#I know they're coming back and all is fine

[strangersteddierthings]

Made With Love

It takes one bite for Eddie to suspect he's done something wrong. A second bite confirms it. He's fucked up somehow and cannot for the life of him remember what it was.

Did he miss an important date of some sort? It couldn't have been their anniversary because that's August 13th (Eddie's new favorite day of the year, for obvious reasons). He absolutely didn't miss Steve's birthday. Not with how long he and Robin had spent planning the damn thing. (Eddie is never throwing another surprise party in his life; the stress of secret keeping was too much to bear.)

... Did he miss Robin's birthday?

No. That can't be. Steve would never let him miss that.

It could be one of the Party's birthdays, but Eddie doesn't think that's a transgression that would warrant this.

This, of course, being his peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"What, your peanut butter's gone bad?"

Eddie lifts his eyes from the proof of Steve's anger at him to his coworker, Charlie, sitting across the table from him in the closet that Thatcher claims is the break room. "No. It's much worse than that, I'm afraid."

"Well, don't keep me in suspense," Charlie deadpans.

"This sandwich wasn't made with love," Eddie whines, looking back at the sandwich with as much sorrow as he can muster. He sets the sandwich down on the baggy he had pulled it out of so that he can frown down at it without having to touch the offending creation.

"Ah shit," Charlie says, voice filled with empathy. This is why he's Eddie's favorite coworker. He gets it. Possibly because he's the only person who's tasted the difference for himself, back when Eddie'd just started at Thatcher Tires. "What'd'ya do?"

"I don't know!" Eddie wails. "Everything was fine when I left this morning, or I thought it was anyway."

"Ain't your misses pretty good at lettin' you know you done fucked up?" Charlie, like the best coworker that he is, looks surprised that Eddie doesn't know what he's done. He's right, too. Steve is the goddamn king of petty, and Eddie has never struggled to know when Steve's mad at him. The struggle usually comes from Eddie refusing to be in the wrong.

(That's not to say that Eddie is always in the wrong. He's not. Sure, a good percent of their arguments Eddie is the one at fault and he's mature enough to admit so once the argument is over, but it's not always his fault.)

Anyway, the point is, regardless of who's at fault, Steve is angry at him about something and for the first time in months Eddie doesn't know what for. They'd promised each other, after their first very big fight that almost ended in a breakup and was over a misunderstanding, that they would tell each other why they're mad or upset or feeling some type of way. So for Eddie to not know...

He thinks he might have fucked up big time.

"I know!" Eddie cries, shoving the sandwich away from him to make room to drop his forehead onto the table, then turns to smoosh his cheek against the table so he can look at Charlie. "Charlie. Charlie what do I do?"

Charlie blows out a long breath, thinking, before he gives a decisive nod and says, "you gotta beg forgiveness."

Eddie knows Charlie's right. He doesn't know what he did but he's going to beg forgiveness anyway.

Which is how he now finds himself in the small floral section of the grocery store looking over the sad, wilted bouquets after work. His arms are already full with Steve's favorite ice cream, candies, an over-priced little blue teddy bear that's holding an 'It's A Boy!' card that Eddie plans to rip off, and a blank card with a painting of sunflowers on it that he plans to wax poetry about Steve inside.

The final part of his groveling is, of course, the flowers. It's the wrong season for sunflowers, so Eddie was going to settle for roses. It's just that these roses are all sad looking. They don't really scream 'I Love You More Than Anything Else In The World, Please Forgive Me For What I've Done' though.

Let it never be said that Eddie doesn't know how to beg forgiveness.

He ends up picking the least wilted looking bouquet, one with white and yellow flowers he can't name.

The cashier is an older lady who takes quick catalogue of his items and asks, "is it your anniversary, darling? Or, oh!" She picks up the blue bear and Eddie feels his ear heating with embarrassment as she coos, "are you expecting? How exciting!"

"Err, no, not, uh, no. It's just blue is hi-her favorite color, so I was planning to just cut off the little card," Eddie stutters out the lie. Blue isn't Steve's favorite color but Eddie's used to making up many little lies when talking to strangers. Being hate-crimed is not a passion of Eddie's. "I, uh, messed up. And I don't know what I did, but I'm going to make it right."

The lady smiles at him and gives him a firm nod as she scans the items. "Smart boy. I'm sure she'll forgive you."

Eddie gives her a smile he hopes isn't as tight-lipped as it feels on his face.

Back in the safety of his van, Eddie roots around until he finds a pen and gets to writing all the things he loves about Steve in the card and all the things he hopes they'll get to have in the future. Nothing they haven't spoken about before, but it still makes Eddie a little emotional writing it all down.

Once he's done writing, he pulls his pocket knife out and cuts off the 'It's A Boy' card from the bear, crumpling it up and tossing it in the back of the van to be forgotten. He shoves the sunflower card in it's place. His card is a bit wider than the previous one here so it stays in place, albeit precariously. He'll be careful handing it over to Steve.

He knows that Steve is at home already. Steve's always home first because he's off work at four compared to Eddie getting off work around five.

Well. Closer to five-thirty today with his stop at the grocery store. He really hopes that whatever has Steve mad at him isn't time related. Being late home without calling might earn him no favors if it's a time-based blunder.

Steve is in the kitchen, back to the door since he's facing the stove, as Eddie expected he might be. Which means that Eddie doesn't get to lay out all his Items of Forgiveness across the counter like he had hoped but that's okay. If the love of his life has chosen to forgive him, he knows Steve will be just as overjoyed to rifling through a bag of goodies as he would to pick them off the counter.

"Hi sweetheart," Eddie says, words oozing with adoration and sweetness.

"Hi baby," Steve's tone matches Eddie's, like an instinct to match Eddie's energy has written itself into Steve's DNA. And it might have. Eddie knows the reverse is true.

Steve turns from the stove, then, and his face lights up with delight and surprise. "What's all this?"

"Your favorite things, because I love you," Eddie says, raising his arms a bit. The grocery bag is looped over his wrist with flowers in one hand and the bear in the other.

Steve looks positively smitten.

Eddie is nailing this apology that isn't an apology. And let it be known; he cannot say he's sorry. It'll ruin everything. Because Steve, his wonderful, beautiful, kind and loving Stevie, will cock one perfect little caterpillar eyebrow and ask if Eddie knows what he's apologizing for, and Eddie will have to say he doesn't know and that isn't something he's willing to do. Especially not when it's looking like whatever Steve was mad about has completely slipped Steve's mind, too.

"I got your favorite ice cream, too, so we might want to get that into the freezer," Eddie says, passing the bear and card to Steve and shimmying around him to get to the freezer.

He lays the flowers on the counter and sets to emptying the bag. Ice cream in the freezer and goodies on the counter, while Steve reads the card silently behind him.

He knows he's successfully made up for whatever it was he had done, because Steve crowds him against the fridge shortly after setting the card down and turning the stove burner off, kissing him breathless.

Eddie even gets desert before dinner, with Steve all but dragging him to their bedroom.

-

The reddit post that inspired this -

[zhukzucraft]

=> Pearl: Keep being Pearl

Pearl: Geeeeem?

Pearl: Griaaaaaaaan?

Pearl: ...Scar?

Pearl: Oh come on!

Pearl: How'd they manage to run away so fast! Can't a girl have a moment to wallow and be indecisive?

Pearl: Well, I'm not seeing any death messages, at least.

Pearl: Maybe... they're fine?

Pearl: Definitely wouldn't help anyone if I ran off in a random direction and got myself all lost, so-

???: Oh gre-t, ---son Fore--. My fav---it-.

Pearl: Oh! Guys?

???: Eh. It c---d -- worse. --ould've sp-w--- in - --salt De-ta.

???: - guess. An- we -ave gold on.

Pearl: (...That doesn't sound like them)

Cleo: Oh I'd say we have a little too much gold, even.

Cleo: Like that clock. You know it's useless in the Nether, right?

Scott: Yeah, but, I'm not sure he knew that.

Scott: And I couldn't reject a present from my soulmate in cold blood, could I?

Cleo: Sure you could!

Cleo: These games are all about heartbreak, Scott. The sooner we get it over with the better.

Scott: Now now, I have a good feeling about this one.

Cleo: Do you?

Scott: No.

Cleo: Haha

Pearl: (!!!)

Start Over -- Go Back

[makeitmingi]

When Flowers Bloom In The Dark [Chapter 8]

Genre: Romance, Mafia!AU, Violence, Angst, Slow burn

Pairing: Hongjoong x Reader (y/n)

Characters: Florist!Reader, Mafioso!Hongjoong, Mafioso!Seonghwa, Mafioso!Yunho, Mafioso!Yeosang, Mafioso!San, Mafioso!Mingi, Mafioso!Wooyoung, Mafioso!Jongho

Summary: When you appeared and wept at his mother's funeral, Hongjoong found himself wanting to find out more about you. A regular girl, who owns a flower shop in his territory and has a relationship with the mother that he hasn't spoken to in years, why hasn't he ever noticed you before?

[Warning(s): 18+ for violence, use of weapons, smoking, alcohol consumption, slight gore, gang affiliation, tattoos and character deaths. Minors DNI. This is a work of fiction and does not represent the Ateez members in real life.]

Word count: 3.2K

"You can add a layer of natural compost to provide the plant with the nutrients its missing. Then add a layer of this mulch right at the top, it'll help keep the moisture in. Your plant should be fine right after." You smiled, handing the bag of mulch and natural compost to the customer after she paid.

"Okay, I'll go home and repot it properly. Do I stick to my regular watering schedule?" She asked.

"Water it every alternate day instead. Since we're retaining moisture, there's no need to water it every day now. Or it might drown the plant." You informed.

"Ah, I don't want that to happen." She giggled and you nodded with a laugh.

"Come back if you need any other help." You told her, walking her to the door. She bowed her head and left your store.

Once she left, you went back to working on online order pick ups. You recently received a big order for a huge event so you were trying to clear orders and you were not able to take in anymore new orders.

"Excuse me. Are you open?" The door opened.

"Yes, I am. How can I help you?" You wiped your hands and went out to greet the customer.

"I need a bouquet for a friend in the hospital. Do you do that? Maybe a small teddy bear, I don't know..." She smiled in embarrassment. But you knew what she meant and what she wanted so you waved her further into the store.

"Do you know the person's favourite flower? If not, there are sunflower bouquets, those are popular because of how bright they are." You chuckled.

"She doesn't have a favourite flower... Let's just go with the sunflowers. I know she likes blue, can that be added?" She asked.

"Of course. I'll wrap the flowers in baby blue tissue, there'll make it really pretty." You smiled.

"Thanks." She sighed and sat down to wait. You hummed softly to yourself as you picked out the sunflowers and began to trim the stems, remove the excess leaves and arrange them.

"I'll add some extra flowers on the side if that's okay, just to bulk up the bouquet." You checked with the customer.

"Sure." You nodded.

She watched as you laid everything out in a bouquet arrangement and tied the stems together with a rubber band first. Then you wrapped the bottoms with wet tissues and began to wrap the whole thing in decorative tissues. The girl watched you as you worked, securing the bouquet together with a ribbon.

"These are the designs of small animal plushes we have. You can pick one and I'll add it to the bouquet. Also, you can write the card." You placed the box on the counter for her to pick.

"This one. She likes cats." The girl explained. You placed a holder and positioned the flowers while she wrote the card.

"All done. Is there anything else I can do for you?" You asked as you walked her to the counter.

"No, that's all. Thanks for all your help, the bouquet is beautiful. I don't know anything about flowers. I just know you get it for people when they're sick." She shrugged.

"Of course, happy to help." You showed her the bill and processed the payment on her card.

"Thanks again." She bowed and walked out of your store.

"Now, where were we?" You continued to work on your online orders. Suddenly, someone tapped you on the shoulder, making you flinch and jump, letting out a small yelp in surprise.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you, I forgot to ask for a name card." The girl from earlier asked.

"Sure, sorry about that. I overreacted." You tried your best to maintain composure as you went to retrieve a name card for her before she left again. Your heart was racing, you didn't know why you reacted so badly to someone touching your shoulder.

Who were you kidding? Of course you knew. Because it was like the guy that was at the club. You shivered as a flash of what happened passed in your head.

And at the same time, you wondered if the guy would come back and sought revenge against you. Or was he even alive?

"Don't think about that." You scolded yourself with a frown. You didn't know the state Hongjoong left the guy in, he could be dead or alive.

"Focus on work." You let out a long, shaky exhale and proceeded to throw yourself back into your work. Hopefully, that will be the last that you encounter Hongjoong.

You didn't know what he did and what he was but at this point, you'd rather not find out.

"Hi. I'm here to pick up order #2140?" A male came in.

"Yes, sure. Let me help you get that. Can I see the order confirmation? Just to be sure." You wiped your hands against your apron. He nodded and showed you in email.

"That's great. Here it is, order #2140. You can check that everything is to your liking. Then you can pay." You told the customer. He scanned the bouquet and nodded in approval, going to settle the payment. It was a standard bouquet that you had on the website, an anniversary bouquet that was quite popular.

"Have a nice day." You wished as he left. Since there was a little bit of lull time, you stopped working on orders and worked on your botany.

"Tincture." You opened your botany book. Tinctures were made of dried and/or fresh plants and herbs, steeped in either vinegar or alcohol to extract their properties.

"This, this and this." You sought through your collection to find what you needed.

Following the recipe, you picked out the herbs that you needed and placed them into a glass jar then added concentrated alcohol.

"Ready in 4 weeks? Wow." You wrote the date and type of tincture on a piece of tape and taped it to the jar. Then you placed the jar on the shelf to let it mature.

"Hi (y/n). Here for today's pick ups." The delivery man came through the back door like always.

"Hey, Mr Kim. Let me see which orders are for delivery." You went to the area where all the prepared flower orders were.

"Looks like it's all these here." You gestured. He nodded and began to bring the flower boxes out to where his truck was parked in the alley. You helped him carry the bouquets while he picked up more of the wreaths and flower boxes.

"You've got the addresses already right?" You confirmed. He hummed and scanned all the barcodes on the order invoices against his checklist to make sure everything was there.

"There's a bouquet missing it seems. Order #418?" He showed you the screen.

"Hmm. Let me check, it could be mixed up with the pick up orders." You went back into the store and looked for it.

"Roses bouquet with black and grey tissue." You checked the description on your order list. Maybe you had missed out on the order while wrapping the flowers.

"Sorry, Mr Kim. Let me quickly put that bouquet together." You bowed and apologised.

"No worries. It happens." He waved you off.

"Feel free to have some tea while you wait." You gestured to the pot of tea that you always brewed in the shop, it's usually for yourself or familiar visitors like delivery men. You quickly picked out the flowers that you needed and made the bouquet. It was a standard rose bouquet with baby's breath surrounding the red roses.

"There, sorry again for delaying you." You handed him the bouquet once it was done, all wrapped in the layered tissue and secured with a thick, silver ribbon.

"No need to apologise, (y/n). Thanks for the tea. Have a nice day." He patted your shoulder and left to make the deliveries.

"You too!" You waved as the truck drove off. After that, you went back to getting orders sorted.

Finally when you sat down, you winced as you lifted your leg. It was a sprained ankle, nothing too major but you've been hiding the bandage under pants and the pain with a smile.

"Hello~" Jihoon entered through the back door and you quickly put your leg down, making sure your pant leg covered the bandage.

"Jihoon, what are you doing here?" You blinked in surprise.

"Well, hello to you too, neighbour. I'm here to deliver you a warm lunch! You're welcome." He held up the paper bag and the iced drink that he was holding.

"Thanks, Jihoon. Let me know how much everything is and I'll wire it over." You smiled gratefully as you stood up. At your words, Jihoon shot you a flat look. He knew you would insist on paying but he didn't want you too.

"Hush, just eat. Don't worry about paying." He sat you back down and cleared your table so he could put the sandwich and drink down.

"Hmm..." You shot him a look but sighed in defeat and patted the seat beside you. Before sitting down, Jihoon poured himself a cup of tea from your warmed tea pot.

"This is nice. What is this?" He pointed, taking a sip.

"Mixed dried berries with raspberry leaf." You replied, taking a bite of the warm sandwich.

"Isn't that what pregnant women drink?" He raised an eyebrow. You shot him a surprised look but nodded in confirmation.

"Yeah, my mom gave a lot to my cousin when she was pregnant with my nephew. Supposed to make birth easy or something. I swear she even bathed in it once." Jihoon scoffed.

"It'll help with muscle cramps too, it's an anti inflammatory and anti oxidant." You explained.

"Hopefully it'll get rid of my calf muscle pain then." Jihoon chuckled and took another sip. You laughed and continued to eat your sandwich, enjoying your chat with Jihoon. Mrs Kim was always your lunch time companion, Jihoon must know that you would feel the absence of her presence and come.

"Do you miss her?" Jihoon asked. Your hands stopped and you paused your chewing before nodding your head with a hum, knowing he was referring to Mrs Kim.

"You know that she was the closest thing to a mother figure that I have ever had." You replied.

"Mhmm. I also know you didn't even give yourself a break." Jihoon stated.

"I don't need a break, Jihoon. Continuing and distracting myself with work is what helps me, not sitting at home and crying." You shrugged, standing up and going to toss the trash.

"Don't you have a cafe that needs running?" You chuckled, changing the subject so you wouldn't harp on that topic for too long.

"They'll survive without me." Jihoon waved you off. You laughed and shook your head.

You and Jihoon continued to chat until your lunch break was over and you chased him out. No doubt his workers were good but you didn't want to be the reason why their boss slacks. So after giving him a bouquet of flowers to decorate his shop with, he left.

"Welc- Hongjoong sshi." You blinked, stopping in your tracks. Having heard the bell, you thought that there was a new customer. You didn't expect Hongjoong to come in.

"Good afternoon." Hongjoong bowed his head as he entered your shop.

"W-What can I help you with?" You blinked.

"I... wanted to make sure you got your ankle looked at." Hongjoong cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Oh! I'm fine, it's just a sprain. Nothing big. Please, have a seat and make yourself comfortable." You forced a small smile and gestured to the seats by your work table.

"I'm glad. Thanks." He unbuttoned his jacket and sat down on the stool. You poured him a cup of tea and offered it to him.

"Please, don't let me stop you from your work." He gestured to the materials that were scattered around.

"So, how have you been Hongjoong sshi?" You asked to try and prevent an awkward silence from falling down on the both of you. You kept your head down, focusing on the bouquets you were preparing to put in the display and fridges for walk in customers. Hongjoong watched you, sipping his tea.

"Same as always. What about you?" He asked back. You had stated clearly the last time you met that you didn't want the incident to be brought up again but Hongjoong couldn't help it.

"Fine. Same as always, too. Just here, running the shop, fixing orders, you know..." You shrugged.

"Hongjoong sshi, I don't mean this in any way at all but what's the real reason you came here?" You finally asked him.

"(y/n) sshi, I feel like I owe you yet another apology." He confessed with an honest look on his face. The way he looked at you, it just reminded you of Mrs Kim.

"If it's about what happened last week-"

"No, I mean, yes. Partly. I... I know we're practically strangers but I've been treating you unfairly." Hongjoong sighed

"Okay, now you've lost me." You chuckled. Hongjoong was relieved that you laughed, making this conversation a whole more lighthearted than he thought it would be.

"Like I said when we first met here... Whatever my relationship with my mother was shouldn't have clouded my view or attitude towards you. It's just... I don't know... It seems like we knew her as a different person entirely." He rubbed his temples.

"I get it..." You nodded your head with a hum.

"But that shouldn't excuse how I've been towards you. I have to deal with my demons myself." He confessed.

"It's okay, Hongjoong sshi. I know it can't be easy with everything that's been happening. And honestly, it's conflicting to me too." You empathised with him.

"So I'm not crazy." He cracked a smile.

"Far from." You giggled, fixing up the bouquet. You momentarily left the conversation to put the bouquets in the fridge.

"But still, I apologise." He insisted.

"There's no need to but if you insist, apology accepted. And I think at this point, we can drop the formalities." You turned your head to say to him as you arranged the bouquets.

"I'd like that." He smiled kindly as you returned to the work bench. You noticed his ears turning a light shade of pink. Dropping formalities didn't immediately mean a friendship but at least you two were no longer just strangers. Whether you liked it or not, the universe keeps making your paths cross.

"(y/n), I have another request, if it's okay with you." Hongjoon gulped as he mentioned. You nodded.

"I'm not ready to talk about my mother. My relationship with her, your relationship with her. I'm not ready... But when I am, I hope you'll help me." He looked at you with desperate eyes.

"Of course, Hongjoong. Any time. Whenever you're ready." You smiled softly.

RINGGGG

"Ah, hang on." Hongjoong clicked his tongue, annoyed that his phone broke that moment you were having. He looked at his phone to see Yunho calling.

"What?" He hissed, turning away slightly. You weren't gonna eavesdrop so you just continued your work.

"Look, Yunho. Just... hire another gardener, you don't need to tell me this! You make decisions too, all 8 of us do. If you need some sort of approval, ask Hwa." Hongjoong threw his head back with a groan.

"Fine, fine... Yeah, sure. I'm not sure why you want to add to my workload with this but I'll look when I get home later... Yeah, whatever. Goodbye." Hongjoong hung up with a grumble, glaring at his phone as he did.

"Everything okay?" You stifled a laugh.

"Oh, yeah. It's nothing. One of my brothers can't seem to hire a gardener himself all of a sudden." Hongjoong clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes.

"Well, if it's not too much. If you're too busy to find a gardener now, I could help you in the mean time." You offered.

"What? Really? I don't want to make you busier, I'm sure you have a lot to do with the shop." Hongjoong shook his head.

"I wouldn't have offered if I couldn't. My shop is closed Sundays and Thursdays anyway, I could go once a week on those days to tend to the plants." You shrugged.

"Just until I have the time to find a gardener." Hongjoong said.

"Sure, whatever you're comfortable with. Do you have a picture of your backyard?" You asked.

"Oh, let me see. Although, I don't know what plants we have." Hongjoong took his phone out and scrolled through his pictures, trying to find the last time he took a picture of the backyard garden. When he finally found one, he showed it to you. Your eyes widened at the huge backyard. The fenced garden only took a portion of it.

"Wow... That's a big garden..." You couldn't help but be in awe.

"It is. But you'll just need to tend to the fenced area. The rest of the field behind it is not necessary." Hongjoong informed. That was where they killed or practiced weapons sometimes.

"Sure, I'll be there on Monday." You smiled, excited to be working in such a big garden space.

"Here's the address." Hongjoong took the small piece of paper from the table and scribbled it down for you.

"Thank you." You took the paper and tucked it into your pocket.

"When I came in here, I didn't think I would leave after having offered you a job." Hongjoong admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. You nodded in agreement.

"You never know what the universe has in store for you." You chuckled and cleared your work table.

"Thank you, (y/n). I have to return to work now but I'll see you soon." Hongjoong slid off the stool.

"You're welcome, Hongjoong. Thank you for stopping by. I'll see you Monday." You walked him to the door. He nodded and bowed politely before exiting the shop. You watched as a chauffeur opened the door for him to enter a luxury car before returning to drive off.

"What just happened?" You asked yourself in disbelief as you walked back to your shop counter. You told yourself you should steer clear but here you were, offering to work for him.

But it was too late to regret now, what's done is done. You knew you couldn't go back on your word.

You'll just go, tend to plants and leave. Simple.

"I'm not ready to talk about my mother. My relationship with her, your relationship with her. I'm not ready... But when I am, I hope you'll help me."

Hongjoong's words from earlier replayed in your head. It was so different, he looked and sounded so involuntarily vulnerable.

To be frank, you were not ready too. You were fond of Mrs Kim, she took care of you, cared for you.

But were you ready to hear how sour Hongjoong's relationship with her was? No, you were not ready to hear any of that. Especially since that wound still felt so fresh.

"I hope I don't regret this." You muttered to yourself.

~

Series masterlist

[johanna-swann]

Okay, but how about an angsty thanksgiving intervention? They have a friendsgiving thingy a couple of days before or after the actual holiday at the Madney house. I imagine Maddie, Chim, Hen, Karen, all their kids and Buck are there. Eddie is in El Paso for the holiday and Bobby and Athena are busy with something else, idk. (I feel like having Bobby there would prevent a lot of the drama, so for reasons he can't be there.)

But Chimney (with Maddie's approval) also invites Tommy - except Tommy doesn't know this is a family event [tm], he thinks Chim just invited him over to hang out. Drink some beer, watch a movie maybe.

And Tommy thinks: "I should probably go, Howie's been my friend for almost 20 years now. I can handle hanging out with an old friend for a night, even if he happens to me ex's brother-in-law. It'll be good for me." But he's completely and utterly unprepared and not ready to run into Buck again so soon, much less in a context that oh so loudly screams "family" and thus represents everything Tommy always wanted and never had. It's an ocean's worth of salt in a fresh wound.

Buck on the other hand doesn't know Tommy's coming to the friendsgiving either. He just prepared a shit ton of food and figured spending time with his family will be a good distraction from the break-up. He hasn't hung out with Hen and Karen in a while and he's looking forward to having all the kids around. Who can mope about a stupid ex when the noise is drowned out by giggling and laughing children running around?

Chim and Maddie hoped that their plan might help Buck and Tommy to at least find some closure or maybe even get them talking to each other again. Either way, at least everyone gets a good, home-cooked meal and some quality time with friends out of it, right?

But then they're suddenly and unexpectedly confronted with each other when neither of them is ready. Buck has barely begun to even process the break-up. Let's be honest, the baking thing has been more of a distraction from thinking about Tommy than a coping mechanism to work through his feelings. He's still a little bit in denial and Tommy crashing his safe-space catapults him into the anger/depression stage.

Tommy could've dealt with a movie night with Chim, could've even coped with having Maddie and Jee-Yun there, but an entire ass family holiday? Avoiding eye contact, forcing smiles, faking normal for hours while pretending he isn't still putting the pieces of his own heart back together? Knowing he will go home alone with the fresh reminder of what he will never truly have and get to keep?

So Tommy awkwardly excuses himself and maybe Buck throws in a bitter: "Yeah, leave. You're good at that." And maybe in an attempt to de-escalate - or at least move the escalation out of earshot from the kids - Maddie suggests they talk outside. But outside they just stare at each other, not knowing what to say. Tommy apologises again, saying he'll just leave and let Buck enjoy the evening.

"It's fine", Buck says: "I think I'll leave too, actually." And Tommy lays into him about how he shouldn't spend the holiday alone when he can just go back inside and be with his family, he shouldn't be sitting in his empty loft when he could play with Jee-Yun or catch up with Karen instead.

Buck finally gets angry about what happened, but he hasn't put his thoughts in order yet, can't put into words what he feels yet. He also feels ambushed and a wee bit manipulated. So he just bites out: "Oh right, I forgot. You're the expert on what I should and shouldn't be doing. God forbid I decide for myself what I want", walks over to his car and drives off.

Tommy sits in his car for a little bit, then he goes home too. Maddie and Chimney feel bad. After they tried to encourage Buck to move on a bit too soon, they overcorrected in the opposite direction and it blew up in their faces. Maddie tries to call Buck, but he's turned off his phone. Chimney tries to reach out to Tommy, but his text sits there delivered, unread and stays unanswered.

Tommy ends up sitting on his couch, crying and staring at the tv which he hasn't even bothered to turn on and Buck spends hours pacing in his kitchen, alternating between wanting to yell at Tommy for breaking up with him in the first place and deleting his number so he'll never even be tempted to talk to him again.

So they all end up spending the friendsgiving evening in varying degrees of misery.

(Maddie, Chimney and Buck patch things up almost immediately. They bring him breakfast the next morning and apologise for springing this on him without warning. He accepts the apology, he knows they meant well and it was actually a nice thing that they tried to include Tommy despite the break-up. He wants Tommy to be happy. Really, he wants Tommy to find whatever he thinks Buck couldn't give him. He hopes Tommy one day finds a man who won't make him run the opposite direction. He wants Tommy to feel good about himself and to have a life full of friends and family and people who he can call his. Eventually. Right now, he admits, he selfishly wants Tommy to feel a bit shit. He hopes Tommy is hurting at least as much as he is. He hopes Tommy's favourite basketball team loses every game of the season. He hopes one of Tommy's coworkers says the q-word and jinxes them for a full 24 hours shift. Buck doesn't know when he started crying, but Chim and Maddie are there for him and they spend most of the day together.)

(Chimney also apologises to Tommy. They don't really talk about it, Tommy doesn't want to. He'd rather listen to Howie gush about becoming a dad again, talk about the next pick-up game and ignore the elephant in the room. It's easy to slip back into the casual friendship, the conversations that are full of movie dialogues and references, the bragging and comparing of batshit calls they've worked in the past 20 years. They don't hang out at Howie's house, they either go to Tommy's or meet at a bar. But Tommy is relieved he at least got to keep this.)

(Buck and Tommy run into each other again a few weeks later. It's the second christmas day, Buck is invited to hang out with the Diaz family. Christopher has agreed to come to LA for a week - a trial run of sorts to help him and Eddie figure out what comes next - and they're all going to spend the day at tía Pepa's. Buck is picking up some groceries on his way there and who does he meet in the canned foods isle? Buck doesn't really know what comes over him, but he suggest they should hang out together while Chris and Eddie are here. All four of them. Eddie was Tommy's friend before they ever went out after all and so was Chimney. Plus, they're all firefighters. They're bound to run into each other again sooner or later, it'd be childish to be hung up on the past. Tommy says yes.)

(They start talking to each other more after that. Not very often, not consistently, not about their break-up. But they talk. It starts with texting and hanging out in group settings. Then the phone calls start. At first just small ones, "it'll be quicker than texting" calls, "I'm ellbows deep in foccacia dough" and "broke my hand on call yesterday, so quite literally can't text" calls. Then they start hanging out one on one again. Neither of them has ever stayed friends with an ex before. Is it supposed to feel like this? Is Tommy's laugh still supposed to make Buck's heart skip a beat like this? Is Evan's soft smile still supposed to melt Tommy's insides like this?)

(They get back together in March. It's not preceded by a big and dramatic event. There's no "life or death" situation, no traumatic incident to make them realise that "tomorrow isn't promised, no awkward jealousy over a new partner. It's just another movie nigh. Buck falls asleep with his head on Tommy's shoulder and Tommy doesn't even think about it before running his fingers through Evan's curls. Buck wakes up as the credits start rolling. He shifts a little, looks up at Tommy, but he doesn't move away. The kiss is soft and chaste and they leave it at that one kiss. Buck doesn't move to the bedroom with Tommy, but he does crash on Tommy's couch. They talk in the morning. They talk about being all in but taking it slow anyway, they talk about crushes and admiration and love and the difference between all three, they finally talk about the break-up. They keep it a secret for a little while. Call it precaution or payback for Chimney's attempt at meddling.)

(They make it three weeks. Then Tommy surprises Buck at his loft and they forget that not only was Eddie supposed to come over, Eddie also has his own key. They never live it down for as long as they're alive.)

[sandersstudies]

(this is about your post about playing with kids)

I know you don't know me at all, but I'd like to commiserate - I work for my local school district as a campus (re: playground) monitor and crossing guard and it drives me NUTS the way some of the grown-ups over-police the kids 😭 Like, I raised a boy myself, and I fully believe kids need to run and scream and get dirty and wrestle and negotiate disagreements with other kids without adults hovering over them. In order to focus in school they need real exercise, and they need less-supervised interaction to build social and reasoning skills, but sometimes it seems like the other playground monitors just want them to sit quietly and do nothing all recess.

Today in my kindergarten recess, some kids were 'burying' a girl in the sand. They were being good and respectful about burying her - they didn't put any sand on her head or near her face, and they didn't put any sand near her shoes, so they were really only burying her torso and arms. She was wearing a knee-length one-piece dress, so the sand wasn't going to get into her underwear or anything. This was a wholly voluntary entombment, and my plan for when she was finished was to just take one of the large paintbrushes we have in the toy-kit, dust her off front and back, and send her back to class. But the next thing I know, someone's coming over going "NO NO NO DON'T DO THAT" and I'm over here like "???? No one is being harmed by this? It's sand, not mud, so she's not even getting that dirty? Plus it's fine for kids to get dirty? They're playing respectfully? She's a willing participant (who wants to rise from the sand as a 'mummy' and chase the other kids which is a perfectly reasonable game)?" but the other monitor wasn't interested in my reasoning and just made them stop. 🙃

Like if it's not a danger issue, a health issue, or an ethical issue, what's the problem?

LET THOSE KIDS LIVE.

I completely agree. I have been learning to reduce the amount of corrections I make on kids, but I already make way fewer than many adults. Is someone getting emotionally or physically hurt? Is something of personal or community value going to be damaged? No? Okay then that’s fine. And sometimes if the damage is going to be minor it’s still fine because there will be natural consequences that will teach you better than an adult saying “no no no.”

[judesmoonbeauty]

Can you give the context of BLE chap 25? Pleasee

Hi anon, of course! - MDNI

Longish post

25 BLE starts the morning after Kate and Jude sleep together. While Jude is still sleeping, Kate wraps a sheet around herself and explores his room because she's never been inside of it. As she's looking at all the books on his bookshelf, she doesn't realize that he's come up behind her. He hugs her from behind and calls her out for sneaking around his room.

He says it's fine though because he'll just do something in exchange for it, so he slides his hand down her waist before he rips off her sheet. He pinches her nipple with one hand and then slips a finger inside her with his other hand. He teases her verbally, and then Kate asks him if they're now a couple which surprises Jude.

He says she should know without him saying it, and she argues that some things can't be understood without words. Jude never says 'I love you' to her. Instead, he grabs her by the chin and kisses her with force, and marks a snarky comment that she turned red when she was kissed by a man who isn't her lover (he's implying he is her boyfie), and she says, "then we are a couple." Kate is satisfied with that because she never expected normal words of love from Jude.

Before she can kiss him, he pulls his finger out and says he's got a business meeting that morning. Kate, who is is now wet and horny, asks about the continuation. Jude laughs and tells her to finish off herself, and that's what she gets for cheating him. She asks if he's upset that she consulted Victor and the other Crown members instead of him, about staying at Crown. He says she can think what she wants to think and then leaves......

Darius asks Nica if Jude would be a good fit for their family, and Nica is like...uhhhh, no.

Jude also gives Victor heaps of paperwork and contracts to sign as his punishment for going behind his back to help Kate remain at Crown. Still, he thinks Jude is as vindictive and adorable as ever. Ellis says that up until now, Jude has never once been happy, but since it seems to Ellis that he's at his peak happiness, so he asks Victor if he thinks it's okay to kill Jude now. Victor laughs and says that he can kill him later. Ellis is disappointed, but agrees and then he tells Victor he's going to deliver something to Kate.

However, Kate is not at Crown because she is under cover as a new recruit for a criminal group that's been causing a ruckus lately, and who now have been using Raven Co's products for nefarious purposes. Jude isn't having that.

Kate is in a luxurious room filled with men, booze and smoke. Her part of the mission was to go undercover and steal confidential information, which she already has, so now she's just waiting for Jude's arrival to start his revenge as her signal to leave. But, a thug comes in and says that Jude's been captured, which surprises Kate.

Flash back to a few days before prior to the mission when Jude and Kate are reviewing the operation details, (in which Kate narrates that after they became a couple, Jude often randomly touches Kate, but it's also a regular occurrence that he does before each mission.)

So, we have a very touchy-feely boyfriend.

Any way, Kate repeats the plan to Jude. She'll be undercover for three days, and then he will show up at 8:00 pm on the third day. He asks if she remembers her promise she made to him, and she reiterates that she promises she won't die. Jude says that when it's all over he's going to make love to her until she's hoarse, but her improv skills suck so....

Kate denies that statement, and says that she can too improvise and adapt in any situation. Jude smiles and says he looks forward to it.

Back to the present, Kate realizes that Jude got caught on purpose because he wants to see what she can do. This both annoys her that he'd do something like that to his girlfriend, and excites her because that means that Jude has complete trust in her abilities and he recognizes her. So, she calls out to her boss that she'll take care of Jude Jazza.

When she walks into the room where he's being held in handcuffs, the group is cheering for her to kill him gloriously, and she says to just leave it to her. Kate notices that although Jude looks beaten, his amethyst eyes are twinkling with a smile. She walks up to him and straddles his lap, points her gun at him and asks how she should kill him. The two quietly talk to each other as the people around them jeer for his death, and Kate suggests a bullet to the brain.

Jude says that's fine, but if that happens then she won't get her treat later on. Kate retorts that without her his life would be boring, and Jude admits that while may be true, he's going ruin her life for the rest of her life until they're in hell together. He'll never let her go. Kate says that's fine, they can suffer until they die, together.

His cuffed hands are hugging her waist, and before you know it he's got the cuffs removed, and Kate shoots her gun, and the both of them laugh and smile together as they bring down the criminal group, in his cycle of hatred and revenge.

Let's keep making unfulfilled promises to each other. -So long as I can dream the same dream as you.

The last two lines that finish the chapter are rough translations.

[4ranghaes]

heyy can i request bsf since diaper! myung jaehyun and fem! reader which they're finally meet each other after a long time and decided to hit the club then some guy try to talk or flirt with her and suddenly jaehyun become so protactive as if she's a child but obvi jaehyun got a crush on her (spoiler: he always stalk her social media and thats how he got his crush on her although its been awhile since they met) idk the thought of unserious jaehyun become protactive is cute tho hehehe. anw thank you in advance!! love ur writing sm!!

myung jaehyun x reader [fluff, fem!reader, jealous!bsf!myungjae]

a/n - hiya anonnie, of course!!!! i hope you enjoy💓💓

00:24 - “for old times’ sake?”

jaehyun rolled his eyes, getting up off the sofa, your relentless begging having worn him down, “fine, fine. there’s a club a couple streets down from here. i’ve been with the boys a couple times, it’s good.”

“yes! jaehyun thank you! thank you thank you thank you!” you cheered, jumping up and down, kissing your friend on the cheek before running to his bedroom to check your appearance.

riwoo gave him a knowing look, jaehyun just rolling his eyes as he shrugged him off. “stop looking at me like that.”

riwoo held in a laugh, shrugging, “just thinking about how you almost bit sungho’s head off when he complemented her earlier. hope you enjoy the club!”

the boy shook his head, watching you emerge from his bedroom in a totally new outfit; short skirt, small top, and one of jaehyun’s mesh overshirts hanging over top. he swallowed, his mouth hanging open.

“is this okay?” you asked, posing in the doorway.

jaehyun just nodded quickly as you cheered, “come on, let’s go then! it’ll be too expensive past 1am.”

“o-okay,” he stuttered, gathering his keys and shoving his essentials in his pockets, waving goodbye to riwoo.

“i mean don’t you think it’s fun? the last time we saw each other we were still bathing together, and now we’re clubbing!”

myungjae chuckled, “yeah our mums would be so proud.”

you laughed, walking close to him the whole way to the club, your arms touching as the alcohol you’d steadily had throughout the night seemed to hit you. the two of you had been planning this meet up for months, and finally you’d arrived in yongsan last night, the dorm door being flung open to jaehyun’s wide smile - the same one you recognised from all those years ago.

jaehyun watched now as you, a grown woman, stood ahead of him in line for the club. he’d always had a crush on you, even when he was 5 and you were 4, running round the back garden naked together, bathing together, walking to school together - he’d liked you. he’d kept up with you online of course, even over the years of various moves separating the two of you, he watched from a distance as you grew and matured. his heart fluttered opening the door for you yesterday - he didn’t want to admit it, but he still liked you now.

“okay, drinks, or dance floor?” you shouted, mouth next to his ear as the two of you entered the club, surveying the scene.

“why don’t you get a table and i’ll get some drinks?” jaehyun offered, holding your hair back with a gentle hand as he did the same to you, “i’m not drunk enough yet!”

you giggled, nodding as you found an empty table, guarding your territory. jaehyun tried to be quick with the drinks, glancing back over to you several times to check you were safe.

“two jack cokes please,” he ordered, leaning against the bar as he quickly looked back to where you were. now with a man? he strained his neck, squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look. he could feel his anger rising.

“here you are,” the bartender said, snapping him out of his daze as he handed over two cups. jaehyun took them quickly, rushing over to where you were.

slamming them down on the table, he looked up at you expectantly.

“oh myungjae!” you exclaimed, “this is jinyoung.”

“you two know each other?” he asked with furrowed eyebrows.

“no,” jinyoung shrugged, looking at jaehyun with competition in his eyes. jaehyun narrowed his eyes at him. jinyoung pointed to the drinks as you took your cup. “didn’t get me one, mate?”

“well, we actually just came out the two of us so…”

“oh i can get you one!” you smiled, jumping up from the seat before jaehyun shoved your body back down.

“he can get it himself, y/n,” jaehyun said, not taking his eyes off jinyoung.

“yeah, don’t worry darling,” he spoke, smiling at you, “i’ll buy your one too, hey?”

jaehyun was mouthing curses after the man as he sauntered over to the bar.

“what are you doing?!” jaehyun exclaimed, grabbing your arm.

“what? he’s nice!”

“you don’t know him!” jaehyun yelled, looking at you exasperated, “you’re not taking that drink either.”

you rolled your eyes, brushing him off and walking to the dance floor. you looked back to jaehyun, still stood against the table, tilting your head in invitation as you started to dance. jaehyun stood watching for a while, fighting a smile on his face as he watched your body move. eventually, he downed his drink, making his way over to you. a smile spread across your face when he reached you, jaehyun’s hand moving to your hip as they moved with the music. jealousy was never a good emotion, except maybe when he needed to make a move.

“you’re gorgeous,” he spoke, not taking his eyes off you. you read his lips, barely able to hear him over the blaring music. you stopped for a moment, before looping your arms round his neck.

“you’re not too bad yourself, myung,” you laughed.

jaehyun broke into a smile, “really?”

you nodded, “really.”

he eyed you cautiously before beginning to move in. he was slow and steady, before realising you were also moving towards him; he smashed his lips to yours, letting out a disbelieving laugh into the kiss. you smiled into his lips, body still moving to the song.

jaehyun pulled away, grinning like an idiot as he started to dance with you. you laughed, grabbing his face to pull him again, starting to make out with him.

“you’re not just drunk right?!” he exclaimed, pulling away suddenly.

“barely drank at all,” you yelled back, dragging a hand through his hair.

you saw jinyoung making his way through the crowd towards you with a smile as you rolled your eyes; you only interacted with him to make jaehyun jealous in the first place.

“kiss me again!”

“huh?!”

“again, jaehyun!”

[brionysea]

Is it just me or did Vi really not get an arc this season 😭? She doesn’t resolve the fact that she places all her worth on protecting those she loves. A lot of her big emotional beats (joining the enforcers, becoming a pit fighter, finding Vander, freeing Jinx and getting imprisoned for all her efforts) happened as a result of Caitlyn or Jinx’s intervention. She has so much oldest sister syndrome she infected the narrative 😇

yes! I think it's an issue of flawed ideas and poor execution. in classic me fashion, I'll go through the whole thing to show you what I mean:

vi joining the enforcers despite everything they've done to her (killing her parents, roughing up her family as kids, chasing them down, coming into the last drop to arrest them and intimidating everyone and almost taking powder, imprisoning and abusing and starving vi for her entire adolescence) because caitlyn asked her to and caitlyn is the Most Important Person in her life right now is the exact kind of thing vi would do. I personally love how temporary the enforcer gig is, despite that going against the lore (I honestly couldn't care less), because vi's CHARACTER in this show goes against the lore. I don't care that she's supposed to be an enforcer in the game. I'm not playing a game. I'm watching a show. the vi I know wouldn't do that, it makes no sense for her character, and it really feels like that's the point. she's losing herself for the sake of what caitlyn wants in a very clever way to address whoever demanded the show be more accurate to the game (which, again, I AM NOT PLAYING. BECAUSE THIS IS A SHOW THAT'S MORE THAN CAPABLE OF STANDING ON ITS OWN) without betraying the characters. this is the kind of freedom that would have made for a truly stellar season: going where the story is led naturally by its characters rather than being trapped by a pre-determined narrative

then in vi's fight with jinx (which, fine, I guess vi *would* decide that 'jinx isn't powder anymore' means 'my sister is dead'; she's single minded like that, even if it felt rushed), there's suddenly a random child in the crossfire and vi's like oh. okay. I can't actually hurt innocent children the way I was hurt. I do, in fact, have principles, and they dictate that I intervene rather than allow this to play out. and it turns out that when the chips are down caitlyn doesn't actually care about the undercity because she risked killing an innocent child and wants to kill jinx knowing she's vi's sister (and said that jinx, a young mentally ill girl from the undercity, killing caitlyn's mother, one of the richest and most powerful women in piltover, is the same as vi's parents being killed by enforcers while fighting to end the oppressive social order they enforce. it's not.) and basically says that she thought vi was 'one of the good ones' but she's exactly like all those other animals (again, because vi refused to let cait open fire on a child), before literally gut-punching her and leaving her there. vi was right before, they're oil and water, they're too different. and now vi's lost her sister; lost cait; the rest of her family is still dead. she has no money. no power. nowhere to go. nobody to protect. what's even the point of her?

and then we reach the second act. vi has no purpose so she's like well I'm just gonna fight people for money. because she'll win. obviously. she's a mess, she's drinking all the time, she's seeing jinx and caitlyn everywhere (people really breeze over how vi sees things too - definitely to a lesser degree than jinx, but when she hits rock bottom, it's there). I love this set up for vi. it makes so much sense that putting all her energy into caring for others would end up here. like a message from the universe that she needs to learn to do things for herself or she'll always end up back in this hole. you could argue that vi not having a lot of agency and just following jinx or caitlyn around until she ends up stuck in that cell (her ✨️ prison of the mind ✨️ or whatever jinx's imaginary, out of character, ghost silco was talking about), while boring (so boring), is more of vi being stubborn and stuck in her ways and refusing to learn her lesson until she's forced to. which she was also like in season 1, except there, it was more like vi repeatedly trying to solve problems that were much too big to be punched away by punching them (vi thought jinx could brute force her way out of being traumatised), and even then, I didn't get the impression that vi cared enough about the council to actually give up on jinx because of what she did to them. vi's a brick wall of a woman. sometimes, in this bitch of a world, stubbornness is a virtue

the problem, like a lot of things that had potential in season 2, is that it's not actually followed through on. there's no self actualisation for vi. she just cares about jinx until she doesn't and then she has sex with cait (who does not actually atone for any of the shit she did btw) in the prison cell where vi's sister was just planning suicide and is currently going through with it elsewhere, as far as vi knows

I think the intention was for vi having sex with cait instead of chasing after jinx to be the first selfish thing in her life (which jinx basically told her to do, because no one hates piltover anymore even though they haven't changed at all or done anything to earn this 'meet us halfway' demand of feeling entitled to zaun's bodies for their war after poisoning those same bodies for who knows how long. jinx never called vi an idiot for dating an enforcer. in fact, she feels bad for nuking the council :( which means she's good now! 👍 because GOOD characters are NICE to piltover and only BIG MEANIES care about zaun's independence. even silco's ghost thinks it's a waste of time! apparently he was just bitter and unloved, like a child throwing a tantrum! sure. sure! why not!), but it falls apart immediately because 1) jinx told vi she's going to kill herself (vi knew what jinx was planning before she asked, you can hear the fear in her voice), which obviously takes priority - never in a million years would vi let jinx disappear like that without doing anything about it, no matter how self actualised she is, because STOPPING YOUR SISTER FROM COMMITTING SUICIDE IS A NORMAL THING TO DO. well, maybe not normal, but you know what I mean. it's not exclusively a vi-ism. it's common sense. if someone you love tells you they're going to commit suicide, you do everything in your power to prevent it. and 2) CAIT IS NOT ACTUALLY REDEEMED FROM ALL THE SHIT SHE DID TO THE UNDERCITY. yes, cait letting jinx escape was symbolic of her letting go of the obsession that drove her to that point, but she didn't actually hurt jinx (except now jinx is free to off herself because of cait, which vi would be angry about if she hadn't spontaneously forgotten what she learned in the previous scene). despite her personal vendetta, cait couldn't catch jinx to even attempt to hurt her. who she DID hurt was the undercity at large, and she has no way of making up for that. they dropped the zaun plotline like a hot potato so there's no narrative opportunity for cait to prove to vi (and to the audience) that she gets it now. that she's done being a fascist and vi isn't just blinded by her hotness (which would be a strange angle to take but that's honestly what it seems like. it's so shallow and out of place with everything going on). none of this is earned enough for vi to choose a quickie in a cell over stopping her suicidal sister from blowing herself up

TLDR; there was an attempt at an arc, which was foiled by tying it so closely to caitvi, which was tied to the politics of the piltover-zaun conflict, which was never resolved and thus made vi's arc feel unsatisfying

[gilverrwrites]

Jason and Roy separately after they keep teasing you and you just end up disengaging and dealing with it yourself with your hitachi and calling it a night. They got a lil too confident with the orgasm denial and forgot that their competition is Mr. Bunny massager/Mrs. Rose toy, who gives out orgasms for free with little to no begging or pleading or promises to be a good girl/boy required. Their window of opportunity to make you nut has closed and they're stuck waiting for the 1-3 business days for you to be in the mood/horny again if they wanna touch you again and they better bring their A game or they might just become 2nd fiddle to a bad dragon toy. (This might just be me but I'm not in a rush to repeat it if I spend all night with a person and dont get my rocks off, id still give head if asked but id need serious convincing to let them touch me again, bc it's not hot they wasted my fucking time, if I want to NOT come I can do that by myself)

On a very real note, teasing, edging, and denial are kinks like any other, and you should be voicing to your partners what kinks you do and don't like in the bed room to keep things fun and healthy. Your partner also shouldn't be in competition with your sex toys unless that's something they're into. If its not working for you, say something, my friend. Don't be afraid to stop your partners and say ‘Hey, this isn't working for me, can we do ‘something else’ instead?’ especially before you jump straight to cutting them out of the activity completely.

There's also nothing wrong with having a low libido anon! You take all the time you need between sex!

That being said, the idea of being pressed into the bed by Jason or Roy while they’re giving it their all and getting real cocky about making you squirm only for you to be like ‘um, no, excuse me. You're taking to long so I'll be doing this myself, thank you’ makes me laugh.

I think for both of them, the initial response would just be shock. Like open-mouth awe at your gall. Can't knock a girl who knows what she wants, and both of them would definitely enjoy watching you get off on your own typically, but the blow of you doing it unexpectedly, especially while they've been enjoying themselves would bruise their egos.

Roy is the type to try and win you back over. He's getting close, gently trying to pry the toy out of your hands and promising he’ll do better, he’ll do whatever you want just give him another chance. Can't you see how hard you've got him? Its painful, baby. You should let him relieve you both together.

Another disclaimer: Blue balls ain't a real thing, don't let Roy Harper convince you otherwise, he's just needy as all hell and will say anything to get you back to bed with him.

Jason would take it a lot harder. When his family piss him off he blows up, but I think he'd worry about scaring you/putting you off so he sulks instead. No, its fine. You do what you've gotta do, no really its totally fine. He’ll just show myself out and you can try again in the approximate 3 business days you need to to get there again, if he's around.

There's also a level of familiarity and intimacy to this. This is how I assume they'd react with someone they have an established romantic/sexual relationship with, in which at least some boundaries have been set. If you're just like, a one-night stand or you're in a causal hook-up scenario they'd probably just be like oh, okay. Guess we’re done for tonight, see ya round, have fun with that. They're not gonna push if it's evident you're not willing to give.

[tyrantisterror]

At Sea Without a Map Pt. 41

As she opens the compass, Calibani regards it at first with fascination, then with a revulsion that grows into horror when she feels it talking in her head with her own voice.

"Those aren't my words. That's my voice, but those aren't my words!" Calibani shouts at the trinket. "How are you doing that? What are you?"

The compass, of course, says nothing. If you were there, you'd be able to tell her that a compass doesn't answer questions - that's what magic eight balls and smart phones do. A compass simply gives you direction on where to go and what to do. It can't do anything more than that. The four pairs of eyes in your compass look at each other, then at Calibani, each at a loss before they mutually decide to repeat their advice, which only makes Calibani shout her questions at them louder.

This goes on for a little while.

~ ~ ~

As Calibani argues with your compass, you remain in the clutches of the three mermaids. "Come with me, little human," the blonde one, Helyne, says as she grabs your shoulders and lifts you higher into the cavernous main chamber of their lair. You look up and see a big cage made of twisting coral. "We've got the perfect place to keep you, where you'll be nice and safe!"

Her two minions follow after you, giggling as Helyne forces you into the cage and twists the door closed around you. "There now, isn't that comfy?" the blonde mermaid says with a swish of her long pony tail. "Now we'll always know where you are so we can give you a kiss to keep you from drowning!"

She swims back to join her two henchmen, and for a moment the three mermaids sit and regard you silently. They're smiling at you in an adoring way, but specifically the way one would smile at a nice painting or a fancy vase, like you're just some rare decoration on display.

The brunette, Bob, speaks up. "Should we introduce ourselves?"

"Oh, right!" Helyne says before swimming above her two peers.

"I'm Helyne, of course," the blonde says with another swish of her long ponytail. "I'm the most beautiful and intelligent mermaid here, which is why I'm in charge. I'm also something of a human expert, which is good for you, because that means you'll live a long and happy life!"

The redhead pipes up, "She's really good at taking care of humans. That's why she gets to give the most kisses."

"It's true, it's true!" Helyne says while bowing her head in feigned modesty. "My red-headed friend here is Clio. She's quite a beauty herself, but a bit dim."

"Guilty as charged!" the redhead says as she swims up to nearly but not quite reach Helyne's level. The brunette begins to rise to join them, but Clio quietly places a hand on her head and pushes her down. "But it's fine, Helyne's smart enough for all of us."

"Well, almost," Helyne says, looking down at the brunette mermaid. "The third member of our troop here is named Bobbulynne, but we just call her Bob. She's neither pretty nor talented, but she's good for a laugh so we keep her around."

"It's true!" Bob says as she allows Clio to push her down. "I'm pretty much useless!"

"And then there's you," Helyne says as she swims around your cage. "What should we name our new human? How about... Johnny?"

Clio frowns. "You got to name the last one, Helyne. I want to call this one Orlando!"

"I got to name it because I'm the leader and the human expert!" Helyne snaps.

"But it's not fair!" Clio shouts. "I should get a turn! Let me name him!"

"We could just as them what their real name is," Bob suggests.

"SHUT UP, BOB!" Clio and Helyne shout before going right back to bickering with each other. Their argument goes from screams to shrieks as they begin slapping at each other and pulling each other's hair, all while Bob stealthily swims up to your cage.

"Hey, human," Bob whispers, "If you need a kiss, just motion to me, ok? I don't get to give the kisses very often, but I'd really be glad to. We can do it real quick so the others don't see." She stops and glances at her friends to see if they're still fighting before adding, "Even if you don't need one, if you just, say, want to be topped off a bit on air, or just... um... want a kiss for fun, just let me-"

"Bob!" The brunette mermaid freezes and turns to see Helyne bearing down on her. "Are you trying to cozy up to the human while I'm distracted?"

"Of course not!" Bob says as she darts away from Helyne and cowers behind you. "I was just reassuring them-"

"What have I told you, Bob?" Helyne glares daggers at the brunette as she swims up to you and grabs your face in her cold, slender hands. "I get first dibs on kisses." To prove the point, she reaches into the cage, grabs your head, and plants a big wet one on your lips. "Then it's Clio, and then it's you. Pecking orders must be preserved, Bob."

The brunette lowers her eyes and nods. "Yes, Helyne."

Clio, meanwhile, is staring at you in dreamy sort of way. "How young is this one, do you think?" she asks Helyne.

"Oh, no more than a few months old at most," Helyne replies. "Probably just emerged from his boat, poor thing."

"Is that what boats are?" Bob asks. "Human eggs?"

"No, no, they're animals in their own right," Helyne explains. "Humans just parasitize them."

"That's how it works?" Clio asks.

"Yep! Humans tear open a boat's chest cabin and lay their eggs inside. Depending on the size of the boat, they can lay anywhere between one and a couple thousand eggs!"

"Wow!" the other two mermaids say in unison.

Helyne nods sagely at their amazement. "Yes, nature is beautiful, isn't it? Of course, it's a flawed survival strategy. Boats may be large and capable of feeding a human for a few months, maybe a year if they're lucky, but they're fairly weak animals, and easy prey for others." She looks at you sweetly and kisses you again. "That's why these sweet little parasites need our help. They need a mutually beneficial symbiosis, and a mermaid is such a better host than a boat."

Clio scrunches her nose up in disgust. "It's not going to lay eggs in us, is it?"

"Cool!" Bob says with a demented grin.

"Oh no, don't worry," Helyne says. "They can only lay eggs in boats. Trying it with other hosts makes the egg dissolve into a sticky paste." She pinches your cheek. "Our new pet is quite harmless, I assure you!" Once again she swims up to your cage, grabs your head, and forces you to kiss her. "Aren't you, pet? Besides, if he weren't - if he misbehaved - why, he's miles below the surface of the ocean! All we have to do is leave him alone and he'll drown in minutes!" She smiles sweetly, but it doesn't reach her eyes as she stares you down. "And we wouldn't want that, right?"

"Course not, Helyne," Clio says.

"They seem like a nice human, we'll be sure to give them plenty of air!" Bob adds.

"If he behaves," Helyne says.

"That's right, Helyne!" affirms Clio. "So long as he behaves!"

As you sit in your cage, you realize that you really, deeply miss Calibani.

~ ~ ~

After a few minutes of fruitless arguing, Calibani tosses the compass to the ground in frustration. "Wait, shit, that's Sailor's!" she shouts before scrambling to pick it up. After looking it over to make sure there are no scratches, she sighs and opens the trinket again. "You told me to save Sailor," she says to the compass. "How? Do you know where he is?"

And like that, she consults your compass once again.

[sufferu]

So, my question is; What the hell is Satella doing during all of this? The way things are going I'd expect her decimate the entire planet. And how is she feeling during everything?

Now, personally if I were in her shoes I'd snatch up Subaru right there and then cuz' even if everyone has their reasons and believe what they're is for Subaru's own good. This plan of theirs is completely and utterly stupid!

I understand the whole Emilia and Julius situation but couldn't Emilia have tried a gentler approach to this?

Honestly this just proves that none of them deserved Subaru and I get the feeling they feel that way themselves.

Keep up the great work!

Well — what was Satella doing during the whole White Whale Incident, or the Wolgarm situation, or the Great Rabbit attack? What was she doing when he killed himself to save other people, or was getting tortured in the woods by Rem for hours on end, or slowly bleeding out to Elsa? What was she doing in Ayamatsu, Oboreru, Kasaneru, Tsugihagu? If she didn’t interfere in any of those really, REALLY horrible situations — why would everyone seemingly being a dick to Subaru out of nowhere suddenly cross a line?

We don’t know the exact nature of Satella’s interference yet but — what I’m going with is that she will not interfere unless Subaru actively attempts to break his taboo. Everyone else suddenly knowing comes CLOSE, but considering that Roswaal figured half of it out and was fine, I’m gonna say that the only way Satella can actively attack anyone is if Subaru goes out of his way to try and intentionally reveal RBD to a third party. Which means she’s kinda just. Watching all of this go down.

(She also does not know what the hell is happening btw. She didn’t go back in time either, so she’s just kinda like “The minute Subaru gets somewhere safe I’m resetting his checkpoint so that he’s away from all of these people.” It’s all she can really do from her angle rn.)

[kissorkill16]

Making A Plan: A Hello Neighbor Fanfic

By JJ

Summary: The gang is making a plan to take the book back, and Ivan notices something a little strange.

"A massacre?", asked Delroy.

The gang was just walking home from school, and Maritza decided it was finally the right time to tell her friends about the cult and the amusement park.

"Probably a massacre, but we can't say for sure unless we know they're planning to kill.", replied Enzo. "And another thing for certain is that Peterson's book has something to do with their plans."

Ivan looked at Enzo, completely confused. "That book was just filled with a bunch of mumbo jumbo, crow drawings and suspects of who Crowface could be? What could they possibly want with that?"

Maritza shrugged. "I don't know. They just told me they needed the book and the plans to the amusement park, but they didn't tell me what for."

"But who's going to get the book back?", asked Ivan. "Are we going together, or is one of us going?"

Maritza looked down at her shoes, "Well...", she started. "I think since I'm the one who gave it to them, maybe I should be the one to get it back."

Enzo immediately shook his head, "Absolutely not. I don't want those freaks to hurt you if you get caught.", he said. "We're going together."

Just then, Ivan bumped into someone and stumbled backwards. He looked up to see that it was Mrs. Roth.

He nervously giggled, "Many apologies, Mrs. Roth.", he said.

"Oh it's fine, Ivan.", she said.

The kids noticed she was carrying a couple of grocery bags.

"What's all that for?", asked Delroy.

"Nothing much. I was just getting a couple of things for next month when Nicky comes home.", said the woman. She was about to walk away, but then she noticed that Maritza was holding a familiar flier.

She pointed to it. "What's that?", she asked.

Maritza held up the flier, and Mrs. Roth's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wow, no way. I heard that place was reopening.", she said.

"Yeah, you're not the only one, ma'am.", said Delroy. "Everyone in Raven Brooks knows about the reopening of the park."

Mrs. Roth smiled, "It's funny, because I was planning to take Nicky there."

The kids looked up at Mrs. Roth, completely shocked. "W-What?", asked Enzo.

"I was planning a nice family outing at the amusement park to celebrate Nicky's recovery.", said the woman.

Maritza shook her head so fast. "No! Don't do that! That's where the cult meets."

Mrs. Roth turned pale for some reason. "Cult?"

"There's a group of people dressed like crows, and they're planning to use the Golden Apple Amusement Park to start a massacre. It's the same thing they did with Lucy, they sabotaged the ride to cause her death, and they're gonna do the same again!"

Mrs. Roth was a little shocked by Maritza's sudden outburst, and her eyes widened a little more, but she took a breath and her face returned to her normal color.

"You kids and your wild imaginations.", she said. She turned around and began walking away, "It almost kills me."

As she walked away, Ivan couldn't help but notice a black feather sticking out of the sleeve of her jacket. But he pushed it aside and turned back to his friends.

"Nicky's gonna die.", said Delroy.

Enzo put his hands on Maritza's shoulders, trying to calm her down as she grit her teeth and clenched her fists in anger. "We have to warn Nicky. Because right now, as far as we know, he's in more danger than all of us."

The gang nodded and immediately ran down the street.

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

Assorted Eddie Coming to the Hendersons for Thanksgiving Thoughts

A/N: It's been a while since I wrote about these two. I've missed them. If you guys want to see more, my inbox is always open. Also we're setting this sometime post series where everything is fine, don't worry about it.

Okay, so first things first, holidays are always a bit tricky for Lucy and her family

In my version of things, her and Dustin's father died and in order to be close to her family that's what prompted Claudia to move them to Hawkins

The Hendersons are their dad's family so while they're still considered family, it can be hard because the absence of her father is felt by everyone

But they always put out a nice spread and they have *thoughts* about Lucy bringing Eddie with her to Thanksgiving

Eddie is absolutely sweating bullets the entire ride there

He's never done the whole meeting the parents thing, let alone meeting the whole family

Yes, Claudia accepted him almost immidiately, but he knows for a fact Lucy's grandparents (on Claudia's side) don't like him and now he's going to be facing down aunts and uncles and cousins and another set of grandparents

Lucy is nothing be reassuring the entire time, but it does little to help his nerves since Lucy has a habit of assuming everyone is like her and willing to give him the benefit of the doubt (they're not)

It is very easy for him to get overwhelmed upon arrival; the Henderson are loud and there are a lot of them

Lucy did her best to give him the run down, but frankly there are only so many names he can be expected to memorize

He decides to hide himself away in the kitchen for a while since 1) that's there Lucy is helping all her grandma, aunts and female cousins cook, 2) he cannot even pretend to know anything about football and 3) that is where the food is

This actually works to his benefit since he's quickly put to work chopping and the fact he's willing to help without grumbling endears him

I'm convinced Eddie can be an absolute hit with grandmas when given the chance; Wayne taught him at least some manners, he's very adaptable to an audience, and he eats enthusiastically

Honestly Eddie can turn on the charm if he wants to and he is laying it on thick to the point some of Lucy's female cousins might be curling their hair a bit

However, he can't stay in there forever, and eventually he has to face the male cousins and uncles

(Yes there is a clear division of labor based on gender norms, this is the midwest in the 80s/early 90s)

Dustin is one of the youngest of the whole family and he's used that position to try to hype up the younger cousins about Eddie so they're more inclined to think he's cool

He pulls Eddie outside and while neither of them know what they're doing in terms of sports; Eddie is absolutely willing to play with the younger kids which prompts some of them to question how he's Lucy's boyfriend of all people

The older cousins are a bit more catious; Lucy lands in the middle in terms of age so they're all not sold on the guy with long hair and tatoos

Uncles are also divided as they feel the need to put on the dad routine since Lucy's father isn't there to do the job

I think what might start to win them over is hearing that Eddie does know cars and has a job to fall back on besides "rockstar"

Eddie also doesn't do the macho man thing and does not hide how much he cares about Lucy, and Dustin too

The only thing that would get tongues clucking if is Lucy and Eddie shared a room since they live together

Claudia would do her best to smooth things over, but while the Henderson's aren't necessarily religous there are certain, let's just say expectations

Overall though, Eddie is able to survive relatively unscathed with at least a sense that he'll be welcomed back next year

[mrgrimreaper1]

Dude, I ABSOLUTELY DESPISE HOW SONIC IS HANDLED IN IDW SO MUCHHHHHH, specially in the issue where he has that whole monologue about his "no killing rule" towards people and eggman, because it literally has no reason to be there, outside of just the writers having to push back the sentiment the fan base was having back then, that issue happened specifically at the peak of people having frustration and hatred towards heroes with no killing rules, saying that they're unnecessary and pointless because thousands die because their no killing rules, specially thanks to batman, which btw is extremely justified to not kill the joker, batman has made it extra clear where he draws the line, he doesn't kill, he doesn't feel good about it, he feels uncomfortable doing it and he views life as sacred, people should be angry at Gotham's law system who for some reason, refuse to kill them and just puts them in an asylum.

Going back to Sonic, sonic having this whole rant about not killing feels so out of character because, first of all: he's being extremely mean and passive aggressive to surge for literally no reason, putting her feelings and points against him aside and pretty much completely disassociating while the whole conversation goes down, she was literally trauma dumping on him, and instead of being a shoulder for her to cry on, he's just extremely sassy for no reason, complete opposite of what he was in secret rings and black knights. Second of all: Sonic is extremely out of character in that moment, that whole thing felt extremely pointless, he's way of thinking is a lot more simpler than whatever that whole speech was, sonic doesn't kill eggman because he would literally die of boredom without eggman there, he knows he can stop eggman, he knows eggman is not gonna end him the easy way out and therefore is completely fine with letting him live, because he's confident he can stop him everytime, and against popular belief, in universe eggman takes a lot longer to actually start a scheme that he was planning, it's very rare that eggman starts a plan right after one failed, which means they get a LOT of time to rest and enjoy peace before eggman's messes everything up. Which brings me to the third thing: that whole speech is so pointless; it felt like the writers we're rushing to come up with reason as to why sonic doesn't just end eggman, so they just wrote something on paper and they just let sonic angrily read the text with no regards to his own philosophies whatsoever, and it is so pointless and unnecessary that you could reach the same conclusion that the writers want without ANY OF IT, if it was up to me, I would either make Sonic avoid the question or give a bunch of non answers, specially because he's trying to get surge to be on his side, which essentially leads to surge not siding with sonic because none of the answers he gave to her satisfied her, or if you want one where it causes the most drama, just make surge not give away her whole backstory right away to sonic, leading him to be blunt and give her an answer she doesn't like, he explains to her that he doesn't kill eggman because it would kill him of boredom later on, which pisses her off and gets her to leave. Fourth thing: stop treating sonic like he views himself as a hero, sonic does NOT view himself like that, sonic views himself as just some dude who showed up one day and said "dude, this egg guy sucks, imma slap 'em" he literally says so in sa2, "what you see is what you get, just a guy that loves adventures." Everyone around sonic may view him as a hero, but he himself does NOT view himself like that, in SA1 he literally just left everyone to clean up the whole city while he slept through the whole rebuilding, and this might be the last thing rn, I might keep going at the morning.

funny it’s called for the forgotten ones yet color, the forgotten one, is just killed off

[gayrathatata]

[knifearo]

ultimately when it comes to shipping and fandom space treatment of aspec characters i just don't accept "aro/ace people can still date/have sex" as an answer from nonaspecs. like yeah. mhm. okay. now i think we both know that you're not saying that out of real interest in the diversity of aspec experiences. so you can turn in your seventeen-page essay on why and how you plan to examine this character's aspec identity within the context of a romantic or sexual relationship complete with evidence from canon and peer reviews from multiple aspec people within the next week or i'm putting you in the pit from the edgar allen poe story