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justagalwhowrites · 10 months ago

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Undone

After a stressful week at the office, Joel knows just how to take care of his wife. AKA Joel Miller doms the stress out of you.

Pairing: Joel Miller x Female Reader

Warnings: No Outbreak AU. Established relationship, husband and wife. Dom!Joel x Sub!Reader (light). Tiny little age gap (like 5 years? I'm picturing Joel at 44 and reader at 39?) Unprotected P in V sex. Oral sex, F receiving. Creampie. Overstimulation. Aftercare.

Length: 5.4k

A/N: This is totally self indulgent. It's also like... entirely smut. Sorry. But not really. OK love you bye!

Joel knew what you were after the minute you kicked the door closed.

It was Friday and it had been a hell of a week for you. Joel had done his best to support you through it - he’d finished up one big job on Tuesday and didn’t start the next one until Monday - so he’d taken the lead on keeping the household running while you put in extra hours and came home frustrated and exhausted every night.

He knew it wasn’t going to magically be better just because it was Friday, so he’d spent the day trying to make the end to your work week as good as he could. He went to the HEB and got your favorite snacks, picked out flowers for the kitchen table, even went by the liquor store on the way home to get everything you’d need to unwind at the end of your day. He started smoking ribs early that afternoon and was outside to sauce them when he heard the door slam behind you.

Joel didn’t need to see what happened, he knew from the sound that you’d thrown the door open and then kicked it shut behind you. He’d bet the check from his next job that you’d be face down on the couch, your shoes and briefcase a little trail from the front door to the living room. He shook his head, taking a swig of Shiner before closing the smoker and heading inside to find his wife.

You were exactly where he thought you’d be, taking up almost the entire length of the couch, flat on your stomach, blazer still on but your heels and bags scattered between you and the front door.

“Aw baby,” he said sympathetically. “That great a day, hm?”

You made a sound that was caught somewhere between a grunt and a groan.

“Want to talk about it?”

You made the sound again and Joel tried not to laugh at it.

“Here,” he said, coming and adjusting your legs so he could sit beside you on the couch. You groaned as he did but he guided you from lying on your stomach to sitting up to leaning on him, your face in his chest. He put his arm around you and gave you a squeeze. “Tell me what melted down.”

“We have our quarterly earnings release going out in less than two weeks,” you sighed. “And it’s a shit show. Legal’s been reviewing that shit for what feels like an eternity and I need to issue the goddamn release announcing the date of the full release but I can’t do that until I actually know that legal and financial are going to have stuff sorted in time and the CEO has emailed me twice a day about it the whole week because sure, the legal team definitely falls under my department…”

Joel held the still mostly full bottle of beer in front of you and you took it from him, your fingers brushing his and you were quiet for a moment as you took a sip before handing it back.

“Also, HR is going to be the death of me,” you continued, on a tear now. “I swear, it shouldn’t be that hard to find a qualified entry level candidate but here we are, still short staffed 10 weeks after I got the OK to hire. They’ve sent me two resumes, Joel. Two. I called them today to ask how many they’d received and they’ve had 226 candidates apply and they’ve sent me fucking two! I refuse to believe that just one percent of applicants were remotely qualified so I asked them to forward me all the applications since, apparently, recruiting can’t do their damn jobs so I’m going to have to do it for them…”

Joel nodded along, handing you the beer periodically when he felt you getting too worked up. He found himself, not for the first time, awed by what you did for a living. He didn’t understand much of it, really, and he was thankful he didn’t need to. He wasn’t cut out for that kind of shit. You, on the other hand, had jumped in with both feet when you’d started at your company seven years ago when the two of you had just started dating, You’d risen up the ranks quickly and you now had a team of several dozen people reporting up to you. As gentle and sweet as Joel knew you to be at your core, he knew you were also unflinchingly driven at work. During the COVID shut down, he’d gotten a glimpse of it, listening to you take people - mostly men who seemed to think you weren’t as capable as you clearly were - to task and get things done. He was eternally grateful that, when the two of you fought, you didn’t take him down the way you did people who crossed you in the office. Though that stood in sharp contrast to how Joel heard you talk to the people who reported up to you, with you seemingly always happy to lend an ear or provide guidance or take the heat if they fucked something up that was going outside your department.

Unfortunately, that meant you had weeks like this one, where plenty went wrong and you had no one to pass the buck to. And he knew as well as you did that you wouldn’t just let something fall apart, not if there was a damn thing you could do about it. Even if that meant working yourself into the ground.

After a while you just deflated against him and he handed you the beer again. You took a long drink, emptying the bottle, and Joel took it from you to set on the side table.

“Feelin’ better?” He asked, his nose brushing your hair.

“Kind of,” you sighed, pressing yourself closer to him.

“Somethin’ more I can do?” He asked, trying to make sure that he wasn’t nudging you in the direction he was hoping this would go.

“Yeah,” you said, something shifting in your tone when you said it. No longer frustrated and fed up, instead needy and wanting. You sat up from him and looked at him through your eyelashes, practically pouting. “Turn my brain off for a bit?”

Joel’s heart picked up, heat and tension already gathering low in him.

“Aw, my baby need me to fuck her stupid?” He asked, reaching out to cup your face in his hand. His thumb traced along the arch of your cheekbone as his eyes locked on your blown pupils. “You need me to make that big brain of yours slow down for a while, that it?”

“Yes please,” you breathed. He could feel your skin getting warmer below his touch.

“Please what?”

“Please sir,” you said, holding your hands up with your wrists together, like an offering. “Please fuck me stupid. Please sir.”

He quirked his jaw before he smiled, dark and low.

“Good girl,” he growled. He got up and closed his large hands around your wrists before pulling you sharply to your feet, looking you up and down as he did. There was something that drove him wild, seeing you like this. Dressed in your armor of the business world, a place where lesser men had to go to you for permission to do a goddamn thing, and you came home to him, begging him to strip you down to something small and vulnerable and easily consumed.

He wasn’t sure why you’d picked him of all people. When you’d met almost eight years earlier, his first thought was that you were way out of his fucking league. A friend of Tommy’s then girlfriend now wife, you were a few years younger than him but had clearly kept your life on the right fucking track the whole time instead of driving it into the ground for a while first. You’d gone to college, built a damn impressive career, had goals and dreams and plans for yourself. You were beautiful and smart and funny and kind and the first time he’d taken your clothes off he was still not entirely sure why you were letting him do it.

He’d been even more surprised the first time you’d shared with him that you wanted him to take control in the way he was now.

“I just have to make decisions all the time,” you’d said, folded into a corner of his couch with a glass of wine in your hands. “I just really want to have someone else take over for a while, you know? Not have to make any plans or take care of anybody else, just enjoy and be enjoyed.”

That, Joel had thought, he could give you.

It wasn’t something the two of you always indulged in but there were days like this one where you seemed to crave it. Maybe even a step beyond that - you needed it. You needed the safety of Joel’s guidance, the comfort of his control, the ease of his pleasure. He liked to give you those things. More than liked it, sometimes he lived for it.

Today was one of those days.

He led you to the bedroom and stood you at the foot of the bed, your wrists still firmly in his hands as his eyes searched yours.

“You just want to be my little doll, is that it?” He asked, his thumbs brushing the inside of your wrists. Your pulse was heavy and hard. “Want me to take control so all you have to do is feel what I let you feel?”

“Yes,” you breathed.

“Yes what.”

“Yes sir,” you were practically squirming.

“What are your colors,” he said more than asked.

“Green, yellow, red,” you answered quickly.

“Where are you now?”

“Green.”

“Good girl,” he guided your hands so they hung at your sides. “Don’t move until I tell you.”

He watched you resist the urge to nod and he slipped his hands below the lapels of your jacket, running his hands over your skin for a moment before shoving the sleeves down your arms and leaving the blazer in a pile on the floor. He watched you swallow, your throat working and he tried not to think about making you kneel and taking his cock into that pretty throat of yours. He knew just how good it would feel while you sucked him, how fucking good it would feel to come down your throat.

Maybe later. Right now, he needed to take care of you. And that’s exactly what he was going to do.

***

When Joel touched you like this, it was like something unspooled inside yourself. There had been a knot in your stomach for days at least - maybe longer - and nothing had worked to untangle it. Not crossing things off your to do list at the office, not the yoga class you’d skipped lunch to take, not the iced latte your assistant had ducked out to grab you that afternoon. But Joel’s hands on your skin as they slipped the slender straps of your satin top down your arms were better than anything else, especially when your mind wasn’t going a mile a minute thinking of ways to please him in return. You watched as he moved to undress you, his eyes heavy and hot and hungry as your top pooled around your hips. He reached around your body to unhook your bra, casting it aside before cupping your breasts in his large palms, groaning as he did.

“You feel so good,” his thumbs brushed your nipples. “My soft, pretty fuckin’ girl.”

“Joel,” you whimpered, clenching your hands into fists to keep from reaching out to touch him. He’d told you to stay still and you had to obey. If you didn’t, you knew he’d drag out your first orgasm for what felt like an eternity, bringing you just to the edge of it but never letting you fall into your climax until you were a desperate, dripping, squirming mess.

“What, baby?” He almost cooed at you, just a hint of a teasing edge to his tone. “What’s my baby need?”

“More,” you whined. “I need more, please, I need…”

He took his hands off you then and looked you in the eye and you almost reached for him before you caught yourself.

“Who decides what you need right now,” he said. You moaned and he ignored you. “Who. Tell me, pretty girl.”

“You,” you said.

“That’s right,” he nodded. “And I’ll give you more when I decide you need more and I decide I’m done enjoyin’ the parts of you I’m enjoyin’ right now. So. You stand still like a good little doll and we’ll see when I’ll let you have more. Got it?”

“Yes,” you said.

He took your chin in his fingers, forcing you to look him in the eye.

“Yes what.”

“Yes sir.”

His crooked smile dimpled his cheek.

“Good girl.”

He returned to touching you, running his large and callused hands over your shoulders to your chest, holding and massaging your breasts and you could tell he was taking his time less for himself and more because he knew what it was doing to you. That it was making you achy and desperate and the thoughts that had been weighing on you all day at the office were slipping out of your mind, drifting far away into the ether.

“Think I remember you sayin’ something about more?” Joel said, his voice low and gravelly as his hand slipped over your stomach, below the bunched fabric of your shirt, below the waistband of your pants until his fingertips were brushing your bare mound inside your panties. You whimpered. “How about I give you some more, hm?”

His index finger reached out and brushed the top of your clit, sending a shiver through you, all the heat you had inside yourself pooling low in your stomach.

Joel chuckled.

“Think she likes it.”

He pressed a little lower, a little firmer, working your sensitive nub in slow, languid circles.

“She like this too?”

You nodded frantically.

“Thought I told you not to move,” Joel said, stern.

“But…”

“No buts,” he cut you off. “You wanted to give me control so you give me control. Otherwise, you won’t get what you want. Got it?”

“Yes sir.”

“You’re lucky,” he said as he went to open your pants. “Got me all worked up, too. Too worked up to draw this out the way you deserve, squirmin’ the way you are.”

He got on his knees in front of you and gathered the fabric of your shirt, pants and underwear in his hands and pulled them all down in one go, the sudden exposure of your skin to the air making you gasp and goosebumps scatter over you in sharp little pin pricks.

“Fuck, there you are,” he groaned, his hands coming to grip the thick swell of your ass, his fingers digging into the meat of you as he pressed a kiss to your stomach just below your belly button. You moaned, wanting nothing more than to tangle your fingers in his curls. You clenched your fists tighter, nails digging into your palms, acutely aware of where he was touching you because of the absence of him everywhere else.

He trailed his mouth down to your slit, his tongue dipping into you there, brushing against your clit, the heat of his mouth in sharp contrast to the cold air against your wetness. His hands slipped up your back, finding your waist before Joel stood, his still clothed body so close to your naked one.

“Lie down for me,” he said, a little breathless. “Middle of the bed.”

You rushed to obey and watched hungrily as Joel undressed himself, his black t-shirt coming up and over his head, his jeans opening to reveal his tight boxer briefs with his thick, hard cock straining the fabric. He took off everything before crawling up the bed over you and, for half a moment, you thought he really was going to give into you that quickly, give you exactly what you wanted that fast. But instead of settling between your thighs with his heavy length brushing against your slit and his mouth on yours, he fell to the side of you, the weight of him jostling the mattress. You turned your head to look at him, confused, and he laughed, dark and low.

“You didn’t think you were gonna make me give in that fast, did you?” He asked. He slid one arm below your ribs, his hand coming up and around the back of you to hold your breast while his other hand teased a feather light path down from your throat, over your chest, your stomach to your slit. “No, not done with this yet.”

“But…”

“You just lie still and let me worship you,” he said, his palm cupping your mound, his middle finger settling between your lower lips as he put gentle pressure against your clit. The tip of his finger circled your dripping entrance but didn’t slip inside where you were aching and desperate for him. “Want to enjoy you for a while.”

He didn’t give you a chance to protest, his mouth finding just the right spot on your throat at the same moment he added pressure to your clit, grinding his hand against your most tender place and making your back arch below his touch.

Joel kissed and licked and sucked along your neck, your collarbone, your breast, his cock brushing against your thigh as he manipulated your body and you could feel his precome on your skin when it did and you were desperate to touch him there, to feel just how hard you’d made him, make him start to unravel the way he was doing to you.

“Don’t even think about it,” he said, a finger sliding inside of you, making you groan.

“But I want…”

He pulled back from you to look in your eyes and you could tell from the glassy look on his face that you probably already looked like a fucked out mess.

“You tryin’ to make me feel good or you want it for yourself?” He asked, brows raised. You tried to find the words but couldn’t. He nodded. “S’what I thought, you sit still like I fuckin’ told you. You try to touch me and I won’t let you come, got it? This is about you, not me so you’re gonna lay there and take it, understand?”

“Yes sir,” you whimpered.

He went back to working you over, adjusting so that he could fully kiss down your body until his head was between your thighs, two fingers buried inside of you as he looked up your body to your face.

“New rules,” he said, pressing his lips to your clit for a moment and sucking it into his mouth before continuing. “Want you to come and I want you to come hard. You’re allowed to touch my head to put me where you need but you do anything else with those hands and we’re startin’ over. Understood?”

“Yes sir.”

“Good girl.”

He practically dove into your pussy, his thumb working your clit, his tongue licking deep into your channel. The fire in your belly burned brighter and it was like you could feel all the blood in your body pulling into the center of you. Your hands flew to his head, the thick of his hair and the heat of his scalp almost sharp against your fingers after having felt nothing but your own palms for what felt like forever. You rocked your hips against his face as he ate at you, a finger slipping into you alongside his tongue, working the inside of you deftly so that you were never empty but never lacking the friction of him moving in you. His fingertip curled into the soft, sensitive place inside of you that he found so easily now, adding the perfect amount of pressure as his thumb and nose worked your clit and you felt your pussy get so tight and hot you worried, for half a second, that it would hurt him before every worry flew out of your head entirely, your entire body flooded with waves of pleasure as you came on his tongue.

Joel worked you through your orgasm, never letting up as you moaned and panted, your grip on his hair easing as your body started to go limp. Your pussy was so sensitive when your climax eased but Joel didn’t pay your little whimpers any mind. He pulled his mouth from you but added another finger, fucking into you with his hand and adjusting so his palm was grinding against your clit as he did.

“There you go,” he panted, wiping your slick from his mouth before taking his cock in his hand and working himself with it. “That what you needed, pretty girl?”

“Yes sir,” you whimpered.

“Good,” he said, his eyes ranging over you, dark and hot. “Because now it’s my turn.”

He pulled his fingers from you and spread your thighs a little wider, lining his cock up with your still weakly grasping hole for half a moment before thrusting deep into you in one devastating go. You gasped at the stretch of him filling you like that, the inside of you still soft and tender from your orgasm. Your fingers scrambled at the blanket below you, your back arched and taut and you tried to hold onto something - anything - in your head beside how he was splitting you open.

“I say you could use your hands like that?” He asked, his fingers finding your wrists and clamping around them. He pressed deep inside you and folded over you, bringing your hands with him, pressing your wrists down into the mattress over your head. “Didn’t think so. You’re my little doll right now, ain’t you? Mine to do what I want with and I want you to take it.”

“Joel,” you whimpered.

“That ain’t my name right now, is it?”

“Sir,” you corrected, resisting the urge to rock your hips up against him. “Please!”

“Please what?”

You couldn’t put words to what you wanted to ask for and Joel just smirked before releasing your wrists and sitting up, looking down over your body to where he disappeared inside of it.

“What I thought,” he said, his hands pressing your thighs wide before his thumb trailed over where you were split open on him to your clit, teasing you in a slow circle that made you jerk involuntarily below him. He took it away, his hand on the soft flesh of your thigh again. “You leave those hands there and take it. You can take it, pretty girl. Know you can.”

With that, he pulled back, slow and aching, before fucking back into you, hard and fast with a forceful grunt. You watched him fuck you, his cock slamming into you with enough force that it jerked your body up and down the bed. You were lost in it, the way you could see his muscles flex, the way his eyes ranged over you - watching the place he was spreading you open and the way your tits bounced for him and up to your face to meet your eyes and back again. It was almost hypnotic, like there was nothing else in the world that existed outside of him. He was controlling you totally, fucking into you with enough force that you couldn’t even breathe out of sync with his thrusts, your body just something he could manipulate and pleasure and use however he saw fit.

You weren’t sure how long he fucked you like that before his hands ran over your thighs to your core, his thumbs brushing along your clit, pressing into you there and working you in hard little circles as your channel started to tighten around him again.

“There we go,” he panted. “Got another one right there don’t you? You’re gonna give it to me, aren’t you pretty girl. Gonna give me everything, ain’t you?”

“Yes sir,” you whined, your fingernails digging into your palms as you fought to keep your hands still.

“Good girl,” he pressed himself deep as he worked your clit and returned to his same punishing rhythm, the head of him finding the place inside you he’d claimed for himself. He left one thumb on your clit, his other hand stretching up and over your stomach, fingers splaying wide on you until it was in the middle of your chest where you knew he could feel how your heart was pounding behind your ribs. The feel of him everywhere was overwhelming, the tight spool of pleasure that had never fully relaxed after your first orgasm already wound unbearably tight again.

“Want you to come for me,” he said, voice needy. “Want you to be a good girl and come. Give it all to me, baby, want you to just let go and give it all to me, let it all go, c’mon and come for me, make me fuckin’ feel it…”

You cried out as you obeyed, your channel fluttering over his cock as he kept fucking you deep and hard. You could feel your orgasm in the very center of you, in every muscle and every nerve, your climax taking hold of you so firmly that you felt a gush of liquid rush out of you.

“Fuck, there you go,” he said, not letting up. “Fuck baby, love when you squirt for me, such a good fuckin’ girl…”

The wet snap of his hips into you was obscene and, as your orgasm eased, your body was already drawing tight again. Your heart raced and you could feel everything, everything, so sharp and harsh and overwhelming. Your head swam, your skin prickled.

“Love feeling you come for me,” Joel was still fucking into you, hard and bruising like he was trying to climb inside your skin and claim a place for himself there. “Love when you get all tight and desperate, love making you all needy…”

You let out a fucked out little whimper, tears pricking at your eyes, not able to see straight through the haze of your already building orgasm. Joel leaned over you, his cock buried deep but going still.

“You with me, pretty girl?” He asked, his hands sliding up your arms to find your wrists, holding you gently in place. You couldn’t seem to find the words to answer, too overstimulated to think of anything beyond how he was filling you and surrounding you. “Gimme a color, baby.”

“Yellow,” you managed.

He took your limp wrists in his large palms and guided your hands to his skin, resting them on his broad shoulders.

“That help?” He asked. “You can nod.”

You nodded quickly, your breathing evening out, body still tight and strung out.

“Color?”

“Green,” you said, the tears that were in your eyes slipping down your cheeks but not being replaced by new ones.

“Good,” he shifted inside you, pulling back a little before thrusting in again. “Because I ain’t done with you yet. You keep those hands right where I put ‘em and just focus on coming one more time for me, need you to milk me dry, baby.”

But his pace eased, less frantic and more desperate, working you slow and firm from within. He buried his face into your neck, his mouth finding that place that sent shocks of pleasure through your whole body. His hands ranged over you, fingers hungry and grasping at your skin, his hips working against your clit as his cock found its home deep within you.

“Know you’re close,” he said against your skin, lips still close enough to brush against you as he spoke. He kissed along your neck, nose teasing along your throat. “You got one more in you, baby, I know you do.”

“Sir,” you whimpered, pleading, not sure if you wanted to come or wanted to just dissolve.

“You can come,” he fucked you slow and deep. His public bone pressed against your clit and your back arched. “Want you to come, want to feel you come. Make me feel you, baby. Be a good girl and make me feel you.”

You dared to let yourself move, just enough that you could rock your hips up against him, working yourself with his body as you felt him grow impossibly thicker and harder inside you. Or, maybe, you were just tightening further around him, body clinging to him in one last desperate push for closeness as your climax hit again. You cried out with it and you couldn’t just leave your hands on Joel’s shoulders, instead latching onto his hair and sliding down his back, pulling him flush against your body so the only thing left in the world was him and his skin and the thick of his cock as he started to pulse inside of you.

Your orgasm almost hurt it was so intense. You could feel every inch of Joel’s cock in you, the heat and softness of his skin against you, every muscle in your body going rigid and tense for a moment before relaxing. Your vision went spotty and you got light headed and you lost track of time.

The next thing you knew, you were in Joel’s arms, cradled against his chest, his fingers trailing a gentle path along the edge of your hairline and jaw, thumb brushing the plush of your lips.

“There you are,” he said softly and pressed a kiss to your forehead, his large hand coming to rest against your cheek as you turned your head to look at him. His eyes were soft and warm and there was a gentle smile on his face. “How are you feelin’ love?”

You took stock of your body for a moment, everything feeling light and airy.

“I’m good,” you smiled a little.

“Yeah?” He said, his thumb brushing your cheek. “Take a deep breath for me, OK?”

You nodded a little and did as you were told, only realizing then just how little your lungs had been inflating before.

“How’s that feelin’?” He asked. “Good?”

You just nodded, still smiling.

“How about this for the night,” he said, going back to tracing an easy trail over your skin with his fingertips. “In a few minutes, I get up and get you water and a cocktail while you put on that pretty little swimsuit of yours. You float in the water while I look at ya and finish those ribs in the smoker…”

“You’re making me ribs?” You almost pouted, your brows going up.

Joel chuckled.

“Yeah, that OK?”

“That’s my favorite,” you said, feeling like you might be about to cry.

“I know it is, baby,” he said, kissing your temple again. “S’why I made ‘em. Got that potato salad you like, green beans, cornbread too. Even got that chocolate cake you like so much…”

“The Oreo one?” You sniffed, tearing up.

“The Oreo one,” he brushed your hair back. “You still with me there baby?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, crying a little. You weren’t entirely sure why, just every emotion you’d had over the past week seeming to bubble up at once. “I think so…”

“You’re OK,” Joel said, pulling you closer, his lips gentle on your skin. “I’ve got you.”

You just nodded against him and focused on how his skin felt on yours, his warmth and strength grounding while your mind was still swimming.

“What about after dinner?” You sniffed.

“We can watch one of those movies you like so much,” he said. “I know the ones that’ve been on your list, you don’t gotta pick unless you want to. Sound good?”

“Yeah,” you nodded. “But… can we just stay here for a little while first? Please?”

“Course baby,” he said. “Whatever you need. I’ll take care of you.”

You nuzzled into his skin and breathed deep and you didn’t really know why you��d been so stressed when you got home to begin with. You just knew that you had Joel and that, as long as he was there, everything else would be OK.

#fanfic #joel miller x female reader #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller x oc #smut fic #dom!joel miller

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seeingivy · 11 months ago

Text

picnic

sukuna x f!reader

**part of my best friend's older brother fic

previous part linked here

(^^make sure you check since this was a double upload and I posted the last one very recently :D)

dear head of the cullen clan, keep evening plans open – im getting off work early and we’re going on a picnic. coldest regards, the head of the volturi (ps. am expecting a very wholehearted appreciation for the fact that it’s coldest regards and not warmest regards, because they are, in fact, vampires and therefore cold. because they don’t have a heart and such.) (extra ps. this is a link to a shared spotify playlist. i’ll add a song and then you add one. we’ll keep it going.)

you snort.

dear aro of the volturi (does he have a last name???), so much to unpack in one email, yet again. you really know how to keep a girl on her toes. first and foremost, you are SOOOO ran through. so offended that i wasn’t the person who got to put you on to twilight and whoever it was, I HOEP SHE DIES! if you’re team jacob, you’re a freak. second, SO VERY FLATTERED that you think i would be carlisle. a little haunting that you think YOU would be aro…but it’s ok cuz former companions to enemies back to lovers in our case would be kind of crazy??? third. done and done. i just added a song so hurry up bc i have like ten other songs i want to add and i am #impatient see u after work pookie :D, carlisle cullen (very appreciative of the cold regards. you are a king among men.)

his response back is very prompt.

Never call me pookie again. (very offended that you think i’d be stupid enough to be team jacob. and direct your murderous rage towards yuuji and my mom, who forced me to watch it in theaters with them.)

you wait for sukuna at the park two blocks down the apartment complex. the sun is hours away from dipping into the horizon, the chilly wind rustling through the trees. you realize now that the red skirt and white sweater might betray you in a few hours but decide that you’ll simply have to steal his jacket when he gets here.

and you would have already but he’s twenty minutes late.

and while this part of the city is extremely safe, sukuna’s ever constant fear of people attacking you on subway trains and stabbing you in alleyways has instilled an acute fear of strangers in you, which is why you’re gripping the sparkly pink pepper spray he bought you very harshly in your palm right now.

you think it’s sweet that he bought you a pink one.

but of course it’s severely ironic that you almost used it on him.

because he scares the living daylights out of you, by placing his hand around your shoulder from behind.

“hey. i’m sorry i-”

“jesus fuck-”

you instinctively hold the pepper spray up to his face, your hands shaking in front of you.

“i’ll use it, you pervert!”

sukuna leans his head to the side, which is when you’re finally able to log that it’s actually him standing in front of you and not a stranger, and you drop your hands in embarrassment.

“i mean, i’d really appreciate it if you wouldn’t doll face but–”

“oh my god, sukuna. i thought you were trying to rob me!”

“i’m smarter than that. the only thing inside your purse is lip gloss, which has very little value to me.” sukuna responds, dropping the little basket at his feet and taking the little stalk of flowers out of the top handle.

“i’ll have you know that it’s actually sold out in every store right now. so you could make bank if you sold it.”

“don’t tempt me. and for your sake, i’ll accept the apology you didn’t give me for just trying to rob me of my eyesight and for calling me a pervert? i’m getting really tired of the age gap jokes, y/n.” sukuna responds, as he lifts your hands at your sides and places the stalk of flowers in your hand.

you give him a big smile as you press your nose to the flowers, the scent fresh in your nose. and sukuna props down, setting a billowing white blanket on the ground before he taps the spot next to him and signals for you to sit next to him.

“who needs eyes?” you joke, as you squeeze his hands and set the flowers down next to the little basket.

“me, dipshit. how else am i supposed to look at you?”

you cover your hands with your cheeks as you watch him place all of the little things inside the basket next to you, laying them out perfectly. it’s albeit a weird assortment – two wine glasses, perfectly wrapped sandwiches, a mini-cake, and strawberry lemonade.

“well, stop perceiving me. this is so weird!” you murmur.

it’s enough to catch his attention and stop him in his tracks.

“what?”

the question makes you pause. and a little embarrassed. it was a little harsh to say while you were joking.

“oh, i mean…i didn’t mean it like that! i was making a joke about perceiving because eyes…vision…and i almost took your vision away! and you perceive with your eyes, because how else would you see…”

sukuna smiles, before shaking his head, and continuing spilling out the last of the contents – a set of gouache paints and two little small canvases. and he drops to his feet, yanking his shoes off, before sitting flat on the blanket and gesturing for you to join him.

“there’s no way in hell that was what you meant. but we’ll ignore that for the time being.” sukuna responds, hiking his legs to his chest and gesturing towards the spread he just put out.

you tilt your head to the side in confusion.

“you look very pretty today.” sukuna responds.

“thanks! you too!”

he narrows his eyes.

“uh huh. well, pick what we do first. the paint, the sandwiches, or the weird wine glass cake.”

“the wine glass cake? like from tiktok?” you ask.

“correct. i’m really bad at…cute dates. so…i did some research.”

sukuna refuses to look at you. because after admitting it, he’s suddenly busied himself with reading the back of the box of paints, like it’s the most riveting, intriguing thing he’s ever read in his life.

but the pink flush that’s creeping down his neck betrays him entirely, as you reach forward and push the little box down. and sukuna’s already glaring at you.

you place your chin on the top of his knees, reaching for one of his hands and smiling.

“you did research for a date?”

“you can choke on your spit.”

you grin.

“you really know how to turn a girl on.”

“you’re filthy.”

you grin.

“and you’re actually so precious, i–”

“don’t call me precious, y/n.” he whines, as he reaches forward to flick on your forehead.

you smile as you sit by his side, tucking the folds of your skirt under your leg as you reach for both of the wine glasses and hand him one.

“so how humbling was it to have satoru explain all this to you?” you ask.

he sneers.

“don’t even ask. he’s like the biggest nuisance i’ve ever met in my life. top ten worst moments of my life.” sukuna responds.

“i’m flattered you humbled yourself to him for me.”

“i actually asked suguru. they’re like…two peas in a pod, they can’t do shit without each other. the paints and stuff they gave me and the nice basket too.”

“that’s sweet of them. remind me to send them something later to thank them.”

sukuna scoffs.

“no need. they were more than happy to give it up for you.”

“ah yes. i hear they’re big fans of this camping bag story. the scouts honor and the fake story we had to tell them makes a lot more sense now.” you respond.

sukuna rolls his eyes.

“okay, you know what? sue me. i was like sixteen sleeping next to a girl for the first time. god forbid i enjoyed myself. and i don’t know why they’re all so hyperfixated on that story because it was a very normal thing to assume when you’re asked that question.”

you snort.

“and you say you’re not a pervert…”

sukuna leans forward, his eyes flitting down to his lips before he looks back up at you. and he can tell that you’re in a mood, that you’re trying to push his buttons by annoying him.

“you know i despise you right?” he whispers.

you grin, leaning in.

“is that right?” you whisper back.

“oh yeah. you irritate me.”

there isn’t even a shred of earnestness in the words he’s uttering. you know he doesn’t mean them.

“keep going.” you respond, as he presses a warm kiss to the side of your cheek.

“you’re a nuisance.” – a kiss to your forehead.

“an irritation.” – a kiss to the tip of your nose.

“like a fucking thorn in my side.” – and a kiss to the sweet spot right in your neck and his hand snaking up your thigh, which makes you nearly keel your head back from the sensation.

you place your hands on his cheek and pull him back, face flushed and his eyes nearly glazed over.

“are you crazy?” you whisper.

“what?” he asks.

“we’re in public, dumbass. you can’t just start trying to rile me up.”

sukuna leans back, obliging.

“so you admit it? i was riling you up?”

“oh, shut up.”

you reach for the sandwiches and unpeel one for sukuna. before he takes it, he places a tiny white box in your lap.

you frown. first the fancy date but the jewelry too?

“sukuna. you didn’t–”

“just open it. i’m impatient and i’ve been waiting all day. and i actually think you’ll like it. otherwise, you’re ungrateful and rude and you hate me.” sukuna responds.

you give him a tight lipped smile before you open the little box and actually smile.

it’s a dainty silver chain – the exact same as sukuna’s from the chain-links, but the build is a little thinner. and right at the center, a little charm of a star.

you reach forward for his chain, dangling around his collarbone. and surely enough, in addition to the original charm he had of an interlocked circle, there’s a star charm added right next to it.

“you always reach for it. when you’re talking or when we’re kissing. figured i’d get you your own since you’re such a big fan.”

“you are so…”

“perfect? sexy? the father of your children?”

“i was thinking adorable. can i answer d for all of the above?” you respond.

sukuna grins.

“survey says yes, princess.” he responds.

you yank the chain from the little box and hand it to him, before turning around for him to secure it on you. his fingers tickle against the nape of your neck, accompanied by a warm kiss, before he taps your shoulders to signify that he’s done.

“you know. you really are perceiving me right now.” you respond.

“and how’s that?”

“i know you’re obsessed with me and pay attention to every word i say.”

sukuna smiles.

“obviously.”

you jab at his side.

“i mean, i know you’re doing this because i mentioned picnics yesterday and always feeling left out. sure you could put two and two together that he never really bought me any nice gifts or anything when i said he ruined my birthday.”

“okay, captain obvious. and?”

you shove him once more, before leaning your head against his shoulder.

“well, i appreciate it. i know the whole…cutesy painting date isn’t your thing. we won’t have to do it again. and that you…you’re trying to make this whole thing special for me.”

sukuna scoffs.

“i’m offended. first and foremost, i always like to eat with you. every time i think that there’s no way you can amaze me more, you find another way to spill food on your clothes.”

“hey! that’s not true.”

“you already spilled on the blanket. second, this is a very violent way to eat cake. you literally mess up all the layers by doing that and destroy the piping on the cake which i can admit, i am a fan of. and third, i’m going to paint us as worms, which seems enjoyable to me.”

you curl your nose.

“worms?”

“yeah. what were you going to paint?”

“i don’t know. but it certainly wasn’t going to be worms. like the park or flowers or something.”

“boring. i’m going to paint us as slimy worms. and because we made it on this date, you’ll have to agree to put it up in the apartment, even if it’s ugly.”

“sukuna.” you whine.

“especially if it’s ugly. it’s a testament to our love.” he responds, dramatically placing his hands on his chest.

“you know, you’re so right. worms have been a really defining feature of your relationship.”

sukuna leans forward and presses a quick kiss to your lips and an additional one on your cheek.

“you just get me, princess!”

and he breaks the little joke by lifting one of your hands to his lips, and pressing a kiss on all four of your knuckles before pressing your hand to his cheek.

“and i have to do special things for a special person.”

you return the gesture, lifting his tattooed fingers to your lips and doing the same.

“you know…you’re really good at this type of thing.” you murmur.

“what do you mean?”

“i mean, being a boyfriend. and…and being supportive about everything. sometimes i feel like i’m trying really hard to be the best but…just comes naturally to you.” you respond.

sukuna shrugs.

“don’t know if i’m perfect but…loving you has always come really easy to me. i don’t really have to think twice about it because these are actually just things i want to do for you.”

you groan.

“see! that’s what i’m saying! you always just…say sweet things, do sweet things. sometimes i’m convinced i’m not even half deserving of it, just because sometimes i don’t reciprocate that back.” you respond.

sukuna leans forward.

“you know, you actually do though.”

“as if.” you groan.

sukuna pauses, before leaning his cheek against the tops of his knees and looking out at the expanse of grass in front of you. you follow his line of vision – to the dog running in the distance, the wide, billowing trees, and the little flower truck on the side – which you now realize is where sukuna copped the flowers from earlier.

“i mean, this type of thing. that we have, or…or the way i act around you. it means a lot to you because, you…you’ve never had this before. right?”

“yeah.”

“well, i haven’t had you before. i know you see me as perfect, but…but when you say that i can tell that you don’t mean it the way my mom or…or yuuji think that i’m perfect. in the untouchable way.”

you lean forward, cupping the side of his face.

“sukuna. you’re so touchable.” you joke.

“you’re disgusting.”

“you love it.”

sukuna smiles.

“yeah, i really do. it does actually mean the world to me that you think i’m perfect how i am and don’t think i’m larger than life.”

“if anything, your ego could be smaller.”

sukuna leans forward and presses a kiss to your cheek.

“and…and even the other day. i know you were acting squirrely and weird when yuuji was near us and heard us bickering, but i was half convinced that you were going to take his side at the end, when he started saying that stuff about me. because it is true and i have acted a certain way in the past…and, you would have every right to agree with him if you wanted to.”

you frown.

“no, i wouldn’t. you’ve never treated me like that and i know you’re being earnest when you say these things to me. this would be a very elaborate way to get into my pants if that was what you were trying to do. and i know it’s not.”

sukuna smiles.

“that’s what i’m saying. every other person for me has never given me that benefit of the doubt, but you always do. you were the person who thought to tell me that my grandpa died when you all came to get me and you were the one who wasn’t mad at me. the things you do for me are the same, in equal magnitude, as what i do for you. if this makes you feel good, or…or on top of the world, you have to know that’s how you make me feel too. i’m half convinced that you’re basically made for me at this point the way you get everything right on point.”

you lean forward and press a lingering kiss to his lips.

“i really think you’re made for me too, ryomen.”

sukuna groans, dramatically leaning his head back, before nearly pushing you over and peppering kisses to almost every surface on your face.

“quit fucking saying my name. you have no idea what that does to me.”

“i mean, i think i have an idea.”

sukuna clamps his fingers over your mouth, before pressing a few more lingering kisses to your face and pushing off. and subsequently, picks all of the grass out of your hair as you roll your eyes.

and after that sukuna, admittedly, very aggressively uses the wine glasses to portion off little slices of the cake and makes it a point to finish off yours when you can’t stomach the sweetness. and true to his promise – sukuna paints the two of you as worms, but at the park, stargazing.

it’s a little silly, the way he paints it. you were expecting it to be more gory or gross, but it’s so corny that it makes you smile. because he draws the two little worms, but distinguishes between the two of you, by swiping some of your pink paint and adding a little ribbon to the one that’s supposed to be you.

sukuna explains the stars. because before sukuna had dragged you out of that shitty bathroom bar, it’s what megumi and yuuji said in his drunken mess – he had pointed at two little stars and likened them to him and megumi.

and you’re almost positive that at the time, sukuna found it utterly ridiculous. but now, he understood it – the sentiment. that you and sukuna were two little worms, and two stars, and two little flowers too.

and to his promise, the two of you decide to place the little canvases you drew at the end of the kitchen counter.

it’s only then that you realize that you have to go the whole ten miles for sukuna the way he had done for you – countless times again. and that if you were going in blind in trying to make something special, you’d have to take a page out of his book and do some research.

and there was only one person who could really help you, who you’d rather die than humble yourself to than ask for help.

regardless of that, you still call sammy the next morning.

next part linked here

an: they're about to do it. anyways....there is a very real playlist to match the one that they talk about in the fic -- and it matches the way it described in the fic! so it's interleaved, the first song is a song that sukuna would have added, the second one that y/n added, the third sukuna, so on and so forth. it's linked here! happy listening babies

second an: thank you for the love on the last chapter. it makes my heart really warm bc all of that was actually based on a REAL MAN and real things that I have felt/have said to me and just having people comment that they felt seen by it or it made them feel a certain type of way actually made me really happy and so warm. this blog was one of the first things I did after I stopped being really, really sad and i'm glad that i'm able to share a little joy here and there, if that's what this fic is for you. anyways this is long and sappy and gross and actually I just love you all for enduring the ouchies and the sillies with me a little bit 💌

third an: double upload bc yall were so patient with me :D

taglist: @porridgesblog @k0z3me @kayleegomez @yihona-san06 @sweetenertea @skzismyhome @mykyoon @violetmatcha @rebeccawinters @shotenvinsoot @itzmeme @gojoswifeyyys-world @cutiejg @chilichopsticks @ghostreadersthings @charlie-xo @whoami-72 @heijihattorisgf @megu-meow @complexivelovely @multiplefandomthings @hoebuns @lzaj19 @glossygreene @ramluvr @sureconfused @najaemism @manduse @imhorn1help @gamergirl5125 @r0ckst4rjk @invisible-mori @isaacdaknight @wishmemel @gyros-cum-sock @suftsunshine @i0099 @cowgirlikets @haitanibros0007 @stuffeddeer @yoontaedotin @ec3lipsy @armani79 @awkwardaardvarkforever @kereseth @leave-rae-alone @ruruvia @princess-ackerman @jjkwritingss @lilkiwikiara @opchara @telepathicheartss @starriesworlds @raechu11 @exprimidordefresas @nxxrxm @aalloochaat @strangehuman101 @tzutology

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adoresmiles · 6 months ago

Text

His. Concealed Obsession.

Chapter three.

Tags: @violetmuses @onlyrealjoy @unicorndelulu @neloOwesker @liatreads @sunrisesfromthewest @deja-r @leahnicole1219 @jacobscipioswoman

AN: Y’all I’m out here making my own gifs and it’s stressing me out lol but I hope you guys enjoy chapter three! Please give feedback on how you feel about the book. Love you guys 🫶🏽

The following day.

"Conseguiste las huellas de las manos del cristal?"

"We are in the process of laminating it now. The tracker was placed underneath her car before she left to meet up with her friend yesterday."

"Perfect, Catalina did you get the background information on her and her family?"

"Yes , Ms Powers who full name is Kanani Souline Powers. She is the youngest daughter of Noelani Storm and Daniel Ramos Powers. Her mother is a Seasoned 9-1-1 operator , while her father is a captain on the swat team. Kanani is also the sister to Jaxon Tyree and Keith Makana Powers. Jaxon is the lieutenant for the Miami fire department and Keith is a detective."

"Realmente sabes cómo elegirlos"

"Shut it."

"Alongside with her brothers , Kanani was born in Honolulu Hawai'i . She graduated from University of Michigan with a masters degree in Aerospace. Wow ... she's extremely intelligent. Base off of her social media, her hobbies include cooking, dancing , shopping and spending time with her family and friends. She is currently working on opening up her own business."

"Tell me about her past. What's the deal with that?"

Armando asked the young female as she clicked away on her mouse. A mixture of pictures showed across the screen of Kanani, her family and friends . From what he was being showed , he can see that she was raised in a big , blended and loving family. He learned that her father had a son within his previous marriage . Which made sense to why he was seeing the slightest bit of difference between the three siblings.

"Well she was in a relationship with the judge son who put your mother away behind bars. He also has a history of domestic violence and multiple of charges. He does have two existing restraining orders against him one is from Kanani and the other his now ex girlfriend."

"When does the restraining order ends?"

"It expires in two days boss."

"Kill him in two days , but let's make it brutal"

"Are you sure about that? He's pretty well known around in Miami."

"I killed the neighbor, I killed the others and I shot my own father. Do you think I care about him being well known ?"

"Clearly not , you are still killing people even when your dad cleared your name. How would you think he will feel if he found out about you doing this to his coworker daughter?"

"Again , do it looks like I care about what him or anyone thinks ? No it doesn't , so as I mentioned before kill him in two days and this time you do it."

"So I have her hand print laminated down, you'll be able to have access to her house once we are able to test it. You just have to figure out when her next outing is going to be."

"That shouldn't be to hard , based off her calendar in her phone she has zero meetings. I checked her emails and nothing is scheduled, she's a sitting a duck. Her meeting that she had with Galena today went right through, isn't that right Gal?"

"She's smarter than what everyone thinks. Her store is going to be extremely valuable for us to use. The only thing is that her best friend will be be helping her run the store. We need our own people in there to make sure the drugs are coming in and out."

"So you and Catalina will find some people who has the similarities of Kanani and her best friend. Send them to the store for interviews and they should get hired on the spot. This is the only we can keep the money flowing in fast and in a discreet manner."

"Catalina and I can most definitely do that. Her best friend is tough to break down though, she doesn't do funny business. So we have to do this carefully and be on our toes with this. But other than that , we're locked in with her business. Plus there's going to be a celebration tomorrow for her accomplishments. I was invited to it the dinner and the after party."

"What after party?"

"Her family will be having a cookout at the park for her and then after she will be going out to celebrate."

"Interes-"

"Boss we got movement coming from inside Kanani home."

Catalina called out to him as she expanded the screen that displayed Kanani on it. Placing his arms over his chest , he watch as the young woman dance around her kitchen without a care in the world. Which either meant that she was cleaning or was simply in a good mood. It was something he picked up on since he started watching her. On certain days she would wake up at exactly nine in the morning to start cleaning or just to put on her favorite song and dance around her house.

At first he thought it was childish but after awhile he found it interesting in way. Watching her smile and laugh as she twirl around in her home always gave him peace. Knowing that she was happy made him happy. Seeing her at peace, made him feel at peace. Armando was dangerously infatuated with her and seeing and holding her in his harms the day prior made him realize that he couldn't allow her to get away.

"Wow I'll hate to admit this but she's definitely a looker. I see why you are obsessed with her man."

"She's off limits man."

"Kanani belongs to me , she's mine and I'll gladly put a bullet through fucking your head behind her."

"He didn't mean it Armando , he was just joking . We all know that Kanani is yours and only yours."

"Galena please get him out of here before ends up dead and on his parents front porch in a gift box."

"Let's go kid , you know your mouth is going to get your ass in trouble..."

"Hey Armando I think you want to check this out."

"What is it Catalina?"

"Did you drop something yesterday? Like an earring a chain or something?"

"Why?"

"Because if I'm mistaken your babygirl is wearing your chain as we speak and it seems like she has a visitor that is fine as fuck."

"ellos son nuestros padres. Her father and family is close friends with Marcus and Mike.”

“Do you think they’re talking about what happened yesterday?”

“No doubt that they are , turn the audio on Catalina.”

Armando leaned forward onto the table as his request was answered. A soft voice filled the room followed by deeper voices. He watched as the two men take turns to hug her. Seeing their hands on her rubbed him the wrong way. Armando didn’t want anyone else but only him touching her . He didn’t care if the man on her screen was her father or not, he didn’t want him touching her. At all.

Translation

"Conseguiste las huellas de las manos del cristal?: Did you get the hand prints from the glass?

"Realmente sabes cómo elegirlos" : you really know how to choose them.

"ellos son nuestros padres": They are our parents.

#armando aretas #armando aretas fanfic #armando aretas imagine #armando aretas smut #armando aretas x black reader #armando x reader #bad boys #bad boys for life #bad boys ride or die #jacob scipio #adoresmilesfanfic #adoresmiles #poc

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earlycuntsets · 11 days ago

Text

tech reviews from ray toro on mychemicalromance.com 2009

"Jailbreak your shit.

Bob, I feel your iPhone pain. Ever since my iPhone threw itself into the toilet, it hasn't been the same. Missed calls, no service, crap battery life, the list of muck-ups goes on.

I've been wanting to go to the Apple store to try and exchange my suicidal phone, but knew i'd be greeted by the same smugness and uppity attitude you dealt with. Every time I step foot in that store, I feel like they're doing me a favor selling me their plain aluminum products and their white earbuds. I think I bought a pair of earbuds, and inside the package was an extra pair of them crap buds.

Angry at the lack of basic functions on the iPhone, and wanted to stick it back to the man, so I did the only thing a sane man would do...I jailbroke the thing.

For those who don't know what this is, basically you're "freeing" your phone from Jobs' shackles. Now I can copy and paste, personalize the theme on my phone, record movies, answer texts without constantly having to switch programs, search my emails, run programs in the background, send pictures in texts, quickly change settings without going through a million menus, play NES games, save Youtube videos, the list goes on. The crowning jewel is when I used my cell connection on the phone to download an e-book before a flight.

This shit is fun, and now I feel the iPhone lives up to it's pricetag. Do a search for quickpwn to get started, install winterboard, backgrounder, pdanet, sbssettings, and whatever else catches your eye. Most of all, enjoy your new found freedom."

"Ray's favorite iPhone apps

Whether you're a Blackberry man or iPhone (wo)man, you gotta admit the App store is pretty rad. I've been using the iPhone for a good while now, and have come to rely on a few apps that make my daily life easier, keep me busy while driving (yeah I know its illegal, sue me), and suck up any remaining free time I might have left in a day. Here's a short list of stuff you should check out if you're so inclined...

1. Pocketmoney ($9.99) Not only does the app's icon make me think of delicious pork bacon, it also helps to keep your money straight. You can set up checking and savings account, and keep a running ledger of your spending so you don't have any more of those all-too familiar, embarrassing moments where you're trying to buy a bag of cheetos and a Quik but don't have any loot left on your card. Yeah, I know what you're probably thinking right now. "I have a perfectly good paper register the bank gave me when I signed up for my checking account, and that shit cost me $0.00." To that I say, "But your register doesn't have a sick ass pig icon!"

2. NetNewsWire (The world is going to end soon FREE as fuck!) This program is great! You know when you're having an important conversation with your wife about what you're making for dinner that week, and she's trying to write out a shopping list, and all you can think about is the latest post on Gizmodo detailing what GHZ the new intel iCore7 processor tops out at after overclocking with Nitroglycerin? Yeah, that happens to me too...Well now instead of just thinking about it, you can take out your iPhone in mid-conversation, pissing off your wife in the process, and read all the latest RSS feeds that you can stand. It even works for our site too! Huzzah!

3. Super Monkey Ball (I paid $9.99 for this??? I'm a sucker) Ok, I bought this because it was the #1 app for weeks straight. It had to be good right??? RIGHT? Well its not. I mean it has good graphics, but the controls suck. They really, really suck. Driving your dad's Nova after ingesting 10 beers at the college kegger, trying to balance a tall glass of Sunny D on your head while headbanging to Stone Cold Crazy is exponentially easier than controlling this mess. After maybe 5 tries playing the game proper, I decided it'd be much more fun to send Baby and Gongon repeatedly and utterly to their death. I hate this game. But it sure is a great time waster...

And there you have it. Three essential iPhone apps! Have fun, be safe, and Happy Thanksgiving!"

02/25/2009 12:39pm mychemicalromance.com 2009

#I really get ray toro because fuck iphones #ty ray #ray just got really into phones?#ray freeing his phone from jobs shackles #my chemical romance #mcr #ray toro #black parade is dead era #old web mcr

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traveler-at-heart · 2 years ago

Text

Shopping

Summary: Natasha hates shopping, but an incident might change her mind.

Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Who knew saving the world was so much work.

Specifically, paperwork.

Thor, unfamiliar with Earth’s customs and the bureaucracy of any organization, always had trouble filing his reports. You volunteered to spare him of endless hours sitting in front of a computer and to save Steve the frustration of trying to figure what the god meant when he wrote things like “the screams of our victims can be heard from Hell”

Only, you had been at it for almost three hours now. You stretch, feeling your back muscles strained.

Time for a snack break.

Which you were doing, eating cereal and browsing through some emails. There’s a sale at your favorite store. Maybe, if you find the right outfit, you’ll agree to that blind date Tony’s been nagging you about.

The day seems to be getting better, until Sam rushes past you, mumbling.

“Run, hide, anything”

“What?” you say, mouth full of cereal. He’s already gone. Five seconds later, Natasha storms in. “Oh, hey, Nat”

She glares and you gulp down the rest of your food. Against your better judgment, you smile again and ask her if she wants to go shopping. You can’t stop talking, she makes you that nervous.

“I hate shopping”

You already know it and she tells you for good measure, before rolling her eyes and leaving the kitchen.

Right.

“Bucky, she’s alive,” Sam whispers as you walk back to your room.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“She was pissed. Had an argument with Tony” Bucky barely opens his door.

“They always do”

“Romanoff looked ready to kill him”

“She always does. And why are you hiding behind the door?” you look at Bucky.

“He ate all of Romanoff’s angry cookies” Sam replies.

“Terrible timing”

“Yeah” Bucky sighs, peaking around to see if Natasha is coming to kick his ass. Frankly, you wouldn’t stop her.

“Well, if you’re done gossiping, I have a shower to take”

“Where you going?”

“Shopping” you immediately shut down Sam’s curious tone. These boys are so nosy.

“Can I come?”

“Absolutely not. You always flirt with the girls and I can never get them to help me out”

“Oh, come on”

“Knock it off or I’m telling Nat you ate those cookies”

“No!” he sprints down to his room, while Bucky shuts the door so fast, you swear the wood cracks.

Ugh, it’s like living with teenagers. Thankfully, you have a plan. As you suspect, Natasha is going around the kitchen cabinets, mumbling something about “killing Barnes”

“Hey” you don’t expect her to respond or turn around, so you just place the package on the counter. “I know those man babies eat everything on sight, so I always have some saved in my room. Your favorites”

Natasha stops her movements, but still won’t turn around.

“Thanks” she finally says as you walk back to your room.

You wish it was enough to make her feel better. You also wish she trusted you enough to vent about what it is she’s so upset about.

But with Natasha, there’s always been a wall. You don’t know if it’s a blessing or a curse, because you find her so attractive, endearing and even cute.

If you get close, then you’re sure it’s going to evolve from slight crush to full time pining.

That can’t happen.

These thoughts take up most of your shower time and as you get ready to leave, you only turn around once to check your hair.

There’s a surprise waiting for you at the garage. Someone sitting on the driver’s seat of your car.

Natasha looks up and smirks.

“I don’t let anyone else drive”

“Mind you, I’m more worried about how you broke into my car without the alarm blaring” you tsk as she takes the keys from your hand.

She shrugs her shoulders and to your surprise, guesses which mall you’re heading to.

“I notice things too”

“You’re talking about those cookies?”

“I guess”

“Well, you’re always welcome to get them from my room. Secret cabinet behind the mirror”

“Nice”

You chuckle and she actually looks like her mood is improving.

And you… you are approaching the pining stage at an alarming rate.

“So, what are you looking for?” she asks when you finally get to your favorite clothing store. Natasha looks completely out of place between the lighting and the bland pop music playing in the background.

When she turns around, she finds you putting some lingerie sets over your clothed body, evaluating the shape and color.

She’s thankful you’re too focused on your own reflection to catch her blushing madly. Now is not the best time to picture you wearing one of those sets.

“Oh, maybe something to go on a date” you reply, choosing the black lingerie.

That answer is enough to put her in a bad mood again.

After a few minutes looking around, you sense that she’s starting to get impatient. Natasha shrugs her shoulders at every dress you show her. You might as well be holding a hot dog suit to get her approval.

“Alright, I’m going to the dressing room. Hold this” you give her your purse, to guarantee she won’t flee the minute you close the door.

“Don’t be long” she mumbles when you’ve barely taken your top off. Without thinking much about it, you peak through the door and smile mischievously.

“Relax. If you’re a good girl I’ll get you something nice”

The redhead blushes furiously as you close the door again. You think it’s pointless to show her the dress, thinking she’ll just shrug and make a non committal hum.

You’re on dress number three and think it’s the best one yet.

“Shit” your smile is quickly replaced by a frown when you realize the zipper on the back is stuck. “Nat” you call frantically for her.

“What?”

“I’m stuck”

“What…?”

“Come here” you jump out of the dressing room and pull her inside, shutting the door behind you. “The zipper. Can you pull it down?”

“Y-yes”

“Ok, go” you move your wavy hair out of the way, expecting it to be over with one swift motion.

But Natasha’s touch is surprisingly soft and delicate. You feel her breath close to your neck. Fuck.

“Fuck” Natasha says and you snap back.

“What is it?”

“It’s really stuck” she sits on the little chair at the corner of the room and pulls you along. As she keeps trying to undo the zipper, your body gives in, sitting almost on her lap, your back to her front.

“Almost… there” she grunts, pulling so hard that you end up actually sitting on her lap, squealing at the force of her movements. “Sorry, sorry, I got you”

“I thought I was gonna die” you sigh, not moving away from arms that are circling your waist.

“Trained spy is scared of a little fabric?”

“Jerk” you stand up, but the dress is halfway down, limiting your movements. It falls completely to the ground, you stumble and turn, landing once again on Natasha’s lap, this time face to face.

Or rather… Breasts to face. She has her entire face on your lingerie clad breasts.

“Jesus, Nat, I’m sooo sorry…” your apology dies down when you feel strong arms pulling you closer. You look down and find emerald eyes, pupils dilated with lust and lips parted, waiting for permission to move forward.

There’s not much else to think about, so you place your hands on either side of her face and kiss her, desperate and fast. Natasha moans against your mouth, moving down to your neck and sucking until she leaves a mark. Her expert fingers are trying to unclasp your bra when...

“Everything ok in there?” a store clerk asks. You break apart, feeling frustrated and very much turned on.

“Yeah, I’m almost done here!” you shout, a little too out of breath.

“I think your friend left. She really hates shopping, huh?”

“Oh, I think I’ve managed to change her mind” you wink at Natasha before putting your clothes back on.

“Stop” Natasha says as you head back to the Compound, one hand on the wheel and the other hovering above your leg.

“I’m not…!”

“You’re staring”

“You’re a really good kisser”

The redhead blushes and you think you’re in love.

No turning back now.

“So… when’s your date?”

“I don’t know, when are you free?”

“But I thought...”

“Tony was insisting on setting me up. That was before I knew my not-so-secret crush wanted to have her way with me in a dressing room”

For the first time ever, Natasha is speechless and you laugh.

“So how about tomorrow?” she finally asks as she parks your car.

“That works for me” you walk side by side and then smile. “See? Aren’t you glad you went shopping with me today? You got to pick the clothes you’ll rip off of me”

Natasha stops walking, and she’s actually considering just taking you up to her room right now.

“Tomorrow” you promise, smiling as you peck her lips.

“Hey”

“Yes, Sam?” you still have a silly smile, walking back to your room.

“I just saw Natasha and she smiled at me. Do you think she’s ok?”

“Yes, Sam” you roll your eyes, but he keeps staring. “What?”

“What’s that thing on your neck?”

Fuck. You slap your hand over the hickey and rush to your room.

“None of your business”

“As long as you keep her happy!”

“Shut up, Wilson”

#Natasha Romanoff x Reader #Natasha Romanoff x you #Natasha Romanoff x y/n

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tea-potato-gt · 6 months ago

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The Biggest Heart Story: Stør’s Job (Part 1)

Summary: A story of blossoming young love between a Giant and a Water Nymph. Mizu can’t explain it, but she feels like she needs to see her giant friend, Stør. Little does she know of the surprise that awaits her on the farm the giant teenager works on. (Very early stages of their relationship.)

Kæmpe Stør Giant (17yrs - 36ft) & Mizu Rivers Water Nymph (18yrs - 5’6)

More on The Biggest Heart story here

Part 2 here

***

3k words

***

"Is Stør home?" Mizu asked nervously, clutching her blue hands to her chest.

"No I'm sorry, Mizu, he's at work right now." Stør's human father, Joseph, said.

"Work?" Mizu repeated. She didn't know Stør had a job. Or more accurately, she didn't know he COULD have a job. She couldn't imagine many grocery stores were looking to hire a 36 foot high schooler to man the check out lines.

"Yeah, Kæmpe works odd jobs for the local farmers. Right now he’s at Old Briar’s place down the road." Joseph read the confusion on the Water Nymph's face. "He should be done soon if you want to wait here---"

"I'll go to him!" Mizu interrupted. She realized how rude she must have sounded, her already blue face became a darker shade and she couldn't make eye contact with the human before her. "S-sorry... I don't want to intrude on you and your family... I-I just need to talk to Stør about our class project really quick."

Joseph smiled at the young girl's flustered face, "no worries, Mizu." He took out a pen and paper from a nearby drawer and wrote the address of Old Briar’s farm and handed it to a very stiff Mizu. "I'm sure he'll be very happy to see you." Joseph gave her a wink and closed the door.

Mizu stood on the doorstep for a few moments, holding the piece of paper, face turning a dark shade of blue.

***

Walking down the dirt road became increasingly nerve wracking with every shaky step Mizu took.

Mizu felt ridiculous. Why was she there? Appearing unannounced at Stør’s house no less! She had been there a few times before, but never alone. Strega (Stør and Mizu’s mutual friend) always dragged her along to hang out. When Strega's friend got together, there were very few places they could all go if Stør was involved. This usually meant they just watched movies in his room or swam in the sea by his house.

But Mizu had never invited herself over before. Why was she doing this to herself?? Maybe she should just go home. The questions she has about their project could be easily answered with an email. She'd worked with Stør before on projects using email and video chats as their main form of communicating. Why did it feel like she needed to see and talk to him in person right now?

“That’s it! This is stupid. I’m going home.” Mizu huffed out loud to herself. The anxiety was becoming too much for her to handle. “I’m so stupid!” She repeated as she turned around.

Little did she realize, she had already arrived at Old Briar’s farm.

She felt the ground tremble slightly. Mizu's eyes widened as the treeline started to shake. She heard a low strained grunt.

Curiosity got the best of her. Mizu walked further down the road, following the sound, attempting to figure out what it was.

Old Briar’s farm was quite large, and surrounded by trees of various kinds, sizes, and thicknesses. There was a stretching field of crops that bordered the trees and went up and over the hills nearby. The property was surrounded by a wooden fence that came about shoulder height on Mizu.

She walked parallel to the fence till she made it to the edge of the woods where she finally spotted it--- him.

About 50 feet away from Mizu, there on the edge of the woods, stood Stør.

He was hunched over and gripping a large tree. It was tall enough to reach his mid torso. His large hands barely grasp fully around the trunk. It looked like the branches were scratching up his inner arms as he tried to get a better grip on the tree.

He wore a white tank top, covered in sweat from the hot afternoon sun, blue jeans, and thick work boots. (Once again, Mizu was amazed by the magic created to let a giant wear human clothes on a grand scale.)

Mizu could almost forget how tall Stør really was. From this far away, she could imagine her classmate as a normal sized teenager weeding in his backyard.

But the illusion quickly dissipated with a horrible wrenching sound coming from the tree as Stør used all his strength to uproot the plant and free its hold in the ground. Twigs and roots snapped and leaves scattered.

Mizu stared. She couldn't believe her eyes. As he exerted himself, she saw the muscles on his arms bulge. She never noticed how toned Stør was. In the three years Mizu had known him, she had only seen him wear baggy long sleeved shirts, even on the hottest summer days.

Rationally she knew Stør had to be strong. He was a 36 foot tall giant, of course he has to be strong compared to an average human. But watching him rip a massive tree out of the ground like it was nothing really cemented something Mizu had been thinking about since she met him…

Stør is holding himself back.

Mizu had heard Stør briefly mention his status of living on Noma. Being the only giant on the small Island nation led to a lot of red tape and trepidation when it came to his presence. Any mistake he makes could result in dire consequences for himself or others.

Stør’s life is constantly dictated by rules and harsh punishments.

After closely observing Stør for months, Mizu slowly realized he never lashed out. Even when faced with hatred or bullying or fear, he never retaliated or fought back. No negative words of others ever passed his lips. Stør kept a constant air of calm and control about his actions, features, and body. His movements were always slow and purposeful. He never raised his voice and he definitely never showed his full strength.

But here in this moment, uprooting a tree, when he thought he was alone… For once, Stør didn't need to hold back his strength. He didn't try to make himself smaller for other people's comfort. He didn't need to worry about hurting anyone. No one was running away screaming at the very sight of him.

In this brief moment, Stør was free.

After watching how the world treated Stør, this realization broke Mizu’s heart. Could Stør truly only be his true self in the absence of others? In the absence of his family, friends, or even Mizu herself?

Mizu thought she had experienced every curveball becoming friends with a giant could offer, from learning how to ride on his shoulder to how a giant navigated a world literally too small for his stature. But once again, Stør unknowingly turned her whole understanding of his life upside down.

In the past, Mizu has overheard other students call Stør a freak or a monster. Comments like these always made her see red. How could anyone think less of him? So what if he’s a LITTLE taller than most people? He’s still the sweetest guy Mizu has ever met. It infuriated her to no end.

But then she regrettably remembers the emotions she felt when she first laid eyes on the teenager (in the English class they shared three years ago). She felt nothing short of pure frozen terror. Worried he could at any moment decide to reach his hand through the classroom window and snatch her up from her desk, carrying her off to the gods mnow where, and hurt her.

She (unfortunately) can’t blame people for being afraid of her friend. And it seems Stør doesn’t blame them either.

Mizu watched as Stør regarded the large tree in his grasp. Something she could never hope to lift in her wildest dreams. He turned it from side to side as if admiring the poor tree he just forcefully evicted from the earth.

Then he turned and gently set the tree down in a large pile of other trees that too had been uprooted. A dozen massive trees lay on their sides, roots out for the world to see.

Stør wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked back to the tree line. He grabbed a hold of another tree with both hands. A slightly smaller one, but no less impressive. He looked like he was about to pull when suddenly, Stør looked up and locked eyes with Mizu.

Her body froze. Stør did the same. They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.

Mizu was the first to find her voice, “Hi.” She called across the feild to him and waved.

This finally broke the spell, Stør quickly let go of the tree in his grasp. He curled in on himself in an attempt to look smaller.

Finally, his brain processed her presence in front of him to and allowed words to form.

“M-Mizu!?” Stør stuttered her name, he blinked rapidly as if hoping she wasn’t standing right there. “I didn’t see you,” Stør quickly grabbed his crumpled up plaid shirt from the ground, threw his arms into it, and immediately began buttoning up his baggy shirt.

Once again, here he was trying to hide himself. Hide his muscular arms in favor of a more round and soft outward appearance. Something more palpable to the average onlooker.

Mizu watched his personality change in real time, from a confident young giant to a scared timid child wishing to be anything other than what he was. Her heart ached at the fact he felt he needed to do this for someone he considered a friend.

“Don’t let me get in the way,” Mizu said as she climbed over the top of the wooden fence and sat on top. “You can keep on working.”

“No, no I was j-just about done anyway,” Stør rubbed the back of his neck, refusing to look at her. “I just need to take these– these to the other side of the property.” He vaguely gestured at the pile of large trees at his feet.

She usually found it cute when Stør stuttered with nerves, but in this moment, it felt like a knife slowly cut through her heart. He wouldn’t even look at her anymore. Stealing herself, she said, “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

Stør did a double take, “Wha— Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Mizu climbed down the rest of the fence and confidently walked across the field towards him.

“Y-you really don’t have to.” Stør sunk further into himself as he kneeled down. “It might-might take a while.”

Mizu shrugged, “I don’t have any plans.” She was now within reaching distance of the giant teenager. She had to look up at him to catch his eye. Mizu had to admit, his slouching and lowering of his body did help with neck pain when it came to keeping eye contact with a giant.

“But still… A-Are you sure, Mizu?”

Mizu rolled her eyes, “Yes I’m sure, Stør.” She was getting impatient.

“Okay…” his voice was unsteady.

Quickly changing topics before he could change his mind, Mizu clapped her hands together excitedly, “So how are we gonna transport these big-ass trees?”

Stør snorted at her abrasive language, he often forgets how foul mouthed this Water Nymph could be. “WE aren’t going to do anything. I just have to– to walk them over the hill to the other side of the farm house.”

“Fine then, since I can’t help you do all the heavy lifting, how about I keep you cool?” Mizu giggled. She held out her hand, and using her hydrokinesis, she pulled water from the surrounding air, “Can’t have you passing out from heat stroke while you do all the heavy lifting.”

Once the sphere of water was about the size of a bowling ball, she flung it straight at Stør’s face. It splashed harmlessly on his cheek, but he still reeled back expecting it to hurt. He slammed his eyes closed, but immediately felt the coolness of the water on his face, it was wonderful. He opened his eyes to find Mizu laughing, “You should have seen your face!”

Stør wiped the (to him) drop of water from his cheek, “Yeah, Yeah.” He rolled his eyes, but as he looked back down at Mizu he became serious. “I’m going to stand now. Is that alright?” He watched her closely for her reaction.

Mizu gave a quick nod. That was all he needed. Placing a hand on his knee as he slowly stood to his full height. He looked down to make sure Mizu hadn’t moved. She did not. Then he went to work.

He reached past the pile of uprooted trees and grabbed a long silver wire. It was huge and thick, she watched as he wrapped the trees in steel rope, which is usually used by giant cranes. He carefully tried the rope around the trees and fastened them in place. Then he lifted the pile of trees up, and using another long steel rope, attached them to his back.

Stør looked back down at his friend with trepidation at her reaction. Would she be frightened? But the look in her eye dispelled that worry. Her eyes were wide, sure, but not from fear. Awe and admiration danced on her face.

Slowly bending down, Stør lowered his free hand in front of Mizu, silently asking for her to climb aboard. Something she has done plenty of times in the past, and had said yes every time, but he made it a point to never grab anyone no matter how well they knew each other.

With his right hand entering her space, Mizu finally blinked and realized she had been staring for too long. She quickly looked away, blushing harder, and got to work.

Concentrating, she conjured up the moisture out of the ground and air. It was relatively easy with the high humidity and it had rained earlier that day. By the time she was done, Mizu had collected about as much water as a jacuzzi could hold. Hoping this would be enough, Mizu stepped onto his hand and began her ascent to Stør’s shoulder.

Now it was Stør’s turn to stare. The water danced alongside Mizu as she marched her way up his arm with a practice stride. Her steps tickled as she made the last stretch and slumped down on his shoulder with a huff. He tried to look at her, but she was too close to his neck that he could only see the top of her head. “Ready?” Stør said in a quiet voice due to her being so close.

Stør felt her grab his earlobe for balance. “Always.” Mizu said. The sphere of water flowed and changed at her whim beside his head, he could hear it splashing and gurgling by his ear like a stream.

With Mizu secured, Stør slowly stood up with a little more trouble than usual. He had to get up from a crouched position with heavy trees on his back weighing him down.

Sitting on Stør’s shoulder gave a view Mizu could never grow tired of. She was astonished to think Stør saw the world like this every day. What would be large rocks to step over, became unnoticeable pebbles in their path. She could see over the treeline and even a little bit of the ocean in the distance.

Stør was about to take his first step towards the farm house, when his breath hitched. A sudden cold sensation wrapped around his neck. Whatever it was it constantly moved like a soft stream around him.

Mizu had held up her end of the deal and created a water based neck wrap to help with the heat. It felt so wonderful on this hot day, that Stør briefly considered asking Mizu to join him every time he was out working. Her company and powers would definitely make the hours he spent in the sun much more enjoyable.

“Damn that feels good, thanks.” Was all Stør said as he started walking. Mizu just hummed pleasantly as she tried to focus on balancing on an ever moving giant shoulder and keeping her water powers stable.

“You can drink some if you want. It’s clean.” She raised a ball of water to his lips. To him it was just a sip, but to her the sphere of water was about the size of her head.

“Not— not right now.” Stør stammered. “Maybe later?” He always felt too awkward drinking her magic, it felt like taking a bite out of her. When he had tasted her enchanted water in the past, it continued to move as if it were alive in his mouth. He knew from his magical species class, any water she touches gets imbued with her essence as long as her magic is linked. To drink water while still activated by her hydrokinesis made him feel icky.

There was a long stint of silence between them. Neither knew what to say, as they passed over the hill. Mizu could tell Stør felt off. “What’s wrong?” Mizu glanced at his worried expression. He continued to stare at the ground, watching his step.

“I-it’s nothing.” Stør said not looking at her.

“Stør, please?” Mizu’s voice was soft in his ear.

He hesitated, several things were wrong right now, but he settled on one. “It’s just… I-I’m sorry if I smell,” Stør dreaded her being so close to him normally, but now the anxiety was unbearable. He had been working in the hot sun for hours resulting in him certainly smelling like body odor and sweat.

Once again she giggled in his ear, a sound that set his soul aflame. “Stør, did you forget what I am?” She splashed his cheek once again with a ball of water to remind him. Water Nymphs’s bodies were made entirely out of water. They have no need to breathe or smell like normal creatures, because they take in oxygen through their skin. They live in dark underground caves filled with water. Their senses are dedicated to their large eyes and ears or to their hydrokinetic powers. “You could jump in raw sewage and I wouldn’t know the difference.”

Stør chuckled to himself, relieved at her reminder of her species. He liked that Mizu was a Water Nymph. He liked a lot of things about Mizu. Her passion and kindness. Her blue hair was made of water and it flowed like a stream through a single drop would never fall to the floor. Her laugh was contagious and sweet as honey. And her smile… Oh Gods, it was a rare treat indeed, if only he could find ways to make that smile never fade… A-And he guessed her being unable to smell his body odor was a bonus too…

The rest of the trip didn’t last more than a few minutes. The pair chatted about nothing in particular, but neither minded, comforted by the other’s presence.

***

Part 2 here! 🫣

This is my first (published) short story. I usually don’t write stories, I like drawing comics, so any critiques and suggestions are welcome! Thanks!

Find out more about Stør & Mizu in The Biggest Heart master post 😉

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thewhumpyprintingpress · 5 months ago

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10 Ways To Support Your Favorite Small Presses

(these tips also work for supporting your favorite authors!)

Reblog reblog reblog! Reblogging their posts on tumblr is one of the best ways to help new readers find them.

Tell a friend. Word of mouth is golden. If you enjoy a book, recommend it to a friend who you think will like it too!

Leave a review. Whether you review on your social media, reading tracker app (e.g. StoryGraph, Goodreads), or on your preferred book retailer, every review helps.

Request that your local library purchase their books. And if your library has a service like Hoopla, see if their books are available for check out!

Subscribe to their newsletter. Most presses have semi-regular email newsletters where they give publication updates. By subscribing, you can keep up to date on new books and other fun stuff. (Plus, you might get cute cat pictures)

Give a one-off donation via Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee, etc. Everything so far has been completely free. But if you have a little cash to spare, this is a great way to show your support.

Pick up an ebook. You get to read an awesome book AND support your favorite press??? It's a win-win! Also, if your press has their own store, consider purchasing directly from them rather than through a third party.

Pick up a physical book. Not only do you get to support your fav, you also get to add a beautiful book to your bookshelf! And if you purchase directly from them, you might get some extra goodies or even a signed book!

Become a member on their Ko-fi, Patreon, etc. One of the biggest struggles with publishing books is the lack of consistent income. Providing monthly financial support can help the press stay steady during slower periods. And it probably isn't as expensive as your think! (Here at WPP, our Ko-fi membership tiers start at $1 per month)

And finally, let them know that you enjoy their work! Publishing is a long, lonely process that involves a lot of smashing keyboards and trying to decide where the commas should go. Telling them that all their hard work has paid off and that you enjoyed what they created will make their day. I guarantee it.

#publishing #small press #support small business #wpp meta #indie books #bookblr #books #booklr #reading

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therobotmonster · 7 months ago

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So... Shapeways is going bankrupt.

This is particularly irksome for me, as that's a good 1/3rd of my monthly income, so I'm crossing my fingers while I start setting up a new store on cults. I have literally thousands of items so getting them all up is going to take ages.

But why did this happen?

Well I'll fucking tell you what I think happened.

It was a company run on arrogance and cowardice.

Shapeways made its mark as the cafepress of 3d printing. The weight of this was their marketplace that let people sell prints directly to customers without having to do the printing themselves. At its peak, I made more from Shapeways than from my day job.

The problem was that Shapeways put zero effort into the marketplace. They'd send some of us to a con to promote the idea of 3d printing game minis a couple of times, sure, but when it came to actual site maintenance and design every suggestion and request by sellers was roundly ignored. We asked for better search and categorization options. We asked to be able to name variants in our stores. We asked for better communication from the print techs. We asked for accurate subcategories that actually reflected how customers looked for items. None of it was done.

As such, the site was baffling to customers and difficult to understand. This was made worse by Shapeways' continual renaming of their materials. So after a couple of years Shapeways announces that they're not going to do anything for the marketplace because it's underperforming, and are going to focus on B2B, and in doing so they buried the marketplace in a tiny little link on the front page.

Overnight sales plummeted. We complained again, nothing was done. We asked for a different URL that went straight to the marketplace (something that would literally cost them $80 to do) that we could direct customers to, we were ignored.

The marketplace is underperforming, so we won't put in the effort needed to make the marketplace perform. Makes perfect sense.

Prices go up. Shipping goes up substantially, and then it was a thousand little cuts. The auto-checks were altered to make it impossible to verify anything manually with any accuracy, so it became harder to design for the limitations of their printers.

The site slowed down substantially so every click had a several second pause, making shopping and maintaining frustrating and unpleasant. Shipping costs to many areas of the world became insanely high, effectively cutting off entire markets.

Want to not be Shapeways? Then remember this:

Your users know more about your site experience and their own needs than you do.

If you have a sales site, and the people selling through it say "this isn't working, we need this" then maybe you should listen to them and not just say 'you're wrong' to their faces.

Oh, and also, if goddamn Rolls-Royce comes in filing false DMCA claims over the use of the word "Phantom" in any context on your site, you don't take every item through a multiple day review for every edit and say "LOL, we can't do anything"

You take them to court for abusing the system on behalf of your user base, you fucking bootlicking cowards.

OH, AND I ALMOST FORGOT!

I HAD TO FIND OUT ABOUT THIS FROM A DM ON TWITTER.

They've sent me a check every month for half a decade and they don't even send a "We're closing shop" email.

Look upon my prints, ye mighty, and despair.

If you want to help me though the meantime, here's my paypal.me and my gofundme.

#shapeways #late stage capitalism #3d printing #failure #corporate incompetence #corporate greed

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cinnabells · 18 days ago

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BITTERSWEET TRADEGY || N.R

episode two. adventures in seoul.

" dating a kpop idol was not on my 2024 bingo card "

In which leilani choi is dragged to a fan sign and nishimura riki finds the love of his life.

When Kiyoko and Bella got an email stating that they had won an entry to an in-person Enhypen fan sign event, they screamed at the top of their lungs. Leilani also got an entry, but she wasn't as excited as her friends. To be fair, she didn't think they'd get the chance to win when they entered the raffle for the event a month ago; they were drunk off their asses; it was an impressive display; a lot of people joined and, most likely, bought more albums, but they got the chance to go, but lucky for them, the event was held in Seoul; they didn't have to drive too far.

Bella and Kiyoko have been fans of Enhypen since their I-land days; Leilani, on the other hand, recently got into the group, so she was a little nervous. When they entered the raffle, she didn't know too much about the seven-boy group but joined in to support her friends, and now seeing the email, this was real, and it made her a little guilty. Sure, this was a great opportunity for her friends, but she was a new fan, and she won the chance over people who had supported them since debut.

"This is like the first time I'm going to anything for Enhypen. Do you know how lucky we are to get these tickets? I don't even remember signing up and buying anything. But like, yay!"Bella was walking in circles around her living room in excitement. The other two girls sat on the couch; Kiyoko smiled as she held her MacBook in her lap, adoring how Bella was so happy she couldn't help but walk around, too excited to sit in one place, and Leilani with her legs spread on top of Kiyoko's like the raven-haired girl was her personal footrest.

"Yeah, we can tell how excited you are, but stop pacing and breathe." Leilani looked up from her phone, Kiyoko humming in agreement.

The curly-haired girl shook her head, continuing to walk around the room.

"This is real, and you won't be alone, so come sit before you make holes in the floor." Kiyoko patted the armchair a few inches away from her.

"Everything will be fine; you got it. Now seriously, it's down; you're making me nauseous." Leilani grabbed the girl's hand, stopping her from her cycle around the couch.

Bella glared at the girl but decided to sit down anyway to appease the older.

"When is this thing anyway?" As much as Leilani loved a good excuse to leave the house, she also had those days where she planned to do anything, and she wouldn't let some boy group ruin her day off from society.

Kiyoko checked the email. "Next Saturday. No school, so you can't give an excuse."

The freckled girl hummed in response; Saturday was good. She had the day off from work and no assignments to worry her head about; she would have a short stream in the morning and vlog on the way there.

Bella nodded. "Wait! Can we match? We never go out; this would be the perfect time for us to color coordinate. Please, it's going to be cold since it's in the afternoon, but that shouldn't be an issue; it's the perfect time to showcase our stylish trio." The curly-haired girl practically begged her two friends.

The girls shared a look. Bella was right; they never really go out or match; their styles were somewhat different, but they also wanted to make the girl happy. They couldn't ruin her special day, and it's not like they could make something work, so ultimately they agreed.

Realizing they had little to nothing in their closets, the girls went shopping. Truthfully, they could find clothes that they never wore, but what's the point of going through shelves and drawers for something they bought and threw to the side when they can just buy something entirely new?

The trio went shopping at the mall, and just their luck, they found some cute pieces they could make into great outfits. They only went into about four stores and were out within two hours, a new record if you asked them.

Fast forward, It was the day of the event, dressed in their best outfits, the girls left Bella's house and made their way through the city of Seoul to the KSPO Dome, Kiyoko had been there before, she used to practice as a gymnast when she first moved to Korea but eventually gave up on it as it was taking a toll on her body, although she still goes there from time to time an vists her old friends when olympic season comes around, the drive was a about thirty minutes so while Kiyoko drove, they sung along to the music from Leilani's Spotify playlist which consisted of American white girls, some R&B and a few Kpop songs, although Leilani was more focused on her fashion designs for her college assignment then singing along, it was the weekend, and it was due the next night so naturally she shouldn't finished it by now but as she says she works best under pressure. It's not like the girl had meant to put the work off for so long; she just simply forgot and remembered as soon as they went out to enjoy the day off. The arena coming into view, the girls groaned at how long the line was; they would be there for hours. They quickly found a parking spot and got out of the car, heading towards their destination.

The girls were now standing in line, waiting to enter the building. Bella and Kiyoko's nerves were all over the place, but surprisingly Leilani was calm; she was a little excited, but looking behind her, she could see other people who were also in the line; some looked nervous while others had the biggest grins on their faces; she was definitely standing out. It was cold in Seoul, and although she was dressed up nicely for the semi winter weather, she desperately wanted the doors to open so she could feel warm and stop freezing her butt off.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the line moves as the staff starts letting people in; the girls all take deep breaths as they make their way inside the venue. Inside, it was nice and toasty. Leilani could feel her heart getting less cold by the minute; the girls went through security and bag checks, Bella and Leilani getting weird looks from guards; one of them even went as far as checking Leilani's bag again. She wanted to say something, tell him there was no reason to because her bag was practically empty, but she kept her mouth closed, not wanting to start something and ruin her friend's day.

Leilani made her way to the seat after the blonde girl moved; as her time was up, the chair was one of those foldable lawn chairs people use for cookouts—not comfortable at all, but what was she supposed to do? Sim Jaeyun sat in front of her; she smiled at him, opening her mouth. Jake looked at her starstruck, cutting her greeting off.

"You're Leilani; I watch your streams and videos on Twitch. You are funny, and you don't even try, and your cosplays are amazing. I know that you think that you don't suit some, but you rock all of them. I started playing one of those Mihoyo games because of you, although I don't have a lot of time because of work. It's a really good game to play when we have days off, and I want to be alone." Jake rambled on; the freckled girl was shocked. She knew some people out in the world watched her and found comfort in her videos, but Jake wanted just anybody; he was a celebrity, and Leilani was just a normal college student, although she found comfort in knowing that even someone like him enjoyed the content she put out.

Although it was a small conversation, it felt like Leilani was the star and Jake was a fan. How the tables have turned! But the conversation focus did turn to him; at some point, they talked about his hobbies and how his life had been impacted since I-land. They talked about his relationships in the groups as well as other idols, but if we're being honest, the fluffy-haired boy spent the whole time fangirling about BTS and Ateez.

She moved on after the timer was up; she thought it was dumb, a timer? Timing people's conversation is such a stupid move; what if the conversation wasn't over? What if the other party had more to add? This was a form of speed dating, and Leilani wasn't a fan. Jungwon was next; Leilani went on telling him how much she adored him, how he was one of the first members that caught her eye in i-land, and how she appreciated all his hard work as a leader. Taking on such a big role at such a young age must be stressful; the latter talked about how he destresses by playing games, and thus the topic of Genshin Impact arose, and Leilani was more than happy to talk about her favorite game.

Then it was Jay, the boy who complimented her outfit and asked her if she was fashionable because of how detailed the pieces of her clothing were and that they delved into a conversation about her hobbies and her assignment that she's been putting off and only started today. Finally, after speaking to a third of the members, you then made it to the tall emo boy called Ni-ki. Leilani didn't know much about Enhypen as she was getting into the group, but Nishimura Riki was known as the boy who was better than her 'because I would've kicked everyone's ass' when she watched I-land.

Nishimura Riki thought a lot of people he came across were pretty, but the girl in front of him was absolutely gorgeous, her brown skin that complemented the freckles that scattered across her cheeks and light brown eyes that looked hazel under the overhead spotlight; she smelled like strawberries; warm strawberries were Ni-ki's favorite; he wondered if she liked her fruit like that too. her bohemian braids that had a perfect shade of brown with blonde streaks, the little butterfly jewelry that hung on some strands, and how they sat perfectly in a high ponytail with four single braids in front and some in the back. Niki had crushes before, but this was different.

"Hi." Even her voice was beautiful, a Korean accent with perfect English; the boy wondered if she was American. Maybe they could talk about their favorite places, but if she was American, then she would be leaving at some point; maybe she was here on vacation? He had heard about some students taking a gap semester and traveling, or maybe she was an exchange student, here for the school year? Niki wanted to know everything about her, calling her an overly fixated crush, but the young boy was intrigued, and she only said a word.

Opening his mouth to speak, he stumbled over his words, "H-Hi, I'm Nishimura R-, I'm Ni-ki."

Leilani laughed a little; his stutters were cute, but she didn't want to make it seem like she was laughing at him; she quickly apologized, introducing herself.

Leilani and Ni-ki eventually started talking about musicals, and Leilani might have talked about how she answered her friends, who were theater students, Ni-ki then asked about school and any performances they've done; Ni-ki learned that she went to SNU and she lived in Korea. The boy talked about how he wished he could go back to school and joked about how he could live vicariously through her when she went to what she called her eight hours of hell.

After that, it was Sunoo, The honey blond girl expressed how much she enjoyed his many vlogs and his vocals; the blonde boy complimented her on her outfit and makeup. Eventually, they got to talking about skincare products, and the girl with the boho braids noticed, out of the corner of her eye, a certain siren-eyed boy staring at her, but alas, when she looked back, his eyes were averted. The conversation with the blonde-haired boy ran a little long, which most likely annoyed the people behind her; she was thankful the staff let them finish up.

Talking with the last two members was like a breeze. Sunghoon was proactive with his English, so he would often try to answer or ask a question in the language. Leilani found it cute when he got frustrated about a word, but the girl was quick to help him through his endeavors. With Heeseung, it was smooth sailing. They started to talk about shows and movies, to which the girl gave some American recommendations, but somehow the conversation went towards home decor, but Leilani wasn't complaining; she enjoyed talking about how she decorated her room and her friends rooms.

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authors note: Hii!! Im lee and welcome to the secondchapter, how did you guys like it? Whats your impressions on everyone so far?? I hope you guys can stay for the ride and thank you for stopping by.

divders by @dollywons and @anitalenia.

ׂׂૢ TAGLIST: @rikidaze @momoch1s @regalfox @irikhrts

(comment or dm to be added!!)

#enhypen imagines #enhypen smau #enhypen au #enhypen niki #ni ki x reader #niki fluff #niki imagines #enhablr #enhypen angst #original character #comfort #dark humor #niki smau #nishimura riki #riki soft hours #riki scenarios

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fuck-customers · 11 months ago

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2.28.24

Genuinely cannot please these fucking people. All they do is bitch and whine that they never get good customer service but if you provide it to them you might as well have flipped them the bird the moment they walked into the store.

It’s Presidents’ Day.

Lady comes in masked up and with gloves. Mask, I get. Gloves? Eh alright. You do you. She’s walking around shopping (i work in an Adult Toy Store) and she comes up to me with a toy and says she wants this one but doesn’t want one that people have been taking out and messing with, it’s contaminated, she’s a “huge germaphobe” etc. so can I get her a new unopened one from the stock room? Sure, no problem. I know we don’t have anymore in the back but god forbid i tell her that without looking first so I go into the stock room, bum around for a few minutes, come back and tell her no but I’m more than happy to completely sanitize the item for her.

You have a problem, I have a solution.

Absolutely the fuck not, apparently. she gets huffy and says nevermind she doesn’t want it and she’ll find someone that can actually help her.

Fuck me i guess. whatever.

she doesn’t want anything to do with me given her attitude but consistently comes to me with problem after problem after problem despite the fact i’m not the only associate on the floor. every “problem” she has, I have a solution for, and she’s progressively getting more and more pissed off!!!

I’m not giving her any attitude or anything, I’m genuinely trying to help her find something that will work for her.

And now on to check-out. Finally, after like an hour of walking around she finds a toy. She didn’t even really want it but it was a box that was shrink-wrapped shut and couldn’t be opened so that’s what she had to “settle” for, as if i had a fucking gun to her head and made her buy anything in the first place.

I ask if she wants a rewards account.

“What is everything that entails?”

i explain it all to her and i just get the lead-poisoning boomer stare from this lady. she can’t be more than like 30, btw.

“…so would you like to make an account?”

“yes???”

see maam this is when you use your Big Girl words, yeah? you know what those are? when you at least open your fucking mouth and speak? maybe even include a “please”? honestly with the way she was acting i’d be surprised if her mouth could even sound out the fucking word.

go through getting her signed up which includes a name, an email, a phone number, and a birthday

we go through all of it and then once it gets to birthday i ask for the year (an 18+ verification, you can’t have an account if you’re underage and it’s REQUIRED IN OUR SYSTEM) and she just yells “I DONT WANT TO GIVE YOU THAT INFORMATION” and calls for my manager because i’m “being ridiculous”

maam.

i have your legal government name, your email, your phone number, and the month and day of your birth. you think adding the year you were born is going to make much of a difference here?

i don’t fucking know what her issue was.

also, for “a huge germaphobe” she sure was out shopping on the second largest shopping holiday of the year.

also later that same day i had a lady get mad because she asked if we had wide-toed shoes and i told her we don’t. this woman yells back “oh so cause i’m fat you think i can’t be a dancer?”

literally nobody fucking said anything about you being fat!!!!!

Posted by admin Rodney.

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nightmargin · 3 months ago

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Hi, sorry if this comes out of nowhere but some time ago I ordered the anniversary pin from moth parfait. Since then I can't enter the site anymore, not even to check my order situation (it always sends me to a work in progress page). I was hoping to get my order in on time for Christmas. Are there any news I didn't know about?

hello,

we sent out an email to all store customers a few weeks ago, sorry to hear you didn't receive it!

we've been dealing with some hiccups with our pin supplier in regards to enamel color and quality, but it's mostly resolved by now and we'll hopefully get our full order in soon. It should be ready for Christmas with some time to spare, thank you again for your patience!

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sweaterkittensahoy · 2 years ago

Text

Some financial advice that may be actually helpful

Based on one of y'all (sorry, I'm lazy, I'm not scrolling back) mentioning the terrible advice of "Make six figures."

Like, bitch. I'm TRYING.

But, let's say you live in a shocking world where you don't pull six figures out your bosses's ass every year. How can you make small financial changes that can lead to larger financial security?

These are all utterly subjective and based on things I've either actually done or just observed. I'm gonna try to skip over shit like, "shop for clothes second hand!" because shit like that can require a HUGE time commitment, and it's not even always worth it.

Anyway:

If your grocery store has a free rewards program (you put in your phone number or email address), get that set up. Yes, it will track what you purchase. But it also means when you get coupons in the mail, they're for things you actually buy. In our two-person household, we can save anywhere from 0-15 bucks a week depending on how coupons land.

If you can get a grocery card with fuel points (Fred Meyer and Safeway do it here in the PNW), you can save LOADS on gas. A dollar a gallon easily.

Also do any pet store reward programs that might be available. As the Bean does not require a great deal all the time, her rewards build up slowly, but every few months, we get enough points to get ten or twenty bucks off a purchase.

Do NOT buy in bulk if you're not gonna eat in bulk. Five pounds of rice is great if you eat rice regularly, but if you only have it every now and again, smaller portions of boxed rice are likely a better option. The same is true for any dried foods. Yeah, it's shelf stable, but it takes up more of the shelf. That could hold the stuff you actually eat steadily.

Frozen fruits/veggies are as healthy as fresh. And they'll stay ready to eat a lot longer. Consider that with how you eat and how much you eat a certain vegetable. It may be better worth your money to have three bags of frozen broccoli in your freezer than to keep buying fresh broccoli you forget to use in time.

If you're looking at a generic that says "Compare to BRAND NAME." It's the same formula. That's why they can say that. The reason it's cheaper is because the copyright or trademark costs money. Take that off, and boom. Cheaper cost for the same stuff.

If you have a car, know the way you drive it and how that can affect it. For example, if you do a lot of city driving, your transmission and (if applicable) stick shift are gonna wear down faster than you might expect. It's not always mileage. It's starting and stopping. However, if you drive long distances without stopping a lot (rural areas), your higher mileage car may not need any work on those things. Get your oil changed and your tires checked, and know what to look out for in terms of the kind of car you have and the driving you do. For example, we have less than 100k miles on our 15-year-old car, but we've mainly used it for city driving. We had to get the clutch re-built a few years ago, and last year we had to get the transmission goos updated because they'd run dry. These aren't surprising needs for a city-driven stick shift that's over ten years old.

There's a schedule to big shit going on sale in the US. Mattresses are a big thing around Memorial Day for some reason (Support the Fallen Troops by...fucking???). Electronics go big on sale before school starts and on Black Friday. Memorial Day is also big for cars, as is the 4th of July. If you hand make anything, certain colors of stuff go on sale before major holidays. Orange and black before Halloween. Red, green, and white before Christmas. Pastels before Easter. Etc.

Consider how much use a product will get before you decide you can or can't spend a little extra on it. Do 300-count sheets do the job? Yes. But speaking from recent experience, the 1500-count sheets feel so much nicer, which makes sleeping so much nicer, and I use them literally every single night, so the initial investment works out to basically the same even if I'd gotten cheaper sheets.

But also, stuff like sheets and comforters and stuff go on sale at various times! And your bed ain't gonna go through a growth spurt! Keep an eye out for those deals and scoop up the super soft stuff at a discount if you can!

And lastly on this main list, a very very important thing coming from a former poor kid: Fucking treat yourself. You know how much money you have. You know how much money you need. Maybe it's not hard to treat yourself because you're financially solvent, and in that case, this advice isn't for you. It's for those of us who have struggled to deviate at all from our list of NEEDS to give ourself even a very small WANT because WHAT IF I NEED FIVE BUCKS IN TWO DAYS. I get it. I do. To my bones. And I say fucking treat yourself, and if in two days, you suddenly need five bucks, do NOT feel bad that you got yourself a little something. You can't see into the future, and catastrophizing is so bad for you. Trust me. I know. Just. Remember, in all of this, give yourself a little focused care, okay?

All of that being said, a few more general points:

Dish soap is made to break up grease and oil, and it's commonly antibacterial. This makes it fucking perfect for cleaning your shower (covered in your greases and oils) and your bathroom in general (same reason). I don't recommend it for your toilet, but that's a personal preference based on zero research. The point is, most of your bathroom can be cleaned with dish soap. Get all your stuff off your counters. Make a thin layer with the dish soap. Let it sit for five to ten minutes. Scrub. Bonus: You can breathe the whole time.

Vinegar kills germs. Like, lab-tested kills germs. You can clean your kitchen with Vinegar and Borax (odor-reducer), and it costs a fraction of buying the kitchen-branded cleaners.

Borax is also great as an addition to laundry soap for odor-reducing reasons. So, even the cheap laundry soap is more effective with Borax.

"But Gayle, you can make your own laundry soap if you--" Yes, I know. And it's cool you know that. But it takes TIME to make laundry soap, and time is the only thing less reliable than money when it comes down to it.

Look up "No Buying" options in your area. This is usually a Facebook group or maybe a subreddit. The goal is that no one in the group wants to buy or sell anything. They just have stuff they want to get out of their house. It's not a 24/7 goldmine, but it's a once-a-day scroll through that could lead you to a pricey item for free!

If you have stuff that says "handwash," and you think, "Okay, I want to, but that's a whole new task." Nah. Just take a shower and bring it with! Hell, wear it in if you have to. I do this a LOT. Use the water and your soap (which, as it's likely a body wash or soap, will break down those skin oils and such) and give it a good washing while you stand there. Then, squeeze out the excess water and toss that thing over the shower rod. If you have a drying rack, use it. But if you don't, just leave it where it is and leave the fan going. It'll take care of itself. Just double check the label to know if hot water is a bad idea and if you need to lay flat or hang dry. If you need to lay flat, super squeeze the water out and lay it flat wherever you can.

And, lastly for this long post: If you need the expensive shit, buy the expensive shit. I have celiac and MCAS. My bread is five bucks a loaf. Peanut Butter fucks up my histamines. Almond fucks up my histamines. I need five dollar bread and fucking cashew butter to make a fucking sandwich. But the other option is getting sick from putting stuff in my body my body will fight against, and trust me, those urgent care visits stack up.

#financial advice #but like in a if it helps way #if none of this helps #it's not good advice for you #saving money #using coupons #self-care

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