#I stole this joke blatantly from my best friend

[mytortoisegotstuckinatupperware]

[stcverogers]

TOP GUN FIC RECS 4!

top gun fics that i’ve been reading and obsessing with over recently

this is extremely important and i take this very seriously out of respect for the community. please do remember to read the rules for the respective blogs before interacting with or reading them.

F: fluff A: angst S: smut

𖥻 - series /multi part

masterlist

JAKE 'HANGMAN' SERESIN

F: not the only cowboy by @mrsjobarnes jake seresin did not fall first. not in any circumstance. for you, however, he might just will.

S: call by @say-al0e jake's away on detachment and his picture book of you helps remind him what's waiting for him back home.

F + A: more than this by @hangmanbrainrot you and hangman have been friends for long, neither of you dare to ruin what's already good.

F + A: the best benefits by @writercole 𖥻 you and jake have been best friends forever. just friends is all you were because surely if either of you were to catch feelings it'd have happened already right?

F: kinda might, sorta like, love you a little bit + can't unfeel that + you stole my heart right off of my lips by @theharddeck fwb with jake while blatantly ignoring your feelings for him.

S: take it by @bussyslayer333 jake was your stupid best friend. you were also in love with him.

A: promise me by @footprintsinthesxnd you and jake finally had everything you could ever want. till you didn't.

F: the orange. by @violentdelightsandviolentends jake shared his orange with you. obviously that was equivalent to him laying his heart out on the line for you.

F + A: heart's getting soft by @welcome-to-my-multiverse you're jake's fake date back home for the holidays and everything feels like it was meant to be.

F + A: antidotes and poisons by @girl-in-the-chairs-void 𖥻 you and jake did not get along.

F: loverboy by @rassvetsky jake was head over heels for you and you've got him wrapped around your finger.

A: the voicemail by @callsignmercy the first you hear of jake in a decade is a voicemail he leaves before the most dangerous mission he has ever had to take part in.

F + A: line of sight by @top-hhun you have a misconception that hangman doesn't like you. he goes against everything his callsign says about him when you're in need.

F: north star by @violentdelightsandviolentends jake seresin was not a patient man. he reaches his limit this new year's.

F: jake seresin being drunk and coming home to the reader and it's basically just really cute and full of fluff!! by @of-many-fandomss

F + A: i just want you to like me by @adamstnheights you were friends with benefits with jake and all you wanted was for him to like you more than just friends.

F + A: loving you is the antidote by @demxters jake seresin was your typical frat boy. the only reason why you tolerated him was due to your friendship with your mutual friend, bradley.

F + A: traitor by @fandomxpreferences 𖥻 bradley betrays you in the worst way possible. quid pro quo.

F + A: take me home for christmas by @madsnowstorm 𖥻 you have never experienced a joyous christmas day before. thus, when jake asks if you want to go home with him for the holidays, you're reluctant.

F: practice baby by @tongue-like-a-razor you and jake 'adopt' bob to be your practice baby.

F: flygirl by @starlightstories you're penny's barkeep, but you're also one of jake's most favourite people

F: where i’m from by @sometimes-i-write-good jake thought that your date had been going good. he panics when you start crying out of nowhere.

F + A: treat you right by @eternalsams jake can’t treat you the way you deserve

F + A: is this a joke? + part 2 by @edensbuttercups a drunk hangman shows up at your door in the middle of the night.

A: champagne problems by @callsign-phoenix you knew jake's family never liked you. you would never make jake choose between you or them.

F + A: just friends by @say-al0e you and jake were not just friends. that was clear to everybody but you.

BRADLEY 'ROOSTER' BRADSHAW

F: care for you by @witchwyfe four ways bradley shows you he cares + the one time he does more.

F + A: a misinterpreted loss by @lostdreamr-blog1 you thought that you and bradley had finally reached a new place. you're thoroughly disappointed when you see him wrapped around another girl at the hard deck.

F: act accordingly by @thebirdandthebee rooster couldn't call you his if you weren't technically his

F + A: there was something ‘bout you by @bussyslayer333 bradley bradshaw had girls falling for him left and right. why would he like you? you were arrogant and annoying. it didn't help that you were stuck tutoring him english.

F + A: miss you most…at christmas time by @notroosterbradshaw bradley's not going to be home for christmas and it takes a toll on his relationship with his family

S + A: home for the holidays by @mothdruid bradley lies to his family about having a girlfriend. in order to keep up with the lie, you, his best friend, become his pretend-girlfriend for the holidays.

F + A: je te laisserai des mots by @jupitercomet 𖥻 every little girl dreams of their wedding day, the pretty dress and the fancy venue, you included. why then are you absolutely miserable on what's supposed to be the happiest day of your life?

F + A: remember you even when i don't by @beyondthesefourwalls 𖥻 even though rooster has no memory of who you are, he stills feels an unbreakable connection between the two of you

F + A: i would never hurt you by @roosterforme rooster would never hurt you the way that you had been hurt

F + A: that's my man by @greymoonfeelings you and rooster talk through his insecurities

ROBERT 'BOB' FLOYD

F: candy by @bussyslayer333 bob has a thing for the cute barista at the coffeeshop he frequents.

F: stiff competition by @roosterforme the dagger squad are smitten over the owner of a quaint bakery but you've only got your eyes set on bob.

F: are you forgetting anything? by @taylorsburner bob nearly forgets something before leaving for work.

F: mini me by @bippot phoenix has never met her backseater's family. she's only seen them from pictures that bob keeps. the end of the uranium mission is the perfect time for the dagger squad to meet the floyd family.

F + A: love story by @auroradawnwrites you and bob were supposed to live happily ever after. your father takes that away from the both of you and you're both stuck longing over the other, on opposite sides of the country.

F: mixed up match up by @purplevortexx you meet bob before you knew he was bob

MICKEY 'FANBOY' GARCIA

F: you wonder how he got his call sign by @imawkwardlysoc fanboy got his callsign because he's indeed, a fanboy.

F: subatomic particles by @rassvetsky picnic with mickey and he's so in love with you.

F: the dangers of the holidays by @crazyk-imagine the holidays is the most dangerous time of the year. all that wrapping and taping.

[superhero--imagines]

Part 1 Here! / Part 2 Here! / Part 3 Here! / Part 4 Here! / Part 5 Here! / Part 6 Here!

A/N: If I had to give this part a title, I would title it “(Y/N) and their human friends” Also I lied. This part was too long so it might be another part (or two) before we get to the Bella Arc.

* “You know you would be pretty good looking without the glasses.” Lauren says twirling a strand of hair and ignoring the algebra worksheet in front of her.

* Yeah that’s kind of the whole point

* “Contacts kind of freak me out.”

* You’re expecting a snarky response but instead she nods.

* “It’s the whole sticking your finger in your eye thing right, I totally get that.” She’s watching you with such inquisitive eyes, it almost you uncomfortable.

* It’s been a few months since you started school, you’re almost at thanksgiving break. So far you feel like you’ve assimilated well, and you have a good balance between school and caring for your animals, but it’s situations like this that totally throw you off.

* “Hey (Y/N/N), what did you get for number 5?” Jessica asks, you’re thankful for the distraction.

* “I got X = 8” Jessica confirms she got that too, and moves onto the next one

* You three are in the worlds most unlikely group. You didn’t even know Lauren was in this class you usually just pair up with Jessica.

* “Hey, me and a some people from the volleyball team are going to Port Angeles, you should come with, we could give you a makeover.”

*You wonder what the other angle here is

* It didn’t take long for you to realise that somehow, even with the ugly-duckling routine, the Cullen’s were at the top of the social hierarchy.

* Part of their popularity was probably because they didn’t really seem to interact with anyone outside of their own social circle. Which just made them all the more desirable.

* “I don’t know Lauren, I would have to ask Esme if it’s okay.” Though you can already bet Rosalie isn’t going to like this.

* “Oh cool, just let me know!” Lauren smiles, it turns out the act of considering her invitation was enough to placate her.

* For once you’re actually glad Edward’s waiting for you outside of your class when the bell rings.

* “Edward read that girls mind.”

* “It’s always straight to business isn’t it. No, ‘hi Edward how’s it going?’ Or ‘How was your class, how has your morning been treating you?’ It wouldn’t hurt you to make some small talk” You give him a look, and he returns it with an expectant expression. You sigh.

* “Hi, Edward how was your class?” You plaster on a smile, and he returns with a smile of his own.

* “It was fine. A little repetitive, we’re reading “to kill a mocking bird” in English.” You nod, offering a consoling pat on the shoulder

* “That sounds super boring,” the books great and all, but you’re guessing he’s already read it like 30 times by now. “Hey Edward,”

* “Yes (Y/N),” He nods, hiding his grin behind his hand.

* “Would you mind doing me a favor?”

* “Of course, anything for you.” He grins openly now.

* “Would you mind telling me what that girl Lauren Mallory is thinking so I can know why she invited me,” and not Jessica her good friend. “to hang out?”

* Edward loses his smile.

* “The varsity members on the volleyball team suggested it, they think it’s a shame they couldn’t have got you on the team since you just moved here.”

* Unexpected but not the worst. You’ve really been half assing it in PE so you’re surprised they even want you.

* “Lauren-she thinks you could be-“ a lopsided smirk twitches onto his face. “in her words- ‘two super good looking best friends’ “

*oh. So she just wants a pretty b*tch squad?

* “Maybe I’ll go with them then” you were scared they were going to force you to show them the Cullen’s house and introduce you to everyone, or leave you stranded in port A as some kind of prank or something.

* Edward stops you

*“you can’t be serious” he has his eyebrows scrunched together

* “Why not?” Nothing more natural to fitting in then hanging out with your classmates. Unless- “if you’re worried about any accidents don’t, I know they all look healthy but they eat a lot of carbs. Way too starchy for my palette.”

* “It’s not that-“ he gets that brooding-existence is suffering look. “You shouldn’t trust humans too much, they’ll let you down.”

* Well what’s that supposed to mean, but before you can ask he’s already walking to his class.

* Well whatever, at least Emmett will tell you a good joke to take your mind off of Mr. Eternal Damnations ominous words.

* Too bad when you get inside he’s not here, instead Mike Newton perks up when you walk into the room.

* “Hey Eleazar, how’s it going?” You still have a hard time adjusting to use Eleazar’s name as your own. Apparently they came from a time when last names were only for nobles, so he offered you his first name instead.

* “Hey Newton, any plans for this weekend?” You take Edward’s advice and start with small talk. Mike Newton smiles, you guess he’s kinda cute, all soft cheeks and baby blue eyes

* “No I’m completely free!” Weird how he’s so enthusiastic about being alone, he must be one of those “relish time alone” types. Good for him.

* “Everyone needs some time alone sometimes.” He deflates, oh man you guess that’s the wrong thing to say.

* He looks like he wants to say something to you, but then Emmett sits beside you.

* “Can I have a swig from your water bottle?” You hand it over

* “Making out with Rosalie make you thirsty?” Emmett cracks a grin

* “It’s that whole bookworm-soccer mom get up, it gets to me yknow?” That’s actually pretty funny

* “So what she’s the Velma to your Freddy?” When the reference doesn’t sink in you rephrase “the nerd to your jock.” He grins again.

* “I think I might join the swim team just so I can see her wear my letterman” that’s actually pretty cute

* “You should do that, I’ll cheer you on at your swim meets” Emmett grins.

*”I’ll hold you to that”

* School life goes on like it always has.

* Weeks pass, marked by tests, homework assignments and projects.

* You actually kind of become friends with Angela, Lauren, Jessica, Connor and Mike.

* “So like, are you and Cullen close?” Mike asks. You and the group are over at Tyler’s house using his fire pit to roast marshmallows. The others are invested in another conversation but you can tell by Lauren’s subtle head tilt that she’s eavesdropping.

* “Which one?” Mike gets flustered at that

* “The one in our grade.”

* “Hmm, well I’d say Alice and I are kinda close, but-“

* “N-no not her,” he clears his throat. “The other one-Edward”

* “Oh, Edward’s my best friend.” The answer slips out automatically.

* “I-Is that why you’re staying with the Cullen’s?” Jessica asks. Everyone’s blatantly listening now, the only one who seems uncomfortable is Angela.

* You sigh. You know everyone at school is probably wondering about the weird relationship. Jessica’s just the only one brave enough to ask you.

* “I mean, it might be.” You’re sure, Edward’s friendship with you is the reason everyone was so quick to accept the living arrangement. “But I actually met Car-I mean Dr. Cullen before I met the others.”

* “How does that work?” It’s Connor who pipes in this time.

* “Well-“ you sigh you really don’t want to do this but at least your sob story will make you seem less suspicious. “So Eleazer and Carmen, they’re my parents, but they’re not my birth parents.”

* You tell them how your parents passed away in an accident many years ago, and how Carlisle had been your Doctor at the time while you recovered. He worked with you for a long time, and you’re pretty sure he wanted to adopt you, but the agency liked Carmen and Eleazer better, probably because Carlisle already had so many adopted kids.

* “Still, Carlisle stayed in my life as my doctor and a family friend. Then I met Edward and the rest of the Cullen’s and... the rest is history...I guess.” You’ve found it’s best to mix a little bit of truth into the lie, though really all of that was mostly what happened.

* Everyone looks testy eyed, Angela is holding back tears, and Lauren hastily wipes her away so no one can see. You wonder if maybe your powers leaked out a bit while you were telling your story.

* “Dude... you’re so strong.” Tyler claps a hand on your shoulder and pulls you into a hug.

* “Ah, it all happened a long time ago, I’m mostly over it now” You tell them all about your Coven in Denali, and how you have two families now, how you don’t regret anything. Well, the only thing you regret, is not staying human, but you can’t mention that so you fake a smile instead.

* Connor breaks out a bottle of vodka he stole from his mom, and pours a shot for everyone

* “To (Y/N)” everyone raises their glass, and not for the first time you feel the urge to cry but no tears escape you.

* You’re a lot closer to everyone after that. You even start sitting at their lunch table every so often.

* In fact the others follow your lead and assimilate with their classmates with ease. Rosalie joins the school book club, and very loudly debates Jane Austen’s to whoever will listen.

* Emmett follows through and joins the swim team. Jasper starts hanging out with some wood shop kids, you’ve caught him arguing about the superior wood in between classes with his new friends. Even Alice joins the art club.

* You try out for the dance/cheer team, it’s the only thing you don’t have to hold back in. Also you’re a great base, you could hold everyone on the team up single handedly during stunts. But you won’t know if you made it until summer vacation

* Everyone seems to be assimilating well, everyone except for Edward

* “You can’t expect me to trust these people (Y/N), not when I know everything they’re really thinking.” You roll your eyes

* “I’m not saying you have to be their best friend Eddie, I’m just saying it looks super suspicious that all the Cullen’s only hang out with each other and refuse to get to know anyone else.” You shove a text book into his chest, and he scoffs

* “It wouldn’t hurt to make some small talk.”

* And so Edward joins your group of human friends, much to the joy of your female companions and dismay of your male ones.

* Life is still strange. But it’s good.

* When you’re surrounded by your new friends, it makes you feel - almost like you’re human again

* And then everything falls apart.

* It’s almost summer vacation. You’re excited, maybe you can go to the beach again soon, and you wonder if it will be alright to take a trip to Denali to see your Coven. You’re pretty confident you made the spirit squad so you’ll have to pencil in camp somewhere. You held back, but just enough by your own parameters to make the bottom end of Varsity.

* You’re at your locker, when Rosalie, and Edward show up. Quickly followed by Emmett, Jasper and Alice.

* “Oh hey guys, you wanna go on a hike tomorrow it’s supposed-“

* “You have to leave.” You’re surprised when it’s Emmett that says this. Kind, jovial Emmett holds a grave expression.

* “What, why-“ for a second you wonder if the Volturi has finally come to get you. It’s been at least seven years since your transformation, it’s about time they started thinking about you.

* But then you notice everyone staring, the quiet buzz of phones vibrating only detected by your super hearing. People are always staring, especially when you’re all together. but this time you notice they’re not staring at the six super models gathered in front of the lockers.

* They’re staring at you.

* “There’s a video of you going around,” Jasper says, and Rosalie placed a comforting hand on your shoulder. “I think it’s better if you see for yourself.”

* He hands you his blackberry, and the grainy image of you come into focus.

* It’s a YouTube video

* You’re in the locker room, your (Your Color Skin) in full view under the fluorescent lights. You’re wearing your underwear, and your abs are on full display. You’re Grey PE uniform shirt is limp in your hands, you remember this, you got extra laps as a penalty and as a result, you were running late for class, you were alone in the locker room

*well you thought you were alone.

* Your body is literally perfect, the way you’ve always dreamed, but you feel white hot shame rise in your throat like acid.

* Your hands shake as you scroll down to see the comments

* ‘Damn who knew they had a body like that under those dorky sweaters’

* ‘(Y/N) Eleazar: Best body Forks HS 10/10 would f*ck’

* ‘Hot body, if only they ditched the glasses, and started wearing some tighter shirts’

* And the comments go on, there’s at least a hundred. You hold your cardigan a little closer to your body. You don’t have the courage to turn around. You can already imagine them staring at you, picturing what they saw in the video transposed onto your body

* “I’m sorry, I didn’t see this coming until it was already happening-“ Alice touches your shoulder and continues her apology but you don’t hear anything.

* You want to cry, you want to be angry. But all you feel is shame. And the worst part is, you didn’t even do anything wrong. So why do you feel so ashamed?

* “Hey, look at me.” Edward grabs your face in his hands, your amber eyes meet his.

*”Snap out of it.”

* Oh, your powers are leaking through.

*Your gaze turns to your foster family, all of whom sport equally uncomfortable expressions.

* You take a deep breath, and imagine reeling in your emotions, imagining them receding back into a locked box, just like Eleazer taught you.

* You need a calm mind right now.

* “Are you fine now?” Edward asks, his hands still on your face. You nod, resting your hand on top of his

* “I’m good.”

* “Good, because we have to get you out of here.” He’s moved his hand to your arm, about to tug you back home when you pull back and shake your head.

* “We can’t do that.”

* “What do you mean?” Rosalie hisses, her hand curls around your wrist “we have to leave NOW.”

* “No think about it, they’re right.” Jasper says, his eyes meeting yours. At least someone’s on the same oage

* “Think about it Rose, if I leave now with all of you it’s going to look weird.” Normal 15-17 year olds wouldn’t think to handle the situation on their own, especially not entitled rich kids like the Cullen’s.

*She seems to have gotten it because her hand retreats to her side.

* “Well what should we do then, I’m not letting you walk around here with everyone-“ she cuts herself off, a deep frown creasing onto her face as her teeth dig into her bottoms lip.

* “We need to call Carlisle or Esme, they’ll pretend they saw the video from someone else and file a complaint with the school.” You take a deep breath, and imagine the locked box in your mind. Your emotions held carefully within.

* “Until then we all need to pretend like it’s not a big deal.”

* “No way in hell am I doing that!” Emmett growls. “I’m going to rip that fucking peeping Tom piece by piece.”

* “Not all of us need to pretend,” Alice says, her gaze somewhere far away, flicking between futures. “Only Edward, Rosalie and I do.” Her gaze lands on you.

* “You need to go to your class like normal,” a hint of a smile curls onto her mouth. “Everything’s going to work out fine.” Edward’s focusing on Alice, reliving her vision.

* “Do you think you can manage being alone?” Edward asks, you don’t have the next class with any of the Cullen’s. You’ll be on your own.

* You catch Jasper and Alice whispering to each other, but pay it no mind. Flirting even in the middle of your entire world crumbling down.

* You take a deep breath, picturing the locked box over and over, making it a visual mantra.

* “I can get through a period.” Everyone disperses, and Jasper walks you to your next class. Edward wanted to, but Jasper insisted.

*”You’re always hogging them, give someone else a few minutes Edward.”

* You’re almost near your class when Jasper talks to you.

* “Hey, I don’t know if I should tell you this”

*You wonder if he’s going to offer to beat up the person who took the video, or if he’s going to offer you a comforting word.

* “Alice told me you’re going to raise some hell on a misogynist in there” he gives you a wicked grin, his incisors sparkling.

* How is it that every vampire seems to say what you least expect to hear and yet, it’s exactly what you need in the moment.

* He holds out his fist, and you bump it with your own. A grin curling onto your face.

* “Hell yeah I am.”

* You take your usual seat in Spanish like normal. You sit in the front row in this class, diagonally from Jessica. Mike and Angela sit somewhere in the back.

* You just need to focus and keep your emotions in check for 45 minutes. You visualize the box, calming yourself separating the mind and body.

* How did the saying go... a calm soul resides in a calm body?

* “-Zar, Miss. Eleazar!” Your eyes pop up to the teacher, the locked box falling out of grasp.

* “Yes, sorry?” The teacher sighs, you look to the white board to see you’re going over the answers to the worksheet. You’re about to provide the answer for the number you’re on when the teacher cuts you off.

* “I know you might be focused on body building, but in my class you need to focus on the material.” There’s a scattered laugh that fills the room, but your blood runs cold

* “Excuse me?”

* And that’s when your teacher knew he fucked up. He stutters over himself, the sentences overlapping

* “-really you should take it as a compliment-“

* “Oh you think I should take it as a compliment that someone recorded me without my consent while I was changing?”

* The rooms pin drop silent. Your teacher is sweating.

* “Hold on now- I think you’re being a little dramatic don’t you think” A smirk curls onto his lips. “You were in your underwear, it was really no different than wearing a swimsuit” he’s got this smug smile, like he’s right.

*Honestly you were ready to put everything behind you and move on if he just apologized. It’s gross that a teacher is watching videos of a student changing, but what would you have done in his situation if a co-worker showed you.

* “It’s all about perspective, a positive per-“

* But not anymore, you’re not in a forgiving mood, especially not for an idiot like this.

* “No it’s all about consent.” All the anger and despair you’ve been holding back comes flooding out. “When someone wears a swimsuit they’re consenting to show skin and be seen, but I wasn’t contesting to being seen when I was changing in the privacy of the locker room.” You don’t stop for air, your voice trembling

* “And another thing, I wonder how the school administration will feel knowing the same faculty that’s supposed to make students feel safe and enrich their lives is watching creepy videos-“ you stop when you meet your teachers eyes, tears streaming down his face.

* Oh f*ck

* You look to your right, finding your classmates in a similar state, holding back tears.

*So this is what happens to humans when they come in contact with your power.

* You try to visualize the box, but it’s too far now. And all the crying people around you don’t help.

*You need to get out of here.

* “Pathetic, not even an apology for your gas lighting.” She shake your head as confidently as you can, grabbing your bag with trembling hands.

* You walk quickly, maybe there’s a mountain you can climb and wait it out on. You’ll text Carlisle and let him now what happened. It shouldn’t be too-

*” Hey wait!”

* You’re already in the hallway when someone call out to you. You turn, expecting it to be Angela or Mike. Never in a million years would you expect her to be standing there in the middle of the hall, her hand hastily wiping away a stray tear.

* “Mr. Peterson’s a f*cking jerk.” Jessica sniffles, walking quickly to catch up with you. You don’t miss the fact that her bags not slung across her back.

* She must have left a minute after you did. You haven’t thought about her as a friend. Not a real one at least. She’s kind of like hot sauce, it’s fun when it’s around, but if it’s not then that’s not a big deal.

* So to see her here, the first to follow you out, rambling about wether you want to get frozen yogurt or pizza, it warms your unbeating heart.

* “Hey Jessica?” She stops mid-sentence, her eyes swinging up to you.

* You haven’t been fair to her. But you’re going to change that.

* “Thanks for being my friend.” And she smiles at you, her arms wrapped around her tight. It’s not the fake ones you see often the ones she throws to Lauren when she’s asking for Jessica’s opinion on an outfit, or when Connor tries to copy her homework’s. it’s a genuine smile.

* Before she can open her mouth, you hear two more shouts from the hallway.

*Angela and Mike are jogging down the hallway to catch up with you. The latter carrying a bright pink backpack in his hand.

* “Geez Jess, the least you could do is take your bag before you go bolting out of there” Mike’s panting as he holds out her bag. You don’t miss the blush ghosting her face.

*Looks like she still has a crush on him.

* “Hey, are you okay?” Angela asks, and you wish you could cry as you nod.

* “Is it weird that I’m kind of happy right now?” And the three of them smile, before wrapping you into a group hug.

*They all smell terrible. Jessica smells like boiled broccoli, Mike is like the overwhelming stench of fat mixed with sugar, and Angela.. Angela’s probably the worst. She’s sickeningly sweet mixed with a healthy dose of starch.

*it’s disgusting. You have a hard time believing any of the Cullen’s would lose their minds when they’re this close to any of them.

*still, even with the repulsive stench, it’s nice. You haven’t felt the body gets of another human in a long time, or heard the quiet thump of their beating heart. Even the odor is nice, it reminds you that they’re human.

*And for a second it’s easier to pretend you’re human too, just like them.

* “Dude why are you so cold?” Jessica groans, breaking the moment. She taps your arm but doesn’t pull away.

* “While we’re asking questions, Mike how much axe do you use?” Angela’s eyes are watering as you both laugh.

* “Like you’re one to talk, I can smell your strawberry shampoo two hallways over!”

* You watch the three of them untangle and start walking to the back exit from the gym.

* “So where do we go now? We can’t stay here.” Angela says

* “I was thinking maybe a coffee shop, if we take out books we might pass for having a free period” Jessica pipes in

* “Oh, how about the Arcade? A buddy of mine works there since he’s already on break from college, I don’t think he’ll minds us hanging out there.”

* So this is what Alice meant when she said everything was going to be okay.

*Your Human Friends were going to save you

*You haven’t forgotten Edward’s warning, someone did break your trust and let you down.

* But that’s what it means to build friendships, you open yourself to being hurt, and so do they.

* “Hey (Y/N/N), what do you think?” Mike asks, and they all turn around to notice you’re not walking with them.

*You try not to smile to wide. You don’t want to scare them off now.

* “I think there’s something fun about an arcade during the day, no lines.” You say, walking a little bit faster to catch up with your friends.

Tag list: @moonlights27 @thebluetint @the100thtwilight @awesomebooklover17 @oneofthepotterheads @smileygirl08 @imdoingathingmom @iconicgguk @yrawn @alyciaswhore @little-horror-show

[lonelier-version-of-you]

About to rewatch S20E10 “Square One”. If I recall correctly this ep is the first time John loses a trial patient, so that should be interesting.

Edit 1: Oh Zav I miss you.

Edit 2: John on his iconic dictaphone. Also watching these episodes knowing what the 8th Doctor’s TARDIS looks like, I’m convinced the whole luminous blue vibe of John’s lab was an intentional shoutout to it.

Edit 3: I love this little Donna and Serena scene.

Edit 4: I really do love me some good morally ambiguous John content. They should’ve kept him this way, it was a lot more interesting than the supervillain direction they took him in.

Also Jac high on pain meds and actually being happy and friendly for once is hilarious.

And, a line from Fletch: “Have I stepped into a parallel Darwin?” Nah, Fletch, the parallel Darwin came later, in 2021 when Sahira was suddenly Henrik’s childhood friend for some reason.

Edit 5: We went from a Zav scene to a Jason scene just now. What a downgrade.

Also, gah, Jason: “Prison should be for bad, dangerous people, not good people like Ric who are just doing their best!” WHY DOES HE TALK LIKE A 5 YEAR OLD IT’S SO ANNOYING. I know we autistics tend to have different speech patterns but the way to write that is not to write dialogue on literally the same level you’d write dialogue for a neurotypical child character.

Edit 6: I love Roxanna’s blouse in this ep.

Edit 7: Absolute legend Ken Davies is back! I’d forgotten he was in this ep!

Edit 8: Jac is so fucking beautiful. She literally looks like a goddess or something.

Edit 9: John was SO blatantly severely mentally ill the whole time why did no one intervene??

Also lol @ Ollie joking about his lack of motor skills to Lofty the dyspraxic man.

Edit 10: When Jac said “it’s miraculous what a full 5 hours’ kip can do for you” I felt that.

Edit 11: I actually agree with Serena on something for once - the ‘Ric in prison’ storyline WAS “utter madness”.

Edit 12: The Rox and John dynamic was really fascinating. Also, John’s body language is VERY Henrik-esque in this episode.

And why does John talk like me? “There’s been no improvement, alas!” 😂

Edit 13: This episode is Jason in his 5-year-old era and not in a realistic developmental delay way (look at someone like Chantelle, she was autistic coded and “childish” but wasn’t written like an actual child) but in a ableist writing way.

Edit 14: ZAV!! I love his outfit in this ep. Also, it’s truly amazing how much character development he had when he was only on the show for 2 years.

Edit 15: Interesting dialogue. Rox: “I would err on the side of caution.” John: “You always do.”

Edit 16: Love the Jac and Ken banter. “I did the best I could, but despite my efforts, you pulled through.”

Edit 17: Rosie Marcel is SO good.

Edit 18: Zav was such an asshole when he first started out.

Edit 19: John on the dictaphone again!

Edit 20: John’s despair about the trial failing reads differently looking back after the later reveal that it was all about trying to save Lana.

Also, him lying to Essie and saying the implant didn’t fail... oof.

Edit 21: Very visible anxious stimming from John when his patient goes into arrest.

Also fuck I basically stole this scene for my one unfinished fanfic without remembering. I hope everyone thinks it was a deliberate parallel lmao.

Edit 22: I think the patient’s mum is doing a guest-character-speaking-for-staff member moment when she’s talking about the trial to John: “I didn’t think of the risks.”

Edit 23: Paul McGann is an INCREDIBLE actor.

Edit 24: John not wanting to bother Henrik by calling him about the Medical Director job :’))

Also, funny thing is, when John said he just wants what’s best for his patients I do believe he genuinely thought that.

Edit 25: HENRIK

Edit 26: “Meetings, paperwork... hardly John’s field of expertise, is it?” Lmaooo

Edit 27: I love early John with the curly hair.

Edit 28: John is very very good at manipulating people, whether he’s using it for good (as he is in this case - seeking the Medical Director job and talking Serena into giving it to him so he can help Roxanna fight for the TMS for Ollie) or not. One has to think Henrik picked up some techniques from him. I mean, the Henrik we saw in the flashback episode couldn’t manipulate anyone if he tried, I don’t think.

Edit 29: Lofty saying he’s not like Isaac aged poorly :(

Edit 30: Zav showing a moment of tenderness towards Nicky.

Edit 31: John on Henrik: “He’s like the rest of us. Lost without a stethoscope.”

Edit 32: Serena saying she’d cheerfully hand Gaskell the CEO job. That’s so fucking funny in hindsight of how John turned out.

[unmaskedagain]

Mean Queens

            This was for a prompt I mentioned earlier today. I decided to test my hand at Loyal!Alya fic to see how it plays out. Hope you like it.

           Marinette had officially been exiled to the back of the class and excommunicated. Lila and most of the class had been waiting for Marinette to arrive; each with cold looks on their faces. The bluenette had looked for Alya, hoping her bestie could tell her what was going on. But there was no sign of the glasses-wearing girl yet. So she had tried to catch Adrien’s eye but he had refused to make eye contact.

           Then it all came out.

           The class accused her of being a mean and horrible to Lila since the day the Italian girl came to class. Nino told her she’d become even worse of a bully than Chloe. Alix had called her a jealous bitch. Most of the class agreed. Even Sabrina who usually followed around the blonde Queen Bee now clung to the coattails of the newest golden ticket.

           The end result? They weren’t going to be her friends anymore.

“Cool,” Marinette had shrugged and took her seat in the back.

           Chloe got to class just as it happened, took one look around, snorted, and joined Marinette in back; claiming the left seat next to her. She knew the difference between diamonds and fools’ gold. And diamonds are a girls’ best friend.

           Alya arrived not long after. She had been late on purpose. The entire weekend, the class minus two (Marinette and Chloe) had been firing messages back and forth in a group chat about Marinette. It had started Friday after school. Nearly everyone had bashed their once favorite bluenette while Alya had been the only one to defend her. Adrien just said he wanted to stay out of it. Things took a dark turn when Alix admitted and joked to tripping Marinette as revenge. Then Mylene admitting that spilling coffee all over Marinette’s sketchbook hadn’t been an accident. It got worse from there. However, they all claimed it was in defense of Lila. Alya was left stunned. Nothing Marinette could’ve done deserved any of what they did. How could she be so blind as to not see that the so-called “accidents” weren’t accidents at all.

           No matter what Lila said, Alya just couldn’t believe Marinette was capable of such things. She had known the girl far too long. And honestly, she was a little surprised the kids who she knew had known Marinette since like pre-k and then suddenly they could think the worse of the so-called “Everyday Ladybug”.

           To make it worse, the things they said about Marinette were terrible and just mean. The girl who had done so much for them deserved better. So Alya kept fighting for her friend, trying to convince her friends that something wasn’t right. Maybe Lila was a bit confused or something.

           But they wouldn’t listen.

           Then Alya thought maybe if she could get Marinette to realize how amazing Lila was then everything would be fine. She just needed to show Marinette proof.

           …There was none.

           There was literally no evidence backing up any of Lila’s stories. Not even the ones about her mom being an ambassador. The only real information about anything fantastic the Italian girl did came from the Ladyblog. And Alya had deleted that video within seconds upon the realization that Lila hadn’t been telling the truth.

           Alya didn’t hesitate to create another group chat about trying to explain that maybe something was a bit fishy about Lila. She spent most of Saturday just trying to get them to listen to her. But she just got accused of being biased. Even Nino had blatantly told her that she was too close to Marinette to see what she was really like.

Was this how Marinette felt, she had found herself wondering.

“Can you prove she doesn’t actually know Ladybug?” The words tasted sour in Alya’s mouth. The more she thought about them, the worst the taste and feeling in her stomach got. Though she had remained silent the look Marinette had given Alya was like the bluenette was questioning her sanity. Or maybe her intelligence.

           Because Alya was officially questioning both about herself.

           Of course, Marinette could prove Lila didn’t know Ladybug! She was the one who originally helped Alya get her first big interview with the hero.

           And when Alya realized (remembered) that, she also remembered that fact Marinette knew Jagged Stone very well and could easily dispute Lila’s cat and plane story. Her bestie also knew Clara Nightingale and managed to become friends with the superstar; there was no way Marinette wouldn’t ask the singer if she knew Lila Rossi. She probably already had. And the answer was probably no.

           Alya pinched her nose to fight the urge to slap herself. The idea that Clara Nightingale stole Lila’s dance moves was obviously a ridiculous lie; one she had eaten up.

           By Sunday morning, Lila had subtly hinted that her classmates’ chances of meeting all the celebrities she knew and the opportunities they stood a chance for were decreasing. Or as Lila texted:

No one wants to be associated with a bully. (sad emoji)

I’d hate it if people thought you were one too.

They’d never work with you then.

           That was all it took for the class to agree to drop Marinette like a hot potato.

           And that was the final nail in the coffin as far as Alya was concerned.

           She was at Marinette less than half an hour later. Alya apologized for not believing Marinette about Lila. She had taken off her glasses when she began to cry. She handed her phone over, and let Marinette read the group texts. The hurt that flashed over the Asian’s girl face nearly broke Alya’s heart.

“You’re my best friend,” Alya had stated firmly. “I should’ve trusted you. I should’ve had your back. I’ll do better. I’ll be better.”

           Marinette wiped tears from her face. “You had my back when it counted the most.” A cold look appeared on her face. “Tomorrow, we’ll find out who’s really my friend.”

           Alya agreed but wanted to point out that friends didn’t do what they did. She couldn’t stop herself from remembering all the nasty words and mean jokes they made about her bestie. “Okay, but then we get revenge.”

“Nothing to mean.”

“No promises.”

           Alya looked at the faces of the kids who she was once her friends; to be clear, they weren’t anymore. She couldn’t trust them. If they could turn on someone like as awesome Marinette for a few sickly sweet promises and false tears, then they’d drop Alya, who could admit to herself she wasn’t nearly as nice as the bluenette, in a hot second.

           She didn’t bother saying good morning to them. Alya shook her head and promptly walked to the back of the class and sat in the right (in more ways than one) desk next to Marinette’s. To her credit, Alya didn’t blink twice at Chloe’s new chosen seat; as she far she was concerned Marinette needed all the friends she could get.

Alya crossed her arms and glared at the class. A cold fury filling her. Still, she gave her ex-friends, Nino (her soon to ex-boyfriend), Lila a small smile and a chuckle, “You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

           There would be hell to pay for they did her best friend. This wasn’t war. No, War meant the ingrates in her class actually stood a chance. They didn’t. It was Marinette, Alya, and Chloe versus everyone else. This was a war, it was an execution.

           First thing first was they had to plan.

           After school, the three girls met up at Marinette’s.

“No matter more being a doormat, Dupain… Marinette,” Chloe corrected at the last second.

           Marinette frowned, “I’m not a doormat.”

“You kind of are girl,” Alya said, despite the part of herself that hated agreeing with Chloe. They were on the same side, she reminded herself, the same team. “You’re are constantly running around to help everyone. You’re constantly doing favors; handing out free custom design clothes, banners, food, the works. And they treat you like dirt. They’ve been treating you like dirt, and yet you still help. It’s not right. I never thought it was.”

At first, Alya hadn’t said anything because she was too new and didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. But she should’ve.

“It has to stop,” Alya continued. “They’re not your friends anymore; you don’t owe anyone anything. Even if they were; your designs are way too badass to be giving them away for free.”

           Marinette nodded. She could agree to that

           Chloe put a hand on her hip, “The three of us are the most formidable girls in class; possibly the entire school. Outside of class, most of the school loved Mariette; the artists, the geeks, the fashion club, bakers’ club. Thanks to the Ladyblog, Alya is the most known girl at school; people trust her because Ladybug trusts her. Me? I’m the richest girl in school and I throw the best parties; the elite follows me because they have no choice, and the popular because they don’t want to risk not getting an invite. As hot and as smart as we are, we are ruling that hellhole. You know what our problem is?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Marinette’s too nice. I’m too bossy. Alya’s too stubborn.”

           It wasn’t the first time or the millionth that someone calls Alya stubborn. “We need to work as a unit; they come at one of us, they come at all of us. Lila isn’t done yet.”

“She lied her way to the top,” Marinette said. “As long as she thinks I’m any kind of threat to her, she won’t stop.

           Chloe nodded, “Mostly because of the tops a long way from the bottom and it’s her social status, her reputation, everything she got since she came to school that’s on the line. The fall will kill her;”

“Then let’s make sure she takes our ex-friends with her,” Alya said darkly. “We got nowhere being nice and honest. Lets’ try mean and ruthless.”

           Marinette wanted to protest but the texts from her so-called friends still tore at her. They had said so many hurtful things; about Marinette, her designs, her parents’ bakery. It was terrible. “What do you have in mind?”

           Alya smirked, “We’re going full scorched earth.”

           Revenge is a dish best served cold.

           They let the class think they were safe; let the worry of any potential consequences slowly fade from their minds. It took weeks before their ex-friends would stop reading themselves for an attack whenever Chloe, Alya, or even Marinette entered the room. And during those weeks, the girls assembled their powerbases; slowly but surely, they took their rightful places at the top of the social hierarchy.

           A few of the so-called Queen Bee of the school took afront of this and did their best to sabotage each other

           But what none of the other social climbers expected was for the three to combine their forces. Marinette, Chloe, and Alya were cold and merciless in defense of their new positions; each one using their own unique still to remove or outright destroy their competition and anyone else that got in their way.

           However, it was until Olivia Knight, the former most popular girl in school, popularity fell to just above the Goth kids that people finally got the message.

           There were Three new queens in their school. Call them the Lannisters, Call them the Tyrells, or the Baratheons’; whatever However the message was the same. The Queens would do anything it took to keep their thrones.

           Two months; nine parties, one school election, a dance (where Chloe was elected Queen) and joining seven clubs between them Marinette: Fashion and Art. Alya: Track and Comic Book Club. Chloe: Mathletes and Drama. Finally, all three joined the World Travels’ Club. That way they had a foot in with the nerds, jocks, the geeks, the loners, the goths, and (by way of throwing awesome parties) the popular kids. And Marinette, Chloe, and Alya were officially the most popular girls in school.

           Marinette and Alya were surprised to learn the kids from Bustier’s class were lower on the overall school’s popularity scale than the creepy loner kid that hangs out behind the gym and smokes. They only really hung out with each other and seemed to have more problems than any other class in school. The main idea seemed to be that Bustier’s class was black hole no one ever managed to crawl out of until Alya, Chloe, and Marinette surfaced. Or a budding cult. Now that they had broken free, the three could see how they had gotten that idea.

           When they were in class, it was like they were in their own world. They were all in high school now but most still acted as they did on their first days of middle school. It was like they refused to grow up, mature mentally and emotionally. Bustier never seemed to mind.

           She was a hindrance. She blamed the victim and protected the bullies.

           It was why Bustier had to go.

           Getting Bustier fired was remarkable easy. A week’s work of videos of what life was life every day in her class, and she was gone.

           A substitute didn’t come to replace her. No someone (Chloe) had leaned on Damocles hard to get the entire class split up until a permanent one could be found. Thus they were in for a hard lesson.

           The first? Who really ruled the school?

           The best part was for that ditch the girls were planning on leaving their ex-friends in, those morons brought the shovel themselves.

           It took a few days for Bustier’s class to settled into their classes and schedule but once they did, they immediately tried to go back to their old ways.

           The teachers shut down most of it; making it clear they would NOT be tolerating any crap.

           Still, that didn’t stop everyone.

           Bustier’s students, as they would be known by the students and teachers, yelled out they’re answered, frequently disrupted the class, argued loudly with each other.

           Lila tried to spin her stories again but Marinette and Alya already spread the truth about how much of a liar she was so one bought anything she said. Most just ignored her. Lila didn’t like that. She thrived off attention. No attention meant Akumas. Unfortunately, this just caused Lila to look even more immature than she already did.

           When Alix “accidentally” tripped Marinette. Marinette let herself fall, crash, and spill all her school supplies. Alix and Mylene snickered.

           Aurore who had witnessed the event didn’t hesitate to call them out, drawing the attention of the other students. They saw Marinette on the floor, Alix and Mylene laughing and came to the correct conclusion. Marinette’s new friends rushed to help her, glaring viciously at the two girls while she did so.

           Word spread quickly. And then Alya “accidentally” let it slip about the mean texts about Marinette. And then Chloe “accidentally” revealed all of the classes’ dirty little secrets; things that had only be known by Bustier’s students. Rumors flew.

           It wasn’t long before most of the student body would rather be seen with the creepy loner smoker kid than with any of Bustier’s students.

            No one realized just how true that statement was until Marinette announced yet another fantastic party. Chloe, Marinette, and Alya had become known for them.

           …This party was different.

           Usually, it was a mass invite; welcoming anyone and everyone.

           This party was an invitation-only which was strange because it seemed like everyone in school was invited. Until they got to the party that Friday night and realized just who wasn’t.

           Bustier’s students.

           It was the worse sentence the Queen could’ve delivered to their ex-friends. It wasn’t just a drop on the popularity scale. It wasn’t social exile. The message was clear; Marinette, Chloe, and Alya would not tolerate their ex-friends whatsoever.

           No one wanted to get on the girls’ bad side. No one would even consider risking it. No one wanted to be the next Olivia Knight. Olivia who never fully recovered her reputation or her social status; most of her old friends wouldn’t even speak to her anymore. They were not about to put their necks on the line for losers Bustier’s class.

           They’d only lose their heads.

           The (Demon) Queens of school decreed it, by next Monday, the students of Bustier’s class would be deleted.

           And yet that still wouldn’t be enough for them.

           As far as they were concerned they were only just getting started.

           Move over Heathers, Plastics, the Queens have arrived.

[13uswntimagines]

Stupid Games, Stupid Prizes (Alpha!Preath x Omega!Reader)

Request: alpha!Tobin and alpha!Christen fight over omega!reader? You can choose who the reader ends up with.

Hey dudes, I hope you enjoy this as much as i enjoyed writing it! Hit me up with Requests, Questions or if you just want to say hi! 

This was getting out of hand. You shook your head, watching Tobin’s sulking for as glared at anyone who approached her. Yes, very very out of hand. What had caused the typically chill alpha’s mood to turn sour? That was the Stanford sweater that you were currently wrapped in. The red sweater that smells distinctly like Christen, and you had a feeling that it appearing in your locker wasn’t a huge coincidence. 

The two had been at each other’s throats for the past week, and you were sick and tired of being at the center of their constant game of tug of war. You had thought the idea was stupid, to begin with. The bite marks on your neck and the ones on theirs made the entire effort pointless. But “it’ll be fun they say”, “It’ll make you feel wanted” and help the three of you connect with your more... primal urges, but right now you felt like a toy being fought over by two pups. There was nothing sexy or loving about it.

You huffed, settling back on the bench, blatantly ignoring Christen’s smug grin and Tobin’s pout. “You ok?” Alex asked, settling down on the bench beside you, wrapping an arm around your very tense shoulders, and releasing a wave of soothing pheromones. Alex was like your older sister, her inner omega claiming you as such the moment she set her eyes on you, which wasn’t surprising considering that her mate Kelley’s inner alpha had claimed you the same way. 

“I’m just great,” You sassed, glowering at Tobin who was taunting Christen with the soccer ball. Christen bared her teeth, clacking them together at the cocky alpha. 

“They look like they’re going to rip each other’s heads off,” Mal mumbled as she sat on your other side, and Kelley slid in behind her mate. Kelley would typically be in Mal’s spot, but with Chris and Tobs in this state, she knew that getting too close to you would not be well received by your alpha’s. Plus, her inner alpha wasn’t a fan of the massive amounts of pheromones Chris’s sweatshirt currently had on it. 

“Mmm,” You hummed, leaning further into Alex, allowing her scent to wrap around you like a blanket. Combined with Christen’s scent, it was incredibly relaxing, though you did miss Tobin’s smell. 

“You sure you’re ok?” Kelley asked, peeking over Alex’s shoulder, trying not to get too close. 

“I’m just tired, and I want to cuddle my mates but they’re too busy having a dick measuring contest,” You groaned, cringing when Christen finally snapped and shoved Tobin, stealing the ball away from her and firing it towards the goal. 

“You’re the dumbass that agreed to it in the first place,” Kelley snorted and you rolled your eyes at her, pouting. The premise was that your two alphas would be fighting for your attention, not that they would be unable to stand being in the same room together. In the beginning, it had been fun, watching them squabble and try to get you to wear their cloth or cuddle with just them, but now it was really fucking with your camp routine. 

“Like 2 weeks ago. I thought it’d be over by now,” You growled back, releasing as many dominant scents as you could muster. Kelley was joking and you knew that, but you were tired and cranky and you didn’t want to be teased anymore. 

“I’m sure wearing Chris’s sweater isn’t fanning the flames at all,” Alex chuckled, easing the tension that had settled over you with a little puff of her soothing scent. 

“Kelley’s was unavailable,” You grumbled, burying your nose in the hoodie. 

“Damn right,” Alex laughed back, sinking in the sweatshirt she had stolen from her own alpha. The last time you had taken Kelley’s Stanford sweater by mistake both your alphas and Alex had been pissed. It was disrespectful to wear another alpha’s scent, especially if said alpha was already mated to your best friend. 

“So the thing between Chris and Tobs is a sex thing?” Mal asked, her eyebrows furrowing. 

Something like that,” You smirked at her. Technically it would probably end in a sex thing, but the game was more complex than that. 

“Is it like the time you stole Lindsey’s jacket?” Mal questioned, quirking her head to the side like a small puppy. You laughed at the memory. That had been more for Soran’s benefit than your own, but you supposed the concept was the same. Lindsey had for sure gotten the possessive omega reaction out of Emily. 

“Same game, different rules,” You mumbled thoughtfully, the memory sparking a few ideas in your brain. 

“I still don’t get why the sweatshirt is such a big deal,” Mal huffed, settling back in her seat and pulling a pout that rivaled Tobin’s. 

“You’ll understand when you have an alpha of your own kid,” Kelley laughed, reaching behind you and Alex to pat the young omega’s back. 

“Who are you going to let win?” Alex grinned at you as Tobin finally managed to catch up to Christen and steal the ball away, shoving the shorter woman back. 

“I don’t let anyone win, that’s their problem. All I do is enjoy the show,” You grumbled, huffing when Tobin sent a wink your way and poured when you stuck your tongue out at her. 

“Except you’re not enjoying it?” Mal asked in confusion. You shook your head, throwing your head back with a groan when Chris tackled Tobin for what you assumed was winking at you. This was less of a dominance battle and more of a stupid pudding contest. 

“I was, but now it’s just annoying. They’re acting like pouting pups,” You grumbled, bringing your hands to your face and scrubbing your eyes. You were tired and all you wanted was some cuddling and to not have to choose between your two favorite people. You wanted to snuggle into Chris’s neck while Tobs drew invisible shapes on your back. 

“You could always safeword,” Alex said softly, running her hand down your back and carefully untangling your fingers from your hair. She could feel the frustration rolling off of you in waves, and released her soothing pheromones (along with Kelley) in an attempt to calm your frayed nerves. She carded her fingers through your hair, the corners of her lips turning up when she felt you begin to practically purr in her neck. 

You knew that with one word this stupid game would be over, but that wasn’t the answer. You needed to teach your two donuts a lesson they would never forget. A lesson that would ensure they never drag their stupid games out this long again. If they wanted to play dumbass games, you would show them that they would only win dumbass prizes. 

“I don’t think I need to. I think I have a better way to show them how fucking stupid they are,” You growled into Alex’s neck. 

“You’re going to make them regret this aren’t you?” Kelley chuckled knowingly. 

“Absolutely,” Alex felt you smirk, her smile vanishing. You had one hell of a mean streak in the pitch, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to see what you had in store for your mates. 

 *****

The end of practice and the ride back to the hotel were relatively uneventful, as Mal clung to you and prevented the brewing argument between your mates over who got to sit with you. She also dragged you to an impromptu movie with Emily and Lindsey. You could have done without the whining from your two adult mates, or the pouts, but not feeling like a rope toy being pulled between two pups was very nice. Soran and Mal’s cuddles were a good substitute for your mates as well, but soon enough it was time for team dinner. 

You were honestly dreading it a little bit. Your alphas were probably going to be mopey and grumpy and you just weren’t in the mood to deal with it. What you hadn’t expected was to walk into the dining room and see that your usual seat between your mates was missing. You growled lightly, your good mood was all but gone as you marched up to your typical table. 

“Why aren’t there enough seats?” You asked, glaring at the very innocent looks Christen and Tobin were shooting your way, and ignoring the giggles from the rest of the table. 

“There are, yours is just a little more padded,” Christen smirked your way, pointing to her lap. You rolled your eyes, trying not to let The annoyed pheromones creeping out of Tobin cloud your judgment. 

“Hop on short stack,” Christen again patting her lap after a few seconds of you staring at her in disbelief, releasing a small puff of her most dominant scent. It called to you in the most sensual way possible. It settled in every crevice of your brain, blinding you to the cocky smirk that She sent Tobin’s way. She was sure that she had won this round. You shook your head trying to clear your vision, only to be met with another delectable scent. It made your mouth water. 

“Or you could sit with me, you know you love how I smell little one,” Tobin murmured, resting her hand on your hip, and pushing her scent towards you in another powerful wave. It threatened to pull you under, but again you shook your head, pulling away from her warm body. 

“As tempting as both those offers are, I told JJ I would sit with her today,” You stuttered quietly, forcing yourself to turn away from the two women and towards the Alpha who had already saved you a chair. You almost laughed at the enraged growl that sounded from your mates, Christen’s fingers on your wrist preventing you from making your way over to where JJ, Sam, Abby, and Rose were seated. You glanced back at your alpha, who was glaring in the direction of the table in question. 

“That isn’t part of the game,” She grit her teeth, her scent changing from sensual to calling for your submission, Tobin’s joining hers. Your fists clenched and your body tensed. The game wasn’t fair if you couldn’t play too. 

“Says who?” You retorted with a snort, pulling your wrist free. The alphas shared a glance before their scents backed off, and they both poured. You grinned at the women, your smile showing far too many teeth to be kind. “That’s what I thought,” You straightened your shirt and skipped off to sit with JJ. 

You knew your alpha’s eyes were on you as you touched her arm, and leaned closer than they would have wanted. They loved JJ, but they weren’t as comfortable with her as they were with Kelley and Lindsey. Three could play at this game, and you were pretty sure that you were winning and you weren’t even trying yet. 

****

You weren’t playing fair, and you knew that. You were using most of your team's fed-upness with your mates to your advantage. They wanted this stupid game to end almost as much as you did, so they were up for whatever they could do to help you. So, you had been taking turns hanging out with all of the alphas besides your own. It was driving them crazy, and you were finally beginning to understand why the hell they had suggested it in the first place. 

Today just happened to be a game-day against the English Women’s National Team, and you were prepared to put an end to this nonsense. It all started with you being late to the bus. The moment you stepped into the vehicle, you could feel your mate's eyes on you, and you purposefully avoided them, instead, finding another alpha’s bright orbs. You smiled at her mischievously and began to make your way towards her. 

“Hey sweet cheeks,” Tobin called as you passed her, finally drawing your attention. You glanced down at her, and she patted the seat next to her. “I saved you a seat and included the cuddles for free,” She sent you a very cute, shy smile, opening her arms invitingly. You couldn’t help the giggle that left your lips. 

“Like she wants to be covered in your alpha stench Tobin,” Christen hissed from the other side of the aisle. Tobin around you at her. She had felt how much your omega wanted her cuddles, and the warmth her alpha could offer you. Christen had to go and fuck it up for her. 

“What you think she would prefer yours?” She growled back, releasing a steady stream of dominant pheromones, directed solely at Chris, but inadvertently hitting you as well. You rolled your neck fighting the urge to submit. It seemed as though they forgot you were there entirely. You sighed. 

“She obviously likes my sweater better,” Christen snarled, running her fingers down the side of your favorite Stanford sweater. You internally scolded yourself for wearing the damn thing. You should have known that it would start another pointless alpha battle, but it was just so soft, and you cuddle both of them in it, so their smell was engraved in the fabric. 

“Actually guys, I already promised Becky that I’d help her with her crossword, so you’re both on your own,” You mumbled lowly, stepping past the women and trudging towards Becky. 

“Look what you did,” You heard Tobin whisper after a few seconds.

“Me, this whole thing was your idea,” Christen huffed back. You smiled just a little at Becky, hopefully, this whole thing would be over soon. 

*****

The game against England was as much fun as you thought it was going to be. You had played for Arsenal and Man City, so it was always amazing to go against your old teammates and friends. It also helped that you scored 2 pretty sick goals. 

Your smile widened as you approached Leah, the blond alpha pulling you into a hug the moment you were in reach. You laughed for a moment, smirking at her as you pulled your jersey over your head. Passed it to the English player, who pulled her jersey off and handed it to you. 

Your days in the UK had not been a good time in your relationship with Chris and Tobin. It was just after the Rio Olympics and all of the emotional turmoil that came with it. You had missed the PK and though they wouldn’t say it, you knew that they blamed you for the loss. In a stupid argument they had said that they and the team were better off without you, and witching 24 hours you were in London preparing for practice with your new team. Arsenal. 

Leah had helped you pick up the pieces of your broken heart and sewed yourself back together. She taught you how to love yourself, even when you felt like your mates didn’t love you anymore. Leah was Jordan’s wholeheartedly, but the pair had taken you under their wing. It was a strong bond that your alphas absolutely despised. Maybe it was a low blow to use it against them, but maybe it was the perfect blow to end this stupid game.

Before you could pull the jersey over your head, it was ripped out of your hands, and you were thrown over a shoulder and headed towards the tunnel. You didn’t mind the view of your alpha’s behind, but the dominant pheromones that they were pumping out were making you dizzy. 

****

“You’re ours little omega,” They growled as they pushed you up against the cold tunnel wall. Tobin placing her lips on the left side of your neck and Christen doing the same on your right. Your knees almost buckled as they began to assault your neck in kisses, further marking you as their own. 

“No more games,” You said breathlessly, placing a hand on each of their chests and pushing them back. They didn’t deserve a reward after all the shit that they pulled. You were supposed to be mad at them.

“You broke the rules little one,” Tobin whispered, her lips ghosting over your mating mark, up to your cheek and caressing the shell of your ear, sending a shiver down your spine. Christen decided to lavish her mating mark in kisses. 

“No, you two were being jackasses, so I decided to play. No more games, or find out what other tricks I have in store for the two of you,” You growled, shoving the alpha’s away from you. They pulled their heads away making eye contact with you but still kept you pressed into the wall with their hips. 

“No more games,” Tobin said seriously. Her fingers squeezing your arm lightly, leaning in and placing a sweet kiss on your lips. 

“We’re sorry we were being stupid,” Christen whispered, kissing your cheeks, nose, and lips between each word. You hummed back, suddenly feeling guilty for using the team and Leah against them. 

“I’m sorry that I made you jealous,” You mumbled, suddenly finding your cleats very interesting. Gentle fingers cupped your chin, and soothing pheromones wrapped around you like the softest blanket. Your eyes lifted to meet a set of warm brown and green orbs looking at you concerned. Careful lips touched your own, and you knew that you were forgiven. 

“Well you won, so what’s your prize?” Christen said quietly against your cheek, her body heat warming your whole right side. 

“And cuddles, I deserve cuddles,” You moaned quietly. You had missed being able to be near both of your mates at the same time without them bickering over who you wanted to be with more. 

“lots of cuddles,” Tobin hummed against your skin. Your omega purred at the contact and your cheeks dusted pink when Tobin’s lips quarter up at the sound. 

“And maybe a bath,” Christen hummed, her alpha rumbling loudly in her chest at the content scents pouring off of you. How could they be so wrapped up in their competition that they didn’t notice what you needed? They had a shit ton of making up to do, and they knew just how much you loved skin on skin contact. Her hand splayed across your still bare stomach and she suddenly remembered that you were standing, pressed against the stone tunnel wall where everyone could see in only your sports bra. She slipped off her jersey and brought it over your head to cover you. No one but them got to see your abs. 

“A bath with the two of you sounds nice,” You hummed, laughing loudly when Tobin lifted you bridal style and began to carry you towards the showers, Christen yelling in protest as Tobin raced off without her. Sure they drove you crazy, but at the end of the day they were your mates and you loved them. 

[yacoka]

the beginning

i. the ball of broken hearts

character(s) — tsukishima kei, matsukawa issei

pairing — tsukishima kei x reader

genre — royalty!au, reincarnation!au, soulmate!au

warning(s) — death, brief mentions of war, PTSD, loss

beta(s) — @/doughnuts-5ever

masterlist

It wasn’t as if you didn’t want to be here. You did, you really did, but how could you enjoy a ball thrown in your honor when your parents had been murdered just a few days prior to this? It seemed like a cruel joke, to be expected to twirl around in a gaudy dress and perfect smile when the weight of your grief made you want to do nothing more than curl up in a ball and scream.

But for the sake of your kingdom, you had to. You would play the part of a perfect princess for as long as they needed you to. The war and multitudes of assassins had made you the last remnant of the royal family, and you were all your country had left to count on.

(Your crown has always felt more like a collar than a symbol of your sovereignty, and tonight it weighs even heavier than it usually does, choking you, stealing the breaths you so desperately sought.)

“Your highness, it’s time.” Akasuki, your lady of the bedchamber, spoke, effectively chasing away your thoughts.

A deep breath. Two. Three.

Straightening your back, you tilted your chin up. Tonight, you would put on a show. Let them see that the crown princess was more than a spoilt royal. Tonight, you would dance and smile and laugh until they were convinced that you were ready for your coronation.

You were led down the unfamiliar hallways of pale stone and shimmering gold, nothing short of the stunning extravagance the Tsukishima adored flaunting, but so unlike the cool brown and blacks of your own castle walls. The firelight illuminated your shimmering ball gown, surrounding you with an almost luminescent glow.

The guards escorting looked a little dazed every time they stole a glance at you, your etherealness commanding their attention. Good, let them be dazzled by your beauty. That meant that no one would be looking further than your skin.

“Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Y/n.”

The large doors to the ballroom flung open and you swept into the room, shining so brightly for a moment that the guests were momentarily blinded.

You were guided down the large staircase and settled into a pale marble throne, not unlike the castle walls. The practiced smile stayed plastered on your face all the while, never once wavering even as you felt the weight of their scrutinising stares.

There you remained, on display for the subjects of two kingdoms to ogle at, to tear apart with their judgment. Your gaze never once flickered away from those who blatantly stared, almost daring them to come forward and challenge you, even as you kept up a light conversation with King Tsukishima.

A pale hand extends itself to you and you follow it back up to its owner; a tall, lean blond with his head inclined in a reluctant bow, an artificial smile plastered on his handsome features.

“May I have this dance, your highness?” The disinterest in his voice was poorly veiled, and you knew he was only asking out of courtesy, the sharp looks shot at him by his mother not going unnoticed.

You were tempted to turn him down just to see what would happen, but you knew better than to do so. Your kingdom needed this alliance after all, and it would not reflect well on you to antagonise their crown prince.

“I would be honored.” You stood up and slid your hand into his, allowing him to lead you onto the dance floor-

Wait, was that-

“Prince Tsukishima,” you gasped out, halting dead in your tracks, eyes pinned upon the blood-red string that was entwined around your linked hands. For the first time that night, your impenetrable mask had slipped, your stone-cold smile fading into one of twisted incredulity and wonder.

He whirled around, eyes flashing in annoyance as he opened his mouth to say something, but the words died out as he realized what you were staring at.

“You- you’re the one?” He sounded disbelieving, an indecipherable look in his eyes.

You bristled at his tone, fighting the urge to yank your hand out of his.

“It seems so,” you slipped back into your careful indifference, attempting to brush this off like it hadn’t shaken you to the core.

Even his eyes widened in astoundment, he remained composed enough to guide the both of you onto the dance floor, joining in on the ongoing waltz. You avoided his gaze, staring at everywhere but his face where you were sure disgust was present.

“Hey, look at me.” The gentleness in his voice was enough to throw you off guard, and you raised your head to look at him. His eyes were a warm brown, you realized with a start, much like the shades of your castle walls. “I don’t- I don’t hate this. Or you.”

You blinked at him, slightly confused and put out by his choice of words. Irritation began to flare within you and it must have shown in your expression, because Prince Tsukishima was quick to continue his words.

“It’s just not the right time for me,” he jerked his head slightly, “this, right now.”

“Not the right time for you?” You let out a scoff, your features straining as you fought back the sneer that threatened to appear. “I just lost my parents, and I have to run a kingdom on my own with no successors in the likely event I die, and you say it’s not the right time for you?”

Whatever little softness that had seeped into his eyes was now replaced by a burst of fury so intense that had you recoiling slightly.

“I lost both my brother and best friend, and gained a title I never asked for,” Prince Tsukishima hisses at you, careful to keep his expression neutral, even as his tone bites at your crumbling mask. “You’re not the only one who has lost someone important to this stupid war.”

You stumbled back, heels catching on the hem of your ballgown. He gripped you tighter, almost as if he was trying to anchor himself instead of preventing you from falling.

“I-” You didn’t know what to say. Had you been so caught up in your own pain and misery, so guarded to the point where you had missed the hurt mirrored in his eyes?

“I wasn’t the Tsukishima you were supposed to marry. That was my brother, Tsukishima Akiteru,” he continued on, voice trembling on the brink of tears. “He was out on the frontlines trying to save my best friend, at my request. I got them killed.”

His body tightened beneath your grip, and you felt the weight of his words settle upon your weary shoulders. Another death, another burden to carry. There isn’t anything you could say right now, not under the scrutinizing gaze of vultures waiting for a sign of weakness. So you squeezed him lightly, and you felt the tension easing, just ever so slightly.

As the waltz came to a close, you slid your hand into his, the red string curling around your wrists. He seemed to take the silent cue, and the two of you slipped out of the ballroom, where Tsukishima led you through the hallways, up a staircase, and onto a balcony that overlooked the gardens.

Even as the two of you stood there, leaning against the cool stone, your hands remained linked.

“I was the one who suggested cutting down on the number of guards in the castle to reinforce our army.” You broke the silence first. “The assassins broke in that night, and they killed everyone. I only got away because-”

Your throat tightened, forcing your words to a halt.

The string seemed to tighten around your pinky, even as his grip remained constant. The small gesture gave you the strength to continue, even as your voice wavered.

“My head guard, my best friend... he managed to get me out in time, and he defended me with his life.”

“It seems like we’re bound by loss, aren’t we?” A cynical chuckle escaped his lips.

Your lips tipped up in a sad smile. “It seems like it.”

The two of you stood there in silence for a while, staring out at the palace gardens. You couldn’t help but stare at the string that linked the two of you.

“Who was he? Your best friend,” Tsukishima asked.

“He,” you took in a deep breath, steadying your trembling breaths. “He was the most amazing man I have ever met. Matsukawa Issei.”

A sharp inhale from Tsukishima told you that Issei’s reputation preceded him.

“Yeah, the great Matsukawa Issei who held an entire army back on his own, is the same Mattsun that guarded the spoilt Crown Princess who never ventured further than the edges of her castle grounds.” Your chest tightened, and the memory of Issei’s smile burned, a reminder of the sacrifice he had been forced to give.

“Issei brought the world to me, in little trinkets and beautiful descriptions of the wild. He gave me everything he could, did anything just to make sure I was happy. And I used to joke around, asking him if he would die for me.” Your smile turned bitter. “I never thought that would become a reality.”

Tsukishima squeezed your hand, a soft exhale passing from his lips before he spoke.

“His name was Yamaguchi Tadashi. He was a peasant boy I had met when I followed the head cook to the market. Yamaguchi was being bullied by this group of boys, and I couldn’t sit back and watch that happen, so I helped him. I didn’t know that in doing so, I would gain my first and only friend, and that he would continue to help me as we grew.”

“Then the war started, and he was yanked away from me by the commands of the military, right into the front lines. I begged my parents to do anything to get him out of there or let me fight with him. Evidently, they said no.”

“I turned to my brother then, and he agreed to sneak out onto the front lines to find him when he had to go for the next war meeting. We all know how that ended.”

Something wet dripped onto your linked hands, and you watched as glistening teardrops splashed onto your skin, sliding down into the red string. You followed it back up to Tsukishima’s face, where his eyes were clenched shut, face twisted in an attempt not to cry.

“It’s not your fault,” you whispered, disgustingly aware of the hypocrisy present in those words. Who were you to absolve his guilt when you couldn’t even forgive yourself for a crime you hadn’t committed?

“Then it’s not yours either,” he threw back, though there was no malice in his tone.

It was your turn to shut your eyes, fighting the burning in your eyes. Your mask had all but fallen to pieces, and you weren’t about to let the remnants fall away now. You couldn’t afford to.

“Tell me more about him, about your Issei,” Tsukishima said softly.

“Only if you share about your Yamaguchi.”

There the two of you stood, hands intertwined as you swapped stories of your lost confidants under the gentle glow of the moon, the murmurs of the ball playing in the background.

Angry whispers rushing past your balcony caught your attention. Tsukishima stepped slightly in front of you as the doors burst open.

“Your highnesses!” A knight pants out, face red and sweaty. “We’ve been looking all over for you!”

“We merely stepped out for a breather.” You said cooly, your features slipping startling quick into a glittering cool smile.

“It’s not safe,” another knight stepped forward, out of the shadows.

“Sir Kageyama,” Prince Tsukishima greeted the guard coldly. “Sir Hinata.”

“Your highnesses, please come back inside.” Sir Hinata begs, recovering from where he had bent over in exhaustion.

“We’ll come back in when we’re ready.” The tall blonde waved a dismissive hand at them, and Sir Kageyama seethed, steam practically pouring out of his ears.

“Listen up you spoilt brat-” “Kageyama don’t-” “Your mother is worried sick about you, terrified that she’s going to lose another son, and here you are cosying up with your betrothed before the marriage ceremony?”

You hadn’t even realized Tsukishima had let go of your hand until he had Sir Kageyama pressed up against the wall, fist curled up in the knight’s tunic.

“Shut up.” He gritted out. The shoulders of his suit pulled taut, and you recognized the venom in his voice. It was one you had struck out at others with, often, and one that you knew would result in bloodshed.

“Prince Tsukishima,” you laid a hand on his tense shoulder. “We should go in anyway, the ball’s about to end.”

Sir Hinata shot you a grateful look when Tsukishima let go of his companion, and you wrapped an arm around his, tugging lightly to guide him back to the ongoing ball.

The two knights bowed, albeit one more stiffly than the other.

“Do you think they’ll notice if we skipped the end of the ball?” Tsukishima murmured, shifting your hand so it rested more comfortably around his arm.

Your lips quirked up in a genuine smile, just for a split second, before you fixed it back into your usual hollow one.

“I don’t know, you tell me if they’ll notice the crown heirs are missing when our betrothal is announced.”

“Fair enough,” he sighed. “I guess we’ll have no choice but to go back then.”

“Lead the way, my prince.”

[reversecreek]

struts onto the dash carrying this deliriously wriggling little elf in my arms like a swaddled bebe......... they’re genuinely my oldest muse of all time i think i created them when i was like. 13 possibly. n i haven’t written them in Years but. i’m literally so excited to jst vibrating w muse. smiles at u all demurely..... they have risen. u can find their pinterest here n their playlist here.

* alana champion, nonbinary + they/them | you know nyla palmer, right? they’re twenty-two, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, eight months? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to 6669 (i don’t know if you know) by neon indian like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole a two headed doll of a prairie girl with stitched on rabbit ears and butterfly wings, befriending shadow puppets & finding god with your eyes open underwater in a public pool you broke into thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is march 2nd, so they’re a pisces, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( nai, 24, gmt she/her  )

HISTORY:

was born in georgiaaaa georgiaaaa (phoebe bridgers voice holds my bang...) to a vry honest hard working man named george (omgggg he’s called GEORGE and he’s from GEORGIA? ahaaaaa fuckk ur jestinggg) nd a woman who did her best named pamela..... george worked on a construction site n pamela was a pharmacist..... their house was this small rickety white thing with a wrap around porch n a very rabid overgrown garden tht kind of looked like the earth ws trying to reclaim it bc nobody ever hd the time or motivation to mow the lawn.... there ws literally a piece of fold out furniture just entirely submerged by weeds n foliage

nyla ws always closest w their dad george..... he hd this way of looking at the world tht was seeing the best in all of it.... he took them on long walks where he talked abt how u have to respect the trees bc they’re breathing fr us n we’re breathing fr them..... he hd a strange whimsical sense of humour n a gnome alter ego called grundlebolt who always tickled them..... in a way this closeness created a distance between nyla n their mother but not so much that it ws rly a problem. just enough tht nyla sometimes waited until their mother ws out of eye n ear shot to tell their dad they loved him bc they didn’t wna make her sad >_>

(mental health, death & grief tw) pamela always struggled w her mental health but george ws great n understanding n knew how to help her thru this... nyla didn’t get it too greatly at a very young age bt they knew their mum got “the sads” sometimes (how their dad wld explain tht she needed to lay down in the quiet for a while or why she’d stood at the stove n let the dinner burn until the smoke detector went off without doing anything abt it). when nyla was 14 they got home one day to a police car in the driveway n came prancing in exuberantly as they always did. immediately hugged the legs of an officer bc this is hw they wld greet everyone they ever met. they only realised something was wrong when they let go n saw their mum sat at the table crying. essentially there ws an accident at the construction site george worked at n :/ yeah. 

(jst mental health & grief tw now) this rly had an intense ripple effect on everyone tbh. pamela’s mental health deteriorated quite a lot without george there as her rock n nyla sort of had to step in as best they cld but it was....... hard. some days she ws better bt some days nyla had to sit her in the bath n stroke a wet sponge over her back bc they didn’t know how else to calm her down. nyla always had a very overactive imagination which george encouraged bt it ws like. losing him rly opened a window in nyla’s head n all rationality went floating out of it. their dreams seemed more real than being awake. fantasy wasn’t jst the way they coped bt it was the way they thought n the way they saw. everything on earth was alive. the trees n the clouds n the wall with a brick missing at the bottom of her road n especially their dad. their dad was alive in everything in nyla’s head. the sun shining extra bright in the morning was george. ponds were a veil they could dunk her head under and find george waiting on the other side. reality rly just pulled the plug n said bye tbh n they were ok w that <3

(abuse implied tw) their mum remarried too fast to a man named stephen n it was jst not a good arrangement. he was Not a nice man. i won’t go into this but home wasn’t a nice place for nyla any more n after a couple of yrs stephen wound up asking them to leave n their mum said nothing to contradict tht. there’s more to this bt long story short nyla left <3

(drugs tw) they couch surfed fr a while before settling living w their best friend. they got up to like... all sorts of trouble n grew up far too fast. nyla’s lack of sense n realism hd a habit of getting them into some sticky situations n these few yrs were a rollercoaster where they got by on the skin of their teeth. when they think of high skl they think of gravel and skinned knees and sucking sherbet dunkers to ignore the taste of pennies in ur mouth and getting lost in the woods a lot bc they’d take FAR too many drugs n be lead astray having conversations with kind trees whose branches held their hands

(drug mention) got by on odd jobs like making candles n selling them at market stalls. leaf blowing at cemeteries. face painting fr children’s parties (where they were blatantly high). random stuff. all over the place. in this time them n their best friend also hd a sugar daddy named tony who always wore very impressive colour block suits n mink stoles n jewelled fedoras n hd a swanky apartment w marble floors. rly just. surreal. lots of strange stories frm this time.

things kind of blew up in their friendship group n they fell out w their best friend raya bc she slept w this guy aj who nyla hd been madly in love w for yrs.... he was a Stinker n honestly so ws their best friend so good riddance i say bt obviously it felt like having their entire world flipped upside dwn fr nyla.... they split after this came out bc they just did Not want to b around these ppl any more n they decided to leave w this guy frm a band they barely knew tht much save fr a one night stand to tour w them..... this ws another whirlwind. jst chock full of them. it ws similar to being on a teacup ride at a carnival n spinning round n round n only knowing u were surrounded by lots of lights. tht’s how they’d best describe their time on tour.

SO in terms of them coming to irving 8 months ago they came w the band.... they honestly did pretty well on tour n wound up renting a big beach house on dorado as a kind of “retreat” sort of place fr them to shack up in while they worked on writing and recording their first big studio album (they gt signed w a label so it’s all vry exciting stuff). nyla among like 3 others were allowed to stay w them too bc they hd a lot of fun on tour. literally jst. taken on as professional groupies essentially. nyla loved it bc they’d never seen the ocean n when they first got there they jst threw off all their clothes n ran straight into the water. it was 3pm on a tuesday afternoon. they got arrested fr public indecency n didn’t get why bc they were like but i just wanted to hug the ocean u silly little oinker? i picture the beach house as like. the loudest one on dorado.... comes alive like a jungle at night..... they r probably bad neighbours. anyway. onto personality puts hand on hip.

PERSONALITY:

sets out patio furniture on someone else’s lawn n jst takes a seat n leans back like ahhhhh vat a nice day to be alive ya! (swedish accent suddenly bc they think it’s fun). they come out n start yelling n they’re jst so confused they’re like hey wat’s the big idea hey wat’s go on here why u angies why this happen?

likes drawing imaginary veins over their arms in all different colour blue pens in a sudden fit of hyperfixation n then forgets all abt it n goes out like tht n scares several townsfolk bt they’re oblivious they’re jst in her own world loving life already onto the next fixation. has many many different fads like this. one day will jst start snipping up a bunch of magazines bc they’re like EYES ARE COOL N THEY SEE EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :P n they’ll stick a bunch of them over their wall n then forget they was doing that n leap onto the next. quite a pattern. bt they love the vein thing a lot it makes them feel like a walking planetarium like they have their own constellations

sometimes jst doesn’t make sense. they’re honestly kind of strange. pops up in places like they suddenly materialised there n it’s like how did u get there where have u been when were u last seen are u ok. has the energy of an ancient deity frm deep in a mountain cave n an ambiguous forest sprite all at once..... talks shit honestly. abt anything n everything. sometimes outrageous. sometimes plain incoherent. like what are u talking about? i dnt kno. even i dnt kno sometimes.

luvs stick n pokes will let anyone tattoo whatever they want on them for the price of a gummy bear kindly placed onto their tongue n swallowed whole

has this obsession w being underwater w their eyes open luvs it. calls it their tadpole time. runs baths just to lie there blinking looking around n drifting her arms. best friends w the bottom of any local swimming pool n hs probably given it a quick kiss so it knows they’re bff’s n then got sick bc there’s sm germs in a public pool. says the kgb probably poisoned their oatmeal n r finally here to deliver on their promise n THAT’S why they got sick unrelated to the pool incident. what promise? noone knows.

unclear if they believe what they say or if they jst has a very expanded sense of humour where they nvr let on if they’re joking.... lines r blurred a lot..... 

loves excitedly shouting things. sometimes just screams at the sky bc they say it’s good to let the creatures in ur belly fly out every once in a while otherwise their wings get sore.

(drugs tw) still does an excessive amt of hallucinogens n it kind of shows. very bad fr their brain bt we’re going to ignore it.

dresses fun n strange n eccentric n careless. loves to experiment. does nt care abt what’s considered to be societally appropriate. living in their own world.

sleeps around a lot... jst doesn’t rly see sex as a big deal.... very free w themselves in that way..... sometimes greets their friends w a kiss on the lips they’re like awww :) kisses <3 when they run into them in the middle of the cereal aisle n then pulls away n suddenly breaks into a box tht has a free toy in it bc it’s a banana with googly eyes n that’s the best thing they’ve ever heard in their LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! n isn’t he so HANDSOME????? enchante indeed my good sir ;)... gives the toy a kiss too.

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

other groupies of the band: self explanatory a little.... i dnt have a name for the band yet bt all can b worked out..... i picture them as kind of. not that nice but like. there for a good time........ rock genre.... bit chaotic...... to say the least........ they dnt have to have come there w the band like nyla n the others they cld have been adopted in their time there.... whoever wld b wild n down fr a good time <3

chaotic trash goblin friends: idk what this title rly means it just came to me in a vision....... jst ppl tht r rly kind of off the rails n don’t care abt anything...... they r who nyla tends to mesh very well w......... they rly r living in their own world n by their own rules n they like ppl who do this too <3 inevitably they get up to no good n party far too much...... cld be angst to this if they enable each other’s bad habits...... world’s our oyster. opens my office door. let’s talk abt it.

nyla set up camp on their front lawn: maybe jst w a fold out chair. maybe w a literal pop up tent w someone else too. genuinely so bizarre of them bt that’s what we’re dealing with. they poke their head into the tent n nyla’s lying down crunching on a cracker crumbs over their tits n they just hold it out to them nt even fully consumed n are like hey polly want a cracker? :)

they responded to her craigslist ad: they posted one saying they cld cleanse their house of demonic energy bc they’re an all seeing eye in touch w the spirits. this is a lie. they came n waved sage around n did a little dance as they did it w bird sounds playing on a special cd they brought fr the occasion (had weird indistinct doodles over the case it ws brought in) n then ws like OOH! scary.... n jumped at something in the hall. they go in thinking maybe they’ve seen a ghost bt they just were startled by their own reflection in a mirror n is like. scary mirror placement...... might wna reconsider that........ they charge them merely 10 dollars fr their time n is like this was so fun we shd do it again some time :) also i think u have mould on ur bathroom tile! vanishes. they dnt recall them ever going to the bathroom.

came knocking asking for items for a garage sale: yes. u heard that right. they’re asking for ur muses things to set up their own garage sale. selling items that do not belong to them. they think this is a genius business strategy n don’t understand why ppl think this is so strange or why they cant just ask ppl to donate them things to sell bc hey they’re an entrepreneur? they even had a pencil behind their ear when they knocked on the door so why aren’t ppl taking their business seriously? probably got distracted several times trying to explain their pitch n chattered abt random other things instead.

honestly anything... fwbs... flings... good influence... someone who cnt stand the fact they’re barely coherent.... someone they stopped on the street one day n asked for their opinion on water beds.... we cn do literally anything. fling ur chara my way n we can talk.

[soundofseventeen]

13 Days of Christmas (Wen Junhui)

My hangover’s killing me so I didn’t really edit this...rip. Also, I really hate how things align sometimes.

Word count: 1526

“Hey, hey, hey, hey.”

“What Junhui?”

“How much do you love me?”

“Enough to hear what you have to say before I say no.” You tore your eyes away from your laptop, popping your neck and shoulders from staying still for so long. “So what’s up?”

“So I hear you’re going home for Christmas…”

“Don’t remind me.”

“And a little birdie told me you were looking for a potential date.”

“I’m gonna kill Soonyoung.”

“Not him, Jeonghan.”

“I swear, you guys gossip more than the elderly ladies in a retirement home. Besides, doesn’t he have his own relationship to worry about and how he’s supposed to afford the Polaroid he won’t shut up about.”

“He’ll find a way...but listen, if you’re still looking, I’m up for it.”

“Why would you wanna help me? I thought you were tired of that whole ‘we’re gonna end up realizing our feelings for each other once we move out here’ shit.”

“I mean, I am but kinda overheard you telling your mom the other day about a boyfriend who doesn’t exist.”

“And what’s in it for you if you do this?” You’d known Wen Junhui too long and too well to know he rarely helped you for things as big as this for no extra cost.

“Besides upping your dating cred -ow motherfucker, that hurt-” He rubbed his arm where you punched him, staring at him stone-faced. “Okay, so I want these shoes but they’re too fucking expensive and I’m not treating myself until I can afford to spend my money stupidly again...but you’d be a real lifesaver if you split the cost with me.”

“Deal. It’d be more painful if you were actually my boyfriend.” You paused, mulling it over. “Actually, if you make it so that I don’t have to go back next year, I’ll pay more for them.

*

So that’s how he managed to convince you to go home to your family’s house and pretend he was your boyfriend. It started off great. Your parents had said it was gonna be a formal gathering so Jun went and borrowed the ugliest Christmas sweater from Seungkwan and arrived with no remorse whatsoever, exclaiming in an outdoor voice that no one sent him a memo or anything like that and proceeded to take a champagne flute from one of your aunts nearby. You stared at him as lovingly as you could manage.

Wen Junhui had been your best friend for as long as you knew your multiplication, and even as you got older, you never saw him as anything more. And he thankfully, always felt the same way. While it never stopped your past mutual friends from throwing you into a closet and not letting you out until they saw you kissing, you knew your family was much worse about it. They often talked liked you were gonna get married someday and maybe raise a family and all it did was prompt you and Junhui to move far away from them to keep your friendship intact. So it seemed a little ironic that you guys showed up, pretending to be a couple in love.

Okay, that was your bad. You knew the way to get Jun to that level was to get him drunk. Not intoxicated enough that he’d be stupid and piss you off (not that you’d ever get him to that point. You’ve seen those circumstances from other people well enough.) But just enough for people to get the smell of alcohol on him to begin with (and for that, you apologized to him profusely and the only reason he agreed to that was because you offered to buy him the shoes.) A little part almost wished he could’ve been your boyfriend with the loving gazes he shot you and the way he held you close to him whenever he felt you needed saving. But then you’d remember it was Wen Junhui and then you’d to try not to make a face every time he kissed your cheek.

Your more pompous (and nosy!) family members herded you into a little corner, asking you if you really were dating him after so many years and for some reason, it delighted you to say yes, because Jun wasn’t exactly someone of social status. They had expected you to show up with some struggling to make ends meet and the fact that it was him, someone with an agenda to make a name for himself made their hypocrisy (and disgust at the person he currently was) jump out. 

The greatest part of the night was seeing him blatantly stealing the mistletoe under the doors and hiding them in nearby plants or just chucking them in the trash. The fact that it was embarrassing you just a little meant that the plan was actually working and with any luck, someone would be hesitant about inviting you to the New Year’s party. Your eyes widened when he tapped one of your uncles’ shoulders. This particular uncle, you always seemed to complain about because he was always right and everyone was wrong and it tended to cause tensions between everyone. They talked a little and then Junhui pulled out a mistletoe, turned around and then bent over, and you hand flew to your mouth as the shock and giggles enveloped you and then the little shit had the audacity to wink at you.

You hoped to someday turn tonight into a lesson for your family for being careful what they wished for. You loved Jun and you were thankful for him, but no amount of begging or anything for that matter could ever make you wanna date him. Not even when he diappeared into the bathroom for 15 minutes to puke all the alcohol he put into his system and constantly reminded you that owed him big time for this and how he managed to bust one of your least favorite cousins in a lie that had her glaring at him the rest of the night. After that, he mingled with everyone you were cool with to help sober him up.

“Hey, so I’m gonna need you to trust me for a moment,” he whispered in your ear.

“Why?”

“Can I kiss you? I know you have a thing against people doing it to you when they’re drinking…”

“Go ahead?”

“I need you to be sure. I mixed drinks and you know how I threw up…”

“Junhui, you brushed your teeth with one of my uncle’s spare toothbrushes and then put it back to teach them a lesson.” You understood when he raised the mistletoe over you and kissed you without a second thought. “You so owe me for this,” you mumbled against his lips, trying not to gag from the alcohol he still reeked of. 

“Forgive me but as your fake boyfriend, I’m supposed to sell the entire show that we’re dating.” He closed the gap between you again, bringing you closer. “I guess your uncle didn’t like me telling him to kiss my ass so I think he might be onto us.”

“I think a few people don’t like this idea anymore than we do.”

“Joke’s on them though, I’m getting new shoes out of this.” He smiled and you pouted.

“After this, I better get some compensation too.” He kissed you one last time before pulling away from you. “That’s not what I had in mind.”

The last thing he did was down the last of some vodka someone hid under the sink and screamed in everyone’s face how in love he was with you and how he planned to tattoo your name on him somewhere, took the mistletoe out of his pocket and bent over one last time before making his dramatic exit. Thankfully no one invited you back for New Year’s so you squealed once you were outside and spun him around which prompted him to throw up on your shoes and he promised he’d buy you a new pair. He spent the night on your couch and spent the following day moaning about his hangover and how he’d never do you another favor as long as he lived. 

As promised, when Christmas came, you went to his house to present him his pair of shoes as well as a hoodie for helping you out and you pushing him out of the way to get into the warmth that was his house. And he gave you a pair of shoes similar to those he ruined and a gift card to your favorite fast food chain at the foodcourt ...and the mistletoe he stole. He puckered his lips as a joke and you threw it at him, laughing.

He then slung his arm across your shoulder and thanked you for the gifts. “I say next year we actually find someone to date. I’m cringing just thinking about spending next Christmas like this with you.”

“I feel sorry for them. You’re actually the worst.”

“Says the one who needed a date to the party.”

“Says the one who offered his services.”

He stuck his tongue out at you. “I don’t want these shoes anymore. They’re ugly.”

[vivziepop]

I’m only going to say this once.

For the millionth time I’m seeing certain things regarding me popping up, first on twitter and now it’s found it’s way back into my tags here and tbh everytime it ticks me off more and more so I feel like tackling it ONE more time before letting it die and not saying anything about it. (Vivziepop Apology)

The only reason I feel like saying anything is because I honestly hurt every time I see accusations of things I morally and wholeheartedly detest.

I want to start off by saying, people enjoy finding reasons to dislike creators they WANT to dislike. I am definitely one of those artists, most reasons people find to excuse their gut feelings about me and cling onto like reasons to label me an ‘awful person’ usually pertain to blatantly false rumors, or twisted facts from YEARS ago. Or mistakes I made years ago that they just refuse to accept I’ve grown from.

 One involves lies about how I stole a character from an ex-abusive friend.

No I did not. That person was abusive and after we fell out he tried to post a false contract proving I had to credit them in everything I used the design I LEGALLY obtained. I posted the final contract proving this years back, I have since retired the character design and created something original from the concept I originated. It’s done, it was years ago. It was personal artist drama that got dragged into the public by a bitter abusive person. I regret MANY things about how I behaved back then, but that situation was forced on me, and seeing it brought up to this day when it happened so many years ago is honestly upsetting at times. That person was incredibly destructive in my life, we have gone separate ways. I don’t wish him any harm, but I don’t want ANY connection with him anymore. 

Second is the weird rumors that I sued Disney over Zootopia....

Do I even need to dignify this one? No? I never did this, why on earth would I ever do that. I was emotional over the title, I have since posted nothing but support and love for the movie, I have also explained in detail in past years WHY I was emotional about the movie, never that I had bitterness for or felt any legal right to the concept.

Third- the one most enraging to see. That I am transphobic/racist because TWO YEARS AGO I drew quick doodle fanart for a few controversial youtubers-one of which made a tasteless joke on their twitter.

Two years ago I was in the worst place in my entire life, it was a very intense political time for our country as well and I was finding comfort in hearing perspectives from all sides because I wanted to really see all sides to create my own opinions, I don’t believe in living in a bubble and I feel to make a stronger argument for your own opinions you must attempt to understand the opposing side so you can properly try to combat it, and I also admired the fact that two women were owning their own beliefs and speaking their mind-even if I disagreed at the time that was just very admirable to me AS a woman. I had only ever seen certain bits of content from them and thought they were pretty so I doodled them. I say this not to excuse the fact I did the fanart, but just to give some context as to why I felt compelled too AT THE TIME-also this is just based on my own recollection because honestly 2 years ago I feel I was an entirely different person and I can barely even recall it-this is just my guess based on how I remember feeling. I have done nothing but recover from my traumatic past since moving out here to LA, I have been slowly rebuilding my mental health and I feel like I’m finding -myself- again. I have been maturing and I have been finally overcoming the pain of my past and the abuse I’ve endured to create a real project, with incredible people and true friends. 

Back then I didn’t follow either of them on twitter so I didn’t see the insensitive jokes they made. I didn’t condone them at the time, and I DO NOT now. I wasn’t always the best at my words back then and I’m not always the best at being blindsided with accusations, especially that year-I was in a bad place and I was very emotionally lost/angry. I was dealing with a borderline lawsuit against a company that stole thousands from me (still too scared to speak about this sitch maybe someday I will), as well as dealing with intense personal loss regarding relationships. I am a human being, I can make mistakes, and I made A LOT of them in the past. I own that 100%. I can totally understand if I have left a sour taste in people’s mouths, we are all human and if you don’t know me personally and only see the dumb stuff I do online, I can’t control how I come off to people. I don’t watch or support these youtubers nowadays, because I did not like the opinions or behavior and rederic they were catering towards. I do not currently support that at all!

It’s just frustrating to be labeled a “bad person” by people who don’t know me.

Don’t you dare accuse me of things and actions that were not mine, don’t you dare accuse me of being things I am not. I have nothing but love, respect and support for the trans community, a good number of the Hazbin team is trans, the idea I’d ever invalidate them as people is abhorrent to me. I am the daughter of a Salvadoran immigrant and damn proud of it, most of my personal heroes are poc. I find things like BF in this day and age awful and I don’t condone it even for edgy jokes, that’s not something I personally find funny.

I don’t believe comedy is something that should ever be censored, but that doesn’t mean I think every dumb edgy joke is funny, I don’t. 

You can hate me if you want, you can think I’m not the glowing perfect creator everyone seems to expect people to be nowadays, I have made plenty of mistakes, I can be sarcastic, I can be kinda bitchy on bad days on social media, sometimes I make dumb jokes or mistakes online. Sometimes I have dumb opinions on things- EVERYONE does. But don’t drag up shit from 2 years ago like it’s relevant now, things I didn’t do. I’m not responsible for edgy jokes made by others.

I thank everyone for their support of my project, Hazbin Hotel is more then just me, it’s a team of insanely talented people, from varying walks of life, I hate that nowadays people feel this need to find everything wrong with a show’s team or it’s creator, like everyone can be responsible for each other at all times. I hate this guilt by association, or that you can know people as people and not always see eye to eye on everything. I’m someone who just wants to have people in my life who are real, and I know care about me. I want to help change hearts and minds with the stories I tell, and I want to give voices and jobs to people who might not get focused on usually, who are talented and deserve way more opportunity. I want to use my position and this show to bring fresh perspectives and voices to the industry- LGBT voices, poc voices, women’s voices! I’m not a perfect person, I could NEVER be, but I’m doing my best. I change every day, every year I get older, I get wiser.

If you don’t like me, or my show, that’s totally fine! But stop trying to get others to feel the way you do, and if you are someone who can turn on an artist without looking into the facts, checking dates or using your own mind, then I don’t know what to say to you. I just implore everyone to think for themselves, don’t just let someone dictate how you should feel.

I’m sorry for posting about something kind of serious, I just take this kind of thing seriously. I want the past to be the past, because my past in a thing I am trying desperately to escape, it is full of abuse, darkness, deteriorating mental health, embarrassing mistakes that haunt me, I used art to cope with my own budding sexuality and doodled weird things when I was much younger -who can say they didn’t do that? Haha! I have grown so much since being an artist whose life revolved around the internet and people’s opinions on it! I want to look towards the future, and it gets hard when people keep clawing me back into the past, like every mistake will just never go away. People want me to grow, but refuse to accept I have been growing and changing, and to those people I just say- it’s ok to not like me just cause. Power to you!

I also want to genuinely thank everyone for enjoying Hazbin, and if you’ve run into posts regarding my past and been upset by it, I sincerely apologize. The most heartbreaking thing for me is the thought I’m an awful person who doesn’t think certain people are valid has upset anyone who was enjoying the project I’m making. I just want to assure everyone who was upset that, no -I don’t think you, or anyone else is invalid, or that you don’t deserve support! Thank you for enjoying my project, it has become so much bigger then me, it has become something special for so many people on the team, and they deserve the love and support you give!

Love you all!

(EDIT: Don’t hate on people who just didn’t know about the situation and posted concern, while I don’t appreciate being labeled a bad person- I know some of these people are young and impressionable and have let harsher people turn their heads and dictate their opinion, don’t harass ANYONE over this or on my behave! You can inform them, but don’t give anyone a hard time for being upset or concerned due to people misleading them!)

(Edit-Edit: but if I do still see people state I support blackface(ew) like it’s fact, they’re getting an instant block because- fuck no.)

2019 EDIT:

So this bullshit is blowing up again and people seem incapable of taking the 5 seconds to find this post. so here it is again and this is the last fucking time.

I Guess I now have to add that any cringey art I drew is from 2012 when I was 19. It was legal then, it’s legal now (it was also tagged as being an inside joke? even back THEN). Do I think it’s strange? YEAH it’s cringey and I don’t like it anymore then you guys do, I was a dumb kid figuring my self out, but I have never drawn explicit nsfw or broken the law then or now. fucking stop, please.

I despise that people care more about a fictional character then an actual human being. If you are someone who feels it’s ok to accuse someone of being the worst thing a human being CAN BE without checking dates or acknowledging context, or ignoring that there are literally only a small selection of examples over the course of …what 12 years I’ve been online?? You are earning a block from me. Because I value myself more then to allow anyone who entertains that bullshit near me in this life.

Thanks.

Also to cover all bases- animation Homage and memes exist. If you guys think I stole things when they were either homage which is done by every animator under the sun (how many people do the akira bike slide frame by frame, or recreate scenes from movies or animes in cartoons??) intentionally to make a nod to something that inspired them- OR it was practice for fun as a meme-like how many people have recreated the carameldansen for fun. Get the fuck over yourselves with this “traced animation” bullshit. Grow up. If you think I steal animation because of the handful of shots within my multitude of work that were either a meme practice or homage, you will never understand animation with that attitude.

If you’ve noticed that I’ve gotten progressively madder about this sitch. It’s cuz now I’m being accused of being the worst thing a human can be over weird but legal art I did as a teen, and animation tactics that every professional and show is guilty of and is in no way a bad thing. Anyone who thinks these things hold any credible concern, you have earned my distain.

Ok did that cover it all? good? good.

[bxstiae]

HOW I RUN MY BLOG

SPEED: fluctuates on my mood. I’m relatively fast? like usually same day reply fast. sometimes it takes me a few days. know that the long it stays in my drafts, the longer i will take on it. my all time record is about 3 years. while granted it doesn’t take that long, don’t be surprised about it. best case scenario, it takes me a couple of weeks, i dont like having things fester. i also sometimes forget too! you are more than welcome to remind me if it seems like i have but please don’t make it a habit. in regards to response time on pms/discord -- short turnover rate. I usually respond to it within the hour. usually within seconds/minutes actually. if i am awake that is. unless im offline and in my happy place, i tend to log out of discord to get away from people when im overwhelmed. blog wise, i dont have him on my app. so messages are only when im on my laptop or have time to check on chrome mobile.  

REPLIES: i dont like drafting them. my dash is slow enough that i can scroll down to it. i will draft it though if i need to. length wise, im an avid writer. i write A LOT. they can get very lengthy at times. i write with a bit of prose -- that prose can get very HEAVY depending on my partners as well. i also format as well. i like heavier formatting without losing the quality of the writing. i dont like one-liners. you will see me with at least two paras or more. please know that i am dyslexic though when it comes to writing, and i have a bad habit of rereading my stuff after i post. so mistakes && errors are a thing for me. i try to catch it when i am rereading as im going through to format the posts. but sometimes things get missed. you are more than welcome to fix some if it is a bad spelling mistake ( better to ask first tho cause i spell with a brit keyboard -- and i specifically choose certain words to be spelt a specific way. )

STARTERS: when i post the starter call, any mutual ( && i really mean ANY of you ) can like it. this goes for if you follow me on multiple blogs. we interact already on one blog? by all means we can interact with one another on your other blog. but if you do, it gives me free reign to do whatever i want. look for my tags to see what i say too. they usually are a key factor in regards to my thought process. i try to get everybody done within reasonable time. dont worry i will never not make a mutual a starter if they like the call. i usually go for the first interaction/meeting with the muse though. if that doesn’t float your boat then you can message me about it. i normally don’t message people in regards to starters because A) im tired, B) i expect you to come to me.

INBOX: inbox is absolutely open to anybody! in fact, if i post a prompt, i ask that you send something in. even if we never interacted! im more versed into throwing the muse into a pre-established relationship. with the inbox, i will sometimes go to you because of that. i really do love to write, && the inbox is a perfect way to send something in without having any strings attached in regards to replies. like i said im an avid writer. i always want to write. sometimes people are slow and i get that. since im faster, i have no problem in doing inbox stuff for you to develop interaction ( aside from plotting ). best way to actually enjoy character interaction for me tbh. cause sometimes threading be hard okay?

SELECTIVITY: i am biased, i will say it now. i have preference over people i talk to ( who i consider my friends ), or people that i like. but that doesnt mean i will blatantly ignore you. people should know that if you talk to me, then the chances are i will give you more attention. sometimes i just click or vibe with people okay? in regards to following. i am on the heavy side of mutuals only and i prefer a slower dash. i give about a week for people to follow back, or ample enough time for them to follow. there will be some people that i will be fine if they arent mutuals though as i like their content. that being said, i try to be super fair to everybody. i give people an equal chance. if i follow you it means i want to interact with you ( there are super rare exceptions ). but go too long without interacting, then i will unfollow/softblock. im not a number for you. i have feelings. and, yes, i will, at random, unfollow those who either dont make me comfortable anymore, or i need time away from them. or im just not getting that vibe anymore. 

WISHLIST: see here && here for some stuff i want. i love his pokemon verse i have. i also love his FE verse i have as well. i have a FE3H AU as well but i will naturally throw him into FEH or FE3H for that verse. i have plotted with a friend in regards to an echoes verse as well. honestly. i just want a lot of stuff for him. i want more wolf interactions. i kinda favour his beast forme anyway. but i also want interactions with the language differences. there is a language barrier with him! but i want those interactions cause he understands you! i have that hc somewhere dug in my blog. gotta find it. other interactions? i want a midna to interact with. link && the links AU?? also what does a man gotta do around here to get people to discuss plots.

HONEST NOTE: if you think im an elitist, then find your way out of the door -- youre probably right and i dont want you here. ive been here for a really long time && i know what i want. all jokes aside though, im tired of people being intimidated by me for different reasons. some people think its my aesthetic ( when really im not that bad ). others are intimidated by the sheer amount of writing i do? like okay?? kindly fuck off please. i write for stress relief. i write to have fun. my idea of fun is writing a lot. if you have a problem with that then sorry but i dont want you here. i have a passion for my muses and if you dont want to hear it, then i dont have time for your complaining. theres an unfollow button. i have a journalism degree so... yea. but really. im just really tired okay. im actually a very sweet person and i wear my heart on my sleeve. anybody who knows me well enough can tell you that. i hate being ignored tbh, so if i find energy && time to like talk to you, at least acknowledge me by saying thank you. btw im not really that much of an an elitist -- i just LOOK like i have a hard shell, but im actually super soft and squishy.

Tagged by: nobody I stole from @pristinette​ Tagging: you do you fam. just @ me as per usual cause pretend i tagged you.

[gloves94]

The Munter [Paul McCartney] 1

Warnings: None Pairings: Paul McCartney/OC Summary: Sage O'Shea is a hardworking woman of the 1960's. A strange combination of brains and- well- Let's just say she is not your average beauty. Au contraire she's a Munter. John bets Paul that he wouldn't dare date such a monstrous woman. Despite his best judgement Paul agrees and takes John on his daring bet. Will Paul be able to see Sage's true beauty? What's going to happen when poor Sage finds out about their nasty bet? Whether the results are pretty or not- one thing I can say is love works in mysterious ways. Paul McCartney x OC *Comments and reviews are appreciated.* *Character development* *ALL EVENTS IN THIS STORY ARE FICTIONAL*

My fanfiction: M A S T E R L I S T

1. Meet the Beatles

Monday November 4th, 1963

The lights were bright and blinding. The Royal Command Performance was tonight, and it had sold out. People of all types, sexes and classes stood as this evening's audience. Women in the audience sobbed and pulled their hair, a sexual madness being liberated from their souls.

In their own private section sat: Queen Elizabeth II, Lord Snowdon and Princess Margaret. Even the British Monarchy had bothered to step down from their royal duties to witness this evening's performance.

The boys were feeling lively and they did what they knew they did best: they made music.

Ringo Starr sat with his drums his arms sore from keeping a lively beat up, head cheerily bobbing from side to side. George Harisson stood coolly holding his guitar, strumming along, a wide grin making way to his face; he still couldn't come to terms of where he was standing tonight. Paul McCartney sang along to "I Saw Her Standing There", tapping his foot and slightly bouncing as he played his bass. And John Lennon, well-

"Will the people in the cheaper seats clap their hands? And the rest of you, if you'll just rattle your jewelry!" he shouted wittily mid performance.

The crowd shouted even louder. On the bright side the thing about being blinded by the lights and deafened by adoring shrieks is that you can't even think about being nervous.

Just what was this madness beginning to unfold?

Little did they know that it was only the beginning of Beatle-mania...

The concert was a wild success. Even the Queen sent her congratulations and seemed pleased by the night's performance. So did the crazed fans that chased after the get-away car when the band exited through the stage's backdoor.

The after party followed. John was having the time of his life messing with some old geezers that had arrived at the lavish penthouse party they threw. A pair of long legs that strolled in caught his attention.

Of course, nothing his wife would ever know about…

Paul sat coolly in a love seat two cookie-cutter blonde models wrapped around his arms, laughing at his lame jokes and stroking his chest. George was drunk as a skunk and was uncharacteristically laughing loudly at some joke that Ringo made, at the same time he stuffed his face with a handful of finger sandwiches. Ringo was in the zone, the life of the party like always, cracking jokes, popping expensive bottles of champagne and dancing the night away. Nearby was an annoyed waiter who would've rather be asleep.

The only thing keeping him awake at this late hour were the colorful bills that John kept stuffing in his pockets.

The waiter looked at growing zeros on the tab, which only continued growing before Ringo signed off on it. At this rate he'd never have to work another day in his life!

Little did they know that the four of them were about to receive a foul wake-up call.

xxx

Brian Epstein, the Beatle's manager, stood tall. He was a no non-sense type of serious businessman. He flickered a minuscule speck of dust that rested on his shoulder of his clean suit at 8:00 AM sharp.

They were late. Of course, they were, they were always late. Even Paul, who was usually the most noble out of the four, was late.

He had been phoning their homes all night and had been unable to find any of them. In the process he had even awoken Cynthia, John's hot-tempered wife, who was not in the slightest pleased. It was after calling all of the five-star hotels in the city of London that he was finally able to get ahold of them. Of course, all four of them were together.

"You're late!" Epstein barked angrily as the fabulous four finally strolled inside of the room- about thirty minutes after his wake-up call. Ringo was holding onto his blistering headache he stumbled from side to side as he walked in still drunk. George seemed to be semi-composed. He wore dark sunglasses in order to hide his sleepy eyes and carried a bag of English muffins for breakfast. He was still wearing last night's clothes. Paul looked almost dead from lack of sleep his usually neatly trimmed hair was messy and sticking up in all directions. A shameless trail of hickeys branded his neck. John stomped in angrily not understanding why their manager had taken the time to phone them all up and had snitched to his wife on where he had actually spent the night.

"Do we have to do this so early?" groaned Ringo as he rubbed his tired eyes and threw himself down on one of the rotating chairs on the dull meeting room they were currently in.

The others did the same.

"Oi, Georgie what are ya havin'?" John said rolling his head from the sofa seat and hungrily eyeing the English muffin the handsome Beatle was about to stuff into his mouth. He paused for a moment and the slightest grin made way to his face.

"Not Paul, that's for sure," he said teasing as he glanced at the purple bruises on his friend’s neck.

Paul's hand reached for his neck and he covered the love bites from the previous night. He flashed George an irritated look. John laughed and persisted on asking for a muffin. George retorted that heshould've picked up muffins instead of going home to change clothes and receive a scolding from his wife. Ringo continued to complain-

"Enough!"Brian snapped on his last nerve.

"I swear, the four of you. Just like children..." he shook his head on the brink of losing his mind.

'And their career is barely launching off...'he rubbed his temples stressed out.

There was a long table in the empty meeting room. The four men sat on one side of the table facing their manager and friend.

"If you are wondering why I have gathered you here on this fine morning-" he said before violently ripping open the blinds of a window allowing a flash of white sunlight to fill the room. All men but George flinched at the brightness of the unusually sunny day in England.

"It's because all four of you are completely out of control!"

Paul was about to protest, but Brian remained rambling.

"I know you are excited. Your careers are taking off, but you gotta remain in line. Don't lose control. Don't fall into vices so early in the game," he said roughly scolding his band. "And you know what else is out of control? Your finances!"

This time none of them complained, it was true.

"You're stirring hurricanes in mugs!" George protested annoyed.

"Yeah- what's the big deal? We'll just draw more from the bank-" Ringo said casually.

"And this is exactly why we have a problem," Brian sighed, shaking his head. He feared that if they continued spending and acting this way- well, their fame and fortune would be short lived. He would never forgive himself if that happened. Then again, he'd also be unemployed.

"So- all of you are here this morning because we are having interviews. We will be hiring an assisting accountant to help you four with your finances (and teach you about how to use your money)."

The Beatles tidied up a bit and fixed their appearance ready for the interviews. The first interviewer that came in was a man that could've easily been Paul's grandpa. John didn't even give him a moment.

"Next!" Paul shouted abruptly.

"Yeah, if we wanted a porker around here we'd go to the butcher's instead! Oink! Oink!" John snorted before bursting out in a fit of giggles and high fiving Paul.

The other sniggered like school children. The man gasped, apparently, he was a highly renowned retired professor from Oxford and had just been compared to a swine. "Well I never-!" the man gasped and scurried out of the room with his folders.

"Zip it! Lennon! This is not an audition. These people are professionals!"

Brian scolded John and the others and barked out that they were to be respectful. Other professionals came in. They all showed promise and years of experience. None caught the men's attention. It was then that the first woman came in her name was Dinah Davis. She seemed competent and was an average looking woman with years of experience. But she had something that none of the other candidates did... Two very big assets.

The Beatles kept a complete silence as she spoke. Brian eyeing them carefully, he was waiting for it to come- the snarky comment, the mean joke.

It was then that George passed a note to Paul. Paul read it and smirked, then he wrote something on it and passed it to John.

"Hired Ms. Double D," John said blatantly.

The woman ran out of the room sobbing.

Brian warned John not to objectify any of these hardworking women. He was threatened that if he didn't keep his trap shut, bad things would come to him. John could be such a swine sometimes. “What! Those are her initials! I don’t see why she took it so hard.”

More came and went, but none were successful. Until one finally stole their hearts.

A red heel clicked as it stepped inside of the small office. The sound resounded Ringo's ears and he jumped in his chair standing up erect. George's eyes caught sight of a long leg and a mini skirt. John's eyes trailed from the bottom of that heel all the way up to the plumped cleavage she was showing off. Paul almost lost his balance as he leant forward over the table head over heels. The woman before them could've been a model She was straight down the definition of sexy.

She looked almost like she could be Bridgette Bardot's sister, a tall, blonde, bombshell with popping red lips. Paul smoothly covered his hickeys with his palm and flashed her the boyish sly smile he was infamous for, and George removed his sunglasses blinking at the harsh sunlight as he did.

She hadn't even introduced herself when John shouted "Hired!"

Brian rolled his eyes, "She hasn't even introduced herself!"

"That comes later. Over dinner, perhaps?" Paul added with a wink.

The woman before them giggled and handed Brian her curriculum vitae.

"Isabel Murdock," he read the title. In her resume he observed some experience and recommendations, but nothing out of this world. Most of it consisted on modeling jobs, there was nothing in accounting or finance. He looked at the way that the men were hungrily looking at the woman and the flirtatious looks she was giving them back. This was a bad idea. This woman was completely under qualified and she had gotten hired on the spot over professors from Oxford because Lennon was thinking with his boner.

Brian sighed. He rubbed his temples in frustration. So many professionals had come and gone, and they were going to settle, for her. He didn't know what to do. And so, he prayed for a miracle. He looked up at the dirty ceiling pleading to his deity for a sign, anything, or anyone that could take care of this issue.

His prayers were answered, and his miracle stormed in the shape of a whirlwind of a door slam and flying papers up on the air. His eyes snapped down back to reality and he saw a woman on her knees struggling to grab all of her scattered papers, security attempting to hold her back. Half of her dress was soaking wet and her hair was a tangled mess.

"Miss! You are late, no more interviews," one of the guards said escorting her out.

"Wait-" Brian called. He looked at the woman's panicked face.

"Let her in. Show us what you've got darlin', yes?" he said carefully. Could this be the miracle that he had asked for?

Isabel, the tall blonde, who stood in the middle of the room hands on her tiny waist brought a hand to her face to hide her cruel laughter.

"T-Thank you," the shy woman said coyly. Terribly embarrassed after having faceplanted in the initial second of her interview.

Ringo averted his eyes and pretended not to look at the woman. George attempted to fight every muscle on his face but failed and held a cringing expression. Paul's eyes went wide in what he couldn’t decide to be shock or horror and John's mouth was blatantly ajar. For the first time in what seemed to be forever he had gone mute. How was it possible for someone to look like that?

John could’ve sworn the ugliest woman in all of London was standing before him.

She was the fitted definition of a Munter it was her.

She was a Munter,word origin from the word monster. She was a woman of such hideous physical appearance that one would rather scour one’s eyes out than snatch any glimpse of her.

The woman that had just come in had bushy dark brown hair, her skin was stained with faded freckles, she wore her face bare and nude and had a pair of thick, massive circular glasses which hid her eyes from any prying ones. Paul cringed at her eyebrows which were thick, hairy, bushy almost like a dangerous caterpillar. A part of him was expecting it to jump at him. And to top it all she was dressed like Ringo's grandmother!

Amongst other flaws...

"Good-good afternoon," she managed bashfully.

"My name is Sage O'Shea," she said meekly before the Beatles. She could feel her ears burning she didn’t know if it was due to the embarrassment or due to the presence of the four really handsome men before her. The model standing next to the short woman looked down at her with apathy. There was no absolute way that she was getting this job.

She spoke about her resume, and how she had graduated as the top of her class and proceeded to explain what her experience was and how she had previously worked as an assistant and accountant for the owner of a local clothing store for some years until it closed down.

John visibly cringed at her appearance. Paul raised both of his brows in horror at her looks 'Had she ever looked at herself in a mirror?’ He thought shallowly.

"We'll I'd say our decision has been made, yes lads?" Brian said smiling proudly at the woman wearing the bulky sweater that deformed her. The dirty water that had splashed her only made her appearance worse. She was perfect for the job. She had the brains and she wasn't what you would consider a "looker" meaning that there would be absolutely no distractions.

"It seems so," Paul said through a thin, impolite smile.

"Yeah- Ms. Murdoch welcome to the team," John clapped his hands a wide grin on his face. Isabel flipped her perfect, golden hair over her shoulder and smiled with her perfect Miss Universe lips. The other one took in a deep breath her knees shaking slightly. She looked at the faces of the four men sitting in front of her with horror. She reallyneeded this job…

In the eyes of the handsome men, she was invisible.

Of course they wouldn’t notice someone like her…

Without another word she quickly scurried out of the room. She was outside of Abbey Road studios when she collapsed on the cold front steps no longer being able to stand up. Tears immediately poured out of her eyes like rivers down her flushed cheeks. The day she had had. Waking up late, running to the interview, being robbed of her breakfast on the way, getting splashed by a passing car, tackled by security and then collapsing in front of four of the most important musicians of the day.

What was she to do now? What would her life be like?

She knew that she wasn't pretty enough to marry and what had been the whole point of all her efforts of her being the number one in her class if no one would hire her? This had been her fifth interview and still there was nothing. What would she tell her mother? What was she going to do? And with the rent coming up...

She clenched her fist as she furiously wiped her tears. It was always the same.

Anger boiled in the pits of her stomach. That other woman...

Despite having zero experience, she had gotten the job on the spot, just for being pretty. The situation was infuriating. It wasn't fair...

It was then that she heard shift footsteps and suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be on my way security," she answered automatically sniffling, furiously wiping away her hot tears.

"Wait," It was Brian Epstein.

He kindly pried his eyes away from the hideous woman. "Oi, we're not done with you," he said placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

They returned upstairs. Sage kept on whispering apologies for her tears as she wiped them from her red, puffy, face. She stepped in before Brian. Even more embarrassed and nervous than the first time.

"Very well then," Brian clapped his hands together.

"I think we've decided that we will be hiring both Ms. Murdoch, and Ms.-" He glanced at the brunette expecting an answer.

"We have made a decision?" John scoffed under his breath to George who was sitting next to him. "He practically decided to bring in that horrid thing!" George allowed an amused snort to escape his nose.

"O'Shea, Sage O'Shea," she repeated her name. "Ah, we have an Irish woman amongst us," Brian mentioned in an attempt to alleviate the awkward tension in the room. The mousy woman simply shrugged not liking the attention she was receiving. She wasn’t Irish and didn't even bother in correcting him.

"So, since we will have two assistant accountants, I think it's best that we split up accounts, two and two? How does that sound? One of you takes two of the boys; the other takes the other two-"

"Oi-Yeah, I'll have the lush one?" John called out barbarically in front of both of them. Isabel simply allowed a charming laugh to flirt with John. His words felt like daggers digging into Sage's skin. She crossed her arms over her chest feeling even more insecure. For a moment she hesitated in whether she should even take the job or not. So far, the work environment did not seem inviting in the least.

"John!" Brian hissed dangerously with scolding eyes. Not that John even cared. He simply mouthed an annoyed 'what?'

Paul nodded, his eyes fixed on the blonde "Second that."

"Not fair," Ringo muttered under his breath annoyed.

"I guess it's settled then; I'll keep an eye on John and Paul's accounts, and- what was your name? And Serg over here will take George and Bingo's," she smiled and clapped her hands. "It's Ringo," he coughed loud enough for her to hear. He was insulted. "Right, Dingo," the blonde absentmindedly repeated his name wrong, again. No one seemed to notice or even bothered correcting Isabel from calling Sage or Ringo by the wrong name. It didn't seem to matter to them. Even Sage didn't have the spine to stand up to the beautiful woman after John’s terrible comments. Ringo slightly frowned.

Brian went over some of the details for the schedule in which the women would work and what their accounting, mentoring and assistant duties consisted on. The Beatles introduced themselves to the women, Paul charmingly kissing Isabel's hand and awkwardly nodded in Sage's direction. John didn't even introduce himself to Sage! Only George and Ringo had the decency of doing it like proper human beings. Then again, they were going to be the one's working with her. Then they left.

Both women signed some official documents and Brian reminded them how lucky they were. He had to step out of the room to make some copies leaving just Isabel and Sage alone in the office room.

Sage sat slouched over, with her nose buried in some of the papers that Brian had given them. She pretended like Isabel wasn't sitting next to her towering in height, grace and beauty.

"Listen, I don't know what you pretend you are doing," Isabel said leaning back on her chair. Sage only looked at her with her eyes wide.

"It's obvious that this is going to be a competition and if I were you I'd give up now, before things get ugly. Uglier than you that is!" Isabel laughed cruel. Savoring every bit of her mean taunting.

Sage remained composed. The taunting wasn't anything new to her. Isabel wasn’t the first bully she had met. Sage knew she hadn’t been blessed with the gift of beauty and damn did people make sure that she was aware of that fact. "What? Don't tell me you don't even have the spine to retort something, anything clever, please?" the words rolled off her tongue in a bored tone.

Deciding on being the bigger person Sage bit her tongue.

"Sticks and stones might break my bones, but words will never break me," she said lamely. Just further igniting Isabel's pleasure. She prayed that Brian would return back to the room just so that Isabel could quit her provocations and she'd be safe again.

"Who taught you how to say that? Your mummy?" She proceeded pressing all of the red trigger buttons.

"It's not my fault that you're under qualified and must take out your insecurities and anger out on me," she said in a calm tone exhaling a sigh. It was a simple non-threatening phrase, but it was just enough to send Isabel over the edge. Which was something that Sage had not intended to do-

"Underqualified?" she coughed in disbelief. "Are you implying that I'm some sort of gold-digging slag?"

The mousy woman blinked twice perplexed.

"Hey, you said it, not me," Sage raised both of her eyebrows in amusement before shaking her head and turning back to her documents.

"Well, if I were you I'd mind my own business!" Isabel snapped. "And I'd wax that horrid mustache off your horrid face. The Dalí look has been out for years," she said pleased with her petty insult.

Sage's hand insecurity reached for the edges of her lips. Isabel sniggered as the other woman glared.

For different reasons, each with their own personal agenda, both decided to take the job.

xxx First: [here] Next: 2. 

[asarahworld-writes]

living their fantasy

AO3

Notes: Eliza/Lacey belongs to @fist-it-out

“Hello, gorgeous!”

Addison couldn’t help blushing slightly as her boyfriend slid into the hard cafeteria chair beside her.  “How was the physics test?”  Zed and Eliza answered at the same time:

“If I wasn’t already undead, it would have killed me,” Zed moaned dramatically.

“Easiest thing I did all semester.”  Eliza rolled her eyes.  “Except maybe Lacey.”

Addison snorted, jabbing Zed in the stomach as Bucky and the Aceys entered the cafeteria. “Ow,” he grunted, before noticing where she was pointing.  “Speak of an Acey,” he nodded towards the cheer squad.

“Wait, Zed, don’t wave her over.  Zed, I’m serious, stop.”  Eliza smacked her best friend’s arm down.

“Ow,” Zed repeated.

Thankfully, for Eliza, Lacey hadn’t noticed the corner table.

“Have you two gone on that date yet?”  Eliza hurriedly changed the topic.

Addison looked from Eliza to Zed.  “What date?” Bonzo grinned, saying something Addison didn’t quite catch.  Zed muttered something under his breath, too low for the humans to hear.

“You mean you haven’t told her yet?  And I’m late to lunch specifically to give you time so we could freak out together!” Bree’s voice came from behind Addison, and she whipped around.

“Are you guys up to something?”

Zed made a face, before turning his attention back to his girlfriend.  “Addison,” he said.  He paused, then easily jumped onto the table.  “Addison!”  This time, her name was announced to the cafeteria.  The room fell silent, a hundred pairs of eyes locked onto the zombie. Zed’s expression flashed – eyes wide, like a deer caught in the headlights of a car, - before regaining his confidence.  “Would you do me the honour of going out with me tonight?”

She nodded. “Yes,” she whispered.

Zed spun on the table.  “She said Yes!”

There was little to no reaction from the rest of the student body, not that Zed or Addison cared.

“What kind of date are we talking about?  The mash isn’t until next week.”  That didn’t leave many options; most businesses, though no longer blatantly discriminatory, were still anti-zombie.  Zed just shrugged.  “How am I supposed to know what to wear?  You’re talking to the girl who wore pastels to a mash.”

Zed smiled. “You’ve got Bree.  And Eliza and Bonzo, if they want.”  Bonzo grinned, giving Addison an enthusiastic thumbs up from down the table.  Eliza smirked.

“Does everyone know what our date is, except me?”  Addison said, half-jokingly.

Bree and Eliza walked Addison home after school.  Eliza was only slightly hesitant about being in the human part of town and Addison had assured her that her father would be more than willing to drive her home.  “He’s done it for Zed a few times.  Look, Bree’s gotta go home too.  We’ll drop you off in Zombietown first, okay?”

Eliza looked at them warily.  “Look. As much as I hate to admit this, I trust you.  Both of you. But I am not riding alone with the chief of zombie patrol.”  The other girls nodded in agreement.

Once they were in Addison’s room and had gotten a start on their homework, Eliza and Bree began digging through the closet.  Eliza automatically pushed past anything that was soft pink or baby blue. “Don’t you own any other colours?”

“There’s mints,” Bree said, unhelpfully.  Eliza mimed puking.

“It’s all too… Seabrook.  I’ve seen movies, not all humans wear the same three colours all the time.”

“Yeah, but that’s all they have in Seabrook.  Unless you’re going to lend me your coveralls, E,” Addison laughed.

“No, but we can take your clothes back to Zombietown and dye them.  Not too Seabrook, but not too zombie either.” Eliza pulled open the dresser.  “Do you even own jeans?”  Addison opened the bottom drawer.  “Addison, everything in here is blue, green, or pink.”

“Pink jeans,” Addison countered.

Eliza rolled her eyes.  “That makes such a huge difference,” she said sarcastically.

“If you really hate my wardrobe that much, I guess we’ll just have to go shopping.” Addison ran out, returning in a moment with a plastic card.  “If we hurry, we’ll be able to get same day shipping.”

In the end, Addison’s impromptu shopping spree ended up with two pairs of black jeans, gray jeans, and a gray leather jacket (and a black one, Addison definitely noticed Eliza eyeing it).

The packages were guaranteed delivery within three hours.  Bree had brought nail polish with her and began carefully painting Addison’s fingernails.  Once the second coat had dried, she turned to Eliza, who begrudgingly held out her hand. It was a slow process.

The doorbell rang.  “Eliza, stay. Your nails aren’t dry yet and I am not doing that again.”  Bree was downstairs and back in a flash, staggering under the pile of boxes.  “Oh my god, this is so exciting!”

“Yeah, it kinda is,” Eliza agreed.  Addison nodded, going straight for the packages.  She quickly found her outfit for the night and went into the en suite to change.

“Are you ready to be dazzled?”  She called out.

The gray leather jacket over a mint sweater and black jeans looked stunning.  Bree had braided Addison’s hair so that it went over her scalp like a headband.  It was nearly seven o’clock when they allowed Addison downstairs, where Missy and Dale fawned over their daughter’s look.  Addison could tell that they were faking, a little, but it felt nice that she was longer the one pretending.

The doorbell rang exactly on the hour.  Eliza and Bree brought Addison back upstairs, while Dale opened the door and played the part of concerned father.  Addison could hear Zed playing along and rolled her eyes at the theatrics of it. Missy came up to escort Addison to her date, with the girls winking conspiratorially behind her back.

“Hey gorgeous.”  Zed winked. Addison almost replied, ‘don’t you mean delicious’, before remembering that her parents were right behind her.

“Hey.” Zed looked pretty good himself, wearing the light pink suit jacket over a green tee shirt with dark pants.

“Home by nine, Mister Necrodopolous,” Dale warned them before they left.  Addison rolled her eyes, but Zed nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

“So where are you taking me?”  Addison was practically vibrating beside him.

“It’s called a surprise, Addy.”

The young couple walked the empty streets of Seabroook, hands clasped tightly together. Zed led his date to the Light Garden, empty but still brightly illuminated.

“We haven’t had much time alone lately, I thought it might be nice to do a picnic,” he whispered.  “We’ve got pizza, some brown pops, and brains in a can.  Actually, I’m joking about that last part.  It’s just pizza.  Cold pizza by now.”

“I love cold pizza,” Addison giggled.

“So do I.” With that, Zed stole the pizza slice that she had just sunk her teeth into and finished it off.

“Do that again, zombie.  The only thing more deadly than my high kick-”

“-is your low kick,” Zed finished, laughing.

“No one gets between me and pizza.  Not even my, my boyfriend.”  Addison grinned as she tripped over the word.  Her boyfriend.  Her boyfriend, Zed.  Zed, her boyfriend, who knew her parents, who loved her, who took her out on nice dates and to zombie mashes.  “This is perfect.  Thank you.”

“You deserved to go on a real date, Addy.  Movies and long walks in the park… I hope you know that I want that for us.”

Zed was looking into her eyes, the last of the pizza suddenly forgotten.  Addison smiled, breathless, twisting a napkin around her drying fingers.  He was leaning towards her, lacing his fingers through hers as the napkin fell to the ground.  Zed felt her smile when they finally kissed; Addison turned her head away slightly, but his lips didn’t leave her skin, instead they moved with her and trailed up her cheek. Addison inhaled deeply, the scent and taste of Zed filling her senses.

“I love you, Addison,” Zed said softly.

“Zed,” Addison’s smile shone brightly, “I love you, too.”

She kissed him again, or he kissed her first.  It didn’t matter.  Just a girl and a zombie, living their fantasy.

[zip001]

Meeting Again in the Vale (A Rock Opera)

Meeting in the Vale

[Quiet Isle]

There were just twelve of them, hardened yet broken men, that the Elder Brother found in the cesspool known as King’s Landing. Unlike the charlatans who promised everlasting salvation, a million virgins, a million dollars, Elder Bro simply said that he brought them to the Quiet Isle so that they could find some peace.

Literally. They did not speak, except at their bi-weekly one-on-one sessions with Elder Bro.

At first, Sandor lashed out, trying to rile up Elder Bro, cursing at him, even pushing and then striking him when nothing seemed to wipe that smile from his face. But the still imposing man refused to fight back. Elder Bro merely stepped aside or deflected his blows.

After Sandor tired himself out, Old Bro would smile and say “The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.”

To stop Elder Bro from spouting off more new age mumbo jumbo shit, Sandor eventually broke and told him, not everything, but enough.

When I was a child, I saw a fleeting glimpse, out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look, but it was gone. I cannot put my finger on it now. The child is grown, the dream is gone.

Old Bro heard snippets - mainly stuff about his older brother, the people he hurt and some he killed in cold blood, and his short stint with her runty wolf bitch sister. And finally about the Little Bird, who sang and flew, hopefully far, far away.

While his silent brothers spent their time hiking, tending to the small vegetable garden, and/or observing the wildlife for the few visiting scientists, Sandor isolated himself and chose to do the hardest and most grueling labor, countless hours alone clearing brushes away from the conservatory field station and digging ditches for the refuse. He worked at the crack of dawn and returned when the sky turned inky black.

Elder Bro admonished him many times that the he and the other brothers could take turns with him, that he was not here to serve penance, that he did not have to punish himself for the things he done nor for the things he did not do.

“Would your Little Bird want you to suffer?”

He wanted to protest - she was not his, not even in his dreams, never was and never will be.

Yet Elder Bro was not wrong either - nay, the gentle little bird would not want him to suffer.

[The Eyrie]

There were moments when she forgot herself.

It was easy when she was laughing with Randa and Myra as they went hiking. She felt so bright and light, seemingly without a care in the world.

The girls were yodeling back and forth, each trying to outdo the other and laughing at all their attempts. Randa could yodel the longest without taking a breath. Mya sniggered that it was due to her large bosoms. Maybe Mya was right that Randa’s lungs, like her huge heart, were as big as her boobs, Alayne mused, but she had to also agree with Randa that Mya’s loud yodeling eerily sounded like the brayings of her mules. Seeing a blue bird flying, Alayne mimicked its song in her yodel, brightly trilling the high notes.

Both of her friends quickly exclaimed how she sounded exactly like a bird.

“You win again, little bird I am going to call you going forward,” Mya laughed.

And suddenly she remembered. She remembered a large rough man who called her a pretty little bird, who made her sing for him, who protected her, who told her the hard truths. If he were still alive, he would have told her what she should know and should not forget, that she was not free. Sansa was still in a cage, albeit a filled cage.

Right now I feel like a bird caged without a key Ev'ryone comes to stare at me with so much joy and reverie They don't know how I feel inside Through my smile I cry.

Recovering quickly, she giggled and hugged Mya and Randa, and they returned back to the Eyrie.

That night when Petyr interrogated her on her whereabouts, telling her how much her poor sick cousin Sweetrobin missed her so much that he became almost hysterical, she knew that his interrogation was a test, a test to see whether she was lying to him. He had his men stationed pretty much everywhere and where he did not have men, he probably had cameras and drones following her every move.

[Gates of the Moon]

At first, it made no sense to him.

He understood that it was all about the Benjamins- that the fruits and vegetables harvested from the garden was far from being to enough to feed him and his brothers. The wild animals on the island were mostly endangered. Every now and then Elder Bro would leave with one of the brothers and came back with larger coolers of meat and a lot of weed.

Cash in! Cash in now honey Cash in now Cash in now Cash in now honey Cash in Miss Smith Cash in now!

Why did Elder Bro choose to take him, of all the brothers, away from the Quiet Isle to this mansion with such a hokey name at the foot of the mountain? Any of the other brothers could have easily carried the rather light bushel of Meyer lemons and seedless Bearrs limes (sweeter and juicier than key limes). Although in the past, he had provided security for manses like this, with names just ostentatious, Casterly Rock and Red Keep, Sandor didn’t fit in with this type of crowd - he did not hobnob, just could not do small talk with the bejeweled society women. And his ugly scarred mug would not bring in large donations from Elder Bro’s wealthy patrons, but instead would scare them away.

Before they walked up to the guarded gate house, Elder Bro stopped and said, “Go ahead and ask.”

“Why?”

The older man smirked, “You will see.”

After being granted access by the guard, the next person they met was a buxom woman who opened the door and blatantly ogled him and Elder Bro.

“My, my, what big arms you both have.”

‘Fuck!’ Did Elder Bro meant to pimp him out for some kinky three-some? Was this some sick joke? He never asked the other brothers what they did when they left the Quiet Isle with Elder Bro. Mainly because of the silence thing, but frankly he knew how the world worked, even for someone like Elder Bro, who was savvy enough to know how to work the system. He could sell ice to the polar bears!

Then Sandor heard a light slapping sound and her voice.

“Randa, oh behave.”

‘It was her, the Little Bird.’

Even with her red hair dyed brown, he would recognize her eyes anywhere.

Sandor noticed her eyes widen slightly in recognition. But then she acted as if she never met him before and smiled welcomingly at them both, graciously ushering them in and introducing Myranda, who lived in this mansion with her father Nestor Royce, and herself as Alayne, one of Myranda’s guests for the summer.

After they deposited the produce in the kitchen (Randa did a rather loud stage whisper that the kitchen staff was going to bake the largest lemoncake for her best friend who had such a sweet tooth), Elder Bro brought out the bundled sage sticks from his bag and started the sage smudging process. At the corner of his eyes, he saw her looking at him in concern as chanting Elder Bro burnt the sage sticks in two large abalone shells (he was no longer deathly afraid of such small flames). Carrying the smaller bowl, he walked dazed behind Elder Bro, who, in turn, followed the two striking women as they weaved their way from room to room, each room had one or more armed guards.

The older man blessed each of the rooms with burning sage, but for one of the large guest bedroom suites. Alayne, she was called that, stopped Elder Bro from crossing the threshold of that room, the only room that was vacant.

“If any room needs to be smudged, it would Petyr’s room!” exclaimed Myranda.

“Father does not like anyone in his room when he is not there.”

‘Petyr! Of course, it had to be him who stole her away!’ He remembered the way that man stared at her.

Sandor stumbled and almost dropped his shell full of smoldering sage. But in his attempt to hold onto the shell, he inadvertently brought the shell towards his face and deeply inhaled the smoke. He could not see, could not breathe and could not stop coughing. There was so much smoke.

The smoking shell was quickly taken from him, and he was gently lead away. He found himself alone with her in Petyr’s bathroom. She was wiping his face with a cool wet cloth, as if she did this a million times before. Sandor could breathe again, could smell her light citrus scent.

He tried to still her hand by grabbing it.

“Little Bird,” he hoarsely whispered.

Sansa stopped wiping his face but did not respond. She acted as if she did not hear him but slightly tilted her head towards the bathroom vent as she proceeded to fill a small glass with water. A small camera!

“Sir, Miranda called an ambulance.”

He was no Sir! She knew that!

“I’m fine... There is no need.”

She efficiently handed him the glass. Nothing tasted as sweet as the cool water she gave him. And she did not even waver when she blocked the camera with her body and quickly slipped silver wedding bands on his ring finger and her ring finger.

It took all of his will to not yell at her, shake her hard, trying to stop whatever mad scheme she was planning. They were all in danger. He knew that - she knew that. Sandor has a feeling that Elder Bro and her friend knew as well as he could see them both huddled at one corner of Petyr’s room. Myranda looked agitated while Elder Bro looked quite concerned. They were two men and two women with sage sticks against many heavily armed men!

“You almost fainted after you inhaled the smoke - it is just a precaution. Smoke inhalation can cause serious respiratory damage. They need to make sure that you are all right.”

Sandor thought they would be surely stopped but the guards just stepped back when he was wheeled into the ambulance as she held his large hand in her tiny hand. Holding his hand, she kept on saying that everything would be fine as she got into the ambulance as his wife, as they drove to the hospital, as he got admitted, as they were reunited by very relieved Myranda and Elder Bro.

And she was right! Everything was fine at the double wedding of Randa and Elder Bro and of him and his little but formidable bird.

Hey little sister, what have you done? Hey little sister, who's the only one? I've been away for so long I've been away for so long I let you go for so long It's a nice day to start again Come on it's a nice day for a white wedding It's a nice day to start again!

[fierycosmos]

YGO 5Ds: YuseixReader - Don’t

You were in your apartment packing some things into old duffle bags you had lying around. You were trying to pack as slowly as you could as you were still in shock and also in no mood to face the people you cared about, yet. You were still reeling in frustration when someone who knew the creep Goodwin after disappearing found something in his files concerning you. When you first heard the name Goodwin you almost slammed the door on the poor man’s face. But you were also curious and ventured into the car and went to the old office and found more than a few files on you. You sat at the computer staring at one in particular. A file on your parents. How Goodwin got a hold on the files was still beyond you and the kind sir to show you the information. But it said he had something to do with giving them money so they could leave New Domino. You could barely breathe when the thought of seeing your parents again was actually a possibility now. You had been separated from your parents when The Satellite, well, became the Satellite and you were in the many foster homes for a long time; never finding a good fit. Until a single man finally adopted you and allowed you to explore your love of Duel Monsters and enrolled you in the best school in New Domino. Though you loved the man you now considered a father, you desperately wanted answers from your almost-forgotten parents; who you now knew were alive. Your door creaked open, pulling you from your winding thoughts and you froze on the spot as you were in the middle of folding a shirt. “Hey…” Just hearing that you knew it was your long-term best friend Yusei Fudo. You met briefly in the few times you have dropped off at the orphanage in The Satellite again but once you left you didn’t see him until you heard he knew your somewhat school friend Akiza. “What’s going on?” You were afraid to face him as you heard some concern rising up in his question. “You going somewhere?” “I thought maybe I’d have more time to explain things.” You sigh as you put down the shirt sloppily on the drawer you were over and then shrink into a chair towards the corner of your room. Your back didn’t touch the back of the chair as you hung your head down and stared mindlessly at your hands. “Y/N?” Yusei glided his way towards you almost with no noise and then crouched in front of you. “What’s wrong?” He put a hand on your knee and tried to look into your eyes but you wouldn’t meet his stare. “You never shut down like this.” “I found some things.” “What kind of things?” “Things about my past, about…my parents.” “Your parents? but they’re dead aren’t they?” “Nothing seems to stay dead around us, does it?” “So, they’re alive.” “Yeah.” “You want to go see them.” “Yeah.” “When were you going to tell me?” “Sometime…today, tomorrow…I don’t know.” “Well, it doesn’t matter.” “I’ll go pack my things and—” “What? No, Yusei.” “What? Of course I’m coming with you.” “Yusei…” You pause. "These are my parents…I have to go see them. And I want to face them alone.” “But that’s not how we do things.” Yusei pestered. “No one has to do anything alone.” “I know.” You sighed as you crossed your arms over your chest, trying to keep your cool. The last thing you wanted to do before you left had a fight with him. “But I want to figure out things alone, with them. I want to have time to process the journey there to see them and then finally meeting them.” “Where are they exactly?” “…Really far.” You tell him it’s almost halfway around the world where they finally ended up and the look on Yusei’s face changed from shock to hysteric to anger in a flash. He fumed for a moment by blowing air through his nostrils before stepping out of the room. You were nervous and headed after him. “Yusei, where are you going?" You call after him, but he doesn't show any signs of registering your calls. He heads down to the garage where you and the gang (Crow and Jack) work on your duel runners. He looks like he's about to get on to his bike and you freak that he's going to go road raging like Jack does when he's angry. You start running instead of pacing after him. "Yusei!" You cry out as you stop him just inches away from his runner and he just barely gives you a sideways glance. "What's gotten into you?" He sighs deeply and closes his eyes and removes your hand from his wrist gently. You watch his movement as he doesn't go for the seat, he goes for the button that releases he duel disk from the runner. "I'm going to make you change your mind." He replies sternly yet in a quiet voice. "Excuse me?" You blink at him, almost as if you misheard him. He goes over to your runner next and takes our your dueling disk as well and throws it at your chest. You catch it with a huff as you hold it square to your chest, making glances between the duel disk you were cradling and Yusei. "Dueling." He clips the disk to his wrist and begins to take out his deck from his pocket. "That's how things are resolved in this city. How our team truly communicates." He turns his duel disk on and stares at you, waiting. "So, I win, I go with you. You win, and you make the rules." "You serious?" You state blatantly. His eyes remain unwavering and you feel your eye twitch. "We're going to duel over something as important as this?" "That's exactly why we're dueling." Yusei countered. You stare at him with your mouth slightly agape and he looks at your duel disk expectedly. "So, what do you say?" He cocks a brow at you. You stare at him, internally fuming and ready to bite his head off, but before you get the chance to yell at him, Yusei holds up a finger and stops you. "Also I should mention: if you don't accept, then I automatically win." You feel your jaw unhitch and your eyes are probably as round as saucers. "Your choice." "Yusei..." You growl as you tighten your grip on the duel disk. "Gr, you're so stubborn!" You yell and glare at him to the best of your ability, hoping that would be enough to persuade him otherwise to drop this act. But once again Yusei's stare is as tough as steel and your fury builds up more. You slip on the duel disk with your deck already inside. "Prepare for the duel of your life, Fudo!" "I'm ready for you." Yusei says as he draws his first hand. You do the same and both call out, "Duel!" ~time skip provided by the crimson dragon~ An explosion filled the room and smoke covered the small playing field you and Yusei were using. Once it cleared, both duel disk life counters plummeted to zero. The duel monsters that were left on the field slowly disappeared as the holograms shut down. The duel was over, and you tied. You hardly used the magic card you used to deplete both you and your opponent's life points because it's risky. But you thanked the Crimson Dragon that you indeed decided to keep it in your deck. So neither of you won. You were at least happy that at least Yusei didn't win and you didn't have to yell at him to stay and play best 2 out of 3. It was an intense duel and you were pretty wiped from it. “So, that happened.” You breathed as you almost couldn’t believe what happened. You put your deck back into your belt and you start to make your way towards Yusei. “We never agreed what would happen if it ended in a draw.” He stays silent with his gaze was staring at his deck, as if he couldn’t tell you were now less than a foot away from him. “What? You in that much shock that I rank up to you?” You joke lightly, trying to break the weird tension in the air. He suddenly grabbed your wrist and he wrapped his other arm around your upper back and you gasped at the close proximity. “I don’t want you to leave.” He stated, just as sad as he sounded before when you first told him. “Yusei…I have to go. You would do the same thing.” You sigh as you turn your head away from his chest and face the open. “Then let me come with you.” If you hadn’t known better it almost sounded like begging. “My family is the one out there, you have a life and a new family here.” You place your hands on his chest and gently separate yourself from his embrace. You look up to give him a serious look. “They’d fall apart without you.” “But you wouldn’t be here.” He looked away, and you could’ve sworn you saw dust of color trace across his features. “It wouldn’t be the same.” “You’re such a sap…” You laugh breathlessly as you rub your hands over his upper arms, trying to comfort him in some way. “I’m serious.” “I know you are.” You stop and grip the place on his arms you stopped. You remove one hand and pinch Yusei’s chin between your thumb and your fingers and bring his attention towards you again. “It’s not like it’s going to be easy on me either, mister.” He almost cracked a smile at that, but you knew you had to do better. “I’m going to miss you too of course, and the rest of the gang…” “I’ll probably miss you more. Besides, who’s going to help me with my runner?” He finally cracks a smirk but it’s not as enthusiastic as it should’ve been but despite that, you laugh anyway. “Uh, almost everyone on the team knows how to be a mechanic, minus maybe Luna and Leo.” “But you and I are a team.” He emphasized his point by pushing his pointer finger on your collar bone. “I’m not staying if you’re going.” “But…” “No…” He gave you such an emotion-filled look that it shut you up almost instantly. “I’m going with you.” Before you could argue against him going again, he leaned in and swiftly stole your lips. The kiss wasn’t something you would ever dream of happening, I mean Yusei was attractive on all levels and you were just a grease monkey. Despite your negative thoughts creeping in your body knew to kiss back, though you only got a second before he pulled back to look at you. He smirked slightly by your bright cheeks and slightly parted lips. “Does that help?” “U-U-uh…” Your brain was speeding with so many thoughts you couldn’t grasp any one of them to articulate. “Finally you’re speechless.” He sighed as he cupped your cheek and stroked it rhythmically with his thumb. “Why do you always have to make things harder for me?” You sighed as you closed your eyes and despite being slightly flustered as well as frustrated, you leaned into his hand and kissed his palm gently. “You just had to manipulate me to stay.” “I didn’t do that to manipulate you. I’m not that kind of guy.” “Then why else—” Your eyes snapped open and were about to yell at him when he interrupted with a stern but sincere voice, “Because I care for you more than I’ve been able to admit.” “I care about you too, Yusei…” You stated as if it were obvious. “No, I care about you not like you’re just a member of our team, not like you’re my mechanic. I care for you because if you weren’t around I wouldn’t be the person I am today.” “You can’t mean that…” You grab his hand and moved it from your face to between the two of you and you held it. “Why wouldn’t I?” You looked up at him and you felt your eyes watering slightly, and before he could reach out to you again and make sure you were okay you moved in and kissed him. You had long forgotten about your hold on his hand and you laced your fingers through his hair as a hand wrapped around your lower back and drew you closer. Before you could lose yourself completely in his embrace you separated slightly, his breath still tickling your lips and you wanted nothing more than to draw back in but you had to say something. “If I let you come with me, will you regret it?” He smiled at you and wrapped you in a hug. “Not even a little.” He whispered in your ear. “Promise?” You push him back a little to continue looking at him. “Promise.” He smiles and you can’t hold back the grin that graced your lips. You both this time lean in and give each other light but quick kiss. “Okay…” You breathe as you finally give into his argument. “I’m never letting you go anywhere alone.” He drew you in close to his chest and kissed your hair as he also let his fingers intertwine themselves in your locks as well. “Good, because I think it’s going to be hard to get rid of me now…” You admit softly into his chest and you smile as your grip the fabric of his jacket in your fist.        

[echotovalley]

we rule the kingdom inside my room // king of my heart

modern royalty au

“Wait, you’re a what?”

The word has more bite than he means, the sound causing Lance to flinch as it slaps awkwardly against Shiro’s clean, off-white walls. Keith’s fighting panic - not because of the word itself, but the possibility that this is some horrible prank he’s being slapped on the end of.

Wouldn’t be the first time he just walked right into one of Lance’s jokes or puns. But they had stayed pretty tame, Lance never took it past a certain degree and Keith had gotten Lance to fall for a few of his own. It was some personal mantel Lance had taken up against Keith that turned into their one and only outlet for flirting before they had the Good Ol’ Feelings Talk.

This isn’t how he wanted to end their night, he demands soft and comfortable and fucking adorable because they deserve this.

Their date was supposed to be dinner with Shiro, then cuddling on the couch while they bummed off of Shiro’s Netflix account and Shiro washed the dishes (he adamantly insisted on them not helping him - in hindsight, it was blatantly obvious as a ploy to conveniently be absent at the scene of the crime). They were supposed to watch a few episodes of a show and kiss intermittently until Shiro kicked them out of his apartment to go make out on one of their own couches. Even though they did a pretty good job about keeping themselves in check as guests or if other people were around them together at either his or Lance’s. They didn’t just disappear behind a bedroom door every time someone turned around and that’s supposed to mean the universe meets them halfway because honestly, have people seen Lance???

Keith deserves a medal for this kind of self-control.

For what it’s worth, Lance looks physically pained by the audible gulp as he swallows around a lump in his throat. The one in Keith’s damn near cuts out his breathing entirely.

“I’m a prince?”

Keith raises his eyebrows, bites the inside of his cheek. “Are you asking me?”

Lance scrubs his hands over his face - Keith bites back the urge to tell him his face is going to get red and splotchy, catches himself from reaching into Lance’s hoodie that he’s wearing for the stem toy in the pocket or from handing over the good hair tie on his own wrist. A part of Keith enjoys seeing Lance sweat so much because if this is a joke...if this is Pidge and Hunk barreling out of the closet with the washer and dryer armed with a camera in the next twenty seconds, he wants this moment to not be easy.

Eventually, they were going to have their first fight.

So like, if it’s tonight, Keith’s...He doesn’t wa-

He ignores another urge to beg Lance to just forget it and call the ultimate forever truce on the joke-rivalry thing they used to exhaust the unresolved tension they stored up. He feels heat flush the back of his neck because this is dramatic, he’s being dramatic, everything’s going to be fine. Lance will backpedal and Keith will stand to punch him in the arm and call him an asshole for all of the grief and Shiro will quip in with some sage dating advice that assists Lance and Keith in the development and maturity of their relationship because his life is a sitcom.

That’s not what happens when Lance abruptly goes back to pacing Shiro’s living room, muttering under his breath in Spanish. “Verónica hizo esta mirada fácil.”

Shiro’s head pops around the corner of the kitchen, sweeping his gaze over them and Keith begs, wills, him to understand and do what Keith needs without him verbalizing it.

To tell Lance this isn’t funny.

Demand to know how he thought it would be okay.

To kick him out.

To make him stay until Keith could sort out whatever nightmare he was in and for reality to fall back into its rightful place where Lance would kiss him just short of breathless and ask if he wanted to go out for ice cream or have an impromptu sleepover in their PJs watching cartoons until they fell asleep.

Or tell Keith that class and work had reduced him to a feverish haze that induced hallucinations.

Instead, Shiro is Shiro.

“Hey.”

Keith holds his breath, lets it out and allows his heart to break a little when he realizes he isn’t talking to Keith, but to Lance. With that soft, “Go, be great.” look that softens the corners of his eyes and stretches the scar across his nose.

“Deep breaths, Lance.”

It’s just so...hurtful.

The way it instantly gets Lance to relax his lanky frame in a whoosh before he’s squaring his shoulders again. Shiro doesn’t offer anything for Keith before he’s ducking back into the kitchen and the sound of the tap echoes throughout the room.

“I...Well technically, Rachel and I, are- We won the birth lottery? Fuck, I’m doing the question thing again. Okay, so. I’m a prince. My parents are the King and Queen of my home country, but not as absolute monarchs? We encourage our people to vote for their leaders in a government that was formed when my great-great grandparents were kids and make their homeland a good place and we do fancy shindigs with really old money and jewels to raise money or bring attention to issues we care about and build relationships with other world leaders outside of UN proceedings. We’re just figureheads with antique china, but I digress.”

Keith drops his head in hands and swears.

“Language.”

He glares in the direction of the kitchen before cutting his gaze back on Lance. “H-how did you keep this a secret? Why did you keep this a secret for so long?”

Lance shrugs, a moment of nonchalance weaving through his frame before the tension settled back over his shoulders. “England shoulders most of the spotlight, but also, we’re a small Latino country most people aren’t aware have a royal family. Especially Westerners.”

Grime paints the inside of Keith’s mouth as he breathes out an, “Oh.” He recovers, scowls. “That only answers one of my questions.”

“Well, it wasn’t just my secret to tell now, was it? Rachel and I are here for school, this university has one of the best engineering programs out there and we wanted to travel without the hassle. Plus, I was dying to go to Disney World. It isn’t something I just want to tell people right off the bat, you get treated differently. People expect perks of being chummy with a royal. Gets even weirder when you’re being hit on by one. Also, I’m pretty sure you would have punched me if I hit on you then followed that up with the ‘I’m a Prince’ spiel.”

Keith folds his arms and flops back on the couch. “If memory serves, you got my number from Pidge’s phone to ask me about an assignment for a class I wasn’t even in.”

A small smirk tips the corner of Lance’s mouth up and warms his eyes. “I had to get creative with you, you were exceptionally good at deflecting and I have a desperate need to embarrass myself in front of you - if your memory serves more than one dish.” Lance takes a step toward the couch and nods to the spot beside Keith, waits for Keith’s whatever shrug in return before sitting down heavily. “I wasn’t going to bring necessary drama into it if by chance we didn’t work out and you blocked my number and stole all of my friends with your bad haircut and cool fingerless gloves in a few weeks.

“I knew if and when I started seeing someone, I would wait until a certain point to make sure mutual attraction and dating interest were still a thing. But I also knew that waiting longer would make it worse and hurt someone I really care about. Kind of sucks because in action, I’m hurting them either way. I didn’t want to just shove all of this onto you if I didn’t have to, but this-” Lance points at the space between them, hand staying a measured distance from Keith’s. “-is going somewhere, so I need to. This isn’t some grandiose plot for me to live out some Disney prince fantasy where I whisk you away on some breathtaking journey.”

“So, what is this then?”

Lance takes a deep breath and nods his head in the direction of the kitchen. “I wanted you to be somewhere you’d feel safe and familiar, near a person that has managed to get through your thick skull how validated your convoluted, mullet head is in everything you think and feel. You deserve to steer the course of your life and, if you’re with me, I can’t promise either of us will be in charge at any given time because of my responsibilities and the scrutiny that comes down with it. And like, as much as it would hurt to watch you go...if you don’t want to see me again, I can do that too.”

Keith knows his eyebrows are doing that thing where they disappear behind his bangs, opens and closes his mouth a few times hoping the words would rearrange and settle in his head long enough for him to unpack it...somehow. Shiro with his winning timing and eavesdropping abilities saves them both the trouble with a long-suffering sigh from around the corner.

“Dial it back a bit, Lance.”

The breath Lance sucks in shakes and rattles in his chest, jerks his knee in a disjointed reflex that knocks against Keith’s. “Right, yeah. Promised I would try being less dramatic.”

Keith feels the right amount of sorry for himself - he figures he’s owed that because they’re either breaking up or well, Keith honestly has no clue what the other option means. What it will lead to. What it will do to them. But the aborted laugh Lance tries for sounds wet and his dumb heart twists violently in his chest, tries to drop kick one of his lungs, and beats at his ribs like a xylophone.

Even after Lance has run his fingers through his hair so many times by now that it sticks up at odd angles and his color looks a bit off, there’s still the smart press of his shirt and subtle hints of cologne that Keith would die for at this point. He thought this would have been easy, he managed not to beat around the bush with Lance - even though he was terrified Lance wouldn’t feel the same way and it would grind their friendship into dust. God, the first time they kissed?

The first time Lance ran his fingers through Keith’s hair and brushed his nails lightly over his scalp at the base of his skull?

Earlier that day when everything had still been simple and the only surprise was the full body shudder that caught both of them off guard at the press of Keith’s mouth against the soft corner of Lance’s jaw.

He needs to realize this was never simple, especially for Lance. It means Keith has to deal with a lot of feelings a lot sooner than he anticipated. But now there was this time crunch? Keith needed to either get very serious very fast or end this with Lance.

And he really, really, really did not want to end this.

Keith takes a deep breath, buries a hand in the pocket of the hoodie to ghost his fingers over the familiar stem toy. “You’re giving me an out at any time?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want me to take it?”

“To protect you? Yes. Honestly, though? I can be pretty damn selfish when it comes to you. I want you to stay. I want to work through this so I can take you back home to make out in the huge hall full of period artwork. There’s a pretty comfy antique couch that’s right under this huge painting that was gifted to like my sixth great-grandparents.”

And there was the magnetic energy that had Keith’s fingertips buzzing under Lance’s hooded gaze, just like that.

“I figured we could keep doing this, y’know? We have four more months of the school year left and if we survive finals week, that’d put us at six months of dating. That’d be okay-ish time, I think, to ask my boyfriend of six months to spend his first week of summer vacation with me to meet my family doing cool rich kid stuff to impress the shit out of him.”

That gets Keith to smile, Shiro’s chuckle rounds the corner. “Much better.”

Lance presses their legs together as he shifts closer to Keith. “If my family doesn’t drive you up the walls or run you out of town, then we could do some public outings as a group with my siblings to see how you feel about press and stuff. Then....we’ll see?”

He watches Lance pick at a loose thread in Keith’s jeans, near his knee. Stares the movement down instead of meeting Lance’s gaze and catching his fingers when Lance starts to make the pulled thread longer. He wants so badly to voice his thoughts, communicate his fears and the crushing weight of nervousness on his chest and comfort Lance, but he isn’t that brave or well-spoken. He feels a little bit better when Lance pulls his hand out from Keith’s to wrap his arm around his shoulders and pull him awkwardly into his side, a quiet understanding that neither of them has a clue what they’re doing.

Keith melts into his touch, welcomes the warm fuzz that takes over his brain when Lance begins to brush his shaggy bangs away from his forehead and ghosts his thumb over Keith’s temple.

Lance ducks his head closer to Keith’s to whisper in his ear. “Hm, I do want you to know that I’ll never be sorry for beating your top score in Space Invaders at the arcade, though. Royally handing you your ass will be one of my - if not the - greatest feats on the mainland.”

Things don’t really change all that much.

At least, not yet.

Lance still invites him over to eat ungodly amounts of junk food while binge-watching shows on Netflix and they wind up hopelessly tangled up on the couch after fervent kisses. Rachel still comes back to their shared apartment precisely at times like those and teases Lance relentlessly until he’s burying his flushed face in the crook of Keith’s neck.

Rachel still talks to Keith and they study together for a statistics course they share.

Lance gets onto him occasionally for trying Not To Inconvenience His Royal Highness. For example, he stopped texting or calling Lance in the middle of the night if he couldn’t sleep because insomnia or stress from school because he knows Lance would always drive over to Keith’s apartment, crawl into bed with him and let Keith talk it out or talk to Keith about anything and everything - sometimes in Spanish if Lance was too tired to notice the dialect swap and Keith didn’t point it out. It’s cathartic for both of them, but that was also when Lance was just a tired undergrad like him that enjoyed lavishing physical attention on Keith when he wanted it.

‘If you stop texting me for midnight cuddling, I will literally move into your hallway closet and never leave. I’ll eat all of your snacks and take back my hoodie.’

The only thing that did change that is driving Keith insane?

The floodgates to prince/royalty puns have opened and Keith is this close to never speaking to Lance again because they’re godawful and constant. It takes Keith a few weeks to pick up on a portion of them being to normalize the situation and to remind him that Lance is still Lance.

Oh, and apparently their ‘uncle’ that lives in town is actually a chaperone/bodyguard Joe-from-The-Princess-Diaries type. Keith had met him before and they got along, he liked Keith as far as he knew but now he’s rethinking every single interaction and every possible wrong step he could make because while Joe was wise and patient and kind and supportive - it was apparent he’d cut a bitch for the Queen and Mia.

Keith doesn’t want any trouble.

Weirdly enough, Lance and Rachel will randomly complain about royal things in front of him that he doesn’t really get, but it’s an opportunity for Keith to hit them back with snarky comments about royal life versus his as a mere commoner. Those always have Rachel and Lance laughing at themselves and begin the round of stories of increasingly convoluted social situations they’ve been in or had to witness.

This is the easy part, the calm before the storm, but Keith thinks he’s making great process accepting the fact that he doesn’t actually know a huge chunk of Lance’s life while simultaneously working through the minimal pain of needing to relearn the person his boyfriend actually is.

Their biggest hiccup to date was one night while they were all three crammed into Shiro’s kitchen cooking dinner, Lance asks for some seasoning and Shiro produces it with a cringe-worthy flourish, adopting some terrible combination of accents. “Your wish is my command, Your Majesty.”

Keith is willing to accept that this has to be how Nick felt the first time he heard Gatsby say Old Sport and every thousandth time after and move along with their evening when Keith looks over his shoulder to see Lance’s hand still outstretched for the shaker and his eyes resolutely glued to the floor. A second later, Lance shakes his head to pull himself back into the moment and offers a stilted grin to Shiro in return.

“Can we, uh, not do that? I-uh. Yeah.”

It gets them a free pass at cuddling on the couch, wrapped together like a burrito under Shiro’s good blanket, and Lance’s favorite dessert as an apology. Keith gets Lance to joke in hushed whispers, making up new dialogue or doing bad lipreading over the show they’re watching as he runs his fingers through Lance’s hair.

Things He Has To Relearn About His Boyfriend, A Prince

just because he wanted to go to Disney, doesn’t mean he wants to live there