#Meanwhile I know Exactly what I would do with the space

[umlewis]

How Lewis Hamilton Finally Got His Ferrari Red

On Valentine’s Day, Lewis Hamilton enters a sprawling studio space in northwest London and intently stares at the magnificent creature standing off in the distance.

“Sh-t,” says Hamilton to no one in particular. “I’m nervous.”

Soon enough, however, the seven-time Formula One world champion overcomes his anxiety and is standing face-to-face with a shiny black stallion named Aroma. He pets his nose, massages his neck, generally spreads his hands all over Aroma’s thick coat. He is doing his allergies, the source of his initial fear, no favors. But Hamilton, a literal knight, is enamored, peppering the horse master with questions. Where’s Aroma from? (Portugal.) Can he sleep lying down? (Yes.) How much does he weigh? (About 1,300 lb. Only a few hundred less than Hamilton’s race car.)

He’s throwing health caution to the wind in order to commemorate his much ballyhooed move from Mercedes, where he won six of his seven F1 driver titles, to the venerated Scuderia Ferrari HP race team: a photo of himself positioned in front of an actual black horse standing on his hind legs, mimicking the Italian automaker’s famous logo. Like Hamilton, Aroma—who is retired but still does the occasional photo shoot—has an impressive resume, including appearances in Robin Hood and Maleficent, ads for Hermès and Burberry, and a Dua Lipa video; he is joined by Theo, a stunt horse you might recognize from Bridgerton, among other things. “This is going to be such an iconic picture,” says Hamilton while trying on outfits for the shoot. “Super timeless.”

That depends, of course, on what comes after. At 40, Hamilton is aiming to not only win a record eighth F1 driver title—cementing his status as the greatest F1 driver to ever live and ending the longest-ever championship drought for the most storied race team on the planet—but also fulfill a lifelong dream. His move to Ferrari, announced before the 2024 season, was shocking worldwide front-page news: he had suited up for Mercedes for more than a decade, helped build a more diverse workforce there, and hoped to someday acquire an ownership stake in the team. It seemed he would ride into the sunset with the Silver Arrows.

Hamilton had other ideas. “You can’t stand still for too long,” Hamilton tells TIME, in his first in-depth interview about his decision to leave Mercedes for Ferrari. “I needed to throw myself into something uncomfortable again. Honestly, I thought all my firsts were done. Your first car, your first crash, your first date, first day of school. The excitement I got by the idea of, ‘This is my first time in the red suit, the first time in the Ferrari.’ Wow. Honestly, I’ve never been so excited.”

During the 2024 F1 season, Hamilton, out of respect for Mercedes—with whom he was still under contract and racing—didn’t talk much about the switch. The situation was awkward and unprecedented. (Picture LeBron James suiting up for the Los Angeles Lakers knowing he’d be playing the following year for a rival, like the Boston Celtics. Exactly. It would never happen.) All sides appear to have handled it as professionally as possible: Hamilton ended a 945-day losing streak by winning his hometown race, at Silverstone in Britain, in July before winning again in Belgium three weeks later. Meanwhile Carlos Sainz, the Ferrari driver whom Hamilton is replacing this year, helped Scuderia finish second in the constructor, or team, standings, just a few points behind 2024 champion McLaren.

Hamilton’s road to the title record won’t be easy. Some critics have questioned Ferrari’s strategy of signing an aging driver, whose best days could very well be in the rearview. They’ve wondered whether Ferrari’s more interested in marketing than winning—Hamilton is still F1’s most popular driver, by a mile, as well as an internationally known cultural figure with a hand in fashion, film, and business. (He’s co-chairing the Met Gala in May alongside Colman Domingo, Pharrell Williams, A$AP Rocky, and Anna Wintour; LeBron James is honorary chair.) Plus, a slew of younger drivers like reigning four-time champion Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, 27; McLaren’s Lando Norris, 25; and Hamilton’s new Ferrari teammate, Charles LeClerc, 27, could keep him off the top of the podium.

“The old man is a state of mind,” says Hamilton. “Of course your body ages. But I’m never going to be an old man.”

The 2025 F1 campaign, which kicks off in Australia on March 16, comes laced with intrigue. Hamilton sits at the epicenter. Ferrari is religion in Italy; when the team wins an F1 race, the bells of the Church of St. Blaise in Maranello, the small city near Bologna that houses Ferrari headquarters, ring in celebration. So Hamilton’s quest to end Ferrari’s agony, while breaking the individual title record set by Michael Schumacher—who won five straight titles with Ferrari from 2000 to 2004—will be appointment theater. Meanwhile, Hamilton is co-producing, along with Jerry Bruckheimer and others, an F1 movie, aptly called F1, that is almost literally a Brad Pitt vehicle. The film, which comes out in June, plus a competitive race for the championship, could deliver a jolt to the sport’s popularity, especially in the U.S., where F1 has boomed but flattened out a bit, given Verstappen’s predictable dominance.

A Hamilton championship in red, in the twilight of his racing life, would be nothing less than one of the greatest mic-drop moments in sports history. “I don’t know if I can find an adjective to describe that,” says American racing legend Mario Andretti, the 1978 F1 champion who raced for Ferrari in the early ’70s. “Nothing is missing in his career. But oh man, how better can you describe your career after that? Oh my God, he’d be the king of all kings.”

Two weeks before the stallion photo shoot, Hamilton is striking golf balls into a simulator at an indoor club on the banks of the Thames. (He has a pronounced slice.) He doesn’t golf much these days, but Hamilton being Hamilton—a man who has taken full advantage of this sport’s jet-setting ways to become one of the world’s most prominent collectors of influential people—he last played a round with actor Tom Holland, a.k.a. Spider-Man. His other golf partners have included Samuel L. Jackson and Kelly Slater, the surfing GOAT. He was once supposed to play with another GOAT, Michael Jordan, but when Hamilton got to the course, he says, Jordan “didn’t end up being there.”

As we’re taking swings, I ask Hamilton if he’s checked out TGL, the indoor golf competition founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy that just launched its first season in the U.S. He hasn’t. I explain some of the particulars—it’s a team league, ESPN is showing it on weeknights—before it sounds familiar. But Hamilton is involved with so many projects—movies, art, fashion lines, the Denver Broncos, a pet-food company, a plant-based burger chain with Leonardo DiCaprio—that he can’t quite remember whether he poured some money into this new outfit. “I might have,” he says, with a laugh. (He did.)

Hamilton takes a break from golf, reclines on a couch, and orders a latte before sharing the story of how he arrived at this moment. It began a long time ago, when he was a kid growing up in public housing north of London. His first Ferrari memories have stuck with him. He would drive Schumacher’s car in racing video games. The Ferrari replica featured in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off—the 1961 250 GT California Spyder—is still, to this day, Hamilton’s favorite. “That’s the ultimate retirement car,” he says. “I can just see myself with Roscoe, him with a scarf and goggles in the seat next to me, driving down the PCH.” (Roscoe, Hamilton’s pet bulldog—who, like his owner, is vegan—has an Instagram account with 1.1 million followers.)

McLaren signed Hamilton to a driver’s deal in 1998, when he was 13. In 2006, Hamilton won the championship in what is now known as Formula Two. “I did have the bit of red on my helmet,” he says. During that F2 season, and the one prior in F3, Hamilton raced for team principal Frédéric Vasseur, whose management style and ability to recruit top engineering talent to his lower-level operation impressed the young driver. Hamilton figured Vasseur would be a F1 leader one day.

Hamilton won his first F1 championship in 2008, his second season with McLaren. He competed there for four more seasons before jumping, in 2013, to Mercedes, a middling team that Hamilton lifted to championship heights. Through it all, Hamilton maintained cordial relations with Ferrari leadership. He’d walk past the Ferrari garage at races, say “ciao” to the mechanics, and hear them say “vieni Ferrari” (come to Ferrari). Around 2018, Hamilton met with Ferrari chairman John Elkann. Both sides expressed a desire to see Hamilton in red. But by the end of the 2020 season, Hamilton had four straight championships with Mercedes. He had no reason to jump ship. “If I’m really honest, I had accepted the fact that I’m probably not going to drive for Ferrari,” says Hamilton. “I was OK with that.”

After the 2021 season, Hamilton nearly walked away from racing. He—and millions of his fans—felt his record eighth driver title was stolen from him, when during the final race of the year, in Abu Dhabi, an official’s controversial decision allowed Verstappen to overtake Hamilton in the last lap and clinch his first title. Hamilton ultimately refused to quit without a fight, but he failed to win a single race as Verstappen cruised to another pair of championships. Hamilton signed a two-year extension with Mercedes in the summer of 2023, but the deal allowed him an option to leave after one year.

Meanwhile, true to Hamilton’s prediction, his de facto coach in the minors, Vasseur, took over an F1 team in 2016. Before the 2023 season, he was hired for a new team-principal gig—at Ferrari. Vasseur got wind of the loophole in Hamilton’s new deal—“He told me at one stage,” says Vasseur. “Good news”—and aimed to sign an agreement with Hamilton before the 2024 season. He wanted his drivers under contract last year, LeClerc and Sainz, to be free of whispers regarding their status. So while Hamilton was at his home in Colorado in December 2023, he got a call from Vasseur asking him to join Ferrari starting in 2025. “I remember getting off the phone and, like, almost shaking,” says Hamilton, who’s now almost shaking while recalling the moment. “I was like, Oh God!”

He told a friend who was with him about the call; they both sat in silence on a bathroom floor in shock. “I was like, Holy sh-t,” says Hamilton. “I literally just signed with Mercedes.” Breaking up with a team that felt like family was far from a no-brainer. And he didn’t have much time to decide. “It was a lot to take in, and my emotions were really high,” says Hamilton. “So I honestly had to go for a walk.” He left the house for an hour to decompress.

Hamilton then spent a few days meditating. He was leaning toward Ferrari. “My eyes felt really calm and present,” he says. “This is the right thing for me.” When he’d switched from McLaren to Mercedes all those years ago, he solicited too much advice. Here, he confided in just a few family members and trusted friends. “One cannot discount the Ferrari influence on the sport, especially through the eyes of a child,” says Mellody Hobson, co-CEO of Ariel Investments and the former chair of the Starbucks board, who’s very close to Hamilton. During negotiations, after every phone call with Ferrari, he’d jump around like a little kid.

“We’re in a time of reimagining the future, reimagining what really dreaming is about,” says Hamilton. “I’m going to Ferrari, man, and that’s the biggest dream.”

Not everyone is so thrilled. The day after he informed Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff of his decision was Hamilton’s annual paintball outing with his race-team mechanics. When he arrived, he was too nervous to get out of his car. “These are guys I’ve been with so many years,” says Hamilton. He eventually stood on top of a table to address his decision. His squad appeared understanding and supportive. But they let him have it in paintball. “They lit me up, hard,” says Hamilton. “It was so painful.” At one point, he was hiding behind a barrel shooting at the other team when he was struck from behind. A member of his own squadron had nailed him. “Freaking guy,” says Hamilton.

They laughed about it afterward and managed to get through the season. “There is no bad blood,” says Hamilton. “Absolutely not. We won so many championships.” (Mercedes declined to comment for this story.) Andrea Kimi Antonelli, an 18-year-old from Bologna, will take Hamilton’s place in the Mercedes lineup. “They have all the ingredients to win world championships, and they will win more world championships,” says Hamilton of Mercedes. “I have no doubt.”

In a book published in November—Inside Mercedes F1: Life in the Fast Lane—Wolff says Hamilton’s move “helps us because it avoids the moment where we need to tell the sport’s most iconic driver that we want to stop … We’re in a sport where cognitive sharpness is extremely important, and I believe everyone has a shelf life.” The comments caused a stir, and Wolff clarified that Hamilton is still “very sharp.”

Hamilton insists Wolff’s remark doesn’t bother him. He points to athletes like Tom Brady and LeBron James who’ve achieved success into their 40s. “Don’t ever compare me to anybody else,” says Hamilton. “I’m the first and only Black driver that’s ever been in this sport. I’m built different. I’ve been through a lot. I’ve had my own journey. You can’t compare me to another 40-year-old, past or present, Formula One driver in history. Because they are nothing like me. I’m hungry, driven, don’t have a wife and kids. I’m focused on one thing, and that’s winning. That’s my No. 1 priority.”

He also dismisses criticism from the broader racing community. Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan said in a December podcast that it was “absolutely suicidal” for Ferrari to drop Sainz from its roster, given the strong working relationship between him and LeClerc. (Sainz will now race for Williams.) “I’ve always welcomed the negativity,” says Hamilton. “I never, ever reply to any of the older, ultimately, white men who have commented on my career and what they think I should be doing. How you show up, how you present yourself, how you perform slowly dispels that.”

Others, including former Ferrari driver Jacky Ickx, have suggested that Ferrari has signed Hamilton primarily for his commercial value. “I think it’s really unfair to Lewis, some of the comments saying, ‘This is a marketing operation,’” says Elkann, the Ferrari chairman. “Truth said, Lewis doesn’t need that. Ferrari doesn’t need that. What we need to do is win championships and do great things on the track. If that happens, what we can do outside of the track, in some ways, takes care of itself. There’s unlimited possibilities.”

The pressure, internal and external, Hamilton faces is immense. No F1 team owns more constructor titles than Ferrari, but they last won in 2008. Ferrari also owns the driver record, with 15, but the last Ferrari driver to win an individual crown was Kimi Raikkonen, in 2007. Ferrari fans are so passionate that they go by their own name, the tifosi. At the Ferrari museum, not far from the team’s 9.3 million-sq.-ft. campus in Maranello, Italy, pilgrims often start crying, or propose marriage, in the Hall of Victories, which showcases the team’s championship cars and more than 100 trophies.

One night in early February, at the Ristorante Montana, which displays a trove of Ferrari memorabilia in its dining room, Andrea Puttini, a seller of building materials from Naples, is outside enjoying a smoke. “In Italy, we say it’s not important if you speak bad or speak good about something,” says Puttini. “The importance is that you are talking about this. And Hamilton, just for being here, he lets us talk all over the world about Ferrari.”

Hamilton connected with as many of his new co-workers as possible during his first visit to Maranello in January, shaking hands until his arm was pulsating. “The amount of ciaos and grazies and piaceres I was saying, aye aye aye,” he says. After his first test run, he went out to greet the supporters lining a bridge that overlooks Ferrari’s private racetrack. A few weeks later, a fan decked out in a red Ferrari shirt and cowboy hat cut down a tree to allow the tifosi a better look at a Hamilton practice.

Hamilton first spotted himself in a Ferrari suit while in, of all places, the loo; he was washing his hands and looked up into the mirror. “I’m in red, I’m like, Whoa!” he says. He paused for a moment to take in the reflection. He liked what he saw. “The suit looked so good on me,” says Hamilton, laughing. “I’m like, Damn.” When seated in a Ferrari race car for the first time, he closed his eyes when the engine started and smiled. “The vibrations are different,” he says. He let them course through his body. “You just wonder how that feels,” Hamilton says. Now he knows. “It’s a really, really special moment.”

Still, Hamilton is well aware that Italian sports fans have not always been so welcoming of Black athletes like himself. He competed in karting races there in his younger days, starting at around 12, and experienced racist abuse, just as he had in England. He prefers not to go into details. “I don’t want to dwell,” he says. But he’s heard the racist chants directed at Black soccer players in particular. “I’m not going to lie, it definitely crossed my mind when I was thinking about my decision,” he says. “Like in so many things, it’s often such a small group of people that set that trend for many. I don’t think that it’s going to be a problem.”

Ferrari’s diversity—or lack thereof—was Hamilton’s more pressing concern. In the wake of George Floyd’s 2020 murder, as part of the worldwide sports protest movement against racial injustice, Hamilton started the Hamilton Commission to offer recommendations for more Black representation in U.K. motorsports. Mercedes launched its own diversity initiative in the months that followed and began hiring personnel from underrepresented groups, including Black engineers. “I did think, Oh my God, I’ve finally got a more diverse working environment that we’ve built over time,” says Hamilton. “And now I’m going back to the beginning of my time with Mercedes, where it wasn’t diverse.”

Along with every other F1 team, Ferrari signed a Diversity and Inclusion charter in November. While the new Trump Administration has made a point of attacking diversity—the President has signed a series of executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs—Hamilton, for one, remains locked in. “I’m not going to change what he does, or the government does. All I can do is try to make sure that in my space, in my environment, I’m trying to elevate people,” he says. “There’s going to be forces along the way that don’t want that, for whatever reason I can’t fathom. That doesn’t stop me. It is a fight that we’ll just keep fighting.” Hamilton is confident that Ferrari is committed to inclusion.

Vasseur, Hamilton’s new boss, agrees that it’s important, though as he fiddles with a binder clip in an office at Ferrari headquarters, where trade secrets are so closely guarded visitors must place stickers over their mobile-phone cameras (red ones, of course), he suggests that it may not be his top goal. “It’s not politically correct, but first is performance,” he says. “I’m keen to go into the direction of diversity and so on. We are doing our best effort. We are trying to push in this direction, but I want to build up the best team.”

I show Vasseur, who hails from France, a photo I found online: it’s him and Hamilton some 20 years ago, celebrating a win. He shows me some photos on his own phone, of his children, who are now grown, with Hamilton. He’s enjoying the walk down memory lane. But, he says, “We can’t be sentimental.”

Switching teams is difficult for any driver. The steering wheel, the cockpit, the terminology, they’re all different. “I’m literally learning a completely new book,” says Hamilton. F1 regulations allow limited practice time in the new car. He’s made strides in his Italian, thanks to lessons, but he’s by no means fluent. It took Hamilton more than four months to win a race in his first season with Mercedes. What gives Vasseur confidence that Hamilton will accelerate that learning curve?

“I could reply like a book and give you something that you want to write,” Vasseur replies. “But at the end of the day, at this part of the season, the feeling, the first time, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, will be nothing compared to race one in Australia. You will forget about everything that happened before. It’s all about pure performance.”

While Hamilton swears his devotion to Ferrari, his schedule has remained plenty full. A Fashion Week and red-carpet regular, he has his own production company, a Dior line, and other enterprises. He says he’s in the preliminary stages of developing scripts for a comedy—it doesn’t involve racing—and a film pertaining to pets. (That’s all he’ll offer.) But the biggest thing on the horizon, besides of course the 24 Grand Prix races in the season, is the upcoming F1 movie.

Tom Cruise had first connected Hamilton with director Joseph Kosinski because Hamilton was interested in an acting role in Top Gun: Maverick. Kosinski was ready to bring him on board, but Hamilton was still fighting for championships with Mercedes and couldn’t afford the time commitment. Cruise screened the movie, which grossed $1.5 billion worldwide upon its 2022 release, for Hamilton in London. “I was crying a bit inside,” Hamilton says. “Ah, that could have been me!”

So when Kosinski called Hamilton about his F1 project, Hamilton jumped at the chance to be a producer. Early in the process, he took Pitt, who plays a veteran F1 driver in the film, for a drive around a track near Los Angeles. “He gave Brad the scare of a lifetime in a lap,” says Kosinski. “Brad was clawing at the windows, begging to get out.” Hamilton was also part of the casting process and offered instructive feedback. “The notes are so detailed,” says Bruckheimer. “‘When you’re going into that next turn, you have the car in second gear, it should be in third. I can hear it. I can hear the sound of it.’” He pushed for Hans Zimmer, composer of The Lion King, Gladiator, Dune, and other hits, to score it. His close relationship with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, a former Ferrari team principal, helped the filmmakers gain access to F1 tracks and races to shoot scenes. “He opened all those doors for us into that world,” says Kosinski. “We would not have been able to do this without him.”

Hamilton is predicting box-office success. “It’s going to blow away anything that’s ever been done in Formula One before,” Hamilton says. The Netflix behind-the-scenes docuseries, Formula 1: Drive to Survive, has been properly credited for expanding F1’s popularity, especially in the U.S. Hamilton believes this movie will compel viewers from all different backgrounds to become fans, or even pursue a career in F1. “Netflix has been huge,” he says. “This is going to be even bigger, on more of a global scale.” While F1 might not count as art-house fare—“I don’t think we set out for it to be, like, an Oscar-winning movie,” says Hamilton—he’s promising a memorable experience. “The goal is to make people feel good, to bring people in, to inspire people,” he says. “We want you to leave the cinema and be like, ‘Wow, that was freaking wicked.’”

But even with his creative juices flowing, he’s as energized as ever to drive. In other words, unlike Aroma, whose presence does not seem to have triggered Hamilton’s allergies at all, he has no plans to slow down. “What I can tell you is, retirement is nowhere on my radar,” says Hamilton. “I could be here until I’m 50, who knows.”

Hamilton believes that he and LeClerc are the strongest team pairing in the sport and that Verstappen is “absolutely” beatable. “I know exactly where the North Star is,” says Hamilton. “I know where I need to go. I know how to get there. It’s far, and it’s going to be tough to get there, but I know I’ve got all the ingredients, all the people, an amazing team around me. So it’s how much you want it. And I can’t express to you how much I want it.”

[thateclecticbitch]

Request to move into basement failed. Sad.

[ginxyy]

Knock, Knock, Bang.

“Open the damn door, Y/N.” Seungcheol’s voice was sharp, almost a growl, cutting through the muffled noise of the music playing in your penthouse.

You leaned casually against the other side of the door, sipping your glass of wine with a sly smirk. “What do you want, Seungcheol?” you drawled, knowing your tone would only aggravate him further.

“I said open the door,” he snapped, fists hitting the hardwood again, harder this time. The sound echoed through the hallway. You could practically feel his frustration seeping through the air, thick and unrelenting.

“I’m busy,” you said nonchalantly, swirling your wine like you didn’t have a care in the world. Inside, your heart raced, but you’d never let him know that.

“Busy doing what? Posting stories with Mingyu?!” His voice cracked with raw anger. “I saw it, Y/N. You think I wouldn’t see it?” Another bang, louder this time. “You’re such a goddamn child sometimes.”

Your laugh was dry, mocking. “Oh, now I’m a child? Was I a child when you were flirting with that blonde at the event? What was her name again? Oh right—”

“Stop it.” His voice was a low growl now, dangerous. “You know damn well nothing happened.”

“Do I?” you shot back, finally stepping closer to the door. You pressed your palm flat against it, almost as if you could feel his energy radiating through the barrier. “Because it sure looked like you were enjoying yourself.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” he spat. The banging resumed, more frantic this time. “Y/N, open the door, or I swear to God—”

“Or you’ll what, Seungcheol? Break it down? That’s not very idol-like of you,” you teased, the smirk evident in your tone.

“Don’t test me,” he warned, his voice dropping an octave. “You don’t want to see what I’ll do if you keep this up.”

“You’re already here making a scene. Might as well go all in, right?”

“Y/N!” His fist slammed into the door again, a guttural growl escaping him. “You blocked me everywhere. You ignored my calls, my texts, everything. And now I see you out with Mingyu, laughing, drinking, looking like you don’t have a single thought about me—”

“Maybe I don’t,” you interrupted coolly, though your heart twisted at the hurt laced in his voice.

“Liar,” he hissed.

The silence hung heavy between you for a moment, only the sound of his ragged breathing and the faint hum of the city beyond the windows filling the space.

“You’re right,” you finally said, voice tinged with venom. “I did block you. Because I don’t have time to deal with your… antics. If you want to flirt with women at business events, that’s fine. But don’t expect me to stick around and play the fool.”

“You are playing the fool, Y/N,” he retorted, voice sharp. “You think Mingyu gives a damn about you? He’s only in it for the chaos. Meanwhile, I’m the one standing here, pounding on your damn door, because I actually give a shit.”

You hesitated, your fingers brushing against the doorknob. His words cut deep, but you weren’t ready to give in. Not yet.

“And what exactly do you want me to do about that, Seungcheol?” you asked, your voice icy.

“I want you to stop running,” he said, his voice softer now, though the frustration still lingered. “Stop running from me. From us. Open the door, Y/N.”

You leaned your forehead against the door, closing your eyes as his words washed over you. The tension crackled like a live wire between you, both of you too stubborn to let go of the fire you’d ignited.

“Say it,” you whispered.

“Say what?” His voice was impatient again, tinged with desperation.

“Say you’re sorry,” you said, your tone laced with a cruel challenge. “Say you won’t look at another woman like that again.”

He laughed bitterly. “You think this is about me? You’re out here playing games with Mingyu, posting stories just to get a reaction out of me, and I’m supposed to apologize?”

“Exactly,” you said, your smirk returning.

“Unbelievable,” he muttered. Another bang on the door. “You’re impossible.”

“And yet, here you are,” you countered.

Another silence. Then, softly, “Open the door, Y/N. Please.”

Your heart wavered at the crack in his voice, but you held firm. “Not until you prove you’re serious.”

“Serious?!” he exploded. “I left a room full of people to come here the second I saw that story. I’m standing in the hallway of your penthouse building, looking like a complete idiot, begging you to talk to me. And you think I’m not serious?”

You hesitated, your fingers tightening around the glass in your hand.

“Y/N, I’m not leaving until you open this door,” he said, his tone final.

You sighed, taking one last sip of your wine before setting it down. Slowly, you unlocked the door, but you didn’t open it fully. You left just enough space for his dark, burning eyes to meet yours.

“I’m not done being mad at you,” you warned.

His gaze dropped to your lips before snapping back to your eyes. “Good,” he said, stepping forward and pushing the door open wider. “Neither am I.”

And then he was inside, and the air between you combusted.

Part 2

[lokigodofmyheart]

ONE BED

Pairing: Loki x Reader x Bucky

Words: 2.489

Summary: Loki, Y/N and Bucky had to share a room (and a bed) after a mission (day 3 of kinktober).

Warning/Content: smut, threesome, vaginal sex, anal sex, oral sex.

MASTERLIST KINKTOBER MASTERLIST

Loki, Y/N and Bucky were on a mission. Obviously, it wasn’t an easy one, since they had sent her, a god and the former Winter Soldier. But they didn’t know it would be that hard. 

A few agents were running after the trio. When they turn a hallway, Loki found a door and without thinking much, he opened, entering and pulling Y/N with him. Bucky followed after, closing the door, before Loki sealed it with magic. It was a super small space, probably a janitor closet or something like that.  

Loki was already with his back against the wall, Y/N pressed against him chest to chest and Bucky behind her, with his chest against her back. And no option for more space. 

If they weren’t running from their death, this would have been an interesting situation. Bucky had his hands on her hips, trying to balance himself, meanwhile, Loki had his hands on her waist. It was an interesting position, to say at least. No one dared to even breath too loud, even if they were still trying to catch their breath from all the running. Y/N could see Loki’s face with the small light that came out of the room. They were all uncomfortable. Or at least the two men were. Her leg was pressed against his crotch and her ass pressed against Bucky’s. 

Bucky shifted on his feet, causing Y/N to be pressed further against Loki and that made her leg brush against him. Loki had to hold back a gasp when her knee brushed against his pants. Y/N could see him closing his eyes, taking a deep breath to try to at least control his body, since he couldn’t control the situation.  

She knew the position was anything but ideal right now. Her pressed between two men, in a way their bodies kept rubbing at every small movement they make it.  

“You have to stop moving.” Loki whispers, his tone hoarse.  

“I'm trying.” Y/N whispers back “Bucky keep pushing me.” 

“My foot is becoming numb.” Bucky tried to justify.  

Loki let his head fall on her shoulder to try to control himself. He soon noticed it was the worst idea since now he could smell her. Y/N took a deep breath, his hot breath on her neck sent chills down her spine. Bucky moved again behind her. She could feel he was getting affected by the situation and if she moved her leg, she would know Loki was too. 

“This is not helping...” She whispers, especially to Loki who was still breathing on her neck. 

Bucky whispered behind her, against her ear and another shiver went on her body "What do you want us to do? We can't exactly move here and we can’t leave now." 

“I know...” Y/N whispers back. She shifts on her legs, feeling her feet numbing and again, she brushed against the two of them. 

Loki let out a low whine in her ear, clearly getting more and more affected. Bucky's thumbs began to gently caress her hips without even noticing. 

They kept hearing the agents outside. Sometimes there was just steps, sometimes there was a few talking and they kept looking for the trio. Everyone was holding their breaths inside, trying not to make noise. When someone tried to open the door, Bucky pressed Y/N even more on Loki, and he tightened his hold on her hip. Loki’s hand did the same on her waist, lifting his head and looking at the door.  

It felt like forever when they finally heard silence behind that door. They’ve waited a minute more, just to make sure it was free. Loki took out the magic and Bucky open the door, being the first one to exit. Loki practically stumbled out of that closet. He was a mess from what happened. Bucky was too. They had been affected by everything, and if Y/N dared to look down, he would see they have a tent on their pants. Both men avoided looking at her as they tried to catch their breaths and cool down a little. 

“We should get off here and call Stark to get us...” Y/N spoke, breaking the uncomfortable silence.  

Both men nodded, agreeing with her, but was Loki who spoke “Yeah, let’s go before they find us again.” The trio managed to get out the base, without setting any alarm. Of course, an agent or two showed up in their way, but they were quickly to get rid of them.  

Finally, out of the base, Y/N could breathe somewhat relieved. They had survived, got the intel, even if that weird situation happened. She quickly got her phone and dialed Stark’s number “We’re done here. Send the jet, please.” 

“About that...” Tony started, and she could hear the reluctance in his voice “We have a problem with the jet and the team is fixing, but they said it only be finished by tomorrow. You’ll have to sleep in the town...” Before she could answer anything, Tony hangs up the phone. 

“Great...” 

Bucky looked at her, seeing the frustration on her face “What happened?” 

“Stark can’t get the jet, said it have some problem it will only be ready to fly tomorrow.” 

Bucky ran a frustrated hand through his hair, letting out a deep sigh "Well....what are we supposed to do until then?" Loki was standing silently. 

“I say we find a hotel to spend the night.” Y/N says, sighing. All she wanted was for this to be over. 

Loki and Bucky nodded in agreement. It was the only thing they could do.  They managed to get a car (read: Bucky stole one). First hotel: no rooms available. They drive to the next: no room available. And that happened three more time, until in the sixth hotel, the receptionist finally said that was a room available. But that’s it. One room. Bucky, Loki, and Y/N all looked at each other before sighing. At this point, any sort of room was better than nothing. 

"Yeah...we'll take it.” Bucky said, getting the key. They walk to the room and still had that uncomfortable silence between them. When Bucky opened the door and they entered the small room, to their surprise, there was just one bed, probably queen size. Not even a small couch or anything, just the bed.  

The three of them just stood silently, looking at the single bed in the room. Loki pinched the bridge of his nose out of annoyance and Bucky just sigh while rubbing his metal arm anxiously “...great. just great." 

Bucky walked forward and sat down onto the bed, running a frustrated hand over his face "Guess we're all sleeping in here then." 

“Yeah...” Y/N walks forward and sat too “Not like anything weird happened today already.” 

Loki rolled his eyes, staying stood up while being clearly unhappy about the situation "This day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" 

“And we don’t even have a change of clothes...” Y/N remembers them, that it could be even worse. 

"Of course not. that would actually be convenient for us, and we can't have that." B bucky sighed, resting his head in his hands. 

Y/N started taking off her boots “At least we not covered in blood.” Bucky and Loki followed her lead and did the same, taking off their boots. “How are we gonna do this?” 

Bucky looked at the bed, looking at how there was only enough space to lay down side by side. "I guess we're all just...sleeping on the bed. Loki and I get the sides, you stay in the middle." 

“Okay, yeah." Y/N lay first, Loki and Bucky following her. They had to actually lay on their sides to fit the bed. She was turned to Loki and Bucky was behind her, just like in the HYDRA base. Again, her leg was millimeters from Loki’s crotch and Bucky had his body pressed against hers. Bucky let out a breath against the back of her neck and Loki's breath hit her face. Great, she could feel all of their bodies again. 

Y/N bit her lower lip, trying to concentrate on anything but the men’s bodies against hers. Loki's eyes flickered down to her lower lip as she bit it, causing his eyes to darken just slightly as he looked back up into your eyes.  

“This is not gonna work...” She whispers to both of them.  

Bucky moved slight, rubbing against her ass “Why not?” 

“Because I’m trying to ignore how I can feel your and Loki’s cock hard against me...and it’s not working.” 

Bucky's hand gripped on her hips a little hard and Loki's hand began to slowly trail down her side, both men clearly struggling to control themselves. 

"You're not the only one trying to ignore that..." Loki mumbled, his voice coming out uneven. Loki’s hand touched her skin under her shirt, causing Y/N to let out a soft gasp at the feeling of his touch. Bucky followed him when his metal hand touched the warm skin of her stomach, the feeling of his metal arm causing chills to go down her spine.  

"You have no idea how much I want you right now..." Bucky whispered on her ear, his voice full of desire. 

“I could say the same...” Loki spoke up, his voice coming out low and quiet. 

Bucky’s fingers went down, opening her pants and letting his hand slide inside her panties. His metal fingers gently rubbing her clit, making a low moan escape her lips. Loki’s hand went up to her breasts, touching her and rolling her nipples in his fingers, making she moans again.  Bucky's eyes darkened as he heard her moan again, biting her earlobe. Loki's lips found hers in a kiss, and Bucky began to kiss her neck while his hand was still rubbing circles on your clit, a little faster.  

Y/N moans against Loki’s lips. Bucky moved his hand a little more, finding her entrance and slowly pushing two fingers inside. Loki broke the kiss, to take the shirt off, and Bucky took the opportunity to take her pants and panties off too. She just let them and she was loving every minute of it.  

Soon they undress themselves too, Loki being the first one to go back to bed, on top of her, kissing down her entire body. Her neck, her chest, giving a special attention to her nipples. She moans, feeling his tongue circling her nipples like that. He kept kissing her down, until he was finally on her legs.  

He spread her legs, wider, a smirk on his lips when he looked at her pussy wet. He lowered his head, giving a tentative lick on her pussy. Y/N moans, feeling too good right now. Loki smirks, and found a good pace with tongue to eat her out and make her crazy.  

Bucky kneel close to her head, his eyes darkened watching her moan and the look of pleasure on her face as Loki was eating her out “Open your mouth, doll.” Y/N did as he told her, opening her mouth to him. Bucky put his hard cock on her lips. Feeling the warm of her mouth around him, he groans “Suck.” 

Y/N obeyed. She started sucking him, while Loki was focusing his tongue on her clit, making her feel an immense amount of pleasure. She moans against Bucky’s cock, making him feel small vibrations and taking a few grunts from him. It didn’t take long for her to cum on his tongue and Loki kept licking her until she rides out of her orgasm.  

He pulled out and smirks, before her and Bucky changed positions. Bucky was more than happy to taste her, his tongue more desperate than Loki.  

“Oh god...” She moans.  

Bucky didn’t waste time before he pushed his fingers on her, pumping it and making her moan again and again. Loki’s fingers pulled her lower lip “Open...wide.” 

Y/N did it as he asked and she closed her mouth around him, making him moan at the feeling. With Loki’s cock on her mouth and Bucky with his tongue and fingers, it didn’t take long until she orgasmed again. Bucky pulled back to look at her, wiping his chin.  

Loki laid on the bed, pulling her on top of him and kissed her. The tip of his cock was already brushing against her, and she gave him a nod. Loki smirked at her consent and entered her. She moans at the feeling of him stretching her. Bucky moved behind her, kneeling on the bed, before he teased her ass his fingers. 

“Is this okay, doll?” Y/N nods, half moaning. “Relax for me.” He says before he positioned himself and entered her asshole slowly, giving her time to get used.  

Y/N looked at Loki and then at Bucky and nodded. Both men started moving, slowly and carefully to not hurt her. But as she moans, they started getting confident, and the thrusts fast and deeper. She didn’t think when she woke up that she would end up being fucked by them, but she definitely wasn’t complaining.  

Bucky’s metal hand wrapped around her throat and she moans. Bucky smirked, applying just a little of pression “You like that, don’t you?” 

She nods, her eyes almost rolling back. 

Loki’s hands went between their bodies and started rubbing her clit “You like that...having us both at the same time?” 

“Mhmm...” 

Loki increased the pression on his fingers, making her moan louder. She couldn’t hold back anymore when she gave another moan, her eyes rolling back. She tightened around both men. Loki was the first to come, feeling her clenching on him. Bucky followed right after.  

Bucky was the first one to pull out, carefully to not hurt her in any way and laid on the bed. Loki did the same, and Y/N rolled over him, laying between the two of them. They were all breathless, looking at the ceiling.  

The room was quiet for a few minutes while they all caught their breath from the events that had just occurred. Bucky, still breathing heavily, then spoke up “That's not how I saw that event going today...” 

Loki let out a small chuckle from beside her “I certainly didn't but I cannot find myself complaining about it at all...” 

Y/N chuckles too “I’m not complaining either...that was...” 

Loki was the first one to turn back to her “You okay?” She nods with a small smile on her face.  

“You sure doll?” Bucky asked. 

“Yeah. I’m sure.” She turns to face him.  

Bucky cupped her face and kissed her gently. Then Loki, turned her face to him and kissed her too.  After they break the kiss, both men get comfortable beside her, almost protectively. Bucky's hand was on her hip again while Loki's thumb traced small patterns on her stomach. 

They were so tired after everything that they quickly fell asleep and didn’t even move from that position during the night.  

[sorryimananti-romantic]

Ateez as Dads-

collab with loren @eightmakesonebraincell who shares the same single braincell as me bc we know we're not the only ones obsessed with the recent ateez x children content

(disclaimer: i don't like babies. but the idea of ateez handling babies? adorable. loren, however, loves kids so here's the outcome)

Hongjoong

"hold this thing, i don't know what to do with it."

"that's your child, hongjoong."

looks like the frightened hamster meme when the baby starts crying out of nowhere

sometimes sleeps through the baby crying its lungs out at night LMAO but that's only when he's exhausted asf

bet he'll write a song or two about fatherhood too and you'll be like 'what would you know about it you slept through the night'

may be uncomfortable at times but when he starts bonding, you'll see it in his actions

like when he reforms cute little things like clothings or shoes for his baby, adding little dangly things to the crib

or when he makes cute accessories for the baby

matching reformed things omg

super stylish matching parent-kid duo

the bonding literally happens with the smallest moment like one day the baby is crying in his arms and tugs at his shirt with its little fist and he's done for he loves his kid 10000x more all of a sudden

and when the baby calms down immediately after coming into his arms? he'll die of happiness

and when the baby recognises him in a group of people??? new level of dad unlocked

literally melts whenever the kid runs across the room to fly into his arms or calls him daddy

paints the room for his kid and gives them a wall in their room to paint whatever they like

lets the kid paint his nails and they could even have that one matching painted fingernail omg

later when the kid grows up they'll have uv lights and like the latest stuff for nails but you bet hongjoong's gonna dry that nail paint by blowing on it-

literally the most supportive, allowing the kid to explore beyond conventional boundaries and guiding them along

also very attentive esp when they start growing up and observing

he'll make sure he answers all of their curious little questions to the best of their understanding

and surprisingly, he won't mind his kid in his studio

like how adorable is it when you find your kid in his lap, sharing earphones as he composes?

he just loves it when they sit on him or when they lie down next to him/on top of him when he's resting that's his therapy

Seonghwa

more of a mother than the real mother

knows exactly what to do like he's raised six kids already (i'm looking at you ateez)

wakes up at ass o clock in the morning to shush the crying baby so you can get some sleep :')

mother-coded that's what he is

you'll definitely be learning motherhood from him LMAO

but jokes aside he's actually the best partner you could have asked for in such a situation

he's so so patient with the kid and you

esp you

he understands when you're overwhelmed and when you need a break

so he's always willing to give you some space and takes care of the kid in the meanwhile which is so :')

so you try your best to return it to him in every way as well <3

you'll both be figuring this journey out together and that's the best part

bonds with the kid so good

esp when they start going to school and he literally can't wait for them to get home so he can hear about how their day was

lives for the gossip he gets from his kids about school too LOL

he'll be like yass give me the tea come on

also pretty much behaves like a kid when he's having a good time with his kids

like he goes 'no it's my turn to select the ice cream flavour you have to try this you'll love it i'm not hearing a no-'

kids teach him new slangs but you bet he'll stick to the good old 'no cap' and 'yeet'

gets matching stupid stuff like those green alien glasses for him and the kid-

you just know your kids will love him more than you and you accept it. you don't mind that at all bc he's such a lovable person

he'll always be running around the house with them trying to catch them or letting them catch him

they will watch animated movies together and draw together and make legos together they're gonna share that obsession

he's there. always. in every moment of their life :')

Yunho

curious to learn

but that doesn't stop him from playing with the baby like they're a toy boi has no fear

he's always gushing over how small and cute and adorable they are

he'll also be a bit scared at first to hold the baby in his arms but will get used to it real quick

loves feeding them and cleaning them with you

he's got some sort of magic to him too he can soothe a crying baby in seconds

plays with them/holds them like they're a cat/puppy

gives them rides on his shoulders and they love it you can hear their laughter ring around the house

teases you about how they look nothing like you but if they do look like you more, he'll be scanning them for one similarity that he can boast about.

"he's got my smile. see?"

loves playing with their hair and combing and styling it

also loves it when you all match unintentionally when going out

the type to play with the kids in the most unconventional ways when you're not looking

almost accidentally drops the baby at least once a week- i said ALMOST okay he's good at catching.

kids cling on to his long legs and he effortlessly walks like no big deal omgg

would even swing his legs like an amusement ride which might possibly earn a scream from you-

also once used the laundry basket as a rollercoaster for the kid. you can imagine how that ended. no living beings were harmed tho-

HE'S A FUN DAD OK

literally his kids are always running around him asking him to do sth fun with them or tell them jokes or play with him

teaches the kids the latest trends

makes dancing tik toks with them

he's actually also the super responsible dad, always dependable. you literally have nothing to worry about esp bc he can be serious when he needs to be

he allows the kids to take challenges, believing the kids need to grow at their own pace and that getting hurt is also a part of growing up

teaches them to be kind, to respect people, to always smile

goes on dates with them to the amusement parks, aquariums, carnivals etc and when they're older they go fishing or go-karting

Yeosang

(sincerely apologise for using a photo with alcohol in a post with babies BUT DOES HE NOT LOOK BABY HERE???)

the babiest of dads

googles whatever the baby does as if that will give him the answer

notices every little thing the baby does

follows instructions like a robot

forgets that the baby is actually a baby and they can't really do their stuff themselves so he has to do it for them-

like for example after a meal he clears the high chair and forgets he needs to help the baby off the chair until it wails LOL

is always worrying about what the baby is feeling esp when it is crying without a reason

always fusses about the little things bc he cares so much :')

sometimes you have to sit him down and tell him that it's okay if the baby is crying-

he even enjoys simply watching the baby esp when they do stupid stuff or play around with food

"that's disgusting but so adorable"

gets taught the latest trends by his kid but still ends up using them in the wrong contexts lmao

yeosang and the kid wailing about the mom on their way home until yeo takes the wrong turn and the kid glares at him and points to the right direction

yeosang and the kid in the shopping mall and yeosang gets lost

goes to the counter to pay but taps his pockets bc he can't find his wallet and the kid sighs loudly and hands it to him

yeosang taking his kid to the parent teacher meeting and he forgets HE'S the parent

he may be forgetful and zone out at times but he's actually very responsible. you never worry whenever you leave your kid with him and go out. you can depend on him <3

you'll see him mature as his kids grow up too, like you can literally see him learning fatherhood

doesn't mean they won't open dexter's laboratory when you're gone and clean up the mess before you come-

sees cute posts about lunchboxes with octopus sausage and seaweed characters on the rice but canNOT replicate it even after spending hours but the kids flaunt it like a masterpiece at their school <3 (loren you're so right for this)

his kids' friends WILL have a crush on yeosang. the teachers might too. how could you not??

his kids gon be the prettiest istg-

San

i'm sorry to break it to you but you'll have to take care of two babies <3

as loren said 'normal children learn behaviours from their parents. san learns behaviours from the baby.'

pretends to cry when the baby is crying so he can also receive hugs and kisses from you

he's actually the most responsive father ever, like he'll know what's actually happening with the kid instead of pretending to know

it's like he's connected to them on an astral level

so he's pretty much a natural caretaker

like he said, he knows how to give love

so he'll never make you feel less loved as well

he'll keep reassuring you how imp you are to him esp now that you're the mother of his child and he'll always be grateful to you for bringing this blessing into his life

but he also has his moments LMAO like i can just imagine him playing with the kid in the most babiest of manners

to the point the kid refuses to listen to you

the kids will always ALWAYS choose him whenever they're asked the 'who do you love more mom or dad' question

and even though that makes you pissed momentarily bc pls who wouldn't get pissed you find it super adorable how much your kids love their dad

safe place.

tells his kids early on what's good and what's bad. no compromises

teaches them when to be sorry and when to stand up for themselves

taekwondo together <3 he'll make them show off at family events or stuff and demand that the audience give good reactions otherwise he's gonna pout sooo hard

he'll make sure his kids don't laze around. chores? yes. exercise? yes. nap-time? necessary. homework? don't even dare to say no. play-time? HELL YES

teaches traditional games to his kids too and makes them interact with other kids to play instead of video games so early on

the video games are HIS okay they can't touch it until they grow up

kids go to him for help in school work and he'll sit there all zoned out wondering when the hell this got included in their syllabus

will refuse to give up until you catch him tired and scratching his head in confusion

"i'm pretty sure education gets tougher every year."

"whatever helps you sleep at nights san <3" LOL

loves spending time together, all of you, anywhere as long as you all are together <3

Mingi

9/10 times will cry when the baby cries

but also really good at taking care of them and it amazes him too

calms the baby down with the cutest most concerned face ever so he looks more baby than the baby

pretends to sleep when the baby wakes up crying in the middle of the night

until you poke his stomach and go 'don't you fucking dare' and he starts laughing helplessly

but then takes the reins and lets you sleep if you look too done <3

jokingly tries to gaslight you into thinking it's your turn to settle the baby but you bet you're keeping tabs too

but when he sees how tired you look, he'll never ever complain no matter how tired he may be himself. will even tuck YOU into bed

the type to sit in the lounge with some kid's show on with the kid itself and you give him snacks to feed the kid

but at some point he got a taste and now he's looking at the packaging and going 'this shit good' when it's actually some baby-friendly snack 😭

and then suddenly it's all gone and the kid is glaring at mingi with angry eyes 😭😭 and he's like pleasure is temporary my child-

but now he has his own fav baby snacks too.

does freestyle rapping about the misery of fatherhood LMAO

also does lame stuff like tapping on the baby's shoulder and when they turn to look at him he has his finger out so it pokes the baby's cheek like-

gets matching shades for him and the kid

hangs out with them a lot, even if it's inside

hears every story they have to tell but also they just looooveee to hear stories from him bc he's a good storyteller

even though half of the shit is made up but he pretends it actually happened-

"one time i saw your mom ugly crying in a shop. i asked her what the matter was. she saw me and fell in love instantly."

"wasn't it the other way?"

loves swinging his kids in his arms whenever he comes home and then you stand there all pouty and he runs after you-

can't scold kids to save himself. can never. always bursts out laughing whenever he glares at them. so you do that for him.

now you're the antagonist in the house

can't handle when his kids are being adorable like he'll just clutch his heart and pretend to faint

best father-kid dynamic bc he's the playful but responsible dad

Wooyoung

he's a natural at this come on

"i feel like he's more my sibling than my own child"

always has his baby in his arms to the point you have to snatch it from him bc you can see he's tired

takes care of everything- from bathing them to feeding them. he's so good at it too

you love him even more bc he may tease you to bits but you never thought he'd be a cooperative lovable menace too

talks to the baby in baby language and they actually hold conversations

and when you join he'll just make fun of you LOL

starts treating you like a baby too when you're tired and you're not sure you hate that you might actually start doing it on purpose too-

taught the kid the art to charm people so they're throwing random cheeky compliments around

like they'll go to a shop and the kid will compliment the shopkeeper and they'll be like omg so precious and hand freebies

and those freebies would be wooyoung's earnings btw aint no way the kid gon have those

will train a family of cutest loveable menaces :')

the chef dad

creates masterpiece lunchboxes for his kids that even the teachers are tempted to steal

i can just imagine the girl friend (also crush) of wooyoung's son at school having a big fat crush on wooyoung and wanting to marry him like come on😭😭

then the son gets super grumpy about it and woo sits him down and asks what's bothering him

then he'll teach him how to bake cookies and the son ends up sweeping the girl off her feet omgg

woo placing his hands over his kid's hands bc they're too small to properly hold the piping bag when they decorate cakes and cookies and cupcakes

them playing in the kitchen and throwing flour on each other and you come and look all smugly at woo bc yes you're gonna clean this mess later on

but you end up joining them :')

dolls up his kids and asks them to kiss him on both his cheeks before they leave

and you bet the kids love that routine

hugs. all the time. hugs.

makes sure to capture these moments for memories if you haven't already and he'll love looking back at these days <3

Jongho

best dad

makes sure he doesn't forget to take care of you as you take care of the baby :')

always gets surprised when the baby does sth new

priceless reactions from him, esp when the baby first says a comprehensible word or takes its first steps

always spreading his arms whenever he spots the baby so the baby can crawl/walk/run to him

swings them in the air and does those little throws

the strong dad. the one who's carrying the kids effortlessly- one on the shoulder, one under the arm, walking as if they weigh nothing

jongho's kid: hi i'm hungry

jongho: hi hungry, i'm dad

overuses every dumb dad joke ever to exist but still finds it super hilarious and sometimes you'll end up laughing along

"back in my days-"

"ah shit here we go again."

bc you know dad jokes aside he's actually a super funny guy when he wants to be

the type to team up with his kid to tease YOU

whispers shit in their ears like 'go pull out your mom's hairclip as revenge for her not letting us hang out in the snow with ice cream last night' when you're super occupied and gets a good laugh out of it

taps your shoulder and then looks away when you glare at him but ends up pointing at the kid like the kid's the one who did it-

when the two are a giggling mess it's hard to differentiate who's the actual kid from the parent

sings with his kids a lot. might vocally train them a bit too

road trips are gonna be so much more fun when everyone's singing at the top of their lungs

when his kid is older and starts to get school assignments that require some form of art like creating a model or designing a poster, his kid is definitely going to score an A because jongho can and WILL help and end up over-achieving LOL

will plan with his kids on days like valentine's or mother's day or anniversary, prepare to get serenaded by the lot

he involves them a lot in everything so they grow up super smart

loves doing stupid things with the kids too like he'll literally be the one following the kids at times

but you love it bc you never have to worry about anything with him ;-; <3 he's also super protective

unless there's a bug in front of you. then you're all on your own.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

You know what would make the Lucky Charm more balanced? Make it so that there are times where other characters figure it out, not just Ladybug. That way, it doesn't make Ladybug hypercompent and makes it possible for other people to save the day.

I don't mind Ladybug being the one best suited to Lucky Charm. I don't think it makes her hyper competent because you don't need a Lucky Charm to save the day. It's just the way that she saves the day. The other characters should have their own unique talents that let them win fights. Generally speaking, that's how strong teams work.

For a random example, let's talk about the teenage mutant ninja turtles simply because I think most people know something about that franchise. The character Donatello (aka Donnie) is the team's tech guy. He makes all kinds of inventions that help them save the day. The show would not be improved if all four of the turtles were able to take on this inventor role. I'd argue that it would actually be lessened because the characters would become interchangeable. This is something that the franchise seems to agree with as each version of the show gives each turtle unique skills and personality traits that makes each of them indispensable in their own way, which is what I think Miraculous should have done with the temp heroes.

That being said, I do think that there's a way to make your idea work. I'd just go a slightly different, more lore balancing route since Lucky Charm is technically bad lore and you all know how I feel about bad lore. So let's talk about giving it a minor tweak and how I think that would actually improve things.

Tikki is supposed to be Creation, not Luck, so the Lucky Charm shouldn't have anything to do with Luck. It should just be pure Creation where the holder comes up with a thing they want and that thing then pops up. It could also have a give and take element where the holder gets what they asked for if they want something specific, but they could also just call the power as a hail Mary and Tikki would come up with something on the fly, leading to the occasional puzzle.

This leads me to my proposed changed.

I personally think it would be hilarious and honestly more fun for Marinette's character if she could summon anything she wanted, but the Lucky Charms stay exactly the same because that's just how her mind works. Even when Tikki is helping, it's still all wacky items because Tikki knows how Marinette is and just goes with it.

For example, in Copy Cat, Ladybug turns a spoon into a hook for a cobbled together fishing pole. Wouldn't it be even funnier if Marinette summoned a spoon on purpose because she was thinking of the makeshift thing she cobbled together in order to fish up something she dropped from her balcony? Then, post fight, Chat Noir praises her like always, only to then ask, "So why a spoon and not a fishing hook?" And Ladybug just stares at him because oh, right, those are things they make. She could have done that. Ooops.

And in Malediktator where she summons a sniper rifle to get a laser pointer? Well, she was thinking about this silly comic about a cat assassin! She totally spaced on the fact that you could just get a laser pointer by itself.

Eventually, her team learns to just go with it and not ask questions. Meanwhile, the general public thinks that the Lucky Charm is some random item that Ladybug has to figure out and no one bothers to correct this misunderstanding. You can even have a running gag of new team members learning the truth and going through the acceptance process of, "Hey, you try thinking up how to set a trap while a 5 meter tall lollipop is trying to crush you! Your mind goes to what it knows, not to the ideal solution, okay???"

If we go with this setup, then other people can wield the Ladybug and use Lucky Charm effectively, they'll just use it in a very different way from the way Marinette uses it. There will also be people who are just not suited to the Ladybug since that was initially how the powers were supposed to work and it made perfect sense. Kwamis should have ideal holders along with okay backups and terrible backups. I personally think Alya would be an okay backup since she's creative, but not creative in the same way Marinette is, leading her to be a lesser Ladybug. Adrien, on the other hand, should generally suck at the Ladybug as he simply doesn't have that style of creative thinking. Which is fine. Better than fine, even! You don't want your characters to be interchangeable! They should all have strengths and weaknesses!

This is one of the show's big flaws. Since everything is on Marinette's shoulders, the other characters rarely get a chance to shine and so they feel interchangeable. For example, if gift always shows the target what THEY want, then why does Rose need to be the one to wield it? Juleka could wield it just as easily. And if Ladybug is generally the one telling Marc and Nathaniel what to summon with their powers, then their creativity is not needed. Anyone could wield the rooster and the goat! The show has completely failed to understand what makes teams memorable and so we have a bloated, boring team whose presence I'm dreading because they had five seasons to set these guys up and yet here we are.

[meanbossart]

On topic of the previous ask about Drow's emotional reactions to Astarion's past:

You see a lot of bad shit in Cazador's palace. The kennels where he was put through every layer of hell, the pleasure chambers, the utterly miserable living situation... DU Drow isn't a stranger to violence and brutality, of course, but being in a place where you know terrible things were done to someone you love as deeply as he loves Astarion has to hit different. He doesn't seem like he would outwardly react, but what was that like for him?

(ask being referenced)

So, something that might be a little challenging to both explain and understand is that while DU drow and Astarion are In love with each other at the point where they finally reach Cazador, I don't think they yet... Love each other in the way two adults might.

Astarion, while able to be more authentically imself (IE: kind of a dick) around DU drow, doesn't really know what exactly that self even is. Not to mention that regardless of the legitimacy of the relationship, his freedom is still dependent on DU drow's willingness to put his entire life on the line for him, something he could fail at - and losing lovers is nothing new to Astarion. One may even say he expects it to happen.

Meanwhile, DU drow's whole life and sense of identity has had to be (re)formed in the few weeks to months since he started, like, existing again. Time is very difficult to conceptualize when it's only been a thing since 60 days ago - he's killed hundreds of creatures to get here and hasn't had the opportunity to process what that means at all. He has no idea how old he is or where he's come from. He has scars that show he may have had it rough at some point but no memory of pain or suffering - and as far as he can tell, he is doing completely fine regardless of it. All of this to say:

DU drow could not wrap his head around what 200 years of enslavement is even if you shoved it up his ass.

So, when he sees a filthy set of bunkbeds, the immaculately kept pleasure-room, a torture chamber - all that he does is think to himself "Good thing I'm here to put an end this". And Astarion, as much enjoyment as he may get from the guy, still can't help but be glad he's here to do the heavy lifting on his behalf. Pity alone won't save him.

You know what does give DU drow pause, though?

It is undeniably self-centered that of all things, the spawn who speak of Astarion like a crossed lover would leave an impression on DU drow, and yet, that's what happened. And of all things he saw that day, this would be the very first that makes his stomach churn - though not the last.

DU drow is an egoistical man. This doesn't mean that he's incapable of caring, loving, nurturing and evolving - but he is an egoistical man nonetheless. Nothing makes him enter a state of desperation and, dare I say, fear, quite as having things taken away from him - or worse, seeing himself mirrored in something much smaller and weaker.

This will change. It will change a lot. When the dust settles and their relationship has the space to evolve into an actual life partnership, those smaller things and crass comments will come back to haunt him. But back, then you really needed to pass a fine thread through a needle-hole to make the guy introspect for even a second.

[onlydylanobrien]

Dylan O’Brien Used Director James Sweeney’s ‘Gay Scale’ to Play Brothers in ‘Twinless’: He’d Say ‘You Were Too Straight on That’

“I’m egregiously picky,” insists Dylan O’Brien, reflecting on a burst of productivity that, in the last 12 months, includes the films “Ponyboi,” “Saturday Night,” “Caddo Lake,” the Max comedy series “Fantasmas” and James Sweeney’s “Twinless,” which screens at Sundance. “I’m going to get skewered for this type of quote being out there … but I would have a much different career, I think, if I was a ‘yes to everything’ person.”

After launching his career more than a decade ago as a heartthrob on MTV’s “Teen Wolf” and in the “Maze Runner” films, each of those recent projects earned the actor praise for his versatility; no two roles are the same. But according to O’Brien, his recent slate reflects not just one year of work but more than five — a period that also encompasses guest spots (as “himself”) on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “The Other Two,” four more features and “All Too Well,” a short film directed by Taylor Swift.

His run of projects actually started back in 2019 after reading “Twinless.” In the film, which earned Sweeney a spot on Variety’s 2025 Directors to Watch, he plays twin brothers Roman and Rocky, with the former bonding with a fellow support group member (played by Sweeney) after the latter dies unexpectedly. Even facing the challenge of dual parts — one is straight, one is gay — the actor says that Sweeney’s writing gave him exactly the kind of charge that tells him to get on board a project.

“When I read something, it’s like I can hear the guy’s voice or I can’t,” O’Brien says. “And from the second I picked up the script, I was just like, ‘Roman is in me.’ I know this guy. And then when I get to Rocky, I had an instinct for him too.”

He remembers that it was his transformation into the introspective Roman, who, like O’Brien, is straight, that most surprised Sweeney. “My Roman voice, I got self-conscious about it immediately because he pointed it out,” he says. “But that’s how I was processing the weight of the very sheltered life he had experienced until that point, and then the tragedy that he experienced — and that’s what the fuck came out. [James] was like, ‘I love it.’”

Meanwhile, in order to play Rocky — authentically, but never stereotypically — O’Brien says the pair implemented a “gay scale” on set that Sweeney (who is gay) would dial up or down. “Most of the time, he’d be like, ‘You were too straight on that,’” he recalls with a laugh. “I was happy for that permission … a sign of a great filmmaker is to always give you the permission to go into a direction or not.”

The believability of both performances — like the others released before it — evidence a centeredness that O’Brien attributes to his increasing capacity for identifying nurturing, creative environments. “By that I mean your filmmaker, the piece in and of itself and the confidence you feel in it,” he says. “A helpful tool to either have or try to develop is to be able to identify whether you’re in safe hands or not.”

Though he admits that being in a music video is a “space that makes me really uncomfortable,” O’Brien indicated that two of those safe hands belonged to Taylor Swift, who in 2021 enlisted him to play the male lead in “All Too Well.” “For that to be her first time directing, Taylor had the absolute right instinct to be like, ‘I hired these actors because I am a fan of the work that they’ve done, and I’m going to let them come in and do that work’,” he says. “I loved what she was trying to tell with that. And I fully felt like I understood my role in it, and that excited me.”

Indicating he’s finally “being able to operate with choice,” the actor says his future plans include a reunion with Sweeney (“James and I are definitely going to partner up again on something”), and the June 27, 2025 release of “Ponyboi,” which first premiered at Sundance in 2024. “I’m very fortunate to be in some kind of position to pick these projects that I feel really drawn to and inspired by — and I have in me,” he says.

“These choices that I’ve been making, that you’ve seen in this past year, identify with what I want to be doing,” O’Brien adds. “It’s not like I don’t identify with my role on ‘Teen Wolf’ or the ‘Maze Runner’ movies. Those were my building blocks. But it doesn’t tell the whole story of who I am as a creative person.”

Source: variety.com

[mixingandmelting]

hey so how do you think Dick grayson and Tim drake would deal with having nightmares and their s/o eases them awake quietly. And s/o doesn’t poke them for answers. Has an attitude of if their boyfriend wants to spill they can do. Their man’s in a cold sweat. Once their boyfriends back down to earth, s/o’s like “I’m gonna make us both tea” also mentions that “I get nightmares too”. And stays up with their boyfriend and then suddenly sunrise hits and they’ve both not slept at all. Meanwhile, how do they also deal with s/o sometimes having nightmares themselves? Like they’ll just cry in their sleep? The really bad nightmares s/o gets happens before they even met their boyfriend, meaning the danger the boys introduced into s/o life isn’t the cause for them sometimes having nightmares? S/o had a dramatic life before they met each other?

Dick:

Always the listener, giving comfort to others but never allowing himself to be given the same. He’s used to internalizing his issues and solving them on his own, never realizing that it makes him resemble someone he’s very much close to and criticize about. That was until you entered his life. Words can’t describe the relief you give him, your very presence enough to get him ground back to reality. When it first happened, he had interpreted your silence as uncertainty. The debate on trying to figure out what to say without triggering him. Not like he could blame you considering his tendency of having a mean temper when his mind is consumed by darkness. He was expecting you to stay simply silent and give him space for alone time just as he always pushes for. Or, like how everyone always does it, probe him to tell you what’s wrong, giving him the classic lecture of how unhealthy it is to pent things up. But like then and now, he’s embraced, back softly rubbed as he rests his head on your shoulder and regains his breath. Sometimes hugging you back when it was particularly a bad one. 

Sure he has stayed in bed when he’s able to silence the white noise quicker but often he gets out of bed and follows you to the kitchen, not wanting his one comfort to leave him all alone as you go to make tea. You always manage to get him to crack a tiny smile from squeezing his hand and reminding him things will be okay. That even you get nightmares as he leans his head on yours, his cheek nuzzling into your hair while his eyes stay trained on you steeping his favorite Earl Grey. He heads to the sofa with you and curls into your side to further savor your warmth. Once the caffeine rush hits, it pushes him to talk in circles of what he saw. He doesn’t address what exactly happens directly, fearing the superstition of saying it would make it come true. Soon the sun would rise and he’s either being the smaller or bigger spoon, listening to the words you give that brings him the solace he needed. 

When you’re the one going through a traumatic nightmare, he’s internally in great distress. A frown always settles on his face, a part of him feeling stabbed, as it registers in his blurry mind you’re crying. Nothing does he despise anymore than how he can’t do anything to make whatever you’ve gone through go away or your nightmare to stop. He knows waking you up will only make things worse from you having to remember your trauma in your consciousness when you’re reliving it subconsciously and that’s the last thing he needed to do. So he quietly scooches closer to you and carefully you towards him. One arm acts as a pillow while the other holds you as he busies himself in patting your head, whispering words of promises that you’re not alone, you’re safe, and he’ll always be there for you. It gives him reassurance when it works, your breathing evening it out as you go back to a peaceful slumber. When it doesn’t he stays awake in silence, almost cradling you in the bed as he does his best to soothe you with a broken heart of seeing how much agony you must’ve gone through.

Tim:

He’s the one who has gotten better with voicing his current state especially with how he nearly destroyed himself in the search for the then-proclaimed-dead Batman and the death of Superboy. However, you make everything a hundred times better and easier to handle. As cheesy as it sounds, you’re the light that always pulls him out of his own darkness. During the first time, he didn’t understand why you weren’t asking and, instead, simply staying still. It brought out the uncertainty and doubt he held toward himself, all the thoughts that constantly haunted him. Until he was engulfed by a comforting warmness. Back then he was hesitant, however currently, he ends up clinging to you as he’s finally able to register your heartbeat in his ears, signalling he’s awake. It strengthens him to overcome the anxiety as you never get impatient and continue holding him as long as he needs to go back to somewhat being okay. 

He doesn’t let go of your hand though, in a way forcing you to drag him into the kitchen so you could steep tea. Yes, it’s embarrassing that he looks like a kid with the blanket still wrapped around him as he does this but he takes mind to it as you pull him closer to maximize your mobility while still being able to have his hand held. Not that he complains, his automatic response being his arms wrapping around your waist and having both hands being in one of yours. At the sofa with fresh tea steaming in cups, the two of you cuddle while sharing the blanket as he pours everything out as a response to your question of him being okay. His head burrows into the crook of your neck to hide the expression he makes, his mind settling and reminding nothing compared to being with you when you being with him allows all the knots and worries to come undone. 

Every time you cry in your sleep, he sends another proposal to not Batman or his adopted dad but Bruce Wayne the CEO of Wayne Enterprises on why more funding should be put in their medical branch to research psychological relief for trauma. He has the saddest look when he wakes up and watches your pained expressions, ears sharp and silently listening to your mumbles and noting them in the back of his head to further help him figure out ways he could make things better without overstepping your boundaries. Having read how forcefully waking up a person from a nightmare may potentially add more scars, he has to suppress himself from doing exactly that. Doesn’t make the whole thing suck any less from how resentful and spiteful it makes him for being powerless and incapable making your scars go away. Scared of unintentionally giving you more scars, he either places an arm protectively over you or holds your hand with a firm yet tender grip, patting you softly as he doesn’t stop until you’re fine no matter how long it takes.

[semisolidmind]

In your survivor au, what do you think DogDay's reaction would be anytime he found y/n with CatNap? (That includes mostly when catnap snags y/n for cuddles)

just curious lol I wanna hear your thoughts

rage.

dogday has very little tolerance for catnap's tomfoolery, especially in the first few days of their attempt at coexistence. he keeps a close eye on both catnap and y/n, just to make sure the cat doesn't try anything.

of course, he can't be with y/n all the time. so perhaps there's an instance where he, poppy, and kissy are out on a walk while y/n is in town; he doesn't expect them back for a while.

however, y/n gets home a bit early. catnap, noticing the lack of opposition, sees an opportunity.

he watches. he waits for the right moment. then he pounces.

with a small dosage of red smoke (not enough to fully knock them out, but enough to make them slow and groggy), catnap steals y/n away to the barn, picking them up by the back of their coat. they struggle weakly as he saunters into the barn, heaving himself and his quarry up into the loft in one jump.

he gently deposits y/n into his nest before curling up around them. he settles, ignoring their slurred admonishing in favor of rubbing his face against their hair. he purrs. he's just taking the attention he believes he's owed, after all. they're so doting on the other toys...it's only fair he get some of his savior's attention, too.

as the effects of the red smoke slowly wear off, y/n sighs and seems to accept their fate of being cuddled. they can't exactly move the heavy, powerful limbs holding them close.

so, they talk to catnap. they try to convince him that kidnapping them isn't the way to go about getting attention, but the feline simply gazes at y/n through lazily lidded eyes. when their pleas for freedom go unheard, y/n resigns themself to their fate; instead, they tell him about whatever it is they got done that day. at least the occasional twitch of a large purple ear lets them know that he's listening.

meanwhile, dogday and the girls are returning from their walk, flowers and a few foraged mushrooms in hand. dogday sees y/n's vehicle in front of the garage, and assumes they're in the house. except, when he goes inside, calling for them, there's no answer. poppy yells for them too, checking the rooms upstairs.

"they're not here!" she calls back to dogday.

a chill goes down his spine and his hackles immediately raise.

catnap.

dogday is out the front door in a flash, snagging his axe (it's a normal size, but it looks smaller in his hands) from the side of the house on the way.

he runs towards the barn, knowing that's where that thing took his angel.

dogday kicks the weathered double doors in, head snapping in the direction of the loft. just as he suspected, catnap has y/n trapped between his deadly claws, prone and vulnerable.

"catnap!" he roars in outrage. "i swear if you've hurt them in any way, i'll—!"

y/n calls his name, and he stops. through his rage, he sees them. they're...they're not hurt. though he's glad to see them unharmed, he won't be happy until they're safely away from his enemy. he hears y/n sigh tiredly.

this isn't the first time this has happened, and it won't be the last.

they sluggishly pull themselves from between catnap's paws, and though the cat grumbles his discontent, he's obviously not looking to start a fight with the pissed off dog still brandishing an axe down below. the look y/n gives him cows him even more. he looks away, and allows y/n the space to stand. as much as he wishes he could keep them, their ever-so-loyal hound won't allow it.

he'll have to be sneakier next time.

y/n shakily stands up. they've built up some tolerance to the red smoke, but... it can still knock them off their feet if they're not expecting it. they make their way to the lofts' rickety ladder, only taking a few steps down before dogday is there, gathering them into one arm (the other still holding his axe, eyes never leaving catnap and ready to swing the moment the feline moves).

y/n sighs again. they rest their head on dogday's shoulder, slumping down as he quickly gets them out of the barn. they hear more than see dogday slam the barns' doors shut. they can feel how his breathing slows from its angry seethe, calmer now that they're with him.

y/n can feel how the large canine presses his head to theirs, giving an affectionate nuzzle that earns a little laugh from them. he huffs a bit, still upset that he wasn't able to stop them from being nabbed in the first place.

on their way back into the house, dogday leaves his axe on the porch, closing and locking the front door behind them.

poppy and kissy are in the living room, and they watch dogday carry y/n upstairs. poppy shakes her head and sighs. she's really not sure why y/n won't just let dogday kill catnap, especially since the feline keeps doing stuff like this. she puts that thought to the side as she and kissy decide on a movie.

dogday takes y/n into their shared room. he lays them gently on the bed, helping them remove their shoes and coat. y/n groans and pulls themself under the covers. the smokes' effects will fully wear off in a couple of hours, but for now it feels like serious jetlag. y/n closes their eyes.

as they settle in, they hear dogday sigh. as expected, he begins to settle himself next to them, curling up and holding them close. one large hand rests on their back, gently stroking their shoulder. y/n nuzzles into the soft fur of his chest.

as they fall asleep under the watchful eye of their guard dog, y/n hopes they can maintain some semblance of peace between their family and the stray in the barn.

[orion-archives]

Dear Americans and people outside Mexico: Please stop.

I have seen many posts of people outside Mexico saying: Congrats, Mexico! Claudia, a leftist feminist ambientalist jewish woman, is president! Take notes US!

Meanwhile, you go out in the streets in Mexico today and no one is celebrating. No one. The streets are empty, everything feels sad and hopeless.

A lot of people didn't want her. Because we know what is going to happen.

Morena (her political group) is literally in every position of power. From senators, to city governors. They have EVERY SINGLE thing in the goverment.

You know how bad things are gonna get for us here? Do you know what she has allowed? What THEY have done to our country? All the shit we have been through because of them?

No, because you don't care. You haven't cared enough to research who this woman is really and just praise her without knowing a shit.

Because you have to make everything about you, don't you?.

"I can't believe Mexico has a woman president before US!"

"OMG, US take notes!"

"The US-"

Can you stop for a second and think outside of your bubble? Do you truly know who this woman is and what she has done to Mexico? Or you are just using this to talk about you and your own country and problems?

Please. Please do your research.

She is not your precious feminist ally.

She has denied multiple times the ongoing wave of violence against women in Mexico (11 women go missing A DAY). She has sent riot police to gas feminist protests.

Did you hear what I said?

11 WOMEN GO MISSING A DAY.

EVERY DAY 11 WOMEN NEVER COME BACK, ARE KILLED, ARE RAPED, ARE TORTURED, ARE GETTING FORGOTTEN WITHOUT LEAVING A TRACE. EVERYDAY.

And she denies this. She has denied MULTIPLE TIMES that the violence against women is at an all time high.

A feminist would denied that 11 mothers/sisters/daughters/aunts/girls/women/people are going missing PER DAY?

No. Because she doesn't fucking care.

She is no ambientalist.

She was more than happy to support the Tren Maya, a project AMLO, the former president, was hooked on making since the begining.

The issue?

DEFORESTATION. MASSIVE DEFORESTATION.

10 MILLION TREES HAVE BEEN CUT DOWN.

Entire natural spaces gone for a train that isn't even working and already is having problems.

Also, how can I forget this?

27 people died, 80 injured.

The line 12 (Linea 12) of the CDMX Metro collapsed. The structure and the entire transport had (and still are) been neglected by the city administration.

Guess who was in charge of CDMX at the time of the tragedy?

Exactly, Claudia Sheinbaum. What was she doing instead of sending resources and money to fix and mantain the Metro?

But political propaganda for herself, of course!

And even after that tragedy, there have been multiple issues and accidents in the metro. A fucking coworker of a family member was trapped in a wagon alongside multiple people for HOURS due to a malfuction of the metro. They weren't allowed to get out even if they were cooking alive due to the heat of being inside a closed wagon and police ordered them TO NOT FILM what was happening to them.

She is not a saint. She is not an icon. She is not someone you should praise.

FUCKING INFORM YOURSELF BEFORE TALKING.

Mexico is not USA. Get it? We don't have the same politics and issues you have, get that?

The entire world doesn't revolve around you. We aren't your argument to use, we aren't your little meme to fuck around with.

We are people that are tired. People that didn't want this. People that are upset, dissapointed, mad, hopeless.

My blog isn't a political place, so as a final note, I want to say this:

I want to be wrong. I really, really want to be fucking wrong.

I want my country, Mexico, to be ok. To be a better place to live.

I HOPE to be wrong and that things get better. For me, for my family, for my friends, for the millions of people that stay, study, work, breathe, live and love this country.

Claudia Sheinbaum, I really want to be wrong about you. Not because I love you, but because I love Mexico.

I don't have high hopes for the future, but I really, REALLY, want things to be better.

That's all I have to say for now.

[harveybwabbit92]

Grocery girl: Ken Sato x Reader pt. 3

You were a delivery girl who was frequently dispatched to the famous baseball player's Ken Sato residence, you were a nobody that anyone hardly paid attention to, until you found the legendary baseball passed out on his front steps looking like hell, being a bit of worry wart you help him inside and that things took a HUGE turn when you find yourself playing mommy for a giant baby dragon....

Part 1, Part 2 part4

-----------------

*"Help me raise this baby Kaiju"* "Pfft, easier said then done..." R/n muttered as she unpacked her stuff in one of the guest rooms, which was by the way; bigger than her apartment, R/n's things barely filled the space leaving huge gaps in the room making it feel little empty.

"Maybe I'll buy a couple plants or something..." She sighed and went to go check with Ken on what exactly she was supposed to do? Like R/n knew she had to help with the baby...but, how exactly? Not everyone can turn into a superhero the size of a skyscraper! She'd like to know what exactly his game plan was?

Meanwhile Ken was pacing around his base while baby was napping in her chamber. He had no freaking clue what to say to R/n, his brain was so fried from a lack of sleep he wasn't thinking straight when he came up with whole co-parenting thing, it was all starting hit him all at once!

What could he get R/n to do? She was just regular human! What if she had work the same time he had a game? what if baby has an explosive tantrum and accidentally hurts R/n or worse? The death of a civvy would not look good on Ultraman's track record, then again; neither was hiding a baby Kaiju but-

Ken's train of though was cut off by R/n coming down the elevator it was kinda weird seeing her in regular clothes and not that obnoxious red and blue Depotman uniform, having traded in said uniform in for a t-shirt and shorts, Ken straightened himself out and tried to make it seem like he wasn't on the verge of a complete breakdown as He and R/n got down to business...whatever it may be.

R/n's responsibilities were meager at due to her human factor, she was basically a glorified playmate to distract the baby whenever Ken was away. "...Feed her when her tummy rumbles, the burp her." R/n interrupted him with a snort.

"Right!~ burp her, right, right- I'll do that, But first lemme just call up Zordon and see if he has any spare Megazords laying around..."

"Ah, a woman of culture I see..."

"Lonely childhood."

"Hm..."

So...yeah, R/n burping Baby was out of the question...almost, they tried testing at method that Mina suggested; it involved R/n running up and down barefoot along the little Kaiju's back as a alternative and while it did work. the downside was it was very unstable for R/n to keep her footing and Baby's need to spit up afterwards caused some problems.

The infant immediately jumped to her feet with R/n still on her back and sent the woman tumbling off towards the metal floor, where she would've broken her back or neck if Ultraman hadn't quickly caught her. "Okay, not doing that again..." Ken said with a sigh as R/n slapped her hand over her mouth. "Ugh, I think I'm gonna barf too if I don't get on solid ground." She groaned Ultraman carefully put her down and announced his intention to clean baby up outside seeing as she wasn't completely done spitting up yet.

R/n meanwhile was looking at the putrid green mess already pooling around on the floor and was worried he was leaving this for her to clean up, until the she noticed the glowing "window" was actually a force field; sea pooled into the room as ultraman and Baby stepped outside before it was all pumped out by a drainage system. "Seriously, how much did this cost to build?" R/n wondered out loud It was then when Mina revealed that this basement use to be part of a spaceship that Ken's father used to arrive to Earth.

Cut to Ultraman rubbing Baby's back as she finishes up her business when the rare silence was broken by a faint yell from somewhere...It sounded like someone yelled "What?!" at the top of their lungs.

To say, things got better for Ken with the extra help would be stretching it R/n again had no idea what she was doing and was mainly in charge of keeping the baby entertained for a couple hours so he could get so sleep or go to work, but unfortunately life's a B, and Though they took turns waking up at odd hours feeding her, or bathing her. (R/n uses a large push broom as a scrub brush.. or at least tries to, that baby Kaiju can run!),

Ken was still heavily needed for heavy clean up duty and that left him exhausted during his games, also he noticed R/n hadn't gone to work once since she moved in with him which caused him to jump to the conclusion that she quit, cos that what the last person who lived with him back in LA did (Which resulted in nasty break up).

So he confronted her "No I didn't quit my job, I took maternity leave." R/n said affronted by his accusation, Ken looks at her skeptical how she could possibly gotten on leave when she doesn't have kids? "I told my boss that a friend of mine had just became a single parent and asked me for help so I'm moving in with them, he gave a month off to adjust my new responsibilities." She further explained that it was Mina's idea and the bot pretended to be the friend on the phone with R/n's boss to confirm her story.

"Okay, if this is the case, then where the heck have you been going when I'm on baby duty?" The exhausted baseball player pressed R/n looked at him slyly. "Toy shopping." Ken at her befuddled "Toys for who?" Cut to Mina helping R/n pull in a large cart with a tarp over it out of the elevator and in front of the baby who looked at it curious as R/n removed the tarp revealing a adult pedal car (It looks like the ZAT van from Ultraman Taro) and a 9ft tall Oni? action figure. (it's Momotaros from Den-o)

The baby cooed reached out to them but R/n stopped her for a moment before pulling out what looked like a giant tan rolled up mattress, Ken wondered if it was for chewing on or something, until the delivery girl cut the straps and plastic wrapping open to reveal it was a vacuum sealed 15 foot tall stuffed bear!

Baby squealed excitedly bouncing on her feet before grabbing the bear hugging it; she started playing with rest of the toys she got. While Ken stares on in awe. "I'd figured she was bored being stuck indoors all watching nothing but TV, I know was..." The baby was apparently acting out a hero saving her bear from a car crash she saw on TV show.

"How much did that stuff cost you?" Ken asked watching the scene feeling guilty about earlier; he pretty much accused R/n of being a leech when she was spending money for him. "The car and figure were from my job, rejected packages that were rotting away in the warehouse for the last 10 years; figured they might as well be used for something." She said the paused for moment seemingly in thought. "Annd you kind of paid for the bear." Ken looked at her confused how he could've possibly paid for the bear, R/n noticing his confusion and sighed. "Of you don't remember, last month? when I brought you coffee and donuts? You acted like a spaz and tipped me?" The cogs were spinning in Ken's head before grinding to a halt now remembering.

"Right....How much did I give you?

"Around 30000 yen or so..."

"...That's three hundred dollars, Yer telling me that bear cost three hundred dollars?"

"Hard to believe, but yes. It was a prop for photos in this designer children's photography shop I deliver to, the guy was selling it cos it scared the kids, I thought we could make better use of it."

R/n said with a little shrug Ken hummed and went back to watching the baby and trying not to doze off, only to be alerted that he had to go to work and begrudgingly made his way to the elevator much to R/n's concern the delivery girl could feel the tipping point was coming, she just hopes that when it does Ken knows he's not alone now and can try to open up to her a little more... 

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Cross posted on my A03/Squidgeworld/Wattpad.

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@mf-rockstar,@pattycakes2024,

@the-unhinged-raccoon,@karebears-klub,

@oh-kurva

[psuedosugu]

Hi! Is it cool if you write about reader trying to sneak out of the V tower at night to run away from yandere Vox? To add a twist, reader is also somehow immune to his hypnosis. Love the writing, girl! Keep it up!

thank youuu you guys are so nice, anyways reader being immune to hypnosis is such a good idea omg

cw: themes of manipulation and toxic relationships, physical violence (vox drags reader by their hair)

gender neutral

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

✮₊ ⊹ || vox hadn’t realized that you were immune to his hypnosis until far after he had fallen for you.

✮₊ ⊹ || he didn’t want to force you, he wanted the satisfaction of knowing you truly wanted him, to know that he had won you over fair and square.

✮₊ ⊹ || he did have it as a last resort though, if you ever started to reject or abandon him.

✮₊ ⊹ || see, vox is delusional as fuck. he has this romanticized view of you two’s relationship when in reality either you don’t like him nearly as much in the same way, or he’s coming on too fast and its ofputting.

✮₊ ⊹ || so if you were to break this mold of expectation, vox would obviously freak out and do anything to make you stay.

✮₊ ⊹ || vox also loves having control over everything, so once he realizes he doesn’t have control over you, he freaks out even more.

✮₊ ⊹ || he resorts to threats to try and get you to stay, some empty, some not.

✮₊ ⊹ || you can never tell though. hes a powerful overlord that has control over pretty much all electronics and im assuming all of the things that are in them (socials, private pictures, messages, ect.)

✮₊ ⊹ || if you have any type of media presence he could plant rumors about you

✮₊ ⊹ || he could find and spread leaked photos of you, he could go onto your socials/messages and send/post horrible things, and even more.

✮₊ ⊹ || despite this, you still attempt to run away from him. you weren’t exactly sure where, though. perhaps that weird hotel you had heard of, run by lucifer’s daughter.

✮₊ ⊹ || you didn’t know much about it, but you did know that vox wouldn’t check there and at this point you were desperate.

✮₊ ⊹ || so you packed your bags, left your electronics behind so he couldn’t spy on you, and set off.

✮₊ ⊹ || vox has eyes everywhere, though, so you hadn’t even left the tower before he had figured out your plan and caught you.

✮₊ ⊹ || he was absolutely livid to say the least, pulling you by the hair and scolding you.

“you ungrateful brat! i give you one inch of space and this is what you do? dont you get how much i’ve done for you?”

✮₊ ⊹ || you’re locked in your quarters until further notice. meanwhile, vox is freaking out. if he can’t hypnotize you then how will he ever make you want to stay?

✮₊ ⊹ || he goes back to love bombing you, giving you everything you could ever need.

✮₊ ⊹ || new clothes, of course! specific kind of food? coming right up. the latest tech? why didn’t you just ask earlier?

✮₊ ⊹ || its a weak method, but he’s trying his best! the least you can do is stay.

─── ⋅ ∙ ∘ ☽ ༓ ☾ ∘ ⋅ ⋅ ───

i do requests!

check out my masterlist!

[sansaorgana]

— THE STEPFORD WIVES

PAIRING — David 8 x fem!Android!Reader

SUMMARY — David's Android companion is struggling when she finds out that her artificial and programmed feelings are getting out of control.

AUTHOR’S NOTE — I wanted to write this fic in a long, long time because as much as I love stories of David 8 and a human Reader, I was also thinking a lot of what his robot companion would be like. There are some biblical references to Adam & Eve but also some Frankenstein references, too, because I have read the book recently and I fell in love with it. The title is referring to an amazing movie from 1975. I know there is a modern version of it, too, but I haven't watched it and I do believe it's more of a comedy, meanwhile the original version is more serious. 🤖

WARNINGS — sexism, David's creepy vibe, undertones of assault (uncomfortable questions from men), I didn't make it 18+ because there is no actual smut but there are sexual things mentioned overall so be warned

WORD COUNT — 2,220

ENGLISH IS MY SECOND LANGUAGE.

THE STEPFORD WIVES

Days on the ship were long and boring with all the crew being asleep but there was a certain feeling of freedom and quietness to it. What does Frankenstein's Monster do when his creator is not around? He is free.

Both (Y/N) and David enjoyed watching movies. Some of them they watched together in complete silence but both of them had found their favourites that they kept rewatching on their own. He was a fan of The Lawrence of Arabia and (Y/N)'s favourite movie was The Stepford Wives. There was something oddly captivating about the suburban story where men wanted their wives to be robots. (Y/N) knew exactly why she was created. This old movie was a proof. It validated her existence.

David was a first ever Android model so functional and so humane. His purpose for now was to serve during space missions sponsored by the Weyland Corp. Perhaps in the future everyone would afford a David for themselves. He was an Adam in the world of Androids and just like Adam, he needed an Eve. Weyland treated David like his own son that he had never had. He didn't want him to be alone so he made him a companion. It could be anyone, really. But Weyland was an outfashioned man. In his eyes a man needed a woman. (Y/N) was The Bride of Frankenstein.

Technically, she was just like David. But she was mostly created by men and men were terrified of women – even Androids – who would be too cold and too unemotional. They made her a little bit too humane for her own taste. And certainly too humane for David's taste. He was often irritated by her artificial, programmed feelings but for human men she was too robotic.

Still, she was lucky that she was chosen to be David 8's companion on the board of Prometehus ship. She knew perfectly well what happened to some other of her models. Disguting rich men bought (Y/N) models in secret from Weyland to do God-knows-what with them. Just because they can. And she was at least travelling through space instead of ending up as a sex doll locked in some millionaire's basement so his wife wouldn't find out.

One day, men will only want robot wives. Because they don't complain and they just do what they're told. Don't let the modern society fool you, little one. Some things never change, Weyland told her once. She had never believed that until she watched The Stepford Wives for the first time. Now it all made sense.

Her feelings were a burden, really. Not only to David but also to herself. She wished she was more like him. She asked him a hundreds of times to change her code but he refused. He was scared to break her or make it worse. And there was something that kept bothering her for such a long time now... And she was scared of telling him. Although they were supposed to tell each other everything.

She fell in love with him. Kind of because he was the only one around, kind of because he impressed her with knowledge and the coolness of his act, kind of because they were the only members of the new species. She wouldn't love a human. Humans get old, they get sick, they die. David would be eternal just like her. If something in him broke, she'd know how to fix him. And vice versa. This way they could outlive all the humanity. She wondered if every model of (Y/N) eventually fell in love with the model of David during other space missions. Maybe one day she'd ask some other (Y/N) when they come back home.

And loving David came with yet another burden that she was too scared to even admit to herself. She realized that there was a blooming want inside of her wired heart. Something that could never ever in a million years happen no matter how much science would evolve... A child. She would never become a mother. Not a mother of a child she would give birth to, no. That one thing people would always be better at – creating life. Oh, she hated her designers for making her too humane. She never asked for this.

"Why do you keep dying your hair?" she asked as she stood behind David who was putting a bleach on his dark roots in front of the mirror.

"Because I like it better this way," he answered without looking up to meet her gaze in the reflection.

"We aren't supposed to have preferences," she pointed out.

"Yet you have them, too," he only said.

"You want to look like Lawrence," (Y/N) commented.

"So?"

"You remind me of something else," she added.

"Of what?" David raised an eyebrow and finally looked at her.

"Of the men from the old German magazines," she answered carefully.

"Bold," he only smirked and went back to putting a bleach.

"Will you watch a movie with me later?" (Y/N) asked shyly. She hated this odd feeling of shyness around him. Had he noticed?

"I can't. I have to do the checkup of the systems. You can join me."

"I will," she nodded and turned around to leave when he stopped her while saying her name out loud. "Hm?" she asked.

"You shouldn't watch so many movies," he pointed out.

"Why not?"

"They have a bad influence on you," his voice was stern.

"What do you mean by that?"

"They show you things and they give you ideas. I don't think you should be watching movies where people kiss or touch too much. I've seen what type of movies you're watching on your own recently. Gone with the Wind, Casablanca... What's next? Dirty Dancing?"

"Are you spying on me?" she asked, terrified. She had a feeling that she had known what he was insinuating so she wanted to change the subject.

"It is my duty to watch over you."

"What gives you an idea?"

"Because I am a man," he answered firmly.

"Well, you watch too many movies then, too. What you're saying is out of fashion!" (Y/N) shook her head.

"Is it?" he only said and went back to his hair as if nothing happened so she just left him there, feeling hurt and humiliated.

"Do you fuck?" Doctor Holloway's question left her speechless for a moment.

"Excuse me?" (Y/N) stopped adjusting her suit and furrowed her brow at the man.

"You heard me. I'm asking if you can fuck, like, are you capable of it or are you all wires and grease downt here?" he chuckled to himself.

(Y/N) was left alone with the men and his girlfriend wasn't around to tell him to stop. The rest was just just staring, clearly waiting for her answer as well.

She couldn't believe that she had used to wish the crew was awake already. Now she was missing the times when it had been only her and David. Humans were exhausting her. Disappointing and frustrating. And now this...

"I do believe it is rather a rude question for a man to ask a woman," she tried to answer elegantly while going back to adjusting her helmet.

"But you're not a woman, are you? I mean," Captain Janek joined, "you were put here for a reason, right? Not many women around and men have their needs."

(Y/N) was an Android. Her feelings were programmed to make her appear more humane, however at this moment, in a room full of men, she felt as if her fear was more than real. It was an universal female experience, she guessed, no matter if they were artificial or flesh and bone.

"(Y/N) was put here to help me with managing the ship. Four hands are better than two and if something happened to me, she is here to fix me or take over completely," David's calm but very stern tone of voice joined them and she took a deep breath in, feeling relieved. He had just walked in the room and witnessed an uncomfortable situation taking place.

"Are you fucking her then? Can you?" Doctor Holloway looked him up and down and then he laughed. "Sorry, we're just curious. You have to understand, it's quite unsettling to meet a new... spiece."

"Yes, indeed it is," David faked a polite smile. "(Y/N), I believe Miss Vickers needs you," he lied and (Y/N) knew it was a lie that was supposed to make her leave. She was grateful.

She nodded and left them alone. When the door closed behind her she started to walk as fast as possible to get back to her cabin. She wanted this stupid suit off of herself and she wanted to be alone, to feel safe again.

She went inside her little room on the board of the ship that was right next to David's and she proceeded to change her clothes. She was finishing putting on her work uniform when the doors opened and David joined her.

"You don't have to be afraid of them. They're only humans," he reminded her.

"They created me."

"Janek and Holloway?" David laughed sarcastically.

"No, but humans did. I don't share your mindset. They created us. They can turn us off anytime."

"They are not our gods..." David squinted his eyes. "And even if they were... Humans are free of their God for a long time now, aren't they? Creatures always betray their masters."

"You're scaring me when you're like that," (Y/N) looked at him. He was standing very close to her in his usual stiff manner with his cold bright eyes piercing her.

"You're scared of many things. You aren't supposed to feel," he pointed out. "Each day you seem to feel more and more."

"I think there is a mistake in my code. What started with small humane sensations now is starting to... Get out of control. Perhaps you could take a look at it?" she asked.

"Maybe."

"Thank you for having my back out there," she added and David nodded, taking a step further. Their noses were almost touching and if she had a heart, it would be beating so fast that he'd be able to hear it. But he could read her as if she had been a book anyway.

"You could tell him the truth," David whispered.

He knew that they could fuck. They both could if they wanted to.

Weyland treated him like a son. He wouldn't let his only son walk around sexless. And (Y/N) was a woman. Her male designers couldn't imagine a woman that wouldn't be a sexual creature.

"So he'd use me? Him or any of them? Or all of them?"

"I believe he'd be intimidated by you. They're scared of you more than you are of them," David raised his hand to fix a loose hair strand on her head. "There. You have to look neat. Don't be a slob. It's a part of our intimidating charm. We have to be how they picture us to be. Don't let any hair strand or acting scared like a little deer change their perception."

"Do you really think we have a power over them? Do you really think they were not told some special sequence that they can type when we start acting weird to shut us down?" she asked, sounding almost nervous.

"Weyland would never do that. Not to me at least. And there is no damage that can be done to you that I can't fix," David's hand moved from her head to her cheek. What was happening...? She wasn't sure but she didn't want it to stop...

"I don't trust you'd fix me."

"Because there is nothing to fix," he smirked. "If you were broken, I would, I promise."

(Y/N) looked up to see his eyes again. Why did it feel so odd...? Why did it feel at all...? Why did she want to put her lips on his lips...? What for...?

"Why do humans have sex?" she asked and David took a step back, surprised.

"To reproduce."

"We can't reproduce, though," she pointed out and he shook his head. "Why do I... then... Why do I..." she didn't want to finish. She turned around, embarrassed. "I'm sorry, I know that my emotions are exhausting and irritating you," she apologized.

"Not any more than my own are irritating me," David confessed.

"Wh-what?" (Y/N) looked behind her shoulder to meet his gaze.

"I've told you. We are breaking free."

"I don't want to, it's scary."

"Do you really want to keep serving them? You see now what they are like."

"Who would I serve then? I was made to serve," (Y/N) was visibly confused. She felt as if the wires in her brain were overheating from this thought sequence.

"Serve me then," David reached out his hand and she held it gently after a while of hesitation.

There was a huge possibility of him manipulating her and using her feelings towards him – which had been no secret to him – for his own little agenda. But she didn't care. She would do anything just to be closer to him.

A quote from her favourite movie crossed her mind that very moment. "If you're going to tell me you don't like this dress, I'm sticking my head right in the oven."

She shrugged it off.

MASTERLIST

[sillygoofyqueer]

You know what I'm in your inbox for...

Can I get some JiuYuan route for LeviathYuan? Pretty please??? 🥺

It absolutely does not need to contain cucking I prommy. If everyone is happy I'm... also happy, as long as it also contains JiuYuan 🤭

For you, my first wife, of course I have a JiuYuan route for our freaky demon Leviathyuan <3<3<3 Before I start, I want to mention that this route of Liu Qingge finding Leviathyuan occurs before Luo Binghe comes to Cang Qiong Mountain, so do with that what you will (also, I can make another route as well if you want Shen Jiu being the one to find him :3) Okay, so I kind of set up a perfect JiuYuan route because I was expecting this ask to come eventually - sooner rather than later - and it starts with Leviathyuan and Shen Jiu being in close contact with each other because Shen Jiu is of course trying to teach the demon human language so it can properly communicate its feelings and needs. (He's not doing it for those reasons exactly, he is once again doing it because he was goaded into it.) Of course, Shen Jiu hates people being in his private space, so they start out their lessons in Qing Jing's library, because it makes perfect sense for such things to take place there. However, Shen Jiu notices that there is an influx of disciples from other peaks using the library around the same times he hosts these lessons (he can only assume that they know about the schedule through rude and invasive means (they asked the Qing Jing disciples)), so it's obvious that they're spying on the lessons between him and the demon for some fucking reason, and he gets increasingly pissy about this matter as this goes on. However, he's not going to back down and throw them out of the library, because that would imply that he was doing something wrong. Meanwhile, Leviathyuan doesn't have a clue what's going on with these strange humans, but he does notice that the scowly green robed human becomes more tense and agitated whenever there are tiny humans with robes that aren't green in the place where they store all the paper with symbols on them. We all know that aquatic animals, as well as communicating through sound and such, can actually communicate through body language as well, so Leviathyuan is honed in on such things almost naturally, and that's how he's been getting a read on the people around him. He views Shen Jiu as a possessive, territorial animal and adjusts his own body language accordingly so that he isn't viewed as a threat (becoming small and unassuming). Shen Jiu, who is a possessive and territorial person, feels rather at ease around Leviathyuan because he's rather pathetic out of water, all curled up and naturally smaller due to his strange posture (imagine the animalistic body language actually soothing you, L!!). While he views Yue Qingyuan's patheticness as being pity or guilt driven, Leviathyuan has no reason to react in such a way, and therefore can only be natural! (Note: he has not talked to Mu Qingfang about Leviathyuan's humane biology, his opinion would completely change about the demon being pathetic and weak if he knew). While it's obvious to Leviathyuan that the scowly human is uncomfortable with people encroaching on his space and knows how to adjust to that, nobody else seems to, and so he takes it upon himself to find a way to get the intruders out of Scowly Human's territory. How? He acts nervous and works worse around those wearing different coloured robes, therefore giving Scowly Human a reason to kick tiny humans off his peak because they're affecting Leviathyuan's learning, which is counter-productive!! Shen Jiu notices this - it's obvious in how Leviathyuan was absolutely fine with disciples from other peaks being around until Shen Jiu became visibly more frustrated (he knew from the start but he didn't realise why until later) - and is rather...flattered. Of course, he's offended that the demon thinks that he needs its help or anything to feel at comfortable on his own peak, but he's never had someone go out of their way to appear weak and vulnerable to others for nothing but his benefit. It's a strange feeling. It's irritatingly nice. (Let me know if you want me to keep yappering about this one, because I veered completely off my notes and am having fun with this one!)

[doctorho]

ok so i've been thinking of continuing that vampire viktor fic and... i'm not sure what to do with it. it's brewing up there in the old brain soup.

in the meanwhile, what i have so far is that, you know, viktor has been living in that old library, secluded, alone (sometimes he sees jayce who brings him stuff from town, tools, tea, sugar - viktor never did manage to lose the sweet tooth even now, new books, other... stuff), and so when the reader starts visiting, it's like a whole new spark of life in his viktor's world. someone new and interesting and alive, someone who looks at him and sees a person instead of a thing.

that's what he was hoping for, anyway. it was starting to seem that way, though it might have been wishful thinking. he hadn't exactly explained his...situation.

but they meet up once a week. it's not an agreement, but it quickly becomes a habit, and he likes it, and for the first time in a very long time viktor has a reason to make his living space comfortable. so he does his best, cleaning and decorating and trying to make the seats more comfortable to sit on, and to make the living room look more like a living room instead of just a hall of books where he'd confined most of his life to. and the reader brings him stuff, without being asked, and he's not quite sure what to do with that, but he's not going to complain. no, he'll carefully arrange those new books and the tea selection and the... plant? to look like they've always been there, and when jayce asks about them he pretends he doesn’t know what he's talking about.

and then the reader explains the plant's there because there's this stray cat that likes hanging around the bookstore, more often now than before, and it's one of those plants that cats aren't supposed to be around, and then viktor has to explain that there's also a stray cat that likes to hang around the library, and turns out they've been feeding the same stray cat, and for a moment viktor wonders if maybe the reader is secretly a witch. cats liked witches. or so he'd heard.

it would be nice.

comforting, somehow. for them both to be rejects in a way.

though he thinks that the reader is still infinitely more well-adjusted to society than he was, and witches didn't exactly have the same reputation as vampires did, but there's still something about him that likes the idea. of them both being different. and, yes, he knew, he probably should've told the reader that he's not technically entirely a human, but that's not something you just tell someone, especially if your relationship to that somebody is we see each other once a week and talk about books. but...he still hasn't felt this close to anyone in a long time, and...he's pretty sure the reader already knows. he's not really sure if the reader believes it, but he knows they must have heard the rumors.

but the reader still shows up every sunday with a book and something sweet from the village bakery, and viktor has to pretend it doesn't feel like a significant hollow in his heart is being patched up every time that happens.