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#'on the one hand it's great because you can usually skip the whole 'pain can be just normal muscle response blablabla' discussion'
marmotsomsierost · 3 months
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(In a corner of raley's, talking with a sports med doc's office returning my call to see if i can just go see them or if i need to talk to my regular doc first.)
Me: (describing the various issues esp my left leg)
Office: how long have you had these symptoms?
Me: (laughs) the original hip thing, i dunno, 13 years? The foot like 8 months, the heel thing like 2 weeks. The new hip thing, maybe a year? The knee thing i honestly can't remember. The shoulder / arm thing is basically gone so i'm pretty sure that was just stair carry and gurney lifting being shitty. But that was about three years and it's been gone for about a year which checks out, timewise.
Office:
Office: ...and what is the reason you're calling now?
Me: the heel pain is bad pain
Office: on a scale-
Me: oh, sorry, no, not- y'know, like good pain is you're sore after a regular workout, normal pain is like you pushed yourself too hard or because you did something new or out of the ordinary like help a friend move out of a third floor apartment with no elevator so now your whole everything hurts, and bad pain is like, okay, this doesn't feel right, this is something wrong.
Office:
Me: like i tweaked my lower back on a stair carry and felt sore at the end of that shift but not like hurt, but the next morning i had to literally log-roll out of bed to crawl to the bathroom and was like 'shit i have to call dad to see if this is Bad-bad or just muscle-bad'. And i could lay prone and supine just fine it just sucked getting to those positions so it was just muscle-bad and i needed a week to not work and walk around and let it relax. The heel thing is kinda like that? And i was talking with one of our PAs and she was like '...you should get that checked out, you might need an MRI' and i went 'i mean at that rate i'd need like a whole-body MRI' and she gave me the 'don't be a dumbass' look.
Me: so i called you guys to see if i had to get referred or if i can just come to you guys first, let y'all decide what diagnostic imaging might be needed, and go from there.
Office: can you hold for a moment?
Different office voice: if the pain in your heel isn't that high, why are you more concerned about that than the longer-term, more acute pain you described?
Me: oh, well, a girl i danced with in college ruptured the extensor tendons on her left foot during one of our shows and it made me a little paranoid.
Different office voice:
Different office voice: what sort of dance? How long?
Me: that show was a mix of modern and ballet, not pointe though. But i haven't danced regularly since then, so about 20 years ago.
Different office voice: and did you stop dancing due to injury?
Me: no, the peds ortho i saw in high school was like 'you can keep skiing, volleyball, and basketball and track, or you can keep dance, but you gotta pick one or you're gonna need a knee replacement before you're out of college' and i was like 'i am not giving up mountains for dance' and quit.
Different office voice: mmm, i see. Ok, one moment-
Office voice: we'll give you a call in a few days once we've got an answer about if we can either see you without a referral or get a referral when we see you. Okay?
Me: okay, thank you!
#there was a dude waiting for like an army's worth of sandwiches at the deli counter a little ways away#and he was like 'i don't mean to eavesdrop but you should have led with that last bit'#'i worked for an ortho for 15 years and at a rural clinic for 9 and learned real quick that certain athletes are like farmers'#'if they're coming in voluntarily outside of a traumatic injury then you know it's Bad'#'on the one hand it's great because you can usually skip the whole 'pain can be just normal muscle response blablabla' discussion'#'on the other hand it's bad bc you end up going 'you have thigh and back pain because you have a total femoral head fracture' and then'#'then they tell you it's been going on for five days and you go 'okay something is wrong there is a mixup with scans here there's no way'#'but no. nope! they're just walking around going 'ah it's fine skeletal structural support is optional' and then they get mad'#'when you tell them they need a hip replacement because 'that's for old people' and you look at the chart and they're 78'#'and when you look at the chart they actually came in bc their other knee got whacked with a chunk of wood from some equipment failure'#'not even for the hip at all!'#and i was like 'like when someone comes in and is rambling on about their flulike symptoms for a week and a half'#'and then right as you're about to tell them to have a seat we will triage them soon they go'#''oh and my headache is real bad and i have double vision' and you are just like *holds delete key down* *queues up stroke screen tool*'#the deli counter dude was looking at us like that drive-up-window-meme
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trashland-llamas · 2 months
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He Loves Me. He Loves Me Not
x trans male reader
Sanji who doesn’t realize that y/n is a man. Despite how much y/n tries to act like it doesn’t bother him, he can't help asking himself 'is he really that shit at passing?' Like, okay, sure, it had only been a few years and he was still in the midst of it all but it was nonetheless infuriating. How Sanji would bat those pretty eyelashes of his with hearts in his eyes and call him sugary sweet pet names. Longing to have the rivalry that he did with Zoro. Just anything different than how he treated other women.
Speaking of Zoro, the swordsman had noticed the forlorn attitude that clung to his gym buddy. ‘Alright, what’s the problem? Cause I’m not dealing with an unfocused spotter,’ his tone stern. Zoro couldn’t help but feel protective. Despite how much people thought of him a himbo, he had picked up on y/n’s affections towards the cook. ‘He treats me how he treats Nami and Robin.’ Putting down his weights, he ruffles y/n’s hair. ‘The whole mon cheri bullshit where he dotes on you hand and foot?’
‘Exactly! Which is great and all but he doesn’t behave like that with you or Usopp or Luffy. So what gives?’
‘Either he’s stupid or he might like you back. Never know, could just be he’s never been smitten with a man before.’ Zoro avoided saying aloud what y/n had assumed. Not wanting to give him any sort of confirmation to his catastrophizing thoughts. ‘You should confront him.’
‘I’m not gonna do that!’
‘Would you rather walk around on eggshells?’
Thinking back to his conversation with Zoro, y/n paces before the kitchen door, hyping himself up. 'Y'know, you can come in any time you like, hun. I don't bite.' y/n freezes when he hears Sanji's voice. The cook not bothering to look towards the entrance while he chops up some fruit. A snack for the crew. 'I know,' y/n refutes, unable to hide the tremor in his voice. 'Is something troubling you?' Sanji asked, aware of how antsy he was acting. 'Uh, actually that's what I came to talk to you about.'
'Well then, have a seat.' Sanji skipped over the theatrics, passing them a glass of water. 'Usually helps to have a drink, calms the nerves.' Nodding, y/n took a few seconds to figure out how he wanted to say it. 'It's you.' Cringing at Sanji's shocked expression, bowing his head as he gripped the counter top with his sleeves rolled up. 'Me?'
'It's that I happen to be into you and...the way you treat me, it's like I'm just another girl.' The word run together quicker than a oil spill. But it's towards the end when Sanji raises his head to look y/n in the eye. 'I must apologize, because you're not another girl to me. It seems I've caused a pure soul like you a lot of pain...I'm not used to liking the same gender as my own.'
'Then I have a few requests. Please swap out the nicknames to some that are a little more masculine. And treat me like you do the other guys on the ship. None of that waiting hand and foot, okay?' Y/n starts with an uncertain air, slowly gaining confidence as he went along.
'Okay. I won't lie, I might make a few more blunders here and there while figuring it out but I can abide by those requests.' Sanji softly spoke, reaching out to grab y/n's hand. 'There's only one thing I want to ask of you, if I may. Can I take you out on a date?' Smiling at how flustered that small question made him. 'Would love to.'
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happilylovingchaos · 22 days
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911 Lone Star Countdown - Disasters Week Questions
Hello and thank you for including me @lonestar-s5countdown! This is a little trickier for me to answer tbh. I think 9-1-1 might stand to have longer-lasting consequences from their natural disasters (no need to skip past tsunami wreckage recovery or months-long rebuilding of the highway collapse, those would make some meaty dramatic narrative arcs), but otherwise it so far edges out Lone Star when it comes to order of experience (like, which state got which disaster first).
1) My favorite disaster… okay, gonna have to divvy btwn the 9-1-1s for this!
The plane crash in 9-1-1 (OG) would probably be my underrated favorite in terms of narrative developments for Buck, Bobby and Abby.
Season 4’s heat wave was more glossed over for plot setup, but I didn’t mind this natural disaster precisely because it was a little smaller in scale and because the plot setups (even the Iris arc tho that definitely needed fine tuning in hindsight) hooked me in already. (I also didn’t mind Brianna and Caleb in this one b/c this time Caleb’s situation was not his own fault.)
2) Since they’ve already done tornadoes (though, there’s always a chance they’ll do those again), a volcanic eruption, wildfires and a winter storm, I would think the only disasters LS hasn’t gotten down yet are freeway collapses, floods (barring how the cast would look while soaking wet, don’t ignore areas like Galveston, writers! There’s WAY more to the state than farmland, Dallas, Austin and El Paso yk! Let’s just say before I digress I kinda wish the showrunners were able to film in actual Texas), a border skirmish (just out of genuine interest— not getting any more political and no Owen’s refugee rescue doesn’t count) or droughts/ water shortages (no, heat waves also don’t count). I also just realized that the domestic terrorist arc could have waited for a later season too! O’Brien and Owen had chaotic good vibes much akin to him and Billy Tyson (if the three of them worked together tho? The 126 should probably move their whole firefighter team out of Travis County b/c they ain’t gonna go through the second-hand pain again).
3) They had and lost me at meteor/ asteroid, so I’m not sure I’d say looking forward to it. It all depends on execution, I suppose? (Sorry for the question mark, I’m just baffled since that usually needs film-length amount of time— I’ve seen the film Deep Impact. Scientific nitpicks aside the investigations, action and future implications in that film were well-paced enough.)
4) My top 3? Judd b/c he’s a great all-around leader whenever shit hits the fan— honest (sometimes to a fault but I can kinda relate), strong integrity and conscientiousness, and so dad-like even before he became a dad. Mateo b/c he’d be like the underrated badass youngest brother of any group— speaking as an only child tho. Third… boy, I can’t break this tie. It’s a draw between Tommy (she’s very composed and professional even during the times she isn’t) and Paul (I’d like to learn memorization-observational skills from him, and he fits the “cool Zen mode” temperament a little better than Carlos, don’t @ me).
5) This is painful… okay I’m so sorry. I don’t think I can answer this one as of now.
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Tagging next: @lutavero @reyesstrand @toomanycupsoftea @fitzherbertssmolder @marjansmarwani @trkstrnd
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vendetta-if · 2 years
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hullo, hullo! i sent an ask the other day but i’m not sure it got through to you😔. i’ll type it again for you <33
i love, love, love your if. the characters are perfectly fleshed out and the lore and story are just- mwah. perfection. but. butt(see what i did there? ;3c). take care of yourself. i keep getting surprised at how quickly you keep posting updates (at least that’s what it feels like to me. i have school and stuff so homework is taking up a lot of my free time🙃). take breaks, get enough sleep, don’t skip meals, and look at cat memes (cats are superior). also take care of your hands. i write as a hobby so i know the pain of sore hands. with the amount of words you type/write, my hands are crying out for yours. take breaks when your hands start to hurt so nothing bad happens to them.
anyways (onto the actually ask part of this. sorry for the long lecture lol), i was wondering how would the ROs react to an MC that sang as a side hustle (i’m in my schools choir. our concert was tonight). would they go to MCs impromptu concerts (they may sing in bars or cafes, etc.) or wait for MC to get home and request a lullaby or something? (idk if i explained that well. i’m terrible at explaining things😭)
have a lovely day/night!❤️❤️
Oh, yes, I actually have your ask in my drafts as I was in the middle of answering it 😄 But it’s okay, I’ll move the answers to this one instead 🥰 First of all, thank you so much for the kind words and the concern 😊
Some days, I can be really busy with some irl stuff, but I spent most of my free time working on this project, including writing the main story, side stories and other exclusive contents. I tried to answer asks whenever I can, but as some of you can probably see, it’s getting harder to find enough slivers of my free time to answer a lot of asks everyday, unfortunately.
But if I happen to have extra time, I’ll try answering a bunch of asks—as many as I could—in one sitting 😄 I’m still sad tho because I have so many awesome asks that I couldn’t get to, especially the reactions one because those usually take some time to answer.
I’ve also heard about the hand pain before from writers and artists. Right now, I haven’t felt anything yet, but thank you so much for the concern and for reminding me. I’ll certainly be on a lookout for that 🥰 And, I hope the school choir concert went great ☺️
As for your question…
Ash
Oh, MC better let them know whenever they’re about to have a performance, because you bet your ass they’ll be there every time. Unless they have really important mission to do that nobody else can do or be trusted to do… Then they’ll be really grumpy the whole time until they get home. Maybe your MC can give them a private performance instead 🥰
Rin
They will try their best to be there in every single one, even if MC is performing in a less-than-fancy cafe 😆 They’ll love to listen to MC singing and they kinda regret not finishing their piano lesson with their mom years ago, because then, they would be able to accompany MC’s singing. If they miss any, they’ll most likely request MC to sing to them at home if they don’t mind, of course 🥹
Santana
Oh, they’ll be there—or try their very best to be there. As long as there’s no emergency for them to attend, they’ll even be willing to sneak out of the station to go watch MC 😂 Between mind-numbing paperwork and enjoying MC’s singing, there’s no doubt which one they will pick every time. Also, MC’s singing will be one of the most effective ways to get them to fall asleep and calm them down after a vivid nightmare 🥺
Skylar
Will be one of MC’s biggest fans, rivalling Ash 🤣 Will try to attend every single one and you bet they’ll be that kind of fan who claps and whoops shamelessly after each song or try to sing along 💀 If MC doesn’t mind, they’ll love to record parts of MC singing and upload them to their Facegram story or TokTik account 😂 Soon, MC will be famous.
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griefabyss69 · 1 year
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Skipping into your asks to suggest "thirsty daydreaming" as a prompt 😌🖤
Will someone PLEASE get Eddie a drink of water?
[Drabble request series on ao3]
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1.8K words - Steddie - Rated: E
Contains: Eddie fantasizing about Steve, weed mention, post-vecna recovery, masturbation, the most evilest thing of all (doing the dishes)
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Eddie's always had an active imagination, one that sometimes lays a dreamlike haze over his daily life, makes things more interesting – and bearable – as he does mundane shit like drive to the grocery store or do his dishes.
Scrubbing away at the dried food instead of letting it soak because he's impatient and knows if he walks away and he'll forget about it all for a week.
So he scrubs and tries to let his brain soothe over the way he wants to climb out of his skin at how utterly boring this is, how much he just doesn't want to be doing it, a stinging poison in his chest as he washes and rinses.
The music in the background is good enough to be playing but not enough for him to sing along to it, and for once he feels like keeping his mouth shut anyway.
He tries thinking about this like some kind of mission, a task he needs to complete for a party of adventurers, or even something he needs to do to get the antidote to the very poison it's injecting him with.
It doesn't really work, nothing catching in his mind, slipping further away the harder he tries to conjure up some fairy tale shit, and even the thought of a handsome knight begging him to save The Kingdom with his awesome dish washing skills isn't really doing anything for him.
He sighs, rinses another plate and sets it in the rack, glancing around the kitchen. It's new, just like the rest of the little house, and he's glad to be here, grateful in the way he's had to be because he survived a horrible death, but.
The mundane shit is even more like pulling teeth than it ever had been before, and he wishes he could still function when he's high. His weird injuries have left him prone to couch lock more than ever, and while that's great for when he can spend his day focusing on pain management and eating a whole bag of chips in one sitting, it sucks for when he has to do stuff.
Usually Steve's around to kind of… not necessarily do things for him, or even help much, but he comes to hang out. And at first he had been helping, because you can take the boy out of scouts but can't take the scouts out of the boy, or whatever it is Robin had said that had made Steve's ears turn a pretty red.
But usually Steve's here and they talk and make fun of each other and have stupid arguments and it's fun, and at this point in the afternoon Eddie would be daring him to eat the weirdest combination he could find in his fridge.
He sighs, sets another plate in the drying rack.
This isn't forever, and he'll get stronger and shit. Then he can get high enough to inoculate himself against the agony of Dishes Poison and he won't have to admit to himself that he misses Steve, even though it's only been like two fucking days since they hung out.
It's just that Steve is easy to be around, doesn't really drain him the way that hanging out with other people does these days. Maybe it's bat-bite rabies or maybe he just has that kind of personality, but he knows when Eddie needs a challenge and knows when he needs to get flung straight off the Earth into the stratosphere so he can finally catch a wink of rest.
And like, Eddie's always been a visual guy.
An auditory guy too. Tactile, gustatory, and whatever the nose one is – smell o'rama kind of guy also. But Steve is one of those people that's so gorgeous he makes you feel like you're sinking into a hot bubble bath on a cold day, and his hands tend to leave hot little brands where his fingers linger on people's skin as he helps them settle down into a chair when their stupid legs give out over nothing.
Well, probably not everyone's. Eddie's smart enough to know why Steve's hot touch sticks to him, as innocent and helpful as it is.
A pretty guy with pretty hands, warm and big on his waist as he braces Eddie while he's trying to do one of the complicated stretches that the physio people gave him… God.
Eddie bites his lip, staring down into the sink.
Yeah, his mind can hook onto that.
He thinks about Steve hanging out, offering to help with other things, like perhaps the boredom that itches along his nerves while he does the stupid fucking dishes. Instead of trying to make him laugh in one breath and insulting him – making him laugh harder – in the next, it'd be his hands.
Eddie imagines asking him – or no, Steve would offer, able to read him so easily sometimes - and Steve would come up behind him, rest his chin on his shoulder. He'd move his hair out of the way so his breath would be warm on his neck, over the shell of his ear, and he'd start talking about his day or something that isn't too hard to follow.
And Eddie would tilt his head, give him more of his neck to work with as he expertly and efficiently works through the dishes, not fumbling them even when Steve's fingers tease at the hemline to his shirt.
Steve would say something like "Let's see how quickly you can do those" or "If you get them done in fifteen minutes I'll blow you", turning it into the kind of game that Eddie finds utterly useless when he's by himself. But if Steve said he'd blow him, he'd have the dishes sparkling and stacked in five.
He pauses, hand clutched around a soapy mug, a shiver running through him as he imagines Steve's fingers pushing up under his shirt, ghosting carefully over his brand new scars to play with his nipples, light and teasing while he tests him out.
"Fuck," he mutters to the empty kitchen, rinsing the mug off.
His dick is getting hard under his sweats, no underwear today because laundry's still hard for him sometimes and he forgets to do it when he doesn't have a set schedule anyway, so he's like, conserving his clean clothes. The tent he's starting to make looks stupid, but it's not like Steve's actually here to notice it, and if he was here, he'd either be swallowing mustard and peanut butter at the same time or he'd be easing Eddie's sweats down his legs anyway.
He lets himself zone out, hands working without him as he goes to a whole other place, a version of this universe where Steve's eager to get his hand inside Eddie's pants.
To get his fingers on his dick, grip him lightly as he teases his foreskin, playing with the part under his head that always makes him jerk in his own hand. Steve would find out where he's sensitive and use that relentlessly, he'd make him continue with the dishes as he plays with him, laughed at any little sounds he was able to pull out of him.
There's just silverware left, because Eddie's not fucking cleaning the pots and pans like this. He starts to rush through them, his dick quickly taking over all of his attention as he drops the same spoon like five times. He just has to finish this and then he can go collapse into his bed and pretend that his pruney fingers are Steve's after a couple hours in his pool.
God, Steve's pool.
He'd make Eddie stand shirtless in front of him while he rubbed sunscreen all over his back, apparently essential for his scars, if not just to keep him from getting the same nasty sunburn he tends to get every summer.
Steve's fingers would dig in firmly to make sure it's all rubbed in well, and even if it hurt his scars it would still get Eddie going, make him hard in his trunks before he can even attempt to keep things soft. Steve would know what he's doing as he makes Eddie pull his hair up off of his neck so he can rub more sunscreen in, thumbs rubbing tight circles into the sore muscles there, sliding forward to tease just behind his ears.
He'd laugh at the sound Eddie would make, bring his hands down to grab his ass – a fork slips out of his hand as his hips jerk forward, accidentally pushing his dick against the counter.
Fuck. Keep going.
Steve's hands on his ass, grabbing hard, his hot breath beside his ear telling him how he wishes he was naked so he could really dig his fingers in, maybe get his tongue in there.
Eddie moans, the sound embarrassing even though he's home alone, and he has to stop what he's doing to just breathe through the hot pleasure building in his gut. He knows Steve has a reputation for going down, but he doesn't think he'd go down on Eddie, even if a miracle happened and he wanted to jerk him off.
The reality check doesn't do much to help him, a dizzy pounding in his head taking over as he gets so turned on that he just. He has to stop.
He pulls the plug out of the sink and rinses his hands off before heading to his room, not bothering to dry them, just shuts his door and trips his way out of his sweats, landing on his bed in a way he knows he's lucky didn't hurt him.
"Fuck, please," he groans, his wet fingers feeling sublime against his dick.
Steve's tongue, pressed against the rim of his ass like in that one skin mag that changed his fucking world, his big hands spreading him open wide so he could get in there - Fuck!
He gets his forearm over his eyes, keeping the hand on his dick in place as he starts to thrust up into it, the image in his mind changing as he imagines fucking Steve on one of his fancy pool chairs. He'd feel so good under him, hair and skin and so tight and wet -
Eddie chokes on a moan as he cums, his hand working to slap down into his pelvis as he thrusts up to meet it, hard and tight and fast as he wrings the pleasure out of himself, the last wisps of his fantasy floating out of his reach as his mind blanks out.
"Oh my fucking God," he mumbles, bringing his arm down from his face.
He's gonna see Steve tonight, and he's gonna have to act so normal, pretend he didn't just cum in under a minute thinking about fucking him, but honestly his only regret is that he got too horny to finish the dishes, and still has to deal with them.
Later, though. Right now he just thinks about Steve's mouth, how it'd feel pressing a kiss against his. A harmless little thing to ease his descent as he catches his breath.
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justasussybitch · 6 months
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I can kind of see Luke taking his “power” as far as he can. Like getting to the point where he’s asking Aemond to bottom for him. Whether Aemond would ever get to that place remains to be seen (you’ve said one of the things primary to this Aemond is we can’t get into his mind). I picture Luke probably coming as soon as in that position due to his “he’s nothing without me” line of thought we have seen this chapter (I’ve summarised that terribly you wrote it way more compelling but I can’t fit Luke’s state of mind into a 4 word sentence I’ll leave that to the professionals (you!)).
If he got to the point where he’s got Aemond to the point in his fake love routine to open up his “cunt” willingly, it would probably be his greatest achievement in his now fucked up mind lol.
Knowing how Jealous Aemond was of Sel I can see him thinking well Luke doesn’t need pussy he’s got mine. Because again, he’s delusional !
Unfortunately luke coming from the power trip would probably convince Aemond he has crazy throw back power and rules Luke with his ass and dick and I don’t want that for him haha. Picturing Luke’s reaction to Aemond thinking HES the one being manipulated with sex is hilarious though 😂😂.
This is probably so duh but I think Luke has really been conditioned to see sex=power which is obviously a symptom of his abuse. How he’d go about having healthy sexual relationships in the future (even with women!) puzzles me. I don’t know if you read the fic nobody, nothing, nowhere by hypothesistest but it also plays the abuse quite straight too and focuses on the impact it has on Luke and is one of my favourite fics on the subject matter with how it explores how the abuse affected Luke long after it was over and in what ways his abuse reared it’s head (which I can see in your excerpt you posted today!) during his everyday life and his attempts at intimacy. I’m really looking forward to the sequel for this reason and it will NOT be a skip for me! I love your Luke for who is not his bussy!!
If Luke did ever make it back to his family how do you think he would go back to being Rhaena’s bethrothed or Rhaenyra’s “good boy”. Especially if Jacegan is canon in your views. One brother experiencing the joys of bottoming with the man he swore a blood oath to up north after building a relationship through hunting and drinking and friendship versus the other experiencing it as this shameful reaction from his body that makes him unworthy and had brought so much pain on a physical and psychological level!
The irony of Jace going to a secluded castle during war time and being the one with the healthy sexual experience versus Luke going from an argument with his uncle
Just Luke whump all around!
I haven’t read this fic since December?? I think but you being back has got me on theories galore! Please let me know if you don’t like this kind of in depth q&a’s for your fics and I’ll stop no harm done! I’m just usually question question question about character dynamics!
Thank you very much for listening to my delusions I just like your work a lot haha
some more, slightly more spoiler-y stuff
"he’s nothing without me" summarises it pretty well. Aemond tried to make himself the centre of Luke's life & in the process made Luke the centre of his, oops. Luke didn't ask to be part of this dynamic, but if they're going to be stuck in each other's gravity he's certainly going to use it to whatever advantage he can. which definitely means making power plays via fucking (as you point out, this whole thing has taught him power=sex, which already is an idea pretty present in Westeros). i may have to break out the switch! tags for Hand for Hand.
('may'. i already have a pretty strong (ha) idea for how bottom!Aemond is going to make it's appearance in the plot)
i hadn't read the fic nobody, nothing, nowhere by hypothesistest, but thank you for the rec because i went & devoured it today. really great psychological stuff. based on it, i don't think you'll be disappointed by what i have planned for Tooth for Tooth. strangely, the lucemond dynamics in nobody, nothing, nowehere -- the only one able to understand what the other has been through -- feels like the cousin to the darker, more fucked up lucemond dynamics i have planned for hand for hand. nobody, nothing, nowhere did actually manage to make me regret for a second not writing a more wholesomely co-dependent lucemond. for a very loose definition of wholesome. because them getting to heal together was an amazing ending to read. unfortunately, the Aemond in lflfefe isn't a fellow victim but the abuser (Aegon, meanwhile, has two for two going on the rapist front). i do plan for Rhaena to have a small part in Tooth for Tooth, and a larger part in Hand for Hand. i won't say more, except to thank you for the reminder that fleshing out some non-Luke relationships might be worthwhile. i mean, personally, i think Luke should be the centre of all relationships -- romantic, platonic, familial -- but apparently having everything be in relation to just one character can make it hard to 'flesh out themes' or 'build the narrative' smh. (side tangent, but i read the Locked Tomb series this year & that had fucking amazing side character/relationship work, so definitely something i want to practice!) you make a good point that jacegan could have some very juicy parallels. thank you for the ask(s)! it's amazing having someone care this much about the character dynamics in something i wrote. fanfic as a medium has very different rules & conventions to, say, novel as a medium, but for me, even as i'm being self-indulgent, LFLEFE (& Deuteronomy 19-21) is a place where i'm cutting my teeth in regards to character work, relationship dynamics, plotting, etc. and also just finishing a piece of writing (even if it takes years). so it's very validating to have someone analyse & theorise like this! based on the ask(s) i think there's quite a few things you'll enjoy if i stick to my current outline ;)
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aceinejghafa · 2 years
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just finished a binge watch of shadow & bone season 2... have some thoughts!
(many many spoilers for every single episode, so I'm putting this under the cut)
generally: absolutely amazing. The incorporation of the crows & the relationships within the crows (cough WESPER WESPER WESPER cough) are especially well done.
however. I gotta say I'm mad about what happens to Alina. So much of the books is about how Alina doesn't want to be the one to fix Ravka—she doesn't want to be queen, she's only doing it because it needs to be done. look at this quote:
“They wanted a Grisha queen. Mal wanted a commoner queen. And what did I want? Peace for Ravka. A chance to sleep easy in my bed without fear. An end to the guilt and dread that I woke to every morning. There were old wants too, to be loved for who I was, not what I could do, to lie in a meadow with a boy’s arms around me and watch the wind move the clouds.”
She wants peace for Ravka, she doesn't want to spend her life ruling the country. That is so much of the point of Shadow and Bone — the happy ending isn't marrying a king and fixing the country; it's an ordinary life, full of ordinary things—if love can ever be called that. (interesting that nikolai was brought into that quote in the show. love that he's a hardcore malina shipper. actually I think I might like nikolai more in the show than in the books, which is saying something).
but ANYWAY the show just. destroyed alina's whole arc there. throughout the show, she's all "I need to fix Ravka" and she seems to want that responsibility, rather than just wanting it to actually get done.
and then the ending. using merzost to resurrect Mal. not losing her Sun Summoner powers (unless you count possibly trading them for Darkling powers, which I don't). MARRYING NIKOLAI. Mal becoming Sturmhond 2.0 is fun & all, and the show did lead up to it pretty well, but it's just not what book!Mal would have wanted. STOP HAVING A CRISIS OF PURPOSE AND LIVE AN ORDINARY LIFE FULL OF ORDINARY THINGS—
so yeah I might be mildly irritated by some parts of the show there
that being said—Nikolai is SO well done
I think I might've mentioned this earlier, but show Nikolai might just be better than book Nikolai (Nikolai in TGT, at least)
like... the whole love triangle situation was significantly better? Nikolai and Mal didn't hate each other—they actually had a pretty great friendship (and I'm guessing people are going to start shipping Nikolai/Mal/Alina a lot more sometime soon)? Nikolai didn't basically assault Alina? I'm actually really impressed since usually a show would Up The Drama, and this one didn't <3
Nikolai giving Alina the compass, which is associated with Mal's whole true north thing... and then Mal getting the compass in the end... actually pretty cool
the quote about hope being the wind in the sails! "when people say impossible, they usually mean improbable"! yes yes YES !!!
zoyalai hints <3 tbh I was hoping for more than that but I am obsessed with what I got <3
also! dominik being alive at the start! so we get to meet him! and get bits of backstory!
and then he died which. I was expecting. but also :(((((((((
speaking of dying.
DAVID AND GENYA OH MY GODS
kinda disappointed that they skipped the "I'm not ruined. I'm ruination" quote
but on the other hand! the I know metal speech! that was AMAZING <333333333 they are so soft
and then they. kill david off. and i CRY
THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN UNTIL ROW
so yeah upset about that but not really mad... denya is definitely one of the best ships in the show...
and then!!! the crows!!! the crows!!! the crows!!!
SO MUCH WESPER CONTENT. we are BLESSED guys. Jesper & Wylan having a one-night stand pre-canon??? then getting to know each other??? and having a more serious relationship??? amazing showstopping top-tier content
a bit worried about whatever happens in the soc spinoff when jesper finds out that wylan is a van eck—could be kinda painful
also I'm hoping they entirely skip jesper kissing kuwei, never really liked that bit in the books
"I kinda like your face" <<<< "maybe I liked your stupid face" but admittedly it's hard to do the book quote when you don't have the Kuwei tailoring plot
Wylan saving the day by knowing cool botanical facts <3 I love him so much guys
actually the whole thing with Sankta Neyar is fantastic? like WOW I was expecting to dislike any non-books content but I did NOT that thing was GREAT (and showed that there's a future for superpowerful Grisha that is not becoming the Darkling, which is excellent because it's TRUE).
Inej & Mal & Tolya & Tamar going off to hunt slavers together—some mixed feelings about that. I have faith that Inej & Kaz will meet up again in future seasons, but idk?
kinda weird how all those CK plot elements showed up... Kaz beats Pekka and makes him beg, but then Pekka just starts running Hellgate from inside? no real consequences? unsuccessful revenge? and all the plot from CK (fake plague, Alby) is used up already
so yeah that was annoying
but also the scene where Inej asks Kaz what he wants... and you can SEE the words You, Inej. You running through his head... and then he says "to die buried under a mountain of my own gold"... every time they quote the books I go FERAL and this is no exception
so basically I'm worried about what they'll do with the crows in possible later spinoffs/seasons but also I absolutely adore all the content they gave us <3
fun fact: I watched the whole show on 1.5x speed because I only had 5 and a half hours. I used subtitles so I could always understand what they were saying, the only weird thing was any shot of anyone walking ever. still worth it so that I could watch everything, though <3
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skylarmoon71 · 2 months
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Matt Murdock (Daredevil) - Chapter 17
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You’ve gotten the hang of working at the firm.
The only issue you really have is with one of the senior reporters who’s obviously never learned how to talk to people. You thought it was just you, but Karen confirmed that the guy is a dick, so you feel much better.
You’re getting close to a few of the other employees, like Ben. He’s really nice and his wife has taken a liking to you. She came by to drop his lunch and spent the better part of that time gushing about how cute you were. Safe to say you’d been blushing the rest of the day.
The atmosphere is nice. You’ve worked in a lot of places, but this feels like a small family.
“My wife made some of those brownies, here.”
Ben handed you the tupperware and you smiled, taking it happily.
“Thank you Mr. Urich!”
You were basically skipping when it was time to leave with Karen. She was curious behind your smile, but the second she saw the bowl she didn’t even have to ask. She laughed, linking her arms with you as you both left.
It felt nice, being away from it. You knew it was impossible to just forget about him. You were trying to be strong, but you missed him.
Matt and Daredevil.
You weren’t sure why you were still separating them in your mind. It’s the same person, but it feels so different. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to grasp.
Sitting on the short staircase, you let out another sigh, watching the cars drive by. The door opening behind is what catches your attention. You glance over, smiling when Karen takes a seat.
“Are you ready to talk about it?”
She’s given you a lot of space, and you’re grateful, but you know she’s just worried. You can’t exactly tell her that your boyfriend is a vigilante that’s been running around New York. So maybe, maybe you just need to put a bit of truth in your words.
“Karen, what would you do if Frank kept a big secret from you? W-Would you be able to forgive him?”
She paused.
“It depends on the secret. For example if he told me he had a whole other family and I was a sidechick, you know I’d lose my shit.”
You smiled. That would be understandable. If it were that easy, maybe it would have been easier to just let him go.
Karen notices that you still appear distant, so she takes another approach.
“Has he ever done anything to hurt you? Physically, emotionally?”
You shake your head immediately.
Matt has always been there for you and Daredevil..he’d literally saved your life. In your heart you know that, but your mind won’t give you that peace. Because everytime you try, you just recall all the times he met with you and listened to you rant about your troubles that were usually about your feelings for him. It felt like he’d mocked you, and then exploited your trust pretending to be two different people.
“So aside from this secret, he’s never intentionally caused you pain.”
“Yeah..”
She nods.
“A year ago, Frank was shot in the head.”
Her statement makes your eyes widen.
“At the time I was in Alaska doing a piece. I’d left a week prior and I told him that for the two weeks that I was there the connection in certain areas would be a bit spotty. For a few days we didn’t have contact. I came back and everything seemed fine. It was all smooth sailing until I saw the bill from the hospital. I thought maybe it was a mistake, but then I read the injuries and I knew I had to confront him.”
You can’t imagine that. Knowing someone you care about has gone through that.
“The surgery was done in a day and in a span of a week he was released. Doctors couldn’t explain it. Everyone just thought it was some great miracle. This completely terrifying thing had happened to him and I had no idea. When I found out, Frank and I got into a fight. He kept saying that it wasn’t a big deal. He survived and he saw no need to worry me when the doctors confirmed that he had a clean bill of health, but I was pissed. I couldn’t understand why he would hide something like that from me. For two weeks, we barely spoke to each other.”
You can fully understand her point of view.
“I was angry with him. I kept trying to figure out why. Most people would have smiled and just thanked God for the miracle. But every time I looked at him I just got pissed and I realized I wasn’t really mad at him for not saying anything. I was terrified at the idea that in such a short space of time, I could have lost the man I loved. I was angry at myself for not being there even though I knew it was irrational. He was wrong to hide it, but I knew why he did it. He was just trying to protect me, even if he knew I would hate him for it. He just didn’t want to see me scared, sad or in pain. He didn’t do it out of spite, but love.”
You straightened and Karen took your hands in hers.
“I have no idea what your situation is, but from what you’ve said, Matt is someone who would do just about anything for you. This secret, you need to figure out whether it was out of love or not. When you have that answer, then you’ll know if you can forgive it.”
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ghiblihearts · 21 days
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anime review: dahlia in bloom (up to ep8 SPOILERS)
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It should be no surprise to anyone, but this had a slow start before. But that's to be expected with this category of anime - a cozy isekai with very low, if any, stakes. This usually means that there are very few sources of conflict, so if you're looking for something to sink your teeth into, this probably isn't the anime you're looking for.
Dahlia spent her past life working herself to death (literally spending her last moments at her desk), so she promised herself that she would enjoy the one she finds herself in, where she is the daughter of a magical artificer. In this world, magical artificers invent everyday objects that infuse minor magic to better the lives of people (ep1 spoiler: for example, Dahlia wants to invent the magical equivalent of a hairdryer using a fire crystal). Her father encourages her natural curiosity and talents, and she grows up to have a knack for inventing things that could genuinely help a lot of people. Creating magical artifacts is the joy in her life, and she wants to help as many people as possible.
Diving into spoiler territory now, but I had initial issues with the animation for the first 2 episodes. I've never been a fan of pretty obvious cgi in anime, and where you can point out the places where the animators might be trying to cut costs a little. Some of the scenery really took me out of the immersion of the world, but I told myself I'd try to overlook it if the story interested me. But unfortunately, it didn't grip me during that time either. I liked seeing the established rules and limitations of the world (what artificers could do, their role in this fantasy world, etc.), but for some reason I just didn't like Dahlia's dad. I just didn't gel with him, was a bit suspicious of him from the start. I also didn't like the impromptu engagement thrust upon Dahlia, and hoped above all hopes that she didn't actually start falling for this guy. His red flags popped up the second they were locked into that engagement, and I honestly didn't want a 'redemption' arc for him if he was the main lead.
So I took a break from it for a few weeks, and returned to it when I had a few episodes to binge at once (my preferred style). And I don't regret my decision for a lot of reasons:
A lot happened, and I noticed that the time skips seem to be quite substantial - like learning that between the 2nd and 3rd episode, 2 whole years have passed since Dahlia and her fiancé have been engaged, and I genuinely choked a little on my drink. But I appreciated this jump, because it saved us from seeing more of what could have been a painful and annoying(ly forced) love triangle between Dahlia, her fiancé and his lover (who is clearly more scheming than she appears to be, but that might be revealed more in the next 4 episodes).
Dahlia is surrounded by a cast of people who all care about her and support her. Aside from her ex's girlfriend, she doesn't seem to have encountered any potential enemies for herself, and her potential is seemingly endless! Her intelligence is allowing her to create artefacts that are being mass produced and in great demand (no doubt because of her memories of her past life helping her to find 'modern' solutions problems in this fantasy world). So far she has not only invented a handful of greatly successful products, but become the CEO of her own company with the help of her friends and allies. To some this might seem boring, and I get that - but to me the lack of obstacles is what makes these kinds of stories all the more cozy! You're not worrying about how she will suffer - you're watching in comfort knowing she will succeed.
We learn more about Dahlia's father through her interactions with other people, and these flashes of her father's hidden character are bittersweet. But it's quite refreshing to see Dahlia being exposed to a side of her father she didn't know existed - it makes every new reveal, every anecdote about him feel like a little 'pang' of sadness, I suppose, realising that there's yet another part of him that she didn't get to see. She only saw the happy-go-lucky, drunken side of him, meanwhile he was building supports for her in secret. But I personally think that's as far as the show will go into exploring her grief. This is a cozy anime, after all!
The love story.. we're getting little more than crumbs so far, in my opinion, but I am a SUCKER for friends-to-lovers!! I think it's being done quite nicely, but Wolf is down BAD already and I love it! Honestly, I think he fell for the person he met in the first, regardless of the fact that as far as he knew it was a man who was helping him (Dahlia in disguise). As friends, they encourage the parts of each other that society has taught them to repress for appearances' sake, and they find comfort in being able to be their true selves' around each other. Their friendship would be such a lovely foundation for their future relationship, in my opinion. Although Wolf seems to be much more aware of his feelings and is holding back out of respect for Dahlia's comfort and feelings, Dahlia is still very much in the oblivious phase.. but it's only a matter of time! Though, yet again, I don't feel like there is any risk of any romantic drama because, yet again, this is a cozy anime - no high stakes!
The highest stakes that seem to be the concern at the moment is the pressures of Dahlia's new business venture. Starting a new company will likely stress her out (though she'll tough it out like a champ, no doubt) because things are moving at lightning speed, and I'm not sure if she'll be able to keep up with the stresses of meeting orders and deadlines, while still managing to love every part of the process as an artisan. Perhaps that will be the final 'conflict' in this series - her finding balance between being a business woman and an artist at the same time (a lesson I'm sure a lot of artists find themselves trying to learn in real life, so it would be interesting to see how the story tackles such a lesson, if they do!).
Either way, I'm enjoying this show a lot more than I thought I would, and I'm really glad I picked it up again! Looking forward to seeing how the series wraps up..
(I only recently discovered that Dahlia in Bloom is made by the same animation studio that made Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion! I really enjoyed that series so the fact that I'm enjoying this one makes sense!)
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sukirichi · 3 years
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not shy
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megumi was not shy around his crush — and that’s a fucking lie.
request: shy megumi who is really flustered around his crush + his friends and gojo-sensei helping him confess
note: this is fluff and a semi crack fic too LOL i hope you guys enjoy this, i had a lot of fun with this one! unedited too, as usual!
word count: 4.5k
masterlist !
playlist made by the lovely @savantsoulfinder​ thank you so much! 
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“Yo, Megumi-kun, can you take—” Satoru halted in his steps, following the trail of sight that his dark-haired student seemed to be so enamoured in to not even notice his teacher walk his way. “What are you staring at?” when his gaze landed on you, head thrown back in laughter and slapping Panda’s arm over Yuuji’s joke, Satoru’s eyes beamed even under the blindfold. “Oh? You like Y/N?”
Upon hearing your name, Megumi immediately snapped back to life. He scoffed and turned away from you, scowling to himself with his arms crossed against his chest. “No, I don’t. I don’t like anyone.” So defensive.
“Is that so?” Satoru teased while biting back his laughter, “Guess you won’t mind if I call her then. Hey, Y/N!”
“Gojo-sensei, what’re you doing?!” Megumi grabbed his teacher’s sleeve, whisper-hissing and cursing under his breath when Satoru caught your attention. You waved at them both, skipping until you were getting impossibly closer and closer and closer.
“Well, I don’t want you to carry these all alone. You’re gonna need some help.”
“I’m perfectly fine – h-hi.”
Shit, you were now here. You smiled up at him, hands folded below your bottom before tipping your head to the side, looking under Megumi’s ducked head to see his face. “Hey there, Megumi! Looking cute today,” you winked, causing the poor boy to blush madly. You never noticed, though, your attention now taken by your teacher turning red as he stopped his laughter. “Gojo-sensei! You called me?”
“Oh yeah, you’re just right on time. I was going to ask Megumi here to bring these books all back to my office but it’s probably too heavy for him so I asked—”
“It’s not heavy,” Megumi took the books that Satoru placed in your welcoming arms, the slightest touch sending jolts of electricity down his spine. He pulled away and clutched the books closer to himself at the sudden buzz, narrowing his eyes at his teacher who obviously couldn’t mind his own business. “I can carry it by myself.”
“I still wanna help, and I really don’t mind. Plus, I haven’t talked to you in a long time. I actually kind of feel like you’re avoiding me,” you pouted, and that simple gesture had Megumi feeling like he was sinking deeper into the ground.
He was ready for the whole world to swallow him up.
Satoru took pleasure in Megumi’s reddish ears and clenched jaw, cupping his own jaw with his hands as if to mock. “Aw, Megumi, why would you avoid precious Y/N? Did she do something wrong to you?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Well, if there’s nothing wrong, you two better scoot before you get late to your other class!”
“Alright, see you around, Gojo-sensei!” Shit, why were you such a good girl? Now he was stuck with you, and Megumi huffed while hesitantly sharing the books with him. You walked close enough to him that he caught a slight whiff of your shampoo, the scent clouding over his usually sharp mind. Now, though, Megumi could barely recognize the hallways he walked on, relying only on you to lead the way. “So...how’ve you been?”
“Fine.”
“How about your studies? We have an exam next week – maybe you want to study together? Inumaki-senpai and I were supposed to have a study group with the others but everyone just wants to study by themselves,” you turned to him with a small smile, “I do better when I’m with someone though.”
Megumi managed to give you a split second glance before he darted his eyes back in front of him again, swallowing audibly because he couldn’t understand why you had to look so pretty smiling like that.
His palms grew sweaty with each passing second, and he grimaced at the uncomfortably feeling of his collar getting sticky. “Uh, wh-where would we study? We don’t have a library or anything.”
“The training grounds is refreshing, but I’d like it to do it better in my room.”
“Do what?” Megumi halted in his steps, his eyes blown wide at your words.
“Study, of course. What else?”
He wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be worried that you frowned in confusion, almost as if you didn’t understand the weight of your words. But then again, you’d always been so damn oblivious that it made sense. Megumi shook his head, continuing on to the teacher’s office before remembering he still lost his sense of direction, so he bit his lip, obediently following you around like a puppy.
“You shouldn’t just invite anyone to your room, you know.”
Once you both made it to the empty room, you carefully placed the books down on Satoru’s desk. He raised a brow at the extra detail you put into, tongue peeking out from the edges of your lips as you made sure all of them were placed together neatly.
Satisfied with your work, you clapped your hands and turned to him.
“I’m not. You’re not just anyone to me, Megumi,” Suddenly, you leaned over him, his mind screaming at him when your lips lowered down to his neck. Megumi’s spine stiffened so quick he might as well be a flat board, his chin pressed to his neck when he felt your teeth graze his exposed skin for a moment. “There’s a loose thread,” you showed him a small thread with a small smile, which fell as fast when you saw Megumi standing uncomfortably straight. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to invade your personal space like that!” “I’m a little weird, aren’t I? That would explain why you’ve been avoiding me. Do I make you feel uncomfortable?”
“No, it’s not that...it’s just...”
“Just what?”
His mind blanked. Ask him anything about curses or their history and pretty much anything – he’d be able to answer – but not this. They didn’t teach this in the books and out of frantic nervousness, Megumi ended up spewing the first thing he could think of, his brows drawn together that only added to his intimidating look.
“I’m just annoyed that you scored higher than me on the previous exam.”
“Oh,” you fell for it, snapping your fingers together as you laughed. Somehow, the sound of your melodious laughter had his shoulders easing from the tension, the smallest of smiles hinting at the edge of his lips. Gosh, he was so whipped for you. “Was that really it? I thought you were avoiding me for something serious! Well, how about this, let’s study together and let’s see who’s the smarter one. The loser will get tickled to death!”
“I haven’t even agreed to that condition yet.”
“Okay, what do you want if you win?”
Megumi blushed as he blurted out, “You.”
Before he could regret what he just said, you scrunched your nose and pointed to yourself. “Me what? You want me to do something? You want me to buy you ice cream or—”
“Never mind,” he mumbled behind his palm that was now covering his mouth, refusing to show you that he actually wanted to laugh at how naive you could be. Not that he was complaining; it saved him great pain that you could never know his feelings for you. “I’ll ask for it when I’m sure I’ll win.”
“Ah, not a man of uncalculated risks, I see,” you ruffled his hair, the poor boy stiffening up again under your touch. “This is why I like you so much. You’re so thoughtful.”
“Please don’t touch my hair.”
Megumi was complaining, his shoulders raised beside his ears while he scowled at you, but the way a small, almost inaudible purr left his lips said otherwise. He didn’t want you touching his hair – only because he was shy and it would be the death of him if you saw how easily flustered he was around you.
Thankfully, you showered mercy upon him, raising your hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, we should go back to class now.”
Megumi sighed in relief, content for now to walk you all the way back to class as you talked about your day. He wasn’t actually listening, but a stupid smile was there on his face, anyway. He likened the sound of your voice to those of birds chirping and sunshine waking – and he felt like he was the fresh earth you always kissed.
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“You’re going to burn a hole in her if you keep staring at her like that.”
“Shut up,” Megumi averted his eyes away from you, stabbing his yogurt with his plastic fork. A part of him felt annoyed that you just had to look so pretty today, your bright voice filling in the cafeteria that put his constant sour mood to shame. The stark difference between you two made Megumi sigh in his seat, abandoning his fork as he leaned back. There was no way you’d like him back. “I wasn’t looking at anyone.”
“Ugh, why are boys so creepy? Staring at Y/N like that, ew.”
Yuuji ignored Nobara’s comment, and for once, Megumi let it slide when Nobara stealed his untouched yogurt. “Why don’t you just tell her you like her? She’s literally the sweetest person ever – the chances of her turning you down are low!”
Nobara snorted, “Yeah, but if the sweetest girl in school rejects you, that’s really humiliating. That would mean she likes everyone but you.”
Satoru popped out of nowhere – that stupid blindfolded bastard who started all this – his arms looped around Yuuji’s neck whose entire face illuminated at having his favourite teacher around. “I think the scary-looking Megumi-chan is actually just too shy to be confess,” he wiggled his eyebrows, pointing a finger fun to Megumi’s deadly narrowed gaze. “Can you believe it? My dark, brooding student is hopelessly in love with the cute, sunshine girl next door that he’s so scared around her? Isn’t that so adorable—”
“Everyone shut up!” he hissed through gritted teeth, “I’m not scared of anyone or anything.”
“Then tell her you like her.”
“Fine, I will.”
“I bet you ten dollars he won’t do it,” Satoru whispered, the two students who shared one brain cell beside him nodding eagerly.
“I said I will!”
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“Good morning, Megumi! Come in, come in,” you ushered him in once he stood frozen at your door, his hands now awkwardly clutching his own notes. “You can take a seat on the bed.”
Megumi wasn’t nervous of the fact this was his first time visiting a girl’s room, but rather because it was yours, and each part of your room resembled you greatly. From the organized and clean space, but the noticeable adorable little trinkets and polaroids of you with everyone sticking on the wall, he could feel your entire soul living in that room. When his eyes landed on an old photo of you holding up the peace sign and noticed for the first time he was standing in the background, unaware he was captured in the frame, Megumi inhaled sharply.
Had you pretended to take a selfie just to see him there?
No, he shook his head, there was just no way. He really couldn’t ponder about it long enough because you’d dragged him by the sleeve until he was sitting right next to you, the fresh scent of your body wash making him feel stunningly warm inside his clothes even when the windows were open.
The whole time, Megumi couldn’t absorb a single thing you were saying.
He was just too distracted by everything about you – the way your lips moved when you spoke, how you’d tuck back a stray hair behind your ear, even to the way your mouth would form an ‘o’ shape as you learned something new. No, he couldn’t focus at all.
Megumi has lost count of the times he’d wiped his shaky, sweaty palms on the pads of his sweatpants, hitching his breath every time you leaned close to him to glance at his notes.
At this rate, he’d be the loser in your little competition. It was just impossible for him to focus on anything else.
“Megumi?” you waved your hands in front of him. When it wasn’t enough to get his attention, you resorted to flicking his forehead and he yelped, rubbing at the sore spot. He faced you, a complaint ready to be spoken when his eyes widened at the sudden lack of proximity, your nose booping against his. “Hello, Megumi? I’ve asked you the same question twice now and you haven’t answered yet.”
As nicely as he could, he pushed your face away, his heart thumping loudly when you laughed as you went back to your own space. “Sorry, could you repeat that? I wasn’t really listening.”
“Yeah, I can tell, you were just staring at me the whole time,” you held your phone up in front of your face, checking your reflection on the screen on different angles. He watched, enchanted by how gorgeous you looked no matter what side. “Is there something on my face...? I’ve been checking non-stop and I don’t see anything weird.”
Megumi swallowed nervously, “There’s nothing wrong with your face. I just can’t focus. You’re too close and I-I can smell you.”
“Do I smell bad?!”
“No, you don’t! You smell really sweet!”
“Aw, thanks! You smell sexy too,” you winked at him, wiggling your shoulders as if to share your scent with him. Megumi’s eyes widened when your shoulder rubbed against his, and he recoiled, arm placed over his nose to hide his emotions that were a train wreck right now.
“Sexy?” he spluttered, “Why would you say – me – sexy? You’re so weird, Y/N. You shouldn’t say stuff like that.”
You patted his thigh in a manner that should be comforting, but the teasing smile on your face only had him wanting to jump out the window even more. Then, you stood up and stretched the material of your shirt riding up until he caught sight of your navel. Megumi turned away and closed his eyes, cheeks trapped between his teeth. “We should take a break. Treat’s on me – where do you want to go?”
“Err,” he scratched the back of his head.
“Oh, don’t look too worried, it’s a weekend. Plus, Gojo-Sensei isn’t around to bother us or something.”
“You...you want to go out...” he drawled out slowly, tentatively, surely – just to make sure that he was hearing it right. “...with me?”
“Yeah, I did just ask where you want to go.”
“Oh,” Megumi nodded with a blank face. Then, your words sank in, and he folded his knees to his chest to hide his face and his sickly sweet smile, the butterflies in his stomach progressing into a fucking zoo. “Oh.”
“Are you sick? You’re so red,” your palm connected with his heated forehead, “Megumi, you’re burning! Should I take you to Ieri-san?”
“No, no, I’m fine,” he pushed your hand away, still repudiating to look you in the eye. He just couldn’t, not when you were too inquisitive and he could easily give a dead clue before he got the chance to properly confess. “I mean, I don’t really have a certain place in mind. I’ll go wherever you want to go.”
He should’ve noticed it then – the mischievous glint in your eye that told him you weren’t up to no good. But because his knees always weakened around you, Megumi agreed way too eagerly than he’d like. “Just make sure you don’t regret it, okay? There’s something I’ve always been wanting to try but I never got the chance to and no one wanted to go with me, so you’ll be my willing victim!” And so, half an hour later, Megumi’s jaw dropped as the chill of the arena nipped at his skin. You didn’t even tell him to bring a jacket. “Ta-da!”
“Ice skating?”
You nodded happily, dragging him all the way to the shoe fittings. “It’s going to be fun, come on!”
“But I don’t know how to.”
“Neither do I!” Megumi wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t know how to. No matter how much he tried so hard to learn, he just couldn’t balance himself. The sound of your laughter that let him know you enjoyed this way too much reached his ears as he glared at the ice, his ears red either from the cold or the humiliation of being an utter failure in front of you, of all people! “Need some help there, buddy?”
“I’m fine, thanks for asking. And no, I can do this by myself.”
You masked your chuckle with a snicker, squatting to watch as he struggled to heave himself up back to his feet. “Really? You’ve fallen like, a hundred times now.”
“Shut up. Humans aren’t naturally supposed to do this anyway. We don’t have a human instinct to be upright – whoa!” Megumi slipped again from the ice, this time knocking you down with him. Instead of it being romantic where you two ended up gazing at each other with love in your eyes, your eyes widened into saucers as his elbow landed into your belly, crushing the wind out of your body.
“Ow!”
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to – ugh, this is why I said it was a bad idea!”
All the way back home, Megumi was still entirely convinced it was a bad idea. You were limping beside him, having to use his bicep as a crutch with your head resting on his shoulder. You and your stupid ideas, really, now you were injured and sprained your ankle from the fall. Instead of worrying about your own safety, you only slapped your knee in laughter as the medics fixed you up, still in disbelief that Megumi had fallen a lot of times yet came out unscathed.
“Megumi~ are you still mad at me? Why won’t you talk to me?” you pouted, squeezing his bicep to get his attention.
“It’s because I told you it was dangerous. Look at you – your knees are all scraped and your legs are all wobbly. We’ve still got a long way back home.”
“Maybe you should carry me then.”
“C-carry you?”
“Yeah, so I don’t fall,” you snorted, pointing to your shoeless ankle covered in bandages. “I mean, it was your fault I’m injured. If you hadn’t fallen for me, then this wouldn’t have happened.”
Fallen for you? Did you know that he – ? Megumi’s head snapped to yours so hard he nearly had whiplash, but the only thing he could focus on was the pounding of drums within his chest. “F-fall? How did you know?”
“Megumi, you literally fell on top of me. Don’t think I’ve forgotten already.”
That had him blinking back, his face flattening into a blank expression. Then, he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he stopped in his tracks. “Sometimes I forget you’re terribly naive.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing. Now get on,” With burning cheeks and a heart that fluttered way too much than what was considered healthy, Megumi squatted down to the ground, patting his back with a groan. You less than jumped into his arms, a little too excited to get a piggyback ride and Megumi expressed his faux distress with a groan. You only pinched his ear and told him to pay you back for your injuries, which made him complain again.
In the end, he was just happy you couldn’t see how much he struggled to hide his smile then, for if you saw it, you’d surely believe he was crazy.
Or so he thought. By the time you’d gotten back to the dorms, you were long passed out on his back. There was a small patch of drool on the back of his shirt and he shuddered, then wiped it away by whispering to himself, it’s okay – as long as it’s you.
Padding back to the dorms wasn’t as difficult as he thought it would be, considering everyone was almost asleep or out to the city as well.
Megumi gently laid you down on the bed, wrapping the blanket around you and making sure your head was comfortable on the pillow. He stayed there for a solid minute, just staring and memorizing your pretty features until he felt confident he could draw it upon memory. Not wanting to be creepy though, he cleared his throat, about to leave the room when your fingers tugged at his wrist.
“Megumi,” you moaned sleepily, “Don’t go. It’s too cold.”
“I’ll get you another blanket.”
“No, stay,” you whined, patting the space next to you. “Please?”
“To sleep here with you?” he asked, baffled and at the same time elated. The last thing he wanted to be was a pervert and he’d never outright admit that his thoughts of you hadn’t always been giggles and rainbows, but he pushed those down, reminding himself that this is you – he respected you above all else. His self restraint slowly thinned though, whatnot with you pouting up at him like that.
Megumi groaned and took off his shoes anyway, planting himself beside you. “This is insane. I think I’m losing my mind,” he muttered to himself. “Move over and make space for me,” you obediently followed his command, using his bicep as a pillow while your cheek squished against his chest. He wondered how you weren’t bothered by his heart’s beating, or maybe it soothed you to sleep because you were falling deeper and deeper asleep, burying yourself in his arms. “God, this is so uncomfortable. I feel like I’m crushing you—”
“So warm,” you cut him off, his mind turning completely mental as he felt your lips pad over his chin. “Goodnight, Megumi.”
How did you expect him to sleep now?
But as soon as you’d settled and only your stabled breathing could be heard from the room, Megumi’s eyes began to droop as well, and it didn’t take long before his arms relaxed around you, lazily pulling the covers up to cover the both of you.
He’ll tell you another time.
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“MEGUMI!” you pushed through everyone and showed him your paper, the bold red mark of 100 glaring back at him. Before he could respond, you stole his test paper from him, laughing at the sad 98 that showed. “Ah, I won!” In the blink of an eye, you’d tackled him to the ground, your knees keeping his legs locked underneath you, test papers flying around the field. Your hands were relentless and brutal as it ran and poked up his sides, eliciting squeaky little gasps from him.
“Stop, stop!” Megumi doubled over in laughter, keeping his feet flat on the ground to prevent himself from accidentally kneeing you. He’d hurt you enough during the ice skating dilemma – he didn’t want to cause you anymore injuries. “No, stop!”
“I won, Megumi, I won! Face the tickle monster!”
“I said stop or else!” he warned, completely aware that he wasn’t as threatening or serious as he wanted to be when tears leaked from his eyes, his laughter embarrassingly giggly and high pitched.
“Or what, loser?”
“I’ll kiss you until you shut up!”
“That’s adorable, but let’s see you try!” you kept tickling his sides, the both of you completely oblivious that the rest of your classmates – your teacher who was more than supportive of this pairing included – were hiding behind a bush, their phones whipped out to capture each second of this moment. “Loser!”
As you mocked him one more time that you wouldn’t stop tickling “losers,” Megumi had to draw the line. Using all his strength, he flipped you over until you were underneath him, the sheer force of the impact keeping you nestled between his arms.
Both of you were panting, but this time his breath was taken away from how beautiful you looked under him like that. Such innocent eyes staring back up at him, but don’t think for a moment he didn’t notice how your eyes trailed over his lips. He knew – because he was doing the same, his grip subconsciously gripping harder at your wrists. If he leaned down...
“This is taking too long!” someone whined from behind the bushes, tips of white hair peaking from the plant. “Just kiss her already!”
Both of you turned at the source of the voice, simultaneously shouting, “Gojo-sensei?!”
“Don’t be shy, Megumi-kun! Just tell her already or I’ll tell her myself.”
“Tell me what?”
Now that your face was peering up at him, he knew he was trapped. Cornered. Megumi closed his eyes, hands trembling and losing their grip around you as he was confronted by the situation. “I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner,” he fumbled over his words, “But I...I actually—”
“Boring! What kind of confession is this? Say it louder and clearer or she won’t be impressed! Is that how a man does it, Megumi-kun? You can do better—”
“All of you, shut the fuck up!” he roared to his peers who only cackled around the bushes, Yuuji and Gojo-sensei doubling over in laughter while Toge bit his collar to stop the gleeful sounds leaving his mouth. Irritation and humiliation bubbling up in his chest, Megumi finally found the courage to confess. “I like you, okay? I’ve always had a crush—”
You sat up to wrap your arms around his neck, silencing him with a sloppy kiss. At first, your lips kissed the edges of his mouth before Megumi groaned, his large hand clasping the back of your neck to guide you to where he wanted you to be. Smiling through the kiss, you pulled away, rubbing your nose on him affectionately. “Me too, Megumi,” you giggled, “I like you too. Actually, no, I fell in love the moment you almost broke your nose on the ice—” he cut you off by kissing you again, his grip on your waist threatening, “Hey, no fair, I was still confessing!”
“I wasn’t kidding when I said I’ll kiss you to make you shut up,” his confidence had now risen up, all traces of the shy Megumi now gone. “Now tell me that again. Tell me you like me.”
“Okay, but can I get another kiss?”
“You’ll be spoiled rotten.”
“I think I deserve it, don’t you think? I’m pretty cute – you’re lucky you get to kiss—” Megumi tugged you by your collar to slam your lips on his, his teeth nibbling at your lower lip. You tugged at his hair playfully and laughed, slapping his shoulder gently to tap out. “Fine, fine. I like you too!”
“Say it again. Please.”
“Not so shy now, eh, Megumi?” Satoru teased for the final time, and Megumi was so close to bursting a vein in his neck when his teacher showed up from the bushes, sexily posing on the grass as he winked at the both of you.
“SHUT UP!”
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luveline · 3 years
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in the morning, afternoon and night [Fred Weasley x Reader]
tags: reader-insert, hurt/comfort, self esteem issues, low self esteem, reader has acne, sad reader, insecure reader
pairing: Fred Weasley x Reader
word count: 1.8k
You glared at your reflection.
You'd think with such amazing magical medicine available, some witch or wizard would've invented a cure for acne, or at least a spell that covered it up.
You'd struggled with it since your third year. The muggle doctor you'd seen with your mother had suggested it was hormonal, and would calm down as you got older.
That was years ago.
It shouldn't have been a big deal. It wasn't, really. It wasn't usually very painful, though it was itchy as a stinging nettle and twice as unsightly. A large part of you knew it wasn't your fault, that acne was something that simply affected people at different times in their lives. You'd tried topicals and changing your diet, you'd tried losing weight and exercising and dermaplaning and everything they suggested in your mams fashion magazines.
Nothing worked.
Tears welled in your eyes and you sniffed them back, blinking rapidly.
It might've been silly, but it honestly made you want to hide away. You'd skipped dinner without really thinking, finding your way into the girls bathroom you inhabited now. You straightened your tie and robes, dusting down the sides. You leaned forward again, dabbing under your eyes with your sleeve.
The last thing you wanted was for anyone to know you'd been crying, because then someone might ask why. You didn't want to talk about it, ever.
If Fred saw you like this...
You and Fred Weasley had been almost dating for a few weeks now. Almost, because you hadn't talked about the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing yet.
It had been years of thinking he was the fittest boy in Gryffindor (besides George) and months of meeting his gaze in the corridors and catching his eye over dinner. Gradually it had become something more; he started carrying your books between classes and opening doors, touching your arms and your hair and your face.
You cringed at the memory. He had been so caring, moving to wipe an eyelash from the skin under your eye. You'd violently flinched from his hand, afraid he might feel the bumpy texture of your skin, feel the acne beneath your makeup. He'd been apologetic and a little confused, filling you with guilt. You hadn't been able to find a way to tell him it wasn't him, it was you. Of course you wanted him to touch you, the thought of him cradling your face had been the subject of many dizzy daydreams, but you just couldn't tell him this one thing.
It was your deepest insecurity.
The stress had only made it worse. Redness was easy to cover with muggle make up and even some wizarding tricks you'd learned over the years, but there wasn't a way to smooth your skin, and the acne was textured.
It was depressing. You didn't want to use that word, it felt ungrateful to compare your skin issues to something so severe, but it made you miserable.
You but down on your quivering lip, pushing away from the mirror unhappily and opening the bathroom door, a frown on your face.
"Y/N!" a familiar voice said.
You jumped, startled but unsurprised. Fred had a talent of always knowing where you were. You'd find it creepy if he wasn't so endearing.
"Fred," you said, plastering a smile over your frown. "I was just coming to find you."
"What a coincidence, ma chérie, I was doing the same."
"Well," you began, easily sidling into his space, "you found me."
"Yes, I did," Fred hummed, wrapping his arms behind your neck, grinning.
He took a long look at your face, his forehead creased. "What's wrong?"
"Nothings wrong, Fred."
He moved his hands to your shoulders, looking down into your face searchingly. "Have you been crying?" he asked.
You shook your head, lying without thinking. "Something in my eye,"
"Both of them?"
You stepped backwards. He let go of your shoulders accordingly.
"Y/N?"
"It's really nothing," you said through a forced laugh.
He frowned at you for a few seconds more and his face cleared. "Alright," he said slowly, rolling the words in his mouth, "if you say so, doll."
You opened like a blooming flower at the pet name, your whole face softening. You smiled, hoping he understood that the smile meant, oh I just so adore you, Fred Weasley.
He threaded his fingers through yours, dragging you down the corridor beside him and waxing poetic about their newest lot of Peruvian darkness powder as you went.
-
It got so bad you couldn't go to class.
Okay, so you definitely could've gone to class, but the thought of leaving your curtained bed was enough to make you sick with anxiety, so worried that everyone would see you - see your face.
NEWTs were coming fast and hard. Everyone who wanted to be anyone was working hard studying their asses of, on top of Professor Umbridge's million new rules you had to abide by, including her newest life-ruining rule: Boys and girl are not to be within 5 inches of each other.
What a joke. You struggled through classes, wrote essays so long your hand burned at night and now you weren't allowed to sit next to your almost boyfriend at lunch? It was miserable. It was making you miserable, and now you may as well have sharpied on your forehead how equipped your body was to deal with it.
Fucking badly.
You groaned to yourself, rolling on your side to face the wall. You were at your wits end. It felt endlessly unfair that the thing that was stressing you out most was getting worse from stress.
Your stomach growled hungrily.
You threw your arm over your eyes in defeat, eyes finally filling with tears. You felt so hopeless. There was nothing to be done except keep up your routine until the flare up was over, or until your mothers next 'miracle cure' popped into existence.
The tears felt too hot against your sore skin. You couldn't help but sob quietly to yourself in self-pity.
A knock sounded at the door. You gasped, wiping the tears away in panic.
"Y/N?" It was Alicia. "Are you alright? Can I come in?"
"Yes," you managed. "Yes, of course. It's your room too, after all."
The door clicked open. Alicia appeared, tanned skin completely clear and glowing, though each perfect feature was marred with empathy. "Fred's been begging every girl in the common room to come fetch you, but I told him to leave you be."
"Thank you," you said.
You cleared your throat. Alicia moved her weight from foot to foot, twisting her hands.
"I- Y/N. I won't pretend to know how it feels, but I promise you, Fred won't care. He's beside himself worrying that you're bedridden and dying or-" she laughed to herself, "or that you're still mad at him for the itching powder. What I mean is... he's a good guy, and you're upset. Maybe you should tell him what's wrong. He won't care."
You sniffed. "I know," you admitted, feeling the weight of her shifting the bed. "I know he's a great guy. I just wouldn't blame him if he, if he didn't like me anymore. If he found it ugly. I would understand it, and I think that makes it worse," you choked on your words, heat building behind your eyes.
"Oh, Y/N," Alicia said, placing a tentative but comforting hand on your shoulder.
You lay in quiet, listening to your own ragged breathing.
"I'll go talk to him," Alicia said.
"No! I mean, no. Thank you, but no. I... I'll speak to him myself."
Alicia nodded, rubbing your arm kindly.
The sound of the door clicking shut behind her finally spurred you into sitting up. You dressed in a hurry, chucking a wool jumper over last nights pyjamas.
He wouldn't care, would he? You cringed. Yes, he definitely would. Whatever was between you would stop. He'd have the grace to let you down slowly, drawing away his affections. He was a polite guy, he'd probably even say the whole spiel of "it's not you, it's me". But he would, eventually.
Well, you figured. Let it be quick. Like ripping off a bandaid.
You tread lightly down the steps, hoping to see him before he saw you.
Of course, when the slightest groan on the bottom step sounded, his lovely face whipped to meet yours. He smiled in relief, but it was mixed with something else. Disgust, your brain supplied nastily. He was disgusted. He rose to his feet, smiling smiling smiling. But something in his eyes was different, now.
"Y/N," he said.
"Hi," you said.
"Hi yourself, beautiful. Where've you been all day?"
"I'm... sick. Bad cold," you settled on.
He raised an eyebrow. "You sound okay," he said, not unkindly.
"I..." you looked down at your hands.
A siren was sounding in your head. You didn't think Fred had seen you without make up for the last 3 years. Fight or flight was leaning heavily towards flight.
"Well, are you hungry?"
You shook your head.
"Are you sure? You haven't eaten all day. You need something in your system if you're gonna fight this cold."
"I'm not actually sick, Fred," you admitted under your breath.
"I know."
You looked up. He was still smiling kindly. It was infuriating.
"Look," you said finally, rushed and all at once, "if you don't want to- if you're grossed out. Then it's fine, I'll understand if you don't want to see me anymore."
Fred was stricken.
"I know it's - ugly."
"Ugly? Nothing about you is ugly."
"Fred, my face-"
"No, listen to me, Y/N. It's not ugly. It's not gross. You're not any of those things, are you kidding?" he said, grabbing your hands. "You're beautiful. All the time, in the morning, afternoon and night. You're beautiful in charms and transfiguration and care of magical creatures. You were beautiful yesterday and you're beautiful today and you'll be even more so tomorrow." He stopped suddenly, looking down at your joined hands. His cheeks had turned bright red.
"Smooth, Freddie," came George's voice, from the sofa behind them.
"Shove OFF," exclaimed Fred, growing more red by the second. Heat filled your own cheeks.
"It's skin, Y/N. That's all it is."
"Okay," you said tightly, trying not to cry.
Fred breathed out, his hair shifting in response. His corded arms pulled you tight to his chest. You breathed him in. He smelled sweet and rough, like burning caramel.
He thought you were beautiful.
You smiled into his shirt.
<3<3<3
tag list: @msmimimerton
if you’d like to be added to a tag list, please ask ! for in general or for specific characters, i don’t mind
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Hello!! c: could you write about childe, diluc and zhongli where they have a date with the reader (since they haven't gone out with their sweetheart in a while), so the reader is very excited and wears their best clothes but after waiting a long time the character does not appear? and then the reader go home feeling so sad :( I wish there was an attempt at comfort at the end, but I don't want to limit your creativity, so you can make the ending whatever you want, however you want :) i love your blog sm!!!
Ohh, this is a great request, thank you for sharing it with me! I hope you like what I came up with. And thank you so much for your sweet compliment, too. :) Have a good day/night and take care! <3
Characters: Tartaglia, Diluc, Zhongli
Warnings: one mention of Tartaglia's real name
Them being late for date night (gn!reader)
Tartaglia/Childe
It’s nothing unusual that he gets caught up in work and spends more time on missions than with you. It’s nothing he enjoys; in fact, he hates being away from you but since there’s not much he can do about it, he just tries his best to make it up to you whenever you can spend some time together.
This particular date night was actually his idea to celebrate your anniversary, and he’s just as excited as you are, especially since he barely got to see you recently. With that being said, he never planned on standing you up on a special occasion like that but when he gets assigned to another mission at a minute’s notice, he literally has no other choice than to go. Things are so hectic that he doesn’t even think about informing you and although he really means no harm, he completely forgets that you have a date in that moment.
He only realizes that he stood you up when he returns back home and finds you sitting on the sofa, still dressed In really pretty clothes and all spruced up. For a few seconds, he just stands there and stares at you as he realizes that he really messed up this time. At first, he doesn’t even know what to say because he’s well aware that a simple apology isn’t enough to make up for the whole situation. It’s obvious that he feels extremely bad about not showing up, especially since it was such a special occasion. He wants nothing more than to pull you into a tight hug, although he’s not particularly sure if he’s the right person to comfort you right now.
When he finally breaks out of his state of shock, he rushes to your side, carefully taking your hands in his and looking at you with pleading eyes. In that moment, he’s not Tartaglia, the ruthless, brave Fatui Harbinger. He’s just Ajax, an ordinary young man who knows that he messed up and deeply hurt one of the few persons he truly cares about. It pains him to see you so sad and upset and that he’s the cause for that makes it even worse for him.
Although he knows that an apology is definitely not enough to make it up to you, he can’t stop telling you how incredibly sorry he is. He promises to do everything to make amends for the ruined date night, reassuring you that he’s going to make sure that nothing will stop him from showing up the next time.
Diluc
With Diluc, you’re probably already used to spending most evenings alone. There are a lot of things he needs to take care of, from managing the winery and everything regarding the business through to protecting Mondstadt from the Abyss Order and other threats at night. He knows that it puts a strain on your relationship and feels quite guilty about it but he still can’t allow himself to neglect his duties.
With that being said, he actually tries to invite you to a date night at least once a month to make up for his constant absence. He knows that it’s only a drop in the bucket but it’s better than nothing, and he cherishes every second he gets to spend with you, especially since you never fail to make him stop worrying about the Abyss Order and their next steps. Those are rare moments of peace which he only experiences when he’s with you.
Diluc definitely hates himself for standing you up, not only because he knows that you’ll be incredibly hurt but also he really looked forward to your date too. However, when he learns that there have been a few sightings of Abyss Mages near his manor, he can’t ignore that. It’s a matter of your safety; he doesn’t want them anywhere near you or his property, so he simply has to take care of that before meeting up with you. He’s sure that you’ll understand his reasons when he gets the chance to explain them to you.
Once he gets back home and finds you curled up in bed, your fancy clothes piled up on a chair, he suddenly realizes that there’s absolutely no excuse for skipping out on you like that, especially not without any message. Diluc feels awful because he didn’t even think about informing you about his delay and instead chose to act like the biggest douche of the universe. He knows that he deserves feelings horrible about the whole situation but that doesn’t make it easier to see you lying in bed, looking like a picture of misery.
Eventually, he sits down on the edge of the bed, unsure whether he should try to comfort you or if you’d prefer being alone right now. It’s evident that you really don’t want to hear his excuses right now, so he saves the explanations for later, but other than that, he doesn’t know what to do, except for apologizing for treating you like that.
Zhongli
Zhongli is someone who never forgets a date with you and even if it happens that he can’t be there in time he always makes sure to notify you about the delay. He’s really considerate when it comes to things like that, mostly because it’s common courtesy but also because he doesn’t want to keep you waiting without any message from him.
That’s what makes it even worse for you when he doesn’t show up to your date. There’s no message, no note to apologize for being late. Since that’s not how he usually acts it’s not a surprise that you start to worry about him and his safety pretty quickly (something he didn’t even think about), although you know there could be a million different explanations for his delay. With that in mind, you just sit there and wait for him (or at least a message from him) but when it’s getting later and later you eventually decide to go back home because the evening is already ruined and wouldn’t get better anymore, even if Zhongli did show up in the next minutes.
You don’t ask him what happened when you meet at home a few hours later. In fact, you don’t talk to him at all because you’re understandably upset about the whole situation and don’t care about his apologies or justifications in that moment. It’s obvious that he feels awfully guilty about the way the evening turned out and he probably has a good reason for standing you up but right now, you just don’t want to hear any of this.
Zhongli respects that you don’t want to talk to him and saves the apologies for later because he’d never force you to listen to him when you clearly aren’t interested in any kind of conversation. It hurts to see you like this and he has a guilty conscience about everything, especially since it’s been a while since you last found the time to go out together. He knows that he’s the only one to blame here, so he totally understands why you’re so upset and angry.
He doesn’t have to tell you that he’ll do everything to make it up to you because you know it – he always does that when he messes up. You love that about him but on this evening, it just isn’t enough to make you feel less disappointed.
Taglist: @blissmal
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lolita-lollipop · 3 years
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Hi could I get some headcanons for a yandere demon who was accidentally summoned by a child and the demon realizes that the small child just wanted someone to play with. The parents neglects the child and even when the kid comes into the room with the demon the parents are like “go play somewhere else sweetie” so the demon is basically just like “yup this child is mine” and just takes the child to the underworld with them, thank you 🥺
I started a one shot on this, and then realized that you wanted headcannons, so there is totally gojnng to be a part two of this that is the actual process. Kk, into it now.
I had to skip through th me “kidnapping” one, because there isn’t much to describe about it.
(I can’t tag you since your anonymous, but Just know I’ll post it in the next few days)
———————————————————————
-he, of course, meets you after you summon him with the ritual you saw in a picture book. He’s actually quite suprised that a child summoned him just to play trains in a sandbox. It isn’t like he can go anywhere till you dismiss one of the candle flames, so he just sits down and humors you.
-he is quite confused on the fact that you want him to play with you, and not some of your friends. You seem like a sweet little one, very polite indeed, and you haven’t even judged him on his demonic appearance, usually humans run screaming from the red tint in his skin, black eyes, and large horns. So he is very intrigued by you.
-usually, he’s not one for human sympathy, mainly because they treat him likes he’s some monster from hell (which he is), But it still hurts. You on the other hand, don’t even seem to care at all about the fact, you are treating him like some friend, not a demonic pet for you to order around. He immediately feels a bond between the two of you, it might be one sided, but still, you are just too sweet for this blasted world you’ve been shoved in.
-when he learns that this precious’s little thing that is you, has never felt any sort of love, even though you are just a ball of heaven, he is angry. Humans are nasty, vile creatures, the one time, the ONE TIME that one isn’t taking advantage of him, someone is openly hurting them? This is where the yandere-ness starts, he might not have known you for long, but he immediately feels protective, how could someone hurt such a little thing like you? That should be counted as a criminal act.
-when you let him out of the star (with his careful instruction to only blow away one of the lines) he’ll immediately grab your hand, and hoist you up to his chest, which by the way, is 8 feet off the ground. He’ll ask you where these “parents” of yours are, whilst rubbing circles back and forth on your shoulders with his warm hands. You point towards the little blue house where you lived, and he’ll go walking in there like he owns the place. When you say you made a new friend, your mommy jsut sheigged you off and told you to go play because she’s busy and can’t deal with you. This triggers him to a whole new level.
-he’ll take you back outside immediately, and set you in the center of the star, shooting a flew unstoppable flames into the blue house, then he’ll ask you to draw a new line for the star, and you and him both are transported into the world of the under, the last remains of earth in Your mind consisted of a few feminine screams.
“This child is mine now. Filthy human.”
Treatment:
-when arriving in literal hell, you would find that it’s surprisingly normal, actually pretty beautiful if you were to ask me. The sky was black, and the plants and ground were red. But it was such a pretty sight. You wowed at whatever this place was, while holding onto the side of his arm.
-this man, treats you like a little princess, his little princess of course. He dresses you in the finest of clothing, feeds you the best food, and plays the best games with you. He chooses to ill the role of your parent, mainly because the human scum who called themselves your biological parents, were cowards, and didn’t deserve the title. You’ll see him attempt to imitate a human parent, but soon just say “Aw fuck it” and go his own way.
-he doesn’t really get mad at you, in fact it’s very hard for him to even feel slightly annoyed at you, none of the things you do are intentional, so most of the things that could annoy him get blamed on someone else.
-is the most overprotective being you’ll ever meet, not letting you do even the simplest of tasks because “you could get hurt”, apparently you are too fragile to complete basic tasks. He’ll help you get dressed, he’ll fed you, he’ll literally carry you everywhere, all the while he’ll be scaring away any other demons from his manor in case they smelled the sweet child that you are, and wanted it for themselves.
-you’re his best friend, but even so, you have to go back home at some point right? Wrong, he’ll make you think as if whatever place you were before, where you were neglected, and ignored, was nothing but a dream, when you ask any questions about it, he’ll shush you and tell you that it’s nap time or something.
-he doesn’t care at all if you miss your mommy and daddy, he never did understand why humans could form attachments to people who mistreat them. He’ll grow angered, not at you of course, you aren’t trying to do it on purpose, but more so at everyone in your past life that’s keeping you from him. So he might pull a few strings with some humans int he surface that are in debt to him, and bam, your old school, your fathers house, your friends horns, everything in town, has now burst into flames.
-nicknames include: littles, little one, child
Punishment:
-as I said he doesn’t get mad very easily, busy he also won’t tolerate a certain level of disobedience. That being said, he will never even think about embolism any form of physical pain upon you. Resorting to more tactical options.
-hell just scare you, like letting you wander out when it’s parent of that darker times (they don’t have days down here), and letting any demons come close to you, you of course, beings tiny little human faces with a huge snake thing, scream and cry for your best friend to come save you. Which he does, and engulfs you in his arms, boucning you up and down while shushing Youa Dan striking your hair.
-hell lecture you and tell you this is why you can’t leave him, then changing you out of the dirty clothing, and tucking you into bed.
Cuddles:
The two of you have quite the size difference, so snuggling with him would be hard, but not impossible. He is actually quite gentle with you, noting how easy it would be to crush you under his weight, so he’ll gently set you on top of him, over his chest, where he’ll wrap his arms around your sister, and keep his hands over your shoulders.
-or he’ll set your form in his lap, protective encasing his arms over your chest while you rest your head in his.
*bonus
-where he comes from, it’s a sight of dominance to hiss at others, so you’ll literally be just perched in his lap while he’s hissing like a cat at another demon like 👁👄👁
———————————————————————
Thanks for requesting, have a great day anon, bye!
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francostrider · 2 years
Text
Prince Marth and the Multiverse of Gacha
Fire Emblem is a series that had grown on me rather late in its existence. When the first western released game came out, I didn’t really appreciate it for what it was, not really into turn based gameplay. Then Awakening came along and I couldn’t put it down. I even went back to the rest of the western released games, and I fell in love with most of the series. Even Shadow Dragon, when stripped down to its fundamentals, was a lot of fun, if only to finally explain who that strange man was in Super Smash Bros. Melee. So, when there’s an announcement trailer, you can bet your falchion that I will rush to it as soon as physically possible.
Today, Nintendo released the trailer for Fire Emblem Engage, to be released in 2023. By the end of it, I decided that I was going to skip this one. Oh, I’m sure it will be a competent game (this is Nintendo we’re talking about), and maybe even fun here and there. But the gawdy presentation did nothing to make me overlook tropes that I have only felt more and more antipathy for.
I guess we can talk about the lead character, as it didn’t take long for photoshop experts to have fun with them. They look like the worst aspects of anime character design, with its bizarre use of colors and over stylization. I already got sick of this with Fates, one of the worst games I have ever played.
Now, I try to be fairer handed about calling games bad or good. Most of this is subjective and not fact. My (or anyone else’s) opinion is not the final word. But Fates was bad. It was a money sink product, costing $100 dollars (or $120 if you skipped a deal) to see the three paths and the “whole” story, and the way it was written made only one of those paths valid. And that was before we get into the DLC. It copied mechanics exclusive to Awakening where it didn’t make sense. That’s all before my opinion, that the story is poorly written, and the characters are ill-conceived piles of anime mush. And it also makes the utterly irresponsible notion that your army is somehow not killing anyone on the other side, despite generations of animosity. That last detail, to me, destroys the relatively grounded nature of the series.
Yet, the very worst part of both Fates and Engage is a trend that Marvel has helped get going: Multiverses. Now, maybe I’m in the minority, but I feel that multiverses tend to suck the stakes out of the ground like a tornado. I get the appeal: Your isekais, your “what if X met y”. Yet, in practice, they end up taking more than adding to a work. I did not enjoy No Way Home. The MCU was fine on its own and it made me decide that Endgame was the true end to the whole series. And what I did like from the previous Spiderman movies felt like hollow imitations in No Way Home.
And this hollowness looms over Engage. While it’s never been 100%, Fire Emblem has given us some great characters and even subtle writing. Eliwood, Lyn and Hector are very human, very relatable. And they didn’t do this with usual anime kookiness. Blazing Sword is a well written story that transcended beyond usual, tired tropes. Genealogy of the Holy War is a brutal deconstruction of the series up to that point (back on the Super Famicom). Sigurd is a tragic figure with flaws, dying because he was stabbed in the back at the end of his journey. Path of Radiance stars a mercenary who must climb his way to leadership, and it deals with subjects like genocide. All these characters have homes, have futures they are fighting for, have friends waiting for them. They are very much a part of their own world.
And despite what little on screen blood there is, I believe these characters bleed. They feel pain, they are horrified, and they are vulnerable. This is all due to the fact that they take war seriously. When characters go down in battle, hero or villain, they die. There are exceptions, but it is lamp shaded when that happens. It makes you feel the danger of open war. And the overarching stories make no delusions over the cost of warfare.
When you start to “collect” them like a bunch of pokemon cards, all of their identity, all that vulnerability is gone. And all the multiverse stuff does is render their own world, their own lives insignificant. To summon Sigurd to as this paragon of combat for an assist just blows over his tragic story. They cease to be characters and become a bunch of action figures thrown at each other.
Am I the only one sick of this? I don’t want multiverses with “all my favorite characters”. I want my characters in their proper context. I don’t want the growth of these characters traded away for a mass-produced sticker. They’re great because of the other characters they work off of. They’re great for how they exist in their own worlds. Marth is not going to travel across dimensions to fight evil like a badly written superhero comic. He’s going to remain king and try to restore a world ravaged by two long bloody wars.
Between the multiverses and the horrible trend of gacha games, I feel the damage it’s doing needs to be called out. I thought Nintendo learned its lesson. I loved Shadows of Valentia, and Three Houses fixed a lot of the narrative and cost problems that Fates suffered from. But here we are with what seems like a console version of a cheap mobile game, and it’s not a trend worth prolonging.
And will you please release a translation Sword of Seals already!?
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sophsicle · 2 years
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why did we skip over how regulus sees the relationship james didn’t think he saw them as “boyfriends” but reg clearly did and i just can’t get past that james didn’t think he was something monumental to regulus
Hello lovely! Yeah, I think this is one of those moments where we the readers forget that we have a way fuller picture than the characters. Because Regulus, due to feelings of insecurity, dismisses his relationship with James quite often. And I think that really sticks with James through it all.
Like right from the beginning you have:
“How do you think this goes Potter? You think we’re—what? Gonna walk down the corridor holding hands? Snog in the library?”
James’s chest aches. “I don’t know, sure, if that’s what you want.”
Regulus stares back at him, blinking before a cold laugh bursts out of him. “Jesus Christ,” 
Which is Regulus being pretty flippant about the idea that him and James could have any real kind of relationship. And then you have: James is well and truly lost now. “What are you—“ and then it hits him. “Wait, are you jealous?”
Regulus stiffens. “No. What would be the point? This was bound to happen eventually, she was always going to come around.”
“Come around,” James repeats, feeling a little dumbfounded. “Reg, she wants to be mates, not bloody boyfriend-girlfriend.”
“Right now,” and there, just on the ends, his voice splinters and the pain slips through. “But really it always made sense you two. So, you know, you have my blessing to—I don’t know—ride off into the sunset or whatever it is normal people do.”
While obviously this is Regulus feeling inferior to Lily, it's also Regulus being dismissive of him and James. All very "it was never going to last so why even try" and it's difficult for James to hear that Regulus thinks that they're something temporary when that isn't how James sees them at all. And then again, Regulus says this in reference to him and James:
“We shouldn’t have done this,” Regulus’s voice is quiet. “I’m usually better at not—“ he cuts himself off, letting out a heavy exhale, but he doesn’t pull away. James can’t see his face but he can feel his heat, the weight of him. It’s settling.
“Better at what?” James asks, matching his volume.
“Not taking stupid risks.”
And when James finds out that Regulus has been snogging girls while they're together:
“Who was she?”
Regulus shakes his head. “I don’t know, some fourth year.”
James laughs. “Oh, some fourth year. Great. That’s great.”
“I don’t understand what you’re so upset about.”
That whole "I don't understand what you're so upset about" is another way of diminishing their relationship and James's importance (at least to James, obviously not to Regulus)
ANYWAY I could keep going, but my point is that Regulus pretty consistently assures James that their relationship means nothing as much as he assures him that it means everything. So while we as readers know which one of those is an act and which one isn't, James does't. And he he's desperate for Regulus to let them come out of the closet and he never does, which also instills a sense in James that Regulus is ashamed, of the two of them as much as he is of his sexuality.
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the-witty-pen-name · 4 years
Text
Deadbeat Pt. 1
Lee Bodecker x F!Reader
18+ ONLY
Warnings: age gap (reader is 21), smut/masturbation (implied/mild), cursing, abandonment, infatuation, alcohol, cheating, violence?, mild housewife kink? 
Word Count: 4.3k
Summary: You work at the bar at the edge of town, the Sheriff is going through a divorce and needs to rent a room. 
A/N: I’m terrible at writing summaries and I’m so sorry about that! I don’t think I would consider this a dark!fic, but it does cover a lot of themes, and topics that are darker than I usually write about- but I think that comes with the territory of writing about Lee Bodecker. I’ll make sure to update the warnings for each chapter and do not read if you are underage. I also ignored canon for this one.
There are no tags on this one, because no one has specifically asked to be tagged on smut fics and I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable!
I hope you all enjoy!
Tags and Requests are OPEN
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“Get out of here Lee,” you spat, pointing to the door he just walked into the bar from. “You swore to Janie you wouldn’t touch a drop.” 
“C’mon (y/n),” he said sitting at the bar anyways, a smug grin on his face, making you scoff. 
“I ain’t having anything to do with you breaking your promise to that lovely woman,” you say confirming your point. You wipe your hands on the towel that was hanging from your apron. 
“Jack and coke?” He asks, looking at you with eyes that would be endearingly puppy dog if it weren’t Lee Bodecker. You shook your head. 
“A coke it is,” you say and he gives up trying for now. He regrets telling you on his last visit he’d be swearing off drinking cause Janie finally threatened to throw him out. 
You slide a glass bottle of Coca-Cola down the length of the bar to Lee and he grinds his teeth slightly. The sugar was always his temporary fix. You also sent down his way a small bowl of roasted peanuts, feeling bad for the mess of a man. 
“She’s gonna leave me anyways,” he grumbles and you shake your head, picking up on his attempts to illicit sympathy to coax you into giving him a drop of anything. 
“Stop giving her a reason to Lee,” you point out, gesturing with your hands to emphasize that he was in the same small bar on the edge of town he always wandered into on weeknights. He’d tell Janie he was on duty but he’d really be down in this little box of a building getting drunk as a stunk. 
“She’s the one who gone and cheated,” Lee said in an angry tone, not towards you, just at his situation. “That Miller fellow living a few miles down from me. I see his truck parked outside my house plenty of times to know he’s not just being neighborly.” 
“I’m sorry Lee,” you say with a genuine tone of sympathy. You felt for him and his pain. You knew the stress of the job he led and the pain of knowing the love of your life don’t love you. 
“She’s going to leave me,” he says, staring intently at the condensation on the bottle in front of him. “I’d been trying so hard for her and our marriage and she’s two timing with the neighbor when I’m out working.” 
“And the thing is I don’t even care if she cheated,” Lee continued, “I’d look the other way if I knew she’d be staying with me. But it’s cause I know she don’t love me anymore. That’s what’s hurting me most.” 
“Maybe y’all can work through this-“ 
“This was inevitable,” he says, cutting you off. You don’t point it out, cause he’s clearly distressed but normally you’d have no problem saying to Lee ‘Fuck you, let me finish Sheriff.’ 
“Do you got somebody?” Lee asks you. The question takes you back cause it wasn’t like the Sheriff to ask your about anything personal. He would come in, and you’d shoot the shit, exchange small talk, maybe some harmless flirting for a larger tip, but that was the extent of it. 
“No, not anymore,” you say, having recently broke things off with your boyfriend. “I was seeing Arvin Russell for a couple months, but we just broke it off.” 
“You’re too good for him anyways,” the sheriff scoffed at the mention of the Russell boy and took another swing from his bottle of pop. “How old are you anyways, sweetheart?” 
“Twenty-one,” you respond, not thinking too much about the nickname. He had a habit of frequently using names like that when he talked to the women in this town. You think it started out as a tactic to win re-election and then it just stuck. He nodded. 
“Yeah you two are around the same age,” he said, more so thinking out loud than it being a statement directed towards you. “Why’d you break it off?” 
“Beat up my brother,” you answered, “Granted, the little shit had it coming. Can’t blame Arvin after I heard how the asshole was bothering that sweet thing Lenora. But he just took it too far. Almost killed the kid. The boy saw red so I got myself out of the picture. You can’t be with a boy who does that to your kin.” 
Lee nodded understandingly. You didn’t interpret his actions or questions as genuine concern or interest in you, but that he was just asking you questions to distract from his marital woes. 
“I’d do so many things different if I could be your age again,” he chuckled in a self-deprecating tone. “I’d sure as hell love to turn back time and have myself go down a better path.” 
“It’s not just you, Sheriff,” you reply after collecting money another man sitting at the bar. You nod as a goodbye to the man, and then curse under your breath when he doesn’t tip you. “Asshole,” you mumble, tossing the few pennies into the tip jar. You walk back over to the sheriff and prop your elbows on the bar. “I’m sure everyone is this town wishes the same thing,” you say, trying to make him feel better. 
“I’d love to just be your age again,” he says with a sigh, and then pops a small handful of the peanuts in his mouth. “Young, got your whole life ahead of you.” 
“I’m not sure working in a place like this is setting me up for great things, Sheriff,” you chuckle moving to wipe the bar in the area where that other customer left. “A woman working as a bartender is equivalent to just being a whore according to the eyes of the Lord... at least in this town,” you laugh, using the towel from your apron to wipe the rings left behind on the countertop from the glasses. 
“Arvin didn’t think so,” Lee countered, trying to make you feel a little better about your position. “I don’t think so. Hell, people in this town are so uptight about things that aren’t their business. You’re young, you need a job and you have one. It’s that simple.” 
“I wish more people in this town thought that way,” you reply with a smile. “That new preacher last Sunday-“ 
“Don’t listen to that asshole,” the Sheriff scoffed, and chuckled when your eyes widened at his derogatory words towards the preacher. “He’s a showboating son of a bitch and he’s as phony as they come.” 
“Those ruffled shirts are the most pretentious thing I ever seen,” you say, letting out a big laugh thinking about when he is giving a sermon in what looks like tacky prom attire. 
“Pay him no mind,” Lee said, bringing the bottle to his grinning lips as he looked at you. “You’re a better person than he is.” 
“I appreciate the sentiment,” you chuckle. 
“Have a goodnight hunny,” another customer at the bar says dropping cash on the table as they leave. “Goodnight Sheriff,” the older man tips his hat and then walks out. 
“Have a goodnight Marvin,” you call after him, “Give my love to Loretta!” You clear the empty glass and drop the cash off in the register. 
While you’re moving around, Lee takes a moment to actually look at you. Any man with eyes knew you were pretty, but he ain’t never noticed before just how attractive you were. His eyes lingered for a moment at how the canvas waist apron extenuated your figure. He couldn’t believe this stunning young thing was stuck in a place like this with a dead end job talking to a deadbeat like him. 
“How long you staying for Sheriff?” You ask suddenly, pulling him out of his trance. 
“Uh, not sure,” he says, looking up at the dingy Luger Beer clock that hung on the wall. “Why sugar?” 
“Seeing as though your sober I was hoping I could trouble you for a ride home?” You ask shyly. 
“Of course,” he said without hesitation. “No trouble at all honey.”
“Thank you, Lee,” you say with a smile, making his heart skip a beat. 
He’d talk to you most weeknights and never had this feeling. Maybe he had but he was too wrapped up in his own troubles to notice it. You were such a sweet girl, and he realized what an injustice it truly was for you to be stuck here. 
The thought crossed his mind very quickly about if he wasn’t married- even though he knew divorce was coming around the corner any day now. If he had met you at a different time in his life if it would’ve been better. Instead of meeting you as an overweight, deadbeat of a sheriff which a drinking problem- he’d met you when he was fresh out of school, same age you are now. You all coulda fallen in love, started a family, and that would’ve been enough to keep him from taking up drinking in the first place. 
He knew from the beginning Janie ain’t ever loved him. Hell, he’s not sure if he ever loved her thinking back on the whole relationship. Lustful, without any sort of promise behind it and they both were users. They used each other. He knew he treated her poorly as poorly as she treated him. He definitely had loved her, that much he knew was true, but now she’s cheating- something Lee never thought of doing at all no matter how many fights they had until the early morning hours.  
As you maneuvered around behind the bar, locking up the liquor and wiping down the machines getting ready to lock up for the night, his mind played little tricks on him. The canvas apron was instead a pinafore, and the bar was his kitchen. He’d loved the sight, thinking about coming home to you instead of what was soon to just be an empty house. 
Hell, he wasn’t even sure if he’d even be the one to keep his house. The idea of finding a new house- buying one for you, and being able to start over sounded like a dream life. Hell, he’d run away from this town right now if you said the word. He’s sure he could secure an election in another town, he had the connections to make it happen. 
“I just got to lock up the office and I’ll be ready to go,” you say, untying your apron. He gulps and nods as confirmation. You disappear in the back room, cash drawer in your arms to lock away in the safe. He heads behind the bar to dispose of his empty bottle and the cardboard tray his peanuts were in. 
You come back, your peacoat buttoned and the sash tied around your waist in a bow you had made. You had a small handbag in one hand, and your work apron in the other. Suddenly, he was nervous and didn’t know how to carry himself around you. Undeniably, the Sheriff was developing a crush. He couldn’t shake the feeling. He wanted to ask you out on a proper date, but he knew with his age and reputation- it wouldn’t be fitting. He was moving way too fast in his own mind to keep up with. Just daydreams, he thought to himself, suppressing the thoughts of a future with you for now.
“Okay,��� you said, giving the place one more once over to make sure it was all set. “That does it.”
“After you,” he said, holding the door open for you. You giggled, and once you both were outside, you used your key to lock the front door. He held the door open for you to take the passenger seat in the cruiser. As you buckled your seatbelt, he walked over to the driver’s side and then slide into his seat.
You were a little nervous. You weren’t sure why. This wasn’t the first time you’d asked for a ride home. Usually, it’s never this late. When you close, you usually walk home alone. You definitely didn’t live that far, but again that was more dangerous than getting a ride home.
You realized that you were worried about nothing. You thought maybe some would accuse you of something scandalous, getting a ride home from a man so late. However, this was the Sheriff and the streets didn’t have another car on it at all. The town knew where you worked and if anyone were to see you, they’d know you were closing shift and you asked for a ride to avoid walking home this late alone.
“Thank you again,” you said, starting up a conversation as the sheriff was backing out of the tiny lot that was next to the bar.
“Oh, don’t mention it, hun,” he said, “It’s my job to make sure you get home safe. Your house is the white one at the end of Birch?”
“The very one,” you say, looking out the window. There aren’t any street lights, and the only light for miles is coming from the headlights of the cruiser. You don’t catch Lee stealing glances at you as he starts moving forward.
“How’s your ma doing?” He asks, making conversation.
“Oh, she left,” you said nonchalantly, and it makes Lee’s eyebrow raise in confusion.
“Wait. What?” He asks looking over at you for a second before turning his eyes back to the road.
“Oh, I thought you would’ve heard,” you say softly, your façade of indifference torn down. “She left us about a month ago. Met a man from Columbus and moved in with him. The whole town was talking about it for weeks.”
“So, is it just you and Tommy now?” he asks, wondering what kind of a mother leaves her girl to take care of her high school aged brother on what she makes at the bar.
“Oh, he went with her,” you explain, “House is all mine. After the whole thing with Arvin, she decided to pull him out of school and he goes to school in Columbus now. She wasn’t gonna bring him but after that, she changed her mind.”
“They just left you?”
“I chose to stay.”
“No offense but why would the hell would you chose to do that?” he jokes, making you laugh a little.
“It’s all paid off, and my grandpa left it to me and not her anyways,” you explain. “House has been in my name for three years now. And if we sold the house, she’d just piss the money away. Besides, would you move back in your mother now, Sheriff?”
“No, I can’t say I would want to,” he chuckles.
“So, I’m just supporting myself and that ain’t too bad,” you shrug.
“Sounds lonely,” he comments and you nod in agreement.
“It can be,” you admit, as he turns down your street.
“You ain’t worried living alone?” He asks.
“You tell me, Sheriff,” you joke, “If I got something to worry about it sounds like you’re not doing your job.”
“Ouch,” he says and holds a hand clutching his hand to his heart dramatically. It made you laugh, and it made him smile that he made you laugh. God, he loved your laugh.
“Thank you again, Lee,” you say sincerely, quickly kissing his cheek when he parks in front of your house. The gesture takes him back, and he’s relieved you can’t see how red his face is. He’s almost angry at how flustered you make him and you have no idea. “Have a goodnight,” you say.
“Goodnight, (Y/N),” he says, a little shakily. You get out of the car, and he watches you walk up to the porch, your hips swaying naturally, and he bites his lip. He groans, but at his disappointment in himself for staring again. You disappear behind the front door and he hits his palm on the steering wheel, trying to shake whatever feeling this was.
He reluctantly drove home, not wanting to have to talk or see Janie. He knew he was just heading home to a fight for being out so late, even though he knows she takes full advantage having fucking Miller over. His jaw is locked, angry about a fight he hasn’t even had with her yet. His cheek still tingles from your touch, and he thinks about if he should just leave Janie. He could just leave, get an apartment nearby or something. He doesn’t even care if she gets the damn house. He’s bracing himself for another night of fighting as he pulls into his own driveway and heading up to his own house.
He fumbles with his keys in the dark. He thinks he had the right one, but it doesn’t work. He tries another that is the same shape, still doesn’t work. He intakes a sharp breath and tries the first key again- he’s positive that’s his house key. “Fucking Christ,” he mutters when the key won’t even go into the lock. “Janie!” he shouts, pounding on the front door. She changed the locks.
“Fuck,” he exclaims, stomping down the front steps and walking around to the back door. He tries his keys again with no luck. He pounds into the door hard and incredibly loud. He knows she’s there, upstairs in their bed, ignoring his knocks. He tries the kitchen window, but it’s locked. Every window on the first floor is fucking locked. He curses again and heads back to his cruiser. He slams the door shut and his grip on the wheel is turning his knuckles white. Does she expect him to sleep in his car in the driveway?
He doesn’t even think about where he’s going to go, but he knows damn sure he’s not going to give her the satisfaction of sleeping outside of his house in his cop car for the whole town to talk about. He just pulls out of his driveway and starts driving. He isn’t even thinking about what route he’s driving, it’s like he’s driving on autopilot while he screams out every curse word in existence.
By the time he calms down, he realizes he’s driving down Birch again. His muscles in his body tense, and he thinks back to your conversation when he dropped you off. Your mother and brother were gone, meaning you have two spare bedrooms. He knows he shouldn’t but the temptation is way too overwhelming. He has nowhere else to go. If someone saw his car… well, he’d worry about that tomorrow. Your house is two miles away from your nearest neighbor, settled back at the end of a long dirt road. Someone knowing he was there was unlikely. He had people who could save your name. It was all innocent. Janie kicked him out and he knew you had an extra room. Hell, he’d rent a room from you- Wait. That’s perfect. That solved all of his problems and yours. He knows you were downplaying how hard it must be to keep up with the house and by him paying rent, you could take care of the house. It was a win-win.
He felt so confident now and he was so proud of himself for devising this plan. He parked his car out front and then walked up to your front door, knocking gently. The sound of the knock made him now incredibly nervous. He didn’t want to scare you or for you to think he was trying to take advantage. Granted, there would be a lot more than financial benefits to being able to live with you, which he knew were selfish, but the idea of being able to see you everyday was overwhelming. It was the closest thing to the dream he was wrapped up in back at the bar. He could live out his little pretend domestic bliss, and you’d get the money you need for the house. He knew he was insane and this was probably wildly inappropriate, but he knew you were too kind to turn him away.
You opened the door with a small yawn, a yellow bathrobe secured over your nightgown fully, to keep yourself decent when you answered the door. You were going to call the Sheriff when you heard the rapping at your door so late and ignore the knocks, but looking out the window of your bedroom you saw it was Lee’s cruiser parked outside.
“Lee?” you ask quietly, sleepiness very evident on your mumbled voice.
“Janie kicked me out,” he said softly, “Changed the locks on me. Darling, I’m so sorry for intruding but I have no where else to go.”
“Come in,” you say sympathetically, the news waking you up quite a bit. “Lee, I’m so sorry. You can take my mom’s old room; it’s got an attached bathroom you can use too.”
 “Thank you (Y/N),” he says quietly. You close the door and secure the lock and the chain again as he looks around the house.
“Don’t worry about it,” you insist. “I can take you there. Follow me.”
You walk up the stairs, Lee following closely behind and he’s ashamed that he took the opportunity to just openly check you out again. At the top of the stairs there was a hallway lined with photographs in mismatched frames. You point to the door at the end of the hall.
“That’s the master,” you explain, “There’s a bathroom attached inside if you want to clean up or anything. There’re clothes in the dresser if you want pajamas- should be in the bottom drawer.”
“Okay, thank you,” he replies, looking down at you as you yawn again, and he notices how your hair is a little messy. The sight drives him wild.
“Anything in the kitchen is up for the taking to,” you offer.
“Look, (Y/N),” he says, “I know this isn’t the best time to be talking about this, but I really need a more permanent plan on where to go. I know it sounds crazy and out of the blue, but could I rent that room from you? Name your price. I figured… I really need a new place, and you could probably use another source of income to keep up with the house. Plus, it’s safer than living alone…”
“Um…,” you begin to speak, but you bit your lip, showing that you’re intently thinking about his offer. Everything he said was right. You needed the money, and he was right that living alone was dangerous in this town and living with the sheriff is the safest person there was in the whole town. People would talk, of course, but no one would deny that the circumstances were just ideal for the two of you and nothing more. You were an adult, a homeowner, and it was your business who you rented a room too. “Yeah, I think that makes sense for both of us,” you agree. “We’ll sort out the details tomorrow.”
“Of course,” he says with a smile.
“Alright, um,” you say crossing your arms around your chest awkwardly. “Goodnight, Lee.”
“Goodnight, (Y/N),” Lee responds as you head back into your own bedroom. He let’s out a heavy sigh and heads into your mom’s room- or rather his new room. He’d have to figure out how to get his stuff back from Janie tomorrow. He’d really just need his clothes and some other necessities. 
The room was fairly spacious. There was a closet and dresser. The closet still had some clothes of your mom’s left behind, and for the most part, the room looked fairly intact. It was like she up and left with just a few things. Lee shook his head, angry at how poorly you were treated by your mother. He pulls off his leather jacket, tossing it and his hat onto the bed. He opened up the bottom drawer of the dresser, and just like you said, it was filled with men’s clothing. He concluded they had to belong to the man your mom lived with now, more things just left behind.
He tosses a pair of plaid pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt onto the bed, and then he heads to the bathroom.
In the drawer beside the sink, he finds a new toothbrush still in its packaging, that he opens for himself and drops it in the white toothbrush holder on the counter. The towels are all clean and folded neatly on the shelf above the toilet. He finds a new soap under the sink as well, and decided he needed a shower to just wash off everything of tonight off in hopes he’ll feel better.
He strips of his uniform, folding it nicely knowing he’ll need to wear it all again tomorrow morning. He steps into the shower and turns on the water. The hot water just immediately helps him to loosen the muscles that had been so tense. He lets the warm water run down his face and back, just letting himself enjoy the feeling. He lathers up his body with soap and then it finally hits him that he was here, living with you, and then suddenly he’s hard.
“Fuck,” he mutters, resting his head against the shower wall, the running down his back. He was in so much trouble he realizes. As he beats himself off in the shower, his mind is clouded with thoughts of you. The way the apron at the bar looked around your hips, and the smell of your perfume when you leaned into him. The way your body looked as you paraded yourself around behind the bar. The way you have no problem talking back to him when he walks into the bar after saying he’s off the bottle the night before, just making want to shut you up with a rough kiss. The feeling of your lips on his cheek and he imagines your lips on his neck. He thinks about how your hair looked tousled when you just showed him to his room. He lets himself slip back into that same domestic daydream. You being his wife… married to you instead dealing with this goddamn divorce. The absolute sickening sweet domesticity making him groan, as he imagines his hand is yours. Why on earth did he think he’d be able to do this?
PART TWO
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