#I didn’t go into that much details in them cuz then I would’ve been saying major stuff not minor

[coral-melon]

Heya!! CM! (Get it your user!)

Its 🍓 again :3

Would you be able to write imagine/hc thingys how they would react to seeing your human form for the first time when you go to the human world with them! Im thinking along the flustered fluff/ possibility suggestive thoughts about mc =^=

Any of the brothers/dateables u want! But if your looking for specific just mammon & levi as personal preference :3

(AFAB preferred but No description of gender js cool too :3 )

Aghhh sorry this is worded so weird I’m not the best leaving suggestions i feel too askyy ;^;

Your writing is lovely and i can’t wait to see more!!

- 🍓

Hello again -🍓! Love the ‘CM’ nickname! And by all means, ask whatever you want and however much you want! I’ll always make the time to write any requests~

Also sorry for taking so long; I really wasn’t too sure how to write this, and I’m sorry but I kinda tweaked it and lil bit.. ^^’ I was going to make everyone but I ended up only doing Mammon cuz I thought it would’ve been a very long post. BUT! I can most definitely make separate posts for each of the brothers if that’s something you and others want!

A and as always, if it sucks just lemme know! Constructive criticism is always welcome >;)

Cotton Surprise

Obey me! Mammon x Sheep!MC

Genre: Fluff, crack/shenanigans, slightly suggestive

What’s it about?: Seeing your human form for the first time!

Not that many but They/them pronounce; mainly AFAB

A throwback to Lesson 19 from the original game but tweaked it as well

Edit: ((There were minor changes cuz someone made a comment that pointed out to me how maybe some people didn’t understand what I was telling. Totally my fault ^^’🙏))

None of them ever understood why you turned into a sheep. It happened as soon as you first arrived to Devildom. But the more time they spent with you, they got used to it — some even forgetting you’re a human all together.

One day, most of the Brothers were sitting together in the living room. It was mostly quiet until Asmo brought the question: “Hey, What do you guys think MC looks like if they weren’t a sheep?”

It left them a bit dumbfounded that they hadn’t even thought about it. They got so used to you being a sheep so it kinda just slipped their mind. It also got them to start bickering a ton of what they thought you’d look like.

— “What’s with all the commotion?” A voice interrupts their conversation. Lucifer walks in with you in his hand, talk about perfect timing!

— “We were just talking about what MC looks like if they were in their human form.” Beel explains.

— “Oh right.. none of you have seen them.” Lucifer remarked, chuckling softly under his breath.

— “What does that mean?” Satan says with already irritation in his voice.

— “Well, it’s only right that I know what MC looks like. I was the one who picked them, after all.”

This got many of them heated! Jealous that Lucifer was pretty much the only one that knows. Mammon, Levi and Asmo were whining about how that’s not fair, Satan was gritting his teeth, and Beel along with Belphie just sat quietly watching the scene. They quieted down once you said, “I could just describe what I look like, y’know.”

All of them gathered around like a bunch of kindergartners getting ready to listen to a story book. They payed such close attention to every detail you said and tried to visualize it in their head to the best of their ability. It only made them even more eager to see you for themselves.

And it didn’t happen until the very last moments before you had to go back to the human realm..

… With a true loves kiss! >;D

Cliché, I know. - -’

Mammon

After dipping the House of Lamentation, he ends up in who knows where but more importantly, away from Levi. After he was done huffing for air, both of you start laughing from the absolute fun of stupidity you guys had. You couldn’t help but think about how odd it must’ve look from someone else’s perspective.

You two eventually eased off and took the time to catch your breaths. And then realize the beautiful view you guys have of Devildom. He sits you down gently on the thick stone fences while he rests his body on it. There was a short, soothing silence between the both of you — a soft, cool breeze blowing while you watching the city lights together. Mammon eventually brakes the silence and says,

“Y’know what? It’s always fun whenever you’re around.. I’m always smilin’ and laughin’ when we’re together. There’s never a dull moment..” he says softly; when you look up at him, he’s not looking at you but can tell he has a blush decorating his cheeks.

You smile at him warmly, before looking down at your tiny trotters. You were a sheep till the very end.. you had fun, but you can’t help but get a little sad thinking about it. Like just now, you would’ve been able to run away with him instead of being carried like a pillow.

“W-Who needs the human world, eh? You don’t gotta go back! I want you right here in Devildom, I want you here with me, all the time..!” Mammon looked straight at you, you perked up at him once he said that. He looked at you as if you were the greatest treasure he’s ever had. He wasn’t kidding around, such an unusually serious and determined face…, you felt butterflies in your stomach.

There was a silence again, you looked at him with in awe eyes. He slowly leans in, you leaning slightly forward.. letting whatever was going to happen, happen. Until finally, his lips reached you.

☁︎ —Poof— ☁︎

Light clouds suddenly surrounds you, Mammon was completely taken aback; and then he just freezes. When the clouds disperse, it revealed you.

You felt.. different. Blinked a couple of times before you looked down again. And to you completely surprise, the troopers you looked at but merely a few seconds ago were replaced with hands! You touched your face, your hair, your legs.. they were all back! You give a yell for joy, your curse has been broken! But then you also realize how you didn’t have any clothes on… you looked at mammon — who had his face completely red and eyes glued on you, completely frozen in place. Which made you freeze for a moment.

(Him)→ ╭( ⸝⸝๐_๐)╮ (○□○) ←(you)

— “AAAAAAAHHH!!!”

— “AAAAAAAHHH!!!”

You tried to cover yourself to the best of your ability; but first of all, you can’t really cover much. Second, he already saw everything! Both of you were very flustered, embarrassed, and still shocked by what just happened. You weren’t a sheep anymore! What’s up with that?!

Thankfully, Mammon at some point finally snaps out of it and covers you with his uniform’s blazer. You grip onto it tightly and covering yourself to the best of you ability. You mutter him a ‘Thank you’ under your breath. But both of you were still quite frantic, looking at each other with wide eyes while huffing to calm you nerves.

“Aha! …Found you!” A voice suddenly says from a short distance. It was Levi!

“Oh shit..”

“Mammon, Give me back my moneeey!!”

“Yikes! Time to go!” He says, lifting you up into his arms and making a run for it. And man did he run! He probably ran faster than when he was being chased by Lucifer. Levi didn’t see it coming’.

You were in a daze, you’ve been carried by him countless times.. but today you felt like a princess that’s been swooped by Prince Charming — a very peculiar one, but still charming.

He — at some point — stops running and hid in whatever corner he thought was good enough so that Levi wouldn’t find you two. With his back to the wall, he collapses to the ground. With you still in his arms but making sure you didn’t fall. You can’t help but laugh and pull him into a tight hug.

Mammon felt like his face was going to explode any second now, he just couldn’t believe that he was holding the actual you — and naked at that! But whatever was going through his head completely perished once he heard your lovely laugh. You were so happy.. embracing him with all your new found excitement. It felt like it was only the two of you in the whole word, so nothing else mattered.

“You broke my curse, Mammon!” You say. When I say this guy’s ego got inflated, I mean it. He felt like nothing could stop him now. That’s right! The great Mammon just did that! No one else!

He takes a closer look at you face; he always kept in mind all of the details you said that day, but you looked way better than what he had imagined. He couldn’t believe his eyes…

You suddenly pull him in and give him a passionate kiss; and oof, was he over the moon! After that one, he starts feeling greedy. Just one kiss isn’t enough..!

—☁︎

Later on, he bought you a few clothes since, of course, you didn’t have any. And decide to go back home.

When he went back to the House of Lamentation, he wanted nothing more than to just sneak in without his brothers knowing. But much to his dismay, Levi was already waiting for him at the gates. And when he realizes that the person he’s holding is you, he goes hysterical and now the rest of his brothers know..

“Oi, that’s enough! Step aside! Can’t ya see MC needs to get to their room??”

He’s always looked out for you.. from beginning to end. You felt like you were falling in love with him all over again. It was hard to believe that life here was coming to an end.. You want to make the most of it before having to go back home. But at the moment, you just wanted time to stay still, just for a moment..

End

I had a lot of fun writing this! So tysm for requesting it -🍓. Tho again, I’m sorry for not really completing what you asked for.. I still hope I was able to put a smile on your face! Take care~

[thesecretattic]

I had made this… a WRITTEN SCREENBOARD and collage too, it doesn’t have Spoilers I have concealed everything as much as I could but I have shared what people could’ve expected to read there, those ILLITERATE IMBECILES are ASSUMING/SAYING the book only has “coincidences” or signs I REALLY wanted them to know this before committing Sui-cde I didn’t write 81000 words for nothing. I have to die before I go crazy I’m going mad due to him I have shared a link below Facebook: Zara Sauleh 7th Post from top which has about his and his friend’s OCD he asked for my personal details only to reject and insult me or what? Not talking about Aditya uncle no one cares about him it was HARSH who was pretending to be him go read that post! Even after 8 years he was so insensitive that he left me to die after ruining my life ever since I was 18-20 all my youth! I’m dy-ing a virgin I’ll keep repeating until my last breath I would’ve changed my gender if I would’ve been alive BECAUSE OF HOW HORRIBLE HE WAS as if I wasn’t a girl and rest everyone was that. He was impotent not me. And go through our signs (marriage one’s too) in all of my previous posts with screenshots and markings 23rd May, 2023 what was supposed to be my marriage number was the blackest day of my life so was 5th Mar he has ruined every significant date, started his drama on my parent’s wedding anniversary my mother and his mother share their birthdates too. There’s a lot more, my brother and his brother our fathers share so many similarities and I didn’t dig out any info I’ve written that in my book SS go find it. Never was a fan haven’t switched on the tv since 2015 BECAUSE OF HIM the tv has also spoilt now due to non-usage, go ask the service provider we threw the set top box (Airtel) ask them when the connection was stopped. Remove my details from Netflix n Prime office I don’t watch anything there either and GO SEE IF I HAVE EVER CREATED an account on VOOT I have NO ACC there. Like I said I haven’t seen him since Feb 2016 that too on social media I NEVER went on any of their profiles and FB office will reveal that my history is there. His fanclub came and liked but To prevent that also I had kept my notifications OFF I accidentally clicked on it after that Insta changed the notification panel and shifted to the top cuz I got a panic attack. Could be a wonderful stroke of luck or idk another girl too had complained about something and they’d made amends. He thinks ppl are taking his side? Unfortunately I’m dy-ing after this I was up all night crying waiting for daytime to put this and die it was a big decision (sharing this here) so I needed more time to think whether I should… and I decided to blur out certain things. I wanted to SHUT their ug-ly mouths it’s a slap there. Now finally bye forever “oversmart” ppl- Zara Sauleh

[sscarletvenus]

Pushing my FemDaniel agenda by asking for Fem Danny hcs 🙏

fem daniel headcanons!!!

i think it would be really fun to see the other students guess daniel’s s/o after her identity reveal… like just gossiping about who the j high goddess is with.

is it that architecture department alleged-gangster weirdo, who keeps hanging around her and buying her chocolate milk? is it that ex-bully boxer? (some say that he already has gf… others say that after meeting hyungseok, his heart melted and he stopped bullying cuz the power of true love… we’ll never know.) is it the fashion department prince, who’s so cold and intimidating and aloof in general, but behaves like a literal golden retriever when she’s around? there’s also a rumour about this tall dark handsome guy in ray bans picking her up in a white corvette after school… lots of bets being placed.

daniel somehow becomes zoe's bi-awakening

crystal and daniel end up becoming besties tho

like there’s also lot of pervs hitting on big daniel, and she’s just too nice to kill them even if she could in a heartbeat. crystal, who has a similar shitty experience with men sees one particular incident that crosses the line and beats the guy’s ass all while saying something like “ughhh this annoying bitch. kick his balls or something why’re you just standing there.” and BOOM bffs. (crystal doesn’t realize her beloved bodyguard oppa is perv-in-chief all the while lmao)

i headcanon big daniel and mitsuki having the same hairstyle, or big daniel’s hairstyle being like lee jihye from orv. smol daniel’s hair’s short bob and bangs with a range of super cute hairclips!!! (horrible descriptions here we go)

big daniel’s wardrobe is literally all fashion week collections (thank you jay we luv u), while smol daniel would probably dress like na jinsol from loser life (another ptj webtoon lol)

also johan and daniel would be such an iconic duo in this au. like they’re sort of each other’s ride or die (johan reluctantly comes around). johan is also weirdly protective over her which leads to a storm of gossip that “oh. did you hear? the gangbuk goddog has lost it over some pretty chick. i bet she’s something, having tamed that dog.” it’s safe to say they’re both fighting for their lives against this untrue rumor, and johan also rises up the ranks on several ppl’s hitlist… (ahem gun, that is)

WHAT IF YAMAZAKI YOUNG MASTER GUN HAS A RYUHEI MOMENT? like he tells crystal something like “behave properly, your sister-in-law’s here” at school and she’s like WTF???

sadboi hours but if big daniel didn’t hide her identity, zack would’ve still been hostile towards her when they first met. probably cuz u know, he would assume that she’s one of “those” ice-princess iljin popular kid who will hurt and bully mira if given the chance. mira would also be constantly compared to her and get a lot of shit… (there’s really no universe where zack and daniel are meet-cute sigh)

lmaooo also dg gets asked a cliche interview question — what’s your ideal girl? And he just. describes daniel (the smol one bcz the tall one's actually famous? and that would cause quite a scandal) in excruciating detail. cut to weeks later and there’s somebody posting on facebook about the employee at their local convenience store… who exactly fits dg’s ideal type description.

i’m also gonna take some liberties and make jake a girl in this au to push my fem!jake agenda. because WHAT BETTER THAN 2 GIRLBOSSES MAXIMISING THEIR JOINT SLAY??? The only thing better than a pretty girl kicking ass is 2 pretty girls kicking ass.

i can totally see jake and daniel being like dabin park and na jinsol from loser life… like the contrast? jake in her form-fitting suits, 9 inch heels and sinu’s coat, and daniel in an 80’s tennis skirt, tank top, and an oversized jacket. i want them to slander the men in their lives over some soju and fried chicken. club vivi arc would also hit so much different altogether omg

ALSO RUNWAY ARC would be so much different to see if daniel was a girl, because some asshole would’ve uploaded her pics on sns too. would love to see her and mary team up. also that one scene after jay saves danny and zack from chuck and justin, and danny asks “why’re u here jay? oh, for your sister right?” and jay would be mortified and flustered… just red all over because he CANNOT admit that he’s here to avenge his uhhh crush? loml?

in conclusion i have fem daniel brainrot, yeah. I’ll continue later because I HAVE LITERALLY SO MUCH MORE LEFT TO SAY.

[weekend-whip]

So I saw your posts about Jesse & Olivia, and now I'm curious about the Legacy interpretations of Antonia & Harumi. Think you can spill the tea?

Well I went into a little bit of detail about them before, but as for developing their interpretations, that’s not nearly as interesting of a story snksnksnk

Antonia’s early involvement wasn’t exactly planned from the get-go, but when I realized I needed to flesh out the Student Council, she kinda popped to mind because a) she’d fit into the scene pretty well, and she already makes for a great supporting character, and b) switching her role from Paper Girl to being on the school paper was actually pretty seamless, plus it gave her a way to be more active if needed (which will kick in come season 2, when she starts investigating the aftermaths of certain happenings…)

Her personality is essentially the same as the show, if a tad bit less ~edgy~, and she was originally only going to associate with Jesse through Nelson…but I scrapped putting Nelson in this early and just put Jesse on the council with her instead. I basically just tried to come up with what a Movie!Antonia would have been like and rolled from there. She also wasn’t originally supposed to be a Descendant of Amber, but I hated drawing her with the plain black eyes so now she’s Skylor’s very very very distant cousin on her mother’s side and yeah that’s just some extra lore now—

Harumi, meanwhile, I always knew I wanted to put in this early, because while her whole show!character arc is super fascinating, I…always felt like her spiral into who she becomes would’ve hit SO much harder if we’d known her for longer, especially given that she was ~there~ when the Devourer attacked, and I wanted to explore more of what she would have been like if tragedy hadn’t struck her down. Anyway, I wanted to bring her in early, didn’t exactly know how, was trying to figure out the final person to be on the council……put two and two together and it’s history from there. Her being straight up friends with the ninja (and without knowing who they are) was also an…unexpected side effect but ooh boy have I been rolling with it X)

Can’t say too much more on her cuz spoilers…but I will say I like the idea of her hair style changing as her life does >;3

[gb-patch]

Ask Answers: May 15th Part 1

It’s been longer than usual since our last answer session, so I’m answering a ton of questions today! It’s so big I split it into two parts. Thank you for the patience on getting a response to these.

Thanks for reaching out to us with your questions and kind words ^^!

Sorry if this has been asked before or isn't something you can say but is there anyway for Cove to confess in step 4? I wanted him to confess in step 3 and followed all the steps to make him do it but ended up texting my family instead of Cove at the end.

Yeah, Cove can confess in Step 4!

Hello! I heard that Cove is on the spectrum, albeit undiagnosed. As someone who is ND, this makes me UNBELIEVABLY happy. I literally was brought to tears! Thank you for that!

Out of curiosity, will Cove be diagnosed in Step 4? I have a strong feeling y’all won’t make it a HUGE deal/make it out to be negative, so I’m not worried about that whatsoever! I’m just curious just he’ll off handedly mention it? Or will it just not be touched upon at all (which is ok!)?

Either way is ok, I’m just curious!

I’m happy it made you happy! Admittedly, Cove simply being someone with autism that grew up not being diagnosed was something I included for myself. I didn’t really think anyone would notice or ask about it, aha. But players did start to have questions about his traits, so I started to talk about it outside of the game. It’s great to see it get such a positive response and now I do feel like having it be a non-topic may have been the wrong choice and bringing it up would’ve been good in terms of having positive representation for that. I don’t know if I’ll find a way to mention it in Step 4 now, with how far along the game is, but I am at least thinking about it when originally it wasn’t something I really even considered.

Hey!  Just wanted to say thank you for Our Life.  It's been a bright spot and a needed escape in what's otherwise been a crummy year.  I know you just did a Q&A post but I figured I'd ask anyway.  Was just curious about Step 4.  Will it be similar to the other Steps in that it consists of several different moments or will it just be one long sequence?

Step 4 is shorter than the prior Steps because it’s just an epilogue rather than a full arc of a story. It’ll consist of scenes that all happen in a set row one after the other. There won’t be a collection of Moments to choose from. But it’ll still be very sweet and fun.

¡hola!, you see, first I want to say that I love Our Life! (°◡°♡) and I have 2 important questions, would Cove cry watching titanic? and what is the saddest part according to him? (sorry for my english) 

Titanic would make him cry. He’d probably think the parts showing people who aren’t able to make it to the life boats/are choosing to stay and go down with the ship were the saddest.

Hello, I wanted to ask how much you earn with creating games? Like is it possible to make a living? Thank you >< <3 

How much I earn varies a lot month to month based on Steam sales, Patreon backers, and how many projects are in full production at the time. It’s also hard to say how much I make historically, since that also changes dramatically year by year. But I do earn enough to work on these games full time! I really appreciate all the support that allows me to do that.

Hey!! I was wondering for the 18+ Our Life moment, will there be an emphasis on safety/comfort for all involved? I feel like there  would be just going off of what the rest of the game is like, but I wanted to ask 

Yes! Cove is a nervous boy himself and also super cautious about doing anything the MC doesn’t like, so clear consent from both is absolutely needed for anything to happen. It’s a conversational sexy times Moment with stops/starts so the two can talk about how they’re feeling, rather than a heat of the moment just going for it kind of thing.

Hey!! I was wondering how long the wedding dlc would be? Will it be broken up into moments, or just one big event? 

It’s one long series of scenes all in a row rather than a collection of Moments to pick from. It’s the shortest and the least expensive of all the DLCs. It’s not super crucial to get and those who aren’t into big weddings can totally skip it without worry.

HELLO AMAZING DEVS 👋 i am hopelessly in love with the worst guy ever (jeremy king) and because of this i have a really stupid question: does he really hate people who are nice to him? TvT he’s too cute to be mean to istg it’s a miracle JB held the urge to be consistently nice to him bc just look at his FACE he is so cute! thank you for jeremy’s route it’s so lovely (and awful bc he’s scum 11/10) it gave me so much laughs LMAO i hope you guys have a good day!! 

Haha, thank you. He doesn’t hate them but he’s certainly not pleased with them. Jeremy is either uncomfortable with or annoyed by people being sweet on him, depending on how they approach it. He’s far more comfortable with jerkiness. It lets him relax and he can be himself without it being a problem, since he’s also a jerk. He feels a level of guilt being such a little punk to kind people, not enough to be a better person but still.

Has Cove dated or been interested in someone other than MC? 

Nope! He stays single over the course of the game if he’s not with the MC.

Is Step 4 more mature? Or it's gonna be set in similar atmosphere as Step 3? 

Step 4 is a similar atmosphere as Step 3. Though, it’s actually kind of less mature-topic heavy than Step 3 since it’s just a ‘hey, let’s check in on the gang to see what they’re up to’ style epilogue rather than a story arc with serious issues.

will there be new music for now and forever?? or will the old our life music be reused? 

It’s gonna be a brand new soundtrack. We’ll be opening up a job position for that soon.

Hi, is it okay if we use the assets in Our Life (like the sprites) for fanworks or fan content content, like edits? 

Sure! Just as long as you don’t use the assets made by those artists to make money.

Quick clarification on Step 3 choices: I hope I didn't come off rude (because I LOVE the game, really!!), I was just curious because the intro threw me off at times. For example, you could choose how you felt about Elizabeth in Step 2 (Dinner), but during the Step 3 intro, it says that you got closer to Liz and I didn't get a choice in it. 

For the example, it can’t be helped that you’re closer to Liz in Step 3 than you were in Step 2 because she’s inherently closer to the MC regardless of whether you liked her or not in Step 2. Her feelings are out of your control and the game isn’t so dramatic that you can push her affection away and not let her bond with you, haha. But ‘being closer’ can still be relative. For some people maybe that means you’re best buds now and for others it might just mean you’re not fighting all the time any more. If there’s other parts you want to mention, feel free to let us know.

Did the illustrator for Our Life change? 

We have many OL artists! The main artists who set the game’s style haven’t changed, but there’s multiple other artists who help finish assets.

So Miranda's type is confident and outgoing, huh? So...does that mean Terri's her type?? 👀 

Haha, sorry for the late reply on this. As you might’ve seen in our post yesterday- yeah that is her type.

Hey! First, I just want to say I've really enjoyed how detailed OL got with gender identity and sexuality and how respectful the topics were handled! It's been so wonderful to play since the experiences could be close to my own (I'd be lying if I said I didn't tear up at parts). Second, I was wondering, would future games explore the topic of polyamory? I'd love to see more visual novels allow room for that and I saw you've explored the topic before.

Keep up the amazing work! ♡

Thank you! We do want to include polyamory in at least some of our future projects. Floret Bond, which might be what you’re referring to when mentioning how we’ve explored the topic before, is on hold unfortunately. So right now I’m not sure when something might release or what will be the first game of ours to come out with poly relationships (we might do something else before FB is done). We’ll have see how things ends up coming together.

Hey um. I feel like im not allowed to ask this on the private discord cuz people will yell at me but why is there so much focus on OL2 and not finishing OL1 stuff? I like the new people but i kind of want to finish cove's story and get derek and baxter stuff first. didn't people pay for it? 

I’m sorry, I don’t understand entirely what’s making that situation a concern. There’s a channel in the discord for critique where no one is allowed to comment back. People can voice things they’re worried about without any way for others to push back on it. And the two teams working on the OL games are different. We try to post pretty often about how we’re hiring brand new people to start on Our Life: Now & Forever. The OL1 team is all still working on OL1 like normal. There’s only more updates on the Patreon for OL2 because the expansions to the first game are mostly script-based at this point while OL2 is just starting to get all its art, which means there’s a lot more to show off as previews.

Also, there was a Kickstarter for the first Our Life, if that’s what you mean by people paying for it. But one of the stretch goals was to start Our Life 2 early, before fully completing Our Life 1, so that the new game could be out sooner. It wouldn’t make sense to stop doing OL2 work because that would be going against what backers were promised. Maybe you didn’t get the full story before and hopefully this clears it up!

Hello! I know it's up to every player but.. What is your recommendation for playing order? Did you ever had any timeline  events planned? 

I didn’t make the events with a planned timeline. The events got made simply as I had ideas for them and then I just kind of organized them from left to right on the screen in an order to space out more dramatic ones between more lighthearted ones. Any order the player wants to go with is totally valid!

Hi! It's Step 4 a paid dlc or update? And how long it's planned to be? Ps. Love the game! 

The Step 4 epilogue is free! The Cove Wedding DLC does cost money, though. Those are planned to be shorter than the usual Steps/DLCs.

Will we have options for what sort of job the MC might have by the time step 4 takes place? 

Yeah, you can. It’s not super exact or detailed, but there are options about it.

Is there a pandemic in Our Life world, or is it just in a better timeline with no pestilence? 

Our Life is pandemic-free! That didn’t exist when we began working on the project and it’s not something we’d like to feature in this story now that it has unfortunately come along, aha.

Hi, you said that you can play tic-tac-toe or hangman with Cove in Boating if you're sick/scared but I keep getting tic-tac-toe. Am I doing something wrong?

After being sick/scared you have to continue to be upset/unwell. If you calm down and decide to just chill you’ll end up playing tic-tac-toe.

Hi, GB Patch! Since Lee was initially commissioned to only appear in two Steps does this mean she won't appear in the Wedding DLC? I really like her character so it'll be a little weird to not have our cousin at our wedding, aha.

She is gonna be in Step 4/the wedding DLC after all! We’re still working with her creator to make sure it fits with what they wanted.

Is Sunset Bird based on a real place? Asking for a friend, not trying to move there or anything. 👀

It’s based on small beach towns in So-Cal, but not one specific town you could go see in real life, I’m afraid. It’d be nice if it was real, though.

—– —– —– —–

We released a new FAQ! It answers common questions and we’ll keep adding more to it. Please check there before sending an ask. FAQ   Also, if you prefer to just see the main posts without all the asks/reblogs, feel free to follow our side account instead: GB Patch Updates Blog

[shittyblogname]

Hello i’m back again but this time with a angst request because i feel like making people cry >:)

William OR Henry with a child who’s normally really quiet and shy that has been holding in everything and when they eventually can’t anymore they just scream and cry and break just a bunch of things and he kinda just lets them because he know how much they need this? and he lets them take as much anger out that they need on him if they have to and when they finally pass out from exhaustion he just brings them to their bed?

if not always feel free to delete this ask and let me know so i don’t request something like this again! have a nice night/day <3

Hi :), dw y'all can request pretty much anything, I dont mind. However i didn't really know what you meant with this? :') Like, their own child, just some rando child? So I just wrote for their own kid with William (cuz tbh I never paid much attention to Henry so I don't wanna write anyone thats too ooc D:)

as someone who went through that before with their parent this hit a little too close to home lol (I kind of wrote this after my own experience, so I’m sorry if it’s not exactly what you had in mind)

this is very short D:, lowkey more fluff than angst? Hope thats okay :’)

William just barely closed the door when he heard a little tornado in your room, he furrowed his eyebrows with annoyance about the noise. It was late at night, just about when the Night guard would finally take over, and to say he was too exhausted to deal with this was an understatement. Kids already went up the walls in the restaurant all day, he didn’t need this right now. When he heard you scream however, his expression changed to one of worry. He knocked on your door, listening for any sign to come in. When it suddenly went silent, he opened the door. “What on Earth are you doing in here?” he looked around your room, frowning deeply at the broken decorations amongst other things. You sat in the middle of it, sobbing loudly. He thought about what could’ve caused this outburst, rethinking the past days with careful attention to detail. William was ripped out of his mind when he felt fists against his chest, followed by cursing from your smaller form. He chuckled a little while grabbing your shoulders, turning you around to push you back into your room. Sitting down, he leaned against the doorframe to wait until you were “out of power”, all without saying a word or giving you a annoyed look. Sure, he would’ve prefered to go to sleep early tonight, but this was more important at the moment. He wanted to make sure that you wouldn’t accidentally hurt yourself. After a few more minutes you finally looked at him, sorrow and anger clear in your eyes. He stood up, dragging his frame over to you to wrap his arms around you. “It’s okay to feel like this.” was all he managed to say before you closed your eyes, falling limp in the hug. You were lifted up slowly before he tucked you into bed, making sure to give you a peck on the forehead before quietly turning off the light & closing the door. 

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket Manga Review ch (90)- First pages ONLY.

I skimmed thro ch-89 to know the context of ch-90. it was Cinderella’s play. In this chapter, Kyo says early on, that time has passed since the play & that they are NOW starting their third year in high school. cool.

This part will ONLY focus on the 1st few pages of ch 90 abt (kyo & tohru) & stop before kyo’s memories starts, because the early pages contain:

Tons of new unexplored analysis of (kyo & tohru) characters that unfortunately was intentionally cut & worse! “changed” in the anime.

No space to add kyoko’s story in this post.

Kyoko’s story is full psychologically & socially.. I need to take a deeeeeeep breath before I unpack it. very deeeeep breath!

-Glimpses of Tohru (the silent grieving girl) Subtle Writing of Grief:

Right from the beginning, I hate how much insight into tohru’s grief & weakness as a human being is already there in the first few pages of ch-90 than the entire 3 seasons of the anime! From few pages we have:

Tohru’s seemingly delighted watching a video. Subtly, showcasing tohru’s grieve & paving the path for tohru’s trauma exploration later in the story. Grief is not sth you quickly past, that’s the most tragic misunderstanding of grief. Time will pass, so, you’ll be better & healthier. Really?!. Tohru’s inner desire to see her mom alive manifested in her words: “ like a photo comes to life” T_T.

The story/writing/manga is acknowledging tohru’s heartbreaking & NOT cute habit of talking to her mom’s cold dead photo! In the anime, tohru talks to her a lot in se01 & it’s up to you to see as as “ cute” as all the canon characters do or actually feeling it IS wrong. Kyo’s  “ what would she do if there were a video of her mom”! “ drives the point more abt tohru being a sad grieving human~not the “advice-giving, optimistic angel, & rain-stopping sunshine in the anime.

Tohru telling kyo to NOT catch cold connecting it to se01, ep 9 (haru’s ep) when tohru was afraid that yuki might catch cold & kyo noticed that! so now in se03, they’re dropping this plot altogether within the main anime, for what? we dont even know if this part would be included in whatever “ kyoko’s” spinoff content would be. -_-’.

That’s how you write subtle trauma such as (grief) for a main (female) MC. subtlety is the key. Respect the viewers intelligence & do it.

You don’t have to give her the long speeches or the many focused ep that yuki had. he’s the kind who confront himself inwardly constantly.

You don’t have to showcase drama, confrontation & force the emotions out like you did with kyo. he runs from his trauma & punishes himself.

Tohru buries her feelings! she’s different from both kyo & yuki. So, with her subtle & symbolic scenes are enough!!!The viewers will catch it if you show it, but ignoring it, cutting it & hoping the viewers will magically predict what you cut, is weird. But the anime isn’t even into us predicting nor subtly showing her cuz this tohru is NOT the tohru we have in the anime. How?

Simply cuz there is no kyo’s inner thoughts abt small things such as tohru’s photo obsession which subtly shows her grief & trauma. If kyo didn’t monologue abt her, tohru does not exist as she’s meant to be. You loose the subtle insights into tohru if you cut kyo’s inner thoughts. Not everything kyo thinks abt in regards to tohru is romance!!! That’s a very narrow & superficial look into the writing of kyo/’tohru dynamics. Flip the pages, hmm..cut this kyoru scene here & there cuz we dont want the anime to be only their love story.. But the story itself IS NOT only their love story at all. These pages/scenes here are abt tohru as a PERSON. Not tohru the lover...

- Writing Clashes between manga & anime: (Kyo’s Conscious Gradual Psychological Exploration vs Shock Value & Drama)

In ch 90 i really love all the inner self talking that kyo’s doing. It really explains why he ended up rejecting tohru so strongly. Also, going for a trip into kyo’s mind is hella exciting, new, refreshing & full of analysis-worthy exploration! Kyo’s inner psychological argument with himself is a psychologically-informed presentation of a tried guilty mind:

“ Why can’t I stop thinking of (kyoko’s words) lately? Acknowledging that he IS remembering kyoko & never forgot her. This is also supported in the anime itself. When he apologized to a sleeping tohru in se01, ep14 & se02, ep9 , confronting yuki in the stairs & other instances as well. 

“ It’s like a lid been opened & all the memories came pouring”. Acknowledging that kyo DID open his lid since se02, ep9 byt chose to run & not confront it due to his guilt of ruining tohru’s happiness by confessing his connection to her mom. 

“ pretending I didn’t know, pretending I forgot”. Here is a blatant clash in kyo’s writing (1) between the anime & manga (2) between the anime’s episodes themselves!!. In the manga, again kyo chose to ignore & pretended to forget. Death is NOT sth you forgot. Kyo saw kyoko bleeding & dying.  The anime chose to make him totally forget & it could’ve worked if they didn’t included all the canon moments of him actually remembering & pretending to forget. Is that lazy writing? or was the director for se03 different from se 1 &2 &? chose to NOT watch the two previous seasons? Why would you consciously include a contradicting depiction of your character on screen for thousands of confused viewers? Was the scene of kyo’s shocked gave upon seeing kyoko’s photo that artistically appealing that you forgot everything? I really have NO problem of kyo forgetting kyoko if that was written in the anime since se01, but it wasn't. that's why it sucks. 

“Is this payback? maybe I want to blame ME?” augh! i love this line so much! Directly hinting to the viewers that this is kyo’s one-sided guilt before his story with kyoko even started! subtly paving the path for the reason of his rejection of tohru” I dont want forgiveness. I want to blame ME.

-I don’t mind that the anime left kyo’s thoughts of kyoko until the climax in eo8, cuz ep 8 was SO well-done! Se03, ep 8 pacing was very suitable to (1) uncovering dark secrets & death, trauma, & guilt. (2)  for exploring the effects such secrets on kyo’s character, decisions, mentality. Also, the animation of kyo’s face all ep 8 was one of the most expressive facial expressions the anime has ever delivered! The eyebrows, eyes, mouth, tears, body languages, heartache was all 100% perfect. The fact that the following eps didnt have much time to express everything & chapters were cramped is not ep 8′s fault but the decision to have 13 eps. Kyo’s delayed trauma deserved to have its own ep.

-What I DO mind is the added scene of ep 6 where he freaked out upon seeing kyoko’s picture, the concept of shock is perfect & so suitable for an anime but was NEVER properly written into the anime itself from the beginning. On the contrary, the anime itself contradict such usage of such value. Good job ruining an otherwise perfect-depiction of two traumatized characters (kyo & tohru) with ONE scene.. -_-

Side Notes:

I thought tohru is narrating the 1st page in ch-90, turned it out it is kyo!!!! Kyo narrates sth? Kyo monologues? kyo has a POV? Just the setting of kyo doing that feels different! I duno if it cuz when that happens in the anime it’s always clash & drama! lol, or cuz it’s sth original!

Shigure’s “ it’s broadcasted all over the nation” is epic! XD! you know poor stupid kyo would fall for that! XD. kyo, you really are an idiot! XD... man this scene would’ve been epic comedy~ lol.

Tohru not knowing what a “dvd” is is outdated for the anime, but to still keep the sentiment of “her wishing she’d have a video footage of her mom”, they could’ve replaced her words with “ It’d be fun watching this play years from now & remembering all the details”. I know that to some, it feels weird that tohru doesn't have video footage of her mom in this era. but trust me, this is more common than you might think. My late brother, who’s way younger than me, doesn't have much video footage, he always felt awkward & preferred not to be filmed. We got photos for him tho~

Even if you want kyo’s knowledge of kyoko to be in the climax only. You can always include this scene of tohru & kyo in the first pages in the anime somehow. It doesn't even need to be abt the dvd even tho that’s manageable. Cutting this short scene of them talking abt videos, & catching cold is cutting tohru’s trauma from its core. Then, the old grandpa’s narration from se03, ep6 would at least have some backup in the anime’s canon.

Momiji & shigure are perfect as a comedic duo!

I can’t get over tohru’s art~ <3

Pinning kyo at the beginning is epic~ kyo always gets the BEST romantic lines when he talks to himself. “ burning (tohru’s ) memories into my head or forgetting everything”. The torturing fire inside him is only distinguished by loving her but is also ignited by loving her~ what’s the solution~

[delcakoo]

Hey koobear hyd m’love

I’m not as peppy as today coz I feel a bit ignored 🥲

I have art elective and for out first assignment we had to choose candies and hot glue them to a piece of paper in contrasting positions and that would be our realistic reference (WE GOT TO EAT SOME CANDYS MWAHAHAHAH) so yeah and I did that and I was drawing and yada yada you know drawing

And I was pretty proud of it I thought I did the details well. My art teacher, who has so many things to say about every students art piece, DIDNT say anything about mine, nothing negative. She said that I captured everything wonderfully, and for her to have no negative feedback was once in a blue moon, and I took pride into being the blue moon girl.

And so I was proud of what she said. I told my friends in my art, and showed them my art, and all they said was just… good. No “that’s really cool!” Or “wow you did well!” Just… good. When I uprooted them and old them their art was actually so pretty like their elements were chefs kiss (it actually was!!! Like v cool) though they kinda have a little bit of flaws but I wasn’t gonna put them down, they were minor anyway so I didn’t care and knew I wouldn’t appreciate if someone pointed out my minor flaws.

It’s not like I was asking for something in return… I was just hoping for some uplifting tooo… like who doesn’t like compliments.. I would’ve appreciated some too… it makes me feel so selfish idk

Ans when I showed it to my parents they also just said “mm ok” like? Like it’s my parents now and I always try so hard to at least make them a little bit proud but they just hummed ok. I worked rlly hard on it too but everyone I’ve been showing it to just says… “ok, good, cool” :( some reassurance would be nice…

Here’s my drawing if you wanna see it

But yeah anyways hyd m’love!! 💗💗🥰🥰😘😘

bruh i totally understand how you feel :((( im so sorry you had to go through that like gen.. when you give people your utmost attention n’ compliments just to receive nothing back augh it’s the worst. they don’t deserve you kuma love im gonna 👊👊💥 🙂🙂 pls dont feel guilty for feeling that way cuz its totally valid and unfair for you.. especially from your parents like..???

BUT HOLY SHIT YOUR DRAWING IS AMAZING KUMA?? YOURE SO TALENTED LIKE FR I THINK THEY WERE JUST JEALOUS OF YOU CUZ DAMN.. THE DETAILS ON THE WRAPPER BrO YOU DID SO GOOD WITH THE SHADING AS WELL..??? TEACH ME UR WAYS 🙁🙁🙏🙏💖💖💖 pls uR DRAWING LOOKS BETTER THAN THE REAL THING 🙄🙄

AND IM GOOD LOVE!! TY FOR ASKING I DIDNT DO TOO MUCH TODAY BESIDES MAKING MY FRIEND WATCH AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER CUZ THE UNCULTURED MF HASNT WATCHED IT.. WE R ALMOST AT BOOK 3 IM SO PROUD OF HER 🙏🙏😍😍

[monkey-network]

Why Klaus IS Christmas Kino

Klaus isn’t flawless, let’s get this out the way. My love for this film won’t deny that it bears a couple nits that can distract the experience. Jesper and Alva’s relationship felt like an eye-rolling inevitability, notable cliches here & there, a notable song felt both fitting and out of place, and while enjoyable, I’m not as big a fan of the climax as I thought. But in spite of it all, I love this film and it is one of the best modern animated Christmas films, period? Follow me here. I could go on about its wonderful animation cuz yeah, it’s unlike any other film. But a philosophy of mine is that the best animation enhances the writing and I can say Klaus is that surprisingly well written and has become an all time Christmas fave

*deep breath in* So let’s do this...

I mention that Klaus has its cliches, but you gotta know that it’s smarter than expected. Believe me when I say if the writers didn’t care, this could’ve actually been so much worse. Jesper could’ve been more manipulative towards everyone for his goals, Klaus would’ve given up entirely after knowing the truth about Jesper, we could’ve had an argument between Jesper and his dad about upholding business, the townsfolk could’ve reverted back to their old ways, plenty writing moments where this could’ve been Emoji Movie levels of insulting to your intellect. BUT, they don’t. The film never really turns back on itself, it keeps moving where, as the notable quote goes, an act of good will sparks another as it starts with Jesper’s father.

Even if nepotism was responsible for Jesper getting the job in the first place, he clearly sees his son be more spoiled than he’s worth so is like, “Ma boi, I will send you to the ends of the earth or leave you to the streets if you don’t do something with yourself.” He never cared about his son representing the postal company, or ruining his top class image, he was only tired of Jesper taking advantage of his fortune while not having any ambition of his own. Can’t help but say Jesper’s dad is a very respectable character because the sole reason the whole plot happened in the first place was because he just wanted his son to do better. It’s that act of genuine consideration that pushes Jesper to his wake up call as he reaches Smeerensburg.

People have compared this movie to Emperor’s New Groove through Jesper’s character and I say yes, but this film takes that next step and put Jesper in the pit of pits way early. Reminds me more of Ratatouille’s beginning where Remy’s lowest point is around the same time as Jesper’s. The harsh atmosphere of the island is treated very blunt in how this is our mailman’s nightmare come true. With his situation, our guy is truly at his lowest. Gives up now, he’ll be cut off his inheritance and probably will have worse. Everyone hates him and each other, his post office itself is in shambles, symbolic of how communication is practically thin outside conflict, and the teacher turned fish seller Alva is that path Jesper could notably be if he didn’t try. Everything is literally grey for this guy, but like Ratatouille, when you’re at your lowest there’s no where else to go but up. That’s where Klaus comes in...

This is genuinely the most clever interpretation of Santa I know, hands down. A well established woodsman, a crafter both of living, for him and the birds that reside in his woods, and recreation with the toys he made himself not just for kids, but specifically the kids he and his wife wanted but couldn’t have. Klaus feels like a real person, not just another take on the mythical man. You’re with him and Jesper as he, after familiar winds provide him a letter, a small spark to do something good, soon opens up and gets reminded of what’s kept him going all these years. It is no wonder he sees his wife in Jesper, it’s thanks to him that he could refurbish his dashed dream into a new one. He didn’t just want to do it for the children of the island, but for himself. That is another thing about this film: communication. I mention before how it’s practically thin at first due to a long going feud that isn’t even aware of why it’s still going. The joy in hate is only for hatred’s sake, and they make it very clear how miserable it all feels. That is where Jesper comes in. They don’t take shortcuts with how he gets the ball rolling, both accidentally and purposefully, he boots up to get things done, pushes himself to go to Klaus to make things happen. This is all in part by the youth, what really ties the plot together...

As I mentioned before (again), life in Smeerensburg is noticeably miserable but thanks to Klaus, by extension Jesper, the kids are enticed to do what it takes to get some genuine joy in their lives through the toys they’re able to get. They’ll make them letters, and if they can’t write, they’ll go to Alva for teachings, and if they act naughty, they’ll try to do good which in turn pushes the adults to do good for the sake of their kids. It really would’ve been one thing to sure enough make the kids spoiled because of the toy giving, focusing more on the extrinsic value of Klaus’s kindness but no. The children are very grateful for these gifts enough to feel compelled to do good, and it makes them feel good as much as it soon makes the adults more convinced to stop fighting. It helps that this all takes place in older times cuz I believe this would’ve been far different, possibly worse, if this took place in modern times. That or just kinda rip off Arthur Christmas, it’s my guess. As such, it gradually becomes an amazing Christmas film because it isn’t just the presents, the Santa Claus myth, the festive style of it all that makes this holiday special to me. It’s the warmth... of togetherness.

My favorite detail about Klaus is how it transitions from cold to warm with its atmosphere. We start out with the emptiest, harshest environment, enough fog to choke your eyes, and then we get to this moment with a brighter, clearer sight of the more united town as the Christmas spirit builds in the film, even when it isn’t even that day yet in-universe, so too does the warmhearted feeling that can come from celebrating it appear more and more. This film fleshes out more of what the Grinch taught me, what A Charlie Brown Christmas taught me, what I’ve come to appreciate about Christmas as I grew up in this materialistic world. I can say everyday can have the Holiday spirit, but Christmas is the time where I feel compelled to be grateful of what I’ve made and got and give back when honestly, I don’t care about getting the most expensive stuff anymore like I used to when I was way younger. This film is so sincere in what it wants to say, and you know this is indeed the same guy that made Minions. Yeah, not kidding and I’ll let you sit with that if you’re reading this as I continue because we have to talk about that moment...

Yeah, I don’t like being the Nostalgia Critic, but I too don’t take kindly to the ‘liar reveal’ trope myself and this could’ve been a point where the film lost me a little. Though you know what? It still works. See, with that trope, what sucks is that it can tend to unravel the plot to where you know as soon as they break apart, they’ll get back together regardless of the deed done. This is why I don’t like A Bug’s Life, don’t @ me. But I’m not saying it can’t done right, like in Over the Hedge. The breakup between Jesper and the others is painful, but it is necessary to give us a couple great character moments. One is with Jesper and his dad, who came back personally to see that Jesper has indeed built something for himself. We get no dialogue between them but it’s clear that even when Jesper’s unintentionally successful thanks to Yzma and Bubba, he can tell his son wasn’t happy leaving everything behind, so he lets him stay since that was what he truly wanted this whole time. Again, give that man some credit for amazing dad. Another moment comes before the big reveal where not only do we see Jesper come to understand his own guilt surrounding his original intentions, but in the end they never hated him for coming back, especially due to him inadvertently stopping the enemy feud all together. Lastly, without that moment, we probably wouldn’t have got this smile. When Margu, purest character ever that I could make a whole segment about but I don’t wanna keep you too long, started to tear up after calling for Jesper thinking he left for good but she then sees our guy never really left and we get this teary smile:

I felt that. Almost more than anything else in this film.

Cliched as it can appear, the execution excels in those more memorable emotions for this film. It’s been a year since I watched this again and I remember so much about these characters. And my god, I haven’t even gotten to the animation which... my god.

Klaus is indeed the most beautiful upon beautiful films I’ve seen, and what makes it better is that it all enhances the story. I mention before of its transitional visual from cold to warm sights, but goddamn, the character designs, the environments, the expressiveness, the textures all amount to style perfect for this alone. I think it would’ve as well received if it had a more flat look, but they seriously went higher for a traditional appealing story that compliments the unique children’s storybook look of it all. This honestly is better than most of modern Disney films that I’ve seen, ironic since it feels like if you took Tangled the Series and made it 3D with more fluid character animation. And if I’m comparing something to the continuous mindblower that’s Tangled the Series, you’ve most certainly got on my best side.

Sergio Pablos and his team really pulled no punches in making this a great movie. A great Christmas movie, one worth seeing if not at least once but every Holiday season for tradition’s sake. Klaus gave me a good time, made me cry, and above all showed me to never stop having a good heart because doing good can indeed go far, thankless as it can be. Heck, my heart felt more rejuvenated than before in making this critique, that’s a testament to how much good this film means to me personally. What else is there to say?

It's The Best

[catgrump]

"Get on your knees" for.... uh.... Soudam? Maybe 👉👈 You are so good!!!

Oh yes I do anon. Yes I do.

I’ve been wanting an excuse to write this specific scenario so thank you for this gift.

This takes place in My Specific Theatre AU BUT this piece has nothing to do with theatre and can be looked at on its own. But for context: they attend university together and share a 2-bedroom apartment. This takes place around the start of “Maybe This Time”, my Theatre AU piece on AO3, if you need to know the timeline

🌹🌹🌹

Read it under the cut!  Warning for sexual content!

The movie was over. Netflix was asking if they were still watching.

The beer bottles and wine glasses weren’t going to clean themselves up

So why was Kazuichi still lazing about— with his head in Gundham’s lap, no less?

It’s not like Gundham seemed to mind, oddly enough. He took strands of his roommate’s damaged hair in his fingers, twirling it and bringing it up and down through the air

“I’m glad it had a happy ending,” Kazuichi said to anyone who would listen (and since he and Gundham were the only ones in their apartment, he sure was hoping Gundham would listen), “It was like... there’s someone out there for everyone, you know?”

Gundham could tell Kazuichi was tipsy. Hell, Gundham was tipsy, too. He had his fair share of wine to get through that ridiculous teen rom-com. They originally started watching it to make fun of it, but the more beer (and some of Gundham’s wine) Kazuichi put in his system, the more genuinely invested he became.

“Yes, I suppose that’s a fair takeaway from the... shoddy script,” Gundham replied, continuing to mindlessly toy with the flourescent hair in his lap

“If there’s someone out there for everyone,” Kazuichi said, his words seeming to spill out of his mouth, “Why don’t we have girlfriends, man? I mean, look at you; you’re hot as shit.”

Gundham scoffed as Kazuichi lifted his arms up in the air to emphasize his statement. “Well perhaps it’s because you still say things that imply you think everyone around you is heterosexual,” he retorted

Kazuichi slowly picked himself up and turned to face Gundham, his shoulders slouched over, “C’mon, man, you know I’m still trying to get used to that. I’ve only been out for like a year and a half,” he whined

“And I understand that eliminating the ‘Straight is the Default’ setting in your brain can be challenging, but you live with someone else who is bisexual,” Gundham elaborated, “We’ve lived together for years.”

Kazuichi chuckled, “Remember when I thought I was straight in freshman year?”

“I was amazed how in denial you were.”

And now it seemed like Kazuichi couldn’t stop laughing. The laughter was slow, almost sounding deliberately rhythmic. “Hey, Gundham... can I tell you a secret?”

“Sure.”

He had a stupid grin on his face. After living with Kazuichi for so long, Gundham knew he got... silly when he’s had a bit to drink. “You have to promise not to tell anyone,” Kazuichi added

“I won’t tell anyone.”

Kazuichi shot himself up, pointing a finger toward Gundham, “AND you have to promise not to get mad.”

After living with Gundham for so long, Kazuichi should know that Gundham is blunt when he’s had a bit to drink. “I won’t be angry with you,” he said. He meant it.

Kazuichi’s grin extended, practically reaching his ears. “Have you ever maybe uhhhhhh jacked off while thinking about your roommate? Cuz I have! Multiple times!”

Kazuichi was stifiling laughter, and almost missed Gundham’s rather immediate response. “Oh. Sure, I’ve done that a few times.”

“Haha, good; I’m glad I’m not the only one,” Kazuichi swayed back and forth, as if he were on a boat, smiling obliviously

If Gundham had wanted to— as Kazuichi so eloquently describes it— get shitfaced, he would’ve taken another swig of wine in disbelief during the silence they shared. Instead, he just shook his head.

Then, Kazuichi seemed to instantly sober up. “Wait.”

Kazuichi must’ve remembered that Gundham loses his filter when he has alcohol in him. But he didn’t ask Gundham to elaborate. Gundham didn’t need to go into detail about the times he’s had to control himself when Kazuichi walks around shirtless. He didn’t need to go into detail about the times he’s moaned Kazuichi’s name when he was home alone. He didn’t need to go into detail about the time he heard Kazuichi masturbating through the wall seperating their bedrooms, and got himself off on the sounds of his pleasure. He didn’t need to elaborate on any of that. He grabbed Kazuichi’s shirt collar in his fist and pulled him close. “You are such a fool.”

Regaining his balance, Kazuichi latched on to Gundham’s arms, feeling how toned they were for the first time. He looked up at Gundham in awe, seeing his hair down, framing his defined face.

As soon as Kazuichi looked him in the eye, he couldn’t hold back any longer. Gundham brought his hands to Kazuichi’s face and they kissed with more intensity than they had ever kissed anyone before.

Kazuichi’s hands gripped Gundham’s biceps, then frantically migrated across his chest and back, wanting to feel every muscle he didn’t know Gundham had.

Within seconds of their lips meeting, Gundham felt Kazuichi’s tongue asking to be invited inside, and Gundham instantly accepted, being sure to hold on to Kazuichi’s jaw and neck as they explored

Kazuichi tugged on the hem of Gundham’s shirt as he gently bit Gundham’s lower lip. Gundham grunted and grabbed Kazuichi’s wrists.

“You like that?” Kazuichi teased

“I do,” Gundham’s low voice reverberated through Kazuichi’s body as he whispered in his ear before he was suddenly pushed backward, his back landing on the seat of their couch

Kazuichi was not expecting to be, but he was instantly hard. Gundham throwing him down like that, followed by him taking off his shirt himself, shaking out his hair after he tossed it aside... Kazuichi felt like he needed air to prepare for whatever was in store.

Kazuichi had seen Gundham’s naked torso before. The moments were brief, but he— willingly or not—committed the images to memory. Suddenly, Kazuichi was feeling that body against his own as Gundham kissed him again. Kazuichi brought his hands to Gundham’s back to pull him closer, wanting no separation between their chests, stomachs...

Gundham pushed Kazuichi’s hair away as he created a path of kisses, trailing from his lips to his jaw to his neck. Kazuichi gasped when he felt Gundham steadily increase pressure on his neck. He was going to leave marks. Kazuichi craned his neck to give Gundham more of a canvas to work with.

Gundham was multi-tasking. As he sucked on Kazuichi’s neck, he was unbuttoning the shirt Kazuichi had on. It would only be fair.

Gundham pushed Kazuichi’s shirt aside, exposing the torso he’d always wanted to touch, never breaking contact with Kazuichi

One of Gundham’s calloused hands found its way to Kazuichi’s pecs, and his chest felt incredible in Gundham’s palm; against his fingertips

And Kazuichi bit his lip as he writhed in even the simple sensations of Gundham’s mouth on his neck and Gundham’s fingers grazing a nipple. God, how long HAS it been since someone ELSE touched Kazuichi like this?

Gundham had moved to Kazuichi’s collarbone and bit. Hard. “Fuck,” Kazuichi was so tempted to reach for Gundham’s belt

But if Gundham wanted to leave marks, Kazuichi thought Two can play at this game.

Kazuichi dragged his fingernails across Gundham’s back, slowly, and that got Gundham to lose his composure, practically collapsing on top of him. He gasped and shut his eyes tight, muffling moans into Kazuichi’s shoulder

There was no mistaking how turned on the other was. When Gundham brought himself down to be flush with Kazuichi, they both took notice of the other’s hard-on

And while Gundham gave in temporarily, he relished too much in making Kazuichi squirm to let him take over.

He resumed his assault on Kazuichi’s neck, taking hold of his hair in his fist, and pulled as he grinded his hips against Kazuichi’s.

The friction was driving Kazuichi insane. His curiosity was overwhelming him, too. He had to find out how big he was.

Kazuichi bucked into him, doing his best to tell Gundham he wanted to take things further without saying anything.

But that wasn’t enough for Gundham. “Tell me what you desire,” he whispered a demand in Kazuichi’s ear, nibbling on his earlobe after he spoke

Gundham ran his hands over Kazuichi’s pecs and shoulders, rolling the fabric of his shirt further down his arms. “Y-you,” Kazuichi nervously muttered

“What was that?” Gundham’s hands moved lower and lower, tracing Kazuichi’s waist and his remarkable hips. His fingers played with the waistline of Kazuichi’s pants, making Kazuichi bite his lip in desperation

“Gundham, please,” Kazuichi felt embarrassed being candid, especially with Gundham straddling him with a sexy smug smile, his hands pressed against Kazuichi’s chest

Gundham ran his hands across Kazuichi’s body again, and drifted his hands lower, rubbing them into Kazuichi’s inner thighs. Kazuichi needed them to get naked. Now.

“Use your words,” Gundham beckoned, inching closer and closer to Kazuichi’s dick

Kazuichi’s face was red. His whole body was hot and he felt way too restrained with his clothes still on. He shut his eyes so he didn’t have to look at Gundham when he blurted out “I want your cock”

Gundham huffed out a laugh as Kazuichi brought his hands up to his face to try to conceal his embarrassment.

Gundham brought himself up and Kazuichi peaked through his fingers when he heard the buckle of Gundham’s belt come undone.

In a bit of a frenzy, Kazuichi sat up and pulled his clothes off, casting them to the side in a chaotic pile

He couldn’t help but notice Gundham look down and smirk once Kazuichi’s dick was out

But Gundham’s pants were still on. His legs were spread across the seat of the couch, and his arms draped across the back. “Get on your knees,” he commanded

Kazuichi quirked his brow, but didn’t have any doubts in his next move once Gundham revealed what Kazuichi had been waiting for. He’s hung.

Kazuichi’s horny ass did as Gundham asked and got inbetween his legs, putting a hand on Gundham’s thigh, only slightly disappointed it wasn’t skin-to-skin contact.

His other hand took hold of Gundham’s dick, and brought it to his lips, relishing in Gundham’s sighs as Kazuichi wrapped his lips around the tip

Gundham grabbed Kazuichi’s hair again, biting his lip as he felt Kazuichi envelop his cock in his mouth. It was warm and every time Kazuichi sucked Gundham had to resist thrusting

And Kazuichi’s dick twinged every time he felt Gundham’s dick twinge inside him. Using the hand that was on Gundham’s thigh, he took hold of his own cock and started pumping, using his pre-cum to self lubricate

As he worked himself while sucking Gundham off, he couldn’t help but moan against Gundham’s dick. And that sent Gundham over the edge. He lost control of his hips and grabbed Kazuichi’s hair tighter

Feeling Gundham trying to fuck his mouth only made Kazuichi work harder. His head bobbed back and forth as quick as his hand went up and down his own dick. He was so close just from Gundham’s cock in his mouth.

“Kazuichi, wait,” Gundham moaned, and Kazuichi bucked into his own fist hearing Gundham moan his name, muttering a few curse words himself

Kazuichi released Gundham and looked up at him. He watched Gundham swallow as they made eye contact. “Yeah? You okay?” Kazuichi asked

“Allow me to do something for you,” Gundham requested

God dammit, he was so close and NOW Gundham’s offering? And Kazuichi was sure Gundham was about to finish, too.

Gundham stood up from the couch, and started walking out of the living room. “Are you going to join me?”

Kazuichi blinked and quickly left the floor to follow as Gundham walked through the hall and into his bedroom, and gawked as Gundham finally finished undressing, taking in the new sight of his toned thighs and firm ass.

His eyes grew wide when he saw Gundham reach into a drawer in his desk and retrieve what was so obviously a bottle of lube. He was officially in uncharted waters, and that excited him and wracked his nerves simultaneously

Kazuichi had kissed men before and gone down on men before... but he didn’t have any experience with what could come after.

Gundham climbed onto his mattress and propped himself up on his knees. He looked to Kazuichi and used his eyes to invite him to the bed

Kazuichi swallowed as he mirrored Gundham’s position, and pursed his lips as Gundham put a coat of the lubricant on his fingers.

Using his dry hand, Gundham grabbed Kazuichi’s ass and pulled him in close so their bodies were flush. Kazuichi yelped as he caught himself on Gundham, pressing his hands against Gundham’s chest.

Kazuichi’s heart was practically bursting out of his chest as he anticipated what was about to happen. Gundham had a devilish grin as he watched Kazuichi try to hide his nerves

His lubricated hand grasped on to Kazuichi’s ass as well, and he was sure to slide his fingers close— “Fuck!” Kazuichi gasped out

And Gundham paused. “Kazuichi... have you never done this before?”

Kazuichi was taken aback by Gundham’s surprise. His face turned red again as he said, “No...” and then Kazuichi had a sudden thought, “Have you?”

Gundham simply replied “Yes. A couple of times now.”

“What? When? With WHO?” Kazuichi pulled back, feeling sudden... jealousy?

“Do you want to know that, or do you want to cum?”

That sent shivers down Kazuichi’s spine. He was back on track, and he didn’t just want to cum: he needed it.

Kazuichi fervently nodded his head.

“Yes what?” Fuck, he’s doing it again.

Kazuichi felt every part of him except his boner shrink. He mumbled “makemecum”

“Don’t be shy, Kazuichi,” Gundham’s deep voice was so fucking sexy when it was breathy in his ear

“Gundham, please—“

Gundham’s dick twinged whenever he heard Kazuichi beg. He took a hand off Kazuichi’s ass and took hold of his cock, and Kazuichi instinctively shut his eyes and bucked his hips into Gundham’s hand. Kazuichi had been waiting for too long, but Gundham relished seeing him like this. “Tell me what you desire.”

“For the love of god: make me cum, please,” Kazuichi succumbed, burying his head in Gundham’s shoulder

“With pleasure,” Gundham cooed into Kazuichi’s ear. Kazuichi melted feeling Gundham’s voice against his body

And he trembled feeling Gundham’s slick fingers practically trace circles around his asshole. Kazuichi picked his head up and took a deep breath, attempting to relax

Gundham was stroking Kazuichi’s dick with his other hand, basking in Kazuichi’s body anticipating his next moves.

Kazuichi gasped and lurched forward, clinging to Gundham’s arms as he felt a finger be pushed inside

Gundham repeated Kazuichi’s taunt back at him as he continued pumping his cock and slowly thrusting his finger, “You like that?”

Kazuichi pressed his forehead into Gundham’s chest and moaned “So fucking much.”

Gundham took that as his cue to add another finger, and Kazuichi practically keeled over with a shout. He reached under Gundham’s arms to take hold of his back. This time his nails digging into Gundham’s skin was because they couldn’t get any closer

Kazuichi’s face was buried in Gundham’s shoulder again, muffling every sound Kazuichi made, and he wasn’t shutting up. It was difficult for Gundham to keep quiet, too. Hearing Kazuichi’s cries of pleasure made him wish he had a free hand to help his dick out. Kazuichi was too overcome to do anything but take it.

The instant Gundham curled his fingers, Kazuichi cried out his name and dug his fingernails into Gundham’s shoulder blades, making Gundham’s cock twitch against Kazuichi’s skin

“D-do that again,” Kazuichi whimpered against Gundham’s neck

Gundham didn’t need to toy with him anymore. He did as he asked and found Kazuichi’s prostate again, feeling Kazuichi’s hips follow his motions, taking pride in knowing this was Kazuichi’s first time experiencing this sensation as Kazuichi continued to moan and swear and call his name, digging deeper into his skin with his fingers

Gundham picked up the pace. Kazuichi was panting. Gundham heard his name muffled into his shoulder over and over and over again and knew Kazuichi was close.

Third time’s the charm. Gundham curled his fingers once again, slowing down the motion as one last tease, and Kazuichi cried out as he came. Gundham continued to use his fingers through Kazuichi’s orgasm but switched to rapidly pumping his own cock, not needing much to finish himself— the sounds Kazuichi made and remembering the feeling of Kazuichi’s mouth around him were plenty.

Their breathing eventually relaxed, and they pulled away to look at each other.

Their hair was destroyed. The hickies on Kazuichi were already turning purple. And they were covered in each other’s cum.

And all they both could think was What now?

Prompt from This List: feel free to send a request!

If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving me a tip on Ko-Fi if you can! 💛

[mittensmorgul]

Incoming sad rant about the spn ending. Don't read if you're not interested in reading something like that, but I literally don't know anyone in real life I can talk about this with, and I really need an outlet:

Sometimes I can put the way SPN ended out of my head and think "it's just a stupid show. I don't have to accept the finale, and the writers/network are wrong." But other times I just get gripped with really intense sadness at the disrespect that was done to my favorite characters. To the point where I'll sit still for hours a day, just wallowing in it. It ruins my whole day and mood. And then I think to myself "I'll just find some other stories that end better!" but then I get sad again, cuz I don't think I will ever love other characters as much as I love Dean and Cas, and then I spiral again thinking about all the potential this unique beautiful love story had, and how we're never going to get the closure we deserve.

I really hate that after all this time, I'm a grown ass adult getting sad over fictional characters. I know it's not that trivial, but I sometimes wish it was so I could get over it 😞

Hi hi, and first of all *socially distanced internet hugs* I’m sorry you don’t have an outlet, but you’re always welcome to chat with me (if you come off anon we can talk privately if you want. My DM’s are always open, even when it takes me a bit to reply. no one should have to feel alone in this.)

I’m actually gonna start at the bottom of your message and work my way up, because I also, as a grown-ass adult, get sad over fictional characters. And I need to emphasize that this is the *point* of fiction. A well-written and developed fictional character is *indistinguishable in our minds from an actual real human being.* The way we react to them *feels exactly the same to our brains and bodies* as how we react to real people, and that’s a testament to just how well developed Dean and Cas were in canon.

I am not a young person. I have engaged with a lot of media over my life, and have *never* felt this strongly about fictional characters before, so I understand what you mean when you struggle to think about finding another story that ended better, or struggle to think about finding other characters you might become this attached to or experience this sort of emotional investment in. And I think there is another factor you didn’t consider there: The vast majority of other media I have engaged with, I was able to relate to on a level of “oh that’s nice for them” or “wow that sucks for them.” I have never, and possibly never will again, feel so utterly invested in fictional characters, to the point where it affects my real life as much as Supernatural has. Period.

I will likely never experience *literal physical lovesickness* over two fictional characters ever again. I hadn’t ever experienced it *in my own real life* before, and yet 15.18 triggered all those symptoms in me. As an aromantic person, this was pretty shocking to me. It also says a lot about just how real these characters feel to us, and how important they have become to us. They make us feel this! This is not an accident. It’s *incredibly difficult* to create fictional characters with this range and depth of emotional connection, and yet here we are.

I think that’s the biggest evidence possibly to present in defense of the statement that THIS IS NOT JUST SOME STUPID SHOW.

Other evidence: this fandom, still going strong after 15 years. Look at every SPN convention for proof. Look at AO3, where there are more posted stories about Dean and Cas than literally any other pairing on the planet (by a not-small margin, too). If that isn’t enough evidence, we have fanart to look at as well. Look through @theroadsofararchive where at the time of this posting there are over 40,000 artworks catalogued, and more being added all the time. Same with @canonspngifs where you can search through through nearly 75,000 gifsets organized by an excellent tagging system and made by dedicated fans out of love for the thing. This is all proof that you are not alone, that so many of us care just as deeply about them as you do. Not even mentioning the people who have written hundreds of millions of words of meta, articles, and even masters theses and doctoral dissertations on Supernatural and the fandom. This is a unique thing, even within the larger fandom culture. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that your feelings for it are stupid or irrelevant or wrong.

But also don’t let anyone try to convince you that you must accept the finale as part of the story if you don’t want to. Don’t even let *yourself* believe that if you don’t want to. This show has done more to play with the themes of “what is reality” and “who gives a story meaning” and alternate universes and curses and djinn dreams to easily account for whatever the heck the finale was.

my current go-to theory: everything after Chuck’s defeat takes place in the Mockumentary Alternate Universe... it fits way too uncomfortably well... and then I just apply the fic I received in a cosmic transmission from the actual supernatural universe wrote detailing the events of what *I* hoped would transpire afterward. I know this doesn’t work for everyone, but it works for me, mostly because it *has* to. It means far too much to me not to.

You are not alone in having invested yourself into this story, and these characters. Your feelings about them are not wrong or stupid or frivolous. And the proof is everyone else who feels the same exact way, who connected to this story (and to each other through this story), and whose lives have been forever altered through this journey together. The fact that Dabb turned out to have been Chuck Junior and couldn’t see (or was prevented from showing us) what Team Free Will would’ve chosen to do with that after defeating their original creator just stands to prove to me that the finale can’t possibly be The Truth, you know?

I don’t know if any of this will help you, or provide you some small comfort right now, but maybe it will eventually. We’re all processing the loss of the show and the abject failure of story that was the finale in different ways, and I’m sure our emotional reactions will shift over time. It was just A Lot to process all in the span of a few incredibly emotional weeks-- not even mentioning how all of that emotional response was compounded by the american elections and surrounding nonsense, the general stress of enduring a global pandemic and all that entails, and *waves hands around broadly at everything else contributing to the trauma occurring in the collective of humankind right now.* We’ve all been emotionally compromised, so be kind to yourself in how you feel you’re coping with it all.

And know that no matter what, you are not alone in how you’re feeling. The grief is real, and our brains don’t care if it’s felt for fictional characters or real people. This was honestly a once in a lifetime experience for a lot of us, and not even the wtf of the finale can kill it for us if we don’t let it. I reject that particular piece of rusty rebar and choose to believe in a just and narratively coherent resolution. To do anything less feels like dishonoring the story and characters who have drawn me in and made me feel so much for them over the years. If the story itself couldn’t honor them properly, then I can choose to do so myself.

<3

[chyrstis]

WIP Saturday!

Tagged by @shallow-gravy @chazz-anova @adelaidedrubman and @starsandskies thoughtout the week, and while I feel like I’m playing a bit of catch up right now, I didn’t want to miss out on this at all. Thank you all! <3

@writerofblocks @hunnybadgerv @painterofhorizons @cobb-vanthss @amistrio @ma-sulevin @tommymillers @jackiesarch @shellibisshe @redroci @unlikelynick @fadedjacket @faithchel @risenlucifer @tomexraider @weekend-writer @vasiktomis @consumedkings @scarlettkat86 @aceghosts  but no worries or obligations intended either!

I’ve been having fun dipping back into an earlier idea with Hana and Sharky, mostly because it was supposed to be a simple chat over a cigarette (and a silly exchange about tootsie roll pops), but it decided to get a little more serious than that, and I can’t be mad about that at all. 

---

“Now that’s impressive.”

“Huh? What is?”

“Hurk.” Sharky’s eyebrows rose, and she laughed. “I’ve had a few partners before that snored, but this? This would’ve had me on the couch in ten minutes flat. There’s no set of ear plugs strong enough to block that out, not that they’re selling anyway.”

“Huh.”

“You’re fine, though,” she added quickly.

Sharky had been scratching his goatee, lost in thought, but snapped back to attention. “Wait? For real?”

“Yeah, you’ve never-I never noticed. Not enough to smack the pillow or poke you at least.”

There might’ve been a time shortly after they’d started traveling together where he’d rolled over during the night, all but snoring in her ear, but she’d dealt with it. Maybe even let him repeat it once or twice, and wasn’t about to bring that up now. 

“Never thought much of it before.” He went back to mulling it over, and jabbed a thumb towards Hurk. “I mean, Hurk’s always been like that, rattling blinds and shit once he really gets going.”

“You don’t say?” Hana winced, and it didn’t take much to imagine the sound. 

“Yeah, but that’s after we have a real rager. The kind everyone talks about, and it’s been way too fucking long since we’ve pulled one off.”

“’Cause of the cult?”

“’Cause of the cult. A few of them got real bent out of shape even at Nick’s barbeque a couple years back - which was one kick-ass place to be - and that didn’t even have half of the shit they say they have problems with. Just good food, good company, and some pretty all right tunes, short of whatever the hell the Seeds were trying to pass off as food.” He sighed, and his whole body sagged with it. “Cults, man. Ruining shit for everyone since day one. Ain’t that right, cuz?”

Hurk snorted almost in perfect time to agree, but stayed exactly as he was. Sleeping better than anyone had a right to out in the woods like this. 

---

Also, another excerpt from the John the jerk bonanza, maybe? Sorry, Han :( and part of me’s tempted to add just a bit more to it so I can go ahead and post it on its own b/c it’s still pretty far down the fic timeline

---

“Which should be first? Greed? Envy? Pride? Lust? We have some fine candidates to consider, but to choose…oh, to choose. ”

He kept on going. Kept talking, monologuing, raising his hands to add emphasis to every word, and it was all drowned out. All through the blood rushing through her ears.

But it eventually died down. Eased off just enough for her to breathe and be able to think again, catching a few scattered words of his that filtered through, even as John gesticulated for no other reason than he wanted to, and she made a promise to herself then and there.

She’d make it through this. Push past it and find a way to Joey somehow, because that was all that mattered.

So if he wanted to do this - and the sinking feeling in her gut told her that this was only the tip of the mindscrew - she’d do it on her own terms, dammit. Diving in feet first if she had to.

“….John, just get it over with.”

“-thout sin, and you-” John paused, and raised one eyebrow then the other at her. “Hmm?”

Canting her head at him, Hana blew at the bangs that had fallen into her eyes, scattering a handful of the dark red strands without really moving them, and settled as hard a stare on him as possible.

“Sure we could have a field day with the others, but you’re already getting off on this, so why not start with the old L-word. You know the one. Lust,” she breathed, letting her head fall back as she arched into it, only to snap another sharp look off at him. “Just go straight for the shameful shit and run right down the laundry list of people I’ve fucked, since you’re going to want every last dirty detail anyway.”

John opened his mouth, but slowly closed it, narrowing his eyes at her. “Deputy, what do you think I’m going to ask? How many partners you’ve had? Specific acts? Preferred positions?”

Yes. She bit the inside of her lip to keep from saying it, and hated how her face burned in response. “You’ve got to have something to judge, might as well. Direct demonstrations are right the fuck out, however.”

---

And just a short bit that I’ve added to an earlier John and Faith idea where I was trying to feel a potential intro out, and I think I can totally work with this. 

---

She was late.

John checked his watch. Could almost hear the seconds tick by as he stood out on the balcony, drumming his fingers along the wooden railing.

While not uncommon, it always dug in just enough. Being forced to wait when he’d already put everything else on hold for her, even if she promised him it would be worth it.

His dear sister tried, but very few things were worth that loss of time, and that was one of their most precious resources nowadays. The only thing he couldn’t measure, weigh, or record, and not even Joseph could give him more than an indeterminate soon at best in terms of when it would finally run out.

So, with soon weighing over all of them, the Collapse reduced to nothing else but that, he was left to stand here.

To wait.

To welcome his sister’s visit with open arms - and he would still, even now - when he’d been left idle long enough for anyone, not just the Deputy to take advantage of it.

The tapping stopped, and John let his fingers lay flat. Let them start to dig the slightest into the surface of the wood.

And where was she now? That deputy...

He’d lost track over the past day, with nothing useful coming in through the cameras or his Chosen. She didn’t disappear. Couldn’t, not with how she dressed, how she looked, or the company she kept, but she’d somehow managed it, and hadn’t headed north or to the east.

[ptergwen]

I absolutely love your work!! It’s so good idk how you’re so talented 🥺 I was wondering if you could please do one where the reader and peter are sitting together and he finds out that she’s turned 20 and has never had a first kiss or a boyfriend and she’s so unbelievably embarrassed by it cuz it makes her think something is wrong with her cuz peter has dated before and is experienced with everything? Maybe they both really like each other and end up dating after he comforts her and they kiss?

(thank you so so much love 🥺)

it’s a minute until midnight. your last sixty seconds of being nineteen. you’re lucky enough to spend them in bed with peter. not like that, never like that. you wish.

he slipped through your window after patrol so he could give you your first birthday wishes. he’s always been first for as long as you’ve known him. a shower, clothing change, and two movies watched on your laptop later, you’re sitting cross cross beside him waiting for the big moment.

peter’s alarm goes off, playing none other than happy birthday. he doesn’t miss a single detail. with a smirk, he shuts it off and throws an arm around you. you lean your head on his shoulder and smile up at him.

“happy birthday, y/n. welcome to your roaring twenties.” “thanks, pete. they better make up for the last nineteen.” peter rests his head on yours, exhaling quietly. “hey, i was there for, like, six of them. i’d say they were pretty awesome.”

that makes it your seventh year around the sun with hidden feelings for him.

“for you,” you scoff, moving off of peter to lay on a pillow instead. he tilts his head to the side and raises an eyebrow. that look is saved for whenever you say something stupid. “sure, y/n. so, what do you wanna do today? anything special?”

you.

“i don’t know. i’m kind of okay with just having another movie marathon.” you earn a second eyebrow raise from peter, both of them this time. “what? you’re not gonna sit here all day. let me take you out.” “why do you wanna go out so bad? are you my pimp or something now?”

you were just joking, but peter’s innocent shrug tells you he wasn’t. now he’s all serious. “i can be if you want, maybe help you find someone.” your smile turns into a lip bite as your best friend nudges you. staring up at the ceiling, you shake your head. he lays down next to you.

“i’m not really into that stuff, peter.” “i know it’s been a while since you’ve... you know.” you can feel peter’s gaze on you, his stupid big brown eyes staring into your soul you’re pretty sure. he’s waiting for you to say something. “that’s because it’s never happened,” you mumble only for yourself to hear. “hm?”

“i’ve never... i’ve never done that before, peter, okay? leave me alone already.” your sudden outburst leaves him with his mouth hanging open. too embarrassed to see his reaction, you turn away from him. “but you told me-“ “i know what i told you.” you throw your pillow across the room to relieve some of your anger. you’re not sure why you’re angry at him. it was your choice to lie.

you sit up, peter doing the same. he lets you get your thoughts together. after a few minutes of silence and contemplation, you let it all out. “i made it up. being with brad. we never kissed, we never dated, nothing.” “why, y/n? is there even a reason?”

“i was...” you face him again. “you went to homecoming with the hottest girl in school. you dated the smartest for two years while i sat back and watched. i felt like i was behind you, so i lied.” peter nods as he goes over everything you said in his head. he gives you a look that you can’t read this time.

“and you picked brad of all people.” “he wanted to make mj jealous, and i... i wanted to make you jealous. it obviously didn’t work.” you cover your face with your hands, trying to hide yourself from peter. “you didn’t have to lie about that to impress me. everybody goes at their own pace with relationships.” he pulls your hands away from your face and takes them in his. “what i don’t understand is why you wanted to make me jealous.”

here it goes.

you tighten your grip on his hands and take a breath. “i love you, peter. i’ve loved you for a really long time, and i wasn’t sure how to tell you. i wanted you to be my first everything. that’s why i’ve been waiting. part of me still hoped something would happen.” to your surprise, you’re met with a laugh and teeth-showing grin. you can’t help but smile back, but you’re not sure what it’s for yet.

“i love you, too. i gave up on us ever happening for a while because i thought you only saw me as a friend. i would’ve said something a lot sooner if i knew i was wrong.” “you... you really love me? in that way?” peter leans forward and presses a soft kiss to your cheek, both of them flaming hot when he pulls away. this is new. “yeah, y/n. i love you in that way.”

you’re blushing and giggling over peter saying the words you’ve only fantasized about hearing. they sound perfect coming from him. they’re your first official “i love you.”

“what happens now?” you almost whisper. peter looks at your lips, then meets your eyes. “up to you, birthday girl, but i’d really like to kiss you.” “you can.”

you pull him closer by his t-shirt, keeping it in your grasp while he leans over you. instinctively, you lay down and part your legs for peter to go in between them. he holds your hips as he takes the space. his lips are on yours not too long after, moving slowly and lightly. you could melt. you reach up and tangle your hands in his hair, kissing him back and tugging at the curls. you’re hearing the bells, you’re feeling the sparks, all of it. it’s your first kiss with your first love.

peter breaks the kiss and leaves another on your forehead, then rolls over so he’s laying down. his arm snakes around your waist, you still playing with his curls. “that was... wow,” you laugh out. “your list of firsts just became four shorter.” “four? i can only come up with two.” “the third is your first boyfriend. the fourth, it might be better for me to show you.”

[ravenadottir]

I’m choosing violence again! So we knew that Chelsea and Rocco were gonna be a thing… we hated it but we knew. But Chelsea would NEVER actually be with this dude! Especially with Roccogate. What would be a more realistic reaction when Chelsea tells her about her relationship since MC was a part of Roccogate? How much would Chelsea have agonized about her feelings? Cuz if she’s gonna be with the man who hurt her bra, she must be FULL of horrendous guilt.

ohhhhhhh MOST FUCKING DEFINITELY chelsea would be filled with raging guilt!

because i believe chelsea had a thing for him right when she left the villa and that's why it didn't work out with anyone else.

bear with me, ok?

once she saw roccogate happening, and i do believe that's one of the reasons why she was so attached to mc (if rocco is her primary li), her first instincts was to protecc!

before she hits the villa she's been watching everything, but that includes how genuine rocco was towards marisol once they got to spend some time and get to know each other. of course it wasn't reason enough for mc to forgive him going behind her back at the time, but i think that's definitely a turning point for chelsea, even though she doesn't make a single comment on it.

isn't it weird that she didn't have a single thing to say about one of the biggest happenings in that season?? CHELSEA?? not saying anything??

i reckon the fact stayed in the back of her mind until she left the villa, and realized her feelings once on the outside. she's a big apologist of trying to see the best in people, and in post-villa life there's a stigma with people's images, unless you never saw them under that light in the first place.

as guilty as she could feel she also knows mc was over it and found love with someone else. but until chelsea has her bra's approval, i don't think she's completely enjoying herself. there's that chip on her shoulder, and i think this is what that speech (on cmm, about mc being mad) is about.

what angers me is that there was no option on cmm to just refer to it as mc going through roccogate. instead, they just inserted a generic dialogue that would "work for both cases" about mc being mad that chelsea didn't tell her anything.

overall? yeah, definitely feeling like she couldn't tell anyone until having mc's approval, and definitely being conflicted about liking the guy that hurt her friend.

i wish cmm had done more for that part of the friendship. there should've been an option at the beginning, asking if your mc was ever with rocco at first.

it would've been cryptic and kept my attention span to details, an addition to the mystery and the bra-hood, but hey, another missed opportunity.

[fiddlepickdouglas]

Viva Las Vegas, Pt. 15 - Net Zero Change

Summary: Sunset Curve Alive AU, Willex, what’s the truth?, 2.9k

@trevor-wilson-covington​ is the bestie who makes these lovely edits, we stan supportive friends

WARNINGS: death mention, swearing

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14

Alex, Reggie, Flynn and Kyle all sat at a table inside the record store while Willie took care of closing procedures, currently sweeping up around them. Flynn sipped on her soda, eyeing everyone else with a mix of piqued interest and uncertainty.

“I can let you guys stay and talk for about another half hour, but then I’ve gotta kick you out,” Kyle told the three at the table.

“Thanks,” Alex said. “We really appreciate you being so understanding.”

“Not at all,” Kyle said casually. “And Willie’s in the clear, so long as he never pulls a stunt like that again.”

“Thanks for covering for me, man,” Willie said repentantly at Kyle’s rightfully miffed tone.

“I also covered the cost for that jacket, so you owe me for that.”

Alex looked at him, still unable to wrap what had just happened around his head. Climbing somewhere high and screaming felt like an ideal thing to do right then. He wasn’t angry - at least, he didn’t think so - but he still felt like a bottle of Coke that someone had just shaken and dropped a Mento into. His punching bag was already being worn down enough, but since he didn’t have his drums at home it had been a lifesaver recently.

There was Willie, right in front of him, like a miracle. He was so wonderfully unaware of everything, and there was no doubt he hadn’t forgotten Alex. It brought a strange sense of euphoria that battled everything else that had kept his mind dark for so long. He’d used to imagine running into Willie, even for a while after Caleb said he was gone, and thought he’d be the one to catch Willie off guard and rush toward him with joy. Mostly, he’d wanted to knock Willie off his board as slight payback for that one time, but also because it would’ve been satisfying to surprise him for once.

Kyle had gotten up from the table and joined Willie in closing up the store.

“So, you guys all know each other, huh?” he asked.

“Yeah!” Flynn exclaimed. “And I’d like to think that it’s all thanks to me,” she added smugly.

“How so?” Reggie asked in curiosity.

“I helped Willie get into Julie’s concert in Vegas,” she said. “And I’m the reason you two stuck around here.”

Alex looked at her in surprise. Without Flynn, he imagined going with Willie to the Stratosphere or anything else that night wouldn’t have happened. He owed her a serious favor; he wasn’t going to forget that.

“Are you sure you don’t have, like, magic powers or something?” Reggie asked.

Flynn only smiled and quietly sipped her soda again, keeping the mystique for herself.

As Willie disappeared into the kitchen to clean there, Alex looked at Reggie.

“So, do you have as many questions as I do?” he asked.

“Yeah, man,” Reggie said, peeking back toward the kitchen door. “I mean, does Caleb not know?”

“For someone out of the loop,” Flynn butted in. “What’s going on?”

Alex shifted uncomfortably in his seat and took in a deep breath. “So you know how we got signed?”

Flynn nodded. “Uh huh. And congratulations, by the way.”

Alex merely shrugged in acknowledgement.

“Well, the guy who owns the label used to be Willie’s caretaker.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that,” Reggie muttered. Alex suddenly felt a little guilty for missing that detail when talking with the guys.

“Yeah, sorry I forgot to mention it,” he apologized. “Anyway, the day that we signed on, Caleb personally told me that Willie had died in a fire.”

Flynn stared in disbelief.

“Wow,” she said. “That’s fishy.”

“No kidding,” Reggie commented. “But why would he do that? Caleb’s been nothing but good to us.”

“You guys should be careful. He was Willie’s guardian? If his story is that far off, I’d watch out.”

Peering over toward the kitchen, Alex couldn’t get a view of Willie at all. He was dying to hear his side of things.

“I guess we’ll have to see. Flynn, how are you getting home?”

“Oh, I was just gonna take the bus.”

“With your equipment?” he said, already worried. It was a lot for her to be lugging around, whether she could carry it alone or not. “Flynn, let us get you a taxi.”

She looked at him, and he expected her to protest and say she could handle herself. To his surprise, she simply huffed.

“You’re right. It’s getting late.”

“Yeah, and one of us could go with you to make sure you get home safe.”

“I’ll go,” Reggie volunteered. He glanced at Alex and it was clear he was giving him an opportunity.

“Thanks Reggie,” Flynn said. “You guys have gotta keep me updated with everything going on, though. I smell drama. A lot of it.” She finished the last few gulps of her soda and stood up to grab her gear.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, man,” Reggie murmured to Alex, patting him as he rose to help her out.

“See you.”

As he watched them make their way outside, Alex sighed.

“So, Vegas, huh?” Kyle said as he reentered the room, making him jump.

“Uh, yeah,” Alex replied warily. This guy seemed fairly nice, but he could never be too careful about how much he told strangers. He watched him dust the shelves, trying to relax in his seat.

“Willie doesn’t talk about it much, so I’m kinda surprised he had such a reaction tonight. I got the idea he hated the place.”

Puzzled, Alex didn’t respond immediately. He wondered what could’ve happened.

“Well, I’m sure he has his reasons. But when I met him we had a pretty good time.”

“Hmm,” was all that Kyle said as he looked into space thoughtfully before moving on to locking things up.

Alex realized then that he was the only customer left in the store and he’d simply let his friends leave him. His head was certainly not on straight. The time was nearly midnight, and the options of transportation and his experiences with them only dialed up his anxiety. Busses were just weird because everyone could watch him, taxis were expensive and he’d given most of his cash to Reggie, and the chances of having Bobby pick him up were very low.

“Hey,” Willie was standing over him, skateboard in hand. Alex looked up, startled once again, but the feeling of Willie’s hand on his shoulder softened it.

“Hey.”

“Where did Reggie go?”

“Oh,” Alex started. “He’s making sure Flynn gets home safe.”

Nodding, Willie glanced outside.

“What about you?”

Alex rose with a sigh.

“I’ll figure something out.”

They left the store and slowly walked to the corner. Willie still gripped his board as he gazed up at the red hand on the opposite side of the street.

“Do you...wanna walk with me to my place?” he asked Alex. “‘Cuz you look like you want to talk. Then we can find you a way home.”

Sticking his tongue in his cheek, Alex eyed him thoughtfully. It was almost like they hadn’t just spent four months apart - Willie could read him like a book.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

Unfortunately, that made him stuff his hands deeper into the pockets of his jacket. He’d let himself take Willie’s hand before and have high hopes because he’d let himself ignore reality back then. Even when the guy who he admittedly still had a crush on was back from the dead, Alex didn’t want to tempt fate again. As they both crossed the street, he felt himself hunch inward just as he had earlier with Reggie.

“So, I’m guessing it’s a little weird to see me, since you thought I was a goner and everything,” Willie started nervously.

“Dead,” Alex said, looking at him seriously. “You were dead.”

Willie slowed his pace and sucked in a breath.

“Yeah.”

For a few yards they didn’t speak. Something ate at Alex’s insides, and he couldn’t put a finger on it. Change had always been his worst enemy, but this was a good change. Willie was alive, then he was dead, and now he was back. It should’ve been like net zero change, cancelled out like math. He should be fine about this, right? Why was he not fine?

“Alex, are you...are you mad?” Willie dared to ask.

He paused in his tracks, arms slacking against his sides. Looking over at Willie, then down at the sidewalk again, he nodded.

“Yeah, actually.” Immediately the eating feeling worsened. “I don’t know why that is, but you’re right. I am kinda mad.”

Willie furrowed his brow, but remained quiet for a minute as they continued walking.

“Are you mad at me?” he wondered aloud, finally.

“Maybe?” Alex said, feeling the temperature in his veins rise the more he went on. “That sounds silly, I know, because it wasn’t you who lied to me and put me through absolute agony for weeks on end. You were just the person I thought was dead and so every time I thought about you, it hurt. I don’t even know why it hurt so much. It’s not supposed to hurt when you’re still practically a stranger to me. All I know is that we kind of liked each other and then I thought I’d never find out anything else. I mean, we only knew each other for one day. One fucking day. That was it!”

Alex saw Wilie flinch at the unexpected use of language. A little too late, he realized he should’ve been more gentle. While it was true that he needed to finally release more than just self-pity, it wasn’t worth making Willie miserable for it.

“Wow,” Willie murmured. It already sounded more wounded than Alex could bear.

“That was harsh; I shouldn’t have blown up like that.”

He looked over at Willie to be sure he hadn’t done too much damage already.

“I can’t imagine how awful that was,” Willie said simply.

The pressure that had heated up his veins rapidly began to cool down as Alex realized he was handling this all wrong. He’d momentarily lost control and already saw its potential for harm.

“It’s not you I’m mad at. It’s Caleb.”

“That makes two of us,” Willie told him. “You want to know what really happened?”

“I want to know everything.”

They continued walking along as Willie seemed to try summing up the past few months properly in his mind.

“I don’t know exactly where to start,” he said.

“Well, why don’t you start where we left off?” Alex suggested. It was only fitting that one of them was walking the other home, just like they’d been doing the last time they’d seen each other. There was a funny sense of poetry to it.

“Okay,” Willie began. “I guess what really started it was when we were up on the Stratosphere, remember?”

“Uh huh.”

“I told you that I have amnesia because I had a memory come back.”

“Right, about your dad.”

“You remember this really well,” Willie commented. Alex bowed his head, feeling his lip curl the tiniest bit. “Anyway, I started drawing the things I remembered. And I mean, I drew every detail I could. Even though back then it was just the one about my dad and then the first time that I ran away from Caleb - ”

“Wait, what?” Alex blurted.

Willie cocked his head to the side as he tried to keep the narrative easy to follow.

“Oh yeah that was weird, I had this dream where everything was backwards and it happened like every night and it took me forever to figure out that it was a memory. Anyway, the reason I have amnesia right now? I was trying to run from Caleb because he was a total a-hole and then I got hit in the head!”

Alex looked at his casual expression with mild horror.

“That’s a lot to process,” he said slowly.

“Yeah, I guess he was putting on a face after that, because he didn’t really get nasty until right before I left him for good.”

By the time Willie finished dishing everything to Alex, they had been standing by his front door for a solid ten minutes. Alex could only stand there and let everything turn over in his mind like a taffy pull. Moreover, a pit of dread was forming in his stomach at the same time as a spark of joy grew in his chest.

“So...Harrison Ford?” he said.

Willie smiled. “Much cooler than Han Solo.”

“I still can’t believe you were literally planning to skate your way here. Even I would’ve ruled that out after a minute.”

Lifting a hand defensively, Willie opened his mouth but couldn’t find words.

“I - I will never live that down,” he chuckled.

Alex chuckled in turn. “No.”

For a moment he just looked at Willie. It was the first time that night where his vision wasn’t clouded with questions or overwrought with mixed emotions. This time, it was just as he’d seen him that first moment when they’d sat across from each other at the diner. That was ages ago, but it didn’t seem to have dimmed or faded one bit in Alex’s memory. Here, he was just Willie. It was so nice to see that again.

“What made you come to LA?” he asked. He shuffled his feet awkwardly. 

“You did.” Willie looked right into his eyes as he said it.

The words were plain and honest. Something swelled in Alex’s chest as he heard them. If anyone else had said that - the guys, Julie, even his sister Abby - he would’ve doubted it a little. That was the awful thing with his anxiety is that it immediately twisted everyone’s words into betrayal. Not Willie’s, though.

“Why me?”

Willie got thoughtful, eyes unfocused for a moment.

“I don’t know. I’d do anything for you,” he said, gazing back up at Alex again.

Alex shifted his weight.

“Because I helped you start regaining memories, right?”

It made sense that if he’d been in that position, the person who’d been with him in those moments would mean a great deal to him, too.

“No,” Willie said. “Just ‘cuz. I still like you.”

Alex blinked and his mind emptied of all thought - a feat he’d never imagined occurring. Soon he found himself caught looking into those brown eyes, and instead of wanting to throw in a line, he wished he could plant himself there and spread roots. If it were up to him, he had no desire to go back home and he would just stay happy where he was.

It took a while to realize that he’d slowly begun to lean forward, lips parted as he gazed down at Willie’s mouth. Their noses were just barely not touching, and they hung in the balance waiting for the other to cross that threshold. Willie looked vaguely hypnotized, if not a little indecisive. His thoughts finally caught up to his actions, and once Alex saw what he was doing he turned away.

Dammit, how could you mess that up, Alex? he berated himself. He was already so out of focus and not thinking about the consequences of his actions; he couldn’t go around treating Willie like something else to dump his turmoil upon. Clearing his throat, he straightened his posture. Willie nervously ran a hand through his hair, visibly confused.

“So....” Alex began awkwardly. “You have your own place?”

Willie nodded, not looking him in the eyes anymore.

“Yeah, it’s kinda nice,” he said plainly. “You’ll have to check it out one of these days. You could see Sheldon, too.”

“Yes,” Alex said quickly. “Yes, I would totally be down to come see you and Sheldon. That would be great.”

He hated that the natural cadence in his voice was so sarcastic sometimes. Right now, it didn’t sound genuine at all and he desperately wanted to convey how much he meant every word.

“Bet you’re sort of busy with the band and school and all, though,” Willie said, clearly a little despondent. Alex really wanted to go back and fix the moment they’d had before. He wasn’t making it any better.

“Well, I’m free all next Saturday. You’re not working, are you?”

“I can arrange things with Kyle to get covered. I’m usually on his good side and he doesn’t stay mad for long, so I’m not worried.”

“That’s good.” A pause. “So it’s okay if I come on Saturday?”

“Sure, sure,” Willie rushed to say. “I’m totally down for that. Uh...I just remembered that we’ve gotta get you back home. Did you know how you were gonna do that?”

“Uh yeah, I was gonna just catch the bus,” Alex said, entirely impromptu. After embarrassing himself so badly with Willie, he could override any fears about using public transportation. All he wanted to do was lift his hood over his head and pull the strings so it closed over his face.

“Got it,” Willie replied.

“But I’ll be excited to see you next Saturday,” Alex added. He saw Willie’s eyes light up a little and it made him smile in relief as he began stepping away from Willie’s door. Biting his lip in his usual cute manner, Willie nodded at him.

“See you then.”

Alex exhaled in excitement as he made his way up the steps to the street, barely able to take his eyes off Willie. Only when he couldn’t see him anymore did he force himself to turn away.

[moral-turpitudes]

Letting Go:

Trigger Warnings: Um Angst...and some Mutual Pining? 

Word Count: 2,276

Characters: Michael Gray x Reader

+ Polly Gray, Gina Gray.

Request: “Okay so I just came up with the idea for Michael Gray x Reader, where Michael leaves for America and comes back with Gina, and the reader learns about it and is pissed with him cause he didn’t want to “get involved” but comes back with a wife...I don’t know the ending, it may be sad or happy :) Thank you love!”

Requested by: @msbzowy​

I apologize for it taking me so long, it’s been a crazy month or so lol. I actually really liked this bc it helped me get out my own feels about a much more less dramatic situation lol. Also I liked how your idea focused on this part in the show because Michael kinda really did that one girl dirty, leaving her to have her procedure done and then later turning around and having a kid w Gina...like lol the audacity. (I realize time had passed and he’s allowed to change throughout the shows timeline but it still rubbed me the wrong way a tiny bit cuz I felt bad for that girl he had a fling with. Lol don’t come for my neck plz guys).

Summary: Y/N has no more time for fuckboys.

You felt your breath hitch in your throat as you watched the ship depart, taking your heart with it. The steam rolling out the top as it loudly groaned to life and set sail for America. You sat there until it disappeared, accepting the fact you’d never see the one you loved again.

Michael had been sent off to America for “business” purposes, much to you and his mother Polly’s dismay. You had been close to him ever since he met you at the Garrison two years ago, slowly integrating you into his life and into Polly’s as well. He always tried to keep you from the peaky business that went on, but with you being stubborn, it led you to working as a secretary for the Shelby’s and joining Michael on business runs on occasion. Giving you both some quality time together, despite neither of you admitting your feelings. You were shocked at first as Polly had hired you after seeing how you interacted with everyone else, and so when they shipped him off right under your nose you were taken aback, and downright furious.

Furious at the fact that Tommy would send him away without as much as a phone call briefly explaining the details, and furious at Michael for saying “I’m doing this for the business Y/N. It’s not you, it’s just that I’m not wanting to get involved in anything right now. It’s better if I go at this alone now.”

He said this to you at the dock, you could see in his eyes that he didn’t mean that, like it was scripted from the devil himself and he was just following along. His eyes bore into yours and he left you with nothing but a light hug and a soft kiss on your forehead.

The ghost of his kiss lingered there until the stars appeared, hinting that it was best for you to go home, away from the eerie calmness of the shipping docks.

You had let your frustrations be known before you drove Michael to the dock earlier, yelling at Tommy in front of everyone in the shop before grabbing Michael’s hand and leading him out to the car.

As much as you wanted to walk in now and pick up your work where you left off, you took a long look at the shop and drove on back to your apartment, not bothering to let anyone know your plans for the work week.

When you awoke the next day, your head buzzed and your eyes were brimmed with red streaks as you’d cried yourself to sleep. Mad at yourself that you didn’t flat out tell him you loved him like you had meant to, and mad at him that he’d lie to your face, even after all you’ve seen each other through.

A year had passed and you’d bitterly kept your job as one of their head secretaries, staying mainly for the money it brought in. Avoiding Tommy when you could, and tolerating the others as they made their rounds throughout the shop each day. Polly knew how you’d felt early on, seeing how Michael would light up when you were around, and she’d always tell him after you’d leave their house that he’d better tell you how he felt before you found someone else, but neither of you expected the tables to turn like they did.

On a cold dreary night you walked down to the Garrison, deciding to warm up with a couple of drinks before heading home. Polly had joined you, seeing as you were the only one she consistently worked with and genuinely liked in the whole office.

“Maybe if I drink enough I’ll forget...you know? Just for one night I’d like to forget...” You said, nursing a glass of wine.

“I know dear. He’ll realize it eventually. I wish he would’ve taken my advice. You were good for him...you still are.” She said.

You smirked and looked down at the dark red drink, seeing your tired reflection in it.

As you stared around aimlessly, your attention was caught by a man in a top hat walking in with a short haired blonde woman, not much older than you. She had a on a silvery blue dress and a brown fur coat, and the man had a nice dress suit on, looking oddly familiar in the distance. As they walked towards the bar, your heart dropped as you recognized the man, snaking his arm around the woman’s waist as she ordered them both drinks at the bar.

Polly gently took your hand that was clenched into a fist, speaking sternly next to you.

“Y/N...I’m just as shocked as you are right now but this is not the time nor the place. Let me do the talking if they come over.” She said.

You just shook your head and quickly drank the rest of your wine, desperately hoping it was a dream-or more so a nightmare.

Michael walked over, his eyes going wide as he took in the sight of his mom and you at the bar, immediately locking eyes with Polly.

He knew he couldn’t escape his mom so he reluctantly brought the girl over, clearing his throat before saying hello.

“Hello mum, didn’t think you’d be here this late.” He said.

She looked at him and gave him a small smile, hugging her son for the first time in a year.

“Hello Michael....who’s this?” She asked as you turned away, pouring yourself more wine.

“Mum...this is...my wife Gina. Gina Gray...” He said looking at her and smiling, trying hard not to look in your direction.

“Oh how lovely... I guess the family invitations got lost in the mail...what a shame.” She said before gently giving Gina a quick, emotionless hug.

“We just wanted to get it over with. Being in love and all... You know how that is...It’s so nice to meet ya Mrs. Gray.” She said, her accent doing a number on your ear drums as she shook Pollys hand.

“I’m sorry if we disturbed you and...Y/N...?” Michael asked, pointing over to you as you turned around as if on cue. You took a deep breath before putting your glass down, glaring into him as you put on the best fake smile you could manage.

“Michael! Hello! It’s been too long.....” You began, feeling yourself lose your cool. Polly sighed as you continued, not letting Michael get a word in edgewise.

“You May think I’ve forgotten...but you and me both know you wanted to be together, but you just didn’t have the balls to say it. And to think I was going to tell you that day as well....right before you went on that ship......things really do work in mysterious ways...” You said shaking your head and looking at him with pity before inching closer to Gina.

“My name is Y/N, Y/N Y/L/N. We go way back my dear. Welcome to the family...” You said before mouthing a goodbye to a frustrated Polly and giving her a tight hug before heading out, stopping a few feet away from Gina once again. “....oh and good luck sweetheart, this one’s a real piece of work.” You said pointing to Michael and winking before walking out the door, leaving it slamming against its frame behind you.

You ran quickly over to the shop, your heart racing as you went into the bathroom. You were a bit buzzed, but that didn’t stop you from ruminating over what just happened.

Tears stained your face as your tired eyes looked in the mirror, your cheeks heating up as the heat from the building warmed your numb face.

As you wiped your tears you heard the door open slightly, Ada walking in and eyeing you suspiciously. Everyone knew you and Michael had had a thing for each other until now unfortunately, and Tommy being the devil he is, thought you’d take him away from his business duties, but it couldn’t have been further from the truth. If only he’d let him stay, this would all be different. You’d be wearing a fur coat and a shimmering diamond on your finger right now, but instead you were drunkenly crying in the restroom of the shop that held so many memories.

“Hey....are you okay Y/N? What’s wrong?” Ada asked coming to sit with you on the cold tile floor. Besides Polly, she was the only other person you were friends with while working there.

“Why don’t ya see for yourself...? I’m sure he’ll call a meeting tomorrow to tell everyone all about it.” You said wiping your tears away and heading for the door.

“Who’s gonna call a meeting Y/N?” She asked concerned.

“Michael. He’s back. I’ll see you around Ada...I’ll try to write to you soon.” You said shortly, pulling her into a hug before leaving the shop for what you’d hoped would be the last time.

You felt the cool air on your cheeks as you got in your car and drove home. Your mind racing about what your next steps would be, your heart breaking with each second that passed while being in the same town as him. You wanted nothing more than to go somewhere not because your were forced to, like him, but because you wanted to. You spent so much time pining for a man who never had the balls to say three simple words. So when you got to your quaint apartment, you packed your bags, preparing to leave for London with all the money you had, ready to leave the past behind.

Back at the Garrison, Michael was left in an awkward position after you left, Gina shooting him a worried glance as she held onto his arm.

“Well that was rude of her...” Michael said and Gina nodded. Polly lit a cigarette as she turned towards him.

“Not entirely...” she said pulling him closer to her as she whispered.

“I’d advise you to talk to her, if she hasn’t left Small Heath already. But...you’re not one for taking advice my sweet boy...” Polly said, giving him a hug and flashing a fake smile towards Gina before heading back to the shop.

Low and behold the next day, Michael surprised everyone at the shop by calling everyone to a meeting, leaving the whole family shocked to say the least.

Tommy took one look at Gina and knew she’d be trouble, as he at least didn’t want to vomit every time he met eyes with you. To him you weren’t half bad, you just had a mean streak reserved for him ever since he had sent Michael away.

You had called him personally last night while he was home. Swallowing your pride and letting yourself and your qualms with him go.

“Hi it’s Y/N. I’m sorry this is late, but I’m calling to let you know that after some recent events and careful consideration, I’d...rather not be under your employment anymore Mr. Shelby. I’m grateful for your help and for your family all these years, but some things are meant to be left in the past, some people...actually...You’ll know what I’m talking about tomorrow. Goodnight Mr. Shelby.” You said quickly, before he could say anything.

You quickly packed the rest of your things, and went to bed. Mentally prepping yourself for waking up early to make the necessary housing arrangements and bank notices.

You awoke at 6am, racing with your car already packed, to discuss the selling of your apartment as you were planning on leaving the place as-is for whoever may need it next. They quickly found someone who had been in their list and you had the money in your pocket by noon. After that, you called Polly to meet you somewhere discreet.

“I can’t believe it Y/N. You’re really leaving?” She asked, handing you your last paycheck. Her nerves frazzled by this mornings meeting and last night’s incident.

“Yes. I’m not going to stay in a place where I’m not valued. It may be dramatic Poll, but I think this is the start I’ve been needing. I want to live for me. I want to be intentional with someone who intentionally loves me too, who’ll actually say how they feel even if it’s the last thing I hear from them...But just know I’ll write you and Ada and the others often. I’ll only be a little ways away over in London. I’m not going abroad anytime soon.” You said chuckling. She smiled and cupped your face in her hands, a tear falling from her eye as she spoke.

“I love you dear, so much. I’m sad to see you go....but I think this might be good for you, even though it hurts. But you do deserve so much better. I’m just sorry my son couldn’t be that person despite us all thinking he would be. But if there’s any solace from this, just know that we care about ya. We love you and you’re always welcome back, no matter what they say...just tell them Polly said so.” She said.

You wiped your tears from your eyes as she enveloped you in a hug, the smell of her perfume soothing you as you embraced these last moments with her for the near future.

After getting up and walking to the door, you focused on all that could await you in London, or who.

“Oh and Poll?” You asked stopping with your hand on the doorknob.

“If I ever have a wedding, you’ll definitely be invited. That’s a promise.” You said as she smiled at you, nodding as she watched you head off into the streets of Small Heath and toward your future.

Tag List:

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@inglourious-imagines, @caelys, @smallheathgangsters, @ta-ka-shi-ma