#I probably sound negative and I won’t deny that

[mysticmistral]

Anyone else feel like The Edge Of Sleep is gonna maybe flop?

Like, not in a ‘oh it won’t be good’ way. I mean it’s been years since the audio of it came out, and I don’t remember seeing any trailers, any teasers it’s just “Let’s just announce it” after so long of silence and probably little hype. If it took years it’d be fine as long as there was teasers and confirmations and I’m not the most ingrained to the Markiplier sphere but I liked the story and I’ve heard very little.

They won’t even say what platform it is, only it’s dropping 17 days from now. It’s gonna reach top five at least but it’s marketing is heavily hinging on one person rather than a cast of characters and people going out and promoting it. With Iron Lung that’s fine, Mark is the producer, director and star making it for himself and it’s something that has a trailer and has a hype. TEOS just doesn’t have that. The only grace is that it did get announced in 2021 which was still pandemic times which probably slowed things down.

I hope a Trailer drops soon at the very least to showcase the show and say where it’s officially streaming at. Prime, Disney, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount, Netflix, Crunchyroll, I don’t know all the streaming platforms I just hope it’s one I have.

[defmaybe]

Bahama

KISS OF LIFE’s Won Haneul x Male Reader

1.7k words

See Also: Sticky, Not Shy

A/N: Itzy fic with a Kiss of Life title, check. Aespa fic with an Itzy title, check. So, here we are, Kiss of Life fic with an Aespa title. Also, a bit exposition heavy in the beginning lmao. Thanks for reading as always!!!

–

Small, idyllic waves crash into the golden sand. Seagulls fly above your head. People run into the water. The scent of salt permeates the air. The sun is setting in front of you, casting orange into the sky. You’d be lying to say that you don’t like this place.

Department trip, electrical engineering to be exact, would’ve been a splendid chance for you to get closer to Won Haneul, the goddess you’ve been pining over for the last few months. You fell in love with her confidence—how she’s always not letting her voice be silenced. Her leadership—how she led your group to a standing ovation from the professor last semester. Her invulnerability—how she stands up for the minority (which includes you, once).

Two problems, though. She definitely doesn’t love you back. Only occasional hello-s and hi-s in the hallway, that’s all. And this trip has been far from productive. You couldn’t get close to her for less than a meter for the last thirty-six hours, and by tomorrow, this chance would fly away as you two have to go back to your mundane university lives.

The other problem is that everyone has also been pining over her, so your chances are negative.

–

You and Wonbin are sitting on the sand, watching the sunset together. What a sight. Both of you have been sipping your beers once every few minutes for a while now. You watch Haneul playing volleyball with her friends from afar, wearing a set of skimpy clothes you’ve been fantasizing about for the last few months. Black bra, short jeans that accentuate her ass so fucking well. You have to adjust your trunks every once in a while to hide that raging erection.

Not that it goes by without Wonbin noticing it, though.

“Fucking pervert,” he says with a giggle.

“What the fuck?” you sneer back at him, trying to deny your frenzy lust for Haneul.

“And I thought I’ve been the dirty one all this time.”

“Fuck off, man,” you curse, gauging off a laugh from Wonbin.

“You really like her that much, don’t you?”

You can only whimper back.

“Go talk to her! I’m sure she won’t mind.”

“I don’t know, man. She wouldn’t even bat an eye on me unless I’m in an accident or something.” You surrender to the hypothetical apathy of hers. How could a popular woman even come to pour an ounce of interest for you?

White screen, her in the middle, smiling, a single, large carnation blooming behind her.

Elegant.

She looks better alone than with you.

“I mean, I didn’t win Jiwoo’s heart by just looking at her from afar. Go talk to her!” Wonbin says with a chuckle, shrugging. “A simple ‘Hey’ wouldn’t hurt.”

“What if she doesn’t like me? You can’t just expect me to do that!” you reply, sighing.

“Look, it’s the only way, man. Stop putting women on the pedestal and your whole world will change,” he answers.

“Ugh, I just–” you lie down on the sand before closing your eyes. “–I can’t.”

Wonbin pats your shoulder before lying down beside you.

“Man.”

—

Your moment of peace lasts pretty long. If the weather isn’t so hot, you swear you could fall asleep right then and there. The sound of the sea fills your ear, with the images of Haneul in those shorts reeling in your mind. God, what a time.

Until you feel a cold sensation on your pants, freezing cold.

And you hear Haneul gasps.

“Shit, fuck, I–I’m sorry,” she apologizes, stuttering slightly.

Shit. She spills her watermelon frappe on the fabric. You can’t panic. Don’t fucking panic.

“O–Oh, it’s f–fine, Miss Won,” you stammer in the same fashion as hers, before realizing what you’ve just–

“Hmm?” she says, before letting out a laugh, one that’s probably out of you being a pathetic man.

Fuck.

“Miss Won?” Her laugh grows even louder.

Why not just end it all here? You sit there, frozen, until her snicker subsides.

“Oh, don’t be shy, mister,” Haneul says with a sly smile, offering you a hand to get up. “Let’s get you cleaned up. Again, I’m sorry for, well, that.”

“I–It’s fine, Haneul.” You comply with her invitation, reaching for her and getting up from the sandy floor. There goes your chance of her. It’s over. 

At least she’s still kind to you.

—

“Ready?”

“Yeah.”

Haneul adeptly twists the tap, and warm water flows out of the shower head she’s holding onto your swimming trunk. It was supposed to get wet, anyway. It’s just not in the way you’ve expected it to be.

She takes you back to the villa to clean you up. Sure, you could’ve just walked into the sea for a cleanup session, but her insistence was hard to resist. So, here you are, in the bathroom together.

She smiles throughout this embarrassing act (at least for you), as if there’s something amusing to be found within washing watermelon frappe off a man’s private parts. You are in a frozen state in front of this deity, just half a meter away from you, unable to say a word aside from the high-pitched grunts from time to time, bringing out laughs from her.

Until she clears her throat.

“Can I say something?” Haneul asks, eyes darting away from you, finding comfort in other objects around the room.

“Y–Yeah, sure.”

“Um…” She blinks rapidly, only able to maintain just a split second of eye contact with you. Is she finding you repulsive?

Anticipation hangs heavy. Both of you cannot say a thing under the silence. You watch her evading your eyes.

“Nothing,” she says, tucking her hair behind her ears. “We should get going.”

It’s over.

“Yeah,” you reply, before patting the last bit of the red chunk away as she turns off the water. “Thanks, Haneul.”

It ends here—your chance with her. At least you two can still be friends.

You turn back, ready to open the do–

“Wait.”

The word holds you accountable for a hot breath longer.

She turns the tap back on. But this time, she aims for your abdomen. Water trickles down your body.

“W–Woah, what the–”

A kiss on your lips silences you.

You take in her scent of sweat mixed with an otherworldly hypnotic perfume—salty, floral. Her tongue invades your mouth with ease, sweeping the insides of your warm cavern. The shower head is pressed between your bodies; water is running down and makes her frame wet alongside you. Fireworks are everywhere; people are cheering and clapping their hands; music is playing.

Won Haneul kisses you—with tongue.

She unlatches herself off of your lips, panting for air. “F–Fuck, that was great.”

You’re at a loss for words, still processing the kiss that happened mere seconds ago.

“Kneel for me, please.”

Without a single thought, you fall to your knees. The scent of her only serves to drive you insane.

Haneul would say nothing before slowly, so, so slowly, peeling off her incredibly tight shorts, revealing black panties underneath that matched her bra.

“Like the view, baby?” she asks.

You nod without resistance.

“Good boy,” she says, before softly pushing your damp head onto her equally wet cunt from the running water. And instinctively, you stick your tongue out and lick her clothed folds like some starving whore, drawing a gasp from her.

“Fuck!” exclaims Haneul. Her grip on your head becomes tighter. The pain stings, but your determination is unwavering. Your tongue keeps its pace on the soft fabric just for her pleasure. She just cannot whine louder at your touch.

The hint of her salty taste seeps through the dark fabric, diluted by the trickling water from the shower. Her fingers run along your hair, sending you into haywire, but you need even more.

Your hands seem to have minds of their own. They slither up her soft, toned legs, up the luscious thighs. They’re so firm. Until you reach the tenderness of her ass you’ve been craving for.

“Yes!” she screams, mouth opening wide, moaning. She pushes your head against the wall. The sound of the water still rings in your ear, dribbling down from your pressed head. It mixes with her thunderous moans into a cacophony. “Y–You’re gonna make me cum.”

Her legs turn stiff. Her breaths become more erratic and frenzy. You keep your pace, you have to. Going faster will kill the momentum. You keep lapping up her juices through those skimpy black panties, tasting that salt running out of her pretty cunt. The spilling softness in your hands only drives you further into mania.

And a loud gasp is all it takes for you to see heaven.

Fuck.

Her legs cease to stand up straight. Her grip on your head loosens as she becomes a wobbly mess. A high note echoes through the bathroom. Someone must’ve heard that, but you’re not in a position to care. You’ve just had the best meal of your life that is Won Haneul’s cunt.

“Fuck, shit,” she exclaims, as she’s coming down from her high. She lets go of your head. But as if you’re magnetized to her cavern, you keep slurping up her tangy juices through the revealing garment—any of what’s left. You can just do this forev–

“A–Alright, I know I taste good, baby.” The water is still running, washing any filth of the mere minutes ago away.

It takes a lot of self-reservation to put yourself out of her cunt. That salty, mouthwatering cunt. You whine a little as you pull your head back.

She washes the dirtiness on you with the water before turning it off, hanging the head back into its place.

“Thanks,” you reply with a smile.

“C’mon, let’s go to the sea. Maybe tonight–” she slithers her hand down into your shorts, groping your length—grabbing, squeezing, stroking, all in a flash. “–I’ll give you more than my lips.

The touch alone puts you back in your place. “Y–Yes, Haneul.”

—

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

Hero Course Application Denial Reason: Mental Health

Summary: Being a hero is hard work, and to enter it you need to fit certain criteria. One of them is having no mental illness that could be triggered by the work you are entering to a degree deemed unsafe by the authorities.

Bakugou Katsuki doesn’t know this.

Note: I am aware IED is a spectrum even if I mostly only know the extreme cases. I am aware not all mental health is the same. The negative talk of mental health in this story is supposed to be targeted at people who use it as a crutch and don’t try to do anything in order to work with their conditions to be able to lessen the harm towards them or others. The people who just go: not my fault I have X.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

When Bakugou Katsuki is six years old, he goes to a therapist who diagnoses him with intermittent explosive disorder. IED for short. It’s theorized his Quirk brings upon it.

Now, Katsuki grows up knowing this. Teachers use it to ignore his outbursts, screaming and attacking the Quirkless kid. It's just a disorder; it’s not his fault.

The doctor speaks about medication or therapy, but the Bakugou family ignores it. There isn't a reason to, given that his behaviour is due to his Quirk. His mother believes it won’t work. Katsuki proudly raises his head and smiles as his Quirk is praised, and they point at him as a perfect hero.

He applies for UA with his head held high.

He is sure to get in.

-

“Denied,” Watanabe Kasumi says as she stamps the words onto the application.

“Hmm?” her coworker and twin, Watanabe Hikaru, says.

“Kid with QAB-induced psychopathy due to being able to block all emotions,” Kasumi says as she puts the paper in the refusal pile. “He applied for heroics.”

“Sounds more like DQD.”

“Both probably,” Kasumi scoffs.

QAB or Quirk Affected Behaviour was when people were heavily affected by their Quirk. Usually, it was just mental and mutation Quirks affected, though there was a case a year or so before where Hadou Nejire was admitted while diagnosed with it due to her needing vitality for her Quirk. Her energized attitude came from that. Most of the time, though, it was just people whose Quirks already affected the brain or added in mutations like animal characteristics. It was not a reason for denying admittance into the hero course by itself. But psychopathy coming from it was.

DQD is a Quirk disorder with three levels: damaging, deliberating and devastating. These Quirks were ones where usage of them harmed the user. Damaging was the most common, and honestly, Kasumi was pretty sure there was a higher rate affected by it. Most didn't know that they had it since it made sense for their Quirks to affect them like that even when theoretically they shouldn't. Deliberating was the second level, which was much more apparent but not incredibly so. Devastating… Well, that was when it horrifically affected you or killed you.

A kid being a psychopath fits the latter.

The siblings continued through the stack of applications, their moves little more than blurs to anyone watching. While they were sitting perfectly normal for them, the reality was that the twins were moving faster than anyone else to go through the stack of papers. Their Quirk was the same: supersonic working speed—or, as their bitter mother called it, ‘Workaholic.’

As long as the twins worked, they were faster than anyone else. As kids, if their mother wasn't forcing them to ignore it, the two could get through homework in seconds, remembering everything as school was their job.

When they got older, they learned their father, never seen by them, was the same. His issue was that he also had QAB. He loved work so much that he was utterly addicted to it. Before the twins were born, he was able to avoid giving in to his condition entirely, but when the twins came and their mother ended up in the hospital for a year due to complications, he had to work harder. He fell into his addiction; no one bothered to stop it, given it wasn't ‘dangerous.’

The twins weren't surprised their mother hated their Quirk when they figured it out. Instead, they made a promise never to let work take over. They got jobs at the same place to focus on each other and remind themselves.

That was when the trouble started. The twins worked fast enough to do the work of hundreds of people, but they also knew how unfair it would be to take all the jobs. So, instead, they accepted positions promising to pay them the same as six people to do the jobs of six people each.

The first place didn't uphold their promise during their first month. They got paid only enough for one person each.

The second place also didn't.

The third place snuck in enough work for ten people each. They only found out thanks to a friend tipping them off.

The fourth place outright demanded the work of thirty the first time they showed up on site, trying to use a new contract they made the night before, attempting to claim the twins signed an agreement they could amend at will.

The idiots didn't remember how both twins got a lawyer to remove that when they first tried it and tried to insist no such thing happened.

That was when Nezu stepped in. The twins did all his administration jobs, which was safer than having many people do them. They also worked as his secretaries for hero work and his secretaries for school. They did the work of hundreds at a much safer rate. Nezu admitted he'd be doing most of it without them anyway, making it easier for them to accept.

“Explosive Quirk kid diagnosed with IED,” Hikaru announces, holding up the paper when he gets it, startling Kasumi from her musing.

“Actual IED or ‘this kid is aggressive but has a Quirk based on explosions?” Kasumi asks.

“The latter,” Hikaru says. “Properly diagnosed and everything. But…”

“Could still be a doctor shrugging his shoulders. Well…”

“Denied,” Hikaru shrugs.

Certain mental illnesses deny you entrance to the hero course. IED was one. If you exploded into violent rages randomly, no one could trust you using your Quirk to save people. What if you got set off and hurt others?

Hikaru pages through the applicant to see what is being done, rolling his eyes when he sees that the kid isn't in therapy. No medication or anything, either.

Figures.

Hope the kid isn’t to upset.

-

“Thank you for your interest in rolling into the UA Hero Course. However we have to deny you on reasons of mental health. IED is on the list of deniable conditions-”

Katsuki stared at the letter, unable to look away. The hag is busy on the phone yelling about suing the school as the old man talks.

Katsuki can't hear a thing.

It's not fair. He can't help his condition. It's not FAIR!

Katsuki screams and stomps off to light his Quirk outside, raging. It's not his fault!

They couldn't do this!

But they could.

“IED is a serious condition for a hero to have. No medication or therapy is foolproof,” the lawyer says. “We will not win this case. It's not even just UA- the Commission itself will not allow anyone with IED to the level Katsuki is diagnosed with, particularly if they are not in therapy or medication, into the hero ranks.”

“What if he goes on medication?”

“UA still doesn't allow it. They have the right as a hero school to do so. Others may do so, but the chances are low.”

Katsuki sits there and feels his dreams vanish.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Notes:

A pet peeve of mine is when people quickly go ‘Bakugou has a condition that makes him angry thus he is completely fine the way he is and also it’s not his fault’. That's not how it works, and claiming it is severely insulting to people with conditions who have put time into overcoming difficulties so they can function in society without hurting themselves or others. Saying Bakugou doesn't need to change if he did have a condition is just excusing his actions.

Plus there are a lot of mental health conditions and physical conditions that can prevent you from being in the army or police force. I can't see how being a hero in MHA is any different. IED is not something to play around with, and I highly doubt they'd be allowed to be heroes even if they are receiving proper treatment.

So I think in a world where Bakugou has it, he’d be forbidden. So boom here it is. I'm not going to confirm if he does or doesn't have it, because I'm also jabbing at the idea that it is because of his Quirk.

I am also now in love with the Watanabe twins.

[intimidating-fettuccine]

More random HCs for the creeps

Because I’m having a rough morning but I still wanted to write something

Toby can't pronounce Worcestershire sauce. No matter how hard he tries to pronounce it correctly, he never manages to do so, and everyone has just learned to interpret whatever word babble leaves his mouth that sounds similar as Worcestershire. He tries his best, but it's too adorable when he tries to say it so nobody can bring themselves to tease him or correct him about it.

Jeff has a growing plant addiction. As he over time starts to recover his relationship with Liu, he ends up picking up some of Liu's hobbies and traits, and one of those is plants. Liu's bedroom is basically a full garden, with a whole bunch of different kinds of plants and shelves filled with them, and Jeff has started picking up this habit. He only has a few plants right now, most of them easy to care for varieties because he doesn't want to end up killing one, but having the greenery around his room just makes him feel so at peace and so much happier than he was without it. Liu even gives him advice every now and then, and as much as Jeff won't admit it, it makes him really happy.

After seeing so many similar Tiktoks, BEN has started just putting random rocks in drawers. It doesn't matter if it's a desk drawer or a drawer in the kitchen, someone's bedroom, drawers in the art room, or any other hobby room, so long as it's a drawer, BEN has started hiding rocks in them. Some people have started to notice it happening, but nobody is able to figure out who's doing it, and BEN isn't going to stop until they figure out by themselves that he's the one doing it.

EJ can get some pretty bad pollen allergies, as as it's started getting warmer, Jack has been sneezing up a storm. The unfortunate thing for Jack is that despite his demonic form, his sneezes are very cute, as it always takes him by surprise, and he always scrunches up his face and shakes his head when he sneezes, and he always lets out a disgruntled, tiny little growl afterward, and every single person in the mansion always coos over him because of it when he sneezes, much to his chagrin.

To help him with his anxiety, LJ ended up making Jason a very large knitted plush of a bumblebee, something he could squeeze and hold onto in private when he needed it. What neither of them expected was how attached to it Jason would get, and now he carries this very large bee around with him everywhere. He named it Sir Stinger, and if anyone makes a negative comment about it he absolutely verbally destroys them because nobody is allowed to talk badly about Sir Stinger. The only time he doesn't carry it around with him is if he's working out of the mansion or out doing high society noble things.

Slender, when he has to go away on very long trips, misses the residents of the mansion much more than he openly admits. Because of this, he ended up collecting a picture of each resident over time, and he keeps a picture of each one tucked away in his wallet in one of those small wallet photo insert books. This was a small secret for a little while until one day he dropped his wallet, and upon picking it up, Jeff discovered the photos. Slender tried to deny it, but now everybody knows about it and lightly teases him for it, however, none of them were upset by it, and everyone ended up getting him updated photos of themselves and also ended up getting him a few new group photos. It makes him incredibly happy to be able to just pull out his wallet when he can't have a phone on him (because he's old-fashioned and probably doesn't carry one everywhere), and to just be able to see their smiling faces. It makes him feel like a proud dad.

[gasolinerainbowpuddles]

𝕂𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕥𝕠𝕓𝕖𝕣 🎃💦 ∘₊✧ 𝔻𝕒𝕪 𝟚𝟜 ✧₊

|| ︶꒦꒷𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕜𝕥𝕠𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝕞𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕥꒷꒦︶ | main masterlist ||

@absurdthirst's Kinktober 2023 Prompts (yeah I'm still working on these whatever lmao)

day 24: Bratty Sub, Anal/Oral Training, Caging

𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐌𝐞 𝐎𝐮𝐭

| PAIRING(s): BrattySub!Dieter x SoftDom!FemReader | RATING: explicit material | 18+ | WORD COUNT: 2.4k | CONTENT: pathetic men who want to come, Dieter being a menace, mental health, established relationship, leash and collar, brief foot fetish stuff, exhibitionism/humiliation, soft degradation, cum play | SYNOPSIS: Dieter breaks a rule, and you have to get creative.

“DIETER! BRAVO! I swear to god!” you yell from the bottom of the stairs as you make your ascent. 

You can hear him scrambling around the bedroom as if you don’t already know exactly what he’s been up to. You shove the door open and find him pretending to meditate on a hastily rolled out yoga mat, the very same one that has been leaning against the dresser for four months now.

“Oh, don’t even start with this bullshit.”

He peeks an eye open to look at you and squeezes it shut again quickly. He makes some fake mantra humming sounds that would’ve made you laugh had this situation been any different.

“I don’t know how you managed to get into your accounts, but I do know that you have been making an absolute idiot of yourself online all morning.”

He wiggles nervously at the accusation but doesn’t deny it. You both knew the damage was done at this point. It pissed you off even more to know that he probably didn’t regret it, not even a little.

“Dee,” you sigh, exasperated that this conversation even needs to happen. “We had an agreement. You know how bad your mental health gets when you go on all these apps and start reading what people say. And then you go and start responding to people, saying all kinds of batshit stuff?”

Not all of his retorts to the negative commenters across several different social media platforms were batshit, but the most recent ones definitely showed a growing pattern of unhinged annoyance and bruised ego.

“You were the one who suggested giving me control of the passwords in the first place because you couldn’t trust yourself,” you remind him.

“And doesn’t it sound like I was right to not trust myself?” he chimes in with a barely contained grin.

Oh, of course he thinks injecting a little humor into the situation is going to fix things. Underneath the quips and the giggles was the sore and raw self-conscious person who was terrified of being hated and criticized – or, worst of all, forgotten. Knowing his insecurities sometimes made it easier to remind yourself that he wasn’t necessarily trying to be so much of a headache, but it didn’t always help enough to keep your irritation in check.

“Give me your phone and get undressed,” you snip. When he looks up at you, all confused with those big brown cow eyes of his, but doesn’t comply, you grip his hair firmly and pull him toward you. “NOW, DIETER. DON’T MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF.”

You disregard the half whimper, half moan he lets out at the manhandling and snatch his phone from him as he hands it to you. You dutifully ignore the overexaggerated rustling of him removing his clothes and instead go through his phone to delete each and every social media app. You look up when you hear the bedframe creak. Ass perched up in the air, head lazily dropped against his folded hands on the mattress.

“I know I’m not supposed to negotiate how many I’m getting, but I–”

“Oh, you’re not getting spankings for this, Dieter,” you exhale sharply in a humorless laugh.

He lifts his head a little in surprise. “What do you mean I’m not—”

“I didn’t say you weren’t getting punished,” you interrupt. 

His face falls slightly at this news. You hold back a laugh at his expression as he works through the fact that he won’t be getting spanked like usual when he needs guidance. It wasn’t lost on you that he’d start to see it more as a “funishment” anyway.

“So I— I don’t get to get spanked?” he pouts, sounding genuinely disappointed.

“Well it clearly isn’t a deterrent for you anymore. Maybe if you’re good for me I’ll consider adding it as a reward.”

His face brightens a bit at this, and you really have to bite back a smile now. He was so infuriatingly charming sometimes that it wasn’t any wonder he’d never had a partner that was able to keep him in check. He has his moments – like today – where he slips up and needs someone to hold him accountable, and you were more than happy to be that for him.

“Now stay put and don’t get yourself into any more trouble than you’re already in,” you caution, striding from the room without a look back.

It takes you a few minutes rummaging through old bins of entirely unused, unsorted things Dieter had bought over the years to find what you’re after. You’d gotten his Miscellaneous Museum down to just a few bins now that his stress spending was better managed.

“There you are,” you mutter to yourself as you pull the ostentatious luxury fashion brand dog leash and matching collar out of the bin. It was as gaudy as it was expensive, and you roll your eyes at the memory when he’d impulse bought it and tried to justify it to you.

“Baby, do you honestly think you can just get a leash for an ocelot at some random store?!” he’d huffed. “You have to get this kinda stuff specialty, baby.”

“You are NOT getting an ocelot, Dieter!” you’d chided. “I don’t even think they’re legal to own! Which, somehow, is further down the list of worries when it comes to owning a fucking MURDER CAT.”

He’d pouted and stormed off, leash trailing on the floor as he dragged it along and away to stew in his defeat.

It glistens in your hand now, hardware probably made with enough real gold you could melt it down and sell it for a good chunk of change. It was a wonder Dieter wasn’t homeless and penniless when you’d met. You smile to yourself thinking of how he’ll probably point out later on that this ended up being a useful purchase after all.

You make your way back to the bedroom and are pleased to find that Dieter hasn’t moved.

“Well at least we’re off to a better start than I anticipated,” you note as you run a hand down his angled spine.

He shudders under your touch, eyes drifting closed peacefully for a split second. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have done it.”

You take a deep breath and acknowledge his admission. “I know, Dee. But you also know that admitting it is only half of the equation here.”

He nods in understanding and follows your direction to sit up on his knees. You fasten the collar around his neck and direct him to the floor. When he puts a foot down onto the carpet to stand, you correct him to stay on all fours. He’s patient for once as you attach the leash, not badgering you with what you’d be doing or what his punishment was going to be.

“Now, the best remedy for a social media cleanse is a nice walk outside, don’t you think?” you coo, mocking and pointed as you wait for him to understand what you’re insinuating.

“You– What? I can’t go outside like this!” he protests.

“Oh, you can and you will,” you retort.

He balks and stammers as you start jerking the leash and collar towards the hallway and down the stairs. You make him crawl down first so you can watch the globes of his ass flex and push, pink rim in between twitching at the cold air. Maybe once you’re done with his punishment he’ll still have enough energy to take the strap.

You’re closing in on the large sliding patio doors, and Dieter begins bartering again. “But-But what if somebody sees me? It’ll be plastered all over the place! Maybe I can just.. I’ll stay in the collar and leash all day, okay? I’ll keep it on for the entire day inside. I promise!”

“And you’ll have no idea if somebody does see you like this outside because you won’t be going online looking for it,” you snip pointedly. “Besides, since you’re so determined to publicly embarrass yourself, you might as well get some fresh air while you’re doing it.”

His cheeks burn in shame and anticipation. “I swear I won’t ever—”

“You already have, and this is the consequence. Now let’s go.”

His head dips down, but he starts crawling on hands and knees towards the door, waits for you to open it, and gingerly makes his way across the hard tiles that make up the patio. He tilts his head up just enough to glance around at the privacy hedges, no doubt searching for any openings where passing eyes could see him in this predicament.

You guide him to the middle of the yard and instruct him to sit back on his haunches and look up at you.

“Isn’t this nice, being outdoors for a change?”

He grimaces and fidgets. “Baby, please–”

“How does it make you feel, Dee? Being out here like this for anybody to see?”

He huffs and looks down, but you won’t have it. You grip his jaw and direct his attention back to you.

“When I ask you a question, you answer me.”

“I-I feel… open. Too open. And-And nervous,” he mumbles.

“Do you remember our special word?”

“Not that kind of nervous,” he huffs. “Just… I don’t… somebody could be taking a picture of me right now, and it’d be on the trending—”

“And that’s none of your fucking business,” you interject. “Being so concerned about that is what got you in this situation to begin with, so I suggest you start letting go of all that before I get annoyed all over again.”

He groans and gripes to himself but doesn’t argue. “So how long am I s’posed to stay out here like this?” His cheeks heat at the renewed awareness that he’s completely nude in his backyard, being led around on a lead like some misbehaved animal that can’t be trusted to be left to its own devices.

“Until I say we’re done,” you say flatly.

He grumbles under his breath and hangs his head. He goes suspiciously still, and you follow his line of sight to your bare feet. You wiggle your toes just to confirm your hunch and are awarded a gravelly, hitched breath from Dieter.

“Find something to take your mind off things?” you needle.

“You’re wearing the toerings I got you,” he hums, voice shifting into something low and excited.

“Yes, and I was going to let you take them off with your mouth, but instead we’re having to do this.”

He gasps, head shooting up to look at you again with a frenzied expression. “Oh, please let me! PLEASE?”

His flaccid until now cock springs to attention at the mere mention of your feet and his mouth. It had become a fixation of his after a particularly erotic shroom trip, but you didn’t mind it too much. After all, it was just another tool in your arsenal to keep Dieter’s focus and energy where it needed to go. 

“What happened to being scared somebody was going to see you outside like this?” you drawl with a lazy grin.

“It’s probably fine,” he reasons, now rapidly talking himself out of being shy. 

“You know what I think, Dee?” you ask in a throaty rasp. You lightly rub the top of your foot against the bottom of his sac and delight in the way he gasps and twitches. “I think you’d like it if somebody took a photo of that.”

You push harder, the warmed metal of your jewelry pressing into his sensitive skin, and Dieter moans openly now into the expanse of the sunlit yard. 

“Or even a video. Bet you’d love to have that to watch the next time you’re jerking off.”

He whines and buries his nose against your legs. You take pity on him and scratch his scalp in soothing strokes. His reprieve isn’t long, though, when you bend down low enough that your lips are next to his temple.

“Bet they’d be watching, too, and see what pathetic little slut you are for me,” you rasp in his ear.

He whines and shuts his eyes tight, hips grinding against nothing.

“Maybe once you’ve been humiliated in front of the entire world, you won’t care anymore about what anonymous losers have to say about you online.”

He gasps and grips his hands into thighs, knees digging into the grassy earth beneath him. You smile almost cruelly at the way your words have him clinging desperately to the tiny shreds of dignity left right now.

“But you don’t care about any of that right now, do you?” 

You stand upright again and pull the leash taut enough the collar digs into the side of his neck.

 “You just care about being good for me so you can come all over my feet like the desperate little boy slut you are.”

Dieter’s eyes glaze over completely, and one more nudge of your foot against his sac is all it takes before he’s erupting all over your foot and the grass. He grabs onto the back of your calves for leverage as he spurts thick, white ropes again and again. All sounds of pleasure bottleneck in his throat to a breathy, strangled moan. 

He slumps shoulders first towards the ground and whines as he licks up his own spend from your feet. You let him go at it for a few moments before pulling him up for a kiss, the tang of his spend flooding your tongue. He sighs into your mouth and deepens the kiss until his energy dips again. You help him to his feet and walk him back inside to the couch where he plops down haphazardly.

You caress the red indentations on the side of his neck as you remove the collar and leash. You start to fuss over whether or not to get him some ice when he shushes you and pulls you down on top of him. You run a leisurely hand through his hair, gentle pets and rubs as he settles closer into you.

“You okay? Your neck is a little red.”

“Mmmmmm, I’m doin’ really good, baby,” he murmurs. “Love you so much.”

“Love you, too, Dee.”

He sighs contentedly and tucks himself into your side. “Didn’t even think I still had that thing.”

“Hm? What thing?”

“That cat collar and leash.”

You chuckle into his mussed locks. “You find some real gems in the Miscellaneous Museum every now and then.”

He joins your soft laughter and then stills.

“Dee? What’re you thinking about now?” you ask when you note the change in demeanor.

“So are you still a hard 'NO' on getting that ocelot, or …..?”

You groan a laugh and sling an arm over your eyes. You can’t deny it might be a good distraction to keep him away from his phone. He giggles and cuddles closer, knowing he’s finally wearing you down, just like he always does.

[twopoppies]

whoever is saying harry takes pictures with fans when he wants to please them, even if unintentionally, is bringing such a negative and twisted view to his actions. it sounds like he only takes pictures with fans when he wants something from them. that is the least harryesque thing to ever exist. that is not who he is when he interacts with us. we should know that.

we should also accept the fact that sometimes he’ll be in the mood to take pics and sometimes he won’t. it’s his right, after all. and there may be infinite reasons why he is or isn’t in the mood, and it’s not for us to know; it’s for us to respect.

he respects us so much. he is generous and kind. the amount of pics that we saw this week gave me depth to how often he is stopped in his tracks because people want a photo or they want to say hi. it’s so often. and he is kind at every turn. setting boundaries is good for him. i am so so glad that he does it. it’s important for his health, we should have this on our minds.

yes, if i saw him on the streets, i would want to say hi. i would love a hug. and i would probably come up to him, courage gathered, in the fear of spending the rest of my life regretting letting him pass by. but i’d be respectful, and the best part of being a fan of harry is that i know he would be so respectful too. and kind, and generous. so i’d be that too. he is not interacting with us with second and third intentions, he is just living his life. we are the ones going up to him and asking for something. and has the right to deny it.

the way he interacts with us actually makes me love him more. i feel like i’m dedicating my energy to the right person. harry, if you’re out there, know that i’d give everything for a conversation with you.

This is lovely. I wish all fans thought this way. I very much agree that he is always kind and generous, even when he says no. I don’t know where he finds the patience 😅

The only thing I will add is that there are times when he is out and about with the purpose of being seen. But that, too, is completely within his right to do. PR isn’t always something to be looked at in a negative light.

[maskedpeach]

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Rant

Warning. This article contains spoilers. Alas, this post is an enormous wall of text and consists purely from me complaining. Get the children away from the screen.

Okay, I’ll probably regret this later, but I’ll post this anyway. Years ago I used to be pretty vocal about my opinion, but these days I prefer to keep most of the negative opinions to myself. But I believe if I’d keep everything bottled up on this one particular matter I’ll simply explode.

I’m currently enthusiastically playing Like a Dragon/Yakuza series, which is now one of my favorite game series. Back at high school used to play first two games on PS2, and later there was Kurohyo on PSP, but didn’t get too far in any of them, decided save it for later, and this “later” has finally happened several months ago after listening to one pretty entertaining podcast about JPRGs. One of the hosts has totally sold me Yakuza: Like a Dragon (I’ve literally ran and bought it after listening the podcast). I’ve played it, loved it and almost cried my eyes out on the ending (seriously, if someone asks me how my ideal JRPG should look like, I’d say that’s the one).

After that I’ve beaten Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. I’ve really enjoyed this game in general, but comparing to its predecessor, while most of the gameplay issues were fixed, some story issues did arise. Story itself is far more simple and lacks memorable antagonists (Ebina was okay and Bryce was outright lame). Still, there were a plenty of interesting moments to keep me going, and I really liked the ending, which was extremely moving, the part before the ending credits I mean. And then this stupid love confession scene happened and completely ruined the mood for me. Seriously, it wasn’t funny, it was tasteless like in the worst romcoms.

And, well, here lies the main issue with Infinite Wealth for me - this poorly-written romance subplot between Ichi and Saeko, and how Saeko character is handled in this game in general. So, if you are the fan of her I suggest you to stop reading right here, right now.

First, I would like to point that, when Saeko was just an optional romantic interest in LaD it was perfectly fine, but in IW, where she became the designated love interest, the whole romance plotline became very forced and uncalled-for. In LaD they were simply on friendly terms with no indication of evident romantic interest, and in IW the whole “Ichi falling for Saeko” thing looks extremely out of nowhere. All interactions between them look artificial without real chemistry between characters. Seriously, every time Ichi says, that he loves her or have feelings for her, it sounds hardly believable, like he is trying to convince himself and the players. At moments like this I could almost imagine something like this:

RGG Studio staff: *gives Ichi the script* Start reading.

Ichi: But that’s a bunch of bullshit!

RGG Studio staff: *points a gun on Ichi* Start reading. Now.

To be honest, I’m not the fan of romance genre at all and I mostly view romance sublots in various media as a nuisance. Still I won’t deny that there are some romantic storylines I genuinely enjoyed and was rooting for the characters till the very end (like Alphen and Shionne from Tales of Arise or Oswald and Gwendolyn from Odin Sphere for example), but there are still very few of the quality romantic stories to my liking comparing to those, which are either okay or boring at the best, and unbelievably stupid or outright unhealthy (and stupid) at the worst.

Worst of all, that RGG Studio actually can write a decent romance subplot. And I believe that Yakuza 0  is a good example of this. There we have Goro Majima (who is my second most favorite character in the series, after Ichi) and Makoto Makimura (who belongs to one of my least favorite character archetypes-“damsel-in-distress”, but considering her condition and the fact that everyone is after her, she really does need help and protection). In their story there wouldn’t be a single “I love you” or “I have feelings for you” or any other needless words, they just go through many shit together and slowly develop feeling for each other, which is shown very subtly through finely directed cutscenes. They don’t get together in the end (which is pretty logical, considering everything, that’s happened), but this plotline gets pretty heartwarming conclusion in Kiwami 2. But if they actually did get together I wouldn’t mind at all, even though Makoto isn’t one of my favorites, simply because their story is well-written and makes sense.

Alright, back to Ichi and Saeko. Let’s start with the infamous “proposal-on-the-first-date” scene, I won’t deny that it was awkward as hell (I was like: “Ichi, please, just shut up.”), but Saeko’s reaction wasn’t one of the mature woman either. I would’ve understood her reaction if they’d barely knew each other, in that case it would’ve been perfectly natural. But they know each other pretty well by this point (three years, no less) and she knows that he tends to speak his mind and has zero experience with women. I believe, she could’ve always say something like:”Hold on, let’s not rush things.”, I’m sure he would’ve understand. But no, she just runs away and leaves him hanging. And when, thanks to Adachi and Nanba, Ichi realizes, what he did wrong, he goes and apologizes. Saeko seemingly accepts the apology, says that they are still friends, and that as a friend she will support him no matter what. And what Saeko does next? She ignores Ichi for a whole year. And when he loses his job and becomes pariah thanks to Tatara Channel, only Adachi and Nanba go and check up on him. When she finds out, she doesn’t even bother to send something like: “Are you okay?” or whatever. And that’s after all the crap they’ve went through in LaD. A “true friend”, nuff said.

Oh, and you know what’s rich? In her Drink Link (I did it only for the achievement and to see whether she actually expresses any remorse at all, spoiler-no) it is revealed that, the whole year she was ghosting Ichi, she was dating some obvious bastard, who was manipulating her into marrying him to get her money and business. Funny, how she didn’t see that until he went and said it himself. Another fun fact, that in some random dialogues she actually asks Kiryu and Nanba how Ichi is doing, only to add something like: “Not that I care.”. Seriously, her whole attitude towards Ichi is so fucked up and can easily be described as emotional abuse. If I were him I would’ve dismissed her after that year of ghosting and just forgot about her. And the last, but not the least, everyone either criticizes or mocks Ichi because of this stupid proposal, but no one criticizes Saeko for her craptastic treatment of him.

Also putting romance aside, I believe Saeko has nothing to offer as a character. In LaD she was an okay character, albeit with the little to zero relevance to the main plot. I believe RGG Studio has added her only for the sake of adding at least one playable girl in the party full of dudes to expand the audience, since Eri is an optional character and you can beat the game without even getting her in the team. Speaking of Eri, while she is totally unimportant to the main storyline, she is still much more likeable and fleshed out character than Saeko, and more useful in battles too.

In IW Saeko became much worse. As I see it, her portrayal is something of a strong and independent woman. And it does not withstand any criticism. Even in LaD there were some optional dialogues, were she is mocking other party members in a form of a joke. In IW she is even more immature. For example, remember how in LaD she refused to go with you in cabaret club ( I mean, where you can order a hostesses)? In IW Seonhee tags along with the guys in the same club (because, why not?), and Saeko decides that she is going too, even though she is not interested in the stuff. And there is more instances (all optional dialogues though), where someone does something, she clearly disapproves, but everyone else in party does, and she decides to do it too. I believe, that being strong and independent actually means having an opinion of your own and not caring about what others would think about you. While both Seonhee and Chitose really can be described as strong women, Saeko only seems like one, but in reality she is just pathetic. When it comes to main story in IW-she can be easily removed from all cutscenes, because most of the time she either all bark no bite (strong and independent woman, uh-huh) or just stands there. Looks like RGG Studio simply didn’t know what to do with her after LaD and wrote all this pseudo-romantic crap simply to justify her presence in IW. For me it sure didn’t work, I felt utterly disgusted with her the whole game. I wish they would just wrote her out entirely from the story. While in LaD she was only one non-optional girl in the party, in IW we have two more well-developed female characters, who, unlike Saeko, are actually important to the plot.

I’ve read somewhere that RGG Studio is currently working on the next installment in the series. I have no idea, what it’ll be about, but I really wish that they’d just drop the idea of getting Ichi and Saeko together for the sake of it. It seriously looks like the cupid on drugs is garroting the poor guy with the red string. To be honest, I’m not exactly excited about new installment at all. Saeko stuff aside, for me IW is the fitting conclusion to the series. I seriously don’t see what else could be added to the main story, since all the major storylines got a closure by that point. I only wish for Kiryu to heal his cancer and for Ichi to get his job back (and the same goes for Majima, Saejima and Dojima, since I don’t remember anything said about it in the ending), and for both of them to live in peace for the rest of the days. They’ve had enough shit in their lives already.

[annaraebananawriter]

(Part One) I Wish

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BLOVED BOYS, DREAM AND NIGHTMARE!!!

This is part one to a two part special for their birthday, thought the second part won’t be done until next week, probably. Curse my brain and it’s need to procrastinate on important fic ideas. 

Especially considering I have three gift exchanges to get done...

Anyway. I don’t have too much to add, so happy reading!

Fandom: Undertale/UTMV

Characters:   Dream, Nightmare (Who belong to Joku), Blue (Who belongs to P0pcornPr1nce), Ink (Who belongs to Comyet), and mentioned Error (Who belongs to CQ) and mentioned Bad Sanses

Warnings: Implied council members being generally toxic bosses, implied abuse from villagers, and I think that’s it. Let me know!

Summary: “It’s Dream and Nightmare’s birthday today. As per usual, they exchange gifts, though this year they can’t meet in person. They still have the gifts, though. (UTMV, Dreamtale Twins Centric)”

Word Count: 3603

~oOo~

He's late. Dream curses to himself as he stumbles over a stray piece of wood on his trek to the tree stump that was once his mother.

It wasn't necessarily his fault. Ink and Blue had roped him into their annual party for his birthday, even though every year he keeps telling them that they don't need to celebrate it and he really didn't need anything. Ink just laughs, slapping him on the back as if it's a joke and Blue just raises his eyebrow, looking sympathetic yet determined. And they invite some of their other friends, the few members of the council that they actually like, and he really can't say no and board himself up in his room when they arrive and seem so excited, now can he?

He gives up once his friends start coming and plasters on a smile, feeling happy for the company even if he doesn't particularly enjoy why they were there. Luckily, no one but Blue (and Ink, but Ink forgets sometimes, which isn't on his friend, not exactly, but still) understands his conflicted feelings and therefore isn't able to see through the act.

He doesn't hate his birthday. In fact, it's just the opposite. He loved—loves—his birthday, and would get so excited when he realized what day it was.

The villagers used to throw such a big celebration, too, with banners and streamers and balloons, and even sometimes treat it like a festival for someone of the highest honor. They would lock elbows with him and push him from stall to stall, making him try foods and showing him art, and giving him gifts. They had seemed so…expectant, almost, as if they knew he would love it all and wouldn't believe otherwise, and he was too scared to know the repercussions for denying such generosity, so he accepted it all, the same words of thanks falling from his mouth on repeat. It may sound bad, but it wasn't, and it started out fun even if it grew stale.

(Thought they never did remember to celebrate Night's birthday alongside his. They seemed to forget that they were two halves of a whole, born at the same time for the same purpose, just guarding two things. Whenever he reminded them that they had two people to celebrate, something dark would flash in their eyes and they would plow through as if they had never heard him.

He stopped asking after an important 'talk' with the mayor of the village, and just learned to avoid their eyes, keep his head down, and never ask questions. And of course to never say no to anything the villagers give him or want to take from him. That was a lesson hard earned too.)

The fact was that the date just grew to have certain negative feelings tied to it, bitter memories and harsh words covering the sound of laughter as their younger selves made snowballs and threw them at each other all day until their fingers were numb and they decided to cuddle together under Mother's branches to warm themselves up again. They never picked up the gift-giving aspect of it until the villagers moved in nearby and taught him about their traditions, and he then taught Nightmare, relishing the spark of untouched innocence and curiosity that only the aspect of new knowledge could give his brother. It’s a little bit funny, really, how even then Nighty had the look of a king in his eyes—that knowing, interested look when being told something he found interesting.

Maybe that was why he labeled himself as such, and why Dream found a castle where the village used to be and a garden surrounding Mother and his statue. Maybe it was all a reminiscence on the past, a nod to something only they would understand. A way to say ‘I know’ without saying the words.

Or maybe Dream was just putting words in other people’s mouths again.

Nonetheless, it had been especially hard to peel himself away from the party this year. It seemed as though everyone invited had realized he always left early and had some kind of vote he wasn’t aware of to keep him there as long as possible. It also seemed as though people were having a competition of who could keep him entertained the longest. He’ll have to talk to them about that, let them know that he did, in fact, notice the glares they shot at each other whenever someone else took his interest. It was like those shows that Blue likes to watch, where multiple people date one person and fight for the ‘right’ to their hand in marriage, only this one was far more uncomfortable because he never signed up for it.

Ink, who did sometimes take notice of Dream’s tense posture and was usually the one who (unknowingly) gave him the opening needed to take his leave, was distracted this year. He also up and disappeared shortly after the party started, leaving everyone in a state of confusion, though they shrugged it off after a few minutes.

It was Ink, after all. That should’ve been enough of an explanation.

Dream did privately ask Blue if he knew where their friend went, but Blue just smiled and said Ink was fine. “Just had something important to do, that’s all. He’ll be back before the party’s over.” He wouldn’t elaborate any more on it, no matter how much Dream prodded him.

As the party progressed, Dream found himself constantly glancing at a clock. Or more so trying to even find one. It seemed, in addition to vying for his attention, the guests had gotten their hands on all of the clocks and hidden them away somehow. He had no clue what time it was, but he felt the growing dread that he would be late. His attempts at leaving grew more and more obvious, until his frustration grew the more and more one guy keep blabbering in his ear about whatever nonsense was going on in his AU—probably really just an excuse to cajole Dream into visiting and helping out, even if nothing was needed.

Just as Dream had opened his mouth to snap at him to just let him leave, Blue swept in with as much grace as an angel sent to save him from devastation. If they were alone, he would’ve given his friend a big hug, maybe even a kiss on the cheek for extra thanks. His friend gave him a secret wink and seemed to shoo him off, and Dream tried his best to obey, politely shoving people out of the way.

Once successfully on the outskirts of the party, Dream let out a breath and prayed with all his might that he’d be able to finally leave. It seemed someone was listening because he was saved from further obstacles when Ink finally returned from wherever he had been, sopping wet clothes and what looked like a pile of snow in the shape of…something on top of his head, a dry and plainly wrapped present in hand. At once, he was the center of attention and Dream could run into his room to grab the present and leave as quickly as he could.

And even though he is late, at least he left that dreaded party. Nightmare wouldn’t mind him hanging out in the garden and talking to Mother as he waited until enough time passed and he could deem it safe enough to head back, would he? The place was off-limits to his gang, and he was fairly sure they had all left to have some holiday fun, too. Maybe they’d even dragged Nighty along for the ride.

Hopefully. Nighty did need to have some fun every now and then. With this thought in mind, Dream pauses and reaches his senses across the AU. He listens for any souls and gets silence—not one peep of any kind of emotions—which makes him smile. They did get Nightmare to join them, how kind of them. Once things eventually come to a standstill in their ‘war’, and that truce Ink is arguing with the council to implement finally gets through, he’ll have to ask them for pointers.

Maybe he could finally get Nighty to join him for some hangout sessions. And some sparring sessions. Blue was a good fighter, but Dream had to keep his magic usage to a minimum, which meant handicapping himself. It would be nice to fight against someone—that is, fighting without actually fighting, if you get his drift, and it would be nice to be able to not worry about holding back and test out some of his abilities he hadn’t had the chance to practice in a long time.

But, ah…he was getting ahead of himself.

Today wasn’t about what could be, though those thoughts were nice to think about on occasion.

Today was about their birthday, and right now was specifically about retrieving the present Nightmare got for him and placing his present for Nightmare in its place.

Usually, they’d just exchange gifts in person, but because he was late, he is hoping that Nighty just set the present down on Mother and left it there for him to find. He’d do the same with his present. His brother will no doubt check that he had received his present and, seeing it gone and a new one in its place, he could relax for the rest of the night. He was probably so worried when Dream didn’t arrive at the agreed-upon time.

Dream sighs, finally turning to Mother and the present that rested upon it. It was a light blue gift bag, and golden paper stuck out of the top of it. A card addressed to him with his brother’s looping handwriting was taped to one of the handles.

Same as always.

He replaces the present with the one he brought. And before he leaves, he stays there for a minute, debating with a thought that spawned into existence. Rolling it over, he glances up at the castle, peeking up through the trees in the garden, and he seeks out the window he was fairly sure led to Nightmare’s office. He looks back at the present and down at the bag, tightening his grip on the handle.

Well…it has been a while since he’d been able to break into a building. Maybe this was something to be corrected (though, it wouldn’t be the same without anybody to catch him in the act, but he could certainly just act like there was).

This will be fun.

~oOo~

Dream closes the door to the house and finally lets himself relax, leaning against it with his eyes closed. His soul was still beating fast from the adrenaline of breaking into his brother’s castle. It was kind of silly, considering he could’ve just waltzed in the front door like a normal person and nobody would even know he had been there, but that just wasn’t as fun. And this way, Nightmare gets a laugh as well as a present.

A present he hopefully likes. He had worked at getting it for a few months, keeping a close eye on their AU, seizing the chance whenever everybody was out to sneak himself in and scour the woods around the castle and the ground around Mother for any of the pages left from before the incident. And he wrote what he remembered and couldn’t find down as neatly as he could, many sleepless nights spent pouring over a blank page of notebook paper and nibbling on the top of a pen. Once he felt satisfied with what he had, he then asked someone from the council that he knew could do it to bind it all together properly. They had just gotten it done at the start of the month, which was perfect timing, leaving him with a few weeks to find a couple of other things to include in the gift as well.

And now that it was delivered, he could only wait and hope that Nightmare liked it. He’s sure he will. He knows his brother quite well, joined as they were to be two halves of a whole. This present will be something Nighty treasures, he’s sure of it.

Doesn’t stop part of him from doubting that confidence, though.

He sighs again and pushes himself up, walking into the (thankfully) deserted living room. Well, he says deserted, and it is devoid of the party guests, but not of his friends. Ink sits upside down on the couch, dry clothes on and the present ripped open beside him. He’s playing with a piece of wrapping paper, shredding it into smaller pieces with his hands. He’s rambling on about something he saw earlier, and Blue walks sound with a rag in one hand and a bag in another, picking up trash and wiping up spilled drinks. He’s listening to Ink, making comments when necessary. The TV is on and the volume has been muted.

Ink finishes his story and the paper in his hands falls to the floor as he turns himself to sit cross-legged. Reaching for another piece of wrapping paper, he finally notices Dream smiling at him and he beams back, waving. “Hey, Dream! Welcome back!”

Blue looks over as well and smiles. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Dream says, setting his present down on the coffee table. “How’d the part go?”

“You mean the party that was for you and you abandoned?” Ink leans forward to prod at the bag. “It was fine. Great to start with, as always, but then once one member starts bringing up business, the rest seem to all believe it’s a meeting instead of a party.”

Dream frowns, batting his hand away as it tugs the bag forward. “I’m sorry. I keep telling you I don’t want a celebration.”

“I’ll change your mind one day, I promise.”

“It’s not your fault, Dream,” Blue says, setting the garbage bag down for a minute. “Maybe we just need to stop inviting the council. Just have a night with us and a few others, like Lust and Outer.”

“That would be better,” Dream admits, thinking it over, but he shakes his head. “But the council would throw a riot if we stopped inviting them.”

They all sigh and sit in silence for a minute.

“So, who gave you the present?” Ink asks, changing the subject. He rests his chin on his hands and grins. “A secret lover, perhaps?”

Dream scrunches up his face and shakes his head. “No. Just a friend.” He tilts his head, pointing to the present beside Ink. “What about you?”

Ink shrugs, smiling. “Early Giftmas present from a friend.”

Dream lowers his hand, humming to himself. Glancing at the present, he can see a few balls of yarn and a pair of knitting needles, and a small doll version of his friend sticks its head out from behind the red ball. Another arm, this one black with a blue string wrapped around it jokes out bedside it. A letter rests on the side, and some of the letters on the page are just visible. This makes him pause a bit, recalling seeing the letters before among a few other versions of the dolls in the brief moments he’s been to the Anti-Void and seen it in a portal behind Error.

Error, the Destroyer. Error, who gave Ink an early Giftmas present.

He looks over and meets Blue’s eyes, who just gives him a knowing smile, and after a moment, he smiles back. Any concern he might’ve had is swept away as he imagines his friend and Error doing the same things his brother and he does every year for their birthday. He would be a hypocrite, kind of, to be worried about his friend meeting his enemy when he does the same thing.

Besides, it was Giftmas in just a few more days. Who says enemies can’t be friends for one day?

~oOo~

He folds up his cape and drapes it over the chair to his desk in his room. Dream takes off his gloves and does the same thing, changing into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt Ink had made for him. Turning on his desk light, he sits down in the dim light and pulls the gift bag into his lap.

First things first: the letter.

Carefully pulling it off, he flips it over, his smile widening as he runs his fingers over the wax seal, a purple thing with an engraving of a crescent moon painted gold, holding the letter closed. His brother was so dramatic sometimes, using wax to seal a letter like some old-fashioned librarian. Then again, that was what he once wanted to be, so maybe this was just him achieving his dreams. It did feel like something more important than a letter for a birthday present, in any case. Opening a drawer, he grabs his letter opener and cuts the letter open, unfolding the paper to read it.

Dear Dream,

Happy birthday. Things have been busy for me this year, just as much as they have been for you, I’m sure. My boys are as hectic as ever and I can tell that Ink is still the same chaotic Creator he’s always been. Though, I do hope you are handling him better than I am handling the boys—I don’t think I’ve had a full night’s sleep in months.

Nonetheless, I did find time to get you your present. As always. This year, I went for a more expensive brand, as I remembered that last time you disliked the sweetness of the cheaper brand of wine I bought you. This one was recommended by me for its more bitter taste, described by the seller as ‘an acquired taste for only the best kind of people’. I think they were a bit biased, though, and wrong. After all, who in their right mind actually seeks out bitter-tasting things?

Ah. That’s right. You do. My point still stands, as you are lovingly special in your opinions. As wrong as they are…

I have also included something special for you. Please be careful with it. I paid good gold for it to be made, so if you break it before the year is over, I will know and I will hunt you down again and finally kill you once and for all. Okay? And as per usual, I’ve included a book I think you would enjoy. You’re very lucky to be given it. I think the copy in my library was the only remaining version of this edition.

I’ve spoiled you far too much this year already, so I will end things here. I wish you well, hope you have a good Giftmas, and everything else I’m supposed to say.

Write to you next year.

With as much hate as possible,

Nightmare.

Still chuckling, Dream sets the letter aside in the box full of the other ones from other years that sits underneath his desk. Then, he reaches into the bag and pulls out the bottle of wine, setting it aside to bring downstairs with him later. He flips through the book, reading the dedication and description and finding himself interested in it. Of course he would be, Nighty was good at knowing what books he’d like. He pulls out the small long box, a blue felt thing, and sets the now empty bag on the floor.

Curious and excited, he opens the box and gasps at its contents.

Pulling it out, he holds the thing reverently, turning it over slowly to look at all the details. It’s a small dagger, about the size of his forearm, and it’s a beautiful thing, more so for decoration than fighting, with all those golden leaves as accents and the engraving of a tree on the blade itself. There’s a small purple gem inside the handle, too, paired with a yellow one, both in the shape of an apple. And his name is engraved on the handle among the leaves and branches in small lettering. It’s so pretty, and the fact that Nighty got it made specifically for him almost makes him cry.

He sniffs and blinks away the blurriness, something wet slipping down his cheek.

Scratch that, then. It did make him cry.

He sets it on top of the box and sets it by his bed, right next to a picture of him and his brother from before the incident he had saved, the creased and ripped thing now framed in a simple brown wooden frame. Picking the picture up, he looks at it silently for a minute, before looking out his window, at the barely visible sunset and the few stars coming out of hiding. Clutching the picture to his chest, he closes his eyes.

“Dream!” Blue calls from the living room. “We’re ready to start the movie!”

“Coming!” Dream calls back, not moving.

He inhales and makes his wish as hard as possible, standing in place for a few minutes to ensure it was heard. It’s something he always wishes for, and he’s quite certain it works because it’s been granted every year. Once he’s sure, he opens his eyes and searches for the star, watching as it twinkles brightly for a minute.

I wish things continue to get better. I wish we stay friends for as long as possible. And I wish the best for my brother and his family, because for all his faults and actions, he is my brother, and that is all that matters. I wish this lasts.

I wish.

[redheadbigshoes]

Hey Stephanie, that other anon speaking about her mom made me want to just sort of vent/ask about my own parent. I’ve been dating my girlfriend for about a year, and I’m so happy with them. They’re my first serious relationship and by far I’ve felt more attracted to them than any other person. Before her, I’ve only ever had “crushes” or “dated” guys (who usually turned out to be queer in some way, and whom I never kissed or was physical with). I should mention that I’m 20 and living at home, also.

I’ve identified solidly as bisexual for a couple years now, but since dating my girlfriend, I’ve been seriously questioning whether or not I’m actually attracted to men at all. I’m not repulsed by the idea of sex with a man, but I wouldn’t say they turn me on and I have never related to cishet women’s descriptions of their attraction to men. Currently I kind of go back and forth, and I’m not solid on either label, but I’m not looking to have any sexual experiences beyond my relationship with my girlfriend so it’s not really relevant except for my own peace of mind.

Anyway, my parents are not religious, but I was terrified of coming out because my dad is more of a traditional type. He has lesbian friends and has no problem with gay or queer people usually, but I ended up coming out before I felt ready because I was talking to him about going to lunch the next day with my current girlfriend (who was then just a friend I had a crush on), and he said it sounded like a date. Things ended up getting and staying heated for quite a while, and though he didn’t stop me from dating her, it was clear he wasn’t exactly supportive.

This situation is complicated because I feel very confused and conflicted. He’s pointed out how much worse I could have it when we watch movies where the parents are not exactly supportive of their queer kids (i.e. Everything Everywhere All At Once) without realizing that he’s acted like them. He has at times been very kind and supportive, but then will say things like he hopes I’ll grow up and find a nice boyfriend someday, and how sad he is, and other hurtful things. He doesn’t understand how I could possibly not know if I’m bisexual or a lesbian, and views my potential bisexuality as a way for him to hope that I’ll find a man. If I am a lesbian, I’m scared to come out again and probably won’t want to.

It’s less of a burden now than it was when I first came out and started dating my girlfriend, and I mostly brush off these comments when they happen, but when I’ve tried to talk to him about how hurtful some of the things he has said are he says that I’m not allowing him to have his feelings and that I’m in the wrong because “if somebody doesn’t react the way you (I) want them to,” then they’re not “right” or something. I’m fine with him having his feelings, and he’s doing his best, but I can’t deny how hurtful this whole process has been to me at times. Is it worth trying to talk to him about this at this point? Should I just leave it alone? And if I do decide that lesbian suits me as an identity, do you think it would be worth it to risk undoing progress we’ve made in the past year?

Thank you and apologies for writing an essay in your inbox ❤️

First I’d like to say you shouldn’t apologize for venting here. My blog is a safe space for that.

About you questioning whether you’re a lesbian or bi: attraction is always positive, having neutral feelings, not feeling anything at all or having negative feelings when it comes to something romantic or sexual is not attraction. Whenever I see someone questioning whether they’re a lesbian or bi I always recommend watching these videos (you can find the others in the tag #source: patronsaintoflesbians). Also, you don’t need to understand your attraction right now, you don’t need to label it specifically if you don’t want to.

Unfortunately sometimes parents being friends with queer people (or seeming to be accepting of LGBTQ+) is not an indication they will accept you, at least right away. I think you should give your dad some time and space for him to get used to the fact that you’re not straight, sometimes all they need is time. I also think if you do end up realizing you’re a lesbian, it wouldn’t be good to come out again to your dad right now, he first needs time to get used to you liking other girls, and if in that time he approaches you and asks you about your identity, then I think you should tell him the truth.

[ataraxiasflame]

This is probably a hugely UNPOPULAR OPINION and it may sound like I’m making a desperate threat to get my way….

If E/riel is announced as the next book, that will be my ticket out of the SJM universe.

I have several reasons for this though:

it’s not that I’ll be throwing a tantrum and cutting off my nose to spite my face. But Elucien is probably the only reason I’m still here. I’ve been disappointed by so many decisions of SJM/Bloomsbury in recent years, and I have even started to suspect that she is shifting her priorities while writing. Since HOFAS, I can’t deny that I am worried about the decisions she will make in the upcoming books for the sake of sales (which I’m starting to feel is a top priority driven by Bloomsbury now) and what quality of writing her next book will have.

Secondly, I won’t be able to read a rejected-mates book, especially involving one of my favourite characters ever. But I’ll also question wanting to read anything else from an author known for using the sanctity and rarity of the mating bond to enhance the fated relationships of her previous MC couples only to have another character diminish all the other existing bonds by making this bond the villain of the MCs story that can easily be rejected.

And I also cannot read another Archeron/Batboy book. Repeating a plot with an archeron sister, made by the cauldron and is dealing with trauma, and a warrior bat-brother with a difficult past as the main plot of the next book is going to seem like a copy-paste of ACOSF and makes me once again question the decisions of SJM. Plus, I’ve read SO many theories of each potential ship and how they will impact the overarching plot of the series, and I believe that the rest of the series will also be impacted negatively by E/riel as well.

Another motivator for this decision (and this is a big one) is the toxic fandom and type of engagement surrounding one specific SJM character. If his book is next (and Elucien is confirmed by default) I may even step away until 2028 (or who know when she’ll eventually get to it, but I’m not hanging around until then).

Ultimately, if E/riel is confirmed, I personally feel that it’s a sign that SJM is no longer writing what makes sense or is the smarter choice for the story/over arching plot of the series but is rather going for shock and unpredictability driven by sales (hofas?) and that’s not what I’m looking for in a fated-mates book/series.

(And tbh, I’ve read so many amazing Elucien fics that I am happy to remain in the Elucien pocket of this fandom and merely read all that’s been written by people who are not being driven by sales).

Am I the only person who is genuinely dreading the idea of reading an e/riel book?

I’ve shipped A LOT of non-canon couples and had no issues with who they ended up with in canon and very much enjoyed the canon ships.

But there is something about Azriel and Elain that I have a visceral aversion to.

Just me?

[pet-genius]

A complex and many-layered thing

But Harry’s anger at Snape continued to pound through his veins like venom. Let go of his anger? He could as easily detach his legs. . . .

This is the first Occlumency lesson. Harry is right, of course. Feelings don’t go away because you want them to. To let go of them when they’ve not been addressed or validated can be as hard as detaching a leg. And yet, it’s what Dumbledore asked Snape to do, and it’s what Snape had to do to survive the first war as Dumbledore’s spy. You have to ask yourself… how?

Trapped animals chew off their own legs to escape. It’s a sacrifice they make to survive.

If there’s one thing in a fic that turns me off it, it’s the idea that Occlumency shields are a thing, that Severus was so gifted at it because he’s got some power like Second Sight or being a metamorphagus. I always preferred to think of Occlumency and Legilimency as skills that can be learned, even if some have more aptitude for it than others.

Severus entered Hogwarts with the kind of life experience that primed him for developing these skills, and left it with even more. Occlumency is magical dissociation, a post-traumatic coping mechanism, and Severus has C/PTSD. More under the cut; tw: just general angst.

To survive, he would have had to develop a knack for telling how explosive and unpredictable people feel. Over his life, he faced at least two egregious examples of what Pete Walker, author of “Complex PTSD” calls “the Charming Bully”.

Especially devolved fight types can become sociopathic. Sociopathy can range along a continuum that stretches from corrupt politician to vicious criminal. A particularly nasty sociopath, who I call the charming bully, probably falls somewhere around the middle of this continuum. The charming bully behaves in a friendly manner some of the time. He can even occasionally listen and be helpful in small amounts, but he still uses his contempt to overpower and control others. This type typically relies on scapegoats for the dumping of his vitriol. These unfortunate scapegoats are typically weaker than him. […] He generally spares his favorites from this behavior, unless they get out of line. If the charming bully is charismatic enough, those close to him will often fail to register the unconscionable meanness of his scapegoating. The bully’s favorites often slip into denial, relieved that they are not the target. Especially charismatic bullies may even be admired and seen as great.

These would be James Potter and Tom Riddle, who are distantly related, I might add. Harry inherited the tendency to default to the fight response, but since he grew up the scapegoat and not the golden child, he never becomes quite as appalling, and after all, a fight response is normal when they are after you. Even so, Harry, who has both James and Voldemort inside him, triggers Severus to no end. It’s not a coincidence that the memories Harry sees when he is with him are largely horrible, and vice versa. There had to be happy or at least neutral or even boring moments, but these two detest each other, and they know they detest each other. Negative emotions and associated memories are so close to the surface they can’t be contained. This is the purpose of the Pensieve in this context - to contain the emotions. Since Severus knew what was in there when he pulled Harry out, my theory is that you don’t suddenly forget the memories you placed there, but rather you make them less fraught with emotions.

“Get up!” said Snape sharply. “Get up! You are not trying, you are making no effort, you are allowing me access to memories you fear, handing me weapons!”

Harry stood up again, his heart thumping wildly as though he had really just seen Cedric dead in the graveyard. Snape looked paler than usual, and angrier, though not nearly as angry as Harry was. “I — am — making — an — effort,” he said through clenched teeth.

“I told you to empty yourself of emotion!”

“Yeah? Well, I’m finding that hard at the moment,” Harry snarled.

“Then you will find yourself easy prey for the Dark Lord!” said Snape savagely. “Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow themselves to be provoked this easily — weak people, in other words — they stand no chance against his powers! He will penetrate your mind with absurd ease, Potter!”

A lot to unpack here.

“Memories you fear,” “weapons”, “easy prey”.

Fearing your own memories, viewing your own lived experiences as weapons to be used against you, being easy prey… Severus could not be speaking louder of himself here. He is the one whose mind had been penetrated with absurd ease, he is the one who handed weapons to Voldemort, and he is the one who had to do the psychological equivalent of detaching his own leg – again and again – to survive.

I’ll argue that Severus developed a fawn response and a flight response, as fighting had never really worked out for him if it was possible at all. He had at least two more people I’d describe as bullies in his life, Tobias and Lucius.

Again from Pete Walker:

These [fawn] response patterns are so deeply set in the psyche, that as adults, many codependents automatically respond to threat like dogs, symbolically rolling over on their backs, wagging their tails, hoping for a little mercy and an occasional scrap. Webster’s second entry for fawn is: “to show friendliness by licking hands, wagging its tail, etc.: said of a dog.” I find it tragic that some codependents are as loyal as dogs to even the worst “masters”.

Remember what Sirius called him? Lucius’s lapdog. Bellatrix called him Dumbledore’s pet, Dumbledore said he dangles on Voldemort’s arm, the narrative compares Snape to a rabbit in SWM and Harry compares the Half Blood Prince to a beloved pet who had gone feral (yes, this does mean a lot to me on a personal level, yes my username is not a coincidence).

His unconscious fawn response might have been his undoing, drawn as he was to figures like Lucius and Voldemort. As an adult, I think he utilized the skills he had developed to survive in order to stitch these people up, and involuntary dissociation and fawning became Occlumency, which to me, is his signature magic. Harry needed only to banish Voldemort from his mind; Severus could not settle for this. He had to give Voldemort something, and knowing how to fawn meant knowing what to give him and how to draw himself in such a light that Voldemort would believe it. We see how he wanted to be seen by the Death Eaters: a self-serving coward who sought to hide behind Dumbledore’s apron, playing his pet. But that’s Pettigrew, not Snape. Imagine the self-immolation, the self-violation, it must have taken to convince everyone that you’re an ersatz Wormtail! Snape is a man and a prince, and the text recognizes this as Harry calls him, in the end, Dumbledore’s man, the bravest man, and as that chapter is called “The Prince’s Tale”. Voldemort thought Snape was nothing more than a “good and faithful servant,” and that his last words were “My Lord”.

But Severus had an unequaled gift for Occlumency, specifically against Voldemort, because Voldemort could not legilimens what he couldn’t feel; and he couldn’t feel love, grief, guilt, and remorse. This was Severus’s secret weapon, which would not have worked against Harry - who can feel these things, and who is also Lily’s son. I can prove it. The first time Harry gets the hang of Occlumency is after Dobby dies:

His scar burned, but he was master of the pain; he felt it, yet was apart from it. He had learned control at last, learned to shut his mind to Voldemort, the very thing Dumbledore had wanted him to learn from Snape. Just as Voldemort had not been able to possess Harry while Harry was consumed with grief for Sirius, so his thoughts could not penetrate Harry now, while he mourned Dobby. Grief, it seemed, drove Voldemort out . . . though Dumbledore, of course, would have said that it was love. . . .

Harry learned to dissociate, though fortunately in a healthier way than many of us ever get to.

Of course, Snape was a good and faithful servant… to Dumbledore, which brings us to the flight response. The chapter wherein he escapes after killing Dumbledore is called “Flight of the Prince”. He should be fighting, he had just proven that he can cast a killing curse, and yet he flees. He can literally fly, in fact: He, Lily, and Voldemort are the only ones we see pulling this off.

As a child, we see this too: He copes with his home situation by reminding himself “it won’t be long and I’ll be gone.” He is thrilled when he imagines Hogwarts, his escape; he follows Lily out of the carriage instead of confronting James and Sirius head-on (which might have saved them all a lot of pain eventually). But this doesn’t work out, we see that in terrifying detail. The next attempt at an escape is joining the Death Eaters, but this too doesn’t work out.

He can’t flee anymore.

“Severus, you cannot pretend this isn’t happening!” Karkaroff’s voice sounded anxious and hushed, as though keen not to be overheard. “It’s been getting clearer and clearer for months. I am becoming seriously concerned, I can’t deny it —”

“Then flee,” said Snape’s voice curtly. “Flee — I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts.”

Shortly thereafter:

“Severus,” said Dumbledore, turning to Snape, “you know what I must ask you to do. If you are ready . . . if you are prepared . . .”

“I am,” said Snape.

He looked slightly paler than usual, and his cold, black eyes glittered strangely.

He was ready, and he was prepared. He didn’t fly; he walked toward what might well have been his end with open eyes, armed only with the strength of his mind. Before Voldemort killed him, he looked pale, again, and terrified.

“I sought a third wand, Severus. The Elder Wand, the Wand of Destiny, the Deathstick. I took it from its previous master. I took it from the grave of Albus Dumbledore.”

And now Snape looked at Voldemort, and Snape’s face was like a death mask. It was marble white and so still that when he spoke, it was a shock to see that anyone lived behind the blank eyes.

I ask myself if this was the moment he realized he had been betrayed, that by giving Dumbledore a painless death he had secured his own. Maybe he wasn’t pale because he was scared; maybe he was pale because he was shocked. He was at his absolute limit, Occluding with all his might when he could have easily saved himself. The dam is about to break. All the memories he feared, all the weapons, the entire content of his heart is about to spill through - literally.

He fawned for Voldemort, the worst of all possible masters, but in the end, he was Voldemort’s undoing. All the ways in which he was weak and powerless against Tobias, James, Lucius, et al., proved to be part of goodness and source of his power. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that Snape is so loved. I’ve never actually seen such love for any other fictional character. He represents a kind of courage that many of us need to get by, lest we simply become evil or give the fuck up (“I wish I was dead”). A kind of courage rarely celebrated. The more time I’ve spent in the fandom in general and in the Snapedom in particular, the more I am convinced of this.

[420pogpills]

masterpost of random epic dnf moments

i find so much comfort in these posts that just contain links to loads and loads of epic clips so i wanted to make one of my favourite george&dream moments :’)... this took me several days okay.

in no particular order whatsoever

(♥♥♥) “so...dream.” “what?” “um, hello.” “hi”

(♡♡♡) “george!” “yeah?” “HEY 😁”

(♥♥♥) “that is actually george’s fish” “oh what? i will keep it safe” (bonus: giving fish back)

(♡♡♡) “you two and your inside jokes, you guys are such good friends”

(♥♥♥) “i saw an interesting donation on your stream”

(♡♡♡) “trust me. george - i’m handling it.”

(♥♥♥) “i’m not gonna be hurt if dream is next to me”

(♡♡♡) “you’re making me laugh it’s not even fair!”

(♥♥♥) “i shot you once” “no you shot me multiple times”

(♡♡♡) “oh that’s so hot”

(♥♥♥) “what you gonna do, fight me?”

(♡♡♡) “dream has my number because dream needs me sometimes”

(♥♥♥) “stop you’re hurting me” “i’m hurting you?”

(♡♡♡) “i’m very similar to george so i probably won't like it”

(♥♥♥) “i said i’m in the hot tub right now, he said ‘prove it’”

(♡♡♡) “dream stop killing me!”

(♥♥♥) “i’ve always wanted to explore my sexuality”

(♡♡♡) “this is what happens when you fall down my trap”

(♥♥♥) “i’m so used to having your attention 24/7″

(♡♡♡) “why are you so mean dream?”

(♥♥♥) “you know who reminds me of nemo? george”

(♡♡♡) “first thing’s first-” “i’m the realest”

(♥♥♥) “come hide with me”

(♡♡♡) “he looks so handsome, look at him, look at george”

(♥♥♥) “oh george” “oh dream”

(♡♡♡) “you love me?” “yes, i do”

(♥♥♥) “be careful george”

(♡♡♡) “you’re laughing at every different word i say”

(♥♥♥) “can i have the sword dream?” “say that you love me”

(♡♡♡) “just hug me george”

(♥♥♥) “i’m the mememan, my milk is delicious”

(♡♡♡) “george i’m gonna blow up - come with me”

(♥♥♥) “you couldn’t see what dream was doing”

(♡♡♡) “george is easily a top 10 mcc player”

(♥♥♥) “what would you say my weakness is?” “me”

(♡♡♡) “we were getting this computer repair guy - oh my god”

(♥♥♥) “every time you get near me you just get all red”

(♡♡♡) “you would follow me down here”

(♥♥♥) “dream is a simp for me” “yeah”

(♡♡♡) “nice dream!”

(♥♥♥) “smile - you see him everyday”

(♡♡♡) “you deserve punishment george”

(♥♥♥) “what are you doing george?” “i’m on twitter”

(♡♡♡) “george george george you look amazing george”

(♥♥♥) “you don’t have to follow me everywhere”

(♡♡♡) “get away from dream!”

(♥♥♥) “we’re in the stars”

(♡♡♡) thirdwheelboyhalo

(♥♥♥) “dream is so delightful”

(♡♡♡) “DREAM LET’S GO!”

(♥♥♥) “follow me, i’ll follow you actually - just take me”

(♡♡♡) “dream...” “i had to george, i had to”

(♥♥♥) “i trust my dream”

(♡♡♡) “you don’t brag about your looks”

(♥♥♥) “george just tell me you love me”

(♡♡♡) “someone said ‘dream do you think george is cute’?”

(♥♥♥) “kiss george” “that’s a pretty good forfeit”

(♡♡♡) “a plane ticket to dream’s house”

(♥♥♥) “okay that was pretty pog”

(♡♡♡) “i’ve been too focused on george”

(♥♥♥) little compilation

(♡♡♡) “why’d you say it like that?”

(♥♥♥) “dream’s trying to kill me, he’s killing me!”

(♡♡♡) “if you won, what would be your first date with george?”

(♥♥♥) “we do everything together”

(♡♡♡) “answer my question!”

(♥♥♥) “oh. yeah. but george too.”

(♡♡♡) “if you win, you have to kiss dream!”

(♥♥♥) “dream... i’m messing up” “oh are you still streaming?”

(♡♡♡) “be careful”

(♥♥♥) suspicious dancing

(♡♡♡) “don’t be greedy george”

(♥♥♥) just... this whole edit

(♡♡♡) “george is mine, go away”

(♥♥♥) “dreeeaaaaam i know you wanna help”

(♡♡♡) “george you’re a genius, george kiss me!”

(♥♥♥) “he was wearing like an oversized dream smile hoodie”

(♡♡♡) george compilation 10/10

(♥♥♥) “i don’t wanna hear you laugh”

(♡♡♡) “whenever dream tries to get a new speed run record he just disappears for a month”

(♥♥♥) laughing face to face

(♡♡♡) “can i have some stuff?”

(♥♥♥) “geoorrgeeee”

(♡♡♡) “he lives in your head actually rent free”

(♥♥♥) “you know quite often we just know what we’re talking about?”

(♡♡♡) “now it backfired because george knows me”

(♥♥♥) “he’s small it’s different”

(♡♡♡) “COME HERE GEORGE!”

(♥♥♥) “you can be my valentine if you want george”

(♡♡♡) “no mom no he broke up with me” (bonus: “george denied me”)

(♥♥♥) “just explain your reasoning for denying me” “you didn't mean it”

(♡♡♡) “goodnight george, goodnight gogy”

(♥♥♥) “dream just saved something from snapchat!”

(♡♡♡) “i’m breaking you out!”

(♥♥♥) “you’ll get punished george"

(♡♡♡) “guys this is like the cutest photo of george ever”

(♥♥♥) “guys i’m opening a new business” “selling george pictures?”

(♡♡♡) “don’t attack the wolf dream i’m not there to save you”

(♥♥♥) “you were like ‘you have to praise me now for 5 minutes’”

(♡♡♡) “why don’t you think i’m here?”

(♥♥♥) “we were playing geoguessr the other day”

(♡♡♡) “i am wheezing and dying and george is dying with me”

(♥♥♥) “you used to get mad at me for placing blocks beneath myself”

(♡♡♡) “you have to clip that” “no”

(♥♥♥) “c’mere”

(♡♡♡) “i almost died, water me!”

(♥♥♥) “me and george”

(♡♡♡) “i wouldn’t want to do it unless he’s here”

(♥♥♥) “me and george were literally holding hands in the hallway”

(♡♡♡) “you should get negative points if you’re an idiot”

(♥♥♥) “kiss”

(♡♡♡) “i thought you might want to confess something”

(♥♥♥) “we’ve been talking to each other for 10 hours?”

(♡♡♡) “i’m not here to disappoint you or anything”

(♥♥♥) “mimic my yawn, that means you love me you know that right?”

(♡♡♡) “i’m not helping you this round” “i need you”

(♥♥♥) “we’re literally on a boat”

(♡♡♡) “you’re so ridiculous”

(♥♥♥) “i fell asleep in a call with george”

(♡♡♡) “wow george you’re great”

(♥♥♥) “dream just went 👉🏻👉🏻”

(♡♡♡) “yessss let’s go” “wait let me pick you up!”

(♥♥♥) “dream sort this out!” “alright wait turn around”

(♡♡♡) “you have pretty privilege”

(♥♥♥) “george i have something that will cheer you up george”

(♡♡♡) “i’ve been by your side since the beginning george”

(♥♥♥) “sitting here forced to drink water, it has absolutely no flavour”

(♡♡♡) “gives back i’ll be good” “no no you won’t”

(♥♥♥) “don’t worry. i’m here george”

(♡♡♡) “dream say hi” “hi”

(♥♥♥) “so george why are you laying in bed while you’re talking to dream?”

(♡♡♡) “where did george go, george is not found”

(♥♥♥) “come over here greg i will save the day” “francis!”

(♡♡♡) “that’s not what you told me last night”

(♥♥♥) “please just swim drive the boat drive the boat”

(♡♡♡) “before i even met you, you had this ginormous impact”

(♥♥♥) “you’re not worthless george we love you”

(♡♡♡) “george is like the biggest idiot”

(♥♥♥) “alright fine i’ll play one more”

(♡♡♡) “you see george everywhere. you see what you wanna see”

(♥♥♥) “guess united kingdom because someone you love lives there”

(♡♡♡) “george don’t leave me”

(♥♥♥) “you say bolivia george?”

(♡♡♡) “why are you so feral?”

(♥♥♥) “you’re an idiot” “you’re the one who’s screaming to do it”

(♡♡♡) “”you’re so oh my god” “you’re so annoying”

(♥♥♥) “i trust you so m-so often”

(♡♡♡) “now i have you right where i want you”

(♥♥♥) “heads” “alright it was heads”

(♡♡♡) “george you’re the hottest piece of ass in dreamhunt”

(♥♥♥) “you said ‘just woke up’ and i said ‘me too, in sync bby’”

(♡♡♡) “dnf arc? yeah maybe”

(♥♥♥) *george shooting dnf into wall on csgo*

(♡♡♡) “george and dream’s brotherly relationship is so iconic”

(♥♥♥) “you can’t 👹LEAVE👹 it’s not allowed”

(♡♡♡) “oh we’re finishing each other’s sentences right now”

(♥♥♥) “you said you were gonna what, kiss me or something like that?”

(♡♡♡) “do you have a song that makes you think of dream?”

(♥♥♥) “here george take this take this george”

(♡♡♡) “hey dream” “hey george”

(♥♥♥) “do you have a crush on dream?” “yes, go on”

(♡♡♡) “i am proud of you” “wow thank you dream”

(♥♥♥) “1 dollar every hour” “for how many hours?”

(♡♡♡) “i clicked skip whoops - wait, where are all my balls?”

(♥♥♥) “get out of here GET OUUUUTTTT”

(♡♡♡) “i’m sleeping for at least 8 hours” “but then we’re gonna be out of sync again”

(♥♥♥) “this is actually disgusting, come to me where are you”

(♡♡♡) “thank you baby... oh no” “WHAT?”

(♥♥♥) “yeah i love dream so much”

(♡♡♡) “yes that is exactly what i was thinking dream”

(♥♥♥) “dream” “hi” “hello i’m streaming” “hi”

(♡♡♡) “mm poor little george”

(♥♥♥) “do you have fifty dollars?”

(♡♡♡) “please please half a heart half a heart!”

(♥♥♥) “that’s okay you wanna be near me, that’s fine”

(♡♡♡) “you would know all about the simp handbook wouldn’t you”

(♥♥♥) “please i need you” “i do need you”

(♡♡♡) “kill him!...or her.. or it..”

(♥♥♥) “cause he’s little gogy”

(♡♡♡) “do your parents know about gream?”

(♥♥♥) just... cuteness

(♡♡♡) “wait george my minecraft’s starting my minecraft’s starting”

(♥♥♥) “te amo sueno”

(♡♡♡) “yeah that was my idea” “yeah just like last night”

(♥♥♥) “you can just say he’s a bottom”

(♡♡♡) this entire video

(♥♥♥) “why are you leaving me?” “alright fine”

(♡♡♡) “george you look good in a suit”

(♥♥♥) “i have a present for george!”

(♡♡♡) “why don’t you want to facetime me?” “i haven’t shaved”

(♥♥♥) “dream’s killing me, why are you killing me?”

(♡♡♡) “george i thought you were going to choose me”

(♥♥♥) “you wanna watch a beautiful sunset? just for you dream”

(♡♡♡) “we don’t text that much” “we text everyday”

(♥♥♥) “georgie poooo come here”

(♡♡♡) “oh beat me dream beat me”

(♥♥♥) “you are so impressive dream”

(♡♡♡) “i just ran for like a million hours”

(♥♥♥) “mydic--kslong has subscribed, thank you..”

(♡♡♡) all of these moments are too funny

(♥♥♥) “dreeaaaam! loooook!” “oh he’s cute”

(♡♡♡) “oh george~” “this is scary”

(♥♥♥) “george do that water drop sound”

(♡♡♡) “why is everyone saying ‘george explain the text?’”

(♥♥♥) “why are you saying it like that?” “that’s how you said it”

(♡♡♡) “i’m going to my secret stash”

(♥♥♥) “it said ‘name a dessert’” “you should’ve put me”

(♡♡♡) “i need to come” “you wanna come?”

(♥♥♥) “i have missed your face!”

(♡♡♡) just.. this entire video

(♥♥♥) more on george sleep talking

(♡♡♡) “that’s the same height difference between me and you george”

(♥♥♥) “you’re doing extremely well george. just calm down.”

(♡♡♡) “george~” “stOP. stop it”

(♥♥♥) “i know dream loves me a lot but unfortunately i don’t love him back”

(♡♡♡) “it’s fun to make him more afraid”

(♥♥♥) “someone said ‘dream do you think george is cute?’”

(♡♡♡) “oh we know george we know how hot you are”

(♥♥♥) “dream has friendship hacks”

(♡♡♡) “let’s watch a movie” feat. sapnap

(♥♥♥) “the only man i’m into is george”

(♡♡♡) “you broke my heart dream by....breaking my heart”

(♥♥♥) “keep lying to him george”

(♡♡♡) dream team not dnf but i love this so watch it plz

(♥♥♥) “you turn your camera off to sneeze? it’s okay we love you”

(♡♡♡) “dance with me dream”

(♥♥♥) “dweaaaam pleaseeee”

(♡♡♡) “it’s fine dream, i’ll stream another day” “waaaaaaah!”

(♥♥♥) “i just wanna talk to you”

(♡♡♡) “you’re just like interesting in general george”

(♥♥♥) “when’s my birthday dream?”

(♡♡♡) “here these are for you 🌹”

(♥♥♥) “i love you george”

(♡♡♡) “i’ll fight you in sumo when you’re in my house”

(♥♥♥) “we’re going together aaaaah”

(♡♡♡) “guess what, i had faith in you”

(♥♥♥) “or OR.. we could... kiss?”

(♡♡♡) “i haven’t had my first kiss” “that's a lie, you kissed me”

(♥♥♥) “hey dream give me an ak.... please”

AND OF COURSE THERE ARE SO MANY MORE BUT... i cannot do this any longer therefore the rest are compilations because i cannot do this any longer

(♥♥♥) every time george has said ‘i love you’ (kind of) to dream

(♡♡♡) dreamnotfound moments

(♥♥♥) gaymest moments

(♡♡♡) rare moments

(♥♥♥) wholesome

(♡♡♡) idiot compilation

(♥♥♥) love languages compilation

BONUS: this soulmate compilation...

SO ORIGINAL POST - links wouldn’t work when reblogged because it went over link limit with everyone tagged, so i will reblog with everyone who’s clips i’ve included!

[imbacklovie]

Okay I think it’s bull that it wasn’t your intention to sound rude because what you said literally couldn’t be taken any other way. You were directly attacking my intelligence but okay.

I just went back through that post you’re talking about and it looks like some of the posts have been taken down talking about how pretty she was before but still, if you actually read that post you would understand that we actually weren’t picking her apart just to pick her apart. We think she is absolutely visually stunning but there is this beauty standard that has been created by society.

There are so many people, myself included, that hold her beauty and many others to a higher standard than our own because of how gorgeous she is and often forget it’s because they’ve had work done.

It was in no way a derogatory post towards her looks. We explicitly said that we thought that she was stunning without all the work she’s had but she’s in a higher bracket now because she’s had the work done.

It was simply a post explaining the work she’s had done/possibly had done (we never stated anything as fact that we didn’t know as fact).

And either way, getting work done isn’t a negative thing, and we never said it was. If it makes you feel more confident I say go for it, as long as you don’t lie about it, (which she has). But there are people out there that need to remember that it changes perceptions of their own beauty and the mental damage that can cause. It literally was a post for mental health.

If you’re gonna come at us for something, at least get your facts straight.

And anything we commented on her body was positive. So I’m not entirely sure what you mean by “Yall claim to understand others mental health yet u have offended Brandy for using Botox or whatever, u guys comment on her body, on her personal image on how she looks if she does this if she does that”

And I know we’ve commented on her personality and past actions, I won’t deny that, but I also won’t apologize for it. Past actions are indicators of who you are, they are important to know and some of the actions were not that far in the past.

Also how do you know what I’ve seen of her posts and what I haven’t, I’ve been following her longer than you probably think. I think I know exactly the post you’re talking about.

proof of brandys music video being shot at cals house

😘😘😘

the photo of malis bday and the photo of brandy in the jacket are not from shoot day. they just prove it is in fact cals house as we know those two photos were taken there

[lokiskitten]

Hello! i was wondering if you could write a loki fluff/smut where it's the reader's birthday and everyone completely forgets except for him. Thank you!

Loki Laufeyson | thoughtful behavior

Loki Laufeyson x fem!reader

plot : right when you thought everyone in Asgard had managed to forget about your birthday, you decide to pay a visit to Loki down in the dungeons. Surprisingly enough, he ends up being the only one who remembers about your birthday. Now, is it nothing but a friendly behavior, or simply a trick in order to soften you up and escape?

warnings : none.

Even if it was meant to be the best, this day had officially managed to rise at the top of your worst days list. You had just turned eighteen, yet no one in this kingdom seemed to remember about your birthday. Not even your own friends. This rather humiliating situation easily led you to develop an upset and stupid behavior, and your feet were now leading you down the stairs which would take you to the dungeons. After Odin had forbidden for anyone to visit his youngest son, you hadn’t been able to see Loki in ages. And you missed him.

Arriving upon the glistening cells, your eyes were first to look around the intimidating surroundings, spotting a couple of creepy creatures which thankfully remained locked away behind the electric barrer which composed their cell. They seemed to be aware of what awaited for them if they ever dared to step too close to the transparent walls, which was probably the reason to why they refused to move any closer to your silhouette. Finally managing to get your eyes off the monsters, your head turned to your left, orbs now landing onto Loki’s familiar sight.

He hadn’t noticed your presence yet, which you couldn’t blame as his face was diverted down towards a seemingly interesting book. Bringing his finger up to his lips, Loki licked the tip of his digit before swiping to the next page. You now stood before his cell, and it didn’t take long for his senses to notice your presence. His head was first to move up, eyes then diverting towards your face through the transparent barrer which composed the wall of his cell. He didn’t seem any surprised, and in fact remained calmer and quieter than he’s ever been.

“Hey.” You spoke shyly, attempting to initiate conversation and sincerely hoping that he would accept to talk with you on such a tough day. Loki deciding to ignore you would’ve been the drop which would’ve managed to make the vase overflow. Closing his book, the demigod tilted his head and allowed a grin to appear on his lips. “Y/n? How... surprising.” He spoke on a sarcastic and uninterested tone, head turning back towards the wall as he pronounced those few words. You could tell that he was upset, and it disturbed your already troubled soul. Something you wouldn’t deny was that you hadn’t really made any efforts to visit him through the time he spent locked up down here.

“Loki, I’m sorry I couldn’t come to see you sooner. Your father is very tough, you know. How are you?” You asked after allowing a frustrated sigh to escape your lips, sincerely hoping he would put his attitude to the side and appreciate this moment you two were about to spend together. “I’m doing... good. As good as I could ever be.” He responded before getting up on his feet and walking to his bed. “Beyond the fact that I was locked up by my own father and deprived of the throne.” The tall man added nonchalantly as he allowed the book to fall down onto the bedside table. Face to his negativity your face dropped towards the ground, sigh escaping your trembling lips upon being face to face to the fact that he might have forgotten about your birthday too.

However, you were soon to jump to surrealistic conclusions. Upon sensing your sadness, Loki’s head briefly tilted towards yours, noticing the way you seemed to be pitifully staring at the ground. And just like that, the demigod remembered about today’s date- and that it was your birthday. Feeling embarrassed and uneasy face to your sorrow, the raven haired man remained silent though bit down on the inside of his cheek, blue eyes looking around as his brain attempted to find a way to make you feel better. He was soon to step closer to the transparent bay, upper body bending over slightly as a grin appeared on his face. He was attempting to make eye contact with you.

“Happy birthdayyyy.” Loki announced lowly, earning nothing from you but an ungrateful shrug. This sight made him frown, as if he was left unsatisfied about your lack of positive reaction. Thankfully, his magic was going to be handful regarding the platonic situation he now had to deal with. As you continued to stare at the floor or the wall, you began hearing irritating squeaks coming from your friend- which made you look up out of pure curiosity. He had his back turned towards you, and seemed to be working on something as you could notice that his arms and elbows moved at a rather fast and concentrated pace.

Suddenly, Loki turned around with one of his arms extended towards the outside, smile on his face as he could now present to you his made up gift. It was a mini Loki made out of rubber balloons, which adorned a smile on its face. And even if it lacked a lot of details, this rubber doll still looked like him and that mostly due to the undeniable features such as the green suit and it’s long black hair. “It’s a mini me! Now you can take me everywhere with you.” He spoke proudly, desperately waiting for a reaction coming from you. You felt amused and touched by this gesture, yet you couldn’t help but feel turned off by the fact that this present revolved around him, which only reflected Loki’s natural self-centered mind.

Upon earning nothing from you but a judgmental look, Loki’s smile dropped as the balloon doll popped within his palms. None of you flinched, and your head ended up diverting away from his silhouette again. Noticing that you were clearly not satisfied with his first present, Loki felt like giving up on your case due to his enormous ego. How dare she deny my gift? But after second thoughts, his heart managed to feel pain face to your sad self. It only took him a couple of seconds to find a new idea, something he knew you would truly enjoy. Without bothering to turn around, Loki began to use his magic in order to summon an object in his hands. It was first surrounded with grin mist, which progressively faded away as the object formed.

Your attention got caught by the sound of Loki’s spells, eyes diverting upwards and landing on the sight of the formatting object. Now, this had enhanced your curiosity and interest, and you were officially offering all of your attention to the working man. Within seconds, a beautiful music box appeared on top of Loki’s joint palms. It adorned his colors indeed- green and gold- yet its beauty managed to chase away any negative thoughts from your once saddened mind. You found yourself in awe face to this music box, and Loki felt like it was the perfect occasion to open it and allow the melody to play in your ears.

If you once thought that the box was pretty, it was nothing compared to the music it contained. Your heart began to race face to this romantic attention, cheeks heating up as you looked back up at Loki. “It’s.. beautiful.” You affirmed without a doubt, grin forming on your face. The demigod had just managed to make your day better by chasing away all of the irrelevant worries your mind had accumulated. Loki smiled back yet unexpectedly began to drag the music box back towards his stomach, soon clasping the opening close. You were left clueless face to this selfish and confusing gesture.

A frown formed on your face as you looked up at him. “what?..” you couldn’t seem to understand why he had suddenly decided to back away- and that with your present. A sigh escaped Loki’s lips as he looked down at the music box, his hand gripping tight onto the fragile material. He suddenly seemed embarrassed, saddened nearly. “I’m just sad I won’t be able to give it to you for now.” He explained, gasping anxiously before allowing his blue eyes to look up at you. You managed to understand his pain, and honestly felt touched face to how sincere he- for once- seemed to be.

“You keep it. When the day comes, I’ll be waiting, ready for you to return my gift.” You explained before allowing a smile to appear on your lips, in hopes that it would allow the man to feel better about the situation. However, even if Loki wouldn’t admit it, your visit had managed to brighten up his own day.

I hope you guys enjoyed this. Don’t hesitate to leave a request. Lots of love!💜

[sweetsbfreex]

my baby, my baby

brought to u by me watching IW for the millionth time

Summary: You ask Steve for one thing before the fight against Thanos (IW), but for the first time in however long he denies you of fulfilling this wish.

Warnings: language?

Pairing: Nomad, Bf!Steve x thanos daughter!reader

-

He was manning the quinjet, not all the way true. Sam was flying the jet to Wakanda, Steve slumped in his seat beside Sam, in deep thought. His chin is set into his palm, his arm sitting up on the armrest, and his palm covering half of his mouth. Looking further down his leg was jittering steadily.

What would happen next was a pretty big deal, none of you on the jet knew what could go wrong. So obviously tensions were at an all time high in this cooped up jet. 

You rise up from your seat between Wanda and Nat. Walking yourself behind Steve’s chair. Your pointer finger taps his embellished shoulder, separating him from his apprehensive thoughts. He looks up at you and the creases that were once prominent in his forehead evaporated. 

You don’t utter anything, only nudging your head behind you. 

Follow me to the back.

Is what’s reciprocated when he too gets up from his seat, letting Sam know he’ll be up front in a second. Once you turn, he follows you down the small aisle to the side “room” away from all the prying ears. 

Finally.

You step into the room first. You weren't going to lie, your heart was beating with so much force and it only grew as he walked past you into the room. You close the door behind you, turning, so you're facing Steve's attentive figure. 

You only smile at him to some extent, prompted to show there were no ill intentions to asking him back here. When you see how nervous he looks, as you take his hand seating the both of you to a bench against the wall.

Your knees tenderly touch. He clears his throat coercing you to go on, raising an eyebrow in confusion. 

“You alright doll?” he asks you, in a gentle manner. Taking the already linked palms shifting it from your lap to his. His other hand blanketing your combined hands. 

“I’m okay. Are you?” you ask the question hesitantly, raising your spare hand to move aside the hair that fell over and veiled his eyes. You desperately wanted to make sure you got a good look at his face. You loved his face.  

His cheeks go plump in a charming smile, and his hand squeezes yours back. 

His hair was long. Longer than you would’ve ever imagined Steve would let it be. Either way you loved every inch of the gold locks. Yet, everytime you told him how much you loved it, despite his insecurity and slight annoyance with it. He'd always fall into a rampage down memory lane. Telling you how his late mother would've hounded him about the upkeep of his hair.  

You adored that about him too. Loved, that he loved so hard and so full. He’d never forget the ones he loved no matter what. 

“I’m swell, you don’t need to worry about me” he tells you. 

You didn’t believe him one bit and you weren’t going to push him about it. You knew how he was...stubborn as ever. But, it was also ,by and large, your job to worry about him–– after loving him of course. Contrary to what he would say (Which was vice-versa.)

“We’re gonna be okay...okay? But I have something to ask you. And you can’t get mad.”

“I’m not promising that, but we won’t shout. We’ll talk it out–– whatever it is”

It was the best you were going to get from him and time was closing in on you guys being able to be like this, anway.  

“I know how you are, but this is a really critical thing we're fighting for here. So, unless I'm in some type of grave danger. I don’t want you worrying about me on the field. No matter what...Make sure he doesn’t get that stone.” Your voice lets you down towards the end, starting to get scratchy and low. 

He stands up in no time. His hands going to his belt, then to his hips, he finally raises one hand to run against his beard.

His facial hair, another thing in the endless things you loved about Steve Rogers. 

When the stubble he usually shaves away kept growing into a full beard, it surprised you both. You in a hot kind of way, he became more adoring by day when decided to stop shaving. 

You walked in on him one day. He was facing the scratched up mirror in a bathroom in a dingy hotel room. Running his fingers against his face, the other clutching onto the edge of the counter. Tilting his head back and to, eyes shifting as he looked over his face. It was another part of the effect of the serum he didn’t expect would happen. 

Telling you a story as he wandered down memory lane again. How he had problems growing stubble as a sickly kid–– so behind on puberty. He even watched Bucky grow his first “stache” at sixteen, but that came to an abrupt stop when Bucky’s mother made him shave it off. 

Steve thought It was weird to think that he could now also.

You were still sitting on the bench. Swiveling your body so you were facing your boyfriend, looking up at his fidgeting build with care. 

Feeling like a child waiting for their parents to dispute whatever impending punishment they would grant. 

“Why would you ask me that?” he finally, finally disrupts his silence. Scoffing at the offensive question. 

He doesn’t look at you with anything negative, only confusion.

“Because. I don’t want you jumping in front of whatever it is in front of me...I know him, he’s my dad. He’ll do anything to get what he wants, even if it means I die.”

When Steve told you that it was actually Bruce calling and told you what he said. He looked at you baffled when the shirt you were about to put on dropped from your grasp.

Once you told him you had knowledge of Thanos and how you knew him, there was a pregnant silence in the air.

If anything it filled the rage towards Thanos in Steve even more, by the time you finished. 

“Are you listening to yourself?” he questions you in disbelief, lips stuck in a sneer.

“Please. Just please, angel.” you maintain.  

You don’t answer either of his questions and he truly hates that. He stays silent for a bit watching your seated figure, looking up at him with the saddest eyes you’ve ever given him. His puzzled eyes shift down to your bobbing leg and your hands wringing together with so much speed and anguish.

He could probably throw up right now.  

And when he shifts his eyes up again, you keep that same look on your face waiting for him to say anything.

He sighs dejectedly, dropping his hands to his side, and walking himself back over to you. He sits closer to you than before. Extending a gloved hand to caress your cheek before fixing the flyaways from your sleek ponytail.  

“I can’t. You’ll always be my priority, and I won’t promise something like that sweetheart” he tells you this languidly. His thumb starts to rub circles against your cheekbone, to calm you down, when he catches the way your eyes widen at his admission.  

“Steve!” your voice breaks. So shocked, you can’t hold back the tears that build up and fall slowly over your face. 

You couldn’t believe this. He’s supposed to love you. Time and time again he’d always remind you how much he loves you and how he’d do anything for you–– too hard to say no to you, his words. Thinking this over you pull your face away from his hold, looking down at your taut hands. This wasn’t a silly death wish. You had to make sure your father didn’t get what he desired, no matter what. 

He hates having to watch you cry, but he doesn’t have much of a choice now. He needs to stand his ground, there was no way he would be arguing about this. And he does this, grabbing your face with a light hand,  so you were face to face again. 

"I love you so much. And if I have to choose between letting you die and Thanos losing. Or you living and watching the universe crumble, you know exactly what I'm gonna choose. I'm not losing you, not if I have anything to do with it"

Albeit how dumb it sounded, there is no notable instance in his life where’d let you perish over him. 

“You’re not thinking this through” you hiccup.

“It’s you, isn’t it? There’s not much to think about”  he smiles at you and as you look at him you can see his eyes glazing over. 

His statement only causes you to cry more. You feel nothing but the pain in your heart and the repositioning of your body. It takes you a moment to realize you’re settled on his thighs sideways. His well built arm warmly wraps around your shoulder, your temple rests against his shoulder, and his lips are placing light kisses to the crown of your head. 

You incline your head, “I love you too much” you say in an awed whisper, raising a hand to twirl in the strands at the back of his collar. Following that, you let your hand spread across the back of his neck pulling him down for a kiss.

“After this we’re done okay? We have our pardon and are going to buy whatever house you want to get. I’m gonna buy you the prettiest engagement ring money can buy, Gonna get whatever animals you want,” you chuckle at that part.

If there was one thing Steve learned while living incognito with you is that you’d save any animal if you were able to. Always stopping whenever you passed by any animal in need in the drary streets. Looking up at Steve, who’d always have to remind you that neither of you could give it the life it deserves right now. Opting to only go to the nearest convenience store to buy whatever safe animal food in sight. 

His hand immediately clutches your face to wipe away the tears that fell without pattern. His smile grows fonder when you do the same.  “‘Can paint the house whatever we decide...maybe even get a house big enough to fit the kids we’ll have?” he tells you the last part in such a timid manner, bearing one of his hands to clutch yours. His thumb running over your knuckles at full tilt. 

The only thing you were able to give him was a stunned look. So shocked you were unable to react like a normal person. 

You squeeze his hand tight only being able to stutter a “really?”

“Of course. I want to have a bunch of small Rogers with you, wreaking havoc around our house” he admits this to you, carrying out such strong eye contact. If his hand didn’t slither down your back, supporting you up and grounding you, you’d jump in glee. 

Fuck. Neither of you had talked about this, but you were glad that you both were on the same page about his. You felt terrified but in a good way, wanting to wholly get this over with and start this dream life with Steve. 

“And this is all gonna happen, because everything is going to go well. We’re gonna win, I don’t want you thinking like that or asking me something like that ever again. Thanos will never be on our list of priorities ever again.”

“I’m sorry, baby. I can’t wait to start that life with you” you respond, winding your arms around his neck, crashing your lips to his with force.

He pulls away without notice to place hasty kisses to your cheek, loving the giggles you emitted. Even so, the energy in the room shifts too soon when Sam knocks on the door. Steve allows him entrance. 

“Sorry to interrupt, but we’re about to land Cap”

Steve responds by nodding his head once, stiffly. Letting him know he’d be out in a second. 

You get off of his thighs, so the both of you were standing chest to chest. He claps your worried face. Pulling you into him with little force, so his lips could fall to your forehead, nose, and lips. 

“Remember what I said and be safe, I love you”

“I love you” you recite, bringing his hand down to kiss his covered palm.

With that he envelops you in his arm, his cheek resting against the top of your head. Both of you breathing each other in. Your shoulders relaxing at his loving touch. 

He’d do whatever needed to keep you safe and if it ended in his death, then so be it. You’d do the same for him in a heartbeat, there was no point in either of you arguing this one out. 

––––

Everyone was tired, it seemed like this fight only dragged on with the never-ending monsters. But, with the help of Thor (of course) it seemed like things were only getting positive from there. With the way he rendered lightning, destroying things into dust, you were ready to end this once and for all.  

And when a cloud of grey smoke appeared out of thin air, and a large titanian appeared. You knew this would either be the ending or the beginning of all these troubles. 

“That’s him” you falter, turning to Steve. You give him a quick once over, nothing the way he eyed your father. A menacing, scary look on his face and the furrow of his eyebrows only grow. 

“We have eyes on Thanos” he says into the intercom.

It’s like time stands still for a few seconds, no one moves a muscle. You haven't seen this man in years. You feel as if he doesn't recognize who you are as he glances over everyone, like they're roaches in his kitchen. 

Yet, in a blur, everyone takes their chance on Thanos. Trying their hardest to somehow, someway take this Titanian down. Bruce gets thrown with a shout, Branches entwine Nat, and Sam drops from the air smoothly. 

At some point you hear the grunt of Steve, who somehow gets some punches in, his hands clutching the gauntlet. He shouts from the hefty weight and in a swift motion is stock-still on the ground from the punch he endures. 

“Steve!”

Without a choice you run towards Thanos, your adrenaline kicking in. Kicking in punching only to use your hands to grasp around the metal. You knew towards the end; you were no match for him. 

“Please! Please don’t do this. Dad please I’m begging you” you plead profusely, but he only looks down at you emotionless. “Please, please, please” you cry, your head hangs low for a bit before you raise it up again. “This won’t fix anything! You–– you…JUST TAKE IT OFF” you scream, knuckles colliding with the gold.

You try so hard to think of anything to turn his mind, but he only looks at you like a stranger. Not the little girl he recruited and used to look at with some kind of affection. His type of affection, if you could even title it that, affection. 

Sure, he raised you to be a ruthless killer and thief, but you’d do anything in this key moment to change his crooked mind. 

“You don’t get to call me that again. You chose your path...I always knew you’d be the one to let me down the most” he says all this with so much venom. 

You cry as you're lifted in the air, by his gauntlet hand, and thrown against the bark of a tree. 

You're in a daze. The only things securing you back is the hand against your cheek and a booming, choked up "no". Hearing it a distance away.

You open your eyes to see Steve in front of you, your name on his lips almost incessantly. But when you open them, your eyes quickly move to Thor. Who’s a few feet away from the two of you, shocked and angry. The remnant of smoke in the air. You knew he did it.

“We lost?” you ask Steve, tears already forming in your eyes, as he carefully lifts you to his feet.

He doesn’t get the chance to answer you, though. 

“Steve…?” It’s Bucky, You both look towards him to see him fall slowly, disappearing into a brown dust. 

You both look on, shocked all while Steve tries to drag himself and your weak body to Bucky. But it’s already too late. 

“Buck?!” Steve calls out, but there’s no answer.

You watch on in disorder, stomach plummeting with every second that pasts.  Your eyes catch Wanda looking onto Vision's body in sorrow and as you do, she turns into brown dust.  It was frightening and you were speechless. So much happening around you, you weren’t sure where to look. You weren’t who was going away. 

The hand against your spine, holding you up, starts to feel faint and a headache you had suffered from earlier comes back, but ten times stronger. 

“My head hurts” you tell him, your words come out slowly as your mouth starts to feel numb. You drop your head to his shoulder. “Stevie...I can’t feel your hands” you blubber, chest heaving as your breathing picks up. Everything was happening so, so fast. 

He lifts your head, “Hey, you’re alright sweetheart, you took a hard hit. Just a bit banged up, gotta stay awake in case it’s a concussion” he reassures you.

You don’t believe him and when you look down at your right hand to see it crumbling away little by little. You lift your wrist up, hand gone. You look down to see the brown dust below your view. 

You didn’t want to go. You had merely planned your dream future with him. It wasn’t fair your father would be the one to rip that away from you.

“No. No, you’re alright, stop that” he condemns, bringing your other hand to his bruised lips imperatively. Watching as it climbs up and up, half of your shoulder  already gone. 

“I’m scared. I love you so much Steve”

“I love you so much doll, feel like we’ve been saying it all day” he tries to joke, eyes roaming all over your face. He had to make sure he had your face recognized to a t, even if it was in a manner of pain. 

And you do the same. You weren’t sure where you were going. Were you even dying?! You couldn’t tell, all you knew was Steve and some of your friends wouldn’t be where you were going.

You laugh despondently, low, and mirthlessly knowing how much he needed that laugh at the moment.

“No. I’m gonna––” you start, but never get to finish, because at that moment. In a flash, he’s left with the sight of the soot falling in a sway, like leaves tumbling to the ground. Staring at him gloved palms to see nothing of you there any longer. 

He does nothing but stand there for a few minutes, recollecting the exchange. Not only was his best friend gone, but so was his best girl.  

He had one fucking job. Keep you safe at all times. Not only did he let the whole universe down, he let you down. You were gone. He can only think about the moment you both had on the jet, telling you, you had nothing to worry about. Because you guys were going to win and now she is gone.  He let you down in the worst possible way imaginable. You were gone…

He repeats this to himself, losing hope each time that you would be back in just a second. 

He turns around to see his friends observing him and once he notices that Sam is no longer among the group it only increases his agony. 

“Cap?” Nat mumbles.

“FUCK!” he breaks. Ripping the gloves off his hand before he sets himself against the ground–– his body feeling heavy. His head is in his hand, body heaving roughly as he cries quietly.

Everyone is stunned and takes a step back to give his face, not remembering the last time they’ve seen him this broken or the last he’s had an outburst resulting in a curse word. 

He isn’t sure how he’s supposed to live with this guilt or without you by his side. In spite of that,  there was no way in hell he wasn’t going to try and find a way to bring you back.

– – – – 

realized while writing thing i am not creative...this (beginning) was literally a scene

if you enjoyed pls don’t forget to reblog or give feedback if ur up to it <3

[swtorramblings]

Second Chances-4: The Root of the Problem

Root instructing Claudia in her new reality, while the Machine watches, by @fleeting-sanity​.

Second Chances chapter list

Claudia shattered the Staff of the Sun Elves, denying its power to her father, and has found herself in another world, a strange world. Our world. A world with its own dangers.

The calculations were out of joint. There were always unexpected events, anomalies, but these were unprecedented. The Machine had no numbers, no predictions, no way of calculating their impact.

She predicted, though, that it would be severe. People don’t suddenly appear without being significant. The only real question was whether their effect would be positive or negative.

She was in the middle of a call. She didn’t really want to end it, but there was work to do.

“Sorry, sweetie, I’ve got a job. You’re probably going to be busy, too.”

She disconnected, then thought about what she would say, how she would present herself, and left the apartment. It probably didn’t matter, this number was a wild card, there was no way to plan around her, not really. Still, the video showed she was confused, but curious. Perhaps eager to learn. She might be able to work with that.

She’d have to hurry, there were already reports going to the police about the odd girl, she’d be picked up soon.

---

Claudia was still staring at herself in the glass when she heard the strange sound, a kind of warbling scream. Then she saw the flashing lights down the great road as the, what were they? Carts? Carts would do. Magical carts swerved around the corner and moved toward her.

Then came the voice. “Run, girl! Run, you can’t let them catch you.” She looked around, trying to find the voice. There was no one on the street, but there was a figure in the glass now that hadn’t been before, pointing towards a nearby passage away from the crowd, away from the smoke spewing things speeding by. Away from danger? She couldn’t be sure.

She ran where she was shown, just as the carts pulled up nearby. She heard what had to be doors opening and a good deal of shouting from behind her. Then the voice again. “Fifth door on your left, fast as you can.”

She glanced over her shoulder at just the wrong moment, tripping into a metal cylinder filled with waste, her tattered robes now soaked with filth from what spilled out. She got to her feet and began counting the doors.

She got to the door and pushed it open, ducking inside and closing it behind her, locking it with the voice’s help in the dark. She heard the, she supposed, city guard in the alley, searching. Then they were at the door.

“Oh, don’t worry, they won’t come in unless you give them a reason to.” She opened her mouth to answer, but the voice shushed her, so she sat alone in the dark. She felt like crying but didn’t. She couldn’t, not in front of the voice. Below the voice? Behind the voice? Whatever.

She woke with a start. It was quiet and even darker. The much had dried, leaving her robes and hair a sticky mess. “OK, it’s dark, the police are gone, are you awake enough to move?”

She nodded, wondering if that was enough. It was. “Good. Do what I tell you and soon you’ll be safe. Safer, anyway. And maybe you can get clean.” She followed her benefactor’s instructions. She could see it was nighttime, and there was less activity, but it was still bright enough to see clearly, strange torches hanging overhead.

This was all she had wanted. For humans to have the power of magic. This was good, wasn’t it?

Soon, she was directed to a rusted metal gate. She pushed it aside and stepped through.

A woman appeared at the door ahead, beckoning her. She spoke with a familiar voice. “I thought you’d never get here.”

Claudia stepped toward the stranger, looking for a trap, not sure she cared if it was one. She was tired and lost. But she finally asked, not who are you, but the more important question. “What do you want with me?”

“Oh, I don’t know yet! It’s exciting, isn’t it? But come inside, we went through a lot of trouble to get you here.”

Claudia stepped inside. There wasn’t anything else to do. “Why do you have the same voice?”

The woman grinned. “That’s complicated. It’s my voice. Could you hear me?”

“Yes?”

“Great! Let’s get you cleaned up, get you some fresh clothes, and then we’ll talk.”

---

Claudia came out, cleaner than she ever thought she would be again, soap and hot water and something called a luffa washing it all away. The clothes were comfortable, maybe a bit itchy. She went and sat and waited for the strange woman.

“Hey, there, girl,” she said with false cheer. She seemed friendly, but Claudia found something there that frightened her. “You can call me Root, and you’re messing with our algorithms.”

She blinked, hesitated, and all she could say was, “What?”

“This is going to take a while, isn’t it?”

“What’s going to take a while?”

“Your education.”

She thought that sounded like a challenge. “I’m a fast learner.”

“You’d better be.” Root gestured at a slender piece of metal on the table nearby.“This is for you.”

She picked it up, examined it, and found it unfolded, revealing a set of rune-carved keys on one half, and a flat surface of some sort on the other. “Some sort of puzzle? A way of doing magic in your world?”

“Magic? Some people think so. I hope you can do better. You can hear her, so we can work with that, but hope is never something to count on.”

And then Claudia began to learn a new magic, indeed, but not Dark, instead  made of points of light.