#I guess this is what happens when you start approaching 25

[skyward-floored]

I finally opened the rest of my birthday presents (long story) and there was a box that was sorta heavy and about the right size and for one brief fleeting moment I wondered if my parents had gotten me a switch

...It was a portable air compressor sdfbdjdbdhdhd

[hellfire--cult]

Stripper!Billy Hargrove x Fem!Reader

wc: 7.5k

Request by @pastel-pillows: Billy gets hired for a private party. The only rules is to keep it in his pants and for the clients to not touch him... Unless he says so.

+18 MDNI, stipper dancing, grinding, hard on, fingering, roughness, p in v, billy is OOC, he is not an ass, smut, smut, smut

A/N: This is Stripper!Billy from my Do I wanna Know Series. I love you ash for this request, and I hope you and every other horny person for Billy enjoys it.

REBLOGS are true support.

no charge

Billy looked at himself once more in the mirror before grabbing his duffel bag filled with other clothes and things he would need for tonight.

He pays no mind to these kinds of jobs, and Joyce is the one that arranges them. Clients can approach her to talk about hiring one of the strippers for one night for a private gathering or party. Joyce lays down the rules for every client, and she ensures their safety by having their GPS turned on at all times in their cellphones. The job lasts two hours, and if in two hours Joyce doesn’t have any notice from them, she sends someone to the address of the place they are heading over. 

The client must give many personal details such as their full name, legal address, real phone number and it is all cross checked with their IDs. Joyce is very strict when it comes to the boys' safety, so he is really thankful for her taking care of them this way. Not many bosses work the way she does, but Billy guesses it’s just her motherly instinct.

Today he was hired for a birthday party. The one that hired him was the birthday girl's best friend, and she was very direct when she asked for Billy specifically. He walked down the stairs and to see Steve playing with Eddie with the switch controllers as they stared at the screen. “Stop throwing shells at me!” Steve yells at Eddie who only laughs at his friend as he now stands at 4th place in Mario Kart. Billy rolls his eyes as he walks towards the front door.

“Hey! Remember to put the GPS on! We’ll be watching!” Eddie yells at him and Billy only sighs but internally he is grateful he is being taken care of by his closest friends as well.

“Yeah mom.” Billy retorts and then Steve is the one that speaks next.

“Don’t stick the dick in!” 

Billy only groans at that and walks out of the apartment to start heading to the address of the birthday girl. He knows about the rules and the clients know about them too. This is a dance only. The only hands that can be pressed on him are just on his shoulders and if he allows them, on his chest. They cannot touch him indecently in any way or at any point. If the rule is broken he has all the right to head out because he feels uncomfortable and he gets paid in full anyway. 

That happened a few times, but mostly with the older crowd. Women in their 40’s or 50’s. This party was of people his age from what he had read. He threw the duffel bag in the back of his camaro and turned on his GPS and immediately sent a message to Joyce telling her he was heading to the address. Joyce sent him a reminder to be careful and if at any point he has to bail out, to do so.

He starts his car and drives towards the suburban part of town. He has been here a few times for bachelorette parties, so he knows his way around. He looks at the piece of paper in order to get the street and number right and after driving for two more minutes, he reaches the house and he can already hear the music and some girl yelling. He looks at the window and he tries to figure out how many people are there.

A smirk spreads on his face when he sees the birthday girl. 

Oh, this was going to be one of those nights.

You giggled as you danced in the middle with your best friend, your other friends cheering you on. You had put some pink lights to make the space more fun, more enticing. 

It’s not every day that you turn 25, and what better way than to simply get drunk with all of your friends. It’s been so long since you had fun like this, and you can finally be free again thanks to your decision to break things off with your boyfriend after a year. The problem with him was that he was a prude, vanilla, and sadly that interfered with your feelings for him. It didn’t mean you didn’t love him, and it took a while for you to get over the breakup– even if you were the one that did it.

Attraction is very much needed in a relationship, and you had lost it completely for your ex.

He just didn’t want to try anything at all. You came up with ideas, positions and things you could both try and he didn’t find anything interesting. Not even some spanking. It became harder and harder to reach an orgasm with him, and the attraction slowly started fading away. Emotionally he was perfect, but he didn’t match that physically. It had angered you that he wasn’t even willing to try anything for you, so that also impulsed your decision to break things off.

The doorbell rang and you immediately stopped dancing with your best friend and you looked at her with a confused look on your face and then scanned the room. Everyone was here. You didn’t invite anyone else. You let go of her in order to go get the door but was stopped by her with a smile on her face.

“Don’t! Just, stay there, I’ll get it!” You were frowning at the situation but then you saw all your friends giggling with one another, Jeremiah smiling at you as he got a chair right in the middle of the room. What is going on?

“Don’t kill us…” He says to you and you are still staring at him as he looks over your shoulder and you see him giggle with a blush to his face, stepping back into his chair. Heavy boots could be heard as they walked into the living room and you slowly turned around and you really thought that a Greek god of some sort just entered your house. 

He had the brightest set of eyes you’ve ever seen, piercing even, blonde curls styled and pulled back into a half ponytail with some falling towards his shoulders. He was built, and tall, and you couldn’t help but almost salivate as you stared at his plump lips. Lips that slowly spread, showing off his bright teeth to you. 

“Is this the birthday girl?” The man asked and his voice just sent a shiver down your spine instantly. Your best friend snickered behind him and nodded, saying your name to him.

“This is our gift baby, from all of us.” She was smirking at you and then the room cheered. They… They got you a stripper. Oh dear god… You weren’t prepared for this, you’ve never experienced what a stripper could do, never went to a show but– You should have. If men like this work there then it is worth every penny and you were so grateful to your friends right now.

The man took a few steps towards you, his eyes locked with yours, and it might be the alcohol you’ve been drinking but everything simply grows hot as he raises a hand up and places it on your chin, tilting it upwards for you to look at him more properly.

“I’m Billy.” You were completely certain that you looked dazed, as if hypnotized by this man’s looks. You heard Jeremiah woo at him and Billy only chuckled as he leaned towards you. “One rule for you birthday girl. You don’t touch me unless I want you to, got that?”

You nod dumbly at that request, and it was going to be hard to keep your hands to yourself, but out of respect you knew you had to. Billy lets go of your chin, and he turns around to give a nod to your best friend. She bit her lip and headed over to her phone to change the music. He put a request for songs for tonight, and he had asked your preference of dance.

He wanted to know if you would like it rough, or exciting, or slow and enticing. When he gave your best friend his options, she instantly went for slow, yet rough at some parts because she said, and he quotes ‘You needed it.’. He didn’t press for more questions but Joyce did, just so she would know your mental situation and for Billy to know exactly what to do and what to not overdo. 

You needed to be shown what you have been missing the past year.

Billy sat you down on the chair your friends had placed in the middle of the room as they all were sitting around it, small cheers and whistles being heard as your eyes never left Billy’s. He didn’t expect to dance for someone like you tonight. You caught his eye the moment he saw you whipping your hips from side to side as he looked through the window of your home outside. 

There was this carnal need growing inside of him, but he had to focus on the job, not let it get to his head. One of the things he had to make sure of in these kinds of parties or small side jobs was to never, ever, get hard. It wasn’t impossible to do so really, since he was always the one grinding on the people, but if he does get hard it might give the wrong message, and people might feel entitled to touch him, thinking they can do it, just because he is a man with normal reactions.

‘Renegade’ by Aaryan Shah started playing on the speakers and your breathing hitched at the rain sound at the beginning of it. You took a shaky breath in as he started circling around you, his hand softly grazing all over your shoulders, and when the beat started, his hands pressed on your biceps, dragging them all the way down, slowly, and not putting pressure on his fingertips but it was enough to make your skin grow goosebumps from it.

“I’m gonna make you feel wanted…” You didn’t even notice he had gotten close to your ear from behind, his hot breath hitting your skin making you shiver and his low whisper sent a shock that reached your center. Your mind was blocking out everyone else, slowly, as if your friends weren’t cheering you on, or him for that matter. 

“Please…” You replied to him and he was sure he wouldn’t be able to hear you through the music, but he did, and his eyes almost widened at your boldness. You really needed this. He took the opportunity while standing behind you to push his sneakers off by placing the tip of his foot at the back of each and pulling.

He kept circling you until he was standing in front of you again, a smirk on his face as he suddenly ripped his jacket open, taking it off in one swift motion and you were so focused on his face before that you did not notice that he was wearing a button up shirt that was half closed, showing off his chest and some of his abs. 

Your breathing stopped at the sight and he chuckled at your expression. He definitely knew he was attractive, never an ounce of self doubt about that, and that’s what made this job easy for him. But there was something in your eyes that was different from the other girls and women he danced for– Something that was making his body grow a little hotter at each flick of your eyes towards his body.

There was genuine and pure lust in them.

He knew there was desire for him with all those other clients, but you… There was something else, as if you were hungry, starving even. He motioned for you to give him your hand and you took a second to notice what he was saying, raising a shaking hand to him. He licked his lips and bit the bottom one as he made you grip the middle of his open shirt, right under his pecs. 

He gripped your hand tightly, and made you pull it down in one hard motion, surprising you, and all of his buttons flew away as his shirt flew completely open, revealing all of his abdomen to you. You felt your mouth salivate at the sight, the rhythm of the song blasting in your ears, making the moment much more seductive. 

You were expecting strippers to be rough, manhandling you around as you’ve seen in tik tok videos, or instagram, and even magic mike, and just grinding on you aggressively. You didn’t expect this man to be moving slowly, yet it was sending fire currents all over your body at each sudden movement he did.

Billy took his shirt off and smirked as he threw it towards your other friend, Jeremiah, who squealed in delight at it. You had forgotten about your friends, and your eyes blinked as you looked around and you saw all the clapping and cheering going around, only to be pulled back into that bubble of arousal as you felt strong hands grip your chin again, and make you look up into blue orbs that were staring back at you intensely.

“Your attention is only mine tonight. Keep it that way.” Billy smirked as you stared up at him, an amused look on your face. He never expected responses from his dominance, most of the time they just nod at him and let him proceed, but you… you wiped Billy’s smirk away as you smiled at him and actually retorted back to him.

“Yes Sir.”

That word shot right to his dick. He cursed at you in his mind, shaking the feeling of rising arousal he was feeling to keep going with his job. He pulled his hand away from you only for both of your hands to be grabbed by him, pulling you up from the chair, causing you to gasp as you stand on both of your trembling knees. 

He smirked at how you slightly wobbled and he made you press your hands against his chest and then guided you, very slowly, over his chest and down to his abdomen. He was expecting you to be looking at where your hands were going, but your eyes kept locked against his all the time. Your hands were on fire at every dent you passed by, at the heat of his skin, but you didn’t press your hands on him.

And for some reason, Billy was disliking that.

He licked his lips, a smirk appearing on his face as he looked down at his jeans and then back up at you. You followed his gaze and your eyes widened, looking up at him again wondering if you understood right. He guided your hands towards his happy trail, making you graze your fingertips on his V shape and he almost let out a groan at the feeling. Your eyes were now stuck at his form, feeling the soft hairs that went beneath the hem of his denims.

“Open them up.” There were cheers and whistles around at the request, but you couldn’t hear them, just the soft bass that played on the song. Your fingers swiftly unbuttoned his jeans and you took a deep breath in as you got hold of the zipper and started pulling it down. Billy could feel the tip of your thumb as you glided it down with the metal and he felt it. He felt how his bulge was slowly growing. 

You looked up at him when everything was undone and he tilted his head at you, as if telling you that you are missing something. He nodded once towards the floor and back at you, and you felt your heart beating into your ears as you slowly started getting on your knees in front of him. 

And Billy cursed inwardly once more. You look so fucking beautiful like this. 

He almost never took his pants off at a performance. But oh he wanted to right now. He chuckled as you kept yourself on the floor and he walked to your side and then behind you. He felt himself starting to lose control of his desire because you just looked too exquisite to him. It wasn’t that the other clients were not of his liking, but you… something was coming out of your body, almost like pheromones that were pulling him in.

He pressed a hand on your shoulder and he gave you a soft push, enough to make you lose some balance and get on all fours as your hands landed on the floor. Billy couldn’t contain the smirk inside of him because you were completely unaware of your friends around you. You weren’t paying any mind to them any longer and it was all thanks to him. Now he understands what your best friend meant by you needing it. 

Your heart thumped in your chest and your eyes widened when he pressed his hips against your ass, and you felt him. He was hard. It was something normal, wasn’t it? They grind on clients and it is normal for them to get hard. Billy on the other hand, couldn’t help himself as he pressed against you and that made him even harder than before, not caring any longer about the people in the room, just like you weren’t paying mind to them.

He pressed onto you even rougher, prompting you to finally lay down on the floor, hands on both sides of your head as it turned to look at him over your shoulder. Billy salivated at the hazy look in your eyes, pupils blown wide, and he chuckled at you while getting on top of your body, his face coming close to your ear, softly whispering to you.

“Stay still.” And that you did, feeling your thighs clench at his order, cheeks becoming flushed as you wondered what he was going to do. He smirked as he raised himself up on his hands as he hovered over your body and then he parted his legs even wider so he could have some leverage. His hips started swaying back and forth into a sensual motion, grazing over your bottom half every time he went down.

You gasped at the sensual movement, and you held in a groan as the wetness started to soak your underwear. This man had you in a curse at the moment, and you didn’t know if you wanted it to be cured. Were you that desperate that a stripper is making you feel this way? He is just doing his job which is just dancing, nothing more to it.

But fuck will it rise your expectations for other men now.

Billy’s eyebrow twitched as he looked down at you, and all he could think about was ripping that shirt off your body, to feel your skin under his palm. He stops grinding and his hand snakes to the front of your throat and he pulls you with him as he kneels back up. His chest presses against your back, a moan coming out of your throat.

You wanted to take your hand back, to be able to touch him, rub him, feel him. But your hands were kept in place, not wanting this to be over. If you did as you desired he will stop this and leave, and that’s the last thing you want. Billy couldn’t contain himself as he broke his own personal rule and pressed his bulge against your ass, and you heard him growl in his throat.

Your head was spinning and suddenly you felt his free hand grip yours, and your eyes widened when he guided you to where you wanted your hand to actually be. He made you stick your hand into his open pants and you could cup his hardness into your hand. His breath was in your ear and you were sure he was giving you permission now to do as you please, so in front of everyone, you moved your hand, slowly, up and down on his bulge. 

Billy had made up his mind at this point. He is going to break every single rule, every single warning sign thrown out the window. He was going to get his phone out of his bag, message Joyce, and Eddie and Steve that he will take a little bit longer. You felt a shiver run down your spine as his fingers splayed all over your throat, massaging it gently, and his lips came close to your ear, his hot breath fanning onto it.

“Can I give you a present?” He felt you stiffen, and he smirked as your hand stopped rubbing on him due to shock, but then he groaned into your skin as you began to move your hand even harder on him, surprising him as you turned your head to look at him with a smirk on your face.

“A gift?” You dared to ask and he could only smile at you, his lips coming close to yours, hovering over them, and you were dying to move forward and press them against his. You wanted to taste this man, and the next words he said to you made your body tremble suddenly with an urgent need.

“No charge.”

That’s when he pushed you off him and your eyes seemed to come back to reality for a few seconds, the yelling and cheering from your friends sipping into your ears. Sounds you had blocked out completely all this while, dissociating from the world that was around you and Billy. You looked up towards your best friend who had a wide eyed look on her friend as she covered her mouth with her hand. 

Billy walked around you, a smirk on his face all the while, and he went to grab his bag that he left on the front door, winking at your best friend as he passed by, and then he turned around to face you again, tilting his head as if waiting for you to make the next move. 

“Turn the music all the way up.” Those were your simple instructions and your friends cheered on you as you walked towards the stripper you met just a few moments ago. Your best friend gave you a wink and a motion for you to not lock the door. Your friends protected you just in case… because Billy is still a stranger. No matter what the job is, he still is one and you don’t know him.

What you do know, is the size of his dick. And you definitely need it inside of you.

You walk towards him to get hold of his free hand, his jeans still unbuttoned and open, the bulge just trying to break free from them. You gave him one look as if asking one last time if it was okay and he gave you a wink with a teeth showing grin. You turned the both of you and headed upstairs as the music started to increase in volume. You didn’t really care if your friends heard you, not when you deserved this. 

Billy took the opportunity that you had your back towards him to take his phone out of the side pocket of the bag as it hung on his shoulder. He texted his friends and then Joyce. His boss knows what it means when they say it’s taking a little longer, no need to clarify. She always sends a be careful and to keep the GPS on. Eddie is the one to reply to him and he almost lets out a snort at the message.

‘Wrap it.’

Billy puts the phone back in the bag, and then grabs onto the small metallic package he has there, tucking it into his back pocket, as you walk down the hallway of your home. Billy was amazed by your age and the fact that you own a home. None of his business on how you got it, but it was still intriguing. The music, even if loud, was becoming distant, even if a bit, and you were happy your room wasn’t above the living room. 

You opened the door to your bedroom, and the nerves finally kicked in. All the confidence you had earlier on to make a move were now squashed as you turned around to see Billy closing the door behind him, looking down at you as his bag dropped to the floor. Your breathing stammering slightly, not knowing how to move on from here. It’s been so long since you’ve been with a man other than your ex, so you didn’t know how to start this off like you used to.

But Billy knew what you needed, from the moment he saw you, the moment your best friend said your preference. He knew, and he was glad you needed something like that because he loves it that way. 

His hand shot up suddenly, grabbing you by the shoulders and turning you both around so that he could slam you against the closed door. You gasped at how he manhandled you so effortlessly and just took you completely by surprise. He towered over you, gazing down at your eyes and you could feel your knees trembling at how intense his eyes were. His hand raised up to put it under your chin and hold your eyes to his own.

“You need it badly, don’t you? You need a real man–” He pressed his hips against yours and you could feel his bulge against your lower belly, making you whimper against your throat. “To treat you like you deserve.”

You felt yourself clench at nothing in his voice. He had you in the palm of his hand, and his eyes were looking down at you, as if waiting for something. This man knows you want him, but you also know that this man wants you just the same, and that is boosting your ego and your confidence. You never imagined a guy like him to look twice your way… but here he was. A smile spread on your lips as you answered back to him.

“Yes sir~”

At your purr Billy’s lips instantly slammed on yours, a moan escaping your mouth and into his as he did so. His hands moved towards your wrists and he grabbed onto them, pulling them up above your head and using one hand to hold them together and staying there. You were surprised at the sudden movement, a whine coming out of your mouth, while his lips were pulled into a grin in between the kiss. 

His lips moved against yours, roughly, seeking for more as his body fully pressed against yours, chest against chest, and his other free hand went towards your neck, pressing your head against the door as well. You felt yourself becoming wetter by the second, and you moaned in surprise as his thigh came in between your legs, pressing harshly against your center, the seam of your jeans pressing just right against your clit.

He chuckled into the kiss and pulled away, barely, so he could look at your face. Your eyes turned half lidded and wanton moans escaped your lips every time he pressed his knee even harder on you. He took his tongue out and ran it through your bottom lip, gently. You tasted divine, but he wasn’t here to be gentle tonight. He knew you didn’t want him to be gentle either.

Your hips started moving against his thigh, and he looked down at your movements as you rode him. He felt his cock twitch in his underwear, and he looked back up to your face and he took his hand away from your neck. He was surprised to hear you whine at the loss of his grip, but he then started sliding his hand down, reaching the button of your pants, making your eyes snap wide to look at him.

“Let me show you what you’ve been missing, sweets.” The grip on your wrists tightened as he unbuttoned your jeans and pulled your zipper down. You couldn’t hear the music or anything but your beating heart. It was just a constant pumping of blood in your ear. You felt his fingertips slide into the elastic of your panties, and you shivered at the tickling sensation he was leaving behind each time he inched closer to your cunt.

“Please, please Billy…” You begged, and who was Billy to deny you when you asked so nicely? He smiled down at you as his fingers found the bundle of nerves that made a moan come out of your lips without shame. He gave it a few circling motions and your hips were trying to grind against him.

His face leaned down towards your neck, inhaling deeply to take in your scent, your perfume. You whimpered when you felt his hand moving lower and his lips closing onto the skin of your neck, leaving kisses over it. You gasped when he suddenly ran his fingers through your drenched folds, making your skin flush completely, a chuckle escaping his lips and onto your neck.

“Look how wet you already are, baby.” Your arms were starting to hurt from being pinned for this long above your head, but that pain was thrown out of the window when you felt a finger of his running over and over your folds in order to wet it before entering you. You gasped as you threw your head back, leaving Billy more access to your neck.

He was becoming drunk of how wet you were for him as he pumped his finger in and out of you. Damn, he really wanted to taste you now, but he had to move quickly. He couldn’t spend the night here, nor take his sweet time with you. At least… not today.

“Billy– Billy, fuck–” You were moaning his name, and he couldn’t help himself but bite onto your neck as he inserted a second finger in you, his pace quickening. You couldn’t believe how good you could feel with just fingers. He was curling them in the right position, hitting your spongy spot over and over, rubbing his fingertips against it. 

He let go of your neck in order to kiss you again so he could swallow your moans into his throat. He took the opportunity of your mouth being open and his mouth instantly slipped in, clashing against yours. You tasted divine. If you tasted like this in your mouth, his resolve of not eating you out was wavering. 

His tongue danced with yours, his fingers going deep inside you, curled as he pressed the belly of his palm against your clit and moved his hand rapidly back and forth, making the movements of your tongue falter as loud moans went from your throat to his. He pulled away in order to hear you and your loud whimpers were music to his ears.

“Fuck, look at you…” He was mesmerized by you, your head thrown back onto the door as his fingers kept moving. He then stopped all together, making you whine at the loss of friction. You were feeling so good and he decided to stop now? His hand finally lets go of your wrists and you sigh in relief as you pull them down to your sides once again. His fingers leave you, and he pulls them out of your underwear to look at them. 

You are looking at him as he smirks at you, taking his fingers into his mouth, his eyes closing as he tastes you on his tongue. Fuck, you were sweeter down there. He should have eaten you out instead of fingering you. He moaned into his fingers and you clenched onto nothing at the sound. 

When his fingers left his mouth, he opened his eyes to find yours. His hands then grabbed the hem of your pants and he crouched in order to pull them down along with your now soaked underwear. You couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment. You stepped out of them and he stood up as he scanned you again.

“W–What?”

“Take your shirt off.” You gulped at how demanding he sounded, but you complied in just a second. You pulled your shirt over your head and threw it across the room. He raised a finger towards the strap of your red lace bra, pulling it to only let it go so it would snap against your skin, making you gasp. “Cute, but it needs to go too.”

You lick your lips and you take your hands behind you to unclasp your bra. His eyes were digging holes onto every part of your body from how intense he was looking at you. You took the bra off and threw it somewhere, and you really didn’t care if it got lost. He stood there, just taking your naked body in. His dick twitched again and he knew this was his limit.

You saw him reach behind him and then put something in his mouth. Your eyes widened when you saw the aluminum foil square that is in between his teeth. He smirked at you as he pulled his pants and boxers down. He didn’t step out of them just yet, and one of his hands grabbed onto the foil, and with his teeth he ripped it open, taking the rubber out. 

Your eyes went down towards his dick and, holy shit. He was huge. Your sense of touch was spot on before. His bulge felt… bulky, and now you can confirm it was because he was big. He followed your gaze and he chuckled, making your eyes look back up at him again. He licked the inside of his bottom lip as he handed the rubber to you.

Your breathing was heavy as you grabbed onto it, and you pressed onto the tip to then roll it down onto his cock. He threw his head back in a circle at the feel of your hands around him. The primal part of him switched on, and he was going to show you what he could do, what the others didn’t dare to do to you.

Your hands immediately flew away as you saw him crouch again, his hands cupping right under your ass and prompting you to jump. His hands cupped your ass tightly, your arms wrapping around his shoulders, your legs around his waist so you wouldn’t fall. He smirked at you as he pressed you harder against the wall so he could take one hand away from your ass so he could line himself up to you.

You threw your head back, a loud moan escaping you as you start feeling the stretch of him entering you. His hand went back to cupping your ass, holding you up and onto the wall. He cursed under his breath as he felt how tight you were. He kept moving forward into you, gasps escaping your lips that caused him to grin at you.

“Fu-Fuck–” You were already cock drunk, and he hadn’t bottomed out yet. You heard him call out your name to you and you looked down to see him smirking at you, making you frown slightly only for him to slam himself inside of you in one motion, knocking the air out of your lungs in a choke. 

“You’re so fucking tight, you’re sucking me in.” He groaned out as he felt you clenching around him, adjusting to him as you writhed on his hold. He then moved his hips back and then back in, first in a slow movement as he started building up in tempo, each minute that passed. 

Moans soon filled the room, the slamming of your body against the door as he thrusted in and out of you as you started falling into a state of euphoria. You never felt like this before. You had your share of experiences, but it was never like this, and he just stuck his dick in. He didn’t do anything special, but the foreplay and the edging was enough to make you lose your head the instant he put the tip in.

Your hands were digging onto his shoulders as you chanted his name like a mantra, bodies becoming sweaty as he started increasing his pace, your moans becoming louder and some whimper were thrown into the mix as well. His pelvis was hitting against your clit thanks to the position as well, the burning in your belly starting to form. 

“It feels so good, it feels so fucking good–!” You were starting to moan out words, things you never did before. You never liked dirty talking and that was because it had never been done to you. He chuckled and you felt him grip onto your ass cheeks even tighter and he pulled you both off the door so he could stand up straight, his back a little bit bent backwards.

“Yeah?” He smirked as he used his strength to raise you up and then make you fall down on his dick again. You moaned loudly at that, the new position letting him hit your G-spot perfectly. His hands guided you up and down so you would bounce on his cock, your arms now wrapped completely around his shoulders. 

You nodded dumbly as you felt your eyes becoming teary from how deep he was hitting you and it never stopped, in and out, in and out. Your mouth fell open with silent moans, with whimpers, whines, groans, huffs of air. Billy was trying to hold them in, but you felt exquisite on his dick, tight, and clenching every so often, so many grunts escaped into the air from his throat.

“Shit– Oh god–” Your belly was burning, the coil turning, tightening, and he could feel it, so he braced himself on his feet in order to slam you even harder down on his dick in a slow pace. Your eyes were wide as you looked up at the ceiling, your vision starting to go white as the burning sensation came closer and closer, your walls clenching around him repeatedly.

“Come on baby, cum on my dick, come on… Let me feel you.” The dirty talking did it for you. The elastic band snapped instantly, and you let out a loud cry of his name as your walls clenched tightly around him and he growled as he tried to move but you were sucking him in and not letting go. Your legs trembled around him as your nails started to dig on his back. 

He rode your high until he felt you unclench, the both of you breathing heavily as he sits inside of you. He could feel your body starting to slump on him, making it harder to keep you up. He licked his lips and backed up towards your bed, turning around to throw you into it. It took you by surprise, snapping you back to reality, looking up at him through the tears of your eyes.

“You didn’t–?” You asked innocently and Billy only smirked through his panting. 

“On all fours.” He ordered and you took a deep breath in to hide the gasp as you complied, your ass facing him as your knees and hands were on the mattress of the bed, your calves and feet hanging off the edge of the bed. 

“Like this?” You ask as you wiggle your ass for him, teasingly, and Billy was surprised you still had this spark in you. Maybe it was a spark that never came out before because the chance had never presented itself for you.

“Put your fucking ass up.” You gasped at how rough he sounded, but a small smirk appeared on your face as you slowly laid your upper body down on the bed, your back arching forward so you could stick your ass out even more for him. 

“Like this~?” You purr this time and you hear a hum of approval, only to then feel a hand slamming against one of your ass cheeks, causing you to choke out a moan in surprise. 

“What a view.” He was salivating as he looked at the roundness of your cheeks, wanting to sink his teeth on your flesh. You wiggled your ass at him again and he chuckled in desire as he raised his hand up to slap your other ass cheek, making you yelp and clench onto thin air, a smile on your face that was on the mattress. “Forward.”

You complied and moved your body a little more into the middle of the bed so he could kneel in between your legs. He grabbed onto his dick and rubbed the tip on your clit, slapping it a few times which caused you to whimper. He pressed the tip in through your fold and didn’t wait for a second to grab your hips and slam himself back into you.

You moaned against the bed as his pace turned brutal, piercing even. He didn’t do the slow pace at first like before, but you didn’t mind the roughness, you actually loved it. This is what you always needed, what you always wanted, and it was finally being given to you. 

Billy threw his head back as his eyes closed at how much you were clenching around him still thanks to the overstimulation. He growled when he looked down at the bouncing of your ass against his hips, seeing himself going in and out of you. He raised his hand up and smacked your ass again, seeing it jiggle as he kept thrusting in and out of you.

You choked out a moan and he could see the smile on your face as he repeated the action, two and three more times. He smirked as he pulled himself forward, and his hand came to the side of your head, and he pressed you against the mattress even more, making you instinctively raise your ass up even more as your knees slid down a little bit. 

His thrusts became deep and the sound of skin slapping bounced from wall to wall. Your moans were muffled against the mattress, and your smile was still on your lips as his hand pressed even harder on the side of your head. You were immediately feeling the burning sensation in your belly and you wanted him to touch you, you needed it again.

“Billy, Billy, I need to cum again, please–” SMACK. 

“You’re going to cum with my cock only, so fucking take what I give you.” You moaned at his words, your bodies going back and forth from how deep he was moving in you. 

“Yes Sir, yes Sir!” His dick twitched inside of you at your chants, and he groaned loudly mixed with a moan as he felt his balls clench with the need to cum. He needed to cum while you clenched around him, and he knew you were close thanks to your walls fluttering every so often as he kept thrusting into you, his hand still pressing onto your head.

The thrill of it, the roughness and the sound of his groans from how good he was feeling with you made your belly explode again, even harder than before. You yelled onto the mattress as your vision turned white, your mind becoming mush as you clenched tightly around him as if it were a life source.

“Fuck–” He gave more thrusts, fast and deep ones until the last two faltered slightly and then a moan escaped his lips as he spilled into the condom. He trembled as ropes of cum left him, one after the other. He was breathing heavily as he tried to come back to earth. He looked down at you and he let go of your head to reveal you huffing for air against the mattress. “You with me?”

You gave him one nod and he winced when he pulled out of you, slowly, and you whined at the emptiness of it. He pulled the condom off and he was surprised by how much he had spilled inside of it. It’s been a while since he came this hard. His eyes turned to your figure and a smirk appeared on his face. He called out your name and that made you snap back into reality, turning around on the bed to lay down on your back.

“Yeah…?” It was a soft moan, your breath still trying to settle into a normal rhythm again. 

Billy came back home only to find Eddie still up and talking on the phone with his girl. 

“It’s 1 AM. What are you two doing up?” Billy groans as he walks towards the kitchen, throwing the duffel bag onto the floor. He was wearing the extra clothes he took in there, and Eddie examined him, up and down. 

“Well… was it a good show?” Billy opened the fridge and took a water bottle out and took a long sip out of it. He looked at Eddie a smirk forming on his face once more. 

“I may have found a student myself.” 

A/N: Im getting to write my pending requests, so be patient with me. I hope you all enjoyed this smutty thing, and I love billy so sue me.

I love you ash.

[kurokawaia]

❛ UM, WHAT? ❜

Yandere! Illumi Zoldyck X Fem!Reader

| YANDERE CONTENT |

WC; 1.5k+ | !MDNI! | TW/CW :: in the pre timeskip, i imagine it to be younger illumi there (so when he's around 18-19 and has the short hair), reader is aslo 17-18 before the timeskip. after the timeskip illumi is 26 and you are 25, stalking!!! death

⋆·˚ ༘ * 𝑅𝐸𝒬𝒰𝐸𝒮𝒯 :: (filled request) Could you pls write yandere illumi who has been stalking reader for years now, he finally decides to make his move, bumps into you, casually invites you for a date. But as you start talking to him, he's so in love and obsessed he lets creepy things slip during casual conversation eg. Reader: yeah I go to dance classes, though recently I haven't been enjoying them as much because our teacher keeps complaing about his life problems! Can you believe it! And Illumi replies "Yes, that idiot should've left his cheating wife months ago haha" and Reader's like, how did you know that *sweats* Anyway just creepy illumi pls:3 - ANON

m.list | hxh m.list

You were just a high school student when you first noticed him, but only just briefly.

It was one of those ordinary days, but if only you had paid more attention to how this man looked, maybe your life would have turned out different. The man you noticed had quite noticeable features: tall, solemn, a young man who watched you across the street with a curious expression you quickly ignored.

He was dressed in a simple jacket and slack pants, though, his eyes were pericing into your back. You were scared, more or less, the way he was observing you.

With just a headshake, you pretty much forgot the man in your mind, manipulating yourself that he isn't looking at me.

Illumi took an interest in you, for what reason, he did not know. You were just some average girl, not an assassin, and more than likely didn't even know how to use Nen. But you caught his eye.

Your simple life and usual happenings were so different to his own so much that his curiosity was piqued. You looked so innocent that he wanted to taint you to something darker. 

It wasn't very long before curiosity did turn darker and into something more obsessive. 

He started following you more often, always remaining out of your field of sight, and never once approaching you directly. He learned your schedule, your favorite spots, and your friends. He watched over one like a ghost through every mundane task, every joyful moment, and every sorrowful sigh.

Years passed, and that addiction only grew bigger and bigger. The feel of watching you, the satisfaction of knowing everything that happened in your life, made him feel good.

You were his secret obsession, his hidden treasure that no one else could touch.

Then, it happened. You walked down that street, busy with your thoughts, when he decided the time was right. Casually, as if he had suddenly bumped into you, he came towards you. His heart racing from the thrill not of the encounter but of just revealing himself a little.

"Pardon me," he said, his tone silky. You looked up with a jerk since his sudden appearance had startled you. There was something unsettling in the way that he stared at you, yet it was cloaked by a polite smile. "I couldn't help but notice you. We've crossed paths before, haven't we?"

You felt a shiver run down your spine, but you made yourself smile. "I don't think so," you said, trying to keep the subject light.

You had this feeling that you had met this man before but couldn't place with who he was and where you had seen him.

"Perhaps not," he replied lightly, shrugging. "I guess I was mistaken. My name is Illumi. I'd like to get to know you better. Would you be interested in going out sometime?"

"Um, sure," you said hesitantly, unable to shake off the feeling that something was deeply wrong but unable to refuse the polite request. "When would you like to. go out?"

"Would now be okay?" he asks with a tilt of his head, his height was towering over you, you noticed.

"Um, sure," you replied, unable to say no.

You both set off toward a small café in town. You arrived a few minutes early, trying to rid yourself of that strange feeling from earlier. Illumi showed up a little afterwards, his presence still had that air of dread hanging about him which made you uncomfortable, but his smile was warm and inviting.

As you guys settled into your corner booth, you tried to focus on the pleasant atmosphere. Illumi made small talk, his voice smooth and nice. You found yourself slowly opening up, talking about your daily life.

"So, what have you been up to lately?" Illumi asked, never his eyes leaving your face.

Not that he knew of, anyway.

"Well, I've been going to dance classes," you said.

He already knew that.

"Though lately, I haven't really been enjoying them as much. Our teacher just keeps bitching about all his life problems. Can you believe it?"

Illumi's eyes gleamed, "Yes, that idiot really ought to have left his cheating wife months ago. It's pathetic how he drags his personal drama into his classes. Haha."

You felt your heart skip a beat and you froze in shock from his response. "How-how did you know about that?" you stuttered. "I've never told anyone."

Illumi's smile picked up. "Oh, I have my ways," he said smoothly. "I pay attention to the details, you know. It's just a shame he's so miserable. I suppose that's why he hasn't been able to focus on teaching properly."

You tried to compose yourself, forcing a nervous laugh. "Well, I guess you're right. It's just frustrating sometimes."

Illumi nodded, still with that unnerving stare. "I understand. Must be hard on you, dealing with his problems besides your own. I'm sure you are doing your best."

You tried to smile, though the unease in your chest was growing. "Thanks. I guess it just feels like everything's piling up lately."

Illumi's eyes flashed, nay flared, with an eerie serious intent. "Is there anything else bothering you? Perhaps something outside of dance class?"

You felt a little cornered by the intensity of his gaze and hesitated before continuing, "Well, there's this guy at work who's been bothering me. He keeps making these inappropriate comments, trying to corner me whenever I'm alone. It's really unsettling."

Illumi's face clouded for a moment, his frown deepening as he registered your words. "I see," he said slowly. "I didn't realize this. nuisance," he grumbled to himself, cursing himself on how he could have missed something like that in your daily life.

He thought you didn't hear what he said, but you did. A chill ran down your spine at the way he said it.

You hastily tried to change the subject with the urge to get away from the intensity in his gaze. "But enough about that. I'm glad we could meet today. It has been nice talking to you."

Illumi's smile picked up once more, but didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yes, it has been. I enjoyed our time together."

You got to your feet, collecting your things and moving to leave. Illumi followed suit, escorting you to the door of the café. Outside, both of you stepped into the cool evening air, you noticed him freeze for a moment, his eyes set on something far off.

Almost as if he was gauging what move to take next.

"Well, it's time to say goodbye for now, I suppose," you said, forcing cheerfulness into your voice.

Illumi smiled reassuringly but there was something beneath that made you scared. "Indeed. I look forward to the next time we meet."

And so you went off in opposite directions, you homeward. You had walked a way when you couldn't rid the feeling that Illumi had looked at you just one beat longer than he needed to.

Later that night, Illumi sat with reflections upon his mind, bothered by the new information about the man that's been bothering you. How could he have missed this-one nuisance? 

He prides himself on how well he watches over you and has always been fully aware of your every move.

This guy slipped under his watchful eye, and that irked him.

Illumi's face darkened as he made his way to the place where you worked. He found the man who had been harassing you. Getting ready to leave for the night, the man didn't notice Illumi approach him.

The man was turning around, startled by the sudden appearance of the tall stranger. Before he could even utter another word, Illumi's hand had closed tightly around his throat. His eyes widened into a fearful expression as Illumi's voice, in low tone.

"You have caused my precious one unnecessary distress," Illumi said softly, his tone chilling. "For which you shall pay the price."

Illumi made sure the man would never utter another word ever again, his movements calculated and cold. 

The threat to you was gone, and your world would never be disrupted by anyone else other than him. 

No one was ever to come between him and the object of his obsession.

Do not copy, steal, modify, etc. Relogs and like are appreciated.

m.list | hxh m.list

[snowysosturn]

Speeding Car - Matt Sturniolo Part 5

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29

Pairing : y/n x Matt Sturniolo

Summary : After six years with your boyfriend Alex, you start mentally check out. At a UCLA party, Alex reconnects with his childhood friend Emily, who proposes a double date with her boyfriend Matt. Your attraction to Matt grows as he pays you the first real attention you've had in years, sparking a complicated emotional journey.

Warnings : MDNI, unhappy relationship, mentions of hangover, angst

The start of the new semester at UCLA brought a sense of urgency and routine, a sense that clashed with my chaos inside my head. Alex was excited, his schedule packed with classes and Bruins practice. Meanwhile, I struggled to shake off the lingering thoughts about Matt and Emily from the party, the Instagram follow, and my relationship dying out. I couldn’t tell anymore if my embarrassment was first or second hand. But today was a new day, and I had to focus.

I made Alex a protein packed breakfast this morning, I had the day off so I had the time.

“Thanks Y/n” Alex said as he gave me a pat on the back.

A pat on the back.

He took the last few bites of his meal and grabbed the keys to the car. “I’m not too sure what time I’ll be back tonight, I’ll text to let you know” Alex said as I walked behind him to the front door. I saw him off as he walked down the steps to the driveway.

“Aw shit!” I hear him exclaim, realizing one of his tyres had burst. "Great, just what I needed." he muttered.

Alex and I shared a car, it was originally mine, but I let Alex put it in his name as he needs to get around more than I do. So in simpler terms, Alex has a car that I’m able to drive once a month at least.

"Take my phone and book an Uber" I offered, handing it to him. "I'll figure out the tyre later."

He took my phone with a grateful nod and quickly booked the ride. As he waited, I heard my phone ping. A familiar sound, from Instagram.

“Matthew Sturniolo (@matthew.sturniolo) has requested to follow you”

"Hey, looks like Matt wants to follow you" Alex said, showing me the screen with a chuckle. "Guess he enjoyed your company at the party."

My heart jumped, a burning sensation ran through my body. Why did this have to happen when Alex has my phone.

I tried to keep my voice steady. "Yeah, probably. We did talk quite a bit. I got along well with Nick too”

Alex shrugged, accepting the request before handing the phone back. "Alright, my ride's here. See you tonight."

"See you" I replied, watching him head out the door. Not a kiss to say goodbye or anything.

The day passed slowly, my thoughts constantly drifting to Matt's follow request. It felt like a lifeline, a connection I desperately wanted but also feared.

As the evening approached, I text Alex to let him know the tyre was fixed if he wanted me to pick him up whenever he was ready. He replied saying he had an evening free and he we was going to Uber home with Emily to hang out. They had figured out they were taking the same classes and were coming back to organize a few things for the current semester.

Alex and Emily arrived at our apartment. He seemed in good spirits despite the tyre mishap.

“We have a school trip to Barcelona in 4 weeks, Europe! How exciting!” Emily said with joy.

“We decided it would be easier to come back here and look at flights together if you don’t mind helping us Y/n, I know you’re good with all of that.” Alex suggested.

For some weird reason this lit a fire in my stomach. I knew I was being stupid since it was for a school trip, but it bothered me how eager he was to organize everything. It was almost like pulling teeth anytime I tried to organize a trip with him.

After an hour of researching, I found the cheapest flights for them and everything was booked.

"I'm going to hit the sack early" he said after a while. "Practice starts tomorrow."

"Alright, good night" I said, trying to sound unbothered.

Emily and I were left alone in the living room. An awkward silence settled between us, broken by the occasional sound of Alex moving around in the bedroom. I knew I needed to break the ice, and I also had an opportunity to see where her and Matt stood with each other after Saturday night's events.

"So, how are things with you and Matt?" I asked.

Emily smiled, her eyes lighting up. "Matt's great. I mean, he’s really sweet and all, but sometimes I feel like he’s too good, you know? I also want to apologize to you for how I acted at the party, it was out of line. We’re only newly friends and I don’t want to embarrass myself or make a bad impression. I honestly still have a hangover from it all”

Friends? I thought to myself.

“Oh you don’t need to apologize to me at all Emily, it happens!” I respond, trying to make her feel better.

“I feel like I get carried away sometimes. I like the attention I get from Matt, but I also love the attention I get from others."

I frowned slightly. "Others?"

She shrugged, taking a sip from her Stanley cup. "Yeah, I mean, Matt has a big following, and being with him means I get noticed too. I love him, but I can’t help enjoying the attention. It's kind of addicting. Did you not notice all of the influencers at the party?”

Her words struck a nerve. How could she be so nonchalant about treating Matt that way? He deserved someone who appreciated him fully, not someone who saw him as a means to boost their own ego.

"Oh, no I didn’t notice.." I said, trying to keep my tone neutral.

Emily glanced at me, her expression unreadable. "It just comes hand in hand with his job. I love him, but I also love being in the spotlight. Is that so wrong?"

I didn't know how to respond. It felt wrong, deeply wrong. Matt deserved someone who loved him for who he was, not for the attention he brought.

The more Emily talked, the more I realized she didn’t deserve him.

As time passed the conversation changed, I found myself genuinely getting along with Emily despite the lingering irritation from her comments about Matt. We chatted about various things like classes, mutual friends, upcoming campus events and even her life in Austin. I can’t lie, she was easy to talk to, and I could see why she was popular. But underneath her charming exterior, her earlier remarks about enjoying attention grated on me.

I knew I had to keep things friendly. Not just for Alex's sake, but for my own. Staying close to Emily meant staying close to Matt. It was a delicate balance, and I was determined to maintain it.

Later that night, Emily glanced at her phone and sighed. "I should probably get going. It's getting late."

"Do you need a ride?" I asked, half hoping she would say yes so I could see Matt again.

"Yeah, I'll ask Matt to come pick me up" she said, typing out a quick message..

Matt’s POV

I rotted away in my room all day Sunday and into Monday. I needed some time to myself. Emily went back to college early this morning and I hadn’t heard from her since.

After nearly 40 hours of sitting in my room, I decided it was time to try to be social again. I left my room and walked straight into the kitchen to find Nick and Chris sat at the kitchen table.

"Rough night Saturday.." Nick asked, eyeing me with concern.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "You could say that."

Chris obliviously laughed. "Come on, it couldn't have been that bad."

Nick shot him a look. "Matt, we need to talk about Emily. Her behavior at the party... it wasn't okay."

I nodded, feeling a weight settle on my shoulders. "I know. She's been like this more and more lately."

Nick leaned forward, his expression serious. "You don't deserve to be treated like that. You do so much for her, and it seems like she doesn't appreciate any of it."

Chris, still not fully grasping the gravity of the situation, shrugged. "Girls can be complicated, man."

Nick ignored him, focusing on me. "Look, I know you care about her, but you have to think about yourself too. You deserve to be with someone who respects you and values you."

I sighed, the truth of his words hitting hard. "I keep hoping she'll change, that she'll realize how much I care about her and start treating me better."

Nick frowned. "People don't change unless they want to. And from what I've seen, Emily isn't interested in changing."

There was a moment of silence as we all absorbed the reality of the situation. Nick then changed the topic slightly, a mischievous look in his eyes. “I noticed you got along pretty well with Y/n, Alex's girlfriend.."

My mind flashed back to our conversations. There had been an easy connection, a sense of understanding. "Yeah, she's great. We had some good talks."

Chris, always one to break the tension in the worst possible way, grinned. "That’s the girl with the fat ass, right?"

Nick groaned, and I shot Chris a look. "Dude, not the time."

Chris held up his hands in surrender. "Just saying."

The mood soured, I stood up, needing to clear my head. "I'm going to bed. Thanks for the talk, guys."

As I made my way back to my room, my phone buzzed. Emily had texted me: "Hey, can you pick me up? I'm at Alex's place."

I sighed, knowing I'd go pick her up despite everything. I couldn't ignore the feeling that something had to change, but I wasn’t sure if it would be her or me.

Y/n’s POV

"He'll be here in about ten minutes." Emily said, reading out the message from Matt.

My heart danced but I had to maintain my composure.

We continued chatting until Matt's car pulled up outside. Emily grabbed her things, and I walked her to the door.

"Thanks for having me over” she said with a smile. "We should do this more often."

"We should" I replied, forcing a smile. "It was nice."

We stepped outside, and I spotted Matt waiting in his car. As we approached, he got out and walked over, his expression warm but tired.

"Hey, thanks for picking me up" Emily said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"No problem" Matt replied, his eyes briefly meeting mine. "Hi" he added, his smile softening as he looked at me.

"Hi Matt" I responded, feeling a flutter in my chest.

"How was your evening?" Matt questioned.

"It was good" I replied, choosing my words carefully. "Emily and I had a nice time."

"Good to hear" he said, glancing at Emily. "Ready to go?"

"Yep" she replied, but then she turned to me. "We should all hang out together again, the four of us. Maybe we can plan another double date or something."

"Sounds good" I said, knowing that staying close to her meant more opportunities to see Matt.

As Emily climbed into the car, I took a moment to speak to Matt. "Hey, I just wanted to say.. if you ever need to talk or anything, I'm here."

Matt looked at me, his eyes searching mine. "Thanks, I appreciate that. And same to you."

Just then, Emily reached over and playfully tugged Matt's arm. "Come on, let's go. I've missed you."

Matt turned to her, his expression softening. "I've missed you too" he said, leaning in to kiss her. Their interaction was sweet and intimate, conflicting to the tension I had sensed before.

Watching them together, my heart sank. The way Matt looked at her, the way he held her, it made me question everything. Had I misread his kindness? Was I seeing what I wanted to see rather than what was really there?

As they drove away, I stood there for a moment, feeling a mix of confusion and heartache. The connection I thought I had with Matt now felt uncertain, overshadowed by his obvious affection for Emily.

Matts’ POV

The drive to Alex's was quiet, my thoughts a jumble of emotions. When I arrived, Emily was waiting outside, looking a bit worse for wear from her two day hangover but smiling when she saw me.

"Hey, thanks for coming to get me!" she said, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"No problem" I replied, trying to keep my tone neutral. Still wanting to keep my stance that how she acted on Saturday was out of line.

As Emily climbed into the car, Y/n turned to me.

“Hey, I just wanted to say... if you ever need to talk or anything, I'm here."

I knew fully what she was referring to. Could she relate to me? Or was it just out of pity from the events she witnessed at the party.

"Thanks, I appreciate that. And same to you." We locked eyes for a moment, until Emily tugged at me and instantly broke the contact.

We got into the car and drove off as Y/n waved us off. On the ride back home I couldn't help but think about Nick's words and the confusion I felt brewing in me surrounding Y/n. Maybe it was time to seriously consider what I wanted and needed in a relationship. Emily had her good moments, but were they enough to outweigh the bad?

Only time would tell..

a/n : i’m rushing out for dinner rn so i will proof read and do tags properly when i’m back i just wanted to get this out asaaaaap. we do go back and forth with the povs here soz. part 6 hopefully tomorrow or sunday!!!!

taglist : @muwapsturniolo @anitahunt @sturnfannn @jayde510 @chrissfavhoe @babyalliah-777 @v33angel @urmom69lol @willowrites @ribread03 @sleepyysavv @sturnsaver @sleepysturniolo @jcsturniolo11 @jessie-essie @immattsslut @mynbbys @sturniolopanini @mattsturnxoxo @delicatechrry @t77te @sturnsyaper69

[tisayemate]

Merlin.

Neville Longbottom x Hufflepuff!Reader

FLUFF!!

Summary: falling for the clumsy doofus.

AN: this was inspired by what happened last night, I attended Grad night (which is my school’s little graduation party) and realised I really really like this guy who I’ve casually spoken with in class. He’s exactly what I’d want in a husband but there’s a lot of things in between anything happening for us so yea nothing’s going to happen… I guess I’ll just transfer the experience to our lovely Neville. Enjoy!

UPDATE: (2/1/25) I found out he has a girlfriend now. It’s not meant to be guys. But wtv, I trust that the Lord will send me a true man of God. 🥹 (I’m catholic, I don’t think I mentioned that before)

The new seating chart was a disaster, at least as far as you were concerned. Of all people, you’d been paired with Neville Longbottom, a boy who had a reputation for stumbling over roots—both literally and metaphorically.

You approached your greenhouse workstation, already bracing for frustration. But when you saw him standing there, sleeves rolled up, nervously fiddling with his trowel, he turned to you with a warm, crooked smile.

“Well, if it isn’t my new partner in crime,” he said, his tone light but tentative.

You tilted your head, unimpressed but curious. “Didn’t realize we were committing crimes in Herbology now. Starting small, are we?”

He chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. “Baby steps. First, we master Flutterby Bushes. Then, who knows? Maybe world domination.”

You snorted, despite yourself, and set your bag down beside him. “If this is your plan for taking over the world, you might need a better partner.”

“Maybe,” Neville said, eyes twinkling. “But I think you’ll do just fine.”

Your lips twitched, threatening to betray the irritation you’d convinced yourself you felt.

Today’s task involved transplanting Flutterby Bushes, which were sensitive to emotion and required a careful hand. Perfect, you thought sarcastically. A recipe for disaster with someone like Neville.

The first few minutes passed in tentative silence. Neville focused intently on untangling a particularly stubborn root system, his tongue peeking out in concentration. You rolled your eyes, deciding to take the lead.

“You’re overthinking it,” you said, reaching over to adjust his grip. Your fingers brushed his, and he startled, nearly dropping the plant.

“Sorry,” he said, his cheeks tinged pink. “I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine,” you interrupted, shaking your head. “Just… here. Like this.”

He watched you carefully, mimicking your movements. “You know,” he began, a teasing lilt in his voice, “you’re not half-bad at this. I thought Hufflepuffs were all about caring for magical creatures, not plants.”

You raised an eyebrow. “And I thought Gryffindors were supposed to be brave. Didn’t you flinch at the sight of a bowtruckle last week?”

Neville laughed, full and genuine, the sound warming the chilly air in the greenhouse. “Okay, fair. But in my defense, that bowtruckle had intentions.”

You couldn’t help but grin. “Intentions? Of what, exactly? Poking you to death?”

“Hey, don’t underestimate the power of a well-placed poke,” he shot back, eyes sparkling with mischief.

The banter continued, and before you knew it, the initial awkwardness had melted away. Neville’s clumsiness was still there—he managed to spill an entire pot of soil onto the table at one point—but his easy humor and self-awareness turned every mistake into a shared joke.

“Merlin, Longbottom,” you said, brushing dirt off your robes for the third time, “you’re lucky you’re funny. Otherwise, I’d have ditched you by now.”

“Lucky me,” he said with a mock bow, a smirk tugging at his lips. “But admit it—you’d miss me if I weren’t here.”

You opened your mouth to retort, then closed it again, caught off guard by how right he was.

Over the next few weeks, working with Neville became something you looked forward to. His wit and charm were understated but undeniable, and he had a knack for making you feel at ease, even when things went wrong.

When your Flutterby Bush began to wilt after a botched replanting, you felt a pang of frustration. “Great. It hates me,” you muttered, glaring at the drooping leaves.

Neville stepped closer, his voice gentle. “It doesn’t hate you. You’re just holding it too tight. Here.” He reached out, his hands brushing against yours as he repositioned the plant. “See? It’s all about trust.”

You glanced at him, startled by the quiet confidence in his voice. For a moment, the greenhouse seemed quieter, the only sound the rustle of leaves and your own heartbeat.

When the holidays arrived, you found yourself thinking about Neville more than you expected. At home, surrounded by family, you kept catching yourself smiling at memories of his quick wit, his awkward yet endearing mannerisms, and the way he could make you laugh even on the worst days.

By the time the Yule Ball rolled around, you’d realized something important: Neville Longbottom wasn’t just a good partner. He was… well, something more.

When you saw him waiting at the entrance to the Great Hall, your breath caught. His dress robes were simple but elegant, and there was a confidence in his posture that you hadn’t seen before.

“You clean up well,” you said, trying to sound casual.

“So do you,” he replied, his voice soft but steady. “Shall we?”

The dance was magical, but it wasn’t the music or the decorations that made it special. It was Neville—his warm smile, his steady hand on yours, the way he looked at you like you were the most important person in the room.

As the night ended, he walked you to the courtyard, the cool night air brushing against your skin.

The courtyard was quiet, the cool air brushing against your flushed cheeks as you turned to Neville. He stood close, his fingers fidgeting nervously with the hem of his robe, but his eyes—soft and steady—held yours.

“You looked amazing tonight,” you said softly, the words spilling out before you could second-guess them.

Neville blinked, his face lighting up with a sly smile. “You looked rather… dashing tonight,” he said, his voice low but earnest.

Your cheeks burned, and you looked down, unable to hide your smile. “Oh, thanks,” you murmured, your heart racing. Butterflies fluttering around in your stomach.

He tilted his head, watching you intently. There was something in the way your blush lingered that made his own nerves fall away. Slowly, deliberately, he reached for your hand, his thumb brushing against your knuckles.

When you looked up, his gaze locked with yours, and without a word, he leaned in. His lips met yours in a kiss that was soft and tentative, yet it sent a spark racing through you.

It was over too quickly, but as he pulled back, the shy grin on his face said everything. And for once, neither of you needed words.

AN: well, this is what I can only wish had happened. HES SO FUNNY AND AMAZING AND SMART AND SUCH A GREEN FLAG 😭MAN CAN COOK AND TOLD ME WOMEN IN POWER ARE HOT LIKE- bloody hell his future wife/husband is so fucking lucky 😭

[paulyenvol6]

Byka Atroksia (Chapter 25)

Contains: smut, oral (f receiving), breast play, blindfolding, p in v, unprotected sex, edging, incest, slight dom!Daemon, fluff

Wordcount: ~3.14k

Masterlist of this story

A day later you were fully recovered and Daaran allowed you to get up again, which you couldn't be more eager to do.

You met with your sister at the breakfast table and didn't know what to expect when her gaze burned a hole in your chest.

"Are you feeling well?", she asked though she sounded cold.

You nodded and sat down on her opposite. Rhaenyra turned away from you and seemingly examined an apple in a basket.

"So he's back.", she spoke without looking at you and you nodded again. "Yeah."

"Is he here to stay?"

You bit your lip and didn't know what to answer because you honestly didn't know yourself. Rhaenyra looked at you to search for a reaction and her eyes became cold.

"Is he here to stay, Vhaela?", she hissed.

"I don't know.", you breathed and dropped your gaze. Your sister rolled her eyes and exhaled and then stood up to leave the room.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rhaenyra turned out to be a much bigger problem than your father as a matter of fact. Not that he was fond of your desires to marry your uncle but he wasn't throwing spikes at you with his eyes or glared at you every time you entered a room. No one had told Rhaenyra yet about Daemon and your wish but it seemed like she had a suspicion or at least a bad feeling about Daemon staying the capital.

And you were not even sure whether your father would consent to your marriage with your uncle yet so everything was uncertain and shrouded in fog which gave you anxiety. And you also terribly missed Daemon's hands on you and apparently so did he because his eyes were flashing with desire every time he looked at you but you thought that it would be wiser not to risk getting caught before your father had made his decision. If only he did…

It was six days now since you had made your wish to marry his brother in front of him but Viserys acted as if nothing had happened and you were frustrated. Was the matter solved for him?

It took another two days when Viserys finally sent his guards for Daemon and you. You had been reading a book beneath an oak tree when they approached you and your heart had jumped when they told you they were ordered to take you to the throne room. So you followed them, feeling a mix of fear and hope and in the throne room your father and Daemon awaited you. The King didn't sit in his throne which you took as a good sign because he usually sat there to show additional authority.

"Daughter.", he spoke and you hastily walked to stand in front of your father.

"Your Grace."

Viserys cleared his throat. "I guess the two of you can imagine why I brought you here in front of me." You nodded.

"When you communicated your wish to wed my brother to you, daughter, I found myself in uncertainty. I will not pretend to feel fond of this. I definitely had hoped for another match for you, Vhaela and I mayhaps will never be able to understand the bond between you. And yet you claimed that it is what would make you happy. And after all that's what I want. I've grown old, my health most certainly has been better and I want to remember my daughters being happy when I grow even older. I want to lay in my deathbed and know that I have done everything in my power to offer you happiness. And if my brother as your husband is what you most dearly want, I will consent to this marriage, though with conditions and many doubts."

It took up all your power not to start jumping around in happiness and throwing your arms around Daemon but you knew you had to hold a grip on yourself.

"I still can not help but fear that this union will not be a successful one. But I've figured out that all of this goes beyond my understanding so my concerns will not stand in your way if you, Vhaela truthfully want to wed Daemon. But here are my conditions: You will continue to live in the Keep under my watch. Mayhaps one day it will be appropriate for the two of you to live at Dragonstone but right now I want to have an eye on you. You will marry within two moons and no word of your encounters before your betrothal will leave your mouths. Once you're wed it doesn't matter anymore. Brother, you claimed her maidenhead in your wedding night and any other words are nothing but slander."

Viserys took two steps down the stairs until he stood in front of his brother.

"You will love and honour her. You will respect her and never harm her. Do you understand me?"

Daemon bowed his head. "Yes, your grace."

Viserys sighed deeply and looked like he was exhausted. "Go now. Go before I change my decision."

You turned to Daemon to grin at him and the two of you walked towards the door.

Until you were outside you had acted normal but once you stood in the corridor you wrapped your arms around your uncle. You felt him kiss your hair and he rested his chin on your head.

"We're gonna get married.", you whispered and he stroke your back.

"Yes, sweet owl."

You remained like this for what seemed to be forever until Daemon gently pulled away from you and smirked down at you.

"What have you told your father that made him change his mind?"

You smiled widely and put your hands in his neck, feeling so light now that you were finally allowed to show your affection for him in public.

"I don't know.", you truthfully spoke and your betrothed leaned down to kiss you on your lips.

"You will be the most beautiful bride in the seven kingdoms.", he mumbled and you felt the blood rushing into your cheeks. "And while every lord in court will be yearning for you I will remember that you're mine."

You were flushed and felt dizzy, your mind controlled by your lust for him but such thoughts were not appropriate right now. The two of you left the keep and took a stroll during which he told you about what he had done on Dragonstone after you had left. He told you that he had dealt with the servant girl Anicia that actually had conspired with another servant against you and had put something in the tea she had been meant to bring you.

Afterwards he took you to the dragonpit and allowed you to circle the capital on Caraxes a few times which made the adrenaline rush through your veins. It was such a cozy and joyful afternoon and in the evening you felt comfortable and relaxed.

You stood in front of your big mirror watching your servants undo the little braids in your hair but then the door opened all of a sudden and the maidens twitched. Of course it was Daemon, you hadn't expected anything else. He slowly walked towards the group gathered in front of the mirror and smirked smugly. The servant girls looked at the Rogue Prince with big eyes and he rested his hands on his hips.

"I think I will take care of the rest.", he said with his husky voice and the servants didn't hesitate a second and swiftly walked away to leave your chambers.

Daemon stepped behind you and watched your partly undone hair. Without waiting for you to say something he started to undo one braid after one and you were surprised by how skilled he was. You felt goosebumps on your arms as it felt so relaxing and soon your hair fell on your shoulders.

Your eyes caught his' in the reflection of the mirror and he smirked. Without breaking the eye contact he lowered his head and kissed your naked shoulders as your dress elegantly exposed them. His kisses were gentle and soft and you smiled in enjoyment but after a while he stopped and lifted his head again.

"Do you trust me?", Daemon whispered against your ear and without giving it a second thought you nodded.

"I think a woman should trust her betrothed."

Daemon's smirk still didn't leave his face and he reached inside of the front pocket of his pants and took out a scarf. You gulped and watched it, unknowing of what the purpose of it was and then without giving a warning he wrapped it around your face and adjusted the piece of fabric so it covered your eyes.

"What are you doing?", you asked and put your hands on his'.

"It's alright. You'll like it. You'll be even more responsive to me and the pleasure I'll give you will be more intense."

You had your concerns but you did trust him so you allowed him to tie the scarf in a knot behind the back of your head and then Daemon stepped back to regard his work. Your uncle smirked widely as he saw you bite your lip in apprehension and he once again brought down his lips to kiss your neck and shoulders.

Everything was different to you now because you never knew what to expect from him. It felt like all your nerves were especially sensitive and everything that happened around you and that you could feel or hear you felt a thousand times more vigorous.

Then you felt his hands reach behind you and he unlaced your dress. Once it had fallen down completely you felt a breeze on your skin that gave you goosebumps. Your uncle soothingly stroke your skin and then you felt a hand of his' knead at and caress your breasts. You exhaled sharply and Daemon hummed in satisfaction against your hair. Only feeling what he was doing brought entirely new dimensions of pleasure and soon you were breathing heavily when his fingers twisted and circled your nipples.

Daemon watched all of it. His eyes fixed on the mirror he enjoyed your squirming and the little sounds out of your mouth. Then after a while he gently took hold of your hips, turned you around and pushed you until your legs hit the edge of your bed. You understood the sign and blindly let yourself fall on your back.

Then nothing happend and you got comfortable on your bed waiting for Daemon's next action. He had opened his shirt standing by the bed and then crawled onto it to lay on top of you. Your lips slightly parted when you felt his weight on you and Daemon teasingly ran his thumb over your mouth. Then he pushed three fingers inside and you coughed at the surprise but then started to obediently suck on them and twirl your tongue around his fingertips.

His eyes darkened and his cock felt like it didn't have enough space in his pants. It took all of his will power not to just hold you down and fuck into you fastly and roughly but he wanted to have his time with you. A quick release sounded so seducing but teasing and taunting you was what he really felt like doing right now and seeing you with your blindfold and your parted lips made him aware that it would be worth it to be patient.

Daemon removed his fingers from your mouth and caressed the hair out of your face. You hummed when he ran his hands over your neck and shoulder and then seconds later you felt his lips on yours. The kiss was soft and yet intense and demanding. Soon his mouth traveled down between the swell of your breasts and he toyed with your chest a while until you eagerly pulled at his hair.

"Do not get greedy, little one.", Daemon whispered but you squirmed and sighed and just wanted him to do something.

"Please.", you begged and he slapped the side of your ass in response.

"Patience. Or I'll leave you here blindfolded and luscious."

Of course Daemon never would've done it, not only because he wouldn't want any of your servants find you exposed here but also because he wanted to satisfy you in the end and leaving you eager for him? He wouldn't have this.

So after a while he traveled further south until he saw your glistening cunt which he had devoured so many times already. You squeezed your eyes, wanting nothing more than his mouth on your pearl but you couldn't see what he was doing and it was torturing. Daemon admired the sight for a few more seconds and then finally connected his tongue with your pearl and you shrieked loudly. You shivered and moaned as your uncle flicked your little pearl and greedily lapped up every droplet of your arousal.

"Mhmm.", you hummed and it almost sounded like a desperate cry. "Please. Have mercy.", you pleaded because you knew that Daemon found great pleasure in edging and teasing you and you hoped that tonight he might spare you.

But of course he wouldn't. Daemon stimulated your pearl until you saw stars and couldn't form a simple sentence and was able to drive you over the edge within minutes. His tongue knew every little sensitive spot on your body and knew exactly how fast his tongue needed to dance over your pearl. So he turned you into a quivering mess and not being able to see what he was doing only intensified this experience.

After driving you to the edge twice without letting you come he had had you begging and pleading for him which had made him enjoy it so much he thought about doing it a third time but chose differently when you were on the verge of crying.

"N-No please Daemon, please I need it so badly.", you had whimpered and trid to push his head to your cunt again. So after toying with you and teasing you for almost half an hour he made you come on his tongue and licked you through your high, whispering soothing words to you.

"I know. It's alright, I let you come and you can relax now." Drops of sweat had mixed with tears and Daemon knew that he perhaps had been a bit too cruel with you so he caressed your thigh until you felt better and crawled up to lay on top of you.

Daemon removed your blindfold to look at you and the sight of you made him inhale deeply. You just looked so delicate and sweet that his eyes grew even darker from his lust and he kissed you on your forehead.

But then all of a sudden he took hold of your hips and turned you around so you were laying on your stomach. Daemon ran his hands over you back and down to your arse and you could hear him open his pants.

"Spread your legs.", he breathed and you did as he had told you.

Then the next thing you could feel was his cock that entered you with a sharp thrust and you opened your mouth in an attempt to gasp for air. You had your head rested on the side so you yet again couldn't see what Daemon was doing but gods could you feel him. He stretched your walls so nicely and each thrust hit deep inside of you.

His hands held you at your back and he laid on top of you so his mouth was close to your ear.

"Oh fuck.", he growled. You squirmed and whimpered so Daemon's hand pressed on your waist.

"Lay still. Lay still and take what I give you.", he hissed and moved your hair to the side so he could kiss your neck.

"Good girl.", he whispered as you kept your hips still and his words made you feel goosebumps on your skin. His hand caressed the side of your neck and you hissed sharply at each thrust inside of you.

"Daemon. Ughh.", you whined.

"Yes, I know, my sweet love."

The pleasure became almost too much when his right hand slid between your body and the mattress and reached down to rub at you pearl. You were overwhelmed with his scent, his breath on your neck, his touch on your pearl and of course his cock buried so deep inside of you that you wondered how you were supposed to properly walk after this. All of this made your brain fuzzy and your eyes fluttered.

"I want you to come for me, little girl. I'll make you scream my name."

Your eyes rolled back and then your hand blindly reached back and blindly searched for him so Daemon took it.

"I-I want to s-see you.", you whimpered and he smirked and pulled out of you only to turn you on your back.

"Anything you want, love.", he said and thrusted back into you.

Now you could see his pretty face and you smiled satisfied. The way his hair fell into his face and his eyes… Daemon's hand once again traveled between your bodies and put pressure on your little pearl so you were able to reach your high faster.

"I-I think I'm close, Daemon.", you managed to hiss and he lowered his head to kiss you.

"Kostā ivestragī jikagon, byka atroksia. Māzigon syt nyke. Māzigon va." (You can let go, little owl. Come for me. Come on.)

You shrieked his name and came hard on his cock and Daemon could feel you clench around him which brought him right over the edge as well. His eyes rolled back and he gripped the bed sheets while releasing every droplet of his seed inside of your cunt.

"Oh seven hells.", Daemon grunted and panted heavily.

He rolled off you and you both tried to collect yourself staring at the ceiling. But you always felt so needy after you had sex so you crawled to crouch against his side and Daemon who understood wrapped an arm around you and rested your head on his chest.

Soothingly he caressed your head while your hands held on to him as if you wanted to make sure he couldn't leave you. You were shivering, partly because of the effects of your high and also because it was a bit cold in your room so Daemon grabbed the blanket and pulled it over your body.

When you laid there under the blanket pressed to Daemon's body you knew that this was all you ever wanted and you felt overwhelmed with joy. There was nothing in this world you desired more than this and now that you had it tears of happiness gathered in your eyes.

His breathing was steady now and you could hear his heartbeat with your head on his chest. You hummed satisfied which made Daemon smirk.

"Are you alright, little one?", he whispered and you nodded.

"Yes. Very much so." His smirk intensified.

"I'm happy then."

[writingtraumaforever]

Uncontrolled Chaos: Chapter 25

Notes: Sorry if this chapter sucks. I wrote it on my phone during a plane ride asfhdskjllh. Anyway. ALTERNATE ROUGE.

Summary: Shadow and Knuckles meet with Rouge.

UC Masterpost!

Link to my AO3!

Start:

Rouge does, in fact, agree to meet up with Knuckles. She’s clueless as to why he needs her so suddenly, Knuckles decidedly not informing her of their current situation until he knows good and well she’s willing to help.

Lest she run back to GUN tattling that they have an alternate world’s Shadow running around their midst.

Saying goodbye to Sonic was.. hard for Shadow, weirdly enough. Not because he’s attached to the guy or anything. No. Shadow doesn’t need him or rely on him in any way…

But he didn’t like the very reluctant look on Sonic’s face when they loaded up in the Tornado to begin their hunt for a chaos emerald. The way the hero looked so worrisome and bothered.. and it annoyed Shadow he cared so much about this hedgehog in the first place. But after hearing what he said in Angel Island.. it was hard not to want the blue blur to find some comfort right now.

Shadow knows better than most how hard it is to be helplessly separated by a loved one..

But they do, indeed, separate for the time being. Sonic and Tails flying off to hopefully find an emerald while Knuckles and Shadow head to the agreed upon rendezvous point to meet with Rouge.

Which happens to be very specific coordinates in Central City that lead to a simple coffee shop. 

They arrive early, scouting out the area beforehand to make sure Rouge isn’t double-crossing them and there’s no GUN agents preparing to listen in on their meeting. Now waiting on the rooftop of the coffee shop after scoping the place out, Shadow crosses his arms with a frown, “Isn’t this a bit overkill?? I doubt there will be any GUN agents lurking around for a simple meeting between you and Rouge.” “Can’t be too careful,” Knuckles responds simply, Shadow huffing as he looks down from the roof to the entrance of the shop. Still no sign of the bat. 

“GUN is formidable, but nothing to fear,” Shadow argues with a shrug, “They’re just humans..” Not that their life held any less value than theirs because of this. It was just a simple fact. They held no chance compared to the power of Sonic and his friends.

Knuckles doesn’t seem to like Shadow’s answer, though.. Tensing and looking at Shadow with a scolding expression, “Humans are more capable than you think. Look– I don’t know what happened back on your world, but here?? Shit went down real bad with us and the humans. And our Shadow was right in the middle of it all, so we don’t push our luck.” Shadow frowns at this, turning to Knuckles and crossing his arms with a quirked brow, “Enlighten me.” Knuckles frowns now, looking hesitant as he turns away and continues looking down the street for signs of the bat approaching, “I shouldn’t. Sonic wouldn’t like me saying anything.” This just piques Shadow’s curiosity, his mind racing on the possibilities..

What could’ve possibly happened that has both Sonic and Knuckles so nervous about this meeting??

Then his mind races back to the conversation they had had when he first arrived in this world..

“-After that, Black Doom invaded with the Black Arms–” Shadow pauses, noticing how Sonic sucks in a tiny breath and how his hands clench his own thighs a bit tighter..

“..I guess you’re familiar with them.”

Sonic nods. Nothing more..

Shadow doesn’t push it..

“Was it the Black Arms??” Shadow questions, observing the way Knuckles’ own body tenses and goes rigid.

Bingo.

“Drop it,” the echidna warns lowly, eyes staying off Shadow.

Shadow huffs a bit through his nose, “If there’s going to be some form of tension my presence will add to this meeting that could put it at risk, I should probably know how to properly avoid it–”

“I said drop it,” Knuckles growls out, eyes darting to Shadow now and glaring pointedly.

Shadow doesn’t flinch, doesn’t fear the echidna. But he’s not looking to cause trouble, especially not with the people helping him to return home. So he just rolls his eyes and looks back down the street.

They’re silent the remainder of their wait.

Which isn’t long, thankfully, before the bat is spotted flying to them and landing on the roof.

“You know- when I suggested this location, I thought we may actually be having a little coffee date, Knucklehead.,” she smirks, getting an almost immediate rise out of the flustered echidna.

Shadow, on the other hand, finds immense comfort in her presence. Finally someone he’s familiar with and isn’t inherently uncomfortable around. Except rather than being able to find relief in her for long, he just finds himself troubled by how her reaction is quite the opposite.

While she puts on her typical mask of nonchalant flirtation and being unbothered by her environment, Shadow sees right through her.

She’s nervous. Maybe even a little scared. And that’s.. Not comforting. Because he knows good and well it isn’t Knuckles that she’s scared of. It’s him.

“And I see you brought man’s greatest creation with you,” she smirks, eyeing Shadow a moment before quickly averting her gaze back to Knuckles. She can’t even hold eye contact with him..

“This isn’t the coffee date sort of meeting, Rouge,” Knuckles huffs, his arms crossed defensively over his chest, “This is a serious matter.”

“I could’ve guessed by the way you two grumps seem so happy to see me,” she sarcastically remarks, moving to sit herself on the ledge of the roof, and crossing her legs with a tilt of her head at them, “So what’s this all about, boys?” “We need–” “Wait,” Shadow holds his hand up to halt Knuckles. Knuckles doesn’t speak, just looks annoyingly at Shadow as if insulted by being interrupted. Shadow ignores this and approaches Rouge.

Rouge doesn’t move, shows no physical signs of fear or intimidation as he walks to her. But he sees it in her eyes. In how her fingers twitch as if itching to reach for something..

He makes it to her and keeps his eyes locked on hers, never leaving them as he reaches a hand up to her ear and unclips an earring.. Except it’s not really an earring. It’s a mic. A commslink. GUN state of the art, designed just for her. He knows it well. Crushing it in between his fingers, she merely smirks at his and quirks a brow.

She’s got more on her.

With absolutely zero shame, he moves his hand to her waist. Knuckles can be heard making some sort of scoffing sound behind him, and Rouge seems to be getting more of a kick out of how this is bothering the echidna than how Shadow is patting her down.

He finds nothing on her waist. Her thighs. Her typical spots she stores GUN tech..

Except for one place..

There’s no hesitance as he pinches the brim of her top between his finger and thumb, slowly beginning to tug it down.

“Hey! Woah, Shadow, what the hell!?” Knuckles protests with infuriation behind him. Shadow ignores this, eyes still watching Rouge’s whose own gaze now look a bit more nervous but also challenging.

“Didn’t know you were that type of guy, doll. What will poor, sweet Blue say??,” she coos playfully. He ignores her attempts at distracting him, pulling it down just enough to find a nearly invisible cable. He pinches it between his fingers, smirking at her now as she closes her eyes with a sigh at being caught. He gives it a firm tug, the wire being pulled from her cleavage and chunked right off the side of the roof. Disposed of.

Shadow glances back to Knuckles to see him staring with a red face and wide eyes.

Rouge shrugs, “Alright. Ya caught me. No more listening ears.”

“You came along then?” Shadow questions with a raised brow. “Just me and these babies,” she affirms, raising her own chest with her hands before dropping them with a wink, “What’s wrong, hothead? Bat got your tongue??” Knuckles makes some weird snorting sound that makes Shadow flinch slightly next to him from the loud abruptness of it, “Keeping a wire down your shirt, Rouge?? Seriously???” “What??” Rouge shrugs, “Girl’s gotta work. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re jealous you weren’t the one finding it, Knuckie~.”

Knuckles’ face somehow gets more rosy at this, Shadow swears he’s going to see steam coming from his ears soon.

Before any more time-wasting arguments can be had, though, Shadow speaks with a small smile, “It’s good to see you, Rouge.”

The bat blinks in surprise at this, looking at Shadow with a quirked, finely-manicured brow and placing a hand skeptically on her hip, “Me?? What does a guy like you want with little’ole me?” “We need your help,” Shadow explains simply, taking the lead on this one before Knuckles can get defensive again, “We know GUN has recently obtained a chaos emerald.” The thief, holds her hand up and examines her nails as if she’s bored, “Have they? Wouldn’t know.” “You would,” Shadow immediately counters as if it’s a simple fact, not something he wants to waste time arguing with her on, “And you’re also the best person to steal it for us.” “Pah!” Rouge laughs in disbelief, looking at Shadow like he’s grown two heads, “Alright, Mr. Ultimate, and why exactly would I do that??” “Because it’s a matter of potential world-ending destruction,” Knuckles says, now having calmed down enough to step into the conversation.

This seems to gain Rouge’s interest.

“World-ending destruction??” she frowns and looks between the two, “What kind of threat are we talking about here??” “Not one we can fight,” Knuckles says with a frown, “It’s a science thing.” “A tear in realities,” Shadow adds with an agreeing nod, “One that could swallow our whole world in a matter of moments if not quickly put right.” Rouge takes their words in, her arms now crossing over her chest as she examines the two a moment with a skeptical look on her face. Distrusting.

“...Well then shouldn’t we go to GUN with this?? The authorities??” “As if we’re gonna trust GUN with this,” Knuckles scoffs with a roll of his eyes, “You know as well as we do that if GUN gets their hands in the middle of something this powerful, it could be catastrophic.” “Hey,” she says defensively, “they’re not the same organization they were fifty years ago.” “Aren’t they??” Knuckles’ eyes narrow at her, taking a small step forward as if to subtly stand between her and Shadow.

Rouge tilts her head at Knuckles’ protectiveness.. Then she looks at Shadow, her eyes widening a bit with realization.

“...You’re not from here.. are you..?” Shadow sighs quietly through his nose, “No.. No, I’m not.” 

Knuckles seems even more on edge the instant Rouge knows..

“This world’s Shadow and I got switched.. We’re now walking anomalies in realities we don’t belong in. And if we can’t find our ways back where we belong, then our realities will make things right in space and time by simply ceasing to exist..” Rouge’s brows knit a bit at this information, seeming just as unsettled as they do now.

“Look..,” Shadow says with a small frown, taking a small step around Knuckles and closer to Rouge, “It’s obvious in this world that you and I have some conflicting history..” “Now that’s an understatement,” the bat mutters with a quirk of her brow at him.

“--But back in my world, you and I?.. We’re partners,” Shadow continues with a sincere look on his face, “..Maybe even friends..” He sighs then, seeming a bit shy about admitting this, “Maybe even family, I don’t know.. You’re the closest thing I have to any of those things, I do know that. And I wouldn’t hesitate to come to you with something like this, nor would I hesitate to aid you if ever you came to me..” Rouge stares at him with knitted brows and an earnest look in her eyes, taking in his words as the skepticism fades..

“..I can’t speak for this world’s Shadow, but for me?? Any Rouge is one I trust to do what’ll protect the world she lives in. And we need that chaos emerald,” he nods his head to her, “We need you.”

Knuckles stays quiet as he listens, eyeing the two of them with a curious look in his amethyst gaze. Rouge stares at Shadow with an unreadable look for a long moment, her brows knitting up and her lips pursing, looking as though some sort of string inside her is being pulled.

Then with a heavy sigh, she rolls her eyes and shrugs, “Fine. But I have some conditions.” Shadow smirks slightly, “Of course.” “One. I get to see this through to the end,” Rouge says, holding up a finger to count out her conditions, “If I’m gonna be involved at all, I want to be able to rest easy at this end of this knowing everything is set back as it should be and I won’t wake up to the world ending one morning.” “Fair.” “Two. I get an emerald when this is over.” “No way!” Knuckles growls, only for Shadow to nod in agreement. “You got it.” “What!?”“And three. I want to hear it from the redhead,” she smirks, her eyes darting to the alright irritated echidna.

The guardian’s eyes narrow, “Hear what??” “That you need me,” she winks, quirking her brow at him expectantly.

Knuckles scoffs immediately, shaking his head, “No. Absolutely not.” “Oh come on, honey,” she coos, stepping around Shadow to waltz up to him and invade his personal space. He does his best to lean back away from her, but she presses her chest to his regardless and walks two fingers up his bicep as she speaks, “Just three easy words, and that chaos emerald is all yours.. For now.” Knuckles growls low, arms still crossed in an unmoving demeanor despite his increasingly red face, “Forget it.” “Knuckles,” Shadow hisses with a glare from behind Rouge, “We don’t have time to refuse a hit to your precious ego, now tell her.” Knuckles groans and rolls his eyes, looking back to Rouge who is now just about touching her nose to his. He looks like he’s itching to shove her away, but would never dare lay hands on a woman..

That or he’s itching to yank her in. Shadow can’t really tell. He doesn’t think either of them can either.

This is pretty typical for them. He swears it’s foreplay.

“Fine,” he spats out, eyes averting hers as he takes a deep breath and mutters under his breath, “We need you..”

“Make it personal, sweetie,” Rouge teases.

“I! I need you!! You happy!?” Knuckles erupts, Rouge grinning now and far too pleased with the rise she got out of him.

She simply turns with a giggle, “Alright, alright, I’ll get the emerald. No need to beg.”

[kanerallels]

My first contribution to Spring Fling, run by @monthly-challenge!

Day 2: Green

Fandom: Star Wars Rebels

Pairing: Kanan Jarrus x Hera Syndulla

Had it been any other person, any other encounter, any other voice, Kanan probably would have just brushed it off and moved on.

Bumping into some stranger in the hall of the VA? That was normal enough. Getting around with about 75 percent of his vision gone was something he was still getting used to, and the building was pretty full on an average day.

So when he bumped into someone while leaving a meeting he’d been at, Kanan caught himself quickly. “Sorry,” he said, stepping back to let whoever it was by.

“No worries,” they said— she said. It was a woman’s voice, and the very sound of it rooted Kanan to the ground, speechless.

He’d been alive for 25 years, fought in a war, lost people he loved, and made a variety of highly questionable decisions. And in that time, Kanan had seen and heard a lot, both ugly and beautiful.

This voice? It blew all of them away. Both gentle and firm, with a musical quality that sent warmth through his bones and made his heart skip a beat. It was absolutely exquisite, and Kanan knew, without a doubt, that he absolutely had to know the woman it came from.

She was already walking away, towards the elevator, by the time Kanan recovered enough to come to this conclusion. And by the time he’d started to move or speak or do anything, the elevator door was already sliding shut.

All he’d seen, with what was left of his vision, was a bright, vibrant flash of green.

From a shirt or a scarf, or something else entirely? Kanan didn’t know. All he knew was that the color was burned indelibly into his memory, and that he definitely needed to find out who that woman was.

He took the stairs, but when he made it to the lobby a floor below, the woman was long gone, leaving behind the memory of her voice. Kanan bit back a frustrated growl. Don’t worry, he told himself. If she was at the VA, it was for a reason. Which means I might bump into her again.

So he stayed calm, and headed out. Unfortunately, he was late for lunch with his friend Zeb thanks to his searching. The burly man was waiting in the usual booth at their favorite diner when Kanan made it.

“Oh, thanks for bothering to show up,” he said as Kanan slid into the seat across from him.

“Sorry,” Kanan said with a grimace. “I didn’t think I was going to be that late. But I— got distracted, and then the cab had to take a detour thanks to some accident. Did you order already?”

“I waited like ten minutes, but then I got bored,” Zeb said with a good-natured snort. He wasn’t the type to hold a grudge over one being late. “What exactly distracted you so much you forgot about lunch with your best mate?”

“I didn’t forget,” Kanan corrected. “I just got distracted, like I said.” The waitress approached, and Kanan ordered. He and Zeb had been coming to the diner since long before he’d lost his vision, and the menu was ingrained in his memory.

As were the staff, for that matter, and Kanan frowned as the waitress walked away. “We don’t know her, do we?”

“Nope,” Zeb said, slurping from his drink. “Some Russian kid Quinlan picked up. Now, are you being evasive, or am I going nuts?”

Kanan hesitated, then admitted, “You’re not going nuts. I was distracted by… someone I met. She and I bumped into each other in the hall—”

“Ohhh,” Zeb said, and Kanan didn’t need to see him to know a smirk was stretching across his face. “She?”

“It’s not like that!” Kanan protested, then paused. “Well… it is a little. But it’s not like I had enough time for anything to happen.”

He recapped the incident for Zeb, lingering just a little on what he remembered of the woman. Especially her voice— he probably lingered a little too long on that.

“Right,” Zeb said as the waitress reappeared, carrying both of their meals. “So you fell head over heels for this girl you met one time, and you’re gonna do what about it?”

Kanan shrugged. “Find her, I guess? Thanks,” he added as the waitress set his sandwich in front of him, along with his drink. “How hard could it be? I just need to talk to all the women in Lothal City until I find one that sounds—”

“Like an angel from your dreams?” Zeb said, snickering as he took a bite from his burger.

“I was going to say familiar,” Kanan said, scowling at him.

The man chuckled. “Sure, mate. Well, you’ve got the VA to start with. Maybe ask Piett. He and Veers know everyone around there, and if they don’t know her, they’ll know someone who does.”

“Good point,” Kanan said, his heart lightening a little. Veers was his former CO, and between him and his best friend Piett, they had a handle on pretty much everything that went on in both the VA and Lothal City. (Although it helped that Piett’s sister in law was a state senator.) After their meal, Kanan headed home planning to speak to them the next day.

He didn’t have to wait that long.

While he knew it made him something of a stereotype, Kanan liked to stop at the same diner every morning before work. He’d been going there for years, and the owner, Quinlan Vos, had been close with his mother. So he could usually count on cheap— or free, depending on if Vos’s wife was there— coffee, and a decent breakfast.

What he hadn’t counted on, however, when he stepped inside, was finding someone in his usual booth. In fact, Kanan had been expecting it so little that he’d sat down before he realized someone was sitting across from him.

“Oh— sorry,” he said, starting to slide out of his seat.

“No apologies necessary.”

Kanan froze. That was the voice— warm, slightly amused and curious, and stunningly gorgeous. And, as he gave her a proper look, there was the green. Her hair, by the looks of things. It was unexpected, and fit her well. Really well, he thought.

“Do we know each other?” she asked, her voice thoughtful. “You look familiar.”

For a moment, Kanan couldn’t speak. A long moment, as it turned out, because she asked, “You speak English?”

“Words fail me.”

There was no mistaking her smile, gentle and wry, as she said, “So they do.”

Recover, Jarrus. Pull yourself together. “Um.” Not a strong start. “We, uh, we actually met the other day,” he told her. “Bumped into each other at the VA— literally.”

“That’s right,” she said. “Which is why you sat down next to me?”

Kanan couldn’t help himself— he laughed. “Believe it or not, this is a complete coincidence. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad it happened. But this is my favorite spot, at my favorite diner.” 

It’s almost like fate, the unhelpfully romantic side of his brain whispered.

He elected not to say that part out loud.

“Well, you may as well stay, then,” she told him serenely. “I’m Hera.”

“Kanan.”

“Nice to meet you, Kanan.”

A smile crossing his face, Kanan said, “Trust me, the pleasure is all mine.”

[rainstormwrite]

Good news.

Hello, everyone! I come bearing incredibly good news…

I've finally finished writing the update.

Not only that, but I've also already rewritten POVs and adjusted clunky scenes, meaning that the update is ready to be released.

I would've probably released it without warning you all, so it would've been a surprise, but I just want to give you some heads-up.

Even though the whole project is now over 260k words, the actual amount of content that was added in terms of singular playthrough is somewhere around 15 - 25 full pages (very approximately since I've already lost count because of all that branching and re-reading the same content over and over again), depending on the route and some other variables. As you can guess, this is due to the overwhelming amount of branching, the different personalities of the MC, the changes between said personalities, and stuff like that. To add to that, a big cause for such a large word count increase is the number of times I had to copy and paste some parts of the scene to make slight changes. So, in many places, the content is not entirely new, but rather slightly altered because, at that moment, I couldn't find an optimized approach to make some scenes changeable depending on your choices without copy-pasting them.

So, this whole situation is not very typical, so to speak, because in some other cases, this amount of words would've sufficed for a whole book already. But, in my case, it's just… one conversation. Yes, you've heard that right.

Basically, all that this update contains is the encounter with the crowd that the MC sees after exiting the hut. The new content ends right after the said encounter ends.

After you choose your approach to said conversation (personality of the MC at that moment, put in other words) you then also choose one of the three routes (tell lie #1, tell lie #2, tell the truth). After that, you only get some choices when something that may compel your MC to change what they wanted to do mid-way happens.

I want to highlight that, you don't really get to decide what exactly your MC says on each page. The tone of how they speak and their opinions about subjects and people are all derived from the prior choices you made, starting from whether your MC shook Theo's hand and told the group the truth and ending with whether your MC went into the tunnel and what they thought of Philip's/Burchard death… The MC's behavior may change very drastically just because of one choice you made earlier.

I'll admit, this is a very experimental approach from my side, but that allows me to shape your MC into a full-fledged, believable character without it feeling like you don't have control over them. Maybe my words don't convey my point exactly, but I guess you'll see it with your own eyes.

There are different sets of choices to make in the routes, even though sometimes they may be similar. Each route uncovers some information that the others didn't, so it adds to the replayability.

All in all, this may be a somewhat polarizing update due to my decisions, but I fully understand that and am of course willing to hear your feedback about the new content.

Give me somewhere around 24 hours so that I can set everything up and roll out the update to you all.

Also, there were some old questions in my inbox that I couldn't answer because, quote 'your blog was restricted by our anti-spam control' (I found that out one month and a half later after sending a ticket to Tumblr's support), so here are those questions:

Yeah, I'm okay. In fact, now I'm okay more than ever due to me finally finishing writing this update.

Thanks for catching that! It's fixed now!

Sorry, you two, that I'm answering you only now.

[carrots-bear]

Lost & Found (February prompts)

By Bear | Started/Finished - 2/1/25

Rottmnt turtle-tot fic

“Waaaaappphhhh!!!!!” Mikey running as he wailed to his brother, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Mikey! What happened? Were Lee and Don making you watch Dad’s tv shows again? Grrrr, they better stop doin’ that er they’re gonna be in trouble,” Raph asked, assuming that the twins were being their disastrous selves and pushing the youngest of them all to do things he shouldn’t.

“N-n-no.” Mikey paused to sniff. “I-I-I— t-t-to-today— w-w-wew¹, I w-was cowewing² wiff Squeak, an-an-an’… an’ t-then I w-went t-to-to p-pway Wou J-J-Jitsu wiff-f Wee an’ D-Dee-Dee, an’ w-when I w-w-went t-to g-get Squ-Squ-Squea-ea-eak—“ Mikey’s voice wobbled as he broke off again. He hiccuped and whined, hugging his big brother all the while, until he could continue his story— with some coaxing from Raph.

“C’mon, bud. Tell Raph an’ then he’ll help ya,” Raph comforted, rubbing his baby bro’s shell.

Mikey took a deep breath before continuing. “I w-went t-t-t-to ask Squea-eak if h-he wan-want-wanted to-o p-way— pwwwa- plllllaayyy W-W-Wou J-Jitsu-u wiff Weo an’ D-Donnie, b-b-but t-then-n-n I c-c-c-couldn’t-n’t-n’t f-fin-d-d h-h-him!” The little box turtle broke down again, crying as if someone had told him they’d killed a puppy.

“Well, where were you colorin’ with Squeak?”, Raph asked, remembering what his dad had taught him when he was Mikey’s age: back-track.

“W-w-we were in-n my woo-woo-woom,” Mikey stuttered with a trembling lip.

“Alright! Mike, get Donnie and Leo. We’ve got a do-phin³ to find!”, Raph ordered encouragingly.

“Okay!”, Mikey nodded, a smile emerging from his tearful face as his small tail began to wag. He dashed off, calling his older brother’s names. “LLLLLLLLLEEEEOOOO! DEEEEE-DEEEEEEE! WHEWE AWE YOOOOOUUUUUU!?”

Meanwhile, Raph dashed off to Mikey’s bed-room in hopes that /he/ might be able to find the tie-dye plush. “Hmmmm. If I was Mikey, where could I put Squeak?”

“You mean, ‘where /would/ I put Squeak’?”, Donnie offered, announcing the entrance of Raph’s brothers.

“Sure,” Raph waved him off. “Okay boys. This is a crime scene. It’s either a runaway, or a kidnapping.”

Mikey gasped, bringing his small hands up to his mouth. “No…” he whispered.

“So, we look everywhere!”, was Leo’s conclusion.

“But it’s a crime scene; you disturb no ebby-dense at the scene of a crime,” Donnie argued.

“Oh, yeah. That’s what all Dad’s soap oper’s say, anywhizz,” Leo thought with a nod.

“Soap opera,” Donnie corrected again.

“Nerd.”

“Dum-dum.”

“Guys! Stop! Mikey lost Squeak, and now /we all/ have to find him!”, Raph interrupted, putting his arms between the two.

“Okay, here’s the plan. We’ll look in here first, and then if we can’t find him, we’ll go to different rooms by ourselfff-sss until we fins him. And if /we/ can’t find Squeak, than we can ask Pops to help us! Got that?”, Raph asked as he looked around at his little bros. They nodded, all looking determined to find Mikey’s favorite toy.

“Hands in bros! Three, two, one, TURTLE POWER!!!!”, Raph began; all four shouted at the end, making silent, innocent promises that Squeak would be found.

Raph dashed to look under the make-shift dresser. Nothin’. He checked the drawers, all three, from top to bottom! Still no sign of Squeak. He walked over to the colorful pieces of paper and crayons.

Leo, Mikey, and Donnie approached Raph at the same time. “We looked everywhere we could think of. None of us found nothing,” Leo reported solemnly.

“Hm. Okay. Donnie, search the tv room. Leo, look in your room. Mikey, look in Dee’s room—“

“Why can’t I look in my own room?”, Donnie protested, stomping his foot.

“Because Mikey isn’t allowed to watch a lot of the stuff dad watches. Also, you’re the only one who doesn’t get completely ‘stracted from the tv,” Raph reasoned.

“Oh. Yeah, I guess that’s true,” Donnie agreed, eye-ridges knit together in thought.

“I’ll look for Squeak in my room. Turtles, let’s roll out!”, Raph finished.

They all ran to their assigned rooms, making quick and thorough work of the search. Raph first looked at where he was sitting before he went to the kitchen to make lunch for the five Hamatos. He knew that his dad could get food for himself, but he didn’t get up much anymore, so Raph decided that he would make lunch for his dad to be extra responsible.

Raph looked under his blankets, and then his pillow, and then his mattress. He checked under the rug, in his own amassing pile of plush toys.

He checked his school corner, and craft corner, which was full of yarn at the moment, cakey and scavenged threafd fraying, as he was trying to teach himself how to crochet, or knit, or whatever it was called. He was using a discarded, muddled up kit manual to learn the craft.

Raph was getting sidetracked. Now’s the time to focus. Raph won’t rest until we find Squeak.

Well, maybe Raph’ll rest. How can I be able to look if I’m too sleepy to open my eyes! the reasonable voice in Raph’s head mentioned.

Anyways, Raph even checked his own dresser like he did with Mikey’s— and still nothing! “Well, I looked everywhere in here I can think of. I’ll check on Donnie’s room.”

Raph walked in to find Mikey trying to peek somewhere he couldn’t reach much less see. “Here, let me help,” Raph offered, scooping his youngest brother up and onto his shoulders.

“Woah! Waphie! You scawed me!”, Mikey exclaimed.

“Sorry, Mikey! Look at the top now. You can see more from up there,” Raph apologized.

“Wow! I’m the king of the woooowwwwwwwwwlllllllddddd!!!!!!”, Mikey cheered. Raph felt him lean forwards. “I can’t see him.”

“Did you look everywhere in here yet?”

“No— um, yes, um, I don’ know.”

“Okay. Did you look under the bed?”

“Yes.”

“Did you look on top of the bed?”

“Yes.”

“Did you under the rug?”

“Yes.”

And it continued like that for about two minutes, in the time of which Leo and Donnie walked in, both empty-handed, waited for approximately ten seconds, and then looked for Squeak on their own. However, both Leo and Donnie came fruitless of their labor again.

“Squeak isn’t in either of our rooms,” Leo interrupted, pointing to Donnie and himself.

“How do you know that?”, Raph asked suspiciously.

“Because I looked in my room. And Dee-Dee and I looked in here while you and Mikey were talking,” Leo explained.

“Oh. Okay,” Raph accepted easily, Mikey not leaving his shoulders. “Let’s check the kitchen.”

The four headed off again, determined to finish their mission. They looked everywhere they could. The cabinets, the counter, the oven— everywhere! But the beloved dolphin was nowhere to be seen.

“I’ll never see Squeak ever again!”, Mikey screamed before crying loudly. It was enough to get Splinter to come in and wonder what the matter was— or he was just getting hungry because it was a bit past his lunchtime.

“Orange! What is the matter, my son?”, he asked, crouching down to scoop the smallest brother into his arms.

Mikey could only hiccup and wail, and Donnie could only cover his ears, and Raph wasn’t fast enough, so Leo answered for the youngest: “He lost Squeaky, and we looked everywhere, but we can’t find him!”

Splinter tsked and shook his head. “A lost Squeaky? Well, we can’t have that, can we? Hmmm, let’s see.” Splinter swiveled his head around, his eyes searching for an orange dolphin toy. Mikey was sniffing and hiccuping in Splinters arms still, though he had calmed down quite a bit.

“Dad, we already told you that we looked everywhere! Squeaky isn’t—“ Raph tried to explain. However, he was interrupted by his father.

“Non-sense! Squeaky is right there on the counter, see?”, Splinter pointed. Though the three eldest turtles could not believe it, there he was! Squeaky the Dolphin! In the flesh!— um, fluff?

Raph, Donnie, and Leo’s jaws dropped, but Mikey gasped, and then squealed. “Eeeeeeee!!!!!! Daddy, you find-ed him! You find-ed Squeaky!” He squirmed out of his father’s arms and ran towards the stuffed animal that was just larger than his head. He snatched it from the counter and hugged it tight. “Oh, Squeaky! I’ww nevew wose you again! I pwomise!”

“Now we can play Lou Jitsu!”, Leo cheered.

“Yeah!”, Mikey joined his red-eared brother.

The two ran off, Donnie not far behind in his oversized hoodie. Raph hesitated, but Splinter grunted and smiled. “Thank you for helping your brother, my Red. Go play; I will prepare lunch.”

“Thanks, Pops!”, Raph grinned and then ran off to join his brothers in a fun game of pretend.

—————Nine Years Later—————

“Aha! Found ya! I’m glad you made it through the Shredder’s attack, how ‘bout it buddy?”, Mikey spoke gently to the battered old dolphin plush as if he had seen everything that had happened to their childhood home.

“Mikey! It won’t hold for much longer! Hurry up!”, he heard Donnie call from the safest exit of their now-unrecognizable home.

“Coming!”, he called back. “We’re going to a new home now…… I’m glad I didn’t lose ya, Squeak. I’m glad I found you again.”

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

It was gonna be a fun silly little thing but then I decided that I'd add some angst at the end :^ bc why not >:]

I'm late for this, but that's okay. I'll try to get today's written today :D

I'm going to assume that most people can understand toddler when put to print, so I just included a few translations below

Prompt by @monthlywritingchallenges

-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-=_=-

Footnotes:

1.) Five y.o. for "well"

2.) Five y.o. for "coloring"

3.) Pronounced as "dough-fin"

[1800duckhotline]

2, 3, 7, 11, 14, 18, 19, 23, 24 and 25 for eureka!!

Edgy/misc OC ask meme ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

2. What's something about your OC that people wouldn't expect just from looking at them?

Honestly, not too sure because Eureka's whole shtick is what it says on the tin... I would guess maybe the fact she originally was a peasant butcher's daughter from Bavaria in the 1300s? I love that tibid about it because it's very out there, kind of, but I don't know if people wouldn't expect it...

3. What is your OC's fatal flaw? Are they aware of this flaw?

Eureka has so many flaws, is aware of all of them, and genuinely doesn't give a fuck 😭 Like, chaotic at its finest. Among her many negative qualities (which no doubt are why I love her so much), I'd say its main two most 'fatal' ones are pride/overconfidence and gluttony. Both those whims tends to land it in sticky situations it wouldn't find herself into if she weren't always eager to satisfy her ego or hunger before anything else.

7. What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?

The changes that happened to Eureka mostly pertain to its design, but the lore is more or less unchanged since I didn't start with a particular backstory for it in the first place - like with many other OCs it clicked into place naturally after a bit of playing around with her. Eureka used to have "markings" on her skin to signify that she was bound to a symbiote demon - this culminating in her back tattoo - but I decided to retcon the idea for my own sanity... it still has its cool sick king cobra back tattoo, but it's not inherent to her nature as a synchronizer, she just got it because it looked cool.

11. What is your OC's weapon of choice? Have they ever actually used it?

Eureka can shapeshift its body into whatever weapon it prefers, but she has a preference for enhanced muscular arms and hands and/or her teeth.

14. How does your OC want to be seen by other characters?

Scary/cool/mysterious/sexy/arousing/etc... Eureka doesn't have big aspirations but she does love to play the part of the villain more often than not. But for characters that are on her same power level, she LOVES to be a fucking nuisance to them.

18. Is your OC more cold and detached or up close and personal?

Definitely the latter. If you catch Eureka's eye(s), you will no doubt be pestered by its unfiltered attention (for better or for worse) until it gets bored of you.

19. How does your OC behave when enraged?

Not Well. Considering Eureka has extremely strong and flexible shapeshifting powers and eats humanss to survive or to entertain itself, well, if she's angry it's bad news for everybody around her. But it is hard to make her actually enraged due to her being extremely fucking old at this point - most she'll get is annoyed or miffed, and usually this occurs when she is already in battle against someone on her same power level, which means things are already exceedingly violent to begin with. Not much to be surprised about.

23. What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express?

Eureka struggles caring because it hasn't felt such a thing in decades, and when it does feel like it cares for someone, it's extremely difficult for it to express it in a way that is... for lack of better words... "regulated"?

Example: Eureka cares about Andrea, thus she sleeps with her because she likes toying around with her (and is fascinated by how Andrea can't die after having sex with her which... is the more common occurrence) - thus she puts curses on her for fun or embarrasses her in public; Eureka cares about Jenica, in a twisted mentor-like way, so instead of teaching them about the ins and outs of being a synchronizer, it basically taunts them or haunts them or mocks them under the guise of "teaching" them.

Like, basically, it's not too different from her usual way of approaching people, but it'll end up being reversely even more annoying and/or cruel to a person it will care about. It's all it's ever known LOL

24. What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

I mean... let me be completely honest. Her one alternative life path would've been death. If Eureka hadn't decided to "take care" of the noblewoman who had employed her "services" in the late 1300s, she would have never read the book that let her fuse with Malacoda, and thus she would've kept working as the medieval equivalent of a crime scene cleaner until the day she died (or until she was disposed of by said noblewoman). Fusing with Malacoda is what made Eureka what it is today and there's hardly any chances of it developing a different temperament afterwards that'd lead to different choices; Malacoda may be a more "passive" kind of symbiote, but its presence alone influences Eureka to be vile even if it isn't doing it on purpose, if that makes sense. LOL

[angelsanarchy]

Glass Houses: Jack Thurlow x Y/N One-Shot Series PRT 25

Tagging:@roryculkinluvr@thatsthewrongwallcraig@icarus-star @cc-luvr @madamemaximoff06@shady-the-simp @quicksilversg1rl @s-0lar @kristennero-wallacewellsver@ophelialaufey @mayathepsychic1999 @x-prettyboy-x @rorylover71 @auggiethecreator @tempt-ress @blacksoul-27

Jack felt something inside of his chest snap when she slammed the door shut. He cut his eyes at Y/n and she put her hand up.

"Jack...you need to push through this okay. Dr. Carty will be here soon. Let's just go in the living room and-" She tried to guide him into the living room and he slapped her hand away from him.

"And what? Wait for them to come and throw me back in the hospital because you couldn't handle a few gashes?" Jack seethed at her and she took a deep breath. He was in a full on manic episode now and she knew things were only going to escalate.

"Jack, I'm here to help okay? I'm not going to fight you and I'm not going to hurt you. I care about you." She explained making him narrow his gaze.

"Oh you care about me? You aren't going to hurt me? You sound fucking pathetic." Jack spat.

"Jesus Christ we haven't even fucked and you're here like some love sick cunt who wants to save me from myself. Is that what you're doing Y/n? You gonna save me? You gonna fix me?" Jack started to approach Y/n now and she took a step backwards.

"Jack, I don't want to hurt you but if you come at me then you aren't going to like what happens." Y/n warned him. She knew that the worst parts of a manic episode could result in violence and she wasn't going to let that happen.

"You don't want to hurt me? Who are you kidding? You would love to hurt me just so you can try and fix me like you fix everyone in your life. Everyone except yourself of course." Jack was starting to get nasty and stepped closer once more.

"Jack please don't make me do something I'll regret." Y/n really wanted him to back off but he continued.

"You know I've known women like you my whole life. Think they're so fucking superior because they listen to everyone's fucked up problems, never addressing their own. Acting like listening and giving a pat on the back is somehow a fix all for the broken when they couldn't put together a four piece puzzle." Jack rolled his eyes and shoved a chair out of the way to stomp towards her.

"I'm not a project for you to fix up and make some stupid perfect boyfriend for you to show off to all your nurse friends or you cripple mother." The words came out so harshly and with such aggression that Y/n didn't hesitate to slap him across the face knocking him backwards. He rolled his tongue around in his mouth and tasted blood.

"I know you're fighting your demons right now but you aren't going to disrespect me for caring about you. You want to tell me how much of a piece of shit I am or how pathetic I am for getting off with my fucked up neighbor, go for it. Don't you dare talk about my fucking mom, Jack. This is your only warning." Y/n fought back as he spit blood on the floor not caring that they were inside.

"Is this you fixing me Y/n? You gonna slap the crazy out of me huh? You gonna beat it out of me?" Jack started slapping himself in the face, punching himself in the side of the head and Y/n grabbed his arms trying to stop him.

"JACK! STOP IT!" He tried fighting back and shoved her again so she would release his arms. He gripped her biceps in his hands and squeezed hard.

"GO AHEAD! FIX ME! SAVE ME! KILL ME!" Jack screamed until Y/n plowed her knee into his balls as hard as she could. Jack dropped to the floor with a hard thud. He wretched a few times from the pain and coughed trying to catch his breath.

"Don't get up! Stay down okay?" Y/n had angry tears in her eyes as she stayed on the defense.

"You...bitch...you stupid...fucking...bitch." He breathed in agony.

"Yeah well...takes one to know one I guess." Y/n looked at her arm where he had grabbed her and it was already bruising. She cursed under her breath. Jack started trying to say something but the coughing kept him from forming sentences.

"It's probably best that you stop talking until you're back behind the wheel and can communicate with me because the next step from a knee to the balls is a taser." Y/n threatened as he rolled to sit against the wall. He kept his eyes staring at her darkly.

"I hate you...I hate you so much. Why did you make me believe I could have something normal? You stupid fucking bitch." He shook his head letting angry tears roll down his face.

"You should have just let me die. You should have just let me DIE!" He wailed as the door opens to a tall man carrying a medical bag with an EMT right behind him.

"I'm Dr. Carty-" He wanted to greet Y/n but she pushed past him, holding onto her bruised arms.

"He's all yours Doc." She ran out the front door.

"Y/N! COME BACK!?"Jack continued to wail.

"Y/n please wait. Let me check him first and I will help you." Dr. Carty pleaded.

"I'll survive. I always do." She didn't bother turning around because she knew he would see how upset she was. Instead he turned his attention back to Jack who was now trying to fight against the EMT's until they injected him with something to knock him out. Jack wasn't in his right mind right now but when he was, he would truly hate himself more than he ever thought he could.

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

I don't know if you're still doing the ask game, but how about 1, 22, and 25? For Jason, and Steph too if you're up for it :D

--Cologona

Because I could still find it: yes! Still doing this ask game :3 Sorry it took so long to answer!

1) Why do you like or dislike this character?

I spent like seventy years attempting to find the post with this meme on it so I could give credit lmao, but I could not for the life of me, so uh, just know that I'm remaking this thing from memory I guess???

Jason is the bee in my bonnet, the rock in my shoe, and I am chewing on him forever and ever - meanwhile I will enjoy pretty much any comic about Steph simply because I love watching her do her thing :3

But to go into more detail I really enjoy Steph's narration style and the way she navigates the world. She feels very refreshingly street level and hopeful. Also as someone who grew up as the only "girl" (trans man but egg) in my martial arts class which was taught by a detective with a very drill sargent/tough-love approach to teaching and got an extra helping of PTSD as a result... watching her struggle, get dismissed bc of her gender, and go on to become a great hero despite Batman and his bullshit feels really fucking good. Def love Batgirl 2009

Jason on the other hand is just so deliciously messy. He's hurt a lot of people, but at the same time his anger is super justified! He's intimately familiar with violence in a way that I think makes him unable to conceptualize trust and gauge what an 'appropriate' response is. There's been several times where he's expressed the idea that serious violence by him against others is just normal and forgivable and not a big deal. There's something so compelling to me about that bc I think he really does see it that way, and it comes from a place of him being extremely used to receiving violence and being expected to forgive and not hold it against them. That wall of text in the meme picture is a tiny fraction of one of my essays on him. He's got so many fascinating layers and I love peeling him apart and putting him back together like a robot performing surgery on a grape.

Sometime after I finish Chained, I really want to write Four and Twenty Blackbirds, which is a fic concept I've had for ages now that puts them together in a lesbian/gay man queer relationship. The premise is that somehow or other Steph comes back to Gotham secretly/early and Jason is the first one to find her and they end up building a weird organized crime/community support organization called The Blackbirds.

Not sure on the timeline. Maybe it'll start before Under the Red Hood? Maybe after a modified Hush plotline?? In any case: Jason offers to preform High Vengeance against Black Mask either for or with her. She does not want him killed! She would feel like that went completely against everything she died for. However, she does want that fucker taken down, and is touched that Jason clearly genuinely cares. Also I'm going to have Jason assume without question that she is fully competent and his equal. Unlike every other vigilante in town, she will never have to prove herself to him. So anyways she tells him that yeah, she wants her revenge, but it's gonna happen her way, and the plot moves on from there, as together they destroy and co-opt Black Mask's organization and establish a territory for themselves :3

22) If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

Unless given a reading suggestion by someone else, I exclusively read JayTim fanfiction, which heavily skews what I look for and see in fic. I'm also pretty damned picky lol I write much more fic than I read these days

Even the most basic, stripped down version of Stephanie's core concepts and background ought to be enough to conclude that she would have very complex feelings about both Jason and Tim and them dating each other. She had a supervillain father and a character arc about learning to value the lives of even her worst enemies. Now her ex is dating a guy who had a henchman father and the same character arc in reverse, a guy who specifically targeted her killer in order to get back at the mentor who bears some responsibility for both her death and his own. They are so uniquely poised to understand each other from across this fascinating chasm, both in terms of approaches to vigilantism and dating Tim. You could not ask for a more fertile storytelling ground, regardless of if you want her to be supportive or not.

So yeah, for Stephanie I like it when she has a personality outside of cheerleading Tim while being vaguely sweet and quirky.

The bar is in Hell here folks, and out of the hundreds of fanfics I've read I've only ever seen it cleared twice. And that's only if we include my own goddamned writing. This goes beyond normal fandom simplification, especially when you factor in that Cass, famously against all killing Cass, gets similarly denuded of all internal motives and qualities in favor of being (sometimes literally) wordlessly supportive for no apparent reason, while in those same fics the male characters get to have opinions and internal viewpoints. JayTim nation, I am praying for us to learn how to write women, truly.

Now on to Jason!

I think of Jason as someone who is intense in every facet of himself. He can be cruel and mistrustful or tender and romantic, but no matter what he is I want him to be a little unhinged with it, a little too deep, a little too incapable of not giving a fuck. I want this man lost in the sauce, whatever that sauce may be.

I dislike him being overly apologetic, which practically translates to me disliking most fics in which he is apologetic at all lol I do think he would come to regret some of his actions, but I tend to think those would be different actions than the ones he's usually depicted apologizing for. For instance, I can absolutely see him apologizing to a victim of the Joker for not killing him when he got the chance, but I don't really think he'd have the framework to consider his fights with Tim to have been all that far out of line.

25) What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

Ohhhhhhh boy that was fuckin ages ago??? I'm not honestly sure I remember, though I do know that I read JayTim fanfics before anything else that involved these characters, so it had to have been based on that.

...Gah, I don't even remember how I found this ship lol! I mean I started with Boostle?? Maybe JayTim was in the background somewhere of one of those fics? idk

I suppose my first impressions were that Jason was a Big Mood deeply traumatized and lashing out bc of that, and Stephanie was gir waffles XD random rawr means I love you in dinosaur.

Anyhow, thank you very much for the ask @cologona! As per usual with these things I hope it was a fun read and you have a good day and all that jazz :3

[youremyheaven]

Behen ab aapko apna manifestation routine spill karna padega kyunki

You 🧲 Venus men

Meanwhile me:

Me 🧲 underage boys (no I'm not a pedo. This just happens on its own I swear 🥲)

LMAOOOO 😭😭😭😭

fr it's crazy bc a Bharani stellium guy from college who I haven't spoken to in YEARS started messaging me recently 😭😭 I am fr a Venus man magnet

I also think I'm a very powerful manifestor ngl and i think I've been unconsciously doing it ever since I was a kid or something but here's my routine/tips:

1. Self concept

I'm sure y'all have heard of this already and there are a million people talking about this but this is kind of the beginning and end of manifestation

What is manifestation? It's creating your reality

How do you create your reality? With your mind, duh 🙄😜

I have always believed that I'm a 10/10 baddie, a complete and total catch, any man would die/kill to have me and I'm the bestest gf anyone could ever wish for and this has been my mindset since forever and guess what? 😌🤪That's exactly how I'm treated and the kind of experiences I have 🤪🤪 (sometimes to a crazy extent, one guy actually tried to kill himself when I rejected him 😳😳 so pls be very careful with this 😔)

I've always believed that I'll be adored, helped, taken care of and provided for no matter where I am. When someone tries to tell me about how hard things can be or how slim the odds are, I have to laugh like GIRLLLL ur making things hard for yourself and I'm not and will never be you 💅 I'm ME and things are ALWAYS easy for ME. that's just my mentality and attitude and NO ONE can tell me otherwise. i have had many crusty ass people tell me I'm delusional and guess what they're rotting rn and I'm not 😌💅

I've heard some people speak about life/love/career/finance etc in the most negative pessimistic way and they wonder why they have no friends, no boo, no money nothing GIRL UR THE PROBLEM 🤧🤧

why is my dating life so different from many women? why do I get princess treatment? it's because I BELIEVE this is what I deserve.

that means, rejecting anything BENEATH this. there will always be creeps, low effort men and assholes, it's up to you whether or not you want to put up with that. it's not that low value men never approach me, it's that I pay NO MIND to anybody who isn't worth my time 💅

others can sense your energy. it affects the way you carry yourself. you think you're being nice when you act low maintenance but you're actually repelling men bc they want to be with someone who is hard to get and hard to keep, bc they like the challenge. I was known throughout my college years for being the girl no one could have 💅 bc no crusty man could ever touch even the tip of my pinky nail and that exclusivity means that you have to be special enough for me to pick you and that makes the men compete 💅for you

BUT HERE'S THE IMPORTANT PART:

by having this mentality you can attract many men for sure but there's no guarantee that they'll like you as a person once they get to know you

I have this self concept of everybody bending over backwards for me and dying to be with me but I am (and this is another personal belief) a very warm, kind, sweet person so I'd never take advantage of anyone's generosity or toy with people's feelings.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

because karma is real

You can manifest winning the lottery but you could get into a car accident two days later and never live a life of wealth

This is to say that life does not end with manifesting something. Our character, our virtue, how we treat others and our intentions ALL MATTER. You can manifest something amazing and then have a horrible time experiencing it. So it's always important to keep a clear heart 💛 if you want to enjoy the fruits of your labour/manifestation

I'll give you my grandpa for example

After my grandma died, he went and got married in less than a year and it really hurt my dad's feelings (my dad was like 25 when it happened tho) and my grandpa said that he really wanted company in his old age and it's hard to find a widow around his age from the same community so he jumped at the first one he found and thought it was fate lmao aka Dadu (paternal grandpa in Hindi) thought he manifested that baddie but GUESS WHAT, she dumped his ass a few years in and he was all alone in his old age with no one except my dad to take care of him.

So you can manifest marrying a baddie but how that marriage works out will all be dependent on your karma 🫶

2. Embodying your beliefs

Look at your lifestyle. You want people to give you princess treatment but do you live like a princess?

Maybe the thing standing in your way is money but let's start there then. Manifest money. India has 1 billion people , if you can get 10 people to pay you for a service you can still make 10k + every month for pocket money

Do what you gotta do to live the life you deserve and don't make excuses

You want princess treatment but you act like a broke scarcity minded kanjoosi girl ??? Not gonna work 😔

3. Have faith

This will help you detach and not obsess over outcomes or be desperate

Are queens ever desperate?? No 💅 neither should you be

Have blind faith (easy for me bc im delusional) , it gives you a sense of entitlement maybe but a healthy entitlement 😌🫶bc you know you got God on your side ✨

4. Persist

Don't change your mind , keep believing even if you don't see results yet.

It's like placing an order. It might be delayed but it WILL come

Happy manifesting ✨🫶💛

Hope you attract everything you've ever wanted

[theside-b]

I have cooled off and think that I can now talk about At 25:00 at Akasaka without disrespecting (much) the people involved in it.

First things first: it was boring. And if you read the book you know that last thing this show should've been was a snooze. Honestly a whole lot of that has to do with the script and direction, everything is tepid, apathy runs deep here. For a show about acting and drama not a whole lot happens here. And is very predictable, you can see every single thing coming a mile away.

Now for the not so polite part: I disliked Shirasaki, and unfortunately can't blame this just on the direction or script. Shirasaki is a very flawed character, not the character itself, but the writing of him. The show starts with him being presented as an aspiring actor with lots of talent and brimming with potential, his manager saw him act and was so impressed that kept pushing him, but he is played as if everything is new, like he never had any experience with acting, a total lack of social skills, no self-confidence to speak of. Would rather have him as a total newcomer than what we got because what is presented, what is shown of him simply doesn't mesh with what they want us to believe. And things don't improve, with the show always aiming at this sort of melancholic, low-energy vibe, Taisuke never does much with the character leaving him monotone for most of the time (he cries eventually but that's about it, which is something I guess), Kiita's Asami fares a tad better, but mostly because he is not given too much screen time.

25:00 is also guilty of one cardinal mistake: wasting potential. The moment Nagumo Shoma's Yamase steps into the scene he is up on everybody business, serving as the closest thing to an antagonist the show has, sparking emotions and stirring drama wherever he goes. Shoma has good chemistry with the entire cast, but it's when Usa Takuma crosses his path that things light up. They have about 5 minutes of screen time together, and manage to outperform the protagonists with ease. The energy, humor, and flow they have shines through and is undeniable that they were both wasted here, especially Usa. I said it before, knowing these two from Kiss x Kiss x Kiss makes it mind-boggling that the 25:00 producers didn't let them run loose.

Considering this was a streaming original, which supposedly allows for a more mature approach and lack of constraints At 25:00 in Akasaka was surprisingly tame, even the sex scene seemed prudish (couldn't help myself but compare it to the ones we got in Love Is Better The Second Time Around). Take into consideration the source material this is borderline criminal.

Worst thing is that I didn't hate the show. I feel indifferent towards it, and that is somehow even worse.

[kylesvariouslistsandstuff]

Some big changes are underway at Pixar, after an unfortunate series of layoffs...

Per the snippets I've seen of a Bloomberg article that's behind a paywall:

In addition to juicing up the sequel count once again (with hints of the worlds of FINDING NEMO and THE INCREDIBLES being revisited), and an INSIDE OUT series coming to Disney+ next year... It's being reported that Pixar is going to abandon the more "autobiographical" approach to their newest films... Ya know, actually director-driven films that connected with people? And supposedly, they will look to make more movies with "general appeal" - whatever the hell that means, at the behest of Disney execs.

It had been talked about for a little while, but it appears that Disney executives are mandating that Pixar not let filmmakers make films... Apparently forgetting that Pixar got to where they are in the first place because of the directors that were allowed to tell the stories that were personal to them (such as FINDING NEMO, THE INCREDIBLES, and INSIDE OUT) and meant a lot to them.

Apparently, that's box office poison now. Apparently that's why they've had losses lately. Recipes for failure. Never mind that LUCA and TURNING RED barely got theatrical releases, yet they did monster numbers on streaming, got solid-to-great critical reception, and Oscar nominations. ELEMENTAL may have cost a fortune, but it's the biggest original animated movie released post-COVID outbreak- OH YEAH, THAT. A whole worldwide pandemic! Which resulted in TURNING RED and LUCA skipping theaters in the first place.

Whereas the spin-off, LIGHTYEAR, was the only true flop of this period.

You can't make this crap up.

Bob Iger's gotta go, as do these other silly executives, if they're *really* telling Pete Docter and Pixar brass to stop making movies like that. Movies that reflect their respective filmmakers' personal experiences and vision... I thought Iger was happy with ELEMENTAL's leggy run last summer? I guess he actually wasn't, nor the shareholders - the same deeply unserious people who found Disney's 2019 earnings of $24 BILLION *disappointing* because it wasn't... GASP... $25 BILLION.

I guess TURNING RED and LUCA's reviews, nominations, and success on streaming don't matter. Like... What kind of movies, outside of the sequels, is this studio gonna put out now? Noted-to-death movies that audiences end up not really connecting with? And what if those lose money?

You can't engineer hits. Hollywood bean counters don't seem to get that. You could make a movie that gets amazing reviews, and it could still flop. Or it could break out. Circumstances beyond the control of the filmmakers. If COVID-19 never happened, and SOUL, LUCA, TURNING RED, and ELEMENTAL all enjoyed unbothered theatrical releases and people could actually afford a movie trip? They all would've been blockbusters.

That's not to say that I think it's over for Pixar. I'm still looking forward to what the filmmakers can cook up under such restrictions, if they can somehow eke out a little personality. They could go the way of Disney Animation right now in my eyes, but we'll see... But I feel these mandates do not bode well for the studio's future. I remember so many talented people leaving when John Lasseter tightened his grip, circa 2010... The same could happen if the filmmakers can't really make anything other than "pre-made crowd pleaser", and flee to a studio that's a little looser than that.

But this is Disney at the end of the day. Everything's a brand, everything's Glup Shitto now. "Pixar movie" is basically a genre, when it shouldn't be. WDAS apparently means "FROZEN-Lite Movie #6", "Disney movie" is basically just remake of a classic or theme park adaptation, Marvel is now cameo-fest homework movies, Star Wars don't get me started...

We'll see how that model works out for Disney over the next few years or so...

(Maybe after I cool down, I'll be more reasonable here... But it ain't lookin' too hot.)