#Dreams and we have to know they need to be together somehow. Okay cool.

[angy-grrr]

people need to start seeing how ochako does have moments and scenes that parallel All Might (her hair looking like his, her motivating the class behind an actual fake smile when you are hurting, the woman’s declaration and all might telling him he can still be a hero…). that scene literally wasnt there to push them closer, is to finish Ochako’s character arc of accepting her negative feelings and consider herself a hero. She is insecure and struggles a lot with this ever since the beginning, and the chapter being framed around the concept of who saves heroes and people helping others (becoming heroes for others themselves, the older woman literally paralleling All Might), doesn’t help at all.

actually, let me say the crazy thing: I think the hospital scene implies that moment was the peaceful and ideal ending, before showing us Shouto, Ochako and Spinner have their arcs too open and life isn’t that simple as just a happy ending for the hero. After that Deku goes full on hero role, in his own terms using his kindness to help however he can. he literally says he as a kid thought peace would come immediately after the war was over, showing them crying happily and smiling -then show the others still healing and in pain, the narration telling us the story can’t end here as they need to fight for a better future. The framing of the chapter also follows this, starting with a purely hopeful and optimistic perspective about how everything will be okay -then the doctor appears saying it won’t be like it was before. in any case, this reads as the moment where bkdk establishing their bright future needs to be together, and others still are in need of help even if they are heroes, villains, or in complicated personal issues. The cliff chapter is framed with ppl needing a helping hand and for everyone to try to be heroes themselves, no matter how much the person seems to be okay or how scary they look.

Ochako needed to hear from Deku, who she canonically admires a lot as a hero, that she’s his hero too, that she nor anyone needed to do big gestures in order to be one -but she shouldn’t pretend even to herself everything feels okay to sacrificing herself.

Tbh I am a multishipper but I think the only reason Hori didn't make Izu//Ocha canon was bc he likes 'open endings' kinda, and it worked in his favor by just letting things implied. He gave Izu//Ocha specific romantic-coded materials to go with anyway. He made Izuku call her his hero, acknowledge her as his savior and acknowledge her help throughout the story. That's pretty much romantic subtext in the story. And this happened in the penultimate moment. There is no scene like that between BKDK at the climax. If Hori really wanted to shut the ship down, why did he include such a scene anyway? Now people are criticizing it and are angry because it seems like Hori chickened out.

Out of context, I’d agree with you that the MC calling the main girl his hero would be considered a romantic sentiment in a shonen manga. However, I honestly don’t think that’s the case here.

I don’t think they were implied and I don’t think their relationship had an open ending either, because that would imply that they had something mutually romantic going on when they really didn’t. The only romantic implications, are the fact that other characters poke fun at Ochako and just assume she likes Deku because they’re close friends. She has a crush projected onto her that she never really admits to outside of referring to it in past tense. Everything else about their relationship, feels like it could’ve been interchangeable with him and Iida, and it still would’ve had the same effect.

I actually believe that narrowing down Izuku’s admission of Ochako being his hero to romantic subtext makes the scene less impactful, almost like he’s only saying that to her because he wants her to like him, instead of saying it because he genuinely believes it and feels like she deserves to know.

Ochako was in an emotional state where she was mourning the loss of Himiko and questioned her heroism because she couldn’t save her, when the girl who was supposed to be the villain, was the one to save her life. Izuku reassuring her that she’s still a hero—still his hero—is something he would’ve done for anyone and I’m genuinely happy he was the one to do it for Ochako.

It’s implied that he considers a lot of people to be his hero. All Might, Katsuki, Iida, Todoroki, are all people who have continuously helped him through out the story too. And he has his internal thoughts praising all of them and thanks all of them as well. He doesn’t have to voice it because those characters weren’t in a situation where they needed to hear those words from him. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t think it, and I think it’s silly to assume that he doesn’t. It’s in character for Izuku to not say such things unless he feels like it’s necessary.

Horikoshi didn’t have to shut the ship down, because the ship was never implied to be mutual. He included such a scene, because Ochako needed someone to understand her, and Izuku was the only one who would’ve. They both sought out to save their villains and neither of them succeeded, so yes they’re the only ones who understand each other in that light even if their motives and the way they felt about their villains were different.

It’d be different if they had made this decision together and were trying to save their villains for the sake of each other, but they had both made their decisions individually before even speaking to each other about it. So they’re not relating because they actively tried to, they’re able to relate cuz they both had the same goal by coincidence. The way I see it, I think it’s meant to show that once Ochako stopped actively trying to be like Deku, is when she realized she was already like him in a way, even though she knew being exactly like him wouldn’t be good for her.

Also bkdk didn’t have a scene like that in the climax? In the climax of what? The story as a whole? The war? The epilogue?

Chapter 1? Deku vs Kacchan? Their final exam? Deku vs Kacchan part 2? The beginning of the Paranormal Liberation War Front arc? Katsuki’s apology? Katsuki’s confession in the hospital room after the war?

Ochako and Deku’s conversation was probably the first time they talked about each other to each other and explained what the other meant to them (even if it was mostly Izuku doing the talking). That kind of conversation had happened with not only bkdk countless times (yes it still counts even if it’s in the form of them screaming their feelings at each other), but also with Iida and Todoroki to a certain extent too. Not mention, literally every villain minus AFO.

To me, while their conversation is important and I appreciated it a lot and thought it was really sweet, it didn’t really feel different or more special than other conversations Izuku had with his other friends before that.

I think the reason Horikoshi didn’t make izcha canon, is because he genuinely never planned to…

[lebbys-world]

Reality Check

Todoroki x gn!reader; pro-hero!au, some slightly graphic description of injury/death, angst to comfort, facing the realities of putting yourself in danger everyday

notes: i know this is a comfort blog, but i am a such a sucker for angst + esp in regards to how corrupt the superhuman society of mha is. so no relationship angst here !! just some good 'ol facing reality head-on with the love of your life !!

Your throat was searing with a burning pain, lungs overwhelmed as the cool metal of a knife passed across the skin covering your trachea.

The shock hits you instantly, yet the world feels as if it’s suddenly in slow motion.

One second, you were being held up by a villain, beaten and bruised, convincing yourself you’d make it out of there just fine.

The next moment, there was that burning sensation, and the villain holding you up lets go, forcing your weak body to fall helplessly onto the ground.

It hits you the moment your body slammed against the ground.

You realize what happened in that moment, but somehow your brain can't string together the thought fully.

You can barely move.

You can barely speak.

You’re desperate to talk, to say something, but the only thing that comes out of your mouth is choked noises and blood.

Tears start streaming down your face, the overwhelming emotions only continuing to cut off your scarce breaths.

Your vision starts to become blurry, and you can feel your senses starting to numb.

The once booming screams and explosions now sounded so far away that you could barely register them.

You feel someone run over to you, lifting you slightly off the ground, trying to ask you something that you can't quite make out.

A cold hand is placed on your face.

Why is the hand wet?

Oh.

That’s right.

That’s the same hand that must have picked you up.

That hand must be covered in your own blood.

You’re dying, after all.

You wish you could clearly see the face of the person holding you so dearly, or hear the pleading words of reassurance coming out of their mouth. 

But everything was such a haze.

Your senses nulled.

All you hoped was that Shoto was still okay.

. . .

You jolted upwards, your breaths staggered, sweat dripping off your brow.

Your eyes took a moment to adjust to the dark room, as the adrenaline continued rushing through your veins.

The visions that had just flooded your head suddenly disappeared, but you could still feel the agony of them weighing down on your chest.

From your sudden movement, you had woken up your husband next to you.

“Hey love, take a deep breath. Everything’s alright.”

He slowly sat up next to you, putting his arm comfortingly on your back as he continued to calm you down.

“Nightmare, hm?”

“...Yeah.” You answered, leaning into his touch.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Mmm… not yet.”

“That’s okay.” He pulls you into his embrace, “we can talk about it later.”

You were used to nightmares stemming from work, but you'd never had one that felt quite this realistic.

Even though you were awake, safe in your home, in your own bed, your husband next to you, you just couldn't shake the sinking feeling the dream had left you with.

As Pro-Heroes, this sort of fate could be your reality someday.

That was something you had to face when you took on the job, but only on nights like these did the severity of it ever really hit you.

That fate could befall you someday.

You could die out there someday.

Or even worse, Shoto could.

At that thought, you held him tighter.

“Can we just stay like this for a little longer?” You asked into his chest.

“For however long you need.”

all fictional works are for entertainment purposes only. all rights to characters, media, references, and other third party materials belong to their respective owners. do not repurpose, modify, copy, or repost my work to other sites without permission. © @lebbys-world 2024.

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[iris-in-the-rain]

Stede has had the most awful day at Bonnet Industries. He's feeling really poorly and run down, but he keeps trying to push through. His father already gave him a dressing down in front of everyone. He's been feeling so unwell that more than once, he had to sit down on the floor against the wall. Of course, nobody paid him any attention. His face is all red and puffy from trying to hold back tears, but all he gets from his 'colleagues' is snide comments about his appearance. He finally gets in the car and opens his phone to a message from his best friend, Ed

'Looking forward to the movie later! Can't believe we get to see it on the big screen 😍 Yaaaay! Do you remember the first time we saw it?? x'

Of course he remembers. How could he not? He remembers looking at Ed that day and thinking how lucky he was that such a cool, smart and talented person wanted to be friends with him, silly Stede Bonnet. Stede starts crying then, ugly sobs, because he completely forgot about tonight and Ed was so looking forward to seeing the first movie they both saw together on the big screen this evening and he's feeling so hot and weak, and look, Nigel is pointing at him from across the parking lot. So Stede starts driving until he somehow gets home. He barely remembers getting into the house and replying to Ed's message. Ed deserves better. Stede is just useless. He's not a good friend, let alone boyfriend material. He lies down on the sofa and closes his eyes.

Until he wakes up and isn't sure where he is or what's happening. He's simultaneously freezing and really hot. He's in his bed, wearing his fluffiest pajamas, and wrapped in a comforter. And Ed is sleeping in a chair next to him, holding his hand.

Stede whimpers, and Ed snaps awake, immediately cupping Stede's face and frowning at the heat radiating off him.

'Hey love, shhh, you're alright. You should have told me you were feeling so ill'

Stede's eyes fill with tears again.

'The movie! We missed the movie, Ed, I'm so sorry, 'm just useless...'

'Hey, who you calling useless, hey? Better not be my Stede. Gonna need you to take these and drink some water, okay?'

'Ed, I'm sorry fo...'

'Hey, it's okay...'

'No, it's not okay!' Two tears roll down Stede's fever-flushed cheeks. 'We were supposed to see our movie and I could finally tell you you're the best thing in my life and that, that I wouldn't know how to keep going without your support and and everything is wrong, but you are right, you are the only right in my life, and I love you, okay, I just love you so much, but I'm not good enough, and you d- deserve better and I'm just a st...'

But Stede doesn't finish as he finds himself wrapped in Ed's arms and oh, if that isn't the place he never ever wants to leave. Heaving sobs shake his body, as his best friend, his Ed, holds him close, pressing kisses to his head, and murmuring words that Stede can barely make out, but...

'Love, it's okay. I've got you. I love you, too. You have no idea how much, Stede, my god, I got so terrified when you wouldn't answer the door and then I saw you on the sofa...' Ed holds him tigther. 'You're everything, okay! Just...' Ed realises that with the fever, Stede might not remember any of this in the morning, but that's okay. He'll tell him again.

As Stede falls asleep again, it is to the sound of his best friend's heartbeat and a dream of love that he never dared to hope for but always deserved. And Ed falls asleep holding his whole world.

[the-modern-typewriter]

And so they all lived happily ever after.[1]

Theodore could finally breathe.

The two of them had bought the quiet, peaceful cottage that they had always talked about[2] and filled it with things[3] because they were allowed to do more than simply need now.[4] They were allowed to want, and build a home because home no longer had to be wherever the resistance had camped up for the night. Honestly, Theo had thought he’d be dead before that ever happened. Being born the chosen one, nobody had ever expected him to survive fate long enough for the aftermath, least of all him. [5]

Didn’t that mean he had the earned the right to be happy, now?[6]

“Theo.” She sat opposite him at the kitchen table, and took his hand, and looked at him like the world still needed saving, like he hadn’t done enough. “This isn’t working,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

It came out of nowhere.[7]

***

“I don’t have nightmares,” he said.[8] “We won. I killed the Shadow King, if anyone should have nightmares-”

He forced his expression to ease. He shouldn’t resent Adina her nightmares, if she had them. He knew the battlefield they had met upon. In a world of blood and conquest and power that made him feel like he was going to sizzle from the inside out, she had been a cooling balm. She had made him a man, instead of something out of legend.

“I know you were there too,” he continued, because she was acting like he’d somehow forgotten that. “But it’s over.” Didn’t she see that it was over? “Whatever nightmares you have, we’ll get through it together, yeah? They’re only dreams.”

“Memories.”

His jaw clenched. “They can’t hurt you unless you let them.”[9]

Her mouth clicked shut and she swallowed hard. At some point, during the argument, they’d both surged to their feet. Her arms were crossed against her chest, defensive, like either of them should have any need for defences anymore. They were safe with each other. She knew that! Before she started this conversation, they had been fine. Hadn’t they been fine?

“If there was a button that could make me feel differently,” she managed. “I would hit it in a heartbeat. God. I’m not – I know this isn’t your fault. I’m not saying that. I know you’ve gone through enough. I know this isn’t fair, but I—”

“You just need time.”[10]

They had time now, didn’t they? Walking through the woods filled him with a calm he’d never known before. The green trees, dappled by sunlight, made it impossible to dwell on the cold feeling of bloodied stone against broken bones. Everything was light, and air, and the freedom to run.

There were no people to be responsible for, no important envoys to encroach upon the time they managed to snatch together, always wrenching them apart. It was him, and her, and they didn’t have to live in a stolen moment anymore. Wasn’t that enough?[11]

“How can you be so okay?” Adina’s voice crumpled on the question, so small, and it felt like a knife between his ribs because it sounded like an honest question too. “After everything…” Her eyes were big and desperate - he recoiled. He could finally breathe, and she would have him drown.

After everything, he was allowed to be okay. Was he supposed to live forever feeling guilty for everything he could have done better? Was he supposed to have died too?[12]

Maybe, yes, in her story he should have.

It was easier to love a legend than a man. It was easy to make promises to someone who wouldn’t live to hold you to them. For a second, he hated her, more than he’d ever hated the Shadow King. He didn’t want to be a thing of hate anymore. He didn’t want to fight anymore.

“Everything?” He repeated, oh so softly. His fists curled, nails digging into his palms hard enough to draw blood and he didn’t want to ever draw blood again either. He stopped.  He relearned how to breathe. “You do not get to hold ‘everything’ against me, Adina. I did everything you asked of me. That all of you asked of me. For you. For this.”

“Theo…”

“We love each other.” He turned away because he couldn’t look at her. “That’s all that matters. We’ll get through this. Happily ever after.”

She flinched in the corner of his vision.

“Please.” He closed his eyes. “You want to talk about everything? After everything, let me have this. Give me this. It is the only thing I ever asked of you.”[13]

She exhaled a shaky breath. The silence stretched. Then, she kissed him sweetly, gently, like everything was okay. She whispered the words against his lips:

“I’ll try.”

***

It was better again, after that. Their fight became another battle of the past to be buried with their dead and forgotten. 

In the mornings, they would paint the sunrise that they had once spent hours trying to picture, when the endless night of the Shadow King’s reign felt like it never might never break. The first time Theo had seen that the sky could truly be pink he thought maybe, just maybe, he hadn’t made it through after all. But he had.  In the afternoons, they would walk hand in hand through the woods and he would tell her about all of the new growth he was learning about. He liked the names. The colours. The hope.

It wasn’t perfect. Now that she’d pointed it out, he stirred sometimes in the night to find her awake still. When he caressed her face in the dark his hand would come away wet with silent tears.[14] On those nights, he would kiss her honeyed and slow because he didn’t have to kiss her like she was oxygen anymore, until she melted in his arms and smiled again. [15]

The weeks turned into months, which turned into years.

She stopped crying, with time. She healed.[16]

The shadows were gone.

And so, they all lived happily ever after.[17]

----

[1] Happily ever after! It was just another bloody thing to fail at, wasn’t it?

[2] He’d always talked about it. He was happy. The cottage was perched in the middle of the woods, far enough away from civilisation that she could pass days without seeing another person. Sometimes, it felt like they must have lost, because the world that she knew wasn’t there anymore.

[3] She shouldn’t resent him his clutter. He deserved clutter. She knew he deserved clutter, his houseful of little wooden figurines he carved, after everything. 

[4] She hated the clutter.

[5] It was a terrible thing to want happiness, but not know what to do with peace; she’d learned to love him fighting. But now, he loved gently, sword forgotten, armour laid to rest, and that was not the version of him that she’d fallen love with.

[6] She missed the man she’d fallen for.

[7] She couldn’t do this anymore.

[8] Because he was the only one who had truly suffered.

[9] Was it so simple? Had she got it wrong? Was she merely not trying hard enough to move on? His expression told her that, yes, she needed to try harder. They were supposed to be a team but, to his mind, when it came down to it…he’d been the one alone against the Shadow King, hadn’t he? So, if he could heal then why couldn’t she? She hadn’t been the one buckling under the weight of prophecy. She had no right.

[10] That was the other thing everyone always said, along with happily ever after. Time healed all wounds. She just needed time. But how much time was that? Too much, it seemed. There had been a woman she met in the aftermath of the battle at Sunburst fields. She had lost her lover. Adina couldn’t remember the woman’s name, only what she had confessed when no one else was there to hear her.

[11] The woman said, “I’m not allowed to mourn her. No one knew we were together, you see. She had a husband. But she loved me, and I… no one will ever know now, and I must mourn her like she wasn’t mine to mourn. Like I might mourn a stranger.’ The woman’s voice dropped barely audible. "And I think it might just kill me. How do you heal a hurt when you have to pretend it’s not there? Like it’s a papercut instead of a bullet wound?"

[12] He fought to protect her. To protect all of them. In his story, she was the victory he came home to. She was his happy ending. She was not supposed to be broken.

[13] He had fallen in love with her when she was selfish. A good, selfless girl did not love in a stolen moment, after all. Stolen moments had to be taken from someone. But he didn’t want selfish now. He didn’t want someone who had done battle, who had hurt, and been hurt. He didn’t want a woman with a shadow in her heart.

[14] And, so, he fell out of love with her in the way that a person forgets their wallet on the train – with that stabbing sense of panic, of leaving something vital behind, without yet being able to place what was gone.

[15] Instead, he fumbled and groped for the debris, the receipts, the bits of change and dust at the bottom of the bag of them that had meant something important once. He began to look at her like a stranger when she reminded him that she was sharp. That he had loved something sharp, once.

[16] He looked for clues for what was missing.

[17] He would never find her.

[fandomfluffandfuck]

Okay okay. I just had this beautiful mental image of competence kink Steve. And my brain produced two fairly different images: Steve sees Bucky do something incredible during a mission. Idk what. And *oh*, he pops a boner right there and then, as much as the cup of his suit allows anyway. He can barely wait to get off the quinjet post mission, much to the team's amusement, to blow Bucky and then fuck into next week because holy shit hot

Or, Steve having an unfairly wet dream about WS!Bucky in the leather and incredible skills with all the knife tricks and so on and feeling very guilty about that. Because getting the horny from something Bucky had no control over? Not cool, at least in his mind. Bucks somehow gets him to spill though, and then ties Steve up and uses his knife skills to get him out of his clothes very efficiently, leaving Steve there as a panting and moaning mess Uh yeah my brain melted a little

For reference, my ask box is no longer open for requests, but this is from before I closed it, so I will be writing for this ask.

Oh, fuck yeah, I love competency kink. We can certainly talk about that and soak in the brain melt together, lol

Besides, we all know that that fucker has one

gifs by @/linusbenjamin

and this moment haunts him 😏 because of it.

Plus, that single shield catch isn't even to mention the million other examples I could think of for Steve's fixation on the Winter Soldier. The ghost is strutting around in what's practically fetish gear, like, c'mon, give Steve some slack. It's leather and straps and shimmering metal and decisive, confident combat. Motherfucker.

I am SO fucking down to think about Steve watching Bucky execute some incredible feat on a mission and getting turned on because of it, and I will expand on that in a minute. But, also, the second option, too. YES. Steve wet dreaming about the Winter Soldier? God, it's more than just likely, that shit absolutely happened.

(I did write something about those wet dreams in this ask answer under "war paint")

(Also, you need to see this art, that is... yup. Knives and bondage and competency.)

Okay, competency on missions driving Steve insane...

(warning for canon typical violence!)

It happens like this: one instant Steve is solely focused on strangling the underling that's freshly come at him 'cause he's just trying to get through the masses of them before he can actually disarm this whole fucking shitty, dangerous situation alongwith it's leader, and the next instant Steve is totally, completely, and entirely distracted from getting an arm around this fuckers throat, squeezing off his air between his forearm and bicep. It could not be farther from his mind, really.

Rather than thinking about how he can best discard this underling and move on to the next--always plotting his following move, what punch should he throw, what kick, where's his shield, how should he throw his shield, who's around him, and are they his teammates or this month's big enemy--he's aching, not thinking, aching to drop to his knees. It is a visceral, very unchill reaction that Steve can't fucking control. There is no way on god's green earth.

The wanting to drop like a fly isn't because he's tired and ready to give in and surrender, nah, he could do this all day, it's because he's at fucking full mast in his uniform pants so suddenly that he needs a goddamn break from himself. His own hyperreactive body. It's dizzying, debilitating, how his blood rushes from circulating oxygen as fast as it can to his bulging, burning, working muscles to pooling heavy and hot in his cock.

All that hot, thick blood filling his dick out as he moves and twists, grappling with his fucking random ass bad guy, and threatening, incidentally, to rub himself salaciously against the hard pressure of his athletic cup.

His cup is cupping him.

He's big, he can't not. He's got no fucking room. It's... yeah, it's, just--

Jesus Christ.

Steve's aching to drop to his knees and more. It doesn't stop at getting to his knees. One moment and he has the worst kind of desperate craving crashing through him, leaving him hankering for the sensation of firm, muscular legs squeezing around his throat, the pressure tight on both sides, making him feel like his head might explode as he gasps for air or he might pass out without any air or he might cum from pure fucking lust at how hot it is or all of the above all at once.

All at once.

It is an onslaught of arousal. Just. His appetency is un-fucking-checked for the tingling, sharp burn of fingers raking through his hair and pulling hard until he feels it in his scalp and skittering down his back, richly feeding the fire at the base of his spine. He needs to feel body heat suffocatingly around his neck and shoved up against him from behind. Heat painted like thick, sticky tar up the nape of his neck to the crown of his head.

And all that weakening fucking hunger is inspired by one instant. A single flash that he catches, lightning-fast, out of the corner of his eye.

Dark leather molded to fit a shapely body perfectly, sinfully, waves of hair flowing like water, and the distinct glint of silver metal caught in the sun, flashy and, just, sexy.

Bucky.

Bucky, who's barely just been able to be comfortable in combat again after deprogramming but is ever-skilled. Honed. Deadly and gorgeous as a honey trap.

Bucky, who has spent more hours in the gym training with Natasha than anyone else combined--something about mutual trauma and understanding and trust.

Bucky in elegant, lethal motion, wrapping himself like a lithe snake around his own steroid-fit underling, his burly thighs squeezed around the baddies thick, muscular throat, his veins bulging in strain, balanced perfectly on his broad shoulders, and keeping the power in his own mismatched hands. The palm of his hands, like it's easy.

Bucky is fucking winning, it's plain to see. No sweat.

Bucky has shocked this baddie by mounting him, throwing his weight around with ease in a way that shouldn't be possible for a man his size. Better, Bucky has thrown him even further off, fisting a hand into his hair cruelly, pulling so hard that his choices are to let his hair be ripped out and deal with the gritting pain or follow the hold and put himself in worse danger, prolonging the time before the pain. The unnamed baddie follows, of course. Anyone would follow someone as intoxicating and beautiful as Bucky. But he's then pinned there, throat fully exposed. Perilous. The most animal form of submission, this time forced and humiliated by defeat.

Bucky is the dominant fighter.

He is in control.

And he is making it known with what would be sickening glee if Steve was anyone but himself--if Steve wasn't so fucking aroused by watching Bucky wield himself as a weapon of his own choosing, taking control, and reveling in doing good.

God.

With his thighs around his neck, Bucky deftly plucks a long, sharp knife from its holster strapped onto his mouth-watering thigh and twists and twirls it around his fingers before holding it against the underling's throat. The threat is crystal clear and needs no further explanation: move and its lights out for you.

So, the underling folding to his mercy, Bucky slowly, slowly contorts his body, displaying his oh-so flexible spine and positioning his mouth right above his ear. Steve watches him whisper into his ear--his pink lips curling over the hushed syllables in the heat of chaotic, loud battle--and shivers.

Goosebumps come to attention all across Steve's body.

Shit.

He's unreal.

He's so gorgeous and so good and so charming.

At whatever he tells him, the baddie nods stiffly, all the color drained from his face, and Bucky retracts his knife unhurriedly, perfectly moving according to his own schedule, and confidently sheathes the blade it once more. Then, neatly, he unclenches his thighs from around his throat and slithers off his shoulders. It's almost a dance--totally smooth, well-rehearsed choreography.

He defies gravity.

As soon as Bucky is far enough from him, peeled away, the underling scurries off like a frightened rat, stumbling as he sprints off. Bucky watches him go with an unhinged, almost-pitying smile, an expression just for himself, as if to say, that's right, you better run. Tell the others, too. You fuck with me and it's over. Don't bother coming back.

Steve whimpers.

Realistically, it--Bucky devastatingly executing one of Black Widow's signature flipping, twisting moves as if it's his own and something developed specifically for him, an over 200 lbs man of pure muscle and metal--all happens in the span of seconds. Or, maybe it happens faster. It may not even be a single second. But for Steve, it plays in slow motion; it lasts ages in his mind.

Still, really, just it's one instant, and then his brain chemistry has been fully altered. Immediately. His wires have been crossed over and shorted out. Sparks fly. And his reboot back to being a functioning fucking human comes in the form of a punch to the face.

Fuck.

Steve groans through the pain of a fist colliding with his face, wincing, and opening and shutting his jaw to have it crack back into place. He's gonna fucking feel that later. But, for now, he has to ignore the heavy, aching throb of his cock, the pain in his jaw, and get back to fighting.

Later, he tells himself.

Later, that'll be his treat for getting through this shit day. He can kneel and beg, forgetting himself as a drooling, heaving, out-of-breath, hot faced mess at Bucky's feet, fumbling over words as he incomprehensibly pleads to have his shapely thighs wrapped tight around his head, his neck, his waist even, anything. Just hold him there until he fucking dies a happy death between those legs.

Heaven.

[oxymorayuri]

❞𝐍𝐨 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬❝

Part five

If you haven't read the first part yet, you can find it here or the storys masterlist. ♡♡♡

✦ Pairing: Portgas D. Ace x Reader ✦ Warnings: language, angst ✦ Spoiler: none

A/N: This back and forth of feelings is screaming; Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know? sorry guys I'm totally on the Arctic Monkeys ride lol. Also their vibe somehow suits Ace.

wordcount: 2722

tagging: @lazyninjatheorist - @sassyyassi - @cottoncandyloverrrr

! ᴍᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴛᴇɴᴛ !

ᴍɪɴᴏʀꜱ ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛ

"All right you two, that sounds good. Y/n I'm firmly convinced that you'll come back with valuable information." The captain of the Whitebeard pirates leans back with a satisfied expression.

"But before you leave tomorrow, I have something special for you…" He waves a crew member over to you, who was standing at the side with a box in his hand. The young man in front of you opens the box and your eyes widen with a sparkle.

"These are small ear buds that you can use to communicate." Whitebeard says with a smile due to your childish reaction. Excited like a little girl, you examine your new technology.

That's so coooool!

"How did you get hold of them Father??!" You're surprised about the specific model. These aren't normal spy buds… These are long distance earbuds. No matter how far away you are from each other, you can keep in touch. It is also quite difficult to disrupt their connection... You are thrilled.

"Oh, that was easy. We just never needed it, until now." - "Hohoohoh that's so cool! Now I really feel like a spy!" You eagerly reach into the box. You put one bud in your ear and happily walk over to Ace to put the other one in his.

"Come on Ace, say something!" excitedly, you gently tap him on the shoulder. Ace blushes slightly as you get so close to him. He's a little uncomfortable in front of Whitebeard, and not just because he's giving you both a judgmental stare. Imagine how he would react if he knew what was going on between you two…

When you hear Ace's voice in that earbud, you have to pull yourself together not to squeal and fall into Whitebeard's arms instead.

"Thank you, Daddy!" You sit on his lap like a little girl while he pats your head with a warm grin.

Ace observes the close relationship between you and Whitebeard. He could swear you even look alike.

"Ace, listen to y/n… but in case something goes wrong, you're allowed to do whatever you think is right." - "You can count on me, pops!" He confidently points his thumb at his chest and you snort as you cross your arms in front of your chest. A little annoyed, you look up at your father.

"I don't need a guard!" You grimace in offense and Whitebeard bursts out laughing.

"I know you're strong…" His gaze softens and you let go a little. "I've often played with the idea of putting someone by your side. The fact that you've always traveled alone has never made me feel good, but I've never found the right one…" - "You softy…" You're bold but your cheeks turn pink.

You could never have dreamed that you would ever experience the love of a parent. Where would you be if not on the Moby Dick?

He ruffles your hair and you struggle a little weakly as you both share a laugh.

"So you're saying Ace is the right one for the job?" - "There is no doubt about that. I trust Ace and I would like you to do the same." - "Okay but only because it's you father…" You groan out a little defeated and jump off his lap.

Together, you and Ace walk back onto the deck and look at the island you've docked at.

"The show starts tomorrow morning Ace… Are you ready?" You rest your hands on the railing and look over at Ace, who is gazing into the sunset beside you. His eyes peer down at you from the corner of his eye.

"I was born ready." His confident grin looks promising. You're eager to see how he performs.

The next day arrives and you wake up before the alarm clock rings. Brushing your teeth in front of the mirror, you think about the fact that Doflamingo hopefully won't recognize you. Luckily for you, you wore a wig when you were undercover in Alabasta...

When you come out of the bathroom, you stop in your tracks because Marco is sitting in a chair in front of you. In your room.

"What are you doing here?" A little surprised at him, you sit down in front of your dressing table to get ready.

"Good morning to you too, little lass..." You raise your eyebrows and give a little snort. "Yeah yeah good morning, whatever…"

"I'm here to give you some advice." Marco starts talking without moving from his seat.

"Oh dear. Here we go again…" You say boredly as you put your hair up in a low bun. But Marco doesn't let it bother him and just keeps on talking.

"It's usually the case that when two people like each other, they end up together… Apparently you and Ace like each other soooo???" - "So what?" you turn around annoyed and raise your eyebrows. Marco groans out in a heavy voice.

"Are you two finally a couple and had a bit of a crisis or what's going on with you?" - "What makes you think we're a couple? We are definitely not together." You stop, caught off guard, as you pack your things.

"Well, the rest of us have eyes in our heads, you know… Additionally, Ace has been getting on my nerves with you since day one! Besides, you've more or less told me that you like him." Your ears perk up.

"Ah yeah? Ace has been getting on your nerves since day one?" a kind of evil smile settles on your lips.

"What did he wanted to know? What did he ask you?" You put your hands on your hips "Ah, so now you're getting curious?" Marco interlaces his fingers and you could swear you see amusement in his eyes.

"Yeah, what am I supposed to say now?" You roll your eyes. Marco already knows what's going on. Why is he bugging you like this?

"Of course I want to know what Ace asked…" You turn around. You don't want to show him the blush on your face.

"It's nice to know that the feelings aren't just one sided… you know…" - "Finally you spit it out… I thought I had to pull it out of your fucking nose…" Marco makes a relieved noise and you look at him with a disgusted expression.

"Eww that's gross." - "I mean that rhetorically, gosh."

You know exactly what he meant, but you stick your tongue out at him.

"Well, now that the cat's out of the bag, what do you want to tell me?"

You know Marco only means well, as always. Like when you once failed a mission and he gave you comfort or when you had an argument with Teach and he rushed to your aid. He's always been there for you, even when you were a newcomer to the pirate gang. He looked out for you like a brother.

"I'm pretty sure the feelings aren't one sided. Ace is crazy about you. At first I don't think he quite realized it himself, but he's come around to his feelings." He looks you up and down. "Not like someone certain in front of me…" You throw a shirt at him, which you were going to pack in your suitcase, and give him a death stare.

"You're annoying." Marco doesn't mind your attitude and starts talking again.

"You said you were the problem the other day?" You pause for a moment and sit down in another chair.

"Ace is great, but I've met some great men and where are they now? I just don't know if it's worth it…" A little ashamed, you look to the side and avoid eye contact. Marco is not exactly surprised. He was already expecting something like this.

He considers his next words carefully as he glances around your room. Whitebeard really means well with you, he thinks to himself. He gave you the biggest and 'nicest' room on the ship.

Nice is actually an understatement. A bed that looks as comfortable as it will be in reality. Bed sheets made of the finest cotton and blankets made of the finest silk, imported from the capital of Alabasta.

One side of your room is completely covered with a beautiful and yet simple bookshelf and on one side is your desk and on the other side, opposite the desk, is a small sitting area.

Your dressing table was made especially for you by the same carpenter who made your weapons cabinet. You thought the details carved into the cabinet were so beautiful that you wanted the dressing table to be made by the same craftsman.

The cabinet was already in your room so you went to Whitebeard with your request and he immediately changed the destination of the Moby Dick and sailed to the craftsman's island.

The name would have been enough for you, but Whitebeard not only knows your worth, he loves you like his own flesh and blood. So he didn't hesitate and got you your dressing table straight away.

Marco seriously wonders what Whitebeard wouldn't do. He doubts that there is anything. Not even he himself has that luxury and he is the commander of the first division.

He even thinks that if Ace messes up with you, Whitebeard would kick him off the ship to make you happy again.

"You know y/n, sometimes you have to take the risk to know if it's worth it…" You groan and let your head fall back, running both hands over your face.

"Ace said something pretty similar to me." you grumble.

"You know what? I know you're right, but I haven't known Ace that long either... I need to trust him. You know, out there on my missions, I was always dealing with people who had stabbed you in the back. Maybe I'm a bit paranoid, but maybe that's not such a bad thing…"

You want to look strong in front of him. You get the feeling that he thinks you're scared. But you just know how men can be. You can get over the heartache, but not over the waste of time. Not about the fact that you trusted them with your heart and told them things you wouldn't have told anyone else.

Marco seems a little frustrated but knows that he can't push you any further.

"Just be aware that you might regret it." You snort a little scornfully at his words.

"Why." Your voice a little serious. What should YOU regret?

"I don't know…" He glances around at the ceiling and then looks directly into your eyes "Maybe Ace is getting involved in some flirting again. After all, he's not tied to anyone. Then what? Are you going to splash him with water again?" He grins at you with a knowing look.

You feel like you've been caught red-handed, but your grin widens.

"Oh, so you saw that?" You get up from your chair again as you need to pack a few more weapons.

"You're getting jealous y/n, so my advice is that if you can't admit your feelings, you shouldn't deepen them." That one hit home and you stop in your tracks.

He's right. You shouldn't intensify your feelings.

"You're going to be together for a while now so either you come back as a couple or I hope your feelings haven't grown. The last time you were completely alone, it was only half a night when something happened…" A little lost in thought, he spoke his last words and seemed to be thinking things over.

"What did you actually do that night after the pub? When Jozou and Whitey arrived drunkenly on the ship, they said that you two had left hours ago but you weren't on the ship when they arrived?" The heat went straight to your face as the images of that night came up and you stammered to yourself a little unsteadily.

"That's none of your business!" you yell at him as you put on a cute sun hat. Carrying two modest suitcases filled with weapons, equipment and clothing, you stride past him and head for your door. At the door, you gesture to the closed door and look at Marco expectantly.

"Would you be so kind as to open the door for me?"

Marco sighs a little but eventually gets up and holds the door open for you.

"Just promise to let me know if anything happens, okay?" He looks at you a little worriedly and it's hard to believe, but your facial features are softening.

"Yeah, sure."

Marco takes your suitcases from your hand and accompanies you to the deck of the Moby Dick.

It's a sunny and calm day, the breeze is light and you hold on to your hat so it doesn't fly off. There are already a few familiar faces on deck, just waiting to see you and Ace off. You are surprised that Ace is already there, he seems to be quite reliable after all.

Ace was still talking to a few of the other members and when he noticed you in the corner of his eye, he looked down at you in obvious surprise.

"You look so…" He stuttered a little when he saw you in your floral summer dress.

"…Unusual?" you finished his sentence. Your outfit is definitely very different from your actual style… You like to dress rather extravagantly, but today you're dressed like a fine little lady.

Ace still looks at you, somewhat enchanted.

"…No, no, no, rather cute." You raise your eyebrows with your mouth open as if you want to say something, but close your mouth again and walk past him without a word.

You say goodbye to your friends and walk over to Whitebeard, who is already waiting for you at the end to say goodbye.

Marco presses your suitcases into Ace's hands, who is still a little taken aback by the simple and sweet sight of you. You look like you're going on a beach vacation.

When Ace finally managed to say goodbye to everyone properly, he came sprinting up to you and Whitebeard.

"Okay you two! Are you ready to bring success to the Whitebeard pirates? Are you ready to be the key?" His eyes are on you. You are his key to success and it always feels good when he says this motivation speech.

Excited as if it's your first day at school, you nod at him. You always forget what a dangerous journey you are about to undertake because you are already looking forward to how proud your father will be when you return.

"Of course father!" He hums happily and offers you his hand to lift you into the small boat that will take you to the island.

Ace jumps into the boat and you don't miss his open shirt blowing in the wind.

"Hey Ace, I don't mind, but I think you should button up your shirt. Remember, we're simple people. Your muscles would just be a distraction…" You barely give him a glance as you check your make-up in a hand mirror, but the dark haired man is grinning up to both ears.

"Oh yeah, a distraction? To who?" He asks in a cheeky voice. You look up from your mirror with a raised eyebrow and he laughs teasingly at you while buttoning up his shirt.

You wave goodbye to the crew member who paddled you ashore and together you make your way to the small town.

Ace weighs the two suitcases in his hands and seems to be guessing.

"What have you all packed? The suitcases are damn heavy!" - "Just some things… Weapons, my equipment, which is important for missions like this, and of course my clothes." You're puzzled, as you'll probably be on a mission for a while, but you're not particularly surprised when you look at Ace, who only has a backpack on.

"Man, it feels like rocks."

Masterlist

Hope you liked it, see you <3

➽ Next chapter

[dgrailwar]

FINALE - In the Sunlight

The Mother of Monsters, the vessel of the Holy Grail, shimmered with a truly radiant light as you made your choices, your inputs for her wish known.

' …You've made your choices, so this is goodbye. For certain this time, as their souls must fill the Grail in order for it to function properly. '

True to the goddess' word, the Servants began to disappear one by one.

The Alter-Ego was the first to begin to vanish, scoffing quietly.

"What? You want some long sniveling goodbye? As if. Sometimes it's just best to let the curtain fall. No encores this time, sadly."

However... her haughty expression lightened, even if it was slight to others, the look in her eyes was rare- her heart laid bare, if only briefly.

"…That being said, you weren't half bad. If we meet again, I wouldn't mind having you as managers again. Please... Be well, Masters."

She bowed deeply, especially gracefully despite her injuries. Her body faded away into twinkling mist, disappearing as elegantly as she had appeared.

The MoonCancer seemed to be vanishing next, as she seemed to pet her mouse familiar for comfort.

"Oh, man. She left all cool, and I can barely keep myself together. God… goodbyes are the worst. What do I even say? I mean, once upon a time, a real tactless guy gave me some advice, so maybe I can just pass it on. So…"

"…Live on, Masters. Even if you don't think you're anyone special… there's definitely someone out there that needs you."

"Take care, okay? I hope fortune rains down on you and you have the brightest futures ever… and I'm saying that as me, not as Lord Ganesha!"

She waved two of her four arms as she vanished, as the other set took off her glasses and wiped at her eyes as she tried not to cry too hard as she left.

The Gunner let out a long, low whistle.

"…So, you decided I'd be reborn, huh? You're really stacking on the pressure, luckily that's where I thrive!"

"But even with me 'coming back'... I'd still consider this goodbye. With an operation like this, I'll be busy trying to set up all the pieces, so it's not like we'd run into each other on the street until I had everything in order."

"So… sayonara. Let's work together to make this uninteresting world interesting, okay?"

He winked, turning away as he began to walk off towards the Mother of Monsters, his form dissipating into twinkling light.

The Count, in a rare state, seemed a bit pensive.

"This is goodbye. It has been a strange journey, but a pleasant one nonetheless. I've said all the words I need to say."

"Or… perhaps not. No, two more rest on my tongue, and as you've called me forth, so you must know them well! So, hold these words in your heart, for the rest of your days, especially as you face this uncertain future!"

"Wait… and hope!"

With a grin as ghastly as night, yet somehow as bright as the rising sun, the Count threw his arms outward with an echoing laugh as his form disappeared.

The last one to go was the Voyager. The core. The hope that you all had chosen.

He sniffled, wiping at his tears.

Then, he smiled.

His voice was soft, and his words were brief, like the gentle twinkle of wind-chimes.

"…Bye-bye. And thank you."

He drifted up towards Echidna, waving his hands as his form vanished.

And only you remained, as the world built by this Grail began to crumble. You felt yourself pulled into darkness… and then, like awakening from a dream, drifting closer and closer into light.

The Mother of Monsters, Echidna, had slowly regenerated over the period of millennia after being nearly slaughtered back in the Age of Gods. Her wrath had been terrifying, only stymied by the sudden, miraculous appearance of the Voyager, and truly quenched by the actions of a few recklessly kindhearted magi.

Her movements were heavy and sluggish, as she pulled herself out the cavern that she had rested in for what felt like eternity, heading towards towards the sun, wincing a bit as the light of the sun hit her face. The sound of movement echoed behind her, as creatures began to pour out of the cave that she had resided in, monsters finding themselves on the surface.

Growls and hisses, the stamping of tails and feet, the flapping of tentacles and wings, all of them confused and elated at the prospect of life- at the prospect of being alive and living in the light.

The last to pull themselves out into the light were the goddesses, who looked upon their kin dancing under the light with joy.

' …The sun is so warm... it's been so long... '

"Is it everything you wished for?"

' ...Even more. '

[godfrey-the-chaos-duck]

this is without a doubt the weirdest thing I have ever done

SALUTATIONS, HELLAVERSE FANDOM! 

You probably don't know me, but my name is Godfrey. (Pleasure to be meeting you, quite a pleasure!) 

To be quite honest, I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing here. As I type this, I'm unspeakably nervous.

"Why are you nervous, Godfrey?" I hear you ask.

Well...

I have a dream

I'm here to tell

About a fanfic I wrote for Hazbin Hotel 

(sorry)

Okay okay serious director voice from now. 

Look, this is gonna sound absolutely unhinged, but hear me out. (insane rambles under the cut, this bitch is LONG)

In April, a friend and I had a conversation about a song I wrote and how it was. Well, kinda coded to Vox and Valentino.

Then one thing led to another, and two-and-a-bit months and twelve thousand words later, I had written an absolutely sprawling shitshow of a fic (details later in the post)

Even as I was writing it, I knew the written word didn't do it justice.

Hence, this post. 

(golly, this sounds really demanding, I am so sorry)

Fuck it, my mom always says "if you don't ask you don't get", and for once I want her to be right.

This is, I suppose, a sort of... call to action, for lack of a better term.

Artists, animators and voice actors, I'd like your help to turn this fic into an animatic, or if we can manage it, an actual animation.

ONLY if we can manage it, not if it's gonna stress anyone out.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Just to get this out of the way, not that I should even need to say this but it's unfortunately 2024. If anyone even SUGGESTS using A.I. your ass is getting blocked. I don't fuck with that artificial bullshit.

On to my next point: I am unequivocally in support of artists and actors being paid for their work. 

However, I am a Broke Bitch. Unless we could somehow do crowdfunding or something, I physically would not be able to pay people. This makes me feel like a very shitty person, but unfortunately it's the truth, and I want to be upfront and honest about that.

This is why I hope to get as many people on board as possible for this project, so nobody has to do a shit-ton of work.

I understand that most of you are busy, with work, school/college, or life generally life-ing. Join the club, my life is hectic too.

This is why I really have no set deadline for this. Whether it takes a few months or a few years, as long as it's done well with a minimal amount of stress.

Well, now that that's out of the way, time to go into details a bit.

Characters in order of appearance (this is mainly for VAs)

Vox

Valentino

Velvette 

Angel Dust

Charlie

Husk

Alastor

Vaggie

Lucifer

Niffty

Sir Pentious

Asmodeus (yeah this is slightly a Helluva Boss crossover)

Frank (the egg boi)

Fizzarolli

Katie Killjoy

Tom Trench

And lastly, depending on what everyone else thinks, I have an idea for how Verosika and Zestial can be involved. 

Will there be musical numbers?

The short answer is YEAH, cause Hazbin is a musical. I cannot stress enough how much the music is My Problem. Literally, apart from people singing, I will take care of that.

My Idea Of The Process 

(please bear in mind I have little to no idea of how the animation process works so this is almost definitely wrong, please feel free to correct me about it)

Step 1. Storyboard

Step 2. Voice lines and songs get recorded

Step 3. Animatic (this could very well end up being as far as it gets and that is absolutely cool beans)

Possible Step 4. Animation

Finally, I'd be more than happy to be the one to edit all the clips together. Editing is its own kind of hell, and I'm totally willing to take one for the team.

The Vision

This is. (fffffff) this is the part that's gonna make me sound like a Draconian jerk but I promise I don't mean to come across this way.

I'm hoping to have something that's as close to the style of the show as possible. (this video kinda has the right vibes) This is so the final project will look cohesive and somewhat professional. (god that probably sounded so bad but I genuinely have no idea how else to say it)

TO BE ABSOLUTELY CLEAR. I have nothing against artists with other distinctive art styles, in fact I've come across several that I absolutely love.

Regarding The Writing

I've never directed anything before, so forgive me if this is crossing a line, but like. 

I have my vision for how I want this to go and I'm kind of. not overly flexible on that. Obviously ideas that people have to get this to work good are more than welcome, but they might not end up happening.

Not to be a dick, but I am sorta the director so I do kinda get to make the call on that stuff. (ew god that felt odd)

If this gets off the ground, I'd have to turn this 12,000 word fic into a script to make it easier for people to read it and not get bogged down by my weird old-fashioned poetic style. This would be sent out to people who express interest at some point.

Just a heads-up: If you're expecting an AO3 link I am so sorry but it's Google Docs, mainly because this thing is wildly self-indulgent and I, for one, do not fancy attracting potential haters. Most people are nice, some are very vocally not. Besides, what would be the fun if everyone knew the story in advance?

BASICALLY

If you're interested shoot me an ask and I'll answer privately (OFF anon pls, I wanna know who I'm workin' with here!) or DM me and I'll get back to you.

If you see this and know someone who'd be interested, feel free to tag them or send this post to them.

I am gonna tag @achilleanauthor (my right hand man over here) @emeraldcity1900 and @onesidedradiostatic as they're kind of the only blogs I know who are I guess. Active in the Hellaverse fandom.

If this gains enough traction and I get people on board, I'll be setting up a Discord server (another first for me). 

Watch this space, and as Alastor would say, "Stay tuned..."

[box-architecture]

I was rereading some of your stuff on Ao3, and went “huh. I know Sapnap kidnaps Dream out of a misguided idea of what’s happening at one point, but how does that all go? How did Dream react? What was Sapnap like?”

So now I’m asking you. At 12:20 am. I have class in 7.5 hours!

Okay so we're going to ignore how long this has been sitting in my drafts, half answered. Okay? Okay. Awesome

-

So at some point during the Discovery Of Many Kinks (because when you're having a weird poly relationship with your former Warden, you're going to try a bunch of different things. For Science) awesamdrunz attempt to do a sex tape. It gets left around and found within like three days. By Sapnap.

So of course because of burning curiosity he has to watch the mysterious tape to see whats on it.

Then the only reason he kept watching was shock and also trying to figure out who the hell the third person was, why they looked familiar but also what the hell happened to them. Fun ways to find out your former best friend wasn't lying when he said he was horrifically tortured by your kind-of finance: finding his sex tape.

And listen, originally it was a fun crack idea to have him see this relationship nonsense where awesamdrunz was basically fucking in sex dungeons (made by Sam) after kidnappings, and decided that this was actually a really good template to fix his own relationship. He ends up trapping Quackity and Karl in what might be a previously unused sex dungeon!

(Resounding success: both of his boyfriends did not murder each other (due to bars in between them) and even spoke to each other in order to escape. This is the most progress he's had in months.)

But then! Alternate Idea! Sapnap sees the sex tape and (honestly not unfairly given his prior knowledge) believes Punz & Sam are at minimum, pressuring Dream into this relationship, and somehow this is a worse crime than murder. No wonder Dream couldn't stay in the prison! (Which. Not inaccurate.) So Sapnap sets about needing to find and protect Dream.

Sapnap finds Dream, and tries to convince him that he'll protect him. Dream is confused about what Sapnap saw, and has a tough time refuting anything. He also does really miss his friend. So he,,, doesn't really fight when Sapnap takes him to a secondary location.

-

"The windows are nice. Not as defensible, but you'll know if the enemy approaches." Dream commented, staring at the cloud-covered sea.

Sapnap laughed nervously, pulling open kitchen cupboards. "Yeah, I don't know. There shouldn't be any way for someone to find us out here though; its not like I told anyone where we were going."

Dream pursed his lips, but said nothing, eyes following the way the waves crashed against the shitty boardwalk Sapnap cobbled together half asleep. He figured Dream wouldn't want to be cooped up in the cottage all the time, not after… everything, so they could go sit out on the beach and fish, maybe, or go look for seashells. They hadn't built a sandcastle since they were kids, either, so it would definitely be something fun to try. Just like old times.

The wheat was crumbling in his hands, so Sapnap quickly tossed it on the counter.

"Are you hungry?" He called out, trying for a bit more cheer. Dream's gaze pulled to his, and Sapnap began pulling more ingredients out on the granite. "I know I'm not usually the person who cooks, but I've been getting into it lately! I made rabbit stew for Karl the other day, and he didn't even make a face when he was chewing."

He didn't really think about the potatoes as he dumped them into the sink, but he did notice the way Dream flinched, drawing in on himself and towards the doorway.

"Dream?"

"Just…" Dream looked back out into the sea. His fingers, what remained of them, dug into the fabric of his pants. "Nothing with potatoes. Please."

Sapnap felt his anxiety roll like the tide.

"Yeah, dude, that's cool. Doesn't sound appealing right now anyway." He said uncertainly. Dream's shoulders relaxed marginally, but Sapnap still felt off. "Anything you're in the mood for, though? Beet soup? Cheese sandwich?"

"Whatever you cook is fine." Dream reassured him. A brittle, but teasing edge appeared in his smile. "Unless you somehow got worse at baking bread."

He had, but god forbid would he ever admit to that. He grinned, and sat up on the counter. "Oh, like you're so good at it. I tried your stupid 'Everything' bread, and it tasted like ash."

"You turned off the timer and it burned."

"Well maybe next time don't leave random timers on the oven and expect anyone to know what they're for."

"Maybe next time you should assume its there for a reason and not touch it." Dream said in exasperation. Sapnap stuck his tongue out, and Dream threw his hands up, exiting the kitchen. He was so dramatic, Sapnap thought fondly.

-

Its a lot of Sapnap attempting to reestablish their previous connection and realizing how much Dream has changed, and staring at the scars when he thinks Dream isn't looking. He gets Super Protective and promises he wont let anything else happen to him. Dream is instinctively upset (why now, why does it matter now, why do you care, I am Perfectly Fine) but its one of his People and he is So Tired.

Sapnap is sorta kinda keeping Dream with him. It's not exactly against Dream's will, but it's also like, if Dream could walk out the door and come back later without Sapnap freaking out he'd rather do that. But Sapnap is freaking out, and seems to believe that there is a credible threat against Dream if he leaves. Given Sapnap's previous relationship with Quackity, Dream is willing to believe he might know something and that alone makes him anxious enough that he wants to stay.

Sapnap gets more horrified the longer he's with Dream (Dream flinches under his touches, his fingers are gone, Dream makes a snide comment about Quackity when Sapnap asks about the scars,) and this only convinces him more that clearly he needs to be protecting Dream. Sapnap expresses a lot of fury towards Sam, and Dream doesn't have any good arguments against it. There's a lot of stuff that he just sorta, decided to ignore, and now that coming back up is messing with him.

They get into a brief yelling match when Dream gets tired of what he presumes is pity and fake behavior, and it ends with Sapnap holding Dream to keep him from leaving or collapsing.

(The irony(?) of Dream comforting Sapnap for most of his life only for them to switch places in this moment is not lost on him.)

He gets to snuggle with him under the covers and gets a kiss on the chin (Dream is half asleep, and thinking about how much he missed him.)

Meanwhile, Punz is going to Murder Sapnap.

Punz has no context for why Sapnap took Dream so he is assuming Sapnap is going to attempt to imprison Dream again (after failing to kill him) and while he is 100 percent confident in Dreams abilities he also is aware that Sapnap is one of Dreams People and therefore capable of hurting Dream emotionally. Hurting Dream is Not Allowed.

Sam is having a panic attack because Dream isn't within sight line and isn't with Punz and therefore everything is Wrong and Bad in his world.

When you finally get a confrontation between Sam and Sapnap (because at this point, they don't know that Sapnap knows about Punz, so Sam is going in first), Sapnap responds viciously, tearing into Sam both for the scars on Dream's body, but also stating he knew they were fucking, and there's no way that's even remotely acceptable given the position of power Sam had (he's not wrong. this is a true statement of fact for everything that occurred prior to the prison break. it's just that things got weird after that). Sam has no good rebuttal, and faced with violence from Sap, has to flee. He's left shaken from everything.

Dream: listen he may have enabled my torture and abuse, and starved and isolated me, and accepted sexual favors from me while being in a position of power over me But he's also a very sad wet cat of a man, and I'm a control freak

Punz tries to talk with Sapnap on slightly less,,, angry grounds? On his part. Knowing about the interaction with Sam, he feels better about the fact Dream is probably safe and Sapnap probably has good reason for what he's doing.

To be clear though, Sapnap is furious with Punz. Right out of the gate he reveals he knows Punz was involved. At first, he's assuming that Punz was paid off to help Sam, but Punz decides "fuck it" and reveals at least part of things. He explains he was working with Dream after the prison break, that he felt bad for betraying him, and that they had a relationship. Dream wanted to involve Sam post-prison, Punz was against it, but wanted Dream to be safe.

Sapnap: you're forcing him to do this! Punz: I DON'T EVEN WANT HIM TO BE DOING THIS Sam: >:(

Sapnap needs to take some time to processes that, but he then presses to clarify; Dream and Sam had a relationship while Dream was in prison? Yes.

Sam had a hand in the torture and Dream's condition? Also yes.

After he broke out, despite all of this, Dream still felt like he wanted to return to Sam? Yes.

Sapnap: And you LET him?!

Punz doesn't have a good answer for that, other than Dream is his own person, and Punz can't stop him from doing what he wants with his life. To which Sapnap responds, yes you can motherfucker

It's a very fundamentally rift in their two perspectives. Punz, particularly post-prison, couldn't morally justify restricting Dream or telling him how to life his life or cope. Sapnap, thinks that Dream was not in a position to make a choice like that.

Punz doesn't have a good answer for that, it's the exact thing he's been feeling guilty over. So he ends up leaving, Not for forever. Just to think.

Meanwhile, Dream overheard everything. He now understands what Sapnap is seeing as the "real issue" (or at least, the current threat at hand), and he knows that he's going to make his own choice here.

Dream: I understand that my decisions are problematic but have you ever considered that I've made my choices and will continue to make them, even if you don't agree Sapnap: NO

Dream tells Sapnap gently that he's leaving now. He wants to go back. Sapnap doesn't want him to, he makes fair arguments about how much Dream could be hurt here. Dream understands, but he's also an adult, and he's decided what he wants. He's forgiven his stupid creeper hybrid boyfriend. It might not make sense to, but he has. It's his choice in the end.

Sapnap doesn't like it, there's a long people where he's just holding Dream and in tears. He's apologized a lot. For leaving Dream there. He says it again for good measure. Dream gives him a soft kiss on the forehead and he doesn't say it's okay, but he does say that he loves him. That it will be okay.

Dream has to go now, but he promises to come back, they set a time and they get to just spend time together. Talking about things one at a time.

(Sapnap and Dream see each other a lot now, as he slowly enters Dream's life again. Occupying his space and checking up on him and fretting. They get more kisses, more cuddles in bed. Once a week they come back to their little cottage and grow something that isn't what they used to have, but its still good, and its full of love.)

Later, Dream will be reassuring Punz that he made the best choices he could make, sighing and pulling Sam out of his prison depression hole. Kidnapping once again proves to be a great way to solve problems.

[hyog-blog]

The Story of Pearl Girl (ep. 35 - ep. 40) [end of series][spoilers]

Out of all the show's tropes, this one did it for me - knowing that you will die soon, for sure, and spending your last days with the person you love the most, cherishing each and every bit of it. This was just heart-wrenching to watch, mostly due to Liu Yuning's and Zhao Lusi's stellar acting. I mean the TORMENT is not just real, it's almost unbearable, but also, somehow, you can feel so much love and appreciation and, actually, light during those last days of Yan Zijin.

Probably because of his attitude. Like, it hurts, more than anything, but there's also one more hour you can spend with the woman you love, and then a whole day, and maybe one day more. Isn't that all that we could really ask for? The most precious moments line up like pearls to form a beautiful necklace. But then, eventually, everything fades away, both good and bad.

Of course, she knew he was poisoned. With her level of intelligence, I'd be surprised if she didn't. The fall of the bad guys was a bit meh, I mean, yes, that's what Yan Zijing was killing himself for, but in the end, that was not what truly mattered. But his family's name did get cleared, so he achieved his life's mission. Alas, he didn't have the time to enjoy the ordinary, simple pleasure of a life surrounded by the people you love and care about. it's kind of a happy ending for Yan Zijing, but with a very dramatic twist, which was obvious from the start, no one even tried to hide it. The poison was there, I just hoped for some ridiculous miraculous last-minute saving. Which didn't happen, but like with most things in life - we get some good stuff, we get some bad stuff, it's a mix.

I can see how ep. 40 could inspire a few depressions out there, but the message is still surprisingly hopeful. Justice prevailed, the bad guys got what they deserved, and the good guys, well, they took whatever happiness came their way, just like we do in real life. Su Muzhe did become the free-spirited trader she always dreamed of being, traveling far and wide just like Yan Zijing did. Cui Shijiu rose from the ashes and finally got her shit together XD Becoming a smart and cool girl we knew she could be, but for some reason, it just wasn't happening.

I have to admit there was a moment between Su Muzhe and Cui Shijiu, when our girl called the other one zhiji and all that wine-drinking was happening. I mean, I could totally see things going more than a little bit queer if the show wanted to go there. With all those powerful female characters, it would have totally worked. It was a lovely hint, though, which I enjoyed immensely :D

I need to go and watch some kittens now XD And remember there's more to life than torturous romance and people in love who can't be with each other. Still, I appreciate this show very, very much. I ended up loving every bit of it, surprisingly. It's very realistic in many aspects, maybe less so in others, but when put together, everything works great. Zhao Lusi's and Liu Yuning's acting is just 5 stars, they are both seriously amazing actors and their chemistry in both happiness and suffering and everything in between is truly top-notch.

I can see how this show might not be everyone's cup of tea, but we're all different, so it's okay. But I'm happy I watched it and that it was made, and I wish ZL and LYN much happiness and more great roles in the future.

Yep, he doesn't know it yet, but she knows already. And you can see it by the way she treats him, just playing along to keep the illusion of happiness going. They're such a bittersweet couple.

And not Kang Ju working as a model for female jewelry))) That moment just made me giggle, he's such a cutie))

Everyone posing for a family portrait. I almost thought they were foreshadowing another one of Li Kui's attacks that would kill half of the cast, but I was wrong. It was just a sweet happy moment shared between friends and co-workers.

And not Kang Ju asking whether he's actually so pretty in real life, too XD

More heartbreaking moments hide behind the seemingly happy surface. You can literally see it in her eyes that she already knows everything.

Some girl-to-girl romance, happily celebrating the fall of the Zheng family. All smiles and cutesy talk. Effortlessly qeer-ish.

Then back to the emotional torment of being unable to say goodbye to each other. YZJ cooking for her continuously to show his love. And Su Muzhe asking Yan Zijing not to leave, finally showing her true feelings. Pure 100% heartbreak.

It's been a nice, although a bit hectic ride 💖

[darkwing-katy]

I…can live with that, I guess? Thoughts on Evil’s final episode under the cut (aka SPOILERS)

-I’m sad in general that this show is ending and it will take me forever to recover from this show in the best way

-I guess my dream where I shoved Leland into a bathroom to keep him alive kinda worked???

-the main trio reliving their cases as they burn them was fucking adorable

-I’m gonna miss those girls so much

-the fuck are we gonna do about Lexis???? She seemed normal this season but, like, she had fangs and a tail and was born from a place tainted with demonic stuff. I wanna know how that resolves.

-okay so I guess since Timmy was baptized he can’t be the Antichrist? They were just gonna pivot and make another one? That’s fun.

-the sheer bureaucracy of the online meeting of the 60 had me cackling. “Norm. You’re muted.”

-NORM. IT’S THE BUTTON SHAPED LOKE A LOZENGE poor Leland has to deal with so much shit with these incompetent demons

-“you’ve protected Kristen for four years, Leland.” Uhm. What? He’s been protecting her? Why????? I NEED MORE OF THIS EXPLAINED TO ME????? It can’t just be the whole mother of the Antichrist thing, right???? THERE’S MORE TO IT.

-all things considered, I firmly believe Leland would not have actually killed Timothy. I dunno why; I can’t explain it. But I don’t think he’d do it. Not after that nice little drop of David’s goodness in him.

-Leland putting in earphones while creeping into the house to murder Kristen?? And singing and bopping along in the basement? Iconic. Iconic and adorable. I love him. I have a problem, I know.

-I WAS TRYING NOT TO FREAK OUT WHEN SHE CAME AT HIM WITH THE CORD (“oh shit, guess the bathroom didn’t work after all” was what I told my husband)

-but also the hilarious irony of Kristen strangling him with a red cord like that when that’s how Michael Emerson’s character kills John Locke in LOST???? Like I was stressing but also giggling like a psycho

-the reveal of the meaning behind the countdown was so on point for this show. This fucking show. (What about the bricks, though? Why did they want people to remove the bricks in Kristen’s basement?????)

-DAVID I DON’T THINK LOCKING HIM IN A CABINET IS ANY BETTER THAN STRANGULATION WITH A CORD???? IS HE JUST GONNA ROT IN THERE????

-(okay but all things aside, Leland technically didn’t die on screen and I love to imagine that he was released somehow) (o shit did I just come up with another fic idea????)

-FENNA!!!!!! FENNAAAAAAA!!!! THAT LIL SHOULDER BUMP!!!!!!!

-Kristen’s Dutch counterpart convincing her to move???? Wonderful

-Kristen and David in Rome??? With the girls and Timmy? And cool Italian sunglasses? Wonderful. 10/10. They get to be together but David doesn’t have to choose between her and God. Sure, there’s still sexual tension, but, they’re TOGETHER and not all meaningful relationships have sex as an active component

-BEN SHOULD HAVE GONE WITH THEM AND I STAND BY THIS

-THAT ENDING???? And the fact that Katja decided that was how Kristen should react on the fucking day of filming???? 10/10 no notes, only undeniable curiosity as to what would happen if we miraculously got a season 5

-that cliffhanger is satisfying but also I need a season five. And six. And seven eight nine.

Anywho. That’s, uh, about where I am right now. I’m extremely sad. I ate sushi and ice cream and it helped until it didn’t. I’m gonna continue rewatching the whole dang thing. I’m gonna finish rewriting my Leland fic. I might actually make the shirt I was joking about in an earlier post. Hell, I think the idea of a circle skirt with the map of the different demonic sigils would be amazing. And then I’m probably gonna wanna write more fanfic because I’m still in denial that it’s actually over.

But hey! In my head, Leland is not dead! That’s a win!!! Good job, Dream Kate! You sorta succeeded in protecting your favorite character!

[snailqueenforever]

Bill Cipher VS a Dill Pickle

Bill Cipher drifted through the boundless void between dimensions, his singular eye scanning the vast multiverse with a weary disinterest. The thrill of warping reality and twisting minds had begun to dull after countless eons. The chaos that once fueled his existence now seemed monotonous. He craved something new, something so mundane that he could delight in turning it into something bizarre. That’s when he saw it: a small, unassuming deli nestled in the heart of a quiet little town, in a dimension that had somehow evaded his notice until now. The place was quaint, almost laughably ordinary, with a red and white striped awning. "Bob’s Deli" was painted in neat, cheerful letters on the window. The sheer normalcy of it sparked a wicked idea in Bill’s twisted mind.

“This is perfect,” Bill cackled, his voice reverberating through the void like a sinister echo. “Let’s see what happens when chaos comes to lunchtime!”. In a flash of yellow light, Bill zipped through the dimensional rift, materializing in the center of the deli. The bell above the door jingled as if announcing his arrival, though no one seemed to notice the sudden appearance of a floating triangle with an all-seeing eye.

The deli was cozy, with wooden shelves lined with jars of pickles, fresh loaves of bread, and various condiments. The counters displayed platters of meats and cheeses, meticulously arranged by Bob, the middle-aged owner with a kind smile and an apron that bore the marks of years of service. Bill floated lazily over the shelves, his eye zeroing in on the rows of pickle jars. Each one was filled to the brim with crisp, tangy pickles. Their briny liquid catched the overhead lights and gave the display an almost magical sheen. The pickles varied in size and shape. Some tall and slender, others short and stout…but all were carefully labeled, as if they were precious treasures to Bob, rather than mere snacks. As Bill inspected the jars, his eye was drawn to one pickle in particular…a plump, green gherkin that seemed to occupy nearly the entire jar. Its surface was glossy, and it looked as if it were glowing with some inner vitality.

Bill clapped his skinny black hands together. “At last!” he thought to himself. “I’ve found a pickle worthy of my time!”. He hovered closer, his voice dripping with mischief. “Hey there, green guy! You’re looking… fresh. Hows about we have a little chat, you and me?”. The pickle, shiny and briny, remained still in its jar. Its bumpy surface reflected the light of the quant deli, but it offered no response. No sudden burst of life, no sprouting of arms or legs, no squeaky voice acknowledging Bill’s presence. Bill’s eye twitched, a flicker of irritation crossing his face. “Come on, don’t be shy. I’m Bill Cipher! Dream demon, master of chaos, all that jazz. You’ve probably heard of me, right?”.

But the pickle stayed silent, its green form utterly unresponsive. It was just… a pickle.

Bill floated even closer, scrutinizing the pickle with suspicion. “Okay, maybe you’re one of those strong, silent types. That’s cool. But you’ve got to have something to say. What’s it like being a pickle? Any deep thoughts on life in brine?”. Still, the pickle offered nothing in return. It sat there, looking like every other pickle that had ever existed. It was completely indifferent to the fact that it was being addressed by a reality-bending entity. Bill’s patience, such as it was, began to fray. He circled the jar, tapping it with a spectral finger. “You know, I only come around every one hundred years,” Bill began to lie. “I only ever appear when one of the greatest minds of a generation needs a muse. And YOU, dear former cucumber, are that greatest mind! So, what do ya say? Want me to be your muse?”

But the pickle didn’t so much as twitch.

“Look, you gherkin,” Bill snapped, his frustration boiling over his lie. “I can give you anything! Freedom from the jar, endless adventures, maybe even a spot on a gourmet platter! But you gotta do something in return for me”. The deli carried on with its normal routine, customers coming and going, oblivious to the cosmic drama unfolding in their midst. Bill, however, was fixated on the silent pickle, refusing to let it win whatever strange game this was. He tried everything, such as snapping his fingers to animate it, making exaggerated gestures…he even offered bribes of fame and fortune. But the pickle remained stubbornly non-verbal.

Finally, Bill sighed, floating back in reluctant defeat. “Alright, fine. Be that way. You might just be the most stubborn pickle I’ve ever met.” He paused, then added with a grudging hint of respect, “That’s kind of impressive”. With that, Bill turned away, leaving the pickle to its jar. As he floated off to find some other form of amusement, he couldn’t resist glancing back one last time, half-expecting the pickle to spring to life. But it didn’t.

Bill looked down at the deli’s linoleum floor, defeated. “It’s moments like these where I miss Sixer most of all” he sighed to himself. And with a final, echoing snap of the fingers, Bill zipped off into the chaos, leaving behind a simple, unassuming cucumber preserved in brine…completely impervious to the madness that was Bill Cipher.

[redfurrycat]

🤠🪅👨🐓Sugar Daddy Fic Recs🐓👨🪅🤠

Check the Top Gun Masterlist post for the latest updated version. 💕

Ao3 Authors: Chase_acow, Ginnydear, Hangmanbradshaw, LulaluzHazel, Mackwinnon, Renai_chan, Thegeckbros.

I'm a babygirl in a daddy's world > Daddy Klnk

leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream by ginnydear {E}

“Getting old,” she replies, humming again. “I guess that means you’re entering a new era of hook-ups though.” “What on earth are you talking about?” Bradley asks, turning down the television. “Come on Bradley, you know you’re gonna find some hot twenty-something who wants you to fu-” “Okay!” Bradley says, laughing a bit as Natasha sputters and laughs too. “I get it. You don’t have to continue.” “Don’t be such a prude,” Natasha says primly. “I was going to say ‘fund their grad school dreams’ before you so rudely cut me off.”

The Only Exception by mackwinnon {E}

Organized crime AU. Escort Jake meets Bradley in a club while he's with another client. Bradley's instantly intrigued and makes Jake an offer he can't refuse. It's just business. Until it isn't.

nothing’s good until it hurts by thegeckbros {E}  

there's money for the taking (and the happiness we all deserve)

“So, what, one of the richest dudes in New York wants to be your sugar daddy?” “Kinda?” Jake sits back up, straightening up and turning his body towards Javy. “He doesn’t want like sex or anything. He just needs someone to pretend to date so his uncle and PR team get off his back about his reputation.” Or a sugar daddy au in which jake is a struggling law student, bradley's a billionaire, and they weave a tangled web

you do it all your life and you never get through it

The silver lining, if there is one to be had, about watching his dad die in front of him is that the worst thing to ever happen to Bradley is over before his life has really begun. Every shitty breakup or spectacular fuckup, every broken bone or missed flight. None of it will ever come close to even touching the worst day of Bradley’s life. And then, 15 years after the worst thing that’s ever happened to him, it all happens again. Or scenes from bradley's life, before and after jake

We're Crashing Like Waves by Renai_chan {M}

Jake is a movie star looking to get some surfing lessons and Bradley is a surfer living a quiet life in Hawaii. Like the land and the sea, they come together on the edges of O‘ahu.

Sugar Daddy Bradshaw by chase_acow {E}

Cutting to the Chase

“I’ll agree to pay for one semester if you make me look good and let me touch your ass. I suppose I’ll have to live with the disappointment of no blowjob,” Bradshaw sighed, his shoulders slumping as he adopted a hangdog expression, for exactly five seconds before he grinned again. “But think about it. I can’t be your sugar daddy if you don’t give me the sugar.” “You’d be interested in something long term?” Jake asked doubtfully, wondering if he’d somehow been involved in a terrible accident and this was all a hallucination from his desperate brain low on oxygen. “Based on what I’ve seen so far, you might be sweet enough to pay through to your doctorate,” Bradshaw said with a shrug of his shoulders as if he didn’t care one way or another about throwing a hundred thousand dollars at someone he just met.

Party Favor

Bradley needed him to go to New York on a business trip, but first Jake had to have a suit that wouldn’t make the people they were meeting laugh. So Jake spent a very uncomfortable afternoon at the tailor playing a life-sized Ken doll while Bradley and the old man with too many straight pins talked about him like he wasn’t there. The suits he ended up with each cost more than his car. The bruises he ended up with when Bradley pulled him into the changing room and lifted him up to wrap his legs around his waist had faded by the time Jake got on the private plane for the trip. Earning his membership to the mile high club was kinda cool, too.

Ride 'Em Cowboy

Bradley had some work to finish, but he joined Jake in time to start the football game. As the Longhorns ran out on the field, Jake found himself sitting pretty in Bradley’s lap. His skin felt a hundred times more sensitive after staying naked and having Bradley prime him for so long. The mustache at the nape of his neck made him shiver. “Do you think you can come once for each quarter?” Bradley asked, hands on Jake’s knees to situate them to his liking. He licked his palm and then took Jake in hand, “I think you can do it.” * “Your team’s winning, baby. What do you have to cry about?” Bradley teased after they’d watched more of the game. One hand pet across Jake’s belly while the other twisted Jake’s head around so he could lick at Jake’s tears. “Is it too much?”

Know Better

“You can come, but I am not fucking you in my mom’s home,” Jake said, leaning into his stern voice. He’d learned enough about how to wrangle the older man in the last couple of months to know he had to start out solid and then stick to his guns. “And we don’t have time to fool around now. So repack, and you’d better pick at least one shirt that isn’t going to blind everyone with the print.” Bradley smirked, and Jake should have known better.

that little farm where every wish comes true by hangmanbradshaw {E}

Jake's only wish that holiday season was simple- to keep his family christmas tree farm. He never expected that wish would be granted via a man with deep pockets, an amused smile, and commitment issues a mile wide. He never expected to like him. He definitely never expected to love him. Hell, he never expected Bradley Bradshaw. Or Hallmark Christmas Movie but make it sugar (daddy) and spice and everything nice.

Serendipity by LulaluzHazel {E}

During his second year at university, Bradley found himself with no room or a place to live. Venting to his co-worker, a handsome customer overheard his problems and offered him a sweet deal: to stay at his flat in exchange for looking out for his cat. But why did his new landlord have to be a naval aviator of all things? Couldn't he just be a regular rich kid?

[maybeamiles]

Okay so something happened in the Honkai Star Rail community that really bothered me and I'm trying to put into words what makes me so upset about it.

So Hoyoverse recently hired a new voice actor named Chris Niosi to voice one of their new characters. He is no longer voicing this character. The reason he is no longer voicing this character is because a bunch of people found out that in 2019 Niosi released a shitty internet apology for being abusive to people in his personal life in response to callout posts on Twitter and Tumblr. During this time he also violated an NDA about a role he played in Fire Emblem 3 Houses, and was replaced with Zach Aguilar. He did not face any criminal charges for this behavior, but it is a thing that happened. Naturally people are upset about this and kept asking for him to be fired, and some VA's stood up for him claiming he'd changed, and fans began to lash out against them too. Niosi ended up resigning, and Hoyoverse will hire a new voice actor.

So far, it seems this controversy has not affected his work. Since 2019 he's played Reigen Arataka in Season 3 of Mob Psycho 100 and was an NPC in Genshin Impact.

Now I have a few problems with the community reaction to all this:

Problem number 1: I spent way too much time in the Dream SMP fandom, and have heard way too much bullshit about people being abusers in their personal lives to be ok with any of this. Like part of the reason Dream SMP was so awful is that every other week there would be a new post along the lines of "Dream is the Worst! Here are 7 Heavily Censored Screenshots To Prove Why!" This stuff instantly activates my "I don't like this" senses, I have a very bad reaction to these things.

Problem Number 2: He's a fucking actor. Just because he now has a bit of fame in the community doesn't mean he's somehow more worthy of criticism than he was before. Hell, he still has work in the industry. Just go look up his IMDB. The only reason it matters more in Star Rail is because a lot of the Hoyoverse VA's make extra money off of being Hoyoverse VA's, like how Dan Heng's VA gets the other Star Rail VA's together to do music covers. Even then, he's WORKED WITH HOYOVERSE BEFORE. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT HE'S NOW VOICING A PLAYABLE CHARACTER INSTEAD OF AN NPC.

Problem number 3: Personally, I don't see what online abuse allegations from 2019 have to do with his role as a Voice Actor. Would working at McDonald's or in a less flashy job stop him from hurting people? No! Now, if I was hiring him, I would be nervous about that NDA violation, or that the abuse allegations might flare up into a PR disaster (like they ACTUALLY DID). I might not hire him for a major role. I might take concerns about his mistreatment of his colleagues more seriously. He might not be a Good Face for my company. But, at the end of the day, he is still a Guy Doing a Job, parasociality be dammned, and not doing This Job will not make anything better for the people he hurt.

(Also your (and my) favorite game has like, one not-pale dude in it and is made by a huge dev team that probably has shitty people in it just because that's what happens when you get a large enough group of people together but like heyyyyy let's all jump onto boogeyman of the week now shall we?)

(now, concerns about parasociality I do respect. Hoyoverse VA's are VERY parasocial, and tend to make a bit of extra money from fans by doing cool Hoyoverse VA things. But most people are like ABUSER = BAD AND GROSS and... ugh onto the next slide).

Problem number 4: ABUSER = BAD AND GROSS is a stupid black-and-white mindset and I think everyone who has this mindset should grow the fuck up. People can and do get better, I know people who have gotten better, people who it would be really fucked up of me to stop speaking to because of things I wasn't even alive for, when I don't even know the people who were hurt. People who have already had enough guilt and now need the space to live again. Hell, I've hurt people. You can't divide people into "good" and "bad" and you have to make room for change because if you do not you will hurt someone badly and that mindset will either break you with guilt or turn you into one of the "bad" people without even realizing it. (i reblogged earlier a comic about this exact phenomenon go read it)

At the end of the day I do think it was a good thing Niosi resigned because jesus fucking christ this was a PR disaster, and I would have hated to see him do something like Elliot Ghindi and use the parasociality of Hoyoverse fans to hurt more people (which is just a possibility, not something Niosi has actually done), but I don't think the internet Hate Mob was a good thing. I think bringing up someone's irrelevant personal details into their work life is a universally bad thing and even though he's a semi-public figure, nobody's private life should be exposed like that. There are court systems for a Fucking Reason and I know that they are flawed but also I genuinely believe that this whole internet tradition of making "callout posts" and stuff is incredibly toxic and abusive and I don't want it to keep happening in the fandoms I'm in.

[decks-writing-blog]

Whatever the Fuck Benrey is: Chapter Twelve: Points for Trying

Chapter One

Previous Chapter

~

Gordon woke to sunlight streaming in through the gaps in the curtains. Benrey was still snuggled up to him. Somehow all the remaining awkwardness had dissipated while they’d slept. Two lonely people cuddling, what had to be weird or awkward about that? It felt nice so why shouldn’t they? And it had worked. If he’d had another nightmare, it hadn’t been vivid enough to recall, let alone wake him.

Eventually Benrey stirred as if waking too. “Good morning,” Gordon whispered even though surely proper morning had passed by now. “Ready to get up?” He certainly wasn’t but he’d live if Benrey was.

Benrey shifted but made no move to get up or free himself from Gordon’s embrace. “Hmm… morning. Five more mins?”

“Sure, five more minutes.” Even if it would undoubtedly be more than that it didn’t matter. Gordon had stuff to do today but it could wait.

A purr rumbled in Benrey’s chest in response. Not as loud as the one last night but it still meant he was happy and content. This was nice for him too.

“Do you think uh… we could do this again?” Gordon kept his voice to a whisper lest he break the comfortable peace between them. He wouldn’t have said anything at all but while up and about, not half asleep in each other’s arms, the question would be awkward and weird. “I know you don’t need to sleep every night like I do but maybe you could…”

“Cuddle you to sleep anyway?” Benrey supplied for him as he trailed off.

“Uh… yeah. If you’re okay with that. You don’t have stay the whole night just ‘til I fall asleep.” Maybe that would be enough.

“Wow, can’t even fall asleep without help, huh? A helpless little uh… human, gotta be cuddled to sleep at night.” Any bite his teasing might have had was heavily dampened by the fact that he was whispering too and still purring lightly. “But sure, I’m a cool guy so I’ll help.”

“Thanks.”

~

‘Five more minutes’ was indeed far longer than five minutes in truth but it did eventually come to an end. It would’ve been nice for a bit longer even but Gordon needed to get up and move.

Upon exiting the room and heading off to meet up with the rest of the Science Team for lunch – they had indeed slept well past morning time – it almost felt like a dream. Nothing about his interactions with Benrey once they’d gotten out of bed were much different than they’d been yesterday. Though perhaps that was hard to judge considering how their interactions had gone from antagonistic to friendly to cuddling relatively quickly. Those phone conversations had gone a long way towards cementing the tentative friendship they’d formed playing games together for an evening. But they’d full on cuddled twice now, surely that should change something, right? … It didn’t though. Which was preferable so Gordon wasn’t going to think about it anymore.

After lunch, there was not much else to do but continue the search for a place to live. Even if he wanted to move in somewhere soon as possible, it was still a good idea to get the lay of the land before bothering to make appointments to look inside anywhere. Since the whole Science Team was in the same boat in that regard, driving around to look together made sense.

Despite deciding to take the Black Mesa car instead of Bubby’s, Bubby still claimed the driver’s seat which meant by unquestioned agreement, Dr. Coomer got shotgun. Leaving Benrey, Gordon, and Tommy to get into the back again. Such seemed to be how they were going to default to riding in a car together. It wouldn’t have been so bad except Benrey pointed out, “I sat middle last time. It sucked. Your turn, like you said.”

“I guess I did say, huh?” The means of their return trip meant he hadn’t had to live up to his promise to swap for the window seat with Benrey. He could perhaps ask Tommy to switch instead but he’d already got in so, with a sigh, Gordon slid in to the middle seat.

Benrey slid in next, closing the door behind him and sandwiching Gordon between him and Tommy. It wasn’t so bad though. Yeah, he didn’t have a good view of the outside and less leg room than he preferred but brushing shoulders with both Tommy and Benrey wasn’t much of a problem. He’d recently learned that he was apparently the type of guy who liked cuddling with his friends after all so the causal contact wasn’t an issue.

“Since we’re all uh… looking for places at the same time maybe we could try to be neighbors,” Tommy said as Bubby started the car and got them rolling. “It’s uh… it’s good to live near friends. We could… we could go on walks together with Sunkist and um… just hang out and stuff whenever we want.”

Gordon hadn’t given it much thought before but… “Great idea.” The fact that rooming with Benrey wasn’t going to be nearly as bad as he’d have once thought – would even be fairly nice instead – didn’t mean having the others nearby to help keep him sane wouldn’t be greatly appreciated. Both for the added easily accessed company but also because Benrey was still Benrey. Being friends with and sometimes cuddling him didn’t mean he wasn’t also still an annoying brat.

“With how small this damn town is, we’d likely end up living near each other anyway,” Bubby said. “So sure, I guess we can go out of our way to do it on purpose.”

“Having high friendship levels with one’s neighbors sounds like a grand idea,” was apparently Dr. Coomer’s way of voicing agreement.

***

Counter to how it had felt every time Benrey had made it to Tuefort before, it wasn’t particularly big or grand place. He’d already seen much of it on his solo walks and then his walks with Bubby had taken them out even further. So several of the areas they visited to look at he’d already seen. Stepping out of the car to look around with the idea of maybe living in the area gave it a different vibe but… what made an area a good place to live?

He’d have just stood by and listened to the others discuss it but like when just looking at pictures online yesterday, Gordon asked him his opinion. Where before he’d been passively excluded from conversations if he didn’t insert himself, he was now being dragged in. It wasn’t a bad thing but what was he supposed to say when he didn’t have much of an opinion on any of it?

They were here to look around through so he defaulted to observations. “There’s a crack in the sidewalk.” “That tree’s got a bird’s nest in it.” And other such notable things, some of which he pulled out his camera to take a picture of.

“Is that… a good thing or a bad thing?” Gordon started asking after the second such response. The answer to which was always the same: “I don’t know,” because Benrey truthfully didn’t know. He’d only ever lived in Black Mesa and now the hotel so living anywhere else would be new and thus exciting for a time at least.

Following the third time Gordon asked that, Bubby cut in before Benrey could reply. “Why do you keep asking for his opinion? I don’t think he cares.”

“Well… he’s gonna be living with me so I think he should have at least somewhat of a say on where we live. I mean, ideally we’re both happy with the house we chose and everyone as a group, are happy with the neighborhood too. So I gotta like ask his opinion… or try to anyway because he’s not helping much.”

“I really don’t care, man.” Everywhere seemed pretty much the same to Benrey. “‘Long as it’s got a place I can make my gamer pad, I’ll be happy.”

Gordon let out a heavy sigh. “I guess I’m not surprised. Give me points for trying though, huh?”

“You get five points for trying Gordon,” Coomer said patting him on the shoulder. “If you keep this pace up you’ll unlock his next heart event in no time.”

“What’s a heart event?”

Coomer didn’t answer as he started fast-walking back towards the car. “Come along now, Gordon. We have th- Come along now, Gordon. Daylight’s-” He was apparently too far away to finish that line.

Gordon fell in step with Benrey as they started following at a more sedate pace. “You know what a ‘heart event’ is?”

“An event with hearts, duh.” What else would it be? Though what it had to do with Benrey was a mystery.

Gordon chuckled. “Well, yeah, of course. But what are we supposed to do with the hearts?”

“Uh… eat them, maybe? I don’t know. Coomer’s kinda weird sometimes.”

“Well knowing even you think he’s kinda weird makes me feel a bit better, I guess.”

“’Heart event’ sounds like something from an um, uh… dating game,” Tommy supplied from behind them. “So maybe he thinks you guys are uh… dating or going to date.”

Gordon scoffed. “Nah, not fucking happening.”

“They make dating games?” From what Benrey understood about the concept of dating, it didn’t sound like something possible to make a game about.

“You wouldn’t like them. They’re visual novels, basically,” Tommy replied. “Some of them are uh… interesting in a very specific way with very specific kinds of art so maybe you might like those, assuming you’re into um… that kinda stuff. Which I don’t know if you are. I could give recommendations for some good ones if you want.”

“Nah, no thanks.” Benrey had tried visual novels before, they were only slightly more interesting than actual novels. But regardless, Coomer thought he and Gordon were dating? Why? … Well, to be fair, Benrey wasn’t sure what all dating entailed for the people doing it, maybe him and Gordon were doing dating like things. Gordon said they weren’t though so probably it was just Coomer being weird.

~

After that they only visited a couple more spots. There weren’t exactly many available neighborhoods to move into. Despite having established that Benrey didn’t care about the area they lived, Gordon still asked him to provide his opinion on both locations, though he didn’t press when given a noncommittal answer. Which did earn him some points as it was neat that he cared about what Benrey thought.

Once done it was time for dinner. Despite still having groceries, they went out for pizza again. Over it the four to them discussed what all they’d apparently learned during their outing. Benrey only half paid attention to most of it. The housing situation was mostly up to Gordon to figure out. … Unless he decided to get a job and his own place.

He liked having easy access to someone to play games with though. And he’d already promised to help Gordon sleep at night. So he was kind of stuck, right? … Both could be fixed by living near him though. Benrey could hang out at his place in the evenings and during the night and go home in the morning when Gordon went to work or something.

Regardless before deciding on that, he needed to figure out the whole making money thing first. He’d never got paid for his old job as security guard and all the money he had made to buy games when escaping to Tuefort’s Gamestop had come from playing poker with the paid guards. Could he do that and earn enough to pay rent or… what had Gordon called it? A mortgage? What even was that and what did it have to do with housing?

So much had changed that’d he never thought would and it had happened so quickly. Much faster than he was ready to jump right into dealing with. So… for now he was just going to keep following Gordon. He was due a PS3 from him eventually anyway.

***

Even in a small town and trying to find a place quickly because living out of a hotel sucked, it took much longer than Gordon would’ve liked before they settled on something and then a bit longer before they could finally move in. In addition to wanting space for a ‘gamer pad’ Benrey’s only other actionable point of preference was that he liked carpeted floors over tiled ones. Which, with Gordon not have much of a preference either way, did narrow down their options a little, making it a bit easier even if it wasn’t by much.

The place was small, only one story and a small basement, and a bit rundown but it was a proper house. With the bonus and raise from Black Mesa, Gordon could afford that now. Heck, he could afford to buy a house instead of rent if he wanted to but when that happened, he wanted to not feel like he was in a rush to move out, so he could have more time to look. Technically he’d been able to afford such before, though not nearly as comfortably and living at the facility had meant he hadn’t needed to.

Being bigger than his old living space made it better by default. The rest of the Science Team had all found places they were happy with that were all within comfortable walking distance too, fortune had favored them on that. Making moving in another big step towards everything being okay again.

With Benrey having nothing except for the clothes and Game Boy Gordon had given him and Gordon having not much more in the way of possessions, it didn’t take them long to finish moving in. The Game Cube and Xbox they put in the living room even though currently there was no TV present; that was the main thing missing.

“How often do you eat?” Gordon asked as he opened the ancient looking fridge in the kitchen, making sure he’d turned it on right. Seemingly he had.

“Whenever I’m hungry,” Benrey replied as he wandered into the kitchen behind Gordon. “Why? And when we gonna get a TV?” Of course that was the main thing he was thinking about.

“Soon. And I need to know how often you need to eat ‘cause we gotta go grocery shopping and I need to know how much to get. So… about how often do you get hungry?”

“Uh… don’t know, never paid attention to that kinda stuff. We gonna get a computer too?”

“I’m gonna get one for basic internet stuff first and then later we can take the time to buy the parts to build a proper one for gaming. We also still gotta get internet set up too.” There were just so many little things that needed attending to when moving into a new place. Not having to deal with all that had been a benefit to the living arrangements of Black Mesa. He had the essentials taken care of though so he could worry about internet and possibly cable later. “But uh… for now I guess I’ll just get a little more food than I normally would. Wanna go shopping with me so you can tell me what you like?”

Benrey opened his mouth to respond but Gordon interrupted, “We’ll get a TV while we’re out too,” because there was no way Benrey hadn’t been about to bring that up again; couldn’t play games without one.

“Let me guess, a cheap, used one?”

“Uh… actually no, we’ll get a new one. Not a super fancy one but a new one.” He had to follow through on that promise to get a PS3 sometime soon, an up to date TV would probably work best with it.

“Sweet, let’s go.”

~

They’d gone grocery shopping once more since their first trip. Benrey had gone with again that time but so had the rest of the Science Team. Now it was just the two of them. Gordon expected Benrey to wander off anyway like he had the first two times – not returning at all until the rest of them were on their way out during that second trip – but by some miracle he actually listened when told him to stay near. Which didn’t mean he stayed next to Gordon and the cart, just that he hovered nearby, only wandering slightly ahead or behind.

It made asking his opinions on what food Gordon should get for him a bit inconvenient but actually possible. Not that he had many opinions on food. Like where they lived, he didn’t seem to care. It was annoying and frustrating because Gordon was trying to accommodate him as was the polite thing to do for one’s roommate who had apparently lived their whole life locked in up a lab and was finally free but Benrey was making it really damn hard. But well… “What kind of stuff did you eat at Black Mesa?”

Benrey paused from his perusal of the various available cheeses, turning to look at him. “Stuff from the vending machines mostly or uh… they gave me things to eat sometimes to see if it’d do something to me. Sometimes I stole stuff from the break room fridges.”

As expected he’d likely never had access to much good food – and who knows what kind of non-food things they’d made him eat? – thus when asked stuff like if he had a preference for regular milk or oat milk because Gordon liked both, he responded with, “You can milk oats?” as a serious question. Given that, Gordon should pick out a handful of things for him to try to broaden his experience and maybe find something that he would like. And so…

“Just tell me one thing you like to eat and I’ll pick out a variety of stuff for the rest.” Even if it would likely be junk, that way if he proved to be picky, there’d still be something for him when he got hungry.

“Ivory soap.”

“Ivory soap as in like… the bars of soap under the brand Ivory?”

“Yep. You can uh… put it in the microwave and it puffs up so it’s like eating a cloud. They stopped buying it at Black Mesa a while ago ‘cause I kept eating it, started getting the dumb liquid soap for everything instead which doesn’t taste as good.”

Gordon took a breath, intending to ask if he really, truly, actually ate bar soap and liked it, but let it out in a sigh instead. Of course Benrey ate soap. He wasn’t human so why should he only eat human food? Honestly there were worse things he could’ve said, at least soap would make his breath smell nice. Not that him smelling bad was a problem, he didn’t seem to smell like much of anything other than at most the hotel soap and shampoo after a shower. So… “All right, I’ll get you a box of Ivory soap then.”

“Sweet.”

***

Upon returning from their shopping trip, it took longer to put everything away and set up their new TV than moving in had. But finally upon finishing they were set to go. Mostly anyway, there was still the computer and internet to deal with. But at last they could relax on their couch that had come with their new house and play video games again on their new TV. … Or well, all of it was all really Gordon’s and Benrey was just mooching off him. But going out and getting his own stuff was still just a thought he was toying with. And he wasn’t in the mood to dwell on it right now.

Instead he focused on the game. Both he and Gordon were getting pretty adept at playing with only one hand. Benrey could use either hand equally well which Gordon seemed to think was impressive for some reason so he always switched between rounds or sometimes mid-round just for fun.

They played late into the evening until it was time for dinner. Benrey wasn’t really hungry but it had been so long since he’d last had an Ivory soap, he popped one in the microwave and ate it anyway. The look Gordon gave him as he did so was funny but he didn’t say anything. Seems he was getting used to Benrey’s oddities and thus perhaps it was time for Benrey to step up his game a bit. Afterwards, they returned to gaming and played until bedtime.

As had become habit, despite not being the one that would die if he didn’t sleep enough, it was Benrey who had to call it once it was obvious that Gordon was starting to get tired. He was a good pet owner like that, took real good care of his fragile human. Gordon wasn’t going to be dying of sleep deprivation – the thing itself or any accidents that resulted from it – or anything else while on his watch. There wasn’t even much of an argument this time, Gordon merely sighed and stood as Benrey turned the console and TV off.

“So, uh, how do you like the house so far?” He asked as as they started down the hall together. “It nice to have a real place to live?”

“Hmm… yeah.” It was bigger than their hotel room and was a building for just the two of them. And one of the two bedrooms had been promised to converted into a gamer pad. For his old gamer pad, Benrey had had to hunt and search basically the whole facility before he’d found a room that was not only out of the way enough that no one would try too hard to get in once finding it locked and barricaded, but was also still a decent size and had working outlets to plug things into. And now he was just being given a room to rebuild in, no effort required on his part whatsoever. It was the bigger of the two rooms too since more stuff than just a bed would end up going into it. Once they got the bed frame out, it’d be even spacier.

“Good. Of course if you still want your own place, you’re free to get a job and move out once you can afford it. In between finishing setting up the lab, I could help you do that. I have no idea what kind of job you’d be good at but I’m sure we could figure something out. … Don’t say you were good at being security guard, you sucked at that.”

“Nah, I think I did pretty good. Stopped you from stealing stuff, didn’t I? We’ve uh… established you’re a life-long thief, you admitted to it and everything.”

Gordon sighed and rolled his eyes as he collected his pajamas from his closest before heading into the bathroom to get ready for bed. While waiting for him in the room, Benrey changed into pajamas too because they were comfy, especially when cuddling.

“Bubby says he’s thinking ‘bout getting a job at Aperture,” he said when Gordon finally stepped back in. “I could join him, maybe.”

“That’s probably not a good idea. I don’t know how many, if any, of the rumors about them are true but uh, they for sure take part in the whole experimenting to see how far they can push science stuff at least as much as Black Mesa does, if not more. It’s why they’re our rival. If you went to them and they found our you’re whatever the fuck you are, they’d want to study and experiment on you for sure. They’d want to even more if they knew you came from Black Mesa.”

“Oh, lame.” Benrey had liked Bubby’s point about switching sides to work for Aperture being like a middle finger to Black Mesa. Figures they’d be just as bad though, huh? “Science sucks.”

“I can’t blame you for feeling that way. Don’t worry though, you got plenty of time to figure stuff out. I ain’t planning on kicking you out any time soon. So come on, let’s uh… yeah.”

Benrey followed him to the bed and after turning off the lights, joined him on it. It was softer than the hotel bed but smaller. Not that that was an issue considering how closely they liked to press into each other.

After that first night and the agreement to do it more the next morning, they’d stopped talking about it. Talking about it made it weird apparently which they’d both said to not do. It was nice though because Gordon was warm, soft, and touching him so much continued to be a lot but a decidedly pleasant ‘a lot’. Fighting the instinct to not purr seemed almost easy now as Benrey snuggled into him.

Not needing sleep himself, Benrey often extracted himself after a while once he was sure Gordon was deep asleep – though he always stayed close so if Gordon tensed up with a bad dream, he could return and soothe him back to peace, sometimes without having to wake him. Occasionally he only extracted himself just enough to allow him reach for and hold the Game Boy up – its volume way down. He’d planned to do the latter tonight but it had been a while since he’d slept and now that he was here, it seemed rather appealing.

~

Next Chapter

[anas-aspiration]

Pure sound

Warnings: of age smoking, cursing, kissing

Summary: Your group of friends including Carl get together and try smoking and play games leading to y/n and carl making out yayy!!! 2053 Words

Jennie turned her head toward the door

“I think they’re heree”

You smiled in response. Tonight Jennie and Aven had convinced you that hosting a game night would be fun. You gave in to the idea, because you actually loved it. You were a little nervous because Carl was gonna be there and you totally had a crush on him. He laughed at all your jokes and hung around so often you couldn’t help it. So exactly 10 minutes ago you were all throwing clothes across the room trying to pick out a good fit. You just threw on a cute little sweater and some shorts then your friendship necklace aven had gifted the both of you.

“Okay guyssssss, there’s something else i need to do” aven said

“what?” You hoped she didn’t have anything dumb in mind as you were eager to get downstairs

“okay.. i think we should break out the weed cabinet”

“no yeah I think we should guys, I mean we won’t get in trouble this time, who’s gonna know?” Jennie said

You thought about the last time Daryl caught you three smoking, and after that everyone found out and started poking fun at you guys.

“Yeah whatever let’s do it” you laughed

Jennie grabbed the cabinet key from your dresser drawer and walked to the office room next to yours to unlock it and brought out a joint.

The smell made you excited because getting high as a group would sure be an experience. Wondering what Carl would be like high.. maybe really quiet and secretly freaking out inside. You laughed to yourself at the thought.

You all made your way downstairs to the living room hearing the slow conversation of Ron, Mikey, Carl and Enid.

“HEY GUYS” You all said in unison

They greeted you as you walked past the counter putting the keys down and grabbing a cup of water. You turned around and noticed carl eyeing you.. or your outfit. You knew he would like it. Blushing you walked over to the couch where everyone was already seated.

“So guys” Aven started “Raise your hand if you ever smoked weed before”

Only Mikey raised his hand.

“Whatt you never told me that” Ron said elbowing his shoulder

“Yeah well you never asked” He said rolling his eyes

“Okay um anyways raise your hand IF you want to smoke weed tonight?”

Carl, Ron and Mikey raised their hand and Enid soon after realizing she was the only one who didn’t.

“Alrightt this is gonna be interesting” Carl said laughing “But what is it like?”

You took this opportunity to seem cool “For my first time I thought I fell asleep and started dreaming, then I somehow sat down on a tree stub, and started staring at a leaf, and when i asked when I will stop being stuck my friend said five minutes and I was like okay i can do that, but when five minutes was over and I asked how long it had been they said it had been twenty minutes. HAHA I hope that sums it up”

“When was that” Enid giggled

“I think i was fourteen or so”

“Well that doesn’t sound too bad i guess” Carl said

“Yeah you’ll be fine don’t worry” You gave him a sympathetic look

“Okay well let’s light it” Mikey said

Jennie took a turn first lighting it then passed it to Aven who showed everyone how to hit it. Once it was carls turn he seemed nervous.

“Are you sure this is safe?”

“What do you mean safe?” You asked

“like I can’t… black out or anything doing this”

“No you won’t black out and do something crazy. I’ll be your personal caretaker if it makes you feel better”

“… yeah it does” He said looking straight at you.

He took a hit and inhaling it in for a few seconds before coughing it back out getting a few laughs from everyone.

After everybody had taken at least two hits they put it out and waited.

“So… how long does this take to kick in??” Enid said

“Um about five more minutes i’d say” Mikey replied

You thought it would make everyone a little more relaxed if there was something to do while Jennie scrummaged around for the card game upstairs and waiting for the weed to take effect. You walked over to to the Kitchen closet and brought out a CD player and popped in a random CD. When you pressed play Party monster by the weeknd started playing.

“What’s this song?” Carl asked

“Party monster by the weeknd” Enid replied. Carl looked confused

“You know.. like THE weeknd” Enid emphasized. Carl still looked confused

“You don’t know the weeknd HAHAHA” You laughed at him “What do you listen to”

“Uh I don’t know I guess Elliot Smith is pretty cool to me” He smiled

“who?” Enid said “He sounds old” Mikey and Ron agreed.

“Oh I know a song by him” You replied “Between the bars, it’s pretty good”

“Yeah, yeah… wait who?” carl said dazed

“Elliot smith…” You said

“Yeah what?”

You laughed realizing Carl was long gone. Then you were still laughing 30 seconds later and soon everyone was laughing. It was working.

“I can’t AH oh my god” Ron said clutching his chest.

“Stop laughing I’m gonna pee my pants guys” You said with tears in your eyes.

After you all settled down you stood up to go see if Jennie found the game.

Right as you were nearing the stairs she came down with it in her hand, a small black box with a kiss mark on it.

“yayy you found it we thought you got kidnapped up there or something”

“that makes no sense” she said giggling a little

You walked over to the CD player to skip whatever song was playing now. You tried to listen but for some reason the lyrics weren’t registering in your brain. When you pressed the button 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins started playing and you immediately started dancing to the beat forgetting your friends were getting ready to play behind you.

“y/nnn stop it come here now please” Carl said

you turned around to see a funnily (is that even a word😭) annoyed carl. You snickered and went to sit next to him.

“Okay guys.” Aven paused “let’s play let’s play. the rules are you have to do the dare unless you absolutely cannot.” She picked the first card out of the deck and sighed loudly. After staring at it for a good 15 seconds she shared what her card said.

“Name the player who is most likely to cheat.. hm sorry I’m gonna go with Mikey” she said holding in a laugh

“WHAT, what did I even do” he chuckled

“no offense you’re mean sometimes, anyways enid your next”

She picked a card and read “swap an item of clothing with someone in the room! Ughh.. Jennie can we swap shirts yours is cute”

“her top is cuter than mine?” You joked

Jennie laughed and stuck her tounge out at you before going upstairs with Enid to swap. In the meanwhile Carl chose a card.

“Let a player of your choice sit on your lap for ten minutes” He blushed before looking at you

“What? why are you looking at me”

“I pick you.”

Internally you screamed but on the outside you just nodded, laughed and went to sit on his lap as he went cross cross apple sauce. (i hope everyone else calls it that or this is gonna be awkward)

Jennie and Enid came downstairs and immediately noticed your position and exchanged looks. Though Enid’s seemed a bit more gloomy than hers.

You all continued playing the game laughing probably 80% of the time. Then the ten minutes was up and you went back to your spot.

“My card saysss, chose a player and shove food in their face.” Ron didn’t hesitate before getting up and walking to the fridge, getting ice cream out, coming back and throwing it in Carl’s face. The ice cream was thawed out in the fridge before, so it was basically already melted when it hit carl.

“DUDEE” He sat laughing along with everyone “can someone help me with this”

“I will” you volunteered

You both got up and went to the bathroom connected to your room to clean up the mess and get him a new shirt. You sat on the Bathroom counter and wiped ice cream off his face as he tried getting out of his shirt. “You know I have another shirt you can wear right”

“Oh” he said looking up at you. He obviously didn’t think about that because of his current state of mind.

“Yeah dumbo” You kept cleaning his face. “close your eyes you have some on your lashes” You enjoyed taking care of him like this it felt right.

When you were done he looked up at you again but with a certain look in his eye.

“what?” you asked

“nothing” he whispered back to you leaning in closer.

He grabbed your face and went in for a soft kiss. It felt like you were spinning. And you never wanted this to stop. The kiss become fast and rushed and you had wrapped your legs around him pulling his body in. He put his hands around you and picked you up not breaking the kiss and walked over to your bed setting you down. You accidentally bit his lip and he disconnected hissing from the pain.

“oh sorry.. accident”

He looked back at you “no it’s okay” He went in to kiss you again and started fumbling with your top, probably unknowingly. But you decided to be bold and take it off revealing your sparkly victoria’s secret bombshell bra. He seemed surprised at this but smiled leaning again but was interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Guys? are you done cleaning we want to dance”

You thanked yourself for closing the door earlier “Oh yeah give us a minute!” you said clearing your throat.

“Um okay let’s just” you put your shirt back on and got up from under him then opened your drawer fishing for a t-shirt in Carls size.

“Here just put your shirt in my basket and I’ll wash it tomorrow” Handing him the new one

“yeah thanks”

You decided to leave him there to change and went downstairs. Still buzzing from the weed you almost tripped down the stairs catching the eye of Enid.

“Hey finally, let’s dance together”

You weren’t that close with enid but still accepted the offer and took her hand because she seemed comfortable right now and you liked seeing that. Usually she was kind of cold.

You danced around to the beat of ‘So-cal girl’ by chase icon and singing the lyrics. You heard Carls footsteps as he joined you all but decided to not look cause you were kind of embarrassed. But he joined Ron on the couch and you could feel his eyes on you.

The rest of the night you told scary stories and ate junk. By the end ron, mikey, carl, enid, and aven were dead asleep leaving you and jennie alone to talk. Let the light in by Lana del rey was quietly playing in the background.

“Jennie?”

“hm?”

by now the weed wore off and you were petrified of what happened earlier.

“If I tell you something can you wait until morning to tell Aven BUT nobody else?” you whispered

“Of course”

“Okay it’s kind of bad”

“Just say it” she smiled

“Me and Carl made out upstairs”

“WHAT”

“SHHHH”

you both stood still to see if she woke anyone up but Ron just snored louder.

“Was it good?”

“yes it was really good. I even took my shirt off I’m so embarrassed”

“Noo don’t be, if he didn’t stop you he probably liked it.”

“Yeah but I think Enid heard us” you said

“You think? I mean I think she likes him to be honest”

“No yeah, I love her but I think so too”

“Yeah i love her obviously, but he kissed you so she’s gonna have to get over it.” Jennie yawned

“Yeah.. anyways let’s go to bed. We’re tired”

“Okay goodnight”

“goodnight”

Jennie fell asleep fast but you were still up thinking.

You looked over at Carl sleeping peacefully. You don’t know why but you wanted so badly to be right next to him.

pt2?

A/N!!

Sorry i got tired at the end cause it’s my bedtime

hope someone liked this!