#My point is the set-up wouldn't have needed to be this stupid for the story to work.

[cafeleningrad]

As much as I love the medium, I mean heck I'm writing page long Utena metas, sometimes the most hyped titles remind me why I'm also not this deeply involved. So apparently Oshi no Ko is good but a movie length set up where the protagonist's background and motivation is so mindbogglingly wild and unbelievable, clashing so hard with a story trying to be cutthroat honest about the entertainment industry. And no one in the movie length set-up acted like their age, or like any kind of realistic human being for that matter... Also made the mistake to google who Ai's baby father is and um... this character just sounds so stupid and over the top I can't believe that this story thinks it's going to tell me anything resembling a human experience.

EDIT: What even bugs me more about the set up is Ai getting murdered for the protagonist to be motivated to become an actor. Like... he could've had thousands of personal reasons to become an actor. If I would need to drink the reincarnation-coolaid, first reason being not wanting to go through the hell that is medical studies again. Or maybe he always wanted to work in show-biz but alas was born at the deepest country side. Also absolute anime mother bingo for her getting fridged for protag motivation, she dies in devotion to be a mother, and dies gracefully, and is emotionally articulate.

No but for real why does this show want me want to believe that it wants to talk about some dark "realities" of show-biz when no one of the characters behaves like any sort of a human being?! Gosh, sometimes I hate this industry and the no cricicism allowed fandom financing it.

(I mean some folks find a liking in characters from Kimetsu no Yaiba but sometimes hyped titles really are beyond my comprehension.)

[onepieceisreeeeaaalll]

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 - 𝗭𝗼𝗿𝗼 𝘅 𝗙𝗲𝗺!𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿

Hey, hey! Here's another contribution from the drafts. I meant to get this out earlier but I've been overthinking it haha. I'm still new to writing smut and I tend to write and rewrite, not to mention I've only just recently picked up writing again after years of doing it intermittently. I'll probably do what I always do and edit it for redundancies, mistakes, etc. This is almost pure NSFW but I did add a little prelude and a fluffy ending. Nothing crazy. Hope you enjoy!

CW: NSFW!! Gendered terms for reader (female); breeding kink; creampie; p in v; mention of overstimulation; use of term 'daddy'; actual talk of starting a family

~1.9K words

-----------

Zoro wants kids. You wouldn't think it, given his typical demeanor, the way he interacts with kids, the big goals he has for his life. He's always liked the idea of little children running around, though - sparring with them, arguing, playing games, and telling stories. Yeah, Zoro wants kids. A family.

So, when you laugh at a comment Sanji makes in disgust about ‘a bunch of stupid green-haired babies popping out of you,' you have to do a double-take at Zoro's response. 

“Yeah? What's so funny about that?”

You blink, a stupid smile still stuck on your face from when you were keeling over at Sanji's remarks. The laughter slowly dies, though, as you start to process his words. There’s something deadly serious about Zoro’s tone that makes your smile fade.

“Wait, what?” You ask, your attention fully turned towards the grumpy demeanor of your boyfriend sitting beside you.

You'd both been sitting in the galley of the Sunny, Zoro only following you in because you were insistent on talking to the curly-browed cook to see if he needed help setting up for lunch. Idle conversation and jokes that had been made seemed mostly tuned out by Zoro. You weren't even sure he was listening until the comment he just made.

“I said ‘what's so funny?’ Don't you wanna have my kids?” Zoro retorts. 

Sanji’s just as surprised as you are, but he lets out a small snort before taking a long drag from his cigarette. “Who would want to have your brats, mosshead?” 

“Who asked you, shit cook? Where the hell is lunch, anyway?” 

Sanji grumbles under his breath, something about Zoro being a lazy jackass, but he reluctantly pads back off to the stove where he has food cooking for the upcoming mealtime. Sanji’s reaction isn’t even on your radar, though. You’re still reeling from Zoro’s question and the tone in which he said it.

“Zoro. You're kidding.” You say, your voice even. “What, you mean - you want kids?” 

“Yeah.”

It's so blunt, treated as something so obvious that you almost feel like you’re in a different reality. You stare at each other quietly, and you're not entirely sure but you swear you can see the gears in Zoro's head turning as well. It’s a pretty big step in your relationship, all things considered. You two had barely broached the topic of marriage once or twice, and those conversations weren’t particularly enlightening about what the future holds for you. But…kids. Zoro…wants kids. That much is certain.

With an awkward laugh, you tell him casually that you’d like to talk with him about it another time in an attempt to brush off the topic entirely. It’s obvious by his reaction that he’s not happy, but he decides to drop it at the sight of your other crewmates entering the galley.

So, that’s that. For now.

-----------

Loud moans and the sound of skin slapping leave the walls of the men's quarters, almost making the sock on the door handle obsolete. At this point, the sock was really just a formality to make you feel better. Both you and Zoro knew that if you were going to go at it like you usually did, everyone on the ship would know to steer clear the moment they walked within a fifteen-foot radius. Honestly, it was a joke at this point amongst the crew. Everyone was very well aware of your active - and loud - sex life.

Strong, calloused hands hold your thighs down against your chest, pinning you down into the bed. Zoro's cock slides into you with practiced ease, pumping in a familiar but hungry rhythm. His brows are furrowed as though he's concentrating, and through your sex addled haze, you can see a bead of sweat dripping down from his forehead. 

“Fuuuuck, (y/n). Pussy feels so good for me.” He groans. 

“Zoro, yes!” You gasp. One of your hands grips against his forearm, leaving light clawmarks from your nails against his skin. The sting makes Zoro hiss in delight.

“Yeah? You like that, (y/n), you like that?! Yeah? You want it harder?!” 

Zoro picks up the pace easily, his hands gripping your thighs as he angles and thrusts himself down into you. He loves the fucked out look in your eyes, the way you coo and keen under his touch. It’s something that he’s sure he’s gotten addicted to, and has even gone as far as to tell you on multiple occasions. 

All of this is so overwhelming, agonizingly intoxicating, and the pleasure building in your body isn’t doing much to help placate the frustration. An impulsive horny thought crosses your mind, though. The inkling of an idea. A solution. It could possibly backfire, but you were at the point of desperately needing a release. He had been going at you for almost an hour now, stopping when either of you got too close. Something about ‘wanting to take his time with you.’ You can’t even remember at this point, you’ve been denied that climax so many times that all you can think about is the feeling of Zoro’s cock dragging against your walls and the need to release the aching tension in your pussy. This move was risky, but hey, it's worth a shot. 

“Harder! Fuck-…put a baby in me!” You exclaim.

This sets something in Zoro off, halting him in a way neither of you were prepared for. He pauses all movements of his hips as if trying to process what he thinks he heard you say. It finally seems to click, though. With a devilish grin, he leans forward, his face only inches from yours. His body weighs down on you, pressing you harder into the bed. Without warning, his cock slides into you only once - harder, more deliberate - as his eye flickers over your face. Your eyes are half-lidded, tears prickling just out of the corners, though the way he slams his cock into you widens them.

“Yeah? That what you want? Wanna have my kids?” Zoro asks, his breath brushing over your lips. 

“Fill me up, Zoro…get me pregnant. Please. Need you to come in me.” You sputter breathlessly, your nose just brushing against his. 

Somehow, his grin widens further, and a small chuckle leaves him. You can feel him twitch inside you and you know for certain that this calculated risk has more than paid off.

“Shit, okay.” Zoro huffs, his movements continuing with a new primal urgency. “Yeah, there you go, pretty girl. Take it. Take my cock.” 

There is something profoundly different about the way Zoro is fucking you now. The mating press he has you in seems more firm than before, his hands on your thighs squeezing with the effort of him ramming his cock into you. The head of his length brushes over your g-spot again and again, that perfect amount of pressure causing you to writhe and groan beneath him. Every sound that leaves you, every tremble of your thighs, only makes him double his efforts.

“Yeah, yeah, just like that. Keep going. Take it! Gonna put a baby in you!” 

You can hardly believe the words you’re hearing growled at you, the way they’re cut through with the grunts and moans. Zoro has always put what felt like the maximum amount of effort into sex. It’s just who he is - he doesn’t half-ass anything he cares about, and fucking is one of those things. For some reason, though, every pass of his cock feels like it’s igniting some kind of new energy in him. A desperation - a need - that’s making it hard to even think of anything beyond the approaching precipice of orgasm. Your walls clench around him as though trying to keep him there, and the sounds that are leaving the both of you are nearly animalistic as Zoro fervently picks up his pace.

“Fuuuck, I'm gonna fill you up. Fill you up with my come and make you pregnant. You're gonna - nnng - be so fucking hot all swollen with my baby. Can’t wait.” 

Your hands clench the sheets with the effort of trying to hold steady, to focus on the orgasm that’s getting closer and closer. His words are only amplifying the building heat, that coil getting tighter and tighter in your cunt. With every pathetic whine and cry that leaves you, Zoro’s hips collide into yours, his balls slapping loudly against your skin. You’re so close, have been chasing this orgasm for so long, and Zoro knows it. And now he wants to get you both there. With no effort on his part, he finally relents, moving a hand down to rest against your lower abdomen. 

“Feel my cock in you, baby? You’re taking it so deep. Just a little more.” Zoro groans, unable to hide his own rapid build-up.

He slides his thumb down from where his hand rests, rubbing up and down against your clit in a steady rhythm. It’s his finishing move, the one that always gets you there, and its effects are damn near immediate. The way he’s bullying your g-spot with his cock, railing his hips into yours, and rubbing over your clit causes the sensations to build and build until-! 

“That's good, baby. Come on my cock. Milk me and make me a daddy.” 

You clamp a hand over your mouth as you ride the high, the ecstasy crashing down again and again. As you’re sent firmly over the edge, you clench hard around his cock which elicits another loud groan from Zoro, his seed spilling into you until it seeps out of your pulsing cunt. You groan and pant together, Zoro’s hips gradually slowing down until both of you have been properly worked through your respective releases.

You barely even register his cock leaving you. The bed shifts with his weight where he collapses beside you, an arm thrown over his eyes as he tries to catch his breath. It’s silent for a while, both of you recovering from the intense influx of chemicals and the racing of your hearts. The silence draws on, though, to the point where you're starting to feel a tension settling in your stomach. A conversation needs to happen, that much is clear, and the unspoken words do little to actually let either of you fully soak in the afterglow. It surprises you when Zoro’s the first one to speak.

“You serious about wanting a baby with me?” Zoro finally says, his voice gruff and low. 

You hum as you turn on your side towards him, working hard to find the right words in response. He’s already looking at you, peeking under his thick forearm that rests on his forehead. Zoro looks wrecked, with disheveled green locks poking out in different directions and a thin layer of sweat glistening over his whole body. His chest is heaving significantly less than before, but there’s still a noticeable effort in the way his lungs extend and contract. You find your hand drawn to the broad expanse of his chest, resting gently against his warm skin.

“Yeah. I just didn’t know when to bring it up. Figured in the heat of the moment was as good a time as any.” You reply, a playful smile rising to your lips.

You watch as Zoro grins in return immediately, his eye lighting up in a way that you’ve only seen a handful of times. It’s missing it’s usual devilish charm, instead replaced with a sparkle that shines radiantly. His hand immediately grabs yours on his chest, holding it in place as if intending to keep it. There’s a pure joy growing in your chest that can’t be contained.

“Then you’d better stop taking those stupid birth control pills Chopper gives you. There’s going to be a lot more where that came from.”

[scoonsalicious]

Unwanted: Chapter 2, Unwanted - Pt. 5

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Avenger!Fem!Reader

Summary: When your FWB relationship with your best friend Bucky Barnes turns into something more, you couldn’t be happier. That is, however, until a new Avenger sets her sights on your super soldier and he inadvertently breaks your heart. You take on a mission you might not be prepared for to put some distance between the two of you and open yourself up to past traumas. Too bad the only one who can help you heal is the one person you can no longer trust.

Warnings: (For this part only; see Story Masterlist for general Warnings) Language,

Word Count: 1.8k

Previously On...: While on a mission with Steve, you two finally begin the process of healing and clearing the air between you.

A/N: This closes out Chapter 2! I have to say, I cannot wait to post Chapter 3; it's my personal favorite, and you'll see why soon enough! I hope you're all enjoying the story so far, and I'm so grateful for all the likes, comments, and reblogs-- you don't know how much they mean to me! You guys are the greatest! <3

Banner By: The absolutely amazing @mrsbuckybarnes1917

Taglist: (Please let me know if you’d like to be added!)  @blackhawkfanatic @les-sel @marcswife21 @buckybarnessimpp

When the Quinjet landed back at the Avengers’ Tower, Bucky was waiting for you in the landing bay. You'd only been gone for four days, but as soon as he saw you start down the gangplank, he ran to you, picking you up and spinning you in circles until you squealed.

"Buck! Put me down before I throw up on you!"

"Can't, Pocket," he said, though he did stop spinning you. "Missed you too much. Physically impossible to let you go."

Steve followed shortly behind you, rolling his eyes at his best friend's theatrics. "No love for your old war buddy, Barnes?"

Bucky laughed, finally putting you down to give Steve a brief, one-armed hug. "Glad you're back safe, too, Stevie," he said. "And thanks for bringing my Pocket home in one piece."

Steve pulled you close in a side hug, the earlier tension that had existed between the two of you having faded since you had a chance to clear the air. "You should be thanking her for bringing me home in one piece. The girl's deadly with plastic explosives."

You shoved him away from you playfully. "Please, Stevie," you teased. "If you just learned the first thing about computers, you could have done the whole mission on your own, you wouldn't even have needed me."

"Always gonna need you, Pocket," Steve said, ruffling your hair. "You're family." You gave each other stupid grins before he hefted his go-bag over his shoulder. "I'm gonna go grab a shower and get some sleep. I'll see you kids later." He walked off into the belly of the tower, leaving you and Bucky alone.

"Ugh, I can't wait to get out of this tac-suit," you moaned. "I always feel so filthy after a mission with explosives, you know?" Bucky gave you a curious look as he leaned down and grabbed your go-bag for you. "Such a gentleman," you smiled at him as you led the way back to your room.

You went straight into the bathroom and unzipped the top of your tac-suit, pulling it down over your arms until it was hanging from your waist. With a sigh of relief at being freed from the confines of the heavy poly-carbonate blended fabric, you washed your face and started brushing your teeth.

"So, how was the mission?" Bucky called from where he was sitting on your bed.

"Goo!" you managed to get out around a mouthful of toothpaste.

"Good, good." He paused. "So, um, it's not really my business or anything, but did something happen... between you and Steve? While you guys were gone? Like, did you guys, I dunno... sleep together?"

You nearly choked on your toothpaste and quickly spat it out in the sink before coming out of the bathroom.

"I'm sorry," you said, pointing your toothbrush at him accusingly. "Did you just ask me if I had sex with Steve Rogers?"

He wouldn't look at you. "Like I said, it's none of my business. It's just that, before you guys left, you were always kind of, I dunno, angry at him? And then you get off the plane and you're hugging and he's got his hands in your hair and you’re calling him ‘Stevie’. So, I was just wondering if something happened."

"And your brain immediately jumped to us sleeping together?" You asked him, incredulous. He looked up at you. "Seriously? We just talked. Lanced some bad blood that had been festering between us since Berlin, so we can work on being good again, be a family again." You noticed he was staring at you, mouth slightly opened. "What?" you asked him.

He motioned vaguely toward your chest, and you looked down to realize your tac-suit was still hanging half off of you and you were standing in front of him in just a purple push-up bra.

"Oh for fucks' sake, Barnes. They're just tits." You stalked over to your dresser and pulled out a t-shirt and slipped it over your head. "Better now?"

He shook his head as if a spell had been broken over him. "Uh, yeah. So, you didn't sleep with Steve," he reiterated.

"No, I did not. To begin with, he's family. There's a major ick factor. And second--, no. That's really it. The idea is super gross."

"Good," Bucky chuckled. "I love Steve like a brother, but I didn't love the idea of sharing you with him."

You started shimmying yourself out of the pants of your tac-suit and tossed it into your hamper. "Yes," you deadpanned, "because you know how much I love being compared to an object that can be owned and thus shared among friends. Not emotionally triggering for me at all."

Bucky had the decency to look chastised. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Relax, Barnes," you teased as you stepped into and pulled up a pair of shorts. "I'm just giving you shit." You ruffled his hair. "I may be emotionally scarred and have more baggage than the cargo hold on an airplane, but at least I can laugh about it."

Bucky rolled his eyes at you, but there was a smile on his lips. "You're something else, you know that?"

You grinned at him. "I'd like to think so. Makes your life so much more interesting, don't you think?"

Bucky nodded in agreement. "Definitely. You're never boring, that's for sure."

You chuckled and flopped down on your bed next to him. "So, what about you? Any juicy drama while I was gone?"

"Hmmm, let's see..." Bucky thought for a moment. "I'm pretty sure Nat and Banner were fucking in the lab the other day."

"No!" you gasped, sitting up.

"Yeah; I needed some calibration done on my arm, and since you weren't here, I went down to Bruce's lab to ask him to help, but the doors were locked. I was about to turn around and come back later, when the door opened up and Nat came rushing out, won’t acknowledge me or make eye contact, and I swear her shirt was on inside out. I get inside and Banner's actively tucking his shirt back into his pants."

You cackled at the mental image, kicking your legs in the air with delight. "Oh, that's amazing. Finally, those two crazy kids got together. I'll have to find some way to get Nat to give me all the dirty, dirty details."

"Ugh, if you do, please keep them to yourself," Bucky moaned. "Last thing I need is a mental picture of Banner's mini-Hulk."

"Hey now, I'm sure Bruce is perfectly proportionate," you teased. Then you got serious. "I gotta admit, I'm a bit jealous."

"You have a thing for Bruce?" Bucky asked, eyes wide with astonishment. "I would never have guessed he's your type."

"What?! No!" You playfully shoved him. "Same reason I'm jealous of Tony and Pepper, Wanda and Viz, Clint and Laura. You and your left hand, Sam and whoever he's dating this week. It just must be nice to be in a relationship, you know? To have someone to share that part of your life with."

Bucky cocked his eyebrow, but nodded, understanding your meaning and letting your joke about his left hand slide. "So, what's stopping you from going out and getting one for yourself, Pocket? You're smart, funny, gorgeous. You could date anyone you wanted."

You leaned back, making yourself comfortable against your pillows and heaved a heavy sigh. "Oh, you know, just the usual: Trauma, trust issues, fear of abandonment. All of that fun stuff." Bucky gave you a look, and you knew he wanted you to take the conversation seriously, for once.

"Finnne," you whined. "After I... Once I started out on my own, I was... Well, I did everything I could think of to try to reclaim sex for myself, you know? It wasn't healthy, it wasn't smart, but I was young and stupid and I didn't know what else to do. I can fuck someone without having a panic attack now, which, trust me, is a vast improvement from where I started, but making myself vulnerable for that emotional connection? To transcend something from just sex to a real relationship? I have no idea how to do that. It's like, I can open up one way, or the other; I can't do both. It's too much. If there’s even a hint of an emotional connection with a guy, I shut down. Close myself off. Like, it’s not worth the risk of getting hurt.”

"I understand," said Bucky, softly and simply, and you knew that he did. Your traumas were different, but the scars they had left on you were so similar. "I haven't been with a girl, physically, since 1944," he confided. "I don't know if I can trust anyone to be that open with, to share that part of me with. Not after everything that's been done to me. And I worry that I can't trust myself to let go, not without hurting someone."

You let out a long, low whistle. "That's gotta be some kinda celibacy record." You clapped your hand over your mouth. "You're a reborn virgin, James Buchanan Barnes!"

"Reached your quota for serious conversation, have you?" Bucky asked with a piqued eyebrow.

"You know it's not my strong suit," you conceded. "But seriously, man? 1944? Oof. Your balls must be black by now."

He gave you a look of disappointment, causing you to sigh.

"I know, I know," you said eventually. "You're trying to have a meaningful discussion with me and I'm being an immature ass, again. I'm sorry."

Bucky wrapped his arms around you and rested his chin on your shoulder. "You're not an ass, Pocket. You're just... I wish you could talk to me without feeling like you have to fall back onto your defense mechanisms, that's all. I want you to feel safe with me."

You turned your head to look at him. "Buck, I feel safer with you than anyone else on this entire fucking planet. You're my best friend and you know all of my deep, dark secrets. You know me better than anyone, but I’ve spent a lifetime building those defenses; they aren't all just going to fall down in a day, so that means an inappropriate joke or two is going to slip through every now and then.”

Bucky smiled at you and squeezed you a bit tighter. "I know, Pocket. And I adore you for it. But if you ever want to talk about anything serious, know that I'm here for you."

"I know," you said, leaning into him. "And thank you, for being so patient and understanding with me. I get that I can be... a lot."

"No, you're just enough," he said. "Never think otherwise."

<- Previous Part / Next Chapter ->

[circeyoru]

hello, damn I fell in love with your yandere Alastor, it's too much jdkdkfkkd it's so sweet it kills me, I wanted to ask you how Alastor would react and his darling gave him his soul. I told myself I was going to stop reading so many Alastor fanfics but I can't with yours, they are very addictive.

To those that have no idea what this is talking about, check out {Unwanted Soul}

Thank you for your read and interest!! (can't believe someone says my stories are addictive, feel like I committed a crime)

OKay, back to business. Interesting ask. We never explored Alastor's side of the soul ownership huh. (since it's different from canon)

Basically, what's Alastor's response and reaction to Reader breaking the contract and returning Alastor's soul to him to own.

Alastor would see this as you not wanting him around. Full stop. Whatever your reason and currently established relationship (like how close you two are). He'd have a full breakdown and his confidence all gone. He gave you everything and treated you like an entity beyond. What did he do wrong? Tell him and he'll fix it!

By now, like after part 3. You have already mutually returned his feelings, but just not as strong as Alastor's. At least you're more lenient and accepting of his love and affections to you. He doesn't understand that you want him to hold his soul again without abandoning him. He knows you fear his power and Overlord status that can bring you to ruin, so giving you his soul was a way to show you he didn't care about these things that anchored his pride when compared to being by your side. To him, you accepting his soul was the same as you letting him stay by your side and accepting his twisted love for you. If you give back his soul to him, you're saying you don't want him and his presence around you.

He's not stupid, while he builds your reliance on him, he knows you could just as easily remove him from your afterlife. As such as he hates to admit it, you didn't need him as much as he needed you. (now isn't that odd?)

That's his feelings, now for his reaction and response.

While he wouldn't harm you, he'll frighten you to use the ownership power over him. Showing you that if you set him free from your hold, he can and will wreak havoc. Aren't you regretting the very thought of suggesting that? It's laughable, you want to free him. He'll show you, even when his powers are limited, he causes destruction to demons around him, think about what would happen if he's at full power.

Both of you are aware of this manipulation and you knew Alastor was using it to his advantage. Odd that the one that owns his soul is so powerless against his words and persuasions.

Oh, those don't work? Well. That's too bad. The hard way it is.

Alastor will lock you up somewhere. Keep you away from any paper-related objects. You're powerful, but you can't compete with him in combat. "You're sloppy, darling." He'd laugh when you tried to immobilize him with your summoned angelic weapons. They're deadly, but nothing if they don't land on their target. He'll push you into a corner so that you have to defend yourself till the point of exhaustion (like that time with Adam). Then he'll catch your tired and defenceless self in his arms lovingly. Once you're in your slumber mode, you're all his.

Charlie and the others are trying to find you? Even Lucifer? Well, he has his shadows and he will hide you from them. He's stronger now, before he played nice because you were there, but you're out of commission at the moment so he can let loose a bit. He would have pointed the finger at Charlie or even Lucifer and the others for your silly actions, that is, if you weren't always in your room with your entertainment. It took him years to get close to you, how can they do the same in such little time and you weren't caring for them as you did him. Even during you activities with the group, you weren't as involved and chose to stick close to him.

He'll nurse you back to health, but not fully that you can run away, he'll keep you at that borderline between energetic and exhausted. He gives you the same life you've lived with him during those 7 years, eveything's the same. Like the world only has you two in it. Back to the good old days.

Just don't worry about the times he's gone. He needs to ward off some pests around you. You don't care for them, yes? Alastor knows and understands. He'll take care of it as usual. You can ignore it all with your anime and comics, or take a nice long sleep to pass the time.

You let Alastor go? He's not letting you. Not on his soul.

Note: Hope this answers your question. I actually thought you were asking what if Reader gives Alastor their soul. Idk how I got that

Welcome other asks about my stories too!

Other Works: MASTERLIST

[jeankluv]

Birdie - Satoru Gojo | Chapter 08

Words: 4,3k

Summary: You didn’t like him, at all. But due to your bad luck you would have to be forced to work with him and different circumstances end up leading you to the fact that perhaps the word dislike is not the one you use to describe him.

ac: _3aem

Tags: modern au, college au, fem!reader, academic rivals, he fell first, fluff, old money Gojo Satoru, abusive parents, slight slow burn, Satoru is a softy, secondary couple (Geto Suguru x oc), a bit of angst, no use of y/n, hurt/comfort, eventual smut, Gojo plays basketball, Gojo needs a hug

Notes: I’m beginning my studying time this upcoming weeks so expect chapters only on weekends. Remember you can send me requests for small stories with any jjk, op or aot characters, smut or fluff, except smut for minors like Megumi, Yuji, Nobara, etc.. Anyways thank you and have a great week 🤍

Ao3 link | wattpad link

Materialist | previous chapter | next chapter

Fic playlist

You had arrived from work 20 minutes ago to be exact, in that time you had taken a shower and now you were making a coffee to go straight to studying. Tomorrow you had the exam and you had barely had any free time to study during the week. They had given you more work and the teamwork with Satoru had grown. Satoru. It was strange for you to call him by his name, it was even stranger to call him in class, so most of the time you tried not to do it, but Satoru, as clever as he was, had noticed it and had taken it as a new way to mess with you, in a good way of course.

You walked in silence to your room — Kyoko was studying for another of her subjects and her parents had gone to sleep a while ago. Making as little noise as possible you sat down at your desk and opened the book to the exercise page. Putting aside the hot cup of coffee, you sat up straight, ready to spend practically the entire night, making problems over and over again.

You knew you were going to pass the exam, thanks to Satoru's explanations you knew you would get it but you still wanted to pass it. It wasn't because you didn't want to go on that date with him, to tell the truth, right now you wouldn't mind doing it.

While you were thinking that, a smile appeared on your face, which you immediately shook off. If you liked Satoru better and if Kyoko had been right, your “hatred” towards him had always been stupid.

Taking your headphones and your mobile phone, you put on your study playlist on Spotify and began working through each of the problems, with the music filling your ears.

Close to 2 a.m., you decided to get up from the seat where you had been sitting for over two hours and walk around your room to stretch and clear your mind. Your hands ached from gripping the pen so tightly, and your bed was calling out to you to go to sleep.

Your phone, which was on the table, lit up, indicating that a new notification had arrived. Weird. It was 2 a.m.—who could it be?

You picked it up and looked at the notification.

Pain in the ass

Birdie!!

Don't stay up too late and rest.

You'll do great tomorrow 💪

Feeling a mix of surprise and warmth flood through you, you read Satoru's message again, your heart fluttering at his unexpected gesture. Despite the late hour, his words brought a sense of comfort and encouragement that you hadn't realized you needed.

With a soft smile playing on your lips, you typed out a quick reply to him.

You to Pain in the ass

Thanks, Satoru.

Your message means a lot.

I'll make sure to get some rest, don’t worry.

Goodnight 💫

Sending the message, you set your phone back down on the table, you returned to your studies. But without being able to shake the feeling of warmth that lingered within you.

You heard your name being called in the distance, over and over again. It was Kyoko's voice. With your eyelashes still stuck together, you opened your eyes. In the end, you had fallen asleep while studying. At what point? You didn't know exactly.

“What are you doing here?” Kyoko asked, her eyes wide open.

“What…?”

“Your exam is in 45 minutes!”

You had fallen asleep. Damn, damn, damn. How was that possible? You got up from the chair and grabbed your phone. It hadn't rung.

“Kyoko…” You whispered, turning to look at her, feeling your chest tightening. “In 45 minutes, it's impossible for me to make it to class.” You had to take several transfers to get to the university, and usually, it took you more than an hour. “Shit... if I don't show up, I'll fail, and if I fail, they'll take away my scholarship, if they take away my scholarship, then I'll have to give up everything.” You were about to have a panic attack.

“Hey!” she grabbed your face to make you look at her. “If someone can drive you, then you'll make it on time.”

You nodded, it was true. If someone drove you, you would be there in 15 minutes. But who? Who could drive you?

And then your eyes widened as you realized there was someone. You grabbed the phone again and searched for his name among your contacts, dialing and praying that he would pick up.

“Hello!” The familiar voice came from the other end of the line. “It's rare for you to call me at…”

“Satoru!” You cried. “I fell asleep and I won't make it. Could you come pick me up by car?”

“I'll be there in less than 10 minutes, birdie.” And with that, the call ended.

You looked at Kyoko and sighed. “He said he'll be here in 10 minutes.” She looked at you in relief.

“Good, now start getting ready. You are still on your pajamas, I will prepare something for you to eat.” She started to walk away.

“Kyoko.” You called her, Kyoko looked at you from the door frame. “There is no need, you know I get extremely anxious with exams. I will eat something after the exam. Don’t worry.” She nodded and closed the door behind her.

You walked to your closet and looked for something to wear, needing to get ready quickly. You couldn't be late, nor could you keep Satoru waiting. While looking in the mirror, your phone started ringing. Turning on your heel, you approached it and picked up the phone.

“I'm outside.” Satoru's voice came through on the other end of the line.

“Alright, I'm coming out right now.” You said and hung up.

You grabbed your backpack and the notes from the table and hurried through the house. You waved goodbye to Kyoko and stepped outside, finding Satoru's car parked in front. With light steps, you approached the car and naturally got inside.

“I can't thank you enough.” You said as you settled into the seat.

“Birdie, you don't have to thank me for anything.” He said, shrugging and smiling at you. "Ready to go now?” You nodded and finished buckling your seatbelt.

Satoru made sure you had your seatbelt on and started the car. Leaving behind the neighborhood where you lived, Satoru entered the main road towards the university. You had never driven to university so the road was totally new for you.

You focused your eyes on the new view, seeing the high skyline of Tokyo and the different places ahead of you. You let a small sigh out of your lips.

While the car was still moving across the road, you subtly directed your gaze towards Satoru. You hadn't realized until now, but his blue eyes were covered by round sunglasses. As you looked at his profile you couldn't shake the growing feeling that he was in your stomach.

God Satoru Gojo is fucking handsome. You thought to yourself.

Shaking those thoughts away, you looked for your notes and opened them to review a little before the exam. Your leg began to move unconsciously, it was something that happened to you since you were little, when you were nervous.

A hand, that wasn’t yours, stopped the movement of your leg. This simple gesture caused a sensation that went straight through your whole body.

“Birdie.” Satoru’s voice echoed in the once silent car. “You will do it great…” His hand was still on your knee. And for some reason, it didn’t feel wrong or uncomfortable.

“I just…” You swallowed, trying to formulate a sentence. “I just want to make sure.”

Satoru nodded, still looking at the road before him and still having his hand on your leg. You wanted to tell him to move it. It was a gesture that felt way too intimate, way too comforting. You liked way too much.

You coughed and moved your leg, trying to make him move away his hand. He must have caught the gesture because he moved his hand away from your leg and grabbed the steering wheel again.

A feeling of emptiness and remorse settled in your chest. What an idiot you were.

The landscape began to become more familiar, as you were approaching the university. Luckily you were going to arrive in time for the exam, there were still 10 minutes left before it started. You heard Satoru murmur under his breath and felt the car slow down.

You turned to look at him to see what was happening. “What happened?”

“There is always a traffic jam at the entrance.” He explained to you. You paled for a moment to which Satoru noticing, tried to calm you down. “Birdie, there's time, we'll get there. I’ll make sure you get there.” That calmed your heart fluttering with nervousness.

The car moved slowly and the minutes started to pass, you were starting to enter the campus when the clock indicated that there were 5 minutes left for the start of the exam. You felt the car stopping right in front of your faculty.

“Go.” Satoru pointed at you with the head, you looked at him confused. “C’mon birdie, just go to the exam.”

“What about you?”

“I will find a place to park and go.” You were about to speak when Satoru spoke once again. “It’s okay, I will arrive on time and if I don’t then I will cry a little and the professor will let me in. I mean, look at this face.”

You huffed and unbuckled the car seat belt. “You better get there, because I don't want to beat you if you don't take the exam.” Satoru smiled and leaned on the steering wheel, lowering his glasses a little.

“Don't worry princess, that won't happen.”

Your cheeks turned crimson red upon hearing the new name he had given you. “Don't even think about calling me that again Gojo!” You threatened him, knowing that calling him by his last name would upset him.

“Sorry birdie, now go!” You nodded and turned around to start rushing toward the class.

Your legs moved quickly through the hallways, each step echoing through the halls of the university building. With every step, you felt the weight of your anxiety pressing down on you, urging you to move faster. Had your classroom always been this far away? It seemed like an eternity.

Finally, you reached the door to your classroom and skidded to a stop, leaning against the wall to catch the breath that had escaped your lungs. Your heart was pounding in your chest, the adrenaline from the sprint was still running through your veins, it had been a long time since you last practiced any type of exercise, so your body was no longer used to it. You took a moment to compose yourself, inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly as you tried to calm your racing pulse.

Now recovered, you entered the classroom and scanned the faces of your classmates. Most were already seated, their faces a mix of nervous anticipation and focused determination. Some, were deep in last-minute discussions, whispering fervently as they exchanged notes and assurances.

Taking your usual seat, you sank into the chair and let out a long sigh, the tension in your body slowly dissipating. But as you looked around the room, a knot of worry formed in your stomach. Satoru was nowhere to be seen. Was he still looking for a place to park?

Professor Tanaka's voice cut through the murmurs of the room, signaling the start of the exam. You looked nervously at the empty seat next to you, a sinking feeling settling in the pit of your stomach. If Satoru didn't arrive on time, it would be your fault. It had been you who had fallen asleep, who had made him come look for you. And now, he could lose the exam because of you. Panic gnawed at the edges of your mind as you waited, hoping against hope that he would arrive before it was too late.

You bowed your head, silently pleading for Satoru Gojo to appear at that exact moment. The minutes ticked by agonizingly slow, each second feeling like an eternity as you anxiously awaited his arrival.

Then, just as your hope was beginning to wane, the door swung open and there he was, Satoru Gojo, striding into the classroom with his trademark confidence.

“Gojo, you're late.” Teacher Tanaka's voice rang out, drawing your attention back to it.

Relief flooded through you as you looked up to see him standing there.

He is here.

“Sorry, sorry.” He chuckled, flashing a cocky smile as he made his excuse. “I couldn't find a place to park, but here I am.”

“Okay, now go and sit.” Professor Tanaka instructed, pointing towards his seat.

“Thank you.” Satoru replied with a grateful nod, walking confidently towards his desk, located right next to yours.

Calmly, Satoru settled down next to you and turned his head to look at you. At that moment, your eyes met and a sudden blush invaded you. Satoru gave you a warm, mischievous smile, accompanied by a playful wink that made you blush again, it was the second time in the day.

With determination, you decided to put any distractions related to Satoru Gojo out of your mind and focused on the exam that Professor Tanaka had just handed out. With a sigh, you gripped the pen firmly and began to read the questions carefully. To your surprise, from the first moment you felt comfortable and confident, understanding each statement clearly.

A satisfied smile spread across your face as you realized that this time was different; Your hours of studying with Satoru had paid off and now you felt ready to face the challenge. With each answer you wrote, your self-confidence grew, and that feeling of accomplishment propelled you to keep going.

Concentrated and focused on your skills, you solved each problem with precision and efficiency.

After 45 minutes, you felt Satoru get up from his seat, drawing curious looks from most of your classmates. Satoru, with his characteristic playful smile, approached the teacher and handed him the exam. He didn't surprise you since he was always the first to finish the exams.

As Satoru walked towards the professor, some murmurs of surprise and admiration were heard around him. He watched as he confidently handed in his exam, exchanging a few brief words with the professor before returning to his seat.

Despite his quickness, you noticed that Satoru didn't seem worried about the outcome. He always had that carefree self-assurance that made him stand out. Meanwhile, you continued working on the exam calmly and focused, solving each question at your own pace.

Satoru's attitude was simply part of his energetic and self-confident personality. No matter the situation, he always seemed to be one step ahead. But this time I would get over it, yes you would.

You looked at your completed exam and with a smile you stood up from your seat. You walked past Satoru and gave him a subtle glance while wrinkling your nose and flashing your proud smile. You walked up to Professor Tanaka's table and handed her your test.

Turning on your heel you returned to your seat, watching as Satoru kept his gaze fixed on you while he smiled at you with a hand on his chin. You sat down in your seat and directed your gaze towards Satoru, he raised his thumb at him, wondering if he had done well for you, to which you nodded happily.

You turned your head and started looking out the window, while you waited for the exam to end. The minutes passed slowly, as you watched the students go from one side to the other across the campus. You felt like a weight had been lifted off your shoulders and thanks in part to the help of the person you would have least imagined. Satoru Gojo.

It had been over a month since you were paired up for the project, and in that time, you had become closer, as much as it was hard for you to admit. Over the past two weeks, you found that your attitude towards him, as well as your feelings, changed.

With each passing day, your interactions with him became more meaningful and you couldn't help but notice the subtle changes in your emotions. What started as a group project duo you hated and loathed was turning into something deeper, something that stirred your heart in unexpected ways. And something that scared you greatly with every movement you made.

The class was filled with noise and agitated movements of your classmates — the exam was over. You sighed letting out the air of tension and stood up from your seat. Only to run into Satoru looking at you carefully with those blue eyes again. Did he ever look away from you?

“How was birdie?” He smiled at you.

You smiled widely, showing your teeth. “Perfect. I’m going to win our bet.” You challenged him.

“Oh.” He formed an 'o' with his lips. “I can't wait to see that.” A smile appeared on his lips.

“Satoruuuuu.” A voice approached both of you, it was one of your classmates, you saw them a couple of time but never interacted with them.

“Hey.” Satoru smiled with a flirtatious smile drawn on his face, you rolled your eyes at the gesture.

“Satoru, I was wondering.” They looked around and also looked at you. And you swore the gaze wasn’t a nice one. “I’m really bad at this subject and well you’re the best.” To which Satoru nodded with a smile. “I was wondering if you could help me study, we could meet up after classes and you could teach me.” They started touching Satoru’s arm which made an unpleasant sensation run through your body.

Satoru took their hand and placed it far away from him. “Sorry but I don't give private classes.” You looked at him confused, that was clearly a lie. “Now, we will be leaving. Birdie, let’s go?” You looked at him still confused with the lie he just told.

As both of you began to walk away, you overheard the friends of your classmate approaching them.

“I thought she couldn't stand him.” One of them remarked.

“Yeah, and apparently he's been giving her private classes.” Another added.

“Yeah, you know what type of private classes, right?” One of them chuckled. “Her knees must be all red.” The group erupted into laughter.

You rolled your eyes at the disgusting rumors, but over the years, you had learned to ignore such talk behind your back.

Suddenly, Satoru's voice cut through the air. He was no longer beside you. When did he move? “Repeat that if you dare.” He said. “Did you really think I wouldn't hear you with a voice so piercing it echoes throughout the classroom?” A shiver ran down your spine. You had never seen Satoru angry or heard him speak in such a tone. And judging by the stares directed at him, neither had anyone else.

“I…” The person who made the comment stuttered, trembling with fear at the sight of Satoru Gojo's imposing figure and fierce glare.

“What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?” Satoru taunted.

“Satoru.” The one who had approached him earlier to ask for a private class stepped forward. “My friend didn't mean it that way.”

“Is that so?” Satoru said snorting. “Then what did they mean?”

“Satoru.” Your classmate insisted, looking somewhat uncomfortable under Satoru's piercing gaze. “They were just joking around, you know how it is.”

Satoru's expression remained stern, his eyes fixed on the group. “Joking around about what, exactly?” He demanded, his voice laced with a simmering anger.

The group exchanged nervous glances, realizing they were caught in an uncomfortable situation. “We... we didn't mean anything by it.” One of them mumbled.

“And what exactly did you mean, then?” He pressed, his voice low and threatening.

One of the friends stammered, struggling to find words under Satoru's intense scrutiny. “We... we were just messing around, you know?” They muttered weakly.

Satoru's eyes narrowed, his patience becoming thinner with each word that was coming out of their mouths. “Messing around at whose expense?” He snapped, his voice rising with anger.

The group flinched. “We... we didn't mean to offend anyone.” Another one muttered.

You almost laughed out loud hearing them.

Satoru took a step forward, his presence dominating the space between them. “Words have consequences.” He growled. “Think before you speak, or face the consequences.”

With that, Satoru turned on his heel and walked away, leaving the group stunned into silence. As he approached you, you could see his face relaxing and his anger slowly dissipating.

“Sorry about that.” He said, his tone softer now. “You are okay?”

You nodded, not giving much importance to the words of people you didn’t know.

Together, you continued on your way, leaving behind the echoes of the confrontation. As you walked, you couldn't help but give small gazes at Satoru, you wouldn’t have thought Satoru would have stepped out just for you but he did.

Arriving at the cafeteria, you sat one in front of the other and with a cup on each hand.

“Thank you.” You whispered. “For you know, stepping in. There was no need…”

“What do you mean there was no need?” He left his cup on the table. “They were bad mouthing you, trying to create rumors that were no true.”

“People like to talk.” You shrugged casually. “At the end of the day the important thing is what the people who matter to you think about you. Not those with whom you have never exchanged a word and surely never will. They talk because their lives are so extremely boring that to satisfy that void they have, they have to fill it with lies and bad words about others.” You picked up your cup and calmly sipped it again.

You didn't care if people talked behind your back, yes sometimes those words like knives could stab you hard. But at the end of the day those people were insignificant to you, the people you cared about weren't those people so if they wanted to think that you had been sucking Satoru Gojo's cock, then they should. With that story created in their heads, you knew that envy was eating away at them.

“No.” You observed as Satoru's fists tightened on the table, his expression a blend of frustration and indignation. “It doesn't matter if you'll never interact with those people, or if they mean nothing to you. No one deserves to be spoken about in the way they did there.” He declared, his voice carrying a hint of intensity. “You don't deserve that, birdie. You don't deserve anyone speaking ill of you. Because you are truly wonderful and only deserve good and praising words.”

His words resonated deeply, igniting a warmth in your chest as if a comforting flame had been kindled. It was remarkable how Satoru possessed the ability to evoke such a profound sense of reassurance with just a few simple words.

As you met his earnest gaze, you felt your cheeks warmer.

“You’re an idiot.” You said hiding your face in the coffee cup.

Satoru looked at you offended. "What have I done?" He cried.

You were about to reply when your phone started to sound on your bag. “Hi.” You said.

The happy voice of Haibara sounded on the other side of the phone singing your name. “I was calling you to tell you that tomorrow we will be closing the store. So you don’t have to come, you are free!”

“Oh!” You gasped in surprise. “That’s great! But nothing happened right?”

“Nop.” He popped out the ‘p’. “Just enjoy your weekend. Now I need to leave! Bye!” And with that he hanged out.

You looked at you phone for an instant. “What happened?” Satoru spoke.

“Nothing.” You put your phone aside. “Haibara called me, he wanted to tell me that tomorrow I would be free.”

“Great.” He smiled. “The basketball team is having a party at the disco. Wanna come?” He cockily looked at you.

“Are you inviting me out, Satoru Gojo?” You raised an eyebrow. “The results for the exam aren’t out yet.” You challenged him.

“Oh princess if I win the bet I won’t be taking you out to an ugly club.” There it was again that new nickname that turned yourself on.

“Gojo.” You replied with a mocking tone. “Don't even think about calling me that.”

“Kyoko is coming.” He said ignoring your words.

“How do you know that?”

“Suguru is my best friend and Kyoko is his girlfriend, duh.” He said sticking his tongue out.

“I will think about it.”

“Pretty please.” He said pouting.

“I didn’t know the great Satoru Gojo could pout like a puppy.” You mocked.

“Oh for you I would that and much more.”

The conversation was taking an unexpected turn, entering a territory that felt strangely flirtatious. Were you inadvertently sending signals, or was Satoru intentionally leading the interaction in that direction?

You shook your head, dismissing the thought as absurd. No, that couldn't be it. Surely, it was just a result of the comfortable rapport you shared as friends, nothing more. And Satoru, well, he was just being his usual charismatic self, right?

But despite your attempts to rationalize it, a nagging doubt lingered in the back of your mind. Could there be something more to these exchanges? Or were you simply overthinking things?

You couldn't deny it, you felt attracted to his presence and appreciated the moments you spent together. And as your connection had deepened, so had your feelings that blossomed within you.

You still didn't want to admit that something had changed in you regarding Satoru Gojo. But you knew it was there, your feelings for him were undeniable and showed no signs of fading.

You brushed off those thoughts, chalking it up to imagination. After all, you and Satoru were just friends, nothing more, nothing less. At least, that's what you kept telling yourself.

Note: a more transitory chapter than other thing, but the real shit is about to start in the next chapter.

—if you want to be tagged comment below

🏷️: @lavender-hvze, @crybabytoru, @sanriosatoru, @norvacaine, @sadmonke, @faetoraa , @hexipessimistic, @gojoful , @kitzusune, @sh0jun , @manyno , @ropickle , @lolsasuke , @milk3evee

[rassicas]

You at some point said that you wanted to change some of the backstory of Verna regarding his relations with Grizzco, to better reflect his position and purpose at the company with the new rotm and potential Splat3 dlc lore. Now that we have everything, have there been some finalized thoughts on the subject?

currently with my OCs I'm a bit stuck. I have this whole huge plot I've been trying to work out with how Cress and Verna reunite and get into some... Wacky Misadventures (they are going to have a bad time. together), and come out of it more understanding of each other....all this takes place prior to the start of Splatoon 3, and Grizzco is involved in that story so i cant really work out what happens to Verna during Splatoon 3 until all that is worked out...augh.

oh god i accidentally wrote too much about how grizzco works in my splatoon OCs setting. under the cut

How I've basically worked it out in my setting is that it's as if Mr. Grizz doesn't even exist. Well, he does, but...you can NOT convince me this literal mammalian bear is micromanaging an egg collection operation a few hours away from an underground cavern, all while building a spaceship, repairing alterna, and doing god knows what with fuzzy ooze? his voice from the radio is pre-recorded. He's just in the background trying to get his golden eggs for his stupid mammal revival plan. Grizz is pretty paws-off with the actual operations of the company. In order for Grizzco to operate like an actual company in the Inkling world, Mr. Grizz needs connections within the Inkling world. He needed to hire people, and lots. contractors to pilot the boats. the helicopters. people to repair them when there's issues. contractors to set up the grizzco building. people to maintain it. Supplying and maintaining weapons. Who put the statue there? Remember when grizzco would actually close its gates? someone had to be doing that. Advertisers? Sales of eggs? Do you really think Mr. "Does your species even have bones" Grizz is doing all that? No. So how would Grizz get these connections? I think ORCA could've helped out in some way with scouting some people online or with Grizz's business knowledge being an all-knowing AI. ROTM sure does a great job explaining or even implying anything about the relationship between those two. /s. But ORCA still is just a virtual entity, and you'd need a physical representative for some things, right? Anyway this is where the Judds come in. I think the idea that Lil' Judd being Grizz's initial way into the Inkling world...sucks. That's probably what the Splatoon team is going for and I do not care, the timeline on that does not make sense. Grizzco was introduced to us, the players, in April 2017. At this point the egg baskets are all installed, and there are Inklings in-universe partaking in egg collection....Lil Judd was born only a few months prior. I'm sure it would've taken a while for grizz to get everything together to establish this company. To me it makes more sense for Judd to have involvement. He's the only other mammal, and the one with all the power. (not only do i think the implied canon timeline sucks, in my OCs canon, i've had it established that grizzco has existed in some form several years before s1 so...) I wouldn't think Judd would know about the mammal revival plan. but like, Judd lets Grizz set up because he's looking out for his fellow mammal, and saw the kind of energy benefits this would have….also more salmon meat, yum. Judd canonically has numerous connections in the Inkling world, even to world leaders. He could use these connections to allow for Grizzco to set up business and give that permission to operate in the restricted areas where Salmonids live. Beyond this I have a hard time imagining Judd getting too heavily involved. Like once some other people are hired to do some more micromanaging of the company Judd kinda dips. Lil judd doesn't get involved until some years later and takes more direct interest in the company. With permissions granted and Grizzco operating as a defense against the Salmonid army while also providing power eggs, then grizz could do whatever he wanted so as long as an amount of money and eggs went into the Inkling world. And eggs are the primary source of income for Grizzco, so this part is very important. I think very early on Grizz would've had to personally deal with the sales of eggs to get the money to get the company started...maybe selling to octarians even? But for some real business dealings in inkopolis, youre gonna need some representatives in-person. anyways remember when this post was about my OCs. So I'm making a Grizzco board of directors, and they're the ones who actually maintain the company and the things in it while Grizz is busy in Alterna. Even the directors don't really know about Grizz's mammal revival plan, they just supply him with golden eggs and turn a profit for the company, by whatever means necessary.

After spending quite some time at Grizzco and becoming more trusted as an employee, Verna gets to know some of these directors. Some become his allies, and some are a bit more unsavory... He starts spending more time with some of them especially after his salmonid encounter, and they'll have a role in Cress and Verna's story. I've had some of these guys bouncing around in my head for years. some of them have art that im sitting on. i wish i could share more but I am Not done cooking </3 so to answer your ask in short. yes I have finalized much of the things with how i have grizzco functions in my OC's setting, and im basically ignoring the existence of grizz himself, in the same way that grizzco as a company runs completely normally even after grizz basically dies in ROTM. but at the moment, i do not have all the details finalized with other people at the company and how verna interacts with them

[seangelfish]

Our favourite items

Ritsu Sakuma x Reader ♡ Tags: Fluff, established relationship, casual romance, really wholesome, INTRO IS REALLY LONG, SORRY!, she/her pronouns ♡ Word count: 2,215 ♡ Synopsis: Inspired by the Meowsketeers scout story in which this card is featured in. I've been trying to read the scout stories since I never read them, and I thought that this one would be cute to add the reader in! Please note that this fic does not stay true to the story, but it has taken bits from it. A/N: There needs to be more Ritsu x reader fics.

Drenched in sweat, Ritsu slowly woke up from his nap in the ES gardens. His mind was still filled with thoughts of what happened the other day when Tsukasa confronted and withdrew some of the new members of Knights.

Ritsu pitied them, but what was said was the mere truth. That's the way Knights operated, it was never a unit to have fun with as an idol. But seeing those tearful faces did take a toll on him.

At that moment, Ritsu felt something heavy weighing on him. It wasn't what happened that day, but something physical that he could feel near his stomach.

'Who is it? Am I being attacked? It's not those pranks Tsukipi set up, right?' he thought tiredly. Unless it's (Y/N)...? No... she said she'd be busy today–

Ritsu was getting annoyed. "Hold on. You don't disturb people when they're sleeping!" he groaned. "Now I'm in a bad mood... Don't mess with me– Huh?"

Eyes wide open, Ritsu found that on his stomach was a black cat.

"Ugh, so it was this guy!" he fumed. "Get off! You're heavy and it's too hot...!"

Yet the cat wouldn't budge. It stayed lying on Ritsu's stomach as if he were a pillow. Ritsu wasn't having any of it though, no one dares disturb his sleep even if they were a cat! Getting angrier by the second, he decided to fight it off him.

"Hey! Ow! Don't dig your claws in me!"

"That Suo, he's late!" exclaimed Leo. "What a troublesome guy! I came early today since he gets angry at me when I come late."

"Unbelievable! He's wasting my precious time!" Izumi chided. "This is so annoying. Did your wanderlust infect Kasa-kun?"

Leo laughed. "Eh? What, what? Wahaha, that's funny, Sena! I suppose it's fate that Knights' leader is to be cursed by wanderlust!"

Frantic footsteps could be heard as Tsukasa barged into the studio panting. He apologised, mentioning to his seniors that he got involved in a little incident with Ritsu. That was when Ritsu entered the room, still arguing with the black cat he encountered outside.

"I told you to let go of me, didn't I?! Why can't you understand me, you stupid cat?!" Ritsu growled. "Do my clothes smell like catnip or something...?"

"A stray cat got attached to Ritsu-senpai and it won't let go of him," stated Tsukasa.

"Unbelievable. This was why you were late?" said Izumi. "There's got to be some way to pull it off. Just grab it by the neck like how a parent cat carries a kitchen– Owah! This guy tried to scratch me! If you were human, I'd have you pay compensation!"

Arashi suggested that they all calm down and get started on the retrospective – the reason why they were holding a meeting in the first place. If they ignore the cat, perhaps it would let Ritsu go!

But as Arashi started playing the video of their live, Leo noticed something. In the video, Leo pointed out the front row seats where beside a fan's feet, a black cat was seen.

"This guy, it saw Ritsu at Knights' live and came to meet him!" said Leo excitedly.

"Hah...? No way! That sounds so unrealistic," Ritsu replied before turning to the cat which started showing him affection. "Owah, what? Don't start licking my cheek!"

"Given its reaction, it probably did come to meet Knights," said Tsukasa. "Isn't it just the cutest? It probably fell in love with Ritsu-senpai's brave figure at the live!"

"What?! Don't say things so nonchalantly!"

But the other members of Knights had agreed to let the cat do what it wanted despite Ritsu's comments on how much of a disaster this was.

The cat didn't let go of him even during the retrospective. It lay sound asleep on Ritsu's lap. Knights had come up with a name for the cat too, 'd'Artagnyan', their 'newest knight that was drawn in by Knights.'

Ritsu didn't like this idea at all. He didn't see any resemblance between him and the cat that his fellow members were constantly pointing out too. Though, he didn't want to just kick it out. He wanted it to leave on its own volition.

"It clings to you like how you cling onto (Y/N)," stated Arashi causing Ritsu to erupt into a steam of embarrassment. "Maybe it finds your scent comforting~? If so, it might be satisfied with something that has Ritsu-chan's scent on it..."

"Something with my scent?" Ritsu repeated. "Ah, I just came to an unpleasant conclusion..."

He was talking about his favourite blanket – the only thing in this studio that had his scent on it. But there was no way that Ritsu wanted to give this unlucky cat his favourite blanket!

"Ah, wait! Don't suddenly pounce for my blanket, you idiot cat!" huffed Ritsu as he tried to yank the blanket away. He was now on the floor fighting with the cat. "Give it back! I don't want such an unlucky cat to use my blanket! Guys, please help me out here!"

"Oi, oi. There's no need to get so worked up over something like this, right, Ritsu?" said Leo. "I know it's annoying, but it'll be dangerous if you get violent in here, no?"

"But I really like this blanket! I won't allow it to use it! Ah, don't scratch it–"

"Please calm down, Ritsu-senpai...!" sputtered Tsukasa.

But before Izumi could assert himself to scold Ritsu, you had rushed into the studio. Arashi had texted you about the situation before they started their retrospective, hoping that you'd come to solve the issue at hand. After all, you solved a lot of their problems before, it became customary to ask you for help.

"Ritsu, are you okay?" you asked worriedly, bending down. "Hey, what's wrong? You're not usually like this."

"(Y-Y/N)?!" Ritsu blurted, perplexed at your sudden appearance. "W-What are you doing here?"

You answered that even though you were busy with your own assignments today, you couldn't just ignore what was happening with Knights, with him.

"Is this what's bothering you?" You tried picking up the cat, but it immediately started hissing at you. "Ah! Okay, I'm not going to pick you up then...! Anyway, Arashi texted me all the details already. Why don't you just give up the blanket, Ritsu?"

"N-No!" he cried. "I can't!"

"I don't understand why you like that blanket so much," said Izumi. "I'll buy you a new one if that makes you happy–"

"That's not it! (Y/N) bought me this one!"

Everyone had gone silent over that fact.

"Then I'll buy you a new one," you offered.

"No!" Ritsu protested. "You got this for me when we were first years! I can't just let that go!"

Ritsu usually wasn't this worked up, so you knew he was upset about something other than his blanket. But you also knew that he was a very sentimental person too, so you couldn't just force him to give up something that he truly loved. It was sweet that he had kept this blanket up until now though. It showed how much he loved you.

"I have an idea," you suddenly said. You rummaged through your bag and pulled out a white sweater. "This also has Ritsu's scent on it."

"Wait," Ritsu began. "That's my sweater."

"Mhm, my favourite one too!" you giggled. "If we give the cat this, then it'll give up on the blanket!"

"B-But (Y/N), you love that sweater...!" he said.

"I do, but you love that blanket too, right? I'll give this up so you can have your blanket back!"

With how selfless and thoughtful you were being, Ritsu had finally cooled down.

"N-No, it's fine," he said sadly. "I'll let it keep the blanket, you keep the sweater, okay? I'm sorry, everyone, I went overboard. I didn't mean to hurt anyone."

"Ritsu..."

He picked up his blanket with the cat still attached to it and left the building quietly. The meeting with Knights had come to an end. You sighed, apologised and thanked Knights for putting up with your boyfriend before following after him.

Ritsu was situated on one of the tables at the ES gardens, his head laid on his arms as he watched the black cat sleep in his blanket.

"It's my fault that Knights ended up fighting again... If only this cat hadn't been there. No, I should've been calmer..." he murmured. "It would've been better if I had analysed the situation calmly like I usually do, and brought it to a positive conclusion..."

"Ritsu~" you called out.

With the sound of your voice, his eyes immediately gravitated towards you. He didn't lift his head though, he was too tired for that.

"(Y/N)..."

"Here," you said, pressing a cold can of soda to his cheek. He cried at the coldness but quickly covered his mouth from being too loud. He didn't want to wake up the cat despite how annoying it was today.

"Ah, thank you..." he said, taking the can from you. He laid it in front of him, not opening it. "(Y/N), I'm really sorry about earlier. You were busy, and Nacchan had to call you over to deal with something so small."

"Eh, it's okay~," you said. From behind, you wrapped your arms around his neck, holding him close to you. "I'm nearly finished with my assignments anyway. But Ritsu, are you really okay?"

Ritsu strained a smile, but he held your arm in a way to comfort himself. "I'm fine now. I'm going to sit here and reflect on my actions until this stupid cat wakes up. If I ignored the cat in the studio and it gets restless, it might be even more troublesome."

You laughed. "It's so cute when it's sleeping. It reminds me of you."

"Eeehhh? Why does everyone keep saying that?" he asked.

"Well, it's cute and you're cute! Also, it takes naps just like you, hehe~"

Ritsu sighed but laughed along. "Ah, you're wearing the sweater," he said, finally noticing the baggy look on you.

"Yep! I'm glad I didn't need to give it up in the end, but I do feel sad that you had to give your favourite blanket away," you said.

"It's fine. Maybe it'll let it go later..." he started. "Well, I hope it does anyway. I really do like that blanket..."

He chuckled, reminiscing the time you first got him the blanket. The two of you met just before entering Yumenosaki. You were Mao's friend initially, but he had introduced you to Ritsu during the time he had to repeat his first year. Ritsu had treated you coldly at first, but when you spotted him sleeping in the gardens, coming to know of his illness, you had decided to gift him a blanket for him to use.

It was a blanket you had bought at a shop in town, nothing special, but Ritsu thought the world of it. Even when he treated you so poorly, you were still so nice to him – to accommodate him in this way. He grew fond of the blanket, but he mostly grew fond of you.

After that day, he stuck to you just like the cat he was watching now.

"You know, I'm surprised it's still kept in good condition after all these years," you pointed out. "We're in our third year now... and it still looks brand new."

"I take good care of my things, (Y/N)~," he said. "And I'll be keeping that blanket for as long as I can."

You smiled and gave him a peck on the back of his head. "Anyway, aren't you going to tell me what got you so riled up? It can't just be because of the cat, right?"

"Ah, right..." he said. He opened the can that you gave him and began to drink the contents of it. "So, this is what happened..."

He explained everything to you, recalling what happened that day when they had to withdraw some of the new Knights members. He was honest with his feelings, how bad he felt when he saw those tearful faces, how bad he felt when he knew that those dreams were being crushed.

But after some reassurance from you, Ritsu felt a lot better. That's when Tsukasa showed up to check up on him too. A suggestion of finding foster parents for the cat was brought up which Ritsu agreed to.

By time, he grew fond of the cat albeit he still wanted it gone. But things had resolved themselves, and Ritsu was back to his calm, analytical self again.

You had come to say goodbye to the cat, d'Artagnyan, too. This time, it had let you hold it.

"Hehe, it really does remind me of you," you told Ritsu who immediately turned red. "Don't miss Ritsu too much, you hear me~? I hope you live a comfortable life."

Watching you be so gentle with the cat like that had Ritsu feeling some sort of way. He smiled gently to himself, appreciating that you were there with him, that you were there to console him and to listen to every word he had to say. There was nothing better in this world – even his favourite blanket – that would compare to you.

Intro page | Ensemble Stars masterlist | Rules

[cmncisspnandmore]

One Night Stand; Part 5

Pairings: Simon x Reader

Warnings: Hospitals

A/n: Heres another sub par part, im sorry... I feel like im losing motivation to write this story, but im gonna keep going in hopes that it kinda just hits me like a freight train. Might take a break from this and do a few oneshots.

Word Count: 3309

New to the Series? Catch up here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Your lungs ache.

A dull creeping ache that wouldn't go away. Air was forced into your lungs, and you sputter and cough. One hand reaching up to try and bat away the intrusion, to make the air that forces your lungs to expand painfully go away. 

“Easy, Love. You need to leave that on,” A gruff voice next to you soothes. The words float over you like warm water. A blam to soothe the raw nerve endings exposed over your entire body. Slowly the world starts to come into focus, the steady hiss of an oxygen machine. The quiet beeping of a heart rate monitor, and a second faster paced one that echos it. The harsh smell of disinfectant, and the scratchy sheets on your raw skin. 

“Simon…” You mumble, your voice so hoarse you barely recognize it. Talking hurts. Breathing hurts. At this point you weren't sure there was a single thing you could do that didn't hurt. 

“I’m here Love,” Simon’s voice is soft, muffled. His large warm hand taking one of yours, a small whimper passing your lips as the heat from his hand causes the raw skin of your hand to burn. Simon quickly lets go, opting to instead brush a strand of your hair back from your face. “Sorry… I didn't mean to hurt you..” he whispers.

“S’okay…” you mumble, finally finding the strength to open your eyes. His dark brown eyes meet yours, a torrent of emotion swirling behind them. His browns pulled tight behind the black and white skull mask that covers his mouth and nose. You can’t help the small smirk that plays on your lips as you see it. Finally it made sense for him to be wearing one, you just wished you weren’t the reason he was wearing it in the correct setting. 

“What's so funny?” Simon grunts, his brows furrowed even more.

“The mask…” you cough and rasp, “finally wearing it in the correct setting.” 

Simon makes a small sound, somewhere between a laugh and a groan. Your eyes flickering around the bright white room. It was set up like any other hospital room, although this one seemed nicer. There was no curtain separating the room in half so another person could be in the room. It was just you and Simon, the TV on, the soundless news flashing across the screen. 

“What happened?” You rasp, sucking in a pained breath as the oxygen machine forces more air into your lungs. 

“Your apartment building caught on fire.. I found you on the stairs..” he leans forward in his chair, resting  his forearms on his thighs. Your eyes trail down to his arms and you notice the soot and ash that still clings to the fabric of his shirt. The small holes that burnt through the thin fabric, revealing the smallest parts of his tattoo. 

“How did you find me..” you mumble, your eyes burning like someone scraped them with sandpaper. 

“I was already on my way when I saw the smoke, one of your neighbors said she hadn’t seen you. The fire truck was still a few minutes out… I’ve run into worse things than burning buildings.” 

“That’s stupid of you….” 

“It’s part of my job, love,” he laughs slightly, “although you should sue your landlord. Bloody bastard didn’t even have a working fire system.” 

Silence settles over the room, the machines offering white noise. You allow your eyes to close, the burning becoming too much to ignore. As you lay there, listening to the sounds of the machines and Simon’s breathing, the soft whooshing sound catches your attention. 

You force your sore eyes open once more and turn to look at Simon, his head resting on his palm. His elbow propped up on his knee. “Is… is that the baby’s heartbeat?” You ask softly, Simon’s brown eyes meeting yours over the fabric of his mask.

“Yeah.. they wanted to monitor them… make sure the smoke inhalation didn't hurt them at all,” he whispers, behind the mask you can tell he's smiling. The way his eyes crinkle around the edges, and the way the mask moves ever so slightly.

“I still can’t get over the fact that there's an actual baby…” you mumble, dry eyes sliding closed again. 

“Me either, Love, me either…” Simon murmurs, allowing the steady whooshing sound to fill the room again. As you laid on the bed, you started to take inventory of your injuries. Nothing felt too burnt, your skin aches like a bad sunburn, and a spot on your shoulder stung. Your lungs burned with each breath but it wasn't unmanageable. Your throat felt raw and dry, and your eyes felt like you had walked into a sandstorm with them wide open. 

A soft knock on the door draws your attention back to the room. Blinking slowly the room comes back into focus, a woman stands at the door. A white coat adoring her, as she pokes her head in. Her kind blue eyes reminded you of Soap’s, as she steps into the room. Her heels clicking on the tile. 

“Hi, I'm Dr. Rykes. How are you feeling?” She asks softly, coming to stand at the foot of the bed, grabbing the metal clipboard that hangs there. She looks it over for a few minutes, flipping the pages back and forth, her brows pulled together.

“I’m okay…” you mumble, as Simon shifts in his seat. His hand comes to rest on your hand again, this time you're prepared for the slight sting of his body heat on your hand so you don't flinch. You just subtly turn your hand over so his hand rests against the less sensitive skin of your palm. 

“You’re probably going to feel like you have a sunburn for a few days, the intense heat from the fire can make your skin sensitive. You’ll also have some discomfort breathing and swallowing. But you made it out relatively okay, you did sustain a second degree burn on your shoulder, which will need to be redressed a few times a day,” she smiles, and looks up at you.

“When can she go home?” Simon’s voice startles her, and she looks over.

“In a few hours. I just want to monitor the baby and her oxygen stats,” she sets the clipboard back on the edge of the rail. “Do you have someplace to go?” She looks at me, her blue eyes filling with sympathy.

“Oh-” 

“She’ll be staying with me,” Simon cuts you off.

You look over at him, your brows pulled together, “Simon.. I can’t ju-” 

“Shh, you’ll stay with me until we can find you a new apartment,” His tone cuts off any argument that starts to form. After a few more questions and the doctor telling you that you need to take it easy and if you have any change in your breathing you are to come back immediately, she leaves. 

“Simon.. I can't just crash at your apartment.. I can get a hotel,” you turn towards him, his hand still on yours. 

“You can, and you will,” Simon's fingers tighten around yours. The warmth from his palm sends tingles over your skin. You wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his arms to make all the anxiety that was bubbling under the surface of your skin disappear. 

“Bu-” 

“No,” Simon deadpans, “You will be staying with me, I’m not going to let you live in a hotel and then take the first available flat you find. You’ll stay with me until we can find you a nice flat, with plenty of room for you and the baby.” 

You pull your bottom lip into your mouth, and chew on it. You didn't want to have to rely on Simon, but you also didn't have much of a choice. You lost everything, not that there was anything of importance in the apartment. But your laptop was gone which was your main source of income. Your eyes flicker over Simon’s face, he leans back in the chair. His arms crossed across his chest as he looked at you. His brown eyes are full of determination. 

“Okay.. fine.” 

A smile creeps across his lips under his mask, his eyes shining slightly, “good girl.”

Warmth spreads through your chest at his praise, your cheeks heating as he watches you. For the next few hours you doze off, waking up every once in a while to hear Simon on the phone with someone. Eventually the doctor comes in with your discharge papers and gives you the okay to go to Simons, with instructions to follow up with your primary care in a few days. 

~~~~

Simon pushes open the door to his place, the warm yellow lights a stark contrast from the bright LED lighting in the hospital. Simon's hands rest on your waist, his fingers pressing softly into the flesh of your hips as he guides you towards his couch. You pause as you take in the state of the living room, the entire floor is covered in shopping bags from various stores. Even a few boxes filled with unbuilt furniture, the faint sound of shuffling comes from the bedroom. 

“W-what is all this?” You look over your shoulder at Simon who removes his mask, tossing it onto the counter behind him.

“I had Soap and Gaz pick up a few things for you,” Simon grunts, pulling you over to the couch and making you sit.

“You didn't have to do that…” You mumble as he bends, picking up a few of the bags and taking the clothes from them.

“You need clothes..” Simon states, as he holds the items of clothing in his hands. They look small in his large hands, as he folds them neatly placing them in piles on the arm of the couch next to you. “If you don't like something we can return it and get you something you like.”

“Oi! Ouch!” A thick Scottish accent calls from the bedroom, a moment later Soap emerges from the bedroom rubbing the side of his head. His bright blue eyes land on you and a smile breaks out on his face. “Lass!” He calls as he comes over and wraps his arms around you.

“Hi, Soap,” you mumble into the fabric of his shirt.

“I was worried about you, I just put up some shelves in LT’s closet for ya,” he smiles as he pulls back slightly, his hands resting on your upper arms. He looks you over for a few moments, shaking his head as he takes a step back. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Me too,” you smile, “we both are.” You place your hand over your lower stomach, and Soap smiles wide.

“Well, I'll leave you two to get settled,” he turns towards Simon, “I’ll come by tomorrow to help you put together the rest of the stuff, but I think both of you need some rest after the night you had.” 

“Thank you, Johnny,” Simon nods as Soap gathers his things and heads for the door. 

As the door closes behind Soap, you look over at Simon. “You really didn't have to do all this..” You trail off, looking at all the bags again. Tears prick in your eyes as you take in the sheer quantity of stuff Simon had bought for you. There were at least a dozen bags of clothes and shoes, a few filled with bathroom products that you never even thought of using. Soaps, Shampoos, and bath oils of different scents. The last time someone did something like this for you was when your mother bought you stuff for your house when you bought it. 

Your mom.

The memory knocks the air out of your lungs. She would’ve been so excited to be a grandmother. She was always telling you how she couldn't wait to spoil her grandkids. How she wanted to make so many new traditions with them. Shower them in love like she did you and your siblings. But now she would never know what it was like to hold her first grandchild. She would never experience the joy of hearing their heartbeat. She wouldn't be able to be there for their birth, to hold your hand and coach you through it. 

She was gone, buried 6 feet under the ground. Alongside your brother and sister, the only family you ever had. Tears spill down your cheeks, leaving streams of tears that burn like fire on your sensitive skin. Your throat feels tight with emotion as you pull your hands up to your face to try and hold back the emotions bubbling over. 

You lost your family, your first house, and now your apartment in the span of a year. You had to start over again. 

The couch next to you dips, as Simon settles on it. His large arm wraps around you as he pulls you into his chest. His hand is careful of the burn on your shoulder, as he puts his other hand on the back of your hair, pressing your face gently into his chest. Your shoulders shake as the silent tears turn into heartbreaking sobs. Your fists clutching the fabric of his shirt as he holds you gently. 

“You’re okay…” He murmurs into your hair, his hands gently ghosting across your back. 

Simon holds you in his arms as you shake, his heart beating rapidly in his chest as he takes in your distressed state. He expected you to be upset, you had just lost your apartment, but the way you’re breaking down in his arms makes his gut twist. This was something more than losing an apartment, more than losing a few items in a fire. 

The cries that echo around the apartment in the early morning light were filled with something deeper. They were full of pain, the type of pain you feel when your entire life is ripped away. The kind of pain he felt when he found his family murdered after being buried alive and tricked by a brainwashed Sparks. Simons hands ghost along your sensitive skin as he tries to comfort you. His lips pressed against your hair that still smells of smoke, as he murmurs soft words to you.

You look so small in his arms, your entire body shaking with emotion you are desperately trying to contain. If he really wanted to, Simon is sure he could break you in half with one squeeze. Your small frame was no match for his strength, one strong wind seemed like it could blow you over. He knew that the cries that bubbled up from your chest weren’t meant for his ears. In the short time he's known you, he's noticed how you guarded yourself despite the apparent anxiety that seems to plague you. It took a lot of courage to seek him out after finding out you were pregnant, and he admired the strength it took. But beneath the walls you put up to protect yourself there was clearly someone who had witnessed something terrible and was no longer comfortable in the world they lived in. 

As your sobs quiet into small hiccups, Simon looks at you, your eyes puffy from crying. Your cheeks flushed, lips parted as you pulled air into your aching lungs. You were still as breathtaking as you were in the alley behind the bar, even with your tear stained cheeks. Your eyes meet Simons as he looks down at you, as you look at each other Simon swears he can see the walls going back up. In a matter of moments the lost, hurt look in your eyes is replaced with the carefully constructed facade you built to fool the people around you that you were okay. 

But Simon saw through it. He could see through the fake happiness you put on for everyone else, he could see through the mirage of ‘i’m fine and i’m okay’. He could see that behind those walls you put up to protect yourself you were broken and scared.

But it didn't matter to Simon, because in the moments were breaking down in his arms, when your face was streaked with tears, and you were gasping for air. You were the most beautiful, because in those moments, you were honest. That's when he found you the most beautiful, because despite all the pain, you were still here. You were still going, and that kind of strength that no one could take away from you. 

“I’m sorry,” you sniffle, gently wiping your cheeks with your hands despite the burning sensation.

“Don't apologize,” Simon’s arms are wrapped around you, blanketing you in warmth.

“I don't usually.. Just break down like that,” you mumble, “I was just.. Its been a long time since someone has done something like this for me.” 

“You don't have to explain it to me.”

You shift slightly so you’re sitting a little further from him, his thigh pressed against yours. His body heat seeping through the fabric of his jeans into yours, as you clear your throat. Simon leans forward his elbows resting on his thighs as he rubs a hand across his face. In the dim lighting of his flat you notice just how tired he looks. The bags under his eyes are darker, and his eyes lack the shine that they normally have. 

“Why.. why don't we go through this stuff after a few hours of sleep, yeah?”

Simon looks over at you, and nods. “That sounds like a good idea, we both need some sleep,” he stands, holding his hand out to you.

“Are you okay with sharing the bed for tonight?” he asks, “I just don't have the energy to convert the couch to a bed right now.”

A blush creeps up your cheeks,”oh, yeah of course.” 

Simon smiles, and leads you into his bedroom. It looks exactly as it did when the night you fell into bed with him. The bed is neatly made, the walls still bare of personalization, but there's a small stack of books on the nightstand. The laundry basket in the corner has a few new blankets piled on top of it to be washed. Simon walks to his closet and pulls out a shirt and pair of sweatpants, holding them out to you. 

“Here, you can wear these tonight,”

You take the items and smile, the scent of simons cologne clings to them as you head towards the bathroom. After you close the door you press them to your nose, inhaling his comforting scent for a moment before changing. As you peel off your shirt you take in the thick white bandage that covers your shoulder blade. The skin around it is slightly pink, the tape holding the bandage in place pulling your skin taught. You carefully slide the oversized shirt over your upper body and tuck the front of it into the waistband of the rolled up sweatpants. 

When you emerge from the bathroom Simon is already laying on the bed, the blankets pulled up to his waist, his chest bare. His tattooed forearm slung over his eyes, as he lays against the pillows. His breathing is soft and slow as he sleeps. Your eyes trail down his chest and stomach, before you force yourself to look away. You climb into the bed, it dips under your body weight and you turn onto your side. Your arm under your pillow, your injured shoulder off the mattress as you reach over and turn off the small bedside lamp. 

As you pull the blanket up over yourself, Simon rolls over in his sleep, his arm coming to wrap around your waist. He tugs you backwards to fit against his chest, his hand resting over your lower stomach. His breath tickles the back of your neck as your own heavy eyes fall closed and sleep pulls you under. 

Next: Part 6

Taglist: @coffeeandtealol

[uceyliyahh]

UNDER YOUR TOUCH

Summary: After her difficult breakup, Tiana wanted to start anew with her life. That's when she realized her life would be better when she met him.

This fanfic is 18+! NO MINORS ALLOWED

word count: 4177

smut warning; it’ll come in the story randomly so PLEASE PLEASE look out for it I’m not really good at writing ✍🏽 smuts but I’m improving at the moment.

Jey Uso x Tiana

AWFUL GRAMMAR IM GETTING BETTER I SWEAR LOL.

comments, likes, repost are appreciated I would love the constructive feedback in what area I need to approve in. 🤍

ALSO! I don’t not want nobody stealing my fanfics or take it as theirs that will be an issue fasho so keep it cute respectfully.

I only own my OC along with the make up scenarios

But I’ll be writing along the way since this story is in my drafts on Wattpad right now so yuh. 💁🏽‍♀️

TAGS ⬇️ lmk if you wanna be tag 🏷️

@pinkwithhearts @jstarr86 @empressdede @biancasreign

@paigereeder

4.

uceyjucey, biancabelairwwe, shelovekai, and 200,000 people liked your post.

tianasworld: gym therapy. 🧘🏽‍♀️ uceyjucey: gyatttt damn girl look at allat back there.👀 tianasworld: @ uceyjucey all yours papi. 🤍 biancabelairwwe: tink we gotta go workout together girl. shelovekai: sheesh girl uceyjucey: @ shelovekai aye, bitch ass boy stay outta her comments or yo' ass is goin' to get handled. theyhatelani: I looked way better than her trust. tianasworld: @ theyhatelani try again. 💁🏽‍♀️

Read all 88,566 comments.

TIANA I noticed that Jey's ex-girlfriend Kehlani started following me on Instagram, stalking me, and watching my stories every single time I post something that has to do with me or with Jey and me together. She would slide up and say some negative shit.

Then she would try to be funny and say some dumbass shit to make me think Josh is doing some with her when the whole time he's with me, I wasn't a stupid girl like she was I knew what he wanted.

At this point, I was at the gym sweating bullets while doing my workout routine that I normally do when Josh called me.

OTP Jey: mamas what you got goin' on right now I miss you. Tiana: I miss you too bubba, but I'm finishing up my set right now why? Jey: my family is flying out to come visit and they wanted to meet you if that's okay ion wanna overwhelm you. Tiana: Josh you aren't making me feel overwhelmed sir calm down but I wouldn't mind meeting them. Jey: great I'll come swing by and get you ight. Tiana: okay bubba.

CALLED ENDED.

'I love calling him puppy names I wonder what he had planned for today?'

I continued my workout routine, not even paying attention to Malakai coming in. I know that he had seen me doing my workout, and he felt like now was his opportunity to strike.

I felt an unfamiliar presence approaching me, and when I turned around, I saw Malakai standing there, smirking at me.

"Um, what Kai?" I asked as I pulled my headphones to the side.

"Where's yo man at? Ion see him around." He said with a cocky tone.

I just rolled my eyes at him as I folded my arms at him. He was doing way too much for my liking, honestly.

"He's at work at the moment why? Why are you worried about him?" He scoffed while keeping his arms folded.

"Shouldn't he be here with you working out? If not, I can. I mean, he can't handle all you got back there like me." I was shocked that he had this much confidence in himself, thinking he could charm my heart like that.

"Nigga for your information he can handle me and all of this I can't believe you have this much confidence." I retorted at him as I stood up because I can't deal with his ass right now.

Before I could leave, he grabbed me by my waist, not knowing that I had butt-dialed Jey's number so he could listen to what was happening right now.

He placed his hand around my throat firmly not trying to hurt me as he looked into my eyes intensely I heard Jey's voice calling for me.

"Look here, little girl. You and ol' boy better be old news, or we're going to have some issues, " he threatened.

"Mamas what's going on?"

"Get the fuck off of me Kai!" I shouted as I tried to push him off of me, but he wasn't budging, holding my throat tightly.

Jey knew what it was as he hung up the phone. Lucky for me, we had our locations, so he knew where I was at.

"I guess he isn't coming to save you dear, so why don't we workout together like we did before." He said as I punched him in his face, as he held his nose.

I gathered all of my things and ran out of the gym fast as fuck, knowing that Malakai was faster than me, but that didn't matter. I needed to get away before things got worst with his ass. I knew that he was just like his father, a woman beater.

I was not going to be around all of that man. I heard footsteps behind me, knowing that he was behind me. I didn't want to turn back, so I kept running as fast as I could.

Seeing Joshua's car pull up fast as fuck as I ran out the door running towards him, hugging him as he held me tightly, seeing Kai coming out the place with a bloody nose.

"Imma fuck yo' ass up Tiana!" Malakai threatened as he ran up to us, but Josh pulled me to the side and sucker-punched him in the face.

I stood there watching Josh beat his ass remember how I said that he was strong and could knock Malakai's head off I was serious.

He was on top of Kai, beating his head in as Kai held his hand up, protecting himself.

"Yo' ass wanna put yo' hands on my girl? Imma show yo' ass sum." Jey threatened as he kicked Kai in his stomach while dragging him by his hair.

He picked him up and threw him in the trash can near him, then came back towards me to see if I was okay.

I was shaking like crazy as he took notice, hugged me, cupped both of my cheeks, kissed my lips, and looked into my eyes.

"It's okay, mama. I'm here. ight? Did he hurt you?" he asked, his face drenched with concern.

"He choked me a bit, but other than that, I'm okay, Josh." I said as I calmed down, looking over Jey's shoulder.

He noticed my attention wasn't on him but behind him, so he turned around and saw his ex, Kehlani, standing behind us. He sighed.

"Heyyyy Jeyyy baby." Kehlani said as she went up towards him to hug him.

He pushed her away as she stood there looking displeased at his actions while she looked my way, smirking.

"Oh, I see you with yo' new bitch." She said.

Before I could say anything, Jey spoke, "Aye, watch yo' damn mouth, Kehlani." She threw her hands up in defense while chuckling.

"C'mon, Jey. You know you missed all of this. What does she have that I don't?" He scoffed at her as he put his hands on his hips again, a typical mom stance.

"Everything, and no, I don't miss allat when I have this beautiful girl next to me so yo' ass can move around," Jey said sternly as me and him went inside his car.

I could see Malakai struggling to get out of the trash can, which almost had me laughing at him, but my attention was towards Jey's ex-girlfriend as she stood there looking all pissed like a little kid.

It's no wonder he broke up with her. We pulled off from the gym and returned to his tattoo shop.

✧.*

JEY we were pulling up to my tattoo shop since I had clients today but I had to step out to deal with that earlier I couldn't believe that man put his hands on her not knowing what was finna happen to his ass.

I looked at my knuckles; they were red I hadn't beat nobody's ass in a minute and that felt good to do so, I darted my attention towards Tiana who was quiet the whole car ride I wanted to know what was she thinking or feeling right now.

I held her hands into mine as she looked at me with a faint smile. Then, back at the window, I could tell she was still tensed from what had happened, so I kissed her hand gently while focusing on the road.

✧.* When we finally pulled up to the tattoo shop, as we stepped out of the car, Tiana hadn't said anything or addressed anything about what had happened.

She walked in with me, and as we held hands, I told her I'd be done in a couple of hours so she could hang out in my office for a bit.

"I'll be done a little bit, mama, okay?" I said as she nodded her.

I sighed while rubbing my beard with both hands, and then I heard my phone ring. I checked to see that Jon was calling me.

OTP Twin📌: Yo uce what you doing? Jey: I'm back at work uce what's up? Twin📌: what's up uce you sound tensed. Jey: man I just got into some shit with Kehlani and then with my girl ex boyfriend I had to beat his ass because he put hand on her. Twin📌: woah that's insane is she good? Jey: I don't know if she's okay, she seemed a bit tensed still ion know uce. Twin📌: ight then well I was letting you know that we are getting a hotel when we land so I'll text you. Jey: ight then.

CALL ENDED.

After finishing up my last client for today, I cleaned up my equipment thoroughly. Then, I heard someone's footsteps walking this way, causing me to turn around, only to see Tiana standing there watching me.

I could read her energy right now, and she was very quiet—she didn't even say a word at all. I walked up towards her, placing my hands on her hips as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

I looked deeply into her eyes, then onto her lips, then back onto her deer eyes; I gave her a peck on her lips while grabbing her by her thighs and carrying her towards the countertop.

I plopped her down on it, getting between her legs while holding her in place. As she looked up at me, her hands were playing in my mullet.

She moved her hands towards my face as she pulled me closer, kissing me on the lips. Our lips moved in sync with each other.

I slide my tongue inside of her mouth while snaking my hand onto her ass, gripping it, causing her to moan softly. How badly I wanted to fuck her on this countertop, but I just need to know where her head was before we get into it.

I pulled away so that we could catch each other's breath as we put our foreheads against each other.

"mama, speak to me what's up?" I asked.

"I'm just still tensed about earlier Josh." Tiana said.

"princess I'm goin' to protect you at all cost don't worry I got'chu." I reassured her while playing in her hair.

I could read her expression on her face. She seemed to calm down a bit. All she needed was to hear some reassurance from me because I stood by my promise to protect her from anyone or anything.

I cupped her cheeks with both of my hands and kissed her lips.

"C'mon let's go to my crib."

✧.* OMNISCIENT Jey and Tiana were driving to her house so that she could change and shower before she had to meet his people. It kind of made her nervous and scared. She was thinking, 'What if they don't like me?'

Jey was talking to Bianca downstairs about what had happened between him and ol' boy, including his ex Kehlani.

"Wait what! He put his hands on her?" Bianca said.

"Yeah, she said he choke her, but I beat his ass good honestly." He said while rubbing his knuckles.

"Damn Joshua, but question though Joshy."

He cringed when she called him that as she laughed at him, but her face went serious for a second, "When are you goin' to ask my bestie out, sir? Y'all are honestly a cute couple as it already is and you seem the type to protect her."

She was right about that. He even told Tiana that he'd protect her. I mean, he practically loved this girl down. Even though they're still getting to know each other, he knows in his heart that she's the one for him.

Her vibe, her energy, everything about Tiana just drew him in more something he didn't feel with Kehlani when they were together.

"I got something planned out for that." Jey said as Bianca furrowed her eyebrows a bit.

"What's the plan? Ion mind helping like honestly you're a good man better than Kai." She said.

Before I could tell her the plan, we saw Tiana coming downstairs. She looked stunning in her dress, with her hair done and her makeup done.

Jey licked his lips as he stood up, keeping his eyes on her as she walked in the living room.

"you ready to go mama?" He asked as he held his hand out.

"Yep, let's go before we are late Josh." Tiana said softly.

They interlocked their hands as they headed out towards the car. Jey told Bianca that he'd tell her the details later about his plan.

They finally made it to the restaurant, which looked really nice and fancy. She and Jey got out of the car, holding hands as they both walked inside.

As they were heading towards their tables, Tiana saw unfamiliar faces sitting at the table, and the two people looked at them with a smile.

"Yoooo Uce what's hannin dawg." Jimmy said as he dabbed up his twin brother.

Tiana stood there like a lost puppy as she watched Josh greeting his people. That's when they all turned to her, and she looked back at them.

"Jon, Trin, this is my girlfriend Tiana, and Tiana, this is my sister-in-law Trin, and my twin brother Jonathan; people close to us call him Jimmy." Jey spoke as Tiana hugged Trinity and Jon.

"Omg Jey, you didn't tell me that she was going to be pretty." Trinity said as Tiana blushed at her compliment.

"Yeah uce, where did y'all meet at?"

Tiana and Jey looked at each other while cheesing really hard.

After dinner, they all went to Jey's house to chill and smoke some weed while jamming to some music. As they were doing that, Tiana and Trinity were out back in the pool together, getting to know each other.

"so how did you meet Jey girl give me all the details." Trinity asked.

"Well, I wanted to get this tattoo covered up that I had when I was with my ex-boyfriend at the time, and my bestie Bianca hooked me up to Josh's tattoo shop, and we instantly connected there," Tiana said as she passed the blunt to Trin.

"Joshua is a good man; you ain't gotta worry." She said.

Tiana smiled at Trinity as they continued to speak to each other, "But fair warning: Joshua is a hornball girl, so you better run."

"Oh girl tell me about it, he be all over me." Tiana said.

"Girl, once you all are married, it's going to get worse. Hell, look how my husband is acting." Tiana chuckled at Trinity while darting her eyes towards Jey.

He was talking to his brother when he looked in her direction. He smiled at her before going back to talking to Jon.

"Jey had told me what happened with your ex-boyfriend and Kehlani hoe ass." Trinity said.

"Yeah, he told me about his ex as well; in person, she doesn't look pretty, " she replied, and Trinity nodded her head in agreement.

"Yeah, I was so surprised when I saw you because, oh my god, you're literally gorgeous."

Tiana pushed Trin while blushing like crazy, "Stop, Trinity."

✧.* TIANA Everyone was on cloud nine as they watched a movie together. Jey and I were cuddling on the couch while Jon and Trin were doing the same on a different couch.

We were watching the new bad boy movie that had come out; it was a lot of ass whooping and shooting in this moving.

I felt Jey move away from me as he got up. It looked like he had to go use the restroom, so it really didn't bother me as much.

Meanwhile, I felt my phone buzz as I saw that Bianca had texted me and Jey.

Breezy: heyyy bestie how's it going over there I heard you meet your boyfriend's brother and his wife. Tiana: he's not my boyfriend yet until he ask me to be his girlfriend B. Breezy: yeah, yeah, whatever girl.💁🏽‍♀️ Tiana: but his brother is honestly funny and Trin she's so sweet. Breezy: really? Omg I would love to meet her. Tiana: I can ask if they aren't busy ion know how long they'll be in town. Breezy: ight cool well I was just checking in girl. Tiana: kk girl . 🫶🏽

ZaddyJey🤍 sent a two attachment.

When I opened the message that Jey had sent me an attachment of something, I opened it only to see what it and my mouth went wide open as I saw him holding his pretty long brown eight-inch dick on my screen.

I saw the bubbles moving, so I knew he meant business with this, but his brother and sister-in-law are here. Wouldn't that be weird?

But when I looked up at them, they were too occupied with the movie, which was turned up to max volume, so I guess it really didn't matter.

That's when I felt my phone buzz again with a message from Jey.

ZaddyJey🤍: lemme' holla at you mamas ZaddyJey🤍: lemme' rearrange them guts lookin' all good like that today.

I darted my attention towards Jon and Trin, making sure that they were indeed watching the movie, and they were, as I got up from the couch and went upstairs to the bathroom.

The bathroom light was on, and I knew that Jey was waiting for me to come in, so I knocked on the door, waiting for him to open it.

As soon as he did, he snatched my ass right the fuck up and got to work.

SMUT WARNING Jey had me on the countertop of the sink with my legs over his shoulders and my arms wrapped around his neck as he was giving me deep strokes.

Both of our skins were slapping against each other as our moans and groans echoed the bathroom, he was pounding my pussy good making me throw my head back.

"Shit Josh..." I moaned.

"Mhmm...mama got some good ass pussy." He grunted as he moved his hips faster.

I could feel him giving me every single inch that he wanted me to feel as I tucked my bottom lip in under my teeth while maintaining eye contact with him I knew how much he loved that.

I never knew I could be so attached to this man. The way he protects me and loves on me, especially claiming me as his in front of his brother and sister-in-law, meant something to me.

He kept his pace up while going deeper inside of me, making me see stars as my mouth parted. That's when he lifted me up and started ramming my shit.

"Fucckkkk J-Josh!" I cried out while holding onto him tightly.

"take this shit princess, take it." My mind felt foggy after he said that I wasn't expecting him to do all that to me, now giving me a good spank on my left thigh.

I kept rolling my eyes in the back of my head, keeping them closed due to the pleasure that I was feeling at the moment. It was like he was digging them inside of me, breaking me up little by little.

I felt his balls hittin' my clit, driving me insane as he placed his lips on mine as we made out during this.

His tongue was all in my mouth as my hands were pulling on his mullet as his thrust were getting deeper and deeper into me, making me feel like I couldn't take it any more.

"I-I C-can't T-take I-it J-Josh..." I breathe out while trying to keep up.

He didn't even listen to me as he thrust harder than before, making me gasp while moaning very loudly as our skins were slapping against each other, making the bathroom echo.

I dig my nails into his skin as he hissed in pain, tucking his bottom lip under his teeth while gazing down at me.

I felt a familiar pit go down in my stomach as I knew that I was going to cream on this man. I think he knew, too, seeing my facial expression.

He was hitting my g-spot while I was pulling on his mullet as he was talking to me through it, "you finna cum? go ahead, make a mess on me, mama daddy got'chu." Jey knew he was a sweet talker.

As he kept hitting my spot I couldn't even let my mind process the way he was fucking me so deeply I didn't know I had this affect on him.

"This my pussy baby? tell me this is my pussy." I couldn't even get the words outta my mouth as I'm being folded like a damn pretzel.

"Tell me baby."

"Y-yess daddy this your pussy it's belongs to you! Fuck I'm finna cum dadddy!" I whined as I creamed on his dick feeling my legs shaking.

I wanted to get off of him so badly, but he held onto me tight while pinning my back onto the wall, thrusting into me deeply, making me feel everything.

"Don't run, take this fucking dick." Jey hissed as he held onto my thighs for support.

"F-fuccck!" I felt very overwhelmed with this as I began to feel tears coming down my face.

Jey kissed my cheeks and then my lips, trying to calm me down while his movements kept getting sloppier and sloppier.

As they were getting sloppier, I was on cloud nine right now, pulling on his mullet because I wanted him to be closer to me.

I hugged his sweaty body tightly as I felt him breathing down my neck, giving it a few wet kisses while I was moaning his name in his ear.

His dick was twitching inside of me knowing that he was finna bust, without even thinking I wrapped my legs around his torso as he thrusted into me vigorously.

"Fuck mama, I'm finna nut all in this pussy." Jey groaned as he was giving it his all.

Lucky for me I was on birth control so this wouldn't bother me at all.

"Shit Josh I'm finna cum again...fuck.." I whimpered as he kissed me on the cheek.

"Wait on me mama, let's nut together."

After a few more thrusts he had left in him, Jey placed his face underneath my neck while cursing under his breath as me and him cum together on the spot filling me up like a Twinkie.

SMUT OVER.

We stayed in that position for a minute to catch our breaths as our chests were going up and down deeply, looking at one another's features.

He kissed me on the lips while carrying us to his bedroom, 'how is this man not tired like me? nigga got me all workout.'

Praying that Jon and Trinity didn't hear us fucking upstairs in the bathroom. Knowing how Jon is, he'll say something, and it'll be so embarrassing.

Jey wrapped the covers around us, and I snuggled up in his chest, looking up at him as he gazed his eyes down at me. "I love you, mama."

I was taken aback when he said that it actually made my heart feel warm, as I looked down, not trying to be emotional around him.

He grabbed my chin with his hands, making me look up at him again.

"I mean it, Tiana. I love the fuck outta' you, girl. It's just sum' about you that makes my heart melt." Jey confessed as he noticed tears appearing in my eyes.

"I love you too, Josh. I fell in love with you the moment we met at your tattoo shop," I said as I wiped the tears from my eyes.

Hearing him say them three words meant something to me; he kissed me on the lips softly while I snuggled into him more.

We both drifted to sleep.

Under Your Touch.

theyhatelani replied to your story: her pussy can't be better than mines Jey. Yk where home is at baby.

biancabelairwwe replied to your story: please take care of her Joshua she is just one precious soul.

Jonathanfatu replied to your story: ngl yall was very loud asf up there Uce. 😭😭

zillafatu replied to your story: when is yall goin' to come down here with the rest of the fam cuzzo.

uceyjucey, zillafatu, theyhatelani, and 99,000 people liked your post.

tianasworld: my happy home. 🧘🏽‍♀️🤍 uceyjucey: 🥰🫶🏽 tianasworld: @ uceyjucey 🤍 zillafatu: can't wait to meet you fasho biancabelairwwe: omggg my bestie is finally happy again. 🥹🥹 tianasworld: @ biancabelairwwe 🥹 theyhatelani: whatever he'll come back home to me. tianasworld: @ theyhatelani girl please move around he's in a better position with me than he was with you honey. uceyjucey: @ theyhatelani get outta my girl's comments with allat negative bs. 🙄 shelovekai: this is some bs bro that can't be your happy home.

Read all 100,290 comments.

A/N: JEY DID IT YALL HE IS NOW A CHAMPION LIKE I AM SO HAPPY FOR HIM HONESTLY HE REALLY DOES DESERVE IT FR BRO.

But I hope yall enjoy this chapter lmk in the comments.

STAY UCEY.

[kismet-cat]

Something I’ve been thinking about a lot is how Jowd and Yomiel are parallel to each other. They’re both so stuck in worldviews that are blatantly wrong- Jowd thinking everything is his fault, and Yomiel thinking everything is the fault of everyone BUT him. To an outside observer, both these views are totally stupid, but the two of them feel like they HAVE to believe it or else everything they’re doing will be for nothing. If jowd is wrong, that means kamila did it, and he can’t let himself believe his kid could do that, it would destroy him. He’s so willing to take on the guilt because he feels responsible for not stopping the tragedy- even when it was literally impossible for him to foresee or stop. If Yomiel is wrong, then it means that literally everything he’s been doing since dying is useless and he’s the one responsible for the deaths of both Sissels, and he can’t believe that or he’ll sink even further down. So the two of them both push on, warping the truth until it suits their narratives, both of which are steeped in self-hatred. It’s a good thing they never met up before their respective character developments- like Yomiel said, Jowd would have loved to be executed by his own daughter. Sorry for talking so much I just think they’re fascinating!!! I love ghost trick!!!

No need to apologize, I love hearing other people's Ghost Trick takes/analysis! Especially along these lines!

This specific parallel is def one I've thought about too, and you put it very well! For me, it all comes back to the set of questions I posed in this post as being at the core of Ghost Trick's story:

1. When something terrible happens to you, what do you do with that trauma? 2. When you do something terrible, when you make a terrible mistake, what do you do with that guilt?

Like you said, Jowd is a person who, in response to both questions, internalizes all the blame; whereas Yomiel, in response to both (pre Chapter 17), externalizes all his hatred. And yes, from an outside perspective they're kind of ridiculous — just look at how many chatters in the secret sleepover society streams (and other lps I've watched) have been reacting to Jowd as a character.

But one of the things fiction arguably exists for is to present characters that take such ideas to such extremes for the sake of exploring those questions and making a greater point; it's the premise "What if there was guy who ___? Wouldn't that be fucked up or what?". And for me (and a lot of people, clearly) Ghost Trick succeeds in getting you to take those characters seriously, because they and the people around them take their own stakes seriously, while ultimately making it clear that their responses were irrational.

...And hey, while I'm here:

Cabanela's answer to the second question is to bury all evidence of it, to Not Think About It, to become (or at least project the image of) a person who would never make that kind of mistake. Meanwhile, his answer to the first question, if we say the terrible thing in question is his best friend confessing to killing his wife and asking to be executed, is to dedicate himself to trying to undo it, to set things right, everything else in his life be damned.

These answers are "better" than Jowd's and Yomiel's — they certainly cause less extreme collateral damage — but they still aren't ideal. After all, Ghost Trick is a game that highly values the forging/maintaining of bonds with others and being honest/open with them as the key to both parties' success. It's what saves the day in the end. Without Sissel, all Cabanela's efforts to save Jowd and protect Lynne would have amounted to nothing.

No, the person with the "correct" answer is Lynne. She doesn't really have to grapple with the second question (which is maybe my personal biggest disappointment with her character), but her answer to the first question is clear: Become the kind of person who prevents such things from happening to others, or who can be the one to help them when it does. Always believe in people, and in the ability of things to turn out right.

Now, it must be said: the reason she comes to this answer is not because she was born a perfect idealist. It's because, in that worst moment of her life, someone was there to save and then reassure her; to inspire her. Jowd.

It's her truth, but it's not, say, Yomiel's.

But. It's a truth that inspires the rest of the cast (Sissel and Jowd primarily). And, because of her insistence in it, they're able to go back, defy fate, and make it The Truth of the narrative.

(Sissel similarly only has to really deal with the first question because Reasons, and his answer evolves over the course of the game, from "focus on the wrong that was done to you and what you can do to make yourself feel better about it above everything and everyone else" (doesn't that sound familiar?) to be more aligned with Lynne: "use what you learned/gained from that unfortunate occurrence to help others". And Missile is basically on the "right" wavelength the whole time, which is why everyone agrees he's the Bestest Boy.)

[utilitycaster]

I'm curious about your judgement of the success of the various format experimentations in Campaign 3. If you feel like saying a bit more, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on which are the most and least successful, and why.

Sure! So as I said earlier today, I think a big problem is that the format experimentation and the moon plot are directly at odds. Pulling off the moon plot, with all the NPCs from past campaigns and payoff of various canonical setups requires a pretty firm hand on what the current canon is, and also really did require a firmer hand in the character creation than there was. On the other hand, the point of experimentation is to let other people play in the space and introduce their ideas. This comes together in what I have referred to in the past as "Not Now." Like, the Crown Keepers showing up just as the party was grappling with FCG's death? Not bad as a concept, but Not Now. Abubakar playing Corellon? Incredible performance, but the fact that he was given free rein in a plot that's already shedding viewers left and right for its lack of direction? Not Now.

On an individual level:

I think EXU Prime either needed to be fully standalone, or Matt needed to provide a slightly more rigid direction to Aabria and therefore really couldn't play Dariax. If it's going to get woven into the main plot of Campaign 3 it needs to set that up (including giving Liam and Ashley a heads up beforehand). My personal vote would be for the former, to allow Aabria to tell her own story without it having to serve like 20 different functions, but what's done is done. If I recall, Liam and Ashley had the option to play different characters for Campaign 3 and I do wonder what would happen if they had decided differently, because you could still have Dorian pop up as a guest but I wonder if the Crown Keepers would have shown up in the same way.

Similarly, as stated, the general concept of the Crown Keepers interlude during the campaign as a means to bring in Dorian? I'm not opposed, though I think this is by far the hardest thing to coordinate generally and for a plot as demanding as Campaign 3 probably not a great idea. But it's hard to judge because the timing was truly the worst timing possible given the events of episode 91, and even delaying by like an episode or two would have at least solved that to the point that I don't understand why they didn't just...do that. (and, just to head off this particularly stupid argument at the pass, this would not have in any way affected Sam's ability to take time off for cancer treatment; it would have just shifted things around, and a lot of this experimentation was planned WELL in advance). [sidebar: I haven't listened to the WBN interlude yet but I do have thoughts because I think interludes from different GMs can be done, but the premise of Campaign 3 is particularly hostile towards them unless the main GM has a very heavy hand in their creation or unless they are light on things relevant to the core plot and mostly for the purpose of worldbuilding a la Song of the Lorelei.]

Solstice split was excellent and I think it's because it was not actually anything you wouldn't see in how people frequently play D&D at home. You have a few players who won't be available for a few sessions in a row? Great, find a reason to split the party, bring some other guest players in, and run some side quests!

Downfall was great because it was diagetic. It was a story within a story that Bells Hells was seeing and responding to, and because it took place so long ago with such specific characters, while it may bleed into how Laura, Taliesin, or Ashley feel in game (impossible to prevent, people bring their own feelings to the table), Matt still has room to decide how the Raven Queen, Wildmother, or Everlight feel a thousand years later. I also feel this had the most direction from Matt, which the other things really needed.

As said, bringing in Abubakar to DM as Corellon is something that again, this plot simply doesn't handle well. It makes for a fantastic scene, but within the 107-and-counting episodes of this story, giving the reins to someone else after you finally have a clear plan and letting them throw another curveball is a terrible idea narratively. I think this again would be fine in a story with a looser plot.

Echoes of the Solstice and presumably the upcoming Vox Machina Malleus Key/Mighty Nein Weave Mind concept is again pretty good. This also fits into things that D&D home games have been doing forever - run a one shot or mini campaign following different characters but DM-ed by the same person that have an impact on the current plot but aren't too closely interwoven. Basically this is like the solstice split in concept.

Essentially: I think playing around with the format within a campaign but having the same GM is pretty easy to do. Once you introduce other GMs acting within the world concurrently (rather than as a story with a foregone conclusion a la Downfall, or for that matter Calamity) you need to be extremely careful if you are trying to tell a specific story with a lot of moving parts, as Matt is with Campaign 3. It's one thing to improvise based on things your players do or say; it's another to do so based on improv by a major NPC or someone doing extensive worldbuilding mid-game that you now need to incorporate. This wouldn't be an issue in a more sandbox-style game; Campaign 2 might have been able to withstand it more gracefully, though I'm still not sure. But Campaign 3 was the wrong place to do it. Again, it's trying to converge in some places and diverge in the others and as a result it's just kind of flopping around in place.

[boomboom-tanjiro2019]

Easy

PROLOGUE: EX! Reader X EX! Ace

Description: Angst, lots and lots of angst. Rich! reader. Whitebeard meddles in Ace's love life. Reader can be a piece of shit, but not always don't worry. Ace can't catch a break. Maybe smut eventually? Did I mention angst and heartbreak already? It's gonna be a lot of funny ridiculous over-the-top moments though, mostly. Angst but also ridiculous-extra stupid-shit. Reader does some wrong but so will Ace. HAPPY ENDING (No one dies and everyone gets what they need in the end)

(I decided to not continue my our beloved summer au because I wouldn't have had enough freedom due to the story already being set in stone, but I love the idea of an exes angsty romance so I decided to make another one that's kind of similar except more on par for the characters.)

5 years ago'

“Because… I hate you.” 

Three words for Ace’s worst fear to come true.

The worst part about it for you wasn’t even the look on his face, or his insistence for you to not end it.

It was because you didn’t even know why you did.

Why did you hate him? Why was that the first thing that came to your mind to say? Is it so he wouldn’t hold on? When did you start hating him?

It was easy.

It’s easier to convince yourself of a lie than it is to accept what’s right.

At least in this case it was.

You wish his eyes didn’t hold so much emotion, how you could see exactly how he was feeling. It was like he had gotten shot in the chest. It wasn’t a backstab, it wasn’t out of nowhere, you hadn’t betrayed him and waited till his guard was down. No, he knew it was going to happen, he just didn’t have time to prepare himself. If anything, it’d make it easier on the both of you.

His eyes held so much emotion, every feeling clear as day.

Maybe you could learn to hate that too, but maybe you already did. Yeah, yeah, you do, of course you do. It’s selfish to try and convince yourself and everyone around you that you are too good of a person to do so, or that he did something wrong to make you hate him. You just did. No rhyme or reason. Maybe he didn’t do anything wrong... but maybe you’re just horrible.

Sure, he’d probably hate you for all eternity, hitting him where he was weakest…But did it matter when you feel like you’ve been falling down a hole, trying to grab onto something, trying to delay the inevitable? You’d been falling so long, but the rope you were holding onto would snap any second now. Then where would you be? Falling with a broken rope because you tried to hold on, where would that get you? Then it’s all for nothing, you’ve done more damage than good. The rope would never help, it would only snap. Maybe that’s why you let go of the rope. Maybe you hate the rope because you knew it couldn’t help and you’d keep falling either way. It’s hard to hold onto something when you think it’ll all be for nothing. Anyway, it didn’t matter what the reason was, because that’s what you’d tell yourself.

You’d make up every reason, whether it was true or not, find everything about him despisable. 

Before you walked off, you made a point not to look at his eyes again.

Not because you’d hesitate. Not because you’d turn back. Not because if you took one glimpse at his warm, sad eyes you’d crumble and take back everything you said.

Because you hate his eyes.

He doesn't say anything as you walk away, he just lets you leave, and you weren't going to stick around long enough for him to change his mind.

"When love is supressed, hate takes its place."

-Havelock Ellis

[thefinalwitness]

in general if your response to a certain type of character, especially any form of minority, is literally any variation whatsoever of "that doesn't exist/wouldn't be allowed in this setting" you're being a bigoted piece of shit. just to be super clear. and because my adderall is in full effect rn i will even do you the favor of going over some reasons why your reasoning is not only flawed and inaccurate to begin with, but extremely harmful to entire groups of people you claim to care about.

"that doesn't exist" first of all, who fucking cares if a piece of media has never depicted a lesbian or a nonbinary person or a black person in xyz region/world? just because the creators didn't do it doesn't make it Canonical Law. also, regardless of how fantastical and fictional a setting is, its audience will ALWAYS be from planet earth where lesbians and nonbinary people and black people exist, and those people's feelings and their deservingness to see and put themselves in their favorite stories IS, in fact, more important than some white-ass cishet make believe world.

"it wouldn't be allowed" subtler issue, but an issue nonetheless. just because the setting is hostile TO certain groups of people does not mean those people do not exist there. ask yourself, what is so important to you about certain kinds of people either not existing period, or having to be miserable (closet themselves, conceal certain features, etc), in a given setting. why is that so important to you. why do you think these people can only exist if they hate themselves and/or live their lives suffocated by the world around them. why is it so "lore incompliant" or "immersion breaking" to you. why are you so concerned with upholding real or perceived prejudices in a fictional society if you claim to care about the real people who these prejudices affect. "realism"? see point one.

NONE of the reasons you make up to justify your reinforcement of real world bigotry in a pretend world are even reasons that would ACTUALLY bar xyz group of people from existing in said world. ishgard only shut its gates to the rest of the world for 15 years before ARR. old sharlayan accepted people from tural into its closed society. the ancients could literally conjure up whatever the fuck they wanted inside and outside their bodies. fantasias are a canonical item in the game, as per the quest that literally talks about them and then gives you one. there are HUNDREDS of perfectly lore compliant ways any given type of person could be in any given setting. but more importantly, people shouldn't need to justify why things like sexuality or skin color CAN exist in a given setting, because if you're not harboring some very bigoted ideas about how minorities are allowed to or "supposed" to exist, you don't fucking care about shit like this. it's stupid, inaccurate, and most of all, just plain cruel to the very real people behind these characters.

racism, transphobia, etc already exist in staggering abundance in the real world; you do not need to enforce that cruelty in a random fucking video game unless you have some very fucked up feelings about those groups of people festering in your brain. if you're not a member of those groups, shame on you, do better to support your fellow human beings. if you ARE a member of those groups, i am so fucking sorry the world has rotted your sense of self so deeply as to make you believe you can only exist in misery. i really, sincerely hope you're able to work through that and know that your existence is an inherently joyful, beautiful thing, and people like you deserve to get to exist peacefully, everywhere in the real world and in any and all fictional settings. i know finding worth in ourselves is too often an extremely difficult process, so i ask instead that you start with others like you. be kind to them, support them, find things about them that you admire, and try to see yourself in them. you deserve to get to heal from the insidious, evil things this world has poisoned your heart with.

[staytinyville]

OUTLAW (25)

ATEEZ poly!ot8 x Reader

Cowboy AU / Wild West

Series Masterlist

Warning: none, another spicy chapter you already knoooow

A/N BETA READ (@mariana-mmtz). Tell me more. We love Jongho my boy needs more love. Turn it up for him!! Also yes. I too would click quickly on updated stories lol. Thank you for liking it so much!

For all 9 people to be packed into one tent, there wasn’t much room to move about. If someone were to trip, the entire tarp was going to come down. However, each one of you were beyond worried and wanted to hear first hand what the diagnosis for Jongho was. 

“Out of all the weapons those gang members have, you get injured from falling into a hole.” Yeosang had a deep set frown, harshly wrapping Jongho’s knee between two sticks while still being gentle.

“At least he took out that one guy with him.” Wooyoung pointed out. 

It seemed that the story went; Jongho was throwing punches with a guy when he stepped into a hole and his ankle twisted. From doing this, his knee gave out on him, which made him fall. While being on the floor he took the chance to pull on his assailant’s leg to trip him. From there, Jongho was able to find a branch and beat him with it.

“I'm fine.” Jongho winced when Yeosang lightly pressed his fingers into the side of the knee in warning.

“Jongho, your leg is purple.” Yeosang sighed. “You probably irritated your old injury.”

Yeosang stood up after placing Jongho’s leg down onto the bedspread. The boy had been brought in to lay down, the others making sure he was off the injury. 

“I wouldn't be surprised if it's a sprain. You should be fine in a couple of days if that's the case, though.” Yeosang explained. “Just keep off it and wrapped tightly. No leaving the bed for today and tomorrow. You can start to walk on crutches in a few days.”

“But we have things to do-” Yeosang held up a finger to stop Jongho.

“We do.” The man pointed to himself and the others. “You can rest here for the time being.” The look in his eyes held no room for an argument. 

You knew Yeosang was the one who cared for them when in a medical emergency and you could see he took his expertise very seriously. The others seemed to also be wary of him when he was acting as doctor. They looked like they wouldn’t dare to go against Yeosang’s orders.

“What am I supposed to do?” Jongho pouted, crossing his arms.

“Nothing!” Wooyoung exclaimed with a smile. “Enjoy your time. Sounds like you'll be having a blast!”

“I'm sorry, Jongho.” Yeosang sighed. “I know you get antsy, but you have to stay in bed tomorrow.” 

Yeosang’s words only made Jongho’s pout deepen. “What if I need to pee?”

“One of us will take care of you.” The boys who were near you suddenly cringed, silently groaning. “Don't worry.” Yeosang added. 

“I'll take care of him.” You spoke up, moving the boys aside to reach Jongho. 

You came up beside Yeosang, the boy looking down at you with furrowed eyebrows. By the look on Jongho’s face, the older boy knew the younger one was not too excited about you taking care of him. 

“You sure?” He asked you.

“Yeah, don't worry about it.” You gave Yeosang a reassuring smile. “If I need help I'll be sure to call for one of you.” You looked at the others, giving them the same smile.

“Alright then. Sounds like a plan.” Wooyoung slapped the person next to him on the shoulder. Mingi squeaked, giving Wooyoung the side eye.

As the boys all shuffled out, making sure to tell Jongho to listen, Yunho walked closer to you. “If he makes you upset, don't be afraid to come to one of us.” He told you softly.

While you weren’t upset with the boy, he knew that Jongho was holding some kind of resentment towards you after that night. It was a stupid reason, but hopefully you both could solve it with the time you spend with him. 

“I'll be fine.” You told Yunho. He hummed, turning around to leave the two of you alone.

There was a moment of awkward silence as the two of you were alone in the tent. You looked around for a bit, taking note of everything before wanting to make small talk. “Would you like anything?” You asked. 

“No.” He immediately told you. 

He kept his eyes on his leg, poking at it as he messed with the pain it gave him. He didn’t flinch or make a sound, so you knew he would stop right before things got too painful. 

“Seonghwa is making dinner. I'll bring it to you when it finishes.” You told him, turning around to leave, but you stopped short.

He hadn’t given you an answer when you reached the door so you whipped back around to look at him. “Are you mad at me?” You spoke up, almost shouting it, as you didn’t have a proper hold on your emotions. 

Jongho’s head whipped up to look at you, a confused expression on his face. “Where would you get that?” He shook his head. 

While his words were meant to deter you from thinking he was in fact mad, the way he looked at you made you think otherwise.

“You've been avoiding me since last night. I wanted to speak with you.” You looked down, fiddling with your fingers.

“You're speaking now.” Jongho shrugged. 

“Jongho.” You told him exaggeratedly, getting annoyed with the way he seemed to dodge your questions. 

He looked away from your glare, jaw clenching as he tried to come up with what to say. “Sorry. I'm just annoyed.” He sighed. 

You huffed as you looked at his knee. “It's only for one day. You can move again soon.” You told him. “Yeosang said you irritated your old wound. Have you hurt your leg before?” You asked him quietly

“Yeah.” Jongho sighed. “It's sensitive to certain movements.” He moved his knee a bit, wincing from a surge of pain.

“I see.” You nodded your head. You looked around once more, dropping your shoulders when he wasn’t going to talk more to you. “I'll leave you to it then.” You turned around, planning to actually leave this time. 

However, he was the one who called out to you. “Why are you still here?” He asked you. You whipped your head around to look at him, confused. “You could be at home in a nice bed, working in the hotel.”

Your jaw ticked as you looked down. There was a growing pain in your chest at his words that made tears almost pool in your eyes. “Do you want me gone?” You asked him quietly. 

Jongho began to frown at your tone. It hurt him to have you think he didn’t want you to stay. To stay by their sides. He knows the other’s would be happy with the way he was speaking to you, but all he could think about was the smile on your face if you were to have a better life. 

“No.” He answered, looking down at his lap. 

“Then why are you pushing me to leave?” You walked over to his side, falling down onto your knees to sit next to him. 

“Because you don't deserve this.” Jongho admitted to you.

You knew where he was coming from, but all of a sudden you felt angry with how he was choosing things for you.”Why do you get to choose what I deserve? Better yet, how could you know what I deserve?” You told him. “You don't know me.”

“You don't know us either!” Jongho retorted. 

“What if I want to!?” You suddenly asked. You took in a deep breath, trying to calm down as tears pooled in your eyes. “You-You all make me feel like I'm somebody. Like I'm meant to be here.” You admitted to him. 

“I have never once ever made a friend who didn't belittle me for the way I thought or acted. You guys don't make me feel like I'm the strange one. But you keep saying I don't deserve this, which means I don't deserve to be happy.” You looked down, hands clenching your pants. 

Jongho suddenly felt lost for words, realizing how harsh he was being with you. “I didn't mean that-” 

“But you still keep pushing me away.” You cried. “It hurts to have you think that.” You sniffled lightly. 

He tried to scoot closer to you, to bring you into his arms in a hug. When you noticed his movements, you were quick to allow yourself to fall forward. “Love, I'm sorry. That's not what I want.” He whispered into your hair.

“Then why are you doing it?” You asked quietly, your words muffled by his shirt. 

Jongho pursed his lip, looking up at the roof before leaning back down to pull you closer to him. “Because it'll make me selfish to keep you here.”

You pulled back to look at him. “Aren't we all selfish?”

“Not you.” He shook his head, hand running over your cheek. “Never you.”

You saw his eyes flicker down to your lips, which prompted you to do the same. “How would you know?” You asked him. 

“Because I know you.” He pulled you closer, his nose rubbing against yours. “No matter what you do, you'll always think about others first.”

With a suction of breath, you pulled yourself to touch his lips with yours. His hands were warm as they moved to your neck and pulled you closer. You noticed how his kiss was soft yet demanding. He wanted you to know that, while he was sweet about it, he was the one moving you along. 

You raised to your knees to get closer to him, which led him to place his hand on your waist. As you shuffled closer, his hands bunched up your shirt. Jongho didn’t use his tongue like the others had, which made you lick his lips just the tiniest of bits. He suddenly sucked in a breath as his nostrils flared from the contact. 

Your eyes flew open as he suddenly gripped your waist around his arm and moved you to fall into his lap. You squeaked, but Jongho didn’t allow you to pull back from him. With his other arm, he made sure to keep your head close to his. He didn’t want you to break the kiss and you knew that. 

You began to pant as his mouth only seemed to push you along, lifting your hips up to get more comfortable in the man’s lap. Before you realize it, you swing one leg over Jongho’s thighs, straddling him. Jongho took advantage of the position to place both hands on your back and pull you closer. His good knee lifted, which caused you to shift further up his legs. 

You pulled your lips from Jongho’s, however the man took the invitation to continue kissing down your jaw. Your head fell back as the new sensations left shivers going down your spine. Your fingers moved to the back of his neck, hands finding their way into his shirt to feel his heated skin. You stuck your hand down the back of his shirt, nails scratching lightly. 

Your other hand went to his scalp, digging into his hair. When his lips suddenly touched your collar bone, you leaned back onto his lifted knee, causing him to pull forward. As you did so, you let out a moan from the juncture between your thighs rubbing up against him. Your eyes went wide as you both stared up at each other. 

“Sheesh, Love.” He returned to your mouth like a starved man this time around. 

He wasn’t careful anymore–he allowed his hands to roam every part of your covered body as they pleased. Jongho grabbed fistfuls of the side of your thighs, digging you deeper onto his lap. You fell forward, feeling the pressure on your most sensitive area. It left you panting and wanting to rub against it more. 

However, you were quickly stopped when you realized just how fast you were going. The build up was already coming up on you, which made you pull back from Jongho as you tried to calm down your racing heart. 

He allowed you to lay your head down on his shoulders, feeling your thighs twitch on his as you tried to come down from the stimulation. He frowned to himself as he noticed how sensitive you truly were, deciding to soothe your skin by rubbing your back.  

“Are you okay?” He asked you quietly.

“Yeah,” You answered. “I’ve just never done that before.” You pulled back from him, suddenly feeling something between your legs. 

Your eyes went wide and you made quick work of getting off him. “I’m so sorry!” You gasped, falling backwards. 

“Hey, it’s okay.” Jongho frowned, watching your flushed face. When he noticed how you seemed to shy away from him, he came up with a conclusion. “Have you never done any of that before?” He asked you, tilting his head. 

You shook your head slowly. “I had my first kiss with Mingi.”

Jongho’s eyes suddenly went wide as his hands dropped beside him. “Well, that’s kind of important.”

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@thefrog3223 , @iarayara , @0rangemilk , @explorewithd , @detectivedoodle , @bangtanxberm , @a1i33a , @loveforred , @drunken-deitence , @0325tiny , @the-ghostest-with-the-mostest , @atinyreads , @atinytinaa , @lexiigom , @smilingtokki , @mismatchfluffysocks , @brain-empty-only-draken , @sousydive , @alex-tinyy , @h3arteyes4mingi , @onedumbho3 , @popcatx0 , @blue1amory , @mommahwa1117 , @sunnyhokyu , @cloudieclair , @araknoid , @starjoongi1117 , @chel-awingcherry , @puppyminnnie ,

[futurecorps3]

okay but imagine meeting nikolai at a masquerade ball :00

𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞

Masterlist<3

Summary: A pleasant surprise in the masquerade's ball. Pairing: Nikolai Lantsov x fem!reader Warnings: None I think!! Word Count: 1.4K Requested: Yes

A/N: THE ROMANCE THAT MASQUERADES CARRY HAS ME ON A CHOKEHOLD SINCE I SAW THIS REQUEST TYSM NONNIE! hope u like it and don't mind it's a bit short. <3

˚ · • . ° .

The corset was far too tight. She didn't get to wear her favorite color. The heels were killing her. More than two men had already approached her with terrible openers and she just wanted to go home. Y/N was really trying not to be selfish. She truly was; this night was very special for her father, as the masquerade ball was the first royal event her family could attend.

After years of bad luck with her parents' work, somehow, with savings and a recent escalade of people needing construction materials from all over the continent, they developed a small fortune into a big family-owned business that produced lots of money, meaning they went from being a middle-class family in Os Alta to making business with nobles on behalf of the king.

Word got around, and long-story short, his youngest daughter was forced to attend this ball with her parents. Looking around the room, there was no way they fit in here, but it was a dream of her father's, so she opted to get a tad tipsy with champagne and dance a little before she could go home. The room smelt like booze, expensive perfume, and laughter could be heard from every corner.

What did they find so amusing? From her point of view, the things she now had to get used to were pointless, boring and merely there to make positive appearances with the royal family, who wouldn't bat an eye at them, scarcely noticing their attempts. The girl sighed, watching some other boy in a fancy suit and golden mask approach her from the front, ready to reject him "nicely" as her father had suggested.

Then, a voice.

"This is all incredibly stupid." Simple.

Y/N turned around, finding a blonde head of hair with a blue mask staring at her. He was sporting a uniform like jacket with some medals over it and golden details all over... a general's son, surely. She wasn't sure if he was speaking to her or just wondering out loud since he was sweaty and short of breath, probably from dancing. However, he seemed to have read her mind, and that was enough to start a conversation.

"It is, people trying to impress people who won't even look at them directly in the eye." She chuckled, sinking into her glass of champagne, to which the boy gave a surprised stare. "You seem to have it against the royal family". Oh no. This was in no way a good start, or the setting to voice her complaints about the general injustice lived in her country.

"No! Not at all! I just-" "It's okay. I get it. They think they're too good for anyone, even though all these people are the backbone of their country, not the institution they represent. Ravka would be nothing without its people". A sigh of relief. Did this mystery man get it? He surely wasn't poor or looked like he could care less about social injustice and unfair judgments.

"How would you know?" She questioned, and he was amused, very amused. "Well, let's say I've done my own research over this land, contrary to my family's wishes". His family's wishes? Military men and women came from usually underprivileged areas. Maybe he was the son of some snobbish general who didn't want his precious boy to hang around peasants, but he decided against it.

Suddenly, he enveloped her hand in his, kissing the back of it while looking into her eyes. "Nikolai Lantsov", he introduced himself, lowering it back next to a seemingly limp body.

Oh.

People said he'd show up, but no one really believed it after many failed reunions who promised the prince's attendance. She should bow, her mom told her that she should if she ran into some member of the royal family. Her body reacted to her thoughts, grabbing a fistful of fabric around her and bending her knees in a polite bow. "Moi tsarevich... I'm so sorry, you must know I don't think sorely of our king and queen, it was merely an observation. Apologies".

Nikolai was awfully quiet. Y/N's head was down and all she could see were his shoes and people passing by. Then he laughed. He laughed. "Come on, dear, get up" he offered her his hand and stood straight once again, red in her cheeks. "First of all, call me Nikolai-" "Y/N" "-call me Nikolai, Y/N. Second, no need to apologize as I do think sorely of my family's ruling over the country. And third, that's not how I wanted to make you blush so please calm down, it's okay".

How could that ever be okay? Yes, the younger prince was greatly known for having major discrepancies with his parents and the model of government that was being followed, but it was only okay if HE said it. Not some random girl who just showed up and ran her mouth over the literal king and queen of her nation. She always found a way of fucking up.

"I always talk too much, I'm really sorry moi tsa-" "Nikolai". It felt wrong in her mouth, to be on first-name terms with such an important figure. She said it anyway, that charming smile of his making her weak on the knees and forgetting any kind of stupid hierarchy she was supposed to follow. "Nikolai".

"Why do you assume that's a bad thing?" he said, taking two glasses of whiskey from a waiter who was passing by, downing one and giving her the other "Hm?". She didn't quite hear the question, too focused on how his hands looked with so many pretty rings to the way his eyebrows furrowed briefly at the burning liquid. "Why do you assume talking too much is a bad thing?"

Well, that was new. This entire exchange was, really.

"Well I-" no words. She didn't know. He laughed. "You've been told it is, and I think it to be awfully human, therefore awfully lovely. We like being heard, and there is no reason why we shouldn't be". Another blush crept up her cheeks. Was he always like this? Y/N found, years later, that he had a certain fixation on questioning anything and everything around him.

He questioned limits, pre-impossed ideas, authority, words and virtually anything those beautiful blue eyes laid. Nikolai was that kind of special you find once in your life. "Do you uhm... want to get out of here?" she spat, not really thinking anymore. She wanted more of that. Whatever spell his charm casted upon her was doing wonders. "To where, exactly, darling?" he said, raising his left eyebrow slightly.

Teasingly.

"No, no! By no means am I suggesting something of such nature... I just want to talk to you" "We already are, love" "I'm aware, love. I mean, away from the noise and all these creepily masked people". Silence for a tiny moment. Then he offered his arm out to her, placing the glass he was holding previously on a table and directing his new acquaintance to the back exit.

When they got to the garden, the moon was up and she was the only witness to such an enchanting night for the young prince and the girl. At the time, their lifes didn't fit at all. Two opposites. But oh did their souls knew how to dance. Nikolai found himself at peace, away from the facade he kept around and the appearances to be kept long forgotten as he laughed with Y/N.

"You talk like a book," he said, smiling as they sat near one of the many fountains. You could hear the water streaming down cobblestones and some noises coming from the bushes, the noise from the party becoming merely a background behind their chat. Y/n couldn't help but laugh. "What is that supposed to mean?". Their thighs were touching and she could feel Nikolai tense up a little.

"You do! There are some... things you say that seem taken out of a poetry book." "Like what?" Her cheeks warmed at that, waiting eagerly for an answer to one of the most creative observations someone had made about her. "You said that if love isn't passionate and extraordinary, then it's a waste of time because there are too many mediocre things in life and love shouldn't be one of them" "It's just what I think" she shyly replied, fidgeting with her mask, long gone since they started their walk.

"Then that pretty little mind of yours must be a thrill to discover" "Would you?" "What?" "Like to discover it" "I'd love to, dear" Nikolai smiled sweetly, blue orbs swimming in hers. It was the night the fox found shelter. The night they fell in love.

[44-mr-midnight-44]

"(FUCK YOU YOU AQUAMARINE ANGRY LITTLE SHIT!)"

Atop the tall podium, rinsed in an iridescent, golden hue, a celestial rim washing down each corner; trimmed by a dusty silver, shivering with a pearly shine.

"[WHAT DID I DO, HUH? EXACTLY WHAT? DID I STAND WRONG? DID MY EYESIGHT MAKE YOU JEALOUS? AM I OFFENDING YOU WITH MY ABILITY TO SHUT UP?]"

The audience, cornered in the nooks of their seats, twitched and bowed at the rancorous uproar.

"(WELL IIIIIII'M SORRY, I HAD TO CARRY US ALLLLLL THE WAY HERE, YOU GODDAMN CUCK!)"

"Guys…" A well-heighted man, head the shape and hue of a noble planet. "You both won, you don't have to–"

"[WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'CARRY', YOU TURKEY-BRAINED BODY ODOUR-FRAGRANTED PURPLE MASS OF DEPRESSED RODENTS?]" Mind tightly roared from the crease of his lips, whipping his brand new sun trophy onto the podium; a hard, metallic clatter snapping into the flooring. "[IF IT WEREN'T FOR ME, WE WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE INFORMATION OUT THERE ABOUT OUR RIGHTS TO THIS SEAT!]"

"(ARE YOU KIDDING? EVERY CHONNY JASH FAN LOVES ME! I'VE GOT FUCKING APOLOGISTS! YOU'VE GOT PEOPLE WHO FRAME YOU AS THE NARRATIVE'S VILLAIN 'COS YOU SUCK THAT BAD!)"

"[YEAH, AND WHO WAS THE ONE WHO SET UP YOUR KEYBOARDS? AND TRANSLATED SHEET MUSIC INTO SOMETHING YOUR SORRY ASS COULD UNDERSTAND? AND–]"

"(SHUT–)"

"[AND FIGURED OUT HOW TO SET UP YOUR STUPID FUCKING AIR-CONDITIONER, BECAUSE–]"

"(I PAY FOR YOUR PAINKILLER PRESCRIPTION!)"

"['(OHHHHH, I CAN'T FOCUS IN THE HEAT! BUT I WEAR BAGGY HOODIES AND TWO-LAYERED PYJAMAS AND)–']"

"(AT LEAST I DON'T EAT MY GOLDFISHES!)"

"[AT LEAST I DON'T PLAY FNAF SONGS ON THE PIANO AT FOUR IN THE GODDAMN MORNING!]"

"(I WROTE THE BEST SONGS FOR OUR ALBUM! WITHOUT ME, OUR STORY OF HOW WE SUFFERED (MOSTLY BECAUSE OF YOU) WOULD'VE NEVER BEEN KNOWN!)"

"[NAME ONE PERSON WHO USES GOOD DAY AS AUDIO!]"

Words torn from mouth and crashing into each timorous ear surrounding the two, pronounced in a very ired, Australian tongue.

Arms furiously stretched and swung and feet stamped to enunciate visible outrage.

"Yeesh, Moon… I always thought our relationship was bad, but it seems like sun and moons across the universe can get so much worse…" Sun shivered, a quick tug on his coarse yet metallic collar, punctuated by a swift glance to his lunar counterpart. "Over where we're from, we have to deal with living in a giant animatronic mall and occasionally the works of cross-dimensional madness. But over there, it seems to me they really need to learn a lesson about getting along!"

"I could take them in a fight with a small dresser tied to my dominant hand." Moon stared, unblinking, body as stiff as a long rock.

The other contestants watched as the words were rocked and tossed in a staggering hatred.

At one point, Heart's wings had enlarged to mimic that of a threatened bird inflating its stance to appear larger; Mind's chest hummed with the overwork of his fans.

Suns and moons from all sorts of solar systems stationed across the multiverse watched in horror.

Two of them were those guys from Nimona, but I don't know dick about shit about Nimona so you gotta use your imagination for that one.

"Right right, you two have your trophy, just…" The celestial staff member disarmingly motioned their hands, gazing down at the two halves. "What are you going to do with your prize money?"

"(Oh, I'm probably gonna use it on an invasive wildflower and a seven hundred AUD life-sized Lopunny plush.)"

"[To pay off my severe prescription zolmitriptan debt that I'm four months behind on because I spent half my yearly salary on a car that I ended up crashing because of a migraine.]"

Happy tiny niche fandom winning against FNaF and Nimona for all who celebrate

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