#ALWAYS PUT A DISCLAIMER OUT THERE ABOUT HOW AWFUL THEY ARE. GOOD GOD.

[tasmanianstripes]

People need to practice minding their own damn business

Don't come into people's inboxes giving unsolicited advice or criticizing their personal stuff. Don't reblog somebody's posts saying how much you hate it and their opinions.

Don't like somebody's characterisation, AUs or the kind of art they post? It might even annoy you?

Okay, cool. Go make your own post. Block them. Be a little hater about it to your friends. It's good for your soul!

But don't be goddamn rude to people. Don't make it their problem.

"I don't like what this artist likes mah mah mah"

Here's a wild idea;

Artists...don't need to cater to you. You are not entitles to their work. Nobody on the internet should coddle you and post only stuff you like.

Shocker, I know.

[saetoru]

So tell us how the first kiss goes between y/n and suguru in rich! boyverse 🙏🏼

✩ ‧₊˚ ✩。IF ONLY — GETO SUGURU. (rich boy! au)

based on this — disclaimer: this is a side au! to rb! gojo but it’s not rly part of the “story.” it’s just for fun and builds off the au, but you may disregard it !!

contents. college! au, rich boy! gojo + geto, reader is dating gojo, cheating (reader on gojo w geto), mutual pining, a make out kiss ; notes. uh….it’s here guys. the first installment of mr. geto “steal your girl” suguru. we have sinned the ultimate sin 🚶🏽‍♀️ rip satoru my babie </3

dating satoru should be enough—it was enough. but then suguru came along, and, well��.suguru is magnetic.

his voice is that deep husk that sends shivers down your spine, his hair is long and frames his face so flawlessly, and when you catch a glimpse of his skin when his shirt rides up, you can’t help but think about the way he’s so defined. sharp, like he’s cut from stone, suguru is sculpted perfectly. satoru is everything you could have asked for….but suguru? he’s like a dream you didn’t think was a reality.

“hey,” he greets you sweetly as he opens his door, “you’re early. satoru hasn’t even left his house yet.”

early—you’re not early. you’re desperate. desperate to catch suguru alone. desperate to enjoy his company without feeling bad. desperate to stare at him while satoru isn’t there to notice. you didn’t come early by accident—you chose to be here before satoru.

“hi,” you grin, “you wound me suguru. don’t you wanna spend time with me?”

“i didn’t say that,” he chuckles, flicking your forehead affectionately.

suguru has always done that, he’s always been good at touching you in that casual way that’s so endearing and so dizzying—but it never crosses the line. his fingers tap against your forehead when he’s playful, and his hand steadies you on the elbow when you trip, and sometimes, he even hugs you with a squeeze that’s nothing more than friendly even though it makes your heart stop.

suguru is so alluring—and even when you have everything you need with satoru, you can’t help but want what you can’t have.

“i hope you got snacks because i require them,” you hum, sitting on island of his kitchen and swinging your legs back and forth.

“i did,” he snorts, “i got your favorite—”

he stops when he looks at you, has to pause and stare as you’re sat so casually in his home, looking so sweet and innocent and so, so pretty. you’ve always been pretty—you don’t even know it, how perfect you are. it makes you that much more desirable, makes him want to tell you every day until you believe him that you’re so god damn pretty.

and then he has to look away, has to ignore those thoughts that pop in his head about how it almost looks like you’re his, sat in his kitchen and asking for his snacks and smiling at his figure and seeking out his company. it almost feels like you’re his—almost.

so close, yet so painfully far.

it makes him a bad friend. he knows that—satoru has been glued to his side since he was a child. suguru doesn’t think there’s ever been a time he remembers without satoru, and he’s always liked it that way. loved it, in fact. satoru is a good best friend. the greatest, even. and he’s just as good of a boyfriend too—suguru should respect it, should put his head down and fight his demons and forget about his fantasies with you.

but then you pout as you whine, “gimme some, then. what’re you waiting for?”

“they’re for the movie,” he huffs, “don’t think i’ll share with you if you’re out of snacks before we finish the movie.”

“aw c’mon sugu,” you tease, giving him that dangerous smile of yours, “you’ll share with me, won’t you?”

yes. he’ll give you half of his soul if you asked. he’d carve out every bit of him to complete you if you needed him to, if you asked him to—he just needs you to ask. just once, he needs you to ask him.

“you’re a handful,” he mutters, “get your own snacks.” but he grabs a bag of chips from the pantry anyway, walks up to you and presses it to your hands. your fingers brush together as you reach—just at the tips, just barely for it to even count as a touch, but it makes you both still anyway.

he’s close. you can smell his cologne. he can smell your body wash. your fingers don’t pull away. his inch a little closer and feel your skin a little better. your face is close. his leans closer. and then you’re leaning in too—why are you leaning in? why aren’t you stopping? why isn’t he stopping?

and then it happens. his lips are on yours before you even realize it—you don’t even realize it, that’s the worst part. you don’t even register that you’re kissing suguru, your boyfriend’s best friend, the only one he has, because you’re so busy being lost in the feeling. his lips are warm, so soft and delicate and fuck, they’re a bit chapped and it only makes you want him more.

what other imperfections does he have? besides chapped lips, what else is there to discover? maybe his hair isn’t as soft when he hasn’t washed it after a few days. maybe his hands are a bit rough and calloused. maybe he has a scar or two from his childhood.

you don’t know, but you need to find out.

your hands are cupping his cheeks, making him lean into your mouth shakily, arms pulling you closer desperately. his arms are strong—they hold you tightly like you have nowhere else to go. and then when you take a chance as slip your fingers into his hair, to feel those strands you’ve only ever been able to stare at, he whines against your mouth.

like he wants more. like he needs more. like he’s always ever wanted more.

“c’mere,” he pants, “closer.”

you can’t help but listen. can’t help but lean closer and let him stand in between your legs as you’re sat on that damn kitchen island—you’ve kissed satoru against this same island. in secret. in a kiss or two you sneak when suguru doesn’t look. in a hopeless daze of want and need that always turns into more as soon as you’re both in private.

and now you’re kissing suguru. and it’s not enough. you need more—you feel like you can’t live without more.

“suguru,” you murmur, just because you need to taste his name on your lips when they’re whispered like that—like he’s yours.

“yeah?” he breathes, forehead pressed to your as his lips hover over your mouth—his breath is shared with yours, breathing you in and exhaling you out so you can inhale him too.

your hands are back on his face, thumb tracing the skin of his cheek so gently, it almost hurts that he’s gone this long without feeling you.

“i just wanted to say that,” you mumble, pecking his lips softly. he hums happily, closing his eyes as he leans into your hand and smiles.

“yeah?” he chuckles, “say it again—”

“guys i’ve finally arrived! the answer to your prayers,” satoru calls, opening the front door from the distance, “i know you’re bored without me. don’t worry, i’m here now.”

you pull away faster than lighting when you hear satoru, like suguru’s touch is the spark that’ll kill you if you let it near. he steps away, watches in slow motion as you plaster that lovesick grin on your face as satoru walks in and leans in to kiss you so softly—so carefree, so openly. like you’re his. like you belong to him. like you’ve only ever wanted him.

does satoru even realize? does he even notice the dazed look on your face and the plumpness of your lips? does he even notice the way your breath is short and a little puffy?

“toru what took you so long,” you pinch satoru’s cheek, “i’ve been waiting for you.”

“missed me huh?” satoru wiggles his brows—giddy, he’s always so giddy to be around you, always so happy to have you as his.

satoru is so lucky—and the worst part? he realizes it too. he doesn’t take you for granted, doesn’t ever leave an opening for suguru to take.

“don’t get a big head,” you roll your eyes, wrapping your arms around his neck as he slots himself between your legs—right where suguru was just moments ago.

“yeah, satoru,” suguru says before he can help it, staring right into your eyes as he speaks, “don’t have a big head. what if we didn’t miss you?”

“don’t be mean suguru,” satoru pouts, “you always miss me.”

if only he knew, suguru thinks, if only.

OH GOD. I FEEL SO BAD. but i love it 🤭

[queen-of-reptiles]

𝙷𝙾𝙾𝙺𝙴𝙳

description: In which leah's rockstar girlfriend shows the england girls how to really put on a performance

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leah williamson x female reader

disclaimer: this is all fiction! Do not take any of this seriously.

warnings: language, cute leah, some suggestive jokes

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y/n just posted on their story

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leahwilliamsonn just posted on her story

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y/n just posted

liked by lucybronze, keirawalsh and 8.9 million others

tagged lionesses,

y/n ready to put on a show ;)

view 2.3 millions comments

username1: CUTEEEEEE 😍😍

username2: I love how much the Lionesses love her - my heart 🥺🥺

username3: ❤️❤️❤️

leahwilliamsonn: always ready for you my girl <3

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y/n: my baby <3

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username4: 🥺🥺

lucybronze: excited !!!!!!

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y/n: SAME!!!!!

stanwaygeorgia: you better do 'hooked'! 😡

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y/n: 😏😏

username5: WHOOOOOO!! 👏👏👏

alessiarusso99: AHHHHHH

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ellatoone: AHHHHHH

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Lj10: AHHHHHH

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y/n: oh my children!

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username6: 🥺🥺

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username7: CUTE

username8: I don't really see the hype about her shows 🤷‍♀️

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username9: Okay????? The off you fuck! 🖕

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username10: hahahahahahah 😂

1maryearps: Gonna be a good night!

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racheldaly3: A great night!

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mbrighty04: The best night!

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y/n: ffs !

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username11: ahahahaHAHAH

username12: 😍😍😍

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y/n grinned as she sucked a deep breath through her nose, her breathing slightly out of pace from all the jumping as she slid her guitar strap over her shoulder, fixing the instrument to her.

"Okay, I know ya'll love this one." y/n grinned, she looked up at the VIP section, eyes catching that of her lover's. Leah Williamson, even now, when there were thousands screaming for her, all y/n would ever want to find was the blonde.

y/n's fingers played the familiar riff on the guitar and the crowd started their screaming again as the drums kicked in. The Lionesses in the section all cheered and began to bounce as Leah chuckled.

"Yesterday I crashed my car Because I wondered what it'd feel like Pressed my foot down on the pedal And I ran right through the stop sign." y/n sang.

Her voice had always been low, raspy and powerful. She used to hate that, but as she got older and found that no songs fit her, she found that it was best to write ones to do so.

Leah loved her voice, from the second the two met Leah would sit and listen in awe every time y/n opened her mouth, she could be recording in the studio or belting mockingly in the shower, Leah would stop and listen every time.

"Told all my friends I hate them And then I played the victim 'Cause God forbid the problem's ever me Fucked my ex just to do it Guess therapy's been useless What a waste of £250 a week." y/n continued before holding the microphone out to the crowd.

"SO HOW DOES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL?" The stadium erupted, shouts and screams from everyone saying the line.

"Well." y/n hummed, the music stopping for a second before the lights flickered and the drums kicked back in as the smoke machines went wild.

"I think I'm hooked on feeling low Like morphine in my soul Kinda like when I go cold (cold, cold) I think I'm hooked on feeling down I drink until I drown Anything to black it out (out, out)

I think I'm hooked I think, I think I'm Hooked

I think I'm hooked I think, I think I'm Hooked I think I'm..."

The performance boomed as y/n sung through the chorus. Her voice strong and just louder than the screaming crowd. Her precious guitar now sat safely off her as she bounced and sang.

Her hair was slick with sweat as she lent back slightly her jaw line popping and making Leah sigh and pinch at her nose in need at how hot her lover was.

"You alright there Leah?" Georgia asks, her voice worried as Leah turned to look at her, but the blonde scoffed when she saw the shit-eating grin on Georgia's face.

"Shut up." Leah huffed as the girls around them continued to dance along.

"Blow through all of my money On cigarettes and coffee 'Cause being broke is hard at 23." y/n sang.

"I'm actually 25 now." She added in spoken words, Leah rolling her eyes at the cigarettes line which was a habit she had tried to get her lover to stop.

"Go write another sad song And play it for my poor mom Anything so she feels bad for me." y/n continues before holding the microphone out once again.

"Y/N THIS IS SO DEPRESSING." The screams ran out from the stadium, Leah wincing as she shouted with them, and Lucy's shout in her ear.

The chorus began again and the lights flashed wilder as the bass became jumpier, the crowd bobbing as they jumped with y/n who always had good stamina and a great core to sing and dance as she did.

"I think I'm hooked." y/n finished with her song. The lights cutting out as the crowd screamed as the lights came back up, y/n laughing as she waved to everyone.

y/n let out a sigh as she slid her jacket off, her strong arms coming into show from the black one-piece she was wearing which was a bit too low cut for Leah's liking.

The sleek Arsenal red flares her lover also wore were more covering than the cleavage filled top, but the tightness at the top clung to her perky ass so well Leah gulped.

The cheers got louder which caused y/n to laugh as she ran a hand through her hair, shaking her head at the whistles which were aimed her way.

"This, is for one woman only." y/n winked, nodding toward the Lionesses where the camera zoomed in on the now smirking blonde captain.

Keira chuckled next to Leah as Georgia jeered, clapping her friend on the back who rolled her eyes playfully as y/n then hummed into her microphone.

"Got time for one more ay?" She asked her band who nodded.

The tune of 'Hot Gum' began and people went wild as the lights went down and came back up as y/n danced in place, Leah wetting her lips as she watched her lover.

"I hold soft flames on my tongue And chew on them like chewing gum They burn the roof of my mouth But I won't spit it out loud right now."

y/n's voice was low and lazy, vocal fry peaking through as she tilted her body around to the beat as the crowd cheered. The lights suddenly went dark as y/n continued.

"There's an inferno in your mouth I can tell by the way you smile like it burns You press your lips together like you're kissing yourself To stop me from learning." y/n's voice continued.

Suddenly the lights had come up and y/n was no longer visible on stage, but the camera's had found her. Leah jumped at the image of her lover behind her.

y/n chuckled into the microphone and wrapped an arm around the blonde's waist and despite the fact y/n was shorter than the blonde in that moment she had all the power.

"She's a keeper, she's a believer She's on the ground, on her knees in a theatre And she put us in a car, I don't know where we are But she fell in love with a fever." y/n sings.

The crowd were screaming once more, y/n grinning at her lover as she spun around her and to her front, Leah's arms wrapping around her naturally as she lent back to sing.

"I could never leave her, I could never keep her" That's what she says to the neighborhood preacher And she put us in a car, I don't know where we are But I fell in love with the fever and I." y/n sang.

Leah couldn't help but lean down and press a small kiss to the junction where y/n's neck met her shoulder and the crowd cheered once more.

"I watch us burn and fall, the heat is ten feet tall The potential is bench pressing us into the wall And the flick of flames weaving through my teeth If the hot gum were to slip out, where would we be?" y/n sung.

The girl switched so her back was against Leah's chest as she danced with the blonde's team the group all laughing as Leah's arms hugged tightly to y/n's waist as she continued to sing.

"She's a keeper, she's a believer She's on the ground, on her knees in a theatre And she put us in a car, I don't know where we are But she fell in love with a fever." y/n sang, slipping to her knees in front of her lover.

The cheers that arose were louder than anything all night as the camera continued to film as y/n lent into a backbend her hand gripping Leah's thigh - on her good leg, tightly.

"I could never leave her, I could never keep her" That's what she says to the neighbourhood preacher And she put us in a car, I don't know where we are But I fell in love with the fever and I." y/n sang once more.

She rose to her feet as the song continued, pulling the blonde in for a kiss which Leah returned albeit a little sheepishly considering they were in front of thousands.

y/n pulled away, pecking Leah's lips once more before high-fiving Georgia and running back to stage for the last section of the song.

"If I tell you what I'm thinking promise, you won't tell yourself If you tell me what you're thinking, I swear I won't tell myself She's on the ground, she's on his knees, she's a believer She's on the ground, she didn't listen to the preacher." y/n finished with a dramatic bow.

The crowd screamed and cheered as y/n chuckled, waving to them once more as she began to thank them all and her band.

"And thank you baby, for being so good with me." y/n added into the microphone which caused Leah to chuckle. "And to the team, because you're all always hype-women for me and that slaps." y/n added.

The crowd cheered as she thanked them once more before running off-stage, sighing in relief as she chugged a bottle of ice cold water while she waited for the growing cheers of the Lionesses to get closer.

"You sure know how to put on a show mrs. skipper!" Millie called as she slammed her hands on y/n's shoulders, only to wipe the sweat which coated them onto a shouting Rachel.

LJ and Hempo both cheered as the three shared a quick shared high five, before Lotte, Beth and Niamh all did the same.

"Hmm, certainly." Leah said, folding her arms and raising a sharp brow, an unimpressed look on her face at the stunt pulled.

"Love you." y/n winked as she pressed a kiss to Leah, Alessia and Ella letting out fake gags which caused Lucy to hit them.

"Children." Keira chuckled as Georgia high-fived y/n once again as y/n sighed and sagged.

"Carry me to dressing room?" She asked Leah tiredly and the blonde nodded, swooping up the star into her arms as the Lionesses teased and cooed.

"Shut up!" Leah called before walk off with her lover.

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y/n just posted

liked by leahwilliamsonn, stanwaygeorgia and 9.3 million others

tagged leahwilliamsonn

y/n she's a believer, she's on the ground on her knees in the theatre...

p.s. thank you london - so fucking much xxx

view 4.4 million comments

username1: YOU WERE AMAZING !!!!!! 😍😍

username2: I Cried three times 😭

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username3: I CRIED AT THEIR KISS 😭

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username4: that was hot 🔥

username5: 🔥🔥🔥

ellatoone: the best night ever ! ESPECIALLY FOR LEAH ;))

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alessiarusso99: Subtle Ella

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keirawalsh: hahahahahahha - well done y/n!!

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y/n: Love you !!!

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username6: HEHehhehe

leahwilliamsonn: my girl - I - ...

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y/n: Leah.exe has stopped working

lucybronze: disappeared like Houdini 🧐

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1maryearps: Only disappeared because she's so small tho 🤷‍♀️

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y/n: count your days earps...

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1maryearps: gulp...

mbrighty04: you get well sweaty on stage mate ☺️

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racheldaly3: and needy too apparently 😏

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leahwilliamsonn: I'm not rli complaining

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y/n: ;)))

username7: Her and Leah are so cute! 🥺🥺

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username8: Right?!?!?!!!! ❤️

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leahwilliamsonn hooked on you...

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END

loved this one and really got into the performing section lmao

Songs used:

Hooked - Sam Short

Hot Gum - Sofia Isella

[icallhimjoey]

Reinvent Love

♥ ♥          Joseph Quinn x Fem!Reader 

Summary: You and Joe are treading new waters. You’re no longer flatmates, but still close. More than friends, but nothing defined. Nothing labeled. Determined to not lose what you have, though. But, can you?

CW / disclaimer: rpf, fem!reader, language, adult themes, jealousy, accusations, soft fluff, season 3 of my flatmate!joe

Author’s note: we got trouble in paradise !!!!! same sidenote once more: you don’t need to have read define close or explain us, but it’ll obviously give you backstory, which might help!

Wordcount: 3.8K

part one - part two - part three - part four - part five

Excruciating, if he thought about it too long. Fine, if he just sucked it up and went with it. If he didn’t spend hours and hours and hours of his time stuck inside his own head, it was fine.

Your pace.

He was going to have to go with your pace.

If Joe was going to win this... contest he was having, mainly with himself, he was going to have to stick to your pace. Like he had done before. And yea, it was slow. Maybe even stagnant most days. But he had always let you take the lead and had always let you find new normals between the two of you.

It had worked like that when you lived together, and it was going to have to work like that now that you no longer did.

Was it awful?

Yes.

Because in which direction were you even moving? Joe had no idea. You might as well have been going backwards, there was no way for him to tell, and it was eating Joe alive. But he was just going to have to deal with it.

Your lead. Your time. Your pace.

With your new flatmate, your inside-the-flat behaviour had drastically changed. What was once the exact location of all the intimacy was slowly turning into a place that resembled outside. Where strangers were (Josh). Where people could perceive you (Josh).  

The safety was gone, a little.

When you stirred awake after falling asleep on your sofa, and Joe was still sat by your feet, casually holding onto an ankle still, the first few seconds of seeing him there made you smile. He was watching TV, which was showing something you hadn’t put on, and the changing lights that illuminated him gave you a good look at his profile. At the curve of his nose. At his slightly parted lips. His tongue working along his teeth. Along the inside of his cheek.

God, he looked fucking perfect.

Even with his hair too short and unstyled.

Even with his tongue pushing his face into weird expressions.

You got to wake up slow, felt like you’d been out for over an hour, easily, and loved the little fragment you got of how things used to be. Just the two of you on the sofa. TV on. Soft touches. No one else there to make it weird. To ask questions. To give looks.

Just closeness and gentle affection, a touch of protectiveness as you were being held by the ankle as you’d napped.

But then you heard a kitchen drawer close behind you, and you immediately balled up in a knee-jerk response. You pulled your feet right from Joe’s lap as you tucked in your knees. Ripped your ankle right from his grasp.

And it was silly.

It was just your feet.

Josh likely would’ve seen them on Joe’s lap already.

He would have had to have let Joe in too. You remembered the key you had meant to slip back into his coat pocket but had forgotten about.

All Josh really knew about Joe was that he used to live in the flat, and that you still remained good mates. Close friends. Sort of flatmates still, but not, because, location.

You had gone through every which way of describing you and Joe whilst trying to remain an air of casualness.

Yea, Joe would still come over a lot, since you were friends, you know? Normal stuff.

But then your friend had gone, “Ha. Yea, all right. Good mates. That’s one way of describing it.” Like she’d known anything – she didn’t.

She had no idea.

Not a clue.

She couldn’t have, because you and Joe weren’t like you and Joe were around others.

You didn’t blame her, but you’d quickly changed the subject anyway. Swiftly moved onto a different topic. Asked Josh if he liked pizza, because you had pizza a lot in this flat. Josh did like pizza. But, only without any cheese on. “I’m vegan.” You didn’t think that technically even counted as pizza. But, sure.

It was just your feet.

And it was just Josh in the kitchen, likely not even paying attention to where your feet were.

You realised it a second too late though. Your knees had already been tucked in, and Joe’s face had already fallen. You could see how his eyes darted from you to your new flatmate over the back of the sofa a few times.

In a bid to save yourself, to save the situation, you straightened your legs again and pushed both feet into Joe’s thigh. Masked it as a tired post-nap stretch and smiled through a yawn, doing your best to move on as quickly as you could.

Unbeknownst to you, there had been some quiet conversation going between Joe and Josh. Soft spoken words, no louder than the TV, but not quite whispers either. Voices hushed and kept low because, she’s asleep. And she’d come home and looked like her Friday had lasted a whole month, Josh had chuckled as he picked up the empty pizza box, tidying up.

Joe had scrunched up his eyebrows and couldn’t help his little pout as he’d cast his eyes down to look at you.

“Yea, the pizza sort of gave it away.” He’d said, and for a moment, Josh’s mind swam as it tried to make sense of what Joe’d just said.

And Joe saw, but he didn’t really want to explain it. Didn’t want to tell him that, pizza sort of meant a lot. It was just food, and not even your or his favourite, but there was comfort and routine and pizza sort of belonged to the two of you.

Pizza was yours.

Josh didn’t need to know that.

“Oh, no, this was mine – I had this.”

And, oh, my God, Joe could really fucking kick himself for thinking the worst.

In casual chat, Joe puzzled it together. You’d gotten home. Seemed annoyed. Tired. Overall just in a terrible mood. And Josh had offered you a bite of his pizza – the one he was already eating when you’d walked in. And you’d looked at it for a second and then had gone, “Not hungry. Thank you though.”

Joe was the worst.

He watched you sleep and you looked so peaceful. So soft. He was the actual worst person ever. Drawing conclusions where there wasn’t even anything to be drawn in the first place.

Joe watched you as Josh quietly cleaned the kitchen. Listened as he complained about not being able to open the window in his ensuite, how it would get stuck all the time, and asked if Joe knew anything about that. Joe didn’t tear his eyes away from you as he said, “Yea, she was meant to get that fixed, but ended up just opening the bedroom window to air the room out.”

Your cheeks were slightly blushed, and you sounded a little congested. Joe could hear your breath rumble a bit, like it was getting stuck in your chest. Start of a cold, maybe, he thought, and he knew that it was probably one more thing that had added to all the bad today. All the bad that had made you text him to come over.

To fix it.

And he fucking loved fixing it.

Joe wanted to make you tea and feed you soup and stick you into one of his hoodies. Stuff your hot water bottle into the pocket for good measure. Hold you close to his chest where, sometimes, if he held you there for long enough, you’d suddenly cry. You would sob without explanation, bury your face into his neck, and it was weird but Joe would fucking glow on the inside from the knowledge that you deemed Joe safe enough to get your tears out.

God, he was so fucking gone for you.

Loved you.

Loved you loved you.

Did he not want you to have a nice flatmate? Did he want you to have one that didn’t offer you pizza after a long, rough day? Was he really that terrible of a human being?

No.

He did want you to live with a nice person. One that did offer you pizza after a long, rough day.

It just upset him that it wasn’t him.

He wanted to be the nice flatmate.

Like he had been.

Well.

Fucked that up all by himself, didn’t he?

Joe had to remind himself of all the reasons why he made those personal choices. And the plan had been working. It truly had been. But then you’d just pulled your feet from his lap because Josh was there and... were you embarrassed of him? Was that what this boiled down to?

You pushed your feet into Joe’s leg as you stretched and yawned, and Joe waited for Josh to walk out of the room to tap you just above the knee. To squeeze you there.

You looked up and around, just to make sure you were alone, before you held out your hand that Joe then grabbed hold off. He pulled until you sat up and then, in a rogue move that he didn’t see coming, you leant in to kiss him.

Josh was just down the hall, door wide open.

And you kissed him.

Surprise.

Not moving backwards, then.

It was only short. Just a quick small little thing, but it was lips against lips, and it startled Joe so much, he couldn’t even think to be quiet about it. To not let his lips smack the way they naturally would when giving someone a kiss.

If that bothered you, you didn’t show it, mind too sluggish to catch up to what was happening maybe, and Joe grinned as he softly said, “Hi.” after you broke apart.

“I’m sorry.” was the first thing out of your mouth. You meant for texting him to come over and then promptly falling asleep on the sofa before he had even made his way over. You hadn’t meant to do that.

Joe heard your apology and took it to mean, sorry for the hard flinch away from him, which seemed silly now. You had just gone and kissed him. There was hardly anything left to be sorry for now, was there?

Joe had taken a step forward by being casually intimate with you in front of a stranger - held your feet in front of Josh - and, at first, you had shied away, only to then meet him there on your own terms a second later - be casually intimate with Joe with Josh just in the other room.

A new normal.

Your pace.

It went like that for a while then.

Joe would take your whole hand without asking, only for you to snatch it back and then give him a finger.

Which was fine.

Made Joe secretly smile every time it happened. He started being able to predict it a little too. Knew that if he’d overshoot, he’d end up with what he wanted in the first place too. Which, if you zoomed in on that a lot, could be classified as manipulation.

But you were happy.

So it was fine.

You were trying and so was Joe.

You were trying when, a couple of days later, you found yourself in a pub with Joe and a couple of his friends and he’d convinced you to just get a quick drink, just the one, and yea, that was okay. You could have a drink with Joe’s friends. They were kind, fun people.

You ended up meeting everyone outside, and after a round of greeting, you offered to go get drinks inside. When you came back to join the group, Joe had sat down on a barstool and you went to stand beside him. Handed him his drink. Cheersed him before you went for a sip. And then you felt his hand curl around your hip.

You tried the whole time.

Blushed the whole time too.

You couldn’t hold his hand as you walked home from the pub after that one drink.

But you could accept his scarf getting draped around your neck when he noticed you were cold.

And you were also trying when the two of you were on the tube together, and Joe had spotted someone subtly point their phone at him. Instead of acting like he was alone, like he was just out and about on his own for a second, he sat forward a little and moved his arm to touch your opposite outer thigh. It was meant to be protective, and it did shield you from having your picture taken, but it took a lot for you to not move his arm away and get up to stand near the doors where you could pretend you didn’t even know who he was.

You couldn’t turn around on the escalator to look at him after.

But you could accept the hand on your lower back as Joe guided you towards the exit of the busy station.

You were trying. Actively trying. And it felt like agony if you thought about it for too long. But it was fine if you just sucked it up and went with it.

Joe tried too.

Joe tried his best to be normal about you going out with Josh and some of his friends. Just told you to have a good time. To call him when you got home.

Joe tried his best to be normal when you told him Josh really wanted a dog, and maybe that would actually be so fun, wouldn’t it? You would go to pick out one with Josh, because if it was going to live at the flat, you would have to get along with it too, and wasn’t that smart thinking? Joe had to remind himself that you weren’t getting a dog together, but, that was sort of exactly what was happening, wasn’t it?

And Joe tried his bestest best to be normal when after being buzzed up into your flat, he found your front door left open for him to make his way in by himself, because you were too busy in the living room where Josh was playing guitar and making you laugh by singing about what you were doing and trying to make things rhyme. And then Joe had to try even harder when the song quickly turned into rhymes that made fun of him, which only made you laugh louder.

Yea.

Josh was a nice guy.

But, fuck Josh.

After hearing the giggles Josh was able to pull out of you, Joe became determined to let Josh hear what other noises Joe was able pull out of you.

And for a little while, you relished the attention. Joe had learnt a thing or two about what you liked in bed by now, and he knew how to drag it out for maximum pleasure too.

Joe had laid you down on your own bed, spread you out and undressed you real slow. When you’d gone to grab the hem of his T-shirt, he’d taken hold of your hand and brought it up to his mouth to kiss it.

Just you, then.

All about you.

Which was... you weren’t going to lie, this was fucking fantastic.

But it became a little weird how Joe kept turning his head to look at your closed bedroom door every time you let a moan slip out.

It became a little weird how he kept softly instructing you to be louder for him.

“Come on, let me hear you.”

It didn’t feel wildly out of place, but... something felt a little off about it.

You didn’t mention it until afterwards, when you were sat with your backs against the headboard, and you could see how it lingered on his face; something was off.

“Hey...”

Joe was quick to turn his head to look at you, and he immediately smiled to hide whatever you knew was brewing underneath the surface.

“Hey.”

“Are you okay?” you tried to hide your worry with warmth, which was silly, because Joe’d already seen it.

Joe lifted his arm to throw around your shoulder and pulled you into his side, warm sticky skin to warm sticky skin, and he kissed you on your hairline before casually answering, “Yea, of course.”

And you knew he was lying, but you kept quiet. Silently played with the folds of your duvet over your lap and waited until, finally, you heard Joe sigh.

“Promise not to make fun of me,” Joe started, to which you didn’t respond with words, but instead found the hand that wasn’t curled around your shoulder and intertwined your fingers with his.

Joe took a moment to find the right words.

“But...”

The silence gave your brain time to panic. A million things went through your mind. Every single little thing you’d done that could’ve maybe upset him.

Something was wrong, and you were the problem, because you had definitely fucked up, hadn’t you?

What had you done?

The key.

Fuck.

You kept forgetting about his key. It was there on your dresser. You could get out of bed and give it to him right now if that was–

“I don’t like that there’s a guy in your bedroom.”

And...

Oh.

Was he... was he being serious?

You moved away from him a little to get a proper good look at his face, and followed his gaze to see he was looking at your bedroom door again.

And... oh, God.

You didn’t like that.

That left a weird taste in your mouth.

Made you frown at him. Made you grimace a little.

You understood what he meant. But Jesus fucking Christ.

“Joe...” you started, moving even further from him, sitting up properly now.

“No, I know... I know,” he sighed, lifting both hands that he then dropped into his lap as he made a stupid face. “It’s stupid.”

Which was exactly right.

Joe was being stupid.

Joe had moved out and had forced you to get a new flatmate and now he was being a real child about it. Was calling your former bedroom your bedroom still, which it wasn’t. Was calling your flatmate ‘a guy’, like he was some random dude, which he wasn’t.

“Josh is my flatmate,” you said, trying to make the point that it was normal for him to be in the flat with you.

And then Joe felt it.

Joe felt whatever was inside of his chest, that stupid dark little monster that had been bouncing around in there all night, he felt it crawl up into his throat. Into his voice box.

It was too quick, the reaction too fast.

Joe knew the words were unfair and undeserved and ridiculously accusatory without any real legs to stand on.

Joe heard himself say it. Heard himself snap the words, and they were out of his mouth before he could even begin to try to stop them from even being formed at all.

“Yea exactly.”

That green fucking monster.

Joe saw how your face dropped. Saw the disbelief and the confusion. The did-he-really-just wheels turning behind your eyes that slowly clicked into their yea-he-did slots.

You knew what Joe meant, but desperately tried to find the humour in Joe’s face, because surely, he must have been joking.

It wasn’t a funny joke.

And then, you realised it wasn’t a joke at all.

Joe didn’t smile or laugh. Just looked at you, expression slightly stern but otherwise blank, and holy fucking shit.

No.

You remained calm.

Wanted to fucking scream at him, yell, “What do you think you’re accusing me of exactly?!” and, “Please say that again, but slower, will you?!” but, you didn’t.

Instead you turned around and slowly got out of bed, taking one of your pillows with you.

“No, baby, wait,”

Baby.

“I’m sorry, that’s not what I– I didn’t mean it like that. That came out wrong,” Joe rambled, but you slowly stalked towards the door.

“I’m just,” Joe rubbed an anxious hand across his forehead. “God, I... I don’t know.”

Jealous.

He couldn’t even say it.

But that was okay. You heard him loud and clear, anyway.

“Please come back to bed.”

You reached for the door handle and had already decided you weren’t going to come back to bed. You’d sleep on the sofa and Joe was going to have to think about what he’d just said.

Just before you stepped out, you turned your head over your shoulder and looked at him.

Joe.

Sat in your bed in his old bedroom, chest bared, leaning forward into his own lap like he’d been reaching out for you as you’d taken the four steps it took to get to your door.

And it was the cruelest thing in the whole fucking world to realise right then and there that you... shit.

You fucking loved him.

What he said had hurt, but what he hadn’t said hurt worse. The silent, I know what you are like as a flatmate because I have lived it and now you have another one, rung loud in your ears, and you understood right then that the only reason it felt like your heart was bleeding was because you loved him.

Fuck.

You opened the door without looking, but then heard the soft sounds of an acoustic guitar being played in the living room, and looked towards where it came from.

“Baby,” Joe tried one last time, and one of your hands shot up in warning. He had to stop calling you baby. Had to stop talking all together.

“I’m sorry.” Joe apologised again, voice much softer, much more sincere this time, and you only thought of how Joe wasn’t allowed to be the cause of your pain. Had he not learnt from the past? Had he not listened to you then?

You looked back towards Joe, who was about to open his mouth again to say more apologetic words, you were sure, but you stopped him before he could.

“Joe,” you warned again, but stepped into the hallway anyway, reaching for the door handle on the other side to close it.

Just before you did, you made direct eye-contact with a man who knew he had said the wrong thing at the wrong time, but you just needed him to know extra well.

So you dropped your shoulders and said, “You’re the guy in my bedroom.” before you shut the door.

Joe didn’t move.

Just stared at the wooden panels of the door.

And shit...

You were right.

He was the guy in your bedroom, and why the fuck was he even thinking about anything else?

What else was more important?

Joe had to really force himself to not go after you. You left because you wanted space from him and he didn’t really have any other choice but to take your lead on this one, did he?

Your lead.

Your time.

Your pace.

Fuck.

---

The Taglisted

@ali-in-w0nderland, @alwayslindie, @babybluebex, @capricornrisingsstuff, @chaoticgood-munson,

@choke-me-eddie, @demonsanddemogorgons, @did-it-work, @dirtyeddietini, @djoseph-quinn,

@dolcevit4, @eddies-puppet, @emma-munson, @emotionaldreamer, @everythinghasafacee,

@figmentofquinn, @ghost-proofbaby, @ghostinthebackofyourhead, @hanahkatexo, @harringtonfan4,

@hazelenys, @jewellethief, @joesquinns, @keikoraven, @kennedy-brooke,

@lovelyblueness, @manda-panda-monium, @mandyjo8719, @mexicanfolklore, @munsonluvrr,

@munson-mjstan, @nadixq, @nglharry, @notverywise, @pepperstories,

@phyllosilicate-s, @royale1803, @sherrylyn628, @sidthedollface2, @solzi1420,

@songforeddiemunson, @sweetberry47, @take-everything-you-can, @thebellenouvelle, @tlclick73,

@werepartnersnow, @winterwakesthewolf, @witchwolflea, @yelyahcardella, @yunirgo

taglist currently full, sorry

[kaija-rayne-author]

Section 12 in review of Dragon Age Veilguard

96 Hours in, 94 hours playtime..

Obligatory disclaimer, feel free to jump to the cut if you've read it.

Something came to my attention. I need to make it crystal clear that I utterly love the diversity in DAV. It's fantastic. I'm also a heavily left leaning, non-binary, queer as fuck reviewer, editor, and author.

I'm on media blackout while I play this, so I'm only getting second-hand info on how awful it is right now in the DA Fandom. Please be safe and take care of yourselves. Arguing with incels and white supremacists is completely pointless. They sea lion worse than an actual sea lion. Your mental health is important.

Though, every single time the anti-queer brigade comes out for a new DA game, I sit there thinking 'have you bozos played any DA game, like, ever?' My guess is nope.

Spoilers for Dragon Age Veilguard (and other Dragon Age stuff, I'm a Lore fiend.)

Section 11 is here.

So, the whole Mourn watch section with the half Lich was very well written and put together. Had an interesting (if not difficult) puzzle and a poignant ending. Loved it.

Did the Treviso sequence where Illario gets his comeuppance. Even though it's a very stale plot idea, it was so very well written and executed (har har) that it's a shame they fired Lucanis's writer. (Mary Kirby wrote Lucanis.)

They probably should've kept her and let her write a lot more than that. The game would've been so much better. It might’ve actually approached good.

Instead of something that when my partner saw me loading it up he said 'wow, you look like you're about to be tortured'.

Rueful face. So much of this game has felt like torture that having two sections on the same day that were legitimately good is odd.

The ones with Taash in Rivain were fun or sad, depending. But still well written and put together.

Still seem to have more to do. Gonna play for a few more hours. It's rare and nice that it's actually curiosity I'm feeling while logging in tonight, vs. any of the gamut of yucky emotions this game has treated me to.

Oh! Before I forget and in the name of attempting to provide a fair review, I do really love the light puzzles and ancient elven tech stuff. That's been a great deal of fun.

There are good parts to this game, but they just don't make up for the shit.

...

A. Single. Meaningful. Glance. As an intimate scene? Fucking DAO had better than that! Are they serious? Is there more in the final sequence? Dear gods, if I'd paid for this game I'd be bloody furious. Incandescently, explosively furious.

Let's talk about consumer expectation. It's something anyone hoping to sell things has to be aware of.

In its, what, 14 year Dragon Age history? Bioware has set certain expectations with their market share. As I mentioned, DAO, while dated and with poor graphics, actually had something extremely suggestive for the intimate scenes. You had no doubt what the characters were doing. Same went for DA2. Not much actual nudity, but again, no bloody question about what was going on. In DAI, some was sweet, some was saucy, but it was even more clear what was happening.

So the expectation for a behind door scene that you got to see has been set. If there had always been fade to black meaningful stares for the intimate scenes, fine, whatever. But that has not been Bioware's history. And it certainly isn't their gaming market's expectation.

Expectation isn't as important in a standalone game. There's no weight of expectation like there is in series work. Unfortunately for everyone who bought this game, the expectation of so many years and so much material has been firmly set. And a long, searching, intense look doesn't cut it. Are all the Romances like that? I don't have the stomach to replay it that many times to find out.

I still have to finish the final sequence. So it's possible my utter disappointment will be fixed, but given the way Bioware has structured its games in the past, the Romance parts were finished before the final sequence.

My level of disappointment with this game has been high all along, but this is indeed the shit cherry on top of the shit sundae of this game.

Hah! And to think I'd actually hoped for an intimate scene between Solas and Inky! (Hysterical, breathless, cackling. OMFG.)

The problem with market expectation? And not meeting it? Is that you utterly lose the confidence and trust of the people who buy your stuff. And that means they're less likely to buy your stuff again. I certainly won't ever buy anything Bioware makes again. I'm out. I'll enjoy the previous games, but if I'm right about my predictions? Veilguard doesn't exist as part of my universe. I'll pretend it wasn’t ever made. Unless I decide to write a long fix-it fic. Because OMFG.

If, as an author, I shifted from rather explicit, panties-melting intimate scenes to closed door fade to black... I would be betraying my reader's expectations and losing their trust.

If this is it for the intimate scenes? Oh man. Bioware, you fucked up.

Pre-play pithy commentary

If you want to skip the snarky paragraph ^?

13th review here.

[otherperson12]

Masters of the Air: The Angels of Death

Major John Egan x WASP! Oc

This is a little something I wanted to share with the fandom. I know I been a ghost for a few moths, but 2023 was an awful and horrendous year for me. I got depression and my grandma died and I had to take care of my family, and during my summer (I’m from the South) I was very depressed too lol. So know I’m back at university and this helps me to distract a little.

This comes from the idea I have for the BoB I’ve been working for years (yes, years, and no publications yet). I don’t plan it to be very complicated, like I just wrote it down and put it here.

I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: English is not my first language. This is based in the series and only the series.

Special thanks to my beta reader: @vrygoodbadthing Who came to de hbo war fandom thanks to me (watch the goddam series).

Introduction

Bucky was having a really good time in England. Without counting the combat and missions of course. The rest of the 100th would be with him soon, and then, about a two weeks from that day, the war would get more interesting than the little man with a mustache.

The moment he saw his friend entering the officer’s mess hall with a cocky smile and doing a little dance, Major Gale Cleven got worried for whatever was about to happen. Or whatever that was going around Bucky's mind. He knew Bucky was a, well, interesting and care free man, out going and always wanting to experience life at most. When John saw his friend at the table, looking at him, Bucky did a little more of a show and sat in front of his fellow aviator.

“Isn’t this a beautiful day to be alive?” Bucky asked Buck. The last one didn't answer at first, then he smiled at him.

“Every day is a gift to live at war.”

Bucky laughed a little, “You’re starting to sound like Curt,” He pointed out. “But in this day in particular, my friend, angels would be coming to us like the very gift of God.” He informed (even if the big boss told him not to).

What?

“What?”

John laughed at his friend’s face, because obviously he didn’t understand a word of what he was talking about (again, Colonel Harold had ordered him to stay quiet).

“You are a prude, Buck.”, he liked to point those little facts about his friend, “Maybe we can get you a little of fun now.”

Yup, Buck had zero idea of what he was talking about.

Bucky leaned forward to the table, he did not wanted anyone hearing of it and spoil his fun. Buck did the same.

“After Pearl Harbor the Air Force pilots number reduced in a 30 percent, the man who got in to combat didn’t live very long. Most of the resources went to fight japs, a little more came like us to fight nazis. Then there wasn’t enough man to fight the war so they geniuses started training women.”

Gale had heard a little about it, in his training when the war started. Woman started piloting in no combat positions, but it looked like Bucky was meaning about other kind of duties.

“And?”

“And, they started training them to have combat positions. Fight pilots. They made them their own brand new plane model. I don’t know the details but I heard that it flight like a hawk.” Bucky explained while eating his friend toast. “They are coming today to be our escorts in missions.”

Buck was surprised. Astonished.

“Our own guardian angels.”

Later that day, before supper, Bucky did the same thing than that morning, instead of entering at mess hall, he entered at the officers barracks, howling about a how beautiful day it was to be alive.

“Buck! Time to go, the angels are coming!”, he said way too loud. The mentioned put down his book and reluctantly followed Bucky outside to the jeep.

John spent the whole ride to the base singing. Gale was not very sure of why he (Bucky) was so happy. Maybe, and probably, was the chances of getting laid right at the base, having fun closer enough to sleep at the barracks after drinking instead of doing it outside (Bucky’s experience).

Already at the tower, they waited for the girls to arrive.

Colonel Huglin was there too, and so other officers. Some questioned why Gale was there, “The full welcome from the 100th, sir.” Were John’s words.

Major Browman greeted them with a funny face. “Who would have say it, huh? We fighting along side woman. Equals.”

“There’s something bad about that?”, Buck asked.

“Of course no! For Pete’s sake. I’m just worried.” Red explained quickly. “I’ve heard they are good, like beating records kind of good. They are a special unit from the W.A.S.P, they are called the ‘Angels of death’, girls who where carefully chosen for it. And spent months training. The best of the best.” He informed, “But the boys are not going to be very happy about it.”

That one was true.

“What about their plane?”, Buck asked curiously.

“A special secret model.”, Colonel Huglin said. “Small, cheap, fast. The Supermarine Spitfire can fly to 606 miles per hour maximum burning a lot of fuel, the P-WN I can go to the speed of one of our fortress burning less than a third part of the tank.” He explained, looking back at the sky.

“So they can go to Germany, slap Hitler and come back like nothing.”, Bucky said.

Buck laughed, “Yeah, something like that.”

In that exact moment, the sound of the plane engines began to be heard in the distance. With binoculars, everyone who got them watched what was coming.

“They are here.”

Punctual, 12.00 hours.

Bucky and Buck saw how a bunch of sparkling dots flew towards them from the east, approaching quickly until they were able to see the planes. It were just like Huglin had said, small and fast.

Movement started at the tower, communication between them and the newcomers. They gave permission to land.

“Roger that.”

Every one watched how quickly those planes got in formation to land, in a fast and clean maneuver. They knew their thing.

When the planes where close enough, they could finally see how they looked like: it was like a mini Spitfire, pocket size. It was just the metal, glowing in the sun, the wings were long as thing as the nose, which was painted blue, white ad red. It was quite beautiful. It almost bordered on delicate.

One by one they landed and parked one beside the other, they looked like silver glowing statues.

The ones who were at the tower started heading to the newcomers while every pilot began to emerge from their planes, one by one from their cabin like butterflies and greet each other, happy for a easy flight and a safe landing.

John and Gale hop off the jeep like the rest of the men. They saw every girl with their flying uniforms and their bags in hand, obediently getting in the trucks that would take them to interrogation (it was just a formality).

Buck saw Colonel Huglin were talking with whom he supposed was the CO of the girls. Bucky had that funny smile of him, he looked around him until he saw a girl standing in the wing of the plane with a smile, eyes closed and feeling the British air. The only thing he could pick out of her, was her red hair. Another girl approached her and the first one jumped to the floor, they went to the trucks and Bucky was able to hear their conversation.

“Did you satisfied your hunger for flying?”, the girl who accompanied the redhead asked sarcastically.

The redhead laughed, “As if I ever could, Priya.”

Another woman, a blonde captain standing next to Huglin, heard this and said, "Don't worry, Ross, you'll have fun soon!" She exclaimed as the girls finally climbed into the trucks.

"Yes, ma'am."

All the girls laughed, the redhead blushed, obviously knowing what a mystery to Bucky was.

Soon she would know.

[vveakfish]

do you have any thoughts about the core four whose gender(s) are basically just a trans fruit cocktail that you would like to talk about? because I would love to listen

oh boy DO I !!!

I have So Many thoughts about them Anon, so thank you for giving me an excuse to try and put it into words beyond “Damn, these bitches trans! Good for them.”

Honestly, there are so many different ways to explore these characters genders based on how you choose to interpret their life experiences, and their aesthetic changes, and their relationships with each other. I am of the belief that any of them could be trans in any direction

But, that said, I Do have particular gender headcanons for YJ that i am very fond of, so thats what I’ll be talking about today.

(Small disclaimer. I have not finished all of the comics referenced in this. I am using the information i have to inform these, but you know, i might come back to this post at some point in the future and look at it like “wow, i don’t agree with any of this anymore.” And i think thats okay.

I’m just here to have fun, and i thoroughly enjoy these little guys, and think abt them alot, so enjoy

(also if you dont want to read 4.1k words of blorbo gender analysis, or would like to avoid spoilers for Superboy (1993), Young Justice (1998) & (2019), and Red Robin (2009) in varying degrees of detail, or you just want to see what lables i assigned them, scroll down to the bottom <3))

lets get started.

Bart:

Bart's gender is the most complex, but his thought process about it is also the most simple. I think his view of gender would be very much influenced by the fact that he grew up in VR in the future like…

A body is just an avatar, do what ever the fuck you want with it.

That said, the lil guy has always given me transmasc vibes. These vibes, however, are by no means binary.

He understands that in the 21st century a lot of people do not have his sort of “throw things at the wall and see what sticks” approach to gender, so he’s okay with being put in the box of Boy™. But his gender is a lot more * hand waves vaguely *

Clothes don’t have gender in his eyes, they’re fabric you put on your body. Wear what ever you want forever!

Bart in skirts is something i have seen many people draw/talk about before, and its something i agree with wholeheartedly. He likes hair clips, and like, those loud (actually loud and visually loud) beaded bracelet type things that ravers wear. He like nail polish. He doesn’t grow facial hair, but he wouldn’t care if he did. He’s not on hormones, but he definitely considered it for the bit. “Gotta drink my boy juice” Kind of vibes.

For him gender has Nothing to do with performance, its all about comfort. About wearing what feels right, regardless of whether or not he’s adhering to expectations of masculinity.

Yes, he Will wear that god awful outfit out of the house, haters can die mad

Cassie:

Anon, I need you to understand how much i love early yj98 cass. She is everything to me — her process of coming to terms with herself, and being able to watch her start to feel at home in her own skin. It makes me absolutely feral.

lets see if i can explain why… succinctly

When we first meet her in yj98, her identity as “Wonder Girl” is this sort of amalgamation of What it Means To Be A Hero in her eyes. She has her party city blunt bob wig (Because Diana is who she looks up to), the gloves, leather jacket, goggles combo (that so clearly take inspiration from Kon).

At this point in her life Wonder Girl is not really her. Its very clearly a mask she’s putting on. which is what makes it the perfect avenue for her to explore gender expression without it having to actually be about her gender.

I think the part that specifically makes me feral though is her… we’ll call it admiration of Kon.

The girl is a self proclaimed Superboy stan + theres all the weird not-drama between Cassie and Cissie over wanting attention from Kon. (And i say Not Drama bc its like… Kon flirting with cissie (which like… have you met 90’s Kon?? he flirts with everything that moves) and Cassie being upset that he’s Not flirting with her. and cissie is just along for the ride. She’s not quite as much of a flirt as kon is, but she has her moments)

All of this to say i feel like its impossible to have a conversation about Cassie’s gender without also talking about her experiences with comphet and lesbianism.

At the beginning, Cassie sees Kon — this cocksure, conventionally attractive boy with powers that (at first glance) seem very similar to hers, and felt something about it. And, in the way of teen girls who have been told since grade school that they’re supposed to like boys, Cassie comes to the conclusion that what she feels for Kon must be romantic in nature, right?.

All of this, the jealousy over Kon and Cissie flirting, basing her costume off Superboy’s (intentionally or otherwise), the fact that she wont let her team see her without the wig and goggles at all for so much of yj98. To me it all reads as the tangled mix of undiscovered lesbianism and gender dysphoria that the poor girl simply doesn’t have the words to define yet.

So, then what IS cassie’s deal with gender???

i am so very glad you asked.

She, too, is a transmasc of the nonbinary variety.

I think her relationship to femininity is complex, and ever changing. She doesn’t feel comfortable performing femininity the way the world expects her to, but she is also part Amazon. And i think having a relationship with both Diana and Donna would greatly influence how she felt about femininity as a whole.

The Amazons are strong, their femininity isn’t about beauty, or being soft spoken — it isn’t about Men at all. On Themyscira, to be a Woman is about bravery, honor, skill, and in some ways, divinity. Getting closer with her Amazonian sisters would change her relationship to womanhood immensely.

But it still wouldn’t feel Right. She would be able to see that womanhood can be defined differently, but that wouldn’t change the connotations that womanhood had as she was growing up. She’d never be able to lean into it the way Diana or Donna do — they both grew up only having woman defined as strong and brave and confident. Their experiences are not analogous.

The baggage of growing up a girl under the patriarchy wouldn’t just… vanish because she sees that it Doesn’t have to be that way. In some ways, the knowledge that it didn’t have to be that way could make her dysphoria all that stronger (especially if she hasn’t quite deciphered that dysphoria is what she’s feeling).

but i think there would be a point where two things sharpen into focus for her.

fiirstly she has a big fat crush on cissie king-jones.

and second (which would only come AFTER realizing her feelings for cissie) is that what she feels for Kon is Not the same as what she feels for Ciss.

She didn’t want to be with Kon romantically, she just wanted his gender.

I could see her experimenting with wearing a binder, liking that she can get rid of her boobs if she isn’t feeling them that day.

She already has her short hair, and her leather jacket and jeans, and shes big and buff and strong (because she deserves to be butch!!! okay???).

I still think she would use she/her pronouns, but she wouldn’t be picky ab it (if she gets called sir while at the pizza place, she’s not going to correct them.)

But here’s the kicker — I think leaning hard into her masculinity would be EXACTLY what she needs in order to actually ENJOY expressing femininity again.

When putting on the mask that is ‘womanhood’ becomes something that she can Choose to do, rather than something that is being forced on her, it can be pleasant. Like playing dress up.

She has a new appreciation for it, especially since her friends respect her gender, and she knows at the end of the day, when she takes the makeup, the clothes, and the wig off, underneath it all she’s just her.

(Small addendum re: TT’03 Cassie’s fem phase. I have Many thoughts about this as well, and while they end up in roughly the same place, i exploring her experience with comphet and her decision to dress in a more traditionally feminine in that run is something id like to explore in another post (once i’ve actually read the run too.)

Cissie (bonus):

This one should be shorter than Cassies, mainly because my reasoning for it is much simpler.

YJ'98 (#11)

She lists all these names, all of them feminine except for Fucking Ralph. “One weird phase” she calls it.

To me, Cissie is a transgirl through and through. She has this huge list of femme names she tried on while she tried to find the one that fit best. She mentions ralph in this off handed way, as if its not important, and i think thats just her way of dismissing her deadname as something of little consequence.

(that said, i think there’s lots of fun to be had with transmasc cissie, or tried transing-her-gender and realized it wasn’t for her Cissie. But as a transfemme, tgirl cissie is So important to me <3)

Kon:

other people on here have made posts about Kon’s gender that are much more coherent than this will be, but i’m putting the words down anyway. bear with me.

Kon’s experience with identity (especially in his earlier years) is almost entirely about the external rather than the internal.

Kon has his whole life planned out for him from the moment he opens his eyes. It’s simple really — become Superman.

So you have this freshly hatched teenage boy, saving the world as Superman (not the Only one, but definitely the coolest one (Kon would argue)). All eyes on him, all the time. In some ways, performance is inseparable from who he is. From the very beginning, everything he does is on display.

He starts his life with a Name (Superman), a life path (…again, Superman), and all the confidence of a sixteen year old jock with nothing but wins under his belt. then it all gets taken away.

Turns out Clark ISNT dead, and the world doesn’t need its pint sized superman anymore now that its got the real thing.

enter Superboy

Kon’s entire identity, his whole purpose for being alive, was to step into the shoes of a dead man who is no longer dead. So where does that leave our genetically engineered test tube baby?

lost, and extremely confused.

But he’s good at using his charisma as a shield, and even better at keeping himself busy. His problems aren’t there if he doesn’t have the time to think about them, right?

and i think that’s true about his gender as well.

Similar to Cassie, his discovery and exploration of his gender feels incredibly tied to his sexuality (to me). If you’ve read sb93, you know Kon’s deal with women. He is cute & conventionally attractive & he's like superman with a fashion sense, so of course there are people fawning over him.

And he loves the attention. He likes that people want him, or that they are looking at him. The issue is he doesn’t have the life experience to realize that their reasons for paying attention to him are often very shallow, manipulative, or selfish.

He isn’t treated as a person very often. He’s a brand, a product, a tool, a weapon. He’s arm candy, he’s a photo op, he’s a headline, he’s a paycheck. And it takes him a long time to be able to tell the difference between someone Liking Him & someone Using Him.

For the longest Time, Superboy is all he is. He doesn’t have a name outside of that identity (except for the various pet names the women in his life give him (kid & pup, mainly)).

And even when Clark does give him his real name, Kon-El, its still Attatched to his identity as Superboy.

I dont think that he would really even be able to start dissecting how HE feels about his identity until he’s much older.

Part of this would come from the space to be someone else that gaining a civilian identity would give him. As Superboy, the goal has always been to stand out, to be seen, to shine like the sun.

As Conner Kent, he has to blend in. He doesnt want to draw attention to himself, or the Kents, or Clark. He has to fit in, which was never something he had to do as Kon. And i think it would kind of chafe at him — but he wouldn’t really know why.

I think he’d chalk it up to how different of an experience it is. Not being loud, having to be normal™. And so i think he’d just… continue to play the part. For a while anyway.

And like, part of being Normalest Boy Conner Kent would also involve actively un-queer coding himself for the sake of fitting into the ecosystem of Smallville High. and its like…

Young Justice, as a friend group, is SOOO queerplatonic. The lines between romantic and platonic intimacy are so blurred, and Prior to Kon’s YJ days he he was also like… living with these woman who he had complicated relationships with that also blurred the lines between platonic, romantic, and sexual (…looking at you, Knockout).

So learning where the line is when it comes to how he can acceptably interact with his civilian friends (particularly the boys) would Really open his eyes to just how close he is with Bart and Tim, and how similar his feelings for them are to his feelings for… lets say, Simon Valentine.

But i dont think That is what would actually tip the scale. I think realizing that these feelings for his friends aren’t considered ‘normal’ would make him shove them down deeper. As ‘Conner’ anyway.

from here it could go two ways, right?

Either we get Teen Titans ‘03 t-shirt Kon, who sheds his GNC 90s swag in exchange for adhering closer to traditional (read; boring) masculine gender roles.

or we get a Kon who leans Harder into his punk roots, but its a conscious choice now.

(this isn’t even digging into how he would feel once Jon comes into the picture, because while Kon cares for that boy Deeply, his feelings abt the new kiddo in the family could also be very complicated. But that’s a post for another time.)

Personally i prefer the second one.

Kon has always been a curious kid, i love the way he makes pop culture references, and how he bases his behavior off of 90’s teen tropes that he Most Definitely learned from TV. In his early days this wasn’t done in a research way necessarily, but he Did want to learn what it was like to Be a Teen™, and TV was the easiest way to figure that out.

(and, playing in the space of Kon adaptations, his love of media/pop culture, and just over all thirst for knowledge, are present both in the Reign of the Supermen Movie, and in his iteration during the n52 (which is one of the few things i personally have internalized from reading n52 Superboy/Teen Titans)).

But post gay awakening, i feel liked he’d be interested not just in behaviors, but also the context of them. Digging into punk as a subculture rather than as an aesthetic. Learning about its connections to queerness, and community, and self expression. And i think this would be extremely freeing for him. (especially if this were around the time of Jon becoming Superboy v.3, but again, not the point of this post.)

this all culminates in Kon being like yk? gender just… isnt for me. Like, it takes im a long time to get to this point, but realizing that the path that was set out for him is just one of the potential paths he can take, and while he might not know where this new path will take him, its his, that that matters.

And also like, Because his friends are who they are, he’s seen different versions of queerness, and transness, but i think it would take him a bit to see himself as someone who Isn’t Cis bc like… he doesnt have dysphoria in the traditional sense.

He’s still the beefcake he’s always been, but i think he’d start playing with makeup when he realizes it makes him feel good (he shows up the the cave one day with smudgy eye liner and Cissie is immediately like a) you look so good and b) can i Please do your makeup? (and then she does it, and he looks so pretty, and he gets these weird giddy feelings that he doesn’t realize is gender euphoria until his friends start talking abt gender euphoria)

His uniform starts to get more personalized too, like the designs where he has knee patches, and all his little belts, and stuff. maybe he starts experimenting with showing skin. bc he deserves it

(’its for maximum sun exposure!!!’ is the what he tells clark… he’s not sure if clark bought it or not)

And hey, exploring gender presentation more as Superboy might help him do the same as Conner. Cassie will take him thrifting, he’ll try of a flowy skirt or a sun dress or something and then its Over. Gender euphoria part two, electric boogagloo.

In the end, its about realizing that adhering gender roles (and truthfully, any socially imposed ‘rule’ about self expression) is something he can simply Choose not to do. And i think this freedom would be something that benefits him in his civilian life as well.

His gender is: literally what ever, man.

Tim:

Ok, here’s the thing about Tim and gender, right? I think he’s kind of just comfortable as he is. He’s good at playing the roles he needs to in what ever situation hes thrown into. ‘Robin’ and ‘Tim Drake’ (and even ‘Tim Drake-Wayne’ if you want to split hairs) might be masks he wears, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less him. if that makes sense. like…

Lets look at the differences between Bruce (or Brucie) and Batman for a second. They really are different people. Batman is who bruce is at his core, ‘bruce’ is this sort of liminal space between the cowl and his public persona, and then theres Brucie™, and well, you know how he is. These are personas that Bruce puts on.

With Tim its like he just highlights different aspects of himself when a situation requires it. (oh no, the autistic!Tim head canons are being loud today.) But like, he’s Always been masking. And i think this is something he would look at as like… getting a good grade in adapting. or something. He’s comfortable, all the roles he plays are ones he’s familiar with, and he doesn’t really question who he is outside of who he needs to be.

That is, until Caroline Hill makes an appearance.

I feel that the decision to go undercover as a woman was a wholly practical decision in the moment. It’s what the mission required, and therefore tim stepped up. Its just another mask, right? Surely this wont awaken anything in him…right?

But this is an entirely new mask. And i think it might like… shift the way he looks at/thinks about the other masks he puts on. He was able to step into a role that was very foreign to him, and it Worked. (and he felt pretty, which like… woah, thats a new feeling. and he kinda liked it? file that under ‘thoughts he doesn’t have the bandwidth to process right now.’ Bruce needs him back at the cave! its time to debreif! and he has a biology test tmrw! no time for gender scaries!!!).

I think it would take a while for him to be able to admit it to himself though. Because like… hes Not uncomfortable with his body, but he also keeps thinking about how good he felt dressed up femininely, and how he felt powerful, in a way. That putting on that mask felt just as good as putting on his domino.

Personally, i think itd be funny if instead of coming out right away, Tim doing undercover missions essentially in drag becomes a recurring thing. And i imagine some people give him a hard time. (not in a transphobic way or anything, i just mean like, teasing him fondly or what ever.) (Also, i like to imagine that when cissie Did kons makeup, bart and Tim jumped in there too bc like hey why not, and hoooooo boy, if Tims egg hadn’t cracked before then, it sure would have cracked after.)

The thing about him is, i’m not sure if he’d come to the realization himself. You know, that he would like to present femme sometimes, in a situation that has Nothing to do with a mission.

I could see Tim convincing himself that its a pointless or frivolous desire, which is Why he relegates his time presenting femme to when he can prove that it’s useful.

but i have this image in my mind, right? Of him, taking his makeup and wig off, and hes chatting with whoever is in the room with him (literally anyone else mentioned above… or Dick). And Tim’s just talking about how he wishes he could present this way in situations other than missions.

and the other person in the room is just like… i mean, you literally can.

and hes just like…. shit you’re right. i Can :0

I could probably go further into depth abt this, but i think this just frees him to start playing with gender more as Tim. and start to recognize when he’s feeling more masculine, more feminine, or somewhere in between.

His gender isn’t consistent, its this thing he’s constantly listening to, and trying to understand. but in the mean time, he can paint his face, and wear pretty clothes, or dress like just Some Guy, or be a hedgehog dressed in traffic light colors, or what ever his heart desires.

As far as like… how He describes his gender, i think he’d say something corny like bi^2 (bi of both the sexual and the gendered varieties). Or shrug, handwave, generally give a non-helpful vague description. Or tell who evers asking to buzz off.

(small addendum wrt Kon and Cassie in TT’03. I haven’t read this run yet, so i didn’t really include it in this post. But i Do have thoughts about what might cause the two of them (my gnc besties from my comics books) to lean sooooo hard into traditional gender roles after being So Queercoded in their other appearences. Before i talk abt that though, i want to read the comic. So, that will have to be a post for another time)

ANYWAY, heres that TL;DR i promised.

Bart: NB Transmasc Cassie: NB Lesbian (of the transmasc variety) Kon: Agender Tim: Fluid (bi-gender) + Cissie: Transgirl

Thank you soooooo much for giving me the opporrtunity to ramble abt the silles and how Not Cis i think they are. Love you forever.

[agirlwithbigdreamsforher]

VALENTINE'S PRESENT

THE NANNY: ONE SHOT

VALENTINE’S PRESENT

Pairing: Andy Barber x Annie Johnson (OFC)

Summary: Annie has a surprise for his husband.

Warnings: it’s just sex hahahaha.

A/N: none.

Word count: 2047

Disclaimer: I do not give permission for any of my works to be copied, used, translated nor reposted anywhere else but here on this blog. Do not steal what you didn’t work for. Minors and ageless blank blogs don’t interact with me or my works. Reblogs and likes are always welcome. Thank you for reading this work of fiction.

GIF's not mine, you can find the credits in the gif :)

I also know the one in the gif is Ari, but I don't care it works hahahaha.

                                     ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Andy and Annie arrived home after a lovely dinner in a cute little restaurant in Newton. Andy paid Maddy, the 15 year-old nanny he hired to take care of Jake for the night. They checked on Jake who was sounded asleep spread across his bed and walked to their room. As soon as the door closed Andy took her by the waist and kissed her.

“I’ve been wanting to kiss you all night long!”

“You kissed me at the restaurant.”

“Yeah, I know,” he kissed her more, “But I couldn’t take your clothes off, now I can! Come here!”

“Wait, wait!”

“No, I don’t want to wait! I wanna fuck you until you forget your name.”

“Eager, but I have a surprise for you, so how about you sit down, and I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.” Andy raised his brow, “Then we can fuck.” Andy smiled, nodded and sat on the corner of the bed. “Good boy!”

Annie walked to their closet and closed the doors. She took out the pink box from Love Seduction Lingerie she had hidden in one of the many drawers in the closet. She discarded her clothes and put on the red lace baby doll along with the g-string. Annie stood in front of the mirror sinking in her image, she tighten the ribbon in between her breast to make them look a bit bigger, and the bow she made was a nice touch to the look.

“Honey?!” Annie turned around, the doors were still closed, “Is everything ok?”

“Yes, just a second!” She sprayed a bit of her body mist, took a deep breath and walked to the room. Andy was staring down the window and she leaned against the frame of the closet. “Baby?”

Andy turned around, his mouth hanged open when he saw her. She lick her lips and smiled at him.

“Happy Valentine’s day.” Andy began walking towards her, “Sit on the bed.”

“But I…”

“Amuse me, would you?” Andy sat back down and Annie made her way to stand in between his legs. Andy’s hands reach to her hips and Annie slammed them, “You are not allowed to touch me.”

“What? Honey, that’s not fair! How you expect me not to touch you when you look that ravishing!”

“If you behave I’ll let you touch me,” she began swaying her hips, “but if you don’t,” She leaned in to his ear and whispered, “then I’ll have to punish you.”  Andy growled. “Are we clear?”

“Yes, honey.”

“Good!” She kept moving, her hands roaming over her body, touching her breast, “Do you like the outfit baby?” She said with a sweet teasing tone.

“Yes, Oh god, yes!”

“Aw!” she made a sad face, “That’s a shame,” She got closer to him, her breasts close to his face, “If you didn’t like it, I would have taken it off.”

“Please, take it off. It’s hideous!”

“Your wish is my command.” She slowly pulled the end of the ribbon, the front of the baby doll opened. She took her breast and squeezed them together, the noodles straps falling on her shoulders. She turned around and let the sheer piece of fabric fall on the floor.

“Fuck!” Andy cursed when he saw the G-string stuck between her ass cheeks, another bow at the top of it.

“Don’t I look pretty?” She sat on his lap, her back against his chest, her hips making circles over his crotch, his erection poking against her ass.

“So-fucking-pretty” He said with gritted teeth.

“Oh, baby. Wanna touch me?” Andy growled again, “Words, baby.”

“Yes, I need to touch you, please!”

“You’re cute when you beg.” She took his right hand and put it in between her legs, “Touch me, baby. Feel how wet I am.” Andy’s fingers moved the fabric feeling the wetness between her pussy lips, “That’s all for you, you make me so wet.” She could feel his breath in the back of her head, she moved it, showing him her neck, “Kiss my neck, baby.”  He didn’t have to be told twice, his lips attacked her neck and she moaned. Annie turned her head and kissed him, her tongue dancing with his, she bit his lip teasingly, Andy thought he could explode right there and then Annie stopped moving. She stood up, and kneeled between his legs.

“I don’t think it’s fair I’m almost naked and you’re still dress.” Her small hands traveling up and down his tights, “Off with the shirt, come on.” Andy looked like he wanted to rip his shirt off which made Annie giggled, “There’s no hurry, you know.”

“Yes, there is!”

Annie giggled once more and bit her lip as soon as she saw the hair in his chest going down and getting lost in the waistband of his pants. Her hands opened the belt, followed by the button and the zipper. Her right hand took his hard member out of his underwear. The angry red tip was leaking already.

“Aw, poor baby, you need help with that!” She stroke him a few times, making him moaned, “You’re so big, baby.”

Her lips took the tip and sucked slightly, Andy threw his head back a low moan leaving his mouth. She swirled her tongue on the head, her hand stroking his shaft.

“Fuck, honey!” His hand went to caress the back of her head, “Keep doing that.”

But she didn’t listen, she took as much of his dick before gagging. Her head began to bob up and down, she could feel how his cock twitch in her mouth, the wetness in between her legs grew by the minute.

“OH MY!” Andy was staring at her, not missing a movement she made. “Such a good little mouth.” Annie moaned around his dick, “Fucking Christ!” He released his load in her mouth, his eyes shut at the wave of pleasure. He opened his eyes when he felt he stopped coming. Annie took out his member out of her mouth, looked up at him, batted her eyelashes, smiled and opened her mouth.

“It was delicious, daddy.”

“Such a good girl!” He helped her stood up, “Now is your turn.” Annie climbed on the bed, her head falling against the pillows. Andy was standing by the foot of the bed, his semi hard cock twitched a bit. “You are a vision right now, honey.” She smiled all blushed, “But you will look a lot better with my cum dripping out of that cute little pussy you have, hmm? What you think?”

“I’ll like that.” She answered sweetly.

“On your hand and knees.” He demanded and she obliged, she moved on the bed, her ass on full display for him. He slapped her right cheek, “We don’t need this,” He took off the G-string and threw it somewhere in the bedroom. “My, my; would you look at that?” Andy took her ass cheeks in his hands and separated them, “Look how pretty she looks,” Andy was mesmerized by the way her pussy hole was squeezing around nothing, all red and wet, “I bet I can make you come fast,” His index traveled up and down her slit, “Tell me what you want,” Her voice was only a whispered, “I can’t heard you,” He slapped her now on the left cheek, “You were all bolt earlier; so tell me what you want.”

“I want you to eat my pussy.”

Andy kneeled behind her and sank his face onto her pussy, his tongue lapping at her lips.

“Oh my god!” Annie took the sheet in her fists. She could feel Andy’s tongue fucking her from behind, coming in and out of the warm wet hole. He stopped at her clit sucking it painfully slowly. “Holy shit!” Andy kept sucking and licking, his beard glistening in her juices, he blew a raspberry on her clit, the vibration sending electricity through her body, “ANDY!” She came hard and fast, she had never come this fast before.

Andy took her by the hips and turned her around, her back on the mattress, her legs against her chest. Andy grabbed her knees and opened her legs. He took his member and slammed inside her. He moved his hips pounding against her pussy, hard and rough; he wanted to hear her scream his name over and over as she came. He could feel that knot in his stomach and her pussy clamping against his flesh. He looked down to see Annie’s face, she was lost in pleasure, moans and whimpers overlapping his grunts. He felt her pussy pulsing and that was all it took to take him over the edge. His release filled Annie’s cunt and a few ropes of white thick hot cum fell on her stomach.

Andy fell on top of her, both of them panting and breathing heavily. He kissed the side of her face, moving to her lips placing a slow sweet kiss on her lips as she smiled in contentment.

“You ok? Was I too rough?”

“You were perfect.” She answered tired.

Her limbs felt heavy, and she knew she was going to be sore tomorrow. Andy moved her around the bed like a rag doll, placing her head on her side of the bed. Andy took his side, she was smiling and looking at him with all the love she had on her.

“You alright?” She nodded, her eyes closing.

“Can I give you your present now?” She said.

“Wait, this,” He pointed at her body, “Was not my present?”

“I mean, I think this was just part of the celebration, but I did get something for you.”

“What it is?”

“It’s in my closet, but ammm my legs feel like noodles so, can you help me getting it? It’s in a black box with a red bow on the top shelf.”

Andy stood up, walked to the closet and came back with saying box. He sat back down and Annie got closer to him.

“Open it!”

He did, inside the box there was some kind of black leather bound book. He open the cover and saw her handwriting in pink ink. “This is for your eyes only, I hope you like it. Love, Annie” and right under this he could read: “The consumption of this material may cause addition.”

“I know how much you like taking pictures of me.”

When Andy turned the page he saw a black and white photo of his wife wearing skimpy lingerie standing next to an open window. Another one followed, it was a picture of her taken from behind, she was wearing lacy panties, her wavy hair falling over her bare back. There were 20 pictures of her in different positions and outfits, and in most of them she was not staring at the camera, except for the last one.  She was laying naked in satin sheets, fully smiling at the camera, her legs crossed a bit to cover her womanhood, nipples on full display, hair spread across the pillow.

“That’s my favorite.” She said shyly.

“You look stunning!”

“Really?! Do you like them?”

“Of course! It’s you! How can I not like them?”

“Oh gosh! I was so scare you didn’t like them. I was so nervous when I went to the studio, I didn’t know what to do or how to pose.”

“Well, you look very confident, and the last one, uff baby what a body! And that smile!”

“I was thinking of you.”

“Aww, honey.” He leaned closer and gave her a soft kiss. “I love them! You look amazing!” He kissed her once more “You know what? I think I’ll take this to the office.”

“Wait, no. Why would you do that?”

“Just in case I’m stress, you know.” he wiggled his brows.

“Do you really plan to touch yourself in the office?”

“Well, you’ll never know!” She slapped him on the arm, “I’m kidding, but they can be useful as motivation. I’m certainty very motivated right now.”

“Really, Mr. Barber? Another round?”

“Maybe two more.” He jumped on top of her tickling her ribs making her laughed. “I love you!”

“I love you too, baby.”

“Now, let’s get down to business!” He got under the covers placing himself between her legs, they were in for a long night.

[youracebuddy]

This is my first fanfiction that I’m proud of enough to publish, and I hope you enjoy it! A quick disclaimer: I don’t know much about Outertale, so please excuse me if it isn’t very accurate.

I also posted this on AO3, if you are interested! :3

Sans x Reader- Outertale

-Drifting through space-

It was a rather normal, bland day in the grand universe. The stars had to be documented and explored, the spaceship needed to be refueled, and you needed to go stop off at Grillby’s to get some lunch. It was just as lively as ever there- with the patrons huddled together in their little cliques, talking about their newest discoveries and adventures- with all of the regulars in their respective spots. And as usual, he was there. It was a bit silly to admit, but over time, you had grown fond of Sans. You developed a love for his god-awful space jokes and puns, which always seemed to cheer you up after a long day. You fell in love with how his eyelights seemed to glimmer at the mere thought of the universe, and how he absolutely loved to tell you everything about his job. It seemed you couldn’t go a day without him telling you about a brand new star, planet, or constellation. Last but certainly not least, you loved him. Sure, he liked to joke around and push your buttons sometimes. But below the surface was a kind, hopeful, and intelligent skeleton- that would do anything for the people that he loved.

Your body seemed to move on its own, quickly maneuvering through the lunch rush and delivering you right to him. With not a second to spare, you sat down… only to be met with the familiar sound of a whoopee cushion. Sans’ head instantly perked up at the sound, a playful smile lazily spread across his skull. “ah, the good old whoopee cushion on the seat trick. sorry about that buddy, that was for paps. but, he must be busy fighting aliens or somethin’ now.” He mused, grinning more at the thought. It wasn’t too hard to picture papyrus as a space cop, as he did always want to help others. “although, knowing how he is, he’s probably just giving them a slap on the wrist and some spaghetti. he can’t stay mad at anyone for too long.” Your thoughts were practically read aloud as he spoke, making you shoot him a bewildered look. He simply shrugged, and allowed you to speak up. “Are you sure that he never stays angry at anyone for too long? What about that time where you wouldn’t clean your socks out of your spaceship for a whole month?” You inquired, reaching out and gently poking his nasal cavity. He simply batted away your hand, another chuckle escaping his perma-smile as he did so. “anyways, what’s up with you today? you look like someone told you that you need to actually work for once.” And there it was again: his attention to detail. It came in handy when repairing a rocket ship or computer together, but really put you in a downside in just about any other situation. You stumbled over your words for a moment, before spitting out what was on your mind. “Ihavetogotoandjumptoaplanetbutidontwanttodealwiththat-“ You were quickly cut off by sans, a confused glimmer in his eyelights. “whoah, hold on there, pal. i can’t tell what you’re sayin’ when you talk that fast. care to slow down a bit?” He spoke, laughing in a lighthearted manner at your shenanigans. You took a deep breath to calm your nerves, and slowed down to properly explain yourself. “You see… Undyne told me that my job today is to explore a nearby planet, and to make sure that the ecosystem is doing alright. But, it’s close enough where it would be a waste of rocket fuel to go there by rocket. So, I’ll have to just jump there and wait for gravity to do its thing.” “and?” He inquired, giving you a knowing look. “if it was that easy, wouldn’t you have already done it?” You sighed at his words, silently cursing yet again that he was so inquisitive. After a moment of hesitation, you spoke up again. “Well… you see… I’m afraid of floating out in space.” After you finished talking, you waited with bated breath for him to laugh. It was such a ridiculous fear to have when you worked in space, and were constantly exposed to it. But, he didn’t make a sound. Instead, a gloved hand placed on your own pulled you out of your self-deprecating thoughts.

You instantly looked over, wondering if you had hallucinated the sensation. But, to your surprise, he had his hands gently cupped around your own, with his expression almost… sympathetic? “pal. it’s alright. everyone is scared of something, and it’s nothing to be ashamed about.” Your brain came to a halt at his words, almost immediately putting an end to your negative thoughts. You opened your mouth to try and speak, but all that came out was a mumbled ‘thank you…’. You slowly wrapped your hands around his in return, finding comfort in the familiar warmth of his gloves. He tightened his grip on your hands, as if worried that you would pull away. “hey… i’m scared of some things too. i’m terrified of putting away my socks- it chills me to the bone.” “SANS!” You yelped, letting out a few snorts at just how bad the puns were. “Of course you would say that…” You murmured, unable to keep a hint of affection from slipping through your tone. He seemed to notice this, as his expression softened along with your own. “alright. i know i never do this, but I’m going to be serious for a moment, alright?” You were going to make a snarky remark at his words, but his serious expression stopped you in your tracks. He slowly pulled your hands towards his chest, placing them over his soul. “look. i know that it’s scary, hell, i was scared of it at some point,” He chuckled at the memory, his smile widening further. “papy had to throw me into space at one point. it wasn’t pretty, to say the least. ever hear me scream into the abyss of space? a-anyways, back on topic.” He muttered, clearing his non-existent throat. “look. it’s not a perfect idea, but how about i come with you? it’s certainly a lot better than being thrown into space, though. well, i could always do that if you wished-“ “NO, I’m good!” You spoke up, chuckling sheepishly. You carefully slipped one of your hands out of his comforting grip, and brought it up to his cheek. It was cool to the touch, and surprisingly… squishy? You couldn’t help but to feel it for a moment, lost in curiosity and completely forgetting about why you held his cheek in the first place. It must have been why he was able to be so expressive, despite having no skin or muscle in the first place. But, you were quickly pulled out of your thoughts when a soft blue blush started to spread across his cheekbones. You could feel your own cheeks burning in embarrassment, and you decided to speak up and hopefully stop anything from escalating further. “T-Thank you. It means a lot to me to know that I’m not alone, especially in the cold, empty void of space.” You muttered, voice shaking sightly in embarrassment. You quickly removed your hand from his cheek, not finding the strength to look him in the eyes. “I’ll owe you so much ketchup for this…” You mumbled, feeling your heart ease at the sound of sans’ light, gentle laugh. “hey, i was planning on doing it for free. but being paid is pretty good too, especially if ketchup is on the table.” He mused, seemingly excited by the idea. He slowly stood up beside you, waiting for you to lead the way. Surprisingly, he offered you his hand to lead him. “i know i’m not exactly the gentlemanly type, but how about i hold your hand on the way there? don’t want you to get cold feet, after all.” He teased, his smile quickly turning smug. You were quick to accept his offer, which only made him all the more pleased. But, he held his tongue, and decided against flustering you further. After a quick walk out of Grillby’s and a few confused glances from the diners, you were whisked back out into the familiar emptiness of space. But, what you walked into was nothing like you had ever seen before. In the short amount of time you had been inside of the diner, countless shooting stars decided to make their appearance and dance across the cosmos.

They shot through the black abyss, leaving shimmering trails of stardust in their wake. The previously inky abyss that laid before them was now packed to the brim with color, with patches of bold turquoise, gentle lavender, and noble gold scattered as far as the eye could see. They pranced and twirled across the cosmos in a slow, ethereal dance, lulling the universe into a state of bliss. You tried to say something- ANYTHING- but you were stripped of your words. When you managed to tear your eyes away from the spectacle above, they latched back onto the familiar figure of Sans. His skull was tilted up to the spectacle above, illuminated by the countless shades of stardust. After what seemed to feel like an eternity, he turned back to you, his smile wider than you had ever seen it before. His eyelights shimmered with an almost childlike sense of wonder, glowing almost as bright as the stars above. Without a second thought, he leaped into the symphony of color above, and pulled you up along with him. Your body was flung into shock at the sudden loss of gravity, and by a primal instinct, you clung to the closest thing that you could. In this case, that ‘thing’ was Sans. After your thoughts of panic cleared your brain, you were quick to notice that you were holding onto something that was… soft? With one quick glance up, you realized that you had practically engulfed sans in your arms when you were sent into a panic. You hurriedly pried yourself off of his form, and held onto him by the shoulders. But before you could apologize for your actions, his expression snapped you out of your thoughts. His eyelights had completely vanished from his eyesockets, and his cheekbones were once more dusted with a deep shade of cobalt blue. Concerned, you yet again moved one of your hands up to his cheek, and cupped the side of his soft, cool face. He brought his gloved hand back up to his face, and gingerly placed his phalanges atop of your own. His eyelights slowly came back into focus, and settled back down on your own eyes.

He spoke, his voice barely above a whisper, as he knew that his voice would shake if he spoke any louder. “you sure do know how to make a skeleton flustered, don’t ya…? well, i can’t exactly say that I don’t mind it.” He mumbled, letting out a soft, embarrassed chuckle. “but hey- if it helps you with your fear, feel free to hold me all you like. it’s a lot better than screaming my ears off.” “You don’t even have ears.” You mumbled through a small pout, but were quick to accept his offer for the millionth time. You gently wrapped your arms back around him, and glanced up to look at your surroundings once more. You were slowly drifting off into space, with grillby’s already a long ways away. You were instantly filled with panic at the sight, but your heart eased once more when a gloved hand slowly placed itself under your chin, and gingerly pulled your face back to meet the soft eyelights that you had yearned to gaze into since you first had the honor of looking upon them. His voice was soft, as if he was genuinely trying to comfort you, and not pull your leg. “hey. just keep your eyes on me, and you can look back out to the stars when you feel like it.” He murmured, gloved hand keeping your head in place. You nodded, refusing to look anywhere but his comforting, soft pupils. Your body eased once more, leaving you wondering if you would melt into his embrace and drip across the cosmos. For once in your time in space, you felt safe. Protected. As you kept your eyes trained on his own, your heart slowly soaked with the familiar, fuzzy feeling that you had when he crossed your mind. It always made you feel like you were back in school all those years back, fantasizing about silly little scenarios- which were a lot like what was currently going on- and reading cheesy romance novels. Just as usual, you couldn’t seem to get enough of him. But, your heart yearned for more. It, no, YOU wanted to bring him all of the joy in the world, no matter how long it would take. Without a second thought, you leaned towards him with half-lidded eyes, and placed your lips against his teeth. In this single moment, you finally gathered up the courage to do the one thing that you wanted to do since you first had the honor of laying your eyes upon Sans. Sure, he may not be the most perfect man… but he is to you, and that’s all that matters. When the reality of what you just did managed to pierce its way into the blissful fog of your love-struck mind, you quickly broke the ‘kiss’, overcome with embarrassment. Despite your guilty, flustered state, you managed to croak out an apology, not daring to look him in the eye. “O-oh my god, I’m so sorry. I-I just got lost in the moment, and-“ When the same teeth that you kissed gently pressed against your lips in return, your mind came to a crashing halt. Your eyes fluttered closed along with his own, sheer euphoria flooding through your veins. Despite the fact that he didn’t have lips to kiss in the first place, it was still more warm and comforting than you ever could have imagined. It lasted for what felt like an eternity, but was still too short when it stopped. Sans was the one to break the ‘kiss’, a goofy, lovestruck smile painted across his face. “i don’t even have lips to kiss with, you goofball.” He whispered, causing the two of you to burst into a chorus of giggles.

-

Needlessly to say, Undyne wasn’t the happiest to learn that you were out canoodling -in a chaste manner- with your new boyfriend instead of checking up on the planet like you were supposed to. She still teases you about it to this day, whenever she spots the two of you sticking to each other like glue.

If you made it this far, I just wanted to say THANK YOU! I’ve wanted to share my work for a while now, and even if this makes one person happy, it would make writing this whole thing worthwhile! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to, well, comment!

[downwiththeficness]

The Usurper-Chapter Nineteen

Summary: Lilah McNamara stole things for a living. It was tedious work and often dangerous, which made it just exciting enough to keep her interested. After botching a routine job, Lilah finds herself standing amid monsters. Wholly unprepared for the horror of living under Amaru’s reign, Lilah decides to use her well honed skills to thwart the queen’s plans and prevent the end of the world.

Word Count: ~8,000

Disclaimer: I do not consent to this work being copied or posted to other sites of blogs.

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“Read ‘em and weep,” Lilah crowed. She set the cards down on the desk, grinning at Javier’s disappointed face. “That’s three in a row.”

He squinted down at her pairs of nines and fives,”You’re cheating.”

She laughed, “I wish. I’m just getting good hands. Besides, you’re the one who dealt this time.”

Javier made a disbelieving noise in the back of his throat while he gathered up the cards and organized them into a neat little stack. After tapping the deck on the desk a few times, he handed them over to Lilah, “Your deal.”

“Thank you,” Lilah said primly, taking the cards from him. While she shuffled, Javier turned his wrist over to check his watch. It was a nice watch, not as flashy as a Rolex, but the gold was real and there were tasteful diamond accents around the face. Lilah wasn’t much in the jewelry business, at least not for the purpose of fencing later. There were too many ways to track anything worth selling. She wasn’t immune to taking something for herself, though.

“How long ‘til I get kicked out of here?” she asked. Lilah managed to keep from looking at the throne sitting in her periphery. It sat in the same spot as the one she’d burned, looming large and ugly.

He glanced at her in a way that was almost a censure, “Not long. They’ll be coming to the holding room soon.”

Amaru was finally satisfied with the place where she would host her court. ‘Not long’ from now, she’d sit on that God awful throne to hear grievances. Lilah didn’t understand why Amaru was even bothering with it. She’d shown absolutely no interest in the culebras, outside of using them for barbaric rituals or as tools to mitigate her anger. If they were fighting among themselves, Lilah had the feeling Amaru was more likely to turn it into a cage match than attempt to troubleshoot the problem. The cavern wouldn’t be a very good place for that kind of thing. Its shining floors and smooth, rounded walls were too pretty to paint with blood. The stream of water cutting the room in half would make things interesting, though. Lilah didn’t know if culebras could drown, but that might not stop some from trying.

She dealt the cards, “You think they’ll actually show up?”

Javier chuckled and gave reluctant nod, “They’ll come.”

“Really?”

“Mmhmm. Months in close quarters, arguing over the rations with more hungry mouths arriving every few days. This is their opportunity to have someone they know is more powerful than they are make a decision that is absolute and final.”

She checked her cards and set two down on the desk. While she dealt herself the replacements she said, “I thought they liked living in close quarters. Nests, and all that. How many do you want?”

“Just one,” Javier answered and set a card down, “Its instinctual for them to live in nests for safety. They’re still people, and people don’t always get along.”

“You’ve got a point.”

He nodded and put down his hand, “Pair of kings.”

Lilah smiled, “Jack shit. Look at you! You won a hand.”

“About time,” Javier grumbled and began to gather up the cards again. He started to shuffle them when the holding room door opened.

Lilah turned to look over her shoulder, finding Brasa striding towards them. He was wearing his leather. Sunglasses, too. Brasa was Amaru’s man again and wasn’t that just perfect. She could only look at him a second or two before she had to turn away.

Javier, knowing that game was over, put the cards back into the box. He slid it over to Lilah and stood, “I assume she’s on her way.”

“You assume correctly,” Brasa replied. He walked up to Lilah and dropped a kiss to the top of her head, “She’ll be here in ten minutes.”

“Wonderful,” Javier said in voice that rang with dread.

Brasa put his hands on his hips and looked towards the back of the room, “They’re already lined up all the way to the elevator.”

Javier tossed Lilah a knowing look, “Excellent. We’re fully stocked, so I don’t anticipate any scrapes.”

“Good, good,” Brasa replied, distracted.

Lilah pocketed the cards and rose, “I guess I’ll head out.”

Brasa snapped to attention, “Where are you going?”

She pointed to the door leading into the back hall, “Away from here.”

He shook his head, “No. I need you to stay.”

She really didn’t want to do that. “No, that’s okay,” Lilah waved him off. “I’m not in the mood for this kind of show. I’ll just go to my little room and veg with some terrible, terrible TV.”

Brasa grasped her shoulders, “I would really like for you to stay. It’ll be good for everyone to see you.”

Lilah was reminded of another, more violent ceremony where she was supposed to be seen, “Last time, you didn’t want me anywhere near a group of culebras.”

He almost smiled, “You’re stronger now. I think you can handle it.”

She was stronger. Much stronger. Since the night of the burlesque show, Brasa had given Lilah his blood three times. Each infusion left her giddy for hours afterward, laying on the bed next to Brasa while power ran a slow path through her veins. Brasa coached her through it, helping her to relax into something that was becoming less and less unnatural to Lilah. She now knew how to pace herself so that her stomach didn’t slosh around when she moved.

There were other changes that took longer to catch her attention. Lilah’s normal eight hours of sleep were now reduced to six and she rarely felt hunger. The low lighting in the halls didn’t seem to bother her as much now that Lilah could find her way pretty easily. She hadn’t yet tested out the limits of her stamina, but she guessed that she might be able to run more than a few miles without dropping dead—she hadn’t been able to do that since high school.

Brasa’s expression was so earnest that Lilah had to relent, “Alright. But, I’m standing in the back and I want some alcohol to take the edge off.”

“Done.” He turned to Javier, “Would you mind bringing Lilah a drink?”

“Of course,” Javier said. Then, to Lilah, “Margarita?”

She smiled and pointed a finger at him, “Got it in one.”

He went off to the bar to fill her order, leaving Brasa and Lilah alone. Brasa leaned a hip against the desk and passed his hand over his eyes. Lilah thought he looked a little tired and said as much.

Brasa’s smile was brittle, “I’ve been saving my rations so that we’ll have enough to keep them calm.”

“When was the last time you ate?”

He shrugged, “A week.”

“A week?!”

“Its fine,” Brasa replied, “I can go much longer.”

“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’re hungry. You need to eat.”

His mouth pulled up into an amused smile, “I’ve been told that bondmates sometimes nag each other when they begin to feel comfortable in the relationship. Is that what this is?”

Lilah swatted at him, “Don’t call me a nag. You’re supposed to be keeping that mob under control. You can’t do that if you’re starving.”

Brasa caught her hand and pulled her into his chest, “If we have some blood leftover after this, I promise to eat. Does that satisfy you?”

Her lips thinned, “Barely.”

His reply was cut off when the door to the holding room swung open and Amaru marched in. She was wearing a cerulean cotton dress with a high slit up one side. A brown leather harness was strapped over both shoulders and a knife with a golden hilt rested against the middle of her chest. She looked like a badass and, by the confidence in her step, she knew it. Lilah might have appreciated Amaru’s sense of style if she didn’t hate her so much.

“They’re pacing like animals back there.”

Brasa straightened and moved to stand in front of Lilah, “Its the excitement of being able to speak to you.”

Amaru rolled her eyes, “I can already feel my IQ dropping.”

Lilah bit down on her tongue to keep from making a snide comment. Amaru was in for a rude awakening if she thought treating the culebras with disdain would earn her the right to rule them. Javier was right—people were people. They could only be beaten down for so long before they began to fight back, damn the consequences. Lilah supposed that Amaru didn’t care if she had the right or not—she was stronger than they were and, with Brasa at her side, ousting her from power would be incredibly difficult.

Javier walked through the door at the back of the room, holding a glass. Lilah, seeing her opportunity to get some distance from Amaru, made her way across the bridge towards him. “You’re an angel,” she murmured, taking the drink.

He chuckled, “That’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”

Between sips, Lilah leaned against the back wall, “You’ve brought me the only tool that might help me get through this stupid thing. That makes you an angel.” She took another drink, “I don’t understand why I need to be here.”

Javier moved to stand next to her and crossed his arms, “Brasa thinks Amaru is close to finding the book she’s looking for.”

Her hands tightened around the glass, “How close?”

“We’ve narrowed down the location to a collector near the border. Brasa has sent some of our more friendly staff to negotiate a deal with Mr. Lyle.” He paused, “I suggested we simply take it from him, but Brasa doesn’t want to draw any more attention than we have to.”

Lilah smirked, “Negotiating with him will also drag out the process of getting the book back here for Amaru to use.”

Javier nodded, “If she gets the book and accomplishes the thing that she wants to accomplish, you’ll need to be recognized for who you are.”

This puzzled her, “Who I am?”

Another nod, “Bondmate to Amaru’s right hand.”

Lilah blinked at him, a denial resting on her tongue. She tucked it back down her throat where it belonged. Javier wasn’t trying to blow smoke. Facts were facts and Lilah needed to get used to them. That didn’t stop her from changing the subject, “He says he hasn’t eaten in a week. Can we get him something for after?”

Javier’s brows lifted, “Its been longer than that.”

“How long?”

“A month. Maybe more.”

She let out a soft curse, angry that Brasa would lie to her. It was a stupid lie, but it was still a lie. Underneath the initial anger there lay another, softer anger. Lilah meant it when she said that Brasa couldn’t hope to control his people if he was starving. More than that, she didn’t like the idea of him being hungry. Especially after she’d taken what little blood he might have so many times.

Amaru called Javier’s attention and gave some kind of hand signal. He pushed from the wall and sent Lilah one last glance. She couldn’t totally understand what he meant to say, but it felt a little bit like a warning. Then, he went to the door and opened it. The noise from the outer room got louder. Voices talking over one another until they were a dull drone of sounds.

Standing to the side, Javier guided a long line of people into the room, giving instructions along the way. Do not cross the bridge. One petitioner at a time. No fighting. Bow when you approach your queen. Her decisions are final. No fighting. You will be provided a meal as you leave. If you are staff, you’ll be allowed to the front of the line. No fighting.

Pressing into the rock at her back, Lilah took them in. They looked just like they had before, if dressed a little better. Most of them were wearing slacks and button up shirts in various colors and patterns. A few were in dresses. Lilah noted that their bodies were clean and there was a faint scent of perfume wafting in the air. She might think Amaru passing judgment from her throne was a dumb idea, but the culebras seemed to be taking it seriously.

The line kept moving, filling the back of the room until almost everyone stood shoulder to shoulder. Lilah was allowed a large circle of space. It wasn’t clear to her if that meant they were afraid of her or just they just didn’t want to be near any human. In either case, it worked out for her. She didn’t want to find out if the warnings she’d been getting about the culebras’ volatility was true.

Amaru took her place on the throne, looking over her court with a critical eye. Brasa surprised Lilah by moving off to the side, far enough away that he stood in near complete shadow. There, he folded his hands behind his back and observed the room with a neutral expression. Javier strode past Lilah and worked his way through the crowd until he stood on the bridge. It seemed like the whole room sensed that all the major players were in place and that they were about to begin. The vague murmur that had been constant since Javier opened the door fell into silent anticipation. He pulled a small tablet from his pocket and tapped his finger against it to wake up the device.

Lilah allowed her attention to stray away from Javier’s booming voice while he called out names. One by one, they approached the throne and bowed before beginning to speak. Amaru’s questions were terse and fast, words spitting from her down-turned mouth before the petitioner finished their answer. Inevitably, she would refuse their request and wave them away with an irritable swipe of her hand. Dejected, they walked back into the crowd. Lilah felt a pang of sympathy. She knew how humiliated they must feel. She also knew that it wouldn’t get any better if Amaru got her way.

Maybe Brasa would let Lilah make a road trip up North. If she could steal the book before Brasa’s staff finished negotiating, Lilah could destroy it so Amaru couldn’t use the tome to complete her plan. If it was like the book beneath her bed and couldn’t be destroyed, Lilah would hide it away somewhere Amaru would never find it. A book was easy to hide, she thought, and Lilah knew a lot of good hiding places.

A loud yelp drew her from her thoughts. By the throne, Amaru stood over a man with a thunderous expression on her face. Lilah couldn’t hear what he was saying, but the tone sounded like disdain. Like hatred. Amaru could hear it, too. Her mouth screwed up into a snarl and one of her booted feet kicked out, sending the man flying into the water. A gasp ran through the crowd and several of them stepped forward. Lilah worried that Amaru had pushed them over the edge and that there would be real bloodshed.

Fortunately, Javier moved quickly to calm them, saying, “Remember your place. Remember who made you.”

That seemed to stop the room from erupting into violence, but Lilah could hear the grumbles of the people around her. The air was filled with gasoline and the slightest spark would set off the fire. Even though the cavern was massive, it was also crowded with only two exits.

It was fear that made Lilah move towards the door. She wanted to be as close to an escape route as possible. As she moved, Lilah kept watching for danger. The kicked man climbed out of the water and shook it from his hair. Lilah stared at him while she held her breath. Another man tried to speak with him, but he was pushed away roughly. The crowd parted to let the kicked man pass, most of them looked back and forth between him and Amaru. Lilah was looking, too.

She’d resumed her position on the throne, chin up, eyes narrow. Lilah knew a challenge when she saw one. Amaru wanted the fight. She wanted someone—anyone—to stand up and try something. Would she use the little knife to cut them open? Or, would she use her hands? Lilah was so focused on the slight woman sitting across the room that she didn’t even notice that she was in the direct path of danger.

The man, still dripping, was stomping his way to the door. Lilah couldn’t get out of the way fast enough and he slammed right into her. Knocked off balance, Lilah dropped her drink and fell into the wall. Lilah cringed with embarrassment. The sound of the shattering glass turned every head in the room, including Brasa’s. He was suddenly moving, leaping over the water with a low growl. Lilah had just enough time to push his intended victim towards the door and put herself in Brasa’s path. She caught him in her arms, relieved when he returned the embrace instead of shoving past her.

“Hey now,” she said, “I’m fine. Its fine. We’re all fine.”

Brasa looked unconvinced. His brows were dropped low and his mouth was twisted in anger. She could see the points of his fangs peeking out from between his lips. The eyes behind his glasses were glowing red and focused over Lilah’s right shoulder. In the lens, she could see the man he intended to hurt backing away slowly. The temperature of Brasa’s body was fire hot and rising. His frame was trembling with restraint that didn’t look like it was going to hold much longer. Lilah had to do something, and quick.

Leaning into him, Lilah cupped his jaw in both of her hands, saying, “Look at me.”

The words weren’t much more than a whisper, but Brasa obeyed. The anger on his face softened marginally and Lilah felt a little hope that she had averted a crisis. That hope was squashed when his eyes flicked up and over, tracking movement. The muscles of his shoulders tensed beneath her palms as he prepared to pounce.

Lilah kissed him. It was a completely spontaneous move on her part. She can tell she’d set him back on his heels by the way his body stiffened in her grasp, but that didn’t stop her. Brasa quickly caught what she was throwing at him and his arms wrapped around her to pull her close. The kiss isn’t exactly passionate. Just two mouth pressed firmly together. She hopes its enough to distract him, to divert him away from tearing the guy apart for the sin of running into her. Still, knowing that its just a distraction doesn’t stop the shiver that runs along her skin.

Brasa pulled away first, leaning his forehead against hers. Lilah laid her hands gently along his jawline and counted his breaths. One at a time, each more deep than the last. While she was sure the man who ran into her had taken the opportunity to turn tail and run, Lilah was also sure that Brasa could and possibly would hunt him down. For now, however, he seemed content to remain where he was. She rubbed her thumbs over his cheekbones, letting him hold her for as long as he needed.

Against her hands, Brasa’s jaw clenched. She can feel that his skin had cooled somewhat, but Lilah sensed that they weren’t out of danger yet. Step by step, Lilah walked them backwards at a slow, swaying pace until they were standing against the wall. Brasa went with her easily, head dipping down for more kisses. He was really good at it—kissing. Just the right amount of pressure with an uncanny ability to find the perfect angle. He teased her with a soft slide of skin against skin, then drew along the seam of her lips with his tongue. Before Lilah knew what she was doing, her body was arching forward to meet him and her throat was filling with a low, pleased moan.

It startled her how quickly she was swept away by him—startled her enough that she broke the kiss. The woman in the reflection of his glasses was flustered and breathing hard. Her expression was half wild and her eyes were flashing with desire. Lilah barely recognized herself, but she couldn’t look away.

Brasa’s chest rumbled with a barely audible laugh the only very thinly veiled an ardent, yet comfortable, want. She narrowed her eyes at him while one of her hands drifted down to his chin. She ran the pad of her thumb over his bottom lip. It was still wet from her kiss. And, soft. Very soft. Brasa’s mouth opened slightly and she felt his tongue dab at her skin.

Eyes focused on Brasa’s lips, Lilah turned her thumb to the side a little and pushed it into his mouth just far enough that the tip rested against the point of his teeth. Up close, she could see a dual set of fangs. It was the first of many differences between Xibalbans and Culebras. Lilah knew they were sharp, but that didn’t stop her from gasping as a little bead of red bloomed from the cut.

Brasa’s hand snapped up to wrap around her wrist. The hold was just this side of painful and it sent an ache up her forearm. Lilah didn’t mind much. She was more focused on the way Brasa’s face went lax and how his mouth closed over her thumb with gentle suction. He released a breath through his nose, the tail end touched with a noise of hunger. His tongue wrapped around her thumb, swiping away the blood so that he could swallow it down. Lilah’s gaze followed the motion of his throat, mouth parting around a soundless whimper.

He released her thumb and pushed her against the wall, kissing her hard. Every breath was scented with him and she could feel nothing but his body against hers. It overwhelmed her, made her breathless and dizzy. Nothing existed outside the circle of his arms and the slow tingle of venom that worked its way into her hand.

The arm still around her waist tightened and lifted to put her onto her toes, forcing her to let him hold most of her weight. Blood was trickling in a thin stream down her thumb to pool in her palm. It was warm and faintly sticky. In another few seconds, it would soak the cuff of her shirt.

Lilah tried to pull her wrist out of his grip so that she could catch her balance. She needed to find an anchor—anything to keep her grounded against her own desire. Brasa denied her. If anything, his arms hoisted her higher. He pulled away so that he could lick a hot path from her palm upwards, cleaning her skin with an eager hum. Heat pooled low while Lilah followed the rolling muscle of his tongue on her skin.

Just as he was about to kiss her again, Brasa froze. There was no motion from him, not even breath moving in and out of his lungs. The lines of his shoulders and neck tightened and his lips peeled back from his teeth. Lilah, too, stood still. What did he know that she didn’t? She almost opened her mouth to ask him, but closed it when Brasa let out a vicious growl. She’d never heard anything make that kind of sound before. The kind of sound that carried dangerous power. The kind of sound that made brave men shit their pants. It rolled out from him like a physical thing, making its way towards the others in the room. She glanced around, finding several taking steps backwards.

Right, she thought, Blood in the water. They weren’t at a bar or safely ensconced in their room. They were standing in the middle of a couple dozen predators who were already dancing on the edge of a knife.

Brasa turned and scanned the room, still growling. The culebras closest to them took another step or two back. He waited a few very tense seconds before moving to the side and leaning against the wall with crossed arms. Most everyone began to pretend like they were minding their own business after that.

Amaru, who hadn’t seemed to notice her second in command’s distraction, soon got tired of petitioners and she marched from the room in much the same way as she marched into it. Petulant. Childlike. Annoyed. Javier was gracious enough to herd the culebras back into the holding room. More than one gave her a long look on the way out. Lilah remained by Brasa’s side, picking at her thumb. The wound was already healing, just a pinky-red scratch.

Definitely stronger, she thought.

Javier returned, “Just sent the last of them up the elevator.”

Brasa took his glasses off and rubbed at his face, “Were they fed?”

“Yes,” Javier replied, “We had just enough to feed all of them.”

“Speaking of feeding,” Lilah cut in, remembering what Javier told her. “You lied to me, mister.”

Brasa’s hand paused about an inch from his face, “What?”

“You told me,” she pointed a finger at him, “that it had been a week. Five minutes later, Javier tells me its been a month!”

Brasa cut his eyes to Javier, who was already holding up his hands in defense. “I didn’t know it was a secret,” he said before backing out of the room.

Lilah crossed her arms, “Well?”

Sighing, Brasa lowered his hand and said, “I didn’t want to worry you.”

“So you thought lying to me was the best course of action? Brasa, we have been through this.”

Over and over, they’d been through this. Lilah was so tired of calling him out on the things he didn’t tell her. Especially things that were as important as literal starvation.

“I know,” he said, and he sounded like a child while he said it.

Lilah sighed, looking out across the room. The throne is still sitting there, glittering and gaudy. She could still see Amaru sitting there, could still see her kicking that man at her feet. Her gaze slid over to Brasa, wondering how often Amaru kicked him when she was angry.

“You need to eat,” she said, eventually.

Brasa pushed his hands into his pockets, “I’ll wait for the next shipment. You heard Javier, the supplies are empty.”

She had heard Javier, “You still need to eat.”

“I’ll have to hunt.” Something about her expression must have shown her distaste because he made an exasperated sound, “That’s how I eat, Lilah. Or, did you forget.”

“I didn’t forget,” she shot back.

There were other ways, though, other methods of getting him fed. How hard was it to break into a blood bank? She thought she could get in and out clean, if she had a week to plan. Javier would have to let her get on the net and she might need to stop by a store to make an ID card or two. She could get it done, though. She could make it happen.

Lilah felt something stir around inside her that she recognized. It was the same anxiety she got in the last thirty minutes before the end of a job, right when everything could go straight to hell. All the variables that she couldn’t control reared their ugly heads.

She had to move, do something to expend the energy. Her feet carried her across the bridge and past the throne. “I don’t have enough time to prep, but if you’ll get me into the city, I’ll go be the local blood bank and snatch a few bags. You might have to bribe a few officers to look the other way, though.”

Brasa pushed from the wall with a smile, “No. I can wait until the next shipment. Besides, it would be inconvenient to have to break you out of jail.”

She ignored the implication that she would get caught, “When is the next shipment?”

“Six weeks.”

Lilah turned, “Six weeks? Six weeks? Its already been a month.”

His shoulders lifted in a careless shrug, “I’m old, Lilah. I don’t need to eat as often as they do.”

“That’s not the point. You’re hungry and you should be able to eat.” She didn’t know why she was pushing this so hard. He seemed perfectly fine—except for the way he lunged for her hand earlier. Lilah shivered with the memory of his mouth moving over her palm.

Brasa’s expression was just short of smug, “I like that you’re so concerned about me.”

Lilah’s derisive scoff was completely undermined by the way her lips spread into a smile, “Let’s just stay on subject.”

He stepped forward and took her hands, “Believe me. I’m fine. Can we just go back to our room and relax? Its been a tough night.”

“Fine.”

She turned and started walking, aware of Brasa following closely behind her. A living shadow. Lilah tried not to think about the way she could feel his eyes on her the whole way down the hall. In the bedroom, she went straight for the liquor. Quick hands poured two fingers of whiskey. Lilah sighed and held the glass aloft, starting at it. The amber liquid sloshed as her fingers turned the glass. Her thumb rested snugly around the rim, the cut shining. It looked days old. Didn’t even hurt, anymore. Stronger, stronger, stronger.

Her head cocked to the side and the question was out of her mouth before she could stop it, “What if I gave it to you?”

Brasa flinched and his eyes narrowed, “What?”

She tried to be casual about it, “You need to eat and there’s nothing left. What if I gave it to you?”

“You’re serious?”

She couldn’t blame him for the suspicion in his tone. Lilah took a drink, “Yeah.”

Brasa looked at her a beat or two longer, then shrugged out of his coat. He tossed it over the dresser, “Alright.”

What the fuck are you doing? Lilah screamed at herself.

This was more than just a cut on her thumb, more than catching her tongue on his teeth. Lilah was offering to let him drink from her directly. What could she possibly be thinking to make an offer like that? She couldn’t go through with it—had to take it back, somehow. Suddenly, Lilah couldn’t hold on to the affectation that this was something casual. She drained what was in her glass and poured another while she tried to come up with some way to back out that wouldn’t make her look like an asshole.

“I have a condition,” Lilah announced, stepping away from him and padding over to the bed where she sat. It was a long shot, but she thought she might have a way to get him to refuse.

“Name it.”

Lilah steeled herself, “Take off the gloves.”

Brasa blinked and, for a second, Lilah thought she’d succeeded. The possibility was supposed to reassure her, and it did. It also left her disappointed. Which was so confusing. She ignored her confusion, choosing instead to stare at him while she waited for his answer.

His shoulders pulled back and he said a single word, “Done.”

Lilah covered her exhale by draining her glass again. She wished she’d brought the bottle. Watching Brasa tug off his gloves finger by finger was doing funny things to her stomach and it made Lilah want to back away slowly. Lifting her chin in false bravado, she said, “Where do you want it from?”

He lifted his brows at her, “You’re giving me a choice?”

“Um,” she mumbled, “Yes?”

Brasa smiled, teeth flashing, and Lilah had the vague notion that she shouldn’t have agreed. Too late, now. She was committed. He pulled off his glasses and tossed them onto his coat. His gloves landed next to them with a soft thump. A few steps brought him close enough that he was standing over her. Lilah stared up at him, feeling very small. Brasa dropped to a knee and his hand hovered over her inner thigh, “Here. I want it from here.”

Femoral artery, Lilah thought absently. Throat tight, she nodded. Why was she nodding? Is this what she wanted? Brasa’s smile widened, “Slide up. It will be easier for you if you’re lying down.”

Mechanically, Lilah moved to obey. Side to side she wiggled, until she was laying more or less in the middle of the bed. On the way, she kicked off her shoes. Belatedly, Lilah realized that she was wearing jeans and that she would have to take them off for him to reach her thigh. She fumbled with the button and fly, nervous fingers pushing at the denim. Brasa helped her along, pulling the jeans down her legs until he could get them off.

Resting on her elbows, Lilah resisted the vulnerability of being half naked. It was both easy and incredibly difficult. Easy because every move he made was so confident that Lilah felt like she could absorb some of that confidence for herself. Difficult because he was looking at her like she was the center of his entire universe. Again.

The first touch of his hands was a shock of heat and skin. Lilah held her breath as he traced up the outside of her calves and skimmed her knees to rest on her thighs. Here, he waited. Her attention flicked back and forth from his hands to his face. The black of his iris had spread to encompass the entire eye. His hands remained where they were while he gazed down at her silently. Lilah swallowed, waiting for him to say something.

He did. Eventually. In a voice that scraped the back of of his throat, Brasa rumbled, “You need to make room for me.”

“Oh,” she said. “right.”

Feeling stupid, Lilah let her hips fall open to accommodate his impossibly broad shoulders. Brasa dropped to his belly and hooked her thigh into the crook of his elbow. Black eyes glanced up at her, “Ready?”

Lilah nodded even though she was not ready. Her breath shuddered in and out of her lungs, but she refused to look away. She wanted to see this. Brasa’s dark head bowed over her skin. Lilah could feel the ambient heat of his breath before his lips kissed softly. Even that small touch felt at odds with the sharp rise in arousal building in her body. Lilah bit down on the inside of her cheek and gripped the comforter below to keep herself still. Then, his teeth were sinking into her flesh, leaving Lilah hissing towards the ceiling.

It hurt. She should have expected it to hurt, but she hadn’t. The pain surprised Lilah enough that she cried out before she could cut off the sound. Brasa rubbed a soothing hand over her stomach, applying subtle pressure to remind her not to move. She breathed through the pain, focusing on relaxing the tense muscles of her hips and thighs so that she didn’t strangle him.

Brasa made a soft, chuffing sound that drew her attention. His head was turned, mouth scalding hot against her skin. He drank slowly. Every swallow was methodical, not a drop wasted. Just like he taught her to do. His eyes were closed, but she could see how his lashes fluttered against his cheeks. He had such pretty lashes. Long and curling upwards in a way that no amount of makeup could accomplish. In between sips, there were hums and rasping growls that rumbled from his chest.

Drawn by the clear evidence of his pleasure, Lilah reached down and rested her hand on the back of his head. She scratched gently at his scalp in an attempt to convey...something. The confusion and apprehension about what they were doing hadn’t dissipated, but there was something new hiding in the tangled mass of her feelings. He was feeding off her, drinking her blood, and she wasn’t disgusted by it. Or afraid. Even her semi-constant resentment about how they got to this very moment seemed to have dissipated. Laying there, with her hand in his hair and his mouth working against her thigh, Lilah gave in to the jagged desire that had been there since the moment she saw him standing in that church.

Brasa leaned into her hand and squeezed her thigh. She caught the ruddy pink of his tongue sliding between his lips to catch an errant drop. It swirled around his bite, heat and pain rolling in its wake. The heat kept growing, moving in either direction up and down her leg. Lilah felt her skin prickle with it, felt her nerves perking up to take notice. The further away it got from where Brasa’s mouth was latched onto her, the less like heat it became.

It was more like a tingle, now. Like the feeling of being slowly dipped in a glass of carbonated soda. Little bubbles that felt almost like kisses. The word ‘venom’ whispered across her mind, along with the reminder that she’d felt something like it in his kiss before. Except, this wasn’t a kiss, wasn’t like catching a drop or two in a cut. Brasa’s venom was being pumped steadily into her blood with every second he drank from her.

Lilah struggled to keep her breaths calm while her body flushed and her heart thumped a heavy rhythm. Her vision threatened to blur. There was a ringing in her ears. Adrenaline pooled low in her belly, bringing with it a kind of focus that made her hyper aware of Brasa’s mouth sucking at her thigh. She could feel the way her hips strained inwards on either side, held open by the unforgiving breadth of his shoulders. Arousal pooled in her chest, then her belly, then lower down.

She croaked his name and Brasa’s eyes opened to look at her. Huge and black and shining, the sight of them made her wonder what he was seeing. Lilah was sure that she looked like she felt—flushed and sweaty. Not exactly an attractive picture. The buzz in her body rushed along every vein, leaving her incapable of caring. It anchored her into her body, refused to let her push away the sizzle of sensation that worked its way into her core.

Her arm gave out beneath her, forcing her to clutch at the sheets for purchase. The hand on her belly stretched wide, pushing down when her hips wanted to lift. Lilah exhaled loudly, her inhale equally as loud and twice as unsteady. The bubbles had reached her chest and were working their way over her throat and up into her brain. They scrambled her thoughts until speaking words was impossible. All she could do was lay there while she panted and whimpered.

Brasa let go of the bite. He was breathing as hard as she was, little puffs of air touching her wound and soothing the fresh pain somewhat. He laid his cheek against her thigh while his hands moved over her skin in slow circles, inflaming her already soaring senses. Lilah snatched the one from her stomach and held onto tight. If she let go for even one instant, Lilah thought she might levitate right up to the ceiling.

A dark shadow rose up into her vision, Brasa’s face wavering into view. His brow was creased with worry. She wanted to run a finger over the little patch of skin to smooth it, but moving was not going to be an option for a while longer. Lilah even didn’t think she could speak, leaving her staring at him in weighty silence.

His mouth was pink and wet. It parted while he ran his eyes all over her face and body, skimming the curve of her breasts and down to where her hips were splayed open. Lilah followed the path of his tongue across his lips, staring unabashedly with an expression that was touched with pride.

The tide of her arousal soared higher, lighting nerves from her head down to her toes. Lilah squeezed her eyes shut and grit her teeth against it. She’d given up trying to control her breaths or the sounds she was making. Nothing mattered but riding wave after wave of the venom while it rushed through every corner of her body.

Brasa loosened the death grip she had on his hand and she felt him move to lay next to her. With effort, Lilah turned her head to look at him. She needed guidance. Needed him to tell her how to deal with the insanity she was feeling.

He seemed to recognize that need, saying, “It doesn’t last long. Maybe another minute or two.”

Lilah wasn’t going to last another minute, let alone two. She was already moaning constantly and squeezing her legs together to put pressure on the ache between her thighs. Blindly, she reached for him, letting Brasa support her through the motion of rolling to her side. One hand gripped the collar of his shirt while the other tugged him down for a kiss. Lilah poured every bit of the need she was feeling into it, uncaring that she could taste the copper of her own blood on her tongue.

Brasa matched her passion, his arms wrapping around her waist and pulling so that there was no space between them. His body was molten, heat billowing from every pore until the whole room was thick with it. The palm of his hand caressed down her spine and over her hips, flexing into the muscle of her ass to pull her more firmly against him. He took her mouth with kiss after kiss, stealing the breath from her lungs and stoking the fire of her want ever higher.

It wasn’t close enough. Lilah wanted to melt completely into Brasa until there was no way to separate the two of them. She wanted to make him feel the same way she was feeling now. All shaky need and fierce, dripping desire. Lilah swung a leg over his body, tilting her hips forward into the hardening length of his cock. Around her, Brasa shuddered. He broke the kiss and buried his face into her neck with a loud, desperate moan that was followed by the ragged call of her name. Encouraged, Lilah anchored her thigh and began working her hips against him in a slow, firm rhythm.

Gasping, Brasa sucked a wet kiss to Lilah’s neck while he moved in time with her. He rasped words she barely understood, telling her how good she tasted, how he wanted it whenever she would give it to him. Lilah was too far gone to respond. The only thing she could think about was how to assuage the intense burn in her belly. Just a little more. A little more. Almost... If he touched her, it would be enough to take her where she wanted to go.

She must have said some of that out loud because Brasa was nodding along. “I’ll get you there,” he said while he worked a hand between them. He barely got his fingers beneath the waistband of her underwear, barely swiped them over her swollen clit, when the first contractions began.

Lilah bowed forward with a harsh grunt. The pulse of her orgasm was hard, almost painful. It grabbed at the core of her and yanked downward. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. All there was for Lilah was blinding, all encompassing pleasure. When Brasa’s fingers swirled over her soaking folds, she finally found her voice. Lilah cried out his name, took a breath, and then nearly yelled a wordless moan. She rolled into him, bearing down on his fingers until he didn’t have any room to move. Brasa made a soft sound and curled his hand over the curve of her mound so that she could ride the pressure until it was over.

Mouth dry, eyes bleary, Lilah slowly relaxed. She felt somehow distant from the wild, disheveled, satiated woman lying on the bed. It couldn’t be her tilting her head back to allow Brasa more room to nuzzle at her throat. Nor could it be her shivering as he grazed his fingers lightly over her fluttering pussy. He kissed her slowly and Lilah had to admit that it was, indeed, her. She was definitely the woman slowly coming down from an orgasm so good it was fucking ridiculous and it was definitely her tugging at his shirt to pull it loose from his pants.

Lilah held the button of his slacks between her thumb and forefinger and looked up at Brasa. ‘Yes, yes’ he said between kisses. As if to emphasize the point, he pushed his hips forward into her hands. Lilah’s mouth pulled up into a devious smile while she opened his fly and reached down to palm him. She hadn’t really considered that he might not be like other men, that being Xibalban meant more than just a sharp set of fangs. He certainly felt normal enough. Heavy and thick, leaking a little from the bulbous head. She gave an experimental stroke, thumbing over the tip and smearing precome. Brasa breathed raggedly, the hand between her legs lifting to hold himself steady on her hip. His wet fingers squeezed and she heard him swallow hard.

She let him go briefly so that she could push his clothes out of the way and get him on his back. Brasa whined a soft, needy sound, but went where she directed. Lilah rewarded him for his patience with a deep kiss and a long, slow caress. He caught her motion quickly, hips lifting to push his cock through the circle of her fist. Lilah followed the direction his body gave her. She learned that he liked firm pressure and that the head was incredibly sensitive. Running her thumb over the slit earned a choked moan that sent little shivers down her spine.

His body grew tense with the rise of his pleasure and his head fell back against the pillow, exposing the long line of his throat. She bit her lip, inordinately pleased at how quickly he melted into her touch. Lilah leaned down to lick over the taut muscle of his neck. His skin was sweet and touched with salt. Brasa’s chin lifted to give her more room and Lilah rewarded him with more kisses to scorching hot flesh. She veered off to the side, teeth scraping behind his ear. Brasa huffed a surprised groan and his movements became disjointed. He jerked his hips up hard a few times and then he was spilling over her fingers. Lilah smirked at his helpless little moans and the way he relaxed into the mattress afterwards.

He recovered far too quickly, giving her a soft, sweet kiss before grabbing a towel from the bathroom and wiping them both clean. Lilah let him examine the bite on her thigh, her chest warming with faint embarrassment at the contented little grin he wore while he prodded gently at a wound that was already closed.

The room was quiet. There wasn’t much to say that couldn’t be conveyed with a soft look or touch. Lazy and tired, she snuggled under the covers while Brasa turned on the TV to her favorite channel. He exchanged his wrinkled shirt and slacks for a soft pair of sweats and a t shirt so that he could join her on the bed. Then, he laid next to her, barely paying attention to the screen.

He kept gazing at her with that now familiar awe. Lilah didn’t mind so much, this time. Occasionally, he would run his fingers over the exposed skin of her arms or neck. The motion soothed her, made her so incredibly relaxed that exhaustion took over. Lilah was asleep long before the narrator on the TV could hypothesize that aliens might be involved with building the pyramids.

[spicyicymeloncat]

Can you do Nya for the doodle/ramble? :o

Nya!!

DISCLAIMER: sorry sorry sorry this is so dang late, I have been sitting on this essay for like 2 months and I feel really bad about it. I just had so many passionate thoughts about Nya until school and work and assignments meant I lost flow and I probably won’t finish it. Tbf I did write lots so Oop lol. I’m just gonna post it unfinished like this so take away what you will :)

Awww hell yeah! So in the last post of this series, I said that Cole is probably the best written character, but i think Nya is the most interesting, and Cole’s only higher because sometimes Nya falls into kinda sexist cliches sometimes. But for the most point Nya is such an inspiring character who goes through so much strife. Honestly I think that her writing is actually a really good commentary on modern day misogyny, which is unexpected since this is just a Lego show marketed to mainly boys, and even if it wasn’t, Nya’s arc hits so much harder than you’d expect. But either way, regardless of the societal analysis, Nya is generally a really strong character who gets a lot of development simply bc was more of a side character who basically fought her way into the plot.

So the main themes of Nya is her struggle with destiny, whether she has free will or choices or if she just has to do what other expect her to. Like so many of her arcs are her struggling against what other people have told her to be or what she tells her self she has to be.

First of all, her time as samurai x and how she initially kept it a secret. In s1, in like, the first episode, we see Nya training on the training course trying to beat Kai’s score, wishing she had a dragon, and generally trying to tag along with the guys despite not being included in their team. Maybe you could argue she always wanted to be a ninja, to prove that she could do that too. However it never really caught on (until much later), and she ended up abandoning that idea in favour of becoming something else; samurai x.

I’ve always thought it was weird that she kept samurai x a secret when there wasn’t really any consequence to it when everyone found out. I think that maybe she felt a little bitter about not being included with the ninja so she decided not to share in what she got up to. Also I bet she just kept it up because the guys’ annoyance at not knowing who she was, would’ve been actually hilarious. But also she may have kept it a secret because no one could tell her how to be if no one knew it was her. Samurai X was her way of having freedom and independency, and her way of proving that she was useful, most importantly, in her own way on her own. She wanted the power to make her own choice and in order to do so, she didn’t even risk letting other people in the know in case they took it from her.

Short mention of s2 but the scene where we see Nya get corrupted is actually so horrific and invasive but it completely fits Nya’s narrative of getting her choices taken away as she’s corrupted by the dark matter. Ooh, quick s2 rewrite concept but the dark matter doesn’t immediately make you evil, but it only builds upon already dark feelings present, and in Nya’s case its her struggle with being alone, presently the fact that she was captured and overall how she gets singled out for not being a ninja or how she has to work harder to be seen alongside everyone else. With both her and Kai, they both seem to equate their worth and right to be in the family with how much they can contribute, and Nya especially puts a lot of pressure on herself, to be just as good or even better than the other ninja.

Now s3. S3… is a mixed bag. Bc it’s notorious for having a god awful love triangle that arose out of nothing but then if you think hard about it, everything after the set up kinda makes sense. Jay and Nya have kinda a strained relationship, where if we view s1 and s2 skeptically, their feelings aren’t really justified further than “jay likes girls and Nya is girl” and “Nya happens to like the colour blue”. It feels very forced hetero 2011 writing because it kinda was, but at least s3 is consistent. If you’re generous and are invested in making the most of a Lego show’s writing, then you’ll be happy to know that all of that accidentally works really well. Because we can assume that jay and Nya were quite young and it’s very common for kids/teens to just get into relationships in only name, for the pure reasoning of “we are guy and girl who hang out sometimes” Nya and jay being in a loveless, one sided relationship where neither are on the same page is pretty realistic actually, and the show tells us that Nya isn’t as invested as jay is and how there seems to be a fundamental imbalance of affection between them. Whilst I hate that Nya changes her whole mind as soon as the computer tells her to, it kinda works in that its consistent with Nya’s incredibly surface level reasoning for attraction. Her mind set is basically: if she was told a guy liked her, then she’s supposed to like them back right? That’s just what you do! Compulsive romance is so real and it’s how I personally see Nya in s3. Also it links in either s3’s theme of relying too much on technology, with Nya being swayed because of it.

Now the actual love triangle links back in with Nya and choice. She’s forced to pick between Jay and Cole but even if she does pick one, she’ll let the other down, or they might not accept it. It looks like she has a choice but there are no good options. And when she feels like she’s fighting against the grain, just like when she gave up from being a ninja, she too retreats from the conflict, avoiding giving an answer that she knows wouldn’t be accepted. She just lets them duke it out until they’ve forgotten about her and any relationship she had or could’ve wanted. By not picking a side, both sides left her after s3 and she just accepts it.

…or maybe I’m looking into to it too much as a way of coping with awful love triangles.

Quick note about s4, bc Nya kinda just kicks ass that season and I honestly don’t have too much to say. She’s just very cool. I will say that’s it’s interesting that she stayed home with wu Lloyd etc when the rest of the team dispersed. You could say she again was left behind. She stayed rebuilding the bounty, which may have been in tribute to zane considering he found the bounty. You could say zane brought the family together and found them a home, so when he died, Nya tried to fix it by remaking their home. Im gonna make a separate post about this actually.

Okay s5 is where we really get going and tbh, this season should’ve been more officially Nya. Because she’s actually becoming a ninja. I think with Nya interpretations, people usually see Nya being a ninja as a bad thing, something that was again forced upon her, which is true. I’ll talk about this again when we get to crystalized. But idk if this is a hot take but I think ninja Nya is a good thing, if you interpret samurai x as being a last resort because she didn’t become a ninja. It’s her learning to not give up, to keep at it, which is how she unlocks her true potential. That she’s just as valuable, in fact, uniquely valuable on the team. Idk I think it’s nice if you look at samurai x being her giving up on trying to be a part of the ninja. Her arc of needing to be perfect at what she does, without allowing herself to be messy or vulnerable or confront what makes her weak because she always thought that if she was a ninja, she’d be the weak link, and confronting why she hadn’t become a ninja makes her vulnerable. And her facing that fear and realising she’s more than she gives herself credit for is so so so good. Nya actually has such a low self esteem and tbh you can’t blame her when it looks like she has to fight tooth and claw to be as good as everyone else, but I’d bet on her being the strongest ninja, in some ways stronger than the green ninja. It’s very fitting that she wears the green gi in s5’s finale, because when the ghosts realise she isn’t the green ninja, they’re actually more terrified. Because she is something more feared than the green ninja. The water ninja. One of the only elements that the fsm couldn’t control. She single handedly drowned the preeminent (and destroyed an 1/8 of the universe but shhh).

And then we get to s6, which is only really good because Nya. Because even when she figures out she’s super op, society hasn’t. We get the whole news stuff in the first episode where the ninja deal with their acquired fame (nice acknowledgment of the rest of the world tbh), and we’re highlighted of how, whilst Nya took down a literal eldritch monster in the last season, she’s still only known for the love triangle, and it feels a little meta because I bet that’s what a lot of fans knew her for too (and I say this because unfortunately 13 ye old me was that, but I’ve rewatched since). We see Nya having to face everyone else’s expectations of her and the media doesn’t see her as anything but the girl ninja and she’s just told to accept that. And even when she’s trying to go against the grain, the fact that she’s only doing it to prove or disprove someone else still means she’s technically still controlled by something else. This is how I interpret the (admittedly mess of) the romance plot. Nya has and does love Jay, but she’s scared of that being all there is to her, that doing what the media expects her to means giving in to it, and losing her sense of independence. She basically can’t do what she wants because she’s holding herself to standard in response to other standards placed on her. It’s like a form of toxic masculinity but for feminism, where women feel like they have to be tough and never vulnerable because they’re trying to fight against being defined by those traits of vulnerability. Nya and Dogshank in particular, have a very specific relationship, they’re on opposite sides but play exactly the same roles, women who fought against the grain and did what was not traditionally expected of them, but in they’re fight to do so they ended up sacrificing their own freedoms anyways (Nya stops herself from getting close to the others in her need to be independent, Dogshank traded her life to be Nadakhan’s pirate just so she could win at something once). And say what you will about s6 but Nya’s death scene will always be the saddest thing, because we truly see Nya just give up her life. She’s so resigned to her fate, finally giving up on changing it and tells Jay that she never wanted to be apart of their boys club anyways. The reference of the “boys’ club” comes up 3 other times in the show: when Nya reasons why she became samurai x - she felt excluded in the group, when Nya is corrupted with dark matter and the guys fight her - Kai quipping that the “club” just became boys only and when the love matcher machine in s3 describes Nya as an independent self confident young woman who refuses to be part of a boy’s club. The evolution of the use of the quote, going from the reason Nya felt excluded, to Nya being defined by it and lastly as an acceptance of her own death, sums up what I mean, Nya internalising that “othering” and just growing to accept it. Nya then says that she guesses it’s true, the greatest love stories end in tragedy, which I think shows how she’s been told and sold so many expectations of how she wouldn’t end up happy, and it further shows how she’s given up. And the resolution of the plot isn’t perfect but I actually do like how Jay essentially bent time and space to show her that it doesn’t have to be true. Metaphorically, Jay erasing the timeline feels like he’s erasing the proposed bad end Nya’s predicted of herself. S6 is definitely flawed but I do like the theme of inevitability and the defiance of that with Nya in particular.

~~~

Yeah sorry friends that’s where I stopped. But I’ll paste my little planning stage so you guys know what I would’ve started writing about?? Anyways Nya good!!

Intro- hell yeahhh - good writing altjough ppl don’t think so

- boys club - choices

- Samurai x inventing her own identity but in retaliation

- Water ninja - child of destiny

- S6 choosing her own fate - crystalise

- S11 powers significant + seabound

- Crystalised

- Tidbits such a cool narrative but like s567 could’ve been even cooler

Conc honestly I get emotional bc she’s actually so cool man

[fawnforevergone]

Currently Known Hozier "Unreal Unearth" Lyrics (Part One)

These are all the currently known lyrics from Hozier's upcoming album; I spent ages finding these so I thought I'd collect them in one place and share in case anyone else was curious !! (Note: All of these leaks have been from Hozier himself, I wouldn't post them if they weren't! All sources will be linked above each song.) This post is huge, sorry in advance before you click "keep reading" !!

DISCLAIMER: Sorry if any of the lyrics end up being incorrect! It's hard to hear what's being said through some concert videos at times, but, nevertheless, enjoy! Source: Hozier's Instagram !!

"De Selby (Part 1)" At last, When all of the world is asleep, You take in the blackness of air, The likes of a darkness so deep That God, at the start, couldn't bear, And sit unseen With only the inner upheld. Your reflection can't offer a word To the bliss of not knowing yourself With all the mirroring gone from the world. Still the mind, Rejecting this new empty space, Fills it with something or someone. No closer could I be to God, Or why he would do what he's done. Source: Hozier's youtube !!

"De Selby (Part 2)" I wanna kill the light. I wanna run against the world that's turnin', I'd move so fast that I'd outpace the dawn. I wanna be gone. I wanna run so fast I'd beat the morning, Before the darkness comes, I'd block the sun, If you want it done. Let all time slow, let all light go, I don't need to know when we begin again. I'd still know you, not being so new, I'll only need the working in my hands. (If I was there constantly,) Do you understand? (I could only--) Source: A Pre-Sale Postcard !!

"First Time" Remember once I told you about How, before I heard it from your mouth, My name would always hit my ears As such an awful sound. And the soul, if that's what you'd call it, Uneasy ally of the body, It felt nameless as a river, Undiscovered underground. Source: Hozier's Youtube !!

"Francesca" Do you think I'd give up? That this might've shook the love from me? Or that I was on the brink? How could you think, darling, I'd scare so easily? Now that it's done, There's not one thing that I would change. My life was a storm, since I was born. How could I fear any hurricane? If someone asked me at the end, I'll tell them put me back in it. Darling, I would do it again, ah, ah. If I could hold you for a minute, Darling, I'd go through it again, ah, ah. I would still be surprised I could find you, darling, In any life. If I could hold you for a minute, Darling, I would do it again, ah, ah For all that was said Of where we'd end up at the end of it. When the heart would cease, Ours never knew peace, What good would it be on the far side of things? It was too soon, When that part of you was ripped away; A grip taking hold Like a cancer that grows, Each piece of your body that it takes. Though I know my heart would break, I'll tell them put me back in it. Darling, I would do it again, ah, ah. If I could hold you for a minute, Darling, I'd go through it again, ah, ah. I would still be surprised I could find you, darling, In any life. If I could hold you for a minute, Darling, I would do it again, ah, ah. I would not change it each time, (I would not change it each time) Heaven is not fit to house a love (Heaven is not fit to house a love) Like you and I. (like you and I) I would not change it each time, (I would not change it each time) Heaven is not fit to house a love (Heaven is not fit to house a love) Like you and I. (like you and I) I would not change it each time, (I would not change it each time) Heaven is not fit to house a love (Heaven is not fit to house a love) Like you and I. (like you and I) Source: A Hozier Live Show !!

"I, Carrion (Icarian)" If the wind turns fighting a squall, Allow the ground to find its brutal way to me. I feel lighter than I have in so much time. I've crossed the border line of weightless, One deep breath out from the sky. I've reached a rarer height now that I can confirm All our weight is just a burden Offered to us by the world. And, though I burn, how could I fall When I am lifted by every word you say to me? If anything could fall at all, it's the world, And it falls away from me. You have me floating like a feather, honestly. While you're as heavy as the world, You have held your hands beneath. Once I had wondered what was holding up the ground. I can see that all along, love, It was you all the way down. Even now, I am sky-bound. If you need to, darling, lean your weight on me. We'll float away, but, if we fall, I only pray 'Don't fall away from me'. I do not have [wings?], But I [never... ?], Soaring over the world you are carrying. If these legs should [break?] while I fall, And leave you alone, Icarian, carry on. If the wind turns fighting a squall, Allow the ground to find its brutal way to me. We'll float away, but, if we fall, I only pray 'Don't fall away from me'. Source: Hozier's Youtube !!

"Eat Your Young" I'm starving, darling. Let me put my lips to something, Let me wrap my teeth around the world. Start carving, darling. I wanna smell the dinner cooking, I wanna feel the edges start to burn. Honey, I wanna race you to the table. If you hesitate, the getting is gone. I won't lie, if there's something to be gained, There's money to be made, whatever's still to come. Get some. Pull up the ladder when the flood comes, Throw enough rope until the legs have swung, Seven new ways that you can eat your young. Come and get some. Skinning the children for a war drum, Putting food on the table selling bombs and guns, It's quicker and easier to eat your young. You can't buy this fineness. Let me see the heat get to it, Let me watch the dressing start to peel. It's a kindness, highness. Crumbs enough for everyone, Old and young are welcome to the meal. Honey, I'm making sure the table's made. We can celebrate the good that we've done. I won't lie, if there's something still to take, There is ground to break, whatever's still to come. Get some. Pull up the ladder when the flood comes, Throw enough rope until the legs have swung, Seven new ways that you can eat your young. Come and get some. Skinning the children for a war drum, Putting food on the table selling bombs and guns, It's quicker and easier to eat your young. Source: A Pre-Sale Postcard !!

"Damage Gets Done" You and I had nothing to say But the best of the world In the palm of out hand, and, darling, I haven't felt it since then. I don't know how the feeling ended, But I know being reckless and young Is not how the damage gets done. Source: A Pre-Sale Postcard !!

"Who We Are" Darling, we sacrificed. We gave our time to something undefined. This phantom life sharpens like an image, But it sharpens like a knife. We're born at night. So much of our life Is just carving through the dark To get so far, And the hardest part Is who we are. It's who we are. Source: A Pre-Sale Postcard !!

"Son Of Nyx" ... ... ...

PART TWO: "Currently Known Hozier "Unreal Unearth" Lyrics (Part Two)"

[karimwillia]

Part 14

Warnings: Plot

Disclaimer: I needed to add some life and background to Shuri. She is not just an athlete she is a brilliant artist who lost some of her spark. Her meeting Riri who has a passion for tech and helping people. Mix them together we see the Power Couple.

The next morning the smell of bacon fills the air waking Shuri just enough to hear Sha in the kitchen making breakfast. “Wake up you two!” Sharon softly shouts. “You all stayed up too late. Let’s go, we have to start prep for later. So dinner can be on time.” The girls untangle themselves from holding each other groaning. “Ugh do we have too?” Protesting they slowly get up. “Yes you do. It’s not my fault you all were up doing god knows what.” The memories of last night cause them to smile shyly at each other before they go about getting ready for the day.

Shuri purchased them a set of matching hoodies today, it’s just the perfect level corny that is cute. “You two are so adorable, young love.” Sharon serves out breakfast and explains the tasks they each have to get done. “Dove is like Mami. She likes a good matching outfit for pictures.” Sha looks up at Ri. “Oh no! She’s going to torture your future kids I see. It’s ok they can come to Auntie's house.” Shuri is a little offended. “It’s not that bad. They are Champion.” Riri pecks Shuri’s lips as she laughs. “It’s not but it is corny.”

Breakfast ends and the house is all a buzz with the tasks for tonight’s special event being done. There is Christmas music blasting as they sing and dance all about. Shuri and Ri both take any chance they get to hug or touch while they get everything situated in the house. This is Shuri’s first Christmas in Chicago even though she’s lived here all her life. Her family normally travels during the holidays to some island or back home in Congo. She can recall asking to have a normal Christmas all the time as a child. Just like this one but her family was huge on their traditions.

The distinct sound of the front door breaks everyone’s concentration. “Hey can I have a little help?” Ronnie chirps out entering the house with her hands full. Shuri runs to grab the grocery bags. “Morning Ma, how was your shift?” “It was hectic but I made it. Small sacrifice for 3 days off in a row. I see you girls working hard. What is done on the list so far.”

“That is so worth it. So far I have been cleaning all morning but I think I got everything straightened up nicely. Sha is in the kitchen and Ri well she got the decorations put up in no time.”

Walking into the house it really felt like a winter wonderland. The tree is covered in mostly red and gold ornaments mixed with the hand made ones Sharon and Riri have made over the years. The mantle above the fireplace is decorated with garland and lights and there is an extra S stocking this year hanging up. Small gift boxes are starting to appear under the tree. The smell from the kitchen is sweet as Sharon is baking the pies, cakes and cookies. Shuri was in awe of the magical feeling. Considering this is her first time she stepped back to realize her surroundings. She never wants to let this feeling go. Ronnie notices and places a warm hand on Shuri’s back.

This was all part of a huge plan hatched by Ronnie and Romanda. Tonight Shuri doesn’t even know that her own Mother and Big Brother will be here tonight for this dinner. While on the trip Romanda could tell that Shuri was struggling with missing her Father even though she kept the emotion silent. No matter what Romanda knows her child so she called Ronnie to gain some perspective.

Today is her Father’s Birthday and he always traveled to celebrate it. Romanda kept that alive after his death just to give them some normalcy even though it was just a sad reminder. This year it was not possible to go anywhere because Shuri wanted to be at home for Riri. Ronnie suggested that maybe Shuri needed to do something new to keep her mind off of things. So they allowed the girls to have this time together to give Shuri her first Christmas at home. It seems to be working. Her mood is much lighter.

Riri comes up behind Shuri hugging her and greets her Mom. “Hi Mami! How is my tree?” Beaming a look at the girls Ronnie is grateful. “It is a beautiful tree Baby. But I like how Shuri is getting my hug. Panther, are you trying to take my Baby?” With a face Riri lets go and hugs her Mom. “Sorry Mami, I couldn't help it.” Shuri chimes in. “Ma I just need you to know I never would do that. I am willing to share her.” Ronnie lightly hits Shuri walking out of the room. “Good answer. Because once she’s yours completely, no take backs.”

“I promise she’ll be mine forever.” The grin on Shuri’s face is so bright. Did she just say forever? Riri looks at her when she turns around and smirks. “You better mean that.” “I do. Here I’ll even promise you right now.” Shuri holds the gaze as she sticks out her pinky to Ri. Hooking their pinkies. “I Shuri Udaku promise Rihanna Williams you will be mine for the rest of my life and yours.” She then kisses her thumb. “You are so corny Dove.” Ri played it off but that was so sweet. They get up laughing and finish up everything for the night.

Dinner time was approaching fast meaning last touches to the table where set. Then everyone had to freshen up according to Mrs Williams dress code for the night. Cream, Black and Gold is the required color scheme for the evening. The smell of soul food and baked goods in the air makes everyone hungry. The doorbell rings as everyone’s expected guests are starting to arrive. M’Baku, Aneka and Ayo, MJ, Sharon’s “best friend” Quinten, and Allison arrive right in time to mingle. As they mingle the final plate is set to the table signally the start to dinner. “Alright everyone, let's choose our seats.” Ronnie announces and the group files into the dinning room. “Mrs Williams, this food is ig worthy.” MJ says, snapping pictures of the beautifully appetizing dishes.

“Thank you M just a little something I threw together. Please bow your heads for grace.” Ronnie starts “Heavenly Father we come to you in thanks. For the food, friends and family surrounding us.” With the distraction, Romanda, and Okoye join the table. Okoye’s voice was smooth and warm as she continued the prayer. “Also for allowing us to be able to give and have love in this season. Amen.”

Shuri’s head shoots up; she can’t believe it; she tears up running to hug her cousin. Riri is surprised, also walking to hug Shuri’s Mother. “Ma how did you?” Romanda embraces Riri warmly, smiling. “Us Mothers can never reveal our tricks.” Okoye rubs Shuri’s back and wipes her tears. “Hey there Little Panther.” “Cousin, how did you get time off?” “Mère pulled some strings so I could be here with you.” Okoye is the only person that after Baba passed who didn’t baby her. She pushed Shuri to keep going and make Baba proud. Then she became Shuri’s first Basketball and Track coach. Okoye was holding onto Shuri. “Hey Oko I love you if you smell this food. We need to catch up later.” They make it back to their seats and enjoy the holiday meal as loved ones.

@somethingcleaverandwhitty @mal-urameshi @shuriris-stuff @dominiquesheart @neptoons1998

[sewersewersewercouch]

I've been seeing a whole lot of enthusiasm for my aquatos playlist so! I will share!

couple of disclaimers before we begin:

some of these songs only a small part of it actually applies, in which case I'll try to specify what part I mean. especially the ones that are from musicals, since they're kinda specific to the context of the musical they're from. also a few of them have been in there for a bit and I don't actually fully remember why I put them there.

if you have any suggestions please lmk! I always love suggestions!

I don't do a background check on every musician I ever listen to, most of these were just things Spotify spit out at me and I went "oh the blorbos!" so if any of these artists are incredibly awful people you can tell me, I probably didnt know

I can't really think of many songs for tala and queepie I'm sorry :(

lastly, if you follow me I know you know this and you know I know you know this. but I figured I'd better say so just in case. yes, some of these song choices touch on the less positive aspects of the relationships between family members. these aspects are definitely there in canon, and not acknowledging them would honestly be a discredit to the complexities of the characters. however, NOTHING I put on this playlist is meant to signify abuse between any of the family members. and, while I can't control what you post on your own time, I ask that you do not imply such in any of the replies, reblogs or tags of this post.

Now let's get into it!

Aquato Family Caravan and The Aquatodome by Peter McConnell, obviously. also I will stand by the fact that the aquatodome is the best version of the meat circus

Becoming the Lastnames by Will Wood--not all of this song works for me tbh because it does kinda feel very "white suburban nuclear family" at times which obviously the aquatos are. none of those. but I feel like the overarching theme of like "I have a complicated relationship with my parents and on the one hand I love them a lot and I want to carry on their legacy but also they have flaws and issues that I'm scared of reproducing" feels like it could be a very realistic trajectory for adult raz

Curses by the Crane Wives--honestly this is one I'm less sure about too. it lives more in my head as a sashamilla song (esp the first verse) but also. I think it could be Dona and Augustus

Father to Son from Falsettos--augustus and raz, obviously. aaaaAAAAAAAAA I'm fine I'm normal

Happy/Sad from the Addams Family musical--another Augustus song. try listening to this while thinking about Augustus and see how long it takes you to start going feral

If I Fail You from Black Friday--look. look you can give me basically any musical theatre dad song and go "Augustus" and I will probably be like "yeah! Augustus!"

Little People from Les Miserables--this gives off Mirtala or queepie energy and I'm not sure which. also I need to alert the world of this song because it's only on the London cast recording that I grew up with and I was horrified to find that it got cut from almost all subsequent productions. which is awful because it's the best song

My Bike by Kimya Dawson--most of it not really, but this specific part:

"I wish my brother could always be happy But because he isn't he is strong just like me He is what I lean on to keep me from collapsing Everyone's relapsing he's the only crutch I need The only god I need twins get in for free"

kinda makes me think of frazie and dion and I can't quite articulate why.

My Mom by Kimya Dawson--yes, I'm putting 2 kimya Dawson songs because this is listen to kimya Dawson right now propaganda. but also I feel like Augustus having to contend with his "mom's" ghosts and the skeletons in her closet, and also I'm sure he's definitely had nightmares about his kids drowning. and also this is such a good song that makes me cry every time I hear it it's so good please listen to kimya Dawson

Pompeii by Bastille--Lucy during the deluge of grulovia, obviously, and like looking back on everything that led her to where she is as she's calling the rain down and the dam breaks. but also I'm kinda thinking of Augustus being. somewhere? and knowing that his parents were at the protests and seeing what was happening from a distance and god I'm sorry for this playlist being so much Augustus I just care about him a lot

Quiet from Matilda--This is another thing that makes me think of Lucy's transformation into maligula but ALSO it makes me think of raz dealing with shit and struggling with his emotions and having kind of a psychic meltdown. like I'm not big on too much angst but also I think he needs to break down a little for his own health. kinda reminds me of this fic which is so good and you should read it

Quit the Circus by They Might Be Giants--Raz. I don't feel like I need to explain this one too much hah

Runs in the Family by Amanda Palmer--I feel like to me this sorta spans across the different generations we see, from Marona and Lucy, to Augustus, to Raz and his siblings and like. The Curse n all

Second Child, Restless Child by the Oh Hellos--YES I am a frazie and dion twins truther, YES this is also a frazie song. I'm saying she's the second child by like 2 minutes so that this song can fit

Siblings by Brian David Gilbert--this is tala and queepie bothering raz when he's doing important psychonauts stuff

Surface Pressure from Encanto--one of the older siblings but to me it's mostly dion

Two Birds by Regina Spektor--makes me think of Raz and Frazie's relationship, i.e. him being more enthusiastic and open about his psychic powers and her being kinda in the closet about it and feeling ashamed. but also for reasons I can't quite explain its also Lucy and marona to me

Unspoken Words by mxmtoon--similar to what I said about Becoming the Lastnames, I think of this as being raz as an adult reflecting on his relationship with his family

Welcome to my Mind by the Hi-Fives--this song will forever be tied for me with the memories of "ok where the FUCK is queepie"

When the World's at Stake from The Trail to Oregon: DONATELLA SONG. obvi the first few verses don't really work but the fucking BRIDGE

"You think that I resent her very being? That maybe I regret her ever needing a mother Is it wrong that I enjoy to right her? I may be rash and overprotecting, not bitter I suppose I could be softer...

I can do better Hold you closer I'm learning that As I grow older I'm the one to forgive"

to the 11% of voters who love Donatella, the 25.3% that like her, and the 13.2% on whom she grew, this song is my gift to you. if you ever see Bad Dona Characterization and want to scream just listen to this song and think about her and aaaaaaaa

[technoxenoholic]

yeah, i've tried this one.

it makes me vomit. no funny exaggeration here -- just very literal retching into the nearest sink/toilet/whatever. they literally had to put a warning sticker about my gag reflex in my dentist file. my gag reflex could kill god. pills are not happening.

so here's what i do, as a resource for my fellow people who really, genuinely Can't swallow pills. it will make The Horrible Pill Slurry a LOT more tolerable to get down!

disclaimer: i do this with painkillers that can be ground into powder, and i cannot speak to its efficacy with non-painkiller medications nor with pills that can't be ground up.

ingredients:

your painkiller dose (ground up into the finest, most consistent powder you can; if you can get a mortar and pestle just for this, it helps so much with not worrying about getting nasty painkiller taste in other stuff later. also, i like to pre-grind my doses so they're ready to go when i need them, and we're keeping them in those little weekly pill box thingies.)

one huge, heaping teaspoonful of honey (or you can use a gently heaped tablespoon if it's easier, but i find stirring with a larger spoon to be Difficult)

about 2/3 to 3/4 of a cap of lemon juice. i'm talking about the twist-off caps on brands like realemon (actual brand name lemon juice not required, i'm just trying to give info). it'll depend on how much painkiller you need and your bitterness tolerance, so feel free to experiment with how much you use!

instructions:

put your painkiller powder and the lemon juice into a medium-to-large glass/cup with a handle. the handle is very important if you're less coordinated/more clumsy when you're in pain, like i am.

get some hot water. either run the hottest water you can get from your tap, or use your kettle to heat it, or put it in the microwave -- doesn't matter how, just get it as hot as you can while still being able to drink it.

fill your cup with the hot water, leaving enough room to add your massive spoonful of honey.

add your massive spoonful of honey to the water.

keep your glass on a stable surface and stir, slowly and gently so you don't spill, until the honey is all dissolved.

now, we're going to drink this horrible thing. keep stirring. lift your cup by the handle, still stirring, and stand over the sink. take a big sip and a swallow, fast as you can without getting queasy, so you hopefully don't have to taste any painkiller clumps that didn't dissolve nicely (there will always be some).

always keep stirring between sips, or at least stir well right before each sip, because the painkiller will not want to become a permanent part of the solution (no, not even if it were just in water). naproxen, acetaminophen, nothing i've done this with ever wants to stay dissolved. don't worry about it; just keep stirring.

finally, once you're done drinking your glass of Pill Slurry, and this is crucially important... eat a tasty little treat. i personally recommend something with chocolate and/or caramel in it -- you're trying to wipe out the last of the bad flavors in your mouth (also, having a cookie just makes me feel better emotionally after having to do all that).

so why does this work? well, the lemon cuts the bitter taste of the medicine. the honey cuts some extra bitterness as well as most of the awfulness of drinking straight-up lemon juice (even diluted, that shit sucks). the treat at the end gives you something to look forward to so you finish taking your dose, and makes the bad flavors less likely to linger in your mouth.

it's still not good, but it's a lot less bad. good luck, fellow migraine-havers, joint-pain-sufferers, and other chronic pain sorts.

hey you!

yeah, you who has trouble swallowing pills.

When I was about 23, I finally had someone teach me a trick that worked.  Put the pill in your mouth, take a sip of liquid to hold in your mouth.  Toss your head back dramatically so the pill and liquid roll to the back of your tongue.  While your head is still back like you’re doing a Pepsi commercial, take another drink and swallow.

You’re welcome.

Unless it didn’t work for you in which case, back to crushing them up with two spoons.  Sorry about that.

[sapphictigress]

Season 2 Episode 1

Lukas you didnt start in the Tree house with us, what the fuck are you doing there boy

Jesse: You're the writer, Lukas. I know you'll make the right call. Just put a disclaimer saying somethings were embellished for the drama, literally what you just said my guy

Whats your name little man (forgor)

Whats good, Squeaker?

Shut up Axel

Axel literally does not care >:|

Axel: Tell Petra I said next time for sure, Okay? Yeahuh uhuh uhuh

Radar calm down

I love the OST so much I associate the Beacon town theme with how well its paced during the End when you run off with Petra and honestly i just associate it with that and not Beacon town at all LMAO

This game is much more polished than season 1

Radar: Im really glad you're our leader. Wont be this way for long pal, Im abandoning you

Dont mind me fellas, Im zipping through town-

Oh hi Nell

Nell: Sometimes you just wanna have a place to store your junk, okay? So true bestie

I always just make Nell a shitty wave and call it a day

Radar: Well she is a... fascinating woman, isn't she? Very free-spirited. Full of Wheeeeeeeeat. weed. Wheat.

Wh-yeah??

We back in the mines got our pickaxe swinging from side to side. side side to side-

Have a bone doggy now i must GO!

Okay, Hello Reuben, gotta visit you.

I dont have time for this you pig guy, i was just paying respects to Reuben

Nope, Nope bye, nope sorry, you screamed to late

I dont care, sorry Radar, Im busy. Radar. Radar im busy

PETRA PLEASE DONT BE MAD AT ME PETPRA PLEASE PEPRA PLEASE PLEASE DONT BE MAD AT ME

Petra: Look at that - Punctual AND kicking Butt. Nice. Petra: Gotta say, I really appreciate you making it on time. Means a lot to me. yay she's not mad at me

Jesse: Aw c'mon. You know you're more important to me than all of them. The truth always

Petra: Okay, now you're just trying to flatter me. Yes and?

Yes Queen!! :3

Jesse: Whaaat was that? L L A M A (yama)

Petra: Come on, let's race! Im always down to race you bbgurl! Lets go! Lets go Lesbians!

We're going on a quest. Okay but Petra if you brought everyone along to hunt a llama they'd be pissed

Everytime Lluna is on screen i just say (Yama)

Petra: Come on, let's race! I help my wife, I dont care if it makes me a simp

Petra: (Leaves) Ha! See ya! Listen she's just a little feisty and im down for it

This suspenseful sneak takes 10 YEARS

*Insert me bleating here*

Jesse: Okay, okay. I'm sorry. If you say it’s important... then I trust you.

:)))

Petra: How the heck did you get up there? Its a llama!

Shut the fuck up Romeo, I'll kill you, I've got my girlfriend to back me up

This Gauntlet fits my shirt really well

My girls are flying

Jesse: We're the Order of the Stone, Petra. Looking out for each other is what we do.

ugh i hate that name so much, like dude why not get a new nameeeeeee

This is the place for people who want an HOA

Stella: And, you know, I heard you needed a new pet, so... Stella i'll kill you

Stella: Ohh, no. Honey, no. ... Oh, dear. Petra. Sweetie. That Line delivery is soooo good

Jesse: Hey, you're the one that decided to live here. Petra: I... yeah. I deserve that. The girls are FIGHTING

Love that we're squabbling in the middle of a sword fight, like. Honey we are not done talking about this!

Bodyguard: It does seem like weird timing- Listen i need to talk to my wife real quick

Jesse: I'm TRYING... to have a conversation here!

P.S. I have the transcript up so i can easy Copy and Paste quotes and i wish we snuck in because oh my gods, Stella has the BIGGEST crush on Jesse she is Self Inserting herself as Petra this is so funny. But then again i wouldn't have the mid fight spouse squabble!

Stella: So, our rivalry escalates again. she's so sassy

Jesse: That’s right! The day I reclaimed the upper hand! Stella: Curse you, Jesse! Classic rival. She's so silly!

Jack: Oh, wow. You've got some pretty cool stuff here. Stuff I've never, er, probably only seen, yknow, once or twice. Not as cool as MY stuff, obviously, but you’re well on your way. Definitely on your way to becoming a big hero like me. Not AS big, of course. But, uh... y’know, a real, a real great swing. He's trying so hard for Petra and it makes me JEALOUS

Petra: Hey, uh, can you just give me and Jesse a minute? Me and my girlfriend yeah? Thank you Jack: Huh? Yeah. Fuck off. We're busy.

Petra: It's the worst. You know I'd do anything for you, right? Jesse: I know. Same here

Jack: [...] I slept on an enormous pile of diamonds, that night. Petra: Enormous?! I can only imagine! Petra he is GASSIN you up

Jesse: Hey, that sounds REALLY cool! I can't wait either! Petra: Uh... yeah. Sure, of course.

:( she doesn't want to invite me :(

I'll kill you (/lh), I'll commit a murder, I'll fucking kill you I was bonding with Petra so well and now its like, I'll kill you, I'll kill you man, I'll fucking kill you jack, Jack i'll kill you, I'll kill you jack. Jack... kill you.. I'll kill him dead. I'll kill him dead (/lh)

Jesse: So, this temple... it's dangerous, then? Jack: You don't have any sponge in your ears, do you? Yeah, this place is super dangerous. Well i gotta show Petra that im a Cool Kid!

Jack: (Digging) Agh... perfect internal compass. Th-the Sea Temple is directly below us. It’s like I can feel it... Me in MC (@cloudystrwbrry can say i talk about my Minecraft Perfect internal compass constantly)

Jack: (Points) Temple's... that way. Petra: How- Jack: Compass. ME HGDGHJFDS

Petra: Right! Oh, that's so cool. I'm getting Jealous as hell. I'll kill him. I'll kill him in his sleep. I'll kill him dead

Jack: He said, uh, he agrees. And that you're super lucky to be here with me. I'll kill him

Nurm: ["What's wrong with ‘not people'?"] Jack: Uh... no, Nurm. There’s nothing wrong with "not people." C'mon, geez. Nurm is People! okay Leave him alone (more directed towards the writing than anything else)

Jack: She's a fan. It's... nice. I bet >:|

Yayyy :D I have a girlfriend :)) I'm actually so happy :)))) She Likes me :))))

Wassah Dyude?

Suit up Leather boyyy, Lets go Goggle Guy