#I think each one gets progressively longer lmao

[jjunieworld]

#WIP ⟢ THE SALT UNDER THE SEA ˒˒ 심재윤 ⨾ 박종성 ▸  part two of the player’s game series⌇playlist & series tag

the death of your grandma has you returning back to your mother’s seaside hometown—the same town you left jake in a year ago—for good. now that you’re back, so are the feelings you really desperately wished to leave behind. it doesn’t help that now you’re caught in the crossfire of two guys with a rough past who want to be with you.

pairing ‎⸝⸝⸝ sim jaeyun x reader, park jongseong x reader 𓄵 iηcℓudᥱs 𓈓 cousin jungwon, bestfriend!jay, player!sunghoon, and oc hana (jake’s ex)

genre﹙📓﹚⸝⸝⸝ exes to lovers, bestfriends to ???, angst, smut, fluff, lifeguard!jake, ex player!jake, bestfriend!jay, lifeguard!jay, lifeguarding inaccuracies, love triangle, slice of life, some h2o references, beach au, summer romance

warnings ‎⸝⸝⸝ if you didn’t like reader in the first part then you won’t like her in this one, reader’s grandma passing and mentions of reader’s dad passing, multiple unprotected sex scenes, soft dom!jake, mean dom!jay, toxicity, jayke constantly one-uping each other, arguing, semi-public sex, size training, corruption kink full smut tags in actual post . . . !

kipo’s note ‎⸝⸝⸝ this was a long time coming lmao i’m so so sorry to everyone who has been waiting (◞‸◟；) with my month long break and adjusting to writing again i’m finally ready to start working on this series again! this is my main priority so i will try to get it out as soon as i possibly can!! this post will be updated as i work on it! ^^ all feedback and asks on suggestions are welcome! ♡

release date ⸝⸝⸝ sept 20th, 2024 ⋆ progress updates here!

∿ [ teaser wc: 0.7k ] ∿ [ current wc: 26.1k ] ⋆ [ continue to . . . wips , masterlist ]

send an ask or reply to this post if you want to be tagged when finished! minors and ageless/blank blogs will not be tagged. please have a visible age. my permanent taglist will already be tagged!

⟢ READ HERE!

your heart beat fast as you looked out the plane window to your mother’s seaside hometown—your new home. there was no need for your mom to nudge you awake since you weren’t able to sleep for the entirety you were on the plane, the nerves were eating at you.

you never thought you’d be back here, never thought that you’d ever say goodbye to your own hometown—which was also your late father’s—but here you were.

when your mom told you that you’d be moving here permanently you didn’t know how to feel. one one hand, you understood your mom’s decision. it was just you and her out there miles away from your family and everything must’ve reminded her of your father. it reminded you of him too. on the other hand, you desperately wished she would change her mind.

it was enough seeing that one glimpse of jake nine months ago, but to see him over and over and over again? you didn’t think you could take it. he still texted you, even more now since, and you still haven’t answered. things between the two of you still remain unsaid.

but you also couldn’t help but count down the seconds until you laid your eyes on him again. it set your skin alight and you couldn’t help the small smile on your face and the giddiness you felt. was it selfish, yes, but after everything you think you’re finally ready to face him again.

to give your relationship another chance. to give him your heart again and not be fearful that he would break it, that he’d keep it guarded and safe. after all, he said he would wait for you.

and if he didn’t protect your heart, you’d pull back and it would be as if you never had anything to do with him again.

“y/n? are you listening?” you heard your mother’s voice call out. you snapped back to reality, blinking a couple of times to get your wits.

you were no longer on the plane. now you were lugging suitcases into your aunt’s house. your aunt was delighted to hear that you and your mom would be moving here. there was plenty of room in the house until the two of you got your own place.

“mhm,” you mumbled, though you definitely weren’t listening.

your mom sat the suitcase she was carrying in front of you and grabbed your shoulders. “is it that boy from last summer?” what was his name? jacob?”

“jake,” jungwon answered for you as he walked out the front door to grab more boxes.

your mom snapped her fingers. “jake! that’s it. listen, i know you had some problems moving here because of him, but use this as a way to put yourself out there more than last summer! there’s more wonderful people here than just jake.” she gave you a sympathetic smile and continued carrying stuff inside while you remained planted to the same spot in the driveway.

it wasn’t “just jake” that worried you. it was all of his friends and hana. you didn’t want another summer full of drama, especially if you and jake did start dating again.

getting all your boxes and suitcases into the house went quick and relatively easy. you decided on unpacking all of your things later, right now your mind was too clouded.

jake’s letter sat carefully in your anxious hands. you must’ve read it a million times over now and still you could barely wrap your head around it.

“two people who are meant to be will always find a way back to each other. and we are meant to be. no matter how long it takes, i’ll wait for you.”

it was now or never. you grabbed your phone and opened your messages up to your conversation with jake. his last message was from this morning, hoping that you had a good day today. he must not know that you’re back and for good. with a shaky sigh, you let your fingers move across the keyboard.

you: meet me at our spot.

⟢ READ HERE!

taglist 1﹙ OPEN! ﹚⸝⸝⸝ click here for series taglist! 🏷️ @jjunberry @gothgyuu @gyuuberries @beargyuuzz @kittyhyuka @dani-is-tired @riaawr @yeonjunsfox @nxzz-skz @rapmonie2047 @soobieboobiedoobiedaboobie @aaa-sia @jeonghaniehaee @todorokiskitten @onlyhyunjin @un06 @nenesz @branchrkive @dreamiestay @lilyuwon @ghstzzn @kaykay11sworld @kirinaa08 @cherlv @zl-world @cloud-lyy @sunpov @samouryed @immelissaaa @y4wnjunz @who-tf-soddhi @minaateez @jajenoric @lilactangerine @chaconadine @americanojake @in-somnias-world @bobaikeu @cupidscourt @inkigayocamman @nctsshoes2 @helenngxz @jakeswifez @usnve @tasnim10 @deobitifull @won4me @zeeloveshee

send an ask or reply to this post if you want to be tagged when finished! minors and ageless/blank blogs will not be tagged. please have a visible age. my permanent taglist will already be tagged!

∿ [ continue on to . . . masterlist , wips , taglist ] all feedback and asks on suggestions are welcome! ♡

© jjunieworld - all rights reserved. please do not repost on any social media sites, translate, or modify any of my works.

[still-scribblin]

Please, Please, Please

i just followed where the story took me, it was a few hundred words when i realized there was no smut in the books for this one????? none for now anyway and!! this doesn't seem directly derived from the song the longer i wrote but duhfaiuhdfjnldjfb whatever - also just posting this as soon as i finish so i don't have time to second guess or be shy so there are probably mistakes somewhere here isdbfhs

tags: inspired by a song, rlly mild angst at first but it's all good, reader-centric, 'Reese' is a nickname, if you read the whole thing here you'll get where it came from lmao

written for @stargazingfangirl18 's birthday! 🥳

hey siri! happy birthday! i'm one of your readers and i think it’s so cool that you hosted an event for writing for your birthday. it’s always a treat reading the stories you’ve written (and even the ones you’ve reblogged) when they come up on my dash and you’re one of the first cevans writers i’ve come across that just got me hooked on him and made me appreciate the different characters he’s played in his career! also one of the writers that probably influenced me to try writing for cevans characters too hihi. anyway i hope you have a great birthday here on tumblr and irl with your loved ones and closest friends, and i hope writing keeps you happy and that you share more of those happiness with the community here on tumblr. happy birthday!!! 🎈🎁🎊

i’ve been meaning to write for ransom using this song so i’m glad i got to use this event as a motivator for that. i chose to write for ransom first because he’s usually who i’m reminded of when i look at your blog (probably bc of the icon?) anywayyy yea :)))

wc: 1,269

-------

“Are you ashamed of me?” 

“Wha- no! Never! You know I’m so proud of you, right?” 

“I mean I understand you know,” he said bitterly, ripping your heart to shreds. “I wouldn’t want to be seen with me either.” It took a long time for him to be alright after realizing what he’d done, it took even longer for him to regain his confidence and show his true, lovely, colors after all that. Now it seems like all of that progress will be set back all because you’d lost the ability to speak.

“It’s not that at all Ran, I promise.” 

“Really? Because I heard you threatening to pull your sister’s hair until she went bald when we ran into her at the supermarket if she said anything about us.” you couldn’t breathe. he heard that? “I didn’t even know you were capable of saying violent things. It was a nice change, definitely made you hotter.” somehow you knew he meant it even if he was avoiding your eyes this time around, trying to keep the hurt off of his face. 

“Please believe me when I say I’m not ashamed. Of you, or us, or anything you’ve done and been through. It’s a problem with me, I swear.” your heart hurt at the disbelieving look he gave you. 

“You’re a saint, why would it be a problem with you? Just be honest with me, Reese. I’m a grown man, I can take it.” You hugged his head to your chest, combed his hair with your fingers, and choked on your tears. Words that you couldn’t say tripping over each other, suddenly in a rush to be spoken when they’d been stuck in your throat for days. It wasn’t his fault that this meeting would be doomed to fail, and something inside you would die if you let him go back to the driver’s seat believing that you saw him as anything less than the man he was, the most loving partner you’d ever had. 

You didn’t even realize your position had changed until you inhaled a mouthful of the fibers of his sweater. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” you shrugged. The sigh he’d let out at least let you know he’s okay and out of the self-deprecating hole he’d dug himself into while he waited for you to speak. 

“It’s going to be okay.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Maybe, but I have high hopes. You’ve always spoken so highly of your family, and if you’re right about them then maybe they’d give me a chance, just like you did.” the way he looked straight into your eyes with unshakeable faith stole the breath from your lungs, and that was that. you didn’t know what you did to deserve him. 

Whatever happens, you were content knowing that Ransom knew where you were coming from, and that whatever anyone would say, you didn’t think of him any less. You steeled yourself as you both got back out front, the ride still quiet but definitely more comfortable as you felt the weight of your intertwined hands on your lap. 

“Well that wasn’t so bad. What were you so nervous for?” staring at the ceiling of your childhood bedroom, squeezed against Ransom’s body and the wall beside your twin-sized bed, you’d barely heard what he said, feeling so snug and comfortable at finally being able to relax now that all’s said and done. You didn’t even know you lost sleep over it. 

“Hey.” Ransom poked your cheek. He laughed as you groaned and buried your face in his chest. 

“I don’t even know.” you exhaled, watching his chest rise and fall calmly. 

For once in your life you were happy to be proven wrong. You’d thought that it would be a disaster of an afternoon, but your sister – godbless her blabbering mouth – had already told the whole family about Ransom, and about how she saw you two goofing off in the supermarket that day before approaching you two. The family had already known apparently, and were just happy that you found someone who wouldn’t take you for granted, regardless of their past. 

Tears stung at your eyes at the idea of Ransom staying, not because he needed anything from you, but just because he wanted to. 

“Come on,” you felt him grumble. “get out of that pretty head and come into bed with me. you already left me to fend for myself the whole afternoon.” he complained. 

“Do I have to fuck your soul back into your body?” that got your attention. 

“What?”

“What?” you could only watch, incredulous, as Ransom palmed his growing hard-on and proceeded to position himself between your legs with a mischievous grin. “I’ve been thinking of this since you told me we were visiting.” at your blank look, he sighed.

“Fucking you in your childhood bedroom, of course.” he snorted as you suddenly sat up and began hitting his arm out of embarrasment. seriously, where was the filter on this man’s mouth? 

Apparently having had enough of games, you soon found yourself unable to move, hands pinned by one of his own above your head, your view taken up by Ransom furrowing his brows as he took his pants off with only one hand. 

“Are you serious?” 

“Yep.” he said, insufferable. You could only watch as he made a show of sucking on his particularly placed middle finger — the eyeroll you gave him only widened his stupid grin — and pressed said finger in the middle of your panties, tracing your slit over the cloth and breaking your unimpressed stare that he wasn’t buying. 

“You’re such a worrywart,” Ransom said as he slid a thick finger into you, the gusset of your underwear pushed to the side, his eyes never leaving yours. “but I shouldn’t complain, that is how we finally got to talking, after all.”

The hand holding yours slid down to push your thighs further apart. The mental image of what you must look like, inside your family home, with only the four thin walls of your bedroom to keep your dignity intact sparked a fresh wave of arousal over you. Ransom, who had always been attentive, raised a curious eyebrow at the subtle twitch of your body. “you like this, don’t you?” 

you refused to answer the accusation, refused to watch his infuriating smirk grow, but you should have known that would never fly with him. you squeaked as you felt a firm slap on your clit. 

“answer me.” 

“...yes” you whispered. you closed your eyes as he began chuckling, muttering to himself about how ‘he knew it’. One thing you’d learned about Ransom was that the guy loved to talk. The only time he ever shut up was when you sat on his face, because even asleep he liked to mutter random things, like book quotes or threats to family members that were nowhere near him, thankfully. 

the sound of footsteps nearing your bedroom had you looking back at him, panicked. Ransom on the other hand, seemed excited, going by the way his eyes lit up. 

“hey!” your sister knocked. “movie starts in 10 minutes so if you two aren’t down by that time I’m busting this door open even if I have to do it blindfolded!” 

“kinky!” Ransom replied. The loud thump of your fist against his shoulder was drowned out by your sister’s laughter. 

“fuck you!” you whispered, unbelievably embarrased. 

“that’s exactly what I’m trying to do.” Ransom says matter-of-factly, his face speaking of the herculean challenges you’re no doubt going to have to endure for the next 9 and a half minutes.

[jillsandwhichs]

Our Future Day's

Joel Miller x Reader series , Chap 1 , Move in day

Masterlist

Pairing: Fem!reader x Joel Miller

Summary: You officially move from oregan to texas and get to meet your very new & handsome neighbor, Joel

WC: 3.1k

Type: SFW

Some thing's you need to know before reading: this is a series, not a one shot collection! you (the reader) already have a semi premade backstory. first off, you're originally from oregon. you studied at med school and got a job offer in texas to become a doctor, which you took. you are 23 in this but if you don't like that, imagine any age (18+) and i did make joel younger 26 (until the 20 year time jump, he'll be 46) but he does still have sarah, just pretend it's not wonky LMAO! one more thing, ya have a dog in this fic, he's a boy but imagine any breed you'd like! aside from that, this is tlou game version but i included some sides from the show! a couple more things: 1. all characters from tlou1/2 will be mentioned/featured. 2. this takes place before outbreak, then eventually outbreak day, then eventually in the apocalypse. 3. this is a slow burn romance (drabbles of it in each chapter though, esp when it progresses) and does feature a decent amount of smut. 4. JOEL NEVER DIES!!!

A/n: Hi! Hope you all enjoy. Please check out my masterlist, there's a lot of stuff there. You can get to know me, you can see the rules of my blog and then you can see all of my fanfictions. You'll be able to find the previous chapters to this fic and upcoming ones. You'll also be able to find my Wattpad & AO3. Thank you

Tapping your fingers on the steering wheel, you matched the beat of the song playing on your cars radio. It was a song by Blake Shelton. You weren't a huge fan of him but he had some classics. It has been such a long day for you. You've been driving for the past two hours, not a single break in between. You just wanted to get to your new home as soon as you could. You could tell your dog, Becker, needed to go potty as well. He'd just have to hold out.

The GPS on your phone stated you were only about ten minutes away. The center of Austin TX was busy as all hell, so that time span could get longer by the second. So many cars & people flooded the streets. "God dammit." You mumbled to yourself, rolling your eyes as you seen all the upcoming traffic ahead. This was going to be a long night. You had no clue when you'd even be able to get into bed. Then again, it was only 4:30 in the afternoon, almost evening.

Behind you, in the backseat, you could hear Becker whimpering & whining. "Don't worry boy, we're almost home, just a little bit longer." You cooed to him, reaching your right hand back and allowing him to lick you. You got Becker as a graduation gift a few weeks ago. You two have bonded ever since. You were never a cat person, dog's were more of your style. "You'll be able to go potty soon." You said to him, pulling your hand back up and holding onto the wheel.

Traffic wasn't going as slow as you intended, was traffic always going to be like this though? This ain't going to be pleasant if so. Especially working for the hospital. Imagine an emergency happens and you're needed but the roads are packed, that's going to be one helluva time. But, you wanna think positively. You missed your family too. It's going to be hard without them, especially your mom. She is your number one supporter and without her in the same home as you, it'll be a large change.

You turned the radio up, hearing the country music blast throughout your car but not loud enough to scare your dog. Dogs ears are sensitive and you didn't wanna bother him further than he already was. No doggo wants to be stuck in a car all day, especially in this heat. Despite it being early September, it was still quite warm out. That's another big change from Oregon, you imagine that back home, it's either really windy or heavily raining. The change could be nice though.

The sound of Becker panting was clear as day, it only made you feel more guilty. "Hold on baby." You muttered to him before you then rolled your window down and the window directly behind you, not a lot though, you didn't want him to jump out or something. Through your rearview mirror, you could see his slobbery tounge blowing in the wind as he stuck his head out the window. "Hah, good boy!" You giggled, turning left onto the exit, finally getting off of this miserable highway.

Finally, the road wasn't full anymore. It was a downtown rural area now, cars slowly made their way through the town. Austin is busy, yes, but this side of it, not so much. The only logical reason it was super busy on the highway and earlier roads was because people are getting/going to work. Your first day at the hospital is on Monday. You were nervous but in a great way. You have been non stop thinking about it. All of the work you've put in and you're officially where you wanted to be. Life was going good... For once...

You passed by all sorts of different places. Gas stations, fast food chains, locally owned stores & stands, it felt so honey. Back in Oregon, you lived in the center of the city, it was always so lively and never calm. Austin is like that too but not as bad, and definitely not as bad as Dallas is. You were grateful you didn't end up moving there or even somewhere that was worse. Austin was a good enough fit for you.

The GPS showed you were only a minute or two away from home, your heart was racing a bit. You've never been on your own before and you least expected it to be in a completely different state. Luckily, a week from now, you'll be going back home for the weekend. It'll be comforting. You'll definitely make sure to call your family everyday, you made sure they knew that too. They'd have to simply put up with it.

You could tell you were getting closer due to the change in scenery. There weren't any establishments around these parts, just either compact or extensive suburban homes. You actually used to make fun of those perfect American families who lived in these types of areas but look at you now. Back home, you lived in a small house, only two bedrooms but you were an only child so it was never a problem. You did wish for siblings growing up but you understand now that if you had some, things would be a whole lot different.

As you turned left, the tracker built into your phone made a dinging noise, indicating you had arrived at your destination. It wasn't wrong. Just to the left, you could see your newly purchased home. It made your heart skip a beat. Not only were you nervous but you were also so happy. You glimmered as you pulled right into the driveway and set your car in park. You could tell Becker knew this was your guy's new home, his whimpers weren't ones of boredness but rather excitement. "One second." You sighed out before getting out of the car.

Stepping out of your car, you sighed softly as you breathed in the fresh air. The smell of outside was always so welcoming. You grabbed your purse out of your car too and swung it across your shoulder. It was a brown leather purse with an embroidered strap. You then opened up the backseat so Becker could jump on out. "Stay over here buddy." You chuckled out, scratching the top of his head a few times before closing both doors. You had quite a bit of stuff in your trunk & backseat but you hired a truck to drive all of your other belongings here. It wouldn't be there for another day or so.

Becker ran off to the side of the house to go potty ; You trusted him enough to not run off. He was a good dog. You went to the back of your car and popped open your trunk. It was a mess but everything you needed for the night was in there. You even bought an air mattress, your back would die trying to sleep on a wooden floor. You grabbed the first two boxes, they weren't very big, and set them on the concrete of your driveway. They just had toiletries in them.

You grabbed out another box, this one was a bit bigger than the other two. It had all of your kitchen appliances in it. You were excited to cook your very first dinner in your very own home. You already decided on making Pesto Pasta, one of your favorites. In your trunk, there was the air mattress box. It wasn't going to be the best way to sleep but it'd have to suffice for the night, your proper bed should be in either tomorrow or on Sunday.

Whilst grabbing out the air mattress, you heard the sound of a truck driving past and pulling into the driveway across from you. They must've been your neighbors. Your neighbors back home weren't the nicest. There were the Johnson's so were beyond uppity and thought they were better than everyone else, they lived beside you. Then there was Cassandra and Cody, they were your age and pretty kind except they were literal kleptos.

You ignored the truck behind you, just trying to get everything you needed for the night. You could hear Becker barking but you didn't know what it was he was doing it at. You figured a wild animal, maybe a bunny or a stray. Becker was actually from a shelter, you'd never buy an animal from PetSmart or whatever. "Becker, quit your barking!" You shouted at him, nudging him to come over to you. Maybe he wasn't good with new environments.

You placed the last cardboard box from your trunk on top of another one, shooting your eyes to look at Becker. He was looking at the truck across the street, barking at it. "Oh boy, quit it." You spoke out to him but he didn't listen. You went to grab onto his collar but right as you did, he bolted off into their driveway. He was a friendly dog, you didn't think he'd do anything bad, he was just inquisitive, but it was still bad of him to run off like that.

"Becker!" You yelled, jogging across the street to grab him. You watched as two men got out of the black truck. The one in the driver's seat had a mullet and lighter hair than the other man, he also seemed shorter. The other one though had short dark hair, although you couldn't tell if it was purely brown or black. He was well built, along with the other man. Were they brothers? That's the only assumption that came to mind.

Once you reached their driveway, you grabbed Becker and pulled him back to you. The man getting out of the passenger seat looked back at you and had a puzzled look before letting out a chuckle beneath his breath. "Listen, I'm so sorry, he's just curious." You sighed out. Becker was now listening as he sat down right by your feet. "Sorry, we'll be out of your hair." You giggled, beginning to turn around before you heard the man's voice speak up.

"You just move in across the street?" He asked you, his voice sounded southern and it was very deep. "Oh uhm, yeah, just got here tonight actually." You said kindly, looking back at him again. "Well, welcome then, and to your dog." He snickered out. "I'm Joel, this is Tommy." Joel spoke deeply, pointing over at the other man. You let the two men know your name before asking them whether or not they were brothers, and they were. You weren't surprised, they did share similar facial features.

"Where are you from?" Joel raised, his arms crossed. His arms were huge, he definitely has a nice body. "I'm from Oregon." You said softly, placing your slender hands onto your waist. "Damn, that's a long ways out. What made you move all the way here?" "Got a job offer at the hospital." You said with a titter, his accent was thick. "Oh, you a nurse or something?" He questioned, leaning up against his truck. "No, a doctor. Recently gradated from medschool." You explained, glancing over at his brother as he walked into the house. Maybe they lived together.

"Well how bout that? I'm just a contractor." "That's nice." You added, tucking strands of your thin hair behind your ear. "Yeah, yeah, well I'll let you continue settling in. If you need any help with uh larger furniture, me and my brother can stop by, we helped the Adler's when they first moved in." Joel said with a deep voice, pointing his index to the home beside his. "That would be great, thanks, luckily I don't have to deal with the bullshit of larger furniture today, it'll be in either tomorrow or Sunday."

"Alrighty, well, you have yourself a good evening. See you." Joel said with a sly smirk, slowly inching backwards. "You too, Joel." You gave him a slight smile before patting Becker to follow behind you. You made your way across the street, allowing Becker to run around in his new yard. You took a gander back and seen Joel looked back at you before entering his home. When you saw his eyes on you, you felt a deep pit in your stomach. Nothing bad, rather just glee or something. You couldn't pin it.

Around your neck was a lanyard, it had the key to your home, you assumed it was locked. At least you hoped, you don't want any squatters inside. You unlocked the white door and opened it, stepping inside of it. The sunset beamed in through the windows throughout the house. It was still dark though, every single light was switched on. The seller said you'd have to go to the basement to switch them all on. That sounded like a fun time!

One by one, you dragged each box into the home, keeping some on the floor and placing some on the island counter. You didn't plan on unpacking any of it tonight, you were restless and just wanted to lay down for the night, despite it only being 5 PM. The more sleep you get, the easier it'll be tomorrow. You definitely had to get a lot of sleep Sunday considering on Monday, you start your first day. Even though it's just training, you wanna be as awake as possible.

You ambled towards the front door again and away from the kitchen to call Becker in. He'd have to deal with the floor for the night. He is a cuddly dog, he loves big comfy areas but without a bed or a couch, there's no way. "Becker!" You said with a rowdy voice, "C'mon baby." He came running over to you and past your legs, going into the house and treading around like a mad man. "Oh good boy." You chuckled, petting him gently.

You walked back over to the kitchen and grabbed the air mattress, you needed to get it open and blown up. It was sealed to a T, your nails were definitely not enough to get it open. Striding towards the appliances box, you opened it up and searched through it, taking out a knife to slice it open. You are quite clumsy so you were praying you wouldn't stab the mattress on accident. It didn't help that Becker felt the need to push himself up against you, seeking attention & love as if he's starved from it.

"Back off boy." You snorted, pulling the mattress out of it's box. It was all wrinkled up and looked compact. Although it was the size of a Full. You straightened it out on the living room floor, you didn't feel like carrying it all the way up the stairs. It came with a machine to blow it up and you connected it to the black cylinder hole, turning it on and hearing the loud blowing noise it was making. You didn't have any pillows, they were all packed up in that truck but luckily, you had a blanket, it was the one you let Becker use in the backseat when you were driving.

"You stay here mister." You stated out to Becker before beginning to make your way out of the front door to take the blanket out from the car. As you went outside, you noticed a bright light was on in Joel's house, just in one room though. You could also see the shadow of a smaller person's body walking through said room. Did he have a girlfriend? Or did Tommy have one? Maybe it was Tommy's. You convinced yourself of that at least.

After grabbing the blanket, you walked back inside and seen Becker already making himself a spot on the bed, despite it barley being inflated. "You little shit." You grinned, tossing the fuzzy blanket on top of him. Guess you were going to have to share.

The bed was officially ready to be slept on, you haven't been this excited to sleep in a very long time. Back home, you dreaded it. You would stay up all night, doing different stuff. Whether it was studying, painting, reading, working out, etc.. You were always doing something new. With Becker, it's been better. You're an affectionate person and he is as a dog. It may be a rough night, it always is sleeping somewhere new, but with him it may be easier.

Pulling the machine away from the bed, you turned it off and climbed underneath the blanket, feeling immediate warmth. The Texas heat also played a part in that. Back in Oregon, you had a heater beside your bed to help, you definitely didn't need one here. "Alright." You whispered to yourself, Becker lying right beside your feet, his fur was cozy. You were originally going to turn the lights on to your home but honestly, you were scared to go down there all alone, a pitch black basement? No thanks.

Trying to sleep in a new area was hard. You felt homesick. You miss your old room, the house noises, the feeling of it. You lived there your entire life, now you're thousands of miles away. Becker probably felt that way too, especially with how he connected with your father, they bonded. A week from now though, you'd be able to see them. It'd be easier. Another thing you couldn't stop thinking about was that man - Joel.

He seemed so different. He was kind & understanding, and that's just simply based on the short conversation the two of you had together. He was so willing to help you out, no one else was like that. It was a sweet welcoming. He was also very handsome. All the men back home weren't like that. That glimmer in his eyes wasn't something to ignore. It was the way he gazed at you that had you wrapped around the thought of him.

That brother of his was good looking too, definitely not as much, but either way. Were they both contractors? It appeared as though they had just left work so maybe they work together. And who was that smaller person walking throughout his house earlier? Had to be a girlfriend. A daughter? No way, the two of them looked to young to even have children. There was still a chance though, teen pregnancies aren't uncommon. You presume you'll deal with a lot of them as a Doctor.

Your eyes felt more & more heavy. Becker's deep breathing made you weary too. The pitch blackness of the room was helpful ; White sound would've been helpful too. Sleeping in complete silence was torture. All you could really hear was your dog and your own breathing. You were completely spent for the day. And you were ready to hit the hay.

Divider Creds: animatedglittergraphics-n-more

[oiblackestsheep]

what, in your opinion, are an intp’s needs in a relationship? (coming from an infj.) love your blog, you’ve got some amazing insights 🫶

Aww, thanks INFJ anon. 🫶 I try my best to have interesting insights that bring something fresh to the table!

INTP's Needs in a Relationship

I've been in the same relationship for 8.5 years (and we actually MET ON TUMBLR BECAUSE OF THIS BLOG WHICH IS SO FUNNY AND NERDY), all of this to say, I've had a lot of time to think about my relationship needs even from the MBTI perspective as an INTP, because that was how my ENFJ and I kinda started out getting to know, like, what we each needed from each other, so, here we go!

Disclaimer: This is assuming that the INTP is already getting everything that everyone needs in a basic healthy relationship like, you know, feeling emotionally safe and being treated with respect, etc..

Intellectual stimulation: INTPs generally love understanding new things and how they work, so ideally their partner can share that interest with them in some way! They can be pretty curious people, so joining them in their quest for uncovering the "how" and "why" of everything will make them feel understood, themselves, and closer to you in the process!

Clear explanations of your feelings: Because INTPs have inferior Fe, they tend to have a habit of intellectualizing their own emotions when they talk about them, which can cause complications with understanding other people's emotions, too. Finding a way to be patient and know that even healthy INTPs might still struggle with connecting with other people's emotions (especially at first in a relationship) isn't necessarily because they don't want to, but more that it doesn't always come naturally, so they don't always know how to. If they're a healthy person, they will want to understand, just try not to take it personally while they are practicing/learning!

Alone time: This one should be pretty straight-forward lmao. They're introverted, so they like to recharge doing solo-activities, and they're intuitives, so they have their own little theoretical world full of bizarre ideas to entertain themselves with that might not always be easy to follow at first. I find that introverts in general (maybe the INxx types even moreso) like to engage in parallel play where their partner also does something quietly nearby, but still a separate activity. As an INFJ, yourself, I'm sure you can relate in your own way, so it's likely easy to give them what they need!

Humor them/hear them out: This might sound a little vague, and I guess in some ways it is, but this is mostly about their auxiliary Ne. ENTPs and ENFPs get most of the attention when it comes to high Ne, but INTPs (and INFPs, too!) place a lot of importance on it, too, which can often manifest itself in conversations like "what if __", "imagine if __", etc.. To put it bluntly, it might seem a bit... directionless, and that's because sometimes it kind of is! It's just about thinking of random possibilities that are non-serious and funny in the moment, and don't really go anywhere else outside of the current discussion or hold any larger, overarching significance. Sometimes it's less about the actual topic itself, and more about having some random fun and "playing along" that makes a world of a difference to a playful INTP (or high Ne user in general). This point got away from me a little bit which I think, in a way, is the perfect exemplification of what I was trying to say in the first place, lmao. Hope that makes sense! If your INTP ever sounds like whatever the hell I just said, just try not to disengage right away, because they probably have a point that they are struggling to reach. Put that dom Ni to work and summarize it for them, I know you can do it from experience with my own ENFJ lmao.

Anyway, uhhhhh: Every single point on this list has gotten progressively longer because my Ne loves extrapolating (and I love Ne, but sometimes its gotta CHILL you know?), so I'm gonna end it here before it gets WILDLY OUT OF CONTROL.

This was a fun question, anon!: Thanks again for reaching out, and basically giving me full range to just write multiple paragraphs about myself and my relationship!

[blue-thief]

misc. isakainess/kainessagi hcs bc there needs to be more stuff about them

isagi and ness were actually the first to get together first

kaiser always demands to be in the middle when cuddling

ness started off as the main cook but isagi decided to get into the kitchen himself cuz no one else was gonna make him japanese food lmao

you know it's bad when he starts missing natto of all things

kaiser can't fucking cook. he's not allowed in the kitchen.

not that he's complaining

stuff about meeting each other's parents:

i'm gonna be honest, kaiser's backstory could go in literally any way so i cannot imagine wtf his parents would be like so i'm skipping his parents for now

isagi's parents would probably be shocked that 1) their son is gay, and 2) their son has two bfs??? but they'd be super supportive and shower kaiser + ness w tons of love and food

meanwhile, isagi and kaiser meeting ness's parents.....

uhh

i think they would actually be surprisingly progressive despite... everything so they wouldn't be too bothered by the fact that ness is queer & polyam

they WOULD have a problem w the ppl he chose as partners though lmao

they would high-key be judging kaiser and kaiser would be super snippy back at them

isagi would try to be nice but the moment it came out that his least favourite subjects in school were math and science?

nahh bro's cooked

i feel like ness's siblings would be single and ness would be like "you may have mom and dad's love and approval but i have two partners while you both have NONE. BITCH"

safe to say they won't be spending christmas with ness's family

actually now that you think of it

do any of them celebrate christmas

ness's parents are def the type of science-obsessed atheists to scoff at all religion so they DEFINITELY never celebrated christmas lmao

kaiser... i really don't fucking know what his family was like but the ONE thing i'm sure of is that bitch was raised catholic

he's probably no longer religious though so as an adult he never really bothered doing anything special for it

deep down ness has always wanted to experience the magic of santa and stuff or whatever but he never had the courage to bring it up

the one who spurs everyone into celebrating christmas is isagi actually 😭😭

bro's literally the one most removed from the context of religion

but yk how kfc in japan somehow convinced everyone that eating kfc on christmas is a holiday tradition

on dec 25 isagi just said "heyy it's christmas we should go eat at kfc"

then ness and kaiser just stared at him like "wtf do you mean"

and they both have to explain, no, eating kfc is not in fact a christmas tradition in the west, that's a capitalist lie

they go to kfc anyway and that's the extent of their christmas celebrations lmao

i lingered way too much on the christmas thing for three characters who are currently not religious at all

anywayyyy this is getting long and i can always make another set of hcs another time <3

[mayaree-darling]

Kissing Bleeding Mouths// Blade

Pairing: Blade x StellaronHunter!Reader Synopsis: He’d call you his associate, but you’re way past the formalities. That’s not the right word for the both of you, anyway, he doesn’t want that to be you and him. You really don’t know what you do to him, do you? Warnings: OOC Blade because I know almost nothing about him and his lore except that I want him to come home (he’s gonna come home I know it it’s a canon event); Can’t do full spicy because I don’t do that stuff so I did a “different” kinda spicy. Not exactly fluffy (I’d say borderline obsessive, if anything, this relationship is toxic y’all) Fic Length:  2.1k~ (Unedited (because I’m tired)) From Aree: Hey, everyone, it’s been a while! Happy to be back. Always wanted to write for gaming fandoms, too, so we’re starting with Honkai Star Rail (I have a Genshin SAGAU fic that’s been in the works for so long now and it’s still a work in progress). I got inspired by a POV playlist I came across on YouTube by greatdain, and this is just a POV under that song that I ended up extending lmao. Anyways, enjoy!

A part of him wishes you knew what you did to him.

Soft smiles and softer laughter only he witnessed in peaceful moments spared during a mission. A joke here and there he thought annoying at first, but found himself thinking about the longer he’s in your absence (he plans on taking it to his grave that he found them all well crafted. Hell would have to freeze over before he let you know it helped him sleep to think of how you made each joke at the spur of the moment). Even gone, you’d still annoy him. So stupid. Stupid and naive you. How did you end up in their group, anyway, so sweet and innocent as you were? How did he end up wrapped around your little finger? A part of him wishes you knew what you did to him. But the logical side of him - the one that only knew the taste of blood and the draw of a sword - it forced him into silence.

Because he didn’t know what you would do with that kind of information.

What would you do had you seen him battle with himself for hours after returning to HQ if he should go and see you? How he all but paced around his room, thinking of a reason to enter yours? And now, here he was, his best effort of holding himself back was trying to walk slower (he wasn’t one for holding himself back in the first place, but the effort is there all the same). But surely you knew, right? Surely you felt his eyes on you as you made your way around a party or sat across him at a meeting, almost desperately trying to catch your eyes and… and what? What was he hoping for? What was he hoping for you to do?

“What do you think you’re doing, Blade?” the question is a whisper, almost a breath you don’t want others to hear, but there was no one to listen but the man himself, and Blade would cut down anything that dared interrupt now.

“Figure it out yourself.” If he had any ounce of honesty and softness in him, he’d admit he wasn’t quite sure himself, but that was just what effect you had on him. Blade remembered looking for you after you left the ballroom to get some air, finding you in a deserted hallway. He doesn’t quite remember how he ended up pinning your wrists to the nearest wall, lips ghosting over the spot where your shoulder meets your neck, waiting. For what specifically, he’s not sure either. You keep making him second-guess himself. He knows he can take you in a fight - your wrists feel so fragile under his fingers - he knows he can take you - you haven’t exactly been trying to fight him off all this time - but still, he hesitates. If he lets himself press his mouth to exposed skin, have a taste of what he’d been denied of for so long in your presence, well, it felt like crossing a line he could never come back from.

“Hmm, if I was going to take a guess, it almost feels like you’re about to eat me.” You’re trying to make light of the situation, as you’ve always done. Yet he does not scoff, or ignore you, or move on from the conversation. Instead, he feels your laughter come to a stop when he sighs into your skin. He agreed, it certainly did feel like he was going to eat you. What would happen if he sunk his teeth into you, nipped at your skin - what else would he break between the two of you besides your flesh?

“What would you do if I did?” He closes his eyes, trying to reel himself in. Maybe he can still control himself. Breathe in, breathe out. He curses silently through gritted teeth. Blade should have known better than to do that. Now he’s enveloped in your scent, the only thing he can feel under his touch is your warmth, it was all you, you, you.

Blades feel you shift in position and instinctively tightens his hold on your wrists. It must’ve hurt - he’s barely aware of how much strength he’s using - but you don’t make a peep. He can’t risk letting you walk out now, even if he still doesn’t know what he’s doing - what happens after you leave him in this hallway? Will he enter HQ tomorrow to find out you’d requested another partner without so much as another word to him? Not that he’d just let things end there - he’d probably make sure you end up his partner again. But he would still prefer to see this conversation through.

He’s pulled back when he feels your breath on his ear. You let out a puff of air - a small laugh - that has him more aware of the situation you’re in. You’re so, so close - and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It wouldn’t be fun if I just answered that, now, won’t it? So let me ask, since you’re the one in control right now, yeah?” Blade’s not sure if you meant to brush your lips to the shell of his ear, but you’re speaking again before he can think of a proper reaction. “What do you want me to do?”

Why would he know what you’d do? All he’s been able to think about is what he’d do to you. A part of him wants to strangle you until you hated him. What have you done to him? Wants to crush you in an embrace so tight he’d permanently feel you in his arms long after you’re gone. Kiss you until he could drown in your bleeding mouth. What did you do? Why is he like this, all because of you?

And all too soon the answer comes to him clearly.Blade’s hands leave your wrists in an instant, instead coming to grab your face, forcing you to meet his eyes. He doesn’t have to see his own expression to know he looks beyond deranged - he can feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins, a smile twitching the corners of his mouth upward into a lopsided grin, eyes blown wide. His thumbs try to gently caress your cheeks, and yet you can both feel him tremble with barely restrained excitement.

“I want you to break,” he ghosts his lips over yours. Where should he bite first? “But I want to be the one to break you.”

 It would be so easy to do, too. You’re not the first, and you won’t be the last. To make you submit to his every beck and call, have you running to do his very bidding, his words more than gospel the moment they reached you. By the end of this little game of sorts, he’d have you kneeling.

And yet, and yet, and yet.

The automatic doors slide open to let him in and Blade locks it behind him without much thought, like it was second nature, as he has already done time and time before.

You sit on the edge of your bed with your back facing him, one leg spread to the floor and your other knee pulled to your chest, phone in hand, softly humming a tune as you scroll through your messages (was it those damned crew members of the train again?) He can’t help but be aware of every little thing you do, every little thing related to you. He knows that song you’re singing.

He’s heard it played on the streets of Belobog the first time you sang along and he hears it again as you lay next to him the first night you spent together. You may have thought him asleep with his eyes closed and even breathing, but that was your mistake. He listened to you sing that song in the dark, so very aware of your proximity, each small breath you took, an intake of air longer than the rest as you hummed, and every time you made the slightest alteration to your position under the sheets, trying not to “wake” him.

To him, to Blade, it felt like he never truly left that moment in time. Each time he lays down for the night, if he can fool himself enough, he can hear you humming. You’re in bed with him, surely. Just an inch away from touching the tips of your fingers or the edge of your face. He’d kill to even graze at your skin, but he’s not dumb enough to try - he knows the moment he does, the illusion would end, the spell would break, and you and your voice with it.

Blade relishes the sound of your singing now, in the flesh, unhindered by his own imagination. He’s so close now. A few steps and you’re in arms reach. He can just hold his hands out and then… and then…

You raise your head the longer he doesn’t say anything, most likely wondering why he hadn’t made his presence known. Normally he’d stand in your line of sight and stare at you until you finally decide to give him your full attention, be it to go over the mission plans or just to provide him entertainment. The Blade in front of you right now, however… He doesn’t know what face he’s making. Is it carefully blank, or do you see the desperation he’s trying so hard to keep in check?

“Blade? What can I do for you?” you maneuver your body so you’re facing him, but you don’t stand and come closer. You don’t try to close the distance in any way. You stay where you are, on the bed, with him by the door.

And that was the problem.

In few quick and agitated strides, he reaches for your wrist.

“That’s something I don’t hear very often, especially when it’s directed at me,” you laugh like there was nothing wrong with your predicament. Like he didn’t just say he’d rather have you broken than hopelessly in love like he really wanted, like he really craved. “However, you don’t expect me to just accept that without a fight, yes?”

“Of course not,” his thumb grazes at your lip, imagining a cut right straight in the middle. Imagining swiping the blood across your face. Imagining the clean-up afterward. “The process is more than half the fun. I look forward to it already. Do you?”

“I suppose, to an extent, but that’s not what I meant,” you smile tenderly, eyes soft, gently caressing his cheeks. Blade can’t help the feeling that you’re treating him like he’s the only one who’s not in on the joke, the one who just can’t seem to get it. “What makes you think you won’t break first?”

“Blade?”

He looks at your wrist in his hand. So easy to break. Just a quick twist of his own wrist and he’d hear it snap under his fingers, have you crying in his arms. Would he try to soften your crying with murmurs of assurance, or would he tell you to scream louder? He doesn’t get to know the answer.

He holds your wrist like a feather, you must have noticed how lenient he’s being. Tight enough to know its unmistakable presence, but not enough to crush. When was the last time he was aware of how fragile something was?

“Blade? What’s wrong?”

He raises his eyes to meet yours. You don’t flinch, or try to move away. You stare at him, watching his face for anything that might give way to what was going on. Instead of letting you find out anything for yourself, he slowly kneels down until he’s eye level with you.

He all but barks out a laugh. He puts pressure on the tips of his fingers, almost trying to crack into your skull. “Do you really think I’d let myself break first? You’re out of your mind, darling.”

His throat burns at the very idea, bile rising up from his stomach, but he either said it now or lived in secret for the rest of your time together. He thought of marking you in other ways, but this would have to suffice for now.

“I yield.”

He watches as your eyes widen ever so slightly before you smile, ever so slightly, eyes ever so soft. You cup his cheek with your free hand and he all but melts into the attention you’re so willingly giving him. When you lean in, he’s already meeting you halfway, but just before your lips touch, you hold him in place with your hand on his face, mouths just barely grazing the other. He finds himself staring at your eyes which seem to gleam something dark.

He feels your hand slowly creep from his cheek to his hair, softly brushing at strands before tugging - once, twice - at the ends. “Oh, I don’t just think so, Blade.”

You smile like you know a secret he doesn’t, a joke he can’t quite get.

“I know.”

✨ Masterlist ✨ 

Taglist: 💛@anime-allover  💛@faeriessky  💛 @prksolon 💛 @dai-tsukki-desu

Disclaimer: Characters are not mine and belong to their respective creators. Their portrayal is merely my own interpretation of them and may not be accurate to their intended characterization. I stake no claim to the original works, only to the ideas and plot of the fictitious stories I’ve written them into.

[mixelation]

i was thinking about reborn au & the iwa chunin exams and i..... genuinely do not know what tori can actually do?? cut also contains me whining about timing of events

okay, so my timeline:

i usually do everything timeline-wise relevant to team 7's age, so: itachi is ~5 years older than sasuke, which makes tori ~4 years older. i headcanon the hyuuga affair as being part of the end of the third shinobi war, so tori would be ~7 when that happened.

the ame trio prevent a lot of fighting happening in rain country, so sound is actually a lot worse off than the original timeline (although tori... doesn't know this). her adoptive clan is having SEVERE supply issues so she doesn't actually get much instruction with anything metal until orochimaru officially unites the sound country clans into oto. i'm debating the effect of ame not being the stage for war having the effect of making it last longer, so tori is anywhere from 8 to 10 when suddenly she's part of oto

i'm not sure what orochimaru implements in terms of training? the Vibe i was going for is that he wants to improve childhood training because his next move is going to be icing out (or murdering) the adults bc he wants a hoard of shinobi who are 100% loyal to him. idk, maybe he unites them before the end of the war and sends a lot of adults to their deaths. so tori might have actual instruction from like 7-8?

i don't think tori actually LIKES most training. she doesn't super care about being a badass; she wants to research how chakra works and make a lot of insane seals to test her theories. so she taps out of training whenever she can in oto, which becomes increasingly often as she's given more independence as a researcher.

i think orochimaru would base any training program on the konoha academy curriculum, so tori definitely knows the basic 3 jutsu. since she spends all her time thinking about chakra, i think i'll let her have pretty good instincts on how to mold chakra. she rarely struggles to learn ninjutsu, but she doesn't have a ton of chakra and she doesn't have a lot of motivation or teachers available. no one's formally taught her treewalking bc anything beyond the basic training in oto is sort of chaotic and she doesn't have a built in family structure to learn it from, so she's self-taught (she self-taught wrong LMAO) and also she didn't really bother with it until she fled oto. i'm going to let her know some techniques which are TECHNICALLY medical but she learned from orochimaru to do surgery in the name of science. she doesn't like using them in combat because they're..... messy

i think orochimaru is the type to make children fight each other. tori relies a lot of children just being kind of stupid rather than any actual combat skills, but as she gets older this strategy works less well. her taijutsu is therefore....... iffy. for weapons she's most competent with a staff (from the ol' bamboo pole days) but she doesn't like it bc it's very Sound Country(tm) and she doesn't really identify as an Oto-nin. her aim with a kunai is... okay?

With Team 4, I think Kushina really quickly is like "okay, so this team is about making sure tori can hit someone properly (and me teaching this one transport seal to her for the mission)" and tori just doesn't think this is very fair. why aren't you teaching her MORE seals, instead? They only get ~3 months so i don't think she makes insane progress, but she gets better!!

tori's fighting style is very "i will seem harmless until very suddenly I Am Not" so she gets kind of into trying to come up with a technique that gives her a one-hit kill. for this she turns to misapplied medical jutsu and kushina is just like "wow, horrifying, keep it up."

(fuinjutsu is actually pretty tricky to incorporate into active combat, because even if you have pre-made seals, it'll take you a hot second to active them, which is often a hot second too many)

tori's skills are all over the place in a way that seems completely illogical unless you ARE her, and also her measuring stick is Akatsuki, so tori is like "oh yeah, no, i think the average genin could obliterate me?" but the SECOND she realizes that winning her first tournament match means she'll fight itachi, she's like "actually i am going to dedicate my whole month of training to that fight" with the assumption she'll just win against unknown genin #2. whatever, tori knows what a real threat looks like

(also, a WEIRD part of the team 4 dynamic from an outsider's POV is that itachi and deidara don't, like.... disrespect tori? yeah her taijutsu is horrific but also she's INCREDIBLY skilled in a handful of other areas and they're acutely aware of this, but like. they shouldn't be LMAO)

anyway, i want them to run into sasori on a mission, and ORIGINALLY i was going to make this their one c-rank pre-exam. but also i think the exam is the turning point for minakushi to be like "ONE OF US" wrt deidara & tori, and i think "buddies with sasori????" would uuuuh not fly (at least with mianto) until after this turning point. so my new concept for their pre-exam c-rank is they run into chump shinobi and kushina is like "NO TORI HAS TO FIGHT THEM" even though literally any other member of team 4 could win in their sleep. she believes in you, tori!!!

so i think the sasori mission happens post exam? i'm not 100% sure how team 4 functions post-exam. it seems like kind of a waste to have itachi & deidara running c-ranks (esp itachi since he already has a record with konoha), but maybe minato is like "hey buddy..... so upon reflection and reviewing a lot of your files, maybe you should have friends your age??" so then the Point of Team 4 becomes integrating tori & deidara into konoha, and they take progressively more insane missions. the missions get more insane & less frequent as they figure out their own paths. itachi steadily starts getting tapped for ANBU again and tori starts rotating in R&D and gets strong armed into field medic training. i think deidara..... would also go into R&D, because his art is technically jutsu development. this is the funniest thing that's ever happened to tori

tori STILL doesn't like training but she has to log a certain number of hours to maintain her status as an active shinobi and her main sparring partners are like. insane s-rank people. so.............

(tori: I AM GOING TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH NORMAL PEOPLE (makes enemies instead) how)

[palmviolet]

Hii, not wanting to seem weird or bother u, but what happened to Parallel Lines? It was a work in progress of yours and It was steddie so maybe thats why u never finished It, but did It have anything cool in It, i love music aus even more If theyre in the 70 with lots of acurate facts 😭😭😭😭

omg... parallel lines... i'm so pleased you remember that lmao this made me go reread the 5k or so words i had written for it. i'm afraid to say i'm not all that pleased with them (given my style has changed a huge amount since 2022) but the base ideas are so much fun — steve as an ordinary guy who put his passion for music behind him at his dad's behest, dating nancy the rolling stone reporter who interviews eddie munson, top of the world as the guitarist/frontman for marchwarden, a huge hard rock band with a three-day residency at the roxy to kick off their third us tour. nancy brings steve along backstage; steve and eddie hit it off. they spend the whole tour talking over the phone; when eddie gets back to la, things evolve.

the idea was that the fic would span three volumes and several years. this all begins in 1976; by 1978, they're broken up and eddie is living in london having written a breakup album, including the song 'parallel lines.' this of course is not the end of the story: steve and eddie get roped back together by robin, who's an up and coming artist under the same label as eddie, management attempting to make them each other's beards, trying to convince steve to join her band. they meet again at the marquee club in london when eddie gets her a supporting gig there.

steve eventually gets into music himself, at the perfect time for the ascendancy of synth in the late 70s/early 80s and the decline of the golden age of rock — steve on the way up and eddie (relatively) on the way down. add to this queer culture, love songs with the pronouns changed (or not), and david bowie. steve as a solo artist names himself vanity; robin's band (which includes max) is called giraffe; eddie's is marchwarden (as i was going for a more 70s vibe, led zep style, vs. corroded coffin as a very 80s metal name). at some point nancy starts dating photographer jonathan, probably breaks that off and winds up with robin instead. eddie's manager is lonnie until lonnie turns out to be a piece of shit. everybody's lives are tangled up together and it would have taken me years to write lmao

so yeah. i will not be writing this, probably, given the steddie interest is lingering only long enough for me to finish better by you and no longer. which is a shame, but c'est la vie.

thank you for reminding me of this! it's fun to talk about.

have the interview that would have opened the fic beneath the cut, anyway:

MW. So, let’s talk Parallel Lines. It’s quite different from the other songs on the album, isn’t it? Almost a surf-rock feel to some of the chords.

EM. Well, let’s not go quite that far… [laughing] But yeah, I guess it is pretty different. That’s not by design, necessarily, it just kinda turned out that way as a result of the lyrics and my idea behind the song.

MW. Which is…? I mean, it sounds to me like a breakup song, but that seems a rather simplistic explanation for a songwriter whose catalogue includes — expanding for the readers, here — an entire concept album about an evil wizard.

EM. [laughing again] Shit, well, thanks, Mick, I’m honestly very flattered by that. I mean, like, sixteen-year-old me, all teenage angst and growing my hair out of a really bad haircut, he would have died if he’d known I was writing a song about a breakup. Like, he’d totally have killed me! And maybe I’d deserve it! But, yeah, you got me, I wrote a song about a breakup.

MW. The lyrics aren’t simplistic at all, though, I mean, the mathematical concepts, the metaphors… I think it’s safe to say no one’s going to mistake this for your typical breakup song. There’s something almost hauntingly analytical about it. 

EM. Hauntingly analytical… yeah, I like that. It’s sort of an attempt to process something that happened in a way that doesn’t come all that naturally to me — or, I guess, to anyone. Who relates to a breakup through math, right? But if something totally alters the way you see the world, it’s like… a total paradigm shift. Sorry, more math speak. You wanna know the ironic thing, Mick? The person this song is written about hates math. Like, loathes it. Even more ironic, I absolutely hate it too. I had to call my friend at Caltech, he’s majoring in Physics, I had to ask him to check my math…

MW. [laughing] I’m impressed at your dedication to accuracy. So is that the point, then, trying to connect with someone in a language that neither of you understand or enjoy?

EM. Yeah, pretty much. I mean, that’s the thing with parallel lines, right? Never the twain shall meet. Always separate, doomed by fate, if I can put a horrible little cliché in there for you. Magazines love that shit.

MW. But they run side by side still, don’t they? Going in the same direction?

EM. There is that. 

MW. You’re famously reluctant to talk about this song, if I may say so, yet you’ve been incredibly generous with me — thank you! Is there a reason for that, or did you just decide that now’s the time?

EM. Now’s the time, I guess. Different country, different magazine. Maybe I’m hoping the person it’s about won’t see it, [laughs dubiously] if you can believe it — who knew I was such a coward? Had to cross the Atlantic before I could talk about a song I play to tens of thousands every night.

MW. Well, I’m honoured, whatever the reason. One last question on it, before we move on to that killer performance on Top of the Pops — I think you changed a great many British women’s lives with that one — any relation to the Blondie album?

EM. Y’know, I get asked this a lot. I mean, I’ll tell you the usual stuff: I have great respect for them as artists, the album’s great, the song’s unrelated, we just happened to release them within a couple months of each other. Debbie’s great, we caught up at the VMAs the other week and we’re totally cool about the title. But what I will add, since apparently I’m in a, um, confessional mood — something else ironic is that the person the song’s about probably prefers the Blondie album.

MW. Well, what can you do? Birds do like Blondie. 

EM. Sure. Sure they do.

— from ‘Eddie Munson: Parallels to the Past’ Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 16th August 1978

[luescris]

So. Side note. There's a lot of things that probably could be better in each of these (the one that gets to me the most is how Rise Donnie looks taller than 2012 like god I wish I had the energy to redo that entire one JUST for that augh ) BUT as they say, practice makes progress haha 😅

Little tidbits for every interaction here after the cut hehehehehe:

The Mikeys

- While 2012 may not be an artist with colored pencils, I'm certain he still appreciates all the bright colors Rise Mikey most definitely uses!! Besides, they both are also culinary artists, so they can trade recipes and all that kinda stuff in the kitchen!! Plus, 2012 has always wanted to know what it's like to have a younger brother figure hehehehe

- There's not much to say other than all that cuz like. They would instantly get along in my opinion lmao 😂

The Raphs

- Rise may be younger than 2012, but that doesn't mean the size doesn't matter FHFHDH Especially since 2012 is like. Just barely almost the smallest of his family lmao 😂

-2012 may at first be kinda hesitant about Rise's girth, size, strength and power, but after getting used to it I'm certain he'll not only want to spar with him, but get tips and tricks of all sorts to get stronger, and would be highly impressed with Rise's strength

The Donnies

- In a way these two would be the same as the Mikey's; they also would get along very well, though maybe 2012 might be a little bit put off by Rise's high ego, but definitely not in a "I don't like this guy" kinda way FHHDHD 😂 He would probably find it endearing after a while if anything!!

- I feel like they both would specialize in different kinda things related to building, and maybe Rise is a bit more advanced (maybe more than a bit since 2012 used nothing but trash but in very impressive ways ahsgs) but if one spots an error in something, the other would immediately follow through, and they'd be a great team!!

The Leos

- Now here's where it gets interesting. Rise and 2012 don't necessarily hate or dislike each other, but at first, they may think they are absolutely nothing alike. Rise would definitely be intimated by just how serious and stoic 2012 is, not to mention all the scars, and 2012 would look at Rise and be a little bit too reminded of how he was when he was that age. The looks they share here aren't of discomfort, Rise just doesn't know what to think of 2012 and 2012 is a bit concerned for Rise's future lmao

- But in the end, once they actually get to talking, they find out they both like space, cartoons, puns, and 2012 can give Rise pointers. Eventually they'll warm up to each other, but it might take a bit longer than the rest haha 😆

Extras

- So. Funny thing. I wanted to lowkey like. Add in Splinter. But I also had a terribly morbid idea of Rise staring or standing next to a picture of 2012 all confused and weary kinda, like a "where is their father" kinda foreboding y'know BDHDHDHDH 😅 Humor is how I cope spare me-

- I was gonna add the April's and Casey's, and maybe I might later on, but I dunno if I'd do Rise!April justice lmao 😅 I don't draw any of these guys enough HFHDHDH

[muffinsin]

none of the angst request I have made or the angst request the other anon has made has ever made me feel anything until the cheating one, that one really hurt. I had one request thats similar but not cheating but rejection

The sisters reaction to being rejected by the woman they're very smitten with (when they finally come to terms that they're in love. Maybe they fell in love with the maiden because she wasn’t scared or something, you can decide that if you like), and not just a simple rejection but a very hurtful one, like the woman straight up says she would never be with a monster, that no sane person would ever pick someone like them unless they had ulterior motives.

What would the sisters do to that person?How would what she said affect them?

-rambunctious anon

Very interesting ask! Funnily enough I’ve mentioned people using them for ulterior moves in a Cassandra x OC story I co wrote ages ago lmao, so I’ll possibly delve into the hints regarding ulterior moves mentioned in that one! Let’s get into it! :)

Masterlists

Bela

The gardens of castle Dimitrescu- an unusual place to spot the eldest Dimitrescu sister

Normally, one could find her in her study, or perhaps even walking about in the castle

Yet, barely outside

This changes when she sets her eyes on you. The gardener

She watches you tend to the flowers from her window, shy glances as though you could see her in such a distance

She wants to get closer, eagerly so. She’s itching to talk to you

When she finally does, she is sure to walk- not swarm- through the main entrance of the greenhouse as not to startle you

She’s nervous about asking you out, and honestly surprised you agree so easily

While many seem interested in Bela, she didn’t think you were one of them. You never made any moves on her or so

Still, you allow her to take you out on a date. In the gardens, too

For a little while, it’s heaven on earth

You listen to each word she says, even do chores such as cleaning her sickle for her

And you do a good job at it each time, so that Bela doesn’t even question it when it goes missing after a month or so of dating you

She must’ve misplaced it

Your relationship progresses very fast- this isn’t entirely something she wants. But you’re eager, and she tells herself it’s because you’re in love

Soon, you are granted to not only see her room, but she also hands you the key to it after a long discussion of nightmares on your part

She wants to make sure she’s there for you in such times

And soon enough, she finds you sleep in her bed nearly every night. It’s a little fast, but she accepts it

And she relaxes further around you, more and more, until she no longer opens her eyes or even awakens when you step into her room at night

Two months of the relationship

Two months of waiting on your part

Two months of rushed, but beautiful love on hers

But the beautiful bliss ends. With sharp pain

A sharp pain she feels in her chest one night, and the dull sensation of a pillow pressed over her face, tightly, with the obvious intent of suffocating her

Had you truly paid attention to her, maybe you would’ve succeeded. Alas, Bela easily swarms, clutching her chest in pain as she throws her attacker against the wall

She sees it’s you then, laying unconscious, blood running down the side of your head

Her lost sickle held loosely in your hand, the pillow dropped at the bed

She screams, and it hurts in her chest. You aimed right for her heart

Alcina is the first to hear her distressed daughter’s cry. Cassandra and Daniela follow

Still, Bela can’t feel the arms wrapping around her when they do, nor being pulled in her mother’s loving embrace

She can’t feel the large fingers inspecting her skin, the worried, golden eyes accessing the damage done to the fly woman

She feels the betrayal

It’s hard to breathe, and although her body begins healing already, it was not prepared for the attack

Bela did not avoid the attack by swarming- she now pays the price for her comfort and trust

Having quickly caught onto what must have happened, Alcina orders her two younger daughters to throw you in the dungeons until further notice

Bela’s health is all that matters now. Her skin, slashed and bruised, bloodied and cold, feels entirely too broken against Alcina’s hands

She feels the flies underneath her daughter’s skin, the many dead ones huddled together in the gash above Bela’s heart

She heals, fairly fast, and is left with nothing but a scar to remind her of this

A mental, and a literal one. Even years after, Bela feels disgust and shame upon looking at it when she undresses. She avoids mirrors at bath times entirely, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future

She knows, she must face you. She wants, craves, answers for your crime

So, days after the incident, she tracks you in the basement. Bloodied and bruised, starved and beaten

Made to pay by her sisters

She grips your jaw tightly through the bars, golden eyes flashing angrily. No more love is seen in them

Only anger, betrayal, and hurt is left. A coldness in her beautiful eyes she will keep for years to come

“Why?”, she simply asks. She demands to know it

Should you not grant her an honest answer, she has promised she will allow Cassandra to torment you for all eternity

Your answer comes, and it feels as though another stab is made right through her heart

“Because you deserve it”

She lets go of you, momentarily shocked into silence

“You’re a Monster. The lot of you! You can’t prevail! You’re a disgrace!”

Each word feels like a sting to her heart. It is yet still exposed for you, and you have and use your words as weapons to break it into many pieces

She cries. She feels ashamed as she does, but can’t stop from falling to the ground and crying as you speak phrase after phrase

She realises now, it’s all been an act. A plan all along. And it hurts, so bad

She thinks, perhaps she is as delusional as Daniela. Or stupid, for allowing herself to open up to you

Her cries persist long after Cassandra finds her sobbing and shaking to your words and makes quick work of you

She knows, she cannot keep you around, even to torment you. Your mere existence is painful to Bela

Bela knows, she must not let such a thing happen again. The large scar across her heart reminds her of this, always, and urges her to build walls

Walls of coldness and stubbornness to never find such a wicked thing as love again

Cassandra

Cassandra feels herself obsessing, hard

It’s not quite love, but she sure wants it to be

After all, how is it that Daniela gets to have so many lovers so easily, and she still hasn’t been in a single relationship after centuries of living at the castle?

She’s deprived. Of love, of affection, of a relationship

And she’s desperate

She’s eager. And young, and, if she was to recall it it- stupid

And you catch her eye

A simple staff member of relatively little importance. You’re new at the Castle

And, you aren’t scared of her

You haven’t yet heard of the stories told about her

Or maybe you have. The thought that you know, but don’t care, has her heart flutter

She too, was once romantic after all

Cassandra doesn’t love you at first. She’s obsessed, and delusional, and so very lonely

She wants a partner. Like Daniela has had countless times

And you’re the first not to run from her when she does as much as glance in your direction

She takes you on a date, doesn’t bother asking you out

Cassandra isn’t sure what to do at dates, though

She’s pleasantly surprised when you take the lead. She thinks, if only for a moment. Maybe you’re capable of loving her

Maybe you’re her forever person. What is it Daniela calls it? A soulmate?

Maybe Cassandra can find such love too

She sees you eying the doors and windows, the gaps in walls

She’s delusional and lonely, not blind nor stupid. She knows your goal

You want to escape

And she isn’t going to let it happen

As time goes on, you’re able to tell just how lonely the poor thing is

How desperately she wants to be loved too. How dearly she wants to be told she isn’t the monster, not entirely, everyone makes her out to be

And you tell her just that. You tell her all of it. That she is worth something. That she is no monster. That she is deserving of love

And Cassandra sucks it all up eagerly

You tell her, that you love her

And in her delusion and inexperience, she doesn’t question this sudden burst of feelings for her. She’s too young and inexperienced to know love takes time, cannot be created so strongly so suddenly

She is yet to learn loyalty and honesty, takes time at Castle Dimitrescu

Cassandra says she loves you too. She has no idea what this love feels like, really, but is sure she feels it

She likes you

You grow on her, a lot. She protects you, disposes of all that throw dirty glances your way

She spends nearly all her time with you. She kisses you, and allows you to kiss her

She allows herself to be intimate with you. And you are her first time. It’s rushed and odd, and she finds it strange how you barely face her during it, but she doesn’t mind at the end.

You say it’ll feel better that way, this and that position, and she takes your word for it even as you rush her first time. It hurts, too, but she is too “in love” to say so. If you only you looked at her, you would’ve seen tears on her cheeks. The vulnerable expression she wears

More time passes, and Cassandra forgets her earlier observations regarding your wish to escape

After all, you are so happy with her. Why’d you want to leave?

She relaxes around you, even dares cuddle sometimes when you grant it. She wants to feel human, at least a little bit

Cassandra makes it a point to talk less of her hunts, too. She knows her sadistic nature grosses you out

In a way, she is tamed. She isn’t happy, but she’s in love, according to herself

Then, one night, she awakens to rumbling

She finds you missing from her bed, her room a mess. Closets searched while she slept, drawers pulled out, her hunting trophies torn apart

You had found what you looked for, though, she knows, when she finds the destroyed, open box she kept in one of her trophies lay on the ground

Immediately, she is out of bed, grabbing her doorknob and gasping when the door wont open

You locked her in, it’s what she hears. This confirms that you have found it;

Her keychain. Used to unlock nearly all doors in the castle. Or in this castle, unlock

She easily swarms under the door, her eyes widening as she hears your heartbeat in the distance

You’re escaping! You’re leaving her!

She screams your name loudly, so much so each maiden and her family is woken up, pain and anger evident in her voice

You’re nothing but her prey now

She throws her sickle as you run, yet misses, her vision blurred with angry and pained tears

Still, you’ve gained too much distance

Cassandra screams in pain when the large, entrance doors are pushed open and the cold air comes inside in the form of harsh winds assaulting her fragile skin

She can’t let you go, she can’t!

She won’t!

She screams loudly, chasing after you as you scream for help

Scream, for people to kill her. To help you

Each word screamed from your lungs hurts her. She understands now, your honeyed words were nothing but lies. She is a monster, and it cannot be changed

Each phrase you scream clips at her heart, and instead replaces this tiny bit that clips off with a protective stone layer

She runs, unable to swarm, until she cannot anymore. You’re faster than her like this, and with your screams, awoke the villagers

Pitchforks and torches…

Cassandra runs back as fast as she can, tears streaming down her face as she is the one chased now

Even as she makes it back to the castle, she sobs and screams for hours

A week passes, and you’re found out in the forest by Bela. Mauled by lycans

Cassandra, despite her pain after your betrayal, is furious at these news

She goes on a killing spree, killing all lycans she finds

It trains and punishes her harder than ever, pushes her to be the best. The strongest. The fastest, the most powerful huntress of Castle Dimitrescu

No one will ever escape her grasp again

Cassandra has learned one thing: not to trust so easily. It’s a lesson sadly every sister must learn

Her delusions fade, and are instead replaced with a powerful wall of anger, aggression, teasing and criticism

You’ve scarred her, forever, irreversibly. Not physically, but mentally

Cassandra develops an abandonment trauma she cannot recover from, merely improve on

Her sisters and mother are not allowed to leave her sight for weeks until improvements show. In years, it grows better

Yet she doesn’t allow anybody else close to her, romantically

Her flings are killed immediately after. No one escapes the fierce and brutal huntress

Should she ever find love again, she automatically fears being left yet again. Only this time, will she catch them

Daniela

Daniela Dimitrescu, the most naive and delusional of the three sisters

Yet, so eager to find love

She tries, again and again and again

Yet, it seems she is never quite taken seriously

She knows, this will change, with you. It simply has to! You’re her soulmate, are you not?

Now, Daniela knows she is good looking. With her wide hips and large chest, round ass and thick thighs, beautiful curves and slim arms. Petite hands and thick, auburn hair, a button nose and a round face

She, of course, sees that there is more to her. Others do not, it seems

You catch her attention easily by winking at her when she passes you one day. You’re merely a maid, no staff member of importance. Still, you try your luck

And, unsurprisingly, Daniela is immediately intrigued. Mistakingly, she interprets your wink as love, not lust

She’s naive, and it’s a common mistake of hers

Immediately, she is all on you. Daniela falls fast and hard, always. She deludes herself into thinking you’re the exact same

Within hours, you are bombarded with flowers and presents, hear her giggles all around you as you work

Daniela doesn’t think it might be unsettling. You love her, after all!

Then, at night when your shift ends, she expectantly follows you to the library

Will you two read?! She’s enthusiastic

“Hello, my sweet!”, she greets, already rambling about her favourite books

She stops merely when you push a finger to her soft, plump lips. Her hands hover in the air, about to pull another book from the shelf

Yet, they all drop when she feels your lips on hers

Oh! You seem to take quite bold initiative!

Daniela hums against your lips, already feeling you push your tongue inside her mouth

Oh, you’re bold!

She gasps as hands wander to her chest, groping and cupping her large breasts

Gently, she takes your wrists in her hands and guides you away from her

What kind of relationship would this be if you just immediately skipped to sex? What about your date!

She begins talking about books again, and blushes as your eyes take in her body. You’re not listening to a thing she says, she realises with a small pout

She explains, you must love her

You do, she reassures herself

In return, you reassure: it’s completely normal to skip ahead. She feels your hands on her yet again, touching places she isn’t sure she’s ready to have touched yet

She voices these complains, and whimpers a little at the pout on your lips

Poor, little Daniela, told she is pushing the love she craves away

And so she gives in, relishing in the feeling you give her. She likes it, even if she would’ve liked to save it for another time

Yet, the next day, the same thing repeats, when she attempts to ask you out for a date after summoning you to her room

Your lips merely shush her, your hands wandering and undressing the youngest Dimitrescu sister already

She is somewhat of a forbidden fruit among the servants, unbeknownst to her

The sister protected by the older two and an overprotective mother

You see it as a person challenge to have her. Yet, not quite in the way Daniela believes you want her

The way she makes clear she wants you

And so, another date idea is muffled by lips. More moans and gasps are drawn to her, and more false, loving words are whispered to her

Daniela is completely wrapped around your finger. She’s so in love, she doesn’t realise she hasn’t had a single date with you. Not even a proper conversation. She doesn’t even know a thing about you

At her third attempt, she is interrupted yet again. This time, by your hands boldly bending her over

This is love, you reassure the naive woman

She whimpers- it hurts this time, you’re by far rougher with her, treat her less kind and loving

Daniela doesn’t mind playful pain. Yet, you seem so careless with her

She asks to cuddle afterwards, yet finds you dressed and on your way out already, leaving the vixen all on her own in her by far too large bed

The next few times this repeats. It holds up for a month, until Daniela is asked who her partner is by her sisters

She realises, she has no answer

She assures her sisters, however, she is not merely a fancy sex toy to you. She’s your everything. Your lover. She means the world to you!

And so, she eventually confronts you

She brushes off your hands when you attempt to touch her yet again, instead asks for a kiss to her forehead

You cringe visibly at the request, and she pouts for a moment

What?

Then, she asks for a date

She wants to take you to the castle gardens. They’re beautiful this time around!

You sigh loudly

Daniela feels tears prickling at her skin

She feels your hands on her yet again, demanding this is love. This is the love the craves. She shakes her head stubbornly

She begs, is she your girlfriend?

This time, you laugh at her face

Daniela frowns, sad and confused, as her face is cupped. Your hands are firmly set on her cheeks, yet not gently

This is not the touch of a lover

“Daniela, you cannot expect me to love a thing such as yourself”

Thing? Love? She doesn’t understand

She is tripped backwards, her hips traced almost mockingly now

“Love is a human emotion, silly”

Your words are cold. You’ve grown too comfortable around her, as Daniela has let you practically walk all over her

“And you…”, Daniela gasps when you poke her chest harshly, “you are not human”

She feels tears, warm and salty, run down her cheeks. A small sob breaks from her

“Don’t be sad, you’re human enough. For a creature of your kind”

You taunt her openly, fingers tracing her skin and eventually settling back on her thick thighs

“Human enough to please in a place such as this”

She cries to herself as you keep taunting her, quietly and ashamed for falling for her delusions yet again

“I mean, did you seriously think I loved you?!”, you laugh. Daniela lets out a heartbroken sob at this

“Look at you! You’re not normal!”

As though to prove this, you pinch her skin. Daniela feels, for the first time, ashamed when flies break off her soft skin

She gasps when her face is grabbed, her warm tears running down over your fingers. Cruel eyes stare at her

“You’re not deserving of love, Daniela. No creature is”

Daniela screams pitifully at this, her sorrow and pain raw and out in the open

Immediately, your eyes widen. Still, even as you attempt to make a run for it, you’re captured by strong arms that grab you and flies that dig in and out of your skin

Daniela feels her other sister’s arms around her, Bela’s gentle voice cooing and reassuring her as she sobs. She doesn’t notice you get dragged away, nor does she care. She wants you dead

In the first few days, she seems completely fine. A new maiden catches her attention already. Yet- something feels off

She can’t shake off the feeling your words have caused

The hatred she feels for herself. The sadness. The pain

She draws back from love

She wants it so bad, yet, in the back of her mind, can’t truly believe she is ever granted true love

After you, all she sees herself as is a creature, for years to come

Perhaps, she must truly wait for her knight in shining armour to save her from such beastly thoughts

Or perhaps, she is the beast, slain by her knight

[n1ghteeea]

Do you have like a getting together timeline in your head for polybusters? Also, what made you start shipping them in that way? Are there any individual pairings within the group you're drawn to more than others?

Ty for the ask!! ^-^

In my head Ray and Egon meet in college when Ray is studying and Egon is working as an instructor since he got his college degree in school (a canon fact).

They bond over their love for supernatural and begin hanging out together (mostly in the lab).

Later Peter joins them too after he switches his degree from engineering to whatever Ray is studying (also a canon fact).

At first he finds their interests silly and mildly entertaining, but eventually gets into it too and they all become friends, working on their doctorates together.

Eventually they graduate and a version of the movie events happens, they start the business, hire Janine and later Winston. I don’t think there would be a certain point where they would catch feelings for each other, but rather their shared routines, job, home, pastime and the fact that they get to know everything about each other leads them to developing soft and fond feelings for one another which eventually flow into romantic attraction. I don’t really enjoy thinking about how they’d work it out, they’d find a way, but the established family relationship is very dear to me. It’s probably boring, but I prefer the concept of people slowly falling in love as they get to know each other over love at first sight 🤷

Janine and Egon would take longer to figure things out, they both like each other and both know it, yet somehow their relationship doesn’t fully progress into a proper one. Of course there would be no jealousy or anything on either side, they are all a family 🫶

There is an idea of Ray, Egon and Peter dating in college that basically revolves around Egon scolding Peter for having bad marks and not trying hard enough in classes and Peter kissing him to shut him up when they get home + all the little shared affections during their work, but it’s more for the entertainment of it, I don’t consider it canon in my RGB timeline (I’m talking like it’s some complicated thing like fnaf lore lmao).

Regarding how I got the idea of all of them being together I think I just watched the show, lol. The amount of fondness they all feel for one another makes it impossible to only pick two people who are supposed to be “in love” and sort others out. They are a package deal, do not separate them ☝️ and thus I genuinely don’t have certain individual dynamics I like more than the others, each of them is unique and very dear to me!!

[universe-of-peoples]

Here are my thoughts on Thousand Year Door after playing through it for the first time (SPOILERS AHEAD):

Great lore and story

Great map, but a little too big to be able to learn your way around in the span of the gameplay. Even after beating the game I still get lost in the Rogueport underground

I liked how each chapter is so different from each other and from other Mario games! Paper Mario seems to be able to do a lot of things mainline Mario games can’t, and I appreciate that

The boss castle behind the Thousand Year Door was beautiful and actually took my breath away a few times! The characters kept calling it creepy and I was like nooo what are you talking about I want to live here 😭

On average too many enemies to defeat per room, like I’d spend five minutes in one enemy battle, get out of it and immediately go into another one, and then maybe a third one, just to get through a room that maybe wasn’t even important. And then go to the next room and do it all over again. It definitely made progressing the story take a lot longer and got frustrating at times. I get turn-based combat is the name of the game here, but it should supplement the story, not get in the way of it.

Great puzzles when they were used! I wish there were more though. They were very well designed

All the girls love Mario and I both love it (my queer ass was laughing the entire time) and dislike the implications of all the girls HAVING to fall in love with/flirt with the male main character…

Trans representation!!!! Trans Vivian!!! Sad I got spoiled to it before I got to that part but still!!!!!!

Lmao the curses thinking that they’re so bad when in reality they give you cool abilities 😂 they’re like the unhinged version of the Pixls

I loved how every world had a town to save - this is something I loved about Wii Paper Mario too - it made it clearer who you were trying to save as opposed to like. Super Mario Bros games where you’re just killing bad guys to save the princess. I like Super Mario Bros games but Paper Mario gets you more emotionally invested in the game this way

Overall beautiful graphics and world design - the Moon was especially beautiful with the swirling stars in the background. And the Great Tree? Beautiful, beyond beautiful. Each world being different is also a big plus here because you can get so many unique designs

That door guard in Rogueport made so much money off of me lmao

I still like Wii Paper Mario better than TTYD, but I had a lot of fun and now I will be tying up all the loose ends and side quests that I didn’t get to before beating the game!

[bugflies00]

I continue to wonder since you said fostering au wilbur continues to be entirely in denial and Not Realizing for some time after he and quackity re-meet how exactly DOES the Feelings Realization TM go down qcihdtiwdzgd

OOOH well its very gradual and very much a disaster because. well. its him .

i think i said they remeet when theyre around 22-23, and at the time wilbur was in a really bad relationship that he only breaks off two or so years later. his girlfriend was very controlling and always bringing him down and making comments about him, his appearance, his interests, what he ate, etc. so needless to say wilburs already absolute dogshit self esteem is so further down the gutter it’s actually Wow look it pierced a hole into the ground from how far down it is.

this is important context because it’s part of why he takes soooo long to realise his feelings, he’s just so deeply entrenched in trying to make his girlfriend happy and love him and to appease everyone that he doesn’t realise. its what i call his “ghostbur” era - none of this stuff is actually strictly based on the bursonas, but i find he does follow a similar pattern of evolution, and at that point in his life he’s trying to be the biggest people pleaser possible after realising that being the unapproachable loner he was in high school would only leave him alone (also bc his abandonment issues got worse after sally left). his new relationship makes that worse also.

in the beginning him and q are just sort of awkwardly tiptoeing around each other considering they last left each other with a bajillion things unsaid and they are extremely determined on keeping said things unsaid. they start to grow back into friends, albeit more normal friends than the absolute mess of a situationship/frenemies they were in high school. theyre still themselves meaning they can’t go a second without aggravating each other, but its definitely friendlier.

and as time goes by some of their joke flirting gets a tad bit too real sometimes- quackity will make a joke and stare at him a moment too long, or wilbur will stutter out of nowhere, etc.

but wilbur still has a girlfriend!!! so as usual he shoves his head in the sand and he takes melatonin so at night he falls asleep instantly without having the time to yearn or reflect lmao. (for the record i do not condone this if your feelings change communicate that with your partner etc)

time progresses, every stranger they meet think theyre either married, sworn enemies, or fucking each other. meanwhile wilburs relationship grows worse and worse, he’s fallen deep into an eating disorder (while he was already struggling with bad eating habits pretty much his whole life it gets much worse then), hes struggling with self harm a lot, and its just not a great time. his friends keep trying to convince him to break things off, especially tommy who, since he lives with them, has seen a lot of shit and absolutely despises wilbur’s girlfriend’s guts and makes this very well known.

eventually they do break up (its a longer story than that but it would require its own post) and wilbur falls deep into a depressive episode. it makes him doubt for so long if he did the right thing, if he just should’ve sucked it up and taken whatever scraps of love he was given, but in reality the depressive episode had been a LONG time coming its just his brain was in survival mode. he never felt safe enough with her, so subconsciously his brain only allowed falling into depression again once it was safe to do so.

and so my point is that with all these things happening he’s absolutely nowhere near ready to accept his feelings. meanwhile q is pining hard - that man is going through it LMAO trying to support his friend (they still pretend to be frenemies) whilst shoving down his own shit. he’s one of the few people wilbur feels safe with (even though theyve gotten into fistfights and q has sincerely threatened his life on several occasions), mainly because, in a way, q knew him at his worst (high school) and still came back. so he has more trust in him than some of his other friends because hes convinced he’s manipulated them into thinking hes better than he is.

anyway q is planning this trip for an internship he’s doing for his law degree, and he has to leave for a month or two. wilburs 25th birthday rolls around, and he knows q wont be able to be there. he’s already still feeling shitty, not really entirely out of that depressive episode, and he’s ready to just have a lame birthday and go back to rotting in his bed.

and then (this is so cliché LET ME LIVE) theyre about to do the cake whatever and tommy yells announces they have a surprise and he turns around and wham! quackity standing there looking downright exhausted, with his suitcases around him and the airplane neck pillow still around his neck (he came straight from the airport). wilbur runs to hug him and, to me, that moment is the kickstarter that forces him to start actually realising whats happening.

first off because theyre not exactly huggers but that one was so spontaenous and it felt so right!! second because hes already sad and a bit emotionally volatile and the fact that q cared enough to rush and try his best to make it to his birthday moves him a whole lot. and finally because well yeah he’s madly in love with him but the only thing he says is to ask whether the eyebags q got from jetlag are a fashion statement in europe or if hes just reaching for the raccoon look.

theres definitely more moments after that (they take a LOOONG time to get together. and so much pining. its so bad) but i just think that moment is really sweet and also i love how their relationship progresses over time

[septemberlikeastorm]

hi! love your acolyte fic on ao3 <3! i was wondering how you manage to pace your story so well and if you have any advice for new fic weiters on pacing out longer fics? i'm working on my first ever fic but i'm really struggling with keeping my chapters from being all over the place or certain scenes not progressing as far as i'd like them to.

ahhh hello my friend, thank you for being so kind & i am so glad you are looking to start writing fic!!!!

the really ugly & unsatisfying answer is experience, you can't tell from my ao3 profile but i am a battle-hardened fic veteran come from the trenches of FFN.net, riparoni to a real one

hopefully the more helpful & immediately applicable answer for a new fic writer is, i personally never think about pacing, only about throughlines, by which i mean, i never really am trying to go TO somewhere, but rather come FROM somewhere in the story

which looks like: i CONSTANTLY reread earlier chapters (or, if i've not begun the work yet, religiously pore over the canon) & go okay, what's been left open-ended? which character is pushing themselves too hard & bound to collapse soon? when they collapse, how does the other character react? what does Character B's reaction to the collapse reveal to Character A? etc

a concrete example is: i never ever conceived of the scene at the end of chapter 3 of cascade ocean wave blues come, where osha's interrogating qimir over his intentions toward her. i'd planned to end that chapter with them having Brat Summer but it was getting way too long (because when you write like this, all scenes progress WAY further than you ever intended, it's why my chapter count keeps rising lmao) & i needed to come up with something else meaningful to end the chapter on

so i reread what i'd written so far & said okay, osha's been having a really overwhelming day where she's discovering she really gets along well with this guy who Murdered Her Friends & she's kind of starting to understand why he did it & see that potential for violence in herself which is pretty upsetting, on top of which she's just found out he also kills for pay, which like, what the fuck but in the same breath he assures her, very seriously but also very casually, that if anyone hurt even a hair on her head he'd raze an entire planet. & they've known each other for like two weeks

& like. how's a girl meant to respond to all that at once??? so i thought an impactful way to end the chapter might be to have her try to take stock of the situation by asking what he really wants from her, a scene i'd never planned on but turned out to be one of my favorites & be really well-received by readers!

so hopefully this approach might help push scenes to progress fully/really allow you to mine each one for all its potential? as for chapters being all over the place, i think what could help is applying this method of unspooling threads from canon/past chapters not just to plot beats but to themes & metaphors

so for example, i never started cascade intending to liken qimir's most intimate feelings to shattering & to red birds, those were just throwaway lines from the first chapter that, upon obsessive rereads, i thought i could beat the horse dead about extend further to explore how his perceptions of himself & of his capacity for love & joy evolve throughout the story

& even if you've got a chapter that doesn't feel, in terms of action, like a cohesive whole, if you can touch on those themes/metaphors/that emotional through-line in most of the scenes, it can really tie everything together & show how a character's emotional journey carries a story through chapters & to the end - not necessarily to where you'd started the fic intending to go

i hope that is even A Little Bit helpful!!!!!

[jamisonwritestf2trash]

3. "Wait, you love me?" "I always have." With RED Demo and BLUE Soldier (because theyre canonical FRIENDS and they make me cry /pos). Bonus points if Soldier is dense as fuck

❤️Red Demo + Blu Soldier💙

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Ough, I kept wondering if you put friends in all caps for it to be platonic or wanting me to ignore canon I'm so dumb sometimes lmao, so uh I wrote them with a budding romance because Boots n Bombs has my heart. UHHHH I figured it'd be annoying to read "RED demo" and "BLUE soldier" every time I wrote out their names so I'm just calling them Demo and Soldier, but they are Red and Blue respectively, cool? cool.

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Demo didn't even know his feelings were blooming. Demo and Soldier simply found themselves growing closer to each other, sharing jokes, drinks, and stories to break up the nights after battles. Forming a friendship, Demo thought. But something felt different. He had close friends before, hell, he even figured him and his team were getting pretty close, but there was something more, something below it all, something Demo couldn't understand. It all started gently, unknowingly, soft touches, longer glances, and small jokes between the two of them. Demo realized what his feelings truly were during a battle. The bloodshed was heavy on both sides, neither team making enough progress to matter, everyone was on edge, tense from both the heat, and angry at the lack of progress. Even Demo found himself being rather annoyed, finding himself hiding in a shady spot, giving himself a break from it all, letting out a long and drawn-out sigh, until his eyes lit up at the sight of Soldier running past, turning to flash a smile at Demo. Demo smiled slightly to himself, finding comfort in seeing the face of his friend, until a bullet from Sniper plowed through his skull, dropping him to the ground. Sure, Soldier would respawn in a minute or two and would find himself back on the field just fine, albeit a bit angrier than before, but Demo still feels like he's been punched in the gut, he feels cold and hot, and sick and, oh, he feels his heart, hurt, hurt in a way that he's never been able to grasp until now, he finds a wall to brace himself against, as his mind finally connects the dots. He loves him. Soldier didn't think anything of the intensity or emotion in which Demo started to lock eyes with him, Demo always holding the gaze a bit longer than normal.

Soldier also didn't think anything of Demo's sudden but subtle protectiveness during battles, never connecting any dots that one might in this situation. Soldier had grown up very sheltered, very alone. He was never a boy with many friends. Even as he grew up, his friendships came from a sense of obligational brotherhood due to his military roots, but with Demo, it was different, Soldier felt understood in a way he had never been before. He just appreciates having a friend, and he doesn't bother attempting to understand the weird feeling in his chest, or the warmth in his soul when with Demo, chalking it up to it being normal and how things should be forever, and he's okay with that, he wants to feel like this forever.

Demo knew he couldn't keep his feelings in forever, he was aware of the fact that sometimes his stares lasted a second to long, or that he was less than subtle about dropping (when he could) whatever he might have been doing to give his attention to Soldier, but at the same time he also worried about the what ifs that plauged his mind. Questions about ruining a perfectly good friendship, how things would change, the awkwardness, the tension, the- it was all just too much to worry about, so weeks would pass of him sitting on his feelings, occasionally unconscious expression of affection being given from Demo, until one night he found the feelings he had been pushing down bubbling back up again. He's frustrated at his inability to hush the voices inside him, pulling him in a different direction, and he's tried to try to keep this secret. He finds himself ready to be bolder, to finally let his feelings off his chest and be free of his doubts. He's done waiting. He invites Soldier out to a bar, away from the base, the mercs on both sides, and the general atmosphere of stress surrounding the battlefield and such. Soldier agrees without question, and they both make their way there. Demo on his way, however, looses his nerve, realizing that his doubts may have a stronger hold on him than he previously believed. A part of his mind now telling him to run, to get out before he does something he might regret, he ignores it, only for the fact that he can still spend a night with his friend, even if it is eating at him a little bit. Plus, there's alcohol! Why let drinks and a perfectly fun night go to waste over some doubt that he can silence with just staying quiet? That's what he thought and believed, truly. He went into the bar telling himself that it just wasn't the right time. It was never going to be the right time, and eventually, if he held out long enough, the feelings would go away. He just needed to stay quiet about it. But maybe it was something in the drinks that night. Maybe it was the shine of the lights or the music in the bar, but Demo found himself unable to stay true to the idea of staying silent. Demo letting some compliments slip out, all earnest, all with a genuine love tied to them, that most people would pick up in an instant, but not soldier. Soldier only responded in kind, thanking Demo for the compliments and returning them with an energy of joy and friendship. Demo only sighed, taking away from this half hazard "confession" that Soldier did indeed only viewed this as a friendship, assuming that in some way, this was a kinder form of a refusal of feelings. Demo knows he should cut this here, not say anything else, and continue the night with a smile, enjoying the friendship as it was and as it would continue to be, but his mouth is speaking before his brain can thing, and he lets out his one last thought, before shutting the idea of anything more happening between them,

"I love ya, Soldier. And I truly mean that." He immediately wants to clasp a hand over his mouth, but restrains himself, his brain rationalizing that he could come back from this if he convinced the other man that it was purely platonic. Soldier only smiles at Demo in a way that always got to him, a genuinely joyous smile, as he slaps him on the back,

"I love you too, Demoman! I'm glad we've built this friendship!" Demo is happy at Soldier's acceptance of the comment being platonic in nature, but it doesn't stop it from feeling like a knife to the side. Demo decides it's time to head back to base, fearing that the pain he feels from this might show through. He stands up, heading to the bar to close out the pairs tab, leaving Soldier by himself at the table. And when he does, Soldier sits in silence for a moment, and it all hits him like a fucking truck. For some reason, everything clicks in his mind all at once. He gets it now, he understands , and he feels stupid for not getting it before. This feeling is new and powerful. He realizes the feelings that Demo has. Demo walks back to the table slightly. Panicking as he sees Soldier freaking out. Soldier grabs Demo by his shoulders and asks bluntly,

"Wait, you love me?" Demo realizes at the emphasis on love that it's finally clicked,

"I think..." He pauses slightly, "I always have."

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I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO LONG!! I got tired </3 (uh, I might have the sniperspy one out soon, too, btw 😨)Anyways, I hope you liked this even though I might have fucked it up. Also I hope this makes sense and I didn't miss plotholes or just make this genuinely confusing 😭 Also also sorry if the end is kinda rushed I'm half passing out, and I'm super embarrassed now about how cringey this might be 💔

[the-ninja-legacy-whip]

When would you say did Coles Crush with Jesse first come in? Im thinking Cole finds out about his crush after Zane is gone and he's mourning or after he realizes Zanes still alive so would he feel guilty crushing on Jesse when his other crush just died ot being focused on Jesse and his Love drama when they're there to rescue Zane?

The short, slightly less spoiler-y answer: I’d officially say it happens in the midst of the romantic chaos of S3, and before Zane even dies, so a) Cole gets a chance to discuss his previous feelings with Zane before the tragic sacrifice, and b) Cole gets time to actually let it all sink in (and hence his long-distance Jesse pining pre-s4 gldkasl)

The longer, more spoiler-y answer:

*claps hands* Welp, there’s actually two points in Book 3 where I could very strongly make the argument that Cole’s feelings start to turn without him even realizing, but they haven’t happened yet so I cannot mention them glsksk. but I could also just as easily say that Cole’s very first tipping point was the Talent Show -> hence the events leading to Enter the Aftershock, but either way he’s so focused/distracted with his prior feelings for Zane, he doesn’t even register the budding ones for Jesse yet.

Also during Book 3, Zane makes a comment that causes Cole to realize that Zane more than likely doesn’t feel the same way about him (which is low key referenced in my Christmas/New Year’s oneshots, even though the progressions there aren’t canon lmao), and starts making the effort to get over him…but then Pixal suddenly (and easily) enters the picture which greatly upsets Cole (leading him to seek comfort/advice with Nya).

And as mentioned in the love triangle/dodecahedron posts, Cole’s actions/reactions to all this start to anger Jesse, and he calls out Cole for it…which leads to many, many emotions spilling all over the place and there’s probably an accidental confession in there and probably Cole making seventeen realizations at once and irony of ironies it’s Zane that Cole goes to in order to lament about all this (this is also where Cole finally explains how he’s felt about Zane before and Zane’s like ‘bro I thought you were always into Jesse?’ Which is a whole other can of worms but it’s all turns out good with them I promise—)

But ANYWAAAY (this all sounds wild out of context but roll with me) the point is Cole eventually comes to terms with how he’s felt about Jesse (for a while), except Jesse’s too upset with him to hear him out right away and/or if Cole came out with his own confession right at that moment Jesse wouldn’t believe him, so Cole’s now stuck with all these newfound agonizing feelings/realizations he can’t do anything with, which leads to his intense pining session over the summer.

He doesn’t feel ‘guilty’ about being in love with Jesse after Zane dies because like I said he and Zane hash out all their stuff prior to Zane’s sacrifice, so at least that’s not on Cole’s conscience, but Zane is still his best friend, and his quest to possibly get Zane back vs his newfound pursuit for Jesse do tend to run at odds with each other during the tournament, as for example he finds out Zane might be alive around the same time he hears word that Jesse has “gone missing”, forcing him to pick a priority (which ofc we know they’re both at the same place anyway but COLE doesn’t initially know that—) (…and Jay also has a role in all this craziness too but I’ve already derailed enough here ghhhhh)

Point is I’ve made a mess out of Cole’s gay love life where there wasn’t one before T-T)9