#LOOK ME IN THE EYE AND READ THAT ALOUD TO ME HOMIE. ''THE US IS NOT A CHRISTIAN NATION'' SHUT UP YOU ARE SO STUPID

[villalunae]

"the us is not a christian nation" says who. george washington?? thomas jefferson??? bilbo baggins?? u mean the bitches who u say we shouldnt care abt just cuz they wrote the constitution back in ye old swagless white boy days and their opinions dont matter to us anymore. u mean those bitches. and ur gonna believe their little dumb bitch asses when they say "the us is not a christian nation" Boy Do You Know What Bias Looks Like Cause Im Boutta Woop You With It

[ravagedarkness]

Spider-Man: Home Rebuilt, Chapter 28: Reunions

After class, we all met at my apartment. Kitty was the first one to arrive, coming with my old suit and gadgets. According to her, it was rather easy. She literally phased in, grabbed the stuff, and phased out. The only snag she had was the fact there was a tracker in one of the webslingers – one that she quickly found and placed on a nearby city bus.

“They tried it,” she said with a laugh.

Like Kitty suggested, we all wore some of our best clothes. We were all dressed in black and white suits with black trench coats – even Kitty, MJ, and Betty. Once all seven of us were gathered, we made our way down and piled into Craig’s Highlander. Ned, MJ, and I took the back seat. Betty and Kitty took the row in front of us. Craig, of course, drove while Scott sat in the front passenger side. As Craig pulled off, no one said a word. I guess everyone knew how serious this was for me.

I was between Ned and MJ. The latter held my right hand with her left, her fingers laced between mines. On my lap was a bouquet of white roses that I bought at Scott’s urging. Ned was looking out of the window as the snow fell. He then sighed before he looked over at me.

“Hey Peter?” he said.

“What’s up, dude?” I replied.

“How well did I know your Aunt?”

I chuckled. “Extremely well. You’ve been over to our apartment so many times that you practically lived there. Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure you’re the reason my room had a bunk bed. You came over for almost any reason – to study, build a Legos set, watch movies, have dinner, you name it.” I smiled. “She would sometimes I say she had two nephews. And, honestly, I agree.”

Ned nodded. “I wish I could remember it… but I’m still glad you guys accepted me.”

I nodded back. “I’m glad you became my friend.”

“I guess dorks of a feather flock together,” MJ deadpanned. She turned her head towards us and gave us a sly smirk.

“I know,” Ned replied. “That’s why you’re back here with us.”

“You’re right, and I hate myself for it every day.”

I smiled as I shook my head. I then looked at her. “We’re your dorks, though.”

“And don’t you two forget it.” This time, she said this in a sincere tone as her smile became wider. I smiled back at her before I leaned over and placed a kiss on her temple.

Sometime later, we arrived at the graveyard Aunt May was buried at. After Craig parked the SUV, we all filed out before I led the group to Aunt May’s grave, carrying the bouquet in my hands as I did so. It didn’t take too long for us to find her. Once we did, we all stood in front of the gravestone. My eyes looked over the gravestone, reading the words that were engraved in it.

“When you help someone, you help everyone,” Betty read aloud.

“Q-q-quite the motto, I-I-I’d say,” Craig commented. I looked over my shoulder at him, seeing him rub his hands up and down his upper arms as he shivered.

“You okay?” I asked him.

“I’m g-g-good. Just every now and again, the w-weather reminds me I’m a South Florida boy.”

“I promise I won’t take too long.”

“T-t-take however long you need, homie. Don’t w-w-worry about me.”

“Are you sure?”

“People are out in the cold every day, man. I’ll be alright.”

I nodded before I looked forward. I stepped up before I kneeled down and laid the bouquet in front of the gravestone. I then stood up and took a step back. I took a moment to try and think of what I wanted to say. After that moment, I decided to just… speak.

“Hey Aunt May,” I said. “…I’m sorry it took me a while to come by and see you. I’ve been going through some things, trying my best to come to terms with decisions I made. But… I’m here now. I, um… I brought some friends with me. You already know Ned and MJ. But, I made some new friends since the last time we spoke. This is Scott Summers, Betty Brant, Kitty Pryde, and Craig Pierre, Jr.”

“H-h-hello,” Craig said.

“Hi, May,” Kitty chimed in.

“Pleased to meet you,” Betty greeted heartily.

“A pleasure,” Scott added.

“Yeah I… I know you’re probably upset with me for isolating myself. It took me a while to realize that it’s okay to have bonds with people again. But, here I am with six people who I’d do anything to protect. I’m still doing the superhero thing. I even joined a group – the X-Men. We’re a bit small now, but we’ve been doing great work, and we’ll only grow, I’m sure. We’ve kind of had our hands full with Scorpion. As a matter of fact, he kind of handed me and Craig our butts on a silver platter.”

“She doesn’t need to know all that, man,” Craig interjected with mock annoyance. I looked over my shoulder and smiled at him. He responded with a wink. I then faced forward and continued.

“We’ll get Scorpion, though,” I promised. “But, beyond that, MJ and I reunited. It wasn’t an easy road, and a lot of it was my fault. But we worked things out. Of course, I got my best friend back, and Betty’s been a great friend too. She’s the one who calls our group The American Idiots.” I smiled briefly. That smile then faded. “Aunt May, I’m going to be honest. I miss you. I’m going to miss you forever. And even to this day, I wish there were things I did differently.” My voice started to crack, and my felt my eyes start to water. However, I was determined to keep on going. “But, I know you wouldn’t want me to dwell on that. I know you wouldn’t want me to keep on carrying the world on my shoulders and I’m… slowly… trying to share that weight with the others.” I paused a moment to wipe the tears away from my eyes with my forearm. “You’ve been like a mother and a big sister to me. Even to this day, you’re a huge influence on how I do things, and I thank you for that. And while I wish you were still alive, I know you’re with me, still. So, I promise, I’ll do everything I can to do you proud. I know I’ll sometimes fail, but I’ll promise you my best.

“So… I won’t say goodbye. I’ll say, see you later.” I smiled. “I Larb you, Aunt May.”

I closed my eyes and bowed my head, making a silent prayer. Some moments later, I felt several arms around me. I lifted my head to see the others hugging me. I smiled happily as I did my best to hug them back. Randomly, I remembered the fact that, for the most part, spiders aren’t social organisms. Internally, I scoffed. I was no ordinary human, so why should I be an ordinary spider?

We remained like that for several seconds before a voice spoke up.

“Oh, sorry guys, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

I knew that voice.

We all parted and looked towards the source of the voice. I then raised my eyebrows as my voice went ajar.

In front of us was Happy Hogan. He was the one who spoke up. As usual, he was dressed in his normal black and white suit. And he wasn’t alone. Standing with him was…

“Pepper?” Scott said.

It was indeed Pepper Potts. Memories of the times I had with the Starks flooded my mind. However, they were overshadowed by me wondering how Scott and Pepper knew each other. I looked past her to see a little girl partially behind her right leg. I smiled. That had to be Morgan.

“Scott,” Pepper said. She then looked around at the rest of us. “Craig… Kitty… it’s been a while.”

“Yeah, it has been.” Scott moved to the front of us. He then looked at Happy. “Happy, I see you’re the same as ever.”

“Gotta stay in tiptop shape when you’re protecting one of the powerful women in the world, you know?” At that Scott nodded. After that, Happy looked towards me. “You… I remember you. You’re… Peter right? Still coming by to see May, huh?”

“Is that why you’re all here?” Pepper asked. “I didn’t know you all had a connection with May. Not that I’m surprised, considering how many people she’s reached.”

“They’re here to support me,” I finally said, stepping forward in front of everyone. “…Hello, Ms. Potts. I’m Peter.” I brought my hand out. Pepper stepped forward and took my hand before giving it a rather firm shake.

“Pleased to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine.”

“We were helping Peter pay his respects,” Scott explained. “It seems like you two came to do the same. So, we’ll be on our way.”

“Now hold on,” Pepper interjected. “Scott, it’s been a long while. You haven’t visited, you haven’t called. Quite frankly, I’ve been worried about you.”

“I didn’t think we were on good terms still, considering all that happened.”

Pepper grimaced. “I’ve been over that for a while.” She glanced at me, Ned, Betty, and MJ. I looked back at Ned, who looked like he was trying his best to contain his excitement. MJ, for her part, held a neutral expression while Betty looked a bit apprehensive. I looked back at Pepper, who was looking back at Scott. “…Do they know about you, Kitty, and Craig’s side job?”

“…We do,” I spoke up. “…I…” I trailed off before I looked at Scott. He looked at me for a few moments. He then nodded, giving me the go ahead. I looked at Pepper and Hogan. “…My full name is Peter Benjamin Parker. I’m May Parker’s nephew. I’m also Spider-Man.”

Pepper and Hogan looked at me with wide eyes. “Scott… is this true?” Pepper asked, her eyes still locked on me.

“It is,” Scott confirmed.

“So all this time, May Parker was an aunt?” Happy said, looking me up and down. “And her nephew is Spider-Man? How did I not know this?”

“…You used to,” I said. I looked at the both of them. “You both used to.”

“It’s a long story,” Kitty spoke up. “But, I don’t think this is the time or place.”

Pepper looked at Kitty for a moment, then back at me. I could see the gears turning in her head. After some moments, she spoke.

“Happy and I are going to pay our respects to May,” she said. “After that, we’re all going to have a talk at my place. And no, this isn’t up for debate.”

“Understood,” Scott said with a nod. “We’ll give you your space for now.” With that, he beckoned us to follow as he walked several feet away. As the rest of us walked after him, MJ walked up to my side and took my hand.

“So, you knew Pepper?” she asked. “Before The Spell, I mean.”

“I did,” I confirmed. “Everything Stark knew about me, she knew about me.” I paused for a moment. “…I didn’t expect her to be here. But… I guess it was as good of a time to tell them.” As Scott came to a stop, I looked at him. “…Um, Scott… how do you know Pepper?”

“Through Tony,” he said. He sighed. “Tony and I used to be friends. We were even teammates, sort of. …I used to be an Avenger. A Dark Avenger, to be exact.”

I tilted my head. “A Dark Avenger?”

“Basically, Natasha… Black Widow… she had a secret team of Avengers under her leadership. Basically, we handled more of the Black Ops type of missions. We had an arrangement. The government only knew us by our codenames – no real names or even where we were from. On the flipside, if any of us was captured or worse in a foreign country, we’re basically treated as independent actors, with no paper trail to trace us back to SHIELD or the U.S. Government. Needless to say, we got paid under the table. Anyway, Tony and I had a falling out over The Accords. We never got a chance to patch things up. I wanted to talk to him after The Battle for Earth, but… you know.” I nodded sadly. “So, because of that, I distanced myself from The Starks altogether.”

“I see.” I shook my head. “I feel like there’s a lot I don’t know about you.”

“That’s because there is a lot you don’t know about me. But we’ll have that conversation soon enough.”

Soon after, we were on the road again, tailing Pepper and Happy. We drove to downtown Manhattan, stopping briefly to grab food. Morgan was hungry and craving cheeseburgers.

We finally reached Pepper Potts’ penthouse apartment. It was quite large – as large as the X-Men’s apartment. The carpeting was thick, the red furniture set looked extra comfortable, the tiling of the kitchen and dining room area was made of marble – I think it was Rose Aurora.

I didn’t have time to really take in the place, however. Pepper sat us all down in the dining room area. After burgers and drinks were handed out to all of us, she urged me to explain everything. As MJ held my hand under the table, I did, beginning from Tony recruiting me to take on the anti-Accords Avengers in Germany, to him making me his protégé of sorts, to Beck, and all the way to The Spell. Like when I told MJ, Ned, and Betty, I didn’t spare or exaggerate any details.

Once I was done, Pepper and Happy looked at me, quietly dumbfounded. After taking a breath, Pepper spoke.

“Okay,” she began slowly. “…First off, let me begin by saying I’m extremely sorry that you’ve been through all of that.” She shook her head. “Honestly, while Quentin Beck was always a genius, well… I’d say he had more than a few screws loose, but that would assume they were in place to begin with.” She sighed. “But why didn’t you come to me? I could have done something.”

“Well, for one, it happened rather quickly,” I said. “And I… I’m going to be honest, I didn’t handle it well.”

“I’d say,” Happy chimed in. “Then again, apparently, neither did I, so…” He shrugged.

“I just have so many questions.” Pepper stared at me. “Like… where are you living? Are you still in school? And do you have a job?”

“I’m living in a small studio apartment in Manhattan. I’m getting my GED. Scott’s actually my teacher.”

“He’s doing extremely well,” Scott chimed in. “He’s arguably my best student since Kitty.”

I looked at him. There was a look of pride on his face. Bashfully, I nodded towards him before returned my attention to Pepper. “And I got a job as a photographer with the Daily Bugle, thanks to Betty.”

At that, Pepper scoffed. “You’re working for the one news outlet that constantly slanders you on a daily basis and helped fund Justin Hammer. I don’t know how you can do it, but I hope the job pays well.”

“Well, I’m not struggling for rent, so there’s that,” I confirmed. “Plus it’s not all bad. Betty’s a pleasure to work with.” I looked at her and smiled. Betty’s face became a bit flush, but she responded with a smile of her own. I looked back at Pepper. “Things have been rocky for a bit, but because of the people you see here with me, I’ve been doing a lot better.”

“I see.” Pepper went quiet again. During this, I picked up my cheeseburger with my freehand and took a bite out it. It was during this that Pepper spoke again, leaning forward. “Peter, Scott… I know this is a last moment request but… is there any way the two of you can swing by Stark Industries tomorrow. I feel like there’s a lot the three of us need to catch up on.”

“Yeah, about that,” MJ spoke. She squeezed my hand gently, causing me to look at her. “I’m coming with. As a matter of fact, the rest of the American Idiots are coming, too.”

Pepper tilted her head. “I’m sorry, American Idiots?”

“Everyone you see here sans Scott is an American Idiot,” Craig explained. “…It’s because of the St. James incident. It’s our thing. Thank Betty for that. But yeah, looks like we’re coming along.”

“…Okay, no offense, but given the sensitivity of what we’ll be talking about, I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

“Just let it happen,” Scott said. “Michelle, here, is rather protective of Peter, as one would be with their significant other. And the X-Men and The American Idiots are basically his family. Given that I believe what you’re going to talk to Peter and myself about is going to be major, I think the both of us would be more comfortable if they were around.”

“Besides, if you say no, Kitty and I will just sneak in with the others,” Ned said simply.

At that, Hogan scoffed as he looked over at Ned. “Look, I understand you’re pretty smart, being a Midtown student and all, and Kitty here is a superhero. But SI’s security system is the best in the world – especially since I’m the head of it. Do you honestly think you guys could sneak in?”

As if it to answer that question, Kitty, who was sitting next to Happy, lifted up her left hand and dropped a wallet on the table, right in front of him. “This you?” she asked. Happy raised his eyebrows before he slowly picked up the wallet opened it. He then cleared his throat as he sheepishly put the wallet away in his suit jacket.

“Mommy,” Morgan spoke up, surprising me.

“Yes sweetheart?” Pepper replied.

“Is she a magician?”

At that, Kitty chuckled. “No, Morgan. I’m just a ninja.”

At that, Morgan’s eyes lit up. “COOOOOOL!!!”

“And just because of that, you’re on my list of babysitters,” Pepper remarked. Something told me she was serious. “Fine, you can all come. But I’m going to trust that you guys comport yourselves in a proper manner. Also – and I guess this goes without saying, given that you’re all familiar with the extracurricular activities of Scott, Kitty, Craig, and Peter here – you didn’t hear anything about what will be talked about tomorrow. Understood?” We all said our confirmations. “Good.”

Things went quiet for a bit. And then…

“Peter,” Morgan said.

“Yes, Morgan?” I replied.

“Are you really Spider-Man?”

“I am.” I smirked.

“Can you take me webslinging?”

From the corner of my eye, I saw Pepper give me a warning glare. At that, I chuckled.

“Maybe when you’re older.”

[azucanela]

being zuko’s s/o would include hcs?

BEING ZUKO’S S/O [GENDER NEUTRAL!READER]

BEING KORRA’S S/O | BEING SOKKA’S S/O

SUMMARY: being zuko’s s/o from the confession to the weddin’ [say this but make it rhyme the way those singers do ya know]

WORD COUNT: 2.5k

WARNINGS: kissing, very mildly implied nsfw, soft zuko, a dragon

A/N: these are gonna be extensive bc there is no scenario but if you want whole fics there are like 6342 zuko fics coming since everyone is a zuko simp. also wow this is really long um i hope its what you wanted!

GETTING INTO THE RELATIONSHIP

you guys have probably known each other a long time, because homebody does not fall for just anyone, so if you become the object of his affections, you better feel HONORED. hehe honored 

i feel like it takes him a lot of time to actually accept his feelings for you are beyond platonic. the main reason he falls for you is probably your consistency in his life since thats something he tends to lack. like his mom? gone. his dad? kicked him out of the only place he ever knew. his life is filled with major changes so if you guys have known each other since childhood then consistency is key

once he realizes he likes you he kinda panics because what if you don’t accept him? what if you leave? even worse, what if you leave because he likes you? so now he’s panicking, and naturally, as one does, Zuko avoids his problems. You, being the problem. And his emotions, but he is in denial so

definitely talks to his uncle about the two of you A LOT, especially when he is first figuring out his feelings and trying to figure out what to do about them

his uncle is an elite wingman, constantly tries to get the two of you to be alone in the same space or get information out of you in regards to you

when it comes to confessing i can see a few situations

situation one is that zuko confesses completely by accident, freaks out, disappears, avoids you even more, like homie is a mess. after you get fatally injured, or maybe when he thinks you are asleep, or he just kinda blurts it out in conversation when you guys are doing something domestic. regardless, it is entirely by accident, and now zuko is freaking the heck out. 

“i really like this tea.”

“i really like you.”

“excuse me-”

“i goTTA GO FEED MY DRAGOn Y/N!”

“you don’t have a dragon!”

so that’s how zuko gets his dragon from LOK, storytime over

you kinda have to find him and get a word in before he runs off because he is really scared of rejection, he doesn’t want you to leave and assumes that if the situation is never addressed then you can’t leave woohoo problem solved. 

his uncle yells at him lol

when you corner him you gotta confess super fast and handle his anxieties because he is super worried about you hating him now even though it is the opposite. 

“please don’t leave me.”

“i’m not gonna leave my boyfriend.”

“your- your what?”

“we are dating now. i like you, you like me, so we are dating.”

situation two is equally chaotic, but far less dancing around the feelings since you confess! congrats! you have more balls than me! im so proud! good job bb!

when you confess, its probably late at night, a comfortable silence between the two of you, or maybe he’s ranting about something, like how dumb the concept of tea is idk. regardless this is DOMESTIC, so it’s soft and cute and you are just like you know what screw it this nerd is so easily flustered by me maybe he likes me back! look at us cuddling like a couple! might as well make it official!

zuko.exe error, not working

you broke him good job. 

he externally panics and internally congratulates himself while panicking. he is very shocked you feel that way for him because he is an oblivious boy. 

“honestly, i don’t understand why my uncle likes those flavored water leaves so much-”

“i don’t understand why i’m in love with you.”

“WHAT.”

if y’all were cuddling on a bed or smth he THROWS YOU OFF BY ACCIDENT SKJDHJFHKHWJKF oopsie, he just gets up so quickly that you kinda go tumbling.

homie literally asks you why so naturally you gotta start listing all of these reasons why because hes like perfect and beautiful and yeah we all love him a lot :D marry me zuko <3

you gotta give him a hot minute to process all the information you just gave him, he is in shock for a short while, kinda just sitting there confused. once it gets through his thick skull that you like him he’s gonna thank you 💀

then he’ll ask you how you wanna handle this and boom you have a boyfriend now good job! 

DURING THE RELATIONSHIP

dating during a war is hard so when y’all first start dating, probably towards the end of the war when he finally joins the Gaang, its gonna be really chaotic and you guys are still gonna be sorting through everything, like what kinda couple do you wanna be? neither of you know

kisses are rare during this time, especially since zuko is a generally private person who doesn’t really do PDA much, especially since he wants to avoid teasing and judgement from others. he’s a real people pleaser at the end of the day, he literally spent three years of his life looking for someone the world thought just disappeared permanently because he wanted his dad’s validation.

when you two do kiss, it tends to be a night in your shared tent, even then Zuko is weary of Toph’s seismic senses.

his kisses tend to be soft and sensual, he really just wants to take his time and enjoy it. however, bb does have a temper so you can expect some spice on occasion when he gets frustrated.

this comes later on in the relationship, once the war is resolved, but that just brings about new problems! like having to deal with the new fire lord who is always busy as your boyfriend!

especially at the beginning, when he’s newly crowned and everything is busy and new and he’s struggling with being organized, he rarely has time for you. however, you are likely his right hand, main advisor, general, whatever your area of expertise is he will find you a position in the castle, unless you tell him you want to stay out of politics. though, deep down, he wants to give you a position so he can spend time with you

once things calm down and he’s got being fire lord in the bag, he starts blocking in time during his day to actually take you out on dates and stuff

at one point just disappears for the whole day with you and everyone thinks he’s been kidnapped until they realize you aren’t around either

that’s not very responsible of you guys smh you have a nation to run 

is soft with you, though zuko’s temper definitely lessened when he became Fire Lord, but it no doubt shows itself sometimes, but never with you

well need your assurance sometimes because he gets insecure

like why is the beautiful amazing intelligent woman dating me i do not understand what the heck why have you not left me yet

knock some sense into him

also gets worried that he is a horrible ruler and wants you to tell him that he in fact does his job very well

did you forget you helped end a war zuko?

kiss. his. scar. give him love, its one of few physical parts of himself that he is insecure about and if you kiss him there he might start crying because wow intimacy didn’t know what that was

speaking of intimacy, he is a touch starved boy so when you start giving him love do not stop, never deprive him of cuddles he gets grumpy

lol play volleyball with him

very domestic??? like his parents highkey did not like eachother so now he just wants to hold your hand, lay with you in the morning, wake up to your pretty face, and just cuddle with you while you read aloud 

overall you two are a power couple and zuko simps for you 25/8 you rule as a team and he values you and your opinion VERY much, tries to take you out as often as he can despite his VERY demanding job, and expresses his love to the best of his ability

MARRIAGE N STUFF

zuko took the throne YOUNG he was like 16, so he is not proposing until y’all are at least adults, but i imagine that he is probably gonna wanna date you for like at least three years before proposing

he wants to make sure you are there to stay even if you’ve been around since childhood

there are two ways he is gonna propose here

situation one is where he kinda just does it,,, randomly? like out of nowhere he realizes that w o w he wants to marry you, he wants to spend the rest of his life with you and dedicate everything to you because you are HIS forever person

so he’s kinda just laying with you in the morning, nice soft kisses here and there, will not let you leave the bed and you are definitely complaining, especially if you have a position in the palace and need to get to work

regardless its a soft moment, there’s light filtering in through the window in your shared room, and its shining on your face, and yeah you are lowkey a mess because its the morning but you are just,, so,, beautiful??

and you start telling him about your plans for the, playing with his hair and stuff, and he’s listening to his heartbeat when he breaks from your hold and looks up at you and is just like

“marry me.”

“we also need to feed your dragon- wait what”

you are kinda just in shock for a moment, so you sit up and look at him, mouth gaping open like

“are you serious?”

he suddenly realizes he doesn’t have a ring and it is 7AM in the morning and it is not the best time for this

“...yes”

now you are laughing, falling back onto the pillows, and maybe there’s a tear in your eye as you nod rapidly, “okay, yes.”

now you are thinking of the fake story you are gonna tell people when they asked how he proposed because you are NOT saying it was in bed at 7AM while you were looking like a whole mess

“yes? yes as in yes you will marry me? are you serious?” 

such an idiot, but he’s cute its okay

you kiss him and its passionate and adorable, and he kisses back but he quickly breaks apart and is like “you’re sure? because i don’t have a ring-”

“how have you successfully run a country.”

“good thing you are gonna join me on the throne i suppose.”

“oh my god you’re right-”

“you aren’t reconsidering are you?”

“NO.”

have fun being the fire god woo

now y’all go back to making out and traumatize whatever advisor comes to check on you because they’re like where are the people who rule this country??? 

situation two is where he has been carrying around the ring for MONTHS but is looking for the perfect time to propose because you are perfect so this must be perfect

he couldn’t sleep and in the middle of the night he was like WELP I WANNA GET ENGAGED and kinda just decided he was gonna marry you

since you were asleep he couldn’t ask you right then and these

confides in the gaang and everyone is super excited

now he’s been walking around with this ring for months and what is he supposed to do now oh god

the gaang is like stop procrastinating bro, just ASK HER, and hes like NO IT NEEDS TO BE PERFECT

they help him set up the palace courtyard and make it all nice, there are lanterns, and candles, and a path of rose petals, and this time around he does have a ring so yes its great

he’s like hey let’s go for a walk! and you’re like okay??? lol

so you two are walking around the palace, holding hands, when he leads you to the courtyard and you are just like DAMN this is romantic AND pretty

“i think we are interrupting Zuko let’s leave”

“what do you mean interrupting-”

“well someone clearly put in a lot of effort!”

“that someone is me!”

:O

its not that he isn’t romantic its just that he’s never done something like this so now you’re confused

“did i forget our anniversary?”

“no.”

NOW you understand, looking around, you turn back to him to find that he’s on one knee, you two are in front of the pond with the turtleducks and wow it must be raining why is there water on your face? haha...

he tells you he loves you and that he wants to spend the rest of his life with you, and how he hopes he never loses you because you are just so vital to his life and his being and everything he’s done to make this world a better place has been for you and damn zuko you wonder if he got possessed

obviously you agree

and obviously something goes wrong

when he stands you tackle him with a hug and you two fall into the pond

oops 

the wedding[disclaimer: i have never been to a wedding so i do not know what happens in weddings, feel free to educate me pls] is either REALLY intimate and private, or really big and stuff, since you gotta go through that whole coronation process now and like public weddings n stuff

no matter what his uncle is the one who walks you down the aisle.

change my mind.

you cant. 

the intimate one is almost similar to eloping, probably happens in the court yard where he proposed, and you are wearing a AMAZING outfit, whether its a tux, an amazing dress, a jumpsuit, you gonna look FIRE

hehe fire

anyways it’ll probably be the people who fought with him in the war, the gaang, the white lotus, kyoshi warriors, maybe a few others, 

its a really nice ceremony, and the courtyard is decorated so beautifully, though Zuko considered putting a fence around the pond considering what happened when he proposed lol

if its a more public wedding, then its going to feel like the entire Fire Nation came to watch y’all get married, much more flashy, there’s a band performance, a banquet, y’all gotta use the ballroom so that everyone can dance 

kinda nerve wracking ngl

regardless, after you two get married nothing really changes because you always acted like an old married couple, and even as the other ruler of the fire nation, you always had an important job in the palace so its kinda just the same but more official

its a vibe

moral of the story is zuko is a simp for you and your marriage is mutual simping, that is all

A/N: i kinda went off ngl, also im about to hit 200 followers and i feel as though i should do something special so i am taking suggestions pls

taglists[lmk if you wanna be added or removed :D]

zuko: @shawni-h @lil-lex1 @boxofteenageideas @izzieserra @eridanuswave @bigbuckyenergy @outerxorbit

permanent: @chewymoustachio

[princessofmerchants]

A reaction post to Nesta's return to the cottage as I reread ACOSF

To all my ACOTAR ~ ACOSF homies...

The next time you reread the whole series from the beginning, after ACOTAR chapter 3, take a moment to put that book down, pick up ACOSF chapter 55, and flip or scroll to the last stretch of this chapter. Read it.

It starts:

"War had left the cottage untouched. But the harsh winters since Nesta had last seen it had not been so kind."

The last part of ACOSF chapter 55 is Nesta's return to the cottage where she lived with her family at the start of the whole tale in the first book.

Read Nesta's words, both in her own mind and spoken aloud to Cassian, about her rage and sorrow and even about her behavior in that time of her life.

The depth and complexity and raw vulnerability we get in this scene is some of the most powerful strength we see in this book — way more powerful than wielding death magic and cursed trove objects.

She didn’t mean to, but she looked toward the dark fireplace. Toward the mantel. Her father’s wood figurines lay atop it, thickly coated with dust and cobwebs. Some had been knocked over, presumably by whatever creatures now lived here. That familiar roaring filled her ears, and Nesta’s steps thudded too loudly on the dusty floorboards as she approached the fireplace. A carving of a rearing bear—no bigger than her fist—sat in the center. Nesta’s fingers shook as she picked it up and blew off the dust. “He had some skill,” Cassian said quietly. “Not enough,” Nesta said, setting the bear back onto the stone mantel. She was going to vomit. No. She could master this. Master herself. And face what lay before her. She inhaled through her nose. Exhaled through her mouth. Counted the breaths.

Then:

“He made this one for Elain. Since it was winter and she missed the flowers.” “Did he ever make any for you?” “He knew better than to do that.” She inhaled a shuddering breath, held it, released it. Let her mind calm. “I think he would have, if I’d given him the smallest bit of encouragement, but … I never did. I was too angry.” “You’d had your life overturned. You were allowed to be angry.” “That’s not what you told me the first time we met.” She pivoted to find him arching a brow. “You told me I was a piece of shit for letting my younger sister go into the woods to hunt while I did nothing.” “I didn’t say it like that.” “The message was the same.” She squared her shoulders, turning to the small, broken cot in the shadows beyond the fireplace. “And you were right.” He didn’t reply as she strode to the cot. “My father slept here for years, letting us have the bedroom. That bed in there … I was born in that bed. My mother died in that bed. I hate that bed.” She ran a hand over the cracking wood of the cot’s frame. Splinters snagged at her fingertips. “But I hate this cot even more. He’d drag it in front of the fire every night and curl up there, huddling under the blankets. I always thought he looked so … so weak. Like a cowering animal. It enraged me.” “Does it enrage you now?” A casual, but careful question. “It …” Her throat worked. “I thought him sleeping here was a fitting punishment while we got the bed. It never occurred to me that he wanted us to have the bed, to keep warm and be as comfortable as we could. That we’d only been able to take a few items of furniture from our former home and he’d chosen that bed as one of them. For our comfort. So we didn’t have to sleep on cots, or on the floor.” She rubbed at her chest. “I wouldn’t even let him sleep in the bed when the debtors shattered his leg. I was so lost in my grief and rage and … and sorrow, that I wanted him to feel a fraction of what I did.” Her stomach churned. He squeezed her shoulder, but said nothing. “He had to have known that,” she said hoarsely. “He had to have known how awful I was, and yet … he never yelled. That enraged me, too. And then he named a ship after me. Sailed it into battle. I just … I don’t understand why.” “You were his daughter.” “And that’s an explanation?” She scanned his face, the sadness etched there. Sadness—for her. For the ache in her chest and the stinging in her eyes. “Love is complicated.”

My Tumblr is in many ways like a reading journal for me, to document the stuff that lands hard and that I want to remember.

This whole scene is really fucking messy, in a different way from ACOSF chapter 50 by the lake. And yet the two echo each other in how, in both scenes, Nesta is facing things that hurt to face.

There doesn't need to be a perfect resolution to feelings about a really complicated familial relationship like that between Nesta and her father. It isn't going to be resolved with a perfect bow tied on top.

It can, however, be faced, acknowledged, and (eventually) let go.

That this scene demonstrates this is everything. It's validating and real and true.

[devil-in-the-d3tails]

It’s the End of the World As We Know It - Chapter 5

summary: During the international quarantine in your first-ever pandemic, the people around you slowly begin to disappear. As the world grows quieter and quieter, you find yourself all alone-- no power, no friends, and only one goal: to find whoever of your friends might be left and reunite with them.You're naive to think anything can be that simple. As you're faced with ever-increasing loneliness, you run into some boys who apparently went to the same high school as you. Will you join forces with them to figure out your strange circumstances together, or will you brave loneliness in a world that is slowly crumbling apart?

Link on AO3!

words: 5,453

rating: M - Mature

genre: angst/humor, romance, adventure, apocalypse AU, reader-insert

warnings: sort of depressing content, a smidge of violence, cursing, drug use, alcohol consumption

a/n: thank you for reading! <3

- It’s Loud in Here -

When the three of you make it back and hide your car in the same place as before, the gym is empty, except for an excited Indie, who comes bounding up to greet you, Bokuto, and Kuroo with kisses and a wagging tail. You’re a little alarmed at the lack of Kenma and Oikawa, but Kuroo and Bokuto aren’t too worried.

“Kenma’s probably wandering around the school, he does that sometimes. And Oikawa… eh, I dunno, he probably bothered Iwaizumi enough to hitch along with him and Akaashi.” Kuroo explains, and flops down on his bed. “We can move all your stuff in here after a quick nap.” He declares, and you’re in agreement with him-- you desperately need to shower, so you retrieve your toiletries from the car, and head off to the girls’ locker room.

Unfortunately, the water doesn’t get warm at all, but you can’t find it within yourself to care at the moment. You watch as the water cascades down your sore body-- you’ve been manhandled way too much today, and you can already feel the bruises forming around your ribs where that creepy red-head grabbed you. Squirting shampoo into your hair, you furiously scrub at your scalp in an attempt to clean yourself of all the shit you just went through this morning.

The image of your dad’s car won’t leave your mind-- it’s like you see it right in front of you every time you blink, a constant image in the back of your mind that you know you won’t be able to shake. How could someone just disappear like that? And why was it only the adults? Callie had said that her sister disappeared, but her sister was at least thirty…

Your head hurts, but you can’t stop thinking about it. Is there a way to reverse whatever happened? Is there an age limit as far as who disappears? Is it aliens?

You laugh a little to yourself at that thought. While you run the conditioner through your hair, you brush it out, too, and you sigh in absolute happiness as you wash your body with your usual soap from home. It’s pretty nice taking a shower in these dreary locker rooms, since nobody else is here to bother you.

Having washed hair and a washed body truly makes you feel like a new person, and you sigh happily after drying off and slipping on fresh, warm clothes. You even pull on your fuzzy socks, and as you pad back into the gym, you’re met with Kuroo and Bokuto, passed out on their respective beds, and you chuckle to yourself, opting to take a nap on Akaashi’s bed for the time being.

You’re not sure what time it is when you wake up, but Kenma has since returned, as you’re woken up by the sound of pages turning. You sit up, rubbing at your eyes, to find Kenma sitting on his bed, munching on some chips while he reads the book in his lap. He looks up at you, blinks in greeting, and goes back to reading.

“Um… hey,” You say awkwardly, as Bokuto and Kuroo are still very much asleep. Kenma looks up at you again, and you feel sort of scrutinized under his intense, calculating gaze.

“Hey,” He responds, and again, goes back to reading.

You frown-- you don’t want to bother him, so you decide to get the rest of your shit from your car. Bokuto and Kuroo have done enough heavy lifting for today, you decide, as you exit the gym to retrieve your groceries, bed, and all the other supplies you packed.

Kenma’s gaze follows you occasionally on your multiple trips to and from the gym. You pretend not to notice, because you have no idea if you should talk to him or just ignore him-- he seems to only really like Kuroo, and “like” is a strong word for him.

You huff as you stand in front of your open trunk, your mattress resting on top of two of the folded down backseats. Hands on your hips, you narrow your eyes as you work out the logistics of hauling this thing inside-- it’s just a twin bed, really not that heavy, and the gym is literally like five feet away. But with a sigh, you look down at your feet, battered shoes covered in mud and grass-- it hasn’t completely stopped raining all day, though it’s only drizzling right now. You know that if you try to drag your mattress inside by yourself, you won’t be able to hold it completely off the ground, so one side will get all muddy and gross.

You bite the inside of your cheek-- it’s probably better to wait for Kuroo and Bokuto to wake up. They’ll be glad to do manual labor for you, and you’ll be glad to let them show off or whatever. It’s a win-win!

You reach up to close the trunk when Kenma’s voice pipes up behind you.

“Need help?”

You turn in surprise, eyes wide. Did he just talk to you? And, offer you help?

Kenma leans against the open gym door, arms crossed, same expression as always. “You’re letting in all the cold air from outside.”

Oh. He just wanted you to hurry up, not actually help you because he was feeling nice. You laugh a little to yourself, and nod at him with a smile.

“Yeah, that’d be great, actually.”

The two of you haul your bed inside with little trouble-- Kenma’s actually stronger than he looks! When it flops to the floor between Kuroo’s and Akaashi’s beds, the dark-haired boy finally stirs awake. His head was sandwiched between two pillows, you realize, and snort out a laugh.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” You tease, and Kuroo just grumbles in response, still not completely awake as he squints up at you and Kenma.

“You moved your bed in here?” Kuroo mumbles, rubbing at his eyes.

You nod, and gesture to Kenma. “Yeah, Kenma helped me.”

“Really?” Kuroo huffs out a laugh. “Dang Kenma, are you actually warming up to someone?”

“She was letting cold air in ‘cause she was taking so long.” Kenma rolls his eyes, and flops back on his own bed to continue to read.

“Thank you, Kenma,” You say sweetly, and lay on your bed with a happy sigh, wrapping yourself up in the blankets you brought from home.

“Man, I miss waffles.” You complain aloud, seemingly out of nowhere. Your thought process to lead you to that statement was: raining -> warm, lazy mornings -> mornings = breakfast -> breakfast = waffles, but waffles = not here anymore because toasters don’t work anymore. Maybe you could roast one over a fire? But all the frozen ones are probably weird now because they’ve been thawing out for days on end.

Kuroo laughs beside you. “Like, Eggos?”

“Yeah,” You sigh wistfully.

“I miss Crunchwrap Supremes.” Kuroo says, and it’s your turn to laugh.

“I miss Baja Blast.” You agree with a sigh.

Kuroo groans, and you meet his gaze with a grin. “Man, don’t torture me like that.”

“Maybe we can raid a Taco Bell? Baja Blast doesn’t expire, right?” You say, and Kuroo nods thoughtfully as he tucks his hands behind his head.

“If we’re gonna preserve one thing from the remnants of society, it better be fuckn’ Baja Blast.” Kuroo says, and you crack up at that.

“Yeah, fuck the pyramids or whatever--” You say,

“Dude, fuck the pyramids!” Kuroo interjects, and you laugh even more.

“-- fuck the pyramids, for real!” You smack your first into your palm. “All my homies hate the pyramids.”

“Society has advanced past the need for pyramids.” Kenma says from his place on his bed. You and Kuroo’s eyes light up, and you both sit up to hook Kenma with gleeful expressions, elated that he’s joining in on the fun. Kenma looks up from his book, and smiles a little as you and Kuroo laugh along with the joke.

Your rambunctious laughter wakes up Bokuto, who sits up with a start, even though his eyes are still squinty as he slowly regains consciousness.

“Baja Blast…?” He mumbles, and you and Kuroo can’t help but crack up even more at Bokuto’s delayed response-- even Kenma laughs, and as the rain falls heavier outside, the four of you go around naming all the things you miss from before the world ended. Video games, heaters, washing machines, all kinds of fast food, TV shows you’ll never know the ending to, movies that will never be released-- it’s all a little sad, but it’s fun to reminisce with the three guys as they crack jokes and raid your grocery haul for snacks.

“Awww, man, remember those things at like, huge malls where you could go in and fake sky-dive?” Bokuto says, and you and Kenma exchange a glance of wild confusion.

“No??” You say, and Kuroo and Bokuto exclaim in surprise.

“What?! You never went on one of those things?” Bokuto is astonished, but so are you, because you have no idea what he’s talking about.

“How does that even work?” Kenma wonders, and glares at Kuroo as the latter steals some chips from him with a grin.

“You go into this like, giant cylinder--” Kuroo starts, but Bokuto cuts in as he leaps to his feet.

“Yeah, and there’s this grate floor, and a giant fan underneath you, and you wear like, goggles and shit, and then they turn on the fan and you just get fuckn’ blasted in the air for like five minutes.” Bokuto howls with laughter, “I remember one time, me and Akaashi tried it, and holy shit-- his face--!” Bokuto can’t continue, he’s laughing so hard.

You all three join in, because Bokuto’s joy is contagious, and you can kind of picture the situation-- the prospect of seeing Akaashi as anything but calm and collected is hilarious to you.

The sun begins to set, and you’re roped into a game of toss-the-volleyball with Kuroo and Bokuto, while Kenma watches on in mild amusement.

“Check this out!” Bokuto yells as Kuroo tosses the ball up. The gray-haired boy grins wide, eyes fixated on the ball, and he leaps, only to hit the ball over an imaginary net to send it careening to the polished wood floor with a loud SMACK!

“Woah!” You exclaim, eyes wide as Bokuto’s chest puffs with pride.

“That is called a ‘spike’.” He says, hands on his hips.

You raise your eyebrows, deciding to humor him. “No waaay, tell me more!”

“Okay!” Bokuto excitedly retrieves the ball, and tosses it back to Kuroo. “Send me another one!”

“Man, I’m not a setter.” Kuroo huffs, sending a quick glare to Kenma as he tosses the ball up to Bokuto once again, who leaps up, and powerfully hits the ball so that it flies parallel to where the net would have been, and another loud SMACK! fills the gym.

“Hey, hey, hey!!” Bokuto exclaims proudly as he lands on the floor.

“Dang!” You exclaim, actually very impressed with that move. “How’d you do that?!”

“Ahh, there’s no explaining talent.” Bokuto laughs, “I’m just kiddin’! Basically, I just jump up and hit the ball like, bam! Instead of, wham! You know?” He nods, hands on his hips, and you share a quick glance with Kuroo, who just shakes his head with a smile.

“That’s kickass.” You concede, and Bokuto seems to glow with your praise.

“Hey, maybe we can show you--”

“Yoho~!”

Bokuto is cut off by a cheery Oikawa pushing the gym doors open, a dazzling smile on his handsome face like always. As Oikawa enters, he pulls his hood off of his head-- how is his hair still perfect?!-- and a soaked Akaashi and Iwaizumi follow, carrying about five bags total.

“Welcome back!” You say, inwardly relieved to see their safe return. You didn’t want to admit it earlier, but you were growing more worried with every hour that passed and they didn’t show up.

The three guys set down the bags in the designated “stuff” corner of the gym, and you, Kuroo, and Bokuto walk up to meet them there, with Kenma trailing behind.

“Well, we found some pretty useful shit this time.” Iwaizumi says proudly, and fishes around in one of the bags for a moment before procuring some walkie-talkies.

“Walkie-talkies?” You and Bokuto exclaim at the same time.

“Radios?” Kuroo corrects, and you and Bokuto roll your eyes.

“Yes to both.” Akaashi says as he helps Iwaizumi hand them out.

“This way, we can communicate easier when we go searching in L.A.” Iwaizumi says as he hands you yours.

“Oh? Are you coming with us now?” You say with a grin.

You don’t miss the quick blush that dusts Iwaizumi’s cheeks as he quickly looks away with a frown. “Oikawa begged me to.” He explains.

“Um? No, I convinced you.” Oikawa defends himself.

“Whatever. Point is, after what happened to you, it makes sense that we should all stick together. Splitting up is a bad idea, especially since… y’know, people are still disappearing.” Iwaizumi says, and a solemnity passes over the group.

Oikawa clears his throat. “Here, I got this for you.” He hands you a bag of cotton balls and nail polish remover. Your eyes widen-- you looked everywhere in the grocery store for this stuff, but couldn’t find it a few days ago.

“T-thank you!” You say as you take the items from Oikawa. He gives you a dazzling smile in response, which brings a blush to your cheeks, having all his attention on you.

“Your nails were looking pretty bad this morning, I noticed you picking at them-- so I figured this would help!” He explains, to which Iwaizumi punches him in the arm. “Ow! Hey, I’m just being honest!”

“Gee, thanks.” You deadpan, your appreciation now replaced with irritation. You decide to shrug it off, though-- this shows that his heart was in the right place, at least.

“We haven’t even shown you guys the best thing,” Oikawa recovers pretty quickly, and reaches into his own bag, to reveal a plethora of Four-Lokos and White Claws. “It’s time to get fucked up. It’s the least we deserve.”

“Dude!” Kuroo exclaims, and fishes around in his pocket to pull out his hefty sum of weed, to which Oikawa’s eyes light up. The two boys grin at each other, and shake hands warmly at their shared train of thought.

[-]

The boys lead you to a barren spot behind the gym outside, where a fire pit has been set up. You’re surprised at how quickly Kuroo and Iwaizumi can get a fire started, considering it’s still cold as hell, even though the rain has stopped for now. Pretty soon, they’re warming a kettle of water over the crackling flame, and you and Kenma are sitting side-by-side underneath one of your blankets on the chairs you brought outside, while the rest of the guys huddle around the fire in their own chairs.

Instant ramen is passed out, and soon, your hands are warmed by the boiling water heating up your styrofoam cup of noodles. You blow on it gently, and soon, all of you are wolfing down the most delicious instant noodles you’ve ever eaten in your life.

After dinner, the fire is put out, and you all retreat back inside the gym just as the rain begins to pick up again.

“Aight, I don’t have too much paper, so we’re just gonna pass it around, is that cool?” Kuroo asks as you all settle on the floor, sitting on your respective pillows in a circle. He’s already preparing the joint, packing it so it’s a little thicker than what you’ve seen in the movies. After expertly rolling it up, he licks the edge of the paper, and seals it before lighting it. He takes a drag, and exhales happily as Oikawa, sitting next to him, cracks open a Four Loko. You’ve decided to go with a White Claw for now, since you’re a bit of a lightweight on account of your inexperience.

Kuroo passes the joint to Oikawa first, who passes it to Iwaizumi, then Kenma, then Akaashi, and then you. You frown, and laugh a little as you sheepishly ask, “Um, how do I do it?”

Bokuto laughs beside you, and gently takes it from you. “You just breathe in, hold it for a second, and then breathe out.” He shows you, and coughs a little at first, waving away the smoke. “Here, try!”

You nod with a smile, and do as he says: wrap your lips around the blunt, breathe in, hold it--

You almost cough up a lung on step two. The boys around you laugh, not making fun of you, just amused at your naivete.

“Try again, try again.” Oikawa encourages, and you do, and actually manage to do a successful hit. You’re still coughing a little, your eyes watering, but you’re having fun.

You take a sip, and the blunt is passed around once again.

“So, you got all your stuff back, I see!” Oikawa says as he takes another hit. “What happened there?”

“Shit was insane, dude.” Kuroo shakes his head and runs his hand through his hair.

“Yeah, those assholes that scared her before were hiding out in Asahi’s house!” Bokuto says, “They had guns, man!”

“What?” Iwaizumi exclaims right as he’s about to take a drag.

“Yeah, it was insane!” You chime in after taking a few more sips of your drink. “That red-head grabbed me right as I was about to run back into the car, but then I punched him!” You say proudly, and hold up your bruised knuckles as proof.

“Yeah, and you know what she said when she did it?” Kuroo laughs, “She goes, ‘Fuck outta here!’”

The entire group is impressed and joins in on your laughter, and you just blush with a shrug.

“What can I say? I’m a badass.” You toss your hair over your shoulder.

“Yeah, you are.” Kuroo affirms warmly, and you share a smile with him for a moment before Akaashi hands you the blunt.

“He was a redhead?” Kenma pipes up, and you nod as you exhale. The musky smell of weed is starting to stink up the whole gym, but you don’t really care. You’ve only taken two hits, but you’re already feeling warm and tingly-- your mind is a little fuzzy, and paired with your drink, you’re generally just feeling amazing.

Kenma must’ve said something, because he’s looking at you expectantly.

“Hm? Sorry.” You say and sit up straighter.

“I said, he sounds like a kid from my history class. I think his name’s Tendou?” Kenma repeats, and glances at Kuroo, who just shrugs.

“I don’t know a lot of juniors.” He says, taking another glug of his drink.

Kenma just hums thoughtfully, and takes a hit before passing it back to Kuroo.

“Okay.” Oikawa says with a grin, and turns to hook you with his chocolate brown gaze. “So, how come we’ve never seen you before? You went to Karasuno, right?”

“Yeah,” You laugh sheepishly, and are surprised to find you’ve already finished your drink. “I wasn’t really part of any clubs or anything. I mean, I went to Yearbook Club every once in a while, ‘cause I liked to take pictures.”

“You ever go to any volleyball games?” Oikawa asks.

“No,” You say with a big sigh. “Don’t hate me!”

“Ugh!” Oikawa exclaims in disgust. “That’s it, get her out of here.”

You laugh along with the others, and decide to play along with the bit. “Alright, bet.” You say, and rise to your feet, but immediately stumble back down, right into Bokuto’s surprised lap.

“Woah--hey, hey, hey!” Bokuto exclaims, his voice jumping a few octaves as he flings his arms above him to avoid touching you in any disrespectful way.

You dissolve into a pile of giggles, and reach up to snatch the blunt from Bokuto’s hand, taking another drag before leaning back to look upside down at Kenma, passing it to him, who grins down at you.

“Did your boyfriend disappear, too?” Oikawa asks out of nowhere, and you look over in time to see Iwaizumi smack Oikawa’s arm. “Ow! Come on, we were all curious!”

You just huff out a laugh, and sit up with a bit of trouble, leaving behind a furiously blushing Bokuto.

“I didn’t have a boyfriend. Never really have, ‘cause I don’t count elementary school.” You answer with a shrug, and glance at Kuroo, only to find him staring at you intently. You raise an eyebrow, exuding confidence as you smirk at him. “What?”

Kuroo just blinks, and shrugs as he takes the blunt from Kenma. “Nothin.” He says, and takes a drag, finally breaking eye contact with you.

The blunt is passed around-- you’ve lost count by now-- and Kenma suddenly stands, his eyes shining with excitement.

“I almost forgot-- I found something really cool today in one of the classrooms.” He says, and stumbles over to his bed to reach into his backpack, and pulls out an actual boom box.

“Wooaaahhh!” Kuroo and Bokuto say at the same time as Kenma brings it over.

“There’s even some cassette tapes for it,” Kenma says, and puts the boom box in the middle of the group, then pulls out some cassettes from his jacket pocket to view the options. You lean over to Kenma, across Bokuto’s lap-- which makes him blush again-- and you’re pleasantly surprised by the options.

“Dude, they have Black Sabbath?” You exclaim. “Where did you even find this?”

“Mr. Little’s classroom.” Kenma answers, and grins when he finds a specific tape. “Got it. Check this out.” He inserts the tape, and presses play.

After a second, ‘hot girl bummer’ by blackbear starts playing, much to everyone’s surprise.

“What the-- how did that get on a cassette?” Oikawa exclaims, and Kenma grins.

“I made this tape for Mr. Little earlier this year to prove to him that newer music is pretty good-- but he said he’d only listen to it if it was on a cassette. So, I made a cassette tape with a lot of modern songs on it.” He explains, looking down at the boom box with a smile, like it’s his little baby-- his creation that has managed to survive past the end of the world.

“Kenma!!” You coo, pouting your lip out as you look at him with so much unfiltered adoration. “This is so cool! And this is so exciting! Thank you so much!!” Tears actually well up in your eyes, and Bokuto quickly hurries to wipe them away with his thumb.

“Oh, God!! Oh, no! Why are you crying?!” He exclaims, cradling your face in his hands to bring your gaze up to his.

“I’m just--” You sniffle. “I’m really happy, and like, I’ve just had such a shitty day-- or like, life, lately. And, like--” You sniffle again, and wipe away some snot with your sleeve as you turn to look at the group of cross-faded guys around you, who all look extremely worried at your sudden cry-fest. “It’s just… I care so much about you guys, and we barely know each other! But, like… I don’t know, you guys have just taken care of me, and you’ve been so nice, and I just… I’m just really happy!” You babble, and in an instant, Bokuto wraps you up in a bone-crushing hug.

“We care about you too!” Bokuto affirms, and then suddenly hauls you up to your feet, still hugging you fiercely. He spins you around with a flourish, and you’re extremely disoriented, but happy nonetheless. “Let’s dance!” He says, and grabs your hands, and starts swaying around in a really dumb way.

You laugh, but join in anyways-- and soon, the entire group is dancing like idiots. The entire experience is a bit of a haze, as your head has grown fuzzier, your limbs heavier, and your heart lighter. You feel so at ease with yourself, like you could say or do anything, and you wouldn’t have any regrets. You really should’ve smoked weed a lot earlier in life if it made you feel this good.

The songs that are on Kenma’s playlist are really good, and really fun to dance to-- you think for a moment that this experience is even better than prom, apocalypse included. You don’t quite feel your feet as you stumble and dance around, but pretty soon, you feel a really strong urge to pee. Two-- or was it three?-- White Claws seem to have gone right through you, so you mumble something about needing to use the bathroom and that you’ll be right back to Iwaizumi. Or maybe it was Akaashi.

In no time at all, you’re relieved and washing your hands at the sink. Being in the school bathroom with the lights off is once again a strange experience-- especially since you’re very high and pretty drunk. This moment sort of feels like a liminal space-- a save point in a video game, so that you can collect your fuzzy thoughts, only to watch them float down the drain with the water that’s running over your hands. You’re not sure how long you watch the faucet run, but you’re amazed at what you’re seeing-- indoor plumbing really is the most underrated thing about society.

“Man, fuck the pyramids!” You laugh to yourself as you remember your jokes with Kuroo earlier. Man, he really is cute. All of them are-- you’re really the luckiest girl in the end of the world. You finally turn off the faucet, and float out of the bathroom, out to the dark hallway that leads back to the gym.

You’re surprised to find Kuroo leaning on a wall, hands in his pockets. He looks up when he catches sight of you, and smiles sweetly. He doesn’t grin, or smirk like usual-- he looks like a young boy right now, and you can’t help but smile back.

“Hi,” You say, surprised at your quiet voice and how it seems to cut through the silence of the hallway loudly. The sound of music is still coming from the gym, but this hallway still feels very removed from reality, like a little pocket that only you and Kuroo exist in.

“Hey,” He says, and licks his chapped lips as he looks away, and rubs the back of his neck. “Um, sorry, just wanted to check on you ‘cause you were taking a while.”

“Ohhh,” You say, and smile sheepishly. “I was just… watching the water.”

“Cool.” Kuroo nods, and you both stare at each other for a moment. Kuroo’s eyes are a little glazed, a little red, and you’re sure you look the same. He swallows, and you watch as his Adam’s apple bobs with the motion. “Um, I wanted to apologize.”

“Huh? For what?” You’re surprised, to say the least. He helped you out so much today-- he actually risked his life for you (and your groceries).

“For doubting you.” He says, and shoves his hands in his pockets even further. ���Earlier, when I didn’t tell you your groceries were in Asahi’s house. I didn’t tell you ‘cause I didn’t think you could pull off getting them back. And, like… I dunno, that wasn’t cool of me. So, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. And, that, uh…” He shrugs, and finally glances at you. “I believe in you.”

You’re struck dumb as your mouth drops open in surprise-- you’re not sure what to say. Even if you were sober, this would surprise you. You quickly close your mouth, and realize you need to say something, because you don’t want Kuroo to feel weird, or like you hate him.

But, you can’t think of anything to say at the moment-- so, you follow your feet as you walk up to him, and proceed to wrap your arms around his middle, resting your head against his broad, warm chest.

“Thank you, Kuroo.” You say, and squeeze him a little tighter when his arms wrap around you after a moment. He rests his chin on the crown of your head, and laughs out a sigh of relief. You two stay like that for a while-- you could fall asleep standing up, with how at peace you feel right now. Your high, combined with Kuroo’s warmth, and how safe you feel bundled up in his arms, makes the world melt away. With a happy sigh, you pull away a little bit to look up at him with a dumb, happy smile. He looks down at you, just as dumb, and just as happy. “Hey, I believe in you, too. Even though you piss me off sometimes.”

You feel the rumble of Kuroo’s laugh from his chest, and you lean your cheek into his hand as he tucks a strand of hair behind your ear.

“I’m always gonna piss you off.” He mumbles, and you roll your eyes with a grin. You watch as he licks his lips again-- it’s a subconscious thing to do, a normal tick that anyone and everyone does, but for some reason, watching Kuroo do it right now, it’s the most captivating thing for you. Your gaze slowly travels from his lips to his bright, hazel eyes, only to find that he’s been gazing at you just as long as you’ve been gazing at him. He takes a deep, shaky breath, and seems to have a stream of conflicting thoughts go through his head, but you’re very sure of yourself as you reach up, and cradle his face between your hands. You gently rub your thumb back and forth over his cheek-- he feels so warm, and it’s only then that you notice that he’s blushing. One of your hands travels further, into his dark hair, which you’re surprised to find, is extremely soft.

You giggle then, which surprises Kuroo, and you bite your lip as you try to hold back your laughter. “Your hair’s always so messy.”

Kuroo huffs out a laugh, and rolls his eyes. “Gimme a break, it’s the end of the world.”

Your smile just grows wider, and you can’t help but stare at him-- something about this moment makes you feel so vulnerable, but so incredibly safe. You wonder if Kuroo feels the same-- and he’d never tell you, but he does (just because it’s you).

Kuroo gently reaches up to grab your wrist, and pull it from his hair. Your hand drifts from his grasp, to trail your fingers along the lines of his palm-- you watch your fingers gently ghost over his skin, and he watches, too, completely engrossed in your movements. Somehow, his fingers ghost over your own, and travel to your bruised knuckles. His fingers ghost over the blue and purple skin, a frown pulling the corners of his mouth down as his eyebrows knit together the longer he stares at your bruised hand. You lazily intertwine your fingers with his, and look back up at him as he looks back to you. You’re both holding your breaths-- for the first time, Kuroo looks nervous. Is it nervousness? Anticipation? His eyes flit to your lips when your tongue darts out to lick them, and then back to your eyes.

You’re both leaning in to each other, subconsciously or intentionally, you’re not sure which-- but you know that you’re super okay with it. Your eyelids flutter when you feel Kuroo’s breath fan over your lips, and you feel Kuroo’s grip tighten around your waist, which sends sparks of excitement coursing through your body, and you feel electric and buzzed, and you flutter your eyes closed as the two of you move closer. Your nose brushes his, and he inhales sharply at the contact, and you feel his thumb rub up and down against your back, and he presses you against him, closer, closer, and your heart is thundering in your ears and all throughout your body, and--

Just like that, it’s all gone. Kuroo takes a step back, blushing furiously just like you, and you’re surprised and really cold from his absence.

“U-uhm…” He runs a hand through his hair, and clears his throat as he looks away. “Sorry. Uh-- yeah. Sorry.” He mumbles, and quickly turns away to walk to the opposite end of the hallway to disappear into the boys’ bathroom.

You’re left standing there, lips parted, heart hammering, the cold slowly seeping back into your bones, and as Everybody Talks by Neon Trees starts to play in the gym, you slowly begin to feel the sharp sting of rejection.

[misc-headcanons]

OC-tober Day 11 (Katakuri’s kids): Craft

@oc-growth-and-development (Warning: Incredibly fluffy content incoming)

Maple's focus on her book--an old tome of her mother's describing the basics of necromancy--was quickly cut short when she heard the patter of footsteps near her and the feeling of a small hand on her arm. She looked over to see her youngest siblings, Vanilla and Fritter standing next to her; Vanilla had tapped her while Fritter took his usual spot behind her while clinging to his blanket.

"Hey Maple," Vanilla said eagerly, "Can you help me and Fritter with something?"

Maple quickly reached for a bookmark and slid it in between her book's open pages. "Depends," she replied, pushing up her glasses. "What do you need help with?"

Vanilla smiled up at her eldest sister, eager to explain. "So," she started, "A bunch of the flowers in the gardens are blooming now, and we wanna make flower crowns. Buuut, after a few days, they'll dry up 'cause the plants will get all brown and die."

"And mine always come undone," Fritter added, "It's hard to tie the flowers and stems together." He held up one of his hands and wiggled his fingers. "'Cause I got tiny fingers."

Vanilla nodded. "But then I thought that you could make them stay green longer with magic--ooh, or you could make them bloom and then close up and bloom again too!" She gave Maple a sheepish smile. "I'd try to do it by myself, but I dunno any spells that do that...And last time I tried making a spell by myself, I got in trouble."

Maple smirked. "Well, that'll happen when you try making a spell to summon some glitter and wind up making it rain sparkles around the castle for a whole day," she said wryly.

Vanilla pouted. "I knoooow," she whined. "I still don't get why Uncle Mont-d'or and everybody else got so upset. Glitter makes things look better, and everyone's clothes and armor and stuff was so sparkly!"

Fritter nodded. "And it makes 'em less scary. Uncle Monty said he was gonna put us in time-out with one of his books, but all I could think was 'Wow, I never saw Uncle Monty look so twinkly before.'"

Maple bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling; as hilarious as it was to remember her furious Uncle doused in a layer of rainbow sparkles, she didn't want to encourage that sort of behavior in her siblings. "Well this time, you'll have supervision when you use magic," she replied, easing her way out of her plush reading chair. "I'll find a spell that keeps flowers fresh, and you can practice it with me. Okay?" Fritter and Vanilla nodded eagerly, and Maple followed them as they trotted out to the royal gardens. 

"Yaaay, thanks!" Vanilla cheered. "And you can pick whatever flowers you want for your crown first, Maple!"

"But save some bluebonnets please, if you're gonna pick those," Fritter added hastily. "I wanna make one with blue and purple flowers, and bluebonnets are my favorite blue flower!"

The three of them arrived at the gardens, and Fritter and Vanilla set out to gather all of the flowers they needed to make the crowns they wanted. Maple pulled out a small dusty tome in her coat's inside pocket and leafed through its pages, looking for any spells she'd written that dealt with plants. "Hmm...Oh, here's one," Maple mused. "I think I wrote this for one of Mama's gifts for Mother's Day last year." Vanilla ran over with armfuls of various flowers in many colors and looked down at Maple's open journal entry. "To ex-tend the life-span of cut plants and flowers," she read aloud. "Okay, so do we just say the spell to the flowers and then they'll live forever?"

Maple set a small leaf in between the pages of her journal to mark her page. "Well, nothing lives forever," she replied. "I mean...you can raise skeletons and bodies with necromancy, but they still need upkeep and stuff so they don't fall apart. And spells to live forever usually have a really big downside like having eternal life but not eternal youth, so eventually you just turn into a little shriveled raisin and can't ever stop getting older…" 

Maple saw the confused and zoned-out look on her sister's face, and blushed at how she had started rambling. "Um. Anyway, the spell just makes the flowers last and stay fresh for a year or so," she said hastily. "We'd just need to use the spell again once a year to keep the flowers from dying. We'll make the flower crowns first, and then once they're put together we'll cast the spell."

Vanilla grinned. "Okay!" She went back into the garden's bushes to collect more flowers, with Maple following behind her to help. Soon the three of them had made a sizeable pile of flowers and stems to work with, and the three of them sat down in a small circle around the flowers. Vanilla sat next to Maple as she made her first flower crown. "What kinda flowers so you want for your crown, Maple?"

Maple reached for a few spiky sky-blue flowers to start making a crown for her twin sister Dochi. "Anything that's purple,' Maple replied, intertwining a series of stems with precision. "You probably know more about flower crown arrangements than I do, so whatever you make will turn out great."

Vanilla set to work on making the best purple flower crown in the world, and the three of them worked while chatting together. "Hey, should we all work together on Papa's? It's gonna have to be really big…"

Fritter nodded. "Do we have any flowers that look like donuts? He'd really like a flower crown like that."

"I don't think so," Vanilla said reluctantly. "But...flower crowns kinda look like donuts, right? So we can pick flowers that maybe look like sprinkles, or ones that are colored like they have sprinkles."

Fritter nodded and eyed his own flower crown, apparently admiring his handiwork. "I made this one just right," he said firmly with a smile. He held it up to show his eldest sister. "Look, Maple. It's not fallin' apart this time!"

Maple, who had put on Vanilla's finished crown for her and cast her spell to make them last, smiled and patted Fritter's head. "Nice job, Fritter." She took out her journal again and followed along with the incantation written on her page, and a small amount of green energy swirled around Fritter's crown before disappearing into the blossoms. Fritter carefully placed the crown on his head and smiled proudly, and then set out to help Vanilla finish a crown meant for their older brother Ube; Maple put the finishing touches on her crown for her sister Dochi, and set it aside.

After about an hour, the three siblings had made a set of crowns for their entire immediate family (as well as a few for their grandmother, and their grandmother's two companions named Zeus and Prometheus). Vanilla scooped up all of the crowns and hung them all on Fritter's arms--he had volunteered to be the "crown carrier" while they delivered them all. Fritter toddled in front of Maple and Vanilla while they looked for their family members in the Whole Cake Chateau. Maple flipped to a blank page in her notebook and scribbled down a list of everyone they'd made a crown for. "Grandma should be easy to find," she said. "She should've just finished having her mid-morning snack, so she'll be in the throne room with Zeus and Prometheus."

The three of them made their way to the throne room, but found that the doors were closed. The guards at the doors looked down on the children. "I'm sorry," one of them said, "But Big Mom's in a meeting with the Sweet Commanders about something important. Do you want us to pass along a message?"

Fritter wiggled his outstretched arms a bit. "Can you give her some of these flower crowns, please?" He moved to display the full set of flowers dangling from his arms. "The biggest one is for her, with all the pink flowers. And then the two rainbow ones next to that are for Zeus and Prometheus. And THESE are for--"

The familiar voice of Big Mom herself came from the other side of the door, and it immediately caused the guards to freeze in place. "Ah, is someone at the door?" 

Vanilla tried to peek through the small crack between the large doors to the throne room. "Hiiii, Gramma! It's 'Nilla and Fritter and Maple!" Her voice was as sweet as ever, even when talking to someone as terrifying and dangerous as Big Mom. "We can come back later if you're busy doing important Yonkou stuff. We made flower crowns!"

Big Mom was quiet for a few seconds, and then chuckled. "Ahhh, how nice," she cooed. "Please, come in! Your mama and papa are here as well!"

The guards reluctantly opened the doors for the three of them, and they stepped inside to see their parents as well as their Aunt Smoothie and Uncle Cracker. It seemed that Big Mom had called a meeting with her three Sweet Commanders, and Katakuri's wife had been allowed to sit in as well. Vanilla skipped inside and ran up to her grandmother's gigantic throne to give Big Mom a hug; she couldn't even measure up to her grandma's knees, but that didn't stop her from wrapping her grandma up in a hug as best as she could. 

Big Mom chuckled and reached down to hold Vanilla in one hand and held her up at eye level to give her a kiss. "Mamamama, this is such a nice surprise," she said sweetly. Vanilla beamed and pointed down at the array of crowns on Fritter's hands and arms. 

"We made yours extra big," Vanilla said, "And pink too, since I know it's your favorite color! And Zeus and Prometheus have rainbow ones!"

Upon hearing their names, Zeus and Prometheus floated down to Fritter in order to eye the presents for them. Fritter, who was always a little nervous around Grandma and her Homies, held out three crowns meant for them and Big Mom herself. "H-here ya go," he said quietly. "We didn't know your favorite colors, so we m-made it with every color…" Zeus, a fluffy animated cloud, smiled and wiggled his head until the crown fit on top of him; Prometheus, a small sun, did the same and the two of them carried the giant pink crown to place on their master's head. 

Maple placed a comforting hand on Fritter's shoulder and led him to a spot between their parents. Their mother Etherea smiled at the two of them and patted their heads. "I was wondering where you three had wandered off to," she mused. "Dochi and Ube are busy sparring outside. Do you want me to send their crowns to them?"

Fritter nodded and handed his mother the two crowns meant for their siblings: a light blue one for Dochi, and one with dark red flowers for Ube. Etherea murmured a small incantation and the two crowns floated out of a nearby window to make their way to Dochi and Ube. Fritter climbed up into his mother's lap to place her crown on top of her head--an elegant combination of purple roses and black petunias. Maple took a seat next to her mother, eager to tell her all about how well her spell had worked once this meeting with Big Mom was finished.

Big Mom set Vanilla down, and the young girl immediately ran to her parents to give them both a hug as well. "We made some for you too! Ooh mama, yours came out super pretty!" She looked over at her Aunt Smoothie and Uncle Cracker with an apologetic frown. "Um, we don't have any for you...but we can make some more if you want one!"

Smoothie shook her head with a bemused look on her face. "Don't worry," she replied. "I wouldn't want my helm to ruin something so precious."

Cracker smirked. "And my sparks would just set 'em on fire," he added, pointing to the firecrackers that adorned the ends of his hairdo. "But thanks for the offer, kiddo."

Fritter held up the final flower crown on his arm and reached up towards his father; even when he was seated, Katakuri was still too tall for him to even attempt to reach. "And this one's for you, Papa," he said. "We all worked on it together. See? It's got flowers that look like they got sprinkles on em, so it's like a donut flower crown!"

Katakuri carefully reached down to pick up the circle of flowers without crushing any of them, and peered at the blossoms all around it; each flower was either white or a light shade of pink, with multicolored speckles all around it. He smiled behind his scarf and set the crown on top of his head before gently patting Fritter's cheek with one finger. "How do I look?"

Cracker had to bite back a laugh at seeing his stoic big brother in a rainbow-speckled flower crown, and Smoothie couldn't help but smile at how cute the whole scene was. Maple gave her father a silent thumbs up with a small half-smile on her face, and her two younger siblings followed suit. "Like a Donut King," Vanilla confirmed. Fritter nodded, and Katakuri let out a small amused "mmm" (he never really laughed unless he was alone with his wife and children--or his Sprinkles, as he sometimes called them). He outstretched his arms for his three children to gather in his lap, and all three of them climbed aboard and settled comfortably with their flower crowns. It wasn't long before they fell asleep during the meeting, and Big Mom subtly had one of her servants take a picture of Katakuri in his own flower crown with Etherea and the three sleeping children all in frame. Cracker and Smoothie both smirked at each other; they'd never imagined they'd see their fearsome big brother look so adorable.

[miacutie]

Fanfiction or Reality?

AO3 LINK

Wei Wuxian discovers a fanfiction site about him and his best friend/classmate Lan Wangji.

 As much as it horrifies him, one of the stories catches his attention.

READ MORE 

They're whispering again.

 Wei Wuxian's eyes narrow as he sees Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng talking against the lockers in hushed tones. They’d been doing this a lot recently, and it was starting to get suspicious. Actually now that he thinks about it, a lot of people at school have been doing this around him as well. 

Honestly he just wanted to go home already after gym, but he may as well get to the bottom of this once and for all.

 'No way, that's my brother!'

'Crazy right? Check out how many views there are.'

'Gross, I don't want to see Lan Wangji and my brother shacking it up in any form!'

 ‘Excuse me, what?’ Wei Wuxian says loudly. They jump at the sudden interruption, and Nie Huaisang quickly hides his phone behind his back. 

 ‘Nothing.’ 

‘Nothing.’

 ‘Nothing my ass, what’s this about me and Lan Zhan?’ He moves over to his friends craning his neck to have a look. 

 ‘I don’t know! Really!’ Nie Huaisang babbles, still moving his phone out of reach every time Wei Wuxian tries to swipe at it. 

 ‘Ugh, just show him.’ Jiang Cheng groans, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. ‘Then maybe they’ll stop denying it and cut out the obnoxious pining.’ 

 Wei Wuxian finally manages to grab the phone, only to be greeted by a website. A fan site…?

He scrolls through it and regrets it immediately. There’s dozens, no multiple pages worth of short stories. Short stories of him and Lan Zhan. Him and his best friend doing unspeakable things to each other.

 ‘W-what…’ Wei Wuxian says weakly. The site even has a gallery, full of photos taken from different perspectives of him and Lan Zhan hanging out together. 

A photo of him leaning on Lan Wangji’s desk, chatting. Another picture of him clinging onto Lan Wangji’s sleeve. Lan Zhan helping him tie up his hair with his custom red scrunchie. A photo of him getting piggybacked when he got a twisted ankle at the school carnival.  Even a photo of him fast asleep on Lan Zhan’s shoulder. 

 ‘What is this!?’ He chokes, thrusting the screen in Jiang Cheng’s face. ‘Why are people writing things and taking photos of me and Lan Zhan?’ He’s totally dumbstruck. ‘I mean I can understand if people made a site for Lan Zhan, but why am I in it too?’ 

 ‘Calm down.’ His brother gingerly pushes the phone back at him. ‘Looks like the girls in your class started it, and things got a little out of hand.’ 

 ‘A little? Why did no one tell me this earlier?!’

 ‘We were afraid of your reaction.’ Nie Huaisang admits. ‘Can I have my phone back now?’ 

 Wei Wuxian hands the phone back to him, feeling betrayed. How could his friends do this to him?

 ‘You guys can NOT show this to Lan Zhan! He’ll 1000% stop being friends with me if he knows this is how everyone thinks of us!’ He whines, distraught. ‘You guys KNOW how long it took just for him to stop seeing me as his enemy!’

 ‘Chill out, we won’t endanger your relationship with your precious ‘Lan Zhan.’ Jiang Cheng drones, deadpan. 

 ‘Hey, only I get to call him that! You don’t have the privilege!’ 

 ‘It’s because you talk like that is why there’s a website.’ Nie Huaisang supplies unhelpfully. 

 ‘Hey!’

 ---

 When he gets home that night, he types the url into his laptop and goes straight to the fan website. 

Wei Wuxian scrolls through the page, stopping to read a story here and there. Some were terribly out of character, like having Lan Zhan date girls to make him jealous, or Wei Ying throwing Lan Zhan aside after a stuttered love confession. However some are quite cute, like coffee dates or movie nights that he could see them doing on a usual weekend. 

The top fic there had a shocking 10,000 views. Wei Wuxian knew there weren't even half of that many students in the school, let alone reading a story about him and Lan Wangji!

'Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.' He reads aloud. It was by some author called WangXian. They even had ship names now?

Skimming through the story, it seemed to be set in ancient China, with them being something called ‘cultivators.’ It even had his friends featured in it, from differing clans and sects all coming to study in a place called the Cloud Recesses. 

It was pretty well written, he had to give them that. He even laughed when the Wei Wuxian in the story pranks Lan Wangji with porn, as it definitely sounded like something he had done when they were kids. 

But as he kept reading he felt himself get steadily more invested in the plot, and the rich detail the author had put into creating that world. It was actually really good, he could totally picture it becoming a live action drama or movie. 

Wei Wuxian had almost forgotten that it was supposed to be a romantic fanfic about him and his best friend until the kiss.

 He freezes reading it, all of fictional Lan Wangji's romantic feelings and lust as he forces the fictional version of him against a tree. It starts to get hot and heavy, getting into detail about-

Slam!

He slams the laptop lid shut, embarrassed.

 No way! No way. This wasn't a thing. Him and Lan Zhan, they were bros, homies if you will.

 Wei Wuxian could picture the distaste if Lan Zhan ever caught him reading this. His delicate features would furrow and his eyes would go icy and the curve of his soft lips would-

 Nope.

 He flops himself sideways and pulls the covers over his head. The laptop charging light blinks back at him, almost teasingly.

 Squeezing his eyes shut, he wills sleep to come.

 --

 He is greeted the next day by Lan Wangji, waiting for him at his garden gate as always. Lan Zhan frowns slightly, cocking an eyebrow at his dark eye bags and dishevelled hair.

 'Oh this? I didn't get much sleep last night, ahah..'

 Of course he couldn't. Wei Wuxian had given into temptation and continued reading after ten minutes of rolling around in anguish.

Just one more chapter he had reasoned, and before he knew it he had marathoned the entire fic until it was 3am. Haggard, he had clicked the next chapter only to find out that he was up to date. That couldn’t be it! Where was the rest of it? He needed to know what happened next. 

Checking the date, it had been updated last Thursday, meaning there probably won’t be a chapter out anytime soon. 

 After a loud frustrated groan and Jiang Cheng banging on the wall for him to shut up, he had created an account and written a very enthusiastic review.

  fluterave420_6969

 This fic was BRILLIANT!!! You should be a famous author!!! Now of course Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are friends and NOTHING more but  the rest of it was great!!! You wrote their interaction really well 

ヽ( ´ ▽ ` ) ﾉ

Plz plz update soon!!!

 Well of course he couldn't tell Lan Zhan about all that.

 'Don’t worry, I'll just grab a coffee and I'll be fine and dandy.' Wei Wuxian chirps, flattening his hair down as they walk side by side to school.

Lan Wangji is silent as usual on their morning walks. Wei Wuxian chances a side glance at his elegant profile.

He's pretty, he thinks vaguely. Well obviously he's always known, but like, in a platonic way. Like how one would find a lotus flower beautiful, or a sunset.

The people in school definitely knew. They would always talk about Lan Zhan being as beautiful as a sculpted piece of jade, but if you looked at him his gaze would turn you into stone. Didn’t stop the girls from pursuing him though. He had once borrowed Lan Zhan’s phone to make a call, and that man’s conversation history was filled top to bottom with thirsty girls in his DMs. All the messages were ignored of course, the only messages being replied to being his brother, Lan Qiren and of course Wei Ying.

 He had been thrilled, bragging about it to Jiang Cheng (‘I don’t care.’) and Wen Ning (‘Oh good for you!’) before adding a bunch of heart kaomojis next to his name in Lan Zhan’s phone. Surprisingly Lan Zhan hadn’t changed it since then. 

 Soon it was lunchtime and as usual they would eat lunch together under the sycamore tree outside. It was always their spot, since this tree had the exact right amount of shade and sometimes this wild rabbit would come into the garden. Lan Zhan would leave behind bits of carrot, trying hard to win its trust. Wei Ying thought it was cute, so they had been sitting out there everyday for the past 6 months hoping to catch a glimpse of the furry black rabbit. 

 Today he didn’t feel hungry, deciding to save the lunch Jiang Yanli made for him for another time. Yawning, he wants to ask Lan Zhan to borrow his lap, but after what he read last night it might be too weird.

 Suddenly he hears a giggle behind him. 

 There was a group of girls nearby, who after making eye contact with him quickly whipped their heads back pretending to eat their lunch. 

Usually he would assume they were part of Lan Zhan’s fan club, but now he suspects they had different intentions. 

‘Eat.' Lan Wangji interrupts his thoughts, holding a lotus piece out of his own meal with his chopsticks.

Tearing his eyes away from the girls, he shakes his head. 'No no!' Wei Wuxian flaunters. He can hear the girls muffled squeals, and was that a camera shutter?  'You really don't have to! I'm not that hungry anyway.' 

'Wei Ying.' He fixes him with a disapproving stare, pinning him down with it. Wei Wuxian really doesn’t want to make more fodder for these girls fantasies. He always wanted to be popular with the girls, but not like this.

Reluctantly, he gingerly takes the lotus piece in his mouth from Lan Zhans chopsticks. He’s halfway through chewing before he hears a whisper that on a usual day he wouldn’t have noticed. 

'He's feeding him!! That's so domestic!'

Wei Wuxian chokes on his lotus piece, coughing loudly to Lan Wangji’s alarm. He hits him on the back a few times, until his face returns to its usual colour. 

'Lan Zhan, you really shouldn’t encourage them...' He says weakly. 

‘Hmn?’

‘Never mind…’ 

--

 So, here he was in after school detention again. He had forgotten to submit his homework after being distracted last night and Lan Qiren had given him a verbal beating for it. Luckily the teacher had refused to give up his afterschool hours to supervise and trusted Lan Zhan who had volunteered to watch over him instead.

Lan Zhan had silently joined him at his desk, quietly reading some novel as Wei Wuxian mulled over a math problem. To be honest, he couldn't concentrate; his mind was always drifting to the fan website. As much as he was disturbed by its existence, he couldn’t deny how much he had enjoyed that one story he had read. Was there an update yet? Chancing it, he brings out his phone behind his textbook to refresh the page.

To his shock, the fic's view count had increased by a few hundred from last night. There were a couple of new comments too and he scrolls down to read them. 

 Swordbois172

 This update was so good!! I can really feel the love between them <3333 Such burning passion!

 3000rules

 Actually I saw hanguang-jun and wei wuxian having lunch together today :O they were feeding each other! So domestic.

 BewareofIncenseBurners

 Dude, respect their privacy. Do you really want to get perma banned?

 3000rules

 Shut up, you were there too!! srsly who died and made you mod

 Rabbitsalesperson

 Lol get real if we respected their privacy we wouldn't even be here lol  X___x let's hope they never discover this dumpster fire.

 >Comment Removed<

 >Comment Removed<

  WenNing

 What a great chapter!

 Wait. Wen Ning?! What was Wen Ning doing in the comment section? Also, who uses their real name on the internet?

 'Wei Ying. Pay attention.'

 He jumps in his seat, guilty that he had been caught reading about them in front of the person himself.

 'Aww but it's so boring! I can't concentrate.'

 'You were on your phone.'

 'I, well, started reading something recently. A novel.' He says, settling for a half lie. I mean fanfiction counts as a novel, right?

 Lan Wangji's eyebrow raises, and he tilts his head to look at Wei Wuxian's phone.

 'No!'

 He  almost throws the phone out the window in his rush to turn it off. Lan Zhan looks at him, bewildered.

 'Sorry! I was lying, it was porn.'

 Lan Wangji blinks at him before settling into a deadpan expression. Rolling his eyes, he  goes back to his book.

This scene felt familiar.

 'Lan Zhan. Lan Zhaan. I'm sorry, I'll work diligently.' He whines, genuinely apologetic. 'I know you waited here for me to keep me company when you could've just gone home.' 

 His best friend's golden eyes soften just a tad.

 'If you understand, finish your work quickly.'

 'Okay!'

 ---

 They’re having another one of their movie nights, watching some drama at Wei Wuxian’s place. He had his head on Lan Zhan’s shoulder, trying to fight sleep that was overcoming him. 

His mind was drifting over to that cave scene in the story, and he tries to picture his best friend in white robes and an elegant headband playing the guqin. Lan Zhan was pretty enough so it would probably work. The one thing he couldn’t picture though was what the song he sang to the Wei Ying in the fanfiction sounded like. 

Actually he wasn’t sure what Lan Zhan’s singing voice sounded like at all. He had always shot down his invitations for karaoke, but that was most likely because his other friends were there too. 

 ‘Hey, Lan Zhan. I’ve never heard you sing.’ He really wanted to hear it now. 

 ‘...’

 ‘C’mon singgg for meeeeeee~ Your voice probably sounds like one of an angel, and I would have never known! We could make your c-pop idol debut!’

 ‘No.’

 He pouts, ‘Okay fine, you probably sound like a dying rat anyway.’ 

 ‘...’

 ‘Hmmn then again Lan Zhan is so perfect at everything, I bet you’d sound good even as a rat.’ Wei Wuxian murmurs sleepily. He slips off his shoulder to lean into Lan Zhan’s lap. Lan Wangji adjusts himself so they were in a more comfortable position. 

‘Don’t forget me when you’re famous okay? I could even be your backing instrumental. We could go to the same university, join the same company, live in the same apartment....’

 He thinks he can see Lan Zhan nod slightly from his shuttering vision. 

 ‘Even buried together in the same grave!’ Wei Wuxian jokes, a smile stretched across his face. He could imagine the field day those girls would have if they could hear him now.

But he’s glad that it was just the two of them, in Wei Ying’s little room with no one to take photos or question his relationship with Lan Zhan. I mean he’s seen k-pop compilations of the members doing way more affectionate stuff than what he was doing right now. Jiang Cheng totally had it all wrong, since he hadn’t experienced the magic of true friendship. 

 ‘We’ll stay together forever, yeah?’ 

 ‘Mn.’ Lan Wangji responds, carding his fingers through Wei Wuxian’s hair. 

 He laughs a little, grateful at having someone like him in his life. Yawning, he falls asleep on Lan Zhan’s lap, just like that. 

[hennessystevens-udaku]

Happy Anniversary, Mr. Stevens

Since Love day is coming up I figured I’d kick it off with a little anniversary fluff in which our favorite prince gets spoiled by moi.

September 3rd

“You sure you don’t want anything?” Erik asked in disbelief. Much like Bastion, Hennessy lived in a constant state of ‘I want’ so to hear her say that she didn’t want anything for their anniversary had the prince more than a little skeptical and slightly afraid.

“Baby are you sick?” he asked as he pressed his hand to her forehead. She laughed that infectious laugh before slapping his hand away.

“I’m fine baby. I’m serious, I don’t want anything. I’ve got more than enough, I just want to spend the day with my prince.”

“Okay,” he finally concedes. “You sure this isn’t a trick?” She laughed once again before slapping his chest.

“Boy go on somewhere. I hear baby Daka crying,” she says as she walked out of his bedroom, downstairs to Aly’Sha’s tattoo shop.

“Did he believe you?”

“Nope, but that’s to be expected. How’s his arsenal coming along?”

“It’s almost ready. The last of the guns will be delivered later on.”

“Perfect. I’m going to go fill everyone else in on what I’m doing. I’ll be back later.”

“Alrighty,” Aly’Sha said as she went back to the stencil she was drawing.

September 4th

Hennessy woke earlier than usual. She’d already informed the rest of the wives and Little Bee about her plan and all of them were eager to help her set everything in motion. She made the short trek to Josephine’s bedroom, not even having to knock before it opened.

“Henny!” Josie exclaimed from the other side of the room.

“Hi Josie. Did you and Kimora get what I asked for?”

“You must’ve forgotten who you was talking to. I snuck it in his arsenal last night. It shoots real good.”

“Of course you had to test it out.”

“Of course. Can’t have that nigga out here with defective weapons. We’re the only ones allowed to kill his dumb ass.” The two women laughed before Henny exited. It was time to wake up Ryley.

“Killa Daddy,” Ryley’s voice sang into the hallway.

“In my office Princess,” Erik answered, still searching for an anniversary gift for Hennessy. Though she insisted she didn’t want anything, he refused to show up empty handed. Ryley sauntered into the office in low cut Adidas shorts with a matching crop top, twirling a key around her finger.

“Why do I feel like you’re up to something?” Erik asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Maybe I am. Henny told me to give you this,” she responds as she presents the key to him.

“Yep, she’s tryna kill me,” he says as he takes the key.

“No she’s not. That’s Josie. Just go downstairs,” Ryley says pulling him up from his seated position. They both made the journey downstairs, Ryley bouncing like a kid in the candy store. When Aly’Sha and Henny revealed that they were redesigning the arsenal, she was ecstatic. When they got to the door, Erik noticed a small note on the door.

I may or may not have done a thing. You’re welcome.

-Hennessy 💋

With a shaky hand, Erik opened the door and his heart dropped.

“Gahdamn!” Ryley answered for him. All of his guns were in neatly placed in glass-enclosed cases with a few new toys thrown into the mix. The one that caught his attention was the gold chrome Versace AK-47. His stubby fingers stroked the barrel of the gun slowly, completely in awe of the weapon.

“You just nutted, didn’t you?” Ryley teased as she watched him.

“A little bit,” Erik admitted with a chuckle. “Where she at anyway?”

“She had some things to take care of at the lab, she said she’d be back later. Happy Anniversary.” With a kiss to his cheek, Ryley ventured back upstairs to Angel’s room, where she and Little Bee were working on his next gift.

September 5th - 11:15 am

“Erik, wake up baby,” Angel sang softly. He stirred with a grunt, pulling her body close to his. He rubbed his hands down her back and gently began palming her backside.

“Oh no sir. As much as I would love to be tangled in the sheets with you, we have somewhere to be. Now get dressed.” He pouted slightly, but lifted himself from the bed, heading to his bathroom for a shower. He emerged from his bedroom 30 minutes later and met Angel downstairs.

“The twins not coming?”

“No, Kristina agreed to look after them. I won’t be gone too long.” He nodded and followed her out to his G Wagon, where she climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Am I not coming back home?”

“Nope, but you’ll enjoy this trip, I promise.” Erik set back in the passenger seat, puzzled as to what his wives were up to. Angel drove until they reached the airfield on the other side of town.

“Why couldn’t I just have taken the Talon?”

“Will you stop asking questions and come on,” Angel fussed as she climbed from the truck. The two were greeted by an older gentleman with a thick southern twang.

“Mr. Udaku?”

“That’s me.”

“I’m James, I’ll be your personal pilot.”

“My what now?” Erik asked, finally taking notice of the large private jet behind the man. Angel smiled wide, enjoying the confusion of Erik’s face.

“Go inside, kumkani. That’ll explain everything. Have a safe trip and Happy Anniversary.” She kissed him deeply and watched as he boarded the jet. She had to give it to Henny. She really outdid herself with this one.

“Holy shit!” Erik exclaimed as he stepped inside the cabin. The inside of the cabin was white with brown accents, with a white Versace table in the middle. There was a mini bar in the right corner and a private suite in the back. Sitting neatly on the table was a black note card with gold lettering addressed to him. He opened it carefully, tears welling up in his eyes as he read.

Happy Anniversary, My Prince. You’ve showered me with unconditional love and affection for the last 10 years, and now it’s my time to return the favor. Sit back, relax, and enjoy your vacation. I have so much more in store for you when you land.

-Hennessy 💋

He covered his mouth with his fist in an attempt to mask his wide grin.

“You’ve got yourself one hell of a woman, Mr. Udaku.”

“I know, and I love her to death.” The men shared a smile before James walked back to the cockpit.

“Make yourself comfortable, Mr. Stevens. We’ve got a long flight ahead of us.” Erik nodded, settling in the master suite. Out of all the things they both had done for one another, this was turning out to be one of the most extravagant.

13 Hours Later

Erik had been awake for the last two hours. He and James had hit a bit of turbulence somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, but everything was all clear now. He watched from the window as the city lights danced beneath them. He’d always loved Venice, partially why he chose to marry Hennessy there. The plane lands at Venice Marco Polo Airport and Erik is stunned when his 5th, 7th, and last wives are on the tarmac to greet him.

“Charlie, Homie, Bast, what y’all doing in Venice?”

“Well I’m working, and since these two hardly ever leave the states, I figured I’d bring them along,” Bastion explained after greeting him with a chaste kiss.

“And y’all just so happen to be here at the exact moment that I land?”

“That little detail may have been the First Lady’s idea,” Homie answered, a sly smile plastered on her face.

“These are for you,” Charlie says handing over a set of keys and a note.

“So is this,” Homie says handing over a black velvet box with his initials.

“And this,” Bastion chimes in, handing over a smaller black velvet box. The three women then lead him to where the rental vehicles are kept and stop in front of a gold chrome out Rolls Royce. Erik was speechless.

“Pretty ain’t she?” Charlie asks.

“Beautiful,” Erik answers, climbing into the driver’s seat.

“Well we’ll leave you to enjoy your vacation. Happy Anniversary Daddy Boo,” Bastion says with a final kiss to his cheek.

“The GPS is already programmed to where you need to go. Happy Anniversary, Daka,” Homie says, climbing into the car next to Bast.

“That little midget really loves you. Happy Anniversary,” Charlie says. Once the trio sped away, Erik opens the note.

Two surprises down, one to go. So what do you get the man that has everything? Something that’ll make his heart stop. I remember when we first met, you told me your dream car was a chromed out Rolls Royce. Hope I was able to make your dream come true. See you soon. -Hennessy 💋

“You really tryna make me cry, huh Shy?” he asked aloud as he started the car. He places the boxes on the passenger seat and let the GPS to lead him to a lavish Italian villa, decked out much like The Kompound back in the states. He grabbed the boxes from the passenger seat and used the second key on the keyring to unlock the door. He marveled at the sights before him before making his way upstairs. The master bedroom was black and gold, a huge California King bed completing the space. He swan dived in the middle of the bed, landing on his back. He stared up at the ceiling, silently asking Bast what he ever did to deserve such loving wives that would go through so much to make him feel special. Mid reflection, his phone rang in his pocket, Hennessy’s round face popping up on the screen.

“You think you slick,” he called into the receiver upon answering.

“Whatever do you mean, dear Prince?” she asks, feigning ignorance.

“All this for me, babygirl?”

“All this for you, Daddy.”

“And when will I get to see you?”

“Tomorrow. Now get some sleep, you’ve got a long day ahead of you.”

“Yes ma’am. I love you,” he says with a yawn, the jetlag finally catching up to him.

“I love you too.”

September 6th

Erik woke with a grunt, the smell of maple syrup and bacon invading his nostrils. He quickly showered before venturing downstairs.

“Buon giorno, Signor Udaku,” the small woman called from the stove. “I’m Sofia, your personal chef. The Princess has left this note for you, along with the two velvet boxes that you did not open last night. After breakfast, you are to follow the directions laid out in the note. Felice Anniversario.” She smiled sweetly before handing him his plate and the note. He touched the velvet boxes, choosing to open the smaller one first. He untied the ribbon and lifted the lid to find a diamond Patek Philippe Nautilus watch.

“That little fucker does listen to a nigga,” he said with a chuckle as he fitted the watch to his wrist. He took a bite of bacon before moving on the the bigger box. He smiled wide, as he removed the Cuban link chain from the box and fitted it around his neck. He finished his breakfast before heading out to the car, the last note tucked safely in his pocket. Once in the car he pulled out the final note and read it, anxious to know what his favorite midget had in store for him today.

3,650 days, 87,600 hours, 5,256,000 minutes together and you still take my breath away. The car’s GPS is already programmed to find me and I can’t wait to see your face once you see you last gift. I love you past the moon.

Hennessy 💋

He pressed a few keys on the car’s GPS and began his journey. He drove until he reached Rimessaggio Fusina, one of the most prestigious yacht clubs in Italy.

“Prince Udaku!” the stumpy Italian man greeted him with a smile.

“That’s what they call me,” Erik responded with a chuckle, looking around at the vast array of boats before him.

“Don’t worry yourself with those. Yours is right this way,” the round man says with a smile.

“Mine?” Erik asked, unable to mask his confusion.

“Si, Signor.”

The two men walked until they stopped in front of a golden super yacht. At the sound of his voice, the Princess walked out onto the deck.

“Ain’t no way,” he said.

“Oh yeah, Daddy. This is all yours. Happy Anniversary.” A few tears fell down his cheeks as he watched her.

“Aww, the beast is crying. Mission accomplished,” she said with a chuckle. He climbed the flight of stairs two at a time until her reached her. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him, kissing her deeply.

“I love you, Princess,”

“I love you too, Daka. Happy Anniversary, baby.”

________________________

TAGS: @vibranium-soul @imagine-mbaku @mareethequeen @greennightspider @eriknutinthispoosy @hearteyes-for-killmonger @blackpantherismyish @muse-of-mbaku @thehomierobbstark @wifeyofnjadaka @youreadthatright @tgigoldie @killmongersgurl @dameshaemonique @princessstevens @princesskillmonger @amethyst1993 @iamrheaspeaks @laketaj24 @bidibidibombaclaat @allhailnjadaka @whatmoredoyouwantamericaa @forbeautyandlife @yaachtynoboat711 @panthergoddessbast @inlovewithmakeupcomicsanimelove @dacreskars @thadelightfulone @drsunshine97 @wakanda-inspired @wawakanda-btch @hold-me-like-a-heart-beat @ayellepea @awkwardlyabstract @madamslayyy @blowmymbackout @vikkidc @champagnesugamama @sociallyawkward18 @chasingsunlight @sydneebleu @itsangeludaku @trevantesbrat

[trashpandaorigins]

How to Save a Life: Part Two

Bucky takes a bullet for Rocket. Not long after, Rocket returns the favor.

This is just my excuse to write melodramatically about Bucky and Rocket’s friendship. I didn’t flush out why they got shot/who shot them and the context around it….I just wanted to cut to the chase. The idea came to my mind and I had to write it out. I’m a glutton for platonic friends who are usually rough and closed off bonding and spilling their hearts out under life or die circumstances.

Thanks to @captaintoomanybattles​ or the editorial oversight and support, go visit their blog on Tumblr!

Go read their amazing Stucky/Avengers work at Skarabrae_stone on A03!

Part of the GRSB: Scenes From a Life series

Bucky’s head whirled around at the strenuous high-pitched squeak. Rocket was crouched, claws tugging at something lodged in his side. Bucky scrambled over, eyes expertly determining the extent of the wound. He squinted, the fur obscuring his analysis. Rocket was panting, eyes sharp with pain. Bucky moved the raccoonoid’s dexterous paws aside trying to get a better look at the bullet. “We’re gonna get this out,” he reasoned. Rocket smirked, holding his paw over the wound. “C’mon Barnes what’s another bit of metal in my skin? Add it to the collection yah know?” “Haha,” The man commented dryly. He scanned the area and turned once more to the raccoonoid. “Sorry about this Rocket I know how much you hate being touched, especially carried lovingly to safety.” “Barnes! What the flark are you...” the words were whisked out of his mouth as Bucky’s hands lifted heaved him up into the crook of his arm. Rocket cursed fluidly the whole way back, the spiked bullet pinching his insides every time he dared to claw away. Bucky swung open the door of their apartment, Rocket’s dark blood staining his arm and running down his side. “What happened?” Steve exclaimed his eyes flitting from Bucky to Rocket. “I’m fine, there was a fight...I wasn’t looking...but Rocket he...” “I’ll be fine Barnes!” Rocket growled, easing himself from the humans hold towards Groot. “We gotta call an ambulance,” Steve suggested. “No! A vet I think! Or animal control? I don’t know,” Bucky grabbed his cell off the table w a bloody hand. “An exotic vet? Are raccoons considered exotic pets?” “I’m not your....” Groot grew an extra branch shoving it between the raccoonoid’s growling jaws to shut him up and give him something to bite on as he began to extract the bullet. Bucky dialed, “Yes hello my pet raccoon’s been shot.” “I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to have a pet raccoon in the state of New York,” Steve whispered. “They might have changed the laws since we were kids though, I’m not sure.” “Damnit it!” Bucky hung up the phone. “I’m never going to understand this decade!” “I ain’t your pet,” Rocket seethed through gritted teeth as Groot finished bandaging him with leaves he’d grown. “I ain’t a raccoon and I ain’t dying so pipe down!”

Bucky couldn’t sleep. Not that that was unusual but this time he kept hearing that animalistic shriek of shock and pain as Rocket had been hit w a bullet larger than his fist. He tossed and turned finally throwing off the covers and got himself out of bed making his way towards the tinkering sound of Rocket’s latest project. 

Rocket smelled and heard the humie before he saw him. But he remained focused on the new Sakkaran cannon he was enhancing. “You can’t be doing stuff like that Rocket,” Bucky’s eternally tired voice reasoned. “It’s one thing for guys like me or Steve or Groot to get hit with something like that but you...” Rocket turned, watching the human try to choose his words very carefully. It was kind of amusing, and he bit back a snicker as Bucky finally decided to let his voice drift off. “Why cuz I ain’t as big as you?” He turned back to his work. His side still hurt.

“Christ Rocket I use guns that weigh more than you!” Bucky came closer, voice exasperated. “You could’ve been killed...” he finished. Rocket shrugged, testing the lever in the cannon. “It was just one bullet,” he reasoned casually. “Rocket,” Bucky whispered hoarsely, the raccoonoid glanced at him from the corner of his eye. “Rocket listen to me,” “No!” The raccoonoid bristled, dropping his tools as he leapt up on the back of the chair and perched on it, his face level with that of the man. He jabbed a clawed finger at Bucky’s face. “ You listen to me ! It was just one bullet, hell  I’d take a thousand bullets before I let the em take the only dumb ass who’s gone ever gone through the same shit I have! Before I let em take the only person who's made me feel like maybe all that torture and shit was worth it!” Rocket hissed hair stuck on end, hackles up. Oh god, Bucky thought, how many painkillers did Steve give him? I knew we should’ve used the children’s Tylenol! “I blame myself for that...for what they did to you...if I let you die for me....” he shook his head running a hand over his face. “Will you quit it with that guilt bullshit for one second?!” Rocket snarled, teeth bared. “You remember how I told yah about how they made me? With sentience and all that philosophical crap? Choices Barnes! I can make my own dast choices! Well I made my choice and I’m gonna keep making it!” “What choice is that?” Bucky questioned, arms folded. He couldn’t face Rocket’s red eyes. “You said it yourself,” Rocket’s voice fell to a whisper. “I gotta watch your six. Well I’m watching your six and your third and  your one hundredth.” Bucky bit back a small smile. “I said I had your back Barnes, I’m choosing to watch your back and if I get smoked to save your butt that’s my choice too.” The humie reached out a hand of protest. Rockets lip curled, tail thrashing. “Don’t you dare,” he growled, dangerously eyes narrowing. “Don’t you dare take that away from me. You try to take away that choice then your no better then them.” Silence fell around them. Fuck , Rocket cursed inwardly. He’d gone too far. As usual he couldn’t keep his fucking mouth shut and now he was going to pay for it. He waited for the blow, “Your right,” Bucky admitted softly, leaning against the workbench. “Your right.”  Rocket scratched his ear in agitation. “I respect your choice,” Bucky sucked in a breath, meeting his eyes once more. “But I don’t agree with it.” Rocket’s tail twitched, he balanced on the back of the chair. “Ain’t no thing like me ‘ceped me,” he quipped, Bucky looked up. “...and you.  Your the closest thing I got.” “I’m not a very good option,” Bucky murmured, voice cracking. The large bandage around the raccoonoid’s toro sent and inexorable wave of nausea through him. Rocket spat at the ground. “You listen to me and you listen good.” He scooted the chair closer and leaned towards Bucky, scrutinizing. “Fuck I wish I was drunk. But unfortunately for the both of us  I’m stone cold sober so listen up.” Bucky blinked, bracing himself. “....You got better...after what they did to yah. You were able to love Steve and save the world and...you got outta that place and you became better.” Rocket’s whiskers twitched though Bucky couldn’t quite read his face. “I didn’t get in front of that bullet cuz you needed saving. I got in front of that bullet cuz.....cuz..you made it though what they did to us. You went through hell and came out the other side....cuz...” Rocket tried to find the words. He closed his eyes for a moment then looked squarely at Bucky taking a fragile breath,  “cuz we are Groot...” he forced the words through the lump in his throat, they were so heavy.

What the hell is that supposed to….? The confused skepticism died in Bucky’s mind the instant he took in Rocket’s face. Wild animal eyes brimmed with tears, face screwed up with grief and longing.

Now he’d done it, Rocket cursed himself. He’d never said those words aloud before and now he’d blurted them out like a lunatic. It made no sense! Fuck he’d just ripped the callous right off. Forget the wound in his side, this hurt way worse and you couldn’t stop emotions like blood. He looked at Bucky and sniffed. That right there was why humans gave him the creeps: they said too much with their eyes. Too many things he couldn’t understand. The man before him nodded, taking a deep breath. Silence fell around them once more. Bucky picked up a grailian screwdriver on the table and fiddled with it. He didn’t speak Groot...but he was intuitive. And those three words made him feel humble, small but it in a pleasant way and it moved him. “I guess I just got used to Steve being the only one to give a shit.” He half joked after awhile. “Tsch, not anymore so get used to it.” “I’ll do my best,” Bucky grinned easing himself into the chair. Rocket turned and climbed down little claws going across his arm and back down to the ground. “Barnes?” “Yeah?” “If I ever do kick the can for your sake, do something for me would yah?” “Of course,” Bucky replied in earnest. A wicked grin laced the raccoonoid’s face. “Just don’t turn my tail into one of those hats you homies where from the old days.” Bucky let out a bolt of laughter, “WHAT? Rocket! I was gonna be Davey Crocket for Halloween!” “Who the flark is Davey Crocket?” Bucky began to explain but Rocket interrupted him. “Whatever, where’s that old timey helmet you got?” Bucky lifted a brow, he knew that tone. “Why?” Rocket only smiled impishly. “Cuz I promised the lady at the pawn shop I’d bring her something good! That gross old jacket made me a fortune she loved it!” It didn’t take Bucky long to connect the dots, “Your pawning off my stuff from the war?!” He stood up only half mad. Rocket licked his lips, leaning down to pick up a spare part to the cannon, “Oh yeah. Humies love shit from World War II. Where’s that helmet at?” Bucky shook his head, “No helmet. But you can take one of the pistols. C’mon I’ll show you.” Rocket followed the man through the hall and paused, watching the humie walk w his one arm and slight limp.

Damn Barnes....you don’t know how far you’ve come do yah?

                                                 The End

[brattywriters-anonymous]

A Rose in Harlem

Chapter two.

Oc x Erik story

Based on Teyana Taylor’s VII & KTSE

Warnings: Cursing, physical contact, feels!

Winter, 2013.

Syd cursed out as she felt the stinging pain of her broken and bloodied nail. Erik tried to grab her right arm, not even phased by the dark red bruise forming on his left cheek. Syd pulled her arm back and yelled, “Get off of me!” Erik pressed backward, throwing his hands up. Myles saw the disaster on Syd’s right index finger. “Oh, baby, That nail gotta come off!” He grabbed a fresh bottle of Dasani, poured the water on top of her finger. Diluted blood streamed down the concrete. “It hurts so bad! MM MM.” Syd shook her head over and over.

Erik approached her again, with napkins and a first aid kit. Before she could protest his presence, he grabbed her right hand, placing her index finger into the napkin. “Hey, Syeda. I am so sorry.” At first glance, she paid attention to his chest and the necklaces that were on display. He had a linked chain with a silver ring attached to it, and another smaller chain with the letter “N” on it. Then a sudden stinging sensation hit her injured finger. He put peroxide on it, to sterilize it. “That’s what you wanted to apologize for?” She yelped out in pain. She looked back up at his lips as they formed a wide smile. “Well, for that too. And for being too forward. I’m from Oakland baby, we state what we want. Closed mouths don’t get fed.” He wrapped her finger in the Band Aid, and kissed the uncovered part as he winked at her. She couldn’t deny what her body was doing in reaction to the care that he took for her in those few moments. In the December brisky yet-sunny weather, Syeda was feeling rather--hot. She briefly exhaled as he surrendered her hand.

--

After a successful meeting went completely south at the end, Syd retreated to her favorite local Coffee Shop. Harlem Coffee Co. She gotten Chai tea and a croissant. She needed to calm her nerves so after her 30 second encounter with “Erik” or whoever he is, “N!” She scoffed aloud before opening her macbook. She began to shuffle through photos that she took on her own, with a few models that were current students at her Alma mater, Columbia University, out to Highbridge for the official first shoot for UPTXWN. She wanted to represent not only Harlem, but all of uptown. Where it’s been, where it is, and where it’s going.So she did the first shoot on the High Bridge. She grabbed her Canon Rebel T5i that she bought herself for her birthday, and took some sunrise shots at 6 am on an early July morning. She really took the photos, and uploaded them to her laptop. She was too preoccupied with her showrunning position for fall fashion week that she didn’t even take the time out to edit them. They sat in her Macbook for over 5 months and it was about time that she started editing. Simultaneously, she was texting Myles informing him that the next shoots would be in Sugar Hill and Marcus Garvey Park and to blast the text and email out of a 10:00 am call time for the Following Wednesday and Thursday.

--

MYles🧡💁🏾‍♂️✨

Are you okay? I know you broke that nail pretty bad.

Yeah. 😩It hurts, but I’m good.

Alright. I’m sending the texts out now, emails will be out by tonight, l8r.✌🏾

Syd took a sip of her tea she saw a name pop up on her laptop, coming from a contact, “Sin”

--

Sin

Syd, it’s Yasin. The plumber. I know you said you’ll let me know if you’re free for a late lunch. You free now?

Syd read over each word then she saw three dots pop up at the bottom of the screen.

Sin

…

Turn around👀

Syd’s face turned into one of confusion. She made a 180 to see Yasin sitting on a table in the corner of the shop. She smiled as he motioned her over to him. She retrieved her belongings and walked over to the booth. “I was just about to ask you to meet me at my favorite coffee shop, and here you are. Girl, you must be an angel or somethin’.” Yasin drew across the table to her direction, he motioned out to her right hand and saw the Band Aid. “What happened Syd? You okay?” She brushed it off. “Yeah it’s fine, this guy was being a complete asshole so I socked his ass.” Yasin’s eyes fanned completely opened when she told him what happened. “Oh, so you fight guys out here?” He sat back in his chair. She reached out for his hand and honestly stated, “Only if I have to.” and smiled. Yasin side eyed Syeda, trying to get a read on her. She came off so mysterious. As old vinyl records of 90s and early 2000s music sprawled out on the living room area floor of her apartment ran across his mind, he grabbed her hand and asked, “So what you about, Syd?”

--

Yasin and Syd spent the next 3 hours discussing education, Islam, politics, and polyamory. Sin let Syd know that just because his mother allowed it and his father participated, doesn’t means that it was what he wanted out of life. “I’m 27 years old, it’s time that I find the right woman to build a family with. To live the life that Allah gifted to us.” Syd was about to be 25 her next birthday in two months. She let Sin know that even though she understood the overall benefit of having a 3 or more person income household, she wanted something that was exclusively hers. “I share my creativity with the world. I share my image to the world. I don’t want to share my love to the world too. I want something sacred.” Yasin nodded as he paused and took a look at his watch. “Oh shit. Ma, you lucky I got finished with all of my clients before I got here, I would’ve been late to all of em by now. It’s 6 pm.” Syd scanned over to the top right corner of her Macbook 6:30 pm. She’d only gotten half of the pictures done, so it looked like she was going to be pulling another all nighter. “Oh, I’m Sorry.” She started packing up her things and getting up. “I have to finish this anyway. So I’m gonna go back home.” Yasin stood with her and assisted her out of the booth. They walked out to a beautiful orange sunset, almost complete. Syd’s hair blew along with the wind again. As she swept the hair out of her face, Yasin reached his arms out and pulled her in slowly. “I had fun today Syd. To think, we met earlier this morning to you cussing me out.” Syd playfully nudge his shoulder. “Yeah, you were late. Which in turn, made me late for my business meeting.” “Let me make it up to you.” She tried to back away but his grip trumped her attempts. “How?” She raised an eyebrow. “Let me take you out tomorrow night. My homie is having a block party up Washington Heights. You wanna slide through?” Sin looked her in her eyes, she couldn’t evade his staring. Syd responded by slightly pecking him on the lips. “Sure.”

--

Syeda wrestled with her keys, finding the door key to let her into the building of 63 Morningside Avenue. She finally unlocked the hallway door, she sat at the bottom of the stairs to take off her extended high heels. She overheard Ziggy talking to Erik, “Yo I don’t know what you were thinking earlier, man. Syd don’t play.” She smiled when Zig made the infamous statement. She scurried up the steps and tried to silently unlock her door. CLINK! Her keys fell to the ground and all chatting stopped across the hall. The door opened. “Syd.” Her name sounded like honey coming from Erik’s lips. She slightly closed her eyes to it. She turned to face Apartment 2B. “N.” “N?” Erik was puzzled. She pointed at her own neck. “Your necklace.” He looked down and jumped. “Oh. Yeah. My father’s side of the family is from Africa. My African name is N’Jadaka. Zig is my cousin on my mom’s side.” he pointed over to 2B.

Syd looked stunned, shocked. “Oh, I’m sorry. I just figured you were lying about--” “About what? My name?” he chuckled. “Nah lil mama. Besides, I don’t think I could lie to you even if I wanted to.” She exhaled. It was light but still heavy enough for Erik to hear. She took a step backward into her apartment but as soon as she hit the closed door, she yelped. “OUCH!” She held her right hand with her left, dropping her heels. Erik immediately stepped in and grabbed her shoes. “Here, let me help you out.” He turned the key and opened the door. Syd turned the light on in the foyer area. “Thank you, N’Jadaka.” She repeated his name in a smooth manner that was pleasing to his ears. “You’re welcome, mooie bloem.” Syd perked up when she heard the familiar dutch nickname that Mr. V gave her. “Yeah, when you bumped into me, I stood by the stairwell..in shock I guess.” He laughed and continued, “I heard him call you beautiful flower in his language. I’m intrigued. Why?” Syd closed the door behind her and locked it, figuring that he was staying for a while, because he walked further into the studio, by her couch.

She placed her keys on the hanger beside the door, shimmied her bubble coat off, placing it on a misplaced dining room chair. “My middle name. It’s Mariposa. The cuban national flower. My mom was Cuban and African American. Afro latina. She was born in Cuba. Her and her family moved to Philadelphia when she was 8. Her father converted to Islam, her and the rest of the family soon followed. She met my dad, He’s also Afro Latino. They had me, Syeda Mariposa Diaz.”

Erik marveled at her story, appreciated that she knew her ancestry. “You have a beautiful name. So your mom honored her Cuban background and gave you an Islamic name?” He finally took a seat, awaiting her response. She nodded and sat next to him, “Yup. That was the idea.” He reached for her right hand, “May I?” She hesitated, then gave in, “Don’t break any of my other nails! They charge for fixing broken nails!” Syd looked Erik in his eyes, smiling. He grasped her hand and kissed it with the same tenderness as he did earlier and finally spoke, “Never.” She blinked a couple times to get herself out of the trance she found herself in after his lips left her hand, she actually had to look away from him as he removed the Band Aid from her finger.

“I heard your right hand man, he said you have to remove the nail. You haven’t done that yet.” He held her finger closer to her overhead lamp so he could further investigate. “Hell no! It hurts. I was going to go to the nail shop to get it removed.” “For what? So they can charge you for something you could’ve done? Nah. I gotchu.” He quickly stepped out of her studio. She shot up and began to panic a bit.

Oh my gosh! Syd, what are you doing?! You just letting this man take care of you like some damsel… Even though he is the reason why you’re hurt.---He Looks so damn GOOD though. Damn. He can’t be in here for too long!

Syd attempted to press the power button on her phone but it didn’t turn on. Signaling that it died. “Shit.” She mumbled. She shuffled around the back end of the studio where her bed and nightstand were. She reached over the opposite side of her bed, closest to her window, for her charger. She heard a laugh and turned over in fear. “Damn. My apologies Syd. It’s just me. I needed my first aid kit. You got tweezers right?” She pulled herself off of her queen sized mattress and retrieved her manicure kit from her bathroom. “In here.”

--

“AHHHH!” Syd exclaimed as Erik used the tweezers to pull the remaining acrylic off of Syd’s bleeding finger. “There. The bleeding should definitely stop after this.” He sprayed the alcohol on a cotton swab and patted on her nail bed. She squealed in shock as he wrapped a new Band Aid on her patched up digit. She took her hand back, relieved that the pain is subsiding. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.” “You’re welcome. No sweat. I was in the Navy. I helped out injured people all the time. I’m used to it.” Erik spat out as he returned the manicure kit back in the bathroom, washing his hands. Once he dried them he clapped them together, and cut the light off. “Okay beautiful. Don’t go slapping other niggas upside the head. I gotta bounce.” Syd followed his trail to her front door, “Bye Erik. Thank you again.”

🌹

[hausofmamadas]

No but likeskskdskfsjdkfj I tried, really, really tried so hard not to make this ass-long. i failed. sorryforeverything

␥

✧ In a selfish way, you’re starting to wish for something equally as drastic to change things up again. But not college, and not prison, and not an engagement that lasted far too many years than it was worth.

Already chortling at this sksksksks bc just this– just immediately disintegrates upon listing the second item

✧ Great. Fucking easy, Josh. You’ve always wanted to role-play as nutritionist for a bunch of bankers in pin-striped suits.

THE WAY ALKSJDLFAKJSDF YOU GAVE HIM THE MOST DOUCHEBAG CORPORATE FUCKBOY NAME. JOSH J. RIDGEFORD. AND YOU KNOW READER KNOWS HIS MIDDLE INITIAL BC THAT’S HOW THIS PIECE OF SHIT INTRODUCES HIMSELF FOR NO GOOD GODDAMN REASON. like I’m picturing such the American Psycho brand of fuckboy, uses 70 diff varieties of anti-aging face lotions and frets on the font and texture of his business cards, I am cackling. Goddd, Josh J Ridgeford. 2 sentences and I already want to punch him in the throat skskdfjskdfj

✧ You turn with a smile already loaded, EZ standing exactly where you expect him to be. He’s in his kutte, which makes him look bigger in a way that Angel’s never seems to, broad and intimidating. Even with EZ’s baby-face plopped on top of it.

Okay, right away with the word wizardry “you turn with your smile already loaded” but also cheesing so hard bc I cannot get over the homie dynamic with EZ, like I love it. the only thing that’s happened here, Reader: had single fond thought asksksksk me :pikachuwu:

✧ ‘How’s it going, Zee?’

ZEE?? ZEEE??? TRYING TO FUCKING MURDER ME ALREADYASKS

✧ Ah, Bishop. That’s someone you are curious to meet, considering how often he pulls the strings. Though, you aren’t sure how much club stuff you should be getting involved with. Sometimes names are better off left as just names.

AND THEN YOU GO AND BRING UP MY FUCKIN BOY IN THE NEXTTFSDS FPARAGRAPH. Oh also this got me emoji eyes like are we mayhaps foreshadowing Reader’s involvement in the club after Reader talks about wanting to break up the routine? hmmm?? not at all eyes emoji at the prospect of maybe more Bispo bc I am not entirely self-indulgent in all things oh btw this is not a request :pepe lightsaber:

✧ The aftermath of that realisation was something you’ll never admit aloud; all tears and frustration and panicked Google searches for local openings, while your hair drip-dried onto your shoulders. It was like the break-up all over again, just on a smaller scale.

I just– look, I’ve talked about word wizardry which “all tears and frustration and panicked Google searches” is nothing less but ALSO AKSDFAS HAVE YOU BEEN FUCKING FOLLOWING ME WITH ONE OF THOSE TINY NOTEPADS THAT DETECTIVES CARRY AROUND IN THOSE OLD BLACK AND WHITE MOVIES JUST RECORDING MY EVERY THOUGHT AND WORD BC I VISCERALLY REACTED, LIKE I SQUAWKED OUT LOUD LIKE A ROOSTER BC LIKE……. ending of 5 year relationship, check. not engagement but like we were basically married, that level of commitment, like marriage only a matter of time as far as we were concerned until like….. sobs we weren’t the fucking futility, pure demoralization, and sense of existential aimlessness that comes with looking for a job at this stage in life, check. I shit you not, you captured it so perfectly I actually teared up bc df, dear friend, I have been here. Recently. And it does indeed suck this much.

✧ Your phone buzzes under your arm, so you twist your head to read the sender’s name and find it’s Angel. It always is lately.

Unclear if Reader is resigned or satisfied or both. Regardless, cue me cackling, kicking my feet in the air, skipping, singing, “Reader and Angel sittin’ in a tree, F-U-C K-I-S-S-I-N-G”

✧ You answer quickly, saving him from overthinking any more silences. Relax, tontín, I was watching TV. Annoying you is a favourite hobby of mine.

NO. NO. No. Literally. Actually. *gif of Gary Oldman screaming* EV-ERY-ONE shut the actual fucking sweet mother of fucking fucks up right now bc I shit you not, I was pacing back and forth across my living room, shouting incoherently I live alone for the good of myself and those around me like this prob isn’t even the weirdest thing I've done tbh these TEXT MESSAGESASDKFJA LIKE THE MOST INVENTIVE, GENIUS IDEA?????? LIKE OF ALL TIME????? THAT IVE EVER SEEN????? It’s such a clever device, I’m living thru their relationship in these. It’s so good, I’m enraged, enraged I didn’t think of it myself and simultaneously overjoyed that I get to consume it. It’s fucking p e r fect, it makes me sick (affectionate), I wanna kill you (affectionate), you’re just the fucking worst (affectionate), vete a la verga pues (cariñosa)

✧ 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕓𝕖 𝕦𝕡 𝕚𝕟 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕤? … ✧ 𝕌𝕡? 𝕐𝕖𝕤. 𝕊𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖? ℕ𝕠. ✧ 𝕎𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕖? 𝕀 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕡𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕦𝕡 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕪. ✧ 𝕎𝕠𝕨, you say it aloud as you type it. 𝕎𝕠𝕨. 𝕊𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕥’𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕒 𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝔸𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕝 ℝ𝕖𝕪𝕖𝕤.

STOOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPOP MOTHERFUCKIGNASIFDA I have not one coherent thought, just– gagged. Gagged and choking, life slowly slipping from my body. For so many fucking reasons least of all bc it’s totally the kind of banter that you see between old friends that like takes an awkward turn where it’s that thing of like “..askdfsjdfsk wait….are you.. joking? like I’m mostly asking cause I really hope you’re not but like I don’t wanna let on that I’m hot in my pants for you so I’m gonna make it seem like you’re the weird one for joking about this thing that I actually, totally, yes indeed, thank-you-very-much, desperately want to happen”

✧ There’s a small typing bubble that comes up, then stops and disappears, and then the same again. And again. Then, finally, a message makes it from his keyboard to your screen. 𝕀𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕠, 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕟𝕠, it says. 𝔻𝕠𝕟’𝕥 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕖𝕚𝕣𝕕.

The ensuing metric fuck tons of hilarity of the text ellipsis popping up, disappearing, popping up again ksjdfksdj fhowwling. BUT THEN. FUCKING THEN. ANGEL’S RESPONSE SKKSK imjustsosorry Angel, querida, no me chingues pues ni un segundo, you cannot sit there and tell me with a straight face this isn’t your fucking routine, just like you unquestionably do indeed Netflix and chill. Like you can try. Try and look at me with those big, brown pobre puppy eyes and lie all you want but imjustsosorry that you’re full of shit asi que calláte alaverga con esa mierda, you just cannot kid the biggest kidder

✧ It vibrates through your ribcage, pulling you from the sleep you don’t remember falling into. It’s not sudden, but a slow crawl back to consciousness, disorientating and delayed. The light of the screen blinds as you eventually turn it to your face, ANGELITO screaming at you from the caller ID, until you hit answer and put it to your ear. When you close your eyes again, the name flashes against the black of your lids.

First off, moment of silence for this insane description of that weird liminal sleep phase of like when you’re starting to emerge from an unintended coma nap and you’re not exactly sure what year it is bc twere I writing this fic, I would’ve said something like, “emerging from an unintended coma nap where you’re not sure what year it is,” which, while I admit is funnier, isn’t actual poetry? But also SKDKFSKDFJSKDFJKS the all-caps ANGELITO doing the fucking LORRRDDT'S work like i am dyyyyyying bc I haven’t forgotten that Angel put his own number into Reader’s phoneskskdfsjd and like sksksksk the way his name is also imprinted on the backs of my eyelids. Also the way this is so undercover romantic too, que carajo

✧ He makes it into the house, into your room, without too much catastrophe—a surprise given his frame, and his legs that go on and on— and it’s only once he’s standing upright again, that he causes any sort of disturbance.

Ssksk bc you know this long mf thought he was home free when he got through the window, so he just stands up as quickly and violently as possible. Like you got Angel dialogue-wise, and the physicality too. Fucking chef’s muah kiss.

✧ 'How was your night?’  ✧ ‘Boring as hell.’ He sulks. ‘Didn’t even get to fuck somebody up.’ ✧ ‘You’re right, that sounds terrible.’

No but like the way Reader doesn’t even know this is the only thing they do in the mc skks so Angel actually sat around smoking cigarettes, bickeringwith EZ, watching Bispo and Taza grumble inaudibly to each other, talking about Galindo and the grand total 2 people in his cartel operation seriously sksksk I need an explanation as to why only seemingly 2 people including Marcus work for him. the least scary cartel. He’s even less scary than Rio from Good Girls which is actual negative level scary like opposite of sphincter clenching, this bhole could not be more relaxed tbh

✧ He sighs, and slouches, then shifts completely, bouncing himself down so that he can lie parallel to you, with his arms folded behind his head.

AGAIN GODDDDD not just the dialogue but his fucking physicality locked tf down

✧ He laughs, ‘No,’ and tilts his face to give you an exasperated look. ✧ ‘You think I know what I'm doing with my life?’ ✧ ‘Yeah, actually, I do. You have a purpose, shady as it is.’ ✧ ‘Which is not very,’ he adds.

Not very... huh. Says the man who facilitated a rebel uprising in a foreign country, killed a fed, tortured a man by skinning off one of his tattoos, almost killed the same guy’s dog, ngl I took that as personally as Happy and I think Happy’s a better man for standing up for his pup over himself cause that doggo was just hungry🥺 your mc’s like sole function and purpose is to traffic heroin, p sure I’m forgetting so much sksksk but based on this incomplete list alone, it is emphatically shady. BUT THEN THE FUCKED PART SKDKFJSKDFJ THE WAY READER’S STILL RIGHT SKSKSK like mans does know his purpose. And tbh like Reader, I too wish life were as simple as Doing Crimes like it is for Angel Reyes

✧ ‘Fuck it,’ he agrees. ‘And you can quote me on that.’ Dumb as it is, his approach to problem solving has soothed you in a way your parents could never. Either that, or you’re so tired that he’s started sounding wise.

Or your so tired he’s starting to sound wise SKDFJSKSLDJF no, like this is what it is. Howmever, there is a certain wisdom in the kind of approach that Angel has. Like wisdom in simplicity and we know mans is nothing if not simple KEKW

✧ ‘It’s my kid. On the lockscreen … He’s with his mom. I haven’t met him yet.’ Your hand is still over his. If you pull it back now, it’ll mean something you don’t intend it to mean. If you push your fingers through his, that’ll do the same thing. You stare at them instead, unmoving on the bed between you, and try to find a reasonable response to his confession.

FUUUUUUUUUUCK FUCK FUCKITY FUCK the way this just made my whole heart fully twist in my chest cavity sksdkfskjdfk it's real and raw. Like Reader really is trying to find the best way to convey openness and reassurance through body language, like “this is a safe place” bc they can tell he obv needs to get this off his chest, so they don’t want to make any sudden moves, like they’re worried they’re gonna spook that cat back in the closet and he’ll never come out again. But then, the other thing I’m obsessed with, and don’t even know if this was intended, how Reader does kinda the perfect thing by not moving, and seems they’re able to do so largely bc they’re half asleep???? Like that half-asleep, sort of dormant nervous system is making it easier to just receive this information without reacting to it in any specific way??

✧ ‘You gonna say something?' ✧ ‘I’m thinking.’ Now’s your opportunity; you move your hand to your face without it meaning anything at all and use it to scrub at your eyes before pushing it up and over your hair. The motions leave you more awake than before but only just. ‘I can’t believe you let me complain about my shit when you…’

NOOOOOASDLFKAJLSDFJA BUT THIS IS JUST SO FUCKING SWEET AND MAKES ME LOVE READER. Like the reaction isn’t “how could you keep this from me,” it’s not even to ask more questions knowing mi propio amor pa' un chinga de chisme, I would’ve gone accidental interrogation skskdks but instead like, “fool, are you forreal? let me bitch about not having a job when you got a goddamn teacup human floating around somewhere that you’re understandably torn up about skfsd and you didn’t say anything? mf really??”

✧ It leaves you in a limbo you can’t seem to think a way out of. You can’t find words of comfort, if you don’t know where the wound lies.

Wow. Okay. Just. I don’t even– all I can do is sit here, full :lebron tear: at this FULL FUCKING POETRYAALSKDJFAKSJDFKA like word wizardry and heart-wrenching sentiment, 10/10 would recommend on all fronts like goddddd

✧ ‘The mom,’ you say, carefully, ‘you aren’t together? ... Do you want to be?’ ✧ ‘I just want to see my kid,’ he says. ‘Right now, I don’t even feel like a fucking dad.’

OHHHHHH BUT POOR SWEET ANGEL IT’S GONNA BE OKAY BB BOY🥺

✧ ‘I don’t think it’s ever stupid to hope for something you want, Angel.’ He exhales; you don’t know if it’s a frustrated sigh, or a push of relief. ‘You’ll be a good dad,’ you say.

Alright, so uh, I’m fucking de– *shot by a sniper, falls to the ground, bleeds out with smile on face*

when the crows come home, 3

part one / part two & ao3 link

angel reyes x gn!reader, part three of ?, 4470 words

a/n: update day update day!!! we’re getting besties, we’re getting angst, we’re getting angel being sensible and comforting for once, let me know what you think!

taglist: @drabbles-mc​ @cositapreciosa​ @ashlingnarcos​ (let me know if you would like to be tagged!)

Days are melting into weeks. You’ve been home long enough now that it’s starting to feel you’d never left, somehow. It’d sound stupid if you told anyone that. Ten years can’t slip away that quickly, shouldn’t, even, but it has. Your routine is so repetitive, it’s hard to feel like it hasn’t been happening every day since you were sixteen; get up, shower, breakfast with the parents, carpool with Dad, work with Dad, lunch with Dad, and then the same in reverse. You should’ve never asked him for your old job back, you should’ve moped about until you saw an opening in a coffee shop or something.

The only respite to it all, is the pockets of time you spend with Angel, or EZ, or both. Sometimes. Although, again, like you did at sixteen. Exactly the same as it was from then until the time you moved away, and Angel went to Chino. 

In a selfish way, you’re starting to wish for something equally as drastic to change things up again. But not college, and not prison, and not an engagement that lasted far too many years than it was worth. 

Keep reading

[erinthewriter-blog]

My 5 Draft Revision Method

Before I started writing, I imagined Authors as these fabulously miserable people who wrote in silk robes with a pipe in their mouth and bird on their shoulder. Whether it was sacrifices or wizardry, the method behind their magic was always a secret, so today I thought I’d put my Five Draft Revision Process on blast! I don’t use this for essays or poetry, just long form passion projects (Truth Weekend) like books and screenplays. Every story has special needs, but this general frame work gets the job done!

If you’d rather watch my video on this then click here.

Marking Draft One (The Crap Draft)

After I’ve poured my heart into writing the first draft and have completely cut soup out of my diet, it is time to read it over and create a revision map. A revision map is just a fancy list of things you need to fix in your story.

While reading, take note of:

- Any plot holes or inconsistencies so later you have a blueprint of where you need to problem solve.

- All time stamps so the timeline isn’t ridiculous.

- What is your story lacking and what information is missing?

- Which characters could be fleshed out more?

Next, I write up a new synopsis that identifies what my story articulates at this stage and who my characters actually are vs what’s just in my head. This side by side comparison of brain to page helps me see what the gaps in my vision are and how I can fill them in. Lastly, I take the time to sort out plot holes. If it means printing out my outline, cutting it up, and mixing around the scenes then I do it. It’s not easy, but it’s going to be a hell of a lot harder in later drafts. Describe the plot hole, talk it out with a friend (when you say it aloud, the problem sounds obvious), figure out what scenes and characters it effects and change them.

Don’t beat yourself up because your plot is jumbled and your characters aren’t fully realized humans yet. The craft of writing is within the revisions. You already did the hard part of vomiting this genius idea onto the page and most people are too scared to even do that. Now you must sculpt!

Pro tip: talk to yourself in the margins! This unfiltered conversation about stupid lines and irrelevant plot points will help you generate new ideas. The first draft is just there to tell the story to yourself. Now that you know the story, you can edit a better one.

Writing Draft Two

The second draft is all about adding. FILL IN YOUR PLOT HOLES. Don’t get preoccupied with space and conciseness. Lay that shit out. Now is not the time to be nuanced. Whatever didn’t happen in the fever dream that was draft one, needs to be implemented in draft two. Have fun, homie. Now is the time to be on the nose and nerd out on all the geeky lore you spent months creating.

Revising Draft Two (Hell Season)

I hate editing draft two. I think I always will because there’s just so much information and I have a tendency to get overwhelmed. Though, a good thing to remember is that we’ve already done the dirty work of plot holes and weird time jumps so now we just have to trim the fat.

This draft is where I figure out all the scenes and dialogue I don’t need.

-Is this conversation moving the plot forward or letting the audience know more about the characters? No? Cut!

- What Easter eggs can I hide in plain sight?

- What needs to be shown vs what could be summarized vs what could just be mentioned?

- Instead of saying she was angry, how can I show that?

- How can I express their backstory in a way that isn’t an insane info dump? I’m still working on that one.

After draft two is when I usually send it to my editor, Bryt, because at this point I’m sick of looking it and I need someone else’s eyes on it before I look at it on a micro level. I advise you to wrangle up a writing buddy if you feel the same way.

Draft Three

This edit is all about making it look pretty and that’s the phase that takes me the longest and the phase that makes me feel like I’m losing my mind. Here is where I read the whole thing out loud and listen for what sounds unnatural or just ugly. I check for flow, conciseness, tone, and atmosphere. Then I line edit to find the right words to articulate what I mean while taking out fluff words that don’t add to the image. For example, saying a cloud is “fluffy” does not enhance the image. We know clouds are “fluffy” so you don’t need to say it. Find a more interesting adjective.

I also agonize over if my characters sound “uniquely them” while also keeping in mind that there’s still time to break it down, experiment, and find cool new ways to tell this story.

Draft Four

We’re in the home stretch. This is where a lot of people send off their cleanest manuscript to betas and I would go more into that process, but I’ve never done it because I’ve had Bryt by my side for the past five or so years. Nevertheless, I’m now sending my script to film professors who are kind enough to talk out my movie with me.

It is key to print this draft out no matter how long it is. You can even print it front to back. It is essential to read your story this way because it is so much easier to point out typos, especially coupled with reading it aloud. When you read it in the way your audience typically would, it is clearer to see which scenes are dragging, if there’s weird tonal shifts, and an unevenness in POV. So take out your red pen of death and just fucking murder it.

Draft Five

Draft five is just adding all of those murderous micro-changes then reading it aloud, front to back, without wanting to change anything. If your face scrunches up at a line or your eyes glaze over at one point because the scene is terribly boring (granted, if it’s that boring, then it shouldn’t even be there) then you’re not done. Revise until you are obsessed with this piece of material! Don’t stop until you are in love with it and wouldn’t change a single thing.

Alright guys, that was my 5 draft editing process. I hope it helped and that next month is a time of marvelous growth and change for you. Happy writing, bye!

[noexit-ff]

9. Part 2

I am just thinking to myself now, why did I invite Mel when I have no intention of staying downstairs. I will let Mijo play with her, he has nothing better to do anyways. I can’t stay away from the crib for too long now, I don’t have house sitters and my dog’s need feeding. I can be away for a day or two but that is it “did you have a good time in Vegas though?” Mel asked in the back, tapping on my Instagram, let’s see what’s popping on this “yeah it was good, people expected me to do fucked up shit but I kept myself to myself. My homies are still there, they don’t have anything else better to do” squinting my eyes at Robyn, she really posting pictures like this like she ain’t got a photoshoot. She look sexy but I am annoyed, I can’t contain this anymore. Exiting out of my Instagram and tapping my messages.

To: Robyn

From: Chris

You got time to post pictures but not be here for my birthday? After everything I did for you because your boyfriend fucked yours up! Nothing will make up for what you did! Don’t even speak to me and take your shit out of my crib!

Pressing send and dropping my phone in my lap, I wanted to throw my phone there but I didn’t. Mijo pulled up outside my gate, letting the window roll down so he can enter the code for the gate “they are such bums, you do know that right?” the gate opened for him “I do, but they make me laugh so what else you want me to say” so glad to see my home so I can just sleep, I don’t know why I just want to sleep. I think it is because of how shit my birthday has become, I just don’t want to care. I just want my birthday to be over with so sleeping will make that happen, so I think anyways. My phone buzzed in my lap, she was quick.

From: Robyn

To: Chris

Don’t be an ass to me when I have things to do! You can keep my shit there

Frowning down at the text, I will throw her shit in the streets I don’t care. Writing a message back to her.

To: Robyn

From: Chris

I am changing my codes, your things will be on the streets! How dare you forget my birthday and send a little stupid happy birthday. Forget you! I can’t believe you

Pushing the door open in annoyance “come on in Melissa, make yourself at home” making my way through the lobby “I will thanks, you better have some good snacks here” pulling my jacket off, I am so annoyed with life right now. Walking over to my light switch, yanking the jacket off from my arm “make yourself at home anyways” putting the lights on “your home is so dope though” throwing my jacket to the side in annoyance, mean mugging the floor “women!” I spat feeling so stressed “surprise!” hearing people shout, I stopped abruptly looking up in shock. Seeing Jen, her husband and Robyn. Seeing my living area filled with banners and balloons “aww my baby he was all angry, I didn’t forget!” my face slowly dropped in shock “I have been busy Chris, busy shopping for you” I feel all choked up now “I thought you forgot” I mumbled, she shook her head “never baby, I came here for you that is it. I wasn’t even at a photoshoot, I was here while you were away” wrapping my arms around Robyn “aww look at him, he doesn’t even know what to say. He was texting saying he is throwing her things out, now look” Jen said, I feel bad now “I missed you so much” if I squeeze Robyn anymore I think she will stop breathing “I love you so much Chris, my baby’ birthday!” feeling Robyn pressing kisses to my neck.

Shaking Jen’ husband hand “Jen said to come, I know that you both are trying to keep things a secret. I wasn’t going to say no when Rihanna is cooking, she makes good food” stepping back “yeah she does, I guess you read the meltdown I had. She had the nerve to post pictures and I was like hell no” Robyn held out a glass of whiskey to me “thank you annoying ass” taking the glass from her “well Chris, I couldn’t tell you. I had to keep things a secret, it’s so hard to do things and I feel sad because there is not many people here” taking a sip from the glass shaking my head “this is what means the most babe, I just want people that can be here for me and be happy for us. It’s small but I appreciate it, I get to chill with y’all. Thank you” looking down at Robyn, pressing a kiss to her lips “I love you baby, thank you” kissing her lips again “I love you too” I am so happy.

Robyn keeps on giving me drinks, I am about to be drunk. I need to calm my ass down but this food will hopefully soak up the drink “so when are you both getting married? I really want to know” Jen asked wiping her mouth with the napkin “erm, I don’t know. People need to know we are together yet, I think Robyn wants the family to know but Jen. You know that I am not liked, you know it” Jen sat back in the chair “well you can’t fight fate, y’all love each other too much. When Robyn said it, when I knew you was sniffing around I knew it. I see my girl happy so who am I? I think maybe you need to show that you are real with it, I love what Rihanna told me, she said y’all are waiting it out. Better that way, I think maybe you need to be there or forget the world and just run away and do it” she shrugged “I will do that now, I can never let Robyn go. Not again, the food was beautiful thank you” looking over at Robyn “she is all ready to be a wife now, ain’t you?” Jen teased, Robyn sighed out “this is my time” she is right, it is her time.

Mijo and I stared at each other “nah, I am not having my thigh on his thigh” shaking my head, Robyn and her stupid drinking games, she is getting me drunk or maybe herself but I have done more drinking “well y’all gotta have a shot!” Jen pointed shouting “or I can change my motherfucking partner? I aint gay, why can’t I have Rihanna!?” Jen passed me the shot “nope, if we say attach your penis inside the vagina you would do it, you need boundaries so drink up” downing back the shot “done, I want to change partners, please” I don’t want Mijo “ok, ok. Can we just not play. I want to show Chris his gifts” Robyn has finally come back “forget the gifts, just come and sit on my lap” waving her over “no, come. I want to show you something. Forget it here is my first gift”” she held the bag up, shuffling off the couch. Sitting on the edge of the couch, placing the shot glass down. Robyn sat down next to me “so gift number one” she held the bag out to me “is this another engagement ring? You sent me another one for nothing” taking the bag from her “no, just look” reaching into the bag “you know I didn’t want anything, I am good like this” taking out a brown glossy box, seeing the Rolex sign. Smiling at Robyn “this gift, actually Mel and Jen put in” frowning “money?” I questioned “yeah, well. They wanted to pay and I said no, they wanted to get you it” I am shocked “wow” opening the box, the watch was already gleaming in the light “shit, this must have been a million?” taking the diamond encrusted Rolex “it was expensive, I want my man glistening in the light” placing the watching around my wrist “wow, this is beautiful as fuck. Thank you all so much, wow. I appreciate it so much. Come on ladies, give me a hug” pressing a kiss to Robyn’ forehead before getting up to hug Mel and Jen.

I hate this blind folding shit, I am not here with the shits “Chris, stop it. Just give me your hand!” Robyn yelped out, scrunching my face up. Holding my hand out, feeling Robyn take my hand “just walk slowly as I pull you along” I hate this shit, do I have to be blindfolded. Using my free hand reaching forward, moving my hand to the side “seriously Chris!?” Robyn spat, I chuckled “oh shit, your head, sorry. Ok Proceed” let me not do that again, she will cuss my ass out. I hit her head with my hand “are we going outside?” I said aloud “why is it so quiet” touching the side of the wall “he is here” Robyn said, my shoulder hit into something “shit!” I spat, touching what I hit and it’s a door “why are you like this” Robyn held my free hand, pulling me along with both of my hands “you’re so cute, just please do not move when I place you where you need to be ok?” I hate taking orders “is this kinky? Will you be naked? Are we having pool sex? Am I walking into an orgy?” Robyn let my hands go “always lowering the tone” Mijo shouted, pulling a face “forget it, this ain’t no orgy. Unless Jen is here? I don’t mind a little bit of Jen” hearing her husband groan out “he talks too much” busting out laughing, I’m nervous and I don’t like this because I am scared of the unknown, it’s weird.

Feeling someone behind me, the blindfold became lose. Squinting my eyes as the blindfold came away from my face, blinking several times seeing two cars on my drive “surprise baby, these are for you” Robyn stood at the side of me “you got me these?” I pointed, walking over to the cars in shock “oh shit” seeing the all black Rolls Royce “this is the Black Badge edition, oh wow! How!?” touching the side of the car “this is beautiful” I am in shock, she really got me a car “I didn’t know what the hell they did, I just paid for it but I know my man likes to be called Lamborghini Breezy so I went to the dealers and got you the newest model” placing my hands on the side of my face “this is so fucking beautiful, oh my god!!” I screamed out running around the Rolls Royce “oh my god!! Look at this nigga!” I shouted to Mijo, pulling the car door up “I feel so hard seeing this” the words slipped out of my mouth “you boys, god. It’s only a car!” Mel shouted, touching the seat “it’s a Lamborghini Centenario Melissa! Get it right!” I feel so emotionally happy.

Turning to Robyn “did I do good?” She said smiling “you did more than good, you did amazing. Oh god, I can’t wait to drive them. You know me, I love cars” I am just in shock, placing my arm around Robyn “I got the Rolls Royce because you know when we have a family, you can drive that” licking my lips looking down at Robyn “well I got a surprise for you too” looking up seeing Mel recording, she been recording everything “what is it now?” Robyn looks a little nervous “you can come off contraception, let’s start a family” hearing Mel and Jen gasp “awwww” Mel said “really?” Robyn said half shocked “yes really, we can start. We don’t know how long it can take but who are we to stop a blessing” turning to Robyn “don’t cry, you are an emotional wreck” Robyn face planted into my chest sobbing out, placing my arms around her “I am so happy for you guys” Mel joined in on the hug “same, I love you annoying assholes” Jen placed her arms around us.

I am expecting some sex but Chris is busy being a mess, I mean I am glad he is a mess in his own home but I didn’t want him drunk. Watching him and Jen gyrating, Jen is awful “ok, can you please not give him anymore drinks!” I shouted over the music “boo, shut up boring bitch!” Jen waved me off, well I want some damn sex. I don’t even care, I will have his drunk ass give me dick still. Sitting down at the bar stool, this has been so stressful. I have been taught about cars, speaking about shit I don’t even know. Then I had to keep it a secret, the car dealer thinks those cars are for me when I can’t even drive here. Looking over at Chris rolling my eyes, I didn’t want to drink because I wanted to get freaky with him but the girls had other plans, unlocking my phone ignoring the message from my team. Tapping on Instagram, I honestly forgot I still follow Adam. Let me unfollow him real quick, I am so glad I left that guy. Anyways back to my timeline, smiling at the picture Mel put up. This bitch sitting in my man’ new car, sliding across her pictures, she is being too obvious. You can actually see his art, I hope they don’t clock it. Stupid woman, tapping on my camera and flipping the camera to my face. Poking my bottom lip out taking the picture of my face, captioning the picture ‘When my dick appointment is drunk and I am sober, can I still fuck when he is drunk? Or is that classed as Rape? #BadGalGoneGood #IAmSadAF #DickTooBombINeedMore #IHadKinkyThingsToWear #BitterBitch’ I am actually sad about this.

Everyone in this room is drunk besides Mijo and I “how did this happen?” I asked him “I wish I knew sis, he is a mess. I think it’s funnier that he trying to act normal, Jen’ man is mad cool though” I wonder where he is going, god knows where his top has gone now “Rihanna” slipping off the bar stool, Chris calling me Rihanna now “you messed up my dick appointment” I pointed, he looked at me all dumbfounded “dick!” I spat, he nodded his head “I can give you dick” he slurred out “yes, sure. Maybe next time, where are you going?” I think I just want him to go to bed and sleep it off, he is stripping off too “no, no, no I’m fine. I need pee, it’s there” he shrugged, he is cute “ok, you go to pee” he widened his eyes falling back a little, grabbing his hand “I love you! I wish I wasn’t loved, money gave me nothing. I would come to Barbie, Bar…..” he paused “Barbados?” I finished off for him “yes, I tell mom we marry. You think I can love, I don’t want to hurt” he is talking so much shit “Chris’ it’s fine, you want me to go with you to pee?” he shook his head, letting his hand go but he stubbled again.

He is so fucking lucky I love him “Chris, seriously. You’re fucking heavy and you need to pee in the toilet” I don’t like this drunk Chris, is this what I am like. He keeps on resting on me, I am struggling here. His dick all out and I am just here “ok lean forward and place your hand on the wall” this could work, I want to laugh but I won’t. He is finally peeing, I love this man and he is lucky “Robbie you there” he was about to move “no! I am here” if he pees on me I will scream, he is stressing me “sex, we have sex” he thinks “sure, you done now?” there is nothing coming out but of course more did, I swear I should have banned booze. Looking down at my nails hearing him stop, looking up at him. Chris pressed a kiss to my lips but fell forward, he moved back “thank you for that Chris” leaning down, his dick all in my face. Pulling up his pants and boxers “you’re going to bed, no more drink for you” pushing his dick inside the boxers, he is not doing anything but walk up those stairs.

Looking around his bedroom, I hate it here. I was hoping he would come to my place but no, he has fallen asleep ever so quickly. Placing the watch on the side table, this room gives me horrible vibes. Other women have been here, it’s not mine. Leaning down pressing a kiss to his head, I can’t stay here. Making my way out of the room, I would expect Chris to be the same if I had several men in a bed. I love him, I wish it didn’t be like this and I was his only woman he had. Making my way down the steps “they fell asleep” Mijo pointed, those bitches “all of them?” I said, look at the living area seeing all of my friends asleep. Mel deserves to be on the floor, she bailed on me and got Chris drunk and then Jen too “well can they stay? They have too, can you drop me off at home please? Are you staying here?” I want them to be safe too, I want my baby to be ok “yeah, I’ll come back here. Come” I am sad, I wanted him.

Mijo is funny, he is enjoying driving the Rolls Royce “this car is so damn beautiful, the blue and black interior. I want to keep it” smiling at Mijo “you both are like brother’s, I am sure Chris will let you use it” it’s a beautiful car I got him, it was worth every bit of money “you think he was happy?” I questioned “sis, if you saw that nigga earlier he was in a bad ass mood. He wanted to hit this, hit that. I can’t believe she did work on my day, it’s my day. He was bad, that nigga is happy. He didn’t expect two cars and he loves his cars and then the watch? What made them pay? That is so random” rubbing my hands against my thighs “I don’t know, it was so random. They both said it and I said really? I mean it’s Chris and they said. We have known that boy since he was sixteen, he is twenty-nine why wouldn’t we, that shut me up” Jen and Mel really shocked me “wow, it’s been that long. Y’all fuckers still playing around, how do you feel about him saying about kids to you” sighing out, I am going to be home alone tonight “shocked, I didn’t expect him to say it so freely and this quickly. I am so happy, me! Having a baby? Crazy” I cannot wait to be a mother “Joyce was saying it to him, she said why are you waiting. Find that girl, I know your heart is with Rihanna but you can always care again. Be a father, I think Chris realised he needs to take that step into fatherhood. It’s different and I get it, it’s just one of those things and even with me. Am I good enough, you just want to protect them” Mijo is right, it is a scary thing.

Mijo parked outside the door for me “you going to be ok here alone?” he asked, nodding my head “yeah, I can’t stay there. I just want to move in with him already, I feel stuck because if we do then it will leak out. I also want to marry him without anyone’s sadness or disagreements. I cancelled everything for him just so I can be with him, and I don’t regret it but I want to wake up to him. I want to be free but I don’t know how to break it to the world” I have been stressing about this a lot “fuck the world, how about that. You don’t owe anybody an explanation, you want to marry that man then do it. Family will accept it, get over it. Go about your life, don’t stop it. I know Chris has been making sure everything is being stopped, people getting sued and statements being retracted, do it. I say, well personally. Y’all been hearing too many people’s opinions, y’all let people strain your relationship. If your heart says marry him, then do it. You will see who your real people are, and can you both just move in? Just stop making things hard, live y’all life” Mijo giving out the good advice “and please don’t say what if your mom hates you, then she doesn’t want to see you happy if that” he took the words right out of my mouth “ok, I am going. Bye” let me leave him alone.

[paniccord-ff]

46. Part 3

I love having a jet full of family, it’s nice to have this. To have the vibe of a family that is not bleeding me dry, that is not looking at me for money. I have my daughter, I have a son on the way and a wife soon. My heart does hurt to know I have lost my mom, I miss her so much. I mean I just need to look in the mirror and I see her, I have her smile. Well I am like the male version of my mom, my aunties are full of themselves though. They are on my mom’ side, my dad is quiet on things but doesn’t agree that I have Royalty away from her mother but he loves me either way, Tootie texts me now and then, my male cousins are just on the fence about shit. They don’t want to lose that lifestyle but also don’t want to lose their parents, my friends hate that I am not a mess so I am like all the way fucked over. I have my only hope, Rylee’ family and they make me feel so normal and welcome “what’s up with you? Looking all teary eyed” feeling Rylee kick my leg, looking across me “I’m good, just was ready to sleep” I lied “you don’t need to watch me” pulling my hood up a little more “well I just happened to look at you” getting up from my seat, I need the bathroom.

Reading the email from Mark, he’s got Rylee more work already. Pregnancy shoot, I want Rylee to not work anymore now “sir would you like anything?” the flight attendant asked “uh, just some Hennessey please” placing my headphones around my neck “I heard you doing Vegas?” Blake blurted out “I am?” I retorted “well I was going to, not sure. I was going to discuss this with Rylee nigga” Blake let out an oh “how do you know anyways?” the flight attendant bought me the whole bottle “you know me” I smiled at her “Tyga was saying it, my bad. I assumed that you were” shaking my head looking back at my laptop “we will talk” I said to Rylee, she is glaring at me mad hard for no reason. Placing the bottle at the side of my MacBook “what you doing?” Kyrie questioned “I am currently listening to some songs I did, so I can send them back. Work don’t stop, I need to make that money still” placing my headphones on, I am trying to drown out any thoughts in my mind right now because I am having too many.

Moving back the headphones to answer my phone “daddy” Royalty half shouted lifting her arms up at me, wrapping my arm around her body and lifting her up onto my lap “what’s up?” fixing Royalty on my lap “took your time nigga to answer me” I chuckled aloud at EJ “what do you want me to say huh? I am half asleep right now, doing work. You know me” maybe letting Royalty on my laptop is a bad thing, she is slapping the keys like it’s nothing “well I am in London” my eyes widened “why are you there? Here I was thinking you was in LA, I was hoping to see you” closing my app down before Royalty deletes my songs “trying to find a dress for Royalty, I had to come all the way here and guess what? They ain’t got her size but I went to Harrods, they got it. Then I was thinking about you, I was thinking how your butt looks big in your pants, I think I am going to get that loosened up” busting out laughing “you leave my butt alone, I think it looked fine” he is so disrespectful “oh no baby, what is you doing. You start krumping in those pants you will rip them” laughing aloud “I hate you, anyways. Speak soon and start squatting, you need it more than me” disconnecting the call, he fancies me. Shaking my head, placing my phone on the table “are you done ruining my MacBook?” touching the top of Royalty’ head, looking up seeing Rylee mean mugging me. The anger in her eyes “who upset you?” she is so bipolar, I think she is more than me “oh now you are happy, who was you calling? Why was you talking about booty huh?” blinking at Rylee several times “it’s funny how moody you were and now you got that phone call you all happy and shit” she really popping off on me “you really don’t trust me right? My phone is there, you know the passcode. Look at the number” that is so wack.

Placing Royalty in my seat “you watch princess on my MacBook” Rylee held my phone out to me “I am sorry” taking my phone from her, hitting Blake’ arm “you stay here” I said to Kyrie, making my way to the back “my bad, I ain’t know my sister didn’t know about Vegas” placing my cigarette between my lips, I should wait but I need it. Sitting down in the back, lighting my cigarette and taking in drag of smoke before moving the cigarette back “it’s cool, you know how women be” blowing the smoke out from my lips “I have a lot on my mind right now, I am a little off but she don’t understand that. I have nobody with me, you get that don’t you? I want to get married, that is no doubt about it but I never thought it would be without my family. It does upset me and I can’t help it” Blake nodded his head “it’s harsh, I am sorry you have to go through such a thing” I shrugged not knowing what to say, it’s just a shit situation “and then now she acting like she doesn’t trust me? Where the hell did that come from? On a real, I need a blunt but I think it is a little disrespectful on your parents so I will stick to this. That is fucked up that she acted like that with me” I have shit on my mind, she needs to relax on that.

Waiting for everyone to get into this mini bus, I can tell we are in Barbados. I am doing things their way so it’s not like the private things that I would get, smiling at the guy loading the luggage on “I don’t think homie seen a nigga with such white teeth” Blake said, busting out laughing “why are you like this? Being mad rude and shit” squinting my eyes looking around, it’s beautiful though “you want to get in?” the guy said to me, looking ahead of me. Everyone already got in and here I was looking around. Climbing into the cramped mini bus “yo, I ain’t having this. Chris you sit here, my sister is kicking me because I sat here? Wow, you mad wack” Rylee is not in the mood “but I wanted to sit in the front?” I truly do, I think sitting away from Rylee is a good thing right now “hell the fuck no!” Nathan shouted “boy, you do not swear in front of kids!” Rose scolded him “Kyrie, please let Royalty have the window seat. Be a gentleman!” Harvey eyeballed him, well at least my daughter is safe “she really did kick me” Nathan said as I walked by him “what can I say” I half laughed, I don’t know why she is moody just because I am.

Rylee tutted loudly “what?” I said, she shook her head “you taking too much space, I feel hot” staring ahead of me “well there is nowhere else to go, what do you want me to do? I think the person taking the most space is you, my left butt cheek is hanging off the seat” Rylee’ mouth fell open “you have been nothing but rude to me, moody with me, ignored me and now you calling me fat” looking away from Rylee, staring at Blake sat at the side of us “you know what, I will sit with Blake? Even though he can only sit sideways because of how tall he is, I will move? Happy” getting up from the seat “oh Rylee, stop being so miserable” Rose said “no, sit with me” she quickly added, Rylee is driving me crazy and I don’t need crazy “fine!” sitting back down “I just get upset because you are being so weird with me, I am sorry I assumed. I just thought another woman was making you happy. You always talk to me?” wiping the sweat forming on my forehead “I just have a lot on my mind, I am happy to be here with your family. Just, I have always had my family there, when I started singing they was there, I went to New York they was there. My mom moved with me and now this, it’s just something I am fighting that is all. All will be fine, my mind will soon clear. I am sorry, you know I love you” I can’t believe she got moody because I did “I am sorry too Chris” pressing a kiss to her cheek.

This half hour journey seems like an hour, Jesus. It is so hot in this mini bus “no lie, someone on this mini bus smells like ass” Nathan walked over to us saying, looking at Blake laughing “well, what can I say. Unless you saying I ate ass, the only ass I would eat is” I dragged out looking at Rylee, she hit my arm “oh nah, see it has to be Blake. He ain’t had a shower, he came straight here” Nathan pointed at him, seeing a hand smack the back of Nathan’ head “speaking about such nastiness on this bus, sit yo ass down” my eyes widened at Rose, hiding my head behind the seat “let me not hear those words from you either, Chris” looking at Rylee “thank you mommy” Rylee thanked her mom “don’t you get on my mom’ bad side now” Rylee pointed giggling, sitting back in my seat “she will beat my ass, I don’t like your mom mad” she is bad “Barbadian women for you Chris, have fun” Blake added, they crazy as fuck and so is Rylee.

The mini Bus stopped outside some gates “this is your Grandma’ place?” I pointed looking, it looks so nice “yeah, it looks so big but it’s not. Not when the whole family is there. It’s only four bedrooms” furrowing my eyebrows, it looks so big from the outside “I can play basketball” she has a Basketball stand “I am so happy we are here, I can show you so many things. There is literally a beach outside, I will show you. You open the gate at the back and there is the beach” the gate opened slowly, I froze with my mouth open “well it looks like we will have to get out here” looking at Rylee “Welcome to Barbados?” closing my mouth slowly “that is a lot of people Rylee, is this all your family?” she giggled at me “yes but then you get the odd family friend that say they are family, Daddy!?” Rylee shouted “please don’t call him daddy, it’s wrong. You call me that” I said in a whisper, Rylee placed her hand over my mouth “why did grandma do this? It’s too much” sticking my tongue out to lick her hand, she soon moved her hand “Grandma don’t do well with secrets, come on. They won’t bite” I guess it really is meet the family and friends.

I am letting Rylee go out first, I will stay back “stay with me baby” holding onto Royalty’ hand, there is a lot of kids here too so I don’t want her to wander off “daddy sleep” she must be tired by now, she ain’t slept “you can baby when we get inside” helping her down off the mini bus, walking down the steps behind her “Rylee, cousin. We see your face on TV!” all of the female cousins just rushed to Rylee, I think I will stay back. I feel a little shy and nervous, it’s like meeting that side of the family and also I have a daughter that has nothing to do with them which I hope they are welcoming. Rubbing the top of my head, yeah, they haven’t seen a celebrity before “he is Chris Brown Rylee, it’s really him” smiling wide “who else you think I am with? A look alike?” Rylee said smiling at her “I had crush on him though” licking my top lip smiling.

I have heard a lot about this little lady “come here, give grandma some sugar” Rylee’ grandma waved me over “uh, I don’t think Rylee will appreciate a kiss?” Royalty grabbed onto my leg, leaning down hugging her, she kissed my cheek “oh if only I was younger, I would have you! So handsome” moving back from the hug “can you stop scaring the boy, welcome to Barbados. It is so good to have you” Rylee’ grandad shook my hand “thank you” he seems the quiet humble guy, needs to be “she is something to do with you? Yes, Harvey said you have child” her grandma said to Royalty “she is pretty, hello there. You are a Latin, is she Latin?” I chuckled “uh, Puerto Rican” her grandma stared at Royalty “who names their child Royalty?” she looked up at me “not me anyways, but she is my Roro” I wonder what she is thinking “hmmm beautiful child, please come in. We have a lot to speak” that don’t sound good but hey “she is old and doesn’t give a fuck” Rylee said to me “don’t take her to heart” I guess I will have to use to her.

Placing Royalty on my lap, she is clinging onto me now. I think she is a little shy “doggy daddy!” Royalty pointed and then hid her face “my daughter loves you” staring at this random woman placing her daughter in my face “thank you, I appreciate it” touching the little girl’ hand, Royalty grabbed my hand “mine” she yelped “hey, what was that all about huh” she is being all needy now “it’s a little cramped here you know, we can go to a hotel?” I said to Rylee “no Hotel! We have your room ready, we even got a baby basket for the baby” Rylee’ grandma said “you are guests and you all stay here, just no sex, no nakedness, no parties, you cook then you clean your mess” laughing looking at Rose “the home is her pride and joy, but yes there are the rules” there is so many people here, I have a random women sat next to me “can we have picture please?” I guess I should get this out of the way.

This bedroom looks like something my grandma would sleep in “wow, this is” I dragged out “tragic? It is, I hate the bed covers, I don’t understand why she likes orange, but I appreciate her so much and do not say anything about the covers. She will murder you” I think I know my boundaries, my mouth fell open “wait, she wants Royalty to really sleep in there? That is for a new born child, she will break it” placing Royalty on the bed “I guess we will have to sleep apart once again” this does suck but we have no choice “I mean we can go to a hotel, where is everyone going to sleep?” turning around to Rylee “all three brothers sleep together, and then my parents in a room. All the family are leaving but they will be back, you will need to get used to it, they are amazed by you. I am sorry it’s not what you are used too but I am sure you will love it” she damn right this is different.

Royalty has not left my side, she is sat on my lap eating. I barely ate, I am not feeling it at all and I have too much on my mind that I now feel sick “you haven’t ate much” Rylee said to me in a whisper “no whispering on the table, speak up” I will leave the grandma to Rylee “I am talking to my husband” Rylee retorted “not yet young girl, you should be happy I am letting you sleep in a room with him. Then again how could you resist such a man” Rylee scoffed “grandma, seriously” she is so bold “does her mother bother my grandbaby?” her grandma pointed at Royalty “erm not exactly, she is out of the picture now” she let out an oh “so is Rylee playing mommy now, how do you feel about this?” this is annoying “I am fine with it, I love Royalty just as much as I would love my own child. I couldn’t see our family without her, I love Chris a lot” her grandma remained silent “that is all I want to know, your happiness. She is most welcome here” what made her grandma even think she was unhappy in the first place.

Leaning down to Royalty “you want to sit with Lee, daddy is going outside ok?” she didn’t react or say anything, picking Royalty off my lap as I got up. Placing Royalty in the chair and pushing it in “where are you going?” Rylee asked “just to have a smoke, it’s fine” I need some air, walking around the table. I don’t know why everyone is silent, like something bad happened that I got up. Closing the door behind me, I don’t know why but maybe I am just stupid. How many times do I need to be abused by my mom to realise she don’t care but I really want her here, I don’t know. Dialling my sister’ number, I know her number because I didn’t delete it unlike everyone else’s. I think Rylee will be angry with me that I doing this, just how can she not be here “Christopher, we speak again for once and not once every year” Tootie said down the phone “yeah, just wanted to check if you still coming?” the only blood to come besides my dad “of course I am, you know that. Why you keep calling to ask this?” I shrugged like she could see “feel insecure I guess, did you tell mom?” walking away from the home “I did and it’s best if you both just don’t speak, I don’t know what has gotten into her but she does not like Rylee at all. She is so angry to know she is marrying into the family, she said the stupid boy better get a prenup. Nobody wants to look after you, she is angry about a lot” here I was feeling sad about this and she was hating me “cool” I shouldn’t have had such high hopes.

[sweatpantshedonist]

This is a bunch of fake band names that read as a poem

Khaki pain Undome Smile Flooring Perse Brick Voyeur Sleeping bag Beautiful sunset Morning poem Hush poet Danky Cummy Tried Floppy dick 1992 Toyota Camry Beavis and butthead and loneliness Bb lonely Work is ass Work is fuck Fuck work Worky life Wage God Salary Weak Dick Boshtwish Morose bone Stupid powder All My Friends 3D Origami Time is a vapecloud Heinous925 xGodx Famous Life Life Work The Real You Fool Steve he's dumb Steve's Bong Charlie's Throne Nicole's Kid, man Jobby Perse Dumb shit Zoo porn Good soap Idiot hotdog Spicy mustard Coconut water is a healthy alternative to soda Supportive footwear Leather bag Correct postage Unwanted email Return policy Catalog Skinny fit Make-up Brand name goods Low interest loan A fucking mortgage Organic dog food Reusable bag Vinyl acoustics Pitchfork recommendation Athletic attire "Irony" "Sarcasm" Symbolic tattoo for 300 dollars designed by someone else I don't get it I'm agreeing with you Longwinded poetry Self awareness is annoying Dog shit in a plastic bag in your hand Used toilet paper in a plastic tote under my bed Goofing around Water games Pee foot Smelly sexual organ Loud financially successful drunk person Motivated individual For real tho Loss of culture Complete and utter asshole Bad sense of humor Bad close mindedness Tiny penis Tiny nut sac and balls too Favorable review Internet comments with likes Serious news article link Political anger Old people shit being put into my mouth Typing with an outraged look on your face Opinions Strong opinions Drunk opinions Fully informed opinions from someone you don't know said completely out of context Talking for more than 2 minutes about fashion Talking shop all night long yes Bad breath is such a turn off Mean people are so mean It is what it is I don't have the capacity to articulate thoughts/ I don't want to talk to you in depth because you're not my kinda guy Affordable brunch The most amazing tacos Superfood McDonald's is gross Omg I ate McDonald's last night Morning regret Mourning time McDonald's for breakfast Sit down job Performance boost Noticeable improvement Secret fetish My thoughts Taboo Free flowing ideas Projected earnings Family expectations Getting older in the face Fear of death Killing in the name of my coworker Ramon I'm an American badass Working on 2 hours of sleep is harder Trying to concentrate among excessive noise Crazy view from high atop a natural formation Extreme sport enthusiast from Southern California Leisure Free time Tomorrow is my day off Today is my Friday Words said too often Trivial observation The same same same same same Time is cyclical and I'm losing my shit Movie time HBO original series Season finale Series finale Did you see the last episode? Don't spoil it for me Making fun of stuff is good for you Status Post Tagged in whatever You can see my nuts in these pants Saggy beanie Cute flats from Macy's Leggings are v practical Futuristic designer looks Standing outside a store while the wife shops Inconsiderate volume Cute person Cutty spot Look my way Ya yer foine Ok I changed my mind What size is your head? Negi ass Big dog head Taper my jeans How much for this umbrella? Camouflage blender Scrape my face across your serrated toenails Good look Hot looks for fall Really big deal Money hole plz deposit worth Skater/tagger/hotgirlmagnet Your dog has humanlike balls Bitchy side-eye Judging ppl is wrong Why can't u just be happy? Fucking smile jeez Have a good one An autographed photo of Jerry Seinfeld Saggy jeans Tousled hair mist Stand up straight Complain aloud We went to school together Do I know u? Hey is that Jason? Damn I haven't seen u in hella days, homie Stab myself in the shin during someone's shitty performance piece Jam session Music jack off Masturbating my guitar neck I know all the scales I play in a band I do something with my life Punk reunion Reliving the glory days 47 denim jackets in one room You should have been here 4 years ago What era do you think defines your fashion? Really really genuinely cute lesbian I want you Misguided idea Jump shoes Vapid Bohemian hat Wealthy person who tips poorly Condoms suck bro White woman from stable family whose primary interest is trap music I own property in Manhattan Honking at a line of 30 cars All of my current friends in New York are white I don't have any black friends Going for a run in Times Square Shapeless couple in head to toe work out gear (feat. hopelessness) Me (feat. Weak chin and narrow shoulders) No fee apartment Life time gym membership Alan is more upset Carbon monoxide sleepover Bad breakup Hurtful text message Troubling thoughts about suicide and drugs Gun shots in the distance Ruptured dream Nostalgia and cyclical thoughts Nymphomaniac for pain Pain injection feels good Your mom is the butt of all my jokes Fast forward me Costume for penis Parasitic person Clingy butt Sofa Eater My Strange Addiction Balloon Porn Squirting frequently contains urine Urea Urethra Urshit Carbon Soft Gland Hardwood Ruffly Counting Solution Calving Solution Gem Builder Papes Analtussin Phoney Laying down Sustained 7 Icecream salad I only wear boots Child's hat I'm a size small She can't walk in heels Gift card Forced interaction Conversation about tinder during tinder date How much should we tip? Candle Do you watch Game of Thrones? That's life Gun violence advocate Little wife ass bitch Cum repository Soulless vessel of rage God damnit Son of a bitch Get upstairs Jonathan Don't make me Pay for me Cum hose dork Laughable life Deluded self Diluted mind (cuz weed) Dissolves inwarder Pun Malapropism Body Sleep Vapid pleasure Lonely Lobe

[curseofbreadbear]

feralreason​:

Yes.   William   had   a   hundred   nicknames   and   fresh-and-funky   slang   at   his   disposal.   Was   said   slang   helping?   Uncertain…   but   William   was   confident   it   was   leaning   towards   ‘useful’.   Especially   since   Fritz   laughed   at   the   joke!   ❝   Well,   if   I’m   gonna   be   sending   you   the   hottest   memes,   I’m   gonna   need   your   number,   my   man!   ❞ Huh…   the   change   makes   William’s   smile   drop.   He   does   not   know   what   is   up,   but   he   gets   the   memo.   Fritz   must   be   like   him.      ❝   Yeah,   just   messin’   with   ya,   homie!   Lil   bit   of   dark   humour   builds   character!   ❞   He   reached   to   playfully   sock   Fritz   in   the   shoulder.   That   is   what   friends   did,   right? Oh   man…   he   wants   to   hear   about   him.   Decisions,   decisions!   Does   he   tell   him   about   their   actual   life,   or—   They   know   exactly   what   they   are   going   to   tell   Fritz. ❝   Well,   I   got   sick   for   a   while…   it   was   awful.   Almost   died.   Thankfully,   I   had   someone   to   look   out   for   me   and   take   care   of   me.   He   was   family…   I   wish   I   could   had   been   there   when   he   passed.      ❞   William’s   eyes   fell.   That   was   spoken   with   sincerity   and   did   hurt.      ❝   Anyway,   I’m   gonna   try   and   get   to   university   and   do   stuff   there!   But   y’know,   kinda   had   that   ‘on   hold’   since   I’ve   been   stuck   here…   ❞

❝ My number...of course. ❞ [Fritz smiled weakly, guilt washing over him at the realization that he hadn't had his own brother's number -- or even been in contact with him -- for around thirty years. At least he didn't appear resentful...quite the opposite, really. Even his request for Fritz's number didn't seem malicious -- only playful, in a way that he could never have predicted. Fritz pulled out his phone and read his own number aloud...no going back now. But...surely this wouldn't backfire on him, right?] 

[Admittedly, the knowledge that his brother had joshed him about such a sensitive topic was a bit...jarring; he wasn't certain how to feel about it. Either Simon had moved on from their past, in a way Fritz would never be able to, or he'd found it amusing to mess with his twin ( even if it was about something traumatic ). Still...he'd dropped it, hadn't he? Maybe that meant it was the former. How Fritz hoped it was the former -- he didn't know if he'd ever be able to contend with jokes or even references to "the bite."]

❝ "Dark humor"...r-right. ❞ [Fritz startled when Simon socked him in the shoulder -- this time around, he endeavored not to make his surprise visible. Instead, he rubbed his shoulder and laughed meekly, hopefully playing his part; the last thing he wanted to do was make Simon feel bad because he couldn't handle typical brotherly affection.]

[Then, Simon's story...Fritz couldn't hide his horror at the revelation that, in his time out of the country, his own twin had fallen ill and nearly died. He would never have known. But...he did find somebody who took care of him -- "family," he'd called him. Fritz's heart dropped at that; Simon had been abandoned by his loved ones to the point that he needed to rely on a total stranger. Was Fritz even "family" anymore? He didn't think he deserved to be.]

❝ Simon...I'm so sorry. ❞ [Fritz could feel himself getting choked up...but he persisted. This needed to be said -- he'd have a guilty conscience for the rest of his years if he didn't apologize now.] ❝ None of us were there for you when you needed it. I-I -- I should have been there. I wish I'd known. You're my brother, Simon...you've done everything for me, but I let you down. No, more than that, I -- I abandoned you. That might just be one of my biggest regrets. I'm...I'm so sorry. ❞ [He sniffled, then wiped at his eyes -- clunky as his apology had been, he hoped that he'd gotten his point across. He felt terrible for how he'd treated his brother over the years...or rather, how he hadn't.]