I said, feel free to say no, they are your creations and you did the work. All I would be doing is copying your homework but changing it enough that the teacher (readers) can’t tell that I copied off of you.

For real though, I wouldn’t be copying them verbatim. I’ll be altering the story to fit mine, but for the most part I plan to use most of their beforehand lives in the same manor that you did. Obviously, some of it will be different, and the writing will be astronomically worse, compared to your writing.

I will also be changing most of everything that happened after the new semester begins. But they will still be the same characters, for the most part and was wondering if I could use them.

Again, say no if you want. I haven’t actually gotten to the point in the story that I wanted to write them in.

So, don’t think I’ve already written stuff with them in it, and that you don’t want me to scrap what I have. I haven’t written anything with them yet, except for concepts and ideas for the story as a whole.

Also, obviously I will give you credit, for the use of the characters. I’m not that heartless. I will link your fic several, several times throughout my fic. And I will state in several chapter notes that I got permission from you.

Anyway, thank you for the fantastic fanfiction. I blame you for the heartache that’ll come with writing fanfiction and actually posting it. And have a nice flight.

List of characters I would like to use: Dr. Josephine Zypher (of course), Her girlfriend Emiliana Girard (that was how it was spelled right?), the snakes Altair and possibly Gus Gus (can’t not have them), Dr. Kerrigan Gallor/bug man, and And Josephine’s Grandfather Dr. Hugh Zypher. I might also use Mr. Harlow, but I haven’t decided yet.

(PS. I’m only halfway done with Chaos, but I just had so many ideas that I wanted to start writing. So for the future, if someone says I’m copying your fic, it’s cause I probably wrote it before finishing chaos. I will state that much while posting my fic, but it may come up idk. Also, I’m trying to find the time in my days to write and read. But so far, I suck at time management.)

(PPS. I totally didn’t create a whole AO3 account, tumblr account, and Reddit account just because of your fic Chaos inspiring me to finally kick my butt into gear and actually start writing some stuff AND posting them. Instead of just writing crap and keeping it to myself for years and years. TYSM love your work. ❤️)

Wenclair for life!

I’m always content to encourage other writers and say that I am cool to share the toys in the sandbox. I’m glad that I have inspired you to write. First and foremost, I would hope that whoever is borrowing my original characters is not making any sort of profit from their writing, as I firmly do not believe in charging readers for fan works (ko-fi, a patreon or commissions for fic).

However, I’m not sure why you would want to borrow my OCs if you want to change them around? At that point, wouldn’t you just want to develop your own original characters if the ones I created aren’t going to serve your writing needs? I really don’t know why you’d want to use someone else’s OC and make it your own version of that original character when you could just make your own OC.

I also really don’t think you should just write a copy-change of someone else’s fic that you are planning to post? Like if you’re doing that to practice writing and keeping it in your own space, that’s one thing, but I think it’s pretty bold to copy-change and post someone else’s work with your own spin on what is already a fan work. I’m not sure I understand this. I ultimately don’t care. I won't read something featuring my OCs that I didn’t write, and don’t promote works that I don’t read so...whatever happens, I honestly probably won’t see it unless someone brings it to my attention.  I'm glad my fic has inspired you to write, and wish you well in that endeavor!

[catwings-writes-things]

For the ao3 wrapped: 3, 6, 16, 29

3. What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)?

Surprising no one, I'm gonna have to say A World of His Own. Before this year I'd never written anything (I do mean anything--no fanfic, original fiction, essays, nothing) longer than around 15,000 words. Now I have an in-progress fic with a single coherent storyline that's over 100,000 words long and nowhere near done. Some of the chapters are longer than 15,000 words. And not only that, but I'm really proud of the writing and the characterization. The Jailbreak Squad have taken over my brain and I have no objections whatsoever.

6. Favorite title you used?

De Humani Corporis Fabrica--Latin for "On the Fabric of the Human Body"--is the title of the best-known anatomy text by Andreas Vesalius, a Rennaissance anatomist and pioneer of human dissection, which at the time was considered taboo. As such, most anatomical knowledge came from dissections of animals, inspection of traumatic injuries, and conventional wisdom from earlier anatomists who had largely been working under the same restrictions. Vesalius was both sufficiently dedicated to his pursuit of accurate anatomical knowledge and sufficiently unbothered by other people's opinions as to cut bodies down from the gallows after public executions (sometimes having to fight stray dogs for them) and take them home to study, even allowing them to decompose in his living space to get at the bones once he'd learned all he could from the soft tissue. (He was also my first historical friend-crush, which probably tells you quite a bit about me, although perhaps not much to which my fic wouldn't tip you off.) De Humani Corporis Fabrica is his masterwork, illustrating what he'd learned with intricate drawings of bodies in various lifelike poses and states of dissection.

Needless to say, Andreas Vesalius was a Flesh avatar if ever there was one, not to mention probably autistic AF, and De Humani Corporis Fabrica seems as good a candidate as any for a Leitner. So when I set out to write a fic featuring late human-era Mike Crew nearly working himself to death in an extended burst of autistic hyperfocus and Angela the Flesh avatar trying to both help him deal with the immediate fallout and convince him that bodies have limits and he needs to treat his with more respect if it's going to last long enough to get him wherever he's going, using "De Humani Corporis Fabrica" as the title seemed pretty damn perfect.

16. What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag?

Families of Choice, which is the canonical tag on AO3 for the concept I've mostly heard referred to as "found family." It's specifically tagged on three of the seven fics I've posted this year (that number is misleading, due to my aforementioned longfic), but it could or should have been tagged on six of them. ("Fix-It," "Temporary Character Death," "Complicated Relationships," and "Twisted and Fluffy Feelings" appear on two fics apiece, which probably also gives some relevant information. Especially that last one.)

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

Honestly, I can't decide. I've been proud of so many things I've written this year that I really can't narrow it down--which is a good problem to have! If it helps, after I post chapter ten, I think I'm going to make a "pick your favorite bit of out-of-context A World of His Own dialog" poll--each option a line spoken by a different character.

Okay, never mind. I found a favorite. From Chapter 2 of A World of His Own:

“I can't... sit and watch television with you,” Helen finally said, almost a snap. “It won’t work.” She gestured at herself, head to feet. “This isn't even a real body. It's more of a... concept.” “Well,” said Harriet mildly. “Sit the concept of your butt down and let us introduce you to The Twilight Zone.”

Thank you so much for the ask, anonymous friend! I hope you have a great day!

[gavinsmg24]

Responding in order as posted today! So ripping that depressed bandaid! Rawrrr!

So! Baby’s been feeling low energy. Or not having fun. Or just doing what needs done. Humph! I know it’s hard to think of things to have fun. Trust me. If I wasnt so dead set on games idk what I’d most of the time. Probably YouTube n shows which is nice but only for so long. It’s hard to be like. Physical fun! Cuz that’s fun but also work. Like. Surfing n swimming and going on nature walks are nice. But. You still gotta push yourself thru the “work” aspect of it. Sometimes you just wanna relax! All the time! Hehe not really but I feel likes that’s me. But to be fair. Even tho your not working. Having to run / take care of a house all the time is a job! Housekeeping! Duh!🙈 but! Idk also maybe with the way your partner makes you feel maybe that’s why it feels like a job or that you don’t have time for fun. Bcuz maybe your so focused on making the house a way that won’t cause any drama. And that eats up your thoughts of fun and time for fun. Or maybe it’s just the actual depressed factor and it’s just hard to have fun that way. Well. That being said. I know your just down and that’s why you say isn’t necessary to run the house. Well! That may be true! But a house can’t run without a person to run it! And a person can’t run without a reason to! People need drive. Why clean a house if not to have fun within. Should we clean homes and then walk on spikes! No! (I’m being silly hehe) we make our homes clean so that way we can mindlessly do whatever we want! Imagine your cute butt. Cleaning the house. Nothing to think about! And now your playing a game. You can’t be distracted with thoughts of chores. There done! Now! You’ve cleaned so much that. Who cares! 😝 the house can get a little messy. That’s why we have laundry baskets! Cabinets! All those “messy” out of place things. Have spots to sit. Just like you! That couch! Gaming! Now of course we can substitute gaming. With! Drawing! Listening to music. Shows! Your creative. It’s hard to think of stuff tho. Draw a bird and a cage! Will you draw it inside the cage? Or flying freely. And which one is how you feel. And which one do you want to be! I bet you could do that too 🙈 you’re so talented! And I know that silly words can’t break the day day downers you may feel. But! You deserve to slack off and do anything you want! Walk around. Ride a bike. See a movie. Play a game. Draw. Take a class / lesson for something. Pottery. Music even tho you know instruments could always meet others that way. It’s hard to do and easy to say. Bcuz. I myself haven’t done much of those extroverted things I’m telling you. But! I want to! It may be silly but as long as we want! We’ll make it happen! Even if it’s slow 🙈 Baby steps and little victories! It’s how we get the big wins! I believe in you. I love you! And I hope your days get better soon. We share the moon but you are sunshine! 🥰

[justsome-di]

Nobody Ends Up Dead in a Bathtub, Everyone Keeps Their Organs: Chapter 1

haha I said I’d post this next month but I’m posting this month. You can also read this chapter on Wattpad or on Patreon (subscribing to Patreon will also give you access to chapters a week ahead of public posts). Updates every Friday!

Summary: Alex and Damián get set up on a blind date but aren't exactly on the same page--one thinks it's real and the other is under the impression it's an ordinary appointment. After all, Alex was promised he was getting a favor, and Damián is an escort who got paid to be there.

After realizing it was all a prank, set up by Alex's co-workers, they set out for revenge. Their plan: Alex will hire Damián to accompany him to an upcoming Halloween office party, convince his co-workers they genuinely fell in love and refuse to let themselves become the butt of the joke.

Alex hadn't been on a date since he was 17, and it had ended with Mary Ellen throwing her slushie on his shirt in the middle of the mall. He wasn't sure what he had done wrong, but he figured right then and there that maybe dating wasn't for him. And he had lived by that for the next 18 years.

When the day came that his co-workers told him that they had set him up with a friend, he thought maybe it was worth another shot. Mary Ellen had been long ago. Surely, Alex had a little more charm to him than he had when he was a teenager. At least, he hoped so. It would have been truly demoralizing if he had another slushie poured on him in his 30s.

Andrew, Martin, and Stu were the only guys who had ever tried to talk to him around the office, and Alex appreciated that a little bit. Even if the three of them tended to be dicks with off-color jokes and questionable comments about dates Andrew and Stu had had the weekend before. Even if Alex had secretly named them The Office Douche Bags because they had never proven themselves to be anything but douche bags.

But Alex didn't get much say in who became his co-workers of almost 10 years, and he didn't know how to tell the guys to leave him alone when they got to be too much. Especially when they were going to do more for his dating life than he had done for himself.

"Marcus is so sweet and super cute," Andrew said. "I mean, look at him."

He leaned over Alex's desk and showed him a single picture of the date in question. It looked like a semi-professional portrait. He was posing in front of a window in what looked like a stylishly barren apartment.

Marcus had short, curly hair. His teeth were unnaturally white. He showed them all in a wide smile, perfectly aligned and shining. His clothes were tight, and his body was slim. Skinny, really. Alex thought he was pretty cute and assumed he was probably some aspiring actor—so, he was living a much more exciting life than Alex was at the moment. And he was definitely out of Alex's league.

Andrew insisted it was all taken care of. He apparently knew a waitress who had taken care of a dinner reservation. Andrew had even left his own credit card on file, saying he owed Marcus a favor from a while back so this was his repayment. Alex tried to protest, but Andrew insisted. He owed Marcus big time.

Setting him up with a guy was one half of the deal. Paying for the date was the other half. Really, it was all fine. The reservation was for Friday at 6 at some semi-bougie restaurant. Marcus would be expecting him, and it was important that Alex didn't talk about work. There were other things to talk about. Boring office chat would kill the mood, and Marcus hated talking about his job.

A hundred red flags should have sprung up, but Alex was too busy looking at Marcus' picture to see them. He asked if it was really okay (it was), why the guys were being so nice (Alex was the only single gay man ("I'm not gay, I'm bi.") they knew), and why Marcus needed a date (he was having a hard time with dating apps, apparently, and wanted to give blind dates a try).

Alex could pay them all back by making sure there were good drinks at the Halloween party in October. Alex would mention it to the party-planning committee, though he wasn't sure what he could pull. No one wanted a repeat of the year before when Megan from human resources vomited into the potted tree by Alex's desk. It had been Alex's favorite tree. He had been allowed to pick it out all by himself, and he dutifully watered it every week. Its death had been slow and by Thanksgiving, when it showed no signs of perking up, Alex put it out of its misery and set it out for trash pick-up.

But for his first date in decades, Alex would point out the unspent money in the budget and nudge the ladies to pick up some higher-quality booze and maybe an extra bottle or two. He'd hide the other potted plants before the party and promise to clean up any vomit.

He went home that Friday with his stomach in knots. He was awfully lucky to land a date with a guy like Marcus. Surely, he would fuck it up.

Alex had no hobbies, no friends, and he was lacking in the good looks department. The only thing he had going for himself was that he was at least self-aware. He knew he was mediocre, and he didn't try to be anything else.

The most he could do was dress well and try to make his hair look nice in the mirror before he left. He tried using mousses and pomade, but nothing could transform his hair into looking like anything that wasn't flat and straight. His arms ached from holding them over his head, and he was frustrated.

At the very least, he supposed, he looked well-groomed. A close shave and combed hair made him look like he at least knew how to take care of himself. Maybe he wouldn't woo Marcus, but he wouldn't scare him off.

Eve leaned in the doorway of the bathroom and watched him fuss and primp.

"How do I look?" he asked.

"I don't care. I need to pee."

She shoved him out of the way and into the living room of their minuscule one-bedroom apartment.

"You look fine," she yelled through the closed door.

Alex wished she wouldn't talk to him while she peed, but there was nothing he could do about it. Her voice could be heard no matter where he was in the apartment.

"Thank you," he shouted back.

"Who is this guy again?"

"His name is Marcus. I don't know anything else about him."

The toilet flushed, and the sink ran. Eve pulled the door open and stared him down. She had such a serious face for such a young woman. She always had. Even when she was a baby, she always looked at Alex with an expression that seemed to say she was tired of his bullshit. Her new undercut made her look all the more edgy. It was a good look especially knowing she was actually quite timid and dorky.

"He's going to steal your kidney," she said.

"What?"

"You can't meet up with a total stranger at some restaurant. I was listening to this podcast the other day where this guy went on all these blind dates, but he would drug all the women once they started to hook up, and he sold their kidneys on the black market."

"First of all, he's not a stranger. He's a friend of a guy I know. Second of all, that won't happen. We're just getting dinner. And no one actually steals kidneys. That's not a real thing."

"Dude, I literally just listened to a podcast about it! You're going to end up waking up in a bathtub full of ice."

"I'm begging you to stop."

"Share your location with me before you leave."

Alex huffed about it, but he did pull out his phone and sent her a link to track him. If he did end up losing an organ, he could trust her to find him. She had the skills, he believed, after her continuous binges of true crime podcasts.

"Are you staying in tonight?" he asked.

"Don't I always?"

"Sometimes you see friends."

Eve flopped herself onto the beaten-down pull-out couch that also served as her bed. There was a mason jar across the room that pocket change and spare dollars got shoved into every few weeks, intending to be savings to get her a new pull-out couch to sleep on. They had a total of $53.24 according to a sticky note on the side. Though, Alex was sure Eve had pulled a wad of dollars out to get pizza the night before, so it was hard to tell if that was an accurate number.

"I go to meetings," she said. "I don't think my fellow club members really consider me a friend."

"They could be friends. You just have to, sort of, open up. Ask them to the dining hall or something after a meeting."

"Eh. I'd rather not."

"Then die alone. I was just going to remind you to lock the door if you go out."

Alex couldn't really lecture her about making college friends. He never had college friends. He didn't have friends currently.

But meeting with Marcus was making him a little optimistic in that respect. He might have finally been getting somewhere. If things went well with Marcus, they could become friends. If he didn't absolutely bore him to death, maybe Marcus would want to stay in contact with him. And Alex was happy with that outcome. A friend.

He donned his best jacket which was a 5-year-old pea coat that was pilling in the back and was no longer the dark black it had been when Alex's mother bought it for him. It was a little too heavy for the weather. New York hadn't plunged into the bitter cold winter yet. Regardless, it was Alex's best coat, and he thought the occasion called for something a little dressy.

Leaving Eve alone with a video game, Alex walked to the restaurant early and sat at the reserved table alone. He tug on a hangnail and ran his hands over his hair. His collar was too tight one minute but the next, he was worried he looked sloppy and re-buttoned it.

He ordered two glasses of wine and right as they came, right when he began to worry that he would be sitting at the table alone all night, Marcus was led in by the hostess.

Marcus was just as handsome as he was in his picture. He wore a nice, burgundy sweater and tight jeans. He was taller than his picture let on, and his legs were so long. Alex felt self-conscious immediately. There was no way he deserved this.

Marcus smiled with his too-white teeth. He raised his shoulders as he sat like he was sheepish about the whole thing. All of his movements—the way he had grabbed the back of his chair to pull it out, how he laid his hands on the table—were so delicate and calculated.

Immediately, Alex knew that Marcus was out of his league. Marcus looked so good and was so graceful. He was put-together, and Alex was awkward. And stumpy. He was feeling very stumpy after watching a human incarnation of a gazelle walk through the restaurant.

But Marcus began talking to him like he definitely wasn't out of his league, and that made Alex feel good about himself. And more importantly, Marcus didn't seem the type to steal a kidney.

Unless the charisma was part of the kidney-stealing plan.

There was no kidney-stealing plan, Alex told himself. Eve was just getting in his head.

"Tell me about yourself." Marcus swirled his wine around in his glass. Alex hoped he had made a good choice going with the second-cheapest option on the menu. He had hoped Marcus was also the type to drink inexpensive wine. "What do you like to do for fun?"

"Oh. Uh." Alex didn't have an answer. "Why don't you tell me what you like to do?"

"Okay!" Marcus seemed all too happy to talk about himself. "I like going to shows when I can—musicals, I mean. And other plays. But mostly musicals. But I don't get to do it all that much because it's so expensive, you know?"

"Yeah." Alex didn't really know. He wasn't a big fan of theater.

"So, usually I just do little things around the city," Marcus went on. "I get coffee. I go to a book club. I feed pigeons. I binge Netflix."

Binging Netflix was a conversation Alex could handle. "What are you binging right now?"

"I am a Killer which is that one where they interview all those death row inmates about their crimes. And that Night Stalker documentary. I think it's just called Night Stalker. Whatever it is, I'm like three episodes into it."

"Ooh." Maybe Alex wasn't leaving with both of his kidneys. "Do you usually watch a lot of shows about killers?"

"Yeah, I love them. I also listen to a lot of murder podcasts."

"Oh no."

"I'm sorry?"

"I meant. Like. Oh no. Like in a good way. Like we'll be here all night if we both start talking about it. My sister listens to them all the time."

Marcus smiled and delicately laid his chin on top of his laced fingers. Alex laughed uncomfortably. He was already ruining the night. Well-adjusted people could watch true crime. It was a billion-dollar business after all. Even Eve listened to descriptions of brutal killings on her way to class, and she was, for the most part, normal.

"What do you like about true crime?" Alex asked.

"I like learning how to kill people." Marcus laughed. "I'm just kidding!"

Alex laughed along, forcing it out a little too loud. "I hope so! I really, really hope that you're kidding!"

Alex rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants. He re-thought the well-adjusted thing as the waiter laid their plates in front of them. He liked both of his kidneys a lot. He wanted to keep them. He had spent his entire life with them.

"If you really want to know." Marcus cut a slice of grilled chicken on top of his salad to make it a daintier, bite-sized piece. He was great with knives it seemed. "I like true crime because I think there's a lot of advocacy involved in it. You know, when the victims get a chance to have their stories told. Especially when the victims are women or people of color. Or when they talk about how the police look the other way. There's some true crime that gets exploitive, but I think a lot of it is coming from a good place."

"Yeah." Alex nodded. His kidneys felt safe again. "I get that."

"And you know, it's important to be aware of who gets targeted and who doesn't get investigated by police. Cause a lot of the time, police won't really care if someone, like," Marcus waved his hands in front of his face, "me gets killed."

"Right. Right. My sister always goes on about the whole Jeffrey Dahmer thing. Where the police just handed one of his victims back to him."

Marcus threw his head back. "Don't get me started on that one."

But it was too late, and Marcus jumped into a spiel about how the police were willing to look the other way for white men, how it went back centuries, and how serial killers got away with everything because of the systematic racism in law enforcement. Alex listened with more interest than he thought he would have. Usually, when Eve went on her rants, Alex barely listened. He didn't doubt anything she said, but she picked the worst times for her amateur TED Talks. Usually, when Alex was trying to go to bed at night or working on one of his several spreadsheets for work.

There was something about the way that Marcus talked about it all. His delicate hands emphasized his points, his face went through a dozen expressions that were all so handsome. He was so passionate about it, and it was so refreshing to hear a guy talk about something other than fucking women or selling whatever to a record number of clients.

Marcus was still going on about how "the system" was set up to forget about those who were outside societal norms but cut himself off rather abruptly. He finished his comment on how Jack the Ripper would have been caught if he hadn't targeted sex workers, and then sighed.

"I am talking way too much," he said. "You said you have a sister?"

"Yeah. Eve."

"Aw. Eve's such a cute name. Is she older?"

"Younger. She's a sophomore in college. I think that makes her 19?"

Marcus snorted. A snort had no business being so cute. "Good for her. What's her major?"

It was amazing how Marcus knew how to keep the conversation going when Alex let his side of it fizzle out like a dead firework.

"Computer science," Alex said, picking up some momentum. "She's really good at it. She got all of these awards her first year at school, and now her professors are trying to get into all of these internships next year."

"That's amazing!"

"She is flunking math right now, though."

Marcus frowned. "Not amazing."

"It's a calculus class. It's a whole thing. She says it's not even all that important for her major—which I have no idea if that's true or not—but it's still a requirement, and she's worried it's going to tank her GPA."

Marcus ran the tip of his finger over his wine glass. "What even is calculus?"

"No idea. I just know it makes her cry."

"Poor thing. Can she get a tutor?"

"She's tried, but the academic center or whatever is only open when she's in class or working. Her only free time is in the evenings."

"That's so unfair! They can't do night tutoring?"

"Apparently not." Alex drank the last of his wine, hoping it would help him continue this bout of opening up and talking and making good conversation. "But she's smart. She'll figure something out."

"I'm sure she will. And it's sweet that you're so involved."

"Eh, we share an apartment. I hear about all of her crises whether I want to or not."

Something in Marcus' face softened. He looked almost distracted. "You share an apartment?"

"Yeah, it's cheaper for her to commute than to live on campus, and my apartment is close enough to her college that she can walk there. It just made sense for her to move in with me."

"It does."

"Do you have siblings?"

Marcus composed himself. He pulled his hands into his lap and straightened in his chair. "No. I'm an only child."

"Sometimes I wish I was an only child."

"Don't say that. Eve sounds nice."

"She can be. Usually to people who aren't me."

Alex didn't know how to find a way out of the dead-end response. Their meals were finished, and there was no check coming to give them a definitive end to dinner.

Marcus stretched his hand across the table, palm up. He smiled easily at Alex. Alex laid his hand in Marcus', hoping it wasn't sweaty or clammy or that he had misread the signal. But Marcus closed his fingers around Alex's hand and squeezed.

"Want to head upstairs for another drink?" Marcus asked.

Alex didn't know what "upstairs" meant, but he agreed. There could have been a bar on the higher level of the hotel. Maybe a rooftop thing.

Standing with him, Alex noticed that Marcus was a whole head taller than him. Embarrassing.

Marcus led him through the crowd of new guests being seated and nodded to the hostess at the front of the restaurant. He took Alex down the hall and into an elevator. The entire time, Marcus held his hand, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles.

It was the most touching Alex had had in years. It was a little pathetic, but he felt so relieved. He had finally met someone nice. He had finally found someone who seemed interested in him. Someone willing to touch him. The little touches meant so much whether or not Marcus knew it or not.

He had started the night hoping for a friend, and he looked to be surpassing that.

The elevator opened and revealed a row of doors. Alex followed Marcus out, a little fear creeping up in his stomach. He realized, as Marcus pulled out a key card from his pocket, that "upstairs" meant a hotel room.

But maybe it wouldn't be all bad. Alex supposed he didn't know if Marcus was from the city or not. He could have just been visiting and was staying in that hotel. It didn't necessarily mean he had just gotten a room for a hook up. Maybe the Douche Bags hadn't given him the whole story and didn't mention that Marcus traveled a lot or something.

The room smelled like a mix of cheap air freshener and laundry detergent. It was icy cold, and Alex wished he could have slid his jacket back on. When Marcus flipped on the lights, and when Alex's eyes adjusted, he saw the room was small with one bed and a bathroom close by.

The door settled heavily into its frame and locked. Alex stayed close to it, his fingers touching the thick wood behind his back.

Marcus laid his hand on Alex's hip, right under his belt. He kept smiling even as he leaned in and kissed Alex.

It was all so forward. Alex should have started asking questions earlier. He should have mentioned his boundaries.

Marcus pulled him away from the door and towards the bed. It was only a few steps, and then they were sitting together, Marcus getting handsier with every second. Alex sat frozen.

Marcus must have noticed how stiff he was because he leaned back and moved his hands from Alex's legs and waist to his hair.

"Nervous?" he asked. He sounded so sweet still. Alex felt bad that was about to let him down.

"I'm just not used to this, I think."

Marcus nodded. "It's okay. How do you want to do it?"

"Um. I don't—I don't know."

"I can lead if you want."

"I don't think I know what's happening."

Marcus stroked Alex's hair with one hand and looked at his watch. He sighed. "I don't want to rush you or kill the mood, but you only have about an hour left, and I don't give refunds."

Refunds? Marcus definitely said refunds.

"Wait. Wait. Wait." Alex swept Marcus' hands aside. "What do you mean?"

The sweet, caring look Marcus had was gone. He looked equally confused. "You paid for two hours, and I explicitly told you there's a no-refund policy when you booked me. You are the right Alex, right? I'm not with the wrong client?"

"'Client?'"

And all of a sudden, it hit Alex like a brick to the face. There was no luggage in the room indicating Marcus was staying there overnight. Marcus was very eager to get Alex in bed. No-refund policies. Client.

Alex screamed, "Oh my god!" and shot up off the bed and backed himself up in a corner.

Marcus also began screaming. "What?" he yelled. "What is it?"

"Are you a prostitute?"

"I'm—" Marcus lowered his voice. "I'm a sex worker. Aren't you my client?"

"No!"

Marcus' face turned grey, and his body deflated. His eyes turned from Alex to the floor in horror. His mouth opened and closed, trying to say something but no sound came out.

"I mean." Alex held out a shaking hand. He tried speaking quietly. "I was set up to go on a date with you, but I didn't pay for it. My friend told me you were a friend of his, and this was just supposed to be a date. Like a real date. I didn't know it was—a—a business transaction."

Marcus stared at him, still silent.

"My co-workers came up to me earlier this week," Alex said, "and they showed me your picture and said they owed you a favor. I had no idea what they were doing. I didn't know they had paid for this."

Marcus took a deep breath. His voice shaky, he tried explaining his side of it, "I got a message from you saying you wanted an appointment. And now that I'm sitting here I'm realizing I really need a better screening process for my clients. I thought you were acting really weird tonight, but I just thought it was part of the experience you wanted."

Alex was in full panic mode. He had unknowingly played a part in soliciting a prostitute. He could get fired. He could get arrested. He was most definitely not talking to the Douche Bags ever again.

He really thought he had made a real connection with someone, and it turned out that it was all fake. Marcus had been paid. He wasn't real. Never mind getting arrested, Alex hadn't been on a date at all. The charming, nice man who he thought liked him was just part of an act. His chest ached. His stomach sunk.

But more importantly, Marcus was staring at him like a deer in headlights now. And Alex thought about how scary the situation must have been for him.

"I'm going to leave," Marcus said.

"Wait. Hold on." Marcus hadn't even begun to move. "I just want you to know that I won't tell anyone."

"Okay."

"Like, I support legalizing sex work and all that."

"Uh."

"Everything you were saying at dinner about prostitutes being pushed aside in society and ignored when they get killed, I agree with all that. It's awful. I think you deserve rights."

"Are you just going to keep me here to ramble at me about how progressive you are?"

"Yes." Alex held up a finger. "Because I want you to know that you're safe."

"Insisting that I'm safe while you're backed into a dark corner talking about how sex workers get killed doesn't make me feel all that safe. You should know people know where I am, and they know your name and where you work—I mean, if any of that was real. I don't know anymore. But people know where I am and when this appointment is supposed to be over."

"I'm sorry. But really, I don't want to get you arrested, or hurt, and I definitely don't have plans to kill you. Can I just ask a few questions? Like who's impersonating me to solicit prostitutes? And how do I stop that from happening again?"

Marcus perched himself on the very edge of the bed. He looked Alex up and down and nodded.

"Only if you stop calling me a prostitute," Marcus said.

"Yeah! What do you prefer to be called?"

Marcus held his shoulders high and lifted his chin. There was still a slight tremor in his frame. "I'm an escort and a sex worker."

"Okay. Can we figure out, together, what happened that someone hired an escort as me? Because I genuinely had no idea you were an escort. I really did think this was a real date. And I have a hunch about who impersonated me."

Marcus nodded again. "Fine."

"Good." Alex slowly approached Marcus again and, not wanting to loom over him, sat on the bed, leaving plenty of space between them. He pulled out his phone. "These are the texts I got from my co-worker Andrew. He said he set up the date between us."

The reservation is at 6. My card is already on file. And don't forget what he looks like ;)

Below was the picture of Marcus that Alex had committed to memory.

"Yeah, that's me," Marcus said. "That's the picture on my profile."

He pulled out his own phone and opened an app Alex had never seen before.

"This is supposed to be you," he said.

He showed Alex a series of messages. They were all very professional. Back and forth about them meeting, reservations, and a Venmo transaction from hours ago that was definitely not from Alex's account. There was a picture of Alex, taken straight from his LinkedIn profile which was also provided in the messages. There was even a picture of Alex's ID, probably taken from files somewhere at work. Stu, after all, worked in human resources. It would have been easy to get any information they needed.

It was horrifying how easily the Douche Bags had impersonated him and how much thought they probably put into it. It was violating and humiliating and scary. It was illegal! Alex could have reported them, and they would lose their jobs. But that would be potentially dangerous for Marcus, and Alex didn't want Marcus mixed up in anything that could get him in trouble.

"So, it was definitely the guys I work with," Alex said, feeling so shocked and scared that his skin was numb. "But all that information they gave you is real. That's where I work and where I live. They probably pulled it from my employee file."

"Fuck. I really have to start requesting a selfie or something."

"It's like you said. People can get away with this stuff because sex workers get overlooked. I can't even do anything at work because then you'd have to get involved, and then that'd get you in trouble."

"It's honestly okay—I mean, it's not. It's really not okay at all. But I know how to patch holes in my system and spread the word about frauds."

"But it's still wrong."

"Well." Marcus locked his phone and shoved back into his tight jeans. His face was still pale. "I can't say something like this happened before. Your co-workers were thorough. I'm just glad we figured out what happened. And I'm glad you didn't flip out—okay, you kind of flipped out. But it could have been worse. I'm glad you didn't try to kill me or anything."

And Marcus smiled, a bit shakily, and Alex couldn't help the wave of heartbreak that washed over him. Marcus wasn't real. All the smiles had been paid for. His date hadn't been real. He was still alone and date-less, and to make it all worse, he knew the Douche Bags were probably laughing at him right about now. It totally should not have been his top priority, but the loneliness Alex had felt for years came crashing back tenfold. It was like he hadn't realized how alone he was until now.

Alex was pissed. He was mourning. He was feeling every emotion possible.

He couldn't help it. He started crying. He pressed his palms into his eyes and tried so hard to not make a scene. But his nose started running, and his breath was getting short and gaspy. He was an ugly crier. His eyes got red and puffy, and his cheeks got splotchy. He didn't want Marcus to see him even lower than he already was.

"Oh no," Marcus sighed.

Alex felt him stand and heard him move across the carpet. Probably trying to get out of there so he didn't have to see Alex's pathetic little display.

When Alex felt the bed dip again with his weight, he uncovered his eyes. Marcus offered him a box of thin, scratchy hotel tissues. His hands shook while he held out the box. Alex wanted to steady them, lay his own hands over them until the last of the fear was out of him.

"I'm sorry," Marcus said. "I'm sorry they did this to you."

Alex pulled a few tissues out of the box and wiped his eyes and nose as discreetly and politely as he could.

"I feel dumb," Alex said.

"No! Don't! If anyone is dumb, it's me. I should have made sure the account was legit. I should have asked for a picture of you holding a newspaper. Like what hostage victims do."

Alex laughed a little. Just a little. "They could have asked me to pose for it, and I would have."

"Okay, well, then I'll have to think of something else to stop this from happening again. I'll ask for a lock of hair or something extreme."

Marcus put his hand on Alex's back, and Alex wished he hadn't. It felt so nice.

"I don't think escorts are supposed to comfort people like this," Alex said.

"You'd be surprised. I've actually comforted a lot of crying clients before. It's part of my job. I'm a professional companion. And you still have me for an hour, so we might as well sit here together."

"I'll try to pull myself together within an hour."

"You better. If not, I'm still leaving. I don't do overtime."

Alex laughed again. It was amazing how Marcus could crack jokes while his not-client was breaking down next to him.

"And I do have plans at 9," Marcus said. "My brother and I have a very serious night of Netflix binging planned."

"Brother? You said you were an only child."

Marcus blinked, tilted his head, and then rolled his eyes. "Shit."

"Do you lie about your family to clients?"

"Of course. Just in case someone ends up being crazy and follows me home or something. Now pretend like you didn't hear me say I have a brother."

Alex wiped his nose and kept his head down. "I'm just curious. How dangerous is it being an escort?"

Marcus sighed. "Kind of dangerous? It depends. Sometimes, I get nervous."

He didn't elaborate, and Alex didn't push.

"But more often than not, people are just looking for someone to spend a night with," Marcus said. "And it ends pretty well. Sometimes there's sex, sometimes we just go out. And there's been plenty of crying, believe me."

"Are you just trying to make me feel better?"

Marcus rubbed Alex's back. It was very soothing. Still, Alex wanted it to stop.

"A couple of years ago," Marcus said, "I had an older client. I think he was in his late 60s. And his wife had died that same week."

"Oh my god."

"He just wanted someone to sit with him. His house was empty, he said. He just wanted someone to eat dinner and watch the news with. And he told me all about her. She was a teacher, they had traveled together, and they had volunteered at an animal shelter when they both retired.

"They didn't have any kids, so it was just him left. He was lonely. The funeral had been earlier that day, and he didn't want to cry alone that night. He found my profile, saw I speak Spanish and can mix drinks, and he hired me. And I just sat with him. I made him tea. I offered him tissues. He made me dinner."

"That's really nice of you."

Marcus shrugged. "It's my job. I do all sorts of things for people."

"But you must have helped him."

"I guess. Maybe. When I left, I said I hoped he would be okay. But I never heard from him again."

Alex was feeling a little better. At least he wasn't a widower.

"You're like a therapist," Alex said.

"Not at all. I'm just a companion." Marcus took a fresh tissue from the box and dabbed below Alex's eyes, cleaning up the tears on his cheeks. "I take care of people's social needs, that's all."

Alex smiled, genuinely. He did feel like he was being taken care of. Marcus smiled back. It seemed like Marcus had calmed down. His hands had steadied. The color was back in his cheeks.

"There we go." Marcus wadded up the tissue and left it on the duvet. "Feeling better?"

"Not a lot."

"Well, you still have a little under an hour, and your co-worker isn't getting that money back. And we have wine that's already been paid for. How about we both stay in here for a little longer until we've totally collected our nerves."

Marcus poured two glasses of wine while Alex tried drying up the rest of his tears and snot and threw the tissues away so the unfortunate housekeepers wouldn't have to pull them off the bed and floor the next morning.

Alex watched Marcus' delicate hands offer him a wine glass. His long fingers held the stem in between the most gentle grip.

"It really is okay," Marcus said. "You can keep crying if you need to."

"I don't want to cry. It feels like it'd give them too much satisfaction."

"Do you mind me asking why you even trusted your co-workers in the first place? They don't seem like they're your friends."

"They're not really. But I've known them for years. It's like a weird work relationship where you just start trusting the people you see every day."

"Aww. They really took advantage of you."

"Yeah. Maybe I'm just too naive."

"I don't think this makes you naive. I just think you were letting yourself be vulnerable and open to a first date. It's admirable. They just fucked you over."

Maybe Marcus had a point. He couldn't hold himself totally accountable. But it felt like he was in school again, totally unaware that he was being picked on until it had gone on for a long time. It was years of trauma resurfacing, and all of his bitterness was aimed directly toward the Douche Bags.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to look at them on Monday. They're probably expecting me to come in absolutely mortified."

Marcus laughed a little. "You could be like, 'It was such a nice night. Thanks for arranging it. Give Marcus a nice review for me. Hope you tipped him well.'"

"God, no."

"Or just plead ignorance. Tell them you had a great date and you think you want to see me again. Pretend like you never picked up on the fact I was an escort."

"They would shit themselves."

"Then do it! Don't let them think they've won this. I give you full permission to use stigma against sex workers to mess with them."

Maybe it was two glasses of wine talking, but Alex didn't think that was a half-bad idea. They didn't deserve the satisfaction of knowing how poorly Alex felt that night.

His bitterness was transitioning into a lust for revenge. He could embarrass the Douche Bags just as much as they tried embarrassing Alex. He was finally going to one-up someone.

It would be payback for high school bullies and the classmates who brushed him off in college. For once, Alex could grab control. He would not be the butt of the joke. He would not be the one uncomfortable or burning with shame.

New energy washed over him. Marcus' motivation and kindness were giving him a burst of confidence he had never felt before.

"What if," Alex said, "I do tell them that I had a nice night and that I did find out you're an escort?"

"Do it."

"And I maybe hire you again some night? But make it look like it's a real date?"

"You want to hire me to pretend to be your boyfriend for people who know I'm an escort?"

"Think it'll work?"

"I have no idea. I've never been asked that before. Usually, I'm hired to mingle with people who don't know I'm an escort. It's sort of the whole goal."

"It would be one more date."

"As long as you pay, I don't care what you have planned."

"It doesn't go against any moral code to trick people like this?"

Marcus raised his eyes to the ceiling and pressed his lips together. "I guess," he said, "if no one is getting hurt, it's okay. It wouldn't be any different than me showing up to parties pretending to be someone's partner, would it? You're not going to plan something malicious?"

"No." Alex laid his wine glass down on the nightstand. He stood and began pacing, wrapping his arms around himself. "I think if we could do one believable date, they'd buy it. And then I say it didn't work out for some totally normal reason."

"But how are they supposed to know about this second date?"

"Good point."

Marcus put his chin in his hands and leaned on his knees. He watched Alex's short walk from one side of the hotel room to the next. He had such large, beautiful eyes, Alex thought. Such a shame he would only see them one more time.

"Do you have any social commitments?" Marcus asked.

"Not any coming up."

"Not even an office party?"

Alex turned on his heel toward Marcus. Yes. "There's a Halloween party next month. Think you can pencil me in?"

"Is it on Halloween?"

"Yes. It starts at 8."

"I'll have to double-check, but I think it'll work. I try not to schedule anything on Halloween because it's my and my brother's favorite holiday, but I'll make an exception."

"Oh. Well, thank you. You don't have to do that."

"No, it's fine. I have a feeling Leo isn't going to be up for much this year."

"Leo's your brother?"

The soft look he momentarily had over dinner returned. "Yeah."

Alex sat back down. He might as well try reaching out to Marcus a little. "Younger?"

"Yeah. He's a senior in college. He's applying to a lot of grad schools, and deadlines are coming up." When Marcus talked about Leo, his voice was gentle, and he tucked his body into itself. "He might want me out of the apartment anyway so he can get work done."

"You guys live together?"

"Yeah. Same deal with you and your sister. He can commute if he lives with me." Marcus gently jabbed Alex in the side with his elbow. "Guess we have some things in common."

They poured another glass of wine for each of them and relaxed a little into the bed. Marcus rested on his side, propping himself up on his elbow.

"Leo's really smart," he said.

He began telling stories of Leo, how he was always great at solving problems when he was a kid. He was in his high school's honor society, he graduated with honors, he got a great scholarship to college. And now he had an astounding GRE score but was worried about finding a way to pay for his master's and all of the application fees.

It was unfair that someone so smart and who worked so hard was afraid of being able to afford school. Any school would be lucky to have him, but there he was trying to pick up extra hours at work so he could at least let the schools know he existed.

Of course, Marcus said, he was trying to help him pay for everything. He had covered the cost of the GRE for him as a birthday gift, and he was hoping Leo would let him pay for at least a few applications. Marcus was picking up extra clients whenever he could to try to get enough money together. He was always trying to take care of Leo.

He didn't let Leo pay any rent. Alex sheepishly admitted he had asked Eve to pitch in for some of the bills. Marcus told him different strokes for different folks. The city was expensive, and it was hard to make rent on one's own.

Marcus loved Leo dearly, Alex could tell. And he felt bad about thinking that Marcus was going to steal a kidney. He was clearly a sweet man. Alex could have stayed all night in that hotel room, just talking about siblings and the city. He wished the date had been real. He was sure he would have taken Marcus somewhere to keep talking. Maybe coffee. Maybe it could have been very romantic if he got lucky. And the potential for that romance or friendship would eat away at Alex forever.

He wanted to stay up all night with Marcus. He didn't want to leave.

But he only had that one hour. How much was even left? The bedside table clock was unplugged, and Alex dreaded checking his phone for the time.

"Shit," Alex said. "I'm sorry. It's 8:45. Shouldn't this have ended 45 minutes ago?"

Marcus shrugged. "You didn't get the full service tonight, so I think it's fair you got an extra 45 minutes. I don't have any other clients tonight."

"Yeah, but you have that Netflix binge."

"That I do." Marcus pulled out his phone. "Leo will probably be wondering what's happening if I stay at this hotel any longer."

"Does he track your location?"

"'Course. If I end up dead, he'll know exactly where my body is."

"My sister made me turn on my location in case you stole my kidneys."

"Smart girl. I listened to a podcast about that."

Alex didn't want to stand up from the bed, but Marcus got to his feet. He raised his arms above his head and arched his back in a satisfying stretch. His sweater and dress shirt lifted, and Alex saw a little sliver of his stomach. There was a little trail of dark hair above his belt. Alex loved little happy trails on men, but he had never seen one in person.

"Here." Marcus took the hotel's pad and pen off the nightstand. "I don't do this for a lot of clients, but since I apparently have a security issue on the app, I'm giving you one of my phone numbers."

"One of?"

"Yeah, I use one of those messaging apps that gives you a number that's different than your actual number."

"Clever."

"Thank you." Marcus tore off the paper and handed it to Alex. "Text me when you want to make plans for that party. I'll send you prices, and I'm going to make you go through my whole security process again. No offense, but since you technically haven't been through it yet, I'd like to double-check that I have all your current information."

"Yeah. Sure."

They left their empty wine glasses on a dresser. Alex's head was a little light, a little fuzzy. He followed Marcus through the cramped room, watching the back of his head. Marcus ruffled the curls, letting them come a little loose after pulling at them.

Marcus took Alex's coat and held it out for him put back on. Alex put his arms in, holding his breath.

Next, Marcus opened the door for Alex, and Alex thought he'd die from the chivalry. He paused in the hallway for Marcus to make sure the door had locked behind them before taking the dreaded steps away from the room.

"If it counts for anything," Marcus said, "I had a very nice night."

"Even though I cried?"

"I told you." Marcus lowered his voice. "People cry. It's fine."

Marcus called an elevator but didn't move when the doors opened. He gestured for Alex to enter. Alex figured that they were parting there, that their night together was over. Finally.

"I'll text you with the details about the party," Alex said.

"Sounds good."

Alex stepped into the elevator. When the doors began to close, Marcus threw his hand out to stop them.

"Some of my clients know," he said, "my name's not Marcus. It's Damián. That's my honest-to-god name."

"Damián. That's a nice name."

"I'm trusting you with it, Alex."

Damián hadn't taken his kidneys and left him for dead in the bathtub. Alex could return the favor and keep his name close to his chest.

Damián smiled one last time, showing his too-white teeth. The doors closed between them.

[h2bakugou]

🍀 hello! I have a suggestion

How would the class 1 a boys react to you both getting recognized in public as "the secret class 1 a couple?!" And seeing it on the news or social media, Before yous are dating. Hope this makes sense 💖

a/n: hi!! this is super cute! i decided to do a bunch of the boys from 1-a, i didn’t get to do all of them, but this is certainly a cute idea!!

headcanon: them reacting to news of being a couple before they’re actually a couple

key: (y/n) - your name / (f/n) - first name / (l/n) - last name / (e/c) - eye color / (h/c) - hair color / (y/q) - your quirk

warnings: fluff, swearing

;cut for length;

»»————-　★　————-««

katsuki bakugou

»»————-　★　————-««

It happens during a training battle with class 1-B. 

It’s just a little get together, the two classes joining for some competitive training.

You’re working with Bakugou since he tolerates you the most, which he would gladly chose you over Beavis and Butt-Head Kirishima and Kaminari.

He also has a crush on you but that’s a secret teehee.

You got one on him too so don’t act all innocent.

But of course, Monoma happens to be one of the members of the group you face off with.

He’s just messing with you, teasing you. Calling you pet names like Angel or Honey.

He’s doing it ‘cause it clearly pisses Bakugou off.

“I’m sorry, where are my manners, flirting with your significant other.” Monoma apologizes as he slaps Bakugou’s shoulder, activating his quirk.

“We’re not dating!?” You yell as you charge at the blonde that isn’t your crush.

“So you mean the entire class has been lying to me?” Monoma pouts.

After training, Bakugou asks you out, stating he’d been thinking of doing it sooner but he had been caught up with staying top of the class-

He was most certainly jealous.

»»————-　★　————-««

izuku midoriya

»»————-　★　————-««

HIS MOM. PLEASE. IT’S HIS MOM AND ALL MIGHT THAT ARE LIKE YOOO CONGRATS ON yOU TWO GETTING TOGETHER.

Like legit, Deku’s in some parent-teacher conference and All Might is like ‘many things are blossoming, such as young love.’

And his mom is just like ‘finally you and y/n got together, about damn time.’

And Deku’s just like ????? IM SORRY????////

Literally races over to you and is like

“They think we’re together-”

And you’re just like

“Well damn we should be” *lip bite*

Deku blushes but asks you out on the spot so he doesn’t have to explain to his mom that it wasn’t like that.

Lowkey he had the biggest crush on you and was just really nervous that you were too occupied with studies to even notice him.

His mom is so proud of him, probably throws him a party or something for your first official date- please i love her 

»»————-　★　————-««

shoto todoroki

»»————-　★　————-««

Tell me why I think this fool finds out about the whole ‘secret couple’ thing from Dabi-

It’s just so bad that it’s absolutely perfect.

Tell me that this crispy ass patchwork villain would not take every opportunity to tease Shoto.

“So you came here to fight me with your true love? Perhaps romance isn’t dead.”

Literally about to light his ass on fire and Shoto’s just frozen-yeah go on laugh I know you want too-and just stares at this dude like??? 

come again? pardon?

Deadass looks over at you and just raises an eyebrow.

“I think he thinks we’re a couple.” You fill in the blanks and Todoroki eventually nods.

“Well yes, they are indeed my true love, but I think this might be a bit extreme for a first date. Perhaps when we’re done beating your ass, I can take them out for dinner.”

chivalry isn’t dead *heart eye emojis*

»»————-　★　————-««

denki kaminari

»»————-　★　————-««

Honestly with the flirty comments you litter under each other’s social media posts, google probably be recommended y’all relationship stuff, those little heart lamp message things, matching necklaces, technology was dropping all the hints.

No but Kirishima probably just assumes you’re together when Kaminari brings you along to one of the mall trips they usually go on.

“Dude you finally asked them out, sick, took you long enough.” 

Cue red Kaminari. Man is a tomato. Like he just turns to you shaking throwing a thumbs up.

“Awe, you like me?” You give him a hug and kiss his cheek, shoving your hand in his.

“Yeah, totally, I mean who wouldn’t.” Kaminari is back to being smug, he’s got a pretty person’s hand in his own he is now taken JSFSJFJ

He will literally be in debt to Kirishima for getting the two of you together. Like he’s deadset on somehow repaying Kirishima.

»»————-　★　————-««

eijiro kirishima

»»————-　★　————-««

Two words. Katsuki Bakugou.

Kirishima is super sweet, like I just see him doing a bunch of really nice stuff for you, helping you carry things to your dorm, or like maybe doing your hair if you asked.

Bakugou is extremely observant and will just watch how y’all act but like he’s finally so tired of watching you act like a couple. He knows you two have to be a thing so why hasn’t Kirishima mentioned it.

WHY IS BKAUOGU MAD THAT KIRISHIMA IS LIKE NOT SAYING HE”S TAKEN DUDE FKSFKSJI JUST KNOW HE WOULD BE SJFSKFSJK

“We get it you’re together! Just cut the sappy shit already!” Bakugou snaps randomly one day because you’re just sitting in his lap because all the couch seats are taken.

Your cheeks burn and Kirishima’s face turns the same crimson color as his hair.

“Dude we’re-”

“Friends.” You finish, but there’s a hint of sadness.

“You certainly don’t act like. Fucking ask each other out already goddamn.”

Do what he boss says.

Kirishima brings you pretty flowers and asks you out, literally taking you on a date when you say yes, god he’s so sweet love him kiss kiss.

»»————-　★　————-««

tenya iida

»»————-　★　————-««

Honestly, I think Aizawa’s gonna just have to lecture Iida on social cues. ‘Cause Iida may seem like he’s just being a good class rep, but walking you to and from class, carrying your bag, and tucking hair behind your ear are most certainly beyond what classifies as ‘class rep behavior.’

A bunch of students from class 1-a are gonna be really suspicious, whispering around, making plans to try and catch it happening.

Sure enough, Iida’s carrying your bag as you walk back toward the dorm building, your pinkies just barely touching, before you finally heave a sigh and interlock yours with his.

Kaminari can’t hold in his excitement, congratulating the navy-haired class rep on scoring such a hottie.

“I’m confused, you’re congratulating me-”

“Because you finally asked (y/n) out!” Iida just turns red and stares at you.

“No no, I think you may have misinterpreted!”

“Really? On god? Just like that?” You pout, lowering your head.

“No! I...” 

Iida quite literally has to prove he likes you by kissing you in front of the class. Guess it’s not really a secret anymore.

»»————-　★　————-««

hanta sero

»»————-　★　————-««

Much like Kirishima, Bakugou and/or Kaminari and/or Kirishima play a big role in ‘exposing’ the two of you.

Late nights in each other’s dorm playing video games?

Wearing each other’s sweaters?

Picnics and walks together?

Yeah try convincing off-brand pikachu, red robin, and the fitness gram pacer test you’re not together.

the fitness gram pacer test bit sounded much better in my head but i didn’t really have any other funny nickname for bakugou other than johnny test which made about as much sense as the fitness gram pacer test.

“Yo we’re going to the mall!” Kaminari is the first to spill the plans for the weekend.

“Oh shoot alright-”

“I meant us. Don’t you have a date with (Y/n)?” Kaminari points to the rest of the group, excluding you and Sero who sat side by side, under a knitted blanket.

“Uhm, Kaminari we’re-”

“Oh no, I know you like them.” Kaminari leans in really close to Sero’s face before squishing his cheeks and turning him to face you.

“I’m so sorry.” Sero whispers to you.

You roll your eyes and lean over, planting a kiss on his cheek, earning a few cheers from Mina and Kaminari who pretty much played matchmaker.

Sero takes you out on a date when they plan to go to the mall, but it was really all a ruse to spy on you on your date.

»»————-　★　————-««

masterlist

[merlinsmushrooms]

Salt Lake Con Report!

{{I’m finally home, and thus it’s time to ramble about my adventures with my partner in crime... Warning: This is essentially nothing but fanspazzing and bubbly excitement. I have a large number of folks I need to give con stories to, and it’s just easier to put all of it in a post and link it than repeat everything over and over.}}

There’s nothing better than finally meeting one of your closest internet friends in real life, and that’s exactly what happened over the weekend. @sorceryandjellybeans pitched in to help me come down to Utah for the weekend to join them in a group cosplay, and oh boy was it a weekend I’m not going to forget. 

Thursday was the first real day of the con and I whipped Cedric back out for it. I didn’t really get photos of him since it wasn’t my main focus, but more people recognized him there than ever before. It was really nice since it doesn’t seem like Sofia’s really popular where I live.

^ literally the only photo we took outside a dorky one Sorc asked me to do that I am not putting on here for reasons {maybe later}

The first thing we did when the doors opened to general admission was plop our butts down at Jess Harnell’s both. Our main focus was for Sorc to meet Harnell because she had been waiting far too long for the opportunity, and we joked about if he’d remember me from CCEE or not. He did.

I don’t think it’s possible to describe the feeling you get when one of your idols says you’re one of his favorite cosplayers, but it happened and I practically internally exploded. I also don’t think I can describe the mutual reaction that was had when I pulled out a Loud and Clear CD from waaaaaaaay back in the day, and then his reaction when I pulled the entire set out of Sorc’s bag. It was my goal to get all of the ones that weren’t signed already signed by the end of the weekend. I think he appreciated the absurdity of it rofl. After several hugs and me being unable to cope with the words of praise coming out of his mouth, I got my autograph and Sorc got her turn. I’ll let her share her own experience, because to be perfectly honest I was starstruck in the moment, and can barely comprehend what was going on. Grats on having him borderline sign your chest though.  ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) {Also, he pulled out the Wakko voice because she brought an Animaniacs shirt.}

grats you all know my name now

Earlier in the day we noticed that one of the panel rooms had a panel for him. It was apparently scheduled at the very last second, and it wasn’t in the guide book or anything. Of course we went.

It was absolutely hilarious. I’m crossing my fingers a video of the panel is posted sometime online soon, because holy crap. I couldn’t breathe half the time because we were laughing so hard. If you haven’t been to a panel with him yet, do it. {Honestly, if you haven’t met him yet and get the chance, do that too. He LOVES his fans. Literally everybody who meets him walks out beaming, and trust me, I met a lot of people this weekend who got the squishes from him.}

Jess may or may not {aka: did} force me to stand up in front of the audience after somebody mentioned something about Sofia . It’s up there on one of the most awkward moments of my life. I just don’t take praise well, and here I am constantly getting it from the man himself? I honestly have no idea how to feel right now.

Hotel room evenings essentially looked like this:

No complaints. Marathoning StF with Sorc’s smol was a welcome evening break~ Lots of hot tubbing too— leaking glass roof included!

Friday turned to chaos quickly as an accident happened, and my buddy was unable to attend due to a serious concern that I’d rather not share. {They might, but privacy is important.} I wound up going by myself in my normal{ish} clothes to get both our daily autographs done, and the volunteers and Jess both seemed extremely concerned when I mentioned what happened. Luckily, I got a text saying everything was okay while I was chatting with him about the incident.  Lots of hugs were exchanged and he gave me a very heart touching second autograph after giving me many many many words that I’d honestly never heard from anybody else before in my life. {The one he gave Sorc was also adorable as heck. POST IT. PLEASE GIRL.}

Now onto the 2nd most important thing we did over the weekend. The Rock Sugar concert. 

I’m gonna brag because Sorc did something amazing and I still can’t even what we got away with.

Best. View. Ever. THE SOUND SYSTEM GOT BLOWN OUT BEFORE THEY EVEN PLAYED. THEY PLAYED NEW SONGS.  THEY HAD TABERNACLE CHOIR PEOPLE COME OUT FOR SHOOK ME LIKE A PRAYER?!??! THEY SHOT A MUSIC VIDEO!? WE GOT POINTED AT AND I SWOON. THEY FOUND OLD T-SHIRTS AND WE GOT SOME. CROWDSURFING RED SHORTS GUY. NIKKI CAN’T THROW. THEY’RE GONNA GET SUED. MAGIC PANTS.

FSDKFLSDMFSLKFDNSDKLFNSDKLFNSDKLGNKLGNSKL NGFLSNGD.

I honestly never thought I’d be able to see this show live again, but I did. And I can’t even.

Saturday was the main day of the con for us. That’s when Sorc whipped out all the costumes she made, and things got crazy. I was cosplaying Sofia in a dress that I watched her stress over for months, and I still feel I didn’t do that amazing piece of art justice. Words cannot describe how talented she is with her cosplay. This dress is going to be my new treasure and you know it, girl.

The reception we got was insane. It felt like we couldn’t walk for more than 5 minutes without a child waving out to us. I’ll be honest and say I felt entirely uncomfortable in the role at first. I didn’t know how to pose as I’m not a “girly girl” at all, but the kids really helped calm me down and reassured me I was the real deal to them.  Seriously, the very first thing that happened before we even got inside was a child came up to me and asked me for my autograph. I was not expecting anything like that to happen.

Sorc interacting with her daughter - who was dressed as Calista - was also the most adorable thing ever. Nothing beats Calista and Cedric cuteness. Nothing. Her mom was also dressed like Winnifred. The whole group dynamic was just beyond cute. 

We went back to visit Jess for the final time as a group, and it was just... I have no words. Photos were taken. The smol got loved. The costumes were praised. It really felt like everybody’s hard work paid off. 

Also two words: Booth. Babe. {For like 5 minutes. Inside joke.} I got to wait around at the booth in full cosplay for Chuck {the guitarist} to come around and sign the old Loud and Clear CDs. He’s so nice. I laughed when he saw them and exclaimed that he didn’t even have some of these CDs. Heck, even a lady in the line asked to see them because they were so old and she hadn’t seen them in a very long time. These things are treasures to me now.

Please excuse me as I scream and also point out cheezy 90s packaging.  My goal of getting all my CDs signed was not only completed, but he wrote the nicest things?! ANFJKSDFSFSDGSF.

Smol went down for a nap after all this {her mom was babysitting}, and Sorc and I got to wander around by ourselves until the costume contest started. Our photographers batteries apparently died so he had to cancel on us, but he hooked us up with a new one and we pretty much spent an hour with that guy running around the convention center doing all sorts of awkward stuff. We felt really bad that we had to decline photos with people {especially the little ones} while were were trying to run between shoot locations, but he was super nice and let people snap shots as he was working once we got to our spots.

I seriously cannot wait to see some of these photos. I’m kinda self conscious and worried that I’m squinting in them  or I’m looking down and ruining my chin - it’s a huge problem I have in general and I have to really focus to not, and it’s hard when you’re that hyped up - but I should shut up and focus on all the fun we had posing instead. Books. Ravens. Wand chases. Recreating a friend’s drawing. Some of the shots might come across as a bit shippy, so we really need to sit down and figure out how we want to handle some of them, but we’ll be sharing whatever photos we both agree turned out once we have them. Just a reminder that anything we post together is platonic; do not force ships onto us, please. Keep with our intentions of cute uncle/niece stuff. <3

We eventually got to do the costume contest, and that was nerve wracking. I felt a bit silly because again, I’m not the Princess type, but as soon as our little Calista walked on stage and the crowd went nuts, everything fell into place and things just felt as they should. World’s cutest wizard family goes to Sorc!

I honestly didn’t want to go home or for the weekend to end, but it is as it is. It’s back to being a grumpy wizard again.

We’ll get those cosplay photos from Saturday up as soon as we’re able! 

ps: cedric no hoverhanding

[zulivaris]

Art Block tips that helped me

 I’ve recently experienced art block after 3 or so months of overcoming my last one. Thankfully this block only lasted a few days thanks to some things I’ve observed and noted down from the previous time. So I’m sharing these few tips in hopes that it might help someone get unstuck :D!

First and foremost if you’re tired, sad or anxious don’t be surprised that you can’t make art, go and take care of yourself by treating yourself with kindness and patience, the sketchbooks and canvases will wait for you :)

The tips are under here:

Separate art studies from the creative time:  When you do art studies you’re there to focus on specific things, learn and understand how things work so you can apply them later in your art. Studies take a lot of energy and focus and are the opposite of the creative "flow” of making your own pieces. If you combine the two the results are either unfocused studies or stiff drawings. When you sit down at your desk ask yourself “Do I want to learn something new or do I want to create something of my own?”

When you have an idea don’t be afraid of being messy: Let’s say you want to make a picture of several cats kolo dancing in the moonlight. How do you go about doing this? Well since you came up with the idea you already have a vague image in your mind, sketch it out with simple shapes, stick figures, circle and spheres etc Don’t worry about cat anatomy, or the dancer’s moves, sketch out the essence of it. This method removes the need to be perfect or accurate. 

Ok after the messy sketch then what? Well now that you have sketched out the essence of your idea (and hopefully had fun doing so) now you go on to look for references! You put the creative process on pause and you can do a few brief studies if you need to: anatomy, color schemes, values, poses. Pick out a few of your favorites but don't obsess over them, they are a guide, a tool.

You know much more than you think. You’ve probably been drawing for a few years now. You’ve probably done some studies and drawn more than one type of subject. Then you have already internalized some of that information. I used to be obsessed with capturing the minute detail of the subject, and not be able to draw ANYTHING without reference. Instead of a useful tool, references became another obstacle to my creativity. That’s perfectionism my friend, and that’s no good. Here is an exercise a good friend of mine offered: Draw a few characters, animals and objects from imagination. Make sure that the subjects have no personal value to you (no ocs for example) so that if you make a mistake you won’t feel bad about it. Make the process relaxed and comfortable, pour a nice cup of joe, listen to your favorite music ... You will notice that you do indeed know how to draw some things without reference, and it’ll help with your confidence. 

The more you do studies the more you understand This seems evident but the more you understand your subject the freer you can be and the easier it’ll be to draw it from imagination in the future. If you really struggle with something to the point of frustration (as in you can’t get it right even with reference) It means you have to study it. Have a study list, for example: hands, perspective, color theory etc. And one of those days you want to study pick something from the list, and look for videos on youtube or useful sites like line of action etc. Only study one thing at the time. You can go from studying hands to studying arms since they’re more immediately connected, but you can’t study hands and then jump to learning perspective right after. Trust me you can learn perfectly fine with the resources online, and I’m sure you’re clever enough to do it :D

Mistakes don’t mean you “suck”  I’ve noticed that the two most common causes for art block are perfectionism and lack of self-confidence.  The two can often go in tandem which is worse :’D But let me remind you of something, you can fix your piece along the whole process. Use erasers, lasso tools, liquify , select, paint it all over etc If something looks off to you then you also know deep inside how to fix it. Useful ways to see what clunks: flip canvas horizontally (helps with placement, proportions), turn the image to grayscale (helps to check values and where your eye tends to look), look at your image in thumbnail size and ask yourself if it’s clear, see the pose’s silhouette and ask yourself if you can tell what the character is doing etc. Don’t fret, everything can always be fixed :)

Perfectionism, sometimes it stops you before you begin Perfectionism causes you to overwork a piece, it makes you draw less, it makes art stressful, it brings insecurity. Let’s remove it with a simple exercise. It can be combined with the “draw things from imagination” once you’ve drawn something you like: dont do line art, don’t shade it, keep it as simple and crude as possible and then...post it. Yes, post it. You’re not at your best? You’re only human, this will help you embrace that very human side of you. You make mistakes. So what? The more mistakes you make the more you know what you need to study and the better at art you become. Mistakes are there to show us what we need to learn. See them as another tool and not a sign of failure.

Make the process as enjoyable as possible: You like art. You love drawing. Never forget this. Otherwise why are you drawing if you don’t enjoy it? It’s easy to fall prey to the mentality of those relatable memes that “art= suffering” or “I can’t even draw the other eye”. No no no my friends, these messages are fueling your insecurities instead of overcoming them. Let me tell you what, art is fun. It is. Art is fun, because I decided to make it fun again. And you should decide on that too. Personally I adore lineart but my hand-eye coordination is lacking to do it digitally, so....I just skipped it. Yes. I skipped it. I do the sketch, I clean it up a bit and then jump onto color which I adore. It allowed me to draw more and more freely. When I draw I listen to music, make strokes with the rhythm, I take breaks often and I drink my favorite iced teas. If you don’t like coloring do it in grayscale, if you love lineart then do that etc It doesn’t mean you won’t learn your weak points in the future with studies and practice, but you won’t let your weaknesses prevent you from drawing at all. No no, you won’t let them. You draw because you want to, despite of them.

Don’t wait for inspiration, provoke it  Inspiration is not a divine and capricious muse. You make inspiration. It’s easy just collect all the things you like, music, artists, objects, characters, animals, patterns, plants etc Make boards on pinterest or similar sites, combine things you like. You like suits? You like birds? You can draw a bird in a suit, or a bird-inspired suit design, there is frankly a lot of ideas that can spring up from little things like these.

When a project stops being enjoyable either pause it for now or move on to the next thing. Pieces aren’t precious. They’re not “the one time I got x right” they are one of many. This advice goes mainly to hobbyists who can afford the luxury of passing to a new project. I have a WIP of a character who is overly complicated (I enjoy a challenge from time to time) sitting for half a month. I sometimes come back to it and add something... but as soon as it starts to create discomfort and insecurity instead of enjoyment I move onto something else. In the meantime I created 3 or 4 new pieces. If I had waited on finishing that piece I would have been severely creatively and physically exhausted. The art comes from you, not inspiration. The more art you make the better you become.

That’s about it :D I know it’s long but I prefer to be thorough and cover all the possibilities. If you have read of this: Thank you so much I hope this helps you at least a bit, if it helps only 1 other person I’d still be very happy. Have a nice one, and kick art block’s butt!

[calliopeebles]

outline-like thing i’m writing to further flesh out the Everything’s Fine concept. for context, there’s a really cool undertale AU comic i started reading a couple days after i first came up with the idea, and ‘Everything is fine’ is a recurring phrase at a point in the where everything is not, in fact, fine. also the youtube link goes to that one cr1tikal clip, you know the one. there’s a transcript under the cut.

CENTRAL PREMISE: Post - Weird Route, the entity controlling Kris's SOUL feels awful and desperately tries to atone for the harm they've done in any way they can.

THE EVENING AFTER - At the hospital, Kris attempts to reassure Noelle that it was only a bad dream, and not to worry about it. However, they forgot to take off Noelle's watch, so Noelle isn't exactly convinced. Noelle's finger also still hurts from the Thorn Ring. - Berdly wakes up in the dark closet. BERDLY'S BACK https://youtu.be/sAXZbfLzJUg -WOO YEAH BABY DEFROSTED BERDLY TIME except he's not like a badass with ice powers who wants to kick Kris's/your ass or anything, more like a frostbitten and pissed off nervous wreck. He refused to die with the power of, you guessed, it, determination. Which of course does imply that his ultimate fate will be a bit... melty. I'm going back and forth about whether I want him to die at the end. -There has to be a conversation between him and Noelle where they can just talk about stuff honestly, no more miscommunication, and ends with a long hug. I don't really know how to work it in, given... y'know, everything, but I need the catharsis. [Oh man what if they hug but Berdly has already started to melt and they become fused as a new amalgamate, oh man would that be messed up or what oh MAN i should lean into the Inverted Fate parallels, embrace the name of this concept] -DT Overload Melt Scene- "Berdly smiles." "For the first time in weeks, he feels warm and comfortable." "Everything is going to be okay." MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH... BY WHICH I MEAN CASTLE TOWN - Lancer, having been asleep for the whole ordeal, doesn't see what the big deal is with Kris and Noelle. Since he's still techniaclly the king of the Card Kingdom, maybe some of his 'subjects' will listen if he orders them to treat his friends nicely. Some darkners are worried for his saftey seeing him palling around with the murder duo. Some are worried that he's also going to start killing. Generally, there is an air of discomfort and it's probably pissing Lancer off and making him sad. Who's gonna fill him in on what happened? QUEEN REGRETS NOTHING AND HAS LEARNED NOTHING - Noelle never stood up to her, so she never internalized the lesson that her plans aren't going to make her happy and that she really doesn't know what's best for her. So, Noelle still has to dodge her everywhere. - Queen still cares a lot about Noelle, and will defend her character against anyone and anything, though the whole sitaution has put her in a bit of a mental tailspin regarding her perceptions of the girl. She knew that Noelle was strong in ways that no one else, not even she knew, but also knew that she could never say no to anyone. She never took into account the fact that there were other authoritive presences in her life, and the idea of Noelle recieving orders from another Lightner scared her more than she wanted to admit to herself. - Meanwhile, King, still sulking in jail, sees Noelle as definitve proof of the inherently careless and cruel nature of Lightners. He and Queen butt heads over that, remembering why they're divorced. (Maybe.)

[illfoandillfie]

Impersonal

As promised, here’s the smutty followup to yesterday’s blurb! This is the fifth post of seven in my Platonically themed event. Again, it’s not really been edited because it’s late and I’m very tired but alas, thats how it goes. 

Words: 2,278

Warning: some vague dom/sub dynamic stuff with a more dom Ben, spanking, it’s P in V sex but theres a lot of talk about butts. Also they’re still dorks. 

It had been a nice day. You and Ben had gone out with a few friends, just a little picnic in the park to catch up with everyone. If you’d been at all worried about publicly being together on a no romo day, then it was for nothing. As much as everyone there considered you and Ben to be an item, it mostly went ignored, aside from a couple of questions about how you’d gone living together so far. But having such a big lunch, everyone having brought something to share, neither of you were especially hungry at dinner time. Ben whipped up a pot of butted noodles for you to pick at as you watched TV but it was soon set aside as you shifted to lean against the arm rest with your legs stretched out to lay over Ben’s thighs. Each of you were engrossed in your phones more than the quiz show he’d flicked on, occasionally sharing something you saw or read.  

You had opened tumblr and were scrolling through your dash, pausing to read longer bits here and there but mostly just liking images and reblogging memes. Until you hit a patch of not safe for work content. One of the porn blogs you’d long since forgotten you’d followed had hit a rare patch of activity, every second post one of theirs. Those posts you paid a little more attention to, especially when videos and explicit images were involved since you knew they were likely to be taken down soon and you didn’t want to miss out on seeing something hot. Unfortunately your headphones were in another room so you weren’t game to turn the sound on for any of the videos but the visuals and erotic comments below were enough to make you feel as if the room as heated up. You could feel yourself getting wetter at each new post but couldn’t seem to stop looking at them.  

A particularly good video of a sloppy blowjob made you clench your thighs together, your foot rubbing against Ben’s thigh as a result. His palm came to rest on the top of your foot, rubbing it soothingly, though his attention was still elsewhere. In fact, his gaze didn’t shift until a little later when you were looking at a very hot gifset of a woman on all fours, crying as she was pounded from behind. He cleared his throat. You jolted a little at the sound and tried not to look too guilty as you met his eye.   “You okay?” “Mmhmm,” His eyes travelled over you from the lip between your teeth to your tightly pressed thighs and your fingers wrapped firmly around the phone.   “I don’t mean to interrupt,” he said, clearly meaning to do exactly that, “but ummmm, are you watching porn right now?” “No,” you answered too quickly. “Hey, you don’t have to hide it if you are, go nuts. I’m just a little curious about what’s turned you on so much you’re practically panting. And can I help?” “I’m not watching anything. It’s just some gifs I saw.” “Well I think QPR law states you have to show me or you’d be a big meanie.” You chuckled and handed the phone to Ben, a little curious about how he’d react.   Ben watched the gifs through a couple of times before nodding, “Yeah, that’s uhhh, that’s pretty hot,” he rubbed your foot again as he kept watching the looped footage. “Are you turned on?” “Yeah, a bit,” “Hmmm, same.” “Should we-” “Do you wanna-” You spoke at the same time and then both laughed a little as you simultaneously agreed, “Yeah.” Immediately you swung your legs around intending to walk towards the bedroom and Ben followed for about two steps before he stopped suddenly, “Wait. This is a no romo day, right? Do you still feel anti-romance?” “Yes and yeah I think so. Why?” Ben shrugged, “I don’t think we’ve ever had sex on a no romo day so...how does it work?” “Oh, good point. Well.” you wanted to keep it brief, already worked up and wanting to move to the fun part, “I think it’s probably best if we keep it on kind of the rougher side, a little impersonal even. Could you maybe hit it from behind? I’m not really sure eye contact and all that stuff would be as fun for me right now.” “No need to ask twice. My hot partner wants me to look at her gorgeous arse while I fuck her? Yeah definitely into that.” “Jesus I’d forgotten you’re an arse man.” It was true too. As much as Ben might prefer ass to tits he also enjoyed the visual stimulation of watching you – seeing the pleasure on your face, watching your body react to his. So, while doggy style was a regular position for you, variations of missionary and cowgirl were probably a little more frequent. Which was wonderful, except not what you needed right then. Ben responded by poking his tongue out you but he seemed quite as eager to move things along, “So rough doggy then? Can I spank you?” “You’d be into that?” He shrugged, “I know we haven’t really done anything kinky yet but yeah, I enjoy spanking. I mean...watching an arse jiggle after it’s hit is incredibly hot.” You giggled, “spanking is very okay then. You could be a little mean too if you wanted, maybe calling me a degrading name to get at that impersonal thing. Slut maybe.” He hummed uncertainly, “I can try it if you really want but I gotta admit I’m not as into degrading stuff as I am spanking.” “It’s fine if you don’t, whatever works. Honestly, I’m already super horny so just do whatever you’re comfortable with and don’t get too gentle or loving with it, and I’ll be happy.” “I can definitely do rough for you. For instance,” You gasped as Ben grasped your hips and turned you around, positioning you in front of the arm of the couch before he pushed you to bend over it. It was a surprise considering Ben’s typical nature. He had his controlling or domineering moments but generally seemed happiest when he was showering you in affection or letting you take charge. Adding to the surprise was the way he tugged your pants down to your knees and began to touch you through your underwear. It made you squirm, trying to find a little more friction, but he only gave you a quick spank. Not overly hard but it didn’t have to be to make you feel tingly. Just knowing Ben was capable of an action like that was hot enough. All the same he pulled your knickers down too and ran his fingers through your folds.   “Wow, okay. You meant it when you said you were horny. Pretty wet already.” “No shit Sherlock. You know I don’t need lines like that that get you interested in fucking me.” He gave you another slap for your insolence.   “Better get you stretched out then, hadn’t we?” You felt two of Ben’s fingers rest against your entrance and expected to feel them sink into you too. But it didn’t happen.   “What’s the hold up, Tiger? Ow,” the spank had been a little harder than the last.   “If you want them so bad, do it yourself.” Your breath caught as you realised what he meant and you shifted your hips back, levering yourself against the arm of the couch, until you felt his fingers penetrate you.   “That’s it Kitten. You’re too horny to wait, aren’t you? God you’ve got such a pretty arse. Giving me the best view right now. Your needy cunt soaking my fingers while your arse,” he hit you again, “jiggles. It’s making me so hard.” You whined, unable to find a better response, and rocked back against his fingers, slowly fucking yourself on them.   He let you go on like that for a little while, happy to listen to your hitched breaths and needy sighs as you got a little of what you needed. But then he pulled his fingers from you. You let out a disappointed whimper, “Ben, c’mon,” “I’m so hard from watching you be so desperate. Just gotta get my pants off. But you can play with yourself for me, can’t you?” You nodded and shifted so you could drop your fingers to your pussy. Ben gave your arse another slap, “Not what I meant Kitten. Play with your arse.” Startled by the low growl in his voice you quickly complied, leaning on the couch as your brought both hands up to grab your arse cheeks, squeezing them and pulling them apart to better show off your holes.” “That’s very good, Kitten. Spank yourself.” It wasn’t the same as when Ben spanked you since you knew what was coming and the position didn’t allow you to get as much force into your hits as he could. But it was definitely arousing and it definitely seemed to work for Ben. You’d barely registered the sound of his pants dropping before he was sliding into your wet and waiting cunt.   “I can take it from here,” Ben’s hands replaced yours, groping your arse as you dropped your arms back to the couch, though you felt it was useless to try and prop yourself up on them. It would only be a matter of time before you collapsed entirely.  

At first he kept the pace slower, letting you adjust to him, though each thrust was forceful, just as you’d asked it to be. But gradually Ben sped up, hands still playing with your cheeks, sometimes grabbing and sometimes spanking them. He tried to say more about how hot it was to take you like that but his own breath was escaping him as the words seemed to be. So he let his body talk for him as he pounded your cunt and dug his fingers into your flesh.   And then he pulled out.   You were on the verge of asking him who the fuck he thought he was when he said, “one second. Just want to try something.” and then, remembering he was meant to be acting mean, added, “And you just want me to keep fucking you, so you’re not going to complain.” In a disgruntled daze you let Ben help you up onto the back of the couch so that one leg was bent to lean against the arm he’d just had you bent over and the other dangled towards the floor. It took a little more adjustment before Ben was happy. First pulling you back towards him and the corner of the couch, and then pressing you to lean forward so your hips were raised and he could better access your pussy. You had to grab onto the back of the couch for support, digging your fingertips into the leather as Ben resumed fucking you.   The angle had changed a little and the position was slightly more awkward to maintain but it was worth it for the way your clit rubbed against the smooth leather, leaving a trail of wetness behind. Each thrust rocked your hips in such a way that you quickly found yourself getting close to release.

That, however, seemed to be Ben’s plan as he began telling you how good you were going to make him feel when he made you cum. “I know you’re close Kitten. So just cum. I want to feel your cunt on me when you do.” He lay another few spanks to your arse cheeks and that tipped you over into your orgasm.   But Ben didn’t stop.   “I th-think you can do bett-er than that,” he grit out as you clenched around him and he seemed to thrust twice as hard as he had before, “You were so,”   You grunted as he plowed into you. “So desperate before. So you can cum better than that. Right kitten?” You nodded and gasped out a, “Yes” as your arms shook with how hard Ben was fucking you.   But he didn’t relent. He kept going until he felt you tighten again and heard you moan, nearly sobbing as relief flooded your system.   That seemed to be enough for Ben and he let himself go too, holding your hip tightly as he pressed deep into you.  

Ben leaned his forehead against your back as he tried to regain his regular breathing rate and gave you a quick kiss there before he righted himself and helped you to dismount the couch. The evidence of your orgasms was still smeared across the leather but neither of you paid it any attention.   “Sorry I never called you a slut or anything,” Ben said with a slightly self-conscious chuckle, avoiding your eye as he hitched his pants back into place. “I just like Kitten better.” “Don’t be,” you said mirroring his actions to looking at him, “Kitten worked perfectly. Also, that was really good. Maybe you could be rough and mean more often?” “The double orgasm was a pretty good indication that it worked for you,” “Of shut up, I was being serious. It was really hot.” “Yes but I like teasing you, remember,” “Prick.” “That hurts,” he said with a fake gasp and a hand against his chest, “Keep talking like that and I’ll have to spank you again,” “Ha ha, very funny. Tease me all you want but we both you enjoyed it as much as I did.” “Maybe I did.” he conceded, “but I wasn’t going to hate it when I was watching your arse.” “Alright, you perv. Was there any leftover noodles? Bit peckish now.” “Yeah, in the fridge. Grab me some too would you?”

[4h4hi]

Pretty sure that's normal, right?

Hermittober 2021 -- Day 1 -- Wings -------------------- Etho's finally completed the No Wings Club! Which is great-- except for the fact that he no longer has an excuse not to use an elytra. (How do all the other hermits do it?!)

Or: Etho realizes-- with Bdubs' help-- that his experiences with elytra might not be the same as everyone else's. -------------------- Cross-posted on Ao3-- link in the notes! --------------------

    To fly, or not to fly. That was the question.

    Etho sighed, shaking his head. It was no use deliberating-- he might as well just get it over with.

    After he reached his thousand days in the No Wings Club, he'd stored an elytra in his enderchest, as well as some rockets-- he didn't need it around his and Iskall's base, thanks to Riptide, but the other hermits were a different matter. Visiting Doc had been a hassle while the club was still ongoing, and with the giant mountains that every hermit on the server seemed to be constructing, it would probably be best to get in back in the elytra routine as soon as possible.

    He shuffled the wings out of his enderchest, shaking them out before inspecting their condition. After ensuring the wings themselves were flying fit, he moved on to the horrible, awful, terrible straps of leather they were attached to, which were unfortunately also in working order. Sighing, he buckled them on-- he'd tried to pad the things before, even tried to etch some sort of feather falling-silk touch combo onto the interiors to make them magically less painful to wear...it'd worked with the surface-level pain from the constant digging into his skin through his vest, at least.

    "Ah! Etho!"

    He turned quickly, gripping the hilt of his sword before relaxing at the familiar sight of his friend's round, googly glasses. "Hey, how's it going, Bdubs?"

    Bdubs grinned brightly, leaning against a tree. "Oh, just fine, just fine. Been doing some work here and there on the Big Eyes shopping district-- ran out here to get a few more spruce logs, you know how it is." He pulled out his axe, tapping the butt of the blade against the trunk-- then paused, intrigued. "Wait a minute... are you wearing an elytra?!"

    "Yeppers." Etho flexed the faux wings experimentally. Good, the locking mechanism was working. "Got my final medal a few weeks ago, figured it was about time to get back into using this."

    Bdubs whistled. "Wow, got 'em dyed and everything already. A few weeks, though? You could wait that long?"

    "Well... 's'not like I really need elytra to get around in the savannah."

    "I guess." Bdubs shrugged-- then hefted his axe, wedging it into the bottom of the tree trunk. "Where are you headed, then?" Thunk. "Kinda"-- thunk-- "middle of nowhere"-- thunk-- he set the axe down, exhaling loudly. "Alright. Don't chop and talk, Bdubs, it's impolite. Where ya headed?"

    Etho shrugged. "Nowhere, really. I was planning on just flying around for a few minutes, getting back into shape, getting used to the whole thing."

    A snort. "Sure... getting used to it."

    "Yeah, well. I gotta make sure I don't fall in public." Etho shot back, perhaps a bit sharper than he should have-- "can't have the people know I'm not an expert."

    Bdubs nodded in mock seriousness-- "right, right. Of course! Gotta keep 'em all fooled." A sigh, a kind grin. "No, I'm just teasin' ya. Go do your flyin', poor old Bdubs'll be here chopping logs."

    Etho chuckled, giving his friend a mock salute before grabbing a firework out of his inventory, pulling the start string, and taking off.

    Flying fireworks were a pretty ingenious invention-- Etho hadn't come up with them himself, of course, but he couldn't help but admire the design. A string attached to a fire-starting strip pulled through the base of the firecracker in order to ignite the gunpowder-- he pulled the string upwards, avoiding the flame, though it wouldn't hurt him through his standard enchanted gloves. (He'd have to customize those later-- dying them like his standard blue ones should be fine if he didn't come up with a better idea.)

    He'd only gone through a few fireworks out of his stack, but he considered that a victory. What had it been, ten minutes? Twelve? Either way, his shoulders were already crying out for mercy; he grimaced underneath his mask, scanning the ground for a good place to land.

    Normally he wouldn't have done his first flight around Bdubs, but... well. It didn't really matter-- his friend was probably having the same struggles, what with his flip-flopping between wearing elytra and going without.

    He should probably tease him about that.

    The forest below was missing... maybe three, four trees compared to before. Etho narrowed his eyes-- Bdubs was striking his axe into a fir next to the small clearing he'd created, completely oblivious to his altudiously advantaged watcher.

    Etho grinned and dived.  

    "Aah! Wh-- Etho!"

    He skidded to a stop in the grass behind Bdubs, twirling the stolen axe in the air with a snicker. "Did I get ya?"

    "Get me? I almost had a heart attack!" Bdubs stomped over, slugging Etho in the shoulder as he swiped at his axe; Etho quickly adjusted so that the axe was held right out of Bdub's reach. "Oh good grief!"

    Etho chuckled deviously. "Oh, sorry, I should hold this down for you, I forgot." He leaned down so that the axe was a few inches above the ground, earning a indignant shout from his friend-- and then dropped it, letting out an involuntary "oof" as his back protested at the motion.

    Bdubs snatched his axe from the ground. "Hah! Serves you right. Old man Etho having back trouble?" he crowed triumphantly-- then paused, pushing up his googly-eye glasses to look at Etho in concern. "Hey, man, are you okay? Do you need to sit down or somethin'?"

    Etho sighed. "No, I... okay, fine." He smacked away Bdubs' arm as the other tried to help him over to the shade of a nearby tree-- thankfully he was still able to stand up this time, at least for the most part. Using the tree to keep himself steady, he unbuckled his elytra before lowering himself to the ground with a pained huff.

    "So," Bdubs started, flopping onto the ground next to him. "You okay, big guy? That was kinda out of nowhere."

    Etho shrugged, then winced, immediately regretting the painful motion. "I mean, it wasn't out of nowhere, was it? It was my first elytra flight of the season. It's always gonna be a little rough, especially since I've gone so long without using one."

    Bdubs frowned, raising an eyebrow. "You were up there for like... five minutes, tops. That shouldn't bother your back enough that you almost fall over."

    "I did not 'almost fall over!'"

    "Did too!"

    Etho rolled his eyes. "Did not. Besides, it was more like ten minutes, right?"

    Bdubs scoffed. "Do you doubt the clock-keeping abilities of the Time King, Etho?"

    "Ah, the Time King. How could I forget." Etho deadpanned.

    "Hey! Stop trying to get me off topic, you... you... ohhh, I know you're laughing at me, stop that!" Despite his protests, Etho did not miss the fact that Bdubs was laughing along. "But... seriously. Does your back hurt often? Like, have you been doing any heavy lifting lately?"

    Etho thought about it for a moment. "Not more than the usual, no. But the pain's been pretty normal, too."

    Bdubs looked at him oddly. "Normal? Like, what's normal for you? Like"-- he tapped his leg, seemingly reaching for the right words-- "like, let's say you've got a scale of one to ten, and one is 'I'm Fine,' five is 'I'm pretty uncomfortable and I might have to not, say, fly as much' and ten is, uh. Bad."

    "Uhh..." Etho snorted. "Like, daily, or..." after seeing Bdubs' affirmative nod, he continued. "Well, back in Season Seven when I was flying a lot more, it was like, a four on a good day?"

    "On a good day."

    "Yeah?" Etho answered, perplexed. "And normally it would be around a five. But nowadays it's been better, what with the No Wings Club. Like, maybe a four or five usually instead of six or seven."

    "Instead of--" Bdubs spluttered. "Etho!"

    "What?" Etho laughed. "That's normal, isn't it? Like, we aren't built for flying like Grian or Pearl are. S'just how the muscles work on most players."

    "And the-- the other pain?! Without flying?!" Bdubs half-shouted.

    Etho pondered this for a moment. "Dunno. Never really thought about it."

    "Never really--" Bdubs covered his face in his hands with a groan. "Etho. My friend. My fellow redstone genius." He looked up at him, a desperate expression on his face. "Do you mean to tell me that you... just... feel pain, all the time, and... you think it's normal?"

    He stared at him. "Is... is it not?"

    Bdubs stared back. "Oh my gosh."

    "What?"

    "You're an idiot."

    "Hey!"

    "No, but seriously!" Bdubs jumped to his feet, pacing back and forth, gesticulating wildly in an attempt to convey his extremely confusing point. "You... feeling pain-- it's not-- it's not supposed to be normal. Does it ever stop? Are you ever-- what d-- the-- you--" He pulled up the bottom of his moss-colored sweater, holding it to his face to muffle his frustrated scream. When he uncovered his head, he looked back over at Etho, who was genuinely surprised at how distraught his friend appeared to be. "Did... we've been friends for forever, Etho. Why didn't you ever tell me-- or Beef, or Doc, or-- or anyone?"

    "I..." He didn't know what to say. "I guess I thought it was normal. And, like, I didn't want to bother anyone."

    "You didn't want to... bother anyone," Bdubs muttered, disbelieving. "About... about... being in pain."

    Etho shrugged, grateful his back had calmed down enough to allow him to move without dying. "I mean, yeah. Like, it's not a big deal, you know? I didn't think anyone would care."

    "I would care!" Bdubs yelled suddenly, desperately putting a hand over his heart, waving the other towards the Boatem village-- "Doc would care! Beef would care! Hell, if you told any of the hermits 'hey, I'm Etho, my back hurts like I crushed it with one of my anvils, sorry to bother you' I bet you fifty diamonds-- no, fifty diamond blocks they would have helped out in a heartbeat! You can't"-- he laughed, exhausted-- "you can't just say 'no one would care!'"

    Etho frowned, staring at nothing in particular. A few leaves fell off a stray oak tree. A squirrel darted through a fallen trunk.

     "Well." He sighed quietly, hauling himself off the ground. "I... I guess I just didn't know it was something I needed to ask about." Stretching quickly, he touched his gloved palms to the pine-needle covered floor, legs straight. "If... if you're mad at me, I--"

    "Mad at you? I'm-- I'm--" Bdubs' face melted as he walked up to Etho, putting his hands on his shoulders-- then grumbling, taking a piece of scaffold out of his inventory, placing it down, climbing on top and trying again. "There. Equal height. But"-- he took a deep breath. "Etho, I'm not mad at you. I just... I'm worried! You... you're my friend, Etho. I don't want you to be in pain, and-- and it makes me feel awful that I didn't notice you were hurting sooner."

    Etho stared at him for a moment, taken aback. "Oh."

    Bdubs snorted. "Yeah! 'Oh,' he says, 'oh.' C'mere, stupid." He pulled Etho into a tight, quick hug, then let him go, looking at him with watery eyes. "Oh, you."

    Etho grinned. "Who, me?"

    "Yes, you, stupid!" A pause-- then a sigh. "Ah, I'm just kiddin'. Love ya, buddy."

    A snort. "Love you too."

    ...

    "By the way, you'd better talk to Stress about this later."

    "Uh... nice talking to you, Bdubs, real-- real good talking to you, but I gotta"-- Etho shuffled through his inventory, grabbing an enderpearl-- "uh, gotta go." He lobbed it... somewhere. Hopefully not in a lava pool.

    "Uh-huh! Sure!" Bdubs yelled after him, even as he vwoop'ed to his new location. "Yeah, I'll call her myself if I have to! You'd better watch out, I bet she makes house calls!"

    Etho chuckled as he started at a leisurely pace towards home. He'd talk to Stress about it at some point. Maybe. Probably. Bdubs' threat didn't hold any water.

    Hopefully.