#Big Hassle Media

[thepermanentrainpress]

New Music Video: "Wilder When I Was With You" - Sarah Jane Scouten

[spearxwind]

the snippets i see of your challenger deep posting are so interesting but i feel like im missing so many key concepts from it that makes it feel a bit like a confusing puzzle, is there any sort of post with like a hub of links to the main info about the characters/setting to get up to speed or should i just go right into its tag and set it to chrono and start reading?

Oh yeah there isn't like, any hub of links or anything, sorry :') The best you can do is indeed just go into the 'challenger deep/chrono' tag and read from the start, I try to keep all the worldbuilding relevant posts I make in that tag. Iirc the first post of the tag is a lil explanation of the setting and ive built progressively over that. Some things HAVE changed more recently but yeah.

Though if you are confused about specific things I can link you to info posts I might have written or just explain it again, I dont mind and I love talking about it <3

CD is just my headworld that I like sharing as context for my oc art since that is their world, so I don't really have it set up to be an easily distributable thing and It's also something I like to develop on the side, for myself, as extra depth to my characters. My personal lore document on it is 50 pages long and it's not even remotely finished

[fumiliar]

CAN WE PLS GET OLDER BF TOJI HEADCANNONS PLS PRETTY PLS 🙏

(LOVE YOUR WORK BTW!!!)

TYSMM! i hope you like it!😵‍💫

✎...toji is in his late 30s (he lives!) and reader is in her early 20s. megumi is a toddler and he keeps him.

you were the one who chased older bf!toji, you manifested this man. ever since you met him in your apartment gym, you've been trying to get close with him. you started to gym when he went to the gym, asking him for help to carry the weight because you were inexperienced. slowly but surely, you started to develop a relationship with toji, talking to him when it was unrelated to exercise.

older bf!toji who was scared to ask you out on a date. you were so young! he on the other hand, was a widow, a single father and 15+ years older than you. he could've been your father! all these thoughts subsided when he saw you waiting in front of the gym for him. "hi toj-" "date?" he blurted out, leaving you blushing and shocked. "sure toji." that night, he couldn't stop gushing over you to his toddler megumi.

older bf!toji who told you upfront that he was a single father, a widow and looking for a serious relationships on your first date. not wanting to cause any other misunderstandings, he's old, he doesn't have time to play games. he doesn't have the time to fool around, he wants a serious relationship, someone he can lean on, importantly someone who megumi can lean on.

older bf!toji who did not understand why such a youthful person would want him. the stress of his job and raising a child alone has manifested on his appearance. while you, were the epitome of youth in his eyes. the days where you could've been partying in clubs, you spent playing with megumi. he could not wrap his head around your actions.

older bf!toji who barely uses social media. not due to his age, but he's too busy with his life. his only socials are his facebook(good 4 u). you had to teach him how to make an instagram account, and to this day he still doesn't understand how it works. his insta only follows you, with one post, which is also a picture of you.

older bf!toji who's always 'reluctantly' accompanying you, reluctantly watching chick flicks with you, reluctantly accompanying you shopping and holding your shopping bags, reluctantly holding your purse. he's always reluctantly doing stuff, but he ends up doing it anyways. why? cause he loves you. there's a certain joy inside him he hasn't felt since his wife's passing. he secretly enjoys doing girly things with you, just to see the happiness on your face.

older bf!toji who never wants you to feel like megumi is your responsibility. though he wants you to be there for megumi, he doesn't want to burden you with his own struggles.

older bf!toji who stumbles over his feet when he first saw you with megumi. for the first time in his life, he saw megumi like someone from the first meeting. megumi was constantly giggling, smiling ear to ear. without toji realising, his expressions had mirrored his son, like father like son.

older bf!toji who's scared of his future. he's always on the brink of death, with the risky nature of his job. he wants to grow old together, but hesitation takes over him when he realised that in the end, it would just be him growing old.

older bf!toji who has the worst taste in clothing. literally horrendous, when you see his wardrobe, it's just multiples of his tight black shirt, his weird poofy pants and some workout clothes. his other clothing was horrible, some shirts having holes as big as your fist. ever since you've seen that, you've decided to go on a shopping spree for him, along with getting him and megumi some matching clothes.

older bf!toji who hasn't had the time to take care of himself properly. taking care of megumi was such a hassle making him forgot about himself. when you pamper him with skincare nights and face masks, he literally gets addicted. every time you offer to do a face mask or to do his skincare, he dashes to lay his head on your lap. he's still too shy to ask for it, but you can tell how much he likes it. his wrinkles slowly going away with every touch of your hand, as if he's finally let his guard down.

[ranishereforphae]

my phone fucking took a nosedive again and now im using an old 2012 flip phone and my laptop

[dcxdpdabbles]

If you’re taking requests, I’d love to see more of Danny and the Fan Blog.

Danny is asked to go in through the servant's entrance. He would be offended if he couldn't tell that the people strutting through the front gate weren't wearing outfits that cost more than his family house.

He didn't see a reason to argue with security, so Danny wandered over to the side entrance and was allowed entrance when they verified his identification.

He winds up in a spacious kitchen. Men and women are rushing around in white and blue chef outfits. They speak in fast tones and make quick movements, somehow never colliding with each other.

In the far right corner, a group of servers is straightening out their outfits and picking up trays covered in various drinks or finger foods. They wander in and out at a more leisurely pace than the cooking crew, but there is a sense of urgency among them that tells Danny they are having it rough out in the field, too.

Security is standing at the entrance, and occasionally, a second guard walks in, pacing around the room with a sharp eye.

Danny feels like a floating life raft in a raging sea. He clings to his camera hanging around his neck and wishes to bail on his mission for Lady Gotham. Getting a portrait shot of all the Waynes was starting to seem like too much of a hassle.

If only she wasn't so high-ranking in nobility.

After noticing that Danny needs to know where to go, one of the servers slides over. "Hey, I'm Ryan. Is this your first time covering a big event?"

He gives the taller man a nervous smile. "Yeah. I've never been to a party as fancy as this."

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Ryan tells him with an easy smile. Danny notices he's pretty handsome, but that's to be expected. Everyone knows that Bruce Wayne only hired good-looking people for servers.

It's one of the reasons his parties are so well-liked.

"I'll break it down for you. First, there are three floors to the party- the entrance hall where most are just trading pleasures. Do not try to start up conversations there; it is seen as impolite. Second, the Middle room- right between the ballroom and the entrance- is where the elites sit down for a conversation. They also go there to take a break from the party. It's where you'll be tonight since it's where media crew is allowed." Ryan says quickly, taking long, fast strides. Danny scrambles after him, trying to retrain everything in memory.

It's a bit hard since Ryan doesn't seem to want to waste a second, and Danny might or might not be the best at following verbal instructions. If only he had a notepad.

"Pro tip: don't turn on the flash. The elites hate it when they notice you're there. The crew is asked to stay in the first two rooms. Mr. Wayne lets the media into his parties, but he wants his guests to be safe, so don't even try to go into the main ballroom and, for your sake, ask before you take a picture." Ryan finishes pushing open a door. He gestures to the room. "Good luck."

"Hold on-" Danny tries to say, but he can't finish before he is thrown into the hallway. At once, Danny realizes with horror that he is right in the center of the Middle room. There are a lot more people than he is prepared for, seeing as groups of people are standing or sitting around speaking in low voices.

A few heads turn to look at him, making Danny panic. He spots a corner that is far away from everyone. He makes his way there with careful steps, hunching his shoulders whenever he accidentally makes eye contact with people.

Though that was more of the staff, the guests seemed to look right. Danny isn't used to it from Amity Park, but it's a surprise to have to experience it again here in Gotham.

Arriving safely in his corner, Danny leans against the wall, surveying the room. He doesn't know who anyone is, which means his targets are not here, but he can certainly tell they all scream wealth.

A slight floral scent is in the air, and music plays through the wall in a classical ambiance. It's every stereotype of rich people's party, giving horrid flashbacks to high society events in the Ghost zone.

At least no one is mobbing him to try and gain favor with the new naive King.

He accidentally locks gaze with an older woman who lifts her eyebrow. Her expression is smooth, but her eyes are cold as ice and he can practically feel her sneer.

Danny snaps his eyes away, swallowing hard. He fumbles with his camera, checking the settings, adjusting the lens, and trying to look busy.

After a moment, he felt her gaze leave him.

Okay, I can do this, he thinks, relieved that the ice queen wasn't staring him down. I just find the Waynes, get their pictures, and go home. Then I can go out and take photos of the Bats.

Taking a deep breath, Danny shuffles to the main door and adjusts his camera settings again. As he clicks through the shutter settings, he feels a hand reach out and nearly knock the wind out of him.

"Guest only beyond this point," A man in a suit growls at him. Danny rubs his chest, trying not to melt into the ground as he can feel multiple people turn to stare.

"I am a guest." He tells the man.

The other sighs. "Sir, if you don't back up, I must escort you off the property."

"What? No, I swear I am. I have an invitation." Danny pulls out the letter Lady Gotham gave him, unfolding it from his back pant pocket. The man takes it from his hand and crumbles it up without looking at it.

"Hey!"

"I will not tell you again. Take a step back or else!"

Danny's hands curl into fists against his will. The man's eyes narrow with a sneer, matching his rage. Just as he thought things would go badly, he heard a voice crack over the speakers.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope you all are enjoying the evening. This night wouldn't have been possible without your generous donations today. A special thank you to Daniel Fenton for making the largest donation." Bruce Wayne says with a dizzy smile.

Danny straightens up. "That's me. I'm Daniel Fenton."

"Sure it is."

"I am! I have my ID." Danny pulls out his wallet. "Look!"

"That's it. You have ten seconds to leave: on your own or by force," the man growls, reaching up to his earpieces. He taps them twice. I request a backup to remove a disturbance."

"What?! I'm not even doing anything!"

"We had plenty of complaints against you already. You made our guest feel unsafe."

"But-!"

"Is there a problem here?" a second pair of security guards asks. They surround Danny, and by this point, people have noticed there is undoubtedly a disturbance underway.

"No, there isn't! I'm just trying to go to the party I was invited to."

"Nice try. I saw you come through the servant's entrance." One of them says.

"Because they told me to!" Over the shoulder of one of the guards, he spots Ryan walking by with a tray of shimmering drinks. Thinking about how nice he was, Danny waved a hand. "Ryan can vouch for me. Hey, Ryan! Ryan!"

The server turns to him, his eyes comprehensive as soon as he spots Danny waving eagerly. Face turning pale, the man rushes over.

"What's going on?" He asks, and two guards level dark stares at the employee.

"Ryan, can you please tell them I was invited?" Danny demands with a pout.

"Kid, I told you the crew stays in the Middle room," Ryan tells him nervously, warping an arm around him and balancing the tray in the other. "It's okay, guys. He's with me. He just got a little confused is-"

"So you both need to be removed from the premises," the original guard sneers, snapping his figures. The other two quickly step forward and grab them. "By the way, Ryan, you're fired."

"W-what? But Cooper, I really need this job. My sister has medical bills, and she depends on me!"

"Then she's going to be very disappointed, isn't she?" Cooper tells him with a smirk.

"That's not fair. He didn't do anything wrong." Danny protests as Ryan's expression crumbles.

"What is going on here?" a new voice asks. Everyone turns to find an elderly British man looking at them, all unimpressed.

"Mr. Pennysworth. We have the situation handled." Cooper tells him smoothly.

"Good, because Master Wayne is waiting for Mr. Fenton to give a speech."

That makes everyone freeze, including Danny. "I am?"

"Of course, sir. You did out-donate everyone here," the butler tells him in a deadpan voice. He gives the shocked Ryan a quick glance, "This is?"

"Ryan," Danny says, taking the tray from the stunned older teenager. He passes it to a gaping Copper. "He's with me."

"Very well, sirs, please come this way." He glances at the camera around Danny's neck. "I see you brought your equipment. Please refrain from taking photos within the hall."

"Yes sir." He tells the butler, grabbing Ryan's hand and pulling him into the room.

"You're rich?" Ryan gasps, staring at Danny like he was an alien

"It would certainly appear so. By the way, what's your last name?"

"Aetos"

"Ryan Aetos. Nice name. What's your sister's name?"

"Ida. Why?"

"To pay off all her medical bills. Current and future."

"What?!"

Danny smiles up at the teenager. He seems to be about two years older than Danny, so he is likely nineteen. "Yeah, you were nice to me. That's good karma, and trust me, in Gotham, that means a lot. Now, let's enjoy the party. You're my plus one tonight."

Light years above them, Karma kicks her feet, giggling madly. "It looks like Tim has noticed Danny for his camera, but oh, what this—a love rival, with a heart of gold and a care for his sister? Lovely."

"Do you not have a life sister?"

"I have a job. Unlike you, brother." She snaps before quickly moving Tim into a position that would be fabulous once Danny gives into his urge to take the photo. Just in case.

[userpeggycarter]

COLORING + SHARPENING TUTORIAL

someone asked for a coloring tutorial and my sharpening settings, so here it is! there are also a few tips to achieve more HQ gifs. :)

tutorial under the cut!

FOR HIGH-QUALITY GIFS

FILE SIZES

it doesn’t matter what your sharpening settings are if the file you’re using to gif is too low quality, so i tend to look for the best that i can get when downloading stuff. 

usually, movies (+2h) look better if they’re 5GB or more, while an episode (40 min/1h) can look good with even 1GB. the minimum definition i try to find is 1080p, but i gif with 2160p (4k) when available. unfortunately, not every computer can handle 4k, but don’t worry, you can gif with 1080p files just fine if they are big enough. contrary to popular belief, size does matter! which means sometimes a bigger 1080p file is better than a smaller 2160p one, for example.

SCREENCAPPING METHOD

this can too influence the quality of your gifs. as a gifmaker, i’ve tried it all: video frames to layers, directly opening video clips, loading files into stack, and i’ve finally settled down with opening screencaps as an image sequence. with bigger files, it doesn’t matter much what technique you use, but i’ve noticed with smaller files you can do wonders if you screencap (either by loading files into stack or opening as an image sequence) instead of using video clips. for example, this gif’s original video file was only 4GB (so smaller than i’ve usually go for), if you can believe it!

here’s a tutorial for setting up and screencapping with MPV, the media player i use to screencap. again, you can keep using video clips for bigger files, but you’ll find this useful when dealing with dire causes. i don't file loads into stack, though, like the video does. i open as an image sequence (open > screencap folder > select any image > click the image sequence button). just select OK for the speed. this will open your screencaps as a video clip (blue bar) in timeline mode (i'm a timeline gifmaker, i don't know about you). you will need this action pack to convert the clip into frames if you're a frames gifmaker. i suggest you convert them into frames even if you're a timeline gifmaker, just convert them into a timeline again at the end. that way you can delete the screencaps right away, otherwise you will delete the screencaps and get a static image as a "gif".

ATTENTION if you’re a Mac Sonoma user, MPV won’t be an option for you unless you downgrade your system. that is, if you have an Intel chip. if you have M1 Max chip (or even a better one), here’s a fix for MPV you can try while keeping that MacOS, because nowadays MPV is skipping frames in its latest build. or you can use MPlayer instead for less hassle. here are two tutorials for setting and using MPlayer. Windows users are fine, you can use MPV without trouble.

FOR EVEN MORE QUALITY

ADD NOISE

here’s a tutorial for adding noise as a way to achieve more HQ gifs if your original material is too low quality.

REDUCE NOISE WITH CAMERA RAW

instead of adding noise, you can reduce it, especially if your gif is very noisy as it is. 

the path is filter > camera raw > detail > nose reduction. i do this before sharpening, but only my video file isn't great to begin with. because it’s a smart filter, you can reduce or increase its opacity by clicking the bars next to its name in the layers panel.

TOPAZ AI

i use Topaz Photo AI to increase the quality of my screencaps when i need to. it’s paid software, but there are… ways to find it for free, usually on t0rrent websites. if someone’s interested, i can make a tutorial solely about it in the future.

SHARPENING SETTINGS

here are my sharpening settings (filter > sharpen > smart sharpen). i sharpen things twice: 500% 0.4px + 10% 10px. here's an action for it, for more convenience. here's a tutorial on how to use Photoshop actions. for animated stuff, i use this action pack.

COLORING

here’s the gif i'm gonna use as a base. it’s already sharpened like the way i always do it.

LIGHTNING THE SHOTS

half of the secret of a good coloring is good lightning. i always useCurves (layers > new adjustment layer > curves) and Brightness & Contrast (layers > new adjustment layer > brightness & contrast). the settings depend on the scene you’re giffing, but i always try make my gifs bright and with high contrast to make the colors pop.

CURVES

besides lighting your scene, the Curves adjustment layer has four automatic options that will color-correct it for you. it’s not always perfect and it doesn’t mean you won’t need to do further coloring, but it’s a great start. it’s a lifesaver for most ridiculously yellow scenes. look at the difference! this gif uses the 3rd automatic option (the screenshot below isn't mine btw so that's why the fourth option is the chosen one), from top to bottom. what automatic option you need to choose depends on the gif.

sometimes i like to tweak my Curves layer. not everybody does that, it’s not that necessary and if you’re not careful, it can screw your gif up. to modify your layer by hand, you will need to click and drag points of that straight line in the position you desire. this is the concept behind it:

basically, the lower part of the line handles the shadows, while the upper part handles the highlights of the image. if you pull a highlight point up, the image’s highlights will be brighter. if you pull it down, it will make them darker. same thing for the shadow points. you should play with it to get a grasp of it, that’s what i did when i first started giffing.

BRIGHTNESS & CONTRAST

then i added a bit of brightness and contrast.

CHANNEL MIXER

the scene looked a bit too yellow, so i used the Channel Mixer (layer > new adjustment layer > channel mixer) adjustment layer. here’s a tutorial of how it works. not every scene needs the Channel Mixer layer though, i mostly use it to remove heavy overall tints. in this particular case, the Curves layer got rid of most of the yellow, but i wanted the gif to be just a bit more blue so the Channel Mixer tweaks are very minimal.

SELECTIVE COLOR

now, this adjustment layer i always use: Selective Color (layer > new adjustment layer > selective color). this is THE adjustment layer to me, alongside the Curves one. this is how it works:

ie, you can separately edit a color this way, giving it tints. for this gif, i wanted to make the colors more vibrant. to achieve that, i edited the selected colors this way:

for the reds, i added even more red in them by moving the first slider to the right, making the color more vibrant. for his hat to have a more warm tint, i added yellow to the reds (third slider, moving it to the right). finally, to make the reds stronger, i moved the last slider to the right (more black).

for the yellows, i made them brighter by adding white to them, thus making the tile wall and Paddington more bright as well.

for the cyans and the blues, i just added the maximum (+100) of black that i could.

i wanted for Paddington's nose to be brighter, so i added more white to the whites.

lastly, i added depth to the blacks by increasing their own blackness.

you should always play with the Selective Colors sliders for a bit, before deciding what you want or need. with time, you will automatically know what to change to correct the color grading. it all takes practice!

HUE/SATURATION

i don’t know if you noticed, but there are some green spots on the blue wall behind Paddington. to correct that, i added a Hue/Saturation adjustment layer (layer > new adjustment layer > hue/saturation) and made the saturation of the greens 0%, making that unwanted green disappear from the background.

while the green spots on the wall are specific for this gif, i use hue/saturation a lot to tweak, well, hue and saturation. sometimes someone’s skin is too yellow, i made it redder by tweaking the reds and the yellows, or vice-versa. the hue bar follows the rainbow bar, so the maximum settings (+100 and -100) give the selected color to change its hue to something more red or pink (the rainbow extremities). changing hue can give pretty whacky results, like turning someone’s skin tone to green, so you will need to play with it to get the hang of it. you can also tweak the opacity of your hue/saturation layer to further improve your gif’s coloring. i didn’t do it in this case, the opacity is still 100%. the reds and the blues had their saturation increased to make them pop just a bit more, without affecting the other colors.

COLOR BALANCE

the highlights of the gif still had a green tint to it due to the automatic correction of the Curves layer, so i used Color Balance. this is how it works: instead of giving specific colors some tints, you can give them to the shadows, highlights, and mid-tones. if your shadows are too blue, you counterbalance them with the opposite color, yellow. same thing with the cyan-red and magenta-green pairings. in my case, i added a bit of magenta.

B&W GRADIENT MAP

now, if this gif was a dish, it’s time for the salt and pepper. i always add a Gradient Map (layer > new adjustment layer > gradient map) (black to white gradient) with the Soft Light blending mode, thus giving my shadows more depth without messing with the mid-tones and highlights. it also doesn’t “deep fry” (you know those memes?) the gif too much by adding even more contrast. usually, the opacity of the layer is between 30% to 70%, it all depends on the gif. it always does wonders, though!

COLOR FILTER

finally, i like to add Color Filters (layer > new adjustment layer > color filter) to my gifs. it’s very handy when giving different scenes for the same minimalistic set because it makes them kind of match despite having completely different colors. in this gif’s case, i added a “deep blue” filter, opacity 50% density 25. you can change the density and the opacity of the layer for further editing, again, it all depends on the gif.

VIBRANCE

if i feel like it, i add a vibrance layer (layer > new adjustment layer > vibrance) to make the colors pop. this can ruin your coloring sometimes, especially when regarding skin color, so be careful. i didn't do it in this gif because i felt i didn't need it.

TA-DA! 🥳

AN OTHER EXAMPLE

the color grading of the original scene it’s pretty good as it is, to be honest. let’s see a worse scenario, a VERY yellow one:

no channel mixer this time because the automatic curves option dealt with the yellowness, but you can see it made the gif too green. i needed to correct that with the following adjustment layers:

curves (automatic option) (gif 2) >> same curves layer (tweaks) (gif 3) >> brightness & contrast (gif 4) >> hue/saturation (tweaked cyan+blue+green) >> selective color >> color balance (gif 5) >> b&w gradient map >> (sepia) filter >> vibrance (gif 6)

i added a hue/saturation layer to remove the blues & greens before my selective color layer because i thought that was more urgent than tweaking the tint of all colors. color balance (gif 4) was the real hero here, though, by removing the green tint. the selective color layer was meant to make the red pop more than anything else, because the rest looked pretty good, especially her skin tone (despite the green tint). you can notice that tweaking the curves layer (small gif 3) also helped A LOT with the green problem.

tl;dr 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

here's a list of my go-to's while coloring and lightning gifs. it's not a rule, just a guide. there are gifs in which i don't use all these adjustment layers, or use them in a different order. it all depends!

1. curves (automatic option + tweaks) 2. brightness & contrast 3. channel mixer 4. selective color 5. hue/saturation 6. color balance 7. b&w gradient map 8. color filter 9. vibrance

i'll suggest that you study each adjustment layer listed for more info, either with other Tumblr tutorials or YouTube ones. the YouTube ones focus on images, but you can translate what they teach to gif making very easily. you can ask me to further explain any adjustment layer, too! i was brief to keep this short (which i kinda failed lol).

feel free to ask me for clarification or something else about gifmaking wise, i always like to help. ❤️

[heavenlyraindrops]

“ᴏʙꜱᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ.” | ᴋᴇɴ ꜱᴀᴛᴏ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ { ɪɪ }

☆ Warnings: profanity, sports!photographer!reader, fem!reader, afab!reader, social media au/smau, texting, profanity, pretty unserious tbh

☆ 1.3k words | Available on: Tumblr, AO3

Seeing the notification pop up in your dms was certainly a strange, albeit pleasant surprised.

It was from his account. Your fingers shook as you tapped the screen, opening the chat.

Hey, is this [name]? I just wanted to apologize again for breaking your camera.

You stared at it, unsure how to respond. 

For one, you had no social skills, and, secondly, this was the guy who was not only a massively famous and successful athlete but also a rando you’d been taking pictures of since school. You wondered if he’d scrolled down on your account to see the numerous images of him posted from your college days. 

Its fine, you replied nonchalantly.

On the other side of the screen, Kenji was going feral. “Fuck, Mina, she seems pissed.”

Mina simply stared at him (well, not stared but you know.) and he rolled his eyes at her lack of response, turning back to his phone.

Well, I’m more than willing to replace the stuff for you, he typed out quickly.

Your phone pinged. You frowned at the text. 

If you want ig. 

Oh? My god? Who the fuck replies like that?

While you were stressing out over your disgustingly dry, and even rude reply, Kenji was falling off his couch at seeing your message on screen. He cursed, elbow twisting awkwardly as he hit the floor, but he ignored it, holding the phone up. “She hates me, Mina.”

Mina glided through the air to hover over his face. “You’ll be fine, Ken,” she said. “Perhaps you could even befriend her. You said she went to your college.”

“Are you even listening to a word I said?! She hates me.”

His phone pinged and he stared at your second message. 

Sorry, I meant only if it’s not a hassle for you. 

Relief surged through him. it’s definitely not a hassle!

Well then in that case I don’t mind.

Within a couple of days you found new equipment waiting on your doorstep. You weren’t complaining- and it was an expensive model, too. Higher quality than the one you’d had before. 

Taika nudged you knowingly. “The Ken Sato got you that?”

“The Ken Sato was the one who broke it in the first place,” you grumbled in retribution, and she rolled her eyes but didn’t retort any further. 

“Text him to tell him you got it.”

“What?”

“Come on!” She shoved your phone into your hands, and your face burned. “Look, stop trying to deny you have the hots for him and just-“

“Okay!” exasperated, you lifted a hand. “I’ll do it.”

Hey just texting to let you know the stuff arrived btw, you sent.

You certainly hadn’t expected a reply only moments later.

cool! There’s nothing wrong with it, right?

“Isn’t he, like, a famous baseball star?” You muttered as you typed out a reply. “Isn’t he supposed to be busy?”

Taika wiggled her eyebrows. “Well, I wonder what that means for you if he’s replying so quickly then!” She squealed, and you smacked her away by the shoulder. 

Nope it’s great. It’s even better than the equipment I used before actually

Three dots appeared on your screen to indicate he was typing. And then:

Yeah haha now you can take even better pictures of me, right? Judging by your earlier posts you seem to be a pretty big fan.

You froze.

Taika froze.

On the other side of the screen, on his couch, Kenji froze.

“Was that too forward?” He muttered to himself. “Oh dammit, I was trying to make a joke.”

“Oh my god, I’m so fucked,” you said to Taika, pacing the room. “He saw the pictures.”

She clicked her tongue. “They were kinda sorta public for anyone to see. You’d basically showcased your entire crush on that account.”

“He’s gonna think I’m a psycho, or a stalker or something!”

“I bet he thinks you’re adorable.”

You stopped and turned and glared at her. She flicked her head at the device clutched in your hands. 

“Text him back, [name].”

With shaking hands, you did.

Is it obvious lmao? In that case I guess so.

Typing…

His reply lit up your screen.

Can’t wait to see what picture of me you post next ;)

-

You were feeling bold. You were feeling frisky. Perhaps a little… daring.

The next day, you decided to upload the final pictures the online magazine you were photographing for had chosen onto your instagram account.

And, of course, you picked the one of Kenji as the first one.

Not long after your conversation the other day, you’d seen that he’d decided to follow you back. You wondered what that meant, its implications, but brushed it off for fear of overthinking. 

You captioned the post “These were the chosen pictures for XY Sports Magazine! Glad to have played a role in blah blah blah blah blah blah Kenji please text me again blah blah.” 

And then you threw your phone down onto the couch, and waited. 

-

Kenji almost spat his drink out when he saw your very next post, the day after your conversation, and also to see that he was the first picture. 

What even is this? Flirting? Banter? What the fuck? I’m into it?

He debated between leaving a comment or a direct message, but settled for comment. It was flashier that way. According to him. 

“Glad to see I’m your muse,” he typed, and waited for you to see it. His heart was in his throat. 

-

Of course you saw it.

And you had no idea what to reply to it.

So you simply liked it, pinned it, and hoped that it spoke enough words that you were too flustered to type. 

-

This turned into a regular thing. He’d text you, you’d post him every time you were hired at a game he played at, he’d comment, people in the replies would go feral at his appearance in your comment sections, and then you’d text him. If he ever saw you at a game, on the sidelines of the pitch- not in the stands- he’d wink at you, and fuck that bastard knows my camera’s gonna end up pointed at him for most of the game, doesn’t he? 

You wouldn’t call it a friendship that you two had- you genuinely had no idea what the fuck it was, but you sure as hell weren’t complaining. 

You were lazing around in your bed- it was barely even morning, and you had an off day yet your son of a bitch that you called an internal clock had woken you up at six, when your phone pinged. You picked it up.

Kenji: hey can I have your actual number this time?

Kenji: beats dming you here 

You: sure it’s (xxx-xxx-xxx)

Kenji: thanks.

You stared into space.

Okay, maybe this�� relationship between your two needed a label put onto it. You stared back at the screen.

It probably wasn’t going to happen any time soon. 

[nanamis-bigtie]

50 Plus Size Y/N Prompts

When I was looking for an inspiration for a Nanami x chubby Y/N fic I realised that crushing majority of prompts and ideas are related exclusively to hurt/comfort or are drenched in extremely low self-esteem and lack of confidence. So, decided to put together my own list, covering a variety of situations from mundane and domestic to sensual and sexual. I based the ideas on my own experience as a fat person, so I'm aware they won't fit everyone, but I hope those can give you inspiration to explore in your creative work ❤ Of course, prompts are left to individual interpretation!

cw: some prompts are more gendered than the other, some are suggestive or addressing a strictly sexual situation

Leaving hickeys on thick thighs.

Wearing bigger partner's clothes. Bonus: bigger partner is not the chubbier one—it's the chubbier partner who gets to wear bigger clothes

Loving tummy kisses.

Lovingly or teasingly tracing fat rolls and love handles.

Nuzzling into soft chest or tummy for comfort.

Thick thighs save naps because they make the best lap pillow.

Fat person being picked up and/or carried around, no hassle, no protests of being too heavy, just sheer joy. Bonus: it's one of those crazy strong characters so they literally pick Y/N as if they were a doll.

Them being a personal heavy breast holder with built-in enthusiastic massage option.

Back massages because we all know that big chest weights way too much.

Ticklish kisses in the jaw area because they find the double chin cute.

Adoring to feel Y/N's weight in their lap.

Plus size lingerie. Them buying it for Y/N or Y/N showing off in it.

The way Y/N's chest/ass/thighs/tummy bounces during intimate times. It drives them crazy. Bonus: they're being ridden and enjoying every second of it.

Being in absolute awe of Y/N's figure.

Hugs from behind that do not necessarily end up with a full arm wrap but that's okay, one possibly can't envelop their whole universe.

Pulling Y/N closer so they can feel their big ass better.

Work out or a sport activity that's not related to weight loss or diet. Just enjoying active time together.

Finding it difficult to sleep without Y/N because they miss the body they can embrace and/or the warmth it gives.

Stimming or teasingly playing with Y/N's softer parts.

Foodie dates. Testing new places, taking tons of photos for their food instagram, feeding each other cute desserts, stealing the best pieces—or contrary, leaving them for their partner.

Y/N loves to eat and their love adores it because they have someone to enjoy their cooking.

Both them and Y/N love to cook and eat. A friendly rivalry over feeding the other better.

Tons of photos of Y/N and selfies with them. Every moment has to be caught on their camera. Bonus: they are a celebrity or social media persona & they love to show off with Y/N's photos.

Daily affirmations, soft words and touch related to body type, all those compliments and smooth lines.

Reminding Y/N to eat because no, the "fat supply" won't make up for a good meal, they have to eat regularly.

Gender affirmation when the fat body type sometimes can make it difficult for Y/N.

The shared celebration of gender euphoria when Y/N finally finds a way to nicely flatten and shape the chest. 

Choosing Y/N because they are fat. Them being into bigger people and actively choosing them over people with different body types.

Seeing Y/N naked for the first time and going absolutely crazy about it.

Tracing and kissing stretch marks.

Yoga pants effect. The curves just look so good in them.

Looking together for a good supporting bra.

Loving when Y/N is wearing a crop top.

Encouraging Y/N to wear more close-fit clothes Bonus: there is absolutely no perverted reason behind it ;)

Supporting Y/N through weight gain or weight loss.

Enjoying a beach date. Every body is a good beach body if it has a cute beach wear on!

Scratching/washing Y/N's back because sometimes it's just hard to reach that stubborn spot.

Muscular body type partner x fat Y/N. Big partners solidarity!

Discussing together a new tattoo idea. Choosing the best placing for it. Bonus: it's a tattoo composed to fit nicely with fat rolls or stretch marks.

Helping Y/N shave the back of their legs or any other hard to reach part of their body.

Insisting on keeping Y/N's thighs close to their head during oral sex.

Treating rash/burn caused by friction between thighs, bra or other piece of clothing.

Shibari or harness on a plus size body.

Picking up the self ironic negative talk and turning it into something positive

Being proud of Y/N, showing them off whenever there's an opportunity.

Y/N posing them for a photo, painting or a sculpture. Bonus: Y/N is their muse.

Warming hands between Y/N's thighs. Bonus: maybe their cheeks or ears feel cold too ;)

Them wearing Y/N's shirt for comfort. Bonus: it's not a typical over-sized comfort piece of clothing but a perfect fit. They still insist on wearing it.

Hand and bite marks on ass and hips. Bonus: loving aftercare.

Doodling/painting on Y/N's body: thighs, arms, ass… Bonus: it's a part of a spicy play.

Please, reblog and/or credit, when you use (but don't @ me!). The divider made by @/saradika.

[inamindfarfaraway]

I love how Paul's character in The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals is defined entirely by a lack of desire, or desire defined only as 'not what I don't want'. "What Do You Want, Paul?" is a big joke about what a terrible narrative protagonist he is. But it's deeper than that. Throughout the show, even in the smallest, most insignificant phrasing, this man only ever expresses wants in these negative forms, as if he's incapable of feeling attraction in itself rather than simply avoiding what he dislikes. And only avoiding! He never says that he hates anything, either! That would give him passion, drive, perhaps the goal of actively removing that thing. No, he exclusively uses the verb hate in past tense.

He doesn't like musicals, singing, dancing or public performances. He makes this very clear, to the point that it's one of his most significant character traits. At no point does he ever talk about liking any media.

He doesn't want to do social activities.

He doesn't want to give away his money. About both this and the above, he can provide no logical explanation or moral justification. He just doesn't feel like them.

He always gets black coffee because it has "no cream, no sugar, nothing in it"; that is to say, he might not necessarily love it, merely prefer it over its sweeter or more complex alternatives.

He doesn't believe that Emma should have to sing and dance at work - he doesn't want her life to be so unfair and annoying to the both of them.

He doesn't want to obstruct the workings of his office (saying "that's the last thing I want" triggers "What Do You Want, Paul?").

He says, "I wanna go home!" when Mr Davidson is singing at him, but means that he wants to be somewhere safe and not stuck in this incredibly uncomfortable situation.

He doesn't want to die.

He specifically doesn't want to die in Clivesdale, because fuck Clivesdale.

He doesn't want to join the Hive.

He doesn't want to leave Hatchetfield, even when it's the site of an alien invasion that is his personal worst nightmare. He actually says that "All things considered, I like Hatchetfield", arguably an exception to the standard. However, he's also well aware of the town's flaws and problems. He grew up one of its poorer residents, attending the inferior, underfunded Sycamore High School where he casually admits the students "hated [themselves]" and having to watch its more respectable rival Hatchetfield High's school play. He has no strong investment in his tedious middle-class office job. He doesn't get along with some of his fellow townsfolk, like his coworker Ted and all the employees of Beanies except Emma. He awkwardly evades giving to charity and the homeless every morning on his way to work. His life is decidedly not one of utter bliss, and yet it's good enough for him in that he doesn't have the energy, ambition or imagination to want anything more. Since he's "been here [his] whole life", his affection for his hometown could be more an aversion to everywhere else or the hassle of travelling. Sticking with the devil he intimately knows.

He doesn't think badly of Emma, and says so because he doesn't want her to or believe that he does after learning that she helped make a "hated" experience of his happen.

He doesn't want to let Bill die, which is why he goes with Bill to rescue Alice. His heroism and proactiveness at the turning point of the end of Act One start to notably erode his apathy, but his phrasing reaffirms his negative motivations: "Hey, it's not like you're asking me to go see Mama Mia!", "Emma, there comes a time in every man's life when he has to draw a line in the sand. And I will never be in a fucking musical."

He doesn’t want Bill to blame himself for Alice's endangerment, stay in the area once Alice is revealed to be a vessel of the Hive or kill himself.

He doesn't want to do some light reading on the universal truth of love and the strength of the human heart.

He has no positive motivation. He breaks one of the most basic rules of being a fictional character, let alone the main character the audience is supposed to root for. He isn't just an antihero, he's an anti-protagonist. Although this could easily make him boring or unsympathetic, he manages to seem relatable. Real. Human. He captures so genuinely an ordinary person living an ordinary life suddenly trapped in a horror story. How many of us can honestly articulate "one concrete goal that motivates all [our] actions"? Even if you can, you wouldn't undergo a narratively fulfilling and thematically cohesive arc related to that desire the way a fictional character would. We're all essentially just trying to survive each day. To make or keep our lives however we define 'good enough'. We may not have a crystal clear picture of our ideal life, but I bet we all have a long list of things we don't want in it. We're all Paul. He even says, “I want what anyone wants”.

What more appropriate antagonist for this man to face, then, than a force that exists to strip people of their autonomy, their individuality, their personhood, and force them to play archetypical characters in a conventional narrative? The Hive observes that Paul is an anti-protagonist and takes offence to this. It seeks to convert him into his antithesis, the "bold" "leading man" of its musical who the audience can "sympathize with". The Infected highlight this in the opening song, in which they eagerly anticipate and prepare the audience for his entrance... and he misses his cue. He isn't following their script. Perhaps that's why the audience is able to believe in this average, unassuming antihero's potential to succeed, to defeat the Hive or at the very least escape it, despite how fraught and grim the situation becomes. The story certainly proves itself to be cruel to its characters; but Paul doesn't operate like a normal character. The Hive promises to fulfil people's desires and make them happy throughout the play. Charlotte, Bill, Hidgens and Ted's deaths are connected to, by either direct causality or thematic relevance, their respective desires for Sam's love, Alice's safety, world peace (and the glory of a musical career) and Ted's own survival. Paul is uniquely immune to this pattern of death related to a core motivation.

Until:

"I can't leave without Emma”, “a friend of mine."

"Is there a chance of something more?"

"I think so. I'd like there to be. I want there to be."

He wants Emma, her life and her happiness and maybe, just maybe, her love. He wants to love her. To spend time with her. For the first time ever, he wants more out of life, not less. He's a little bit more of a character. After the Infected reprise the "Did you hear the word?" section of the opening song, building up to his appearance, this time he does enter the theatre, coming down the aisle just as he was meant to. Right on cue. Paul is now vulnerable to the narrative - the Hive's narrative. And the Hive's control.

Still he resists, even while doubting if he was ever really happy before. Not only does he use his final words, fittingly, to declare that he doesn't like musicals, but before that he firmly refutes the Hive, and the philosophy behind it and all the pressures and temptatations it might represent: "It doesn't matter what I want." What matters is the good of the world. Emma. Love. Hope. Freedom. Integrity. Humanity, which must be wonderful if we can make sacrifices like this for all the right reasons.

Rest in peace, Paul Matthews. You were the opposite of a conventional protagonist, but a true hero.

[minarinnn]

“BEHAVE”

content/trigger warnings: characters are aged up!!, dom! reader, praising, edging, groping

enjoy!!

he just wouldn’t take his hands off you. being at a work gathering with a needy boyfriend was quite the hassle. he would snake his hands under the table and begin to caress your inner thigh, giving you desperate puppy eyes. you would give him soft glares and kick his feet, silently telling him to stop. he looked at you like he physically couldn’t hold back anymore. he wanted to be balls deep inside you right then and there. but being in a work gathering, surrounded by the hundreds of people you worked with, was definitely not the ideal place. so you slapped his hand away and denied any of his attempt

the ride home was quiet given you had basically ignored him all the way home. once inside the apartment, you wasted no time in closing the distance between your bodies and connecting your lips. sloppily making out with each other while his hands roam and grope your body. tumbling with things you both seemed to bump into as you made your way to your shared bedroom. “fuck.. i need you so bad” he whined, moaning into the desperate kiss with you. “you’re so needy” you tease, pushing him onto the bed “i’ll have to punish you for being such a desperate boy today”. his cock twitched with every word you spoke. you pulled his pants down to reveal his aching cock that leaked with pre cum, taking it in your hands and giving it a light squeeze

he had lost count of how many times he had been robbed of his release. “fuck, please” he whined. your hand slowly stroking his tip, he bucked his hips forward, desperate for more friction. “please let me cum, please” tears prickled the corners of his eyes and his brows furrowed in stress and frustration. he so desperately wanted to release, to fuck you silly, to have you creaming all over his big cock. you inched your face closer to his tip, landing a simple and soft kiss on it “be a good boy and take it”.

bachira, luffy, YUUJI, mikey, isagi, yamaguchi, DENJI, yuuta, atsushi, denki, chifuyu

© MINARINNN 2023 - please do not plagiarize or upload my content on any social media platform.

[vinvantae]

Unmasked

14/16

<<< previous part

Word count: 3.9k

A/N: Big thanks to my girl @formulaforza for not only making one of the edits for me but for beta-reading and helping me make this chapter as good as it can be. Love u ❤️ x

*************************************************

It was uncomfortably warm when you arrived in Spain, humid and sweaty and sticky - you still hadn’t managed to pull what Max and the others had planned out of your boyfriend.

Charles had whined half the morning when you refused to hold his hand that day, clammy palms, you claimed, but in reality you were hoping to sneak into the Ferrari hospitality as discreetly as possible.

You trudged through the paddock with your head down, cap covering your face as you head towards your driver’s room. Sometime before dawn, the PR team had sent over the press conference schedule.The FIA had decided to torture you, putting you alongside the four men who hadn’t publicly defended you from the harassment. They didn’t even know that privately, three of them were fully on your team, so it definitely felt like the sport’s governing body had resorted to bullying.

“Cherie, you’ve barely spoken to me this morning,” his voice was soft, a hand on the small of your back as you stepped inside. “Talk to me.”

“Did you see who they’ve put in my press conference?” Your tone matched his, lifting your eyes from the floor. “I think the FIA are on the side of the dickheads, trying to get me to leave.”

He frowned. “Why would you say that?”

“Because. Why else would they put me in a room with four men that they think hate me?” A soft huff left your lips as you chucked your bag down on a seat as the two of you stepped into the privacy of your room - Charles shutting the door with a gentle click. “It’s just plain nasty. As far as they know the four of them think I don’t deserve my seat.”

“Well.” He placed a hand on your shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “They’re going to kick themselves when they learn the truth.”

You frowned. “What truth? I don’t know what I’m walking into this morning…”

“Trust me. It’s going to be okay.”

You want to believe him, but it’s terrifying going into what would mostly likely be a room full of men who were expecting you to be absolutely tortured by your rivals. You knew the boys had good intentions but not knowing what those intentions were made your stomach flip. Instead of responding to Charles, you gave him a hasty peck on the lips before heading out to said media duties.

It was still fairly quiet around the paddock - not too many people flaunting their VIP passes this early in the weekend, so it was easy to slip through without too much hassle. You’re only stopped once by a group of girls who were all very kind and only asked for autographs. “I can’t believe they’ve put you in a press conference with those little bitches. How hard is it to put out a post saying they support you?”

Your cheeks flushed a soft pink. “It’s kind of hard to explain but Max, Pierre and Esteban do have my back they’re just… I don’t know, I know as little as you.”

“Well, best of luck, y/n. We’ve got your back if you need to teach them a thing or two.” One of them grinned.

Moments like this reminded you exactly of why you wanted to be a driver in the first place. You wanted to be the woman that others looked to for inspiration. You tried to remind yourself of this when a small gaggle of men leered at you as you continued making your way to the conference. They didn’t matter. They’d never matter. And if you were about to walk into a meeting with no back-up then you’d have to remember who exactly you were fighting for.

For the little girl who was watching her very first race, squished between Mum and Dad on the sofa and seeing someone like her amongst the 20 best drivers in the world.

For the teenager who hid under her sheets at 3am to watch races just to see her idol cross the line and wish that maybe it could be her one day.

And for all the women who never got the chance to race, believing they’d never be able to - finally seeing a woman achieve greatness in a sport that was supposed to be just for men.

You do it for them, for all of them.

You took a deep breath before stepping into the holding room. Immediately, four pairs of eyes were on you. You held your head high, not even sparing a glance towards the ones you considered friends. Just as Max was about to cross the room to speak with you, the door to the press conference swung open and the five of you were ushered into the room.

Max squeezed past you so you were sandwiched between him and Pierre on the sofa. You decided not to question it, just sitting down and taking a deep breath.

Let’s just get this over with.

“Let’s just start by saying Fernando, Esteban, Pierre, Y/N and Max - thank you all for joining us nice and early this morning.”

The five of you all gave various hellos to the room, you shifted uncomfortably in your seat as all of the eyes seemed to be on you. You knew exactly what kind of questions were coming - why else would they have put you in the room with these specific drivers if the debate of you being in the sport wasn’t about to be raised once more.

“We have seen a recent influx of negative responses about y/n being on the grid.” You sat up straighter - prepared to defend yourself. “Most of the grid has shown their support, but the four of you have remained quiet. Of course you don’t owe y/n defence but Max, Pierre and Esteban you’ve raced alongside her since you were children. So is there a reason you’ve chosen to remain quiet?”

“We have something to say actually.” Max cleared his throat. “I know we have disappointed people, especially our female fans, for not speaking out in support of y/n. But the three of us believe that putting a post on instagram is simply not enough. It wasn’t a big enough statement.”

Pierre watched your brow furrow as you listened to Max - he knew the words that were about to come out of the Dutchman’s mouth were going to shock you. He wanted to reach out and put a comforting hand on your shoulder but it would draw too much attention so he simply kept a watchful eye on you.

All eyes in the room followed a member of the Red Bull team as they crossed the room and handed Max a piece of paper. You didn’t get a good look at it before he started to read it.

“As a direct consequence of the FIA’s failure to take sufficient and decisive action in protection of driver 30, Y/n L/n, from the violence and harassment faced since the public reveal of driver 30’s identity, a coalition of drivers have signed a petition.” Your eyes burr into the side of his head, but he doesn’t dare look up from the page. “Led by drivers 1, 10, 16, and 30; Myself, Pierre Gasly, Charles Leclerc, and Esteban Ocon, a total of fourteen drivers have agreed to protest the Spanish Grand Prix, including all media duties, free practices, and competitive sessions, until appropriate measures have been taken to protect driver 30, and any other driver, from life-threatening behaviour. The drivers participating in this protest are as follows; drivers 1, 55, 44, 63, 16, 3, 4, 31, 10, 22, 5, 18, 24, and 77. This statement is being formally filed with the FIA immediately following the conclusion of this press conference. The official outline, along with the signatures of all 14 drivers will hopefully be made public by the FIA. If Y/n wishes to continue taking questions, she is free to. The rest of us retain the right to no comment if we so choose.”

The silence in the room was palpable - no one spoke a word as Max handed the piece of paper to you so you could read the names on the petition. You couldn’t even focus on the words, the room becoming a blur. Protest the race?

“The FIA only has so much power over what people post online, surely you cannot protest a race over that?”

“We are aware of this, but y/n was physically assaulted in the paddock. This should have never been a possibility.” Pierre spoke up next, you blinked hard a couple of times to bring yourself back into the room - your facade you’d put on had been blown, so confused by the fact the grid wanted to protect you so intensely. “The FIA have taken absolutely no action at all after the assault. Should’ve been the first thing they did.”

“Y/n, you look taken aback by this statement. Do you have anything to say?”

You lifted your eyes from the petition to see the entire room staring at you. “I uh… I don’t have words to describe how grateful I am. I tried to talk the guys out of doing anything drastic but the fact that so many of them are willing to stick their necks out to stand up for me like this? I… I’ll forever be in debt to them.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little unfair that they’ll all risk being fined while you have no consequences?”

Max could see your jaw visibly clench and he prepared himself for the worst. “Are you serious? How was I supposed to sign a petition that I didn’t even know existed? I never asked for any of this… if they protest the race, you bet I’ll be with them.”

“We actively chose to not tell y/n about this petition as we knew she would ask us not to do it.” Esteban leant forward as he spoke. “It would not have been fair of us to put this on her shoulders with all of the stuff she’s already dealing with.”

You gave him a gentle, sincere smile before finally taking a moment to read the names on the petition. Some of the names weren’t so shocking but others such as George and Yuki were pleasant surprises. There was only a small handful who hadn’t and you couldn’t help but smile, a stray tear escaping at the fact this grid of men - who had nothing to gain - were willing to face fines and penalties to ensure your safety.

“Well, we eagerly wait to see how the FIA responds, best of luck this weekend. To all of you.”

As soon as you stepped back into the holding room you threw your arms around Max and hugged him tight. “You’re absolutely insane.”

“It had to be drastic to get them to listen.” He chuckled, hugging you back.

“I hope you all know what you are risking.” Fernando finally spoke up after sitting in complete silence for the entire session. “All of this to stop some bullying? It is far too much.”

Esteban scoffed a little. “Do you really think the FIA aren’t going to take action when they see the current and former champions aren’t going to race? Even if they don’t believe in what we are protesting for, the amount of money they stand to lose from this is enough of a threat.”

The two teammates stared each other down, the tension palpable. You hoped Esteban was right, ideally you didn’t want any of the boys to get in trouble for you.

But now it was all in the FIA’s hands.

*******

(Credits to Mack for this ❤️ thank you again)

*******

[Simon Lazenby] -“Hello everyone, welcome to Spain just ahead of Free Practice One. I’m Simon Lazenby and today I’m joined by Martin Brundle, Naomi Schiff and Nico Rosberg. Bit of a strange one here today ladies and gentlemen, isn’t it? Well, I guess we better jump into the biggest news to break this weekend - most of the grid have signed a petition and will currently not be racing or performing media duties this weekend. What do we think?”

[Martin Brundle] - “I have to be honest Simon, I do think it’s all a bit of an overreaction from the drivers. We all get critiques through our career whether it be in person or online, so I think y/n should just get her head down and crack on. The fans came to see a race, it shouldn’t be put on hold just for her.”

[Nico Rosberg] - “I have to disagree with you there Martin. What y/n has been put through since her reveal is unprecedented. We as a sport should be celebrating the fact that a woman is one of the twenty best drivers in the world and I think the drivers standing up for her is wonderful to see.”

[Naomi Schiff] - “I agree with you Nico. None of you will ever really understand what it’s like to be a woman in motorsport - we are held to a much higher standard than any man would ever be.”

[MB] - “But don’t you just think, as a two time champ, that she should have a strong enough head to be able to see past the criticisms?”

[NS] - “It’s not just criticisms, Martin. It’s physical violence and hate speech. Any minority in this sport whether it be y/n, Lewis, Yuki or Guanyu will always have people critiquing things they cannot change about themselves. Sure, someone may have called you a bad driver back in your day, but no one has ever told you to get back in the kitchen or go back to where you came from.”

[SL]- “Branching off from that, as you said, other drivers have received hate speech in the past. How would you all say y/n’s situation is any different?”

[NR] - “Being Lewis’ teammate and even as kids, he went through things similar to what y/n is going through. I think the biggest difference is, we didn’t have someone like Lewis to really show us how wrong it was that he was being treated so differently. Y/n is luckily in an era where she is surrounded by drivers who can see just how important it is to her and female fans that they don’t let things like this get off lightly.”

[NS] - “I think it’s important that the FIA take more protective action for all of our drivers. It is just a shame it’s taken most of the grid threatening a protest for the conversation to even take place. Y/n is a two time WDC and it feels like that has all been forgotten just because she’s a woman - it’s about time that the governing body of the sport take things like this more seriously.”

[SL] - “Now onto the drivers who aren’t protesting the race. We have Fernando Alonso, both Williams drivers and both Haas drivers. Now we have spoken to both Williams and Haas respectively and they say it is a purely financial decision not to let their drivers protest but they stand in solidarity with y/n and the rest of the grid. But Fernando is a bit of a different story.”

[MB] - “Fernando’s very old school. Very level headed about dealing with your criticisms - I guess the same as me. So it’s no surprise that he is not partaking in the protest.”

[NS]- “It is a shame as he is one of the most prolific drivers on the grid but I think the message will stay clear with Lewis, Sebastian and Max all taking a stand this weekend.”

[SL]- “Thank you all. Coming up next, hopefully following some affirmative action from the FIA this morning, is Free Practice One. Stay tuned.”

****

****

You tapped your foot nervously against the floor as you waited to hear The FIA’s decision. They unsurprisingly had a very quick turnaround of how they were going to respond to the protest and now the fate of the grid was fully in their hands. They could choose to do nothing and everyone takes a fine or they could actually respond.

Charles sat beside you on the sofa, his hand coming to rest on your knee to stop your leg from bouncing. “It’s all going to be okay, y/n. They can’t not do something… there’s only 5 drivers currently racing, the fans would be outraged if that’s what they paid to see.”

“It’s just a lot. I'm just not sure what they can do,” you said, voice meek. You lifted your eyes to meet his gaze. “Like if people want to hurt me they will, y’know?”

He pressed a chaste kiss to your temple. “They have to do something, I’m sure it’s all going to turn out okay.”

Attention was swiftly stolen as the door slowly opened - a small man with a clipboard entered with an unreadable expression on his face. “Can you all please follow me?”

The sound of 15 pairs of footsteps scuffling out of the room echoed through your head, Charles’ warm hand on the small of your back - the heat of his touch seeps through your Ferrari polo. The 15 of you were sat around a boardroom table facing the president of the FIA and half a dozen other high ranking members. It felt much more like they were sentencing you than opening a conversation.

Your heartbeat was loud in your ears as you locked eyes with the man who was about to decide the fate of the grid.

“Thank you all for meeting with us on such short notice. We hope what we have come up with is a solution that is both suitable and protective for both us and all of you so we can get this resolved quickly and avoid any more of the race weekend being missed.”

It was like he rehearsed the informality of it all, trying like a gentle parent to get down to your level before scolding. You see right through it, through him, through this whole smoke and mirrors show.

Charles linked his hand with yours, the feeling of his fingers intertwined against your skin calms you, steadies your half-rapid breathing. You looked at him, studying his profile for just a brief moment before remembering where you were.

“Any assaults, physical or verbal, performed by any individual at a Grand Prix towards any driver or personnel will immediately be banned indefinitely from any sports and events governed by the FIA. As much as we would like to do more about online harassment, that is much out of our hands - we hope you understand. We will put out a statement saying that we do not tolerate hate speech of any kind.”

Your eyes flickered across the room to gauge the reaction of your rivals. They hadn’t told you what they wanted from the FIA but, to you, it seemed like more than enough. Not only did it protect you but it also covered everyone else. You weren’t leading the protest, though, so in the end it wasn’t up to you. “May we have the room?” Sebastian was the one to break the silence, as one of the leaders of the GPDA he wanted to give everyone the time to collect their thoughts and discuss, rather than having one of fifteen feel that they could speak on behalf of everyone.

The president nodded and the men escorted themselves out - everyone’s eyes fell on you. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”

“…what do you think?” Max asked.

“I didn’t start the petition,” you held your hands up defensively. “It’s not up to me.”

George frowned. “Surely you have an opinion though?”

“Of course I do,” a soft sigh left your lips. “But at the end of the day it’s you guys who are sticking your necks out. If you think this enough then say it is. If it’s not, say it’s not.”

Max gave you a gentle smile, placing a hand on your shoulder as he stood up. “As much as I’d like for them to take more preventative action rather than reactive - I think it’s the most realistic solution and I’m ready to end the protest.”

“Everyone agree? If so then I can get them to write up the decision and we can all get back to doing what we love best, right?” Sebastian hummed, trying to dissipate some of the tension in the room.

A chorus of agreement echoed through the room and you felt like you could finally relax. It had been the longest few hours of your life and as grateful as you were for all of these men to have your back - it would be nice to put it behind you and not have them get in any more trouble.

After the formalities were all done and dusted, a final consensus reached between the drivers and the FIA, it was over. You were finally able to watch them all get back in the cars and do what they all do best.

The next few days felt like a blur, between being ushered from interview to interview about the protest and putting your best foot forward during your time in the car - you barely had a moment to breathe. But after Ferrari achieved a 1-2 start during qualifying, it really felt like the weekend had started over fresh.

“You ready?” Charles approached you on the starting grid, his helmet dangling from his fingers.

You gave him an excited smile. “Yeah, I’m so glad everyone gets to race. I was worried there for a second.”

The softening of his gaze made your heart skip a beat. With his free hand he reached up and cupped your jaw in his hand - brushing a thumb across your skin. “You’re worth it…”

As he lent in, you felt your breath catch in your throat but just before his lips met yours he ducked to the side to whisper in his ear. “But I will beat you in this race, Cherie.”

“I’d like to see you try.” You teased, placing a hand in the centre of his chest to push him back. “I’m on pole for a reason, no?”

“Touché. Bonne chance.”

This time he did kiss you, only for a moment - but long enough to ignite the adrenaline inside you before stepping away to get ready for the race. You shook off the nerves before hopping into the cockpit, anxious to get going.

A small part of you felt a little guilty that you’d qualified ahead of these men who’d helped you but the championship came first. You had to start pumping out results if you wanted to win and knowing now that the FIA was doing their part to protect you - you could focus on what’s important.

And as the green lights began to flash you took one more deep breath before focusing on the clear road ahead.

Somewhere, a little girl’s eyes are glued to her television screen, to your helmet and the infamous red car. For her, for all of the versions of her, it was time to win this race.

******

Next part >>>

Sorry for the delay on this one! Writers block hit me hard 😭 hope you enjoyed! One more thank u to @formulaforza for helping me, couldn’t have done it without you ❤️

Want to be notified when I post? Join our discord, head over to #reaction-roles and click the sunflower 🌻

[maxwellatoms]

Hey, I have a question for you. What was that "Great Purge" you mentioned and why did CN decide not to keep any pre-2010 materials?

The "Great Purge" was just my cheeky way of saying "That time CN fired everyone in order to afford Andrew W.K."

And (little known fact) most materials from any given production are shipped off to a salt mine known as "Iron Mountain" when the series wraps. Unless someone snags it or misses it, every original storyboard, script, model, painting, and archival print ends up there. Basically, if it's physical, it goes to Iron Mountain to be "stored". I've asked if it's possible to get things back from Iron Mountain and I've been told, "Yeah, I think so. But it's a big hassle and nobody wants to go through that." Essentially, it's a media graveyard.

In more modern times where everything is digital, I assume that the studios themselves keep an archive.

Unless you're CN, and then you apparently wipe your servers to make room for all the new hawtness.

[greenhorizonblog]

The Free People's Café

I have an idea for a café (could start as a stall or pop up outside) where people can get a ready made hot meal for free. And I want to emphasise it'll be a cafe, not a soup kitchen.

I've seen more and more that lot of middle class people, across the whole political spectrum actually, really do want to help the homeless and other local people in need but at the same time they are very afraid of them.

They are afraid because they don't know how they will act. People in need in most cases are technically desperate, and desperate people can often act unpredictably, and there are few things more scary than the unpredictable and uncertain. Many of the people who most want to help are women, and we ourselves are vulnerable in many ways in society. Many have kids that need them and therefore don't want to put themselves in potential harm's way. But many of them like to and are good at making lovely home cooked meals. That's why I thought of this

The food would be home cooked and donated by anyone who wants to, so long as they bring ID so we can track it to them, and their name (along with the date the food was prepared, which should be the day before donation) would be put on the container for the food donated, to deter bad actors. Ready meals within their due date would also be accepted. Donors would come by and pick up their tray again when they can.

It will be indistinguishable from any other cute cafe. People struggling deserve the dignity of eating in nice surroundings too.

By making it free for all, people will not as easily be able to tell who is struggling and who isn't, so people who are struggling would feel less shame about getting free food. The main statement in the cafe would be that food is a human right, which should also help people overcome feelings of unworthiness a little.

When some people tout the whole 'food should be earned' shtick, I ask; do the trees need to prove themselves worthy of sunlight? do squirrels have to prove themselves worthy of the acorns from the trees? Even predatory animals don't have to go through some prior long convoluted abstract test of worthiness (our concept of 'work') before they are allowed to catch prey, they just do it and if all is well in the eco system, it's not hard for them. Humans are the only animal that insists on holding their food for ransom from each other, among many other bullshit behaviours. In short, we have lost plot as a species

We would ensure though that the one's most in need, like homeless people get to eat first, like an hour before official opening time. They can also just come by, pick up a meal and eat it elsewhere if they wish

There would of course be a fridge, freezer on site, as well as an airfryer and microwave to heat the food and to make sure it's properly cooked through. And all food handlers would of course be trained so that all food safety standards of hygiene would be upheld

This wouldn't be allergen friendly since it's just people's home cooking (maybe with exception of the sealed ready meals) but then again most other cafes and restaurants can't really guarantee being allergen free either. This would also be clearly signed and labelled in the cafe so there is no confusion.

People would be most encouraged to bring savoury main meals, like a big tray of lasagna or big pot of curry/stew etc for example, but are also welcome to donate deserts, non alcoholic drinks, and snacks as well as pantry items, that can be given out food, bank style.

The donors who want to can leave their social media handle as well, so if people like the food they can write a thanks to them, or tag them in a post of the meal :) to give some social incentive and reward for people to keep donating. Could also be a sticky note board with similar notes of appreciation.

I'm in the UK, and from what I have gathered this should be possible, even with the hassle of the necessary registration, insurance, training etc. You could also do this unofficially in your local community and start things like a free fridge/pantry. This is just an idea I have been entertaining lately, if it's already being done that's awesome, I just haven't personally seen it done anywhere yet, so I thought I'd share the idea.

If you can, please feel free to use it and make it happen. Society is safer, healthier, happier and much more peaceful and level headed when people's next meal is guaranteed

[jemjams02]

Specifically asking for Mammon and Asmo cause they're my faves, but could you write some headcanons as to what they're like as a duo, both interacting with each other (in a platoic way of course) and MC?

They're my favorite dynamic in the game tbh hehe

Mammon and Asmo are definitely MC's number 1 party duo, if MC wants to go out, you're calling them. Not only does MC trust them to keep you safe out there in the demon clubs (there's some sketchy mfs at those places), but they LOVE taking MC out dancing!!

I personally think Mammon and Asmo also spend lots of time together, they both have similar interests in fashion, modeling and social media (although social media is mostly Asmo). Once MC came along, they wanted to doll them up! Although they have very different aesthetics, and often would fight over whether they'd look best in the Legally Blonde-pink outfit, or the leather jacket, ripped jeans and combat boots (Mammon usually caves first, mostly cause he thinks the pink outfit is cute too)

Mammon's the only one really allowed to be in the room when Asmo is having a pampering session with MC, since he's a model he understands Asmo's views on skincare and relaxation, and sometimes the three of them have massage circles while they talk shit.

I feel like aside from Mammon's habit of taking things from Asmo, they don't butt heads very often. Sure, Asmo makes the same comments his brothers do, but to him his brother is mostly just a dumbass. Usually they'll agree on things, unless Mammon says something profoundly stupid, then Asmo has some words to say

Mammon's one of the brothers who actually appreciates the manicures, whereas everyone else kinda just lets him do it. Mammon likes his nails painted, but sucks at doing it himself, so Asmo does it for him!

Asmo 100% goes to Mammon's shoots to make sure they're not doing his big brother wrong! He's NOT letting those people put Mammon in anything he deems ugly

Shopping. They love shopping. It's a hassle to get them out of the shops once they've gotten into it!

Mammon is willing to thrift, and Asmo is only going so he doesn't get anything ugly lol

Mammon has definitely just not said anything to anyone when Asmo comes home late with a demon that managed to strike his fancy; they usually make knowing eye contact with each other and then never speak of it

[zaebeecee]

“Your ship will never be canon.”

Yeah, you’re right, and I’m well aware of that. And I hate to be the one to tell you this, but neither will yours. The canonicity of ships is a garbage metric by which to measure the validity of said ships, because if your ship isn’t canon, it will probably always be non-canon.

Unless your ship is already currently canon, or unless the characters were expressly created to be a romantic ship, it is incredibly unlikely that they will ever be made canon. Are there exceptions? Sure, but these are incredibly rare, and they generally only happen in media that have low to zero corporate oversight where the authors can change direction based on fan opinion with little to no hassle.

Have these characters been stated to be best friends? Then, canonically speaking, they will always be best friends.

Have these characters been stated to be rivals? Then, canonically speaking, they will always be rivals (and if the rivalry peters out, they will become friends who snipe at each other, or they will never speak to each other again).

Have these characters been stated to hate each other? Then, canonically speaking, they will always hate each other (see above).

This is, of course, not to say you shouldn’t ship them. Ship whoever you want! But canon should play a role in absolutely nothing except characterization when it comes to your fanfics, fanart, AUs, and anything else you decide to make.

“But the team said they would be canon!” Did they, though? Or did they make a statement that contained words that could be used to imply they would be canon? Because that second one is a combination of wishful thinking and putting words in the team’s mouths.

“But everyone ships them!” I guarantee you they don’t and not everyone in your fandom would be happy to see your ship become canon, no matter how big the shipping base is. And everyone in the fandom, from people who ship the biggest non-canon pairing to people who ship a rarepair that literally only they ship, deserve the freedom to ship whatever they want.

“But the actors ship them!” That’s nice; it tells you that you have the same opinion as the people with the most intimate understanding of those characters. It’s also not relevant to the writing of the story.

“But I can’t ship them if they’re not canon!” That kinda sounds like a personal problem, buddy.

If you can’t enjoy something in a fandom until it’s been declared canon, you’re not going to enjoy being in any fandom. And you definitely aren’t doing yourself or anyone else any favors by bullying other people who like different things from you.

[babyhatesreality]

Can you please write a stucky x little!reader? Where reader sneaks her game into bed, stays up all night but the daddies don’t know and then is cranky and tired all day? The daddies found out of course and help put her down for a nap with jellybean? And you can as a small punishment if you want

Absolutely, my darling @youre-amazing-say-it. Thank you for being so supportive and patient. I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to find words again, and I thank you for your kindness while I made you wait.

Level Up

Pairing: Daddy!Stucky x little f!reader

Warnings: DDLG themes (SSC), f!reader, reader is named (but name scarcely used), language, pet names, stern Daddy/Papa, affection and teasing between married couple, stubborn/cranky/bratty baby, small tantrum, tired baby, soft punishment, fluffity fluff fluff fluff. Also I have no idea about video games so I'm going off what I know from y'all, sorry if it's wrong.

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN MEDIA CONSUMPTION. THIS STORY IS SFW- THE REST OF MY BLOG IS NOT NECESSARILY SO. MINORS DNI. I DO NOT CONSENT FOR MY WORK TO BE STOLEN, COPIED, OR TRANSLATED ONTO ANY OTHER SITE BUT MY OWN. Likes, comments and reblogs are deeply appreciated.

"I told you so."

"Yeah, but-"

"I TOLD you this was a bad idea."

Bucky rolled his eyes at his husband. "Yeah, yeah. I know. You don't have to keep reminding me."

"Well, apparently I do, because this kind of stuff keeps happening."

"Can we just fry the big fish right now and argue about whose fault it is later?"

"There's no arguing, because it's your fault."

"Fine. It's my fault. There, you happy? Can you PLEASE help me now?"

"Yup."

Steve immediately got up from his desk and made his way to the office door where Bucky was standing, exasperated. Bucky looked at him incredulously. "Seriously?" he said as Steve approached him. "All I had to do was say it was my fault, and I could have saved myself all the hassle of arguing with you?"

"Should've listened to your commanding officer in the first place, soldier," Steve teased him, before kissing him gently to show that he was over his frustration. He laughed as Bucky groaned into his mouth. The pair made their way to your room.

"Alright, kiddo, time to turn off the game," Steve said, going in with all guns blazing from the moment he stepped through your door. He knew he couldn't play this one soft- he had to lay it all on the table immediately. You'd been hyper-fixated on your new game for three days now, somehow convincing Bucky to turn your original one-hour-of-play-a-day into at least 4. Steve knew this would happen, but decided to let the chips fall and maybe teach Bucky a little lesson about overindulging you in the process.

You were hunched over your game on your bed, your little tired eyes scanning and your thumbs flying like your life depended on it. You didn't like what Papa was saying, and so in a wild act of rebellion, you chose to ignore it. Until you felt Papa walk right up next to your bed, standing tall and firm. He said in his low Papa voice, "I know you heard me, Katie." You knew better than to play dumb now. You gulped and looked up.

"But Papa, I almost done wif dis part," you whined, holding your game up just a bit. "Five more minutes? Pweeeeeease?"

"You said that five minutes ago, Trouble," Bucky cut in. "It's time for bed. You heard me, you heard Papa. Turn it off, now." Instead of obeying immediately, like you usually did, you let out an angry squawk and kicked your feet onto the top of your bed. Normally, you weren't such a little brat, but when you were frustrated and tired, you could be a little monster.

"Alright, that's it," Steve said sternly. "Give me the game, right now."

"But Papa!"

"No. No more 'but Papa's. Give me the game or you're in big trouble, little girl." He held his hand out, with that don't-push-it look on his face. With a pout and a huff, you saved your progress and turned off the game, slapping it into your Papa's hand, before crossing your arms tightly and looking away to the wall.

"Kaitlyn," Bucky said in that dangerous tone. Uh-oh. When your full name came out, you were teetering on the verge of MAJOR trouble. You sighed and dropped your arms, looking forlornly at your blankets. "That's better. I'm not happy about all this attitude that you've had, ever since you got this game. Maybe you should spend some time without it, little girl."

Your head shot up, panic in your eyes. "No, no Daddy! Pwease! I sowwy." You didn't want your precious new toy taken away so soon, and you knew that you really had been pretty naughty today. "Won't be bad no more, okay? I be good," you pleaded with him, looking at Papa for support. They both sighed heavily, then looked back at you.

"Alright, princess, you can have your game back tomorrow morning, but it's bedtime now. Any more arguments and no game tomorrow. Understood?" Steve said, laying down the law as he put your game up on your highest shelf. You nodded vigorously.

"Understood, Papa!"

"Good girl. Let's get you ready for bed."

About twenty minutes later, you were snuggled into your own bed, Jellybean at your side, as Daddy finished off his story. Your eyelids were heavy and you let them shut as both Daddy and Papa kissed your forehead, tucked the blankets gently around you, and tiptoed out. You were nearly in dreamland...

Except you kept seeing your game played out behind your eyelids. If you just walked there...and moved that....then that would mean...YES! Your eyes flew open. You knew how to get past the part you had just been on! Your mischievous eyes slunk over to the top shelf where your game was....just one more level and then you'd totally go right to sleep....Petey had shown you how to crawl up the walls and all these shelves made for great hand holds....

*******************************************

The next morning, Steve slipped in to your room. He began gently carding his fingers through your hair to calmly wake you up, but you didn't move. Surprised, he began rubbing circles on your back. "Good morning baby," he said in a soft sing-song voice. "Time for little girls to get up so they can play."

You groggily came to, and instead of the usual burst of energy that accompanied most mornings, you grumbled and rolled away from him, tucking your head underneath the blanket. He let out a soft laugh that was more shock than anything else- this wasn't like you at all.

"Looks like the baby bunny is not ready to wake up, huh?" You mumbled something unintelligible in response. "I'll let you sleep for a few more minutes, but then it's time to get up, okay?" You didn't answer as you were already asleep again.

Twenty minutes later, Steve was back, trying not to have a panic attack. He had the no-touch thermometer ready, convinced that you were sick; which he did not deal well with. He gently woke you up again, and when you whined and rolled over, he took your temperature. His guts all returned to their original locations in relief, and he gently scooped you out of bed. You yowled your protests, but Steve just cuddled you into his arms and carried you to the breakfast table.

"Morning, Sunshine!" Bucky said as Steve brought you in. But you simply growled at him, refusing to open your eyes.

"Yeah, this 'sunshine' is a little rainy this morning," Steve joked, sitting down at the table and keeping you cradled in his lap. "She doesn't have a fever-"

"I told you she didn't."

"- SO I'm not sure what's wrong."

"Well," Bucky said, sauntering into the adjoining dining area and kissing the top of your head. "If my world-famous fruit and yogurt breakfast doesn't chase the clouds away, then nothing will." Bucky set the bowl down in front of you and Steve.

Normally, you loved when Bucky made you a fruit and yogurt bowl. He drizzled honey and granola on it, and made the blueberries into a smiley face for you. But you fussed and turned your face away, desperately trying to fall back asleep in Steve's arms.

"C'mon baby, time for breakfast," Steve said, jostling you a bit to try to wake you up.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" you whined as loud as you could, squirming to get out of his grasp. He, of course, wasn't letting you down anywhere.

"Is your tummy hurting?" Steve asked, trying to keep calm and figure out what the hell was going on with you. You just kept whimpering and pushing away from him, using the precious little energy you had left.

Steve and Bucky exchanged glances, having a silent conversation to determine what was happening, or what was upsetting you. Finally realizing that you weren't able to get out of Papa's clutches, you gave up and began with the crocodile tears, going completely limp in an effort to just get him to put you down so you could crawl under the table and go back to sleep.

Steve, however, stood up, keeping you snuggled in his strong arms, and began walking around the living room, gently patting you, trying so hard to get you to calm down.

"What the hell is going on?" Bucky muttered, following the two of you into the living room anxiously.

"I don't know," Steve murmured back, grateful that Bucky had super soldier hearing to make out his words over your theatrical sobbing. "It's like she's throwing a tantrum- but leveled up."

Something clicked in Bucky's brain at that moment, and without another word, he turned and went into your room. He didn't have to dig under your blankets for long before he found your game. He sighed heavily. Of course you had scaled the shelves on the wall to get your game and stayed up all night playing it. He rolled his eyes. He was never going to hear the end of this one.

He walked back into the room, holding the game out in front of him. Steve got it the second he saw the electronic device, giving his husband a know-it-all look, before turning his attention back to you.

"Katie Cat," he murmured softly. "Are you tired because you played your game late last night after bed time?"

That stopped the crocodile tears in an instant. You were so tired that you just nodded, not caring if you were in trouble, and hoping that this would get you put back in bed. Steve sighed, then chuckled, then carried you back into your room. He tucked you back in, Jellybean in the crook of your arm, while Bucky changed the settings on your windows to block out light. You were out again before they pulled the door shut.

Bucky and Steve walked back into the dining room. Without missing a beat, Bucky put your game up on top of the fridge and went to the pantry to hide your step stool. Steve put your breakfast back into the fridge, and made two cups of coffee. Bucky came back after hiding your step stool to find Steve with the mugs ready and a shit-eating grin on his face.

"So when she gets up, we're having a talk with her about staying in bed and doing what she's told, and why it's important to not get obsessed with games," Bucky said, avoiding the thing he knew Steve was grinning about.

"And?" Steve prompted.

"And she's not getting her game back for at least a week. Maybe two."

"And?"

"And when she does get it back, she is only allowed to play for one hour a day, that's it. I won't let her sweet talk me into more."

"And?"

Bucky sighed heavily. "And...you told me so."

"There we go," Steve said, stepping forward and taking his grumpy husband into his arms and giving him a cheeky kiss.