#THE LANGUAGE USAGE IS COOL TOO

[startistdoodles]

Would be cool if Porygon2 had an alternative evo where it becomes what it was supposed to look like and do as the next stage of Porygon's evo line ever-evolving programming, who knows what cool things an hypothetical Porygon3 could do. Like being able to understand and communicate with both humans and Pokémon, like a translator? And maybe it could resemble a living being more both in behaviour and appearance!

Omg I love this idea!! I came up with a little design and even made a bit of lore too :)

With many recent advances in technology, Silph Co. is happy to announce their latest upgrade to Porygon2: PorygonHD!

Its antenna allows it to connect to the internet and access a special database that contains information it can use to assist its trainer. So far, this database includes language, identification of objects/plants and basic healthcare, but Silph Co. will continue to add more information so your PorygonHD can be as helpul as possible.

Please note that frequent usage of this database requires lots of energy. This will result in your PorygonHD running low on energy and sleeping to recharge.

Additionally, Silph Co. has sent out this warning: Trainers, please refrain from allowing your PorygonHD to be in close contact with a Porygon-Z. It appears that contact with each other may result in your PorygonHD getting a virus and corrupting as well. Please be cautious until engineers can develop a patch update. Thank you.

[girlyholic]

Discussing the Harm of the Overuse of Jirai in Western Spaces

With everything that has happened this year, it seems the word Jirai has taken on a life of its own in the western Jfashion comms. Between the claims that it's an insult that's been reclaimed, a mental health movement, and everything in between, it seems that pointing out the word's origins and associations do very little to bring awareness to the harm of the word anymore.

So instead, I thought it would be good to focus on the consequences "landmine" is currently having as more and more people use it, believing that it's a harmless, reclaimed word.

I will also no longer be using the word Jirai in excess for this post, and potentially in the future, as I think overuse of the word in its original language has contributed somewhat to positive perceptions of the word online.

The first topic to tackle is that of... The word itself, meaning "landmine".

I implore you all to think of it this way: if you called a complete stranger a landmine, like, the literal word landmine, how do you think they would react?

What I’ve noticed is that there are people overseas who think it’s cool to use to describe themselves as a landmine, and therefore everyone else must be fine with being called a landmine too. I presume most of the time it’s under the assumption that, because they think it has been reclaimed, it means other people must be fine with it too. And of course, when you're just using what you think is a kawaii Japanese word, it's easier to not think critically about what it actually means.

Anyone not in-the-loop about an offensive term also being used by some people to describe themselves would be offended by being called a ticking time bomb in another language, if they ever found out that’s what it meant. I don’t think anyone outside of the internet would look at this whole landmine discourse and comes out of it with the conclusion “oh well, if some people use it in a positive manner, it must be no longer negative”.

And before anyone tries to argue with me about how this is a stupid point, or that I’m being pedantic, I would like you to consider why you feel the need to argue about calling strangers a landmine. What, because some people on the internet have decided it’s a good way to describe themselves, it’s suddenly fine to go out and call strangers that?

It's to the point where the word has become so diluted and seen as okay to use overseas, everything and everyone is apparently Jirai for the most arbitrary traits. This happens all the time, with internet users describing irl people and other things as being a landmine for no reason besides appearances, the most obvious "landmine trait” being the presence of Girly fashion.

I keep seeing people calling Japanese girls landmines solely over wearing Girly outfits in dark colors as well as any other other alternative fashion. Liking Sanrio makes you a landmine now, too. The Nightcord girls from Project Sekai are apparently "iconic landmines" because of the fact they wear Girly and have visible mental struggles. The list could go on forever.

All of the things that are now being associated with Jirai have been around way longer than its current usage, and labeling someone as "landmine" based on appearance, personality traits, online behavior, or favorite characters, is what gave birth to the misogynist stereotype in the first place. The word was already linked to a highly stereotyped depiction of mentally-ill people, but directly linking it to real-life mental illnesses or media depicting them also has effects on how mental illness is perceived in the real world.

What people need to understand is that there’s absolutely no positive reclaiming happening with the term in Japan, and it in fact, continues to hurt mentally ill people. And I’m not just talking about the self-harm within the stereotype, I’m talking about things like the fact that the overuse of the word has destroyed trigger warnings in Japan, as 地雷 used to be term for that purpose, or the fact that the throwaway usage has made it easier for others to get away with discrimination. All of these things aren’t being taken seriously in the West because it’s not as observable or immediately obvious to most people overseas.

There's Japanese posts all over Twitter dunking on girls for exhibiting "landmine behavior", and then it turns out the OP just thinks girls who like idols and anime are annoying, which means they must be mentally-ill. Not to mention all of the self-harm accounts, which then get parodied by people who think that's funny to joke about.

While on that topic, I've also noticed that some people overseas referring to themselves as Jirai love to act like they're so much better than those who exhibit "bad landmine behavior", such as those who have heavy mood swings, abuse drugs, self-harm, do sex work, etc. They want to use Jirai, a stereotype making fun of Japanese women with mental illnesses, for themselves, but good thing they’re not like those people, am I right? This is what the whole sentiment surrounding “bad landmines” looks like.

Acting high and mighty about being "good" and looking down upon all “bad” landmines on the internet doesn't negate the fact that such people still exist, and the fact that they are not lesser than anyone. I cannot believe this discourse has become a battle of who thinks they are more morally correct when this is all about a word that people have been and are being harmed by. Dismissing the realities of the landmine stereotype in order to use it without feeling bad is not doing anything good or making the word positive.

All I ask is for people to please reconsider using Jirai. Using it is not contributing to something positive, but rather, it is furthering the reach of a term that continues to hurt real people more than it helps anyone.

[stargirlstudio]

Citrine and Sapphire [Part 1]

☆ Aemond Targaryen x Princess of Leng!Reader

☆ Physical attributes canon to Lengii people (golden eyes, black hair, skin tone is implied to be darker than pale - but non specified)

☆ 1st/3rd POV, she/her pronoun usage, no y/n

☆ WC: 3k

☆ Summary: A princess from the Isle of Leng sets off on a journey to Westeros in search of adventure and knowledge, but other players are out for their own agenda. Aemond Targaryen, the shy boy who eventually becomes her friend and greatest ally, is more similar to her than she thinks.

☆ Guide:

[ ] - Lengii language

{ } - YiTish language

Part 2 ⇨

If the princess had known the journey to Westeros would be this long and arduous, she would have planted myself in the sands of the docks and never left. Traversing through the rich provinces of YiTi was fun, familiar even.

The sea journey provided a temporary solace from the bustle of the people on land but soon gave me the worst temperament. She woke up and went to sleep with a pit in her stomach �� She was not a mariner. There can only be so much gruel and dried shrimp she can eat. A servant in the back of the ship expelled what seemed to be this morning’s meal — rice porridge and salted egg. Rice porridge, while a commoner’s dish, used to be her favorite meal to wake up to. Leng’s thousand suns, as they say, sweltering outside while they get to eat the soft meal with leaves fanning their back. Roasted and dried YiTish salmon and fermented vegetables on the side. She despised the smell bile produces, mixed with the saltiness of the dark sea. The water would mist into her mouth, and sometimes if she closed my eyes, she could taste the salty radish.

Many times she prayed to the Old Ones when large waves drowned the deck. The YiTish sailor screamed what she assumed to be a word a princess should not repeat at his fellow sea folk. Leng servants rushed underground, wet with their fabrics clinging to their skin. Today is the day of her birth, but no one knew that except her handmaidens. If she were home, she would eat all the sweets she wanted. Roast pig and quail would be on the table. Though, not too fond of quail, but she would do anything to take a bite.

Her fathers would be playing with her, and her mother would be dancing. The princess’s brothers would be chasing her sister around. [“I want to go home!”] She cried. The older handmaidens wiped her tears and told her to sleep. A man with dark hair and a prominent brow ridge ran past the window. [“The window is going to break!”] She panicked and cried. Snot ran down her nose and chin. Her chest hurt from the wailing. She should be brave, but the young girl not stop herself. The screaming from below and above only made it worse. The maidens, wide-eyed and frightened, take a step back. The only one who does not is the oldest maiden - with her graying, straight hair. Deep wrinkles in the fat of her face and eye bags protruding further than her own eyes.

[“Whoever let the princess course on waters should be fed to the hogs,”] One of the newer handmaidens spoke.

The older handmaiden spoke softly, {“Would you like the sleep milk?”} The princess continued to sob, not paying attention to her question. She sighed and walked over to the chest. A blood-curdling scream came from outside, and she battled to drown out the others. The older handmaiden sat next to her and tapped on her lips. She opened her mouth before the cool white liquid droplets melted on her tongue.

Sleep milk was the only thing that could calm her down. After her fall…She used it to temper her dreams. The medicinal women have told her that when she fell off the cliff years ago, it must have caused terrible dreams. The milk helps her fall into a deep sleep when she panics. She doesn’t know how long she can be like this, but her mind sullies those thoughts as she falls asleep.

Three weeks later, flies buzzed beneath the deck - a rotten stench coming in waves as the latch opened and closed. I stare at the open latch, nothing to be seen but darkness. Two men carried a servant, her skin was gray, and her body was stiff. The whites of her eyes yellowed, and a green liquid fell from them, staining her face. A trail of the same color liquid trailed from her ears, sticking her hair to her face.

“Do not look at them, Princess,” Xhoha said as he turned my seat around. “You do not need to see that,” Xhoha was my advisor. My mother insisted I needed someone fluent in Westerosi and familiar with their culture. Xhoha was from the Free Cities but traveled around. He will not tell me what he did before he came to Leng.

[“Will we have Westerosi lessons again?”] I asked.

Xhoha sighed, “Remember, it is called Common Tongue. We will have more lessons than usual to prepare. Food poisoning swept through the ship. We are docking at Qarth. We were lucky to even make it this far from Leng,”

[“Did you say you were from Qarth?”] I asked. He chuckled, plastering a grin.

“If this is another attempt at you trying to get details of my life, I guess I’ll give you some satisfaction. No, I’m from Pentos. The closest Free City to Westeros,” He mused. [“Let us start speaking in Common Tongue,”]

I nodded. Common Tongue has made no sense to me. I struggle with every word; Xhoha remarked that I sound Dornish when I speak Common Tongue. He is highly insistent that I should try my best to adopt the dialect spoken in King’s Landing. He pulled out a Westeros map and tried his hardest to teach me about each city and its notable people, but every detail mixed with another. I have only held onto the reliance of Westerosi people from the texts given to me by monks.

The most extensive text is on Corlys Velaryon, who is still alive. I traced the indented lettering on the book, The Snake of the Seas, by Monk Hattenu. A young man with hair of alabaster set his feet upon the Leng sands. With a YiTish translator by his side, he negotiated agreements. For resources, he would offer a favor — of any kind so long as it was reasonable. In the personal texts saved by the monks, in my aunt’s diary, it seemed that she was…smitten with him.

The priestess aboard the boat had come to interrupt my lessons, “Pardon me, your majesty, it is time for you to pray,” She said. I nodded and hopped off my chair.

“We will continue after you are done,” He said. I followed her to the back of the boat, weaving my way around the men carrying bodies. The stench was foul. The priestess and I sat on our knees, facing eastward to home. I followed her movements as I picked up the reserved sand creating an arch around me.

“Princess, who shall we pray to today?” The Priestess asked. “I suggest Ah’Vannika for the health of those on board. Or Ah’Jan for safe travels,” She suggested. The Old Ones are the gods I pray to in Leng. It is believed they live beneath us. There is no gender assignment to the gods we revere, as they come in many forms. Ah’Vannika - the god of health, may come to someone as a hummingbird. A woman cloaked in white or an old man with a gray eye. In a coastal Lengii city, the people wear white and silver to honor Ah’Vannika. I have my doubts about the Old Ones. Some have claimed to see the form of a god, but who’s to say their form isn’t just some regular person? Or maybe someone is lying?

“I think Ah’Jan has heard enough prayers for our safe travels,” I said meekly. “Let us pray to Ah’Kasaya, for good weather?” The Priestess nodded. “And Ah’Vannika for good health,”

That night, I tossed and turned in my bed. I was watching the sea mist rain against the window. I closed my eyes, covering my ears to drown out the crashing waves. My mind blanks, and suddenly, I’m falling to my death, the cold and dark waters engulfing me. A hand grabs my ankle and pulls me deeper until I wake up screaming again.

Aemond’s POV

Aemond stood with his family on the day of the Princess’s arrival. The young prince felt nervous, he knew of the delays but now that the guest us finally here he did not know what to do.

“More than half of her servants, unfortunately, passed away from this illness,” Viserys continued. “The Maesters suspect that perhaps they are not used to the known world, succumbing easily to such illnesses,” The room had fallen silent. Aemond’s mother, Alicent, silently moved the food around. “Horrible really, the letter spoke of yellowed eyes and fluids coming out of every orifice. Awful…,”

“The princess may not come at all if she also falls ill,” Aegon jokes.

“The God-Empress of the Isle of Leng has been kind enough to extend her hand. The isolationist Leng has made a pact with House Velaryon for Corlys Velaryon’s kindness during his Nine Voyages,” The stout man says. A cheer erupts amongst the crowd - much to the man’s annoyance. He continues, “God-Empress Citra welcomes you to a ceremonial performance and for you all to welcome her daughter, second to the throne, the princess,”

Performers with white face paint and bold makeup came fluttering in. Their flowing gowns and tilting hands excited the guests. The music, a solemn fanfare, transitioned to string-dominated and hopeful melodies. Gasps came from all sides of the room. Aemond glanced at his older brother, his smile curving upwards. One of the performers supplanted themselves before the family. A cloth held up by their fingers blocked their faces. The performer, with their red dipped fingertips, danced the fabric in front of them before dropping and making a funny face. They watched as the performers circled the other people, interacting with them and causing them to laugh until they disappeared into the entrance.

Numerous performers, YiTish and Lengii, came back into the hall and out. Some animals that had survived the journey were also shown off to King Viserys. A striped stallion and a baby spotted back ape, like the ones in the books the Maester had him read, were also shown. The ape had started causing some trouble, but it was quickly forgotten amongst the existing performances. Halaena, who usually had her head turned away, was entranced by the spider performer, which seemed to be two women holding a rattan-crafted spider body. She giggled at their slow movements and their jolts.

The dancers all began to leave in two lines which tall guards quickly replaced. They formed into two lines blocking the guests - creating a direct pathway to the family. The music slowed, and the musicians bowed their heads slightly. Aemond squinted to see four girls walk in. He focused on the one in the front, who could not be older than him. The three other girls mimicked the same head bow as the musicians and the guards, while the youngest girl held her head high—her crown, with peaks no longer than her face, accompanied by weaved flowers in her dark hair. Her golden eyes match the crown on her head. Deep red fabric draped around her.

“I’m surprised. I think we all thought she would be old,” He paused, lowering his head closer to Aemond’s ear. “The seafarers get younger and younger,” Aemond ignored his brother, watching the princess and the rest of her subjects follow suit with gifts in hand. He heard his mother gasp. Some performers held silks; others held more jewels and what seemed to be spices. Items to be most prized.

Lord Corlys had acquired his great wealth during his Nine Voyages. One of the places he had sailed was to the Isle of Leng. At a meeting with the small council, he announced the letter from the Empress of Leng.

“To Lord Corlys Velaryon, The Revered Mariner, Friend of the Crown,” He repeated once at a dinner. “When you came to visit our lands, you made a promise to my mother, the late God-Empress Kanitara of Leng, that you would extend a favor and your support in exchange for our resources,” He paused. “My daughter, a fourth born, second in line, wishes to explore beyond Leng. She heard many stories of your adventures and wished to visit Driftmark and the rest of Westeros. There is no crown for her here, as she is not my eldest daughter. I fear that she may find more success beyond these gates. I wish to send her to you, where she will be in your care and teaching. If you accept, I will be sure to give you our treasured valuables,”

The princess bowed, taking two hands to touch her forehead and bringing them toward the family—a greeting reserved for other royals. A translator came right beside her. “Princess of the Isle of Leng, second daughter to God-Empress Citra and Lengii Emperor Consort Kiet, commander of the armies,” Aemond noticed some guests wincing at the idea of an emperor consort. “Offers her extended gratitude for inviting her to your kingdom. She offers great gifts and valuables to House Targaryen and House Velaryon,”

The translator droned on, but Aemond looked at the young princess. Her hands scratched at her thighs with her head bowed.

The celebration of the Princess’ arrival at King’s Landing was filled with more festivities. It was a week-long celebration. Performers, both Lengii and YiTish, put on their theatrical shows. Dancers in face paint and shadow theater performers entertained the nobility of Westeros. Aemond stood by, watching the Ladies secretly ogle at the Leng men. Their arms were bare and muscular, their hands hovering over their eyes to shield themselves from the sun. Aemond and his siblings sat next to their mother, while the princess and her advisor sat next to his father.

“The Princess wanted to apologize for her delay. It was a dangerous journey to Westeros,” The advisor said. He was not from Leng, at least by appearance. The man had pale skin, with freckles marking almost every inch of his skin, with shoulder-length brown hair. His long mustache wiggled with every movement of his mouth. He sounded like the traders from Pentos.

King Viserys laughed, “You need not worry. You have brought our family gifts, and most importantly you are intact,” He gestured to his family. “We welcome you,” The Princess smiled.

“Thank you, your grace,” She spoke in Common Tongue. “You have such beautiful children,” She said, lingering her gaze on Aemond, who looked away abruptly, shying his eyepatch.

“Thank you, dear Princess,” Alicent said. She gestured for the princess to come over, reaching out to hold her hand. “I did not get to see your face earlier. Such a beautiful girl,” His mother admired, the jingling of her bracelets filling the silence from the children. Aemond finally turned his head, having avoided eye contact with the princess. She stood still, a smile plastered on her face. Soft pink fabrics draped around her body, creating a loose fitting silhouette. The extra fabric draped over her shoulders, lined with small beaded floral embroidery. Local flowers had been weft into her hair along with gold pins. The princess had a strong, pleasant scent. All of the people of Leng do. The perfumes and oils saturated their skin, adding a glow.

“And you are a beautiful Queen,” She said back; Alicent had squeezed her hand. The King had announced the tourney would be taking place soon, with the family being dismissed first. Alicent held Helaena and the Princess's hand as Aegon and Aemond trailed behind. The Princess turned her head to look at Aemond, who looked away again. She turned her head forward and moved her fingers anxiously.

For the next few days, Aemond sat near the Princess. First, watching her wince at the tourney, sitting next to her at feasts, walking near her around the grounds with Helaena. The Princess does not have a name.

“The Princess has a name, but in her culture, it is forbidden to use the name with strangers,” Her advisor explained. “A shortened name is often used with their people,”

“Then how shall we address her?” A Lady asked Xhoha.

Another Lady interjected, “Lady Leng seems proper!”

There had been times when the princess had tried to speak with Aemond.

“What are you holding?” “How are you?” What are you doing?” but she was met with a hmm or a few words. Eventually, she didn’t talk to him at all. Aemond didn’t mean to ignore her, but he felt…anxious around her. Perhaps it was because she was a stranger. Everyone was focused on her; the Princess’s arrival was important enough to garner a week-long celebration. He dug his fingers into his palm, watching her from a distance as she was invited to dance with a young lord.

“Lady Leng,” The cropped haired boy asked. “May I show you how to dance?” The Princess accepted his offer. She giggled, accidentally stepping on his toes. Aemond walked away, only hearing fragments of apologies.

—

☆ A/N: A long overdue part 1 for my Leng princess fic! If you want to see more and would liked to be tagged, please comment! Also I would love comments about what you enjoyed or any potential plot ideas!

[thegeminisage]

one of many reasons castiel spent the first year of knowing dean trying not to strangle him: dean's weird little winchester-only dialect

i’m fucking obsessed with this right now, so buckle in for a meta. a cool fun (horrible) thing about dean's dialogue is that a good 90% of what comes out of his mouth is:

a pop culture reference ("you're just gonna take some divine bong hit, and shazam, you're roma downey?")

references to real life phenomenon ("i don't wanna wake up missing a kidney in a bathtub full of ice" "try new mexico, i hear he’s on a tortilla")

these also often take the form of nicknames, and dean has a tendency to give people nicknames in general or call them something besides their given name, whether it’s affectionate or rude ("easy there, van damme" "so i’m girl interrupted" furthermore castiel = cas, ezekiel = zeke, etc, see also frequent use of "chucklehead" "asshat" and on the nicer/endearments end "buddy" "pal" "sunshine" etc)

an idiom ("a snowball's chance" "if it smells like a duck...")

slang ("drinking the koolaid" "jonesing for some hooch" not to mention the literal endless amount of words dean uses to refer to killing - gank, waste, juice, ice, etc)

a metaphor ("power up your batteries" "fly me back to my page on the calendar")

a euphemism ("cloud seeding" "i'd have given you an hour alone with her first")

sarcasm (his habit of replying "peachy" or "super" when asked how he is)

wordplay (see: the entire "vampirate" and "werepire" debacles)

completely nonsensical (guessing what happened to a magical artifact: "it was dug up by tomb raiders? it was seized by the king of the dead by warlords?")

said at lightning speed - if you pay attention, dean actually talks a LOT, usually a mile a minute (this makes me feel a way when you recall him being nonverbal for a year at age 4 but that’s another post)

slang IN ANOTHER LANGUAGE (casual usage of “guano,” etc)

a lie, a deflection, a joke, etc

or worse, something dean’s NOT saying, deliberately, because he’s one of the most repressed people on earth

the end result of all this being:

dean winchester is utterly infuckingcomprehensible. 

think about this. there's an ENTIRE SECTION on EVERY SINGLE EPISODE PAGE of the spn wiki devoted to JUST explaining dean's pop culture references, because the average viewer won't have seen everything he's talking about either. they have a whole page for this called “hunter’s lingo,” but honestly, it’s not all hunters, just sam and dean’s fucking batshit communication style. even i don't understand dean half the time. SAM gets it, sam speaks it back to dean a lot in the early seasons, but that's because sam and dean are 1. practically two halves of the same person 2. FREAKS. every time we get an episode that involves outsider POV is devoted to them going "what the fuck is WRONG with them?"

enter castiel. technically speaking, the show implies that angels are omnilingual. castiel should understand every language known to man, but knowing the meaning of words doesn't help him understand the following:

pop culture references

references to real life phenomenon

nicknames

idioms

slang

metaphors

euphemisms

sarcasm

wordplay

you get the idea.

listen to me. look me in the eyes. castiel cannot understand a single fucking word that comes out of dean's mouth. my guy laid a hand on dean winchester in hell and immediately fell in love with him and has no fucking idea what he's talking about ever. because not only is dean winchester's way of speaking CLINICALLY insane, and sometimes incomprehensible even to other human beings who are not sam, castiel is an angel, and someone prone to taking things even more literally than other angels do

go back and watch and watch seasons 4-5 especially. the reason cas does so much squinting and head tilting is because every time dean opens his mouth castiel has to open up his mental "dean winchester dictionary" and translate entire paragraphs on the fly, because again, dean never shuts up!

what makes this extra hilarious to me is this gem:

this line is from 5.13. at this point cas has known dean for AN ENTIRE YEAR AND A HALF. what you see here is my guy SNAPPING. cas made an EFFORT in this scene. he asked who glenn close was. he's telling dean that he can't understand him. he is doing his level best to have a normal conversation with this guy he has a crush on and for the life of him he cannot do it (equal but opposite energy to cas blowing up the gas station and motel room in 4.01, tbh)

yes, cas can understand dean's tone. he can use context clues, and he usually gets the general idea. and when cas DOES understand dean's jokes, he laughs at them. the first time we ever see him smile is during their 4.07 heart-to-heart when dean says "it was a witch, not the tet offensive." since cas has knowledge of human history, he knows what the tet offensive is; he got the joke, and he laughed.

but as far as actual dialogue goes, he consistently struggles to keep up. even after metatron gives castiel the pop culture knowledge in season 9, cas struggles to put it to put it to proper use (dean: "you wanna just walk right into the death star?" cas: "what does a fictional battle station have to do with this?"). whenever he asks dean to clarify it's always when he’s most annoyed, like most of the time he knows it would be futile but he's too annoyed to care. (dean: "i don't know who's on first, what's on second!" cas: "what IS second???") i’m pretty sure he spends seasons 4-6 wanting to shake dean by the shoulders and ask him why he is LIKE THIS. 

it takes cas - who, again, is omnilingual - YEARS to begin to acclimate to dean’s speech and start speaking that language back to him. it's season 8 before we start really hearing him use slang, season 9 before he begins to understand wordplay, season 10 before he starts using pop culture references (to other angels, who immediately fail to understand him, which disappoints him immensely), and season 11 before he really gets into metaphors. i don't remember what season he started using "yeah" instead of "yes" but i do know it took a really damn long time. 

and honestly, i don't think cas truly got the hang of it until at least season 11-12. that's something like 7 or 8 YEARS. it’s more than half the time they’ve known each other at the point of the series finale. 

so what's true romance, fellas? it's falling completely and totally in love with the most inexplicable person you will ever meet in your whole 4.5 billion year life, even though you have yet to understand a single thing he's ever said to you. thank you for coming to my ted talk

[spn masterpost]

[loveyou-4-life]

𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐋𝐘𝐍 𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘— quinn hughes

summary: never ever did she think she would be with quinn, but now she’s making it official by coming to his game and meeting his friends. guess that little crush she had on him payed off. inspired by brooklyn baby by land del rey.

warnings: mature language, mention of alcohol and sex, not proof read. used she/her/hers pronouns. lowercase intended. smoking.

authors note: i had to re write this 3 times because tumblr kept deleting my drafts.

masterlist.

THEY SAY I’M TOO YOUNG TO LOVE YOU, I DON’T KNOW WHAT I NEED. THEY DON’T THINK I UNDERSTAND THE FREEDOM LAND OF THE SEVENTIES.

the first time they met was when she was 17 and he was 20. her brother, one of quinns closest friends, invited him to their villa in greece.

quinn never really payed attention to y/n, actually throughout the summer she had become like a little sister to him. so he just chose to ignore that she had liked him.

yes-oblivious to her- he knew. he found out by the glances and how she would stare at him longer than usual, that and he “accidentally” read her diary.

she still remembered the first time she knew she liked him.

— SUMMER 2019 athens , greece —

“Y/n would you mind going to fetch the champagne glasses out the back, we’re feeling fancy tonight” your mother politely asked, her thick accent coming out. you gave her a small soft toothless smile and nodded your head, while putting the final dish down in the dishwasher. And then retrieved to go get the glasses out back.

stupidly, she forgot her phone was dead and that was her usage of a flashlight. it was extremely hard to see since the only source of light came from a small window at the top and it was from moonlight. the fact that her father had found a rat earlier that week there was terrifying.

she looked everywhere and she still couldn’t find them, spiders and spiders web were everywhere. suddenly she heard a squeak.

she gasped, her phone that was on her grip was now on the ground. she bent down trying to find them, she felt her lungs tighten and her breathing stop. a light footstep was heard behind her.

her panic rose.

suddenly a pair of hand brought her up and gripped her waist. so without thinking she screamed. the hand went from her waist to her mouth and to the back of her head. she almost kneed him in the balls but stopped.

“it’s just me cara mia” quinn whispered softly. bringing his hands to her face , rubbing her cheeks softly trying to calm her down. Sensing her panic state, she finally felt her breathing relax and butterflies appeared in her stomach.

Cara mia, the nickname her brother gave her when she was born still stuck in the family. even quinn now was using it.

“Just me” quinn whispered again with a worried look on her face. She nodded signaling she was okay and he gave her her phone back.

“Mary said to tell you that she found the glasses”

— END OF FLASHBACK —

I THINK I’M TOO COOL TO KNOW YA. YOU SAY I’M LIKE THE ICE, I FREEZE. I CHURNING OUT NOVELS , BEAT POETRY ON AMPHETAMINES.

and then they met two years later, unknown to quinn she had become even more beautiful. so when he saw her at her brothers birthday party he was stunned.

she was now 19 turning 20 soon and he was 22.

she looked like a goddess.

and when she made eye contact with him, those eyes still had that attraction towards him. the only difference was that quinn also had that glint too.

she gave him a nod and a smile, he smiled raising his champagne cup on one hand and his other hand on his suit pocket.

he saw her put her empty glass down and say something to her friends before turning to go to a hallway. he knew exactly where she was going. the balcony.

so he followed her, quinn didn’t know where this attraction to her was coming from and he neither knew what he was doing following her.

then when he saw her on the balcony, his footsteps stopped. her back was towards him and she looked beautiful under the moonlight.

she wore moonlight like lingerie.

when she heard his footsteps again, she turned her head. surprised filled her features when she saw her quinn. he’s not yours, he’ll never be.

“quinn” she whispered but still quinn heard.

“cara mia” he said. her breath hitched. she didn’t think she’ll hear him say the nickname ever again. “you look stunning” he said, scratching the back of his head. she smiled and her cheeks became pink.

WELL, MY BOYFRIENDS IN A BAND HE PLAYS GUITAR WHILE I SING LOU REED. I’VE GOT FEATHERS IN MY HAIR I GET DOWN TO BEAT POETRY.

the amount of times she heard that tonight was endless but still it never had that affect on her like when quinn said it.

“thank you” she said. The tension built, sexual tension. She bit her lip looking at him, his eyes went from her eyes to her lips. Suddenly he was too close.

He reached in his pocket, pulling out a packet of cigarettes. He went passed her and on the balcony chair next to her. Bringing the cigarette to his lips and covering it so he could light it up.

He looked up at her, opening the pack extending his arm. “Want one?” he questioned. She shook her head .

“i don’t smoke” she said softly. He chuckled putting the packet on the table. Puffing his cigarette.

“still so innocent?” he asked, his eyebrows raised. she flushed and nodded. she wasn’t that innocent but i guessed in his eyes she was.

they made small talk and actually a conversation was built up. for the next hour she and him talked about life, she already had taken a seat next to him.

“You have a boyfriend?” he hesitated. she looked at him, she saw something flash in his eyes. was it jealousy? she shook her head, he seemed relieved.

they both heard footsteps, this was bad. if somebody saw them they would get the wrong picture. Especially y/n’s brother. so she hid behind quinns back when he stood up.

“there you are i’ve been looking everywhere for you, come we’re taking pictures” she heard her mothers voice say. she felt quinn nod.

when she heard footsteps getting away. she pulled back from quinn and he turned.

“it was nice to catch up y/n” and with that he left. when he saw that he went back and she couldn’t see his figure anymore from the hallway, she noticed he forgot his cigarettes.

AND MY JAZZ COLLECTIONS RARE , I CAN PLAY MOST ANYTHING, I’M A BROOKLYN BABY, I’M A BROOKLYN BABY.

but there was only one cigarette left and it had writing on it.

xxx-xxx-xxx call me - q

—

now here you stood in the arena waiting for your boyfriend to play.

boyfriend, it still felt foreign on your tongue.

you were sitting in the wags section. they were nice and you actually befriended them.

and also they were shocked to find out quinn had a girlfriend. i mean you two were only dating now for 6 months so it didn’t surprise you they didn’t know.

you continued watching the game on the edge of your seat, canucks was winning. and then quinn scored and his eyes immediately went to you and you smiled, tooth and all and gave him a wink.

I’M TALKING ‘BOUT MY GENERATION, TALKING ‘BOUT MY NEWER NATION. AND IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT, YOU CAN BEAT IT BABY , YOU CAN BEAT IT.

you could already feel his smirk behind the mask.

when you went down with the others, you were anxiously waiting for him. he was the first one to come out, and he immediately went to you.

you wrapped your arms around him and put your head in his chest. he kissed the top of your head. “i’m proud of you baby” you whispered against his lips.

“thank you cara mia”

YOU NEVER LIKED THE WAY I SAID IT, IF YOU DON’T GET IT, THEN FORGET IT, CAUSE I DON’T HAVE TO FUCKING EXPLAIN IT.

the team went to dinner and quinn insisted you came and met the guys since the wags were gonna be there.

when you showed up, they welcomed you with open arms.

“so you’re the girl quinn couldn’t stop talking about” brock examined. quinn smirked as you flushed, he still had that affect on you.

“guys this is my girlfriend y/n” quinn introduced as he pulled your chair so you could sit. you whispered a thank you and turned your attention back to the group.

“oh we know quinn your mouth never shuts up about her” elias said. extending his arms for her to shake which she did. quinns cheeks turned red like a tomato by his teammates comments.

“it’s nice to meet the girl quinn couldn’t stop talking about for two years” what?

—

[goobiegoobert]

hear me out,,, sub bottom monty and sun/moon hcs pls? amab reader if that's cool too, ty!!

Shout it out, I'm all yours. ____________________ A/n: Sorry this took as long as it did! Hopefully I can make up for it by the little drabbles added in hope you're having a good day non! but by god I love being a menace to society by writing submissive character 18+ post minors DNI Warnings: Size kink, praise kink, a large usage of pet names, choking, brief edging, dom/sub dynamics, mentions of safeword usage, aftercare, collaring, predator/prey,

[ amab reader / gn pronouns used ] ____________________

Montgomery Gator

➤ Oh, he's so fucked.

➤ Monty out of everyone here doesn't bottom ever, so when he does get to do so, you know the situation is going to get milked hard as fuck

➤ It's your turn to make sure every moment he's in the room with you peering eyes are full of a certain soft grin that doesn't reach the mischief in your eyes for this occasion

➤ Absolutely use this man for what he's worth from either making him something to get your dick wet with or make sure his is broken by the time you're done riding him

➤ But he's such a little brat about it which could only spur things further

➤ Doesn't believe in the slightest you'd get anywhere before crying out like a dumb baby for him to just touch you

➤ Rightfully proved wrong thought if you can imagine

➤ It is really on both ends, simply gets Monty going to see his sugar tits absolutely destroy their grip on reality for the night

➤ Still an ass guy, will even start to beg just to touch you to get a piece of it

➤ Monty still can turn the tables, but god it's hot whenever you simply get a harsh grip

➤ Choke him, promise you this much, it most likely will make the gator whine above or underneath you

Hisses of displeasure seemed to drip from the gators voice box below you, the whirrs of mechanical parts seemingly awaiting the moment your guard had been cast aside to tip the situation back into his hands. Yet, sitting within his lap and allowing the dictorial look within your eyes fester within, allowing the bubble over to simply settle. Driving himself mad, Monty was having quite the trouble staying still and wanted to test for if just a second how deeply screwed they were. It was simple, truly, just stilling to try and sit up to kiss you, knowing that once that happened you'd lose, and it'd be their turn.

Only once all movement sufficed, it was a given opportunity to raise and arm ad hold grip to their neck, chucking lowly in return from Monty letting out something equivalent to a gasp of shock. Loosing focus on what the room around managed to provide as your fingers curled, burying itself into the wires provided satisfaction rising within.

❝ Cats got ya' tongue, dear? ❞

Sunnydrop

➤ Is the easiest out of these three to bend at your little whims of power!

➤ Oh but do please be gentle, he isn't quite the most suited to handle rough language or behaviour

➤ But oh lord is he the easiest one to make, sure he's an overstimulated weeping mess beneath you begging just to use him please oh please satisfy yourself!

➤ The feeling of your cock whilst you're sitting in his lap is almost unbearable in his want to touch you and make everything feel good

➤ Whenever the pleasure ends, please do be sure to hold Sunny until they can register what's going on once more after the initial reboot

➤ Between you two, aftercare is huge after you taking him for a few rounds of constant bliss cuddles and many peppered kisses along his face are in order just before he rambles about sweet nothing's while you try to clean things up a bit

➤ Out of everyone here it seems no matter how hard it seems that he's on the teetering edge of too much all he craves is for your hands to continue its gestures uncaring of how much it seems to cause their circuits to start hissing at the heat

➤ You drive him to the point of breaking almost from how unwilling he is for you to stop anytime soon, it's simply electrifying to feel so lovely with you!

➤ Just wants praise, please whisper about how he's been a good boy, he needs the validation from you more than anything

➤ Will try to praise back between their whines and only seems to squeak at your words of kindness he needs them oh so badly, please give him more and more until you die from lack of oxygen

➤ Touch the rays protruding off his face they're quite sensitive and require much love, similar to the rest of Sunnydrop

Dear oh dear, squirming beneath you simply wanting anything from you, Sunnydrop just needed you to touch him anywhere really! It truly shouldn't be much, you loved him right, right? Smitten with your soft laughter at how minuscule the animatronic below you seemed to be in these situations, grazing your hand along the inside of his arm up to the cute little rays connecting to their face before placing delicate kisses along each one of them priding in the way Sunny tried to stifle their cries of pleasure and unbridled joy at finally being graced with your tender love. ❝ Shh… Wouldn't want to let everyone hear, hm? ❞

The poor little darling, musing to yourself on this subject it became oh so apparent from the beginning that you were his world, weeping beneath you at even just the kindest gesture from you and begging for more was all it took to hum in delight at your darling little boy! Oh, nothing but love would be showered on him tonight, it was all about him. Truly they deserved it right?

Moondrop

➤ Between the two of you, many of the other glamrocks have to leave the room out of how much sexual frustration the two of you can often get yourselves into

➤ It's maddening just how often Moondrop manages to press many of your buttons and act like it's nothing

➤ Would absolutely be the type to try and rile you up in the corner of a room before slapping your ass and walking off to go see what the other animatronics are doing

➤ It's maddening just how much he intends to rile you up and not even give it a moment to let you react

➤ Once you do, it would send the hypothetical hairs on end from just the sensation of you looking around shouting for the Moon

➤ It's always a fun game of chase in his book just to see how bothered you are and in their mind fleeing from the danger you present when it gets like that

➤ Due to how the relationship can sometimes happen, your pairs usage of safewords are key, especially in situations where you pressed a hand against their voice box in attempt to muffle them and pull him aside somewhere private

➤ Whenever a safeword is called from either you or Moon, it's going to result in the two of you spreading gossip and bickering at El Chips watching whatever the TVs there seem to interest you lot at the time

➤ Despite you being the dominant one, it seems Moon here is the one really holding the strings just out of how well he knows how to make you react a specific way

➤ Pillow Prince, it won't happen all the time but fuck you he wants to absolutely get pampered by you during sex sometimes out of the fact he's so good for letting you even touch him

➤ Overall it seems you can never truly control situations often when Moon is the one puppeting you just in the way he desires

Pathetic.

Unmoving against the floor, simply holding a foot to their chest cavity, never increasing the pressure beneath it as your grip pulled back slightly, forcing the animatronic on a leash below you to rumble with rage that broiled beneath the seams here. Despite the intense arousal, it was a pain that this was your resort to keep the attendant from running off and getting themselves into mischief you'd never hear the end of from Vanessa. It was honestly a wonder on how you had managed to dragged him up to their room and make him wait till the lights were on, not even going to offer an inch of pleasure for tonight at their misdemeanour caused earlier, but oh of course he seemed to continue throwing a fit over this.

No. A better idea seeming to trickle within your thoughts, forcing Moondrop below you to stop squirming as their gears seemed to stop whirring, generally intrigued to what the sly grin spreading across those cute little lips was a rather dangerous game to play in this situation.

❝ Oh..Ohoho! Naughty, naughty… Having fun without me- hah? ❞

[vinnival]

*breaks into your inbox* DING DONG *clears throat*, so I had an reader insert idea for da madcom main trio boys. Their s/o uses quemical weapons against enemies, like gas bombs and poison bullets (much like Viper from Valorant), how would they react to them? Thx for reading, your writing is absolutely amazing! (sorry abt any english mistakes, it isn't my main language) ~🦉anon

CHEMICAL WEAPONS

yes

Hank

person's just tryna go about their day when bam! Whizz, whizz- two bullets fly by and leave their bandana tail ends whizzing by from the force

So of course they turn around, only to see you; the newest SQ recruit, still keeping an eye through your scope as your bullets pierced the enemies

Now normally they wouldn't care about who your shooting at as long as it isn't himself, but the particularly sharp, pained screams of the enemies piqued his interest, to say the least

You were pulling your head back with a satisfied smirk as Hank look back towards the two agents you shot easily, to see them writing on the ground and scratching at the bullet holes that held the bullets lodged in their body

Yes, poison bullets

They were screaming bloody murder, begging for the Maker to give them mercy, or screeching out how badly it burns

When they look back towards you, you brush past them in a wide berth- you still are cautious of Wimbleton, after all- and personally end their suffering with regular bullets now.

And needless to say, since then...

he was interested.

Ever since then, he tends to fall behind in group missions involving you just to see what weapons and attack methods you use each time

They think your creativity with the poisonous/chemical weapons is very unique, and a lot more creative than San or Dei's simple tactics.

You begin to notice their interest in you! And so you (foolishly) begin to fight relatively alongside Wimbleton. Really, reader? Why would you do that? Smh smh smh

Luckily they find you too interesting to kill so they let you off the hook with beign around them a lot more

There's a lot of unspoken communication between you two

Just uh don't get annoyed when they suddenly grab a weapon from your current inventory for their own usage

(It will happen a lot)

After enough time, you two exchange words here and there, idly chatting about your weapons, or discussing the next possible mission(s) that you two may get from 2B

As long as you don't like, purposefully try to get on their bad side, it's good, you'll be fine

Yknow after enough time they just fuckin realize they've fallen HARD for you, not just your method of kill

And gosh they are so impressed with you in general like. Yes this is another killing machine like me that I Respect. Hank Sticker Of Approval

Deimos

So, like, you know how certain gases n elements n shit can change the color of fire?

Oh yeah

Oh yeah babey

OH HELL YEAH

Teamwork 110%, Dei immediately befriends you, and cannot stop talking about how cool you are

"SO LIKE... how do fireworks happen? I NEED'A know, toots, this is URGENT-"

He will let you rant on n on about chemistry, chemicals, etc

He thinks the way you attack is cool! Especially when the mustard gas is a vibrant pink! Woaw

He like immediately asks you out after you two start going from simple sitting on the couch together to straight up cuddling like wh when did this happen huh whuh ohp

He's just straight up bragging about you like "YES this is my s/o my BELOVED they will KILL YOU with funny liquid"

deimos "have you ever heard of hydrochloric acid" ( he doesn't have a last name )

He so very much supports your fuckery with acids n stuff, and probably would do the obligatory mad scientist cackle when you make a new reaction that you've been researching

(remember kids do not mix chemicals you don't know the reaction of)

(you had to furiously convince dei out of doing this)

Why Do You Have Mercury Oh No

At least you keep it in a safe container and use it for desperate measures

You mightve maybe accidentally probably most likely.... made dissonance once?

You shut that down REAL quick tho dw lol

Needless to say it gave both you and Deimos a heart attack when you two accidentally spilled chemical X into the mixture or something and out poofed some fucking artificial grape juice shit

💀

💀

Sanford

Omg explosives likers 🤝

Needless to say San was definitely flirting with you right off the bat bc of your similar interests

You two work well a lot! I hc that Sanford is basically madcom MacGyver, able to make just about anything into a bomb of some sorts.

So, that, being paired with the chemical nerd you are?

🤝

He's very supportive of you <3 throws compliments whenever you decimate using a flashbang that spewed smoke to temporarily blind for even longer than before!

Plus more of course

Takes a lot of pride in how you know how to stand up for yourself

Not that he would be opposed to saving his joyfriend-in-distress B)

If you have a lab (probably do), he'd sit there with you as you work, and attentively listens as you explain the collision theory to him, how catalysts work, your favorite element in the periodic table, etc., etc..

He's honestly just happy you're so passionate about chemistry to the point of using it in battle; which is extremely unique! He loves it! And loves you <3

HELLO anon. you speak good english

[thewriterg]

Oh great heavens- P4L

pairing(s): John B x Fem!reader, JJ maybank x Fem!reader, Pope Heyward x Fem!reader, Kiara Carrera x Fem!reader, pogues x reader

Summary: You’re the sarcastic parent of the Pogues that also includes the what you would call the ‘idiotic group chat’

Warning(s): Language, Pet names, Usage of the word mama (Please let me know if I missed anything)

A/n: -GIF is not mine- Sorry for not posting for a while mental health has been shity but we’re getting there

group chat: Some power rangers type shi-

My retriever pup :): What if a toy from toy story died and the rest of them watched while Andy and Molly played with the corpse…

Jimmy Neutron <3: Jfc JJ what are you over there going through

little dove 🕊 : We literally haven’t been gone for 10 min.

My retriever pup :): I’m boardddd there is nothing to do and y/n/n never answers the gc

Bandanna boy 😎: Can’t argue with the facts @mamapogue

little dove 🕊: Probably planning some huge ass event lmao

Jimmy Neutron <3: Or buying the whole target

Mama pogue: 👀

My retriever pup :) : WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN!!!

(Bandanna boy 😎, little dove 🕊, and Jimmy Neutron <3 emphasized that message)

Mama pogue: Grocery shopping lol

My retriever pup :) : For three days!?

Bandanna boy 😎: ^^^

Jimmy Neutron <3: The only time you use correct punctuation oh wow JJ.

Mama pogue: you guys understand you not the only ‘children’ I have on the island right

Little dove 🕊: No. were you’re only kids that’s it.

My retriever pup :) : seeming a bit jealous Kie :)

My retriever pup :) : but no what she said there should be no one else 🤨

Jimmy Neutron <3: Their*

Bandanna boy 😎: just remind your other heathens that we were first #ogs

(Little dove 🕊, Jimmy Neutron <3, and My retriever pup :) liked that message)

Mama pogue: I’m actually grocery shopping for you heathens.

My retriever pup :) : I love you

Bandanna boy: I stand by that statement.

Mama pogue: *Aesthetically Blocks

My retriever pup :) : I found some really sick noose plugs

Little dove: No one knows what your talking about JJ

Jimmy Neutron <3: you’re*

(Little dove 🕊 replied to Jimmy Neutron <3)

Little dove 🕊 : I will end you.

Bandanna boy 😎: since when did we have noose plugs???

Jimmy Neutron: Why do you need nose plugs?

My retriever pup :) : my nose was bleeding what else for Pope

(My retriever pup :) sent a image)

Mama pouge: great fucking heavens

Little dove 🕊: oh my fucking god you have to be kidding.

Bandanna boy 😎: HAHSJSHSHSHBSHS

Jimmy Neutron <3: I… don’t know how to respond to this…

Little dove 🕊: WHY TF ARE MY TAMPONS UP YOUR NOSE

Bandanna boy 😎: I CANT BREATHEEE

My retriever pup :) : COOL RIGHT?

(Bandanna boy😎 liked that message)

Mama pouge: Love no.

(Little dove 🕊 has left the chat)

My retriever pup :) : Why did Kie leave?

Bandanna boy 😎 : because your shoved her cooter plugs up you noose dude

My retriever pup :) : HER WHAT!?

Mama pouge: JOHN BOOKER ROUTLEDGE

Jimmy Neutron <3: Uh oh

Bandanna Boy 😎: Sorry.

(Mama pouge added Little dove 🕊 to the group chat)

Little dove 🕊: fuck my life

Mama pouge: now I could sit hear and talk about periods all day but I’m almost to check out and have errands to run

My retriever pup: You haven’t spent time with us in like for ever :/

(Little dove 🕊, Jimmy Neutron <3, and Bandanna boy 😎 emphasized that message)

Mama pouge: I spent the day with you all Thursday baby

Jimmy Neutron: y/n/n it’s Wednesday that was six days ago

Mama pouge: Ive just been busy hon

My retriever pup: too busy to hang out with your friends

(10 minutes later)

Mama pouge: Open the door

☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎☀︎︎

John B was the first to look up from his phone as he sat on the couch the only other person with him at the time were JJ the boys looking at each other the two having a silent conversation as JJ stood from the day couch slowly making his way to the door his hand lingering on its golden nob before twisting it at a strange angle as it flew open

“Told you I was going grocery shopping” There you stood about 4 target bags in your hand a jacket protecting your arms from the breezing chills that flew through the air along with your denim jeans that covered your legs with the occasional slit at the knees your tone seamed low and saddened

You hadn’t meant for it to feel like you were putting anything before your friends family but it was a tough week everyone wanted your undivided attention Dana needing help planning a banquet haul, Josh needed help with asking out Madison, And helping Elena with her Mothers birthday dinner you could go on and on

“Jay, I’m really sorr-”

The blonde was already tackling you into a hug his embrace warm and took your shorter frame his chin resting on your forehead staring off into nothing as you both swayed side to side

“I didn’t mean it, I’m stupid and I shouldn’t have said that” You were looking up a him as he stared off into the trees waiting for your response that could’ve ‘I’ve been you to you and this is how you treat me. Fuck off’ or ‘I accept you apology and I love you’

“I forgive you” it was simple monotone almost but JJ didn’t quite let go of your embrace bathing in your own warmth you just had

“Hope you left some for me” John B Leaned against the door frame of the Chateau his arms held out with an arched eyebrow rolling your eyes you grabbed the boys arm and swung him into a group hug with JJ laughing as he attempted to regain his balance

“Hope you know I have groceries in my car like alotttttt” you dragged to let the boys know what you meant as you all looked back to your jeep which trunk was open and filled with white plastic bags with its red target on the front

“I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again I love you.”

[alohastyles-x]

𝖆𝖎𝖗𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖉 - 𝙴.𝙼. | 1

Summary: A sinister entity makes it presence known to you, plaguing your mind with pain and nightmares. You need a little release, but that means talking to the school freak...

Warnings: Violence, Gore, Drug Usage, Death, Language, S4 spoilers,

Wordcount: 3.2k

A/N: Much like Eddie Munson, I am in love with this chapter tbh. but in my next few ones, the dialogue won't be like *exactly* the same as the show! *Reposting bc Tumblr doesnt like me*

ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ, ʟɪᴋᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ʀᴇʙʟᴏɢꜱ ᴀʀᴇ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛʟʏ ᴀᴘᴘʀᴇᴄɪᴀᴛᴇᴅ

Main Masterlist | Stranger Things Masterlist | Wattpad

Prologue

P.S. I do not own the rights to any character besides Y/N. This is a fan fiction based off of the show Stranger things. All rights reserved, please don't steal my work.

P.P.S. all dividers from @firefly-graphics :)

As a cheerleader at Hawkins High, it was critical that you maintained the social standard of a popular kid: only hanging with the popular crowd, having the hottest boy in school for yourself, wearing peak fashion statements. You had it all, and any little slip up could land you eating lunch right with the freaks in the back, something you, definitely, did not want. 

So when you found out that Dustin, your younger brother, had joined the group of freaks who called themselves “The Hellfire club”, you were mortified. 

“Dustin! You cannot talk to me at school anymore, officially.” You had said, storming into the kitchen. 

“What? Why?” He asked. 

“Because I cannot associate with… with your… group of friends.” You tried putting it nicely, but he saw right through it. 

“So I’m not allowed to say a single word to you, at all, or your reputation will be ruined?” Dustin asked, a smirk on his face. 

“Correct, Dustin.” You rolled your eyes, grabbing the box of cereal down from the cabinet. 

“So, does that include if I’m dying? Or will your precious ego still be hurt then?” 

“Oh, shut up Dustin.”

There was a slight pause as Dustin stared at you, mouth agape, before you spoke again.

“You can tell me if you’re dying but thats it! I mean it!” You said, firmly. Dustin fist pumped the air before grabbing his things off of the counter. 

“Let’s go, we’re going to be late miss too-cool-for-her-younger-brother.”

You rolled your eyes once again before grabbing your bag and following Dustin out to the car.  

At school, you both went your separate ways. You headed towards your group in the front of the school. They were waiting for you before heading inside to their lockers. Dustin headed to the right, towards Mike, Lucas, and the rest of the members of their club. 

You looked over your shoulder, making sure Dustin made it to his group okay when you caught the eye of the lead freak of the group… Eddie Munson. Your eyes lingered for a quick second, as did his, before you turned your attention back to your group. 

“Yo, Dustin, I think I just locked eyes with your sister,” Eddie said, still watching as you tossed your hair over your shoulder. 

“Psh, yeah right. I’m not even allowed to talk to her or else I’ll ‘ruin her’ apparently. I don’t think she’d risk looking at you… no offense,” Dustin finished quickly as Eddie turned his attention to him, staring intensely. 

“Whatever dude, it’s not like I’m into her anyways.” Eddie said, before turning and heading into school. The rest of the club followed him, leaving Dustin, Mike and Lucas left standing outside. 

When you turned your head back over your shoulder to take a peek, you realized Eddie and his goons had left, leaving your brother and his friends standing outside. You frowned, hoping nothing had happened. You were pulled out of your thoughts quickly though by Jason Carver, your boyfriend. 

“Y/N? Everything okay?” He asked, his hand laid gently on your shoulder. 

“Uh, yeah, everything’s fine!” 

“We were just talking about going out to the Diner after school. You comin’?” He asked.

“Oh, yeah I’ll let you know. I’ve been getting really bad headaches lately, so I may not be up for it today,” you replied honestly. He gave you a worrisome look, before turning back to the group. 

“Let’s meet out front after school, we can take my car.” Jason dismissed the group, placing a soft hand on your arm to stop you from leaving with them. 

“Hey, babe, is everything okay? You didn’t tell me you were getting headaches…” he trailed off, clearly concerned. 

“It’s fine Jason, really, it’s nothing. I think I’m just stressed over some grades.” But the truth was, it wasn’t nothing, and you weren’t fine. You had been plagued with nightmares lately of a dark forest thick with fog, there was a giant clock every direction you turned, ringing consistently as the fear that someone was lurking behind you grew stronger… closer.. until you woke up in a panic, drenched in sweat. One of the nightmares felt so real, you woke up screaming. Dustin had bust your door open, an oar in his hand as he started swinging around. 

“What… what is it? What’s wrong?” He was screaming, trying to find the source of your fear. 

“Dustin, it… it was just a dream.” 

That night he had slept on the floor next to your bed, refusing to move back to his own room, just in case.    

“Okay… maybe try seeing the counselor. She can help you with this.” Jason said, moving his hand down to yours, grabbing it softly. 

You adored everything about this man and how sweet he was to you. He always treated you with respect, making sure you were okay. Sometimes, though, you just wished you had something… more.

“Yeah, I will. I’ll go see her today,” you promised, giving him a faint smile. He pulled you in for a hug, squeezing tightly. 

“I will always protect you,” he whispered, almost darkly, in your ear. You knew he meant it too. 

You knocked gently, before Ms. Kelley answered for you to come in. You were nervous, unsure if she could actually help what you were struggling with, but you made a promise to Jason, and you never broke your promises. 

“Y/N! What a lovely surprise. How can I help you?” She asked, a bright smile on her face as you sat down across from her.

“I was hoping, maybe, you could help me with something?” 

“Okay, what’s going on?” She asked, her face softening.

“Lately I’ve been having these… these horrible headaches and nightmares.” 

“What are these nightmares of?” Ms. Kelley grabbed a notebook off the desk, and uncapped her pen. She began writing as you talked. 

“It starts out somewhere like my home, or school, but then after I take a few steps I end up somewhere else. The woods. They’re dark, thick with fog, and theres this clock. Its huge, and standing everywhere I look. Its ticking, tick… tock… tick… tock… tick… tock… until it rings, only once, and I feel rushed as if something thats been looking at me from the fog suddenly runs up on me, and then I wake up.” You finished, tears pricking your eyes as you think back to the traumatic nightmare. 

“That sounds really scary,” ms. Kelley responded. She handed you a box of tissues, which you took gratefully. You could already feel the tears beginning to break through your lashes onto your cheeks. 

“What do you think triggered these nightmares?” 

“I don’t know… they just started happening this past week.” You dabbed at your eyes, careful not to mess up the mascara you put on this morning. 

“Lets just take a minute and think of anything slightly negative that happened that could have caused this.” 

You didn’t have to think about it though. You knew what could have very well triggered these nightmares, but you refused to accept that as the answer. There was no way… right?

You shook your head, discarding the thoughts in your mind before you felt even worse about yourself. 

But that didn’t help. You grabbed your bag, slinging it over your shoulder and stood up quickly. 

“Y/N-,” you cut her off by flinging her door open, letting it close behind you. The last thing you wanted to think about was that night. You crossed your arms, hugging yourself.  You looked up, quickly regretting it as you made eye contact with one Dustin’s friends, Max. You looked down, making your way quickly to the bathroom to calm down before your next class. Jason was in it, and the last thing you needed was for him to see you like this. 

Flinging the bathroom door open, you ran into one of the stalls, locking it and dropping your bag. The feeling to puke overcame you faster than you could process it, but your body went into autopilot, letting you drop to the floor hanging over the dirty school toilet. You chucked it all up, panting slightly as you tried to catch your breath. 

But your heart sank quickly as you looked up to see the entire bathroom dark, covered in a thick fog and what looked like black, sludgey vines. 

“What the-,” you began to think to yourself, but you were cut off by the sound of a clock ticking. Oh god… 

Then came a new sound, something sinister and dark that made your breath hitch in your throat. It was a low growl, moving closer to you, accompanied by the sounds of wet footsteps. You squeezed yourself between the toilet and the stall wall, fear overtaking your entire body. 

Your body shook violently, as you saw the source of the wet footprints walk slowly up to the stall you were in, stopping right in front. They matched the black sludge that filled the bathroom.The voice grew louder, raspier. Tears flowed freely down your cheeks, and your hand gripped your mouth tight, trying to be silent. No matter what you did, it wasn’t enough, he was there, waiting… listening. The air felt tighter around you as you struggled to breathe. Your heart felt as if it stopped breathing, your chest feeling like it was about to cave in.

Just as you felt like you were about to pass out, suddenly the bathroom door opened, and just like that the bathroom was back to normal. You sobbed quietly, not wanting whoever just walked in to see you like this. 

“Are- are you okay?” A voice came from outside the stall. 

It was Max. Shit. 

“I’m fine, just go. Go!” You yelled, until she flew the door open to the bathroom and left. 

Normally, you would have felt bad for yelling at her, but you weren’t sure if this… thing was still here lurking in the shadows, and the last thing you needed was someone else to get hurt- or worse- at your expense again. 

You gathered yourself together as quickly as you could, grabbing a paper towel and wetting it to remove the mascara streaks down your cheeks. Luckily, it worked better than usual, and you were able to fix yourself up as if nothing happened. 

If only you could do that to your mind. 

As you left flung open the bathroom door, you ran right into someone, hard metal smacking right into your gut. 

It was Eddie Munson, his thick belt with chains the source of your abdominal pain. 

“Yo hey, watch where you’re going lady,” he joked, holding his arms out. 

“I’m sorry,” you responded timidly, not meeting his gaze. He was alone, his goons already in class. 

“Hey, it’s fine, I was just messing with you. Is everything okay?” He asked, noticing your tear stained cheeks. You looked up at him slowly, your breath hitching as you made eye contact with him. 

“Can I meet you after school… where Jason meets you?” You asked, hoping he understood what you were referencing. He smirked. 

“Do you know the spot?” 

“Yes, I think so.” 

“Alright, little lady. I’ll see you then,” he saluted you, before walking off to wherever he was going. 

You nodded your head, to really no one, and headed to class. 

The sound of twigs snapping under your feet set you on edge as you trudged further into the woods. It was roughly thirty minutes after school ended. You wanted to make sure Dustin had a way home, and you had to let Jason know you were going home instead of meeting them. He was reluctant to let you go home alone, but you insisted you would be fine. It was just a headache, you told him. If he only knew the truth, you were afraid he would never leave you alone. 

You made it to the picnic table in the woods, the spot where Eddie did his deals and where his group liked to party. Beer cans littered the table and various spots on the forest floor.

An uneasy feeling settled deep inside of you. You bunched up the hem of your skirt in your hands, looking around. Eddie wasn’t here yet. A light fog start to roll in. A twig snapped in the distance.

“Hello?” You called out, hoping nothing but Eddie called back in response. As you waited, listening, you began to hear the distant ticking of a clock. Looking to your right, you notice a giant grandfather clock, much like the one from your nightmare, embedded into a tree. 

You began to talk towards it, almost as if you were entranced by the fear. It continued to tick, your footsteps landing in synch with ever tick… tock… tick… tock…

As you stepped closer, you noticed the glass on the face began to break, spreading further until a small hole appeared in the middle. You held your breath in anticipation, waiting for the next move. Tiny black widows began to emerge, one by one, all over the clock. More and more spilled out from the hole. You began to back up, on the verge of hyperventilating when you ran into a hard body right behind you. 

Panicking, you turned to see who- or rather what- it was. 

Eddie. Just Eddie. 

“Woah, hey, hey, hey. I didn’t mean to scare you,” he chuckled but stopped immediately when he saw your face. You were white as a ghost, looking up at him with a mixture of fear and relief. 

Glancing back at the clock, you realized it wasn’t there anymore. The tree was normal again, the bark all in tact as if nothing was ever there. 

“… are you okay?”  He asked, looking around for any possible explanation as to why you were so scared.. 

Nodding your head, you took a deep breath. You could feel the tears trying to escape your eyes, but you wouldn’t let them. Using the sleeves of your cheer sweater, you wiped at the bottom of your eyes. 

Eddie’s lunchbox landed on the picnic table with a loud metal bang, making you jump slightly as you sat down across from it. Eddie could sense your uneasiness as he took his jacket off, noticing your leg shaking violently.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” he started, hoping he was calming you down. “No one ever comes out here. We’re safe. I promise.” 

“So, how does this work exactly?” You ask, finally looking up at him. His brown eyes were dark, but kind. Trustworthy. 

“Oh, you know, just like any other old sale, except cash only and for obvious reasons, no receipts.” He responded, smiling gently. 

You looked down, the uneasy feeling still not leaving. The events of what happened today were haunting your thoughts. You felt bad, not wanting Eddie to take it personally, but you couldn’t just explain it away either. 

“I’ll do you a half ounce for, 20. What do you say?” He held out a bag of weed. “Plenty of bang for your buck, should last you a while…” 

A twig snapped behind you, stealing your attention away from him and into the woods behind you. Fear gripped you, yet again, leaving you breathless and white as a ghost. But it was only a squirrel. 

Eddie grew impatient, thinking your fear was getting caught for either buying drugs, or being alone in the woods with him. 

“Hey, we don’t need to do this. Just give me the word and I’ll walk away.” He was annoyed, but mostly with himself. Why did he think this would go any differently than the popular Y/N being scared of being in the woods with him. He shook his head slightly. 

“No. It’s not that, I don’t want you to go,” you pleaded, quickly turning your attention back to him. If only he understood. Maybe you could try and put it in a way he could… 

“It’s just that… do you ever feel like you’re losing your mind?” You ask, breathing heavily as you waited for his answer. He looked down trying to catch your gaze. When you gave it to him he smiled. 

“Uhh, you know, just like on a daily basis.” He chuckled. “I mean I feel like I’m losing my mind right now, doing a drug deal with Y/N Y/L/N the queen of Hawkins high.” 

The way he referred to you as queen sent shivers down your spine. It tingled, in a good way, and you stared at him trying to figure out why. 

“You know, this isn’t the first time we’ve hung out.”

“It’s not?” 

“You don’t remember?” 

“I’m sorry-,” 

“That’s okay,” he cut you off, feigning hurt and sadness. Suddenly, he grabbed his chest, falling backwards off of the picnic bench. You yelled out, gasping as he crawled to stand up and lean against a tree. 

“I wouldn’t remember me either Y/N. Honestly… do, do I have stuff in my hair?” He asked, shaking leaves out of his hair. You couldn’t help the laughter that escaped you. The comic relief easing your nerves instantly- exactly his intent. 

He continued, going on about the last time you hung out, for a talent show in middle school. The two of you reminisced over your acts, you doing a cheer, him playing with his band.  

It felt good to sit and talk to him, unbothered by the woods around you, the fear that once gripped your soul dissipated, replaced with happiness. Eddie felt good, knowing he had succeeded in getting you to loosen up. Your smile was radiant, contagious almost as you talked about his band. Your laughter rang lightly through the air, warming even the darkest parts of him. 

“You know… you’re not what I thought you’d be like.” You said, smiling up at him.

“Mean and scary?” He smirked, pulling strands of hair down to his lips in a cute manner. 

You nodded your head, chuckling slightly at his attempt to be less intimidating. 

“Yeah, well, I actually thought you’d be kind of mean and scary too.” He said. 

You laughed, the thought sounding ridiculous to you. You were aware the rest of your friends were just that… mean and scary. But after watching Dustin get bullied, you could never make anyone else feel that same way. 

“In other good news, flattery works for me. So twenty-five percent off the half. Fifteen bucks, you’re robbing me blind practically.” He chuckled, throwing down the bag of weed in front of you. 

You looked at it for a second, contemplating. Weed was nice, sure, but you weren’t quite sure it would do what you needed it to do this time. There were stories of weed amplifying some people’s anxiety, paranoia. You didn’t want to risk that. 

“Do you have anything, stronger?” You asked hesitantly, a little nervous about how he would respond. You looked up at him, hopefully that maybe he could see the desire to escape deep in your eyes. He looked hesitant, concerned, and a little sad before he finally responded. 

“Yeah, but it’s back at my place…” he trailed off. Now he was the one anxious, worried you might take his offer the wrong way. 

“Okay,” you replied, standing to your feet.

Tag list @sweetdayme4427 | IMPORTANT ANNOUCEMENT: follow @alohastyles-xlibrary for updates on my fics as my tag list doesn't always work properly. <3

[therhythmafterthesummer]

Safe Haven ~Bang Chan | Day 17.

Pairing: SpaceRebel!Chan x WitchQueen!F.Reader Themes: Fantasy AU | Sci-Fi AU | Royalty AU | Soulmate AU | Slow Burn | Mutual Pining | Angst | Smut | Fluff. Series Warnings: Third person POV · Very loose and liberal usage of Star Wars concepts (mostly to refer to weapons and tech). you don’t need to know anything about SW to read this, trust me · Physical descriptions of the main female character such as: can visibly blush, having long hair, and being short · Violence · Swearing · Mature themes and language · Original characters · Graphic smut (later chapters) · Mentions of the members of other groups (later chapters) · No one is straight, beware · Each chapter will include its own individual warnings. Chapters marked as M (Mature) either include highly detailed violence, or smut.

Chapter Warnings: suggestive · mentions of weapons. Word Count: ~6k | AO3

Due to all the abovementioned warnings, this story is intended for a 18+ audience only. Minors do not interact. ✰This chapter has been reworked as of 16/08/2023

Previous Chapter: Day 15. | Series Masterlist. | Next Chapter: Day 60.

Disclaimer: the story presented in this work does not represent Stray Kids in any way; anything described in this story and all actions performed by the characters are purely fictional, this was created just for good fun.

“Wow, look at your head!”

Wang Eun ran from where he’d been standing on the training grounds towards Felix, whose blonde hair had turned orange seemingly overnight. The change had earned Felix a similar reaction from Chan in the morning when he came knocking on Chan’s door, to which Felix had simply given him a sheepish smile and a shrug.

“I know, right? I was learning potion recipes with Her Majesty and Jenna last night”, Felix ruffled his hair gently, only for the locks to fall back into place right after, as if he’d never touched them in the first place. “It’s not the colour I wanted, but I think I like it anyway”.

“You did this with a potion?” Changbin seemed to be both confused and amazed. “You think I could drink one of those too?”

“Yeap! You can get any colour you want!” Felix started to stretch and warm up, standing right next to Chan who’d remained quiet most of the way here, and even now as they stood there all together.

Truth was, Chan was still brooding. He didn’t see, nor hear from the Queen yesterday at all. He’d not seen her since they kissed in the pool. Well, since he kissed her in the pool, and he was, quite honestly, having the worst time about it.

He did try to find her, which was the worst part. She was just nowhere to be seen, and Chan was positive she was avoiding him, especially considering she did meet Felix last night.

He did see Freyja, though. The panther had run to him with her tail high in the air and rubbed her forehead against him, which did warm him up a bit. Even if she was on her own, Chan still provided as many pets as he could, feeling a little comforted by her purring. It almost felt as if she had been trying to encourage him.

“Are you ready for today?” Wang Eun asked Chan, pulling him from his thoughts.

“I… Uh…” Chan wasn’t sure he’d be able to train today. His spirits were too crushed, and there was just no way he’d be able to concentrate enough to avoid Wang Eun’s blows.

Plus, he hadn’t even been able to wrap the ribbons around his bare limbs that morning. Not like he hadn’t tried, it was just that the second the things touched his bare skin, it felt too much like the Queen was there and he couldn’t bear it. So, he decided to be half honest when he finally answered Wang Eun. “You think we could just… not train today? I didn’t get much sleep last night, so I think I’ll just lift some weights…”

Wang Eun was about to say something, but Changbin cut him off immediately. “You can train me! Show me some cool moves”.

Wang Eun looked more than happy to give Changbin a hand, so he didn’t press Chan further. Chan knew Changbin was doing it for him more than for himself–considering he knew very well why Chan was losing sleep. He was honestly immensely thankful that Changbin took it in his hands to divert Wang Eun’s attention from him.

So he moved away from them both, and picked up some dumbbells from the rack in the corner to start a simple routine, something repetitive that he could do without having to think much.

“Have you spoken with Her Majesty recently?” Felix was close to where Chan stood, running on the treadmill. His sudden question almost made Chan drop his dumbbells, but he recovered quickly.

“I… Not really. Didn’t see her yesterday. Why?”

Felix hummed, clearly thinking something over before he continued. “She didn’t look too good yesterday, I wonder if something happened on her trip… Did you know she’s got a ball in her study similar to the one you’ve got in your room back at the base?”

She didn’t look too good… Was that a good sign or a bad sign for Chan? He didn’t know, and he clearly couldn’t ask, so he decided to focus on the other piece of information Felix had provided. “I’m not surprised. Anyone who communicates with you-know-who has one”.

When people joined the Alliance, they were usually given a crystal ball to receive news and missions from Dall, and to communicate with other units. The thing came with a base attached to a keypad, and the messages would display on the ball itself. It was honestly fiddly to operate, which was why in Chan’s unit, only Minho and Chan were the ones that knew how to use it.

“You think she…” Felix looked at his surroundings, no one else was in the area, but he still lowered his voice, just enough so only Chan could hear. “You think her trip was a mission from you-know-who?”

Chan’s eyes widened. He’d honestly not even considered it. “No clue, dude. Why don’t you ask her since you’re so close and curious about it?”

“I was actually hoping you would ask her”, Chan’s left eye twitched at Felix’s request. “Plus, you’re closer to her, she might tell you”.

Was he? Was he really closer to her? If he’d been at some point, clearly that wasn’t the case anymore. Plus, he had kind of already inquired about her trip, and she dismissed him instantly. “She won’t tell me, trust me”, and Chan was completely sure of it.

Felix had pressed a bit more about it, until Chan gave him one final no. He might’ve been too harsh when he said it, but at this point he didn’t really care. He would combust right there in the middle of the training grounds if he had to speak about his friendship with the Queen any further.

Fifteen minutes after Chan started lifting weights, Changbin essentially crawled back from the open area of the training grounds to where Chan and Felix were. The man was sweating buckets, and his face lacked its usual colour.

Changbin plopped down on one of the vacant benches, panting heavily. “Holy fucking shit”.

“I told you, dude”, Chan hardly reacted, repositioning his body to target a different muscle group as he lifted weights.

“Man, you guys are too weak”, Wang Eun stood by the bench, staring down at Changbin. He looked exactly the same he did fifteen minutes ago, barely even sweating. “Good thing you’re all hot and pretty”.

“Am I also hot and pretty?” Felix asked, still jogging on the treadmill.

“You’re the prettiest”, Wang Eun reassured him, picking up a couple of dumbbells for himself.

Felix chuckled, adjusting the tilt on the machine. “Wow, thank you, Wang Eun. You’re handsome yourself”.

Wang Eun stopped his movements immediately, and stared at Felix with wide eyes. Chan saw it as if it played in slow motion, how Wang Eun’s face was getting redder and redder by the second. He couldn’t help but scoff. There was no way this man was blushing over this…

“Uhh… Excuse me. I’ve got to… I’ve got to… Yeah”, Wang Eun dropped the dumbbells right where he had picked them up from, and left faster than Chan could tease him about it.

“See? You owe me some credits”, Felix looked at Changbin who was still fighting to get air into his lungs on the bench. “Told you he was all talk”.

Changbin huffed out a laugh. “That guy just kicked my ass, and he’s getting that flustered over you calling him handsome?”

“Must be my charm”, Felix flicked his non-existent long hair off of his shoulder. Which, even in his brooding state, made Chan chuckle.

“You are charming”, the sudden deep voice startled them.

The three of them turned towards the sound to find the High King stepping into their area. He sounded genuine, which was the most surprising part.

“Thank you, Your Majesty!” Felix, too, sounded genuine in his reply. “What brings you here?”

“Just coming for some weights”, His Majesty shrugged, making a beeline to the rack in the corner of the room. He eyed Chan as he walked past him, and stopped in his tracks to turn to him fully. “Have you seen my dear sister, Chan?”

Chan tensed immediately, and the dumbbells in his hands suddenly felt ten times heavier than they were. “Not recently, Your Majesty”.

His Majesty hummed, scanning the features of his face. The Queen and the High King didn’t look anything alike, truly. But they moved so similarly that it almost felt as if it was her scrutinising every single one of his features, which did nothing to ease Chan’s nerves whatsoever.

“You hang out sometimes, right?” Chan’s left eye twitched at the comment, and he was suddenly unsure as to why the High King was asking him this. “So if you see her and she’s a bit… weird, weirder than usual, don’t hold it against her. I think the moons are making her go a bit nuts these days”, he emphasised, rotating his index finger around his temple.

Chan blinked slightly. “Uhh… I’ll–I’ll keep it in mind, Your Majesty”.

A cold shower did very little to ease Chan’s troubled thoughts. When he left his chambers after that shower, he, once again, caught himself trying to look for the Queen. Not actively, but his eyes would certainly wander when he crossed the many corridors of the castle.

He couldn’t help but wonder if he’d see a peek of her pretty face when he turned around the corner, or if he’d find a mess of paintings on the floor from one of her many outbursts… None of that happened, though. Instead, he just saw the many workers going about their day around the castle, carrying out all their day-to-day activities as usual.

Chan pondered on what the High King told him earlier. First of all, why would he say what he said to Chan? Second of all, was he trying to make fun of his sister, or was he trying to show real concern?

It was hard for Chan to tell, since His Majesty’s tone would often not match the words he said out loud. If he’d been trying to show concern, that’d mean two people had already seen the Queen recently and were worrying about her. Which, in a way, made Chan worry about her, too.

Chan was deep in his thoughts, his feet were taking him through the familiar way he took every day to go to his ship, almost like they were moving on their own. But, out of the blue, he felt hands on his body. The alarm bells went off in his brain a second too late for him to defend himself. He was tugged with force, and was suddenly pulled into a room before the door slammed shut loudly behind him.

“We need to talk”, the Queen stared up at him, with her eyebrows furrowed in concern.

Chan just stared right back, blinking slightly as his eyes darted all around her face. He suddenly didn’t know what to say, he was too stunned to speak, even when it’d only been a day since he last saw her. Although, considering the last thing they did then, he shouldn’t have been surprised that his body wouldn’t react, really.

The Queen held his gaze for a moment too long. Chan didn’t really know who leaned in first, but they were certainly kissing now. Warmth and fire spread rapidly within him, he brought one of his hands to hold the back of her neck, while the other laid palm flat on the small of her back, so he could pull her as close to him as possible.

The Queen’s fingers threaded in his hair, the soft scratch of her nails against his scalp made him groan, enough for his mouth to open and for her tongue to sneak inside to find his own. It was desperate, and messy, and his head was spinning. His mind was suddenly blank, the only thing Chan could hear were her soft whimpers against his mouth, and that ever-present hum in his ears.

Chan vaguely realised he was moving, and his back was now against a wall as Her Majesty pressed herself to his body. He was probably letting out the most embarrassing noises, but he honestly couldn’t bring himself to care. Her warmth was too distracting, and too alluring, for him to think about anything other than her body against him.

In one swift movement, he flipped their positions, so he could now press her against the wall, and slot one of his legs between hers. The most delicious yelp escaped her lips with the motion, only for the sound to get lost inside his mouth, since neither of them seemed to want to pull away from each other.

For a split second, Chan worried he might’ve been getting too carried away, but that worry died almost as soon as it came when he felt a hand–her hand–find its way to his bum and fucking squeeze the flesh over his trousers. 

So he retaliated. Of fucking course he retaliated… Chan liked things to be fair, and it was only fair that he, too, got to cop a feel. His grip was probably a bit too strong, his neediness certainly got the best of him, but she didn’t seem to mind, if the sudden moan filtering between their kiss was anything to go by. Blood rushed from his head to his crotch with the sound, and all of a sudden his underwear felt unbearably tight.

The Queen was a strong woman, physically. Much stronger than Chan was, for sure. However, when she pushed him away, it was almost weak, like she didn’t really want to do it at all. Chan moved regardless, separating his body from her just enough for her to slip past him and remove herself from his space entirely.

Pacing around the room, the Queen’s fingers tangled in her hair, and she tugged the strands gently. “Shit, you’re dangerous”, her words came out in a breathless chuckle, and her chest heaved as she tried to get air back into her lungs.

“Me?!” Chan was just baffled, he just couldn’t help the incredulous laugh that flew past his lips, nor the question that came right after. “What about you, witch?”

The Queen looked at him, and Chan looked right back at her. Who had moved first? Chan didn’t know, and, at this point, he also didn’t care. All he cared about was the feeling of her soft lips against his own, and her tongue pushing against his while they kissed again.

There was a desk in the room, apparently. Chan realised it the moment he’d pushed her against it, when the thing dug on her backside as his hands held her hips in place, kneading the flesh over her clothes. When did the Queen move her leg? He didn’t know, but the warmth around his hip and the weight of her heel pressing on the back of his thigh awoke something within him, something primal and so incredibly dangerous if acted upon. 

His hand flew to her thigh, and he hiked her leg a bit further up on his torso to keep it in place, ensuring that her balance was secure with the desk behind her to stabilise her. He was dizzy. From the kiss, from her warmth, from the arousal that was close to burning him alive…

One of her hands tangled in his hair, and she tugged–not enough to hurt or pull him away, but enough for his body to react. His hips rolled forward for his very prominent erection to grind against her centre, which made the Queen moan loudly against his mouth, further making his head spin.

Chan needed to breathe. His heart was beating just way too fast, his breathing laboured further with every graze of her tongue and every minute roll of her hips, and the only active brain cell he had left was screaming at him to get oxygen into his lungs as soon as possible.

So, he disconnected his lips from hers, only to reattach them to other areas of her skin. He kissed the apple of her cheek, her jaw, settling on the soft skin of her neck. In a way, he felt ravenous, hungry. It was the type of hunger he could only satisfy with the taste of her on his tongue.

Every time his lips connected to her skin, every time his tongue got bold and prodded her exposed neck, every time his grip on her thigh tightened or his hand moved further up on it, the Queen shivered under his touch, which only fueled him more.

“Chris, listen–” Her words died on her tongue at the sudden roll of his hips. The movement had been almost involuntary, an almost instinctual reaction to his name coming out of her mouth. 

“Listen, I… I need you to stop”.

Chan froze.

That four letter word shocked his senses back into reality, as if a bucket of cold water had been dunked over his head.

He pulled back from the Queen’s neck to look at her face. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips were swollen, kiss-bitten, and her eyes were closed as she took deep breaths. Right then, she looked probably the prettiest Chan had seen her as of yet, and the sight certainly made his heart flutter.

Their movements had stopped, but their positions didn’t change. His hand was still on her thigh, his fingers lightly dug into her flesh, sporadically squeezing over the fabric of her trousers, while he hands were still very much buried in his hair. 

After a few seconds, the Queen took a deep breath and finally opened her eyes. “I can’t think clearly if you’re touching me”.

Even after saying that, she didn’t pull away. She made no attempt to remove herself from his space at all. Her hands just simply remained mindlessly playing with the hair on the back of his head.

Chan huffed out a laugh. “Me neither, clearly”.

Her Majesty chuckled softly. “At the risk of bursting into flames right here, I really need to talk”.

Chan pressed a soft kiss to her cheekbone, only to finally step away from her, letting her leg fall to the floor. The sudden lack of her warmth made his head spin, but he decided to ignore it. 

“I don’t know for certain what’s your… your stance on it, seems like it’s similar to mine. But you… you make me feel things. Too many. And it’s honestly a little scary”, there was sincerity in her voice, the feeling she described was something that, if anyone could understand, it would be him. “But we can’t do this”.

Chan blinked for a couple of seconds, and then took another step back, unsure of what to do. He suddenly felt… confused, and much, much less confident. It must’ve been obvious on his face, too, as her eyes scanned his features with clear concern in them.

The Queen inhaled deeply, dragging her hands over her face before she spoke again. “There are things you still don’t know about me. Things I wish I could tell you, but I can’t without putting a lot of people and you at risk. Besides, the Big Bad Wolf’s repairs are going smoothly. What’re you gonna do when it’s completely operational again? You know I can’t leave for long periods of time. Are you gonna stay here with me?”

Chan felt it then, the sharp twinge in his heart. She was right. Soon, he’d have to leave, he couldn’t stay. His mouth opened and closed a few times, while he just looked at her, trying to find suitable words to reply to her, but no words came out.

“Exactly”, her words were steady, almost impassive, but her eyes couldn’t pretend like her voice did. Chan could see clear as day all her unsaid words, and complicated feelings, swimming in them. “You’ll leave and return to your base to fulfil your own moral duties, while I stay here doing the same”.

His stance on it she asked? It was exactly the same as hers, and of course she could tell, because against his better judgement, Chan would often wear his heart on his sleeve, even when he shouldn’t have to.

The Queen was right, and it irked him in a way… Not only because she was absolutely right, but also because she was so fucking level and collected when she talked about this, while his heart was doing summersaults in his chest. 

“I must say”, Chan started, crossing his arms over his chest, trying his best to keep his voice steady. “I really admire how you can be so rational about this”, he finished off with a dry laugh.

The Queen looked at him for a moment, and then sighed. It was a tired, defeated sigh. “I have to”.

She moved just a tad closer to him, close enough so he could hear her whispered words. “It doesn’t matter how much I yearn to hold you, to kiss you, to be close to you”, the Queen brought a hand to her chest, spreading it wide open. “Even if it hurts me, I’ve got to be rational, otherwise I’d just give in to this burning feeling in my heart without hesitation, completely shamelessly and carelessly”.

Her words reached deep within Chan, they rattled that annoying box of feelings in his heart. Her Majesty’s eyes scanned his face for a while, until she let out another tired sigh.

“I just… I’m too dedicated to the Alliance. It’s what I spend most of my time on when I’m not actually ruling my planet. As long as I can’t be fully transparent with you, as long as the Charmer is loose around the galaxy… I just can’t do this. I don’t have time for this… and you deserve better than that”, her expression changed then, and he could see it clearly in her face, the struggle within herself.

A few moments of silence passed, a few moments where  neither of them were really sure what to do or say to the other. Until Chan moved, until that intense urge itching under his skin materialised into existence, an action that had started before he could even stop himself.

He reached for her hand, and held it in his. It wasn’t a tight hold, but it was certainly firm, and his thumb started to lightly brush her knuckles.

Chan saw her façade crumble with his touch, and her body gave in to their inexplicable pull to each other. The Queen moved closer, releasing his hand and wrapping her arms around his waist, tucking her head under his chin. Chan simply wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and brought one of his hands to rest on her hair.

“I’m sorry”, she whispered, her voice almost muffled against the fabric of his vest top. “I must be giving you so many mixed signals right now”.

Chan chuckled. “A bit, yeah”, he caressed her hair. It was pretty much a mindless action he wasn’t sure he was doing to ease her worries or his own. “I did, uh, kiss you first, so I guess it’s my fault”.

The Queen hummed, the vibration seemed to reverberate against his skin, reaching those secluded areas deep within his heart. “Darling, I’m just as guilty, trust me”.

Oh, wow. A term of endearment. It wasn’t mocking, nor teasing, nor playful. It was just… real, it fell from her lips so naturally… And it affected him, a bit embarrassingly, even. So Chan tightened his hold around her frame, and decided to break the heavy atmosphere with one of his insufferable comments.

“Maybe you’re right… It’s all your fault, witch”.

Her Majesty weakly slapped him on the back, but she chuckled regardless. “You’re so annoying sometimes, makes me want to–”

A breathless laugh fell from her lips as she cut her words short and shook her head.

“Makes you want to what?” Chan taunted.

“Makes me want to shut you up”.

“How?” Chan was delving into dangerous territory. He couldn’t help it, the urge was too strong. He really, really wanted to annoy her, to get under her skin and get her to do something, anything…

Again, sometimes, he was just a bit shameless.

Chan felt the sharp intake of breath against the skin of his neck, and one of her hands moved from where it had been resting around his waist to lay palm flat on the small of his back. “Don’t tempt me”.

“But it’s so much fun”, Chan pouted, he fucking pouted even if she couldn’t see him.

She hummed, and when she spoke, her lips ghosted over the skin of his neck, making the hair at his nape stand on end. “Is that what you want from me, then? Just to have fun?”

Her tone was level still, almost impassive, but there was an undertone of curiosity to it, like she genuinely wanted to know. The Queen pressed a soft kiss on his neck, and the feeling almost made him shiver. Chan supposed it was fair, considering he, too, had kissed her there earlier.

“No”, now was as good a time as any to be honest, so he was, all while sprinkling a little term of endearment of his own, because, why wouldn’t he, if he felt like it? “Your suspicions are correct, love. You, too, make me feel things. Too many”.

The Queen buried her face further in the crook of his neck, and an appreciative hum vibrated against his skin.

There was just something so comforting about having the Queen in his arms. Chan knew he had feelings for her, he’d known for a while… He’d known how the feel of her hands in his affected him, how full he felt when they spoke, when she shared those bits and pieces of her knowledge with him, how his heart reacted to her laugh, her voice, her presence in general…

It was odd, but now that he held her in his arms, it was almost as if there was something in the back of his mind telling him that this was what he was supposed to be doing, that urged him to just do it, to continue to do it, and, as he pondered on it, Chan’s resolve was clear. With his cheek against her hair, with his senses full of just… her, there was no doubt in his mind when he spoke his next words. 

“I’ll wait”.

The Queen took in a shaky breath, and her arms around his waist tightened their hold ever so slightly. “I wouldn’t ask that of you. It’s not fair”.

“I know”, he was set on it, there was just no other possible option in his mind at this point, he was in too deep already. When Chan had a goal, he would strive to achieve it, regardless of how hard it could be, and for her, he decided right then and there, without hesitation, that he would wait. “But rebellions don’t last forever. Eventually, we’ll win, and I’ll come back. We’ll figure it out then”.

The Queen’s hold tightened around Chan’s waist a bit more, and all of a sudden, a thought passed briefly in his mind, a drop of doubt that had nothing to do with his feelings, but hers. “As long as you’d take me, of course. Otherwise you can just tell me to fuck off and I’ll leave you alone forever. And that’s a serious offer”.

He heard the Queen chuckle again, her breath fanning his neck made goosebumps rise at his nape. Pulling back from the hug, she laid her hands on his chest, and Chan’s hands moved from their place around her shoulders to rest on her lower back with her motion.

While Her Majesty looked right into his eyes, she had a glint of something in her eyes, something that Chan was certainly mirroring in his own.

Hope.

Bringing a hand to the back of his head, her fingers played with the curls there, before she offered him a soft ‘Thank you’.

Chan just regarded her with a smile. She broke eye contact, and once again, her eyes darted all around his face, until they finally settled on his mouth. He could practically see the cogs turning in her head, so he stayed still in their embrace, waiting for the Queen to make her decision.

Ultimately, she leaned in and kissed him, giving into the pull. That burning flame inside of him spread like wildfire all throughout his body as soon as her lips made contact with his, as soon as he kissed her back.

The unspoken words in her actions were very clear to Chan. This was a promise. A promise of a future… of a future together.

Chan could feel heat on his face, on his neck, and his chest. It was everywhere, and when the Queen pulled away from the kiss, he noticed a soft blush had spread over her cheeks as well. Her eyes focused on his kiss-swollen lips for a moment before she finally looked him in the eyes with a shy smile on her lips. 

“I have to go now”, the cursed words left her mouth as the fingers of one of her hands mindlessly tapped Chan’s chest, while the other twirled a strand of his hair.

“I know”, Chan removed himself from her space then, taking a tentative step back.

The Queen regarded him with one last, almost apologetic smile, and her words of ‘See you later’ were the last thing she said to him before she turned around and walked away, finally leaving the room.

Even then, after the incessant pulling sensation diminished only slightly the more she moved away, his resolve didn’t waver. Chan was absolutely sure of what he’d told her, about what he’d promised…

Now, he had something to hope for. A newfound goal that was quickly ingraining itself in his mind.

We’ll win, and I’ll come back.

“I just need to know where to connect the thing to. That’s what I’m missing and it’s driving me crazy!” 

Chan, Changbin, and Felix decided to stay back inside the Big Bad Wolf after repairs ceased for the day, just so they could talk to their friends back at the base. Jeongin had picked up this time, the man was completely stressed out of his mind as he couldn’t continue repairs on the Shining Starlight without knowing where a specific circuit board was supposed to connect to.

“Okay, describe to me in detail, where exactly are you trying to plug it into?” Chan was rubbing circles on his temples, there were no doubts in his mind that Jeongin was trying to connect the thing to the wrong connector within the console. He remembered quite vividly how Jeongin had ignored him ages ago when he was trying to show the younger man how to do this.

“Okay, so there’s the main unit, right? So, I crawl under the main unit, and open the farthest left panel–”

Chan cut him off. “Your left or the console’s left?”

Silence fell on the line for a few seconds, and eventually Jeongin let out an exasperated groan. “Oh, shit”.

Changbin chuckled from where he was sitting on the floor playing cards with Felix, meanwhile Felix just shook his head disapprovingly at his friend on the other side of the line, placing a card on the pile in front of him, forcing Changbin to pick up four cards from the other pile.

“You should pay attention to me when I show you things”, Chan sighed. “What’re you gonna do when you’re old and I’m gone?” He added with the most dramatic tone he could muster.

“Man, I’m sorry, okay. Sometimes you just talk too much and I get distracted”, Jeongin lacked any semblance of remorse, which made Chan scoff immediately. 

Chan was about to reprimand Jeongin, when, all of a sudden, Minho’s screams could be heard through the line, very, very far away. The man was surely running into the communication room, screaming ‘Guys, guys, guys, guys’ repeatedly, like a chant. The tone slowly increased the closer he got.

There was rustling, a ‘What the fuck, dude’ from Jeongin, and then Minho was talking right into the communicator. “Shut it, this is important!” He was clearly addressing Jeongin, who very gracefully swore at him in the background. “Guys! Who’s there?”

“All three of us”, Felix said–their game of cards now forgotten once he and Changbin stood up and came to Chan’s side, right by the communication system.

“Jaebum’s unit’s been rescued. Dall’s just sent a message to all units”, Minho was slightly breathless, but he sounded relieved, which was the same feeling that washed over the three men inside the Big Bad Wolf.

“Holy shit, do we have details?” Changbin asked, clutching Chan’s shoulder–for moral support, Chan supposed.

“Seems like four of them had been captured, obviously Dall didn’t specify who exactly. In any case, apparently a couple of days ago a few units were able to assist and the rescue mission went smoothly”.

Chan let out a sigh of relief, slumping on his chair. “Man… That’s great”.

And it was. It was great that they could rescue them. Chan felt a lot of respect for Dall, whoever or whatever the person–or thing–was, they had proved time and time again to be someone they could count on when things got really bad.

Not like it mattered much, anyway, but he wondered if at any point, they would come clean and show themselves, or if, once the Alliance’s goal was fulfilled, the person–or people–would never reveal their identity at all.

“Do you think Dall was there with the unit as well?” Felix asked. He had always had special curiosity towards the identity of Dall. Sometimes, he even got borderline annoying with his speculations and conspiracy theories. Chan would humour him most of the time regardless, even if he had no real interest in the topic.

“It’s not like anyone could tell anyway, no?” It was Jeongin now talking on the other side of the line. “No one truly knows anyone from Dall’s unit, either, so it could be any random guy”.

“Or girl”, Changbin offered.

“Does it even matter?” Chan asked, to no one in particular. “For all we know, Dall could be several people, they could be a man, a woman, a person with no or unspecified gender, or even AI. We’ve been following them for so long already, I don’t think it matters that much”.

“Dude, where’s your sense of curiosity?” Felix was pouting and everything, which made Chan chuckle.

“You mean my sense of gossip? Outside of the Alliance, clearly”.

“Anyway”, Minho cut them off. “There’s another thing they mentioned, kinda unrelated to the rescue mission”.

Chan sat up straighter on his chair, listening intently as Minho continued. “Seems like they’ve found some sort of material that’s highly effective against the Charmer’s creatures, and they’re working on developing weapons to use them against the damned things”.

Chan’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and his two friends next to him looked pretty much the same.

The Charmer’s mutated creatures were incredibly difficult to beat, regular blasters of any kind hardly scratched them, and any other physical weapon would break if you tried to impale the things. So a breakthrough like this was huge, getting weapons that could beat the creatures would mean they could get even closer to their goal, to finally win.

Chan was very curious. “Did they say what it was?”

“Nope. Just said they’ll keep us posted–Yes, Jeongin, you can talk now, damn”.

“Guys, any news on when the ship will be operational?” Jeongin asked.

“I was told today the tentative end date of the project is around two months from now”, Chan offered, sounding less excited than he thought he was going to be.

Earlier, as soon as Chan had arrived to the ship, Talboot had given him the news. After assessing the ship fully, they determined the ship should be fully operational within two months, possibly even before that if everything went smoothly. It was something that both excited him and gave him pause. He couldn’t help but feel conflicted after his conversation with the Queen today. 

Chan had to leave. They had to leave. All three of them. They needed to return to their routines and continue their active involvement in the Alliance. Even if his heart was screaming at him to stay, he just couldn’t. So, knowing that he only had a couple of months at best to enjoy more of the Queen’s company made him feel… oddly distressed, to put it simply.

“That’s great, isn’t it?!” Minho sounded genuinely happy about it.

Chan decided then to shove his feelings as deep as they would go. There was no point in brooding about it now, much less in letting his friends know about his conflicted feelings.

“Yeap. It’s great”.

Maybe, if Chan said it many times out loud, he’d start to believe it.

Previous Chapter: Day 15. | Series Masterlist. | Next Chapter: Day 60.

© therhythmafterthesummer 2022-2023. all rights reserved. do not repost or translate my stories.

[theycallmebecca]

18+ Drabble: Hey There, Cowboy

Y'all know I love me some cowboy!Ari and I've had this idea swirling in my head for the last week or so... and I even though I should be putting my home office back together after getting a new-to-me-desk... but I got the bug to write this... so let's give it a go.

Title: Hey There, Cowboy

Pairing: cowboy!Ari Levinson x female reader

Rating: R

Warnings: language, semi-graphic sex & oral sex (male receiving), exhibitionist themes

Disclaimer: This work of fiction is not to be reposted, used or translated without my permission.

18+ Disclaimer: This work contains sexual material that is for those over the age of 18. By clicking the keep reading link below, you are agreeing that you are over the age of 18 and are not offended by sexual content.

Usage Disclaimer: This work is for fans only. This author does not give permission for it to be shared, spoken of, referred to in any public manner (podcast, tv, online, etc.) that wants to either make a celebrity uncomfortable, mock fan fiction/fandom in any way, or the author themselves. Requests can be made, but it is unlikely the author will change their mind. If no response is given to a request then the answer is a solid no, not interested and the work cannot be shared, spoken of or even referred to, regardless of the manner or context. 

After spending a good six hours under the hot sun checking the fence line with his ranch hands, the dappled shade of the grove felt amazing to Ari as he spread out an old blanket.

Normally, he and his crew would have worked until dinner time, but it was too fucking hot and he'd sent them home after lunch.

Instead of riding back with them in one of the trucks, he'd had them drop him off at the grove and he'd walked the half mile in to where a small river ran through his land.

Dirty from the day's work, he pulled off his clothes and then waded into the river to both cool off and wash away some of the dirt.

Once the water was up to his knees, he lowered himself fully into the slow moving water, dunking his head under to clean his face.

He stayed in the river for a few minutes before he climbed out and made his way to his blanket. He laid down on it and stretched his limbs out, letting the warmth of the day dry him off.

The sound of an engine caught his ear, a little later, and he smirked. He knew that you'd come looking for him after seeing the ranch hands leaving for the day.

"Hey there, cowboy," you voice said, a few minutes later, as you stepped out from the path that led to the river's edge.

Propping himself up on his elbows, Ari grinned up at you as you made your way to the blanket in nothing but your boots and a summer dress.

You smiled down at him, taking in every inch of him and spending a heart beat longer some certain parts of his anatomy.

"Fancy a swim?" he asked, nodding his head towards the river.

"Maybe later," you replied, playing with the hem of your dress.

"Lay down with me then?" he suggested.

"Help me with my boots?" you countered.

Upon learning that Ari had gone to the river, you had taken your panties off back at the ranch house before getting into the old farm truck.

Ari sat up and offered you to support yourself as he helped remove your boots.

It was as you were shifting your weight from one foot to the other that he caught a glance up your dress and saw what was missing.

"Fuck, darlin'," he groaned.

"See something you like?" you teased.

He tugged your second boot off more aggressively than was necessary and tossed it to the side.

Once you were standing on both feet evenly, though slightly parted, he snaked his hand up under you dress and brushed his thumb against your clit. Then he slid his hand back, feeling for himself just how excited you were with the situation.

"Damn, darlin'," he groaned as he lowered his hand and licked your juices from his fingers. "You're already ready for me, aren't you?"

You nodded your head then lowered yourself to your knees, pushing him back onto the blanket in the process.

"But you aren't quite ready for me yet," you said, seductively as positioned yourself between his legs.

Biting your lower lip, you reached out and touched him, caressing his torso and his thighs.

"Don't tease, darlin'," he bemoaned.

"You like it when I tease," you replied, looking up at him as your hand found the shaft of his quickly hardening cock.

He opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could get it out, you kissed the head of his cock, silencing him.

After the only sounds that came from his lips were mumbled encouragements and groans as you used your mouth and your hands on his cock and balls.

"Darlin'. Darlin'. You' gotta stop," he managed to spit out. "Fuck. I don't want to come in your mouth. Not right now."

Letting go of his cock, you licked your lips and then turned your back to him. "Help with the zipper?" you asked.

You could hear his labored breathing as he pulled the zipper down. Then you heard the sharp intake of breath as he realized for the first time that you weren't wearing a bra under the dress either.

"Fuck me, darlin'," he moaned. He pressed a kiss to your bare back as he pushed the straps of your dress down your arms, letting the material pool around your waist.

His hands moved around your front and cupped your breasts, squeezing and fondling them. He tweaked your nipples, sending spikes of pleasure through your body.

You soon found yourself laying on the blanket while he hovered over you, your dress tucked under you head for more cushion.

"I could stare at you all day every day, darlin', and never get tired of this view," he said as he slipped between your legs.

He lifted one of your legs up onto his waist and the he slid his cock into your sex, fully seating himself in one fluid motion that made you both moan in pleasure.

Leaning forward, he pressed his forehead against yours before he kissed you.

You wrapped your arms around his neck and slipped your tongue between his lips, letting your tongues mingle as your bodies moved together.

As the pleasure built between you, you wrapped both legs around his legs, pulling him deeper into you.

"Fuck, darlin'," he groaned against your lips as your body met his thrust for thrust.

Leaving one arm to support his weight above you, he reached between your bodies and found your clit, using the pad of his thumb to help encourage your release.

"ARI!" you cried out as his touch pushed you over the edge.

He grunted above you and you felt his body spasm against yours as he came, buried deep inside of you.

After slipping from between your legs, Ari laid down next to you on the blanket and pulled you into his arms.

The sounds of nature surrounding you slowly coming back as the two of you recovered.

[my-only-way-tocooperatewithlife]

One more drink VI. - Pierre Gasly series

Thank you for all, for the likes and the additional comments.😊 Wish you all a lovely day ♥

Pairing: Pierre Gasly x fem!reader

Warning: swearing, language, mention of depression, alcohol usage

¤ Masterlist ¤

-- Previos part -- -- Next part --

When I woke up the sun was already shining and lightning up my room through the fold of the curtains. I got up from bed, put on my slippers as I was walking down from my room to the way of the kitchen I was trying to take my hair tie out but I have had to realise that my wavy hair with the humidity and my bed hair won’t let the tie out that easily.

Finally I could take it out, with a few additional hairs that I have ripped out through the procedure. I dig into my hair with one hand while I was rubbing my eyes with the other as I was walking the way to the kitchen.

“Good morning sunshine!” Roxy chirped loudly and all I did was growling back a small morning to them. I headed to the way of the already prepared coffee mug and I grabbed it with both of my hands and took a long sip out of it and leaning back to the counter with still closed eyes.

“Is she always like this?” When I heard a male voice my eyes shot open surprised. I saw three guys sitting at our dinning table.

“Mostly just let her drink that coffee and she will be better, but you can only talk to her when she had her breakfast because until, she is horrible.” Viki said while coming around the counter filling up her cup too. The guys were having a breakfast at the fully laid table with various breakfast items. The guys were sitting on one side of the table while Roxy and Viki were sitting on the opposite. Pierre was looking at me with a warm smile on his lips. I tried to get myself together, run my hands through my hair to flat out all of those strings which were standing different directions. “Come darling, sit down and eat.” Viki shooed me to the way of the table. I took a seat next to the girls.

“Good morning” I cleared my throat before I started to talk. “When did you guys started to have this breakfast? You could have woke me up, so I could help you guys with preparing for our guest “ I looked at my friends initiating that they could really inform me about that we have some people over so I won’t come out in my pyjamas. All I got back was an innocent smile from the both of them.

“ Actually this whole breakfast was our idea, we brought some stuff over and we thought we can have a breakfast together and after we can go out on the boat.” One of the guy explained while stuffing his mouth with freshly baked goods. I nodded and started to eat also, and trying to wake up. The others were talking, sharing stories laughed here and there, but in the morning at an early time like this I was really not the best company so I was just observing the others. When we finished with eating I picked up the plates and headed to the dishwasher and started to fill it up.

“So are you sleeping with my rival?” Pierre asked from behind bringing some mugs to the dishwasher. I looked up at him confused and he just pointed at my shirt. I was wearing Daniel Ricciardo’s Enchanté merch as a sleeping shirt. I have ordered it a size up so it was really baggy and it came down till my upper thighs, where I wore a black shorts underneath. I let out a small chuckle, shaking my head as I was drying my hand in a kitchen towel.

“ He has a really cool looking merch and it’s really comfy. And I also love the colour of orange so it was pretty obvious that I will buy it, even if it costed me a fortune”

“I have to send you some of my own ones and you will see how much it’s comfier. “ he winked at me.

———————

When the guys said they rented out a boat I have had no idea that it was a huge yacht, my mouth was hanging open when we stepped out of the car in front of the deck. The girls were already invading the yacht running around looking through everything.

“ Close that pretty mouth of yours ma vie, something can fly into it if you stay long like this.” Pierre chuckled as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and started to walk with me up on the deck. “ I know you were expecting something smaller.” He squeezed my upper arm, as I was looking around with huge eyes.

“I have never been on a boat like this. Heck, I’m lying, I have only been on a ferry on lake Balaton.” I put down my bag on one of the seats.

“We will go out soon, I have to check a few things before leaving. Until make yourself at home. Walk around check out everything, you can use the fridge also if you need something. And I will be back in a few with the guys.” He looked at the three of us while he was pointing around of him. Before he left he squeezed my hand and winked at me, which I responded with a small smile. This whole thing felt surreal.

“He is totally into you.” Roxy stated as it was a fact while she took of her dress to reveal her navy blue bikini. She grabbed a bottle of sunscreen and handed over to Viki. “Can you please put some on my back, I think yesterday when I fell asleep on my stomach on that sun bed I think I got burned a tiny bit."

“Dude your back is colour of a Ferrari.” Viki looked horrified and started to rub the sunscreen into her friend’s burned skin. “Roxy is right though. Have you seen how he is looking at you? Or that not just how but how long and how many times? Babe that man has his eyes on you all the time.” As she rubbed in all the cream into Roxy’s back, she turned holding out the bottle for me to put on some cream on her back. I squeezed some out and started to cover her skin with the white lotion.

" I don't know guys, it's still feels so surreal. And I dont't know if I want to get myself into this whole idea very much. Like okay, he has his summer vacation now. But afterall he is traveling all the time, around the globe." I let out a big breath as I was applying the cream on Viki's shoulders. She turned facing me and grabbed my hands forcing me to look into her eyes.

"I'm not trying to say that we are forcing you to do anything. All we ask you for, don't close up. He seems like a really nice guy, and honest and he looks like he is interested in you. Okay, I will tell you I look after him, and he has a slight playby vibe, but that's on the internet. And now that we can see him closer I get a different vibe of him." she was rubbing the back of my hand comforting. " We have a whole week in here. Let's just see how it will go." Roxy schootched closer on the couch and grabbed my other hand. "Okay? We know well you enough that you don't like to open up romantically to guys. But hey, look at me! Look at all the mistakes that I have made before I found my soon-to-be husband." She was giggling as she was pointing at herself. Indeed it was harder for me to open up for men. I was a talkative, open person usually until it comes to feelings and romance. It's been a long time that I have had anything going on with the opposite sex, usually it was because I closed up as soon as I started to feel something for the other person. And tried to escape from the situation, scared to get hurt.

"Oh Roxy, you are totally a wrong example on this one, I have never heard of before that someone had so many mistakes in her life." Viki laughed as she let go of my hand. " You have many things to confess before you have that wedding at the church" We laughed together at her comment.

"Ladies are you ready?" Pierre peaked his head throught the door. " Hope I did not barged in some serious lady talk." He stepped in leaning on the doorframe. He already took off his shirt and he had a vibrant orange swimming trunks on. His whole chest was on display, his hairy chest was glistening from sweat because of the hot weather, even if it was still before noon. His gold cross necklace was shining on the sun which was shining on it. He looked incredibly hot, he had a small smile on his handsome face as he was waiting for us to answer. But I was not the only one who got quiet, the girls were sitting silent looking at the man standing at the door. "Did the cat got your tongue?" He chuckled and pushed himself off from the doorframe, walked closer to us. He passed me and bent down to the fridge to grab a water out from it. "Come out to the deck, we will soon dock and we can go into the water" The girls were already jumping up and running out of the door. They acted like little kids on their trip to the Disney Land. "Are you comming?" He was nodding his head to the way of the door.

"Yes, just a minute." I grabbed the hem of my dress and pulled it upwards revealing my bikini under it. I was wearing a bright orange bikini under my white sundress. It was close to the colour of his swimming trunks. I was fighting with my dress which caught on my hairclip as I was trying to pull it through my head. I started to laugh at myself in my miserable situation and I tried to look at Pierre asking for help. "Uhm, would you mind?" I asked still laughing and I saw that he was still standing near to the fridge looking at me with a slightly open mouth. He shook his head waking up from his daydreaming and stepped closer to me lifting up the dress from my hairclip. I pulled the dress finally off my head and looked up at him. "Close your mouth cuki*something can fly into it." I winked at him using the same sentence he said to me in the morning, and I walk past him out of the door. (cuki means cute)

The water was perfect temperatured. It was crystal clear you could clearly see the buttom of it, where fish were swimming around. We have found a sup board one of the rooms in the yacht and I took it out to the water, laied down on it and enjoying the sun warming my body. I could just stay in here forever. I heard a scream followed by a splash behind me and I sat up blocking the sun blinding my vision with my hand as I was looking around to the way of the yacht. I saw Pierre's friend Ilies holding on the railing while laughing. I saw Roxy comming up tot he surface of the water while she was holding her hand up flipping off Ilies. And with this everything went crazy. The others were jumping off from the boat in to water, I was enjoying the whole situation far away from them still sitting on the board, when I felt that the end of the board lifting up, making me lean sideways into the water. With a small yelp I went under the salty water and I tried to swim up on the surfice. When I brushed the water off my face and I could open my eyes I saw Pierre with a naughty smile sitting on the top of the sup.

"Hey, that's not fair taking it like this." I was trying to climb up again on the board but it was much harder this way, and not like when I got on it from the boat. " I need some help" I looked up at him holding my hand out asking him to grab it.

"No way, you will pull me in the water too" He was shaking his head with a small laugh. I looked at him with narrow eyes and with a grumpy expression on my face, while grabbing the underpart of the board starting lift it up again. But it was much harder due to the fact he was on the top of it and he was quite heavy. "Don't you even think about it Gina!" Had a finger pointing at my way but I already decided that I'm gonna take this man off that thing, so I gathered all my strenght and lifted the board up causing him falling into the water, but due to the whole movement the board swam away from the both of us. We looked at each other and then to the board, then again back to eachother. And without even a word we both started to race to the board. Even the years of swimming I was still slower then Pierre, so I had to change tactics. I launched forward and grabbed on his shoulder. "Gina, this is cheating! "He was screaming while he was laughing really loud, but still trying to close the distance between us and the board.

"I know that's the point!" I laughed as I was leaning closer to his ears and I interlocked my arms infront of his neck. He quickly turned and grabbed my waist and lifting me up breaking my hold on his neck and throwing me away from him. He was waiting for me to come up from the water having and amoused look on his face. "Talking about me cheating while you do the same thing, dude." I pointed at him while I tried to swipe the wet hair out of my face. He grabbed my wrist again pulling me closer to him, and when I was close enough he sneaked his hands around my waist holding me up in the water. I had my arms holding on his shoulders as I was trying to cath my breath from the previous activites and giggling a little bit. His eyes were yet again flicking between my eyes and my lips and he licked his own once frowning afterwards. "Salty yea?" I joked with him and I grabbed on his shoulders and pushed him under the water. "Try to check it lower maybe it's less salty."

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

We came back from the water later that evening. After having a really nice daytime with the guys, they suggested to have a dinner with them at one of the restaurants they knew here.

We were waiting infront of the restaurant for the guys to arrive, dressed up , hair and make up done as well. To be honest thanks to the sun, I just put on some mascaras because my skin had a light pink hue to it especially on my nose due to that I got a tiny bit sunburned. But this just only made my small freckles more visible. I let my hair loose and from the salty water my usually wavy shoulder longht hair had beautiful curls in it. I picked up an mint coloured dress pairing it with my white sneakers. I was looking through of the photos on my phone that I took in the past two days. "I took some pretty ones of you as well." I felt a breath tickling my neck and instantly I felt a shiver going down on my spine. I turned my head slightly to his way and senced that he is really close to me. I felt my heart picking up it's pace due to his closeness, and I let out a shaky breath once he leaned back. "Look at you ladies, you look fantastic." He smiled as he complimented us. " We have reserved a table outside, hope it's fine for you." We nodded our heads and started to walk in the restaurant after they held the door open for us.

The guys were sharing some stories from their childhood, teasing eachother during the whole dinner. I was sitting on the other side of the table opposite of Pierre. He was keeping an eyecontact with me for the whole dinner, it was an intense staring contest between the two of us. After the nice meal we have shared the guys suggested to go back to their place and go down to the beach next to with a few beer and wine not to end just the evening yet.

They have rented out a huge mansion with a big pool, and a huge garden which had a small path directly connected the the beach below. I walked ahead with a wine bottle in my left hand and two glasses in the right. Pierre was already preparing the small table between the benches. "Do you have your lighter with you?" He was pointing at the small candles on the table. I walked closer and placed the bottle and the glasses on the table. I lighted all the candles and when I finished with it I got up seeing that Pierre has already filled up a glass with wine. I took it from him and clinked my glass to his one, before sipping into the glass. "I can live in here." I sighed as I took a seat on a bench next to Pierre. "I always said that I was born in a wrong place. I should be living in a mediterrian area, like Greece, maybe Italy or South France. Oh lord I have always wanted to go to the Southern part of France." I smiled as I let my head lay on his shoulder.

" I get what you are saying I loved to live in Monaco, then now in Milan. I wish I can stay here too." He mumled in my hair as he was watching the water.

"I'm trying not to envy you a lot that you can see all those beautiful places." I poked his side as I lifted up my head looking deep in his eyes. "I have to thank it for you and you freinds that you invited us for today."

He lifted his hand up to stuck a loose string of hair behind my ear and he caressed my cheek with the back of his hand. I sinked into his touch as his fingers glided along my neck. He was looking deep into my eyes and leaning a little forward. "Your welcome, anytime" We were just a cuple of inch away from eachother, I could feel his breath fanning on my face, and he parted his lips. He was about to close the distance between us when my phone went off. I jumped in my surprise and let out an annoyed sigh as I leaned back and starting to search for my phone on my handbag. When I saw that one of my brothers were calling me I rolled my eyes let out a whispered come on, and looked back at Pierre.

"They always knew when to call...."

"Pick it up, I don't want to get murdered by a solder." He smiled at me pointing at the phone.

"It's okay, I will just text him, that we will talk tomorrow." I smiled back, when I heard the others were coming down on the stairs to the beach.

"Who will get murdered by a solder?" Roxy asked as she hopped down from the last step in to the sand.

"My oldest brother is the bigest cockblock in the intire world" I told them in Hungarian with a sweet smile on my face. My two best friends looked at me confused for a second then they exchanged a look. "Don't make a scene of it, but we nearly kissed." I stood up from the bench walking to their side and bending down to fill their glasses too while I whispered.

"Don't tell me that G.I. Joe ruined it!" Viki looked at me pleasing but I nodded my head in response she let out a small chuckle shaking her head. "Babe we still have the whole week ahead us, you can catch that kiss." she patted my shoulder.

"Girls we have a plus room in our house, with three beds in it, why won't you stay for the night in here?" Ilies asked while he filled up his glass.

"You already did way to much for us, we can't just invade your house too" I shook my head in response

" Nonsense, you are good company. It's getting pretty late also, and we are far away from your place. And it's been a long time we have had a sleepover party."

"Okay I guess one night cannot be a huge problem" As I looked at the girls who just shrugged and starting to fill their glasses up.

It was after 2 in the morning when we started to walk back to the house, getting ready to sleep. "Do you need a shirt to sleep in?" Pierre grabbed my hand as I was taking my shoes off at the entrance. "Come I can give you one" He nodded his head to the way of his room. I followed him down on the hall and stopped at the door frame. He went into to a wardrobe and took a shirt out and walking back to me. I take it from him and folded it out to see the whole shirt. I started to laugh when I saw the writing on the shirt. Liked by Pierre Gasly " I told you I will give you from my own merch." He had a confident smile on his lips as he was leaning on the doorframe.

"Thanks, I will tell you in the morning the verdict which one is comfier." I let out a small chuckle and stepped forward, grabbed his shoulder as I went on my tiptoes. I placed a small kiss on his cheek. His stubble was tickling and stabbing my lips a little bit. "Good night Pierre!" I whispered in his ears and stepped back

"Good night Chérie!" whispered back and watching me as I was walking to our room for the night. The girls were already sleeping when I entered the room. I changed into my new pj quickly and laid down in the bed. I smelled his cologne on the shirt. I smiled as I put my head on the most comfortable pillow I have ever laid my head on and closed my eyes.

[fieldofdaisiies]

Sirius Black x Reader | Oh Those Smutty Books

type: fluffy

warning(s): actually none, a bit mature and suggestive; usage of mature language

word count: 784

summary: Sirius discovers you reading a smutty book in the common room and finds it very intriguing

*all rights reserved*

———

"What is that?"

And with that Sirius snatched the book out of your hands, grinning and his eyes lighting up while he let them run over the very indecent sentences. No, Merlin, no.

"I had no idea you were into that…that sort of books. Fuck, Prongs, listen: 'Slowly he dragged his tongue up her—'"

"Shut up, Sirius! And give me back my book!"

You jumped off the couch, hurdling after him, but he was fast — too fast, tossing the book over to James who caught it with the ease of a Quidditch player.

"Ooh, let me see: 'He then he used his thumb to—'"

With that a big cushion hit Potter‘s head. It did not come from you but rather from Marlene, quickly coming to your help.

“You fools. Give the book back immediately or I will direct a Bludger towards both your heads during the next Quidditch game.

Lifting one hand in a defensive manner, James grimaced, slowly waddling over to you.

“Sorry, Y/N. But quite….interesting that you are into such things.” A smug smirk appeared on his lips while you felt your face flush, heat and colour erupting high on your cheeks.

“It is just a book.” you grumbled when an arm wrapped around your shoulders. The scent of smoke and strong cologne filled your nostrils. Although your heart started beating like crazy, you tried to keep a cool demeanor, rolling your eyes when looking sideways at Sirius.

“Just a book with great suggestions for certain situations, huh?”

“Git!” you blurted out, shoving him off of you and storming towards where Marlene stood. She gave you a sympathetic look before shaking her head at the two boys. You descended the staircase, dashing back to your dorm room.

Moments maybe even hours later you found yourself with your head buried in the pillows, groaning loudly and your face still feeling terribly hot.

It really was just a book. A book you enjoyed. It did not give you ideas. You just enjoyed reading it and Sirius had to open it on the excat stupid page with the smut.

A soft knock ripped you out of your silent cursing.

“No!” you shouted towards the door, squeezing your eyes shut and tugging on the blanket.

“I am entering anyways. Just want to see how my favourite smutty book loving girl is doing.”

Lifting your head, you gave Sirius an incredulous look, groaning under your breath. Slowly you rolled over when Sirius approached your bed, grinning at you. This stupid grin.

“Sorry. But I really had no idea you were into that kind of things."

Throwing your head back, you released a loud groan when Sirius dropped down on the bed next to you. For the whole day you had tried to ignore him and the other boys, staying in your dorm room under a blanket. In addition, you had made a mental note to never ever read such books in the common room again.

"It was just a romance book with a bit of spice. You opened it on the stupid smut page. The rest is romance. Just fluff." you mumbled, feeling his hand moved to your thigh. You were friends, had been for years, but never anything more. You had a crush on him but he…he rather hooked up with everyone else…so he was your friend. And friend only.

Eyes glowing brightly, his thumb rubbed idle circles on your thigh. That touch, his touch, did nothing to slow down your heavily beating heart, heat and colour once again flushing your cheeks.

"No, it is just surprising. You did not seem like a person who would read books of that kind. But I think it is amazing. Absolutely amazing!" He grinned — a full, toothy grin.

"Why?" You dumbfoundedly stared at him.

"Because I find these books intriguing," Sirius grinned, sucking his lower lip between his teeth. "And they make great suggestions. Let’s recreate some of the scenes, shall we?”

Moving his hand over his on your thigh, you sat up. “Woah…woah. Hold up. We are friends—“ “Fuck the friendship. Do you really think I am not into you? After all those years? After everything I have tried? You really think I just want us to be friends?!”

Your jaw must have dropped to the ground while you simply stared at the raven haired boy in front of you.

A warm thumb moved under your jaw, closing your gaping mouth. “Was I really not obvious?”

“Not at all, Sirius. Hooking up with basically every girl in Hogwarts has clearly not given me any signs that you might be into me!” you blurted out, shaking your head at him.

He seemed like deliberating. “Right. I thought I could make you jealous.”

With that being said you flicked his forehead. “Idiot!”

“Does the idiot get a kiss now?”

Hesitating for a moment you, you leaned forward, your lips curling against his.

[russenoire]

a masterpost: this is how i study japanese・これが私の日本語の勉強法です。

as part of a dialogue with @chokopan, this is how i study japanese.

…i don’t know that anyone else would find my current process helpful or even realistic, though i will detail it in another post.

@russenoire​

…Yes please, do share! I think all of us in the langblr community could find something useful to learn from you. The more we all talk about how we learn, the more ideas we’re exposed to - which can help us come up with new study methods we wouldn’t have thought of trying before. Like I said before, everyone learns differently; but sometimes, mixing it up with a new technique or note-taking method, for example, could help push us out of studying ruts or times of low motivation. To that end, I’d like to know what resources you use when you’re breaking down kanji and etymology. It seems like you’re learning kanji in a sort of… non-traditional way.

this is my response. it is a Very Long Post, but i hope others find it helpful. for the method i use to learn kanji specifically, go here.

table of contents under the cut.

table of contents

tools / apps.

online resources.

dictionaries.

grammar / cultural context / word nuance & usage notes.

japan-based japanese language schools.

youtube channels.

sundry goodness.

textbooks.

immersion content.

actual study.

daily.

weekly.

helpful tips.

for the morbidly curious only: what got me to start in the first place?

tools

a word processing program, for taking notes.

takoboto.jp (online and on android) - it’s a dictionary of words and kanji, with stroke order diagrams, kanji meanings, some notes on word usage, and a slew of additional info (like JLPT levels and school grades for individual characters). includes grammar search with renshuu.org.

anki (on mac/linux/windows) - the mack daddy of SRS apps. massive learning curve, but have you the time to surmount it, the serious flexibility it offers is yours; you can even add javascript to anki cards. i’ve used it for years for learning programming languages – it’s indispensable to me.

hinative (an app) - ask native speakers to correct your writing, pronunciation and word usage. do the same for other learners too. pretty eye-opening, especially for my native language.

a 原稿用紙 (genkouyoushi), for writing practice.

cool pens.

online resources

dictionaries

jisho - a dictionary with a search function that lets you input passages of text and look up each word separately. amazing for the vast majority of words, not always great at catching grammar patterns.

takoboto - much like jisho.org, with grammar patterns. the mobile app or a full subscription to the website unlocks easy grammar search through renshuu.org.

japanese language @ en.wiktionary.org - an embarrassment of riches. hella useful for etymology, verb conjugations from a japanese standpoint, historical word use and translingual information on individual kanji.

goo - a monolingual japanese dictionary. i’ve slowly started using its definitions for some of my cards — they’re also an additional vocabulary source.

grammar / cultural context / word nuance & usage notes

japanese with anime - another person learning japanese with manga and anime, but who has spent far more time poring over linguistics articles in peer-reviewed academic journals than i have. excellent for making sense of manga/anime visual storytelling conventions, tropes, slang!!! and grammar.

renshuu - kanji/word dictionary and grammar resource, with quizzes and games. lots of natural language sentence examples as well.

takoboto - like renshuu, but not gamified. i use this site more often, as it’s a little more user-friendly and i already use the mobile app.

japanese @ stackexchange - this is one of many offshoots of the venerable programming advice forum stack overflow. full of questions and answers from native speakers, academics and learners about japanese use in the wild. highly recommended.

self-taught japanese - a blog by a professional translator and long-time student of japanese culture.

imabi.net - an exhaustive grammar resource from an academic perspective. i like to point people here instead of tae kim, as imabi is less reductive, but people who need to ramp up complexity in their learning materials may find it overwhelming.

maggie sensei - i wish this site were easier to read and navigate, but the content is amazing. plenty of natural japanese examples for grammar points, some coverage of colloquial japanese and helpful explanations from a native speaker.

sci.lang.japan FAQ - Q&A from the usenet newsgroup. useful for cultural questions, some grammar.

japanese language @ en.wiktionary.org - see above.

the tv tropes wiki - given japan’s immense worldwide cultural influence relative to its population, this site has tons of useful info on japanese culture, from honorifics to the actual language.

japan-based japanese language schools

wasabi - indispensable. concise, exhaustive breakdown of grammar and an entire self-learners’ course for free. they also offer the instantaneous composition method, a technique for training up speech in japanese using common sentence patterns. i intend to try it this month.

genki academy - where i found validation for using literal translation to study. lots of articles on grammar and strategies for effective study.

youtube channels

onomappu - an adorable medical student explains his native language in very simple japanese. includes dual eng-jp subtitles.

cure dolly - the creator died last year, sadly, but she left behind some of the most illuminating explanations i’ve ever seen of japanese structure and grammar. polarizing presentation, but highly recommended.

cyberbunny (if only for the 30 min katakana song!)

sundry goodness

kanjialive - stroke order diagrams using real japanese handwriting, not typefaces.

youglish for japanese - just started using this and it’s fantastic. it crawls through youtube subtitles to help you find native pronunciations of japanese words in context.

massif - natural japanese sentence aggregator, meant to solve the problem of outdated and often inaccurate sentences in projects like the tanaka corpus and tatoeba.

dōgen on patreon and youtube - a linguist who pretty much made japanese phonetics his life’s work. his course is great if you are serious about near-native pronunciation. (i paid for it, but am not making it a focus until i have acquired more japanese myself. i also don’t feel this is strictly necessary for proficient command of the language – the author agrees.)

OJAD - university of tokyo’s online japanese accent dictionary. pitch accent contours for thousands of words and conjugations, with audio.

字幕プレーヤー (jimaku player) - a user script that allows you to add your own subtitles to crunchyroll or VNV videos. each line is sent to jisho.org as a text search. free / donation-ware.

kitsunekko - japanese subtitle files for hundreds of J-doramas, anime series, and movies.

awesomeTTS and japanese support, for anki users. fairly natural-sounding text-to-speech audio for flashcards.

textbooks

a dictionary of basic/intermediate/advanced japanese grammar, seiichi makino & michio tsutsui. possibly the beilstein of japanese grammar. exhaustive, organized in roumaji alphabetic order.

japanese: a comprehensive grammar, 2ed., by stefan kaiser, yasuko ichikawa, noriko kobayashi and hilofumi yamamoto. another excellent resource, focusing on modern and most frequent patterns.

essential japanese vocabulary, by akira miura. helpful for notes on nuance and words that learners confuse easily. it also helped me clarify the meanings of a number of words like 相手 (あいて, aìte == ‘someone one performs an activity with or against’).

the kodansha kanji learner’s course, by andrew conning and jack halpern. the ‘all japanese all the time’ and ‘matt vs japan’ learning communities – my introduction to study methods for japanese – love love LOVE heisig’s remembering the kanji 1.

i wasn’t sold:

it focuses on recognition and writing jouyou kanji as pictures only. readings and actual meanings are meant to be learned once part 1 is complete.

conning’s method was much more intuitive for me: it teaches you kanji with their original meanings and the most common readings, in increasing stroke complexity and by similar components. he provides some historical context as well. highly underrated. i use this as a reference and a backup, not a primary kanji learning strategy; i’m not in any hurry.

making sense of japanese, by acclaimed haruki murakami translator and yale professor jay rubin. if you can overlook his borderline racist dismissal of kanji (i couldn’t); the rest of the book wittily illuminates grammar points that trip up learners – like how the ‘passive’ actually works in japanese – in a cultural context.

immersion content

mob psycho 100, manga / anime.

MP100 is a character-driven, supernatural realist slice-of-life coming-of-age story, larded with hardcore action and darkly funny satire. it’s great. i love a well-executed slice-of-life story and they’re often perfect for language learning, but they’re typically not that popular among anime fans because ‘nothing happens’ in them. á chacun son gout.

it seems i got lucky when i chose this particular series for reading immersion:

the replay value is quite high. i notice something new almost each time i revisit.

it’s almost entirely free of weirdly specialized vocabulary that would be useless in the real world (though i did learn two entirely separate words for ‘exorcism’. LOL).

it contains a healthy mix of different registers of speech.

i got to tangle with slang (which is really only painful to work with because of the lack of resources for english speakers) and fairly polite japanese right away. the protagonist speaks very politely with most people he encounters in the anime, with some exceptions, and he code-switches as appropriate to the situation. he’s…less polite in the manga, but his character is otherwise unchanged.

the lack of furigana made me work a little harder for understanding. this and the mangaka’s not infrequent use of kanji for words typically written in kana are almost certainly meant as a satirical comment on 中二病 (chuunibyou), or 'second-year middle schooler syndrome’.

chuunibyou can include pretending to have magical abilities, behaving in real life as if you’re a character from a superhero manga, or wearing eyepatches for no good reason. apparently kanji overuse is one of its least embarrassing symptoms. self-satisfied teenagers often have a pathological need to show off the mess of kanji they’ve just learned in junior high…

a number of adult characters in MP100 clearly suffer from it.

a few other carefully curated anime series.

mostly watched without subtitles. this changes on a whim, and it can be difficult to find a story with a good mix of spoken japanese registers that is also watchable without subs. making a story so compelling that it can be understood and enjoyed purely on a visual level is a unique skill, it seems.

the ones listed below are ones i keep returning to:

uchuu kyoudai a story about two brothers who make a promise to each other to become astronauts as kids. it meets this and then some; i was pleasantly surprised. the animation is not great, but the realistic character designs, the story’s emotional depth and the careful details in the setting more than compensates for it.

shouwa genroku rakugo shinjuu a real slow burner in the best of all possible ways. different characters’ personal attachments to rakugo – a form of traditional storytelling best described as ‘a one-man sitcom performed for a live audience’ – and to each other across different time periods make for some affecting viewing. mixed speech registers, but leans more towards the colloquial side.

other listening content

interviews with voice actors i like, with JP subs if they are available.

songs in japanese. self-appointed reddit gatekeepers look down heavily on using songs as immersion, but like, fuck those people. i’ve already written about how lovely they are. they can be a great source of vocabulary too, particularly if you love literary or poetic language and don’t care whether every word you learn shows up in a frequency list.

actual study

i do not have kids. i have never needed much sleep. i work from home, and i actually asked my friends last year for space in order for me to 日本語を身を委ねる (nihóngo o mi o yudanèru, abandon myself to the japanese language)…they were all understanding. i’m grateful for this.

i’m also very aware that my circumstances won’t resemble anyone else’s, because my brain is…odd.

like, when i began, my kana and kanji knowledge was minimal at best. i could identify maybe a handful of kanji on sight, like the one gaara scarred his forehead with as a child in naruto (愛), or the one for wind (風). i dove head-first into immersion anyway with a manga series written for teenagers and adults precisely because i know myself and knew i hadn’t the patience to sit with literal children’s books.

the line by line, particle-by-particle, pattern-by-pattern interpretation i do is indeed slow, but there wouldn’t be enough stimulation to keep me engaged otherwise. the friend who introduced me to MP100 asked me for advice on learning strategies, as we’re both acquiring this language. he recoiled in horror when i showed him what i was doing.

i’ve always been like this. physics made no sense to me in high school until i studied single-variable calculus; musical acoustics in university might as well have been greek until i learned the underlying math. i taught myself to sew by making a sofa.

if this comes across as humble-bragging, i apologize; it’s a liability for me almost as often as it is an asset, and it really doesn’t make my life easier.

daily studies

1h, minimum, of anki flashcard study.

i set my timer for a block of 30 minutes and answer as quickly as i can, twice a day. if i’m not pressed for time, that’s maximum 90m in 30m blocks. in practice, this is the only thing i do daily at this point: everything else is as i have time.

anki power-users generally recommend making your own decks, and i second, third and fourth this. rolling your own does take far longer, however. i spent a fair amount of time bending anki to my will to design beautiful, useful cards, but the effort i invested in tailoring them to my way of thinking and learning made their content easier to retain. YMMV.

a little while ago i downloaded a deck made up of lines of audio dialogue timed to subtitles, ripped directly from MP100’s first season, for listening practice. it’s also been great for vocabulary acquisition.

a typical anki session presents me with a mix of everything: listening exercises, word recall, translation. many of my cards are audio cards i made where i listen to a line and type in what i heard, or work backwards from a translation to typing in a japanese equivalent.

i do this for the sake of exposure as well, as i don’t read quickly enough yet to regularly encounter most of the words i have learned.

1-3h translation.

from a random tankōbon of MP100, i pick 1-4 pages and translate however much i can make time for.

i keep a word document and record each line, my translation, words to look up, and any questions (why this word? why say this like that? etc.) as i comb through the text. jisho.org and takoboto both have a search-by-radical function for identifying unfamiliar kanji.

original word order is preserved unless it’s confusing, in order to get me accustomed to typical japanese sentence layout, particle function and phrasing. it helps some, but i’m starting to need this less as i progress. i have encountered quite a few lines that i can understand without the need for this sort of parsing, which feels good.

when a line of text has got me stumped, i translate what i can around it and move on. i then return, consulting the grammar resources listed above to clear things up.

words to look up go straight into anki. anki management itself can be time-greedy, depending on how many words or sentences i need to enter or how many cards need retooling.

weekly studies

once a week, untimed, learning the lyrics to a song or mining a song i can already sing for vocabulary, using lyric sheets. i would like to be more systematic and consistent about everything this year.

1-5h of non-anki-related listening.

keeping track of words i can pick out and don’t know for entering into anki on the spot.

anime with and without japanese subtitles.

simple japanese listening.

japanese rock songs.

1-3h of focused grammar study.

cure dolly’s grammar videos can be really good at clearing up grammar misunderstandings. though i don’t love her pronunciation, her explanations are usually solid.

the aforementioned resources for grammar that i consult in translating.

helpful tips

a note on transliteration.

ボキャブラリー

look for ways to generalize whenever possible.

i stole my approach to learning words with multiple meanings directly from cure dolly. words with multiple meanings usually have a single core meaning that applies to most of the different senses in which you’ll find them.

here’s an example, using 適う (かなう):

the core meaning here is ‘fit’; it neatly encompasses most of the definitions on this card. i have also included the kanji meanings applicable to this particular word.

relate new words to existing knowledge; use the kanji’s meaning/shape for further support.

here’s an example with 籠る (こもる).

the main kanji making up this word, 籠, can mean ‘basket’ or ‘cage’. it resembles one too.

what can you do with a basket or cage? how are its contents affected? the answers to both questions encapsulate 籠る’s meanings.

it’s also related to 引き篭もる (ひきこもる, h’k’komòru), the root behind the word for the unfortunate japanese cultural phenomenon where kids give up on entering society and seclude themselves in their rooms for years…

keeping things like this in mind helps meanings stick for me.

with that in mind:

i don’t learn vocabulary out of context.

there are so many pre-made anki decks just for vocabulary: Core6000, Core10000, and so on. people seem to find them helpful, and i’m glad. i don’t, at least not for their intended purpose (i have a 6K deck with a ton of professionally recorded sentences spoken by voice actors! i use it for listening practice). i have no scaffolding to hang these words on.

i pick words up directly from immersion: from anime, from the manga i’m using, from songs, from podcasts i’m listening to. anything in japanese that i’m interested in understanding further can serve as a source for vocabulary, including recipes. the more existing information – emotional, visual, auditory – you feed your brain along with a single bit of new knowledge, the better for overall retention.

there’s a scene in MP100 where the protagonist’s mother is yelling at him to wake up so he can walk to school on time; i find it notable mostly for the overly-concerned soccer-mom sound of her voice. whenever i hear the word 遅刻・する (ちこく, ch'koku == lateness) now, it echoes in my head:

｢ (しげ)！　起きなさい！　遅刻するわよ〜！｣ shige! okinasai! ch'kok’ surú wa yo~! shige! wake up, please! you’re gonna be LAAATE!

even 'i heard that word in a scene where two characters were arguing about cheese’ is context.

i learn verbs in ergative pairs when i can.

not because knowing what ergativity is is particularly important, but because it’s a great chunking strategy: i can learn to associate multiple related words with a single kanji.

each kanji representing an action is often associated with at least two separate single-kanji verbs representing opposing aspects thereof:

自動詞 (じどうし, jidoushi == self-move-word). this concept roughly corresponds to intransitive verbs in english, which don’t take direct objects.

他動詞 (たどうし, tadoushi == other-move-word). transitive verbs, which need to act on something (a direct object) to make sense.

例えば (たとえば, tatoeba == for example):

落とす (おとす, otòsu): to allow to fall, to drop (something). other-move.

落ちる (おちる, ochìru): to fall or drop (on its own). self-move.

sometimes there are more. if introducing the additional verbs associated with a single kanji doesn’t sow confusion, i learn them all at the same time:

見る (みる) mìru to see, look, view… (みる has more definitions, but different kanji are used to indicate them. a kind native speaker on hinative pointed this out to me.)

見える mièru to seem, be visible

見せる misèru to show, display

two birds, one stone. 一石二鳥。 いっせきにちょう。 isseki nìchou.

漢字

my approach to kanji, however, is entirely my own.

i was exposed to ateji early with the word 真面目・な (まじめ・な, majíme na == grave, earnest, serious, not fucking around). the characters in this word were chosen entirely for sound and not meaning, which probably explains why it gets abbreviated to マジ so often. that i couldn’t trust kanji in nouns to consistently convey meaning was a harsh lesson to learn. :D

when i turned my eyes to verbs and adjectives instead, i found this:

the pronunciation of every verb or adjective comprised of a single kanji with an okurigana trail represents a single 訓読み (くんよみ, kun’yomi) or native japanese reading. that leaves me with just word, meaning and pronunciation to remember.

relating directly to ergative pairs, in each half of a pair the kanji occasionally has a different 訓読み.

例えば:

教わる (おそわる, osówaru): to receive teaching, to take lessons in, to learn.

教える (おしえる, oshíeru): to teach, preach or inform.

using 教 as an example again, i learned 教育 (きょういく, kyóuiku == education, training, schooling) a little later. きょう is the 音読み (おんよみ, on’yomi) or chinese reading for 教。

that gave me all possible readings for this kanji and a good sense of its meaning in other words — like 宗教 (しゅうきょう, shùukyou == religion, faith, creed) — without needing to drill the kanji independently. readings for other kanji can be acquired in similar fashion.

a rule of thumb: you can usually expect kanji in verbs and 形容詞 (けいようし, keiyoushi == so-called i-adjectives) to be read with 訓読み.

when i notice that i keep confusing one particular kanji for another, or i can’t get a reading to stick in my mind because i have nothing to anchor the character to…i add the troublesome character alone to my anki deck. it gets a list of compounds of itself with other kanji i already know, to help me better associate ideograph with meaning. i trust that in time it will stick too, with enough accumulated context.

so why this manga?

short answer: this story means a lot to me.

here’s a longer answer.

that was in april last year.

this same friend first recommended this series to me back in september 2020. i slept on it until the following may… then promptly asked him for forgiveness. i’d mainlined both seasons in japanese and english over a single weekend.

i had to have more.

the last time something like this happened…

i was a student at university, in my last year. my then-boyfriend — who’d escaped from chernobyl as a child on his father’s back with his mother’s grip tight on his arm, fallout flakes still clinging to his jacket — handed me a fanlation of the viktor pelevin short story ‘hermit and sixfingers’.

this one, actually. i’d recommend it heartily, especially if you’re into dystopias and bleak, absurd humor – i was at the time. though once i slowly awakened to life in the genuine article, fictional dystopias and their attendant laugh-to-keep-from-weeping ethos…lost their appeal some. (i still have a soft spot for nikolai gogol, though)

some time later, i read a professionally-translated version and compared them: what the rougher of the two lacked in polish, it made up for in quite a bit of culturally-specific nuance and awkward charm. i felt cheated enough to want to learn russian. like, this blog is called what it is for a reason. i’m still a fan of russian literature. my given name, анастасия, is russian.

sadly, it didn’t stick, probably for a number of (mental health-related) reasons outside the scope of this post.

a scarred veteran of the sub versus dub wars, old enough to remember a sailor moon scrubbed clean of lesbian 'subtext’, i’ve loved anime for a long time. i’ve been touched by so many sweet and deeply affecting stories over the years, but all the hard work put in by amateur translators to give every joke and obscure cultural reference its due…never motivated me to learn the language. not even as i became increasingly fascinated by japan’s culture and history.

what did it, finally? mob psycho 100. (a global pandemic and a sense of time evaporating didn’t hurt.)

MP100’s realistic depictions of reactions to trauma and the slow healing process…

skillfully-drawn main characters…

wry commentary on storytelling tropes and clichés shounen battle anime fans take for granted…

everything it has to say about the complexity of relationships that shape us as people, forgiveness, kindness, gratitude…

and the protagonist, a neurodivergent person finding self-acceptance as well as a place in the world…

settled into my bones and wouldn’t leave.

i won’t gush overmuch about it here; my deep adoration for ONE’s stupidly-overpowered, almost-certainly-autistic love child probably seeps out of this blog enough and i’ve already uncapped that geyser elsewhere.

after i’d inhaled all 16 volumes of the attendant scanlated manga, i tracked down the first two volumes of its official english translation to read. the translator made some puzzling changes.

one of the main characters, a phony psychic and habitual liar with a kind heart that he won’t even admit he possesses, honestly didn’t need extra help to come across as slimy. what the anime (and the slightly awkward scanlation i read) handled with some subtlety hit like a tornado of anvils in his work: the translator just dunked him in nickelodeon slime. this wasn’t the only character whose personality he changed.

he also pointedly avoided using the word psychic in his own take on the story (i think it appears once in the first volume). i was at a loss as to why:

the original text is full of two words (霊能力者 and 超能力者) that both refer to people with psychic powers.

霊能力者 (reinouryok'sha, 'person with spiritual powers’) is rendered as 'spirit medium’, which at least isn’t terribly far off. but 超能力者 (chounouryok'sha, 'person with supernatural powers/ESP’) becomes 'person with superpowers’.

superpowers don’t usually have paranormal connotations in the US.

every 超能力者 in mob psycho 100 has one or more abilities associated with ESP: astral projection; being able to see, commune with and exorcise the dead; laying curses on objects; or telekinesis.

superpowers would be a fairly literal translation of 超能力 (超 == super, 能力 == abilities, faculties), but it misses the spirit of the original word: 超能力 refers directly to ESP.

the protagonist is a psychic.

the story itself, as you can guess from above, trucks heavily in the supernatural.

i… wasn’t okay with that.

my frustration was just the impetus i needed to find this story in the original japanese – and use it to finally start learning this language. if the gap between an official translation and an amateur one was this wide, i had to know what was actually being said on the page.

these arrived from japan in august last year, well in advance of my birthday – a gift to myself. i started this adventure in late august and this gift is still giving…

[is-the-snake-video-cute]

Do snakes have any significance in Judaism, or Jewish artwork? Asking because I like learning about other people's religions

Very cool question! The answer, like most things in Judaism, really depends on who you ask. But I still have some fun Biblical Judaism snake facts to share!!

- A little bit of cool etymology: there are actually four separate and distinct biblical Hebrew words used to refer to snakes! The main one is נחש (nechash, with the ch in the middle a guttural sound, more similar to an h sound than a k sound), but there's also תנין (tannin, which probably meant a large or dangerous reptile, not just snakes), and פּטן (peten, which meant venomous snakes specifically), but the next one is most interesting...

- AND quick edit, yes, I know in modern Hebrew tannin means crocodile! I also speak Hebrew fluently and it is the main language I speak at home. One of my side passions is biblical Hebrew language and interpretation, and a common interpretation of the use of the word tannin in biblical Hebrew is that it was used to refer to many different reptiles, especially crocodiles and large snakes. It's likely the word's usage has simply evolved over time.

- the last biblical Hebrew word for snake is סרף (saraph), which is also a word used to describe some angels! The word is used for snakes with a "fiery" bite, because the Hebrew word for venom is the same for the word for fire. That doesn't mean that snakes are considered angels in Judaism, it just means the writers of those passages wanted to compare angels to the fiery bite of venomous snakes!

- When I intake new rescue snakes, before I give them names, I usually just label their files with "nechash." Just. Y'know. Snake. I've had people ask me why so many of my snakes have the same name and I have to explain that, well, they don't, Hebrew is just the language I speak at home. I just think that's funny, and it makes me imagine someone having like 100 snakes and every single one of them named Snake.

- Unlike in Christianity, most Jewish scholars don't believe that the snake in the garden of Eden story was the literal devil (Judaism doesn't even have a literal devil), just a regular ol snake causing problems. Of course, I don't really believe the garden of Eden story was ever meant to be taken literally, but I think that's still just very fun! It makes sense, too, that a snake would have been used - at the time the biblical stories were being compiled and written down, snakes would have been a logical symbol for idol worship and the dangers of the wilderness.

- Nowadays, in Jewish mysticism, snakes have a surprisingly positive connotation and are associated with healing. The ancient rabbis wrote in the Talmud that having dreams about snakes is a sign of good luck (as long as you don't kill it)!

[icaruskey]

You know, I’m thinking a lot about the Boyfriend’s comic creator and what I do think is perhaps the most damning receipt against him: the use of the n word in a tweet from like 2013? 

I guess I get stuck on the fact that he’s Indonesian, not USAmerican and English is probably not his first language (I looked it up, and apparently Javanese and Indonesian are the most common spoken languages). 

And like. Okay, so using the n word isn’t okay no matter the context, and it shouldn’t have been used at all but I think about it and the fact it was likely some form of appropriation from imported media. If I’m singing along to the words of 99 Luftballons -- I don’t know German. There could be all sorts of slurs in there and I’m mindlessly repeating them. Maybe I think one of the words is cool and starts using it with little knowledge of the cultural context. Make a post and then grow up a lot and it gets brought to my attention and apologize for it. No excuses, no explanations. Just “I’m sorry. I did this and it was wrong” and when someone tries to defend me, another “No, they’re right and this was bad to do regardless of context.” 

It doesn’t really matter in the end. The internet is the internet and once the torches are lit it’s over. And I don’t think there’s much appreciation in the US how things filter throughout the rest of the world. I still remember someone getting a written beatdown because they were applying black US culture to black French culture on tumblr. 

Idk. I hope this doesn’t come across of me defending the usage of slurs, even out of ignorance. It shouldn’t be done. And Ray did the right thing when he was called out on it. Apologized, laid out a plan of action going forward, did not allow people to excuse his behavior, and moved on. 

But I do wish people would actually stop and not react so immediately to shit like this. Take a second to collect their thoughts and think. But I guess that’s too much to ask for, isn’t it?