#I gotta say I’m usually not a big fan of having too much in the way of romance in tmnt

[ninjaaa-go]

I’m never going to get over Raph doing the cute little kicking his foot up thing here

[doromoni]

Off Track Pace | MV1 , ?

Ships Max Verstappen x presenter! Reader , ? x presenter! Reader , Platonic! Charles Leclerc x presenter! Reader

Genre : Fluff , Angst

Sub tags : mutual pinning , She fell too early , He fell too late,

Summary : A new f1 presenter and journalist has entered the paddock and she brings chaos along the way. And as competition looms , will the current Champion be as fast outside the track?

Face claim: Sofia Wylie

A/N : I’m so sorry luvs! I’m working on updating Clash of Champions , i promise ~ it’s my uni’s finals exams so I gotta focus on that first… so here’s a peace offering.

Part 2.

Media day, usually on a Thursday — a day that most Formula 1 drivers dread. A day where cameras followed their every move, interviews with journalists that twisted their every word and silly PR stunts forced on them by their teams. It used to be just all racing and winning podiums, but modern Formula 1 is all about media politics and sponsorships.

If you were to ask any driver on the grid if they were given the chance not to do PR, they would say yes to skipping it. But not everything about media day is horrendous.

Not when a new motorsports journalist joins the paddock that was an absolute sweetheart and delight to have around. A natural on the job — she always made sure that every driver that she interviewed was comfortable and enjoying their time with her and the segment.

the.Y/N

liked by skysportsf1 , lissiemackintosh, f1 , and 689,270 others

the.Y/N first day on the job? . i’m not nervous, you are! (She said literally shaking)

skysportsf1 Welcome to the team Y/N! ❤️

the.Y/N thank you kind employers. 🤍

lissiemackintosh Babe!! It’s finally official. Congratulations!

the.Y/N Thanks to you Babe!! I swear I would’ve been lost without you 😭

User1 who is she?

the.Y/N literally no one

User2 Ohhhh a new commentator? 🤔

User3 maybe she’s a journalist?

scuderriaferrari the kids had fun. They want their clay statues on display!

User2 Clay statues?? Hello?? Wut?

User3 Same question, Clay statues??

the.Y/N wait and see 🤷‍♀️ , the interview would drop tomorrow? Maybe~

User4 Its her first day and she literally had an interview with Charles and Carlos in Ferrari???

the.Y/N well no , the first interview was with Lewis Hamilton … so. 🤭

User5 WHAT?? Ok , queen slay!

User4 damnn , imagine being new to your field and already interviewing the big guys.

mclaren Do us next please 🙋‍♂️

redbullracing get in line!

the.Y/N gotta stop by Aston first , sorry besties.

User6 OK WHAT IS HAPPENING, ms. Y/N who are your connections 😭 i want in.

User7 why are all the teams here??

Y/N L/N was the F1 presenter and journalist who put drivers willingly out of their comfort zones and made them try something new. You genuinely loved what you do and you were passionate about it. You never showed partiality among the drivers, you treated everyone with the same attitude — this earned the respect of all drivers on the grid.

You were quickly becoming a paddock favorite. The fans enjoyed the content you put out and the drivers looked forward to your interview when they saw your name on their schedule.

Interviewing with you usually meant cheat meals and unusual activities that you thought they would like.

the.Y/N

liked by charles_leclerc, carlossainz55, maxverstappen1, and 740,155 others

the.Y/N maybe bowling isn’t the best idea. @charles_leclerc you suck, ngl. New vid out on Monday at the sky sports channel🤍

charles_leclerc i hate you ❤️

the.Y/N no you don’t 😌

charles_leclerc no, i don’t

User1 I love their dynamic so much!! I need more of the Paddock siblings pleaseee

User2 I can’t wait for more of Y/N bullying Charles into weird things and Ferrari doing nothing about it🤣

landonorris but why is charles in a cowboy costume?

the.Y/N i dunno? He just showed up in that 🤷‍♀️

charles_leclerc You told me we were riding horses and you wanted me to wear smth cowboy!!

the.Y/N oh yeah! Lmao

landonorris should i feel bad?

the.Y/N Nope. He’s happy either way. Aren’t you @charles_leclerc?

User2 NOT THE LMAO . Y/N thank you being you

User3 Y/N giving us Cowboy Charles , yes ma’am

User3 JUST DATE ALREADY!

the.Y/N EW. No

charles_leclerc Ok , the ew was unnecessary. But same. No thanks :)) i’m not dating my sister .

User4 Charles call y/n his sister 🥺

However, No matter how much you tried to keep things professional by being just a driver: journalist, something your boss commented during a quick meeting because fans kept shipping you with every driver. What you found weird is that most drivers you see as older brothers and some even uncles (don’t tell Nando). Plus most of them had girlfriends!

Nevertheless, your relationship with them seems to always end up with them hanging around your office at Sky, whenever they are free. Even the older drivers like Nando, Lewis and even Nico and Kevin use your office as an escape from the chaos of their motorhomes.

You didn’t mind hosting the older drivers in your room, as they were usually tame and kept to themselves as they read the books on your shelves in peace. They usually plop themselves down your couch and place the oversized plush you always bring on their lap. They always brought you snacks, so you looked forward to the times when their heads popped in your door and asked if they could come in.

But when the younger drivers visit your office? And if they came in groups — which they usually do. Oh boy, it was either a clusterfuck of them stealing snacks from your secret stash or your office becoming a den for hot gossip in the paddock usually led by the one and only Charles Leclerc.

Case in point. You now have Charles, Carlos, Max and to your surprise Checo in your office. The older Spanish-speaking driver was a rare visitor, but a welcome one nonetheless.

But considering the topic in discussion, you understood the presence of the two Red Bull drivers.

You were in the middle of typing away on your laptop when suddenly they barged in with ice cream tubs and spoons at hand then found a spot to sit and made themselves comfortable.

“Is Newey leaving Red Bull?” Charles asked Max and Checo, as he scooped a bite from his ice cream.

“We have no clue! Christian is saying nothing to us. Nothing” Max exclaimed exasperated as Checo nodded in agreement.

“So Adrian Newey is moving to Ferrari?” You questioned as you pointed your spoon at Charles

“Y/N, I love you like a sister and I know that you’re incredibly smart, but sometimes you are stupid. We’re clueless in Ferrari, hence my question ”

You threw your wooden spoon at the Monaco-born Ferrari driver. Which he easily avoided thanks to his fast reflexes. Freaking f1 reflexes!

“ I wasn't the person who got named for being stupid— HEY! Max give that back!! You don't even like salted caramel” You were trying to rebut Charles’ insult but were distracted when Max took your ice cream for himself.

Max just shrugged and placed his half-consumed chocolate brownie fudge ice cream in your hands — his spoon still in it. You didn’t complain further as you took his spoon and took a bite yourself. Yum! Brownie fudge is your favorite.

“Dude, what is even going on inside Red Bull? What was Horner under investigation for?” Carlos pressed on, trying to find answers. You were curious yourself

“Everyone is being weird. They’re keeping things from us. “ Checo added. You knew that they were truly left in the dark because if they knew they would’ve spilled instantly. NDAs be damned.

“Every interview, people keep asking if we know something! one more journalist and I swear I’ll run them over with my car! I hate each one of them” Max grumbled to himself.

You coughed. You knew that you were an exception but you couldn’t help but mess around with your friends.

“Don’t even, Y/N. You know you don’t count. “ Max waved you off.

“Wow! Thank you for that babe. Way to make a girl feel special” you said jokingly to the Dutch driver, as you winked dramatically. To which he only rolled his eyes — making you and the rest of the drivers laugh.

Max was immune to your flirting, unfortunately. It sucked especially when you had a tiny …. Ok big … HUGE crush on the 3 time world champion.

Max to you was like an Older brother’s best friend — Where you were the little sister crushing on him and you didn’t have a chance. You knew that like the other drivers, he just saw you as a little sister. But still you couldn’t help but fall the star driver of Red Bull.

Everything started when you brought your niece to the paddock because your sister had an emergency. You were scheduled to interview Checo in the RB motorhome and your niece was starting to feel fussy and you were slightly panicking on what to do— when Max suddenly came to your rescue and took your niece out to ice cream.

You admit you found Max attractive even before— like so damn attractive, but that was it— nothing more. But when you found Max carrying your niece in his arms as they played inside his garage, you knew that you were a goner to the charms of Max Verstappen.

You have been pinning for Max for a year now. You wished that you had the confidence and courage to just confess. But the fear of rejection freighted you, so you settled to just keep your friendship with the devastatingly handsome Red Bull champion.

As time went on, and nothing but friendship between you and Max developed — You’ve come to terms with the process of letting go of your feelings. Even when you’ve already met his mom and sister, hung out in his yacht and spent nights over his place when movie nights with Charles and his girlfriend went too late. You knew not to think anything of it.

And you were right to think nothing of it. Because not a week later, rumors had spread all over the paddock that Kelly Piquet had set her eyes on Max. You didn’t believe it at first, but when you saw with your own two eyes them engaged talking happily in his garage. The sparkle in Max’s eyes had solidified your will to move on.

A few weeks had passed and Kelly’s presence was constant in the paddock. Everyone had speculated that she had become Max’s girlfriend. But no one was sure, not even you — Max had been silent about it.

You tried to be happy for them you did. But you can’t blame yourself for wishing that it was you instead. Even to this day, you are still trying to forget and bury your feelings for Max.

“Y/N? Y/N? Oi Y/N” You suddenly were startled out of your thoughts. You forgot that you were still with the drivers in your office.

“What? Sorry, I just remembered something. What did you say?” You asked Charles as he was the one who called you.

“I asked if you had an interview today” Upon hearing the words of the Monegasque, your eyes grew wide as you remembered that you did have a job to do and you were indeed almost late.

“SHIT! I DO I’m late! “ You suddenly sprang up from your seat and quickly gathered the things you needed — while the 4 drivers looked at you with amusement.

“Who’s scheduled for you today, Y/N?” Max had also sat up from his seat and gave you an opened bottle of water.

You received the bottle from Max. You didn’t have to thank the driver — just one look from you and he knew.

The other drivers looked amongst themselves as they saw your exchange with Max. Everyone had a knowing look on their faces.

���I'm going to Mclaren today! I have the whole day with Lando. “ You said as you closed your once abandoned laptop and placed it in your bag — the one Max gave you on your birthday.

“What have you planned for Lando, Y/N?” Checo asked curiously. He still remembered his interview where you both made bracelets and stuffed toys for his daughters — his daughters loved it and went to sleep with it every single day.

“Oh! I’m taking Lando to a rage room, then drive-thru for food.” You explained happily to the older Mexican driver.

“Which part of that is the interview?” Charles had interjected

“While we eat the food in the parking lot, duh,” You said as if they should’ve already known. Well, they should by now.

“You know Y/N, Lando likes you right? ” Carlos had suddenly dropped a bomb on you. You didn’t expect it at all.

“What?” Max had suddenly said — catching all of you off guard. You didn’t understand, why Max had reacted so suddenly. But you pushed that aside for now as you continued to stuff everything you need in the bag

“What do you mean, Lando likes me?” You asked Carlos, with your eyebrows scrunched together.

“He likes you. Like you know? Take you out on dates and all that” Carlos replied as he gauged your reaction.

“Ohhhh, that’s cute! how did you even know about it, Carlos” you asked not taking any of it seriously.

“Cute?” You heard Max muttered under his breath.

“He told me. I won’t spoil anything else. I’m not even supposed to say that he likes you, but oh well.” Carlos shrugged as he finished off his ice cream.

“What do you think about Lando?” Charles suddenly asked you. The Ferrari driver leaned forward

“Will you date him if he asks you ?” Checo then joined the conversation.

“ You should say yes, I mean you two are the same-“ Charles had suddenly grown excited.

“Ok whoa, calm down dads. He hasn’t asked anything yet! “ you exclaimed

“But will you say yes if he asked?” Max then asked you, his eyes piercing your soul. After all of the other questions, Max was the one to Catch you off guard.

“Uh yes, I guess? I mean, why not? Lando is fun And he is single right … ” You were panicking so you said yes, even when you knew that you weren’t ready for anything like that since you still held feelings for Max.

“ YES! I thought that you-“ Charles wasn't able to finish his sentence when you cut him off.

“OK, bye guys! See you later. I need to go!” And just like that you were gone, leaving the four drivers in your office — not letting them question you further.

“I swear, that kid is weird.” Charles shakes his head from side to side at your actions.

“Lando likes Y/N?” Max had asked again just to make sure that he had heard the Spaniard correctly.

“ Lando is a good kid. They’ll make a good couple, no?” Checo asked no one in particular, as Max was not moving from where you left him.

“Wait, wait… since when did Lando like Y/N?” Max asked confused, looking green with jealousy. Fingers tingling as they clenched on itself

“Well he was interested in Y/N since the beginning but he backed off since everyone thought that you two had a thing” Carlos explained as he stood up and went to raid your snack stash.

“Yeah, but now you’re with the daughter of Piquet. what’s her name again? KELLY! yes, kelly. So Lando is taking his shot” Charles added

“You knew? Charles, you knew about Lando?” Max was aghast at the knowledge that was just receiving now.

“Well yeah? I was the one to encourage him to ask Y/N out. ” Charles shrugged nonchalantly. He knew about your feelings for the Red Bull driver, but he also saw how hurt you were when Max started seeing Kelly out of nowhere. Charles wanted to help his friends — specially the ones that he grew to love like his own sibling in any way that he could. Plus it was time for Y/N to have fun, and Lando Norris is exactly that.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Max was conflicted. His emotions growing uncontrollably by the second.

“ Mate, we haven’t seen you for how many weeks! You were always out with your new girlfriend. Even Y/N had no contact with you “ Carlos explained to Max.

silence filled the room, when suddenly pings of notifications sounded all over the rooms.

And Charles couldn’t help but whistle.

“Well he sure does move past” he had added.

Your story

As Max looked at his phone. Your Ig story flashed. His heart had started to hurt and the feeling of a pit in his stomach grew. it was as if someone punched him right in the gut.

And another notification ping had popped . And it only made Max’s stomach churn even further.

landonorris

[violentdelightsandviolentends]

Cherry Baby. aka - Cherry, Part Five.

It’s been a long time coming.

bestfriend!steve harrington x female reader

warnings - smut. cursing. and the loveliest lovebirds to ever exist.

word count - 2.2k

authors note - they’re so sweet it makes me melt. the long awaited big event… it’s here. hope you love it. <3

part four. series masterlist. inbox. masterlist.

The glow of the moonlight illuminates the figures of you and your best friend, tangled up in each other atop Steve’s navy bedsheets. The only sounds that can be heard are the ceiling fan and two sets of lungs heaving with the weight of the moment.

The boy beneath you interrupts the quiet, overthinking as per usual.

“Are you sure, baby? One hundred percent sure?”

You tug at Steve’s hair firmly, forcing him to look up at you.

“If you ask me that one more time, Stevie, I’m going home.”

He laughs, all full and warm, grinning as his hands squeeze your hips.

“Oh yeah? Shall I give you a ride?”

You shake your head, rolling your eyes as you scoff.

“I can be convinced to stay…” you murmur, leaning in to press a kiss to the hinge of his jaw.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah… maybe…”

“I just- I don’t want you to regret this, Cherry. You can only have one first time.”

“I know,” you soothe, tracing his features with the tips of your fingers. “But I’m sure. So sure. I could never regret this if it’s with you, Steve.”

He watches you silently for a moment, wide eyes never leaving yours.

“I love you.”

Your heart stutters in your chest, butterflies fluttering in your stomach. No matter how many times he says it, the thrill never wears off.

“I love you too, Harrington. So much.”

He leans up for a kiss from you, sighing in contentment when you connect your lips with his.

“So, Steve… about five minutes ago, you promised to rock my world. Is that still happening, or…?”

“You’re so annoying,” he chuckles, splaying his hands across your thighs to adjust you straddling his lap. “Careful what you wish for, angel.”

He gives you a look that contains nothing but mischief, before flipping you both over so you’re pinned underneath him.

“You know the deal,” he begins, peppering kisses across your neck. “If you don’t like something, or if you feel uncomfortable, or if you want to stop… just tell me. You say stop and we stop. No questions asked.”

“I know. Got it. I trust you - with my life.”

“And if you want to slow down, or take a pause-”

“I’ll tell you. Promise.”

Steve smiles at you gently, so genuine and full of love that it makes your bones ache. He leans down to kiss you, starting off slow and sweet and saccharine. It’s lazy, unhurried, as if you have all the time in the world.

You think maybe, for a moment, you do.

His parents won’t be back for another week and a half. The two of you could stay tangled up together that entire time, soaking up every single minute possible, existing in your bubble of blissful ignorance.

You wrap your legs around the boys waist to pull him closer to you, connecting your bodies in every way you can. He’s placing kisses onto any skin he can find, sucking on that spot underneath your ear that makes your knees weak and grazing your neck with his teeth.

“Steve,” you breathe, tangling your fingers in his hair.

“Fuck. I love it when you say my name like that.”

He kisses you sweetly once more before shuffling down the bed, getting comfortable between your legs.

“What are you up to?” you ask, giggling when he winks at you all cheeky.

“Gotta get you ready for me. Besides, I seem to remember you enjoying this a lot that night in your room…”

“Shut up,” you chide, hoping he doesn’t notice the way heat blooms across your chest. “You enjoyed that just as much as I did.”

“Yes I did,” he affirms, nipping at your thigh playfully. “Best night of my goddamn life, baby.”

“Shut up and do something, loser.”

You’re laughing so hard the muscles in your stomach hurt, whole body vibrating with it. In your head, whenever you thought about your first time, you imagined it to be serious and humourless and completely sombre. But here you are, with your best friend, laughing so hard you’re crying. And you wouldn’t change a thing.

Steve shimmies your underwear down, throwing them somewhere behind him. When you try to close your legs instinctively, he pries them back open with strong hands, refusing to let you shy away.

“Let me see you,” he murmurs. “Prettiest girl in the world.”

He noses at your core, inhaling filthily as he holds onto your thighs with iron grip. You’re about to tell him to hurry up when he quiets you instantly by diving into you with reckless abandon, completely committed to the cause.

It’s like he remembers everything from that first night - every spot that makes you tick, every action that makes you arch your back and curl your toes. He’s a quick study when it comes to you. His favourite subject.

You tangle your fingers into Steve’s hair and tug, letting him know exactly how you feel. He groans, a shudder running through his body as he grinds his hips into the mattress.

“Stevie,” you pant. “Keep going, please. Just like that.”

“Yeah?” he murmurs. “That feel good, baby?”

“So good. So, so good. Fuck.”

He keeps muttering against your core, muffled words you can’t make out. You prop yourself up onto your elbows, finally able to to discern what he’s saying.

“My girl,” he’s babbling. “Mine. My girl forever.”

That sends you careening over the edge, writhing against the sheets like you can’t stay still. Steve works you through it, holding you down so he can finish up what he’s doing properly.

“Fuck, Steve.”

“Good?”

“Yeah,” you laugh, flopping back against his pillows. “You’re good at that.”

You don’t even care that the reason he’s so talented is because he’s had so much practise. Those other girls don’t bother you in the slightest. It doesn’t matter anymore. He’s yours and you’re his and nothing can change that now.

He rests his head on your thigh, looking up at you with stars in his eyes.

“You’re so soft,” he’s whispering. “And you smell good.”

You’re fighting back giggles as you stare down at him, lovedrunk and giddy.

“You’re an idiot,” you chuckle as you ruffle his hair.

“And you love me anyway.”

“Yes, I do. Who even knows why.”

He bites your leg in retaliation, laughing when you squeak.

“Watch it,” he warns.

“Or what?”

“Or… I’ll leave you high and dry, baby.”

He mimics getting up off the bed, but doesn’t account for how fast your reflexes are. You trap him with your legs, wrapping them around him and pulling him down so he’s laying on top of you.

“Fuck,” he breathes. “That was hot.”

You grin at him, shaking your head.

“I’ve got tricks up my sleeve, Steven.”

“I can see that. I’m impressed.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah,” he murmurs against your lips. “You blow me away, Cherry.”

“Steve?”

“Mhmm?”

“Does sex usually involve this much talking?”

He snorts as he laughs, resting his head on your sternum. He’s shaking the both of you, his amusement so infectious that you can’t help but laugh with him.

“Not always,” he eventually replies. “But it’s good if it does. It’s better this way.”

“Okay,” you smile, pecking his lips gently.

“You’re still sure?”

“One hundred percent. Promise.”

The boy goes back to leaving kisses across your neck and shoulders, hands roaming up and down your thighs. He reaches over to the nightstand to grab a condom, and you mentally praise him for being so responsible.

“As cute as our kids would be…” he chuckles. “Not yet.”

“Agreed. Not yet. We need college degrees first.”

“And a house.”

“Exactly. Glad we’re on the same page,” you giggle, watching as he gets situated back on top of you.

“You ready?”

“Been ready for twenty minutes, Harrington. Getting kinda bored over here.”

“Oh, you’re in for it now,” he warns, pulling you down the bed towards him with a force he so rarely shows.

Steve kisses you with determination, all teeth and tongue and fingernails digging into skin. You let him kiss you dizzy, floating on air. He lines himself up, looking for confirmation from you one last time. When you nod, he shakes his head.

“Words, baby.”

“Yeah, Steve. Yes. Please.”

He slides into you more gently than you thought possible, slowly and steadily with all the care in the world. His eyes are dancing over your face again and again, repeatedly checking for any signs of discomfort.

“You good?”

“Mhmm.”

“Talk to me, Cherry.”

You take a deep breath, looking up at him with big doe eyes.

“I’m okay. It’s… different. But I’m okay. Just- just give me a second. Don’t move yet.”

“You got it,” he soothes, leaning down to kiss you softly.

Steve keeps kissing you, tenderly at first, building it into something filled with lust and want and pure need. You’re panting when he pulls away, completely distracted from the initial pinch you felt.

“Move now,” you whisper into his mouth. “Please, Stevie.”

He groans before planting his hands firmly on your hips, pulling them up so your legs are basically wrapped around his waist. You grip his biceps, admiring the way they flex and ripple as he manhandles you where he wants you.

Steve pulls back carefully before thrusting forward with minimal force, watching your face as he does it. When he does it again, you bite at your lip, eyes fluttering closed. He can read you like a book, immediately knowing he can continue. He watches for all your little tells, those subtle signs that point him in the right direction.

The boy sets a steady rhythm, not wanting to come at you too hard, too fast. Your head rolls back into his pillows, jaw lax as you let yourself feel everything. There’s not a single thought in your head that isn’t currently related to Steve.

He takes one hand from your hip to rub slow, firm circles on your clit with his thumb. You immediately find your voice again, whining every time he bottoms out. You open your eyes to find him staring down at you, his usually bright irises darkened with pure want.

“Fuck, Cherry.”

You’re both sweating and panting and fighting to keep your eyes from shutting, lost in the pleasure of the connection. Steve doesn’t let up, the movement of his hips pushing you both closer and closer to your endings.

“Oh Steve, I’m-”

You’re thrown into your climax before you even realise it, back arching off the bed and fingernails digging into your best friend’s skin. There’s electricity prickling through your veins, the high like nothing else you’ve felt before.

Steve can’t hold on for much longer, the sight of you coming sending him over the edge. He pulls out, not wanting to push your boundaries or take any unspoken risks too soon. You feel him paint your stomach, the warmth of it making you shudder. You open your eyes to watch as it happens, trying to commit his face to memory forever.

“Oh, shit,” he laughs after you’ve both caught your breath.

You can’t help but laugh with him, shaking your head when he flops down next to you with an almighty thud.

“Was that… was that good for you?”

“Cherry,” he says incredulously, propping himself up on his elbow to look down at you. “That was… that was unlike anything else. It was so fucking good, I promise.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. We’re good at that.”

You chuckle, straining your neck to kiss him quickly.

“Was it good for you?”

“Yeah, Steve. It was perfect. You’re perfect.”

The boy blushes, going all shy suddenly as he hides his face in the crook of your neck. You run your fingers through his hair, nails scratching at his scalp soothingly.

The two of you stay all wrapped up in each other for a while, waiting for your breathing to return to normal and basking in the glow of the moment.

“Hey, Steve?”

You’re whispering, afraid to ruin the peace.

“Yeah, baby?”

“I’ve been thinking. A lot, actually.”

“About?”

“What you said about college. And… I want to. I don’t want to be across the country from you for four years.”

“Wait… really? Actually?”

“Yeah, actually,” you grin. “I promise I’m not just agreeing because of you. USC is one of my top choices, and if you’re going, then… that’s all the more reason for me to go. Makes my decision easier.”

“You’re sure?”

“Very sure.”

Steve leans in to kiss you with so much excitement, you’re surprised he doesn’t knock you both off of the bed.

“I love you, Cherry Baby.”

“I love you too, Steve. I always have.”

You rest your head on his shoulder, smiling in contentment when he pulls you into him to be as close as can be.

You both know nothing in the future is certain.

Except you and Steve, that is.

@psychicnerdcat @allcheesemelts @valerievortex @swiftsgirlfriend @steviespookie @betweenstarsandsatellites @mrsjoequinn @internallysalad @saucypeanuttt @empathyroad @niceskyler @spookysins @theoraekenslover @7minutes-tomidnight @xx-all-purpose-nerd-xx @clairesjointshurt @livsters @diffrent-spokes @regular-joe-shmoe @ihatepeanutss @ladyburberry @thenonweeknd @abarelyexistentbeing @jennaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa @slut4gaga @hopelessromanticwriter @mgchaser @wintrsoldrluvr @hallealyssaaa @dreamerjj 🍒✨

[greynatomy]

luck of the irish

katie mccabe x reader

i’m having sm trouble writing rn that i feel like i’m just rambling when writing at this point. hope it makes sense for y’all

part 2 part 3

———

“Come on. Please. For me?” You ask the two people on a video call with you

Your best friends, Selena and Taylor, and you are having a virtual hangout, seeing as you all live in different places.

“What’s in it for us?” Selena asks, taking a sip of her wine.

“Absolutely nothing, but you get to go to England.”

“And what are we gonna do? Sit and watch you ogle your girlfriend for like two hours.”

“Exactly.”

“Stop teasing me. You can’t hardly blame me though, my girlfriend is hot. And y’all are just bitter that you’re single.”

“Hey! I’m not anymore.”

“Shocker!” You say sarcastically. “You’ve been going to your boyfriend’s games so much and brought us with you, now it’s my turn.”

“Sel, you need to get yourself an athlete.”

“I know.” She whines, extending the ‘o’. “You guys need to set me up with someone.

“You might catch the eyes of some footballers if you come here.”

“We’re gonna be in so many news headlines.”

“Just gotta make sure we don’t look stupid in them.”

———

The Arsenal Women’s team are all on the pitch, warming up for their match. All of a sudden, the crowd throughout the stadium starts cheering, confusing all the players and staff on the pitch.

Looking all around, the crowd is watching the big screen. There you are, with your two best friends, all completely oblivious to what’s happening. The three of you were too preoccupied doing the marshmallow game to notice all the eyes on you. Well, to be fair, you all grew up with eyes always on you that you all learned to block it out.

“Stop fucking it up Taylor. You’re like the whole music industry, where’s the rhythm?”

“Fuck you! I don’t have to listen to you. You’re not my Mom.”

“Okay! Let’s just try it again okay?”

“I’ll start. One marshmallow.”

“Check it out.”

“Woo.”

Down on the field, Katie watches the big screen, not being able to stop the huge grin of amusement on her face.

“Dude! There’s no way that’s actually Y/N Y/LN, Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift.”

“I mean, if you open your eyes you would see that it actually is.” Caitlin shoves Katie away because of her sarcastic response.

———

Nothing really happens for the first half, but as soon as the second half starts, Arsenal in playing like they’ve got some fresh pairs of legs on them.

“Now I understand why people watch sports.” Taylor says loudly.

“Dates an athlete and is now obsessed with sports.”

“Oh, shut up.”

“But seriously. I’ve never watched a sport on my life until I met Katie. And it’s a plus she looks hot doing it.”

———

We’ve got McCabe, Katie McCabe I just don’t think you understand she plays out on the wing, she hits it with a zing we’ve got Katie McCabe

You started chanting with all the fans, encouraging your friends to join in.

“C’mon guys! Just like I taught you!”

———

Arsenal eventually won from a banger from McCabe, who was now getting interviewed.

“Katie, good game today. You scored the game winning shot, how’d that feel?”

“Oh, em, I was just doing what I usually do. But I’ve actually got my girlfriend here, so I had to put on a bit of a show for her.”

“Oh! Wow! Well, thank you for your time Katie.” The reporter says a bit shocked at the news.

Katie walks into the locker room, everyone is just sat at their cubby, cooking down from the match, when a knock is heard from the door.

“You girls decent?” Jonas’ voice comes through the door.

“Yeah!”

“Alright, well, we’ve got some guests that would love to meet you all.”

You, Taylor and Selena walk through the door being met by the whole team. The team fan girls for a bit, the team’s social media videographer catching it all on camera.

After greeting everyone, you walk over to where Katie is still sat in her cubby and place yourself on her lap, her arms immediately wrapping around your waist.

Her teammates are too preoccupied with Selena and Taylor to notice the two of you, but both your friends know you like to wander off, instantly noticing you weren’t next to them anymore.

Looking around, she sees you with your girlfriend whispering in her ear that has her biting her lip.

“Oh my god! Stop flirting in front of other people please!” Taylor speaks out, grabbing the attention of everyone in the room.

“You’re just mad cause your man who’s not your man is off playing fake football and not with you.”

“Oh, she got you there.” Selena laughs at Taylor’s offended face, giving you a high five.

“We’re no longer friends.” Taylor pouts, crossing her arms across her chest.

“You’ll get over it cause you love me.” You wrap her in a hug, Selena joining in. “Okay, enough of that. Can we all take a group picture?” You ask the Gunners. “I’ve gotta cook dinner.”

After the photo, the three of you bid farewell to the team, you giving Katie a quick kiss and a ‘see you later.’

“Actually, can I go with you? I’ll just shower at home.” Katie asks, packing her things.

“C’mon. Bye guys!” You wave at everyone.

“See you soon!” Katie leaves after you.

The team was silent for a bit after the four of you left, not knowing how to process that their Irish teammate has a girlfriend and who her girlfriend is.

“That was unexpected.”

“Indeed.”

“How’d Katie get a girl like her?” Beth asks, not quite understanding.

“It’s probably the luck the Irish have.”

“And Y/N is her pot of gold.”

“Damn.”

[accio-victuuri]

XZ Album 《我们 WE》 early cpns.

you know we just need a few things to see and it’s a whole bunch of cpns we can produce after 😂😂😂 that’s the magic of being a turtle. lol. we may be interpreting this whole thing wrong but that’s usual when it comes to speculations we make and i think that’s the joy of it.

i’ll start of with this one that made me want to scream and cry:

i mean… shut up…. noooooo… wdym 😭😭😭

why you gotta pull the wei wuxian imagery like that. i’m very very weak for this. the writing mimics that of a red ribbon. of all things. tho the WM here as how fans interpret it and how i think xz intended it to is WM: WǒMen (我们) as in We/Us or WM: We and Me (我和“我们”) (Wǒ hé “Wǒmen”). not to mention that the color scheme of this red is 911005. his bday. everything is intentional.

but still. red ribbon. come on. who can blame us for clowning like this when he makes it so easy. it’s not a secret that the untamed and the role of wwx is important to him career wise and well *ehem* personally *ehem* because of a certain someone. if you don’t wanna look that far then just go with the W as in WANG. lol. and if it’s WM, M flipped is still W. so that’s how transfixed he is with the letter W. i wonder why. 👀

now we move on to the snippets of what the song means & how it’s making us think of wyb’s previous single everything is lovely ( which has a separate cpn too between them )

QQ music said this line connected to the album/song:

“About me, about you, about TA (him/her), or the relationship between people in this big city.”

this is pretty similar to the message of everything is lovely — it’s about appreciating everyone and looking at life and your surroundings as interconnected. they both have that sense in them. what we do and say, it has an effect and we are all related even if it’s a big city we live in. plus the use of TA which does not specify the gender. we love that! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

we get more of an expanded idea too via xzs post of the activity for the release. it mentioned a description. you can substitute the we to us if that reads better to you:

“Some people say that WE are close friends, cats and dogs waiting for us to come home every night are concrete in life.

Some people say that WE make friends with all kinds of emotions... are virtualization hidden inside the heart.

These characters of “ME”, and emotions form different "WE".

We are placed in a prism named "life", where light breaks it down into multi-faceted spaces. We travel through different spaces as lights flow and capture our own colors.

Starting from "Me", feel the intersection related to "Me", and then return to understand "self". What is the "we" behind "Me"?

A trace of emotion, a thing, a friend... The bits and pieces around "Me" all make up "We".

i think if you are someone who have been watching them for a while and the messaging they are sending out then you will see the common theme/connection here. the cats and dogs waiting for us to come home every night. that reminds me of the cpn that they have a cat and dog at home, at some point. and it’s what they want too. the interconnection of you/other people and appreciating everything around you, that’s the vibe i’m getting right now. of course we will know more one we have the song/s and the full lyrics and possibly some backstory from xz.

a coincidence too that the “me and we” is giving the same energy as “ u and i” which is in wyb’s weibo bio. which i know is something UNIQ related but there you go.

what’s more chilling i guess is the “we” was emphasized and used as a caption between them by hui-ge ( cpn about this fansite here which is a primer of sorts but there are other instances aside from what’s there ) which was i have a we / i have us. i mean. come on. too bad they haven’t posted in so long especially because fans were looking too much into them ( cpn about this photo/ post here )

the use of “we” which they have mistakenly said back in 2019 when talking about themselves:

other minor similarities:

* the concept of multiple xz and wyb through something prism/mirror like.

* both xz and ybo using similar captions which is not new but most importantly, starting an activity for fans to participate in. which i’m not sure but possibly other artists do too. but whatever, let’s add that 😂

* and the PINK! because pink is the color of love! what are the chances they will use the same color?

lastly, one of the release dates is 11/19. and as cpfs we have a whole story about that and it’s nice that we get to continue that timeline. cpfs think it’s a confirmation of the importance of this date too ^^

-END.

i surely missed some things on here and that’s fine. if something important comes up i will make a separate post! i’m so excited for this month! xz really blessed us 🥹🥹🥹😅

[stripedstarsblueflags]

i didn't win the wheel: episode 9 (pt. 1)

why did williams have to choose the freakiest content setup for the time in the season when their drivers' mental health is going to be at its lowest (so far)? seriously, this could’ve been GOLD. instead we’ve got some sad and understated praise kink and a lot of vegetables. anyway. to elaborate:

Logan: “What’s up, everyone… this is what’s-that-crunch… wheel-or-no-wheel. What we’re exactly doing here I’m not sure��”

yeah, exactly what i meant. ever see someone look that disengaged with a blindfold on? you have now. and oh god this image is a punch in the gut. the symbolism in this particular frame GAGS ME. logan is completely blindfolded, painfully and poorly delivering an unoriginal script that clearly has been fed to him seconds before the camera turns on. alex, on the other hand, is lifting his blindfold up, looking around, taking in logan and the room around them and the camera crew… honestly, you gotta feel for the williams pr team, because in this instance they’ve accidentally shown us what it’s like to have one of their drivers restricted by their device and yet forced to lead anyway while the other is dealing with a similar obstacle while being allowed and encouraged to overcome it. genuinely a coincidence but such a flop. thank god none of the fans who watch this are analytical hyperreactive overachievers who look into every single aspect of these videos with merciless scrutiny and rainbow-colored glasses, right?

omg how did i just now notice that under that stupid skinny ass table both their legs are almost touching except alex is a giraffe so he has to keep his giraffe ankles tucked awkwardly back closer to the chair legs so he’s not taking up logan’s space but he still wants to have horrible posture so he’s a half-folded lawn chair wtfffffff this is too cute!!

Logan (still doing the intro)(still confusedly): “But you know whoever wins… gets to spin tha’ wheel.”

THANK YOU, LOGAN SARGEANT. this is what i meant about blindfolds 🤝 freak content, except usually when we have other teams do this there’s usually a pretty big goofball element to it (even charlos always brings goofball to the kink). this tiny snippet on the other hand looks suspiciously like he’s doing it on purpose. just looking at the gif doesn’t begin to cover it, even to my own eyes it looks like i’m reading too much into it paired with the visual alone but it’s all in the tone of voice. i REALLY recommend rewatching this episode because there’s no way i can do it justice in just words. the closest i can get to is my favorite word to use when someone’s voice is being sexy which is ‘lilt’. like there’s no seduction or husk or anything obviously intentional like that it’s more like you can just hear the slow arrogance in their voice. the way the pitch fluctuations almost singsong like just on the edge of a taunt no matter what the actual words are saying. it’s how people say i’ve got you right where i want you.

and also. THE VISUAL?? IS STILL A THING?? logan is blindfolded since the start of the video, so until this point he’s just been facing some meaningless direction because, duh, he can’t actually see. he doesn’t even make much of an effort to face the camera as he’s introducing the show even though he obviously remembers where it is. but the shift. the turning to the camera for just a split second and his deadpan expression flickering into a lazy smirk and his voice gets ✨like that✨ and here we go game show hosts and their attraction to inanimate objects but by the time he gets to “that wheel” (tha’ wheel) he’s turning right back to alex. who at this point is probably also blindfolded. and can’t see logan. and even if he isn’t and is still fidgeting logan doesn’t know that because LOGAN CAN’T SEE SHIT. but he remembers the bit alex likes and instead of just repeating the same old same old (which we know alex will laugh at no matter how many times) he makes this tiny adjustment in just the body language and the tone of voice alone and now we’ve transitioned from him flirting with the wheel to him flirting with alex. fuck. this is episode four and episode one territory why does depression get in the way of everything

Alex: *celery noises*

Logan: “….can you take another bite?”

[both laugh]

what is this challenge like– oh my god i can’t take it any seriously than they can. first of all the ASMR mic-ed up crunching? major ick, we all know what celery sounds like, we don’t need Celery (Alex’s Version). but it’s so unbearably awkward that it ends up being hilarious anyway. logan having no idea how to ask that question (because what kind of question is “can you take another bite so i can intently listen to it with my head leaned towards your face and my eyes covered”) but at the very least it helps them bring some warmth into the activity. up to this point (with flirtatious logan appearance being a notable exception) they’ve seemed very… isolated. logan’s entire vibe is “why did you wake me up for this” at 3 pm and alex is left without 1) an interesting sport or task he actually wants to do AND 2) logan to help him stay present, cause logan is entirely matching alex’s “how long do i have to be here” energy and when they plateau like this the awkwardness becomes nauseating. until finally the game itself is so stupid that they can’t play it without laughing at the activity and themselves and even when he’s looking down logan’s smile is such a relief to see

also, alex staring intently at logan and leaning all the way over and chewing with his mouth open and trying to be as helpful as possible even while logan’s mind is entirely tv static. adorable. so often alex forgets to treat these challenges as a competition and instead to him it’s like a group activity, a puzzle they have to work together to solve like mice in a maze or smth because it’s not fun for him if logan’s losing

Alex: *pepper noises*

Logan: “A bit softer…”

Alex: “Mm. Good.”

Logan: “…one more.”

ooooh okay i like that a lot better. so the first try (celery) was a flop; already in this second item we see some changes. because what did i say alex has way more fun when this is a little puzzle they have to solve together rather than them both trying to stump the other. remember lewis looking up “most difficult words to lip-read” in that noise cancelling headphone thing against george? alex brings a very different energy. i can’t believe i’m analyzing chewing techniques now but from the very first bite he’s ending his sentence early, swallowing, leaning closer, the concentration is evident on his face with how clear he’s trying to make this crunch sound. and then logan starts talking out loud, trying to narrate his thought process basically, but not trying to trick anyone into giving him a hint– it’s sort of like on grill the grid when he thinks out loud not to entice a clue but to prove “hey, i’m thinking! i’m putting effort into this! i’m actually trying i just don’t know the answer please don’t think i’m stupid” and alex– who at this point is supposed to be competing, how many times do i have to remind– is audibly encouraging him. only leans back when he can tell logan’s on the right track (sort of).

and that in turn– just the word ‘good’ is an evident confidence boost for logan. it doesn’t take a lot to get him to turn around, alex doesn’t have to worry about being patronizing or sounding like he’s trying too hard but the fact that alex is observing how he’s doing in the first place and noticing when he improves/gets something right even in a game is enough. and so the next time logan asks for a repeat it’s not a really awkward sentence, it’s not “i’m gonna say this in a goofy voice because i’m so uncomfortable asking this that i have to make this funny because otherwise the embarrassment is going to kill both of us” it’s a command. like god shivers down my spine. and alex doesn’t laugh either he just takes another bite good boy because this is how he prefers to play the game! together!

still didn’t guess the pepper but moving on!

ok this is just adorable. alex what were you doing

didn’t set out for this to be a two-parter (maybe more???) but whenever there’s a blindfold the body language goes CRAZY to overcompensate and there’s always so much more to analyze! so breaking this down for now!

[stusbunker]

Spotless: Furia

Chapter Twenty Three

Featuring: Dean Winchester/Reader, Dean/Bela

Other characters: Isaac/Tamara,

Word Count: 1780

Warnings, etc: Mutual pining, the thing is they hurt each other a lot, most of the time without meaning to.

A/N: We pick up right where we left off. Trouble tries to get ready to go out on tour, Dean sets off alarms.

Series Masterlist

It wasn’t fair, you were not being fair. But that didn’t change that sick feeling crawling up your throat. Face burning, you looked at Dean who was pointedly not looking at you. You counted the deep breaths he took, his nostrils flared less the longer you sat in suffocating silence.

You should have said something.

You had no idea how to take it back. It wasn’t even what you said, it was how you said it, so derisively.

You wanted to disappear.

The traffic on the freeway only seemed to get worse the longer you sat. It had been a good day, even with Dean’s snippiness over the Rolling Stone article. Why did you have to open your big mouth?!

You bit the inside of your cheek, you were not going to cry. You knew how guys felt about girls crying, it’s a cop out, or a pathetic ‘get out of jail free’ card. Despite knowing girls usually cried out of frustration rather than actual sadness. You didn’t want to come off as pandering or fucking weak.

“Look—- I don’t want to make you do something you’re uncomfortable with. But, we’ve all seen how well the press and the fans have responded to you two. Is this something I need to put the brakes on? Because I need to know before we start touring.”

Dean huffed. “It’s fine—- it’s not about Bela, okay? It was just an honest question.”

You waited because it felt like he had more to say. You owed it to him to let him say his piece.

He let out a self deprecating chuckle. “You really think it’s just because I’m a horndog, I’d want out?”

“Dean— I didn’t mean it like that, I—”

“No, you did. You were very clear. I just gotta know, Y/N, is there no other reason you can think of for me to want out than some easy lay?”

He wasn’t even pretending to keep his eyes on the road anymore. His jaw was tight and his eyes were dark and glossy and every hope you’d ever had fluttered in your stomach.

You were supposed to say something back.

But you had already said too much.

You couldn’t lose him over something as avoidable as a misunderstanding.

“I’m sorry— I shouldn’t have—”

“Don’t— nu-uh, that’s not what I asked. I don’t want your apology, here, okay? Just—- tell me there’s something else that could get me out of this without being the bad guy.”

It hurt to look at him. 

But God was it even harder to look away.

“I can talk to Crowley— work out a timeline if you want?”

Dean shook his head, looked to the ceiling of the impala, and exhaled deeply. “No—- we’re good. But if you ever think of an answer. I want to hear you say it.”

You looked down at your lap, your phone case biting into your palm where you squeezed it. 

“I don’t know what you’re fishing for, Dean. I’m sorry. I know you said not to apologize, but I feel like I can’t help but put my foot in my mouth tonight.”

“It’s okay, Trouble. No hard feelings. Promise.”

You looked up to make sure he wasn’t still pissed.

“Seriously?”

Dean’s mouth twitched with a ghost of a smile. “Seriously.”

It wasn’t until you were safe and distracted with drinks and everyone else at Elizabeth’s that you realized Dean had called you by your real name. You couldn’t remember the last time that had happened.

No one really talks about the non-glamourous tasks required before going on tour. Especially not the ones that have nothing to do with the music and everything to do with leaving your home for months on end. Your personal to-do list always fell by the wayside when it came to the band, but you were running out of time on it now. In less than 48 hours, the opening act would take the stage. 

And three days after that you would officially be on the road, for nearly six months straight. 

You shoved a quart of half-eaten fried rice into a garbage bag and moved onto the vegetable drawer. Cleaning out the fridge didn’t take very long, but going through your pantry was a nightmare. When did you even buy half of this shit?! The cans would last, but a lot of the boxed stuff was already halfway to expiring so you set them aside to drop off somewhere over the next couple of days. 

Then you wiped everything down.

By the time the kitchen surfaces were done, you were sweaty and gross. But you had too much momentum to stop there. You swept and mopped the floor. You took a breath and pushed on. Later that evening while taking out the trash, your neighbor, Isaac, waved at you over the half-fence.

“Getting ready to get back on the road then?” His accent was pleasant as ever.

You sighed and blew a stray strand of hair out of your eyes. “Getting there. I never understand how much I need to clean with it just being me. But here I am, like usual.”

He poked at some meat on the grill as he made conversation. “Tam said we’re due over tomorrow to go over things before you leave?”

You nodded your head. “Yeah, anytime after you both get home from work is fine, I’ll just be forcing myself to actually pack at that point. I really appreciate you guys looking over the place.”

“It’s nothing really. Plus you more than compensate us for it, love.”

“I know, but still.” You looked down at your dust streaked tshirt and ratty sweats and decided you had been out in the world long enough looking like that. “Alright, I better get back inside. See you tomorrow, Isaac.”

“TTFN!”

You smiled to yourself as you stepped back inside through the side door. You were so lucky to have good neighbors, especially with the way your job worked. Dean had told you all about Tamara and Isaac before you moved in, making sure you knew everything from the seriousness of not asking about kids to the humor of not insulting classic Doctor Who.

When Dean remembered, he’d still meet Isaac at one of the few English style pubs for a football match every now and again.

And they didn’t seem to mind housesitting for you whenever you needed.

The smell of the dry rub from Isaac’s grill haunted you as you went back into your clean, yet emptied out kitchen. It just meant another night of delivery was in your future.

You woke up grumpy from an incessant buzzing coming from your phone. The first notification was from Twitter and you opened it without checking anything else.

Ugh, okay, fine. Dean dropped Bela off late last night. You weren’t too worried about it. So you tried to go back to sleep. But a nagging feeling in the back of your mind kept prodding the possibilities into your thoughts.

Before jumping to any conclusions, you got out of bed and started a pot of coffee.

There had been a lot of little things you had to ignore in the day-to-day of being the band’s publicist, and even more you had to try and bury as their friend. Cas’ penchant for banging journalists was one of the ongoing thorns in your side. And of course all of Lee and Pamela’s on-again-off-again nonsense came up more than was even happening. But Dean knew how to leave a hook up. He also knew when he was being tailed. 

This entire headline smelled fishy.

You bit your lip and opened your contacts. It was still too early for a business call, especially since you knew he was out until after bar close, but you couldn’t wait any longer for answers.

The phone rang in your ear and you silently begged your coffee pot to brew faster. Dean answered just before it would have sent you to his voicemail.

“I’m up— where’s the fire?” Dean mumbled into the microphone.

Without any preamble, you started in on the questions. “Have you seen the latest? People are up in arms over you squealing out of Bela’s driveway this morning. What happened?” 

“Uh, hold on,” Dean must have moved the phone or covered the mouthpiece because you could hear his voice rumbling, but couldn’t make out a single thing he said. Then came a bunch of muted background noises and a door opening and closing. “Okay, wanna run that past me again? Slower and without the accusatory tone— it’s not even fucking nine am, Trouble.”

Your suspicions continued to rise. “Where are you?”

“In a hallway.”

Not ‘the’ hallway, not ‘my’ hallway, an unspecified singular hallway.

“Dean—”

“Look. The paps were fucking vultures last night, I caught one of them trying to lowjack Baby. So, I ditched her, and Sam got her back home safe. I circled back after I knew they’d scattered and I stayed put. There’s nothing to worry about. Just people trying to make me look bad for being too smart for their slimy ways.”

Your brain hissed like a television left between channels, not a signal coming or going in either direction.

“You’re at Bela’s.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yep.”

Your business brain rebooted, slowly.

“Trouble?”

You called him, you should have said something already. “Okay, so, uh, I guess just make sure to leave publicly. Or go out for breakfast or something. Just don’t leave it how they’re spinning it.”

Dean huffed. “Makes sense. Anything else?”

“Tomorrow is the morning show interview, you said you’d pick me up? Is that still gonna happen or should I just get an Uber? I’ll just call an Uber.”

“I mean, yeah, gotta be home to drag Sam with anyway. So you don’t gotta. We’ll be there with bells on right at five.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“I should go—”

“Right, of course. Bye.”

“Talk to you later.”

You hung up and your coffee pot finally whistled, signaling it had completed brewing.

You moved through your morning routine in a fog. Even when Bela posted a gorgeous fruit plate between matching mimosas sometime before noon, you only gave it a heart and moved on to folding your next load of laundry. Once you let yourself look at what was happening, you gave into the anger. You screamed into an old hoodie until you were hoarse.

Dean was actually sleeping with Bela.

Your two best friends were fucking.

The same best friends you had set up to help make your job easier.

What the fuck was your life?

And how the hell were you supposed to pretend any of this was okay?!

Tagging:

@deans-spinster-witch

@mrswhozeewhatsis

@cosicas-cuquis

@fics-pics-andotherthings-i-like

@suckitands33

@ladysparkles78

@deans-baby-momma

@stoneyggirl2

@sassy-pelican

@leigh70

@globetrotter28

@winharry

@lastactiontricia

@rockhoochie

@brightlilith

@coldhearted93

@djs8891

Chapter 24: Espansivo

[eolewyn1010]

Downton Abbey Fashion 15 - post-war indoors fashion

I already need three posts to go through all of the indoors fashion of this season, and it’s only the second. Can you imagine how many posts I will need once they have 200 and more costumes introduced in one season?

Edith has been wearing this blouse to a walking suit before, but now we get an uncovered look at it. Quite cute; while the color isn’t super exciting, these little flower bundles do their thing. And the little black button rows under the collarbones? So unnecessary, yet so lovely.

The art deco blouse is BACK, baby! Have I mentioned I like these? They are something to look at, but they also are cut quite wide and seem comfy. Very brown outfit; once again, this might’ve benefitted from a contrasting skirt. But I like the little scallops embroidered on the top of the waistband, and they seem to have liked it too, as this skirt gets another moment on stage. Also, this was Sybil’s last season, and I hate only noticing repeats like this in hindsight because it messes with my statistics.

Here, it goes with a greenish grey blouse. Edith has a lot of indoors day outfits this season because, during the war, we mainly see her working in the house. She hasn’t quite grown into her confidence yet, daring a print pattern here and there, but rarely a bold color.

Well, polka dots are one of the patterns that turn me off like garlic blooms do Dracula. Edith kind of looks like a librarian here, but I guess that is one of her jobs for the convalescing soldiers. I wonder if the apron is her own or she had to get one from Downstairs.

Is this dress grey or lilac? I’ll tentatively say lilac. The stripes don’t pick me up as they usually do. Maybe they would have more impact if it weren’t for the white lace-ish embroidery around the collar. The dress is fine, I guess; it just doesn’t wow me. Edith, do you wish to become one with the curtains?

See, this is the outfit I meant that looks a lot like one Mary wore during the same season. Only Edith has a round buckle where Mary chose a square one, Edith wears a slightly brighter red, and the lapels of her blouse are longer, but they also end in these little tassels. I also think the cuffs are worth a second look; they are buttoned up, and these buttons are cute. What is it with me and buttons?

This sort of washed-out emerald green becomes one of Edith’s signature colors. It’s almost a shame to introduce it in such understatement, but I do like the structural weaving on this shirt. Interestingly, she wears it again years later in season 4, and it fits into an entirely different fashion just by virtue of how she wears it: Loosely over her skirt instead of gathered in at the waist.

Speaking of color understatements. Edith does have a quite brown- and grey-dominated wardrobe this season, but alright; she at least gets to play with some patterns. And the silk ribbon trim is back.

And a dress where I really don’t mind the dull color so much because the cut is so neat. It compliments her figure, the neckline is flattering, I love the buttoned front and cuffs. Look out, Mary; fashionista Edith is on her way.

--------------

Sybil also gets another of these blouses, and she also gets some soft lilac to wear. I’m not the biggest fan of this big-ass flower print (I can’t help it; I’m a sucker for art deco), but the overall picture is rather lovely. Wouldn’t want to wear this buckle though; that probably pokes her in the stomach if she ever leans forward. Or maybe not; this is still corset time.

We gotta appreciate the simple things. There’s nothing fancy about this knit cardigan. But oh my god, I want one! It looks so supremely cuddly and warm. You know things are bad when I consider taking up knitting again.

More lilac because Sybil is still in her pastel phase, but this blouse has a cute checkered print. And I’m bringing back the apron question, although with Sybil, I at least have a solid reason to think she got one from Downstairs – because she walked up to them and asked for help with everyday knowledge such as basic cooking.

Look at Sybil being one of maybe three people in this house who ever show Edith any kindness and support. I mean, look at this blouse! I don’t know if this is Sybil’s farewell to light blue, but it may well be her farewell to wide, flat collars. The folded lapels give this a little extra though, and so does the tiny strip of lace trim. Yeah, alright; I’ll admit it: This look is another favorite.

This shouldn’t be too noteworthy, except it’s the outfit in which Sybil runs away from home and gets all the way to the next inn. I appreciate that Edith and Mary found her sleeping fully clothed in a separate bed; Branson would have come off as a little too pushy otherwise. I wonder if Sybil picked this on purpose because it doesn’t look like much. Someone running around in a grey skirt and a white blouse devoid of decoration except for a little simple lace on the collar is not who you’d suspect of being one of the young Crawley ladies.

This isn’t so much indoor fashion as it is a work uniform. I don’t have a category specifically for that because it would be a lonely outfit there; since nurses aren’t service workers, I didn’t want to put Nurse Crawley in with the staff of Downton. Anyway. Grey dress with white cuffs and white collar, grey arm band with a Red Cross on it, white apron – it’s all very practical and, obviously, very uniform. I was a little surprised at the head wrap, I’ll admit; I’m more used to nurses of the time wearing these starched little veil caps, but I also don’t know enough to compare specifically British WWI nurses. So I wonder if this was a fashion choice or a historical one.

[ethereal-engene]

promise you | donghyuck

pairing: bf!haechan x fem!reader

genre: angst, fluff, and comfort  // warnings: mentions of death threats & cuss words

summary: The first and last time your boyfriend answers a call from a sasaeng who keeps calling your phone. // word count: 1695

note: I am in my delulu era per usual and apparently he said this once and ... this is my take on it "Ah, you really don't know when you should be scared. I'm going to sue you. I'm going to hang up."

Honestly there are a few things that one can expect when they’re dating a k-pop idol. However, nothing could have ever prepared you for dealing with your boyfriend sasaengs.

It was a big deal too because he didn’t want you getting hurt because of them since he knew he had many of them. It’s too bad that he couldn’t control them but he tried his best to keep them from you. Nonetheless, the extent to which some sasaengs were willing to go were farther than his power and influence could reach.

This just so happened to be another incident where he wasn’t able to protect you from it. A couple weeks ago, you kept on getting text messages from an unknown number. As one would do in this situation, you blocked them but of course they would just have another number to text you with.

These messages at first didn’t seem like much until they escalated with messages of threatening to kill you and to stay away from Hyuck. You still ignored a good chunk of them even if they did make your heart rate go crazy. To be fair, if they were serious about this, they would have already done it.

You would have brought it up to your boyfriend but you slightly felt bad to have tell him about it since you knew he would feel bad about you being hurt. When in reality, he shouldn’t be sorry and if they were his true fans then they would be happy for him. It’s just the unfortunate nature and conditions that come with dating an idol. Plus, the bare minimum here would also be fans respecting their idol’s privacy.

Even though you had not brought this up to your boyfriend, he definitely picked up on how your phone notifications would go off more than usual these past few weeks. You brush it off as it’s just your friend texting you about the drama happening at work.

But we both know that’s a lie and haechan knows one when he hears one. Especially when you sometimes pick up your phone and a small wince or sigh leaves your mouth as you read what’s on the screen. He decides to leave it alone for now because he believes that you will eventually tell him.

One night when you’re staying over with him at the dorms, you’re chilling on his bed as he plays. Your phone starts to ring and you forgot to take a look at the contact number before picking it up.

“Hello?” You ask. Haechan hears you on the phone so he tries to make less noise, but he also quiets down to hear who might be calling you this late into the night.

“Bitch, if you don’t leave Haechan tonight, I will literally kill you tomorrow so you will never see him again. I’ve told you multiple times to leave him but you still haven’t. This isn’t a threat, it’s a promise. Now take your things and go. And as always. Do. Not. Tell. Him.” The voice responds and you end the phone call. You quickly block this number and try to make your heart stop racing so fast.

Placing your hand over your heart and attempting to pace your breathing. Haechan can hear your slightly heavy breathing. His eyes leave the screen to look at you. You are clearly not in the best condition as you were a few moments ago.

“Jeno-ya, I’ll be gone for a few minutes. Make sure I don’t get killed this round, I’ve gotta go check on my girl.” As soon as he says that, he rushes to the bed where you are.

“Hey baby? I’m right here and if you don’t mind me asking, who called you earlier?” Haechan’s hands search for yours and when he feels them, he squeezes them to let you know he’s there.

Shaking your head left and right to let him know it was no one, he frees up one hand to tilt your head so you’re only looking at him. When he does it, he sees that your pupils are dilated. His immediate reaction is to figure out what the hell happened and how to comfort you.

No one in the world should ever make you feel this way. Haechan brings your figure closer to his. Wrapping you up in his arms and giving you small kisses. “Baby, I’ve got you. I am begging you to tell me who called you and what did they say? And don’t try to lie. You’re a really bad liar ya know?”

You’re too scared to tell him now because of how he’ll react. Scared to hear him tell you about how you’re supposed to go and tell him about these things because you’re in danger. Scared to hear him tell you that you shouldn’t have kept this a secret for so long. Scared to hear him tell you that this is all of his fault and that he doesn’t deserve you.

Silence fills the air. It starts to feel so stuffy and you want to escape it so badly. But he won’t let you go until you tell him. Right before, he’s about to say something else; the phone rings again. You’re quick to end the call before he gets a chance to see it.

But the phone just keeps on ringing and ringing after you click the decline button. With the way you react to decline the call quickly and your phone lights up with more messages. Haechan’s eyes skim over them and he pieces together what’s been going on.

You might have a death grip on your phone but you forget that Hyuck’s strength heightens when he’s frustrated like right now. The next time, they call. He snatches it before you can even try to grab it back.

“Oh, so glad you learned your lesson and picked up the phone again you bitch. Now as I said, if you don’t leave Haechan tonight. I will kill you. If you think I’m kidding, I’m really not. I have everything ready for you. Your choice.”

Haechan removes you from him in the best way he can without hurting you. Along with holding you back as you continue to try to get the phone back, even though you know you can’t win. All he sees is red but he composes himself to answer back.

“I’m not sure who you’re calling bitch unless you’re talking about yourself. If you know what’s good for you. You should stop contacting this number.” A laugh is heard in the background of the call on the other side.

“Oh my god Haechan!! I didn’t know that you were going to pick up. I’m so sorry but your girlfriend deserves to die because she’s not good enough for you.”

A ‘tsk’ leaves his mouth and continues with "Ah, you really don't know when you should be scared. I'm going to sue you. I'm going to hang up." And with that, he ends the call.

A long huff and puff is heard from him. He’s going through so many emotions right now. You look at him in the eyes and wonder what he’s thinking about saying next.

“I’m sorry, hyuck. I’m sorry for not telling you about this earlier. I don’t want you to blame yourself for this and please don’t hate me or yourself because of this.” You can’t help but start to let it all out. It would be a big lie to say that all of this wasn’t scary to deal with and it wasn’t painful.

Some of their comments were as if your insecurities started to come to life and taunting you about not being good enough or worse. You tilt your head down to look at the floor because you’re too embarrassed to look at him right now. Your eyes are all puffy and your nose is starting to leak.

After a few minutes of rubbing your eyes dry on your shirt and snot with a tissue away, he finally says something. At first, it’s not you. It's to Jeno telling him that something happened and he’s done for tonight.

Then he walks over to you and cups your face with his hands. Wiping away the falling and dried tears from your eyes. They’re bloodshot red and his heart hurts all over again.

He just keeps eye contact with you with his hands cupping your face. Haechan can’t help but laugh a little at your face when it’s all squished like this. “Y/n-ie. You are the love of my life. Without a doubt, you are one of the many people in my life that I love so much and couldn’t live life without”, Planting a forehead kiss and making sure that you’re still looking at him.

“I am not going to lie and say that you I’m not a tad bit angry or upset that you didn’t tell me about this. Because frankly, I am because it involves your safety and wellbeing.” You nod in agreement.

”You are right about me somewhat blaming myself for this. You are not responsible for my feelings and neither am I responsible for yours. From the bottom of my heart, I am truly sorry you had to go through this alone but I promise you that I’ll always be there. God forbid this ever happen again but if it does. Please tell me so I can do my best to make you feel safe and loved again. I promise.” Haechan finally un-cups your face to hold you in his arms. You whisper another apology and I love you too as you take in his warmth & comfort.

“It’s okay, baby. You’re one strong woman and I couldn’t be happier to call you mine. Just remember that you don’t have to be strong all of the time.”

You two fall asleep afterwards and the next day involves him getting you a new phone number along with the paperwork required to file a lawsuit. When all that is said and done, this phone call remains the first and last time he ever picks up a call from a sasaeng on your phone.

... another fic I’ll probably re-visit b/c this could be longer but for now, enjoy this! man, the # of sasaengs he has is 😔 

as always please do give me feedback by reblogging this with your thoughts in the tag or leaving a note or even dming/sending an ask. it’s all that I ask for. please take care until next time

signing off

- ash 

[musicalmoritz]

Though on genderswap Mitsukou? What would their characters belike both appearance and personality wise?

Yuri Mitsukou!! I love this question

So awhile back I posted smth like “no fem4masc Yuri Mitsukou it has to be masc4masc” which like. I don’t really agree with anymore. I like that in canon one of them is feminine while the other is masculine and it’s not really done in a stereotypical way. Fandoms make a really big deal about people feminizing male characters- and for good reason, it does happen a lot. But that gets taken to the point that they end up unintentionally reinforcing traditional gender roles. “How dare you draw that man in a skirt” or “that male character would never cry.” It’s also weird to me that I never see the same defense given to female characters being masculinized, so it ends up feeling like a lot of fans just hate femininity. So when a male character is feminine and seemingly likes masc dudes but has one of the loudest personalities in the manga, I think it’s pretty neat. Ofc there are fans that are weirdly against calling Mitsuba feminine but I already blocked most of them so idk what they have to say

(I could talk more in-depth about how fans are so worried about feminizing Mitsuba that they erase all the soft parts of his personality and make him one-dimensional but I’ll hold my tongue)

However, with fem!Mitsuba things are usually portrayed differently. Since dude Mitsuba’s initial conflict was being bullied for looking like a girl, most people say that the reverse would be girl Mitsuba being bullied for looking like a dude. This is fine but we also have to keep in mind that the entire gag of Mitsuba’s character is that he looks feminine but has an unfiltered personality, based on his looks you would never expect him to act that way. So if girl Mitsuba looks boyish, does that mean her personality would be super soft and delicate?? Because, yeah Mitsuba does have a soft side but not in that way, and it’s not at the forefront of his personality. Plus girl Mitsuba could still get bullied for looking too feminine, internalized misogyny is very much a thing

However, at the end of the day it really depends on personal preference so I’m not at all bashing either depiction of fem!Mitsuba. I go back and forth over which one I like more. Gender themes are a pretty big part of how I write Mitsukou so it’s hard for me to imagine that switched up, but it’s also incredibly interesting to think abt. All in all I like to keep fem!Mitsuba looking androgynous, maybe she has a boyish face but still dresses very feminine. Or maybe she has a girly face but dresses very masc. It’s one of those things I like a variety of interpretation on. For this I say she keeps the same hair length and pink cardigan but wears the girls uniform. So like yeah she basically just looks the same

As for Kou, those of you that read my wlw Kou//Nene fic should know that masc girl Kou is actually everything to me. A lot of fans sort of flip their gender presentations when gender bending them- Mitsuba becomes masc and Kou becomes fem. That’s totally great if that’s what you like but for me personally Kou is gonna be wearing Old Spice. I like to imagine her hair a tad longer in the back, like a choppy version of the Bisexual Bob. She wears some type of hoodie over her uniform the same way canon Kou wears a t-shirt under his uniform. The hoodie is blue btw (gotta incorporate the lore from my mtsk fics)

I feel like their personalities and dynamic would stay mostly the same! Maybe make them a bit clingier the way female friendships are but they’re already pretty clingy in canon lol. I do wonder if Kou’s flaw of not being able to open up about his feelings properly would change due to gender socialization. But many women (including myself) have that problem too so I think it would stay the same. She might be able to open up to Teru or Yokoo and Satou better but she’d still struggle to admit when she’s feeling overwhelmed. I could see her not being the type to tell someone how she’s feeling until all those emotions have built up for months. That’s how I’ve seen the whole “can’t talk abt your emotions” problem present itself in women. And men tend to only feel comfortable opening up to their romantic partners, which is something we very much see with Mitsukou in canon. But with fem!Kou, if Yokoo and Satou were girls two they would probably encourage her to talk abt her feelings rather than just being like “let’s give him a task to distract him” (which is fine too, men have different ways of comforting their friends)

Thank you for this ask!!

[rumbelleshowdown]

-

Author: Danger Mouse

Group: Final

Prompts: Baby milestones. Panic, expect, ambition, compact. Treasure.

-

Baby Steps

“Belle!”

Belle looked up at the sound of her own name and saw Snow White crossing the street, a huge smile on her face.  When she arrived on the same side of the road she bent down, getting a better look into the stroller that Belle was pushing.  

“And Gideon!  Wow, I feel like it’s been forever since I last saw you.  Look at how big you’ve gotten!”  

“Yeah, he’s a little weed that’s for sure.” Belle smiled in return, looking down at her son.  “Hey Gid, do you want to say hi to Snow?”

“Oh, is he talking now?”  Snow looked up, then back at Gideon expectantly. 

“Well, no.  Not really.”  Belle shrugged.  “He babbles a lot, but nothing we can make out as actual words yet.”  

“Ah, I remember that stage.”  Snow nodded her head wryly.  “Neal babbled ‘dada’ when he was six months old and David absolutely insisted it counted as his first word.”

“What was his actual first word?”

“Dada.”  Snow laughed.  “When he was ten months he pointed directly at David and said it, so I had to concede the point.  He said ‘mama’ soon after though, so I didn’t feel too left out.”  

“Rumple thinks that Gideon will say ‘mama’ first but I’m not so sure.”

“Well, I’m sure you won’t have to wait too long to find out. He’s what?  Fourteen months now?  How is he with walking?  Has he taken his first steps yet?”  

“No, not yet.”  Belle kept her smile on her face with effort.  “He crawls a bit, but generally prefers to stay put and play with whatever he has around him.”

“Consider yourself lucky.”  Snow stood back up to her full height and addressed Belle directly.  “Neal was an early walker and budding escape artist. I’d turn my back for half a second and he’d be gone.  I longed for the days when I could set him down somewhere and know he’d stay put!”  

“Sounds like he was a bit of a handful.”  

“Very much so,” Snow agreed.  “But totally worth it.”   

“Oh, definitely.”  Belle smiled down at Gideon fondly.  

“Well, I’ve gotta run but it was great to see you.”  Snow took a step back.  “And I hope you’re coming to the Fourth of July celebrations tomorrow.”  

“Oh, right.”  Belle shook her head at herself.  “I’d completely forgotten about that.  But, sure, I’ll ask Rumple but I don’t think we have any plans.”

“Great!  See you there!”  

*

When Rumplestiltskin returned from the shop that evening he smiled at the sound of the voices of his wife and child drifting through from the living room.  Moving slowly he peeked around the door frame to see them both sat on the floor, Belle with a compact set of flashcards in her hand.

“Ooh, look at this one, Gideon.  Camel.  Ca-mel.”

“Ab-da!  Ba!”  

“And here’s a crocodile.  Croc-o-dile.”  

“La-do.  Hee.”  Gideon reached out to bat away the card.  

“All right, not a fan of crocodiles I see. How about an armadillo?  Can you say ‘armadillo’?”

“Lo!”

“Yes, armadillo!”

Rumplestiltskin decided now was a good time to make his presence known.  “Expecting our son’s first word to be ‘armadillo’ is a tad ambitious, don’t you think?”  

Belle and Gideon both turned to him, beaming smiles on their faces. 

“Rumple!  Hi, we didn’t hear you come in.”  Belle pushed herself up on her knees enough to receive the kiss he leaned down to bestow on her lips as he walked up to her.  “How was your day?”

“The usual.”  He sat in the nearby armchair, close enough to reach out and stroke Gideon’s head, as Belle settled back down.  “How about you two?  Did you and Mama have a good day, Gideon?”  

“We did, didn’t we?”  Belle addressed Gideon before looking up at Rumplestilskin.  “We went to the park and Gideon saw the ducks.  Then on the way back we ran into Snow White.”

“Oh?”  Rumplestiltskin kept his voice casual.  He knew his wife well enough to pick up on the way her demeanour shifted slightly when she mentioned Snow’s name.  “What did she want?”

“She was asking about Gideon.  If he’s talking and walking yet and telling me how early Neal did both of those things.”  Yes, there was a definite note of dejection in her voice now.  

“She upset you,” Rumplestitlskin growled, thinking of all the ways he could make the princess’s life miserable.

“No!”  Belle hurried to reassure him.  “I mean, not on purpose.  She just wanted to talk about babies with someone she felt could relate.  And I get that, I do. I just worry about how long Gideon is taking to reach those milestones.”

“Hey.”  His voice was soft as he stood, gently pulling her to her feet as well and holding her arms carefully.  “Remember that veritable library of baby books you bought?  I know you read every single one of them. What did they all say?”

“That all babies are different and develop at their own rate.” 

“Exactly.  It’s not a race, sweetheart.  Gideon is doing fine.”

“I know.  I know.  I guess I just…”

“What?  Expected him to be a genius who developed faster than all the other babies because he’s our son?”

“No!  Well, maybe a little.”  She turned away in embarrassment before meeting his eyes again, looking almost guilty.  “But it’s not just that.  Sometimes I wonder, what if it’s me?  What if I’m not doing something I should be doing, or, or doing something wrong and stifling his development somehow?”

“Belle.”  Rumplestiltskin stared intently into her eyes, wanting to make sure she was paying attention to what he was about to say.  “Listen to me.  You are a wonderful mother.  Gideon is happy and healthy and that’s what matters.  If he’s a bit late in developing then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, but we have plenty of time before that stage.  He’s doing fine.”

They both turned to where Gideon was still sitting on the floor, babbling away to a couple of stuffed animals.

“You’re right.”  Belle smiled in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood, before reaching down to pick up their son.  “You’re doing fine, aren’t you Gid?”  

“Ba-da!”  He thrust the toy giraffe in his hand towards her face.

“For me?”  Belle took it with a smile.  “Thank you, Gideon.”  

“Ahhh!  Ba!”  Gideon reached out and Belle handed the giraffe back to him.  

“By the way, thanks for finding that.” Belle turned her head towards Rumplestiltskin.  “Where was it in the end?”

“Hmm?  Where was what?”  

“His giraffe.  I couldn’t find it anywhere yesterday morning, but he had it today.  I thought you must have found it.”  

“Not that I can recall, but then he does have a lot of toys.”  He gestured at the cluttered living room.  “It was probably just hidden under something else.”  

“Maybe.”  Belle frowned as she looked around .  “I thought I checked though.  Oh, before I forget, Snow wanted to know if we’re going to the Fourth of July celebrations tomorrow?”

Rumplestiltskin sighed.  “Seems a strange thing to celebrate when we’re not even from this land.”

“Gideon is,” Belle pointed out.  “And I think it would be fun for him.  I can take him on my own if you’re not interested.”  

“No, no.  I’d much rather spend the day with you two.  As long as you don’t expect me to engage in any activities.”

“I think you’ll be safe,” Belle laughed.  “You can use Gideon as a handy excuse.”    

*

The Fourth of July dawned warm and sunny.  Rumplestiltskin watched in fond amusement as Belle slathered their son in SPF 50 before dressing him in a sun suit and floppy hat, then added two more bottles of sunscreen to her purse.  

When they arrived at the celebrations, his wife made a bee-line for a picnic table under the shade of a large tree, claiming the whole area with the stroller and bags she had brought.  Taking a seat facing outwards towards the square she held Gideon in her lap so he could watch the goings on around them.  

“Hey, guys!”  Ruby Lucas came bounding over once they had settled in, smiling widely at the family before focusing all her attention on Gideon.  “And hey, little man!  Great to see you!  Will you be joining our treasure hunt today?”

She reached into the bucket she was carrying and produced a plastic golden doubloon, waving it in front of Gideon’s face, causing him to laugh in delight.

“What treasure hunt is this?”  Belle asked.

“I’ve hidden a load of these around the square,” Ruby replied, handing the coin to Belle, “for the kids to find.  They can exchange them at Granny’s stall for cookies and treats or save them up for bigger prizes.”  

“Sounds fun,” Belle said, examining the coin while Gideon tried to grab it from her.  “But I think Gideon would prefer to watch from the sidelines, wouldn’t you Gid?”  

“Of course.”  Ruby winked at them, taking the coin back.  “Well I hope you have a good day, and enjoy the rest of the celebrations.”

Gideon reached out as she turned to leave, grumbling slightly.  

“Aw, it’s all right, Gideon.”  Belle bounced him softly.  “You’ll see Auntie Ruby again soon.”  

Gideon’s grumbling only increased, so Belle shifted him slightly to address Rumplestiltskin over his head.  “He might be hungry.  Can you grab his snacks from the back of the stroller?”

Rumplestiltskin nodded, doing as she asked, and looked up again in time to see her addressing a somewhat calmer Gideon.  

“Here we go Gideon, are you hungry?  Oh, what have you got there?”  Her brow furrowed in confusion as she lifted his hand, finding a small gold coin clenched in his fist.  

“Now where did that come from, hmm?”  Belle asked as she gently prised it from his grip.  “Did you take it from Auntie Ruby’s bucket when I wasn’t looking?”

“Ba!”  Gideon smiled and reached out for it.

“Sorry, sweetheart, but I don’t want you putting that in your mouth.  Here.”  Belle put the coin down before reaching into the packet Rumplestiltskin handed her.  “Would you like a yummy veggie straw instead?”

Gideon took the snack she offered and proceeded to throw it straight onto the ground.

“Guess not,” Belle laughed, leaning down to pick it up.  “Bit wasteful there, Gideon… Wait, how did you get that again?”

The coin was back in his hand and Belle took it with a shake of her head.  “I know I put that out of your reach.”

Rumplestiltskin winced, knowing his wife was not going to react well to what he had to say next.

“Sweetheart?”  He paused, waiting for her to look at him.  “Don’t be alarmed, but I think it’s possible that Gideon has been using magic.”

“What?  No, he can’t.  He’s…”  Belle trailed off as she looked down in time to see the coin vanish from her hand and reappear in Gideon’s.  “Oh.”  

*

Belle’s mind was whirling as she packed up, ignoring the concerned glance Ruby threw their way, before pushing the stroller back to their house.  She could hear Rumplestiltskin behind her but he didn’t say anything until they got inside.  

“Belle, sweetheart.  It’s all right.  Don’t panic.”  

“Don’t panic?  Our baby has magic!  How am I not supposed to panic?”  She picked Gideon up from the stroller, examining his face as though she could find answers there.  “The books didn’t prepare me for this!”

“Really? ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’ doesn’t have a chapter on Baby’s First Magic?” he quipped.

“Stop it!  This is serious.  How are you being so calm about it?  How is this even possible?”

“He’s the son of the Dark One and the product of True Love.  He was always going to be exceptional.”  Rumplestiltskin said proudly as he stepped closer, running his hand over the back of Gideon’s head.   

“Yeah, I knew he would be capable of magic.  That he could harness it in the future when he’s able to understand what he’s doing.” Belle felt her voice rising and made an effort to lower it.  “But he’s only a baby.  How are we supposed to get him to control his powers when I can barely stop him putting peas up his nose?”

“I have an idea about that,” Rumplestiltskin began cautiously.  “Do you remember the magic-inhibitor cuff?  Well, I’ve been working on something similar for Gideon, more appropriate for his size.”

“Wait, you knew this was going to happen?”  Belle pulled back in shock.  “You knew and you didn’t tell me?”  

“Only that it was a possibility.  I didn’t know for certain until today.  And I didn’t see any point in worrying you unnecessarily when it might never happen.”

“Right, well, in the future I would like to be informed of the possibility of our son developing magical powers before he starts pickpocketing people at town events,” she hissed.  

“To be fair, Ruby did invite him to join in the treasure hunt.”  Rumplestiltskin shrugged.

“It’s not funny!” Belle snapped.  “What if he’d choked on it?  Or what if this had happened when we were at Granny’s and he decided he wanted a closer look at a shiny steak knife?”  

Rumplestiltskin frowned, apparently not having considered that.  “You’re right.  I’m sorry.”  He looked down before kissing her head and she softened at his obvious contrition.  “Would you like to try the cuff?”

“I don’t see what other choice we have.”  She looked at him in the hopes he might have another suggestion.  “Do you?”  

“Well, I suppose I could try baby-magic-proofing the house.  But I can’t extend that to the whole town.”

“And I don’t want to turn Gideon into a shut-in, afraid to let him interact with people.”  Belle sighed then nodded, her decision made.  “Yes, get the cuff.”  

Rumplestiltskin waved his hand, a baby-sized cuff appearing in his palm.  

Belle eyed it warily, feeling a pang of anxiety despite her earlier words.  “It won’t hurt him, will it?”

“Of course not.  All it will do is suppress his magic.  Hey, Gideon.”  He smiled at his son, who was eyeing the cuff with interest.  “Would you like to wear this?”

Gideon smiled and waved his arm, the cuff disappearing from Rumplestilskin’s hand and into his own.

“Clever boy,”  Rumplestiltskin smiled.  “Shall we put it on you?”

“Ado!”  Gideon threw the cuff on the floor, giving his father a toothy grin..  

“Sorry, son.  That’s what we call a rhetorical question,” Rumplestiltskin chuckled, picking up the cuff and fastening it gently around Gideon’s wrist. “There you go.  It’s only for a little while, and when you’re older I’ll teach you all about magic.”

“Gick!”  

“Yes, Gideon.  Magic.”  Belle smiled, bouncing him softly in her arms.  “Papa will teach you all about magic.”

“Ma-gick!”  Gideon laughed, clapping his hands.

Belle and Rumplestiltskin looked at each other in wonder.

“Did he…?” Belle whispered.  

“I think he did.”  

“Ma-gick!”  Gideon repeated, grinning.

“That’s my boy!”  Rumplestiltskin beamed.  “Now make your mother happy and say ‘armadillo’ next.”  

-

[baileypie-writes]

~My Thoughts on Wonderful Precure: Episodes 21-25~

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~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~

Episode 21 - Mayu and Yuki’s School Life:

I loved this episode! It was so funny!

As expected, Yuki’s good at pretty much everything in school. I wonder if there’s gonna be anything she’s not good at. Maybe there’ll be an episode surrounding that.

I just about died when she tried squeezing into Mayu’s chair, and then tried getting that kid to move out of his, so she could sit next to her. She clearly doesn’t get how assigned seats work. But I guess she’s content enough with having to sit behind Mayu instead.

The whole embroidery thing was super cute. I love how Mayu’s kind of teaching Komugi and Iroha how to do it. Also, I just wanna brag that I knew exactly what the girls were trying to embroider, even though it looked terrible😌.

As a little critique, I thought the whole “backstory” about Mayu and her old friend was really random. It just came out of nowhere, with almost no foreshadowing whatsoever. Yuki treated it like some big, serious thing, but I feel like it’s probably not gonna be mentioned again.

Next, I just wanna take a moment to gush over the “Nyanderful Precure” part. I was really hoping that would happen! I wonder what Satoru and Daifuku would say when if they become Pretty Cures. I don’t know what sound rabbits make in Japan.

I like how the first thing Cure Nyammy does with a Kirarin Animal’s power, is turning Cure Wonderful into a tire. Just thought that was funny. She didn’t bother turning herself into one. Nope, just Komugi.

We also got a new animation for Lillian and Nyammy for calling the animals home. Though, I wonder if they’re using Wonderful and Friendy’s suitcase, or if they got their own and we didn’t see.

Overall, I loved this episode! I can’t wait for the next one!

My Rating for This Episode:

8/10 - B-

~~~~

Episode 22 - Wonderful Go!:

This episode wasn’t my favorite. I’m not a fan of sports/athletics episodes. But it was still alright. I mean, it was super cute. So it couldn’t be awful.

I was a bit confused on how Komugi didn’t understand Iroha’s first commands, because she understands human language perfectly. And she usually obeys every other time. But I guess it was just for the sake of the plot.

It was pretty cool how in sync Wonderful and Friendy were during battle. The platforms were a nice idea too. And it’s great how even though this episode was focused on them, Nyammy and Lillian still got plenty of screen time. They even did the finishing attack.

Lastly, I just wanna express how excited I am for next week’s episode! The festival episodes are always some of my favorites. I love seeing all the pretty yukata designs, and the cute hairstyles! Komugi looked absolutely precious in the preview, and Yuki looked so beautiful!

My Rating for This Episode:

5/10 - F

Episode 23 - Making Wishes, Wao~~~~~n:

I always love the festival episodes. They’re always so fun! And this one was no exception!

Everyone’s outfits were so cute! Komugi’s was definitely my favorite. Precure always puts so much care into designing yukatas for their characters. Well… except for Satoru, I guess. His was so plain.

Mayu’s mom finding out that Yuki can turn human was disappointingly underwhelming. I was expecting her to be overjoyed, but she was so casual about it. But oh well, at least she accepts her.

We also got some foreshadowing to Daifuku becoming a Cure(hopefully)! According to Yuki, he’s no ordinary rabbit! And of course, we also got some cute little crush moments from Satoru. The part where he helped Iroha with her sandals was so sweet!

Also, all the Kirarin Animals are back! But it seems something else is coming…

I hope we get some real villains soon! Maybe then, the Pretty Cure will actually start fighting!

Lastly, I gotta talk about the new ending.

It was so good!

I can’t decide if I like this one better, or the first one. The song is just so cute and upbeat! And it sounds so unique compared to all the others! It is a bit sad that they got rid of the expensive models though..

I wonder how they’ll add the midseasons to it. Maybe, we’ll get a whole new song entirely? Though that’s probably just wishful thinking…

My Rating for This Episode:

9/10 - A-

~~~~

Episode 24 - A Very Strange Egg:

This episode was alright. Not my favorite, but it was good!

First thing I wanna get out of the way is that I had no idea Niko-sama was a girl. I always thought of her as a boy haha. Not that it matters, but I was just shocked for a second.

I’m very curious as to what Niko-sama will look like. Judging by the horn on the egg, it’s clear she’ll be at least a bit unicorn-like. But Mey-Mey said that there are no other animals like her, so she might be completely unique. Although, unicorns don’t exist, so she might just be one. But at the same time, horses are almost identical. Hmm.

I was super excited that the egg only lit up once everyone was touching it, including Satoru and Daifuku! Hopefully this is a sign of them becoming Cures! Also, it’s super weird how the egg keeps teleporting to Iroha’s house. I wonder why it does that…

Next, I’m gonna mention the new version of the ending! We got a Nyammy and Lillian duet! I really like it. It’s very sassy and cool!

I’m not super excited for the next episode. It’s clearly a beach filler episode, which I’m not a fan of. But I do have to say this: Komugi’s swimsuit is adorable! I want it for myself!

My Rating for This Episode:

6/10 - D-

Episode 25 - Summer! Beach! Homework!:

Just as I suspected, this episode was just filler. But it was still alright.

I really liked the design of the girls’ swimsuits! I want to own all of them! Well… except for Satoru’s. Did the designers even try with his outfits?

I surprisingly learned quite a bit about sea turtles. I didn’t know that the temperature could determine the gender! Thanks, Satoru!

I found it pretty odd how the focus and drama all of a sudden shifted to Mayu and Yuki during battle. It just felt really random. The drama was really laid on thick too. It really wasn’t all that necessary.

All in all, this episode was fine. But I hope the next one will be better.

My Rating for This Episode:

6/10 - D-

~~~~

Overall Score for These Episodes:

68% - D+

~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~

~~baileypie-writes

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

"Comfort in a Thunderstorm"

Happy Wholesome Sonic and Tails Wednesday!!!! 🥰 So I've actually drawn a ton of things for them but obviously gotta post them one at a time 😂 I had something else planned but then another fic suddenly materialized in my docs so I was like "welp"

Haha, enjoy!

Quick desc: "Sonic & Tails' first thunderstorm experience together."

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Sonic didn’t like the rain.

For one, he wasn’t a big fan of water in general, although he mainly didn’t like being in it. But rain often made it harder to run. He’d lost track of the amount of times he’d slipped in wet grass, or crashed into a mud puddle, or been blinded by a downpour and ran into a tree or something.

He didn’t like it, but he wasn’t afraid of it.

As he was soon to learn, it was a different story for Tails.

It had started sprinkling around the late afternoon, and by sundown it was pouring. The skies were overcast with dark, almost black clouds. They’d need to stop and find shelter somewhere, Sonic decided. It was already hard enough to keep moving during the day in the heavy rain. It would only be worse to try and get through it in the dark.

Tails had seemed unusually quiet. Sure, he didn’t talk a whole lot to begin with, but sometimes his little brother would go on rambles about something new he’d discovered; usually about mechanics and technology. The kid had taken a liking to such things the moment he’d first discovered them, and although he didn’t have any of his own tools and techy stuff yet, he was taking every opportunity to learn as much about it as he could. He’d been fascinated by Sonic’s plane, the Tornado, ever since he’d first laid eyes on it. Sonic had been thinking about buying him a computer or something for his birthday, whenever that was.

Did he actually understand all the stuff Tails told him about? No, not really. But it was fun to listen to him go on and on about his passions.

Tonight, however, his little brother had been silent for a couple hours at least. When Sonic glanced back to check on him, the little fox’s blue eyes were wide and nervous.

He cleared his throat as he stopped for a moment. “You okay, buddy?”

Tails jumped and looked up at him. “Yes!” he answered, a little too quickly. “Where are we gonna sleep tonight?”

Sonic looked up and scanned the horizon. “Dunno yet. I don’t see any trees. We might have to settle for burrowing tonight.”

“We shouldn’t go under a tree, anyway,” Tails protested. “If it starts making thunder, we might get struck by lightning if it hits the tree.”

Sonic looked down at him, surprised. “Oh, okay.” He glanced around. “I just don’t want to get flooded if we go underground is all.”

The little fox stared around for a moment. Something still seemed off about his demeanor, but Sonic couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Well, guess we’ll just keep moving until we find somewhere safe to stay for the night.” He sighed, then held out his hand. “Stay close, kiddo.”

It had taken him a while to get Tails to be comfortable with touch when they’d first met— which, granted, hadn’t been too long ago. A little under a year, perhaps? But Tails had been sensitive to it as a result of the bullying he’d had to endure before Sonic had met him and intervened. So it was safe to say that Sonic was a little taken aback when Tails not only took his hand immediately, he grabbed his entire arm and clung to it with both hands, standing barely a couple inches away from him.

They started walking, although Tails was more shuffling to keep up with Sonic’s longer paces. “You feeling okay, bud?” Sonic finally made himself ask.

His little brother hesitated for several seconds, then mumbled, “I’m just sleepy.”

It had been a long day. “Want me to carry you?”

“…Yeah.”

Sonic stopped walking, turned to crouch down, and held out his arms. Tails quietly climbed into his grasp, and as Sonic stood up again, this time holding his brother against his chest and one shoulder, he realized Tails was shaking. His heart rate seemed a little too fast, too.

But his little brother had already shown he didn’t want to talk about whatever was bothering him, so Sonic just held him close and continued walking, occasionally rubbing one hand over the fox kit’s back.

Maybe five minutes of silence passed before thunder started rumbling in the distance. Sonic kept moving, but he felt Tails stiffen slightly in his arms.

Finally, he spotted a few small caves just beyond the hill they were approaching. “Eureka!” he cheered quietly, and Tails made a tiny noise of acknowledgment. They were just entering the mouth of the biggest cave when a loud crack of thunder exploded just over their heads.

To Sonic’s surprise, Tails yelped at the sound and clung to him ever tighter, whimpering. Sonic just continued to hold him, even as he walked in deeper and sat down against a wall. He was tempted to ask some questions, but figured it was better to just stay quiet and be there for comfort.

Four cracks of thunder and four mini screams from Tails later, his little brother finally said something.

“I-I don’t like thunderstorms.”

“I got that, buddy,” Sonic replied quietly, trying for a teasing tone, but instantly regretted it. Tails probably wasn’t in the mood for jokes and sarcasm.

“That’s okay,” he added, after another few seconds’ hesitation. “You don’t have to be embarrassed. Everyone has fears.”

“Not you,” his brother mumbled.

Sonic paused. While it was true he liked to go about boasting that he feared nothing, it . . . wasn’t necessarily all true. He didn’t fear Eggman. He didn’t fear pain. He didn’t fear death. But . . .

He sighed. “No . . . I have fears too, buddy,” he forced himself to admit, and one of Tails’ ears perked up.

“Really? What is it?”

Oh boy, this was painful, but anything for your family, Sonic supposed. “A couple things, actually,” he confessed, albeit very softly. “I . . . had some bad experiences with water when I was younger. And I never learned to swim, so . . . you could say I’m afraid of drowning.”

Tails’ big blue eyes were bigger than ever. “Really?”

“Yup. That, and . . .”

“And what?”

Sonic exhaled heavily, then leaned back a little so he could meet the fox kit’s gaze more easily. “Losing you. Anything bad happening to you, actually.”

It took a moment, but that actually put a huge smile on Tails’ face. He was still shivering from his own fears, but he looked downright warm and fuzzy inside as he lay back down against Sonic’s chest, a light purr rumbling from his chest. “I love you,” he mumbled through a tired smile.

Sonic had never been one to express emotions or be all sappy, but dang it, everything was different with Tails. “Love you too, bro,” he whispered back, hugging him just a little tighter.

And they stayed like that for the rest of the night. Tails still jumped at every clap of thunder and whimpered here and there, but Sonic just kept holding him. Eventually, surely after another few hours had passed, Tails had fallen asleep, still cradled in his older brother’s arms. Sonic took a few minutes to enjoy the peacefulness of the moment before surrendering to sleep himself.

(again, I made the art before I wrote the fic, so that's why it's a different setting. Although the pic could also just be a general occurrence, not this specific one 🤷‍♀️😂)

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Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!

[sl-ut]

buzzed

pairing: marc spector x fem!reader

description: marc is lucky enough to accompany y/n to her cousin’s wedding, and even luckier to be the one to take her home. (this is sister fic to 'tipsy' but can be read as a standalone)

warnings: no smut but definitely nsfw, alcohol consumption, swearing, talk of weddings

words: 3.1K

date posted: 27/02/23

The wedding was beautiful, in the unreasonably expensive, terribly stuffy kind of way. Marc tried his best to not show it too much on his face, but this wedding was the exact opposite of anything he wanted to have if–when he and Y/n finally settled down. He’d decided that he didn’t want anything big, hell, he’d be happy with a quick visit to the courthouse before a weeklong honeymoon on a beach somewhere. But he knew that wouldn’t fly with Y/n, or more specifically, with her family, so he would settle with a small ceremony and reception before he got to steal her away.

He did have to compliment the newly wedded couple on their choices of His and His cocktails; Y/n’s cousin opting for the classic negroni, while his new husband made the much more intricate choice of a fruity white sangria, both of which Y/n had taken great pleasure in sampling before she kicked off her shoes and took to the dancefloor.

Marc enjoyed seeing her this free–it was something he got to see all too rarely. Her job had been a consistent thorn in the boys’ side since she’d gotten her most recent promotion. As the tour supervisor at a tour company based in London, Y/n figured that she would have been able to explore her chosen field of history on an everyday basis, though she was sorely disappointed when she discovered that she rarely would get to interact with the centuries of conflict and victories that the city faced when she was jammed into a smothering hot office and berated for making any complaints or requests. Steven had been the first to encourage her to hand in her notice of resignation, but he was very heartily supported by his alters, who both promised to support her until she was able to get back on her feet. Jake would then remind her that she’d earned her Master’s degree for good reason and would soon enough be drowning in job offers–a fantasy, which they were all aware of, but the boys were more than willing to say whatever she needed to hear when she needed to hear it. 

Right now, Marc was willing to tell her that she was dancing wonderfully and that she wasn’t being stared at like she had two heads by most of the other wedding guests just to see her smile just as she was for just one moment longer. The cocktails that she’d drank caught up to her quickly; her cheeks burned hotter than usual, eyes hooded, and a smile appearing lazy on her face as she whirled around the dancefloor with various relatives. 

Marc smiled to himself, ignoring the other who pushed past him to lean on the bartop as he quickly became entranced by her. She halted on a moment’s notice, the flowy shirt of her dress fanning and twisting itself tightly around her hips before falling limp once again. Her body turned quickly as her eyes scanned the crowd, first falling on his empty seat at their assigned table before they began to flicker across the room hurriedly. A calm expression crossed her features once she finally picked him out of the crowd, only lasting a moment before the grin returned and she began her beeline towards him.

He began forward through the crowd to shorten her journey, dropping his now empty glass on a random table as he passed. She stumbled into his arms with enough force to cause him to take a step back, giggling to herself as she wrapped herself around him snugly. 

“I was just looking for you,” she slurred slightly, gazing up at him with a starry look in her eyes, “Thought you left me.”

“Leave you?” He scoffed, hands rising to rest on her waist to hold her steady, “Baby, you gotta give me a little more credit here, I’m not that stupid.”

She laughed, leaning closer and nudging her nose into his a bit more roughly than she would have had she been sober. He did his best to hide any surprise on his face, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. 

“Come dance with me,” she tugged his wrist, “I love this song.”

“I know you do, but you know I’m not much of a dancer.”

She frowned, “Marc, please?”

“You don’t want me up there, I’ll end up crushing your pretty feet. Why don’t you go dance with your aunt again, huh?”

“I can’t,” Y/n whined, voice lowering into a whisper, “She’s such a bitch.”

He let out a loud huff of amusement because, though he’d not voiced his opinion because Y/n had always had a good relationship with her aunt, he wholeheartedly agreed.

“Please?” She begged his, grasping at the lapels of his jacket and shaking him lightly, “If you do, I’ll–” Y/n tucked herself against him as she whispered breathily into his ear, painting a foggy image in his mind of what she could offer in return. 

The tips of his ears burned in arousal, breathes deepening as his grip on her waist tightened. She snorted at his physical response, ripping herself out of his grasp and slowly backing away from him towards the dance floor, seductively shaking her hips to the beat as she did. He scowled at her playfully, remaining rooted in his place.

Pursing her lips, she slowly turned, continuing to move her hips from side to side. Marc groaned to himself, but still didn’t take any steps towards her. 

If you don’t, Jake grumbled to him through the reflection of the glossy window pane next to him, I most certainly will.

The song had changed to one of a slower beat with hard bass to support it. Marc already knew that, combined with the light push of the alcohol in his bloodstream and the way that her body moved along with the melody, he stood no chance, his feet already moving before he was even fully aware of it. 

His hands landed on her hips while she had her back turned, pressing his chest against her back snugly and pausing her movements. She smiled at him over her shoulder, tilting her head back to press a kiss to his jaw. 

“I knew you’d break,” she smirked knowingly up at him, glazed eyes twinkling with mischief, “Well, you or Jake. Steven’s not much of a dancer.”

Marc smiled, sliding his flattened palms around to the front of her dress and smoothing them along the plush of her belly, “You know us better than we do. It’s scary.”

“I bet,” she hummed, turning in his arms to wrap her arms around his neck, “But it’s not as hard as you might think, you all have a tell.”

“Oh yeah, what’s mine?”

“Well, then you would stop doing it, huh?”

“Or maybe you could learn to have some more faith in me, baby.”

“I’ll do that when you two start telling the truth every once in a while.”

“Two?”

“Steven snitches on you two every chance he gets.”

Kiss ass, Jake grumbled.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be honest with our girlfriend, Steven defended himself, though it did nothing to stop Jake’s verbal assault. ‘Sides, I’m the one who she wants around when you twits do something stupid. 

Marc shook his head, ignoring their bickering as he brought himself back into the present, heart clenching as he took in the dreamy stare that watched him so closely.

“Are they fighting?” Y/n whispered, trying to not make her boyfriend seem crazy in front of her relatives.

“When aren’t they?” He joked, “Jake called Steven a kiss ass.”

“Well he’s not wrong,” she shrugged, turning her gaze to the impossibly clean window pane along the edge of the dancefloor, “Steven, baby, you know I love it when you kiss my ass.”

A cough forced its way out of Marc’s windpipe with force, a result of a laugh that he had not been physically prepared for. He cleared his throat, “Do you now? What about me?”

Y/n scoffed, “You don’t kiss my ass. You quite literally do anything but.”

“I would if you really wanted me to,” he leaned closer to rest his forehead against hers, his voice lowering to get his message across.

The muscles in Y/n’s face tightened as she realised the meaning of his words, shaking her head at him as she began to giggle nervously, “Maybe someday. You’d have to give me a little warning ahead of time though. If we’re doing that, we’re doing it right.”

“I wasn’t aware that there was a right and a wrong way.”

She shrugged, “Well, I mean there’s a right and wrong way for the other stuff, at least there is for me.”

“I guess so,” he nodded, “Wait–what’s the right way?”

She chuckled, “Trust me, if you didn’t already know, we wouldn’t be here right now.”

One of his palms smoothed down the small of her back, pausing at the curve of her behind and massaging the flesh within his meaty paw. 

“You’re starting to sound a little superficial there, baby. You saying that you’re only with us for the sex?”

She shook her head, “No, no, of course not. Steven is so smart and sweet, and he’s very funny. Jake's got this sexy little mysterious thing going on, plus he’s very romantic. And you…” she paused, a small smirk growing on her features, “Well, maybe I’m with you for the sex.”

He dug his fingertips into her flesh a bit harder, feeling her warm skin pool out between his thick digits. She squirmed in his grasp, pressing herself closer to him than she would have been comfortable with had she been completely sober, but did not ask him to remove himself. 

“That so?”

“You’re very talented,” she hummed, raking her fingertips down the back of his neck, “Grumpy, sometimes a little mean, and you hog the blankets, but talented all the same.”

“Well maybe me and my talents will go elsewhere,” he loosened his grip, preparing to let her go and watch her scramble to be closer to him once more, though she didn’t even give him the chance.

Fingers curling around the lapels of his jacket, she held him in place, “Elsewhere… as in our hotel room? Because I wouldn’t exactly be complaining.”

Marc laughed, “Maybe, maybe not. I might need some convincing to stay, now that I know that I’m just some glorified booty call.”

Y/n leaned forward, pressing her forehead against his own while refusing to break eye contact. His breathing laboured as she invaded his personal space even more so than she already had, watching through hooded eyes as she nudged her nose against his playfully and tugged her bottom lip between her teeth.

“I could convince you. You wanna go to the bathroom?”

Marc broke his facade, bursting out laughing at her question as she fell victim to her own giggles. The pair must have looked foolish–standing in the middle of the dancefloor, neither of them actually dancing and just laughing maniacally at one another and acting as if no one else in the extravagantly decorated ballroom even existed. 

The upbeat music began to slow, and the other dancers on the floor paired off into a slow dance. Marc easily recognized the song; he’d heard Y/n singing it countless times in the shower, while she was cooking, and even sometimes in her sleep. She wouldn’t necessarily classify it as her favourite, but Marc was positive that it was a pretty damn close second. 

“Hang on, baby,” He spun her into his arms and held her tightly to his chest, hands settling on her waist as he began to move the both of them into a slow, simple, side-to-side motion, “Just one more dance.”

She nodded softly in agreement, resting her forehead on his shoulder, “One more dance.”

They stayed like that for the majority of the song, swaying side-to-side lazy while they remained entirely wrapped up in one another’s arms. Occasionally Marc would nuzzle his nose into her hair or press a soft kiss to her temple, and she would respond each time with a squeeze and a kiss of her own pressing into his shoulder.

“You know I love you, right?”She whispered as she pulled back slightly, staring up at him as if he’d hung the stars in the sky, “I love all three of you the same, you guys know that, but right now I’m just–”

“I know,” He silenced her with the gentle press of his lips to her own, “I know baby. We all do.”

Tell her I love her too.

“Steven says that he thinks you smell weird and snore. Babe, I think you should dump his ass, personally.”

Steven blubbered out a protest, all strung together and slurred as he struggled to make a solid threat to the man who currently had control over their body. 

She frowned, “Tell Steven that I love him too, and that he’s quickly becoming my favourite.”

There was a beat of silence before she spoke again, “This is really nice and all, but I think I really just want a small little thing for our wedding.”

Marc chuckled, “Our wedding? I didn’t realise that I’d asked you yet.”

They hadn’t explicitly spoken about the prospect of marriage yet. Of course, she had spoken to all three of the boys about what kind of future they had envisioned for themselves, and all three had enthusiastically told her that she was certainly in it, but marriage was a complicated thing in itself, not to mention how it would fair when one woman had married three different men who all shared the same body. 

Would she marry Marc? It technically was his body to begin with, but Steven had controlled the body probably just as long as Marc did, all things considered, and Jake would never allow such an argument to persist without throwing his own cap in the ring. Perhaps they could be common-law, so none could be considered to be any more of her husband than the others–one small ceremony to themselves where all three boys would have the chance to read their own vows and kiss you as their wife for the first time. Regardless, Marc was simply glad to hear that she had been thinking about their future together. 

“You haven’t, yet,” she hummed in amusement, “Jake got pretty close a few times though.”

He shook his head, “I know, asshole never stops thinking about it. If he had it his way, he’d have Steven and I locked away in the back of our mind so that he could have you all to himself.”

She raised her brow, “Not such a bad idea… maybe if I didn’t love you all so much.”

Marc smirked at her, placing a careful peck to her lips. Neither spoke another word, simply swaying side to side along with the melody, eyes locked on one another and entirely ignorant to anything else that may have been going on around them. 

As the song came to a close, Y/n fluttered her eyelashes up at him, eyes glittering under the ambient lights above as she whispered to him, “Marc?”

He hummed in response.

“Take me to bed?”

He resisted the small smirk that edged its way onto his face, squeezing his fingers tighter around her waist as she trailed her hands up the front of his chest, working soft patterns into the fabric of his suit. He leaned closer to her, his voice meeting her ears in a low grumble, “Go say goodbye and meet me at the door, I’ll grab your coat.”

Marc Spector was nothing if not efficient, making his way through the crowd with expertise that only an enhanced individual might have, finding his way to the coat check area while making sure that Y/n was always within his line of sight. He watched from the corner of his eye as she hugged each of the grooms, then one of her aunts, and endured an uncomfortably long and wet kiss from her uncle who had been cut off by the bartender. He slipped a five into the palm of the young man working the coat check and took off, stealing Y/n away from her family members before they had a chance to stop him.

Y/n giggled at him, slipping her coat on with ease and allowing him to guide her out through the front doors and cross the street to the hotel that they were staying at. Once they were in the privacy of the moving elevator, she made quick work of unbuttoning his jacket so that she could slide her palms across his firm midsection and pressed herself against him as she began to nip and kiss up the expanse of his thick neck. He groaned under her touch, leaning his back against the wall and gliding his own palms around the back of her neck to pull her in for a long, passionate kiss.

She sighed into him, pushing her hips forward to rock against his own and giggling girlishly as she bumped the tent that had begun to form in his pants. He hissed at the contact, hands pulling her face away from his own so that he could stare directly into her eyes. 

“How are you feeling, baby?”

“I think you already know how I’m feeling.”

He rolled his eyes, “I mean, are you sober enough for this? You had a lot to drink today.”

She shrugged, “No more than you.”

“I’m also not a lightweight.”

“Oh please,” She scoffed, swatting his chest lightly, “I’m a little buzzed at most, I’m totally fine.”

“You’re sure?”

Y/n grinned, stepping away from him as the elevator doors slid open. She slowly backed away from him, turning on her heel and calling out to him over her shoulder, “I can always take care of myself, if you don’t feel up for it.”

[just-a-goober]

Okay I know this is cringe but I wanna share it because I’m really proud. 🥲

❗️THESE ARE MY ALASTOR HEADCANNONS❗️

Little!Alastor cg!huskerdust

Alastors bad night

(Hazbin agere fan fiction)

❗️TW: slight cursing❗️

It was night when the hotel went to bed. Alastor usually slept with husk and angel now,but he was the raido demon, he should be tough and scary not some… damn child! “Hey aren’t you gonna sleep with us tonight?”,Angel whispered to alastor in the hallway.angel and husk know his past of his abusive dad and how alastor never grew out of the fear of the dark,“no,I’m fine, I can sleep alone tonight.”,Alastor whispered back. He was scared of sleeping alone but.. he had to sleep alone! He’s the radio demon,THE RADIO DEMON for crying out loud! Angel went into his and husk room and alastor went to his. Alastor put on a loose red t-shirt and some black baggy shorts and laid down in his bed. After 20 minutes of trying to sleep in the dark,the only light in his room was the moon light. Alastors deer ears pinned back,he was starting to get scared.he clung onto his blanket and heard the wind outside his window. Alastor thought to himself “I gotta be big I’m not a little kid!”,he felt himself slipping but made himself stay big. Alastors ears pinned back more,scared by the noise of a branch tapping his window. he whimpered trying to keep quiet.he imagine how much of a weak,and pathetic guy angel and husk would think if he came to there room.. alastor clung onto his blanket more.. his blanket reminded him of angel and husk.. he just wanted his papa and dada right now… he felt himself slipping more and more,alastor got more scared and whimpered and buried his face into his blanket… alastor fully slipped, he regressed younger than he usually does because he was very scared… he got out of bed and immediately went to husk and angels room, he knew how he looked weak and pathetic,but,he needed his papa and dada. Alastor got up to their door and hesitantly knocked on their door. Husk woke up when he heard the knock (husk is a light sleeper since he’s a cat demon) husk groaned not knowing alastor was behind the door yet, “ugh, who the f*ck is there? We’re trying to sleep..”,he said groggy and rubbed one of his eyes. “U-uh it’s me”,Alastor said shaky,sacred of what they’ll think of him. Husk ears perked up knowing how alastor sounded younger,he knew this meant he was regressed so he said back softer this time of course, “well why didn’t you say so,kiddo? Come in”, Alastor hesitates for a moment but comes in, “s-sorry I woke you up”,alastor says his deer ears pin back more. Husk responds, “don’t say sorry you did nothing.”,after husk said that he plugged in the night light for alastor and grabbed a deer stuffie he had just gotten alastor for when he regresses and he handed it to alastor, “f-for me?”,alastor asked looking at the stuffie. “Of course kiddo,why wouldn’t it”, husk gives alastor the stuffie in hope it’ll calm him down. Alastors eyes light up. He’s never really gotten toys when he was younger, probably because it was the 1900s so they didn’t have the best of toys. After husk laid back down Alastor crawled in between of husk and angel and snuggled up to them. Fat nuggets moved from angels side of the bed to alastor and licked his face and cuddled with him too (he’s not used to alastor sleeping in the bed yet and also did it to husk when he first started sleeping with angel) until alastor fell asleep.

The reason husk knows is because if he tells anyone alastor can crush his soul and whatever he said in that one ep and angel found out because he sleeps in husks room (WE STAND HUSKERDUST IN THIS HOUSEHOLD ✨)

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Learning New Things

Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Twenty-Four

A JSE Fanfic

After the two-part romp of the gang exploring Caverns & Creatures, it's back to business. The kids have exams coming up before winter vacation, so they have to buckle down and study and try to ignore anything supernatural happening. But that proves impossible for JJ and Marvin, as they finally figure out what that strange doll does. And they're not fond of it. Hopefully next chapter we'll reach winter vacation so the kids will be a bit more free :) Big things are planned! We just gotta build up to get there ^-^

More of this AU | From the Start | Read on AO3 at CrystalNinjaPhoenix

++++++++++++++++++++

Even with all the supernatural battles they’d fought since summer, Chase thought that exams were the worst struggle he’d had this year. And this was only for the end of the fall term! He was dreading how much exams would suck  at the end of the school year. November and December flew by in a blur of assignments. He tried to put them off for as long as possible, but not only was Mom constantly asking him about homework, but so was Schneep. “I would be willing to help, if you need it,” he was constantly saying.

Chase turned him down every time. “I’m never gonna figure it out if I get help,” he said. “Besides, you’re also busy, aren’t you?”

“Yes, but I am always on the top of my class work,” Schneep would reply. “And we have some same classes, I could definitely help with those.”

The first time he said that, Chase said, “Great! Can I see your work, then?” And Schneep slapped his arm and said something about cheating that Chase couldn’t quite make out, since half of it was in German. So Chase learned to quietly accept the help Schneep provided. It felt a bit weird to get help from someone younger than him, but Schneep was really smart, so it wasn’t too weird. Still, there were some times when Schneep was at a loss for how to explain things. Especially with maths. Maths were Chase’s worst subject. The numbers just didn’t click in his brain.

Still, he struggled on. It was so hard to concentrate with the other big thing coming up. That being, only the greatest holiday of the year: Christmas. He couldn’t wait! The lights, the presents, the decorations, the songs! And he had to get presents for Schneep and the others! And maybe he could save up to get something for Mom, too? What did Mom like? Books and stuff, right?

Chase was sure that every single kid out there was as excited for this holiday as he was. But one day, at lunch—

“What do you mean you don’t like Christmas?!” Chase gasped.

Marvin shrugged. “At home, basically every day after our birthday is fucking soaked in Christmas. You saw the lights were up already, right? I’m pretty sure they put those up on November first.”

Usually, yes, but not this year, JJ said. Didn’t you notice? They waited until the day after you were home.

“Uh... not really,” Marvin said. “But that’s, uh, good.” He looked back at Chase. “Anyway, yeah, ‘cause of that I don’t really care about Christmas all that much.”

Me neither, JJ agreed. The best part of Christmas is that our grandma stays with us until New Year’s. Other than that? I’m not a fan.

Chase stared at them in disbelief. He looked at Stacy. “What about you?”

“Uhhhh... I-I don’t have any... strong feelings,” Stacy said awkwardly.

“How can you not have strong feelings?!” Chase turned to Schneep. “Come on, Schneep! Christmas is great! Like—you’ve gone to our family Christmas parties in America! I’ve seen you there!”

“Well, Mama and Papa would fly us over for the party, and then we would sleep in a hotel and leave the first thing the next morning,” Schneep said.

“Huh? Well... I guess I never really saw you guys hanging around...” Chase and his parents would always fly to his grandparents’ house a week before the actual party, doing stuff in town and spending time with the rest of the family who would gradually show up over the following days. He realized he never did see Schneep or his parents there outside of the party on Christmas Eve. It was one of the reasons he hadn’t been close with Schneep before Mom took him in. “You guys would fly back on Christmas morning? What about opening presents?”

Schneep looked down at the table. “Most of Christmas was Papa’s business things. If I was good during the time, I-I would... get my present at the end of the day...” He slowly trailed off.

Chase clenched his fists, angry, and then took a deep breath and nudged Schneep beside him. “Well I can show you how Mom and me do things this year, then! It’s so much better than that!” Schneep smiled softly.

“So, you guys are gonna fly to America for Christmas?” Stacy asked.

“Uh... I dunno,” Chase said. “We usually do, we leave right after exams are done. But, uh, a while ago Mom asked me how I’d feel about staying here this year. And I... said I’d be fine with that.” He shrugged, trying to look unbothered about it. He would really miss the Christmas party this year. But... it wouldn’t be the same without his dad there, too. And since the party was on Mom’s side of the family, he probably wasn’t going to be there.

“Aunt Jess asked me something similar,” Schneep said quietly.

“Winter holiday would fucking suck without you guys,” Marvin said.

Yes, I agree, JJ said.

Stacy frowned. “You should add, like, ‘no pressure’ to the end of that or something.”

No pressure, JJ added. Then he blinked, looking momentarily confused, but dismissed it.

“Well, ah, moving on from Christmas,” Schneep said. “Have you all figured out anything more about the strange doll?”

JJ glanced to the side—no doubt looking towards his locker. Apparently the doll would show up in his bag if he carried it around school with him, but if he left his bag in his locker it would stay there.

“Well, uh, last night we tried seeing if a knife did anything to it,” Marvin said.

“What?!” Stacy gasped.

“It didn’t, don’t worry,” Marvin said. “But then again, we didn’t do too much. We just kinda... pressed it against the doll. Didn’t cut through the cloth or anything. But! JJ couldn’t feel that.” JJ nodded. “So it’s probably fine. He also didn’t feel it when we dropped the doll out the window again. Or stacked books on top of it.”

“And... you two just did this on your own?” Schneep asked, worried.

We were careful! JJ said.

“What if something worked?! You would be hurt!”

“It’d be fiiiine, we were careful!” Marvin said. “Very slow about it. JJ was able to stop things if he started feeling weird.”

“You guys are crazy,” Stacy muttered.

“I mean... I guess if it worked?” Chase figured, gesturing vaguely. “Anyway. You guys notice any grown-ups who might be in the Circle watching you or anything?”

JJ shrugged. I think... the attention has started to fade, maybe.

“We’ll be able to go back to normal stuff once we reach winter holiday!” Marvin said cheerfully. “And once the fucking exams are over—fucking hell, I always forget how much I hhhate them.”

“If you are in trouble of failing, I could try to help you learn,” Schneep offered.

“Nah—you guys are a year below us, your shit is all different,” Marvin said. “Thanks, though. I don’t think I’ll fail anything, but... uh...” Marvin trailed off. For a moment, he looked... afraid. Not mortally afraid, but still. There was fear in his expression. Chase knew immediately what it meant. He was afraid that he actually would fail something.

“Well, uh, getting bad grades isn’t the end of the world,” Chase said awkwardly. “I did really bad on my exams last year. I, uh... couldn’t study.” Couldn’t bring himself to study. He ended up spending most of April and May lying in bed and feeling bad. Maybe he should’ve tried a bit harder? “B-but I ended up alright!” he hurriedly added, partly to push away his own doubtful thoughts.

I’m helping Marvin, don’t worry, JJ said. He smiled. He’s not going to get bad grades if I can help it.

Marvin laughed. “Yeah. And, uh... really thanks for that, JJ.”

Of course. You’re my brother.

“Do you think Jackie could tutor you guys?” Stacy asked.

“He’s probably busy,” Marvin said. “He’s in sixth form this year, right? That’s gotta be a lot of schoolwork. But I guess we can ask if things get really fucking bad.”

Chase frowned. “I still don’t really understand what sixth form is... even though I’ve lived here for years now, I just don’t get it. Is it like... a different school? But it happens in the same building?”

“Yeah, I think it’s special stuff to help you prepare for like... going to uni and shit,” Marvin said, frowning. “Well, whatever. We don’t have to deal with that for a couple years. And Jackie’s smart. I’m sure he’s doing good even if it’s a lot.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Chase nodded. Jackie was really cool and smart. He was probably dealing with exams better than most of them.

++++++++++++++++++++

“I’m so fucking dumb,” Jackie said, slamming his head down on the open textbook.

“You’re not dumb,” Fengge said reassuringly. “You’re just not good at taking notes.”

“Because taking notes is booooriiiiing,” Jackie groaned.

He was with the rest of his friends, sitting around a table in Fengge’s house. His parents had a full-on library attached to the side of their house. Well... it was a single room with floor-to-ceiling bookcases surrounding it. But there were still a lot of books in here! And the bookcases lent the room a sort of soundproofing, so the friend group tended to gather here when it came time to study.

“I’m with you,” Missy said, idly doodling on a corner of her notebook. “Not fun. And not all that helpful.”

“Studies show that note-taking is very helpful, actually,” Rama muttered. “Otherwise I would not remember how to calculate the area of a... uh... an ellipses.”

“Pi times semimajor axis times semiminor axis,” Sylvester said.

“Whoa! You know that off the top of your head, Syl?” Missy said, eyes wide. “Impressive!”

“It’s, uh, really not.”

“Smart and good at Gym—you’re a rare breed, Sylvester Shepard!” Missy said, leaning close to him.

Sylvester frowned. “...I feel like all smart people should be offended by that.”

“Oh, uh.” Missy slowly leaned back “I didn’t mean it like that. I just... think you’re great.”

“Oh. Um, thanks.”

“You two need a room,” Celine muttered.

While his friends bantered, Jackie lifted his head and stared down at the textbook. Why did he need to take Biology again? He didn’t want to have a job that would need it... maybe. He thinks. What did he want his future job to be? The question stuck in his head for a while before it slowly fell out, a thick syrup like all the rest of his current thoughts. He could think about his future later. Right now, his present was full of homework. Come on, concentrate. What was something important about Biology that he remembered? The structure of an animal cell... “Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell,” he muttered.

“Maybe we take a break,” Fengge said, reaching over to close Jackie’s textbook for him. The pages gently slapped Jackie’s cheek, since his head was still pretty close to the book.

“I’m fine, I can keep going,” Jackie said, putting a hand in the book as he sat up so Fengge couldn’t fully close it.

“Yeah, no, clearly not,” Ram said. “Breaks are good for you, Jackie.”

“Welp. I’m all for it.” Missy closed her notebook. “Now what d’we do during the break?”

“We could... watch a movie?” Sylvester said.

“That break sounds a little too long,” Celine said. She put her books down and moved them into a little stack. “Let’s just chat. I actually wanted to tell you something, Jackie.”

“Hmm?” Jackie perked up. “What is it?”

“You’re still looking for that Jack guy, right?”

Jackie immediately sat up straight. “Yeah?”

“Well I talked to my brother, Mr. Student Body,” Celine said. “He said that when Jack’s parents had to pull him out they were required to give a moving address. To prove they’re moving out of range. I guess. He said it’s probably still in the records, so that the school can send them letters.”

“Why would the school want to send a former student letters?” Sylvester asked. “I know universities do that, but... our school?”

Celine shrugged. “It’s what he said.”

Jackie’s mind was racing. “Do you think you could...? Do you think I could ask your brother for...?”

Celine grinned. “He wouldn’t tell you, Jackie. But fortunately, I have myself some ways.” She wriggled her fingers mystically. “I can figure it out for you... for a price.” That last part was added in a spooky voice.

“I’m not giving you thirty pounds,” Jackie said, straight-faced.

“Twenty?”

“Fifteen.”

“I’ll take it.”

“Done.” Jackie reached into his pocket and dug around for his wallet. He opened it up, took out a few loose bills, and handed over seven. “The rest on completion.”

“Hehehe.” Celine grinned. “That’s fair.”

Sylvester watched this all happen. “You guys freak me out sometimes.”

“But you looove us,” Jackie said teasingly.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“Why are you so curious about Jack McLoughlin, anyway, Jackie?” Ram asked. “Is it because of the name incident?”

“Uh... I just want to talk to him about some stuff,” Jackie said. “I... think he could help with it.”

“Hmm. That is fair.”

A moment passed in silence. “We could ask my mom for snacks,” Fengge said, looking towards the library door. “That would probably help with everything.”

“Oooo snacks!” Missy said. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

The group got up and headed out of the room towards Fengge’s kitchen. Jackie tried to keep his face neutral. If they could reach Jack, they could see if he really was connected to Anti. And if they could take care of Anti, they could stop these monsters for good. Or at least, stop Anti from getting them forcibly involved with the monsters. The rest? Well... he and the kids would figure it out eventually.

++++++++++++++++++++

Marvin stared at the worksheet sitting before him. He was sitting on the floor of his and Jameson’s shared bedroom, the worksheet sitting on a stack of books that formed a makeshift table. He really wished that they had a desk in their room. Honestly, he was surprised that Mam and Dad hadn’t already gotten one for JJ. But their room was pretty small; he wasn’t sure where a desk would fit, anyway.

A flush echoed down the hallway, and a few moments later, JJ appeared in the doorway. Sorry about that, he said.

“Literally don’t worry about it, it’s so normal,” Marvin said.

JJ sat down next to him. While I was gone, did you figure out the answer?

“Uhhh...” Marvin looked back down at the paper. “It’s... x = 12, right?”

Marvin, this is your World History homework, JJ signed gently.

“I know, I know. Just... thought I’d make a joke.” Marvin smiled weakly at JJ. When JJ didn’t smile back, he sighed, and put his head in his hands. “This fucking sucks, JJ. When am I ever gonna need to know this? I don’t think Chinese dynasties will come up a lot in my life.”

You could have taken English History instead, JJ pointed out.

“But I’ve taken English History every year! We never get any farther than, like, the fucking 1830s.”

Well, maybe this year would’ve been different if you took it, JJ said.

Marvin groaned. “Whatever. Just... help me out with this. It’s... Zhou, Shang, Qin—”

The first two are reversed, actually.

“Fuck.”

JJ smiled. Do you remember that little song I taught you to help with this?

“I do! I just... got the first two reversed.” Marvin groaned.

Let me see your textbook, JJ said.

Marvin pulled it out from the pile, opening it up. “I’m working on this chapter.” Some papers were sandwiched between the pages, covered in graphite writing. His notes. “And here’s what I got.”

JJ looked over the notes. The problem is that you’re being TOO detailed, I think. You’re never going to remember a long sentence like this. You have to jot down something shorter that reminds you of the longer fact. This is why people make acronyms and such.

“But... it all seems important,” Marvin said slowly.

JJ nodded. It does, but if you can remember a fact that’s linked to other facts, then the rest will come to you. Or at least, that’s how it’s always worked for me.

Marvin nodded back. “Alright. So... what should I focus on with this?”

The exam will probably ask you for a bunch of dates, so focus on those, JJ said. So you have to come up with ways to remember all those numbers. For me, I like to—

More footsteps came down the hallway. Dad peered into the open bedroom of their room. “What are you boys working on?” he asked.

“Uh... studying, Dad,” Marvin said.

“Oh really?” Dad smiled. “Working hard, huh? What’re you looking at now?”

“Um, World History,” Marvin said.

“Hmm?” Dad looked confused. “Jameson, I didn’t think you were taking World History.”

JJ blinked. I’m not... he said slowly. ...but I’m helping Marvin.

“Oh? So... you’ve already gotten all your own homework done, then?”

JJ hesitated. He nodded.

“Really?” Dad raised an eyebrow doubtfully. “So if I went down to check on your homework on the table downstairs, your essay would be done?”

Oh shit. The essay. Marvin glanced at JJ worriedly, knowing that he hadn’t even started it. It’s not due until next week, JJ said.

“It’s never good to procrastinate, Jameson. That only leads to sloppy work at the last minute. You need time to edit your writing and double-check that you’re doing the best work you can. You don’t often get second chances in life.” Dad smiled in a... well-meaning way. “Now. Go down and work on your homework and don’t stop until you’re done with that essay.”

JJ stood up right away, nodding, and headed out of the room. Marvin looked after him, surprised at how fast he got up and left. Usually when something like this happened, JJ at least took time to reassure Marvin that he’ll be back later. Or to remind Marvin about some important fact or studying method. Not this time. It was fine, but... confusing. And Marvin would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little hurt, wondering if he’d done something wrong. But it was too late to say anything. JJ was already gone, leaving Dad standing awkwardly in the bedroom doorway. “Well... good luck, Marvin,” Dad said, and went back down the hall towards his and Mam’s bedroom. 

Marvin sighed and looked back at his notes and worksheets.

Meanwhile, JJ was sitting at the kitchen table, pencil in hand, before he even realized what he was doing. He just—got up like that? How rude! He should go back upstairs to apologize to Marvin, at least. And finish what he was telling him. Maybe he could even take his books upstairs with him. Even though he usually left them at the kitchen table so he could do homework on a proper flat surface, it would be better to do homework together, wouldn’t it?

He started to get up.

Or, at least... he tried to.

He pushed the chair back from the table, but when he thought about standing up... his body just didn’t listen. He continued to sit there.

Okay, that was annoying. Come on, JJ. There would be no real consequence to delaying for a moment. Mam and Dad probably wouldn’t even notice if he popped back upstairs. Come on. Stand up.

But his legs wouldn’t move.

Jameson’s eyes widened in alarm. He looked down at the pencil in his hand, and told himself to let go of it. But the result was the same. His fingers stayed wrapped around the wood. He wasn’t gripping it tightly or anything. Just holding it casually. But he couldn’t... let... go.

He stared at his hand, utterly baffled for a moment. And while he did that, he found himself pulling the chair closer to the table. His other hand grabbed a piece of paper from the stack nearby and set it in front of him. And then... the pencil started to move. It pressed to the paper, and his eyes widened as he felt his hand write his name at the top without his intent.

What was this?! What was happening?!

The pencil wrote down his name, the class, and the professor’s name, and then stopped. Desperately, he tried to push back from the table again, but every time he thought about it his body stayed still. His eyes widened and his breathing started to speed up as panic crept up on him. Why?! Why couldn’t he stand up?! He looked around the kitchen, eyes darting, head turning. Was there something strange in here?! No, he couldn’t see anything. His eyes looked back down to the paper. Was he—was he being compelled to do his homework? Why?!

No no no, he didn’t want to do that. He wanted to go back upstairs and help Marvin. This wasn’t due for a while, but Marvin’s worksheet was due the day after tomorrow! He had to help him a bit more, at least!

Why couldn’t he stand up?!

A small whimper came from his throat. He continued to struggle against whatever force was keeping him here, against whatever was keeping him still. But he couldn’t fight it. He thought about crying out for help—Granmam was in the living room, she would hear him before Marvin or his parents did. But, as always, his throat closed up.

Maybe—maybe if he just got through the essay, this would go away? Maybe if he focused long enough to do it, he could get up afterwards? He wasn’t going to be stuck sitting here forever, he couldn’t be!

His vision was starting to blur with tears. Focus! Calm down! Just calm down! He didn’t have to write a good essay, he just had to write something.

Slowly, he took shaking breaths, and tried to concentrate on the words. He just... had to write about... what was he writing about? A book? Right, The Count of Monte Cristo. What prompt had he chosen, again? Something about... morality in the book?

Concentrate, concentrate. Everything would be okay if he could concentrate.

...

...

Time passed. He wrote slower than he usually did, counting the words until he was done, trying to write around wet spots on the paper. Finally, he finished it off with a weak conclusion paragraph. He leaned back, breathing slowly, blinking up at the ceiling. Then he tried to stand up.

It worked. Just as normal. It was so normal, in fact, that for a moment he doubted anything had happened. But no. He would never be able to forget that.

He walked out into the hallway, reaching the staircase—

“Jems!” Granmam was in the hallway already, walking towards the kitchen. Next to her feet, their kitten Sinney wound around her legs. But they both stopped as they saw Jameson, Granmam staring in shock. “Are you alrigh’, lad?”

Jameson was aware that his eyes were red and his face was red. But he couldn’t explain what just happened. He—he didn’t know how to. So he just hurried up the stairs, not looking at her as he climbed.

Marvin had given up on the worksheet and was now lying on Jameson’s bottom bunk, flipping through the instruction manual for his magic kit. He initially didn’t look up as he heard Jameson come in. “Hey, d’you think I could use my greenlight powers to do some of these for real?” he asked. And then he looked up. And he went white. “Wh-what happened?”

Jameson shook his head. I don’t know! I couldn’t move!

“What do you mean?” Marvin sat up straight.

I went down to the table and I couldn’t move I couldn’t stand up and the only way to fix it was to write the essay and I don’t know what it was but it must have been something weird and magic and scary— Jameson’s signs started to fall apart as the panic returned.

“Whoa, whoa, hey!” Marvin quickly scrambled to his feet and walked over to JJ. He put his hands on his shoulders. “Calm down. Breathe, JJ. Please.” His voice was soft. Gentle. A solid anchor to grab onto.

JJ took a few deep breaths and wiped his eyes. It must have been something related to Anti or the greenlight or something. That wasn’t normal.

Marvin shook his head. “No, it wasn’t. Hang on. I-I was thinking about this, and I might be able to sense the greenlight...”

JJ nodded slowly. He knew that Marvin had been practicing on that. So far, he’s been able to pick up on ‘vibes’ from the weird doll and some of the rocks in his collection.

While Marvin closed his eyes, concentrating, JJ heard footsteps come up the stairs. Granmam stopped in the doorway to their bedroom, holding Sinney in her arms. “I was wond’rin’ if you two wanted some playtime with the kitten.”

Marvin’s eyes immediately opened up again. “Sinney!” He went over to the corner, grabbing a cat toy that he’d left there. He dangled it in front of Sinney, and she immediately leapt out of Granmam’s arms and pounced on it.

“Is there anyt’ing else you lads need?” Granmam asked, looking directly at JJ as she said that.

Jameson shook his head. No. But thank you, Granmam.

Granmam smiled. “Any time.” And she headed back downstairs.

JJ waited until she was gone to close the doorway. Then he turned back to Marvin. Did you get any vibes?

“No more than the normal ones,” Marvin said. “From there—” He pointed at his box of rocks. “—and there.” He pointed at the corner where they’d thrown the doll earlier. It was sitting on the floor casually. Like it was relaxing and staring at them.

JJ shivered. He walked over to the doll and turned it around so it was facing the wall instead. And... that’s when he noticed it. Does the doll look... bigger to you?

“Huh?” Marvin looked away from Sinney and towards the doll. “I... guess.” He paused. “It’s not, like, taller, but it does look... bigger? Like there’s more stuffing inside.” His eyes widened. “Do you think the doll did that to you?”

JJ nodded slowly. We HAVE been wondering what it does... 

“Holy shit. It... froze you in place?”

No, that wasn’t exactly what happened. He wasn’t just frozen. He was stuck there until he did his homework. JJ frowned. He had a crazy idea... He didn’t want it to be right, but there was one way to figure out if he was. Tell me to do something, he said.

Marvin blinked. “Huh?”

Tell me to do something, JJ repeated. Something I wouldn’t normally want to do.

“Okay, uh...” Marvin looked down at Sinney. “Meow like a cat.”

“Mew.” JJ’s eyes widened as the sound popped out of his mouth. 

Marvin glanced at him in surprise.

Now see what the vibes from the doll are, Jameson said.

Marvin narrowed his eyes at the doll in concentration. He gasped. “It—there was like, a spike in the vibes. A vibe spike.”

Tell me to do something else! Jameson insisted.

“Um, uh—do ten jumping jacks!”

JJ started jumping immediately. He tried to stop, but just like downstairs, his body didn’t listen to his brain. As he did this, panic on his face, Marvin looked over at the doll again. “Another vibe spike!” he gasped. “The—the doll—it’s—making you do stuff?”

JJ finally finished his jumping jacks, panting. It’s making me do stuff people are telling me to, I think.

“That’s so fucking fucked up!” Marvin gasped. “What the fuck?! And we’re pretty sure the Circle gave this to you, right?! What the fuck?! Why?!”

I don’t know, JJ said. But we need to message the others.

++++++++++++++++++++

“So you’ve never seen a Christmas movie?” Chase pushed. “Like, at all?”

Schneep shook his head. “No, and I am starting to get tired of you and everyone else talking about Christmas all the time.”

“Sorry. It’s just... such an important thing to me, you know?” Chase said. “It’s like... really big and happy and, uh... and good.” He shrugged. “Anyway, you gotta at least see one Christmas movie. Then I’ll leave you alone. Probably. I’ll try, I mean.” He was currently crouched on the floor in front of the TV, looking through their DVDs. Schneep sat on the sofa behind him. In his lap was a textbook and his small plushie bat, Mitternacht. “Uh... We can watch How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Or these stop motion things, I guess, they’re kinda boring. Nightmare Before Christmas is more of a Halloween one, I think, but we didn’t watch it in October so we could watch it now. Have you heard of any of these at all?”

Schneep shook his head. “No. I am sorry.”

Chase sighed. “Maybe you didn’t have any of these in Germany.”

“No, maybe we did. But my parents did not like me to watch television. Remember?”

“Yeah...” Chase frowned for a moment, then continued looking through the movies. “Oh! A Muppet Christmas Carol! That one’s fun. But my favorite is Home Alone. It’s funny. We can watch that.”

“Do you think I will like it?” Schneep asked.

“Yeah, sure! It’s about this kid who gets left home alone accidentally while his family goes to France for Christmas holiday. While the mom really tries to get back to him, he has to stop some burglars from getting into the house.”

“Ooo.” Schneep leaned closer. “Alright. I am... intrigued.”

Chase laughed. “Intrigued? Fancy word.”

“It means curious... I think. Or, ah... interested?”

“Can’t believe you know more English words than me sometimes,” Chase muttered, setting up the DVD.

Footsteps came down the stairs as Mom arrived in the living room. “What are you boys doing?” she asked. “Are you done with homework?”

“Yeah, Mom,” Chase said. “I’m showing Henrik Home Alone.”

Schneep nodded. He held out the textbook—apparently it was a habit of his to offer for Aunt Jess to check his work.

“Don’t worry about it, Henrik,” Mom said, knowing what he was asking. “Before you two get started, Chase, I wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh. Uh, yeah, sure.” Chase stood up and walked over.

“Both of you,” Mom continued. She looked back and forth between Chase and Schneep. “How would the two of you feel about... having the family Christmas party here this year?”

“Huh?” Chase blinked. “Like... in our house?”

“Well, obviously our house isn’t as big as Grandma and Grandpa’s,” Mom says. “So the family wouldn’t actually stay in the house. They’d stay in a hotel.”

“Ohhh. Uh...” Chase thought about it. He did really like traveling back to America every year for the party. His grandparents’ house was great, they had a big TV and a big yard with a playground and so many rooms! But... He looked at Schneep. “What d’you think?”

“Ah... wh-who will be coming to the party?” Schneep asked, looking nervous.

Mom looked at him seriously. “Albrecht and Maggie won’t be invited if you’re not comfortable with them being there,” she said softly.

Schneep looked down at his lap. He messed with Mitternacht’s wings. “I... I would be... fine with... h-having the party here. As for Mama and Papa... ahm... a-ask me again l-later.”

Mom nodded. “Alright. If you’re sure.” She looked at Chase. “What about you? You know, if we have the party here... I was... thinking about inviting some of your dad’s relatives.”

Chase perked up. “Will Dad be there?” He hadn’t been expecting Dad to go to the Christmas party, since it was on Mom’s side of the family.

“I don’t know, sweets. Maybe.”

Chase nodded. “Y-yeah, let’s have the party here!”

Mom smiled. “Great. I’ll start sending out invitations, then.” She headed back upstairs. “You have fun watching the movie!”

“We will, Mom!” Chase shouted up after her. He grinned, thinking about it. What if Dad really did come to the party? What if—what if he could talk to him? About video games and baseball and everything? That would be amazing! Though his chest kinda hurt thinking about it... Not because he was sad. Because he was feeling... something else. He didn’t know what, though. It was... good, maybe? Maybe... he could ask Mom about that later. For now, he looked at Schneep. “Are you, uh... okay?”

Schneep nodded slowly. He was hugging Mitternacht to his chest. “Ah, can we... watch the movie now? You said it was funny?”

“Yeah.” Chase walked back over to the sofa and sat down next to Schneep in his usual place. While they’d been talking, the previews included on the DVD had been playing. He quickly pressed the menu button. “The movie’s from, like, years ago so some things are different, but the funny is forever.”

Schneep laughed a little. “I am very intrigued now.”

Chase laughed as well. “Hope it lives up to the intrigued, then.”

He pressed play on the remote and the two of them settled in for the movie, leaning close against each other. The first half of the movie proceeded normally, but then—

Beep!

He heard the text tone of his phone go off. Chase scooted over to the end table to grab it, looking at the message. It was from JJ. Emergency meeting tomorrow at zellys PLEASE!!!!

“Is it one of the others?” Schneep asked.

“Yeah... JJ says we need to meet tomorrow.” Chase frowned. The capital letters and multiple exclamation marks really wasn’t like JJ’s usual way of typing. He hoped everything was okay.

...

It would be fine, wouldn’t it? After all, the meeting isn’t now, it couldn’t be that bad if JJ was asking them to wait until tomorrow.

Chase slowly set the phone down. “I’ll ask him about the time after we’re done,” he said. Though he felt a bit bad about it, he was sure everything would be okay.