#But we talked and we'll cross that bridge as it comes...

[amariemelody]

Today I went on my first-ever date with another lady!

We met on the dating site H.E.R after chatting for over a month and though I was terrified of my 1st date as a bisexual woman, I'm also so, so very proud of myself for going thru with it.

Overall, my date was so very kind, attentive, funny, and pretty! She gave me a warm, tight hug when we met outside the burger joint; we chatted casually as we waited in line (she thought I was shy at first...and I was!!); she insisted I order first; she likes her iced tea sweet like I do.

She likes vanilla milkshakes with whipped cream and I like cheer-wine floats; she shared chicken wings with me and I shared french fries with her; when I teased her that she's nasty for liking bleu cheese dip, she unironically bought me hot pleasantly mild sauce for my fries and insisted it was mine; we both made each other burst out laughing with personal stories and anecdotes; we shared some minor pain with respect; she likes red and sportswear and I like pink and Barbie; she gave me an even bigger, tighter hug at the end of the date...the kind that makes my ribs hurt a little and makes my back feel squished.

Just the kind of hug I like.

She thinks I'm adorable as anything.

I'm not too sure where it's all going to go yet, but I cannot wait for our 2nd date to a movie next week! Gah!

-swoons-

@alexseanchai, @bittylildragon.

[journey-to-the-attic]

hi kin !!

just a random question but… how do u pronounce ik’s name? :0 bc in my head i’ve always read it as “ick” 😭

(sorry if someone’s alr asked this/u addressed it before 😭)

this is the first time i've realised i really don't have a set pronunciation for it either..... in the beginning i think i just read it like you would an acronym (the same way i assume you'd read mc), but nowadays i think i read it as more of a 'kei' sound

since i first came up with the logic for why ik gets called that in-universe (her birth name is yi ke (乙可), which an english speaker might read as IK), i've also been calling her a-ke (阿可) and also little ke (小可 (xiǎo kě)) in my head too

(i like to think zhao turned the little ke nickname into 小蝌蚪 (xiǎo kēdǒu) to call her 'little tadpole' when she was little)

[tevaselmundogiraalreves]

Buddie fic recs:

I've been wanting to do my own list of my favorite fics for a while now so here it goes (in no particular order):

- my words are paper tigers by @hattalove (this ones my favorite of them and i'd say a little underrated maybe?) TIMELOOP TIMELOOP TIMELOOP - buck breaks up with eddie, the universe doesnt agree - ITS PERFECT I'VE READ IT FOR THE FIRST TIME SO LONG AGO AND ITS STILL ONE OF MY FAVORITES EVER.

- Actually, truly by MilenaDaniels Helena (and Ramon) tries to find a way back into Eddie's life and doesn't know what to make of finding Buck around every corner she turns. (Or: "Mom, listen.")

- burn the straw house down by rarakiplin - what to even say i think everyone has read this one already but just in case TIMELOOP TIMELOOP TIMELOOP

- Happy Little Accidents by @like-the-rest-of-la - one of the first au i ever read for buddie and i was so ENCHANTED what to even say, buck owns a plant nursery. Its just so soft and so so so beautiful.

- said i couldn't stay, but it's different now by @hattalove - another fave of them. Many weddings and buddie in the middle of it all.

- Close My Eyes and Stumble (Right Into Your Love) by HSMLusitania - i think everyone and their mother has read this one aswell but just in case EDDIE DISPATCHER.

- Burn a bridge, learn how to swim by Watermelonshots - this is a series and jesus christ it literally starts with a buddie drunk make out session so-

- Sit with me in the dark by @kitkatpancakestack - buck loses his vision- !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soft and kind and yeah beautiful and buck glasses kink anyone?.

- Lifelines by @hetrez . This fic is literally a lifeline - buck and eddie meet during the tsunami and talk about being in the closet. I have no words for how much this fic meabs to me. FLAWLESS.

- about the present by @runawaymarbles - this is a series now and god this was so so fucking special and unique - the first part eddie in the aftermath of being in a timeloop of the shooting. The second one is buck handling it on his own way. PERFECTION. Still thinking about it.

- a good day to be by @hetrez Eddie is a dance instructor, buck needs dance clases for madneys wedding. As flawless as the other one. Eddie Diaz needs a hug yeah.

- we'll be forever, you'll see by rarakiplin - Eddie Diaz finds a cat and heals and heals. And is so loved. I think i cried the first time i finished this one.

- still by @gayhoediaz - once again i think everyone knows this one but just in case, eddie steps on a detonator. ANGSTS SO MUCH ANGSTS AND THAT ENDING YEAH.

- but i can see all along, love (it was you all the way down) by @captain-hen - eddie confesses his feelings, buck rejects him, TIMELOOP TIMELOOP TIMELOOP

- authentication by @vgreysoncellars - i think i described this one as a never ending extention of 7x06 like nights abd just pride and pride and liberation. Eddie picks guys in bars for buck to make out with...

- oh, come when you're called by @lesbianrobin CHRIS 💘 no other words needed i think

- i'm a cliché (who cares) by @cranberrymoons UFF THIS ONE MAKES ME SO EMOTIONAL - eddie realizes stuff and buck is there every step of the way.

- bark like you want it by @colonoscopys - SOULMATES AU so so funny and wholesome.

- the love triptych by @cranberrymoons - this ones just so freaking special to me. Helena trying and trying and trying cause she loves her son. And buddie together through it all.

- so much left in store by @lesbianrobin - UNI AU UNI AU UNI AU !!!!!!! AND VERY IMPORTANT BABY CHRIS💘

- hang me up on your bedroom wall by @eddiegettingshot WELL buck just wants (more) but only if eddie gets him pregnant about it... (infidelity fic)

- close ain't close enough (til we cross the line) by @cranberrymoons buddie sexting buddie sexting buddie sexting and being so so freaking insane and not normal about it. (Infidelity fic)

- throw a bone, i’m finally home by @shitouttabuck - i think everyone knows the like a dog verse by now (come on lol) but yeah i'm very very obsessed especially with the second part of it.

[missvelvetsstuff]

No Benefits

Bucky Barnes x Reader, Bucky Barnes x Sharon Carter

Summary: Reader and Bucky are best friends until a drunken hook up. Bucky wants a friends with benefits situation because he doesn't feel ready for a relationship but reader knows that will lead to a broken heart.

Then Sharon Carter comes to work with them.

Notes: Steve and Tony are around but retired, everything else is mostly canon

I try to keep my reader generic but as always she is female and taller than average.

I have to say I've been a bit overwhelmed at the response to this story, I hope I can live up to your expectations.

Chapter 2

Warnings: swearing, angst, a little dirty talk. Bucky's kind of an ass, Sharon is evil.

Cookie just stared at the pictures, heart racing, almost hyperventilating. She shook her head and looked at Nick Fury "This can't be right, can it? Sharon Carter can't be working against us, can she?"

Fury looked at her, concern evident on his face. "I'd like to think it's impossible but look at what happened with Hydra. We knew that Rumlow and the strike team were on our side and it turned out the entire operation had been rotten for decades."

Cookie tried to still her hands "B B But th this, this is different. Sh Sh Sha Sharon C C Carter. SHIELD founder P Peggy Carter's niece can't be the Power Broker." She felt her stomach drop and heart stop when it clicked "Oh god, no she can't but b b but Sam and" whispered "Bucky" the color left her face and she started pacing, bouncing until Nick snapped

"COOKIE!"

Y/N jumped and turned to face her boss "Yessir?"

Nick rubbed her arms "Calm down. You're no good to me like this. Barnes and Wilson are off site with Carter, right? Where are they, exactly?"

Cookie nodded "uh yeah they're um, wait let me see." She pulled her phone out "they should be, Latvia." She exhaled and it felt like she was deflating "Where my informant was killed last night."

Fury nodded "I doubt she wants to kill Wilson or Barnes so we just need to get this info to them. You'll probably have to wait until they come home."

Cookie shook her head "But what if she kidnaps them? What if they don't come back?"

Fury shook his head "We'll cross that bridge if we get to it. I need you to compile everything you have that's even vaguely related to the Power Broker and anything you can find about Carter's movements. Let's see if we can find more links between them." He looked at his watch

"I want you in my office for lunch and we'll go over everything you have." He looked her in the eyes "Alright, Cookie? I know you're concerned about your friends but we need to keep our minds clear and focused on the facts so that we can help keep them safe."

Cookie tried to blink the tears out of her eyes and nodded "Got it, boss." before hurrying to her office by way of the break room because coffee was a dire need at this point.

She made it to her office, closed the door so no one would disturb her, turned on her music and sat down to go through every bit of Intel she had that might offer any clues. There were stacks of correspondence and photos plus some undefined amount of info on a thumb drive that she needed to work through with the only other analysts she absolutely knew she could trust, Dylan and Iris. She had trained with them and came up through Quantico where Nick Fury personally headhunted them.

Cookie didn't want to take a chance by getting too many people involved in this, after the whole SHIELD/HYDRA debacle she kept a couple of people close and everyone else could wait outside her gates until they convinced her they were trustworthy. This was huge and had 2 Avengers directly in Sharon's line of fire so had to be handled carefully.

Cookie also knew that her frayed friendship with Bucky was going to make this even more complicated because Sharon could use that to discredit her so Bucky thinks Cookie is just trying to eliminate a romantic rival.

She shook her head, no time to get distracted by emotions, her friends were in danger and that had to remain her focus. By 1pm, Cookie had synced almost all of Sharon Carter's movements with the power broker. There was no doubt, it was definitely her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the other side of the world, Sam was fed up with his mission partners. Sharon rubbed him the wrong way and Bucky was too wrapped up in her to see anything but sex. Sam had a bad feeling about Sharon, she was constantly wandering off only to be found on her phone and the Power Broker seemed to get away right before they arrived, every single time.

He tried to talk to Bucky but he just laughed it off, explaining how impossible it was for a Carter to be the bad guy. "Sam you're being ridiculous and paranoid even for a spy. Sharon is just as frustrated with our lack of progress as we are. You know sometimes this is just a waiting game." He smirked at his friend "We could find you a nice girl to pass the time with."

Sam shook his head and scoffed "A nice girl? You mean like Cookie for instance, who wouldn't try to distract me with sex like yours is doing to you."

Bucky laughed "You jealous man? I'm just making up for lost time and Cookie didn't want me." His smile dropped as he thought of her.

Sam looked at Bucky with wide eyes "Cookie didn't want you? Now we both know that's not the truth, you just got scared of the idea of a real relationship and dropped her for your living cock sleeve. You're a dumbass, Barnes."

Sam's phone buzzed with a text and he smiled when he saw it was from Cookie. She always checked up to make sure they were eating and sleeping while in the field. He looked at his texts

*<3 BeSafe*CYA*

That caught his attention. CYA= Cover Your Ass. It was their code for trouble close by which meant she found something concerning but the problem was too close to say out loud.

Bucky tried to look over his shoulder "What's that? From Cookie? You fucking her?" His voice dropped and he looked angrily at the ground "I knew she would find someone better."

Sam looked at him with disgust "The fuck is wrong with you? The only reason she might find someone better is cuz you pushed her away when you should have held on tight because you're not gonna find another one like her."

He nodded towards the hall where Sharon had gone "That one is trouble. There's something not right about all this and the way she keeps dragging you off to the bedroom."

Bucky smirked "I can't help that she's insatiable. Don't want to disappoint."

Sharon was in the other room listening to their discussion, smiling at how easily Bucky stood up for her. It was simple enough to get his attention when she came back to work with SWORD and he did all the work pushing Cookie away with his guilt. She was confident that he would take her side if that analyst bitch got too close. Sam could be a problem but nothing she wasn't prepared to handle.

She used a burner phone to send a text to her associate, the Intel analyst in D.C. to let them know she would be returning stateside soon and everything was going according to plan.

In the morning Bucky woke up in bed with Sharon's head on his bare chest and groaned. The position he was in wasn't a concern but he didn't remember going to bed or the usual activities with Sharon that followed. He couldn't remember anything past his talk with Sam, about Cookie. He didn't remember eating but he must have since it had been almost lunch time when he spoke to Sam. If he hadn't eaten he would be famished by now.

He took a deep breath and tried to focus and see if he could find any memories but all he could add was Sharon coming into the room and pulling him into their bedroom.

He looked at his watch and counted hours, he had lost almost 18 hours and couldn't figure out what happened. This wasn't the first time he had lost time on this trip and he didn't like the feeling.

Sam was right, something was off.

Sharon started to stir against him "Hey baby, look who's up before me."

Bucky smiled "Mornin baby, you sleep ok? Did we have some fancy liquor last night? I can't remember a damn thing, not even fucking you for 2 hours and I'm sure I did that."

She whined "I'm that forgettable? I thought I made you feel good." and pouted, rubbing his growing cock to distract him.

He reached between her legs to find her ready "You're always so wet and ready for me sweetheart. Tell me what you need."

Sharon moaned "I need you to fuck me, Barnes. Hard and deep. Right now."

Bucky was only too happy to oblige, the lost time forgotten in their haze of lust.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In her office Cookie and her crew worked well past lunchtime until an intern showed up from Nick's office to remind them of the passage of time.

Cookie put all of the papers and photos into a box since they hadn't had time to digitize it all and write up a comprehensive report. She went over every single detail with Nick and Maria to determine what should go in her report and which points to highlight for field agents.

The rest of the day and into the evening Cookie's team had everything organized and the details and evidence all written up in a 5 page report with back up documentation available in her files. She looked up when her phone buzzed to see it was Sam responding to her earlier text

*👍🐴☔*

She smiled knowing that Sam got it and would watch out for Bucky even if he was a dumbass.

Looking at her watch she saw it was almost midnight and noticed Iris trying to read her text before she quickly put her phone away. Iris and Dylan were her most trusted analysts but even they didn't need to know about her chatting with Sam.

She dismissed them so she could have a bit to herself to reply to Sam and include some details that they didn't have the clearance for.

A few days later when Sam, Bucky and Sharon arrived back home, Cookie was there to meet Sam and barely even acknowledged Bucky or Sharon which made Bucky act out, snapping at Sharon. Sharon was annoyed that he still cared about fucking Cookie, after all the work she had done to get him under control he was still pining for that stupid analyst. She knew something would need to be done about her soon.

Sam and Cookie walked arm in arm to medical to have him checked out, then to the common room when she had left some chili simmering for him plus fresh French bread. They took their lunch and went to his room to eat.

Cookie sat across from Sam while he talked about the mission until the food was gone and he stopped, just staring at her.

Cookie stared back "What?"

He looked at her sideways "First, I love you Cookie but you look like Hell. You're worried about me in the field but you're here looking like you haven't slept or had a decent meal in weeks."

She flinched before whispering "Closer to months."

"No, Cookie. Don't destroy yourself over a man that's too stupid to see what's right in front of him. We need you here. Nick fucking Fury insists you're the best intelligence analyst he's ever met. Ever. From the man who doesn't offer praise lightly.

I need you. I can't trust anyone else to lay all the intel out just so it flows for me. Or make sure I'm taken care of when I come back from a mission?

And his dumb ass might not know it or be willing to admit it but Barnes needs you too. He's in love with you, he just thinks he's being good and noble by pushing you away. And if he doesn't figure it out, there's plenty of other men and women that would jump at the chance to be with you. So take care of yourself."

Sam sighed "Second, I know you didn't send the CYA code for shits and giggles so tell me. What do you know?"

Cookie shifted uncomfortably "I want you to know this has nothing to do with their relationship, I didn't look to discredit her or hurt him but you know I have to follow the evidence where it leads me, without prejudice. You know I-"

Sam stopped her "I know you are impartial and I trust you and your conclusions so just spit it out and we'll go from there. Ok?"

Cookie nodded and took a deep breath before blurting out "Sharoncarteristhepowerbroker" then covering her mouth and looked at Sam with wide eyes.

Sam stopped and stared "Please tell me you didn't just say what I think you said. Tell me that she's-. Fuck." He shook his head "I know you have proof. Cookie, you have to tell Barnes."

She blinked rapidly trying to clear the tears that suddenly welled up in her eyes "Nononono, no I can't tell him. He will think I'm some disgruntled woman trying to hurt my rival. You have to tell him Sam he will never listen to me. Hell he hasn't even spoken to me outside of work ever since...."

Her eyes filled up and she tried to hold the tears back but she had been keeping it all in for so long.

Sam pulled her into his chest and sighed "Alright. Give me what you have, I'll talk to him tomorrow. And what's with all the containers of Cookies?"

Cookie shrugged "I was worried about you. Couldn't sleep. I made some of your favorites, the red velvet. The frosted ones are *special* to help you sleep."

Sam hugged Cookie and kissed her cheek "Alright babygirl, lay it out for me..." They spent the next hour going over everything she had before her eyes started drooping. "Okay Miss Cookie, go get some sleep and I'll see you at the debrief tomorrow."

Cookie gathered her paperwork and left Sam's room only to see Bucky in the kitchen. She didn't want to ignore him so nodded and grunted as she passed without slowing down. Bucky just watched her leave, wondering what she was doing in Sam's room so late.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After their run the next morning Sam and Bucky sat down for coffee. Sharon told Bucky she wanted to sleep in so Sam figured now was the time.

Bucky started in on him before he even spoke "What's up with you and Cookie? You are fucking her aren't you? I saw her leave your room early this morning. Don't fucking lie to me jerk."

Sam brushed him off, "None of your damn business."

He tried to change the subject and explain about Sharon but Bucky didn't respond well

"What the fuck do you mean Sam? Sharon is not the goddamn power broker, that's ridiculous, her aunt was a founder of SHIELD. Where did you get your Intel from?" Sam looked at him pointedly, like there was any other person who Sam trusts completely.

Bucky shook his head angrily and stood up to head to Cookies office. "I can't believe you fell for it Sam. She's just trying to get Sharon back because she is with me. I turned her down for a relationship so she wants to hurt me back. Sharon warned me that she would try to pull something like this."

Sam stood up and grabbed Bucky's arm "Are you kidding me? You think Cookie would put her career and reputation on the line for petty jealousies? That she would ruin Sharon's reputation for revenge, over you? I guess you don't really know her after all." He shook his head "I'm disappointed in you man. I thought better of you. Good luck confronting Cookie, she's not interested in your shit."

Cookie was at her desk making packets with the Intel on the power broker for the top brass when Maria stopped by.

"Hows everything, Cookie? Got that power broker packet for me?"

Cookie nodded "It's right here." and reached out with a folder.

Maria noticed her hands "Cookie? What happened to your nails? When was the last time you had a mani-pedi? Is your girl sick?" She looked over Cookies hands in concern, she never missed her nail appointment.

Cookie shrugged "I don't know, I forgot. It's no big deal."

Maria looked closer "You look like Hell. Finish the packets up and take the afternoon off, you need-"

"Cookie!" Bucky roared as he came striding up to her office "What the Hell is this bullshit?"

Chapter 3

@erelierraceala @capswife @ozwriterchick @cjand10 @wintrsoldrluvr @mrsbuckybarnes1917 @browneyedgrli @greatenthusiasttidalwave @hhiggs @dontworryboutitsweetheart-blog @behindmygreyeyes

[3amfanfiction]

It's Just Dinner pt 3

John needs another date and Kyle is very convincing. MDNI cw: gazlighting, manipulation, forced prostitution 2.8k First || Previous

Thankfully the next few weeks pass quietly. There's no surprise dates, no uncomfortable conversations. Just you and Kyle, like it used to be.

You're tentatively relaxing into the rhythm when the next bombshell goes off.

Kyle's running around, getting ready to head to base early in the morning, talking to you over his shoulder when you hear, "Price has an opera he needs to see with one of the brass this weekend and he needs a date. I told him you were free," finishing with his shoes he grabs a jacket, coming over to give you a dirty kiss complete with a healthy grasp of your ass. "We'll go shopping when I get back," —assured, nonchalant, just another day.

No. No! You're not doing this again!

"Kyle! You can't just volunteer me—"

"Bye, babe!" echos through the entryway as the door slams shut.

Conversation over.

///

You fumed for hours. How dare he? How DARE he? Did he think you were a child he could make decisions for? Absolutely not.

You were ready for him now.

You'd spent all day preparing and when Kyle got home tonight you were going to sit him down and you were going to be firm. You weren't going to let him talk over you, you were going to stand your ground tell him you wouldn't be going on any more dinner dates with John Price.

Simple.

But as with any battle plan, it only lasted through the first encounter.

"Why are you acting like this?" Kyle frowned, not understanding. You crossed your arms defensively where you were standing in the bedroom, having followed him in when he got home. Why did you feel defensive?

You watched him pause, holding his t shirt in one hand as he looked over to you, head tilted in confusion. "You said you'd go, I already told him you agreed." He stepped towards you, dropping his shirt back in the drawer before stopping a short distance away, "you can't back out now babe, he's already booked the reservations."

Stop. Take a breath. You're not going to lose your temper.

"I never said I'd go, Kyle."

"Yes you did!" he insisted, eyes wide in disbelief, rolling right over your moment of breathing, "I was standing next to the kitchen table this morning—putting on my shoes—and you said yes."

He took a small step, bridging the distance between the two of you.

"Are you feeling okay, love?" his concerned voice made annoyed pinpricks creep up your spine. "You've been awful stressed lately. Is something going on at work? Anything you want to talk about?"

For one moment you imagined dumping it all on his shoulders, hysterically yelling, I'm pretty sure your boss tried to kiss me! to see what he would do with the information.

Kyle lifted his hands to cup your face, rubbing your noses together gently before you could do anything hasty. "We're partners . . . you know I've always got you, right?"

And just like that, the annoyance dissipated.

"I know, Kyle. That isn't what this is about," you reassured, leaning into his warm calloused palms, taking strength from his presence. "I just don't want to go to an opera this weekend."

You never brought up the half-kiss John had pressed to the corner of your mouth. After your bathroom pep talk you had met back up with him and he behaved himself for the rest of the night—there was no reason to worry Kyle about it.

But it still festered in the back of your mind.

His brow furrowed while he looked disappointingly at you, "Love, it would look really bad if I had to go back to my superior officer and say, 'sorry sir, she changed her mind, we can't help you.' It puts me in a bad spot when he's counting on us, on you, for the night."

His expression turned sad, "I wish you wouldn't have agreed if you had reservations about this."

Did you agree? He seems so certain, remembers it so clearly, maybe you did indicate acceptance somehow this morning, unwittingly.

"No—no I didn't agree, or at least, that's not what I meant," you capitulate, giving ground, shoulders rounding ever so slightly.

You have been stressed lately.

Maybe he's right.

He pulled away to frown down at you, "why are you so against going to dinner this time? Last time you were excited to go."

"I wasn't excited Kyle," you stammered, "I told you I wasn't sure about all this."

"No babe, you told me you were nervous," he pauses to smile at you as if you were in on a secret together, "after all Price is a handsome man and anyone would be nervous to have his full attention on them," you firmly don't think about the swoop in your stomach when he had cupped the back of your neck, the static shock that skated up your spine when his lips brushed yours, ever so slightly.

"—but then you had a great time." you focus back on what Kyle is saying, pulling your wandering mind under control, "I don't understand why you're being so skittish about this now."

He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into his chest before shuffling the both of you over to the bed. Sitting, he moved you into his lap, chest to chest so he could look into your eyes.

"Are you sure no one said or did anything?" His voice dripped with sincerity, looking for something to fix, some way to help, "You know you're my best girl, right? I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

Fuck. How do you keep messing this up? Now you're sitting here crying as Kyle promises to protect you. Should you just tell him? Get it over with, off your chest. Would that unlock the chain that was dragging you down? You wanted it to go back to how it was before.

No. You weren't a child and you didn't need to be babied. Nothing truly happened so there was nothing to tell Kyle.

But without telling him, you didn't have a valid reason for not going this time.

So you sat there in silence, unable to give ground any further. After a few moments of this, Kyle continued, tone lowered —assured, "Who's always looking out for you? Making sure that you're safe and you're happy, hmm?" he used his thumb to wipe away the tear tracks on your face.

"You," you assure quickly. This at least came easier, "but Kyle, this is—"

"Pet," stern, direct, "you're getting all twisted up in this when you don't need to be. You trust me right? You know I'm always doing whats best for us?" he holds your gaze, forehead pressed against yours, watching every flick of your eyes. "I love you more than I ever thought possible, but if you don't trust me . . . that's a hard thing to come back from, you know?"

"I do! I do trust you Kyle, I'm sorry. I don't know why I feel this way," rushed, pleading.

"I told you, even though you're my best girl, your head still gets in the way. We need to turn that pretty brain off, don't we?" He kisses you sweetly, as if you're everything he could ever want. "I've got us, baby. I wouldn't steer wrong."

Breathe.

"Okay," you give in after one more moment of resistance, tired of the pushing and pulling, the cyclical conversations, "okay, I'll go. But this is the last time, do you hear me Kyle Garrick?" You pulled back to show him your no nonsense face, "I'm not doing this again."

Kyle laughs as if you'd stomped your foot in assertion, something too cute to ever be taken seriously, "I hear you, babe. Thank you for coming around to see my side of things," he squeezes you to his chest, your face tucked into the warmth of his neck, "you're going to have a great time, you'll see."

He leans away to take you in, "How are you so wonderful? I feel like I must've saved an orphanage from a fire or something to have gotten you in my life."

Smiling at you as if he could see the universe in your eyes, "it's you and me, right sweetheart?" he questions, a child looking for benediction.

"You and me," you assure, disquiet bubbling softly in the back of your mind.

///

You saw John before he saw you.

He was standing in the foyer, looking at his phone, dressed to the nines.

His snug black suit emphasized the breadth of his shoulders, biceps bulging at the seams. His button down shirt tucked into his pants emphasized his thick waist, the muscles of his core covered by a healthy layer of fat.

His thick gold rings caught the light from above as he swiped through his phone—

Was that your living room on his screen?

The thought was derailed almost as soon as it formed due to John noticing you. He turned with a beaming smile as he locked his phone and slid it into a pocket. Holding his arms open he ushered you into a hug.

The smell of his cologne was earthy, loamy—it curled up in your nose and sunk its tendrils into your brain. How did he always smell so good?

Tensing slightly as his arms closed around you, he did no more than press a firm kiss high on your cheekbone. "You are a vision, my dear," John said in awe, pulling back slightly to take you in from head to toe. "Every time I see you, you end up more stunning. How is that possible?"

You laugh, charmed despite yourself. It's hard to keep up walls when John Price is looking at you like that, "You're too sweet, John," you demure, intending to have a good time tonight, "shall we find our seats?"

///

Several hours later, when the night was all but over while waiting for your car, you don't notice at first that John has taken a step closer. You're too distracted by the chill breeze that has sprung up, attempting to keep your skirt where it belongs.

You realize how close he had gotten when his hand comes up to brush against the skin of your jaw, fingers trailing softly as if dragging against spun gold.

Something precious. Something treasured.

You inhale shakily, unsure of where this was leading but wanting to stop. To take a step back onto stable ground.

"John—" is as far as he lets you get before his mouth covers yours, his other hand coming up to cradle your face in his palms while he devoured your mouth.

Because there was nothing timid or hesitant about this kiss. He claimed with it. His tongue pressing into your mouth at the first sign of weakness—the smallest gasp you couldn't control.

His fingers tightened against the side of your head as he groaned, angled down from above, making sure he was all you could see, all you could hear.

After what felt like years he pulled away, panting like he'd just ran a race, "Fuck me, sweetheart, but you taste even better than I'd hoped."

You stand there, eyes wide as you hold onto his wrists, one hand covering the smooth face of his watch. "You—you kissed me," you murmured, only just loud enough to be heard, "you can't kiss me, John."

He smiled as if you said something cute before pulling you back in. His lips had just brushed yours when you wrenched your head back, desperate to put space between the two of you.

"No, John," shaky but as determined as you could make it. You watch as something rises from the depths behind his eyes. A leviathan observing you, deciding where to bite first, where to grab as he pulls you into his depths, his maw closing around you . . .

Only for it to sink back below the surface, John's blue eyes clearing once more.

"Of course, of course, you're right doll, we shouldn't be doing that here." He continues talking over your spluttered here? as if you never said anything.

"There's your car anyways," the brakes squeak ever so lightly behind you, the thrum of the engine filling the night air, "you be good, sweetheart." A smile as John steps back, holding your door open for you. You climb in quickly, not wanting to spend any longer in his presence than needed.

John looms over the open doorway, forearms braced against the roof, "until next time." He winks at you before shutting the door, a soft double tap on the roof his notice to the driver.

As the car pulled away from the curb your thoughts began to spiral and you started to hyperventilate.

You had to tell Kyle now, you should've told him before but you can't go changing the past.

As soon as you get home you'll sit him down and talk to him. You'll tell him everything.

You ignore your slick thighs and the pressure of your underwear on your throbbing clit.

///

You made the car drive around the block—twice—before you worked up the courage to go inside.

Time to face the music.

"He kissed me, Kyle," you say, bracing for the explosion. You were still reeling from the evening, light tremors shaking your limbs, making your knees feel like they were knocking together.

You know you have to tell him everything, you can't keep something like this quiet. You have to lay it all out and hope he doesn't lose his mind.

Kyle froze. You watch him swallow, noticing his pupils expanding to eclipse the brown of his eyes. You hoped it wasn't in rage.

He quickly gathered himself as youlet out a broken sob and launched yourself at him, tears already streaming down your face.

You cried into his chest, latched onto him in search of strength. He pressed soft shh shh's against the top of your head, cradling you close to him, trying to coax you to breathe.

Eventually you were able to draw in a semi-steady breath without it immediately devolving into a sob and found yourself apologizing to Kyle, "I'm so sorry, I don't know why he kissed me—" breaking off into another wet hiccup.

"None of that now, you're making it a bigger deal than it needs to be," Kyle promised sternly, squeezing you tightly to him, "I know it's not your fault, you did nothing wrong." He soothes you when that causes another round of sobbing to begin.

"I'll talk to him tomorrow," he announces quietly, with a somber air, once the tears began to peter off. "It might cause some . . . friction on the task force but if it's made you this upset then I'll handle it."

Why? Why does John have to be Kyle's boss?

It made everything so complicated.

If it were anyone else, you'd be able to trust Kyle to set them straight, no concerns about consequences. But with John . . . he had control over Kyle's life. Is a kiss worth it? Is anything worth risking Kyle's life?

No.

You'd decided before that you wouldn't risk bad blood between them. You held onto that decision even now, even as things have gotten heavier, more complicated.

You bury deeper into Kyle's chest, arms wrapped as tightly as possible around him, "No, I don't want to cause trouble for you at work."

"Doll, it's no-"

"No, you were right, I'm making it a bigger deal than needed. I was just worried, that's all."

He hunched down to rest his chin on top of your head, "worried about what?" he presses.

"Just that . . . that you're saying it's okay when it's really not. I don't want you to be upset with me." Your eyes started to well up again but you blinked furiously, trying to keep the tears from falling down your cheeks.

He slips an arm free to tilt your chin up, angling your face towards his, eyes locked so you have no way of hiding from him and what he's about to say.

"I'm not upset with you and you did absolutely nothing wrong," holding your gaze, chin firmly grasped. "Do you think I care about the captain kissing you?" —amused, placating almost— "I care because you care, love," he looked down to your lips, pursed slightly from the pressure of his grip.

"Here," quiet, sensual, "I'll show you."

When he pulled you into the kiss it was warm coffee on a cold morning, it was waking up to realize you have an hour left on your alarm, it was the house lights being on when you get home at night.

It was comfort.

You chase after him slightly when he pulls away, wanting to continue. He smiled and gives you another peck. "You taste," he murmurs, lips brushing yours with every word, "utterly delicious."

You pant softly, waiting for him to press into you again. He smiles and gives another soft kiss, "chapstick and cigar smoke taste perfect from your lips."

Next

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[ledesaid]

🦇It's Gotham⚡🦇

"I have the boy, boss."

"Good, just leave him behind, the client will arrive soon."

A loud thud echoed from the trunk as two suspicious individuals stood in an apparently deserted alley. Nothing suspicious.

"Are you sure...?"

"Shut up, Mou."

"I'm just saying, this guy is buying kids left and right all over the country, and they haven't caught him? Sounds very dangerous, Larry, I think we should..."

"You should shut your mouth," he emphasized.

The trunk occasionally made noise, confirming that their package was still breathing, which was good... for everyone.

But the client never arrived. As the streetlights flickered on, the night grew darker and more ominous. More and more Gotham.

"I think I'll go check on the boy, Larry," the big man fidgeted with his nervous fingers.

"Fine, but hurry up. Let's take a few laps before the bats spot us."

Walking unsteadily, the kidnapper opened the trunk and held his breath.

The car started.

"Get in, Mou! I think I saw one!"

*And if he doesn't keep the deal?... What will happen to the boy, Larry?* *We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.*

Maybe what Larry said awakened the conscience in Mou's heart.

A few excruciating seconds later, the trunk banged and the door was opened.

"What are you waiting for, fool? Get in...!"

"Wow, not many people..." One phantom took his head down and saw him "...talk to Red Hood like that."

The screams echoed throughout the alley... The Alley Crime.

"Sorry, kid, I'm not that bad, but Larry's in charge and I can't do much..."

A large man swayed alongside a small boy in a red coat through the sparsely populated streets.

"Don't worry, it's Gotham City, I expected this." "Tell me, kid, do you know how to get home on your own?"

"I don't live here, I was just investigating something when they surprised me."

They stopped under a streetlight that seemed to be a bus stop. The man took out some coins and handed them to the younger one.

"By the way, kid, I'm Mou Sivars, your... local kidnapper?"

The boy smiled at the sincerity of the gesture.

"Thanks for letting me go, Mr. Mou, I'm Billy, Billy Batson."

The boy darted off, and Mou headed in the opposite direction. He had just kidnapped the Bat's kid!

He didn't want to be beaten until he ended up in the hospital! That was Joker's style!

"Larry! Larry! That boy was... Larry! Why are you tied to the car hood?"

"Get me out of here, animal! Red Hood almost skinned me alive!"

[illdowhatiwantthanks]

Alex Cabot x Casey Novak x Reader SFW Fluff Alphabet

Big thanks to to @scealaiscoite for their SFW Poly Fluff Alphabet for the inspiration here!

a = affection Is anyone more overtly affectionate than the others? You are definitely the most outwardly affectionate. Not in a PDA sense, you just tend to be the most sentimental. You don't initiate physical touch a whole lot, but Alex and Casey both know you are down to cuddle at any time, and they take advantage of it often. Alex is the snugglier of the two, but Casey gets FOMO when you snuggle without her, so she'll jump in, too. b = bed What's the sleeping situation like? California King (no twin bed! no roommates!). Casey on the right, Alex on the left. You are forever the middle spoon because (a) you love it, (b) you're by far the smallest, and (c) both Casey and Alex can feel a bit smothered after a whole night of middle spoon-ing. c = comfort When someone's feeling down, how do the others look after them? When you're down, your self-esteem takes a hard hit, so Alex and Casey do their best to be extra reassuring. When Alex is down, you and Casey do your best to make her feel important and to distract her. Nice clothes, expensive dinner, all your attention all night. When Casey's down, she needs to take a fucking break. The problem is that she never wants to. You and Alex usually have to take her phone and laptop away and force her to relax. Bubble bath, takeout, snuggles, the works.

d = dates What do dates look like? Who usually plans them, and are they individual or a group affair? You take turns planning, but also enjoy the occasional spontaneous date. Everyone is always invited, but not everyone always goes. You have lots of things you like to do all together, like dinner and a movie or a weekend at the beach or a trip to the farmer's market. But there are things you do in pairs, too. For example, you and Alex love classical music, so you've got season tickets to the NY Phil, but Casey's ears would explode if you made her go. Alex will attend a sports event with you and Casey once in a blue moon, but mostly it's just you two. Alex and Casey love dancing, from ballroom to clubbing and everything in between. You are a truly awful dancer and have a really hard time in loud, crowded environments, so you usually send them on their way and enjoy an evening to yourself.

e = events Who drags everyone else to their family's and friends' events? When it comes to family, you do all the dragging. Casey's parents live in the city, so you see them at least a few times a month, and Alex doesn't talk to her dad (her mom died when she was 17). You're very close to your family, and you're the only one who has siblings and nieces and nephews. Christmas at your family's is a given, and Alex and Casey are 100% there for it. But friend events? Those are all Casey. Alex will drag you to one, too, mostly out of obligation, but Casey genuinely enjoys going out and grabbing drinks with friends and will convince you both to go with her sometimes.

f = fights Are fights something that happen often? How are they resolved? Of course you fight. Everyone fights. But the fights are usually civil and logical and respectful. You've got twice as many relationships to maintain in a triad, so direct communication is a priority for you all. Casey and Alex have had to learn how to tone down their "lawyer-ness" during arguments, though. At first, they'd sometimes fight you so hard–like they were in court–that they'd end up making you cry. They always felt awful and backpedaled real quick. They're a lot gentler with conflicts now.

g - getting together How did you all get together? Alex and Casey met at work, a slow-burn career romance. By the time you came along, they'd already been together for several years. They'd discussed polyamory before and, while neither was necessarily opposed, neither one of them had anyone else they wanted to date either. So it was very much a we'll cross that bridge when we come to it situation. They came to the bridge when you moved to the city and joined Casey's rec softball league. It was Casey who fell for you first, Casey who started inviting you out to lunch with her and Alex after softball games, Casey who cautiously, gently asked Alex how she'd feel about her dating you. To which Alex said, Yeah, of course, if it'll make you happy. But I think I kind of want to date her, too. Can we all date? Do you think she'd be into that? It turns out that, yes, you were into that.

h = hobbies Do any of you share hobbies or passions? How do you include your other partner(s) in them? There's a foundational understanding between you that you don't all have to enjoy the same things. You and Alex share a deep love of reading and often spend evenings on the couch reading together, snuggled up against Casey as she plays video games or watches sports. You and Casey play softball together, and you love watching sports–baseball, basketball, football, you name it. Alex will watch with you, but she's mostly in it for the game day snacks you make. And obviously Casey and Alex have a whole career/calling in common, so they talk about that a lot, but they always try to make sure you're included in the conversation, and make sure to explain patiently when you have questions.

i = in sickness and in health When someone is sick, who's the caretaker and who's the germaphobe? Who's resistant to being taken care of? It depends on what kind of sick. If puking is involved, Alex and Casey are on their own. You are out of there, probably staying in a hotel, leaving soup deliveries outside the door with a mask on. Any other kind of sickness, and you absolutely dote on them. Casey eats this up. She is a pitiful sick person. Alex, on the other hand, will keep going until she literally can't anymore. And even then she'll tell you she's fine, and you have to force her to rest and take it easy. You can't exactly talk, you're pretty resistant to being taken care of, too. But that's mostly because Casey and Alex have important jobs to do, and you don't want to distract them.

j = joker Who's got the best sense of humor? Do you all like to tease and banter? You are by far the funniest of the three of you. You love making Alex and Casey laugh. It's one of the highlights of your life. Their jobs are so serious; they can tend to be on the serious side, too. So you make it your mission to brighten their days. That being said, there's a lot of good-natured teasing and insulting that happens on a regular basis. Casey calls you asshole more than she calls you anything else, probably. Alex has a razor sharp wit which is mostly funny, but every once in a while she'll toe the line between funny and mean. She can immediately tell when she's taken it too far, though, and is quick to make it up to you.

k = knowing Who can read their partners like a book? Is there anyone who has their walls up, even around their partners? By nature of being incredibly intuitive, you are the best at reading emotions. The problem is that you can usually tell what they're feeling but not why or who it's related to, so you almost always think it's somehow your fault. You're working on that one in therapy. Oddly, you're probably also the hardest to read. You have walls up, though they're slowly coming down. And Casey and Alex can have tunnel vision when it comes to work, so sometimes they miss things. Of the two of them, Casey is the more open with her emotions. Alex is open with anger and anger only. She's working very hard on being open with her other feelings, too.

l = lavish Is there anyone who really likes to lavish and show off their partners? How do the others react to it? Alex. Alex all the way. She's proud of herself, proud of the work she does, and proud of having not one but two stunning girlfriends. She dresses you and Casey up to the nines in clothes it would have taken you years to afford. When she walks into a room with you in a tailored Valentino suit on one arm and Casey in a designer gown on the other, she just knows everyone's jealous that she's living the best of both worlds. Since neither you nor Casey came from money, you both had a hard time with Alex's generosity at first, but you came to accept that showing you off is just Alex's way of telling you how proud she is of you and how happy she is that you're hers.

m = memories Is anyone more on the sentimental side? You, 100%. Although Casey and Alex have their moments, too. But you're the one who packs lunches with little loves notes. You're the one who surprises them with flowers at work, who cooks their favorite dinner because you know they had a bad day. You'll pick up that book that Alex wants so bad, but doesn't have time to go get. You'll record the Giants game instead of watching it while Casey's at work because you know she'd rather watch it together later. Of course, they do sweet things for you, too. Like Alex asking you to read your favorite book to her because she wants to read it with you. Or Casey organizing a game night with the SVU folks at your house, because she knows you want to hang out with them, too, you're just much more comfortable at home. You all have your moments, but they'd both agree that sentimentality just comes so, so naturally to you. It's a gift.

n = nights What's the nighttime routine like when you're all together? You are a big, big fan of parallel play so, even though you usually like to quietly read a book before bed, you want to do it wherever Alex and Casey are. Alex spends an eternity in the bathroom on her skin care routine before putting on the softest, most luxurious pajamas. She fixes herself a cup of peppermint tea and curls up next to you with her own book. Casey always has "more work to do," but she'll go through case files while you and Alex read. Or she'll finish the newspaper if she didn't get to that morning. She always has a gigantic, messy collection of file folders, old newspapers, and half-full glasses of water on her nightstand. You almost always fall asleep first, and they don't stay up too much longer because "you're just so adorable" and "I can't pay attention when you look that snug-able!"

o = open How open are you with one another? Very. You don't keep secrets. You don't tell lies. When you first got together, Alex suggested you all lay down "relationship rules." Those were two of the biggest. It sometimes takes longer for you to open up about what you're feeling, but they've learned that it doesn't really have anything to do with how much you trust them, it's just how you process things.

p = PDA What's PDA like with them? Is there anyone who loves it? Anyone who hates it? Alex would full-on make out with you in public, but she knows that's not a good look for someone in her position. Also, you and Casey do not like PDA. Casey will kiss you on the cheek or put a hand on the small of your back at a party, but that's it. You might hold their hands, but you won't do anything else in front of others. Alex won't either unless she feels like someone's infringing on her territory (her territory being you and Casey). Then she gets really possessive and is not afraid to show people that you're hers.

q = quiet Who prefers to spend their time out and about, and who likes to spend it at home? Casey is the most social of you. She loves going out with you or going out with friends. Alex is kind of in the middle. She's very, very good with people and socializes quite a bit, but often out of political obligation (to grease the wheels, so to speak, and make connections) rather than for fun. You are a hardcore homebody. You'll go out with them because you love them, but you're always very excited when you all decide on a night in.

r = romantic Is anyone a bit of a sap for their partners? You. So, so you. You just truly can't believe you lucked out with these two gorgeous, strong, confident, crazy smart women. Oddly enough, both Alex and Casey tend to be more affectionate with you than they are with one another. It's not that they love each other less, but you've got a couple of theories as to why they're just a little more romantic with you. (1) You're much, much smaller than them. Like a full 10 inches shorter. So they sometimes baby you a bit. They think you're very cute. You both love and hate it. (2) They were together first, and then kind of simultaneously fell for you, so you sometimes think they see you as collectively theirs, tag-teaming to take care of you and love you. You don't mind. They're collectively yours, too. (3) You're more sentimental than either of them, so it's easier for them to be sentimental with you than with one another. But, all in all, there's plenty of romance to go around.

s = sharing Is there anyone who's particularly territorial of their partners? ALEX. Very possessive of both of you. Casey's pretty damn possessive of you, too. Less so of Alex, but that's probably because she knows nobody fucks with Alex. You are the least territorial, mostly because you're just glad to be there. It doesn't leave a whole lot of room for jealousy. Just as Alex and Casey did before you came along, you all have an open understanding that if someone else were to come along–for any of you–you'd be okay with one of you pursuing a relationship with someone else, too. But it seems unlikely. You're all deeply content with things as they are now and don't really see yourselves bringing anyone else in.

t = terms of endearment Nicknames! What are the nicknames!? Alex uses honey or my love. Casey uses sweetheart and honey and sometimes baby. You mostly use lovely, which drives both of them wild, and also honey on occasion.

u = urge Who's the most impulsive? And who reins them back in? None of you are very impulsive. You think things through before acting. But of the three of you, Alex is probably the one who lets her emotions get the best of her, which can sometimes get her into hot water. Both Casey's and Alex's emotions (and impulses to do something brave and stupid) run high during hard cases. Thankfully, you're usually there to talk them out of it.

v = vacations How do vacations go? And where do you travel? You do vacations big. Alex has a lot of money, and you all love traveling. Alex considers it her absolute joy to make you and Casey's travel dreams come true, because she knows you didn't grow up with the kind of money to make them happen. She whisks you away on far-flung vacations as often as she can. An even bigger test of her love: she'll go camping with you because Casey loves it so much. But only with the highest end camping gear. And she will not touch a fish or a fishing pole, but she'll sit in a chair and read with you while you and Casey go fishing. Your favorite vacation so far? A surprise holiday trip to Soneva Jani in the Maldives. You'd always wanted to go to the Maldives, but it was very much a pipe dream. Alex packed for you, and you had no idea where you were going until you boarded the connecting flight to Malé. You were so excited you cried a little. When you stepped into your overwater bungalow, you just couldn't contain your excitement, running around the building, staring out at the crystal blue water, and kissing Casey and Alex over and over again, saying "Thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

w = worthy How are insecurities handled? Are any of you more self-conscious than the others? You're the most self-conscious. Casey and Alex are just so conventionally beautiful and successful and confident. They're smart, powerful, career-driven women and you're... a dorky, tiny, androgynous little work-from-home ad copywriter. Sometimes it's hard to know what they see in you. Alex is almost never insecure because she's cocky as fuck. Unless she screws up at work, and then she needs a lot of reassurance. Casey is insecure in that she's never able to live up to her own standards, so you have to remind her often that she doesn't need to be perfect and she's doing great. Insecurities in your home are always met with love and reassurance, never annoyance or frustration.

x = xoxo Who checks up on their partners a lot when they're apart? Do they call or text? Casey. She'll call to check up on you at least once a day. If you're out of town, she calls you at night, too, right before bed, on speakerphone with her and Alex (or vice versa, if Alex is out of town). Alex misses you, too, but she's more likely to text sporadically throughout the day. You text or call when you see something funny or something that reminds you of them.

y = yearn Who misses their partners the most, even just throughout the day? You really like your alone time, so you miss them but you really like having your space (working from home is great for this). But Casey and Alex miss you. Because you're home so often, when you're not home–out with friends, spending the weekend at your parents', etc.–they almost don't know what to do with themselves. Bonus POV: The Group Chat Casey: babe when are you coming home 😢 💔 😭 💌 😫 Alex: my love I need you here in my arms You: omg chill you guys i've been gone for like 2 hours! Casey: yeah 2 hours 2 long

z = zealous Who was especially eager in pursuit of the relationship? Was anyone more reserved? When it was just Alex and Casey, Alex made the first move. With you, it was Casey who came after you the hardest. Alex was a bit more reserved because she didn't want to make you feel like you had to date her, too. She wanted to be sure that you knew if you just wanted to date Casey and not her, that was okay. but she really did want you. She was trying so hard to be respectful that you eventually had to ask her out. Alex, can we go out sometime? Yeah, I'll see when Casey's free. No, I meant... just me and you. I mean, obviously Casey can come, too, if she wants, but... I'd like to take you out if you'll let me.

[monkepawbz]

Kintsugi

Y/N and Wade have been married for several years now, and Wade is feeling extra sappy when Y/N announces she's pregnant for the second time with a second little girl. Wade reminisces on how Y/N, a former scientist, was able to save Wade all those years ago from the biggest threat he ever had: himself.

Warning: Lewd language and talk about sex and pregnancy. Reader discretion is advised (this is a Deadpool x Reader...obviously this rating is Mature at minimum...)

The scientist eventually got dressed and went downstairs to search for some food, a little anxious about how she was supposed to tell Ellie about the fact she wasn't going to be an only child anymore. Wade and Y/N's daughter, Ellie, had just turned nine years old and the couple had decided now was a good a time as any to add a new face to the family.

Wade followed her downstairs, his bare feet padding against the floor. "Hey, peanut? You okay?" he asked, noticing her tension. He leaned against the counter, watching as she rummaged through the fridge. "You're thinking about how to break it to Ellie, aren't you?"

"I am, yeah." She nodded pensively, reaching into the fridge and grabbing the whipped cream. She squirted some into her mouth and sighed, then turned back to look for something else in the fridge.

Wade chuckled and shook his head.

"You're really going to use whipped cream as a coping mechanism, huh?"

He pushed off the counter and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.

"Hey, maybe I can help you come up with a plan. You know, we are married for a reason. Or is that lil ring on that finger worthless now?" Wade joked, holding up his own hand to show his wedding band. It gleamed in the soft sunlight, making Y/N relax slightly upon seeing it.

"You're right, Wade. I'm sorry. I just...I dunno...what if she gets mad? Is all...'waah, you guys are totally ruining my life!' Or something..." The woman found some stuff to make a ham sandwich and grabbed it, setting down the whipped cream in the process. She shut the fridge door with her hip and walked over to the kitchen counter to start assembling her lunch.

Wade's arms tightened around her waist as he leaned in close, his voice taking on a soothing tone.

"Ahahahaha, peanut, you're thinking about this all wrong. Ellie loves us both, and she'll adjust to the new addition just fine. And if she doesn't...well, we'll deal with that when the time comes." He nuzzled her ear. "Besides, I've got a plan. We can make it fun! We can have a family meeting and explain everything together." Wade offered, which made Y/N relax slightly.

"How soon should we do this? We have no idea if it worked today. For all we know, we might have to keep trying to get me pregnant. After all...they taught us in high school that getting pregnant a second time was so much harder than the first time, Wade..." she rambled nervously. Wade gave her a lopsided grin, finding her as adorable as the day they first met.

Wade's grip on her waist relaxed, and he let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, yeah, I know all about the stats and stuff. But we're not gonna worry about that right now. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." He pulled back and looked at her with a serious expression. "Let's just focus on enjoying this moment for now. We've got our little bundle of kickass growing inside you, and we should be celebrating that! The second addition to the Deadpool family! Hot damn, I'm like Bruce Wayne collecting kids here!" He joked.

"But we don't actually know yet...we only just tried less than an hour ago...what if it didn't take?" She frowned, finally finding making a sandwich. She offered it to him, opting to make another one for just herself if he accepted the lunch. Wade graciously took the sandwich and watched as she grabbed him a plate from the cabinet behind her, giving her a silent 'thank you'. She smiled, then sighed as reality crashed back down onto her.

Wade's face lit up with a mischievous grin as he bit into the sandwich, groaning happily at how good it tasted.

"Ahahahaha, peanut, you're so worried about it not taking that I think we need to celebrate either way," His blue eyes sparkles with amusement as he continued. "Win or lose, we're having fun today. And if it didn't take...well, we'll just have to try again soon, won't we?~"

"I guess you're right. It not working just means more sex for the both of us, huh?" she smiled slightly, working on making her own sandwich quietly. Y/N giggled at how Wade hopped up and down excitedly, his sandwich gripped tightly in his hands.

Wade's eyes lit up with excitement as he nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, hell yeah! More sex is always a good thing in my book. And who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and it'll take on the second try," He chuckled to himself, taking another bite of his sandwich. "But even if not, I'm happy to keep trying...for science."

"Hmm, I think you just miss me and all the hot, raunchy sex we used to have before we became parents, don't you?~" Y/N giggled. "We both became so busy what with you being a dad and becoming more of an anti-hero and me switching jobs to stay at home with El."

Wade's face turned bright red as he coughed, trying to play it cool. "What? No way, peanut! I just...I mean, yeah, okay fine. You're right. Being parents is awesome and all that jazz, but let's be real...we used to have some crazy hot times in the bedroom," He winked at her mischievously. "And I'm not saying we can't get back to those times now that Ellie's getting older."

"So you dig the mom bod?" she asked self-consciously. Wade nodded eagerly.

"Uh, a doy, my little MILF. Of course I dig the mom bod, sugar tits. You always looked bangin' but the way you got all curved up makes me hard as a rock God DAYUM." He flirted, spanking her ass playfully. Y/N yelped, her face turning bright red in response.

"Wade, knock it off..." she laughed, clearly flustered.

"Why should I, pookie bear? I'm just giving you some good ole fashioned Wade Wilson luvins! I wanna make my dear wifey feel better, and what better way than doing what I do best? Being a vulgar and annoying asshole to her?" Wade grinned, the smile almost reminiscent of the Cheshire Cat from Alice In Wonderland. Y/N rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile.

"There's that smile, firecracker! I love having such a sexy wife all to myself! Not once have I wanted anyone else as soon as you strutted your way into my life, pretty girl." Wade flirted, lightly spanking his wife's ass again and howling obnoxiously like a wolf. Her eyes sparkled with amusement as she playfully tried to swat at Wade's hand, but he was too quick and continued to tease her. She let out a little squeal of delight as he spanked her ass, feeling a rush of excitement course through her veins.

"Oh, stop it! You're making me blush!" She laughed, trying to maintain a stern expression while secretly enjoying all the attention.

"Nuh uh, no. I vowed to make you feel good today, and that means I gotta get those feels back up to the good status." He whispered, moving behind her and cupping both her breasts. He softly massaged both, feeling her melt slightly against his warm hands.

"That's it, baby. Let me take care of you today. I wanna make today all about you. You've done so much for our family and have always been there for me, even when I was a blabbermouth of a Merc. Yet you always seemed to see the good in me. You remember that talk we had all those years ago? About the kintsugi thing?" He asked, his voice turning to a low rumble as he continued to massage her breasts. She sighed and leaned her back against his chest, relaxing even more as they stood together in the middle of the kitchen. The sunshine illuminated her hair, making it even more shiny as it framed her face just right.

"Yeah, I think so. Something about us fixing each other like the kintsugi concept, yeah?" Y/N asked tentatively. Wade nodded, kissing her neck softly.

"You're a damn good scientist, baby. Never let that go, okay? You always talk big shit about me being an anti-hero now...but you're really the one who deserves more praise. You saved my life. If it wasn't for you, I'd still probably be semi-homeless, addicted to drugs and addicted to meaningless relationships as a merc. You saw someone so genuinely fucked up and decided...'I want that one'. And dammit, I can't lie, your stubbornness really came in handy this time." Wade chuckled softly, a warm smile on his lips. "Plus, that serum you made all those years ago gave me my looks back. Now our daughter has a normal looking dad and never has to know what I looked like before. And yeah, you didn't mind when I was all mutated and cancery, but I did, peanut...I did...cause why would such a goddess like you want anything to do with some freak like me...?" He hid his face against her back. Dammit, he hated being vulnerable, but he knew Y/N needed to know the truth. Over the years he had become a lot more sappy thanks to her.

Her eyes welled up with tears as she felt Wade's words wash over her. She wanted to hold him close, but he continued to hide his face against her back.

"Wade, stop it," She whispered, trying to keep her voice steady. "You're being ridiculous...I loved you then and I love you now. You were never a freak to me...you were always my broken thing of beauty." She smiled softly, feeling a lump form in her throat.

"Oh come on...let's face the music, Y/N. I don't think life would be as good or even as easy if I didn't look like my old self again...you really gave me a whole-ass second chance, babe. You brought me back to life and screamed in my face 'YOU MATTER' until eventually you got me believing it, too. That's damn impressive if you ask me. You...managed to fix the Merc With A Mouth." Wade moved to stand in front of her and cupped both her cheeks with his hands, causing her to look up at him and set down her sandwich on the counter.

Y/N's eyes sparkled with tears as she looked up at Wade, her voice barely above a whisper.* "You're making me cry again, dammit," She whispered, her voice trembling with emotion.

"But you know what? I don't care. Because when I look at you...I see the man I fell in love with. The one who was broken and lost, but still had so much heart. And that's what I fixed...not just your face." She smiled softly, wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye.

"How the hell did a devil like me get an angel like you, sweet stuff?" Wade laughed, voice heavy with emotion. Damn, now HE wanted to cry a little. Fuck, being a husband and father had made him go soft. Whatever, it's not like he needed to be overly cocky at the moment, anyways.

"You're no devil. You just needed someone to talk to. Someone to actually listen to the shit you were saying. I don't think anyone did before, did they?" Y/N asked softly, and Wade nodded.

"When you're a merc like I was, talk was kinda cheap in the grand scheme of things, ya know? But well, surprisingly I'm happy I decided to become less of a mercenary and more of an anti-hero. Maybe the Avengers will finally take me on, yeah?" His blue eyes shined with hope as he looked at her. She smiled warmly at him and reached up to ruffle his fluffy brown hair.

"Wade, they would be lucky to have a guy like you on their team." Y/N said.

The couple embraced, swaying slowly in the middle of the kitchen. They were happy, and that's all that really mattered in the end.

[anonymooseforever007]

Field Deer. Forest Horse

(Platonic Tommy Shelby x Female reader)

Summary: Arriving home from work Tommy is surprised to see Finn's best friend waiting on his front step with a bundle in her arms asking for his help. This can't be t.... why is it moving?

In which we also see how much of a little horse girl Thomas Shelby really is....

A/N: Hi Y'all! No Trigger warnings for this one aside from mentions of assumed pregnancy (but no actual). Also despite what Tommy first thinks, this story is entirely platonic in both the readers relationship with Finn and Tommy, and there are not actually human babies. I just have an idea that anytime Tommy is approached with a squirming bundle he thinks it's gonna be related to him somehow. This was really fun to write! Enjoy❤️

WC-2.7k

Main Masterlist

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Tommy Shelby had just arrived back home when he heard someone calling his name. Looking to his front steps, he saw his youngest brother's best friend hurrying towards him with a bundle in her arms. 

"Tommy! You're home, great! I need you to help me."

Now Tommy hadn't seen Y/N in a few months truthfully, he was usually busy with work and she lived in London. Most weekends Finn would end up going down to her place to cause whatever trouble they could, away from Polly's watchful eye. So really, her and Tommy's paths rarely crossed. But Tommy was still fond of the girl and the slight stress in her voice, didn't stop his growing concern....

Nor did the suspiciously wrapped object in her arms ease his fears and....Oh great, it was moving.... Pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes, Tommy tried to recalled what Y/N looked like the last time he'd seen her, hoping the bundle wasn't what he thought it was.... Please tell him Finn hadn't been that stupid...

"Tommy, it is really important! About a baby. Finn won't help either and I don't know what else to do!"

Fuck....

Pinching the bridge of his nose harder, Tommy closed his eyes again and tried to control his breathing. Yes, he was extremely pissed that Finn not only gone off and gotten his best friend pregnant, but also hidden the secret from his family for months. Now he'd obviously not been able to face the consequences and left the poor girl and babe all by her lonesome. Fucking really Finn? Tommy thought the family had raised him better than that. But despite Tommy's annoyance, he knew it wasn't time to take it out on the girl before him. If she really did just have a baby, she need more than just his help. He'd have to call a family meeting and once they all met the kid, they could take turns tanning Finn's ass. Sure, it wasn't too much different from what Tommy and John and Ada themselves had done. Come to think of it, not a single firstborn of the Shelby siblings had been "expected" so to speak. But at least they'd taken responsibility for their late night actions. And Tommy would be damned if his little brother didn't have to do the same. 

Talking one last deep breath, Tommy opened his eyes and looked down at the girl now standing a few feet in front of him. He could see her clothes were dirty from something and she had some small scratches on her left forearm. But still he was more concerned about the squirming mass in her arms. Running a hand though his hair, Tommy tried to think of the best way to console the girl. Putting a hand on her shoulder, Tommy began his speech about how she really was family now.

"It's gonna be alright Y/N. I know things may see tough right now, but I promise we'll be here to help you. Finn may not have the balls to help with this baby, bu..."

Stepping back, Y/N tilted her head, confused at Tommy's words. It was at that moment another noise came from the small blanket and for the first time Tommy saw light brown hair poking out from the blanket....But something seemed off about it.

"Tommy what are you talking about? Finn's not lacking the balls for anything, he's just still stuck at the office doing work. Polly said she'd skin him if he didn't get those papers done today. Besides he's not the one I need to talk to about the baby.... You are."

For a second, Tommy's heart stopped as an absolutely terrifying idea entered his mind. 

It wasn't Tommy baby was it? 

In the back of his mind, Tommy knew it wasn't true. But it also wouldn't be the first time, someone gave him the "surprise you're a dad" talk. She wasn't really tying to tell him it was his kid... was she? He didn't even remember that last time he saw Y/N, let alone ever..... She was his brother's best friend. Tommy wouldn't do that, no matter how drunk or high he'd gotten. He wasn't Freddie fucking Thorne for fucks sake...rest his soul. Shaking his head, Tommy's brow furrowed. No, that was completely impossible, there had to be some other explanation. 

"Y/N, I don't know what you're going on about but that's not my kid."

"....Of course it's not your kid?" Y/N's eyes widened at she realised what Tommy was thinking. Her own nose scrunched at the idea of it all and she chucked at Tommy's concerned face. "Oh Tommy do you think it's a real baby," she asked and moving forwards again, Y/N pulled back the blanket showing Tommy the truth. "Well it is a baby, but it's not a human baby. Look."

A baby deer.

That's what it was. A tiny little thing, that couldn't have been more than a week old. It probably weighted less than Tommy's briefcase. Stepping closer, he could also see it was injured. A few deeper scratches marred its back and Tommy could make out a few deeper wounds that reminded him of the imprint barbed wire left. Not to mention the poor thing was shaking harder than Tommy himself after a nightmare. Gently reaching out, Tommy lightly touched an uninjured part of the fawn's back, frowning when it flinched. Forgetting his previous concerns, Tommy quietly shushed the trembling animal and held his hand out for the fawn to smell. He was more than happy to ignore the problems of people, but Tommy always did have a soft spot for animals. 

"What happened to it?"

Pursing her lips, Y/N remembered the scene she'd dragged the small thing from only an hour before. 

"I found her on the side of the road on my way back to London. Pulled off to have a snack and found her crying all wrapped up in this old wire fence. And that wasn't even the worst of it Tom," Y/N revealed, "I looked around for her mum, and she was dead just a little ways down. I think someone hit her while crossing the road and the poor baby got stuck in the wire in her panic. I'm telling ya, Tommy, that doe has been there for a few days, I can't even imagine how hurt the baby must be!"

Y/N sighed, holding the baby deer a bit closer, as if she could cuddle away all its trama. Not even a week old, and it had already seen so much. Y/N had spent the next hour with her pocket knife trying to cut the poor thing out of its wire prison. She'd even gotten a few scrapes of her own when the fawn was panicking too much and wouldn't hold still, throwing itself as hard as it could to get away from its rescuer. Eventually though, the deer seems to accept its fate, though constantly shaking, as Y/N cut the final ties. Not that that was even the end of everything. So badly hurt, the fawn could barely even stand and Y/N knew if she left the baby by the road it would die. And she couldn't bare the thought of that. Tommy listened quietly as she explained her tale, still gently petting the fawn's head with two fingers.

"And so I brought her here. I was gonna go to Curly at first, seeing as I think he'd know the most. But then Arthur said Curly had gone down with John to pick drop the new horse off at May Carlton's place. So I decided to come here next. Based on what Finn said you'd probably be the next best help! You know more about them than I do!"

Tilting his head, Tommy raised an eyebrow at Y/N's words. Truthfully, Esme or Polly would have been the best to go to for a hurt animal. And he loved Curly too, but Tommy couldn't fathom why Y/N would go to him for help. Curly actually hated deers, they were one of he few animals he'd never enjoyed.... at least outside of Polly's stew. He may have been nicer to the baby deer, but Tommy knew even then, he'd probably be reluctant. And then Tommy himself was also a bit of a wild card when it came to the animal. Sure he'd hunted them before with his brothers, but Tommy never really looked much into the animals deeper that. Nevertheless, he accepted Y/N's plea, carefully taking the small creature from her arms, already making a mental list of supplies he'd need.

"Y/N? I'm still gonna help you with it, but I can't promise it'll do much yeah? I'm don't know much about deers and I'm definitely not any animal doctor. I guess we can try, but I'm not making any fucking promises."

Beaming at him, Y/N clapped her hands twice, pleased at his cooperation. 

"I knew you could do it! After all, horses aren't much more than field deer!"

Tommy froze in his steps, tensing up like he'd been shot. Did she really just.... Tommy turned around so fast, Y/N was scared the fawn would go flying from his arms.

"Fucking what?"

Nervously Y/N laughed. Even holding an adorable baby deer as gently as he did his son, Thomas Shelby's narrowed eyes were slightly intimidating.

"You know, horses....They're basically like deer, but bigger... and live in fields.... So they're Field Deer."

Mouth opened, Tommy looked down at the small deer in his arms with distaste, almost as if he was reconsidering his entire offer to help. 

For lack of a better word, Thomas Shelby was offended. Possibly more so than he'd ever been in his life.

"Deer aren't anything like horses."

"Yeah they are."

"How."

"...They both have hooves and fur and noses..." Y/N started off, hesitating. Truth be told, she knew nothing about either animal, that's why she wanted Tommy's help. "They both eat a lot of leaves and flowers and grass, and th..."

"Horses don't just eat leaves or flowers or grass. They mainly eat hay." Tommy interrupted.

"Hay is a type of grass, wise ass," Y/N shot back. "Besides you can't deny they look alike and act alike! Wave an apple slice in their face and they're practically the same species!"

Tommy scoffed.

"Horses are big and majestic and strong, and if trained right aren't afraid of anything. They're smart and loyal and good, and if you find the right one it'll help you for years," Tommy defend, thinking of all the horses he'd had before. "You won't ever find an animal as good as a horse mark my fucking words. While deer.... deer freeze in their steps the second they see danger. They're weak. You saw that today didn't ya?"

Gasping at his audacity, Y/N glared right back at him, reaching out to cover the poor fawn's ears, as if protecting her from Tommy's uncalled for blow. 

"Thomas Shelby, how dare you! Now maybe deer aren't as big or powerful as horses, but that's taking it too far! Speak the differences all you want, but not that one. The poor thing's still shaking and you have the nerve to be so cruel! Apologise right now!"

Tommy didn't even have to look down to feel the constant shaking in his arms....alright maybe that was a low blow. But he still wasn't going to apologise to the deer. It's not like it would even understand him.

"I'm not doing that."

"Yes you are." Arms crossed, Y/N waited patiently for Tommy to give in. She didn't even have to press him. For as cruel as Tommy could be to people, he did quite like animals. Only around him a few times, Y/N had already witnessed the gentle way he'd spoken to his horses or Cyril. The fact he'd even taken Cyril in when Alfie "died" was enough for her to know Tommy couldn't turn away an animal in need, even if he "hated" the man it came from. She was sure the small bit of conscious he so often locked away would be free soon. If only for a few minutes. And right she was, only a few seconds later, the small animal let out a pained whine and Tommy's eyes shot down to it. Carefully petting its head again, with blue eyes meeting chocolate brown, he hesitated a bit before grumbling.

"Alright, alright, shouldn't have said that to ya should I? Wasn't very nice of me was it? I said I'd help ya and I will. You're gonna be alright."

Nuzzling into his touch, finally, the deer stopped shaking. Tommy smirked softly at his achievement and Y/N smirked gently at Tommy, knowing she'd won the argument. She didn't understand why Tommy couldn't recognise the similarities and was so against the titles. 

"See, she even falls right into the palm of your hand, after a few nice words Tom. Just like all the horses do. Proving my point further. You may not think it, but you can't deny the truth forever! Field. Deer."

Sighing, Tommy just rolled his eyes, recognising how the woman got along so well with his family. When it came down to it, she could be just as stubborn as the rest of them. However, unlike the rest of his siblings, Tommy didn't have any blackmail he could use to make Y/N back down. 

"Alright maybe they are similar yeah? But you can't just call a horse a fucking Field Deer. That's just disrespectful to them. Horses are the stronger ones, and more useful." He turned, finally walking into his house, heading for his office where he knew bandages were kept. Y/N playfully rolled her eyes and headed after him.

"Alright Tommy, I'll keep that in mind."

Tommy nodded his head, still absentmindedly rubbing the fawn's head. Its breathing had gotten deeper now, not from injury, but from the fact that Tommy's gently pets had lulled it to sleep. 

"Good. Horses aren't Field Deer... If anything deer are .... Forest Horses."

It was Y/N's turn to freeze before she belted out cackling, finally realising where Tommy's initial defensiveness came from.

"FOREST HORSES! Fucking Hell! You weren't mad I said deer were like horses at all were ya! You just got pissy because I related the horse to the deer, instead of the deer to the horse!"

She laughed again, while Tommy just stood by silently. Even is she was right he'd never admit it. No, the Thomas Shelby would never confess he got into an argument over a childish nickname for horses. Especially if it was an argument he "lost" in the end. 

"Alright, alright. You've had your fun. Now go run to the kitchen and grab me a bowl of water yeah? And if you find Francis tell her to take one of Charlie's old baby bottles and fill it with some warm milk." Tommy cut in, nudging you towards the hall with his left foot as his hands were still full of the sleeping baby deer. "And after I'm done looking at this one, you're gonna let me look at the scratches on your arms too....Don't wrinkle your nose at me, it won't hurt that much."

Saluting the older man mockingly, Y/N nodded twice before tapping the sleeping deer on the nose. 

"Any other orders for the nurse, doctor? Should I bring some hay for the little filly or a blanket that's been heated over the mantle?"

Scoffing lightly, Tommy just shook his head. 

"No hay for the baby yet nurse, but get to it quick, yeah. Suppose to have a family meeting in a few minutes and I don't need them poking fun of me for going soft, now do I?"

"He says as he cuddles the injured baby deer," Y/N mumbled to herself, already halfway out of the room. "Not that I can blame him though, she is pretty cute."

Watching Y/N walk turn down the corner, Tommy took it upon himself to finally step into his office. The only one inside was Cyril, whose head immediately shot up at the new smell. Lumbering over to the couch Tommy had settled down on, the large mastiff gently sniffed the small creature. After a few moments, Cyril looked at Tommy and then back at the deer. Then he sat down and rested his head on the edge of the couch, staring curiously at the fast asleep fawn. Reaching over to pet the dog's head, Tommy let out a small laugh.

"You like her, don't you boy? That's alright I think I do too. Maybe we can keep her around for a bit eh? What do you say Cyril? Want a new friend?"

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[blueskittlesart]

I've heard that while most people really really love BotW and TotK, some people hate those two for going open-world, and some people hate TotK specifically for something about the story. As the resident Zelda expert I know of, what do you think of those takes?

"something about the story" is a bit too vague for me to answer--if you look at my totk liveblog tag from back when the game was newly released or my general zelda analysis tag you may be able to find some of my in-depth thoughts about the story of totk, but in general i liked it.

the open world thing though is something i can and will talk about for hours. (I am obsessed with loz and game design and this is an essay now <3) breath of the wild is a game that was so well-received that a lot of the criticism from older fans who were expecting something closer to the classic zelda formula was just kind of immediately drowned out and ignored, and while i don't think it's a valid criticism to suggest that botw strayed too far from its origins in going open-world, i am more than willing to look into those criticisms, why they exist, and why i think going open-world was ultimately the best decision botw devs could have made. (totk is a slightly different story, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.)

Loz is a franchise with a ton of history and a ton of really, REALLY dedicated fans. it's probably second only to mario in terms of recognizability and impact in nintendo's catalog. To us younger fans, the older games can sometimes seem, like, prehistoric when compared to what we're used to nowadays, but it's important to remember just how YOUNG the gaming industry is and how rapidly it's changed and grown. the first zelda game was released in 1986, which was 31 years before botw came out in 2017. What this means for nintendo and its developers is that they have to walk a very fine line between catering to older fans in their 30s and 40s now who would have been in nintendo's prime demographic when the first few games in the franchise were coming out AND making a game that's engaging to their MODERN target demographic and that age group's expectations for what a gaming experience should look like.

LOZ is in kind of a tough spot when it comes to modernizing, because a lot of its core gameplay elements are very much staples of early RPGs, and a lot of those gameplay elements have been phased out of modern RPGs for one reason or another. gathering collectibles, fighting one's way through multilevel, mapless dungeons, and especially classic zelda's relative lack of guidance through the story are all things that date games and which modern audiences tend to get frustrated with. for the last few releases before botw, the devs had kind of been playing with this -- skyward sword in particular is what i consider their big experiment and what (i think) became the driving force behind a lot of what happened with botw. Skyward sword attempted to solve the issues I listed by, basically, making the map small and the story much, much more blatantly linear. Skyward sword feels much more like other modern rpgs to me than most zelda games in terms of its playstyle, because the game is constantly pushing you to do specific things. this is a common storytelling style in modern RPGs--obviously, the player usually needs to take specific actions in order to progress the story, and so when there's downtime between story sections the supporting characters push the player towards the next goal. but this actually isn't what loz games usually do. in the standard loz formula, you as the player are generally directly given at most 4 objectives. these objectives will (roughly) be as follows: 1. go through some dungeons and defeat their bosses, 2. claim the master sword, 3. go through another set of dungeons and defeat their bosses, 4. defeat the final boss of the game. (not necessarily in that order, although that order is the standard formula.) the ONLY time the player will be expressly pushed by supporting characters towards a certain action (excluding guide characters) is when the game is first presenting them with those objectives. in-between dungeons and other gameplay segments, there's no sense of urgency, no one pushing you onto the next task. this method of storytelling encourages players to take their time and explore the world they're in, which in turn helps them find the collectibles and puzzles traditionally hidden around the map that will make it easier for them to continue on. Skyward sword, as previously mentioned, experimented with breaking this formula a bit--its overworld was small and unlocked sequentially, so you couldn't explore it fully without progressing the narrative, and it gave players a "home base" to return to in skyloft which housed many of the puzzles and collectibles rather than scattering them throughout the overworld. This method worked... to an extent, but it also meant that skyward sword felt drastically different in its storytelling and how its narrative was presented to the player than its predecessors. this isn't necessarily a BAD thing, but i am of the opinion that one of zelda's strongest elements has always been the level of immersion and relatability its stories have, and the constant push to continue the narrative has the potential to pull players out of your story a bit, making skyward sword slightly less engaging to the viewer than other games in the franchise. (to address the elephant in the room, there were also obviously some other major issues with the design of sksw that messed with player immersion, but imo even if the control scheme had been perfect on the first try, the hyperlinear method would STILL have been less engaging to a player than the standard exploration-based zeldas.)

So when people say that botw was the first open-world zelda, I'm not actually sure how true I personally believe that is. I think a lot of the initial hype surrounding botw's open map were tainted by what came before it--compared to the truly linear, intensely restricted map of skyward sword, botw's map feels INSANE. but strictly speaking, botw actually sticks pretty closely to the standard zelda gameplay experience, at least as far as the overworld map is concerned. from the beginning, one of the draws of loz is that there's a large, populated map that you as the player can explore (relatively) freely. it was UNUSUAL for the player to not have access to almost the entire map either immediately or very quickly after beginning a new zelda game. (the size and population of these maps was restricted by software and storage capabilities in earlier games, but pretty muhc every zelda game has what would have been considered a large & well populated map at the time of its release.) what truly made botw different was two things; the first being the sheer SIZE of the map and the second being the lack of dungeons and collectibles in a traditional sense. Everything that needs to be said about the size of the map already has been said: it's huge and it's crazy and it's executed PERFECTLY and it's never been done before and every game since has been trying to replicate it. nothing much else to say there. but I do want to talk about the percieved difference in gameplay as it relates to the open-world collectibles and dungeons, because, again, i don't think it's actually as big of a difference as people seem to think it is.

Once again, let's look at the classic formula. I'm going to start with the collectibles and lead into the dungeons. The main classic collectible that's a staple of every zelda game pre-botw is the heart piece. This is a quarter of a heart that will usually be sitting out somewhere in the open world or in a dungeon, and will require the player to either solve a puzzle or perform a specific action to get. botw is the first game to not include heart pieces... TECHNICALLY. but in practice, they're still there, just renamed. they're spirit orbs now, and rather than being hidden in puzzles within the overworld (with no explanation as to how or why they ended up there, mind you) they're hidden within shrines, and they're given a clear purpose for existing throughout hyrule and for requiring puzzle-solving skills to access. Functionally, these two items are exactly the same--it's an object that gives you an extra heart container once you collect four of them. no major difference beyond a reskin and renaming to make the object make sense within the greater world instead of just having a little ❤️ floating randomly in the middle of their otherwise hyperrealistic scenery. the heart piece vs spirit orb i think is a good microcosm of the "it's too different" criticisms of botw as a whole--is it ACTUALLY that different, or is it just repackaged in a way that doesn't make it immediately obvious what you're looking at anymore? I think it's worth noting that botw gives a narrative reason for that visual/linguistic disconnect from other games, too--it's set at minimum TEN THOUSAND YEARS after any other given game. while we don't have any concrete information about how much time passes between new-incarnation games, it's safe to assume that botw is significantly further removed from other incarnations of hyrule/link/zelda/etc than any other game on the timeline. It's not at all inconceivable within the context of the game that heart pieces may have changed form or come to be known by a different name. most of the changes between botw and other games can be reasoned away this way, because most of them have SOME obvious origins in a previous game mechanic, it's just been updated for botw's specific setting and narrative.

The dungeons ARE an actual departure from the classic formula, i will grant you. the usual way a zelda dungeon works is that link enters the dungeon, solves a few puzzles, fights a mini boss at about the halfway point, and after defeating the mini boss he gets a dungeon item which makes the second half of the dungeon accessible. He then uses that item in the dungeon's final boss fight, which is specifically engineered with that item in mind as the catalyst to win it. Botw's dungeons are the divine beasts. we've removed the presence of mini-bosses entirely, because the 'dungeon items' aren't something link needs to get within the dungeon itself--he alredy has them. they're the sheikah slate runes: magnesis, cryonis, stasis, and remote bombs. Each of the divine beast blight battles is actually built around using one of these runes to win it--cryonis to break waterblight's ice projectiles, magnesis to strike down thunderblight with its own lightning rods, remote bombs to take out fireblight's shield. (i ASSUME there's some way to use stasis effectively against windblight, mostly because it's obvious to me that that's how all the other fights were designed, but in practice it's the best strategy for that fight is to just slow down time via aerial archery, so i've never tried to win that way lol.) So even though we've removed traditional dungeon items and mini-boss fights, the bones of the franchise remain unchanged underneath. this is what makes botw such an ingenious move for this franchise imo; the fact that it manages to update itself into such a beautiful, engaging, MODERN game while still retaining the underlying structure that defines its franchise and the games that came before it. botw is an effective modern installment to this 30-year-old franchise because it takes what made the old games great and updates it in a way that still stays true to the core of the franchise.

I did mention totk in my opening paragraph and you mention it in your ask so i have to come back to it somehow. Do i think that totk did the gigantic-open-world thing as well as botw did? no. But i also don't really think there was any other direction to go with that game specifically. botw literally changed the landscape of game development when it was released. I KNOW you all remember how for a good year or two after botw's release, EVERY SINGLE GAME that came out HAD to have a massive open-world map, regardless of whether or not that actually made sense for that game. (pokemon is still suffering from the effects of that botw-driven open world craze to this day. rip scarlet/violet your gameplay was SUCH dogshit) I'm not sure to what degree nintendo and the botw devs anticipated that success, (I remember the open world and the versatility in terms of problem-solving being the two main advertising angles pre-release, but it's been 7 years. oh jesus christ it's been SEVEN YEARS. anyways) but in any case, there's basically NO WAY that they anticipated their specific gameplay style taking off to that degree. That's not something you can predict. When creating totk, they were once again walking that line between old and new, but because they were only 3ish years out from botw when totk went into development, they were REALLY under pressure to stay true to what it was that had made botw such an insane success. I think that's probably what led to the expanded map in the sky and depths as well as the fuse/build mechanics--they basically took their two big draws from botw, big map and versatility, and said ok BIGGER MAP and MORE VERSATILITY. Was this effective? yeah. do i think they maybe could have made a more engaging and well-rounded game if they'd been willing to diverge a little more from botw? also yeah. I won't say that I wanted totk to be skyward sword-style linear, because literally no one wanted that, but I do think that because of the insane wave of success that botw's huge open world brought in the developers were under pressure to stay very true to botw in their designing the gameplay of totk, and I think that both the gameplay and story might have been a bit more engaging if they had been allowed to experiment a little more in their delivery of the material.

[misshoneyimhome]

500 FOLLOWERS FESTIVAL

Cross me - “If you cross her, then you cross me” I Joel Farabee

Summary: You and Joel Farabee often clashed, but then one night he saw you in a new light. And when he stepped up to defend you, the shift in your relationship became undeniable.

Tropes & warnings: Joel Farabee x reader, enemies to lovers, reader working for the Flyers, protective!Joel, angry ex-boyfriend, Smut 18+; fingering, unprotected penetrative sex (p in v)

Other notes: Alrighty, babes! So, this one's for the anon who requested Joel Farabee smut 🤗 I have to admit, I wasn't too familiar with him at first, but I hope I've managed to capture his vibe just a little bit 🙈

Word count: 3.1K

➼｡ﾟ

The locker room was buzzing with post-match adrenaline. The Philadelphia Flyers had just secured a thrilling victory, and the air was electric with high-fives and laughter. Joel Farabee, however, couldn't shake off the nagging feeling of unfinished business. And as he pulled off his gear, his eyes drifted to the opposite corner of the room where you stood, talking animatedly with one of the coaches.

You were one of the team’s PR managers, brought in to shake up the Flyers' public image a couple of seasons ago. And from day one, you and Joel had clashed over every little detail—press releases, social media posts, interview schedules. It seemed like every interaction ended in an argument, a battle of wills that neither of you could back down from.

_

One particular incident still stood out in your memory. It was the day after a tough loss, and the tension in the locker room was palpable. You had drafted a press release to address the team's performance, emphasising their determination to bounce back stronger. Joel, however, had different ideas.

"Seriously? This makes us sound like we're begging for sympathy," Joel had said, holding up the draft with a scowl.

You crossed your arms, meeting his glare head-on. "It's called damage control, Joel. We need to show the fans that the team is resilient and committed to improving."

But he just shook his head, frustration etched across his features. "We need to be honest, not sugarcoat everything. The fans deserve better than empty platitudes."

"It's not about sugarcoating,” you sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose. “It's about maintaining a positive image and keeping morale up."

Joel stepped closer, his voice lowering but no less intense. "And it's my job to make sure we’re genuine. The guys don't need to be coddled. They need to feel the weight of their performance and come back fighting."

The argument went back and forth, neither of you willing to concede. Your voices rose, drawing the attention of some of the other players who exchanged wary glances but wisely stayed out of it.

Yet, finally, you threw your hands up in exasperation. "Fine. Let's just put out a bland, generic statement and see how that goes."

"It's not about being bland,” Joel's eyes flashed with irritation. “It's about being real. The fans can tell when we're faking it."

You bit back a retort, recognising that continuing the argument was futile. "We'll revise it together," you said through gritted teeth, barely managing to keep your tone professional. "But we need to find a balance."

Joel nodded curtly, still clearly annoyed but willing to cooperate. "Agreed."

_

But tonight, something was different. Joel noticed the way you winced as you moved, your usually bright eyes dulled with pain. 

His brow furrowed in concern. Although Joel wasn’t exactly sure why he cared so much, the thought of you being hurt made his chest tighten.

So, as the locker room began to empty out, he found himself walking towards you. You were packing up your things, your face set in a determined mask.

"Hey," he said, his voice softer than he intended. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

You looked up, surprise flickering in your eyes before they narrowed suspiciously. "What is it, Farabee? Need another fight to cap off your night?"

But Joel shook his head, taking a step closer. "Who did this to you?" he asked, his voice low and serious.

Your eyes widened in shock. "What are you talking about?"

"The way you're moving. You're hurt. Did someone do this to you?"

You glanced around, as if checking to see if anyone else was listening, then sighed. "It's nothing. Just a little accident. Nothing for you to worry about."

Yet, Joel's jaw clenched. "It is something if someone hurt you."

"Why do you even care, Joel?” your breath hitched at the intensity in his eyes. “We’re not exactly friends."

And with that, you dismissed him as you walked out, leaving Joel a little frustrated. All he wanted was to help, and yet you didn’t want to accept it. He stood there for a moment, watching you go, a mix of worry and helplessness churning inside him. He had never felt this protective before, and it frustrated him that you wouldn't let him in.

_

A few nights later, on a rare off night for the Flyers, the team decided to unwind at a popular downtown bar. The atmosphere was lively, with music thumping and laughter echoing from every corner. And naturally, Joel was there, enjoying the night with his teammates, yet his eyes kept drifting toward you. You were mingling with everyone, your laughter genuine as you joked with colleagues and team partners. It was a side of you he rarely saw, and for some unknown reason, it made him smile.

You had grown close to many of the team members over the past few months. Your hard work and dedication had earned their respect, and tonight was no exception. You moved through the crowd with ease, sharing stories and drinks, a welcome presence among the players and staff.

However, suddenly, the room's lighthearted mood shifted. And Joel noticed it immediately—your expression changed, your face paling as you glanced toward the entrance. Following your gaze, Joel's eyes landed on a man who had just walked in - your ex boyfriend.

His heart sank as he saw the fear and distress in your eyes, the way your shoulders tensed and your smile vanished. He had heard rumours but hadn't had the chance to ask you about it, yet he knew: your ex was the reason for your recent pain.

Joel’s protective instincts suddenly flared up.

Your ex then made a beeline toward you, his presence like a dark cloud interrupting the joyful atmosphere. You tried to maintain your composure, but Joel could see the tears welling up in your eyes, the knot in your chest tightening as your ex began shouting. His voice was loud, drawing attention from everyone around you. It was nothing but humiliating.

“You think you can ignore me?” your ex yelled, his face twisted with anger. “You’re coming home with me. NOW!”

You tried to speak, to tell him to leave you alone, but your voice caught in your throat. And as the bar fell silent, all eyes were on the unfolding drama.

But before you could say anything else, Joel suddenly stepped in. He moved swiftly, positioning himself between you and your ex. His expression was fierce, eyes locked onto the man in front of him.

"Maybe you should leave," Joel spoke firmly, his voice low but commanding.

Your ex sneered, clearly unimpressed. "You don’t get to tell me what to do. She thinks she can leave me? Well, she can’t. She’s coming home with me."

"No," Joel said simply, his tone unyielding. "If you cross her, then you cross me. And I don’t think you want that."

There was a tense silence as your ex seemed taken aback by Joel’s unwavering stance. He scoffed, about to retort when another voice joined in.

"Actually, you cross all of us," Sean Couturier said, the captain stepping up beside Joel. And then, one by one, more players moved to stand behind them, forming a protective wall between you and your ex.

The solidarity of the team was overwhelming. You had never expected anything like this—the entire team protecting you, with Joel at the front. It was both humbling and empowering.

Your ex looked around, realising he was outnumbered and outmatched. So, with a frustrated huff, he turned and stormed out of the bar.

The moment he was gone, you felt the knot in your chest begin to loosen. And then Joel turned to you, his expression softening. "You okay?"

You nodded, tears still brimming in your eyes but now for a different reason. "Thank you," you whispered, your voice shaky with gratitude. “So much.” 

Joel gave you a small, reassuring smile. "Always. If you ever need anything, I’m here."

The team dispersed back into the crowd, the incident already becoming part of the night’s stories. Yet, Joel stayed close to you for the rest of the evening, his presence a comforting reminder that you weren’t alone. And as the night wore on, the initial shock and embarrassment gave way to a growing sense of warmth and safety. Joel’s protectiveness, once a point of contention, now felt like an anchor.

And eventually, the two of you found a quieter corner of the bar, away from the bustling crowd. You sat together on a plush couch, the dim lighting creating an intimate atmosphere. Joel handed you a drink, and you took a sip, feeling the warmth spread through your chest.

"Are you really okay?" he asked, his eyes searching yours for any lingering pain.

You nodded, a small smile playing on your lips. "I am now. Thanks to you."

"I meant what I said," Joel's gaze softened as he gently tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. "If you ever need anything, I’m here."

You looked into his eyes, seeing a depth of sincerity that took your breath away. The tension between you shifted again, the space between you charged with a new energy. In that moment, you realised that the constant bickering had masked a deeper connection, one that was now impossible to ignore.

"Joel," you began, your voice barely above a whisper, "I never expected you to..."

"To care?" he finished for you, a half-smile playing on his lips.

You nodded, unable to tear your eyes away from his. "Yeah."

Joel leaned in closer, his hand still resting on your cheek. "Well, I do. More than I thought possible."

Your heart pounded in your chest, the world around you fading as you focused entirely on him. The warmth of his hand, the intensity in his gaze—it all drew you in, making it impossible to resist.

And just like that, as everything else fell away, you closed the distance between you, your lips meeting his in a gentle, tentative kiss. It was soft and sweet at first, a hesitant exploration of new territory. But as the seconds ticked by, the kiss deepened, fuelled by the unspoken emotions that had been building between you.

When you finally pulled away, both of you were breathless, your foreheads resting against each other. Joel’s thumb brushed your cheek, his touch sending shivers down your spine.

"Wow," you whispered, a smile spreading across your face.

Joel chuckled softly, his eyes sparkling with affection. "Yeah, wow."

You both sat there for a moment, savouring the new closeness and the promise of what could be. Yet, you yearned for more—a longing to feel more than just his lips on yours.

The bar's lively atmosphere buzzed around you, but all you could focus on was Joel. His presence was magnetic, drawing you in with every passing second. You didn't want this night to end, and the idea of parting ways now felt unbearable.

"I don’t want to go home alone," you admitted softly, looking up at him through your lashes.

Joel’s eyes darkened with understanding, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Neither do I."

You bit your lip, contemplating your next move. You didn’t want to seem too obvious, but the desire to continue this night with him was overwhelming. So, gathering your courage, you took his hand in yours, the simple touch sending a spark through your body.

“Come with me,” you whispered, your voice filled with both hope and anticipation.

Joel simply nodded, no hesitation in his eyes. “Lead the way.”

The walk to your place was filled with a comfortable silence, the night air cool against your flushed cheeks, as your hand remained in his, a steady anchor while you navigated through the city streets. And every so often, you’d steal a glance at him, the look of determination and tenderness in his eyes making your heart race.

Then when you finally reached your apartment, you fumbled with the keys, your nerves getting the better of you. But Joel’s hand on yours steadied your trembling fingers, and you managed to unlock the door, pushing it open with a sense of anticipation.

And as soon as the door closed behind you, the tension between you snapped. Joel’s hands were swiftly on your waist, forcefully pulling you close as his lips found yours once again. The kiss was more intense this time, fuelled by nothing but desire. You led him to the living room, your lips never parting, as your hands roamed every part of him.

But then you pulled back slightly, just enough to catch your breath, your forehead resting against his. “Joel,” you breathed, your voice filled with longing.

And he simply answered with another kiss, his hands roaming your back, pulling you even closer to his body. “I know,” he murmured against your lips. “Me too.” Then with a shared look of understanding, you led him further into your apartment, towards the bedroom.

The room fell hot almost immediately as neither of you wanted to waste any time undressing each other. With each kiss, every touch, friction caused sparks to fly as your mutual desire filled the air.

Joel’s fingers deftly unbuttoned your shirt, his lips trailing down your neck, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. You tugged at his shirt, pushing upwards and prompting him to pull it over his head, your hands eager to explore the muscles beneath. He then pulled your shirt off as well, his eyes darkening with desire as he took in the sight of you.

“You’re incredible,” he whispered, his voice husky.

Yet, you merely responded by pulling him closer, your hands tangling in his hair as you kissed him again. The world outside ceased to exist, and all that mattered was the two of you, lost in a whirlwind of passion and longing.

Joel’s hands slid down your back, the sensation of his touch on your bare skin making you shiver, your body reacting to his touch with a fervour you’d never experienced before. So, you quickly worked on unbuttoning his trousers, your fingers trembling with anticipation.

And as your clothes fell to the floor, you both moved towards the bed, the longing building with every step. The sheets felt cool against your heated skin as Joel lowered you onto the mattress, his naked body pressing against yours. His kisses became more urgent, his hands exploring every inch of you, igniting a fire that burned brighter with each touch.

Your hands roamed his back, feeling the strength of his muscles as he moved against you. Every kiss, every caress was a declaration of the connection you’d both been too stubborn to acknowledge until now.

Then Joel’s lips found yours again, the kiss deepening as he settled between your legs. His hand then gently snaked between your bodies, tracing soft trails over your smooth skin until he found your core.

You arched into him, your body craving more as the heat between you was almost unbearable. And effortlessly, he allowed two fingers to gently enter you, exploring your heat and tight muscles, stretching you with every slow pump. His name escaped your lips in a breathless whisper, your fingers digging into his shoulders as he responded with a low growl of desire.

“Joel,” you moaned softly, feeling the arousal build within as he moved his fingers a little faster. You were completely soaked, making it effortless for him to massage your core.

But both of you also felt the impatience for a rush take over. Despite how good it felt having Joel stimulating you, you needed more. You craved him inside you.

And Joel was feeling the same arousal burning within him, his hardness throbbing, already dripping with pre-cum as he too felt the need to feel you around him.

So, gently withdrawing his fingers, causing you to let out another soft moan, he then lined the tip of his length with your entrance. And with a determined and passionate push, he let himself enter you completely.

“Oh yes…” he moaned deeply as your tight walls wrapped around him, hugging him tightly. “Fuck, you feel so good.”

You could barely respond, only a mix of gasps and moans escaping your lips as he began to rock his hips, his length filling you up and hitting your sensitive spot repeatedly. 

It felt nothing but amazing as the two of you made passionate love, your bodies melting together in sync.

Joel picked up the pace, settling into a steady rhythm that felt natural yet dangerously arousing. The night became a blur of passion and sensation, as your bodies moved together in perfect harmony. 

Every touch brought you closer, the intensity of your connection growing with each passing moment. It was as if all the arguments, all the tension had been leading to this, a culmination of the unspoken feelings that had been simmering beneath the surface.

“Mmm…” you bit your lip as you felt the rush beginning to course through you, knowing that it wouldn’t be long if he kept up the speed. “Joel… I’m… I’m close.”

But your moans and words only spurred Joel on, as he felt his own climax approaching, making him unable to hold back. The feeling of you around him was simply incredible, and though he didn’t want the pleasure to end so soon, the urge for a release overcame him.

And when your nails dug deeper into his skin, your walls clenching around his sensitive member, neither of you could hold back your climaxes. Letting out louder moans, sounds of pleasure echoing through the room, you both gave into the intensity and pushed each other over the edge together.

“Fuck…” Joel grunted deeply as he released himself into you.

“Fuck indeed,” you breathed out panting for air, your eyes shut as you slowly came down from the high that had consumed your mind completely.

Joel lay still for a moment, allowing himself to relax while still inside you, feeling your muscles pulsating around him. It had been intense, yet nothing but pure pleasurable. And the smiles slowly creeping on your lips signalled the rush you were both feeling.

Then Joel gently withdrew, and when you finally lay together, tangled in each other’s arms, the world outside still and silent, you knew that everything had changed. Joel’s hand traced lazy circles on your arm, his breath warm against your skin.

“You know,” he murmured, a smile in his voice, “I think we make a pretty good team.”

You laughed softly, the sound filled with contentment. “Yeah, we do.”

You looked up at him, your eyes meeting his in the dim light. There was a tenderness there, a promise of something more, something deeper than just a fleeting moment of passion.

And as you drifted off to sleep in Joel’s arms, you couldn’t help but feel that this was the beginning of something new—something better, something real.

[datvtranscripts]

Signs and Portents Deleted Dialogue

In Entropy’s Grasp: Banter

Dialogue is sorted in scene order to the best of my ability.

Signs and Portents Masterpost

—

Harding: So what're you doing out here?

Neve: So, what brings you to these woods?

Bellara: I'm looking for something. Specifically, the artifact making this bubble. Though it just started doing that.

Rook: Why that one?

Bellara: Because it has a weird resonance. One I haven't seen before. And so it doesn't tear reality apart. 'Cause that would be bad.

—

Harding: More demons. Great.

Neve: Oh, good. More demons.

Rook: Yeah, but no Venatori. That's something, at least.

—

Rook: Two.

Harding: What's that?

Neve: "Two" what?

Rook: Just counting the number of times I've been sucked into the Fade today.

Bellara: We're not in the Fade. We're beside it. Technically.

Rook: Got it. So one-and-a-half, then.

—

Rook: What is all this?

Bellara: It focuses magic. Big rings to the little rings, and little rings to the building. Less magic used. But same amount of power.

Rook: And the things you could do with that kind of power…

Rook: First time I've seen something like this.

Rook: You know, I almost understood that.

—

Rook: So whose temple was this?

Bellara: Oh! Did I say temple? Less a temple, more a workshop. Kind of.

Rook: What kind of workshop?

Bellara: Not sure. But we'll see when we go inside! Isn't it exciting?

Harding: That's one way to look at it.

Neve: Not the word I'd have chosen.

—

Rook: How does this work?

Bellara: There should be… something. Some way to make a bridge. Keep an eye out for artifacts.

—

Bellara: Okay! Give me a minute. Gotta deactivate this. Keep the demons off me! Should be okay.

Harding: I definitely like her optimism.

Neve: She’s certainly optimistic.

—

Bellara: Shit. That's not good.

Rook: What's wrong?

Bellara: Oh, this artifact. It's not working. Broken.

Harding: So, what now?

Neve: All right. So what now?

Bellara: We look for the next artifact. There's always a next one.

—

Rook: Another one of those things.

Harding: Same dance as before?

Neve: Same deal as last time?

Bellara: Yep! Almost certainly more demons.

Rook: Who doesn't love a routine?

—

Bellara: Damn. Broken.

Rook: On to the next one?

Bellara: Yep! Let's hope enough of them are still working.

—

Rook: And another one.

Harding: I'd like to be done with demons.

Neve: Fingers crossed. We've had enough demons for one day.

Bellara: Believe me, I hear you.

—

Harding: We're pretty high up, aren't we?

Neve: We're some ways off the ground, aren't we?

Bellara: Hard to tell. In a reality distortion, I mean. Up and down don't mean as much.

Rook: So if one of us falls off…

Bellara: You might fall forever! Or immediately hit the ground at full speed.

Harding: Oh. Good.

Neve: Now there's a fun coin toss.

—

Bellara: One time, I fought an ogre in a reality distortion. It charged me. Missed. Then fell right off a cliff.

Harding: Oof. Did it…?

Neve: Lucky break for you.

Bellara: It stopped falling. Then it exploded. Pretty violently. Lots—and I mean lots—of little pieces. All over the place.

Harding: Mmm. Wonderful.

Neve: Well, that's… dramatic.

—

Bellara: Good idea. Otherwise it'll spoil.

Rook: Sorry, what was that?

Bellara: Right. Other people. I'm used to talking to myself. Not a lot of company.

Harding: What did you think was a good idea?

Neve: Fair enough. So what was the good idea?

Bellara: Oh! Supper. I decided I was going to have the smoked fish tonight.

—

Bellara: Almost there. Should be the last one.

Harding: Oh, thank goodness. I'm not designed for climbing. At least, not this kind.

Neve: Good. More than enough climbing for one day.

—

Rook: Another eluvian.

Bellara: This one's broken, though. Completely. Looks like it was smashed on purpose.

Harding: Why would anyone do that?

Neve: So the question is why.

Bellara: Keep people from coming in? Or from getting out.

—

Neve: That armor. What was it for?

Harding: What was that armor for?

Bellara: Not sure. But it was infused with spirit magic of some kind. Still a little bit left. Reminds me of the Sentinels. At least a little bit.

—

Bellara: And… there we go! Oh! And it worked. Good.

Neve: So there was a chance it wouldn't. Bellara: Oh, always. No one really knows how all of this works. We're just guessing.

Harding: Wait, you weren't sure? Bellara: With this stuff? Never. At least, not completely sure.

—

Bellara: There we go. It's fixed! Hmm… Not doing anything, though. Guess we need an energy source.

Rook: And where do we find that?

Bellara: Thought I saw one? Nearby, I mean. Let's go looking.

—

Bellara: Okay. This one's missing an energy source, too.

Rook: So let's go find one. Should be nearby, right?

Harding: I've been keeping an eye out, but I haven't seen one. Bellara: Well, it has to be somewhere. I hope. Let's go looking for it.

Neve: Can't be the worst odds, given the number we've seen to this point. Bellara: I hope so! We'll go looking. I bet we find it right away.

—

Bellara: And there we go! Easy. Okay. On to the next one!

—

Bellara: Done. Took a while, but we did it! Let's keep going!

—

Bellara: I don't know. Things have been bad here for a while, but… something's changed. The magic's stronger.

Harding: How?

Neve: You don't say. Any theories about why?

Bellara: One of the Evanuris, maybe? They'd be powerful enough to cause those ripples. But they're supposed to be locked up. I mean, you hear talk of Fen'Harel, but still.

Rook: Right. Locked up. Definitely.

—

Rook: So… this is awkward, but we might know why the magic's stronger.

Harding: Uh, short version: We ruined Fen'Harel's ritual, and now the Evanuris are out.

Neve: The Evanuris have escaped. Or so we're told.

Bellara: Oh! Okay. That makes sense.

Rook: You aren't surprised? Even a little bit?

Bellara: Things have been weird for a while. I figured something was changing. Now I know what. Or, I guess, "who."

—

Bellara: Hard to say! Everything the ancient elves built was fancy.

—

Bellara: Hmm. We'll need to find a way to the center.

—

Bellara: Damn! Sentinels! We'll have to fight our way through them.

Harding: Good thing I brought spare arrows, huh?

Neve: Oh, sure! Ready if you are.

—

Harding: That looks like a Grey Warden ballista.

Neve: Is that a Grey Warden ballista? ㅤㅤ ㅤ

Grey Warden Rook: It is. Reasonably new one, too.

Rook: I think it is.

Bellara: Sometimes things just… show up in these Veil bubbles.

—

Bellara: First barrier down! Two more to go.

—

Bellara: Try using that ballista against the demons!

—

Rook: Is this wobbling? I feel like it's wobbling.

Bellara: Ooh! I'm getting that tingly feeling in my legs.

Rook: This seems a little unsafe!

Bellara: Definitely, definitely, do not look down!

—

Bellara: More sentinels! Let's take care of them quickly.

—

Harding: So is it normal for ruins to float in Arlathan?

Neve: Huh. So the ruins here float.

Bellara: Oh, no. This is new.

Harding: So you're saying they could stop floating?

Neve: Ah. And if they stop floating?

Bellara: Umm. Well…

Rook: Oh, good.

—

Bellara: Okay! That's the second one. One more to go.

—

Bellara: That's the last one. Should be clear to the artifact.

—

Harding: Oh, look at that stained glass. It's beautiful!

Neve: The stained glass—now that's pretty.

Bellara: It is! But it's not glass.

Rook: How can you tell?

Bellara: Doesn't break when you hit it. Trust me.

—

Rook: So how exactly do we shut down that artifact?

Bellara: Gotta make it to the center first. Which means disabling the rings.

Harding: How do we do that?

Neve: Right. And how do we do that?

Bellara: The resonance amplifiers keep the rings spinning. Shut those down, and the rings should shut down, too.

—

Bellara: Oh! No, we can make a bridge. See that artifact? Bring that crystal over here and slot it in!

—

Bellara: There. Exactly what we needed. Once I change the polarity, the rings should stop moving.

Harding: But…?

Neve: Right. And the part we won't like?

Bellara: It's going to attract demons. A lot of them. So. Be ready for that!

—

Rook: Oh, good—giant wolf statues. Like we haven't seen enough wolves today.

Bellara: What's wrong with wolves?

Rook: Wolves, generally? No problem. Just not really a fan of this specific wolf.

—

Bellara: Hmm. Door needs a second energy source to open. Look around. It has to be here somewhere.

—

Bellara: Okay. This bridge is going to be a little trickier. We'll need to move some crystals around. Get two on the bridge. Gotta be a way to make it work…

[vitanithepure]

Gale's romance

To absolutely nobody's surprise I am back with my thoughts about Gale and I am honestly surprised how many of you still follow me and interact with what I have to say, love you all so much 😭

Again, a freaking long one (over 1200 words, I wrote fanfics shorter than this...), but I need to get it all out of my system to properly function. Of course spoilers for Gale's story and a bit of the main storyline.

First of all - his introduction. Not less of a jump-scare, but somehow this one seemed to fit him better? He doesn't come out of the portal and begin judging our capabilities, instead we help him out, and if anything - I felt an instant level of sympathy for the wizard falling face first on the ground straight out of an unstable portal.

His bashful "I'm usually better at this."? It just served to even out the field and I love it. I was literally sitting there grinning at the screen and thinking "oh, how the mighty have fallen" :D

We still get all the talks known from EA (apart from the failed spell one? Did anyone manage to trigger it? Did they remove it?), so I won't be going over them again, because there is still a lot of new stuff to go through. Although they seem to fire up differently and it makes Gale seem a lot more considerate. Sure, at first he still hides the exact reasons and I still think it's understandable. In my playthrough he brought up his orb problem on the road, in front of the others with us claiming we need to know about it. 

He even leaves us the decision if we want him to stay or not, but we cherish this man in this house, so I have no idea what goes down if and how he leaves. Not really interested in learning that, too.

Him showing us the Weave was as wonderful as it used to, didn't notice any changes here, then again - why change something that just…works? And now, in hindsight, I cannot help but see how it sets the tone for the whole relationship with him, be it romantic or otherwise. He shows you this part of him he loves, tries to show because even he, with all his eloquence, cannot find the right words to express what magic means to him.

I feel as if he was not expecting much from it, judging by the mumbling, adorable mess we made of him just imagining a walk, hand in hand. As we learn later (much later, but I think it's important to mention it here) he never considered being this close to anyone after the orb fiasco. Not because he still loves Mystra but rather he realizes how much of a risk it brings. He himself calls himself a "menace" and that, for me, speaks volumes about his character. 

Ok, now onto the new parts, previously unavailable in the EA. 

I mentioned my reaction after the first talk with Elminster in another post, but I'll say it again: fuck Mystra. 

I was worried that there might not be a way to rid Gale of this cursed orb, I was bracing for the possibility that there might not be a happily-ever-after here. Because he seemed set on going along with Mystra's wishes, and I felt bad for standing between the man and his honest faith. Misguided, not fanatical, just honest faith.

I was thinking "yeah, this will probably happen at the end of the game, we'll cross that bridge when we get there". BUT… one moment we are fighting Kethric Thorm and the next Gale is ready to sacrifice himself. "Wait, it's too soon, it can't end like this, WHAT THE HELL is going on?" 

"Fun" fact? Gale can really do it from what I saw and it just… ends the game right there and then. I am not ever going to even consider that a viable option, for anyone. It just makes me sick thinking about it in hindsight.

So yeah, no, sorry Mystra, we are not going along with your stupid plan. It really feels like he went along with it in a shell shock state through the whole act II of the story and it made me feel so bad for him. Gale felt like a complete shadow of himself since his first talk with Elminster.

Can you look me in the eye and with a straight face tell me a man ready to die makes a whole fucking illusionary world for just the two of you, shows you his home, his safe place, tells you he loves you and gives you his all? Yeah, yeah, you can tell me "he doesn't want to regret anything", but that's the point! He already regrets so much, and that means he is not ready to become vapor!

So, in the style of Meredith Grey, we go all in with "choose me" and…wow, does he ever. It was like a switch went off, Gale instantly is back to his old self, already having a plan to make it all work. A terrible idea, worthy of the 10 wisdom stat, mind you, but an idea still.

Of course in the meantime we get another visit from Elminster, who drops a few - actually good! - words of wisdom Gale's way and says Mystra wants to talk. Of-fucking-course she wants to, her pet refused to die and she can't fathom why.

I know the talk can go differently depending on what you suggest him to say, I don't know if we can skip the talk altogether and what are the consequences of that, but on my first playthrough I actually encouraged him to seek forgiveness and the talk went… fucking awful if you ask me. Is there a honest to god good way to do this talk? 

Hated it when Mystra went all "oh yes, now that you are alive I'm not taking care of your orb until I send you on yet another suicide run, but don't worry - I believe in you, 'kay-thanks-bye!"

I guess this is faith for you - everything becomes a trial for it.

Moving on! The first big romance scene for act III of the story left me in emotional shambles.

In this moment Gale knows he wants to do *everything* and *anything* for us. He wants to gain power for us, to give us everything we deserve because if he gave Mystra his all he won't be holding back for us. And when we say we don't want it… you can see how absolutely devastated he is - up until he hears what we are really telling him.

"You are already everything I need you to be."

God, the animation here was so amazing, you can practically see the moment realization strikes him. He can live without Mystra, he can live without power, but he can't live without you. That he matters to someone, not for what he can do, but just… for him. And he was never loved that way, he himself says that, much to the dismay of my bleeding heart.

And that is that! Our story with Gale ends here, without a bang, but that is good. Gale is no longer the man he used to be, his ambitions now centered around a happy life with us. And I'm all giddy and teary-eyed for him. 

Mind you, the ending felt…rushed? But perhaps that's just me not ready to say goodbye after all this? The game ending is a dash of adrenaline and I felt like there was just not enough time to unwind after. Guess I need to headcanon the rest ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Either way, if you managed to stay to this point - a big thank you for reading!

[0nlythrowharrybeaux]

Can we please please get more with your Magnetic series! So goodddd

Hi! Sure 😁 I can do little check ins for them! Feel free to send in any requests for anything specific you’d like to see from this pair! In the meantime here's this little thing:)

If you haven’t read the fics you can find them here!

It had been nearly two months since you and Harry got together, but you kept it on the down low because you both expected that his ex would immediately alert the media in one way or another. Only your families and closest friends knew that you were together. You really were just waiting for the other shoe to drop shortly after the break up but it never came.

Harry had been working on an album quietly for a while that was going to be released soon. So Jeffrey and Tommy had also been hoping the news would drop quickly so that it wouldn't impact the press release for his music. When they had run the completed album by the label they decided on a release date for the single and it would be dropping soon so that they could release the full album in time for the Grammy nominations is what Harry was sharing with you at the moment as you got ready for bed.

"-so we're releasing the first single on Friday, the second one at the end of the month and the album in August." he shared as he got his moisturizer on and you hummed in response with a distant gaze. "What?" he asked you and you bit your lip nervously.

"I just have an awful feeling about this, H." you explained and he frown.

"About what?"

"She's waiting for you to do something to talk about the infidelity. She's going to ruin your album drop." you said and he frowned.

"You think so?" he asked with concern and you nodded.

"I think she will. Based on what you told me about how you two left things, I mean...she has a lot of contempt for you. And like...obviously, we made a mistake, there's no escaping that fact. So I think you should prepare for your music release but also for an apology tour." you said and he sighed.

"I don't think I need to address it or defend myself. It's no one's business." he said with a resolute shrug of his shoulders.

"I know it's not, baby. But if it's made public then you owe it to the people who support you to be accountable for your actions, Harry." you said and he sighed before biting on the inside of his cheek pensively. "You're human. You're allowed to make mistakes." you reminded.

"I know that."

"Then what's the problem?"

"What if everyone hates me after that? Like...I don't want to disappoint or hurt anyone."

"Well that's unrealistic." you said simply and he smiled a bit, "And well, at the end of the day those people don't know who you are in here." you said as you placed a palm over his heart. "They don't know how or why you do the things you do or how you think. And honestly, isn't it just more refreshing when people are forthright about their mistakes?"

"Okay, but ummm...what about you? What if everyone turns on you. It's happened before with people I've been with, where they've been villainized for being with me. Especially, if they really liked the person I was with previously." he explained and you smiled.

"Well, we'll cross that bridge if we come to it. And well, I love you and you love me. We make each other happy. I mean, if things go to shit then...at least we have each other." you shrugged and he smiled.

"Right." he confirmed. "I just need you to know that if things come to that, I need you to know that I don't regret anything. You make me so fucking happy. I love you in ways I never knew were possible and I couldn't ask for a better partner." he said sweetly as he ran his thumbs over the apples of your cheeks.

"I love you so much." you whispered happily.

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

Just as you thought, the day after Harry had released his first single an "anonymous source" dropped the story to TMZ about how Harry had cheated on his ex-girlfriend with none other than Rob Stringer's niece. Your family and close friends knew about it already but were still rocked by the information going public. Obviously, the information wasn't all that detailed because she didn't know how many times you two had slept together, but because you were pictured at his show in Reggio everyone assumed it had started then. That wasn’t necessarily wrong, but everyone just thought he had been cheating the whole time and it was hard. You could see how it affected him to see what people were thinking of him and especially you. But you just wanted to protect him so badly but it was all out in the open now and there was nothing you could really do about it until he got his chance to address it. You knew he didn't expect you to be strong about it because what some people were saying was rather hurtful, but you wanted to be for him. You were okay though because at the end of everything it was still you and him together and that was all you cared about.

The night before his interview with Zane Lowe, Harry hardly slept a wink. He spent half the night in his home studio where the interview would be taking place until you coaxed him to at least come lay down while you talked through things. You talked with him about all of his fears and concerns, you went through the pre-approved interview questions about the affair portion of your relationship and by the time it was 7am and everyone arrived to set up you had only slept maybe 2 hours, so you were exhausted, but ready to just get this over it.

Zane was the most kind man. He was also very cordial with Harry, they weren't friends per se, but they emailed each other on birthdays and things like that. Harry trusted him; he was intelligent, articulate and genuine. You didn't talk to him all that much as you were fluttering about taking coffee orders to call them in and pick up the breakfast sandwiches you had ordered the day prior. You were just about to grab Jeffrey who agreed to help you. When you approached, the four of them were sitting in your living room discussing Childish Gambino's new album animatedly. You were smiling as you walked up while watching Harry discuss the final track, "Final Church", with Tommy. He was radiating so much passion, it made your heart flutter and you remembered why you were so in love with him. He just loved engaging, feeling, and living. He was so good at being present and was teaching you how to be the same, so immersed in every moment that you couldn't help but be grateful for existing.

Zane just took a moment to just observe as you stood there and admired Harry with literal hearts in your eyes. The second you stopped before him, he immediately turned to look at you with a matching gaze. But more than that, there was an immediate warm and happy feeling that started overtaking the air around you. After a moment of holding each other's gaze Harry's smile had his eyes crinkling as he reached out towards your hand.

"Hiya, angel." he greeting you sweetly and you glanced away timidly, locking eyes with Zane for a second before feeling your face start to heat up before looking back at harry.

"Hi." you peeped out, "Ummm, I've got everyone's order in. We're gonna run and grab the sandwiches and then the coffees." you informed.

"Alright." he nodded as he pushed himself up to stand, "Be safe out there." he mumbled as you hugged and then he pulled back and pecked your lips, "Need you around. Forever." he said through a smile before pecking your lips again.

"Forever." you responded quietly through a smile. Seconds later you and Jeffrey were off.

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

After everyone had their breakfast it was time to get started. Harry wanted you and his managers in the room for the interview. So you just sat off-camera but still within his view. You could see that he was tense as the camera crew finished getting settled and moments later the director was counting down for them to start.

Harry was completely honest when Zane asked him how he was doing. He said that he was feeling a lot of things through a nervous chuckle. He was happy with his life and his music, but nervous with everything else going on in the media. In an acknowledgement to that, Zane decided to start with the music first. The things that Harry really wanted to talk about and share with his fans. As always, there was excellent conversation revolving the album, as Zane had already gotten to hear it.

"Genuinely, this is some of your most honest work yet." Zane said and Harry smiled a bit and nodded, "And it almost seems like...there's two versions of you writing in here. Almost like a call and response thing." he pointed out and Harry nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose that's a good way to explain it." he chuckled nervously, already knowing where this line of questioning would lead. You watched him as he started to bounce his knee a bit. You wished you could just walk over there and encourage him for a moment.

"Yeah, that's what it seems like to me. But surprisingly it's not necessarily conflicting. It's more like dialoging. Like you're trying to...come to terms with yourself."

"Yeah, I think it was something like that."

"Are you still feeling that now?" he asked and Harry shook his head with a small smile.

"Thankfully, not." he confirmed as he glanced down into his lap. It was odd for him because he was one to hold eye contact all the time, all the way through.

"I think you might know where I'm going with this." Zane said with a smile, "I'm no gossip reporter, but in hearing you bearing your heart like this in your music and then seeing what was apparently going on in the background. It just...makes sense. You know?"

"Yeah." Harry hummed. There was a moment of silence.

"I know there's been some pretty...harsh things thrown around and I can imagine it's hard when you're also trying to celebrate what you've done with this new project..." Harry nodded, "So...How are you?" Zane asked and Harry sighed before biting his lip and glancing up at Zane.

"Can we take a short break?" he asked and Zane nodded.

"Of course." he said and you immediately stood and walked over to him. He stood up and hugged you tight as he exhaled shakily.

"You're alright, baby. S'alright." you hummed. "Hey, look at me." you said and he pulled further back. "I love you."

"Love you." he whispered.

"Just take ownership." You said and he nodded. "You don't have to go into any the details."

"Right." he hummed, "I'm glad it was you." he said and you smiled.

"I love you, H."

"I love you too, angel." he whispered before hugging you close again for a few moments.

"You've got this." you encouraged him with a small smile. "I'll be right over there." you assured and he nodded.

Moments later you were back in your seat and they were getting started again. And Harry shared about how he'd been. How he was just sad over what people were saying about you more than the things about him. But that overall he was feeling happier than he had in a while.

"I think it's always interesting how split people always seem to be. Some people defend your happiness and others kind of villainize you to the extreme." he said and Harry nodded.

"Yeah, that can happen." he said with a sad smile. "Clearly we did a bad thing. I did a bad thing. There's not denying that." he said, "But I can't say it was a mistake. The heart wants what it wants and at the end of the day I had to follow where my heart was taking me." he said and Zane smiled.

"I must say, seeing you with Y/N is very telling. Just in being around you, I can feel the affection for each other oozing from you two." he said and Harry smiled bashfully.

"Yeah...I'm so lucky to have her love me back. She makes me so happy." he smiled as he glanced over to you off camera and you smiled back.

"And how's it been for her?"

"Hard. But she's kept her head up more than I have. She's been really supportive and graceful through all of it." he said with a smile. "It's just sad to see people rip into her as if any of this were solely her fault." Zane nodded at Harry's response.

"There are a lot of people out there right now saying you don't deserve to be happy after hurting someone like that. Do you have any thoughts about that? Do you think you deserve to be as happy as you are?" he asked and Harry sighed before crossing one leg over the other.

"Well... to me, it's not about what I do or don't deserve. The fact is that I get to choose who I love. I'm just a person like everyone else, I can make that decision with or without anyone else's approval. So I'm with Y/N to stay. I'm in this and I couldn't be happier with that decision." he smiled simply before looking over at you off-camera again and you were already returning his smile.

When it was all over Harry felt lighter. You had been right about this interview. As scary as this was for him to say these things on camera, all that mattered was that at the end of everything you had chosen each other and no matter how the general public perceived this, the people that mattered the most knew everything and still showered you with their love and support. They saw every day how your love made you both step into the best versions of yourself and at the end of the day that's what it was all about, finding a partner to grow through life with. And well, you couldn't have asked for a better person to share this all with.

[itjazzbicch]

Biker Prince Charming

Pairing:  Shinichiro Sano x GangLeader!Fem Reader 

First time writing for Shinichiro, so I hope I did well! 

Summary: After high school, the reader creates her own gang to create a statement and makes a big name for the gang, and when her crew crosses paths with Shiniciro's gang, she reveals to Shinichiro that she is the leader, making him wonder and need to know how she changed and wants to fix it...

Warnings:  Swearing, mentions of past bullying, depression implied on the reader

Word Count: 1.2k 

"You just wait, you suckers! Our boss will be here any second!"

The only thing that my first division captain told me was that someone crossed into our territory, her vice-captain gave them a beating, and one of them escaped to get back up.

It wasn't like we were newbies around town, so only an idiot would come over to our side in the city.

"Listen, I'm not the kind of guy to fight girls," That voice. Shinichiro. "I just want to talk to your boss and work this out. Alright? Who is your boss, anyhow?"

Excessive bullying led me to create a gang full of girls to show these douchebag guys that we girls were strong too.

"Why, that would be me," Smiling at Shinichiro at the top of some steps in the alley, he was astonished.

We were childhood friends, and I understood why he was so shocked. Shinichiro knew how timid I once was, standing up to people who bullied me, always trying to make me smile. There was no denying that we had a strong friendship.

"Shinichiro, I had no idea this was their territory!" That guy that my girls took down looked like gangs were new to him.

"Bet you know now, huh?" One of my girls laughed at him, kicking some dirt at him, but stood straight at the sound of my command:

"Cut it out. Now."

Everyone in the alley stayed silent, eyes on me while I stood next to the street sign by the stairs with our emblem spray painted on it.

"See that, rookie?" Talking to the beaten-up guy on the ground, he watched me, learning and understanding, "That's our emblem. You see this somewhere? Get the hell out. Almost every gang around here will beat the crap out of you just for crossing territories."

He only nodded, scurrying away from my gang, hiding behind Shinichiro, who was still staring at me in disbelief.

"I'm fine with letting this go, Shinichiro, but it won't happen again," So much for Shinichiro wanting to talk to me, walking up the steps, not bothering to look, I commanded to my gang, "And girls, we'll discuss this tomorrow. I don't want to hear about any other bullshit tonight."

"Yes, Boss!' They all acknowledged and then parted ways.

I took my time up the stairs, pausing when I heard footsteps behind me.

"We still need to talk, Y/N."

Now, Shinichiro wanted to talk since everyone was gone. Of course.

"Then talk," I spat, not even bothering to look at him.

"What happened to you?" He couldn't get over the fact that what he was seeing from me was reality, "You're the Leader of that crazy chick gang? Really?"

"No shit. You just saw," Turning my head and beaming an eye at him, I lost my patience a long time ago, continuing to be straightforward, "So, if you want to talk, talk."

It was evident that he needed some time to process what just happened, thinking quickly and then offering:

"Meet me at our spot, and we can talk in a bit? I need a second. I can't believe this shit."

That made me laugh, finishing my walk up the stairs:

"You're not the first to say that to me. We're not kids anymore, Shinichiro. A lot has changed, but it's whatever. I'll see you later."

With my motorcycle at the top of the stairs, I kept laughing at him. He looked dumb standing there so puzzled, making my bike roar before I took off.

Shinichiro and I used to hang out when we could under a bridge on the far side of the city. I liked to go at night because you could see the shoreline from there and the sunsets were always beautiful.

Sure enough, when sunset rolled around, I drove over and found Shinichiro putting out his kickstand:

"Perfect timing, huh?"

"I guess so," I sighed, parking and slouching back on my bike, "So, you finally gonna speak your mind now that it's just us."

"Yeah," He murmured, still thinking and admitting, "I think it's pretty cool that there's a gang full of girls out here kicking ass. Talk about girl power."

"Your buddy learned that pretty well today," I laughed softly, explaining, "Some of my girls are crazy."

"I saw," Feeling his eyes on me, I knew he would start asking questions and spark a long talk, "But you know none of my guys would hit a girl. Why do you guys go and-"

"Don't even," I snapped, sitting up and glaring at him, "We don't just go and start fights with everyone we see. As Leader, I will admit my girls thought it'd be fun to pick on some dummy today. But you saw how they instantly shut up and stayed still when I told them to. Didn't you?"

Nodding to answer my question, I continued to show how I ran things in my gang:

"They did it because they knew they messed up, and I don't mess-ups. I'm ripping them a new one tomorrow at our meeting. You need to realize I'm not to be pushed. So, if you're trying to push my buttons, leave."

"No, Y/N," Turning to me, there was hurt in his voice, leaning to me and reminiscing, "What happened to the sweet girl that I knew?"

"She died," I said with no emotion, staring back into his eyes, "She's gone."

"Naw," Shaking his head, determination in his voice, "I can bring her back to life."

I wasn't ready to tell him why I felt I died inside and drastically changed, throwing another smart remark, "Yeah, right. Good luck with that."

"Think I won't try?" He always had good intentions and was trying to help, being bold by guiding me off my bike, keeping an arm around me, "I'm cool with being your knight in a leather jacket who rides a motorcycle."

I couldn't stand the charm he had, how cute his smile was, it almost made me fall, but I caught myself, straightening my posture, whispering dominantly:

"I don't need a knight when I don't need to be saved. You're making me think you're jealous because we both know no one would stop talking about you if you picked me up."

"I'd give up my whole gang just to save you and have you," Shinichiro's words took me aback because he wasn't a liar, needing my all to hide my emotions as his came out, "I can see it in your eyes. I can see the hurt. You know you have me, don't you?"

"I told you," Having to turn away, I got back on my bike, starting the engine, "People change. You think I need saved? I only realized who I really am."

"Come on, Y/N," My words hurt him, going to say more till I reached in my pocket, wrote on a small piece of paper on top of my thigh, then handed it to him.

"Look, I'm not completely heartless," I sighed, looking away while handing him my number, "There's my new number. Maybe we can hang out sometime, but no more, biker prince charming, shit."

That managed to put a smile on his face as he accepted it, getting on his bike too, trying to spend some more time together:

"A least go for a ride with me before you go? We can even race if you think you can."

He was a bit confused as to why I was laughing like a psycho, not knowing the power my bike had, having to tease him again as I blasted off, screaming at him:

"You don't stand a chance against the boss, pretty boy!' 

2023 �� itjazzbicch — do not repost or translate my work. Likes, reblogs, and comments are always welcome. 

[hils79]

Hils Watches Lovely Runner - Ep 1

Time to start a new drama and this is another one I found via gifs on @sarah-yyy's blog, which is usually a good sign of quality :D

I love starting a new drama. Is this going to ruin my life (positive) or ruin my life (negative). Only time will tell.

Wow this is the most awkward radio call ever. I have no idea how radio shows in Korea work but surely they'd do some sort of screening before having an idol call a random woman who can't walk and offering her running shoes as a prize. I don't blame her at all for being pissed off.

Also, this wasn't what I was expecting from the synopsis. I thought she was the sunshine one and he was the angsty one. Well, we'll see what happens I guess.

Oh no he's a sweetheart and I'm crying already. This does not bode well for the rest of the drama

Looks like my bedroom 😅

I realise that as someone who is also fannish I probably have a skewed view of things but I was freaking out on her behalf when I found it this belonged to her idol and people kept playing with it.

Holy shit that's nearly £2k no wonder she was freaking out

Oh, now he's the tired and angsty one. So I'm guessing since he saved her when she was ready to end it all now she's going to save him. I really feel like I've seen him in something before but there's nothing I've seen on his MDL page. Maybe it's just because he actually looks like an idol.

Oh no she's me

I love her

So the boy she had a crush on when she was in school got kicked out for fighting after her accident. I smell a love triangle...

Unrealistic because she was running late and the merch hasn't already sold out

Um...no?

Ah, so when she said she was late she meant fannish late not actual late. But come on, if that company doesn't respect your free time before you've even started working for them they def won't if you get an internship with them

So they don't value her time and they don't work in an accessible building. Fuck them, honestly.

Admittedly I've never been to a kpop concert but that can't be a thing, surely. We got stuck in the snow on the way to a hockey game once and no one cared that we showed up halfway through the game

Oh no and she lost her ticket. I mean that's on her I would be checking for it every 30 seconds, but then I have anxiety 😅 I really need to stop expecting realisim from a time travel romance drama.

Aww look she's having a good time even though she couldn't get in to see him. He made her into the sunshine one and now she's doing to do the same for him.

I wasn't expecting them to meet until after the time travel thing. But here he is to save her again. He's a good boy.

Is it going to turn out he saved her back then too. Ooh, or was it the other guy that she had a crush on. I'm sure this will turn out to be significant

Me when Seonghwa wears literally anything

I have definitely never done this *cough*

Do people just not help each other in this drama? The person who knocked her phone out of her hand and smashed it didn't even stop, and the person who crashed into her and made her lose her watch apparently is cool with letting a paralysed woman crawl around on the ground trying to get it back.

Well, shit. A significant time of death though. Right at the start of a new year. I'm sure this is magical somehow.

Wibbly wobbly timey wimey

Wait, why has she suddenly got joggers on under her skirt? Those weren't there when she ran out of the classroom to find him

Okay, the irony is not lost on me that in 2008 he was training to be on the olympic swim team and in 2022 he drowned in a pool. But also this poor kid getting glomped by a random girl he doesn't know in front of everyone

Gotta love a romance that starts with a confession the first time they meet. I mean I know it's not their first meeting for her but it is for him

Haha! She mean let's both not cross the bridge into the underworld and stay alive. He thinks this random girl wants to move in with him.

Ooh so she was talking about his depression in the future and he thought she was talking about his shoulder injury that he's hiding from everyone. This has layers! I like it!

You can tell it's the past because there's a DVD rental store

I love dramas with emotionally significant umbrellas (see also Tale of the Nine-Tailed