#I want them to have gotten along soooo bad I think they would have

[aideneverybody]

Folks do we fw a TMA middle school AU (totally not a coping mechanism because I can’t even finish this podcast due to the emotional damage whatt)

Because boy oh boy ha

Young Gerry and Michael

It’s technically a redraw of what’s under the cut, from a couple months ago! Original drawing (beware of cringe au notes), comparison, w/flash and silly under the cut!

[foreverromanticising]

renegade | ln4

(7) sunsets and glasses of wine warp your memory of any reasons why you could've been annoyed at lando

lando norris x fem!reader | 2.6k words | a still perfect summer with lando norris

(please please please if you have anything to say then pls pop them in my ask box instead of comments as i can't respond :( but i soooo wanna chat and hear what everyone thinks)

masterlist<3

As the sun set into the horizon and your hand never left Lando’s for more than five minutes at a time, you couldn’t stop Alexandra’s words from rattling through your mind. You tried, of course, to focus on Lando’s touch as his hands skirted along your bare skin and teasingly tugged on the strings of your bikini, but it was no use. Perhaps it was your own doing, allowing yourself to create a perception of Lando in your mind and then getting upset when that didn’t follow through to be the truth.

You had imagined Lando with a small flat in London; a one bedroom, maybe a studio, just enough for what he needed. Though you knew he was a driver, maybe in his spare time he frequented the tube, opting for public transport rather than dealing with the abysmal London traffic. You could picture it clearly - Lando sitting across from you on the tube; his messy curls pulled under the hood of his jacket, drenched and pitiful looking from the unavoidable rain, and maybe a pair of wired headphones falling out of his pockets. You could see his life clear as day, laid out in front of you.

But that wasn’t true, that wasn’t the reality you were living in. Again, it was your own fault that you had believed otherwise. The Lando you had gotten to know over the trip spent money like he had it burning a hole in his pocket, he geeked out on flashy cars and luxury restaurants, he wore sunglasses that would cost you at least six months of straight working, and he tried to hide his anxieties like they were something to be ashamed of. So maybe, your vision had been clouded when you had tried filling in the blanks of what you hadn’t known about Lando. 

“Hey, y’wanna get out of here?” Lando’s words drew you out of your own mind, his thumb beginning to rub along your skin as he continued to hold your hand, fingers intertwined. “Go a walk, get somethin’ to eat.”

He had been chatting to Carlos and Charles for a while now but he couldn’t help but notice how lost you were in your own mind; the slight pinch between your eyebrows and the way your bottom lip was tucked between your teeth. You looked like you wanted to be anywhere but that yacht, and Lando knew you were sticking it out with a fake smile for him so the least he could do was whisk you away.

“No, no, I’m fine, honestly,” You shook your head as Lando pulled your body closer to his. You had learned in your short time knowing him that when he started to grow tired, he would then start to become clingy, more touchy - needing the pressure of your touch and the feeling of your skin on his as soon as his eyes would start to droop. “We should stay, they’re your friends.”

You didn’t want to be the reason

“Yeah but,” He dragged out his words, scrunching his face in what you could only describe as close to disgust. “I see them all the time, these get boring after a while.”

“Yacht parties get boring?” You laughed at his absurdity, fighting the urge to roll your eyes. “I’m sure they do.” 

“Yeah, and I like, get totally sea sick too,” He started to drag you around the deck of the yacht, not even bothering a quick goodbye to his friends. “It’s so bad, I need to get home as soon as.”

“And this sea sickness,” Though you knew he was lying, you couldn’t help but play along to his charming antics. “It’s just randomly struck you down now?”

“Totally random, babe, there’s no way of knowing when it happens.” Lando shrugged his shoulders and let out a dramatic sigh, acting as though this sudden sea sickness was nothing but a burden to his life.

“Well, in that case…” You let your words drown themselves on as Lando kept his hand tight to yours, tugging you off of the boat.

“Pizza sounds good, yeah?” He had that mischievous smile on his lips that you found yourself to be so smitten with; when he looked at you with that smile - like he held all the answers to the world if you simply followed him to them - you knew you were long gone. You would follow him to the ends of the Earth and back if he so kindly asked.

With the low sun lighting your way, you followed Lando into a pizza shop not far from the yacht, a quick ten minute walk and you were sat down in some chairs that looked like they were older than you. You looked across the small table at him, your knees crashing together under the table for the lack of space, and the fluorescent lighting really allows you to take in the fresh sunburn that was taking over Lando’s face. You had reminded him consistently throughout the day to continue applying it but he claimed he didn’t need it, he tanned after all, but you could now see that he did in fact need it. But you weren’t one to ruin the moment by saying ‘I told you so,’. 

The nightlife was only starting up, club reps beginning to make their way around the town, but Lando knew that both of you had had enough for the day - that a slice of pizza and an early night was more than what you wanted for the night. So when Lando’s name was shouted with the pizza sitting ready, you followed him.

You followed him the whole way home as he insisted he wouldn’t let go of your hand, he swore he could manage the balance of a pizza box and your touch. He seemed to like to make things difficult for himself, claiming a walk home along the beach was better than a walk along the designated, flat path. Not that he would admit it, though he was sure you could see, the tumultuous nature of the sand added on an extra level of difficulty. 

It’s all worth it for Lando, the minor inconveniences he faces are nothing to him as he watches you kick off your shoes in order to feel the still warm sand below your feet. He tries desperately to keep your hand in his but you can tell his arm that still holds the pizza box is beginning to struggle, to grow tired, so you dropped his hand for a moment and allowed him to wordlessly swap your hand to the other side of his body. 

“You’re tired.” Lando mumbled into your hair as he pressed a kiss there, his arms encasing your body as you unlocked the front door of the villa whilst he kept the pizza box from digging into your arm. He had noticed how quiet you had been on your walk home, and comfortable silence wasn’t uncommon to Lando or you, but this had stretched for the better part of fifty minutes - which was entirely unheard of from you - he could only pin it on tiredness.

“Hm, not true.” You hummed into his touch as you pushed the door open, letting him skirt around you to finally put the pizza box down. 

“Hm, very true,” He opened up the back patio door, nodding his head towards it so you would follow him, as he ran around quickly picking up blankets, the pizza, and a bottle of wine or two. “You’ve been quiet since the boat, ’s been a long day in the sun and getting to know new people - socialising can be draining.” 

“Yeah, I guess so,” You sat down on one of the small couches around the campfire Lando was trying to desperately light, you stifled a giggle at his attempts and instead opt to wrap a blanket around you. “Your friends are funny, though, I see why you like them.”

“They’re great, aren’t they?” Lando slid beside you on the couch, tugging the blanket over his own legs too as the wind started to nip at his bare skin. “Carlos liked you, liked that red bikini- what’d I say, baby?” He winced dramatically when you elbowed him after his teasing words.

“Shut up,” You let Lando kiss you sweetly as an apology, a murmur against your lips was enough for you. “Alex was really sweet too, nice to escape being surrounded by boys for a while.”

“I hadn’t thought about that, actually - have you spoken to your friends, y’know, since all this?” It was almost as though a light had switched on in Lando’s mind once he was reminded of watching you and Alexandra - you had friends of your own, back home, that he hadn’t heard you mention once. “I don’t want them thinking I’ve, like, kidnapped you or anything.” 

“I mean, I don’t really talk to them much when I’m home anyway so they won’t be expecting anything,” You shrugged your shoulders for you weren’t entirely too bothered about the fact you hadn’t really spoken to your friends, it didn’t matter to you all that much - though, you couldn’t deny the sting in your chest whenever you watched Lando surrounded by so many people who adored him, just another reminder of how different the worlds you came from were. “My mum knows where I am, though, I’m not gonna be daft about this.” Your words were true but you wanted Lando to know you weren’t biting - you wanted to remain safe even if the situation you were in with Lando was wildly irresponsible.

“Your friends wouldn’t want to know where you are?” Lando couldn’t hide the worry that bubbled up inside him, or rather the feeling of sadness, after hearing that your own friends wouldn’t be expecting to hear from you whilst you were literally travelling throughout Europe on your own. “They wouldn’t be worried if they hadn’t heard from you for a while?”

“Not really,” You hummed and debated spilling your guts to Lando but you didn’t think about it as much as you usually would’ve if you hadn’t already sank two glasses of wine. “I dunno, everyone kinda stopped speaking to me when they all went to uni and I didn’t. It’s difficult to keep up friendships when they’re all across the country and I’m still home, still working in retail,” You let a beat of silence pass as you took another sip of wine. “No one wants to be friend with the girl who didn’t go to uni, especially when I’m the only one who didn’t.”

“You just wanted other things, just because you don’t fit into the same box doesn’t mean they should just pretend you don’t exist anymore,” Lando found himself growing annoyed on your behalf - how could anyone simply throw you away just because your paths in life don’t match up? “Such bullshit, baby, you’re better off here without them.”

“I know, Lan, I’ve moved beyond on it,” You had made the executive decision long ago to not allow yourself to be bothered by it any longer. “I’ll just have to hope I don’t bump into them when I’m back in England,” You took a deep breath, pondering if you wanted to bring this up but you couldn’t help Alexandra’s words from swirling around your mind. “Speaking of, I’ve never asked whereabouts you stay in England, we could be minutes away from each other, for all you know.” You tried to play off your question as casually as you could, trying to portray some sort of faux nonchalance. 

“Near Glasto, not far off it,” His eyes quickly flitted away from yous, opting to instead focus on the blue light radiating off the pool. “What about you? Where are you?” He threw your question back at you, hoping to keep the conversation off of him for a moment as he took a bite off of pizza instead. 

“London, maybe just outside of it,” You didn’t want to push but you couldn’t help but feeling confused after Alexandra had mentioned Lando going home to Monaco whilst he told you he stayed near Glastonbury. “I wouldn’t go around saying London, though, I’m hardly near the city.”

“Hm, city girl wants to experience life outside the busy city?” Lando trailed his fingers up your bare arms as you still sat in your bikini top despite the fact the sun had long dipped below the sea, he watched as goosebumps rose up on your skin - whether that be from his touch or the chill in the air, he wasn’t bothered. “Want to see what life’s really about? Is that what this is all about?”

“I know you’re trying to make fun of me but yeah, you’re right,” You bathed under Lando’s touch, it did nothing to help the tiredness you were trying to fight off. “I want to see the world properly, I want to meet new people, and write all about it - even just for me - I want to have this all documented.”

“Well, you just let me know when you want all the pictures from my camera - they’re yours to have.” Lando let his mind wander to the photos of you that flooded his camera; photos of you clad in nothing but lace, or sat atop his kitchen counter with a bowl of strawberries, or even flush underneath his body with the white sheets crushed around you.

“Sounds good to me.” You nodded your head at his words though you weren’t particularly listening, instead you curled into the side of his body as you soaked up any heat that he was radiating.

“C’mon, let’s go to bed,” He wrapped his arms around your waist to pull you closer into him, watching as your eyes fought to stay open beside him. “You’ve had a big day, let’s just get to sleep.” 

“But I like chatting, Lan.” You near enough whined when Lando pulled you up off of the couch and onto your feet, resisting the thought of going to bed as you had enjoyed sipping on wine beside Lando. 

“Yeah, pillowtalk, baby.” He tutted as he pulled you along and into the bedroom, rolling his eyes at your dramatics but he couldn’t deny he was growing to love it.

And so you both fell into your domesticated routine for the night; you would take your makeup off in the bathroom mirror whilst Lando would stand beside you to brush his teeth. He loves to sneak a glance at you when he thinks you’re not looking, and you let him watch you. But you don’t shy away when you look at him in his halfway burnt state, admiring the freckles that plaster his face from the sun and how his curls have drooped so much in the day he has to push them out of his eyes. 

Though, when both of your eyes meet, your heart speeds up just a few beats more and you fight a smile as you push a toothbrush into your mouth. Moments like these were your favourites with Lando - you didn’t care for the sports cars he drove you around in or how many times he insisted he would pay for your dinner, you craved the quiet moments. The quiet moments that made you feel like a schoolgirl with a crush once again.

“Let’s go, pretty.” Lando moves to wrap his arms around your waist, his chin coming to rest on your shoulder as he watched you through the mirror. The tiredness you had been resisting for so long had spread to him and he wanted nothing more than to have you in his arms beneath his white sheets, in more ways than one.

[corruptedcaps]

Beach Find

Lizzie and her husband Sam strolled hand in hand along the sandy shore, the gentle waves lapping at their feet. The sun was warm and comforting. Having a child allowed them rare opportunities to vacation away just the two of them but their daughter Vicky was 18 now and was far from the partying type. They knew she would be cooped up for the week in her bedroom at home with a good book.

"I almost had forgotten what sand had felt like." Sam chuckled.

"Yeah I agree- ahhh what was that?" Lizzie replied after stepping in something sharp. Lizzie’s gaze was drawn to something twinkling in the sand beneath her. Letting go of Sam’s hand she knelt down to investigate.

With a few scoops of her hand, she unearthed a jewel tiara, its pink gems shimmering in the sunlight. "Sam, look at this!" she exclaimed, holding it up for him to see.

"Wow, that’s beautiful." Sam said, leaning in for a closer look. "Where do you think it came from?"

His words were lost on her. All sound seemed to disappear as she held the tiara. She was entranced by it and felt a growing need to put it on. She lifted it over her head and placed it softly onto her hair.

All at once the sound around her rushed back and she felt a pulsating pleasure coarse through her body. Her bones started to creak and crack as the became stronger. Years of bad posture were erased in seconds. Her bad hip suddenly brand new again.

"Lizzie, what’s happening?" Sam gasped, stepping back in astonishment.

"I... I don't know, but I feel... amazing." Lizzie replied, her voice now softer and more melodic.

Her slightly saggy skin started to tighten around her improved frame, years of wrinkles disappearing. More than that it became smoother, softer. Even in her youth it had never felt so good.

Sam stared at Lizzie, his mouth agape. "Maybe you should take it off, this doesn't feel right, Lizzie." He suggested, a sense of unease creeping into his voice.

"Shut up, Sam!" Lizzie snapped, her eyes flashing with anger. The harshness of her words cut through the air like a knife.

Sam recoiled, stunned by her sudden outburst. "Lizzie, what's gotten into you?" He asked, his concern deepening.

Realizing what she had said, Lizzie's expression softened. "I'm so sorry, Sam. I don't know what came over me. I just feel soooo goooood." she said as the changes continued.

Her short mom hair grew long, cascading down her back to just above her butt, her brown hair becoming lighter and lighter until it shimmer blonde.

Her sensible nails transformed into long, fake pink nails, perfectly manicured. Her lips plumped up, now coated in bold red lipstick, and her eyes became piercing blue, sparkling with a newfound intensity.

Lizzie felt her body become strong and powerful, the sensation overwhelming. A shift began to occur within her mind. Subtle at first, her thoughts started to change, becoming increasingly materialistic. The simplicity of her previous life seemed dull and unsatisfying now. She began to crave luxury, riches, and all things glamorous.

"It's okay. Let's just take it off, alright?" Sam said gently, stepping closer.

But as Sam reached for the tiara, Lizzie pulled back, a sneer forming on her lips. "How fucking dare you try and take this away from me Sam. You've always been such a boring bastard!" she hissed, this time without an ounce of regret.

As if to reward her cruelness to her husband, her tits swelled up, growing into gravity defying orbs that made her moan in pleasure. Her regular mom-style clothing morphed into a tight pink dress, hugging her curves and featuring a long slit along the side that showed off her legs. She arched her back to push her boobs out to make them look even more impressive.

"Lizzie, this isn't you." Sam pleaded, trying to reason with her but the transformation was done.

"You're right, it isn't. I'm Eliza now and I'm so much better than I was. Who wants to be a fucking boring housewife when they could be a goddess like me? I'm going to be so fucking bad and love every minute of it!" She declared with a cackle that sent a shiver down Sam's spine.

-

Vicky had started to worry about her parents. She hadn't heard from them in days. She had initially put it down to them just having a good time on their vacation but it was so unlike them not to check in.

Their flight was due to land that day and Vicky breathed a sigh of relief when at last she heard the front door open. Expecting her mom and dad to appear with their usual warm smiles and travel stories, Vicky was stunned to see a strikingly beautiful woman step into the house, her presence commanding and intimidating.

The woman wore a loose fitting pink dress with a sparkling tiara sitting atop her perfect blonde hair which flowed in perfect waves. Her piercing blue eyes scanned the room with a cold, calculating gaze. Sam followed in tow behind her, his posture subservient and his eyes downcast.

"Mom?" Vicky asked, her voice trembling with confusion.

The woman laughed, a chilling, heartless sound. "Don't you dare call me that again you vermin. I wouldn't want anyone to think I produced such an inferior offspring. Although I doubt anyone will even think a beauty like could be related to you. You'll call me Eliza now." She snarled.

"What happened to you?" Vicky demanded, tears welling up in her eyes.

Eliza sauntered over, her long fake nails glinting in the light as she reached out to stroke Vicky's cheek but quickly grabbed her face in her hand roughly. "I’ve finally become who I was always meant to be. Look at you, so plain and pathetic. You're the worst mistake I ever made. You should be grateful I even acknowledge you now. Fetch me a drink, and make yourself useful for once."

With tears in her eyes, Vicky dutifully set out to do as she was told. Every fiber of her being wanted to yell and scream at her mother but she found herself unable, as though she were under some sort of spell.

-

Over the next few weeks, Vicky could only watch helplessly as Eliza became notorious in their town. She stayed out late partying, shamelessly flirting and sleeping with other women's men. Their life savings quickly dwindled as Eliza spent lavishly on designer clothes, jewelry, and extravagant nights out, all for herself.

At home, Eliza treated Sam and Vicky as slaves. They were made to do all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and anything else she demanded.

“Don’t fucking mess up the laundry like you did last time!” Eliza snapped at Vicky one afternoon as she lounged around basking in her beauty and cruel power.

Vicky picked up Eliza’s tight dresses, all which stunk of sex and obediently piled them into her laundry basket.

“Here take this as well.” Eliza said standing up and stripping all the clothes she was wearing off of herself. Vicky lifted her eyes to the sky but for a moment caught a glimpse of Eliza’s perfect form. A weird pang of jealously hit Vicky for just a moment. That’s when she heard the voice.

“Wear me.” The voice purred. It seemed to be coming from the top of Eliza’s head and only Vicky could hear it. Her eyes settled onto the tiara, its glomming jewels captivating her.

“What the fuck are doing just standing there? Get out and do the laundry!” Eliza said with a snap of her fingers breaking Vicky from her trance. Vicky quickly scampered away but the damage had been done.

Finding her father alone in the kitchen doing the dishes she sidled up to him and whispered in hushed tones.

"Dad, what is it with that tiara? It's the source of all this evil isn't it?" She asked as quiet as she could.

Sam looked around nervously before nodding. "I saw it happen, Vicky. When she put it on, it transformed her. She's not the woman I married anymore."

Vicky's heart sank further, realizing the depth of their predicament. "We have to do something, Dad. We can't live like this. We have to destroy it!"

"It's too dangerous sweetheart. We don't even know if destroying it will work. It might just enrage her even more." Sam said with a sigh and went back to his dishes. Vicky knew it fell on her to save her family.

-

Vicky returned home from school the next day, her heart pounding with determination. She had researched all about the tiara and was convinced it was from an infamous wreck. The King and Queen of Bratavia went down with their ship during a nasty storm right near where Vicky’s parents had been vacationing. The King and Queen were known as evil tyrants who kept their subjects obedient through fear.

Vicky feared that her mother was somehow being corrupted by the tiara in the same way the queen likely had been all those years ago. She was ready to destroy the tiara by any means necessary. However, as she entered the house, she found a smug Eliza waiting for her, with Sam standing beside her, his head hung low.

"Hi, Mom—I mean, Eliza. What's going on?" Vicky asked, trying to keep her voice steady.

Eliza's lips curled into a malicious smile. "What's going on is I know all about your plan to try and destroy my gorgeous tiara. Sam here squealed like the little piggy that he is."

"Dad how could you?" Vicky said in shock.

"Oh don't be disappointed him dear he's been under my thumb since my transformation. He's been reporting to me for awhile now about your rising rebellion against me. I must say I am impressed you've been able to resist my power." Eliza said with a smirk.

"We need to destroy it! It's turned you into a monster!" Vicky said pleading with her mother.

Eliza laughed, a chilling sound that echoed through the room. "Is that the real reason? Or is it that you want the power for yourself?"

Vicky shook her head vehemently. "No! No of course not! I just want my mom back. This… this isn't who you are!"

Eliza stepped closer, her piercing blue eyes glinting with cruelty. "I know it's true, I can see the desire in your eyes. You want this power I have. You want to be as big of a bad bitch as I am. You have heard it call out to you, I know you have."

"How could you know that? Whatever the case I don't want it, I don't want any of it!" Vicky insisted, her voice faltering slightly.

Eliza's sneer deepened. "Oh, but it is. You can deny it all you want, but I see the the way you look at me, with envy and longing. You crave the power, the control. You want to be just like me."

Vicky felt a pang of conflict within her. Despite her revulsion at what her mother had become, there was a small, undeniable part of her that was drawn to the promise of the tiara's power. The thought of wielding such influence, of being able to control and command, was tempting. To be a beautiful bitch. She couldn't help herself from getting wet.

"No, I won't let you manipulate me, you're wrong!" Vicky said, trying to push the thoughts away.

"We'll see about that, darling. You'll soon be a daughter worthy of me!" Eliza laughed again, her tone mocking as she snapped her fingers. Sam grabbed Vicky and pushed her down to her knees while holding her from moving.

Eliza stepped triumphantly over to Vicky, taking off the tiara. "You see, dear, the tiara's power is already in me. You could have destroyed it, but I would have remained. The only thing you would have stopped was your own ascension, but mommy is here to help with that." She said with an evil smile as she placed the tiara onto Vicky's head.

Vicky's hair began to change first. Her once plain brown locks grew longer and glossier, transforming into cascading waves of rich, golden blonde. "No, I don't want this!" Vicky cried, trying to pull the tiara off, but her hands were still held fast by Sam. Her resolve weakened as she felt the luxurious weight of her new hair.

Next, her eyes changed from their ordinary brown to a piercing blue, the color intensifying until they sparkled like sapphires, like her mothers. "Stop it! Mmmmm don't stop!" Vicky whimpered unable to stop letting out a soft moan.

Her lips plumped up, becoming fuller and more luscious, painted with a seductive shade of deep red. "I can't… I won't…" Vicky tried to protest, but the feel of her newly enhanced lips was intoxicating. She could feel her resistance slipping, the desire to embrace her transformation growing stronger.

By now Sam had let go of her hands and had stepped back. Vicky was free to remove the tiara from her head but as her hands rose higher they stopped at her chest which was expanding by the second. She ran her hands over her impressive new tits, squeezing them with perverse joy.

"Oh fuck these feel so god damn good! I could make so many weak boys into my puppets. Noooo I can't let this happen! I need... to... fight... it!" She fought in weak protest as her nails, once short and practical, lengthened into perfectly manicured talons, a vibrant pink color matching her mother's.

"Oh fuck yes these are perfect for a bitch like me! They would look so hawt running down the back of a hawt guys back! No Vicky, don't give in!" She whispered, but the sight of her elegant nails made her heart race with excitement. The transformation was nearly complete, and Vicky couldn't fight how good she was feeling.

"I can't fight it, I don't want to fight it! Yes! Make me hot, make me cruel, make me evil! Vicky is dead! Tori is hear to stay!" She moaned loudly, her body shivering with delight.

She stood up, her posture now confident and commanding, a cruel smile playing on her lips. Eliza clapped her hands in delight. "How do you feel?"

"Mmmm I feel so naughty. Thanks for the upgrade Mommy... Sorry I mean Eliza." Tori purred as she primped herself in the mirror.

"No need to apologize dear, you are worthy of being my daughter now. I couldn't be prouder of the wicked hottie you are." Eliza said beaming at Tori with pride.

"Thanks Mommy, I can't wait to show this patheic town who I am. Mmmm it's getting me so wet thinking about all those bitchy bullies who tormented me every day and how I'll have them under my heel. Of course I'll need a new wardrobe." Tori said remembering her closet was full of drab clothes designed to blend in. She needed to stand out now.

"Absolutely sweetheart, we'll take your simp of a father's credit card to the mall and spoil you rotten. Nothing but the best for my princess." Eliza said kissing the air around her daughter's cheeks.

"Speaking of which, can't we kick him out and bring in a real sugar daddy?" Tori said looking at her grovelling father with disdain.

"Well we have two options dear. First is that we use the kings crown on him. I found it soon after the tiara. It is designed to turn even the most weakest of men into strong confident bastards." Eliza said already dismissive of the idea.

"And the second option?" Tori asked curious.

"Well as gorgeous as the tiara is on your head darling, it has done it's purpose. You are forever an evil beauty just like me. But that is not to say it's power is done corrupting." Eliza said with an evil smile that was soon mimicked on Tori's face as her mother's plan crystallized in her mind.

The two women turned with their cruel smirks towards Sam, devilish intent in their eyes.

"Two wicked Mommies? I'll be the most spoilt girl in the world!" Tori said closing in on Sam who backed himself into a corner.

"Welcome to the family... Samatha." Eliza laughed as she watched Tori take the tiara from her head and shove it onto Sam's.

[hiskillingjar]

make me a gift

Relationship: Ren Hana/Lawrence Oleander Rating: Explicit Includes: Sex Toys, Masturbation, Guided Masturbation, Dirty Talk, Slight Dollificiation, Excessive Use of the Word 'Asshole' Length: 5200+ words

my much delayed addition to the BTD secret santa project from last month, for the lovely and incredibly patient @honeyaubade! happy valentine's day, honey, hope you like your gift!

special thanks to @thedemoninmywalls for arranging everything too :) same thing next year?

"There's no need to be so nervous, you know. It's just me. We're gonna have fun."

"Just you…" Lawrence murmured, their thighs tensing as Ren slowly approached them. 

The idle wag of his tail cast stark shadows and shade on the white walls of his little bedroom (he could have had the bigger one but didn’t; he let them have it because he was just that good, just that kind), casting them in darkness despite the light filling the small space. 

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" They then asked, nervously wetting their lips.

"It should," Ren smiled (baring his sharp, cannibal teeth), reaching out to touch their thigh, not even feeling bad when they flinched (they always flinched). "I'm a nice guy, after all."

"Mm," They hummed a non-answer, idly gnawing their bottom lip, not having the will to sink away into the bed or pull back from his touch, however invasive.

Ren took that as a good sign.

He probably would have kept going, though, even if they had pulled back.

“Just relax, alright?” He said, standing up straight and taking the elaborately packed sex toy from his desk, his wagging tail picking up speed. “You're so tense right now...we’re supposed to be having fun tonight.” He laughed to emphasise his point, which made Lawrence look all the more uncomfortable, their pretty face grimacing with distaste. “Come on, don’t give me that look…I'm not going to hurt you.”

"Well, I know you want to," They said quietly, looking down at their pale thighs, riddled with scars (only some of them his), to avoid his gaze. “And you hide it by doing things like this...trying to be nice to me. Giving me things that I didn’t ask for. You're not…good at hiding it."

“Hmph, is that right?” Ren asked with a slight scoff, taking a step closer to Lawrence and putting aside the sex toy (for the time being, anyway), letting it linger in his peripheral vision, so that he didn’t forget what he really wanted from this exchange. “You think you have me all figured out, hm?”

"You're not difficult to figure out," They said somewhat curtly, their sea-glass eyes back on his, a pale brow twitching with ill humour.

“God, you’re such an asshole, Law," He laughed again, hyena-like and harsh without meaning to be (he never meant to be, after all, it was just the way he was built, the way he was bred), leaning forward, pressing his knee to the edge of the bed and caging them down to it, to nuzzle their jawline. "And so mean to me. Even after I’m soooo nice to you."

They breathed out an unsteady exhale, their body tightening up again underneath his, but they raised their chin slightly, giving him room to kiss despite their palpable discomfort.

Ren’s smirk remained (cruelty persisting despite his efforts against it, despite how hard he tried not to be) as he leaned closer into their shrinking body and placed a lingering kiss under their chin. His other hand traced along the side of their abdomen, feeling up their small waist under their baggy clothes.

It had gotten smaller recently. They weren’t eating properly yet.

"You look pretty cute like this, though..." He murmured against their pale skin, humming in approval at the low groan they pulled in through their teeth as he shifted their sweatpants down their hips. “And you’re so well-behaved, too! Hmf, at least when you want to be. When you know to be.”

Lawrence knew what happened when they misbehaved.

The heavy collar around their neck was proof enough of what could happen if they chose to.

Ren chuckled, pressing another lingering kiss to their tense jawline before pulling away.

"Lift your hips for me.”

"Mmhmm," They nodded and raised their hips slightly, letting Ren hook his fingers in the waistband of their sweatpants and pull them down and off of their legs (catching, however momentarily, on their flaccid cock), flippantly tossing them aside and joining them on the bed, shifting closer and admiring the sight of them as they lay back, spreading themselves open.

Prey for the predator that he was.

"You really do look cute," Ren said, the smile on his lips growing ever more playful and mischievous, fangs teasing his bottom lip. "I like it when you have your legs open like this...like it’s something you’re supposed to do, you know?" He teased, his smile broadening into a sharp grin as he placed a hand against their thigh and pushed it open more, revealing the soft skin of their ballsack and the dusky pink of their asshole. “Like you know it’s what you’re supposed to do.” 

The force of the gesture was enough to make Lawrence flinch, those sea-glass eyes wide and staring up at him, fighting an urge to pull away or put up a fight.

Their lack of action made him laugh, though (they often made him laugh even when they weren’t trying to). He ran his hand back and forth along their pale (scarred) thigh, letting his fingers (his claws) brush over their skin.

"But you're so tense still…” He said, pushing his bottom lip forward in a mocking pout. “You're gonna have to relax, if you want this to be enjoyable."

"I'm trying to relax," Lawrence insisted, their lips trembling slightly as Ren’s thumb traced a newer scar (pink, red, and harsh, barely healed) along the inner divet of their thigh and groin, the sharp point of his claw teasing the torn skin.

"Mm, it doesn't look like it…” Ren murmured dismissively against their neck, pressing another kiss into their skin (what little of it was on show with the collar in the way), listening to their breath hitch and stutter, their trembling hands finding his shoulders and trying to urge him back. “Is it that hard to relax when you're with me?" He then asked, feigning hurt.

"N-No," They stammered, raising their chin a little more (like a dog offering its throat to an enemy to bite and maim) as he laved their neck with kisses and kitten licks, playing the gentle boyfriend that neither of them wanted him to be. "I just...mmh...struggle to relax in general...you know that."

"Mmyeah, I can see that…” He huffed out a laugh, his knuckles idly grazing against the still flaccid length of their cock (trying not to take offence to it, they struggled to keep it up at the best of times, so it totally wasn’t personal). “It's alright. I can make you relax," He then whispered, his free hand snaking up their chest to undo the buttons of their shirt.

Their shoulders trembled, but they didn’t put up a fight as he tugged the shirt down their arms, exposing their lean torso, riddled with his scratches, bites, markings of twisted love and demented ownership.

“God, just look at you…” 

Ren’s gaze darkened when he saw his handiwork against their pale skin, and a possessive satisfaction filled his expression.

“Pretty thing, covered in my marks," He whispered hungrily, his hands now roaming the pale plains of their exposed torso, feeling up the scars, fresh and old, taking a mental note of every mark he'd left behind on them, committing them to memory. “Like a fucking painting. You’re so pretty, Law. So, so fucking pretty…”

"Mmf," They whimpered as his touch caught an especially fresh set of punctures over their heart, their pallid skin almost purple from the depth of the wounds, the blossoming bruises that had brought blood right to the surface. "Ren," They whined, squeezing their eyes shut, shaking a little more. “Please…”

"I know, I know, it still hurts, doesn’t it?" He asked gently, though a sly smirk on his face gave away his more duplicitous nature. “You're just so delicate right now, aren’t you, love?”

Lawrence's jaw tensed a little, their eyes flitting down and their face heating to a light pink.

They had never been called something as intimate and gentle as ‘delicate’ before, nor had they ever had the contradictory privilege of actually feeling delicate. 

The word inspired images of fragility, images of expensive china reserved for special occasions, and ornate tea cups shattering into a thousand pieces when they fell to the ground. These were things preserved and cared for with the utmost diligence, things that Lawrence could never relate to, unlike others (unlike their sisters, their mother, animals, and plants).

‘Delicate’ made them feel breakable.

There was a twisted masochism to feeling so easy to break.

"You are delicate," Ren repeated, his voice a low and oddly fond murmur (because he really was so fucking fond of them) as he gently brushed a lock of blonde hair away from their face, tucking it behind one of their ears. “I mean, just look at you. You’re so…” He tilted his head to the side, their eyes meeting. “So small and fragile, like a little doll I should put on a shelf.” 

Lawrence’s cock almost instantly hardened, and Ren’s smile was so broad, it made his face ache.

If Ren was easy to figure out, Lawrence was just as easy.

“That’s what you are, isn’t it, baby? My pretty, fragile, little doll."

They let out a low moan, wrapping their arms around his shoulders (squeezing him close, holding him tight) and hiding their flushed face against his temple, burying into his hair, as he kissed their neck again, soft, plush lips gently tracing over every bite he had left behind before, counteracting any sense of brutality with cruel gentleness.

Ren let out another quiet laugh at their insistent moans, his hands slowly moving to grip their hips and pull them closer to him. His cock began to stir in his joggers as their crotches lined up, too, all while Lawrence’s remained impossibly hard (they were so easy to read, after all), and the tip drooled pre-cum across the dark fabric.

“You got excited pretty quick,” He murmured into their neck, feeling their arms tighten. “Have you relaxed enough that we can have some fun now?”

"Yes…” After a moment of hesitance, Lawrence breathed out, pulling themselves away from his shoulder, showing off flushed cheeks and a hazy expression of pleasure, warmth and undeniable lust. “Yes…okay, I’m ready…" They nodded, breathing out again as Ren pulled back and reached for the box at his side.

"Good," He praised with a genuine smile (they deserved praise for this, after all), opening the box and letting the thick dildo gracelessly fall between them, heavy and dense and utterly obscene. "I had to go out and buy this, you know. I wanted to know if it would be the perfect size, not too small or too big…”

His grip barely wrapped around the toy's girth, making his expression appear even more excited.

"It's a nice one too, huh?” He asked, looking up at them again, golden eyes sparkling. “Pretty lifelike and the perfect size for you, I think!"

He was enjoying this a little too much.

"Mmh," Lawrence said nothing of his enthusiasm, biting their lip (a nervous habit he was picking up on), not taking their hazy eyes off the toy. "You have...mm, lube, right?"

"Of course," Ren replied with a scoff and an eye roll. "I’m not gonna make you take it without lube.” 

He took a moment to look away from them and their lovely, nervous expression, his tail wagging (probably right across their body, but like that mattered, like he cared) as he reached around and pulled open the drawer beside him, rummaging through it for a moment as he searched for the bottle of lube.

“What kind of person do you take me for?" He murmured under his breath.

"I wouldn't put anything past you anymore," They murmured, watching intently as Ren sat back between their spread legs, uncapping the bottle and squeezing out a healthy amount of the viscous fluid, utterly covering the toy, enough that it was dripping onto the comforter. “It’s not entirely out of your character to attempt this without lube…is all I’m saying.”

Ren glanced back at them with a smirk, setting the bottle down.

"You're so rude, you know that?” He said, his voice taking on a lower tone, as close to dangerous as he’d let himself go with them, as he rubbed the lube into the toy, his grip working from the tip to the moulded base. “I go to alllll the trouble to get you something nice, even to lube it up for you, and this is how you speak to me."

Lawrence said nothing, an ill-amused look in their sea-grey eyes.

“Hmph…maybe I should make you take it without lube,” He then added, moving closer to him, his knee pressing to their thigh as he urged them to part their legs more. When they did so (however hesitantly, which he paid attention to), he reached forward with sticky fingers and rubbed some of the excess lube into their skin, just barely caressing their asshole. “Hm? Should I do that? You’re such a masochist sometimes, I bet you’d find something to enjoy in it…”

"It's…it’s much bigger than you are," Lawrence murmured through grit teeth, breathing hard as Ren’s claws kissed the tight ring of muscle, a subtle threat. “It would tear me apart.”

"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed," He teased coyly, replacing his claws with the pads of his fingers, listening to his partner (his victim) instantly melt and moan underneath him as he worked the lube into their skin, into the blooming muscle. "Mm, maybe you'll have trouble with it anyway, even after I’ve gone to all this trouble..."

"You'll enjoy that, though," They breathed out, their thighs tensing up again as his claws dragged upwards to their cock, hard and throbbing between their trembling thighs. "M-me struggling..."

"Mm, yeah, I would enjoy that,” Ren conceded with a casual shrug, pressing the tips of his claws into their thighs, bringing up minute pinpricks of blood and making his eyes gleam with hunger. “I should be honest with you about that, since you’re so generous to me…I’d really enjoy that.”

"Mmf," Lawrence’s expression tightened slightly as Ren pressed closer, forcing their thighs to press up more against their middle as the toy lingered threateningly between their legs. 

“But I’m not going to hurt you,” Ren said, giving them as gentle a smile as he could manage when he was this worked up. “Because I can do things for you that would do nothing for me, even when I don’t want to. I’m good like that, hm?”

"Ghh," 

They instantly took in a low groan as Ren pressed the blunt head of the toy to their asshole, gradually working it open and easing in the bulbous tip. 

"Fuck, god,” Their groans built up in volume and wonderful lowness, coming from the back of their throat, making something inside Ren throb. “Please, go slow, at least..."

"Slow, hm?” Ren murmured, pulled out of his lusty haze for a moment. “Mmh, since you asked so nicely, I guess I can do that.”

They took a sharp inhale through their noses, their eyes squeezing shut as they felt (were forced to feel) the slow, horribly slow, disgustingly slow drag of the toy against their insides. They cringed privately when it found very little resistance, easing into them in a way that was shamefully easy.

Ren had broken them in exceptionally well.

"Fuhhhh..." They moaned, tilting their head back as Ren continued to push the toy deep inside of them. “G-God…”

"You seem to be handling this pretty well," He said, a smile on his face as he hungrily watched their asshole stretch around the dense, black plastic, utterly obscene but so perfect to watch and enjoy. "I was expecting a bit more of a struggle, honestly. But…maybe I didn't give you enough credit, hm?"

They said nothing barring their desperate moans, pants and slurred mumblings of ‘god’, ‘fuck’, and ‘ughhhh’, their body shifting and hips bucking with trembling jerks.

“So good for me,” Ren hummed approvingly, his free hand running along their skin, rubbing soothing circles into their trembling thighs. "I think you can handle more, can't you?"

"S-So deep," They breathed out, finally speaking as Ren took a firm hold of the base and eased the toy deeper, their voice trembling as their body unconsciously jerked forward, needily seeking him to cling on to, like he was the only thing tethering them to the Earth.

And maybe he was, at least in the metaphorical sense. 

“God, Rennnuh-”

"You sound so sweet right now. It's adorable... and so different.” Ren licked his lips (his fangs), shifting his hips forward so he could rock his hard-on against Lawrence’s thigh, using their body while they were enjoying themself at his hand. “I should buy you toys more often if they make you act like this."

"Nnno," They whined out, pressing their face into his cheek, breathing hard against his skin.

"No? Why not?” Ren chuckled again, his free hand moving up to toy with a lock of their hair, watching their facial expression intently and greatly enjoying every little sound and the sight of them being so flustered and dishevelled.

Their face was red and hot, their breathing shaky as they tried to keep their eyes open.

“Maybe I should get you a whole new set of toys. Buzzing ones, ones I could keep inside of you all day.” Ren smirked to himself, biting his lip and indulging in the mental image of keeping Lawrence plugged and toyed with for hours on end, until they were sobbing and their cock was drooling, god- “It would be soooo much fun to play with you.”

"Oh god," They gasped, eyes suddenly shooting wide and rolling back into their head as the toy pushed deeper, impossibly deep, almost to the hilt. "Nghhh, goddduhh.."

Another low chuckle passed his lips.

"Ugh, the look on your face. Do you like that, baby? I think you like it a whole lot," He teased, biting his lip as he rocked his hips a little more eagerly, his cock throbbing and leaking in his joggers. "You keep making cute sounds, too. I could listen to you make sounds like that all day, you know. It's really cute."

"Ren," They drawled, pressing their face into his hair, nuzzling against the soft hair of his ears. "T-Too much...please, need a break…"

"Oh, it’s too much, huh?" He repeated, a smirk on his face. "Maybe for someone else, it’s too much, but I think you can take it... can't you, doll?” 

Lawrence’s asshole tightened around the toy, the pressure making it jut backwards slightly and making the shivering body underneath it moan and whimper even more.

“It's not that bad, is it?" Ren’s voice lowered as he leaned into them, chests together, the base of his cock against the base of the toy (pretending that he was the one doing this instead), his mouth down to their ear. "Not even half bad, really. Mmh,” His lids fluttered slightly. “O-Or do you want me to stop and take it out?"

"...No," Lawrence murmured bashfully through their whimpers, nuzzling into his hair again. "J-Just...go slow..."

Ren smiled at their soft words, their hesitant pleading appealing to all his softer sides (sides of himself that he thought he had hardened), leaning into the nuzzle and pressing a kiss to their flushed cheek.

“Okay, baby,” He crooned, slowly pulling the toy back and pumping it inside of them, letting them gradually work around the length before he eased any deeper. “We’ll go slow for you.”

“T-Thank you,” They managed to wheeze out through persisting whimpers, still clinging onto him tightly, so tight, so perfect.

“You’re so welcome,” Ren grinned, pressing another kiss to their cheek, easing his hips back to rub against their thigh again. He would take this happily if they kept behaving so sweetly for him. "You're such a good little doll for me, you know that?” He praised, giggling fondly at their immediate whimper and the puckered grip around the toy. “You said you were going to struggle, but just look at you..."

He marvelled at how quickly their bodies acclimatized to the toy's (frankly) intimidating size and force, feeling almost self-conscious about how much his own body ached just to hold the thing (he needed to work out). His gaze never strayed from their bodies, though. He admired every curve and contour of them, taking every soft gasp and whimper from their lips and filing them away for another time. 

He then moved his hand back to their hair, running his fingers through it reverently. 

“You’ve almost taken all of it. All twelve inches. It’s not hard at all, is it?”

Lawrence was silent again, panting hard against his temple while bitten fingernails dug into his shoulders (hard enough that he could feel it through his hoodie). Ren didn’t mind, though, humming softly as he leaned into their tight grip, letting a low hum of satisfaction pass his lips, like he couldn’t be any happier.

He then gently gripped them by the back of the neck, pulling them closer and tilting their head to press his mouth to their ear again, making his voice gentle and low, and whispered: 

“Does it hurt?”

“Yes,” Lawrence said almost instantly, their eyes squeezed tight before they gradually opened, tears clinging to their pale lashes, their little pink tongue wetting their lips again. “No…mmh, yes and no. Not a normal pain.”

“Not normal, huh?” Ren murmured with a tilt of his head, watching their expression intently with a raised eyebrow. “Feels good and bad, doesn’t it? Hurts and doesn’t hurt.”

"Like nothing I've felt before," They breathed out with a long sigh, barely reacting as the toy slid right into the hilt (Ren almost expected a comedic “pop!” as he watched hungrily); the only thing giving it away at all was the flutter of their lids and the tremble of their long limbs around him. "Fuhhh, nothing...l-like it..."

Ren licked his lips (always a fox with a pinned doe with them) as he looked them over again, gaze travelling from their face to their trembling legs - one of which he forced to spread apart even wider to drape and wrap around his hip, holding him close while their other leg remained on the bed.

“Mhh, but you love it, don’t you? I can tell just by looking at you,” He crooned softly, leaning in again to nuzzle at their jaw, eyes flitting down to their collar, his ownership of them, and feeling a hot pulse of pride and arousal rush straight to his cock, making him groan. “Mmm, taking it like you were born to do it. Maybe you were born to do it, hm?”

“Yesss,” They slurred brainlessly, tilting their head back even more, their back arching. 

"Of course you were," He murmured, his voice deeply approving as he pressed his mouth to the newly exposed flesh of their throat, dragging his teeth against their pale neck and leaving a trail of bite marks along the way. "My pretty little doll was born for this, weren't you?"

“Your pretty doll,” They panted, hesitantly reaching down between their bodies to work their hand up and down their cock, getting themself even more eager and hungry. “All yours.”

Ren’s eyes widened slightly, his face heating up as he watched them masturbate, filled to the very brim with the obscene toy.

They so rarely touched themself like this, and he felt exceptionally lucky just to be able to see it. 

His panting mouth pressed more intently against their neck, his teeth becoming sharper and more resolved to bite. He took a deep breath and exhaled a low hiss through his clenched teeth.

"Oh, but is my pretty doll becoming needy? Being impatient? I haven't even told you you could touch yourself yet," He whispered, fangs nipping painfully, drawing a line of broken skin from their collarbone to their shoulder, bringing up blood and quick bruises. “You were being so shy before, and now you’re acting like a slut.”

A bead of blood ran down Lawrence’s panting chest, their eyes struggling to stay open as they bucked more into their fist, grip so tight that their knuckles looked white. Ren was breathing heavily at the sight, mouth-watering, the sharp scent of blood filling his nose and igniting a flame deep in his core. 

It was taking everything in him to restrain himself.

He let out a shaky breath, his eyes blown wide and dark with arousal as he watched them move, their asshole somehow tightening even more around the thick toy, his words coming out in a shaky whisper. 

“You're such a mess; it's almost unbelievable. If I didn't know better, I'd swear you've done this before...or thought about it...a lot..”

“Thought about it,” They murmured with a hesitant nod, keening up to cling onto him again, press his mouth to their shoulder, rubbing the head of their cock against his through his joggers. “My teachers in school, my guidance counsellor. Thought about it so much that thinking made me want to throw up and cut myself.” 

Their eyes met his, oddly empty despite their persisting arousal.  

“Part of me still wants to throw up. To cut myself.”

Ren kept his mouth on their shoulder, but the force of his bite relented (even just slightly), the bite softening to leave a less angry-looking mark on their skin.

“I can’t have that,” He murmured, pulling back and giving the bite a gentle kitten lick, as if apologising. “I can’t have my doll hurting themself. I won’t let them.” He keened upwards, licking the rest of their bites, soothing their wounds, and relishing in the soft murmurs of pleasure that Lawrence let out.

“No,” They said, gripping themselves somehow tighter. “I suppose that’s true. No sense hurting myself when you’ll do it for me…” 

“Mhm,” He hummed, his mouth travelling upwards to tongue their neck again. One of his hands came to rest in their hair, the other wrapping around their little waist, as he nipped and nibbled along their jaw, sharp and familiar but teasing and gentle at the same time, coming to give their ear a little bite and tug. “I won’t let you hurt yourself, but…I don’t mind you touching.”

His hand joined theirs around the base of their cock, squeezing them with a little less force.

“If it replaces those bad thoughts with good ones, hm?”

“Yes,” Lawrence groaned softly, pressing their forehead against his shoulder and letting go of their cock, moving into his touch, needing it, needing him- “Yes, Ren…”

“Mhh, that’s better…” 

Ren praised and pressed a kiss to their hair, running his hand up and down their bony back (feeling each notch of their spine), tracing the bites he’d left, soothing them as his other hand stayed to toy with them. He moved closer then, pressing his face into the crook of their neck and taking in another breath, indulging in the scent of their skin, their sweat, the way it all mixed with his, their breathing and whining sounds, everything. 

It was just so good when it was good.

“Don’t stop touching yourself, though,” He murmured against their ear, pressing another kiss against their temple, another to their cheek. “Let’s make you feel good, baby…”

“R-Ren,” They groaned lowly as he squeezed tightly again, his warm grip working up and down their cock, well-lubed with rivulets of constantly streaming pre-cum. They were really turned on. “Can I…?”

“Can yoooou..?” He repeated in a quiet, breathless voice, almost a purr. He let out a slight hum, a low rumble of noise as his teeth scraped against their earlobe, making them whimper and buck even more. “Can you what, baby? Use your words.”

“Mmh,” They nestled into his hair again. “Can I…u-use the toy on myself?”

Ren felt his breath catch at the words, his teeth clamping down on their ear as his grip around their waist involuntarily tightened, feeling them squirm and writhe.

“Hah,” He breathed out with a giddy smile. “Greedy. You sure you can handle that?”

“I don’t know,” They murmured, reaching down (without his permission, but he wasn’t going to punish good behaviour) and gripping the base of the toy, their hand trembling as they slowly eased it out and pumped it back in. “Nghhh, I don’t know…but I’ll take it anyway.”

“Yeah, you will.”

God, the way they were acting, shaking and trembling and whining, so demure and sweet and shit, it made his teeth ache.

“Hhmm…I’d say that your body can take it, but I’m not so sure about your brain, heh.” He tittered softly, bucking more hungrily against their thigh and licking the side of their face, his panting mouth pressing against his cheek. “It looks like it’s going to melt out through your ears, my little doll.”

“Doesn’t sound so bad,” They murmured, letting him push them back against the bed, lids fluttering as they continued to pump the toy in and out of themself. “Hahhh, no thinking…sounds good.”

“Mm, if you’re going to stop thinking,” He hummed, licking across their panting mouth, pushing his tongue past their lips and exploring every crevice. He was so greedy in the way he took, his teeth nipping at their lip and tongue, demanding more and more with each hungry kiss they shared. “Let me take care of you.”

“Mmfff…”

Lawrence groaned brainlessly, opening their mouth for them to kiss properly, hungrily, as he gripped their cock even tighter, working the tight grip of his first up and down the length of it, so hard and wet as the tip drooled against his skin. 

So perfect.

“Yeah, I’ll take care of you…cus that’s what friends do,” Ren murmured hotly against Lawrence’s mouth, as if his mind went blank with each press of their lips, lost in the act of kissing them, in their touch, in their taste. “They help each other out. Don’t they, baby?”

“Hah,” Lawrence’s eyes fluttered with a stuttering exhale as Ren’s grip grew tighter and tighter, almost painfully so, their own grip on the toy wavering as the base was worked back inside of them, thick rubber pressed up against the tight heat of their asshole, swallowing it up hungrily. “Y-Yeah…that’s…mm, right…”

“Of course it’s right,” He murmured with a giddy smile, panting heavily against their mouth, grinding desperately hard against their hip, stimulating his cock the best he could. “We’re friends, after all. So I’m gonna take care of you, baby. Let me do it for you...”

Lawrence was a vision underneath him, one he wanted burned into his brain so he’d never forget it. 

Soft, bruised, scarred pale skin stretched over protruding hipbones, over sharp shoulders like a perfect canvas, long legs wrapped around him, trembling and jutting with each movement, sea-grey eyes fluttering and watering from the sheer, overwhelming force of their pleasure, beating them like waves against a mountainside.

If he saw them every day, he would remember this time. 

He pressed his forehead against theirs, unwilling to let them see his overwhelming fondness for them.

At least, not yet.

“Doesn’t that feel so much better than doing it yourself?”

“Yes.”

Lawrence’s long fingers tangled into his hair and rubbed at his scalp, and it took everything in him not to keen into the touch and let himself enjoy it, enjoy Lawrence in such an intimate way.

Maybe one day.

“It’s perfect, Ren.”

[notiddygothgf]

23. It Starts Here

★ pairings: aki hayakawa x fem reader

★ ❝ You ready to start our life together, baby? ❞

★ c.w.: hayakawa family being the hayakawa family

★ a/n: hey guyssss im so #emotional rn and ill tell you why.... THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF SHAMELESSSSS <////333. Yes its been a long run but unfortunately all good things must come to an end. I had sm fun writing this and I hope you all have fun reading it! Dw, more sap will come from me at the end soooo stay tuned for that! comment away (this is the last time I'll be able to read them!) and lmk ur thoughts throughout as always, yk the drill. Love yall!

★ w.c: .3k

shameless ; chapter index

ONE MONTH LATER

MOVING WAS A BITCH. It had been a bitch the first time you had done it – when your mother had kicked you out and you had to find a shitty apartment near Public Safety HQ. It had been a bitch when you had to pack up again and move in with Tanimoto after your wedding. And, even now, as you cut open what had to have been the hundredth box in the last few days, it was still a bitch.

You sighed, sitting back on your heels, huffing out a breath you didn’t know you had been holding. A bead of sweat dripped down your forehead. You wiped it away with the back of your hand, glancing around the empty room. In your rush to move out, you hadn’t exactly thought about buying new furniture. Most of the things you were unboxing were trinkets and loose belongings (with nowhere to put a lot of them just yet without a dresser, a bed, or… well, anything, really). 

The one thing you had brought with you? A bookshelf from your old home. One that had been collecting dust in the attic until the move. Your husband had never really allowed you to claim a space in the house – let alone one for something as stupid as reading. In the past month, you had grown back into your old habit, and wanted to showcase the impressive collection you’d had before Tanimoto had made you pack everything away. 

Your books – all of them, the countless covers you had collected over the course of many years in secret – were stored away inside of the box that lay wide open in front of you. A few titles you recognized peeked out at you – a few you didn’t. You had taken on the task of organizing them in alphabetical order.

It felt almost… emotional, really. It came and went in waves. The divorce had come and gone and, with it, that euphoric feeling of freedom had finally settled in. The feeling of starting all over from scratch – as enticing as it was – felt a little scary.

Still, it was a breath of fresh air, a fresh start. You had a new apartment. A new room – a new space to make your own, something you could keep all to yourself. Sure, it was empty, now, save for a few items scattered here and there and a shelf Aki had put together for you (full of books – books the you from a year ago would have only been able to dream of displaying because they meddled with your husband’s decor), but it was yours.

It was yours.

For a moment, you allowed the realization to settle over you. A brief moment, of course – one that was shattered when you heard footsteps entering your room. You whipped your head around, only to come face to face with Denji, toting along two of your boxes with that Devil strength of his. Paying the “FRAGILE” label no mind, he dropped them on the floor.

You winced, “Careful, Denji, those are fragile.”

“Oh, are they?” He glanced down at the boxes, not looking the least bit sorry about it, “Whoops. My bad. Anyway, I think I used too much tape when I was boxing this one up. We might need a bigger boxcutter. Do you know where it is?”

You looked down at your measly little cat-paw letter opener. Yeah, that’s definitely not gonna cut it.

So, you sighed, getting up and brushing the dust off of your sweats (you hadn’t gotten to clean the place yet). “I’ll get it,” You added, already walking past Denji into your living room.

And there, kneeling on the ground in front of the couch with a table leg in his hand, was Aki – looking every bit the man you knew him to be. He was wearing a black tee shirt, one that clung to the muscles in his back and arms, fabric rippling as he assembled your table, and, God, you felt like a fucking animal.

You admired his big, strong arms from afar as he screwed the leg onto the coffee table – which was resting on its side. 

Mmm…

He leaned back, wiping the sweat away from his head when he heard you coming. His chest rose and fell slowly, struggling to catch his breath. “Hey,” he panted, “You need something?”

You’re goddamn right I do. 

“Yeah, I just…” You trailed off, shamelessly ogling his body without a care in the world, “I came in here looking for a bigger boxcutter, but… I kinda wanna stay for the view.”

He laughed, then – a light, melodious sound that made his pretty blue eyes crease. “I could use the help out here. Denji’s about as helpful as a mop at a waterpark.”

If I keep looking at you, I’m gonna be a waterpark.

Still, you didn’t want to stick around and do whatever physically demanding task he had in mind, so, with a wince, you replied, “Yeah, on second thought, I’ll catch you ‘round.”

“What, you running away from me?” Aki teased, his voice laced with amusement.

Before you could react, he reached out, his large hand latching around your wrist, and in one swift tug, he pulled you down onto him. You let out a startled squeal as you tumbled forward, landing right against his chest with an undignified oof. His warmth surrounded you instantly, his scent—something deep and familiar, like cedarwood and the faintest trace of cigarette smoke—washing over your senses.

You barely had time to process the sudden shift in position before his arms looped around you, keeping you caged against him, and then—oh. His lips found yours.

It wasn’t a soft, hesitant kiss. No, it was firm, confident—the kind of kiss that sent a slow, smoldering heat curling through your spine. He kissed you like he had all the time in the world, like this was exactly what he wanted to be doing right now, and God, did it make your head spin. His hands slid down your back, anchoring you in place, as if daring you to pull away.

But you had no plans to.

Until—

“Did you find that boxcutter?”

Denji’s voice rang through the living room, cutting right through the daze Aki had so effortlessly thrown you into. You barely had time to register your horror before he rounded the corner—and immediately recoiled.

“Oh my fucking god,” he groaned, face contorting in pure, unfiltered disgust. “Stop fucking for five minutes and start helping.”

Aki let out an irritated groan, dropping his head back against the floor. “God, Denji,” he sighed. “Ever heard of minding your business?”

“Ever heard of keeping it in your pants?”

Still straddling Aki, you clamped your hands over your face, wishing you could melt straight through the floorboards. “I wasn’t—I was just—” You scrambled off of him, cheeks burning, and desperately looked around for something to distract yourself with.

And that’s when you saw it.

Sitting innocently on the couch. The damn boxcutter.

You practically lunged for it, snatching it up like it was your saving grace. “Here!” You blurted, thrusting it toward Denji. “I was—I was looking for this.”

Denji squinted at you. Then at the boxcutter. Then at Aki, still sprawled on the floor with his arm draped lazily over his forehead like he’d been struck down by the sheer misfortune of this interaction.

“Uh-huh,” Denji drawled, unimpressed. “Sure ‘ya were.” He swiped the boxcutter from your grasp.

Before he turned to leave, he tossed Aki one last look, shaking his head. “And you call me the horndog.”

Aki snorted, finally sitting up and raking a hand through his hair. “I don’t have pictures of women taped to my ceiling, Denji, I actually talk to real ones.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Denji scoffed, walking off.

With him gone, you turned back to Aki, your pulse still hammering from earlier. His eyes found yours, amusement twinkling in those deep blue depths.

“So,” he mused, tilting his head slightly. “You were looking for the boxcutter, huh?”

“I was!” You insisted, though the heat in your face said otherwise.

He gave you a look. The kind that told you he wasn’t buying a single word.

“Mmhmm,” he hummed, dragging his gaze over you slowly, as if taking in the sight of you breathless, flustered, still visibly reeling from the way he’d just had you pressed against him. “Y’know, if you wanted an excuse to climb on top of me, you could’ve just said so.”

Your jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”

He smirked. That damn smirk.

“You heard me.”

You scowled, swatting at his arm before turning on your heel and marching back into the other room.

And what greeted you there?

Power and Denji.

Fighting.

Over the glorious, all-powerful boxcutter.

“I found it first, you fool!” Power declared, hoisting it above her head as Denji leaped at her.

“You wouldn’t have even known it existed if I didn’t go looking for it!”

“It rightfully belongs to me! Bow before your queen and relinquish your claim, human filth!”

“Oh, fuck off—”

You groaned, pinching the bridge of your nose.

You sighed, deciding to let them hash it out on their own. If Denji and Power wanted to battle to the death over a damn boxcutter, that was their business. You had enough on your plate.

Slipping past them, you made your way back into your room, closing the door behind you with a quiet click. The space was still so empty—just bare walls and a floor littered with open boxes, your belongings scattered like remnants of a life you were still trying to piece back together. No bed, no furniture, nothing that made it feel lived in yet. Just you. Just this new beginning.

You knelt beside one of the boxes, the one you had cut open earlier, and started sifting through its contents. Books—some familiar, some not—slipped through your fingers as you pulled them out one by one, stacking them onto the shelf Aki had put together for you. Your fingers lingered over the spines, feeling the weight of years spent collecting them in secret. They had always been yours, but now, for the first time, they were yours to display.

As you reached deeper into the box, your hand brushed against something unexpected.

Your wedding scrapbook.

Your breath hitched. You hadn’t thought about it in a while—hadn’t even realized you’d packed it. The white leather cover was worn at the edges, a testament to how many times you had once flipped through its pages, tracing the memories captured inside. Your wedding day. The smiles. The vows. The promises.

You exhaled slowly, setting it back into the box. Then, without another glance, you pushed it aside.

Moving on. That’s what you were doing.

You reached for another box—one of the ones Denji had so carelessly dropped. The cardboard had been torn from the impact, leaving its contents slightly exposed. You peeled back the flaps, and your heart clenched at what you found inside.

Photographs.

Loose, scattered pictures of moments that had once meant everything. Days out with friends, family gatherings, baby pictures—snapshots of a life before everything changed. Some were curled at the edges, others slightly bent from being shuffled around, but they all told stories. Stories of laughter, of love, of a past that, for better or worse, had shaped you.

And then, at the very back, buried beneath the photos, you found something else.

A newspaper-wrapped bundle.

You knew what it was before you even touched it.

The painting. The one Aki had given you.

Your fingers hesitated over the crinkled paper, your pulse slowing, deep and steady. You hadn’t seen it in so long. Hadn’t even thought about it, really. And yet, here it was, tucked away with the things you hadn’t quite figured out what to do with.

You swallowed, caught in the moment.

Then—

A knock at the door.

It jolted you back to reality, the sound reverberating through the quiet room. You blinked, tearing your gaze away from the painting. Denji and Power had long since left the room, taking their spat to the living area. At the door stood Aki Hayakawa, arm draped lazily over its frame. You stood up and dusted your knees off.

“Looks nice in here so far,” He walked in. “Hard to imagine this being a bedroom without a bed.”

“Soon,” You smiled weakly – the mere sight of him never failed to leave you breathless. You were a fool for him, plain and simple. “I just… haven’t found the right one yet. I have this super-specific vision in mind for my first real home.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” He grinned, coming up behind you to wrap his arms around your waist. You melted into his touch, shoulders softening, head laid back against his chest. “We gotta test out some of the beds at the furniture store. Wanna go tomorrow?”

“Ugh, sure,” You groaned. Then, you paused, “Wait, what do you mean test?”

“Hmm… I dunno. Maybe we can, like,” Aki hummed, “Jump on ‘em, or something.”

You knit your brows together, “Why the hell would we go and do that?”

“‘Cause,” He began, and the moment the word left his mouth, you knew he was up to some bullshit, “We gotta make sure it can handle our… nightly activities.”

Nightly activities. Right.

You shushed him with a quiet laugh – Hell, Denji and Power were right outside. He was insatiable and embarrassing and… God, he was so handsome. 

“I can’t believe I’m moving in right up the hall from the old apartment,” You sighed, gently swaying from side to side, eyes darting around the room you would soon begin to call a home. Aki swayed with you. “This one seems so much bigger, don’t you think?”

He leaned down to kiss the nape of your neck, “Four bedrooms,” He noted, “Lots of room for our little family, don’t you think?”

Yeah, you supposed it was a little family. In the past few months of living with the Hayakawas, you had slipped into a familial sort of role with them that you couldn’t quite name. Then again, you supposed you didn’t have to. You had never wanted kids, but, now – well, you had sort of been given them.

Still, you wouldn’t trade the two of them for the world, those little assholes.

A four bedroom apartment hadn’t been easy to find, especially in Aki’s complex, but the two of you had succeeded after a month-long search. Truthfully, you were beginning to outgrow the old apartment. It was better this way. Denji and Power were separate (a great way to minimize damages), Aki had his own bedroom right next door to yours, and you…

Well, you finally had a space you could truly call your own.

“I’ll be right next door whenever you wanna sneak in,” You laughed.

We can, like… choose which bed to sleep in now. How cool is that? You were giddy at the prospect.

“I much prefer having you in my bed,” He murmured against your neck, “I like it when you leave the smell of your perfume on my pillow, my sheets…” He breathed in deeply, probably taking a shameless whiff of you, “Fuckin’ love it.”

You smiled, turning the heavy little painting over in your hands. There was a random nail in the wall – one probably left by a previous tenant. You stepped forward, unwrapping the painting carefully – careful enough to not break it after Denji’s little mishap earlier – and placing it on the wall.

Then, you stepped back. Both you and Aki took a moment of silence to admire it.

“You kept that?” He finally asked, confirming the question you had already known the answer to (that he was the one who had gotten it for you).

“Of course I kept it,” You smiled. “It’s the nicest thing I think anyone’s ever done for me.”

Your fingers found the charm on your necklace—the one Aki had given you. You pressed it between your fingertips, feeling the delicate ridges, the slight warmth it carried from resting against your skin all day. It had always been a quiet comfort, something small yet significant. A reminder. A promise.

You had clung to it in the difficult moments, turning it over in your fingers when you needed something steady, something real. But now, standing in your new apartment, surrounded by half-unpacked boxes and the scent of fresh paint, you didn’t need it to remind you. He was here. His presence was steady, his warmth pressed solidly against your back as his arms came around you again, pulling you flush against him.

Aki didn’t say anything at first. He just held you, letting the silence settle, letting you breathe. His fingers traced slow, absentminded shapes against your waist, and you melted into his touch, feeling yourself relax in a way you hadn’t in years.

He dipped his head, his breath fanning against your ear as he finally spoke, voice low and steady.

“You ready to start our life together, baby?”

The words sent a shiver down your spine, not out of nerves, not out of fear, but something deeper. Something that made your chest ache, made your eyes sting if you thought too hard about it.

A fresh start.

How long had you wanted this? How long had you dreamed of something new, something untouched by the past?

For so long, the idea of starting over had seemed impossible. Even after the divorce, even after packing up your things and stepping into this apartment, it had still felt distant—like you were simply floating between endings and beginnings, unsure where you truly belonged.

But now…

Now, standing here, with Aki’s arms around you, his voice in your ear, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat against your back, looking around your new home…

You weren’t afraid anymore.

You let go of the necklace, exhaling softly as your fingers loosened from the charm.

You turned in his arms, looking up at him. His blue eyes were already watching you, steady and sure, as if he already knew your answer. As if he had known it all along.

Still, you said it anyway.

“Yeah.”

Aki’s lips curled into a soft, knowing smile. He dipped his head, brushing a slow, lingering kiss against your temple. When he spoke again, his voice was quieter, almost reverent.

“Good.” His arms tightened around you, grounding you, anchoring you. “It starts here.”

a/n: WAHHHHHH I CAN'T BELIEVE ITS OVERRRR!! oh my god i dont even know what to say to yall except thank you so much for bearing with me to the bittersweet end. This story has been such an emotional crutch for me over the course of the past school year omg you have no idea. I want to take a moment to thank you guys because you truly have been the reason I had the motivation to finish this story. I couldn't have done it without yall! The love I've gotten on this story has been absolutely INSANE!!! omg like 15k of you and counting? Thats so crazy to me!!  I owe it all to you, my lovely lovely sexy readers. After this, I will be putting all of my effort into finishing my other two Aki fics -- Call out My Name, which will replace Shameless (hopefully) as a longfic, and PORNSTAR, which is shorter and a whole lot smuttier!! It would mean lots to me if yall could go check them out and keep touch with me over there (especially my regular commenters. You know who u r. love u pookies).  Anyway, now that ive plugged my new shit, I really am sad to let shameless go. it's my baby. but i hope you all enjoyed the ride as much as i did! I got one last lil surprise planned for yall after some pretty significant demand so stay tuned for some extras!!! lmk ur thoughts in the comments, or maybe some parting words (sniffs emotionally).  Oh, and also... Never forget, mama loves yall x

credits: UNKOWN ATM. I found the cover pic on pinterest unfortch. If you know the artist, please let me know, so I can credit them properly for their work!!! This is NOT MY BEAUTIFUL DRAWINGGG. I obviously do not own csm or anything related to it. please do not reproduce, copy, or translate my works anywhere. dont fk w me im a bruja.

also: come find me on my wattpad if u wanna interact more!

taglist: @mitsuyeahhh , @sleepysnk , @enneadec , @noaabean , @em1e , @drakensdarling , @bertholdts--butt , @satanlovesusall666 , @mitsuwuyaa , @noctifule , @scaraphobia , @ask-the-insect-hashira , @lovingranchturkeyweasel , @bontensbabygirl , @slvdsjjk , @novacrystalli , @hanmastattoos , @kodzuksn , @hqtiny , @ohmaiscool15 , @redlittlequeen , @leivane , @goldeneagles-posts , @yeahblahlame , @no-oneelsebutnsu , @cookiesandcreammy , @cawwn , @the-haitani-baton , @littlelovebug98 , @armani78 , @mindurownbussines , @kokos-property , @violetmatcha , @hp-simp505 , @acethebrave , @mitsuyeahhh , @sleepysnk , @enneadec , @noaabean , @em1e , @drakensdarling , @bertholdts--butt , @satanlovesusall666 , @mitsuwuyaa , @noctifule , @scaraphobia , @ask-the-insect-hashira , @lovingranchturkeyweasel , @bontensbabygirl , @slvdsjjk , @novacrystalli , @hanmastattoos , @kodzuksn , @hqtiny , @ohmaiscool15 , @redlittlequeen , @leivane , @goldeneagles-posts , @yeahblahlame , @no-oneelsebutnsu , @cookiesandcreammy , @cawwn , @the-haitani-baton , @littlelovebug98 , @armani78 , @mindurownbussines , @kokos-property , @violetmatcha , @hp-simp505

wanna join the taglist? | shameless ; chapter index

[chlorinecake]

I just saw what that anon said and I can really really relate I feel like there's no way I can like them cuz I'm black I feel like. Weird for having a crush on Ni-ki cuz I'm black and even though I know there's no chance anyway cause he probably doesn't date fans obviously lol It makes me ashamed especially because people are always saying "what if / he probably doesn't like black girls/people" and it makes me feel like I'm less beautiful because I'm black and even if he did date fans I mean I'm like SOOOO ugly like atrocious but it makes me feel like even if I was a little bit more pretty he wouldn't like me or would dismiss me cause I'm black or like I wouldn't be good enough or he'd be disgusted or disappointed or weirded out because I'm black and a fan /has a crush on him and besides him it makes me feel like enhypen wouldn't talk to me or treat me the same cuz I'm not Asian or white like I couldn't be a fan or wouldn't be as important or pretty or cool or even just they wouldnt want me as a fan or like me or even look my way cause im black its gotten so bad that people dont evn have to say that anymore (they do but they dont have too) for me to think that way. Like I know we all saw that pretty engene video with that girl with the glasses and i couldn't help but make it about race like thinking would they look at me like that or would I be ugly abd weird cause I'm black ? Or if she was black would they still think she's pretty? Or would they even put the camera on her if she was black ? Anyway I'm rambling but being black is something I struggle with even without people saying the group I like or the guy I have a crush on (Niki obviously) wouldn't like me or would hate me for being black . Or they would be uncomfortable or disgusted with me because I'm black so it's just hard to even see myself meeting them or *even to imagine myself in reader fanfics even if the reader's supposed to be black because I've convinced myself that the only way I'd be pretty or attractive or they'd be friends withe or date me in Ni-kis case is if I was white or Asian* (*just talking about from a fanfic standpoint for this one* but yeah) but yeah it sucks and

Okay, I REFUSE to sit here and let you talk down on yourself like that. I don’t care how true you may think it is, YOU ARE NOT UGLY, Mirah ~ You’re beautiful, from head to toe, melanated skin, curly hair and all. Black women are beautiful, it’s disgusting to me how society has brought some of us to a point where we feel insecure, undesirable, or unworthy of affection from others. My words might not do much to encourage you, because finding confidence (esp as a black girl) takes time. But I really urge you to understand that you can’t expect other ppl to accept you when you don’t even accept yourself. Wish I could give you the BIGGEST hug rn, bc this actually hurts to read :(

Another point, I’ve seen plenty videos of Enhypen (along with other kpop groups) connecting with colored fans in the same way they do with their supporters of a fairer complexion, but I won’t share any of those videos here bc I don’t want you to seek “proof” as a way for you to feel better abt yourself.

On the flip side, let’s say that some ppl in the kpop industry DO have a prejudice (which I’m sure some do): your life and happiness isn’t dependent on their validation.

Let’s not even get started on how a lot of Ni-Ki’s favorite artists are black (Riki Jackson ? Bro would’ve never called himself that if he was racist)… but anyway, colored people like any other group of individuals can b really amazing once they get past their insecurities and embrace the way God made them. Jst know that u can always come to be if your struggling with something or just want to vent <3

[taweretsdagger]

honestly i'd love to ask you alll the questions and more about "Hydra" my beloved lol but how about 4, 5, 9, and 13? <33

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

ughhhh i love love love soooo much about the way Kate talks to Juliet after they've gotten together. she's still very teasing/challenging a lot of the time, but it always feels like she has this underlying care and understanding and like she wants Juliet to feel safe with her :')

i'll pick one line from a past chapter, and one from the chapter i juuuust posted as a little teaser for ya! :)

from ch 18: “Honey, what was your plan?"

(and the rest of the line too, i just especially love this sweet little call-in hahahha, like Juliet srsly had no sense of direction in her big lying scheme and Kate read her like a damn book.)

from ch 24: “You look like shit,” was what [Kate] finally landed on.

5: What part was hardest to write?

anytime they're on the precipice of something bad happening for sure lol (as we have discussed), i just never want to move them on from the cute happy times and that's usually the point in the fic where i have to put it away for a couple days to build up enough courage to move the plot forward.

i also had a *really* tough time with the chapter where Juliet and Jack are handcuffed (mostly for reasons that relate to the next question, so stay tuned). i almost never re-draft an entire chapter start to finish while i'm editing, but i did for that one. i just really didn't like the way i'd set things up at first and i'm glad i started it over bc i think it came out much better in the end!

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

not exactly an alternate "version," per se, but when i started i was expecting there to be a loooooot more duplicity between Juliet and Kate and a looooot more distrust between Juliet and Jack. like more than we see in the show on both sides, and both were going to be a bigger deal for the overall plot.

but the purpose i sought from this re-imagined timeline in the first place was to show Juliet's journey in breaking away from the Others (and Ben in particular) *because* of the relationships she's able to foster with Kate and Jack. so once i got to the places where that duplicity and distrust were going to manifest they actually felt like too lackluster of a conflict in context of Juliet's overall growth.

i also really love what you said when we were talking about Juliet's lie to Kate a few weeks back, about how writers can find ways to surprise the audience without being cruel. beating the dead horse of Juliet-as-an-Other felt more cruel to me than anything, and moving those primary character dynamics on from that conflict has opened up the story to new conflicts/character dynamics that have been interesting to explore and that i think have made the story richer!

13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

for the first half-ish i made a playlist that tracked along with the earlier plot points, featuring Caroline Polachek and Magdalena Bay most heavily plus a good bit of Patsy Cline (of course).

but now the story has changed a lot and the mood of that playlist doesn't fit too well anymore, so for the last few chapters i've mostly listened to Lucy Dacus, Hozier, and Japanese Breakfast!

tysm for asking, and i'd happily answer more questions abt Hydra anytime!!! :) <33

link to orig post:

https://www.tumblr.com/taweretsdagger/775228666676494336/reblog-if-you-are-a-fanfiction-author-and-would?source=share

[anonymous-eggy]

your leander analysis was soooo spot on !! it's the first one that made sense to me !! i was always like ?? why would he try to mess with you ?? it just didn't make sense to me ?? you're so big brain

exactlyyyy!

i think my point didnt really get across because i said it in a very dramatic manner, but the point is there.

at the end of the day, Leander wants to manipulate you into trusting him. for what reason? we don't know yet. To take down the senobium? for selfish reasons? both?

no matter the reason, he's cunning and manipulative. he's not prone to outbursts and immediate revenge from what we've seen in the demo. he didn't become the trusted and adored leader of a huge gang by having childish outbursts and taking his frustration out on others for not trusting him or not wanting to be around him. he's like a wolf. he will play the long game if he really has to. if it becomes a game of stamina, he'll keep chasing you until you dont want to or cant run anywhere but into his arms. into his maw of fangs that he's conditioned you to believe is home so he can finally snap his jaw shut on you.

He is the safehouse, the leader. everyone follows him eventually. he just likes to make you feel like it was your choice all along and not something he was steering you towards since the very beginning.

this is literally what makes him such an attractive character. we know in the back of our minds (whether or not we realize it) that this is what he's doing. its so bad, but it so good at the same time. he has secrets and depth to his character and we want to know them.

honestly, if anything, he grabbed mc's hand when they choose to hesitate out of desperation to prove he can handle it and gain that huge leap of trust in Mc.

which caused mc a moment of panic and surprise, thus causing their curse to flare up. the same way i assume mhin's curse would flare up to protect them. this flare up was more than what leander had planned for, so he has a moment where he has to bat away the curse with whatever stupid powerful magic he's gotten ahold of.

once again, he wants you to trust him. this is obviously a bad situation where there's only two believable and sucky ways to play it off. the truth, or a prank. so he has to pick the lesser of two bad choices and play it off like he was just messing around. like it was just jokes and everything was fine all along!!! i think theres a small crack in his facade when he says something along the lines of Mc's curse being some serious stuff he's never seen before. this is a true statement buried in false ones. its easy to breeze over. he's successfully fooled you and won if he can get you to believe he was genuinely just fucking with you.

but yeah, sure Mc could have gotten pissed with him, but isnt a moment of Mc being pissed at a joke better than them not trusting him with their curse? the trust broken from a prank is MUCH easier to repair than trust broken from a curse that almost slipped through his magical protections.

Leander wants Mc alive, safe, and trusting him COMPLETELY. He (i assume unknowingly) hints at this anytime he talks about how he shouldn't have let you leave his side. he is that one "the illusion of choice" meme.

My ending statement will be this: i am OBSESSED with characters that have a true personality hidden under a different one. the little phrases that slip out and give insight into the truth are my JAM. characters that dangle a shiny charming personality like an angler fish. maybe its because of my trauma, but we dont have to talk about that.

[chipmunkweirdo]

hii, idk if u take requests but if u do, what are ur chipmunks (just Alvin Simon and Theodore) headcanons??

I do take requests! You’re in luck! Thank you for messaging me!

Oooh boy, I have SOOOO many headcanons for them. Let me copy and paste the list I made that used to be on my Twitter.

SIMON

Simon secretly loves going on adventures, but as “the responsible one” he’s expected to be the killjoy. Sometimes, he’ll let Alvin go through with a scheme and tag along on the adventure without telling an authority figure. You only live once.

He tends to be crazy prepared for any situation that could possibly be thrown at him. This includes government spies. He even built an underground tunnel system underneath his house and his family uses it to hide out when the situation calls for it.

His memory is incredible and allows him to memorize lists of facts and statistics.

Because of his good memory, he holds grudges for a long time. He will make you pay for that time that you wronged him even if you forgot what you did or said and have since moved on.

The power of his mind is so important to him that he tends to forget it’s not the only thing that defines his character. He fears Alvin becoming smarter than him.

Simon wants to protect people and keep them safe. As a result, he often violates their rights to privacy in the name of safety. Good examples would be putting tracking devices on every bike in the neighborhood and putting a tracking device in Alvin’s cap.

He can’t figure out how to make anything he cooks taste good. This irritates him because he strives to learn all the useful skills he can and this one is no exception. He really doesn’t appreciate all Alvin’s jokes about his meals causing “Simon-ella” poisoning.

(Then the show implied Simon was a god tier cook better than Theo in season 5. I didn’t love that episode.)

He enjoys watching The Big Bang Theory and feels like he can relate to Leonard. He also deals with an annoying egotistical roommate. (Alvin) Now that Alvin is 2.0, he sees even more of Alvin in Sheldon. He teases Alvin sometimes by calling him “Shelvin.”

Although he has a soft spot for sitcoms and sci fi, he prefers non-fiction to fiction.

His favorite non-fiction shows are anything on the science network or the discovery channel. His favorite non-fiction books are encyclopedias and anything science related.

When Dave tells him an invention or experiment is too dangerous, he does it anyway. He disobeys Dave in his pursuit of knowledge and Alvin disobeys Dave in his pursuit of a fun time. However, Simon believes that he’s in the right and Alvin is in the wrong.

He’s a hypocrite.

It irks him that he can no longer be snide or passive aggressive without Alvin 2.0 eventually realizing it.

He’s so farsighted that he’s basically blind without his glasses. He finds glasses to be a nuisance sometimes, but is accustomed to wearing them and prefers them to contacts. Besides, they are a big part of his casual look.

Simon is a closeted brony. He watched My Little Pony with Jeanette once and became a Twilight Sparkle fan. He is deeply embarrassed by his love for the show because he thinks no one will take a scientist who loves MLP seriously.

Simon does not possess a lot of lower body strength. His strength is the opposite of Alvin’s, concentrated mostly in his upper body. He’s gotten pretty strong from lifting power drills, chainsaws, heavy metal robot parts, and stuff.

He can beat Alvin 2.0 in an arm wrestle.

Simon enjoys basketball and plays it quite frequently in his spare time. He joined the basketball team once, but then he couldn’t handle the peer pressure and switched to a basketball club instead.

THEODORE

Theodore eats more whenever he’s feeling stressed, but if he’s really feeling angry or depressed, he won’t eat as much....if at all. If he says “I’m not hungry.” You know he’s in a bad place.

He’s gotten over his fear of one clown. However, he still has nightmares about being chased by a pack of clowns sometimes. He also has nightmares about disappointing Dave and being stuck in a box.

He loves to cook for people. He enjoys helping Eleanor most, but he will still cook by himself, provided Dave allows him to use the kitchen.

He likes to be the one to make refreshments for school events. This can get overwhelming, but Eleanor helps him cope with the stress.

His naive and young demeanor helps to shield him from Alvin and Simon’s fighting.

Talking Teddy is his favorite show because it’s a distraction from all the pain and suffering in the world. He lives in a figurative little bubble and he chooses what he lets in and out.

Although he hates dealing with real drama, fake drama on TV is a-okay in his book. He enjoys watching Spanish soap operas and uses them to practice his Spanish.

Theodore is a part of the school drama club as well. He likes showing off his range as an actor.

Alvin’s change hasn’t affected him as much as it affected Simon. Unfortunately, Alvin has gotten really wordy and hard to understand. Theodore is occasionally forced to look up words in the dictionary if he wishes to have any idea what Alvin and Simon are talking about.

When Brittany needs someone to help her finish all the extra duties for the principal, Theodore steps in to help. His need to stretch himself and help as many people as possible sometimes causes him to burn out. He needs to learn that sometimes it’s okay to say “I’m busy.”

To prove how he’s matured since the events of the Alvinnn pilot, Theodore now has access to the keyboard Simon tricked out for Talking Teddy. He frequently types in responses and pretends Teddy is talking to him, even though he knows he’s just talking to himself. It doesn’t hurt to pretend if it’s a coping mechanism.

His love for Talking Teddy boarders on obsession at times. He’s gone to the live show, owns the videogame, has a huge DVD collection, has seen all 4 movies, and owns more than one Talking Teddy doll. Teddy, backup Teddy, and mini Teddy the backpack clip, to name a few.

More mature Theodore does have a bit more of a backbone than his alternate universe counterparts. He gets second and even third opinions before agreeing to certain things. He’s even started developing an ability to sense if a situation is “fishy” or legit.

He’s extremely proud of his musical skills and especially his drumming skills. He’s always begging Dave to add drum solos to songs so he can show off his skills. Alvin and Simon get their guitar and bass solos. He wants his time to shine too.

He knows a large number of dances and he’s even invented his own dance moves. He likes freestyling the best. When the boys took ballet, he picked up on the skill faster than Simon and Alvin. It helped that Eleanor encouraged him in a nicer way than she did the other boys.

Sometimes Theodore pushes the limits of what his cuteness can do, such as scoring free candy by making puppy dog eyes. In addition, Alvin uses him as a secret weapon to bring out the inner goodness in people.

Theodore hates being thought of as stupid and naive. He doesn’t want to be a “genius” like his brothers though. He’d like to be thought of as a person with average intelligence. And he especially wants to prove to Officer Dangus that he’s not dumb.

Theodore’s habit of sensing things more strongly than other people is one of the reasons that he almost always notices Eleanor.

His five senses are very in tune with the world around him, especially his senses of smell of taste. Sight’s better than his brothers’ obviously. Both of them wear glasses and he doesn’t need glasses.

ALVIN/ALVIN 2.0

Alvin was a closeted nerd, but as Alvin 2.0 he’s connected more with that side of himself. He’s still getting used to the way it’s changed how people react to him.

He’s an excellent artist, even though he failed art class 3 times for not following directions. He drew comics and did his own projects instead of actually doing the assignments. “What? I’m making art, right? And this is art class....so I should get an A.”

Alvin is a tetrachromat, meaning he possesses 4 different types of vision cones for processing color. He can tell apart even the most subtle color variations. This is why he gets so picky about describing colors.

He is ambidextrous. He can do things equally well with both his right and left hands. He was originally right handed, but he broke his arm and had to learn how to function with his left. When his arm healed, he started using both and has continued the trend ever since.

He’s very absent-minded and puts sticky note reminders all over to help him remember important things. He also has a bunch of reminders programmed into his phone.

When he really needs to focus, he leaves his phone and his videogames in another room, so they won’t distract him.

He’s physically weak in his upper body and most of his strength is concentrated in his lower body. His legs can move faster than all of the other Chipmunks’ and Chipettes’. He excels in any sport or activity that requires running quickly.

He likes academic subjects, but that doesn’t mean he’s thrilled with the idea of school. He’d rather learn the subjects on his own. Teachers have ridiculously high expectations of him and there’s students who bully him. It’s tough.

He has ONE teacher who understands him and makes school tolerable. It’s that very same teacher that helped him discover his interest in physics. He takes an advanced placement class for no reason other than to be able to see this amazing teacher named Dr. Wilson almost every day.

He’s an honorary member of the Mathletes. He sometimes attends meetings if he isn’t busy. His codename is “Al-gebrainiac.” (This will make more sense if you’ve see the season 2 episode called Members Only)

He likes meeting new people and is very sociable. The change didn’t affect his extroverted tendencies. Sometimes his sociableness gets him in trouble.

He has a tendency to get involved in dangerous and risky situations when his curiosity kicks in.

Beneath all his new traits, he’s still got a wild side. He will always try to justify his rebellious actions with a logical reason, but it’s kind of obvious the actual reason is “he wanted to have fun.”

Ever since his transition, he hasn’t been keeping up his looks as much. (Though he is still somewhat vain and sometimes concerned with his appearance) He stops putting gel in his hair on occasion, which causes it to do whatever it wants. His messy unkempt and appropriately named “Einstein hair” gives him a sort of absent minded professor vibe.

He both loves and fears meeting new Alvins from the multiverse. He’s interested to meet them and make conversation, but he fears they won’t see past his nerdy exterior and big vocabulary.

Due to his tendency to talk a lot for long periods of time barely stopping to breathe, Alvin suffers from severe dry mouth. This may also be why his speaking voice has a noticeable raspier and older sound to it than the voices of his alternate counterparts.

And there you have it! My headcanons for the boys!

[mushtoons]

Too shy to send off anon, BUT!! As someone also going through severe OC thoughts rn, thought these might be fun, though no pressure to answer if you are unsure about any of these!

• Do any of your guys have a major turning point of their character arc, or maybe just some other fun moment that you'd really love to illustrate but haven't gotten to yet?

• Your color palettes and designs for them are really gorgeous!! Do you have any deeper reasoning for some color/design elements? Curious since the Greek Mythology inspo in the form of your latest obsession with Epic makes me wonder, but if its also mostly just going with what personally appeals to you in a design I 100% understand and respect, same

• Sort of silly question, but have you ever thought of what an "evil/reverse" version of these characters would be? As in, how different might they be if a major component of their character (visual or storywise) were changed to be the opposite? [Thinking of those memes like "evil crush 40 be like: die and forget" fhhfhfhf]

These are just some things I thought of, I hope they're okay! I've quietly been observing some of your OC things over here and been too shy to speak up and say much but hell yeah, keep doing what ur doing!! 🫶

~ 🧁

SOBBING AND CRYING ACTUALLY THANK U THESE ARE SO FUN I OWE U MY LIFE HOLD ON TIGHT ITS A LONG ONE

okay okay!!! so for turning point scenes i REALLY wanna draw the death of the king ( adriero , their son!) we kinda have this doodled out but its old (and the wrong son, we changed who dies so its out dated 💔)

it leads to iiros's character and his role (kidnapped, adriero's replacement!)

for colors its kind of a mix between symbolism and just what i like!

gala is mainly purple, for his affinity for night and sleep, originally we were gonna make him a shiny white like a star, but purple is akin to arrogance and childishness which was more his personality along with emotional!

iiros is primarily yellow because of his connection to day and warmth, but we used it also as a way to show he's a light, or like hope! and after looking into it its also a color for mourning!

izuna's is harder because we tried to appropriate his pre design into this one but nothing really fit he's been redesigned like 5 times so rn he's just for aesthetic lol, except his red which we used as a nod to his preexisting design, to mean passion and anger! and his white hair to show his loss of color/happiness!

euyco is really under developed but plays a HUGE role in their world! hes the catalyst that starts EVERYTHING and most character development! but he's one we don't draw much cuz bros dead, but i wanted to give him a bit of a free spirit vibe! the green and red for rebirth and passion, while the blue for flexibility and change

and flura is soooo aesthetic mainly because PRETTY!!! but!!!! his roses are his symbolism >:), they're yellow for danger and caution they draw attention to his face and his eyes (he's our antagonist EHEHEHEHEE)

okay last thing and I'll stop!!! i aint really got a evil version or anything considering flura is already the 'bad guy" and looks how he does, but i DO have a concept of izuna if flura hadn't caused euyco's death >:)c

before euyco died and everything he WAS the creator of beauty after all >;9

[fortemelody]

miku expo was legit the best day of my life so i wanna ramble about it

edit: found this in my drafts and wanted to revive it even if this took place like a month ago now lmao

first off i wanna kinda stress something that i honestly might get flamed for

i was in the pit, literally the third row, and around the halfway mark people who didn’t have wristbands on (that you get if you’re in the pit) finagled their way in and no security stopped them. this was like 5 people near me and like 3 more on the opposite side of the chairs. i could barely move cus i was so squished in by them and beforehand i was taking the opportunity to jump and dance becus i was in the aisle becus it was very spacious.

i personally see this as wrong. like i understand the feeling so much of not having good seats becus they are expensive. my bsf’s parents payed for these seats and that was the closest i’ve ever been/probably will ever be at a concert. i am eternally greatful for them. however, if i were at any other concert with my regular nosebleed seats, i would not move up to somewhere where the seats were obviously filled and payed for. people work hard to have the kind of money to spend on good tickets, and i felt like they were stripping away all of that just becus there was some open space and no one from security happen to be watching

i do feel kinda bad becus my friend was complaining a little too loud and vulgarly without a proper confrontation and i was saying things like “yeah” and “real” and i think they eventually kinda heard us but they didn’t do anything in response until i finally asked them nicely to at least step back so i could move around. most of them listened then but one person didn’t.

i want to acknowledge that i probably wasn’t perfect either in a different aspect becus i was legit screaming my head off and i realize now that behavior can definitely be distracting. i forgot that convention idol etiquette very much applies to even a virtual concert because there are others around me that might not appreciate my loudness who aren’t performing, along with the band members (although they prob couldn’t hear me from backstage).

wanted to address my thoughts on the screen too. honestly i still think it’s a weird call (and would make a lot of sense if it was by crunchyroll) and i still think it’s rather cheap but i can at least acknowledge that the visuals were pretty crisp. im assuming it also helped people see it from super far away better. it was definitely not an experience ruiner by any means but it was pretty jarring for the first 10 mins or so.

anyways, on to the good moments. at the end i shouted thank you to the band members when they came out and one of them saw me gave me the heart hands AND IT WAS SO FUCKING SWEET AHHH

i went into this only knowing about 5 songs for the set list and i’m so glad for that becus the suprises kept hitting me. some of the most hyped songs for me were unknown mother goose and fraulen biblioteca. i was so happy they played a wowaka song becus he deserves to be honored in multiple countries. and with fraulen i have a video recording of it where me and my bsf’s convo went like this:

“i can’t believe they did it”

“what?”

“I CANT BELIEVE THEY DID IT”

“ME TOO”

(for context we were debating which songs would get played on the way there and we wanted this one but thought it had a slim chance. also meiko is my fav soooo)

ALSO we didn’t know we got VIP till someone told us (thank you kind stranger). the tote bag is really nice and i’ve gotten a ton of use out of it. and i used the fan in place of a penlight the whole time- idk how it didn’t break. as for the other stuff it was just kinda meh to me.

lastly we got a shit ton of confetti from the cannon and passed some out to people and took a couple for ourselves too. i’m so glad they did that it was a nice touch and it looked so beautiful as it was falling tbh

i think that’s all i gotta say but i might make some fanart to commemorate it later (i just said this same thing in a post a couple days ago and i haven’t even started *that* drawing yet….oopsies).

[luci-j]

Hello! I love your GotG OCs and I was wondering if you could share some Laroshi and/or Farina lore/headcanons? Or even about canon characters! I'm just curious about your hcs, haha

Soooo happy that you started the new installement of your trilogy fic *-*

Hi!! Oh my goodness, thank you! I can put the ladies' ones here but if you or anyone are curious about more, I'm happy to answer!!!

Farina

- Loves some of the traditionally "less cute" animals the clinic gets in. Rats? Precious. Bats? So cool, they're rats that can FLY. That sharp-toothed thing with the fur? Would TOTALLY adopt if she could

- A little more of a quiet kid who read animal facts, facts about the universe. Got embarrassed for info dumping more than once, so stopped talking about it. One of the things she appreciates most about Nebula is that Nebula is a good listener to her, and can tell her surprisingly gently when they need to switch topics

- Also a bit of a star geek. Used to watch them from the balcony of her home when she was a kid. Also did this when she was with a bad ex and needed to get away for a bit.

- Unfortunately there's been more than one bad ex. She's learned to assert herself better though, and having her wife and the nursing staff there to back her up has been a huge help in this.

- She lets Nebula braid her hair! Nebula likes the novelty of it, and Farina likes the attention.

- Gamora still doesn't quiet get how jet dynamic works with Nebula, but loves the genuine smile Nebula has when she's with Farina.

- Really big on making sure Nebula feels included in things, and respects when she doesn't want to do something.

- Very much the "I'm not angry, just disappointed" type if fighting with Nebula. Nebula had one old-school tantrum during an argument between them, once, saw how shaken it left Farina, and vowed to be better after that. And she was.

- They've done more than one vacation to theme parks together. Everyone thinks it's Farina pulling Nebula along, but it's quite the opposite. Farina is a little more of a homebody, but loves her wife getting to experience the childhood she SHOULD have had. She's been terrified of every roller coaster she's ever been on, but her wife's maniacal laughter is just SO flipping cute.

- Big into pop music. Would play Harry Styles all day if she could.

- Identifies as a lesbian! She knew in grade school when she'd get WAY too emotional about friendships.

Now time for some Laroshi ones!

- The mom friend from a young age. Hosa and Meti were such airheads, somebody had to stop them from falling off a cliff. 🙄

- Loves numbers because they make sense! Whether it's cooking, working on alloy materials from her forge, or money, she's quite good with it all. She never really had an opportunity to spread her math wings on Fauntera, but can on Knowhere. Is the accountant for the Guardians.

- Has gotten them enough extra money they were due over the years that combined it could have bought another Knowhere.

- Comes from a large family. She had seven siblings, all who reached adulthood, got married, and had children of their own. This stung a little bit as she always wanted to be a mom and wife. It just didn't happen, though.

- Unable to have children biologically due to an illness she contracted on Fauntera during the uprising. This is why she was unable to reunite with Meti initially.

- Meti quietly offered to give her the money to have a baby like how he had Skye, and to pull strings to get her to the front of the lind. She would have taken him up on this, but she and Kraglin were too far apart genetically to have one together, so it just wasn't worth it to her. Her prayers were still answered, though, with Benji.

- She helped give Benji a Spider-Man-themed bar mitzvah without knowing what a bar mitzvah was or what a Spider-Man was.

- Practiced calling herself "Laroshi Geer" way too much as a kid. Would have had binders with their initials in hearts if she could have.

- Marrying Kraglin is literally the first spontaneous thing she's done in her life. She immediately fell for his kindness. She also loves that he isn't as proper as she felt she had to make herself be in order to help guide and protect her people, or to find a spouse.

- Loves going to bars with him. He gets her to loosen up like she's always wanted to, but never knew where to start.

- She, in turn, respects him from the get-go. He's never had to prove himself to her.

- She collaborates with Rocket a lot on creating things! She created all his mobility aides during his surgeries, so that they'd be portable for him, and has helped him mod some weapons.

- Loves jewelry making for herself. Kraglin brings her gems from planets, she turns it into bracelets, necklaces, etc for herself. Her favorite is a necklace with a gem that matches his eyes, and she wears this a lot when he's on missions.

- Big into punk rock.

- Is the neighborhood mom now. If there's a kid who needs something, they know they can go to her forge and she'll try to help.

- Learned English for her adopted son. It wasn't easy, but she loves Benji that much.

- She loves making knickknacks for the house. Yondu would have taken a shine to her.

- Intensely proud of her husband. Faunterians can be a little bit of a haughty bunch, so she brags about him a LOT. Kraglin doesn't get it, but he also doesn't mind.

- They don't get in blowup fights, but he knows she's annoyed with him if dinner is cold. She knows he's upset with her if he seems quieter and mutters about needing to look at something around the house.

- Has an iffy understanding of genders and sexualities, but is incredibly supportive. Most likely identifies as cis and hetero.

- Some of their favorite things to do as a couple is visit the beach, go to the farmers market, and making upgrades to their weapons. Ya know. Couples things!

Omggggg that was so much fun! Thank you for this request!! If anyone has any others, characters or otherwise, please feel free to throw them my way! Will probably also be doing more on my own since I LOVED this. Holy cow.

[jaeminvore]

finally got to read hot & cold the other day and let me just say…. that was some of the best fiction i’ve read in a while 😭 everything was sooooo perfect from the angst with him ghosting her for a while up until his gf was complaining about mc and he was like “nahhhh i aint taking that” to the way haechan had lowk been possessive over her since they were teens to him going to the uni JUST to be close to her even tho there were better places for him future wise, them being each other’s first time FUCKKKKK that was so daebak ㅋㅋㅋ like you can just TELL that donghyuck was so into her from that alone, no wonder that was the moment he himself was like “damn… i really am down bad”

and BROOOOO the confession part and her not rejecting him yet and then taking a break and him being so excited to see her and saying ily over texts and ARGHHH he is so down bad it was honestly crazy… if my man isn’t like this we #DoNotWantIt 😑 AND THAKDJSXHSKDJDJ THE POKÉMON GF MESSAGE AS SOMEONE WHO USED TO BE SOOOO OBSESSED WITH POKÉMON AND AKWAYS WANFED TO GET THE SUN AND MOON ONE (i’m p sure he called her his moon too… why don’t we all just end it) THIS WAS SO ANAZING AND IF MY MAN DID THAT FOR ME WE WOULD HAVE TO GET MARRIED ON THE SPOT…… and that make out sesh was amazing too omo if only the mum didn’t break it —___—

and the side characters were just amazing too like renjun winter and yangyang did a great job fulfilling the comedic side characters and jaemin being the threat to donghyuck to the point he tried to find dirt on him i’m cryingggg 😭😭😭 there is honestly so much more i could say about this but i don’t want this to get too long but IT WAS SOOOOO WORTH IT YOUR WRITING ALWAYS AMAZES ME YOURE SO FUNNY I LITERALLY LOVE YOU 😭😭🫶🏽🫶🏽🫂🫂🫂 have a nice amazing day!!

Oh my gosh it’s been so long since Hot & Cold was brought up so this is a very pleasant surprise of an ask LMAOOOO oh man as a baby ncitizen back then, i had soooo much fun writing about Hyuck (plus the supporting cast lol) that I think I might have gotten carried away (cough cough the word count) and yk, id like to think Hyuck’s possessiveness (whether he was aware of it or not) became the worse it’s ever been right after they hooked up fr, but he’s just really good at hiding it (or pretend that he’s not… like the masochist he is LOL)

and DUDDDEEE the confession was like a spur-of-the-moment decision and i’m glad it turned out way better than i had envisioned and the whole thing that came after, Hyuck and Y/N obviously care enough about each other that they really wont let feelings get in the way pf their years of friendship and i think it was rather sweet pf them both (and refreshing LOL) like Y/N might not be that aware that she’s starting to see Hyuck in a different light, but the fact that she truly cares about his feelings is enough to give anyone the idea 😋 i love them both fr

I actually have the Sun version of the game but i have not yet completed it LOL (and I probably never will 💀) and Hyuck asking Y/N to be his gf through pokemon was what inspired me to write Hot & Cold 😭 so it was kind of a challenge to build a story around that idea along so i’m soooo so happy it came out so good, and that you’ve enjoyed the read as well!! I re-read it myself recently and man even i was giggling and kicking my feet because of Hyuck’s character in this one 😆

And one thing about me is that i will love my side characters as much as I love my main characters in my fics 🫡 like I will bend the ways of my fic just to make sure the side characters have their moment to shine too !

Anyways, that being said, I seriously appreciate your ask omg Hot & Cold is one of the fics I’m proudest of because of the sheer determination of me writing for the man that caught my attention as a newbie ncitizen 🩷 so really thank you soooo so much for loving this fic of mine 🥹 hope u have a good day anon i will be thinking of this ask for days to come 🤧❣️

[luckyqueenreign]

I have new thoughts on the Ozzy bit. Mostly clowning to convince myself there is any narrative sense in this. So put on your clown makeup with me here. I’ll take you down a thought process FB definitely doesn’t deserve credit for. 😂

So Ozzy is supposed to be slowburn but it’s not been very slowburn like right. We have had so many moments with him. Flirting, kissing, talking, physical contact, looks shared. Sooooo many. There has not been much angst because we are always soooo reaffirmed where his head is at. On us! While coupled with Grace. We all have said that we don’t like how he treats Grace and I’m still in agreement with that, even if I am irritated she is always looking for reaffirmation about them. I just want her to choose someone all about her. Ozzy isn’t. Andy reaffirmed this in CASA. Ozzy is obsessed with us. Not Grace. Ozzy is a good guy and I think everything Marshall said is a lie.

Ozzy probably is embarrassed and feeling super guilty. He comforted both Elliot and our Partner while also being a little hurt about us. One of the girls I think says it.

That alone would make you feel guilty if the girl their upset that they think got voted off is also the girl your super into and want to be with. You don’t have any real claim to her. How do you justify those feelings when your friends in the Villa are upset over her too. Ozzy is always trying to deescalate situations but wasn’t able to help himself when it came to MC because as Andy says, he thinks we’re worth the risk and actually see a future with us. He is falling for MC. That would also scare him if he’s never been in love before or as Andy said. He’s (Ozzy) not been in a majorly serious relationship. He said he will know when he see’s her if she’s the one. He did. It’s MC wether you reciprocate or not. Which again would scare him.

(Also bless Andy for saying all that while also being into MC.)

Now he has had time to think and chat to other people and other outside people that have a new perspective. I personally don’t think anyone watching is happy with how Ozzy has behaved. (Or Grace or MC in how they have handled this thing but mostly Ozzy)

Gaining more clarity on how he’s handled the situation being who Ozzy is, that would make you feel bad about yourself a bit. That’s not how you want to start something with potentially the love of your life or your first love. By cracking on with us because he didn’t have control over his emotions he did disrespect Grace. On top of that he wasn’t as clear as he should be which I think definitely stems from him not wanting to cause more conflict. In the process unintentionally creating more drama. I think he’s afraid to be assertive because he’s afraid to hurt Grace and others like the other boys into MC. I do think he would have chosen us at the recoupling if Elliot hadn’t gotten first pick. I also think he didn’t want Grace to choose him when she did. But he went with it because if he made a fuss then fights/arguments would have happened. They still did but were pushed to the back burner.

That’s also not how I think based on Ozzy’s character that, that’s how he would want to treat a woman or person in general. His actions did embarrass Graces regardless of wether she should accept he’s not into her.

So I think now. He saw the post card. He knew we were back. I think during his post card moment that it’s probably more along the lines he received some good advise from his casa partner. And is just appreciative of her for helping him with that. Like he found his resolve. Knows what he needs to do now. During that post card moment I think he realizes even if he is no longer pursuing Grace romantically he should be faithful (which he already was technically) to her while partnered to her and should also respect her. Which includes not cracking on so heavily in front of her. Which I think he probably would think isn’t a problem. He’s only romantically been into MC. He would be able to completely focus on Grace with us gone even if it was with the mindset he would not see anything more there then friendship when the show ends. At that point it becomes making it up to Grace and showing he’s good person.

But he sees the post card and that we are back and then it comes down to he is going to be about Grace, as much as he can be out of respect for both us and Grace. Which will also give us angst ofc. Like proper angst.

Marshall is going to affect this though. Because that’s going to definitely stress Ozzy out, and we are absolutely going to be drug in the middle of it because now also Amelia is with Marshall.

I was actually replaying casa and at first Grace is so for believing Marshall then switches her tune that he is lying. I think maybe they kissed or he flirted with her then turns around and bam is all over Amelia so she realized he’s probably lying.

I’m ready for movie night though. 👀 I think we could see a second official break up between Ozzy and Grace then maybe. Only speculation.

Let’s be real I’m trying to convince myself here. 😭😂

YES YES YES TO ALL OF THIS. Completely agree with you. Clown face make up is fully on but also not because you fully captured Ozzys personality and this is SUCH an Ozzy thing to do. LOVE!!

[worldunbent]

well my volunteer shift for tonight got cancelled so i'm starting my natsuyuu reread with volume 1... it's been years since i read the early volumes (and it's my first time reading the official translations) so this is basically a brand new experience.

getting used to the rather plot-heavy past 40 or so chapters and then just jumping back to the beginning is a bit of a trip. the pacing of the series has evolved so smoothly and slowly that you don't notice it in process, but the difference becomes way more obvious once you travel back 120+ chapters. that's not a knock on the early chapters at all, because i think they're all fantastic standalone stories. they're just so different from the current series!

but despite all that, the themes are extremely consistent and i kept getting surprised at how many moments in these first four chapters can be connected with a straight line all the way to the present.

chapter 1

i'm going to restrain myself and not laugh at every early nyanko. his design had charm! it's just so different from his current look!

Sensei: I've spent such a long time in that ceramic cat that my body's gotten used to it. My true form is very graceful and elegant, you know. Natsume: Oh yeah?

it’s soooo cute that it takes approximately 2 minutes for natsume to start treating nyanko like an actual cat.

Sensei: Reiko couldn't get along with humans. So she started to pick on yokai. She bullied them into duels and crushed them. She was born with substantial mystical powers. She made them promise that the winner would get power over the loser, and then had them write their names down to ensure their obedience. This book is the collection of those names. Natsume: So... why do you want it, Nyanko sensei?

reiko’s methods of defeating youkai are very… prosaic lol. this could be because this is essentially a pilot chapter and midorikawa hadn’t fully developed the worldbuilding rules, but i also wonder if we can justify this with her “substantial mystical powers.” she can accomplish with a baseball bat or her foot what exorcists need elaborate rituals to do. or it could just be the terms of her duels! also, the “kick me” panel cracks me up.

HMM... i started to write something up on this but i think i need to return to it later.

Sensei: It's easy to do, but many yokai are vicious. You won't last long. I'd advise against it. Natsume: I'll be fine. I have you, sensei. Sensei: Say what?! Natsume: I didn't want to get involved... but I kind of owe it to [text is cut off]. If I end up dying partway through, the Book of Friends will be yours. Please, sensei. Will you help me out?

natsume is super quick to propose a partnership with nyanko and begin relying on him. again, this about economical pilot writing, but it’s still interesting when you compare it to the pacing of other relationships.

Sensei: ....Are you sure? I can have the Book when your life ends? Natsume: Yeah, I'm sure...

the shoujo bubbles showing up here are. so

“I bet she was waiting… for the yokai to come find her, to get their names back. As many as she could find. And the yokai felt lonely being no more than one of many…” this reminds me of hinoe in the most recent reiko-centric chapter, but more generally, complicated bonds of loyalty and servitude, reciprocal and nonreciprocal, seem to be some of midorikawa's favorite dynamics to draw on. putting a pin in this.

chapter 2

this touko is so cute. shigeru is a nonentity in the first volume.

you may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like

Sensei: Bad dream? Natsume: Because you were on me! Sensei: You must've left yourself vulnerable. Weakness lures demons. They take advantage of it. Be strong if you don't want to get eaten.

madara brings up survival of the fittest mentality for the first time, which is another consistent theme - the value of individual strength vs sharing your struggles with others. but the latter hasn’t really been addressed as an option yet! natsume kind of speedran thru part of this by enlisting nyanko as his bodyguard, but it will take him a lot longer to start learning to share burdens with other humans, or to allow the emotional vulnerability aspect to enter into it.

Natsume: I'll come to worship you. I can't promise to come every day, but I'll bring you offerings. Shrine god: You can't, Natsume. You're my friend.

this chapter hits very hard for me in general, but especially this exchange. the first volume of full of relationships with marked power dynamics, but now we finally get some friends. weh.

no specific screenshot for this, but i get a bit emotional reading midorikawa’s sidebar notes. i don’t know how old she was when she started writing natsuyuu, but it’s 20 years younger than she is now. i wonder if she still has the same editor she’s talking about in these notes!

WELL MAYBE. weh!!

chapter 3 natsume’s flashbacks to the various youkai he encountered as a child are way creepier than i remembered. screenshots not included due to image limit, but midorikawa has been good at conveying unease very quickly from the very beginning.

Natsume: Oh boy...

speaking of unease, panels like these are why i felt the need to use screenshots economically. tanuma bb you have come so far. i love the lighting in the center top panel.

another thing i love is midorikawa's assistants getting feature sidebar panels, which again i didn't screenshot because i was worried about running out of images for this post. but they're great.

Natsume: I'm sorry, can we do this later? Misuzu: Are you busy? Sensei: Exorcising humans. Natsume: Sensei! Misuzu: Oh? Then allow me, Misuzu, to help. It would be dull to never serve my master. And you saved one of my own servants earlier. Natsume: The frog... Sensei: No good deed goes unpunished. Natsume: You be quiet, Sensei.

misuzu’s introduction brings back the theme of servitude and mutual loyalty. i also completely forgot that misuzu’s introduction was tied to tanuma’s, something that will come back up like... 95 chapters from now. i am frequently surprised by basic narrative consistency.

natsume and tanuma are able to connect so quickly and again i wonder if midorikawa would have paced things differently if she’d known how long this series would last. but i’m not saying that as a criticism - the way they’re immediately drawn to each other is an important contrast to other dynamics that come up later.

chapter 4

Natsume (in narration): This might take a while... Natsume (speaking): Kitamoto, have you heard of Futaba village? Kitamoto: Hmm? My dad's from there. Natsume (in narration): What?! Kitamoto: Most of the people relocated around here. I've heard the name Taniozaki, so I'll ask my dad tonight.

another thing i forgot is that kitamoto and nishimura have always been here! for some reason i remembered them joining the cast later on, but they’ve been there from the start, even before they're named. kitamoto’s name does come up for what i think is the first time in this chapter, and i love how willing he is to help natsume, no questions asked.

i like this chapter a lot, but don't have much to say about it because it's such a standalone.

Youkai: We dance, drink, and gamble. There's a race where the prize is a yukata that allows the winner to take human form for one night. Natsume: What? Youkai: It's a whole night of carousing and frolicking. Natsume: What did you say?

the one thing i do want to point out is that's it's interesting that we have youkai getting agency over when they are seen! it's usually left up to the humans, regardless of whether the youkai would like to be seen or not.

[moveslikeanape]

that is very understandable about preferring to save money and not really keep up with the latest tech haha, but it really is too bad that companies don't make their games compatible with older devices. maybe someday if you end up wanting or needing to replace yours you'll have a chance to play the game! and if you ever do then i hope you'll enjoy it. the songwriters for wish were two people who had only ever written for pop singers before, which i guess isn't automatically bad--after all, phil collins did a great job with the songs he wrote for tarzan. but i wish that for disney's 100th anniversary movie they had gotten a team that was experienced with broadway-style music, the way they usually do for their musicals. the song "at all costs" from wish is an especially strange song to me because just listening to it, you'd think it has a way different context than it actually does in the movie. oh wow i've actually not heard of that book series before, but it's cool that it's getting a disney+ series! i hope the show turns out well. the only thing i'm reading right now is "disney's art of animation: from mickey mouse to hercules", which so far is a great overview of disney's history and i really wish it had had a newer edition. ooh that sounds interesting, i might try and watch greystroke sometime! what do you think of the direct-to-video sequel (or midquel, i guess) to disney's tarzan, and the tv series, if you've watched those things? i remember watching them both when they originally came out, but i don't recall much of what happened in them and i don't think i saw every episode of the tv series. also, i saw your post about the supervising animator of jane following you on instagram--that's so cool, congratulations!! -🌟

I was listening to Hercules this morning at work, and all I could think about was how amazing the lyrics were. The line from One Last Hope "I'm down to one last shot and my last high note, before that blasted underworld gets my goat" is so satisfying because it rhymes perfectly, makes sense, and is a clever pun using a common phrase that is also in this case literal given he's half goat. And in Zero to Hero there's the line "and this perfect package packed a pair of pretty pecs" is probably the best example of alliteration I've ever heard in a song. Also, all the songs fit perfectly in the movie. They don't sound like something written to get radio plays or to hit the top of the charts and then stuffed into a movie they don't belong in.

More and more lately it seems like Disney's really just going for the quick buck. Just trying to get things out as quickly as possible with out putting the effort in to making it quality like they used to (nothing against the crew, at the end of the day they have to do what their bosses say). So frustrating… just because something is popular does not mean it's the best. Thinking back to growing up in the 90s and the music that was popular then. I loved the music, but it would have been awful to shove that into the movies. Technically it did happen with Mulan. I love that movie, and I do really enjoy True to Your Heart, but it is soooo out of place with the rest of the songs that it practically pulls out out of the movie, like you just changed to channel to something else, and it ruined the ending for me. I honestly feel like skipping the end every time I watch it. One of the reasons the 90s worked so well is they brought in that broadway style that worked so well, and kept the pop music out of the movies (and in the credits where it actually makes sense).

I think the reason Phil Collins worked so well is he was making music for the movie, not what was popular at the time. It made complete sense to bring him in because he's probably the best known drummer at the time. From what I've seen and read he came in willing to learn, because he'd never done music for a film before. This wasn't just writing individual songs, this was telling a story and moving that story along. If you listen to his other work you can notice the difference. Still distinctly Phil Collins, but still serving the film they were made for.

I also remember seeing an interview a few years back with a number of different film composers talking about writing for movies (this one was specifically Marvel movies) compared to "back in the day". One thing that really stood out to me was they said that the movie's are filmed or story-boarded and the director will watch playback with temporary music, sometimes music from other movies that have already been released. The composers said that by the time they are brought in to write the actual music for the movie, the director has "seen the film" so often with the place holder music that that's what they want in the film. So the composers have to write something new that sounds similar to the temp music, instead of having the freedom to create their own music. I wonder if it might be a little of that going on too.

Ooo, I picked up a copy of that art of animation book at a convention a few years ago, still haven't gotten around to reading it though. It's always a shame when book series don't continue. Would be interesting to see a newer version of that series now with todays computer animation included.

I enjoyed the tv series for the most part. A lot of the episodes were based on the original novels, and I loved seeing new adventures for Tarzan. But at the same time, it felt off. The animation was understandably poor (they had only a tiny budget), but the thing that bothered me the most was the way the characters behaved. I know some of it was to make the story work, but they for the most part felt like different characters playing the ones from the movie. Jane was probably the worst, she seemed even less equipped for life in the jungle in the series than she did when she first appeared in the movie. Tarzan and Jane was basically 3 episodes of the series tied together as flashbacks for the story of their 1 year anniversary.

Tarzan 2 was basically an expansion of the Son of Man segment of Tarzan. It had far better animation than Tarzan and Jane (the characters were actually on model!), and the story was pretty cute too. I loved the new songs in it, although they weren't quite up there with Tarzan's songs, it was nice they were able to bring Phil back to write them. Also love that the one was reworked and put in the broadway show.

OMG, thank you!!! I'm still over the moon about that… I keep checking back to see if it actually happened and I didn't just dream it, lol.